Business Commons^™

The Mediating Effects Of Job Engagement Between Spirituality At Work And Performance, Eileen Pei Shan Lai

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This research study explores the mediating role that work engagement plays between spirituality at work and performance. Spirituality at work is measured by four dimensions of meaningful work, having a sense of community, alignment with corporate values and having an inner life. Work engagement is recognized to comprise of physical, emotional and cognitive engagement (Kahn, 1990). Performance, on the other hand, refers to in-role behaviours, organizational citizenship behaviours – individuals ("OCB – I"), organizational citizenship behaviours – organizations ("OCB – O") and employee creativity.

My main contribution to the management, spirituality and religion (MSR) scholarship is the extension of the …

Toward A Theory Of Extended Contact: The Incentives And Opportunities For Bridging Across Network Communities, Maxim Sytch, Adam Tatarynowicz, Ranjay Gulati

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study investigates the determinants of bridging ties within networks of interconnected firms. Bridging ties are defined as nonredundant connections between firms located in different network communities. We highlight how firms can enter into these relationships because of the incentives and opportunities for action that are embedded in the existing network structure. Specifically, we propose that the dynamics of proximate network structures, which reflect firms' and their partners' direct connections, affect the formation of bridging ties by shaping the value-creation and value-distribution incentives for bridging. We also argue that the evolving global network structure affects firms' propensity to form bridging …

Leading Amidst Competing Technical And Institutional Demands: Revisiting Selznick’S Conception Of Leadership, Marya Besharov, Rakesh Khurana

Marya Besharov

This chapter explores how Selznick’s approach to leadership can inform contemporary organizational theory and research. Drawing on Selznick’s writing in Leadership in Administration and related works, we characterize organizations as simultaneously technical entities pursuing economic goals and value-laden entities pursuing non-economic goals arising from their members and their role in society. These two aspects of organizations are deeply intertwined and in continual tension with one another, and the essential task of leadership is to uphold both – protecting and promoting values while also meeting technical imperatives. To do so, leaders establish a common purpose that includes values and ideals not …

Managing Social-Business Tensions: A Review And Research Agenda For Social Enterprise, Michaël Gonin, Marya Besharov, Wendy Smith, Nicholas Gachet

Marya Besharov

In a world filled with poverty, environmental degradation, and moral injustice, social enterprises offer a ray of hope. These organizations seek to achieve social missions through business ventures. Yet social missions and business ventures are associated with divergent goals, values, norms, and identities. Attending to them simultaneously creates tensions, competing demands, and ethical dilemmas. Effectively understanding social enterprises therefore depends on insight into the nature and management of these tensions. While existing research recognizes tensions between social missions and business ventures, we lack any systematic analysis. Our paper addresses this issue. We first categorize the types of tensions that arise …

Let's Stick Together: The Finance Function As Glue, Mark E. Pickering

Mark E Pickering

Finance can play a valuable role in helping align the different organisational departments more closely to achieve a common goal. This article indicates some of the causes of friction between departments and provides suggestions as to how finance executives and managers can contribute to greater alignment.

Swimming Upstream: Challenges To Working Throughout The Data Life Cycle, Lisa Zilinski

Lisa Zilinski

This presentation explores some of the challenges librarians face in working upstream in the research data life cycle and proposes an outline for a possible training workshop.

Analysis - Toward A New American Military., Adam Lowther, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In releasing the United States Department of Defense’s (DoD) Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense and Defense Budget Priorities and Choices in January 2012, President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta offered a rationale for the administration’s reductions in defense spending. By stating that the shift in strategic direction is an effort to “put our fiscal house in order” and a response to the 2011 Budget Control Act, which requires DoD to reduce spending by $487 billion between fiscal years 2012 and 2021, the United States’ NATO partners in Europe were given considerable reason for …

When Does Negative Mood Boost Creativity: A Trait Activation Perspective, March L. To, Cynthia Fisher

Cynthia D. Fisher

Using a within-person approach, we investigated the boundary conditions under which activating negative mood may promote or inhibit concurrent creative process engagement (CPE). Drawing on trait activation theory, we propose that dispositional goal orientation (learning goal orientation and avoidance goal orientation) will be expressed in response to trait-relevant work contexts (job control and psychological punishment respectively), thereby moderating the effects of activating negative mood on CPE. As expected, activating negative mood was positively associated with CPE when learning goal orientation and job control were both high. Activating negative mood was negatively related to CPE when learning goal orientation was high …

Micro Job Design: Affective Reactions To Real-Time Task Characteristics, Cynthia D. Fisher, March L. To

