Digital Commons Network^™

Unveiling The Dynamics Of Information Technology Investments: The Moderating Role Of Environmental Uncertainty On Firm Performance, Ankit Deo

Business Administration Dissertations

The proficient administration of information technology (IT) investments is essential for organizations aiming to attain a competitive edge in the current dynamic business landscape. Nevertheless, the correlation between investments in information technology (IT) and the performance of an organization is dependent on several contextual factors. The primary objective of this dissertation is to elucidate the intricacies of investments in information technology (IT) by examining the moderating influence of environmental uncertainty on this association. This study presents a comprehensive research framework that integrates IT investments, environmental uncertainty, and organizational performance. The study utilizes a mixed-methods methodology, integrating quantitative analysis of secondary …

Examining Entrepreneurial Passion Within Online Communities, Fredrick Rice

Business Administration Dissertations

Examining Entrepreneurial Passion Within Online Communities

The Role Internal Stakeholders Play In Innovation In Large Corporations, Heloisa Benevides Pontes Aragao

Management Dissertations

Despite the vast existing literature on innovation, the investigation of work conditions that support the generation of ideas to feed the innovative process remains elusive. Holding the assumption that the entire organization is responsible for innovation, not only a specific department or set of experts, I aim to investigate the role two internal stakeholders play in innovation – employees and CEO. I empirically examine the relationship between voice climate – or the workforce perception about its participation in current discussions with ideas, suggestions, and thoughts - and explorative and exploitative innovation. Further, I consider the impact of CEO attributes (origin …

Researching Appointment Robbery: Voices From The Street, Arthur Gregory Vasquez

Business Administration Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of three papers that will examine three topics related to the main research project of examining whether or not CPTED strategies have an effect on the decision to participate in appointment robbery. The first paper examines the difficulties in gaining access with the hard-to-reach population of active offenders. The second paper will provide examples of ethical dilemmas that the qualitative researcher faced while in the field. The third paper will explore whether or not criminals were deterred from deciding to engage in criminal activity due to an implementation of a CPTED strategy. These three papers together …

Meaning-Mating And Hyphenated Actualizing In Individual-Organization Units: Lived Experiences Of Organization Development Practitioners Learning And Carrying Out The Philosophy Of Organization Development, Brian Lee Chapman

Business Administration Dissertations

Individuals have been organizing for millennia. The purpose of this study was to investigate what it means for individuals and organizations to each experience how an exposure to the instrumentalized philosophies of one impacts the internalized philosophies of the other. This phenomenological investigation focused on the lived experiences of Organization Development (OD) practitioners with learning and carrying out the philosophy of OD. Individual conversations with six participants during fourteen separate interview sessions were phenomenologically carried out, analyzed, and interpreted. The experiences articulated during these conversations elucidate two concepts not found during the literature review – meaning-mating and hyphenated actualization. These …

Three Essays Examining Organizational Influences On Employee Identity Construction, Esther Lamarre Jean

Management Dissertations

Identity consists of the roles and expectations individuals use to define their self. My dissertation examines the effects of individual perceptions around how identities are constructed in organizations on employee outcomes, decisions, and experiences. In a three-essay format, I develop the construct of identity work supportive organizational support (IWSOP) and a scale to measure it, evaluate how IWSOP relates to affective commitment for employees, and examine whether IWSOP might affect job choice decisions. IWSOP is conceptualized as the degree to which employees perceive that their organization encourages, allows, or provides the opportunity to think about, talk about, or display aspects …

Artificial Intelligence (Ai) In Employee Selection: How Algorithm-Based Decision Aids Influence Recruiters’ Decision-Making In Resume Screening, Dan Chen

Management Dissertations

With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithm-based decision aids have been adopted by more and more organizations to help recruiters and hiring managers screen and review job candidates. This dissertation assesses how HR recruiters integrate selection information produced by algorithms into assessments of job candidates’ qualifications to make the hiring decisions. To assess how algorithm-based decision aids are used, I first investigate how individual characteristics of recruiters influence their perceived usefulness of algorithm selection information. I then examine how recruiters rate applicant employability when they are given different types of jobs (HR Assistant vs. Data Engineer) and algorithm-based selection …

Customer Mistreament, Third Party Observers, And Emotional Labor: An Exploration Of The Phenomenon Of Breaking Character, Nicolina Leeann Taylor

Management Dissertations

The emotional labor literature is vast and complex. Overwhelmingly, most studies focus on surface acting and deep acting. Breaking character, expressing true, negative emotions to a customer, is understudied, despite evidence of occurring frequently. Despite conceptual work stating that breaking character produces negative outcomes, empirical work is scant. Further, the impact that breaking character has on employees is unknown. In summary, researchers know very little regarding what leads to breaking character, how employees feel about breaking character, and the aftermath of breaking character. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the phenomenon of breaking character. First, I qualitatively …

