Business Commons^™

Three Essays On Managing Customer-Based Strategies: A Pricing And Revenue Management Approach, Foad Hassanmirzaei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Many firms and organizations with already-optimized business functions are under market pressure to protect their narrow profit margins. Their need for supplemental and reliable revenues calls for performance optimization beyond the core business functions. Motivated by applications from online social media and the airline industry, in my dissertation, I focus on the revenue management and pricing decisions of customer-based plans and programs. More formally, the research question addressed in this study is: How can firms effectively use customer-based pricing strategies to boost revenues?

My dissertation consists of three essays. In the first essay, I analyze the ongoing competition among online …

Joint Optimization Of Allocation And Release Policy Decisions For Surgical Block Time Under Uncertainty, Mina Loghavi

Doctoral Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation contributes to the growing literature on applications of operations research methodology to healthcare problems through the development and analysis of mathematical models and simulation techniques to find practical solutions to fundamental problems facing nearly all hospitals.

In practice, surgical block schedule allocation is usually determined regardless of the stochastic nature of case demand and duration. Once allocated, associated block time release policies, if utilized, are often simple rules that may be far from optimal. Although previous research has examined these decisions individually, our model considers them jointly. A multi-objective model that characterizes financial, temporal, …

The Effects Of Gender Differences In Networking On Pay Equity And Leadership Opportunities, Mackenzie L. Kiser

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This report was undertaken in an effort to establish the causes of gender differences in pay and leadership achievement in the United States. The report attempted to add a fresh perspective to the issues of the Wage Gap and Glass Ceiling by analyzing differences between the networking habits of male and female professionals and whether they are responsible for gender inequalities. Through an online survey of 55 professionals, it was established that high income individuals were invited to more organized networking opportunities than low income individuals (p=0.103) and attended significantly more organized networking events than low income individuals(p=0.094) and men …

Quality Competition In Supply Chain Networks With Applications To Information Asymmetry, Product Differentiation, Outsourcing, And Supplier Selection, Dong Li

Doctoral Dissertations

The quality of the products produced and delivered in supply chain networks is essential for consumers' safety, well-being, and benefits, and for firms' profitability and reputation. However, because of the complexity of today's large-scale highly globalized supply chain networks, along with issues such as the growth in outsourcing and in global procurement, as well as the information asymmetry associated with quality, supply chain networks are more exposed to both domestic and international quality failures. In this dissertation, I contribute to the equilibrium and dynamic modeling and analysis of quality competition in supply chain networks under scenarios of information asymmetry, product …

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …

Dynamic Project Time And Cost Evaluation Under The Combined Influence Of Contract, Quality, And Uncontrollable Change, Thomas V. Hammock

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a method that quantifies the dynamics caused by disruptions due to multiple changes that can occur during the progression of a large scale project. To begin, equations consisting of multiple parallel event sequences are derived that define the relationship between individual process events and the final project completion time. Matrix notation and a precedence matrix concept are used in this derivation to produce equations that are best suited for computer programming applications. This relationship is the foundation upon which the equations are built to calculate the variation impact on each event of a large scale project. Pursuing …

Effects Of Goal Interdependence On Help-Seeking Through Knowledge Sharing And Knowledge Hiding : The Moderating Roles Of Reciprocity Beliefs, Yuen Lam, Fanny Bavik

Theses & Dissertations

The effects of goal interdependence on employees’ performance outcomes have been well documented in the literature. Yet, the relationship between goal interdependence and employees’ proactive behaviors remains largely unexplored. Integrating the theory of cooperation and competition with the employee proactivity literature, this study investigates how cooperative goal interdependence and competitive goal interdependence respectively influence employee knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding, and in turn shape their propensity to seek help from coworkers. It further examines reciprocity beliefs as an individual factor in affecting the indirect effect of goal interdependence on help seeking. Specifically, positive reciprocity belief is hypothesized to moderate the …

The Relationships Between Managerial Metacognition, Total Quality Management, And A Firm's Sustainable Competitive Advantages: An Empirical Investigation Based On Structural Equation Modeling Analysis, Young Sik Cho

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study is to explore how managerial metacognition has an influence on the effective implementation of total quality management (TQM) and the creation of a firm’s sustainable competitive advantages (P) by using the lens of Resource-Based View (RBV). In particular, this study conceptualized the existing TQM framework by two sub-constructs, technical quality management (TQ) and behavioral quality management (BQ) practices, and newly proposed the sequential relationship of 'TQ→BQ→P' based on the premise of the RBV. In addition, through post-hoc analysis, this study tested the mediation effect of a firm's TQ practices on the relationship between managerial metacognition …

