Academy Fellow

I undertake research on industrial relations and human resource management, with a particular focus on the consequences of performance and reward management. Early work created an understanding of why organisations implement performance appraisal systems and the characteristics of a fair performance appraisal system. Further, this early research expanded understanding of employee preferences for different types of pay systems in Australia and around the globe: for example, pay adjustments based on performance or seniority. Employees value fair pay and use comparison others to make this assessment. My research demonstrated that the pay level of labour market comparisons was important in driving employee behaviours.

My research then shifted to an evaluation of the consequences of performance and reward management for employees. While organisations implement performance and reward management systems to achieve a range of outcomes, such as higher employee performance, they are not always effective. My research draws attention to the negative and unintended effects of performance management, including higher employee exhaustion, cynicism, work overload and work intensification. Further, employees are less likely to help their co-workers when their paid based on their performance.

Organisations typically have more and better-quality pay information than do the employees of the organisation (i.e. pay information asymmetry). My research has demonstrated that organisational restrictions on pay information contributes to the gender pay gap. Transparency allows employees to monitor the pay decisions of organisations, encouraging organsiations to make pay decisions that are justifiable. I have also investigated how employees’ access and exchange pay information when there are organisational restrictions. We find that pay information websites (e.g. such as Glassdoor.com and seek.com) are a widely used system for providing employees with a confidential way for to exchange pay information.

Performance and reward management is one of the areas of responsibility for HR professionals. I have investigated the role and impact of the Human resource profession in organisations. We found that that employees perceive HR practices being of benefit to managers rather than for the wellbeing of employees.

I am a coauthor on the only book on performance and reward management for the Asia Pacific region, now in its 4th edition. The book, published by Cambridge University Press has influenced thinking of generations of students and practitioners. The book provides readers with an integrated and research-based analysis on performance management and reward systems. It provides insights into policy options and the analytical tools to evaluate their consequences for employees and organisations. 

Academy of Management

Australian Human Resources Institute

Brown, M., Bamberger, P., Bliese, P. D., & Shields, J. (2023). Fairness uncertainty and pay information exchange: Why and when employees disclose bonus pay to pay information websites. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44(9), 1362-1379. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2739

Brown, M., Nyberg, A. J., Weller, I., & Strizver, S. D. (2022). Pay Information Disclosure: Review and Recommendations for Research Spanning the Pay Secrecy–Pay Transparency Continuum. Journal of Management, 48(6), 1661-1694. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063221079249

Brown, M., Kulik, C. T., Cregan, C., & Metz, I. (2022) Managing voluntary collective turnover: The impact of a cynical workplace climate, Personnel Review, 51(X), 715-730. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-12-2019-0703

Brown, M., Kraimer, M. L., & Bratton, V. K. (2020). Performance Appraisal Cynicism Among Managers: A Job Demands Resources Perspective. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(4), 455-468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-019-09631-0