Business Commons^™

An Inquiry Into The Aviation Management Education Paradigm Shift, Matthew P. Earnhardt, Jason M. Newcomer, Daryl V. Watkins, James W. Marion

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Working adults with four-year degrees from accredited colleges or universities earn, on average, almost three times more than individuals without a degree. This pay gap led Newcomer and his colleagues to study attitudes of aviation and aerospace managers towards education. That study found that managers valued education in new hires, even though they did not deem it critical to their own positions. That finding indicated a potential paradigm shift towards the perceived value of education in the industry.

In the current qualitative, phenomenological research, we interviewed 14 managers from various capacities within the aviation and aerospace industries to determine the …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Interpreting And Responding To Strategic Issues: The Impact Of National Culture, Susan C. Schneider, Arnoud De Meyer

Arnoud DE MEYER

Perceptions of environmental uncertainty and organizational control influence strategic behavior. As national culture influences these perceptions we expect to find cultural differences in interpretation and response to strategic issues. Given a case describing an issue concerning deregulation of the U.S. banking industry, managers completed questionnaires rating interpretations and responses to that issue. National culture was found to influence interpretation and responses. In particular, Latin European managers when compared with other managers were more likely to interpret the issue as a crisis and as a threat. Latin Europeans were also more likely to recommend proactive behavior. This study indicates that different …

Managing Expert Systems: A Framework And Case Study, Rob R. Weitz, Arnoud De Meyer

Arnoud DE MEYER

This paper addresses the problem of managing the development and implementation of a large expert system in an organization. A traditional systems analysis and design methodology is used as a framework to highlight similarities and differences in managing large scale traditional computer based projects and large expert systems. As a non-technical, prescriptive guide, this article focusses on defining at each stage in the project, the tasks to be accomplished, resources required, impact on the organization, likely benefits and potential problems. The case of a large expert system implemented by a multinational corporation across several European sites is used to clarify …

Aviation Managers’ Perspective On The Importance Of Education, Jason M. Newcomer, James W. Marion Jr, Matthew P. Earnhardt

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that working adults with at least a four-year college degree earned an annual average salary of $63,400 compared to the $24,300 salary of high school graduates with no college. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was to survey managers in the U.S. aviation industry to describe their perspective on how education has impacted them. Following a robust review of the literature, we analyzed the responses from 103 managers’ and discovered that there is a significant association between degree importance and level of education among aviation managers that has application to professional practice. The …

Appropriation Or Participation Of The Individual In Knowledge Management, Isabel D. W. Rechberg, Jawad Syed

Publications and Research

Purpose- This review paper examines whether there is a tendency towards appropriation or participation of the individual in the literature of knowledge management (KM).

Design/methodology/approach- This is a literature review paper. In terms of approach, appropriation in this paper is referred to as the KM tasks assigned to individual employees by the management whereas participation is referred to as KM tasks determined jointly by individuals and management.

Findings- The review suggests that while the participation of individuals is seen as important for KM, the KM discourse and practice is visibly oriented towards the appropriation of individual employees and their knowledge …

Impact Of The Ceo Effect On Premiums In Mergers And Acquisitions, Caitlin Duncan

Honors Scholar Theses

The rationale behind a merger or acquisition is to improve the financial performance of the acquiring firm. Many factors go into the the valuation of a company and consequently the premium paid.

This paper will examine what impact upper management, specifically the CEO, has on the valuation of a company during mergers and acquisitions. This impact, called the CEO effect, will be central to the paper. Different valuation methods of this effect, as well as firm valuations, will be analyzed and considered. Specifically, how the CEO effect affects the premium paid by the acquiring firm will be the main focus. …

The Effects Of Group Personality Composition On Project Team Performance: Operationalizations And Outcomes, Mark Collins

Doctoral Dissertations

Teams are used to achieve organizational goals and objectives, and their success has led to a broad increase in their use in businesses, non-profits and NGO’s. Extant research suggests that group personality composition is related to team performance (Barry and Stewart, 1996; Halfhill, Nielsen, Sundstrom, and Weilbaecher, 2005; Peeters, Rutte, Tuijl, and Reymen, 2006; Bell, 2007). Project teams are frequently used in the business world and undertake a wide variety of tasks (Hackman, 1990). This paper investigates the relationship between the group personality composition of project teams and team performance. The study context is project teams involved in a semester-long …

Improving Financial And Personnel Management At Petsfirst! Wellness Center, Andrew Arveseth

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A part of my coursework in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, I was able to participate in a management internship at PetsFirst! Wellness Center. This internship provided me with the opportunity to really evaluate and understand multiple elements of a management position. I specifically focused on client incentives, cost management, and human resources during the course of my internship project at this veterinary clinic. My responsibilities in each of these business functions helped me develop the skills necessary to effectively hold a management position after graduation.

Surviving Beyond A Third Generation, Andreas Raharso

Asian Management Insights

Family-owned businesses’ continued survival is unsure. Research indicates the most likely cause is their pursuit of professionalisation.