Measuring Family Business Performance: A Holistic, Idiosyncratic Approach, Ralph I. Williams Jr

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

For any type of organization, performance represents the measure of outcomes, goals, and aspirations vital to various organization stakeholders; thus performance is an important research variable (Seijts, Latham, Tasa, & Latham, 2004, Simon, 1964). Family businesses are different from non-family businesses in that the family subsystem and the business subsystem overlap and interact to form the family business system. The desired outcomes, goals, and aspirations of each family business are a product of its particular family and business sub-systems. Thus, in family business, especially privately owned entities, performance is of particular interest since families can set their goals in their …

Monte Carlo Methods In Finance, Je Guk Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

Monte Carlo method has received significant consideration from the context of quantitative finance mainly due to its ease of implementation for complex problems in the field. Among topics of its application to finance, we address two topics: (1) optimal importance sampling for the Laplace transform of exponential Brownian functionals and (2) analysis on the convergence of quasi-regression method for pricing American option. In the first part of this dissertation, we present an asymptotically optimal importance sampling method for Monte Carlo simulation of the Laplace transform of exponential Brownian functionals via Large deviations principle and calculus of variations the closed form …

Disability Status, Disability Type, And Training As Predictors Of Job Placement, Jessica Stahl

All Dissertations

Human Capital Theory was used as a means to formulate predictions regarding the placement rates for disabled and non-disabled individuals who participated in job training programs at a non-profit agency in the Southeast. Research suggesting that disabilities are viewed as an economic liability by employers was reviewed, along with empirically based rejoinders to this stereotype. The first goal of this study was to address flaws in the existing categorization systems of disabilities, and to justify a categorization system that was more detailed than the typical psychological/physical disability distinction in the I/O and vocational rehabilitation literature (e.g., Ren, Paetzold, and Colella, …

Fast Food Industry Ethics: Can Employee's Ethical Awareness Be Improved?, Joanna L. Moore

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

There has been recent evidence that the fast food industry is unethical. Training helps employees learn what they are responsible for doing. Can training on ethics increase ethical awareness? To determine if this can happen, a study was done with the local Taco Bueno employees. The workers were given a pre-training survey, then participated in a case study training session, and finally took a post-training survey. Ethical awareness increased, but the results were not statistically significant in the small study sample. Further study is recommended to learn how long the increase of ethical awareness will last and if future training …

Four Runway Configuration Types And Their Relation To Arrival Delays, Rachel Jayne Kennedy

Open Access Theses

Aside from a safe flight, airline passengers expect to arrive to their destination on time. With an abundance of flights in the United States arriving late each day, it has yet to be determined if the airport's layout plays a role. This research looks at four common runway configuration types at hub and non-hub airports to determine if runway configurations affect arrival delays. A two-way ANOVA is conducted comparing the means of the on-time arrival percentage between airports exhibiting each of the four runway configurations as well as hub and non-hub airport status. The results determine if any or none …

What Chinese Cruisers Want: An Analysis Of Product Preferences, Yaming Yang

Open Access Theses

Cruise travel has become increasingly popular, and the number of cruisers is growing rapidly. China plays a dominant role in worldwide tourism owing to its large population and fast economic development. It is a potential major market for the cruise industry. The number of inbound and outbound Chinese travelers continues to increase, generating growing interest in cruise travel. Investigating what Chinese cruisers want from cruise travel has great significance; however, little research has been conducted concerning Chinese travelers' preferences in the cruise product domain. The purpose of the present study is to address this gap by investigating Chinese travelers' cruise …

Modeling The Impacts Of Hospitality And Tourism Enterprises On Community Quality Of Life, Sangchoul Yi

Open Access Dissertations

The present research examined the impacts of hospitality and tourism businesses on community quality of life using existing public domain databases. In the tourism literature, various methodological approaches have been proposed to investigate the impacts of tourism on a host community and its residents. However, these approaches are limited because of innate methodological constraints such as the bias of the survey respondents' perceptions. To overcome such a limitation, alternative research constructs have been proposed. Among them, Quality of Life (QOL) has become a good alternative for measuring tourism impacts. Accordingly, the present researcher introduced QOL as a research tool for …

