Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Does Beating Cash Flow Benchmarks Reduce The Cost Of Debt?, Mauricio A. Melgarejo

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This paper examines whether beating previous year cash flow values and analysts' cash flow forecasts impact the firms' cost of debt. Creditors are expected to be more concerned about firm solvency than firm profitability. Accordingly, if lenders have any reference point it may be related to cash flow numbers. This study finds that firms that beat analysts' cash flow forecasts have smaller initial bond yield spreads in the next period and a decrease in their initial bond yield spreads between consecutive periods. This effect is more pronounced at short maturities and for observations with less informative earnings. Firms with lower …

Stochastic Efficiency Analysis With A Reliability Consideration, Guiwu Wei, Jian Chen, Jiamin Wang

Faculty of Management Publications

Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models have been introduced in the literature to assess the performance of operating entities with random input and output data. A stochastic DEA model with a reliability constraint is proposed in this study that maximizes the lower bound of an entity's efficiency score with some pre-selected probability. We define the concept of stochastic efficiency and develop a solution procedure. The economic interpretations of the stochastic efficiency index are presented when the inputs and outputs of each entity follow a multivariate joint normal distribution.

Developing A Method For Measuring "Working Out Loud", Dennis E. Pearce

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

Enterprise social network software platforms (ESNs) are increasingly being deployed in firms across almost every industry as a means of fostering employee collaboration. Although benefits in increased productivity, innovation, and employee engagement are highly touted, there is a high failure rate of these deployments. This often occurs because (1) there is a misapplied focus on technology adoption rather than adoption of the employee behaviors that are ultimately required to obtain those benefits, and (2) it is unclear what those behaviors are and how to measure them.

“Working Out Loud” is one possible framework for understanding and measuring the behaviors necessary …

An Experimental Investigation Of Outsourcing Through Competition, Ehsan Elahi, Roger Blake

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

Our research uses laboratory experiments to examine the theoretical results of competition between suppliers in an outsourcing setup. We consider a supply chain in which a single buyer needs to outsource the manufacturing of a product among N potential suppliers. The buyer allocates demand to suppliers not on the basis of price, but rather on service. We analyze the levels of service suppliers will decide to provide when competing on three different criteria specified by the buyer. For the first, suppliers compete by providing the buyer a specific service level (fill-rate), and for the second by maintaining a specific quantity …

Value Of Information: Facilitating Targeted Information Acquisition In Decision Processes, Jeffrey Keisler

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.

Distinguishing ‘Mhealth’ From Other Healthcare Services In A Developing Country: A Study From The Service Quality Perspective, Saradhi Motamarri, Shahriar Akter, Pradeep Ray, Chung-Li Tseng

Shahriar Akter

Mobile phones’ exponential growth is fuelling the emergence of mobile health (mHealth), thus contributing to healthcare services’ innovative transformation in developing countries. mHealth’s ubiquitous personalised capabilities obviate the access barriers and dismal performance of conventional systems, thus -therefore gaining popularity among patients. Researchers have focused on service quality – a vital element of service adoption – and sustainability. For mHealth to become a robust alternative, how patients perceive mHealth vis-à-vis conventional services must be understood. Comparative analysis studies between mHealth and conventional systems are scarce yet would contribute to theory and strengthen the antecedent phases to service quality, that is, …

A Social Exchange Perspective: The Mediating Effect Of Customers' Perceived Overall Justice And Affect In The Relationship Between Employee Performance And Customer Satisfaction, Si Hyun Kim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Drawing from social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and affective event theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996), this paper provides insight into how customers' perceived overall justice and customers' affect mediate the relationship between employee performance and customer satisfaction. The primary research question of the study was how employees' performance (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors) indirectly influences customers' satisfaction. In addition, this study examined the moderating effect of types of exchange in the relationship between employee performance and customers' perceived overall justice. 151 dyadic surveys were collected from both customers and stylists in 5 beauty/hair salons. As expected, customers' positive affect …

Beyond “Halo”: The Identification And Implications Of Differential Brand Effects Across Global Markets, Randle D. Raggio, William C. Black, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether brands impact consumer evaluations in ways other than a consistent halo and the degree to which consumers use both overall brand information along with detailed attribute-specific information to construct their evaluations.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors decompose consumer evaluations of brand benefits into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources through a standard CFA approach. Data cover 55 brands in four product categories sold in nine global markets.

Findings – Halo effects are rare in global CPG markets. The authors identify the presence of differential brand effects in eight of nine …

Academic Analytics In Higher Education: Barriers To Adoption, Willie L. Pomeroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The analysis of big data points and the use of data analytics have proven successful in improving corporate business efficiencies, growing profits, and increasing competitive advantages. The theory of academic capitalism, which holds that institutions of higher education are becoming more like corporations due to declining operating funds and the need to become more efficient, transparent, and competitive, guided this study. Despite the positive outcomes that analytic tools may produce in advanced efficiencies and competitive growth, college academic administrators have not yet adopted these tools, due in part to barriers facing the administrators. The purpose of this phenomenological study was …

Generational Cohort Differences In Types Of Organizational Commitment, April Lavette Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In hospitals in the United States, the ratio of nurses to patients is declining, resulting in an increase in work demands for nurses. Consequently, organizations face challenges with nurses' organizational commitment. Studies have revealed generational differences, as determined by birth year, in employee levels of organizational commitment in a number of organizational settings. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of generational cohorts on the organizational commitment of nurses. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional design was to address whether generational cohorts of nurses differed in their levels of organizational commitment, and to investigate whether …

