Digital Commons Network^™

What Role Do Tech Companies' R&D Expenditures Play In Analysts Sales And Earnings Forecasts?, Vijaykumar Gandapodi

Business Administration Dissertations

Many top market capitalization companies are information technology (IT) firms, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, each of which is valued at more than $300 billion. Facebook is less than 10 years old and is one of the top 10 companies in the world in terms of market capitalization. However, technologies change rapidly; website revenue—which once grew at a brisk rate—has slowed down, while mobile technology growth is increasing and technology trends are shifting toward cloud hosting and big data analytics. IT companies that have increased their R&D spending remain leaders throughout periods of technology change. Companies such as Facebook …

Leadership In Small U.S. Industrial Machining And Fabricating Companies, Christopher Gabers

Business Administration Dissertations

Given the continuous advances with globalization and overall competition, small U.S. machining and fabrication companies (manufacturing) are required to constantly maintain a competitive advantage to stay relevant (Avolio, 2004; Cascio 1995). To help maintain that competitive advantage, leadership has been extensively researched for many years within multiple segments of the U.S. economy; however, specific focus has been neglected when it comes to transactional and transformational leadership styles within small U.S. industrial machining and fabricating companies.

The focus of this research centers on three small industrial machining and fabricating businesses in the manufacturing sector. Distributing the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) this …

Does Merger And Acquisition Activity Play A Role In The Pre-Existing Healthcare Initiatives Of Improved Quality And Decreased Costs Highlighted By The Affordable Care Act?, Dawn C. Mckell

Business Administration Dissertations

This is a quantitative study of archival data that examines Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity using currently established healthcare quality and financial performance metrics. The research seeks to explicate the relationship between M&A activity and M&A experience in the healthcare industry as it relates to initiatives aimed at improving the quality and decreasing the cost of healthcare. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation appears to be contributing to a trend toward M&A consolidation; by illuminating how this trend potentially impacts healthcare quality and cost reduction initiatives, this study’s contribution is both useful and practical. The units of analysis are Medicare …

The Dialectics Of Engaging The Bop Through Microfranchising: Evidence From A Mexican Agribusiness, Rafael Hernandez Cazares

Business Administration Dissertations

Microfranchising is emerging as a potentially powerful strategy for reaching the enormous markets at the base of the pyramid (BOP). Microfranchising also represents an effective and sustainable way to contribute to poverty alleviation and economic growth. However, we know little about how organizations maneuver contradictory forces as they use this innovative business model to engage the BOP. To address this gap, I offer a longitudinal case study of an emerging microfranchise effort by a successful Mexican agribusiness—one whose ambitions to continue growing were challenged by multinational agrochemicals suppliers. As this project shows, companies and BOP markets can realize mutual benefits …

The Impact Of Financial Statements For Sec Spin Off Entities On The Market's Ability To Anticipate Future Earnings, Nancy Stempin

Business Administration Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the usefulness of spin-off historical and pro forma financial statements on the market’s ability to predict the firm’s future earnings. This study evaluates the spin-off historical and pro forma financial statements required for a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation (Form 10-12(b). The study evaluates the question Are spin-off financial statements that reflect the firm’s adoption of the accounting required for the regulation (SEC form 10-12(b)) predictive of future earnings and thus useful? According to Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 8 (SFAC8), the objective of general purpose financial reporting is that financial statements are …

The Effect Of Labeling On Mitigating Cognitive Biases About Food Irradiation: An Empirical Evaluation Of Effects On Consumers’ Attitudes And Purchase Intent, David Tatum Jr

Business Administration Dissertations

Despite the education efforts of health organizations, federal regulators, and food producers on the benefits and safety of food irradiation, consumers demonstrate considerable misinformation and express resistance to purchasing irradiated food or accepting irradiation as safe food technology, even though irradiation can substantially reduce the incidences of foodborne illnesses that hospitalize or kill thousands of American each year. Consumers’ resistance to food irradiation has been shown to be related to safety concerns (He et al., 2005), resistance to new food technologies in general (Zachman & Østby , 2011), and balancing risks against benefits regarding contracting bacterial illness and irradiation (Eustice …

Business "Buyers" Are People Too: Do Personal Characteristics Help To Explain The Effectiveness Of Selected Marketing Activities In A B2b Setting?, Joel P.D. Mier