Consumer Inferences Of Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Claims On Packaged Foods, Gaeul Kim

Open Access Theses

With the growing public demands in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the food industry, CSR claims have begun to appear on food packages, as companies started communicating their CSR initiatives to consumers. Although food packages emerged as an important CSR communication tool, consumers' processing of CSR claims and the effects of these claims on product evaluations still remain unknown. In this regard, the present study carries two important research questions. First, do non-health/nutrition-related CSR claims influence consumers' product evaluations, such as perceived health benefits or tastes? If so, how does the effect of CSR claims differ by type of CSR …

Predicting Citizen Satisfaction With Government Services In Belize, Samuel W. Logan

Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance and foreign aid has presented a challenge to personnel tasked with these operations. Answering the question "are we winning hearts and minds" has similarly eluded military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. This research presents a review of humanitarian assistance and foreign aid conducted by the U.S. government and literature on U.S. military doctrine regarding humanitarian assistance and infrastructure investment. The research builds upon expectancy disconfirmation theory to determine the strongest predictors of citizen satisfaction with government services. Case study data was collected in Belize before and after a U.S. military humanitarian and civil assistance …

Modeling And Simulation Of Evacuation Plan For Hancock Stadium, Nirmal Neranjan Weerasekara

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to use Modeling and Simulation of Evacuation Plan (MSEP) to support management to execute proper evacuation plan in case of emergency at Hancock Stadium in Illinois State University. Analyses of the research literature and evacuation scenarios are used to build a simulation system that will connect a description of emergency and evacuation situation with its context. It shows how an evacuation plan actually functions. The results of the study will help safety managers to understand the current situations of evacuation according to the specific simulation scenarios. The evacuation simulation is categorized according to the …

Identification Of Employee Engagement Practices Viewed As Critical To Retention: A Cross-Generational Comparison, Sharon R. Floyd

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the employee engagement practices that millennial IT workers perceive as important to retention. The secondary purpose of the study was to determine whether a difference exists between the engagement practices that appeal to millennial IT workers and the engagement practices that appeal to remaining IT working groups, which include the baby boomers and generation X.

Methodology. A quantitative, descriptive, survey-based research method was chosen for this study. The population included information technology workers representing three generations of working adults, including baby boomers, generation Xers, and millennials. The sample included technology workers …

Resource And Supply Allocation And Relief Center Location For Humanitarian Logistics, Guven Ince

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines two salient issues that arise in the strategic planning of disaster management operations for providing relief to populations that are impacted by a disaster, such as an earthquake. The first issue is the alleviation of destitution faced by affected populations in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The second is the establishment of an infrastructure for provision of relief, for a much longer period of time, until normalcy is restored. Central to the alleviation of destitution is the avoidance of critical shortages in meeting the demand for relief supplies. The literature on pro-active and strategic planning of …

A Taxonomy Of Emerging Markets, Alexander A. Assouad

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Focusing on emerging markets is now a significant imperative for business professionals as well as strategy, management, and international business (IB) scholars. However, there are no accepted categorizations of these countries. Furthermore, major international organizations, institutions, scholars, and multinational, all approach classifying these countries from a multitude of different perspectives. Using institutional theory as a framework and drawing on research from multiple disciplines such as IB, sociology, economics, and economic geography, this dissertation proposes a framework by which a more nuanced reclassification of emerging markets into eight subgroups is considered appropriate. The application of this multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach shows …

The New York Philharmonic Strike Of 1973, Kuan Cheng Lu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The New York Philharmonic Strike of 1973 is a story waiting to be told. The sole volume to mention it, John Canarina's The New York Philharmonic, devotes less than two pages to it. Until now, the full story has lain buried in archival documents, newspaper articles, and the memories of those who experienced it firsthand. This document represents the first comprehensive examination of this event. The research upon which it is based consists of: interviews with the New York Philharmonic members; research in the New York Philharmonic Archives; newspaper articles and reviews. The results are presented here in three …

The Relationship Between Terrorism, Oil Prices, And Airline Profitability, Ubirathan Miranda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Given the financial challenges faced by the airline industry, understanding of the combined effect of terrorism and the price of petroleum on airline profitability is imperative. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine if a combination of terrorism and the price of petroleum significantly predicted airline profitability, and which variable was the most significant. This study collected samples of financial records from major American commercial passenger and cargo airlines on costs of fuel (n = 84) and airline profitability (n = 84). The terrorism data (n = 84) were comprised of terrorist attacks on petroleum infrastructure in oil-producing …

