Prof. Dr. Prisca Brosi

Associate Professor of Human Resource Management

Prof. Dr. Prisca Brosi

Associate Professor of Human Resource Management

Prof. Dr. Prisca Brosi is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the KLU. She studied industrial engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Having finished her studies with a diploma in 2006, she worked for three years as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. Dr. Brosi did her Doctorate in 2012 directly followed by her Habilitation studies at the Technical University Munich. During this time, she has been a visiting researcher at the Hong Kong Polytechnical University and the New York University.

In her research, she mainly examines psychological theories in the context of human resource management in organizations. In one part of her research, she investigates how emotions influence leadership and performance in organizations. Thereby, she particularly examines how positive emotions influence relationships between leaders and followers as well as among peers. Examining how emotion expressions can help individuals to overcome stereotypes connects to the second part of her research, which focuses on how stereotypes influence recruiting, selection and evaluation processes in organizations. She especially examines how individuals and organizations can overcome unintended and dysfunctional consequences of stereotypes. Also shedding light on stereotypes at the background of the digitalization leads to the third part of her research, in which she focuses on the future of work and organizations in light of the digital transformation. Results of her research were published in international outlets such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Resource Management, and Journal of Business Ethics. She also serves in the editorial board of the Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Her teaching at the KLU covers Human Resource Management. She teaches at the student and the executive level. Further, she connects with organizations in joint research projects.

Up Close & Personal

"What I find most motivating about my work is that I can constantly focus on new puzzles and new problems. This means, with every research project I can discover something new.”
– Prof. Dr. Prisca Brosi

Selected Publications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2601 

Abstract: We argue that the literature on presenteeism needs to consider that employees not only go to work despite being ill but also often work from home despite being ill, especially since the COVID-19 crisis enabled home-office work on a large scale. We label this phenomenon “workahomeism” and develop theory that shows its distinctness from traditional presenteeism through the evoked pattern of guilt. Across three studies (a vignette experiment, a critical incident study, and a within-person intervention study), we tested whether employees' work-related reactions to illness (i.e., workahomeism, presenteeism, and resting at home) differ in terms of experienced and anticipated guilt. We found that when employees considered engaging in workahomeism, they anticipated feeling less guilty than when resting at home. However, when employees actually engaged in workahomeism, they felt as guilty or even more guilty than when resting at home. In contrast, employees' anticipated guilt for presenteeism as compared to workahomeism changed from the same to more after the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, we identify facets of guilt in response to workahomeism (i.e., guilt toward colleagues and about own health) and demonstrate that organizations can change guilt patterns by asking employees to reflect on the consequences of workahomeism and presenteeism.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3746-5 

Abstract: Setting out to understand the effects of positive moral emotions in leadership, this research examines the consequences of leaders’ expressions of gratitude and pride for their followers. In two experimental vignette studies (N = 261; N = 168) and a field study (N = 294), leaders’ gratitude expressions showed a positive effect and leaders’ pride expressions showed a negative effect on followers’ ascriptions of leader selfishness. Thereby, leaders’ gratitude expression indirectly led to higher follower satisfaction with and OCB towards the leader, while leaders’ pride expressions indirectly reduced satisfaction with and OCB towards the leader. Furthermore, leaders’ expressions of gratitude indirectly reduced followers’ intentions to leave the leader, while leaders’ expressions of pride indirectly fuelled them. Although ascriptions of selfishness consistently influenced these leader outcomes more strongly than comparable organizational outcomes, results on organizational outcomes were mixed. While leaders’ expressions of gratitude led, as expected, to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions, leaders’ expressions of pride showed positive relations with both OCB towards the organization and intentions to leave the organization. We discuss the theoretical implications of leaders’ expressions of positive moral emotions as signals of outcome attributions, as well as leaders’ selfishness and practical implications that help leaders build followers’ satisfaction and positive leader–follower relationships.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3600-9 

Abstract: Based on a field study (N = 303), this paper explores the differential role that perceived top management trustworthiness has on female and male employees’ negative emotions and turnover intentions in organizations. A theoretical model is established that explicates a negative indirect effect of perceived top management trustworthiness on employee turnover intentions through employee negative emotions. The results reveal that there is a negative relationship between perceived top management trustworthiness and employee negative emotions and resulting turnover intentions and that this effect is stronger for female employees than for male employees. These results demonstrate the pivotal role played by top management trustworthiness, provide an explanation for the turnover gender gap, and highlight the subjectivity in reactions to trustworthiness perceptions. The implications for organizations are discussed in line with the need for top management to positively influence employees and particularly women, to retain them in their workforce.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21882 

Abstract: This study examines support for quotas for women in leadership, a currently highly debated topic in management research and practice. Using a sample of German working adults (N = 761), our results suggest that stereotypes about women (n = 380) are significantly related to support for quotas for women in leadership. Ascriptions of agency to typical women, that is, the extent to which women are generally seen as assertive, active, and strong, were positively related to participants' support for quotas for women in leadership in male‐gendered industries and high hierarchical positions, whereas ascriptions of communality to typical women, that is, the extent to which women are seen as understanding, supportive, and caring, were generally positively related. This pattern emerged for both male and female participants. Unexpectedly, gender‐stereotypic ascriptions to men (n = 381) were also related to support for quotas for women in leadership—with a positive relationship with agency in male‐gendered industries and a general negative relationship with communality, although these results were less pronounced. Implications for organizations are derived from these results, highlighting how the introduction of quotas for women in leadership can be smoothed by addressing how employees see women in terms of agency and communality.

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Academic Positions

Since 2018Associate Professor of Human Resource Management, Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg, Germany
2013 - 2018Post-doc at Technical University of Munich, Chair for Strategy and Organization, Germany
2015 / 2016 / 2018Research visit at New York University, Department of Psychology, USA
2014Research visit at The Hongkong Polytechnique University, Department of Management & Marketing, Hong Kong
2009 - 2012Research assistant at Technical University of Munich, Chair for Strategy and Organization, Germany

Professional Experience

2006 - 2009Consultant of The Boston Consulting Group                                                         
2005Shanghai Volkswagen, Logistics Planning

Education

2012Dr. rer. pol., Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management
2006Diploma of Business Engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany (MSc equivalent)