Job Satisfaction Through The Lens Of Turnover Intentions And Burnout For Academic Faculty, Amrita Tharappel Thomas

Business Administration Dissertations

A recent advice article published by The Chronicle of Higher Education addressed how Tenure and Tenure-Track faculty members are leaving their academic positions at college and universities. Education underwent tremendous change due to the COVID-19 Pandemic as faculty had to transition from in-person lectures and laboratory classes to teaching all classes and lectures in a virtual format and then a hybrid between in-person and online. The changes caused by the Pandemic came swiftly but did not come with ease. My dissertation examines Job Satisfaction through the lens of Turnover Intentions and Burnout for Academic Faculty. I surveyed faculty around the …

Not All Discounts Are Created Equal: Power Distance Belief And Locus-Of-Discount In A Product Bundle, Hsin-Yi Liao

Business Administration Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between power distance belief (PDB) – the tendency to accept and endorse power disparity – and preference for a discount on the focal (vs. tie-in) product in a product bundle. The findings show that high PDB consumers prefer a discount on the focal (vs. tie-in) product in a bundle, whereas low PDB consumers’ preference is not affected by the locus-of-discount. This difference is driven by the greater tendency to differentiate among high (vs. low) PDB consumers. Furthermore, contextual factor that affect consumers’ differentiation tendency, namely consumers’ prioritization tendency, set boundary condition for the impact of …

Earnings Management In Response To Fair Treatment: The Roles Of Organizational Identity And Moral Identity, Kimberly M. Bates

Management Dissertations

Fraud continues to be an issue that organizations face globally, losing an estimated 5% of annual revenue for a total of $4.5 trillion globally. However, fraudulent behavior is difficult to study due to the unacceptable nature of it. I provide researchers with an adapted measure of earnings management that mitigates the socially undesirable act of earnings management which can suppress findings in self-reported studies. Additionally, based on the target similarity model, my dissertation considers accountants’ perception of fair treatment by the organization on willingness to engage in earnings management benefiting the organization. I survey 123 financial and managerial accountants to …

Core Concepts In Management Accounting, Alan J. Richardson

Odette School of Business Publications

This is a hyperlinked text designed for introductory or advanced students. It can also be used by design consultants to guide the development of a management accounting system based on a set of diagnostic questions. The text covers product costing, performance evaluation, and strategic accounting. Depending on your level of current knowledge, some sections of the text that are not relevant to you will be hidden. Design consultants will have access to all aspects of the text. You can pre-specify your level of expertise, or the text will record your progress and open new material as your skill grows. The …

A Behavioral Operations Management Study Of Market Power And Fuzzy Return, Jingjie Su

Business Administration Dissertations

This dissertation studies the market power and the investment in the supply chain in the first two studies and the return policy of the retailer in the third study. In the first study, we study how the dominant market power impacts the investment decision in the supply chain. We build a dual-channel supply chain model with two players, one is OEM and one is CM. Our research centers on the dominant market power, either OEM side or CM side, changing the investment decision of OEM. We solve the game theory model based on the setting and conduct the lab experiment …

A Multifaceted View Of Career Choice And Work Outcomes Of Nurses In Healthcare, Ifeyimika Oluwadamilola Ogunyomi

Management Dissertations

Turnover among new nurses is rampant within the health care industry and generated significant costs for organizations and the nursing profession. The overall aim of this dissertation is to understand the career choice motivations of nurses through a framework that link initial choice motives with eventual turnover intent. A broader management understanding of the experiences and attitudes of nurses in various situations will inform healthcare organizations as to the performance management strategies to develop for employee retention. I address this by exploring pertinent situations in the nursing work environment across three essays, which incorporate qualitative and quantitative research methods. The …

Formation Of Supply Chain Contract: Theory And Experiment, Lei Hua

Management Dissertations

In recent years, the globalization in business has transformed the traditional linear supply chain into a complex network of interactions among supply chain participants across different tiers. In such a supply chain system, firms are facing the challenges of making better operational decisions on strategic sourcing and collaborative/competitive negotiations. My dissertation explores the formation of supply chain contract under competitive scenarios in complex supply chain networks from both theoretical and behavioral perspectives. Specifically, Essay 1 examines the implications of asymmetric bilateral relations for supply contract negotiations under retail competition and highlights the intuition that a firm should not only focus …

Self-Regulation Of Boundaries For Thriving, Enrichment, And Balance Across The Work-Nonwork Interface, Shelia A. Hyde

