Business Commons^™

Women In The Workforce: An In-Depth Analysis Of Gender Roles And Compensation Inequity In The Modern Workplace, Rebecca L. Ziman

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper explores the increase in participation and education of American women in the workforce with a special focus on women in business and accounting roles. The paper then goes on to discuss the wage gap between genders, how to remedy inequality in the workplace, and highlights several reasons why pursing a solution to gender inequality is beneficial for both the employee and the company.

A Simple, Practical Prioritization Scheme For A Job Shop Processing Multiple Job Types, Shuping Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

The maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) process is used to recondition equipment in the railroad, off-shore drilling, aircraft, and shipping industries. In the typical MRO process, the equipment is disassembled into component parts and these parts are routed to back-shops for repair. Repaired parts are returned for reassembling the equipment. Scheduling the back-shop for smooth flow often requires prioritizing the repair of component parts from different original assemblies at different machines. To enable such prioritization, we model the back-shop as a multi-class queueing network with a ConWIP execution system and introduce a new priority scheme to maximize the system performance. …

Real-Time Order Tracking For Supply Systems With Multiple Transportation Stages, Nana Bryan

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies a supply system consisting of a retailer, a manufacturer, and multiple transportation stages. The manufacturer fulfills the demand from the retailer for a single product. The replenishment process is not instantaneous. Orders may take more than one time period to be shipped from the manufacturer’s location, and shipped orders pass through multiple transportation stages until they reach the retailer. Each stage may represent a physical location or a step in the delivery process. Shipments are not allowed to cross over in time. The movement of each shipment depends on the congestion and movements of shipments ahead of …

Understanding Collaborative Dynamics: A Critical Review And Inductive Investigation, Amydee Mackley Fawcett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Collaboration has been a topic of discussion for over 20 years. Managers are consistently calling for better collaboration and researchers have argued that managing tightly coupled relationships creates a co-mingling of complementary competencies that establishes distinctive advantages for firms. Even though there have been a few exemplar companies that have been capable of truly developing these complementary competencies, few companies truly understand the dynamics of a collaborative capability. This dissertation reviews the theoretical conceptualization and operationalization of tightly coupled relationships and through an interpretive analysis, begins to provide clarity to the following questions:

* Under what conditions are tightly coupled …

Data Science In Supply Chain Management: Data-Related Influences On Demand Planning, Yao Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data-driven decisions have become an important aspect of supply chain management. Demand planners are tasked with analyzing volumes of data that are being collected at a torrential pace from myriad sources in order to translate them into actionable business intelligence. In particular, demand volatilities and planning are vital for effective and efficient decisions. Yet, the accuracy of these metrics is dependent on the proper specification and parameterization of models and measurements. Thus, demand planners need to step away from a "black box" approach to supply chain data science. Utilizing paired weekly point-of-sale (POS) and order data collected at retail distribution …

Understanding The Antecedent Competencies Of Organizational Risk Management Capabilities, Jason Riley

All Dissertations

Hurricanes, tsunamis, and terrorism, are visible catastrophes that disrupt continuity for many organizations. Yet behind the curtain, there are multitudes of smaller events that cause supply chain disruptions. For example, quality issues, shipping delays, information system malfunction, demand spikes, and inventory mismanagement can quickly ripple from one supply chain to another. Practitioners work feverishly to contain small interruptions, while large disruptions can upset the supply chain for multiple organizations and depress an organization's financial valuation by up to 40%.
This study extends risk management thinking by exploring behavioral-based practices, rather than buffer inventory, redundant capacity, or financial countermeasures, as these …

Essays On Service Strategies: Evidence From Banking And Healthcare Industries, Sriram Venkataraman

All Dissertations

The primary objective of this dissertation is to provide insights for service providers in general, and retail bankers and hospital administrators in particular, that will help them improve their operational efficiency and effectiveness. In doing so, this dissertation consists of three essays that develop multiple service operations strategies, that identifies key elements affecting efficiency and effectiveness in two key critical industries: banking and healthcare. We contribute to service operations strategy research and practice by incorporating multi-disciplinary theories and approaches from marketing, economics, and quality management. Although operations researchers and practitioners alike realize the importance of productivity and effectiveness, they are …

