Business Commons^™

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 …

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 …

The Impacts Of Founding Teams' Characteristics, Types Of Opportunities, And Types Of Strategies On Firm Performance In New Business Ventures, Kyung-Moon Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the impact of the characteristics of founding team on firm performance in new business ventures. In addition, this study investigates the moderating effects of the types of opportunities and the types of strategies on the relationships between founding teams' knowledge and firm performance. Although considerable research has examined the effects of founding teams' education and experience on firm performance, findings are inconclusive and disintegrated. Few studies have attempted to investigate the combined effects of these important factors on new ventures' performance and survival. As a result, this study investigates the impact of founding team knowledge …

An Empirical Investigation Of A Model Of Environmentally Concerned Consumer Behavior And Its Determinants: The Moderating Role Of Market Mavenship And Product Involvement, Kishwar A. Joonas

Doctoral Dissertations

Extant literature offers incomplete explanations of environmentally concerned consumer behavior (ECCB), based on subsets of determinants. In this study, I have presented an integrated model of ECCB, and examined the main effects of three key psychological determinants (environmentally concerned beliefs and attitudes, personal norm, and perceived consumer effectiveness) and two key socio-cultural determinants (injunctive norm and collectivist orientation), on four dimensions of ECCB, namely purchase behavior, search for information, conserving behavior, and supporting intent. The study also examined the interactional effects of market mavenship and involvement on these direct linkages.

I conducted a national online survey among members of environmental …

An Investigation Of The Association Between Auditor Switching And Negative Information, Michael Morris Grayson

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the premise that certain types of negative information are associated with auditor switches. A data set of 305 auditor switches from 1976 to 1994, extracted from the Compustat data base (limited subscription), was analyzed using tests of proportions and nonparametric sign tests. The data set consists of negative information extracted from the switching companies' income statements (i.e., net losses or extraordinary items) or calculated from the items extracted (i.e., net income adjusted to reverse the effect of extraordinary items).

The initial results, based on tests which assumed random movement of net income, did not support the notion …

Observable Outcomes And Performance Effects Of The Application Of Theory Of Constraints To Organizational Management, Martha Lair Sale

Doctoral Dissertations

The objectives of the study were to empirically examine the relationships among the three elements of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a number of observable outcomes expected to be associated with application of TOC, and business unit performance. Measures were developed for each of the elements of TOC and a number of observable outcomes (OUTCOMES) expected to be associated with practice of TOC. TOC is defined as consisting of scheduling logistics (LOGISTICS), the Thinking Process (THINKING), and non-traditional performance measures (MEASURES). A previously developed and widely used measure of business unit performance (PERFORMANCE) was employed.

The sampling frame for this …

A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Determinants Of Corporate Share Repurchases, Kenneth M. Washer

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this study is to determine which motives play a significant role in determining the extent of a firm's repurchasing activity. For firms repurchasing through the open market, the motives include taking advantage of perceived undervaluation, increasing financial leverage, distributing cash to shareholders, and reducing agency costs. For firms using a tender offer, the motives include taking advantage of perceived undervaluation and having the ability to significantly increase financial leverage. Also, the hypothesis that the perceived undervaluation motive is stronger for smaller firms is tested. Three censored regression models are employed, and each model's explanatory variables represent commonly …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Relationships Among Entrepreneurial Orientation, Organizational Culture And Firm Performance, Kenneth Herbert Chadwick

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to empirically assess the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to firm performance relationship and the potential influence of organizational culture (OC). Specifically, OC was examined as a potential predictor of the degree of EO and as a potential moderator of the EO to performance relationship. Firm performance was assessed with the weighted average performance scale and 1997 year ending return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE).

The sample frame consisted of a national sample of bank presidents. The mailing list was purchased from Thomson Financial Publishing. A self-report questionnaire was mailed to a stratified …

The Effects Of Organizational And Individual Learning On Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment, David Lee Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to assess how certain organizational-level and individual-level factors affect member job attitudes. Specifically, market orientation and organizational learning, contingent on the individual's orientation toward learning, were examined as potential predictors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Individual performance of employees affects organizational performance. Consequently, these organizational and individual factors are significant to management because of their potential influence on the attitudes of employees.

A national sample consisting of sales and marketing executives made up the sample frame. A self-report questionnaire was mailed to 2000 randomly selected potential respondents. The return of 213 usable questionnaires …

A Study Of The Influence Of Broadscope Managerial Accounting Systems On The Propensity To Create Slack, Gary Linn

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study was to empirically examine the propensity to create budgetary slack. The research was designed to test the hypothesized moderating effect of broadscope managerial accounting system use on variables that are associated with the propensity to create budgetary slack, and it is the first known attempt to do so. The study also extends the previous research that has been conducted on budgetary slack.

After an extensive literature review was conducted on the variables studied, questionnaires were sent to 2,000 managers in the United States. The response rate was lower than expected at 105, but high enough …