Business Commons^™

The Generational Divide: Generational Differences In Psychological Capital, Heather Staples

Theses & Dissertations

Human resource development has customarily focused on social and human capital; however, an innovative new theory within positive organizational behavior focuses on psychological resources. The purpose of this research was to examine the differences across generations on dimensions of psychological resources using the core construct psychological capital. Using a quantitative survey research approach, this study focused on the differences among the three largest generations in the current workforce: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. The independent variable, generations, was defined through a self-identified connection with age and significant events. The dependent variable, psychological capital (PsyCap), was defined as a …

Correlating Coworker Relations, Employee Involvement, And Leadership With Associate Commitment In Select Healthcare Companies Using A Mixed Sequential Explanatory Design, Kimberly Ann Lee

Theses & Dissertations

Increasing patient demands and decreasing reimbursement require better efficiency and effectiveness in health care systems and, subsequently, in health care teams. These environmental and societal factors are further complicated by the complex initiatives set forth by the Affordable Care Act (2010). In this study, the researcher sought to examine and identify the strongest variables of health care teaming and to explore resulting themes through the perception of groups of health care associates. This mixed sequential explanatory design first examined the relationships between coworker relations, employee involvement, and leadership with associate commitment and with each other. An existing database of associate …

Consequences Of Destructive Leadership Through The Experiences Of Millennial Followers, Rhonda M. Martin

Theses & Dissertations

Destructive leadership has serious detrimental effects on organizations and their employees. Today U.S. companies are spending an estimated $23 billion annually on healthcare costs (e.g. chronic absenteeism, high turnover, and dissatisfaction) resulting from the negative impacts of destructive leaders (Tepper, Duffy, Henle, & Lambert, 2006). This emerging theory was worthy of additional research because of the adverse effects it has on the personal and professional lives of followers. According to Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser (2007), the success of a destructive leader depends on susceptible followers (Millennials) and a conducive environment, which creates a toxic triangle. In 2009, Trickey & Hyde …

Diversity Programs: Learning And Effectiveness As Viewed Through The Eyes Of The Diverse, S Michelle Cox

Theses & Dissertations

This research examines corporate diversity programs and initiatives from the perspective of the self-described diverse employee because they are intended to be the recipient of the benefits of diversity programs and initiatives. The research question is: In what ways have self-described diverse employees found that the diversity programs in their workplaces helped or hindered others in relating to them in ways that recognize their knowledge, skills, and abilities and allow them to be treated with respect and civility. To obtain information about the research question, a qualitative study using basic interpretive methodology was used which included face to face personal …

Competitive Market Research And Product Design, Haixiu Wang

Theses & Dissertations

To learn the uncertainty of customer preference on the attribute of new product, usually a firm needs to do market research. Developing a product on an attribute which is less preferred by customer may lead to a failure. In addition, a firm used to take efforts to design the product. In recent years, we observed a new business model in which the firm does not take effort to design new product, nor does she do market research by herself. She provides rewards to attract outside designers to design new product. Some designers may take effort and design products based on …

Buyer Beware : Consumer Response To Manipulations Of Online Product Reviews, Mengzhou Zhuang

Theses & Dissertations

Online product reviews have become an important and influential source of information for consumers. Firms often manipulate online product reviews to influence consumer perceptions about the product, making it a research topic of urgent need for theory development and empirical investigation. In this thesis, we examine how consumers perceive and respond to the three commonly used manipulation tactics. Firstly, an exploratory pre-study via in-depth interviews with online shoppers indicates that consumers commonly have the knowledge for online review manipulations as well as for detecting them. In the first study, a survey was used to investigate the three popular manipulation tactics …

An Assessment Of Dual Audit Effect And Contagious Effect On The Audit Quality Of Non-Big N Cpa Firms For Chinese Companies In Different Markets, Meixin Wang

Theses & Dissertations

External auditor is an independent agent to provide assurance about the validity of financial statements prepared by management to enhance the reliability of information in financial reports. As such, audit quality has long been a concern for all stakeholders and is a topic of on-going research interest. In China, the dual audit requirement for AB share companies and AH share companies started in 2001 was abolished in 2007 and 2010 respectively. This study attempts to examine whether there are dual audit effect and contagious effect on the audit quality of non-Big N audit firms for A share companies in different …

Do Firms’ Earnings Reported Under Ifrs 3r Reveal More About Future Earnings And Cash Flows? Evidence From The European Union, Lin Yuan Wang