Management Dissertations

This three-essay project explores boundary management and work-nonwork enrichment to explain how thriving in the work domain relates to thriving in the nonwork domain. The Cross-Domain Thriving model proposed in Study 1 theorizes that when employees experience growth and energy at work, they create and deplete resources within and across roles and individual boundary management strategies, role congruency, and ease of transition moderate the degree to which thriving translates into enrichment and/or conflict across roles. Study 2 tested aspects of the cross-domain thriving model and found that neither work nor nonwork thriving was related to increased time-based conflict, but both …

Auditors’ Public Offering Experience And Lawsuits, Nargiz Abdullayeva

Business Administration Dissertations

Prior literature suggests that public offering clients of Big 4 auditing firms are more likely to get sued due to their “deep pockets” which might trigger the filing of lawsuits. However, it is not clear whether variation in auditor knowledge and experience among Big 4 audit offices might affect the litigation risk. In this paper, I examine whether auditor experience in public offerings measured at the audit office level is associated with lawsuit incidence related to initial and secondary public offerings. Using a sample of U.S. IPOs and SEOs audited by Big 4 audit firms, I find that IPO clients …

The Power Of Good: Micro Level Outcomes From Corporate Social Responsibility And Social Mission Orientation, Michael Darin Mcdaniel

Management Dissertations

What happens to employees on an individual level when they see their organization doing good things for society? Whether the manifestation of good be in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or social mission orientation (SMO), this paper seeks to explore the micro level outcomes from employee perceptions of these organizational attributes. Considered together, these three articles provide significant insight into the individual level outcomes from doing good as an organization, as well as the mechanisms through which those relationships flow. Specifically, CSR and SMO result in positive individual outcomes including increased organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and …

Shareholder Activism: Does Gender Diversity Among Hedge Fund Managers Affect Activism Returns?, Ankita Agarwal

Business Administration Dissertations

Divergent and often contradictory arguments appear in organizational research on the relationship between gender-diverse top management team and performance. In the present study, I integrate several distinct literatures to test a theoretical model that examines the influence of gender diversity among hedge fund executives on the performance of the target firm. Specifically, I argue that gender diversity among hedge fund executives weaken the performance consequences because females are perceived to possess traits less suited for the leadership position, which in turn influence their performance. I further argue that because of stereotypes gender-diverse hedge funds are perceived negatively and hence are …

Shah-Dissertation2020-Humancapitalofupperechelons, Tushar R. Shah

Management Dissertations

My dissertation studies strategic change in the context of digital transformation and the role of organization’s upper echelons (specifically the human capital of TMTs and CEOs) in predicting digital transformation. I concur with the prevalent belief that digital transformation is the fourth industrial revolution. It is already disrupting several businesses and business models as a result of which existing models of strategic change may have to be modified to explain these drastic transformations. I begin with defining the domain of strategic change as experienced by organizations when they intend to or are undergoing digital transformation. To support my theoretical assertions, …

Emotional Demands-Abilities (Ed-A) Fit, Emotional Labor, And Resource Depletion, Joohan Lee

Management Dissertations

Perceived emotional demands-abilities (ED-A) fit, defined as a perception of the congruence or fit between emotional demands of a job and abilities to fulfill these demands (Diefendorff, Greguras, & Fleenor, 2016), has been recently introduced to the area of management research. The main goal of this study is to test how a service employee’s psychological ownership of a job (POJ) predicts his or her ED-A fit and whether/how ED-A fit is related to emotional labor and depletion. I also look into the underlying mechanism by testing the mediation effect of commitment to display rules (CDR) on the relation of POJ …

Us And Them: The Impact Of Differing Founder Mindsets On Firm Strategic Orientation, Manisha M. Vaswani

Management Dissertations

Historically, small business founders were assumed to be motivated by profit-maximization. Today, we understand that founders also have non-economic goals for starting a business, including furthering their family legacy. This dissertation contrasts two types of founder mind-sets: an entrepreneurial mindset and a small business mind-set. I propose theoretical arguments which predict that founders who identify more with the small business mindset would pursue long-term, trust-based strategies that foster relationships with stakeholders such as suppliers and customers. On the other hand, founders who identify with the entrepreneurial mindset are more likely to pursue strategies that are ambitious, contractual, and profit-enhancing. Using …

Predictors Of Organizational Decoupling In The Context Of Corporate Sustainability, Ajith Venugopal

Management Dissertations

The gap between what firms say and what they do is referred to as organizational decoupling. Despite the fact that decoupling is a widespread phenomenon, there is a paucity of empirical studies that have examined individual level predictors of organizational decoupling, especially in the context of corporate sustainability. In this dissertation, utilizing upper echelon theory, I examine how CEO psychological charactersitics predict policy-practice decoupling in the environmental and social dimensions of corporate sustainability. Using a sample of U.S.manufacturing companies from S&P 1500 during the period 2009-2018, I test the relationship between CEO personality (FFM traits), CEO value (self-transcendence), and CEO …