Applying The Analytic Hierarchy Process To Oil Sands Environmental Compliance Risk Management, Izak Johannes Roux

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oil companies in Alberta, Canada, invested $32 billion on new oil sands projects in 2013. Despite the size of this investment, there is a demonstrable deficiency in the uniformity and understanding of environmental legislation requirements that manifest into increased project compliance risks. This descriptive study developed 2 prioritized lists of environmental regulatory compliance risks and mitigation strategies and used multi-criteria decision theory for its theoretical framework. Information from compiled lists of environmental compliance risks and mitigation strategies was used to generate a specialized pairwise survey, which was piloted by 5 subject matter experts (SMEs). The survey was validated by a …

Transformational Leadership Principles Within Small Businesses, Tiffany Suzanne Mckinnon-Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses in the United States experience a high rate of failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and explore consistent strategies small business owners in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania used to lead successful companies. Transformational leadership theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A mixed purposive sample of 20 small business owners participated in semistructured face- to-face and telephone interviews. Each of the participants possessed a minimum of 3 years of successful business operation and employed fewer than 500 individuals. Using Moustakas' modified van Kaam analyses, 6 main themes emerged: characteristics and experiences, leadership behaviors, managing operations, …

An Exploration Of Human Resource Personnel And Toxic Leadership, Sabrina Michele Maxwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An Exploration of Human Resource Personnel and Toxic Leadership

by

Sabrina Michele Maxwell

MA, Pepperdine University, 2006

MA, BIOLA University, 2003

BS, BIOLA University, 2001

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Management

Walden University

May 2015

'

Toxic leaders are destructive of morale, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. Literature has reported the perspectives of followers, and sometimes how organizations address those toxic behaviors, but research has not examined the perspectives of human resource (HR) managers who must detect the existence of toxic behaviors and handle with the consequences of them. To address …

Inventory Optimization In Manufacturing Organizations, Scott William Lemke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inventories totaling 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars represent an opportunity for U.S. manufacturers. This exploratory case study researched supply chain strategies used to manage inventory in manufacturing operations of a U.S. manufacturing company. A mature value chain contained within a single organization using the value chain framework was the basis for this study. Individual interviews conducted with 16 managers responsible for defining and implementing inventory control strategies, and 4 internal users provided primary information for the study. Other sources of information included a value chain map created through the observation of operations, various inventory measurements, and policies and guidelines related to …

Evaluating Success Factors In Implementing E-Maintenance In Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organizations, Peter Rocky Toves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite more than a decade-long process to transition aircraft maintenance practices from paper-to electronic-based systems, some organizations remain unable to complete this transition. Researchers have indicated that while organizations have invested resources in technology improvements, there remains a limited understanding of the factors that contribute to effectively managing technology-enabled change. The purpose of this case study was to identify and explore socio-technical (ST) factors that inhibit an effective transition from a paper-based system to an electronic-based system for aircraft maintenance. A conceptual model applying theories of change management, technology acceptance, systems thinking, and ST theory informed the research. Thirteen participants …

Cultural Backgrounds Influencing Virtual Team Performance, Vyacheslav Semenovich Lerner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Virtual teams improve organizational performance and competitiveness because they reduce business travel and allow team members to work from anywhere, anytime, using the Internet to complete projects. Although researchers have identified benefits of using virtual teams, knowledge about how cultural backgrounds influence virtual team performance is limited. Illuminating this relationship may help leadership improve team performance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of team members with different cultural backgrounds to understand their effect on team performance. The research questions were based on the conceptual framework of organizational cultural theories developed by Schein and Trompenaars …

Transformational Strategic Choice: The Generational Succession Effect On Small Businesses, Eric D. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Changing workforce demographics, combined with a gap in knowledge and skills between older and younger generations, threatens small business viability. The presence of four generations in the workforce, where 1 in 5 employees are 55 years and older, presents an unprecedented challenge for small business leaders planning for succession with a multigenerational workforce. The purpose of this case study was to explore the effect of Baby Boomers' presence on small business leaders' ability to retain and transfer knowledge to successive generations. Using snowball and purposeful sampling techniques, 36 small business leaders in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated. The conceptual …