Business Commons^™

Your Community Gets A B- : Analysis Of The Specific And Curious Realm Of Airport Bond Ratings, Richard R. Hawkins, Stephen A. Lemay, Peter M. Ralston

Peter Ralston

Commercial airports are publicly-owned transportation infrastructure, usually funded with bonds. The bond rating decision for these entities thus has important ramifications for bond investors, issuers, airport managers, and even the communities the airports serve, but the rating decision process is not well understood. This paper discusses a simulation of the rating process in two decision environments, including a downgrade. The effect of information framing in an environment of incomplete data is examined using amateur evaluators. Amateur evaluators were utilized to understand how people with limited financial analysis skills would respond when presented with incomplete information and a primed scenario. The …

Enhancing Dyadic Performance Through Boundary Spanners And Innovation: An Assessment Of Service Provider–Customer Relationships, Scott J. Grawe, Patricia J. Daughterty, Peter M. Ralston

Peter Ralston

Firms recognize that working together through collaborative relationships offers potential benefits such as improving cooperation, information sharing, and overall performance. An additional and extremely valuable benefit of working together is the potential for creating innovative business approaches and solutions. Thus, developing external linkages has become a higher priority within many organizations. Boundary spanning employees offer one means of achieving closer cross‐firm relationships. We investigate the roles of boundary spanners by examining service providers and their relationships with customers. More specifically, we examine boundary spanning employees that are physically on‐site at customer facilities. Results provide strong support that boundary spanners perceiving …

Logistics Salience Impact On Logistics Capabilities And Performance, Peter M. Ralston, Scott J. Grawe, Patricia J. Daugherty

Peter Ralston

Purpose – The purpose of this manuscript is to assess the impact of logistics salience on logistics capabilities and performance. Specifically, the impact of logistics salience on logistics innovativeness and logistics service differentiation is measured along with logistics innovativeness and logistics service differentiation effect on logistics performance. Design/methodology/approach – Conclusions were drawn from survey data gathered from logistics and supply chain managers at US firms. Structural equation modelling was utilized to measure the statistical significance of the hypothesized model paths with all findings meeting the basic requirements of interpretation. Findings – The results suggest that logistics salience positively impacts both …

The Past And Future Of Supply Chain Collaboration: A Literature Synthesis And Call For Research, Peter M. Ralston, R. Glenn Richey, Scott J. Grawe

Peter Ralston

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide scholarly and practical benefits by detailing the past and suggesting a future research agenda for supply chain (SC) collaboration. A literature review is utilized to examine what has been investigated prior, and what remains to be analyzed, in order to assist today’s managers and researchers. The research expands the understanding of SC collaboration from a focal firm perspective while providing boundaries for future investigation and at the same time detailing the current state of collaboration to practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach The current research utilizes a systematic review of the literature to shape a …

The Venture Capital Investment Bust: Did Agency Costs Play A Role? Was It Something Lawyers Helped Structure?, Joseph Bankman, Marcus Cole

G. Marcus Cole

This Article examines the question of why venture capital firms would continue to raise technology funds, and then invest those funds, when they were certain that the business markets for such investments were overvalued preceding the “crash” of April 2000. We interviewed a number of venture capitalists, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and other industry observers in search of an explanation. The explanations offered by key decision makers for the observed investment behavior can be categorized as of three types of theories: agency cost theories, herd behavior and other cognitive bias theories, and non–agency cost theories. Agency cost theories suggest that the activity …

Project Manager Motivation: Job Motivators And Maintenance Factors, Thomas G. Henkel, James W. Marion Jr, Debra T. Bourdeau

Tom G. Henkel

The present study explored the applicable motivation factors that contribute to job satisfactory in terms of job motivators and maintenance factors when working projects. Students enrolled in a university advanced project management leadership course were asked to respond to a job motivators and maintenance factors self-assessment which is a useful framework to determine the factors that contribute to their motivation when working projects (Lusser & Achua, 2016). A chi-square test was conducted to determine if the observed values were significantly different from an expected value of 18. The chi-square goodness of fit test led to the rejection of H10 and …

Project Manager Leadership Styles: Task Vs. People-Oriented, Thomas G. Henkel, James W. Marion Jr, Debra T. Bourdeau

Tom G. Henkel

The present study explored applicable leadership behavior in terms of concern for task and/or people-oriented when leading project teams. Students enrolled in a university Master of Science in Project Management degree program were asked to respond to the Fielder Leadership Style Self-Assessment which is a useful framework to determine task versus people-oriented leadership (Lusser & Achua, 2016). A chi-square test was conducted to determine if the observed values were significantly different from an expected value of five. With a p value

Project Manager Leadership Behavior: Task-Oriented Versus Relationship-Oriented, Thomas G. Henkel, James W. Marion Jr, Debra T. Bourdeau

Tom G. Henkel

In this paper, we examined managers’ leadership behavior when working on a simulated team project regarding task-oriented versus relationship-oriented leadership behavior to effectively achieve successful project completion. Managers attending an advanced project management development program responded to the Fielder Leadership Behavior Style Self-Assessment, which is a useful framework to determine task-oriented versus relationship-oriented leadership behavioral styles. The degree of task-oriented versus relationship-oriented leadership behavior styles was assessed to determine the approach taken by the managers for achieving successful project completion. A Pearson’s chi-square test was conducted to determine whether the observed values were significantly different from an expected value of …

A Field Study: Managers’ Work Behavioral Styles, Thomas G. Henkel

Tom G. Henkel

Over the years, personality assessment tests have allowed employers and managers to discover the personal types regarding strengths and weaknesses of their employees and themselves. This includes how they process and organize information, make decisions, and interact with team members and other stakeholders (PMBOK, 2017). The present research study explored the applicable work behavioral styles of experienced managers attending an advanced leadership educational program. Seven hundred and fifty-three experienced managers agreed to reveal their results, and descriptive statistics were conducted to determine their behavioral work styles. The results may provide a better understanding of managers’ behavioral work styles, which characterize …

A Field Study: An Examination Of Managers’ Situational Leadership Styles, Thomas G. Henkel, Debra T. Bourdeau

Tom G. Henkel

The present study explored the applicable situational leadership styles of experienced military managers attending an advanced leadership educational program. While attending this program, these managers were requested to reveal the results of their situational leadership self-assessment in which they participated. A total of 620 managers agreed to reveal their results, and descriptive statistics were conducted to determine the findings of their situational leadership self-assessments. The study research results revealed two situational leadership styles were predominating: (Telling and Participating). The findings of research study have significant implications for managers when leading individuals and teams for organizational success. These findings also may …

Sales And Operations Planning (S&Op): A Group Effectiveness Approach, Scott C. Ambrose, Brian N. Rutherford

Scott C. Ambrose

Sales and Operations planning (S&OP) is an approach meant to help firms achieve demand and supply balance, yet experts agree that it has fallen short on delivering anticipated benefits. Carried out by cross-functional teams, S&OP entails getting people from different thought worlds, especially sales, aligned around common goals. Despite ample practitioner guidance, there is a dearth of scholarly research indicating pathways to success. Using a group effectiveness theoretical framework, this study identifies both internal team factors and contextual influencers that are predictors of S&OP effectiveness. Perspectives were captured from S&OP team members across a wide cross-section of industries representing sales …

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

April Jones

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 …

Development And Validation Of The Workplace Dignity Scale, Benjamin Thomas, Kristen Lucas

Kristen Lucas