A Multilevel Analysis Of Problem-Based Learning Design Characteristics, Kimberly S. Scott

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

The increasing use of experience-centered approaches like problem-based learning (PBL) by learning and development practitioners and management educators has raised interest in how to design, implement and evaluate PBL in that field. Of particular interest is how to evaluate the relative impact of design characteristics that exist at the individual and team levels of analysis. This study proposes and tests a multilevel model of PBL design characteristics. Participant perceptions of PBL design characteristics are used to examine PBL reactions and perceived learning outcomes. Findings affirm the importance of problem design characteristics and effective team facilitation, while raising new questions about …

The Story As A Cultural Transmitter: Applications For Business Education, Carol Blaszczynski, Ph.D.

International Journal for Business Education

Stories assist in transmitting cultural wisdom, including wisdom about the business community. The role of stories in various contexts such as education (including international management), management, and marketing, as well as the job search is explained. The article concludes by presenting instructional activities for business education that develop cultural competence through stories.

Waste Management And Energy Recovery: A Significant Business Issue, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

Waste Management and energy recovery has become a significant business issue for hospitality establishments in recent years. Hospitality establishments have to be more concerned about waste in their businesses and be able to adopt systems to reduce, reuse and recover waste. This challenge is the result of a variety of factors, most notably the charges involved in waste removal and cost of every businesses energy needs. Costs have grown dramatically, landfill capacity has become increasingly scarce and expensive. Stringent legislation has been introduced around the world to ensure optimum waste management and energy recovery practices in hospitality businesses. Opportunities have …

The Dark Side Of Leadership: Dealing With A Narcissistic Boss, Thomas W. Camm

Mining Engineering

Some of the defining characteristics of narcissists include a grandiose sense of self-importance, preoccupation with success and power, a sense of infallibility, and a supreme confidence in their ability and intelligence. Ironically, many of these characteristics are rewarded in business organizations, which may explain why there seems to be so many narcissists in management positions. Assuming we will be dealing with narcissists throughout our career, it makes sense for us to understand what makes them tick, and more importantly what we can do to work with them in a constructive manner.

Maine Sea Grant Annual Report 2014, Maine Sea Grant

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Globally, seaweeds represent an $8 billion industry, which presents several opportunities to fishermen and sea farmers in Maine’s coastal environment, especially given the continued restrictions in several major state and federal fisheries. With support from her partners and other Marine Extension Team (MET) members, Sarah Redmond is leading the effort to bring local sea vegetables to market through research, education, and outreach. New nursery cultivation techniques for native species are under development with Sea Grant support, and funding from the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center provided for transfer of seaweed cultivation technology to industry. In 2014, Sea Grant provided approximately 5,600 …

Follow Me! Followership, Leadership And The Multigenerational Workforce, Ronald M. Johnson

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

This research was designed to develop an understanding of today's multigenerational workforce with respect to a preferred styles or characteristics of followership and leadership. Specifically this research sought to determine if there was a relationship between an individual's generational cohort and the preferred styles of leadership and followership, as measured by implicit theories of leadership and followership. Therefore, this study draws upon generational theory (Mannheim, 1952), implicit theories of leadership (Epitropaki & Martin, 2004) and implicit theories of followership (Sy, 2010). The changes in the composition of the US workforce which have occurred, and which will continue to occur in …

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

Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award

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 …

Sustainability Efforts Of One Oil Company In Niger Delta Of Nigeria, Charles Afam Anosike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Environmental degradation and socioeconomic dilemma continue to stigmatize oil production in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Sustainability programs of oil companies often determine the improvement of living conditions in the region. This explanatory qualitative case study, guided by systems thinking theory and sustainable value framework, explored practitioners' perceptions of sustainability programs to identify its impact on business and the host communities. The research question was designed to address how sustainability efforts of a single oil company in the Niger Delta contributed to the business performance and the livelihood of the local people. Research data were gathered from a sample of …

Facilitating Successful Failures, Michelle M. Harner, Jamie Marincic Griffin

Faculty Scholarship

Approximately 80,000 businesses fail each year in the United States. This article presents an original empirical study of over 400 business restructuring professionals focused on a critical, arguably contributing factor to these failures—the conduct of boards of directors and management. Anecdotal evidence suggests that management of distressed companies often bury their heads in the sand until it is too late to remedy the companies’ problems, a phenomenon commonly called “ostrich syndrome.” The data confirm this behavior, show a prevalent use of loss framing, and suggest trends consistent with prospect theory. The article draws on these data and behavioral economics to …

A Distributed Consensus Algorithm For Decision Making In Service-Oriented Internet Of Things, Shancang Li, George Oikonomou, Theo Tryfonas, Thomas M. Chen, Li Da Xu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In a service-oriented Internet of things (IoT) deployment, it is difficult to make consensus decisions for services at different IoT edge nodes where available information might be insufficient or overloaded. Existing statistical methods attempt to resolve the inconsistency, which requires adequate information to make decisions. Distributed consensus decision making (CDM) methods can provide an efficient and reliable means of synthesizing information by using a wider range of information than existing statistical methods. In this paper, we first discuss service composition for the IoT by minimizing the multi-parameter dependent matching value. Subsequently, a cluster-based distributed algorithm is proposed, whereby consensuses are …