Business Commons^™

Developing Innovation Capability In A Mass Production Organization, Mark Douglas Dolsen

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DEVELOPING INNOVATION CAPABILITY IN A MASS PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION

by

MARK DOLSEN

May 2017

Advisor: Dr. Ratna Babu Chinnam

Major: Industrial Engineering

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Auto parts manufacturing is a key element of the North American automotive supply chain, and a significant component of the economy of Ontario, Canada. Employment in this sector declined 40% from 2003 to 2010 as the industry experienced a recession, and many firms relocated to lower wage jurisdictions as the Canadian currency strengthened against the US dollar. Experts contend that the solution for the industry lies in innovation; however, recommendations found in the current …

Are Transformational Leaders Sustainable? The Role Of Organizational Culture, Shan Ran

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the workplace becomes increasingly stressful, leaders’ well-being, a critical determinant for follower well-being and organizational effectiveness, rises as an important research direction. Under the theoretical framework of self-regulation and conservation of resources, the current study hypothesized that transformational leadership deters leaders’ affective and cognitive resources from long-term self-growth, resulting in a detrimental effect on leaders’ eudemonic well-being. In addition, organizational culture was hypothesized to moderate the overall negative relationship between transformational behaviors and well-being of the leaders. On the one hand, mastery-approach norms would facilitate restoration of resources, so the association between transformational leadership and well-being becomes positive under …

Colorism Bias In Hiring Decisions: Disentangling The Effects Of Hair Type And Skin Tone, Niambi Maia Childress Powell

Wayne State University Dissertations

Studies on colorism bias are prevalent, but there exists a gap in the literature regarding how this construct operates within organizational contexts (Marira & Mitra, 2013). The current research explores colorism bias in organizational hiring decisions, considering both hair type and skin tone as physical markers which influence the enactment of colorism biases; as well as investigating the mediating effect of racial identity strength and attractiveness of the applicant, and moderating effects of job type. In a quasi-experimental design, participants viewed a Black female job applicant being considered for either a blue or white collar job, with varying degrees of …

Are Low Price Guarantees And Price Matching Guarantees Created Equal: Examining The Effects Of Different Types Of Price Guarantees On Consumers’ Evaluations, Swati Verma

Wayne State University Dissertations

Retailers offer one of Low Price Guarantees (LPGs) or Price Matching Guarantees (PMGs) to signal their price position in the marketplace. Past literature has assumed that both LPG and PMG work similarly as signals of low prices, and consequently, LPG and PMG have been used interchangeably in both research and practice. In my dissertation, I posit that LPG and PMG send out different price signals, and therefore have different effects on consumers’ evaluations. Across four studies, I show that LPGs signal lower prices than PMGs, and so LPGs lead to superior evaluations in pre-purchase scenarios, especially for promotion focused consumers …

Star-Crossed Consumers: The Effects Of Online Rating Scale Length On Product Evaluations, Aaron C. Johnson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Consumers’ ratings of products are ubiquitous in the online marketplace (e.g., Amazon; Yelp). The rating scales provided by online businesses typically comprise a set of stars that appear in the form of linear scales. Consumers looking to purchase a certain product likely rely on product ratings based on these rating scales. Although past research confirms the intuitive expectation that a higher star rating for a product elicits more favorable responses from consumers, there is a paucity of research related to effects of the properties of the scales themselves on consumers’ psychology. The literature on cognitive processing of information suggests that …

The Effect Of Intrateam And Interteam Trust On Organizational Outcomes: A Multilevel Study, Abere Kassa Kassa

Wayne State University Dissertations

The main objectives of this dissertation were to examine the main and interactive effects of intrateam and interteam trust on organizational outcomes at individual, team and organizational levels. Also, this dissertation sought to examine the mechanisms (team processes: team behavioral integration, team psychological safety, team reflexivity, and team learning) through which intrateam and interteam trust elicit organizational outcomes. Moreover, this dissertation also sought to uncover if value congruence and team feedback seeking behavior in teams moderate the effect of intrateam trust on the team processes.

Hypotheses were tested using data collected from a sample of 282 team members nested under …

Consumer Self-Construals: Development And Validation Of The Csc Scale, Ahmet Koksal

Wayne State University Dissertations

The role of the individual in relation to a collective has been an influential research topic in various scientific fields, including psychology, sociology, marketing, and international business. Despite this popularity, scholars have not yet reached consensus regarding how (unidimensional, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional) or at what level (individual level or culture level) this relationship should be studied. Resting on this epistemological debate, the goal of this dissertation is to provide scholars and practitioners in the marketing and international business fields with a valid and reliable research instrument that will allow the study of this relationship in consumption settings. Specifically in this …

Global Brands And Drivers Of Consumers’ Purchase Behavior: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective, Nayyer Naseem Naseem

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the world moves towards global economic interdependence and international cultural exchanges, more firms are looking towards expansion into overseas markets, to take advantage of emerging business opportunities and available resources. For a firm, that plans to sell its offerings in any foreign market, it is important to understand the consumer behavior and idiosyncrasies predominant in that market, to be more informed, competitive, and successful. Extant research on the dynamics and drivers of consumer’s buying behavior in a global market place has primarily focused, either on the impact of consumers’ personal predispositions, or the influence of brand/product related perceptions, or …

Getting Old At The Top: The Role Of Affective Abilities And Leadership Role Characteristics In The Relationship Between Age And Leadership Behaviors, Greg Thrasher

Wayne State University Dissertations

Leadership behaviors and the outcomes they foster have historically been a central issue to organizational researchers and practitioners alike. Interestingly, though, as the workforce continues to age, research on leadership from a lifespan perspective has been surprisingly rare. The current dissertation aims to address this gap in the literature through two main contributions. First, the main effect of age on the dimensions of task, relational, and change-oriented leadership behaviors is examined. Second, I examine how characteristics of leadership roles interact with of age-related changes in affective abilities in the relationship between age and leadership behaviors. Results suggest that there is …

Toward A Better Understanding Of Psychological Contract Fulfillment (Pcf) At The Team Level, Lyonel Sebastián Laulié Cerda

Wayne State University Dissertations

Despite the fact that the literature on psychological contracts has flourished in the last 20 years (Rousseau, 2011; Zhao et al., 2007), prior research provides limited insight about what psychological contract fulfillment (PCF) represents at higher levels of analysis. A growing line of research has started to empirically assess the existence of PCF at the team level of analysis (e.g. De Vos & Tekleab, 2014) and new theoretical developments have been recently published (e.g., Laulié & Tekleab, 2016). However, several questions remain unanswered as the literature is still in a fledging state. In this dissertation, I develop and test a …