Theses & Dissertations

Motivated by recent studies documenting inconsistent results regarding the benefits of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the objective of this thesis is to examine the information value of firms’ earning reported focusing on IFRS 3 (Business Combination). IFRS 3 aims at providing systematic guidelines for acquirers of a business combination transaction to properly report identifiable assets and liabilities, to fairly measure goodwill and to disclose relevant information for investors’ evaluation. IFRS 3 was revised and became effective in July 2009. Opponents of the revised IFRS 3 (IFRS 3R) criticized the guidelines to have broadened the disconnection between current earnings …

Higher Education Institution Choice Behaviors Of International Students On U.S. College Campuses, Anil Tan

Theses & Dissertations

The economic, social, and personal value of education has been realized as motivating factors for seeking a better education overseas by individuals. In addition, political, economic, and educational conditions of home countries impact individuals’ decisions to study abroad. There were over 4 million tertiary students studying outside their home countries in 2011. Nearly 820,000 of those students were studying in higher education institutions in the United States. Students from China, India, and South Korea comprise nearly 49% of the international students in the United States. The increase in the number of students studying overseas and their valuable contributions develop a …

The Impact Of Generational Differences On Organizational Relationships: A Communication Perspective, Mecca M. Salahuddin

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to investigate the relationship between an individual’s generation and the communication styles used with other generations, and explore the influence of intergenerational communication styles on organizational relationships. The study utilized the Global Perceptions of Intergenerational Communication (GPIC) survey to assess participants’ perceptions of others and one’s own communication styles on three factors: accommodation, nonaccommodation, and respectful avoidance. Three hundred and eighty-five participants of staff and administrators employed at five community colleges located in South Texas completed the survey. Principal component analyses and multiple analysis of variance analysis results showed the …

Tax-Induced Earnings Management, Auditor Conservatism, And Tax Enforcement, Yongbo Li

Theses & Dissertations

Prompted by the recent statutory corporate income tax-rate reduction in China, in this study I investigate whether the constraining effect that quality auditors have on tax-related discretionary current accruals (DCA) differs for two sub-groups of listed firms with tax incentives to manage earnings upward versus downward. I also explore whether the effectiveness of tax authority scrutiny (i.e. tax enforcement) on DCA differs for the same two groups.

I find that the firms’ two external monitors are sensitive to the direction of managerial incentives for earnings management. Specifically, higher-quality auditors are associated with smaller amounts of reported DCA and this association …

Open-Minded Discussion In Interdepartmental Collaboration : Contribution Of Goal Interdependence And Social Motives, Jiewei, Antonia Lu

Theses & Dissertations

Combining theories of social motives, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study theorized a model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through open-minded discussion dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that social motives moderate the link between inter-departmental goal interdependence and open-minded discussion.

A sample of 133 employees from different business organizations in China were interviewed to recall a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from different departments. SEM results and other analysis results support the hypotheses that cooperative interdepartmental goal interdependence and …

Performance Persistence Of Institutional Investors In Ipo Market : Evidence From China, Sibo Liu

Theses & Dissertations

Using a dataset consisting of complete bid information for 477 bookbuilt IPOs that took place during Nov 2010 to Oct 2012 in China, I examine whether the performance of institutional investors demonstrates persistence in the IPO market. Building on the adverse selection model as developed by Rock (1986) and a twoperiod analysis, I develop three hypotheses and obtain empirical results that are consistent with the hypotheses. Firstly, I find that the performance of institutional investors continues into the next period. Secondly, I find that the performance persistence exists only for the investors with good past performance but not for investors …

The Impact Of Quantitative Materiality, Perceived Responsibility And Machiavellianism On Tax Professionals’ Decision Making Regarding Fraud Detection And Reporting In The Prc, Qian Yu

Theses & Dissertations

Research on fraud detection in accounting has long focused primarily on financial statement fraud and responsibilities of auditors and company management relating to such frauds. While tax fraud is also clearly significant, and tax professionals have responsibilities relating to fraud detection, little prior research has addressed this issue. The current research examines the impact of quantitative materiality, perceived responsibility (based on the triangle model of responsibility) and Machiavellianism on several aspects of tax professionals’ decision making regarding fraud detection and reporting.

I surveyed all tax professionals in the People’s Republic of China working for one of the Big 4 public …