Transatlantic Tandem Talk: Trust is Good - Control is Better?

This Transatlantic Tandem Talk features an expert discussion with Prof. Matthias Heinz from the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, and Jobina Gonsalves, Senior Vice President for HR at TÜV SÜD Americas Region, on trust, control, and management.

Many firms are faced with the question of whether and how closely they should monitor their workers. Monitoring employees has costs and benefits for firms. On the one hand, monitoring might be necessary to ensure that employees really do their job and it might signal to workers the management’s expectations. On the other hand, most employees dislike being monitored, not only because it prevents them from slacking off, but also because it may be a sign of mistrust.

In a large-scale RCT study with a major German bakery chain with 150 stores and over 2000 workers, Prof. Heinz and his team reduced the monitoring intensity in randomly selected stores for several months. Join us to explore whether and under which circumstances control is good, or trust is better!

Our Experts:

Matthias Heinz is Professor for Strategy (W3) at the University of Cologne, Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy (Uni Bonn / Uni Cologne) and Director of the Reinhard Selten Institute (Uni Bonn / Uni Cologne). He is also a research affiliate of CEPR and the MPI for Research on Collective Goods. Matthias Heinz studied Business Administration at Goethe-University Frankfurt and received his doctoral degree at the same place. In his research, he studies the effects of management practices (e.g., incentives, managerial attention, employee referral programs, paperwork, quality circles) on workers’ performance and behavior, and firm performance in RCTs within firms. He has published his research in leading management and economics journals, such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Management Science, and Organization Science. In 2022, he received an ERC Starting Grant for his research on management practices.

Jobina Gonsalves is the Senior Vice President for HR for TÜV SÜD Americas Region (includes North America, Canada, Mexico and Brazil) and is based in Boston. TÜV SÜD America is a subsidiary of TÜV SÜD AG, Munich, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification industry. Jobina is a passionate Global HR Leader with over 20 years of Human Capital management experience across Asia, Europe and Americas, working across different geographical and cultural boundaries. She started her career in Mumbai, India and lived in Singapore for 18 years before moving to Boston 3 years ago. She holds the GPHR (Global HR Certification) from HRCI and is SHRM-SCP certified (Senior Certified Professional in HR). In addition, she holds a Graduate Diploma in Human Capital Management and is a certified Strengths Finder Coach. Jobina believes in empowering people to be the best version of themselves and motivating them to optimize their potential. People development is a passion for Jobina and she is constantly seeking opportunities to understand what motivates people.

Welcoming Remarks by:

Dr. Eva Bosbach, Executive Director, University of Cologne New York Office

Christiane Biehl, Vice-Head International Office, University of Cologne

Dr. Jörg Schumacher, Executive Director, Goethe-Institut New York

Moderation by:

Julia Helmes, Program Officer, DWIH New York

This event is part of the Transatlantic Tandem Talks series:

The Transatlantic Tandem Talks were established in 2021 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the North America office of the University of Cologne in New York and are hosted in cooperation with its partners, the German Consulate General New York; the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Washington, D.C.; Deutsches Haus at NYU; German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) New York; the German Research Foundation (DFG) North America; the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New York; 1014 -Space for Ideas; the Goethe-Institut e.V. New York, and AmerikaHaus NRW e.V.

Technical Details:

The web-talk and Q&A will be held online on Webex Meetings. The event is free, but registration is required; a special access link to the meeting will be sent out the morning of the event. For help on how to join a Webex Meeting, see our step-by-step guide.

Attendees can activate English closed captions in Webex during the event.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect those of the DWIH New York and its partners. Moreover, reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or support by the DWIH NY and other event organizers.