Supporting And Securing Personal Mobile Devices Within An Existing Information Technology Environment, George Allen Patton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Personal mobile devices are becoming integrated into the daily operations of business. Managers are realizing that employees who are allowed to use personal mobile devices to access corporate information systems may reduce costs as users buy their own devices. The problem was that managers have a limited understanding of the need to secure or support personal mobile devices. The purpose of this survey study was to examine the relationship between employees' desire to use personal mobile devices and corporation needs for security and support. Hypotheses were tested by examining the relationships between the requirement to support and secure personal mobile …

Impact Of Middle-Level Managers' Well-Being And Happiness On Direct Reports' Performance, Respent Green Iii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The happy productive worker (HPW) theory states that happy employees perform at higher levels than unhappy employees do. Despite the explanatory power of the HPW theory, it was unknown if a happy middle-level manager would be associated with productive direct reports. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address that gap by exploring the impact of middle-level managers' well-being and happiness on the performance of their direct reports. Key research questions examined how middle-level managers' well-being and happiness influenced the performance of their direct reports and how middle-level managers' application of the HPW theory influenced social change. Twenty middle-level …

A Correlational Analysis Of Empowerment And Experience With Resistance To Change, Rita Elizabeth Burgess

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite more than 60 years of research about the nature of change, resistance to change remains a problem across industries. Health care leaders have limited knowledge of how health care managers' perceptions of empowerment, years of experience, and resistance to change (RTC) relate. The purpose for this nonexperimental correlational study was to examine the relationship between empowerment, years of experience, and RTC among managers via an online survey. The theoretical framework incorporated Kanter's structural empowerment theory and Kotter's change theory. The sample included 245 out of 1,181 health care managers from Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals in the New York metropolitan …

New Artifacts For The Knowledge Discovery Via Data Analytics (Kdda) Process, Yan Li

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the interest in the business application of analytics and data science has increased significantly. The popularity of data analytics and data science comes from the clear articulation of business problem solving as an end goal. To address limitations in existing literature, this dissertation provides four novel design artifacts for Knowledge Discovery via Data Analytics (KDDA). The first artifact is a Snail Shell KDDA process model that extends existing knowledge discovery process models, but addresses many existing limitations. At the top level, the KDDA Process model highlights the iterative nature of KDDA projects and adds two new phases, namely Problem …

Two Stage Procurement Processes With Competitive Suppliers And Uncertain Supplier Quality, Yue Jin, Jennifer K. Ryan, Walter Yund

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper considers a sourcing problem faced by a manufacturer who outsources the manufacturing of a product to one of several competing suppliers, whose cost and quality capabilities are unknown. We consider a two-stage sourcing process in which the first stage is the qualification stage, while the second stage is the supplier selection stage. In the first stage, the manufacturer exerts effort to learn about the quality level of each of the suppliers and then must determine the set of qualified suppliers, subject to some tolerance for error. In the second stage, the manufacturer runs a price-only procurement auction, in …

Open-Minded Discussion In Interdepartmental Collaboration : Contribution Of Goal Interdependence And Social Motives, Jiewei, Antonia Lu

Theses & Dissertations

Combining theories of social motives, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study theorized a model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through open-minded discussion dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that social motives moderate the link between inter-departmental goal interdependence and open-minded discussion.

A sample of 133 employees from different business organizations in China were interviewed to recall a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from different departments. SEM results and other analysis results support the hypotheses that cooperative interdepartmental goal interdependence and …

Individualized Consideration: Poverty Countermeasure, Lawrence Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite more than $1 trillion spent annually on poverty remediation, impoverishment in the United States persists unabated. With a U.S. poverty rate greater than 10% for more than 4 decades, economics are neither poverty's cause nor cure. As such, non-economic poverty remedies require exploration and expansion. Linking greater leadership and poverty theories, this non-experimental, cross sectional, quantitative, survey-based research effort correlated individualized consideration's (IC) practice with collegiate athlete graduation rates in order to identify and isolate possible leadership based social poverty remediation measures. Leveraging a two-stage random sample, this research effort correlated student athlete Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (form 5X) responses …

African American Women's Perception Of Subprime Lending Practices On Their Home Buying Knowledge And Behaviors, John Howard White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The subprime mortgage lending practices from 1995 to 2007 were disproportionately concentrated on minority and low income neighborhoods of the United States. Despite the negative effects of subprime loans, these loans are regaining popularity. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to bridge the gap in knowledge about their effect on African American women by exploring the home buying knowledge and behaviors of African American women between 2004 and 2007 in a southern state. Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework of this study, which explored factors that motivated African American women to buy …

Business Drivers For Environmental Regulations Compliance In Ghana's Mining Sector, Georgina Angorkor Ahorbo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ghana's mining sector is a significant contributor to the national economy; however, environmental degradation continues to stigmatize the sector. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore experiences and perspectives of middle managers on how to drive compliance with EPA regulations and standards in Ghana's mining sector. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior was the conceptual framework for this phenomenological study. A purposive sample of 20 middle managers from Ghana's mining sector participated in interviews, which were transcribed and then coded to generate common themes. The primary research question involved exploring factors that promote employee compliance in Ghana's mining sector. …

The Role Of Followership During Periods Of Absent Leadership, Robert Alan Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With a culture focused on leadership, the purpose in this study was to explore untested assumptions about followers and their being ignored as independent productive actors in the workplace. The lived experience of followers and their impact on the success or failure of organizations during periods of absent leadership was explored via 4 independent situations. A qualitative, phenomenological research design based primarily on the theoretical framework of Moustakas and the research design of Patton guided the study. The 3 key research questions were explored with regard to followers during periods of absent leadership: how they respond, what actions they take …