Business Commons^™

Service Undone: A Grounded Theory Of Strategically Constructed Silos And Their Impact On Customer-Company Interactions From The Perspective Of Retail Employees, Kelley O'Reilly

Kelley A. O'Reilly

This work elaborates the impacts of strategically constructed silos that are not byproducts of flagging cross-departmental cooperation or the cumulative effect of decades of decentralized command and control. Rather, these silos are strategically intended structures within organizations. Most significantly, the substantive theory of strategically constructed silos and their impact on customer service contributes to the field by illustrating the presence and consequence of silos occurring in suboptimal conditions. The existence of silos has implications that extend far beyond the retail area.

A key take-away from this research is that contrary to how most customer service processes are designed, not all …

Slippage In The System: The Effects Of Errors In Transactive Memory Behavior On Team Performance, Matthew Pearsall, Aleksander Ellis, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Although researchers have consistently shown that the implicit coordination provided by transactive memory positively affects team performance, the benefits of transactive memory systems depend heavily on team members’ ability to accurately identify the expertise of their teammates and communicate expertise-specific information with one another. This introduces the opportunity for errors to enter the system, as the expertise of individual team members may be misunderstood or misrepresented, leading to the reliance on information from the wrong source or the loss of information through incorrect assignment. As Hollingshead notes, “information may be transferred or explicitly delegated to the ‘wrong’ individual in …

Strategic Leadership And Innovation In High Technology Firms, Terri Scandura

Terri A. Scandura

Did you ever wonder what the organizations that produce some of the high tech gadgets we marvel at such as the IPhone and the Blu-ray player are like? How do their leaders create and maintain a spirit of innovation that produces these hit products? High technology firms face unique challenges because of the fast paced and ever-changing landscape of their industry. Intellectual capital and innovation have become the key sources of competitive advantage in a wide range of industries and many have argued that the key to the future competitiveness of organizations in the U.S and abroad is the ability …

Advances In Technology-Based Training, Bradford Bell, Steve Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] There is a growing utilization of technology-based training in the workplace. The 2005 State of the Industry Report published by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) revealed that in the average organization, technology-based training accounted for 28.1 percent of all training hours in 2004 (Sugrue and Rivera, 2005). The report also revealed that the utilization of technology-based training has almost doubled since 2002 and is projected to further increase to 32.5 percent in 2005. In this chapter, we examine this trend and explore recent advances in technology-based training. We begin by discussing the environmental factors pushing companies …

Disentangling Achievement Orientation And Goal Setting: Effects On Self-Regulatory Processes, Steve Kozlowski, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

The Heckhausen and Kuhl (1985) goal typology provided the conceptual foundation for this research, which examined the independent and integrated effects of achievement orientation and goal setting approaches on trainees’ self-regulatory activity. Using a complex computer-based simulation, the authors examined the effects of three training design factors cutting across these two theoretical domains – goal frame, goal content, and goal proximity – on the nature, focus, and quality of the self-regulatory activities of 524 trainees. Results revealed that all three factors had a significant influence on self-regulation, with goal content exhibiting the greatest influence. In line with expectations, congruent learning …

Mentors Give Female Leaders Business Boost

Terri A. Scandura

No abstract provided.

Self-Assessments Of Knowledge: Where Do We Go From Here?, Bradford Bell, Jessica Federman

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] In this paper, we argue that there remain several unanswered questions surrounding self-assessments of knowledge that must be addressed before we can reach a more definitive conclusion on the viability of these measures. The answers to these questions may provide further evidence that self-assessments should not be used as an indicator of learning or they may serve to qualify the conditions under which self-assessments can be used with reasonable confidence. In either case, addressing these issues is critical if work in this area is to influence how researchers and practitioners evaluate trainees’ learning.

Current Issues And Future Directions In Simulation-Based Training In North America, Bradford Bell, Adam Kanar, Steve Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

A number of emerging challenges including globalization, economic pressures, and the changing nature of work have combined to create a business environment that demands innovative, flexible training solutions. Simulations are a promising tool for creating more realistic, experiential learning environments to meet these challenges. Unfortunately, the current literature on simulation-based training paints a mixed picture as to the effectiveness of simulations as training tools, with most of the previous research focusing on the specific technologies used in simulation design and little theory-based research focusing on the instructional capabilities or learning processes underlying these technologies. This article examines the promise and …

Distributed Learning System Design: A New Approach And An Agenda For Future Research, Bradford Bell, Steve Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

This article presents a theoretical framework designed to guide distributed learning design, with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness of distributed learning systems. The authors begin with a review of the extant research on distributed learning design, and themes embedded in this literature are extracted and discussed to identify critical gaps that should be addressed by future work in this area. A conceptual framework that integrates instructional objectives, targeted competencies, instructional design considerations, and technological features is then developed to address the most pressing gaps in current research and practice. The rationale and logic underlying this framework is explicated. The …

Work Groups And Teams In Organizations, Steve Kozlowski, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Our objective in this chapter is to provide an integrative perspective on work groups and teams in organizations, one that addresses primary foci of theory and research, highlights applied implications, and identifies key issues in need of research attention and resolution. Given the volume of existing reviews, our review is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, it uses representative work to characterize key topics, and focuses on recent work that breaks new ground to help move theory and research forward. Although our approach risks trading breadth for depth, we believe that there is much value in taking a more …

Business Ethics - University Of New Mexico, Robert Phillips

Robert Phillips

No abstract provided.

Teaching Business Ethics - University Of New Mexico, Robert Phillips

Robert Phillips

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Personality And Self-Report Abilities, Julie Schermer, Andrew Johnson, Philip Vernon, Kerry Jang

Andrew M. Johnson

The relationship between self-report abilities and personality was examined at both the phenotypic (zero-order) level as well as at the genetic and environmental levels. Twins and siblings (N = 516) completed self-report ability and personality questionnaires. A factor analysis of the ability questions revealed 10 factors, including politics, interpersonal relationships, practical tasks, intellectual pursuits, academic skills, entrepreneur/business, domestic skills, vocal abilities, and creativity. Five personality factors were examined, including extraversion, conscientiousness, dependence, aggression, and openness. At the phenotypic level, the correlations between the ability factor scores and personality factor scores ranged from 0 to .60 (between political abilities and extraversion). …

On The Broader View Of The Open Source Paradigm: The Case For Agricultural Biotechnology, Geoffrey Black, Meredith Taylor, Wita Wojtkowski

Wita Wojtkowski

This study reviews the use and advantages of open source software licensing and examines how the use of similar arrangements could increase productivity and innovation in other industries where intellectual property rights (IPR) protection has relied on proprietary measures and where rapid technological innovation is important. We observe that a reliance on proprietary, closed source protection of intellectual property in agricultural biotechnology has hindered product development and resulted in spiraling research and development costs. Reduced research productivity and increasing costs are of serious concern to practitioners, academicians, and policy makers. We show that lessons learned from the open source initiatives …

A Conceptual Framework For Assessing The Transferability Of The The Japanese Kaizen Management Techniques To Manufacturing Plants In Ethiopia, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta