Business Commons^™

When A Ban Is Not A Ban: Institutional Work And The Russian Doping Scandal, Mathew Dowling, Spencer Harris, Marvin Washington

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

There are fewer cases of such blatant acts to defy and subsequent heroic efforts to rearrange institutional norms than the Russian doping scandal. In adopting a neo-institutional perspective, the authors theorize the scandal as a case of attempted but failed institutional disruption. More specifically, the authors draw upon the institutional change literature and the institutional work perspective to explain the key events surrounding actors’ response to the scandal. The analysis utilized Gioia’s methodological approach to examine secondary empirical data. Findings reveal how stakeholders circumvented traditional governance structures in an attempt to disrupt institutional arrangements, but despite this, much of the …

Enhancement Of The Command-Line Environment For Use In The Introductory Statistics Course And Beyond, David W. Gerbing

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

R and Python are commonly used software languages for data analytics. Using these languages as the course software for the introductory course gives students practical skills for applying statistical concepts to data analysis. However, the reliance upon the command line is perceived by the typical nontechnical introductory student as sufficiently esoteric that its use detracts from the teaching of statistical concepts and data analysis. An R package was developed based on the successive feedback of hundreds of introductory statistics students over multiple years to provide a set of functions that apply basic statistical principles with command-line R. The package offers …

How To Train Your Algo: Investigating The Enablers Of Bias In Algorithmic Development, Marta Stelmaszak Rosa

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Literature on algorithmic bias identifies its source in either biased data or statistical methods, more rarely in the development of algorithmic solutions as a potential factor. Because of the prior unknowability of algorithms, data scientists developing such solutions have to take various design decisions. Drawing from the flow-oriented approach, we study algorithmic unknowability and how data scientists respond to it in 35 public data science Jupyter notebooks containing algorithmic solutions to predict customer churn in a credit card dataset on a data science platform Kaggle.com. We offer a more thorough understanding of the unknowability in algorithmic development that can enable …

Institutional Theory In Sport: A Scoping Review, Jonathan Robertson, Mathew Dowling, Marvin Washington, Becca Leopkey, Dana Lee Ellis, Lee Smith

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Institutional theory has generated considerable insight into fundamental issues within sport. This study seeks to advance Washington and Patterson’s review by providing an empirical review of institutional theory in sport. We follow Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review protocol to identify 188 sport-related institutional studies between 1979 and 2019. Our review provides evidence regarding the state of institutional scholarship within sport via an analysis of authorship, year, journal, methodology, method, study population, and use of institutional constructs (legitimacy, isomorphism, change, logics, fields, and work). Rather than a hostile takeover or a joint venture proposed in Washington and Patterson’s review, the relationship …

When Are The Bigger Fish In The Small Pond Better Citizens? A Multilevel Examination Of Relative Overqualification In Workgroups, Farid Jahantab, Prajya R. Vidyarthi, Smriti Anand, Berrin Erdogan

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we extend overqualification research to employees' social context of workgroup membership. Drawing upon social comparison theory and integrating with social exchange theory, we contend that employees' relative overqualification (ROQ, defined as individual overqualification relative to other group members' overqualification perceptions) is associated with their relative standing with their leader (measured as LMXSC, leader–member exchange social comparison), which in turn relates to employees' organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Furthermore, we assert that workgroup structural attributes and individual values (leader span of control and power distance orientation) influence the ROQ–LMXSC–OCB relationship. Multilevel modeling using data from 243 employees nested in …

Continuity In The Face Of Disruptions: Purchasing And Supply Management Research's Persistence Amidst Covid-19, Steven Carnovale, Scott Duhadway

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Undoubtedly, the history books and future research will engage in serious retrospection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions that came in its wake. What were the key drivers and antecedents of the disruptions, and how were they managed? What effective tools for managing during a global disruption were developed, tested, and proven? While the true root cases will come out eventually, one thing is for certain: purchasing and supply management was the glue that held the global economy together during what was an otherwise chaotic time. Indeed, fields such as purchasing, supply chain management, and operations management have risen …

Distressed And Distracted By Covid-19 During High-Stakes Virtual Interviews: The Role Of Job Interview Anxiety On Performance And Reactions, Julie M. Mccarthy, Donald M. Truxillo, Talya N. Bauer, Berrin Erdogan, Yiduo Shao, Mo Wang, Joshua Liff, Cari Gardner

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Employers have increasingly turned to virtual interviews to facilitate online, socially distanced selection processes in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is little understanding about the experience of job candidates in these virtual interview contexts. We draw from Event System Theory (Morgeson et al., 2015) to advance and test a conceptual model that focuses on a high-stress, high-stakes setting and integrates literatures on workplace stress with literatures on applicant reactions. We predict that when applicants ruminate about COVID-19 during an interview and have higher levels of COVID-19 exhaustion, they will have higher levels of anxiety during virtual interviews, …

Unboxing The Algorithm: A Process Model Of An Algorithmic Solution, Marta Stelmaszak Rosa

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the explosion of data, analytics and artificial intelligence, information systems research focuses on the use, management and consequences of algorithms. This far, only a handful of papers offer insights into how algorithmic solutions work. To address this gap, we studied the code making up 45 public data science Jupyter notebooks containing algorithmic solutions developed to predict customer churn in a credit card dataset on a data science platform Kaggle. com. We synthesized a process model of an algorithmic solution: preparing the environment, reading in data, cleaning data, exploratory data analysis, pre-processing the dataset, building and training the model, and …

From Early Curiosity To Space Wide Web: Emergence Of The Small Satellite Innovation Ecosystem, Yue Song, Devi R. Gnyawali, Lihong Qian

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research Questions:

• How did the small satellite ecosystem emerge and evolve?
• Although the first modern small satellite UoSat-1 was successfully launched in 1981, and the CubeSat dominant design was introduced in 1999, the sales takeoff of small satellites did not occur until the early 2010s. What explains this long time period?

Order From Chaos: A Meta-Analysis Of Supply Chain Complexity And Firm Performance, Melek Akin Ates, Robert Suurmond, Davide Luzzini, Daniel R. Krause

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increased globalization, varying customer requirements, extended product lines, uncertainty regarding supplier performance, and myriad related factors make supply chains utterly complex. While previous research indicates that supply chain complexity plays an important role in explaining performance outcomes, the accumulating evidence is ambiguous. Thus, a finer-grained analysis is required. By meta-analyzing 27,668 observations across 102 independent samples from 123 empirical studies, we examine the link between supply chain complexity and firm performance. While the preponderance of evidence from previous studies identifies supply chain complexity as detrimental to firm performance, our results illustrate that although supply chain complexity has a negative effect …

Towards A Theory Of Informal Supply Networks: An Exploratory Case Study Of The Za'atari Refugee Camp, Ismail Abushaikha, Zhaohui Wu, Theodore A. Khoury

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Studies of humanitarian supply chain operations contribute to efficient system designs for the delivery of goods and services to disaster- and conflict-stricken regions. However, our understanding of what happens to these relief goods and services after they are delivered is quite limited. Using a case study of the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan, we develop a theory of informal supply networks, whereby we uncover how refugee-led, informal supply networks emerge in the camp. We find that these supply networks are an aggregate of predominantly illicit—yet legitimate—channels and social relationships that support the economic exchange of goods and services between distinct …

When Imperfect Is Preferred: The Differential Effect Of Aesthetic Imperfections On Choice Of Processed And Unprocessed Foods, Jacob A. Suher, Courtney Szocs, Koert Van Ittersum

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some companies design processed foods to contain aesthetic imperfections such as non-uniformities in shape, color, or texture. Simultaneously, consumers annually discard millions of pounds of unprocessed, safe-to-eat fruits and vegetables owing to aesthetic imperfections. Why design processed foods with aesthetic imperfections when people discard unprocessed foods because of them? Seven studies, including a choice study at a grocery store and an incentive-compatible study, show that the effect of aesthetic imperfections on consumer preferences depends on whether foods are unprocessed or processed. While imperfections negatively influence preferences for unprocessed foods, they positively influence preferences for processed foods. We attribute this preference …