Business Administration Dissertations

Due to its role relative to company performance, the topic of sales effectiveness has been richly explored for decades. Academic researchers in the fields of sales effectiveness, organizational purchasing, purchase types, and market segmentation have identified the importance of understanding the personal characteristics of decision makers in business-to- business (B2B) environments. Most of the historic literature focuses on demographic characteristics, which has been deemed insufficient for understanding individual’s motivations. While there has been recognition of the opportunity for psychographics and lifestyle data in B2B purchasing, there has been limited empirical research. Employing a contingency framework informed by Weitz and utilizing …

Managing Pharmaceutical Research And Development Portfolios: An Empirical Inquiry Into Managerial Decision Making In The Context Of A Merger, Catrina M. Jones

Business Administration Dissertations

Most research and development portfolio managers face one common problem: They are expected to select projects for a portfolio that will yield high returns and a viable pipeline for future growth. The onset of a merger or acquisition adds complexity to existing portfolio management challenges. Prior research has shown that most research and development projects fail or terminate after a merger or acquisition, especially within the pharmaceutical industry. This research takes a case study approach to examine how managers make decisions during the portfolio management process. We apply a narrative-based decision theory to explain what influences their decisions. The major …

Cloud Computing: Toe Adoption Factors By Service Model In Manufacturing, Michael Mckinnie

Business Administration Dissertations

Organizations are adopting cloud technologies for two primary reasons: to reduce costs and to enhance business agility. The pressure to innovate, reduce costs and respond quickly to changes in market demand brought about by intense global competition has U.S. manufacturing firms turning to cloud computing as an enabling strategy. Cloud computing is a service based information technology model that enables on-demand access to a shared pool of computing services provisioned over a broadband network. Cloud is categorized across three primary service models, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), differentiated by …

Exploring Barriers To Effective Risk Management Through A Proposed Risk Governance Framework, Edward Cho

Business Administration Dissertations

As harmful as the financial crisis of 2007-2009 was, some organizations professed some benefits as a result; “we know our risks better,” “we can better manage risks.” Many of the organizations that hailed such positives undoubtedly had what would generally be considered sound risk management systems/practices (RMS). So, what happened? What prevented organizations RMS from perhaps better mitigating risk during the recent financial crisis than was the case? Said another way, “what are barriers to effective risk management?” This study proposes a risk governance framework (RGF) that helps distinguish phases of RMS, and is grounded in Risk principles versus a …

Crafting Alliances Between A Mexican Agribusiness And The Base Of The Pyramid: An Action Research Into Strategizing, Sergio Quinonez-Romandia

Business Administration Dissertations

Crafting Alliances Between A Mexican Agribusiness And The Base Of The Pyramid:

An Action Research Into Strategizing

By

Sergio Quinones-Romandia

May 2016

Committee Chair: Lars Mathiassen

Major Academic Unit: J. Mack Robinson College of Business

More than 4 billion people in the world face hunger every day. In addition to this imperative shortcoming, the world’s poor confront other side effects of poverty as well, including violence, forced mobility, lack of access to education and early death. In a globalized world where capitalism has become the prevailing economic ideology, alleviating poverty can no longer be the exclusive responsibility of governments, richer …

Work Flexibility And Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role Of Employee Empowerment, Nizar Yaghi

Business Administration Dissertations

Job satisfaction has effects that touch both the employee and employer, these effects include career success, work-family facilitation, turnover intentions, engagement, absenteeism, and quality of work. Having work flexibility measures in the work place can lead to improved job satisfaction. In this dissertation, we study the relationship between work flexibility and job satisfaction through investigating the mediating role of employee empowerment. Building on extant theories, a partial least square structural model is developed to study the relationships between work flexibility, empowerment, and job satisfaction. Perceptions of pay and turnover intentions are included in the model as dependent constructs. The model …

Hacking Angellist: Third Party Signaling In Equity Crowdfunding, Matthew C. Klein

Business Administration Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effectiveness of third party affiliation signals that entrepreneurs use to convince investors to commit financial resources in an equity crowdfunding context. I investigate the importance of third party affiliation signals (business accelerators, investor syndicates, and startups featured on the equity crowdfunding platform) on subsequent online funding amounts. The data indicates that affiliation with an investor syndicate is an effective third party affiliation signal and can therefore strongly impact the probability of online funding amounts. Business accelerators and startups featured on the equity crowdfunding platform, by contrast, have little or no impact on online funding amounts. I …

Antecedents Of Sales Lead Performance: Improving Conversion Yield And Cycle Time In A Business-To-Business Opportunity Pipeline, William R. Bradford

Business Administration Dissertations

Identifying new potential customers and developing opportunities until converted to sales is a critical function of a sales organization. In most industrial business contexts, opportunities are monitored within a sales pipeline or funnel, to track the status and progress from the initial stage until the sale is completed, often using sales force automation tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems to manage the process. While much is written about the adoption, usage, and failures of CRM, little empirical research exists to fully examine the levers to improve the conversion performance of sales leads, particularly in a business-to-business (B2B) industrial …

Designing And Orchestrating Embedded Innovation Networks: An Inquiry Into Microfranchising In Bangladesh, Late M. Lawson-Lartego

Business Administration Dissertations

Microfranchising has emerged as a potential strategy to rapidly scale up entrepreneurship within base of the pyramid (BOP) markets in order to contribute to poverty reduction and to increase economic growth. However, we know little about how such networks are designed and orchestrated in resource-scarce settings to co-create value with the different parties involved. To address this gap, we report a longitudinal case study of an emerging microfranchise network social enterprise, currently facilitated by CARE, a global humanitarian and development organization, to provide timely access to quality, affordable agricultural input and services for millions of small-scale poor farmers in Bangladesh. …

Dynamic Capabilities To Evolve An Ambidextrous It Organization, Douglas Redden

Business Administration Dissertations

Digital disruptions are changing the healthcare ecosystem, requiring organizations to rethink IT strategies and develop new IT competencies. This study focuses on the exploitation and exploration tension that managers face within an IT organization of a global pharmaceutical company, and their response to the related environmental exigencies in healthcare. Dynamic capability theory (DC) provides the overall framing, while ambidexterity provides an understanding of top management’s response to the exploit–explore tensions that arise. This engaged scholarship longitudinal case study takes a shifting stories methodological approach to elicit participants’ reflections and interpretations of significant events, including their own role in evolving the …

Structural And Return Characteristics Of Mid-Capitalization Firms: A Study Into The Myth Around The Superior Returns Of Mid-Size Stocks, Lane Steinberger

Business Administration Dissertations

Over the years there has been significant research around the misspecification of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which challenges the linear relationship between beta and market returns. One of the biggest challenges relates to the “small-firm effect,” which states there are two classifications of stocks (large and small) and that the companies with small-market capitalizations have higher returns. However, the definition of a small-cap is vague and there has been little focus in academia on the stocks in the middle-market capitalization deciles. Despite this, institutional and retail investors created the “mid-cap” category in the early 1990s and, since then, …

Creating Value With Acquisition Based Dynamic Capabilities (Abdc): A Study Of Mergers And Acquisitions In The Regulated Energy Industry, Rich Berard Jr.

Business Administration Dissertations

M&A research has consistently shown that value is destroyed for a majority of acquirers. Despite initial small positive gains at deal announcement, within a year of closing the transaction a majority of acquirers experience overall negative returns. Nevertheless, the constant pressures to grow leave company leaders few other viable options than pursuing M&A. This ever present cycle of value destruction is of interest to both scholars and practitioners. Of interest is what can be done differently by the acquirer to prevent the inevitable value erosion from occurring. To investigate this question, the author develops an adapted version of the Acquisition …

An Ethnography Of Care Coordination In An Integrated Practice Unit For Ventilator Dependent Patients, Dianne M. Disser

Business Administration Dissertations

The growing complexity of healthcare delivery coupled with the pressures to improve cost, quality, and outcomes has healthcare leaders struggling to prioritize initiatives and programs that provide coordinated patient-centered care. It is generally accepted and most academic studies demonstrate that better care coordination will reduce redundancies, improve clinical decision making and provide patients with better care experiences. Moreover, industry leaders are pushing for reforms and policy makers have regulated structural changes aimed at improving the US healthcare system. However, to implement such changes, healthcare organizations must understand the elements of care coordination at the work flow level and how those …