Top Management Team Behavioral Integration, Organizational Ambidexterity, And Small Firms' Performance: The Moderating Effect Of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Huy Quang Tran

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This dissertation research examines organizational ambidexterity (OA)–a concept first introduced in organizational learning literature and conceptualized as an interaction between exploration and exploitation–and its relationships with a managerial antecedent and an organizational outcome in the context of small businesses. Drawing on strategic choice and upper echelons theory, the present study suggests that top management team (TMT) behavioral integration plays a critical role in managing the interaction between exploration and exploitation. Specifically, this research proposes a positive association between TMT behavioral integration and OA. Furthermore, it suggests that small firms manage the interaction between exploration and exploitation differently depending on their …

Assessing The Impact Of Conflict-Type On Decision-Effectiveness In Top Management Teams: The Moderating Effect Of Attributions, Emotions, Conflict-Handling Behavior, And The Environment, Kevin J. Hurt

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Conflict is considered a multi-dimensional concept conveying both constructive and destructive overtones. Within a strategic decision-making team, conflict can have positive and negative effects, which collectively are considered `paradoxical' because they can simultaneously lead to improved group decisions along with decreased member commitment. Decision quality and commitment to the decision are a requisite of high performance; yet, some suggest that these cannot co-exist because of conflict's paradoxical effects in the decision-making process. The early consensus on conflict research suggests that one form of conflict, i.e. cognitive, yields positive effects, whereas another form of conflict, i.e. affective, yields negative results. Not …

Organizational Change: Models For Successfully Implementing Change, Ashley May Calder

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Does it matter what change model is used to make a change in an organization? If so, why? Are certain models more effective than others based on the kind of change that is made (i.e. technology-based verses people-based)? What overlaps exist between these models? What is the strongest point of each model? What is the weakest point? Are any of the change models currently used in companies? This article defines three change models: ADIKAR, Lewin's Change Model and John Kotter's Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change. Using 16 personal interviews with individuals from large and small companies, I will explain …

The Value Of A College Degree: What Price Is Society Willing To Pay?, Olu Osuntuyi

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The economic value that accrues from those who earn four-year university degrees and graduate degrees will be the focus of this paper. Higher education influences economic well-being in other ways as well. The economic impacts of expenditures by institutions, their employees and their students already have been well documented buy others. The benefits of knowledge creation - research and development- at universities will be examined and compared.

Education provides a variety of benefits to students including enhanced social skills, greater awareness of human achievement and an appreciation for cultural diversity. IN this time period that we live in, education is …

The Impact Of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods On Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes And Behavior, Jiaqi Zhu

Open Access Theses

Zhu, Jiaqi. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. The Impact of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods on Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes and Behavior. Major Professors: Barbara A. Almanza, Carl A. Behnke.

Obesity is a major public health threat. It not only creates challenges for those who are obese and overweight, but also brings an economic burden to the whole society. One important contributing factor for obesity is food eaten away from home, which accounts for more than 40% of American's food budget. Although chain quick-service restaurants are required by law to post calorie information on menus and menu boards, the efficacy of menu …

The Effect Of Online Customer Reviews On Customer's Perceived Risk Associated With Online Leisure Hotel Booking, Biwei Yang

Open Access Theses

As online shopping is widely used in the hospitality industry, research in this field constantly strives to understand the customer behavior in online purchasing activities. Online customer reviews (OCRs) and perceived risk have been extensively evaluated in previous studies in related with online purchasing. In spite of the large body of work on the topic of OCRs effect on consumer behavior, it is still unclear that how OCRs affect the decision process of the consumers when they make online booking. Due to the intangibility of hospitality or tourism product and the nature of online booking, risk perception is considered as …

A Systematic Approach To Manage Missing Data In Pavement Management Systems, Mazin M. Al-Zou'bi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Pavements are an important part of the highway transportation infrastructure, accounting for the largest share of the overall investment. A tremendous amount of time and money is spent each year on the construction of new pavements, as well as on the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing pavements.

Transportation agencies use pavement management systems (PMS) for their maintenance and rehabilitation planning, programming, and budgeting. PMS are used to make decisions regarding when maintenance and rehabilitation should be applied. The systems also select what type of treatment should be applied for each pavement section in the network with clear estimations of the …

The Effects Of Cooperative Training Method On The Performance Of Confucian Heritage Culture Employees In Food Service Industry, Shuqian Zhang

Open Access Theses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of the cooperative training method on Confucian heritage culture employees in a college food service operation. An experiment was devised and carried out in food service setting in a large Midwestern university to test the effect of cooperative training on four variables, speed, self-efficacy, accuracy on setting an American formal table and satisfaction with training. Data were collected before and after the training from 23 subjects in the experimental group, and 22 subjects in the control group. Paired t test and two-sample t test were used to test the …

The Impact Of Availability Of Vegetarian Menu Items On Consumers' Behavioral Intention, Mengwei Yue

Open Access Theses

Yue, Mengwei. M.S., Purdue University, December, 2013. The Impact of Availability of Vegetarian Menu Items on Consumers' Behavioral Intention. Major Professor: Douglas C. Nelson.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the availability of vegetarian menu items affects customers' behavioral intention using the theory of planned behavior and the impact vegetarian-friendly menus have on vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian customers when they make their restaurant selections. This paper also discussed the implications for a vegetarian lifestyle on the food service industry and menu development in restaurants. Seven hypotheses related to the relationship among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived …

Evaluating Food Safety Systems Development And Implementation By Quantifying Haccp Training Durability, Marienne A. Anandappa

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

HACCP-based food safety programs have been widely acclaimed, accepted and implemented as an effective means of managing food safety risks. While HACCP training is a cornerstone of managing HACCP programs, there is little information about the effectiveness of HACCP training and the durability of HACCP knowledge. Findings reveal a link between involvement level in HACCP activities and the accuracy of HACCP knowledge over time. Opportunities for peer training in HACCP, irrespective of overall experience in the food industry provide favorable circumstances for maintaining accuracy of HACCP knowledge. The optimal window for engaging employees in HACCP is directly following the completion …

The Use Of Financial Statements To Predict The Stock Market Effects Of Systemic Crises, Mohammad Yahia Almakrami

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The financial crisis of 2007-2009 had divesting effects around the globe. Many financial institutions and government officials failed to see the build up of problems predicting the crisis and hence failed to take actions to keep the crisis from breaking out. Thus, it is important to see if the emerging problems could have been identified in advance in order to develop types of analysis that could help us avoid future crises. A full investigation of such possibilities will require many different studies taking different approaches. This dissertation contributes to that collective effort by investigating the extent to which balance sheet …

Supply Chain Management: Impact Of Customer Relationship Marketing On Performance Under Cooperation And Competition Strategies, Maria Eugenia Barua

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The dissertation investigation proposes a modified supply chain management model that is grounded on marketing theory and the concept of production sharing. Specifically, the model challenges the traditional cooperation-conflict continuum of strategic marketing management with a new managerial approach based on a cooperation-competition continuum. I investigate the significance of the new model in explaining behaviors in the supply chain management and its performance. In addition, I investigate whether the proposed managerial continuum (cooperation-competition) is consistent with other behaviors including power, conflict, trust, and customer relationship marketing such that coordination and supply chain performance is enhanced.

The data collection from manufacturers, …

Conflict Management Between Employees From Different Departments : Contribution Of Organizational Identification And Controversy, Taohong Zhu

Theses & Dissertations

Synthesizing theories of social identity, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study built and tested a theoretical model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through constructive controversy (i.e. the open-minded discussion for mutual benefit) dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that organizational identification moderates the link between interdepartmental goal interdependence and constructive controversy.

An interview sample of 129 employees from various business organizations and diverse industries in mainland China described and rated a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from another department in …