Simulating The Cause: How Grassroots Organizations Advance Their Credibility Through The Dramaturgical Curation Of Events, Theodore A. Khoury, Yuliya Shymko, Jacob Vermeire

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

To survive, nascent grassroots organizations—and their respective causes—must earn the trust of various audiences that can impact credibility advancement. However, it can be quite difficult for grassroots organizations to access suitable settings, times, and collocated audiences. One context that can yield this type of access is an event, as it constitutes a rare opportunity for organizations to engage in practices that impact credibility advancement. We investigate how a volunteer-based grassroots organization orchestrates a high-profile event at the United Nations to promote African diaspora entrepreneurs as a valuable force in the mitigation of development challenges in their home countries. We employ …

Recruiting Dark Personalities For Earnings Management, Ling L. Harris, Scott B. Jackson, Joel Owens, Nicholas Seybert

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Prior research indicates that managers’ dark personality traits increase their tendency to engage in disruptive and unethical organizational behaviors including accounting earnings management. Other research suggests that the prevalence of dark personalities in management may represent an accidental byproduct of selecting managers with accompanying desirable attributes that fit the stereotype of a “strong leader.” Our paper posits that organizations may hire some managers who have dark personality traits because their willingness to push ethical boundaries aligns with organizational objectives, particularly in the accounting context where ethical considerations are especially important. Using several validation studies and experiments, we find that experienced …

Strategic Value Creation Through Enterprise Blockchain, Kristi Yuthas, Yolanda Sarason, Asad Aziz

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies have enormous potential for creating business value but have not yet been widely adopted. Enterprise blockchain systems are recognised as solutions to existing operational problems or ‘pain points’ but their potential for delivering value through strategic opportunities is not well understood. Drawing from literature on strategic alliances and the resource-based view of the firm, we identify avenues through which blockchain systems can contribute to a firm’s strategic capabilities and, as a result, to its sustained competitive advantage. We provide a framework for understanding how participation in blockchain solutions can enable companies to build upon …

How Blockchain And Ai Enable Personal Data Privacy And Support Cybersecurity, Stanton Heister, Kristi Yuthas

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent increases in security breaches and digital surveillance highlight the need for improved privacy and security, particularly over users’ personal data. Advances in cybersecurity and new legislation promise to improve data protection. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies provide novel opportunities for protecting user data through decentralized identity and other privacy mechanisms. These systems can allow users greater sovereignty through tools that enable them to own and control their own data. Artificial intelligence provides further possibilities for enhancing system and user security, enriching data sets, and supporting improved analytical models.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Transit Workers: Perceptions Of Employer Responses And Associations With Health Factors, Sean P.M. Rice, Leah S. Greenspan, Talya N. Bauer, Jarred Rimby, Todd Bodner, Ryan Olson

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on transit workers’ lives, especially among public-facing vehicle operators. The current project examined relationships between workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer’s COVID-19 safety responses, job attitudes, and health. We surveyed transit workers (N = 174) between July and August 2020 and followed up 3 months later. Fifty-seven workers responded to the follow-up survey. Surveys addressed workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended COVID-19 safety responses, COVID-19 risk perceptions, job attitudes, and health factors. Employees reported knowledge of their employer implementing ~8 of 12 CDC-recommended responses. …

Data Are In The Eye Of The Beholder: Co-Creating The Value Of Personal Data, Marta Stelmaszak Rosa, Glenn Parry

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

The value of personal data has traditionally been understood in economic terms, but recent scholarship casts the value of data as multi-faceted, dynamic, emergent and co-created by stakeholders. The dynamics of the co-creation of value with personal data lacks empirical study. We conduct a case study of the development of a personalised e-book and find different perceptions of the value of personal data exist from the firm, intermediary and customer perspective: means to an end, medium of exchange and net benefit. The different data perspectives highlight ontological differences in the perception of what data are. This creates epistemological tension and …