Sustainability In Business: Developing An Undergraduate Business Course, Julie Nelsen, Mary Henderson, Sarah Rand

Business Administration Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the rationale and process of creating a new course focused on business sustainability in the University’s Department of Business Administration. Currently, the University offers just one business sustainability course, delivered once every two years as a January study-abroad course in Chile. While an outstanding experience, a limited number of students can take advantage of the opportunity. After identifying this gap in our business programs, we created a stand-alone course that focuses on business sustainability. This paper addresses the following questions: What is the business case for adding the course? What should the …

International Compensation: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Societal Culture And Preferred Compensation Policies, Divyanshu Vardhan V. Sharma

Management Theses

In my thesis, I review the research literature on the influence of national culture on reward preferences and compensation practices. I first review the major models of culture used to examine reward practices and then detail the convergence and divergence debate in international management by highlighting constraining forces in the host and home business environment that lead to standardization or localization. Finally, I review the research on cultural dimensions and preferred compensation practices and propose an integrative model.I conclude that culture is one of the many macro-variables that influence international compensation decisions and argue that the adaption of compensation practices …

Reclamation Of Unused Coal Fields Through Bluegrass Adventures, Lydia R. Deaton, Anya M. Deaton, Leanna Shelton, Haley Turner, Sheridan Combs, Rachel Blackwell, Fatma Mohamed, Ahmad Hassan

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Reclamation Of Unused Coal Fields Through Bluegrass Adventures

Throughout the last century, Eastern Kentucky has been pivotal in the coal production for the united states. As such many jobs and economic opportunities were largely formed through coal mining. In recent years, however, coal production has shifted elsewhere leaving the rural communities of eastern Kentucky at risk of economic failure. This project was focused on providing a redevelopment plan for an abandoned coal mine in eastern Kentucky. The Entrepreneurial Coal Lands Redevelopment Program (ECLRP) is focused on reclaiming abandoned coalmines to encourage economic evolution and development in low-income communities. Redevelopment of …

“Can Entrepreneurs Sell Their Firms And Still Own Them?”: The Adoption Of Dual-Class Structures And Their Effects On Ipo Performance, Nitin Kumar Singh

Management Dissertations

Dual-class Structures enable entrepreneurs to separate voting rights and cash-flow rights in arbitrary proportions to exercise control of the firm. Dual-class structures allow entrepreneurs to retain the benefits of being private and reap the benefits of going public. This dissertation identifies the governance, firm-specific, and strategic antecedents of firms that adopt dual-class structures and determines its effect on IPO performance. This study finds that firms that adopt fewer governance mechanisms, have a greater number of insiders, are younger, have a higher level of sales, pursue risky strategies (such as internationalization, acquisition, and innovation) are more likely to adopt dual-class structures. …

Women Entrepreneurs In Egypt: A Qualitative Study Of Perceptions And Challenges, Rwan Zakria Abdelrhman

Theses and Dissertations

Although all entrepreneurs and business owners encounter obstacles and barriers, the challenges that female entrepreneurs face in Egypt are surmount. Female entrepreneurs in Egypt lack the requisite training and basic advising services that would keep them updated with new technological skills. Moreover, women are more likely to discontinue their businesses due to limited access to finance. Furthermore, women face restrictive legal and institutional burdens when establishing their business or when starting a new one. In addition, cultural constraints are another challenge that negatively influence women's credibility, their empowerment and self-confidence. The current study, intends to investigate the challenges that female …

The Time-Dimension In Strategic Change And Firm Performance: The South Korean Context, Kilho Shin

Management Dissertations

The management of time in an organization is a fundamental activity for the survival and growth of firms. In the field of strategy, time, albeit under-studied, has received increasing attention among scholars. However, in reviewing multiple conceptions of time in strategic change research, scholars have failed to develop consistent and sound theories and constructs of time. Thus, this study systematically organizes existing knowledge about time and develops a comprehensive theoretical framework that accurately describes the dynamic temporal patterns of strategic change. To explain, by mapping various patterns of strategic change into the time continuum, this study identifies five objective time-dimensions …

Intuit, Inc.'S Small Business And Self Employed Unit: A Strategic Analysis, Cat Nyberg

Honors Theses

Intuit, Inc. is a business and personal finance software company founded in 1983 by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx. It is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has offices around the United States and internationally. Intuit’s primary mission is to ‘power prosperity’, whether for small business owners, individuals, or accounting professionals.

Intuit has three major business units: Small Business and Self Employed, Consumer, and Strategic Partner. Each business unit offers one or more flagship software platforms, optimized for specific customer needs in business accounting, professional tax preparation, and individual tax filing. Intuit’s major software flagships are QuickBooks (business accounting and …