Cynthia D. Fisher

Most job design research assesses the effects of typical job characteristics on long term person level outcomes. We suggest that it is also worth studying short term affective reactions to momentary variations in task characteristics over the working day; what we will call “micro job design.” While there may be across-the board positive (or negative) reactions to some momentary task characteristics, we also hypothesise that there will be individual differences in reactions to task characteristics. In two experience sampling studies we demonstrate that, 1. High but not low growth need strength employees respond to increases in task demand with increasing …

A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its …

The Power Of One: Effects Of Ceo Duality On Compensation Committee Quality And Ceo Compensation, Cindy K. Harris, Carol C. Cirka, Eric Farris

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

This paper contributes to the corporate governance literature by focusing on how Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) duality and compensation committee quality are related to CEO compensation in the period since passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (“SOX”). Unlike research prior to SOX that focused chiefly on committee members’ independence, we measure compensation committee quality in two ways. We consider the average number of board directorships held by compensation committee members as well as the proportion of committee members with prior or current CEO duality experience. We introduce the latter variable as a new measure of quality as it has not …

Our Inexpert Judgment Of Expertise, Catherine Lombardozzi

Marie-Line Germain, Ph.D.

This article is about Germain's Generalized Expertise Measure (GEM). It refers to Germain and Tejeda's article published in Human Resource Development Quarterly in the Summer 2012.

Opportunities And Challenges Of Shifting Identities For Women Leaders In Higher Education, Susan R. Madsen

Susan R. Madsen

It is clear that there are differing cultures, contexts, and complexities among the various groups within higher education, creating a “great divide” on many campuses across the globe. This includes the divide between current faculty and faculty who have transitioned into administration. This panelist has conducted in-depth research on the lived experiences of women university presidents in developing the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies throughout their lives that are required for success leadership in higher education. Within this larger study, data were collected, using the phenomenological research approach, on the educational backgrounds, employment positions, career paths, and related struggles and …

The Dual Basis For Subordinate's Perception Of Change, Anthony Senger

Professional Projects

Psychological research has shown that perception often works in a dual-basis in which a person examines a subject and weighs the subject against an ideal and non-ideal scale, independently. There have been few studies though, that have tried to apply this mechanism as a component of the dynamics involved in Leadership Studies, Organizational Behavior, or Change Management. If the mechanism is active in subordinates, then leaders can make better-informed decisions regarding their organizations, based on an understanding that reaction to both their actions and to changes that they enact are based not only on perceived ideal characteristics, but also non-ideal …

Female Leadership Of Today In The United Arab Emirates, Susan R. Madsen, Linzi Kemp, Moh El-Saidi

Susan R. Madsen

This paper is based on data mined from a major database in the MENA region that tracks information about public and private companies. The paper, with nearly 1000 organizations analyzed, outlines the state of affairs in the UAE in terms of the presence of women in senior leadership positions.

Emotional Labor And Authentic Leadership, John E. Buckner V

Doctoral Dissertations

Organizational research has begun to once again focus on the importance of emotions in the workplace. In particular, the concept of emotional labor, the management of emotions at work to influence clients and customers, has recently received much attention. While research has addressed the impact of emotional labor on both employees and clients or customers, research has not examined emotional labor within the context of leadership.

Authentic leadership, an emerging construct in the study of leadership, is proposed to relate to emotional labor. Leaders' authentic behavior has been shown to positively impact followers, such as increasing trust in their leader …

Empresas Recuperadas, Elana Gold

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Starting during the neoliberal economic policies of the 90’s and continuing through the crisis of 2001, over 200 abandoned or bankrupt factories have been recuperated by their workers to maintain their jobs and argentine industry. These factories, called empresas recuperadas, have an important role in providing economic alternatives to the typical exploitation of capitalism as nearly all are maintained as cooperatives where members share in the decision-making process and profits. Although they have their roots in the militant union history of Argentina, in many ways they have differentiated themselves from the typical worker struggle.

These factories have an interesting relationship …

Associations, Movements, Dialogues, Social Problems And News: Voluntary Action And The Life Cycles Of The Third Sector, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This is one of two summation papers presented at the conclusion of the 2012 Queensland University conference on the third sector, looking to the future. The focus initially is on the concept of the social imaginary as offered by the Canadian social philosopher, Charles Taylor. Much of the previous conceptual and theoretical work in third sector studies during the past few decades has been focused on questions of the best ways to imagine the community and national social configurations of increasingly large numbers of nonprofit, voluntary and nongovernmental organizations. The concepts of nonprofit organization and nonprofit sector have been most …

“The Customer Is Always Right” Customer Service And Managerial Structures In Relation To Company Size On Main Road Rondebosch, Cape Town, Carlos Gausman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Customer service culture in Rondebosch, Cape Town will be studied in this paper. The relationship between customer service and management structures through operational models is explored. Customer Intimacy is the operational model used by the three cases studied – Pick n Pay, Lyra’s Café, and Zone Fitness. Business size and entrepreneurial influence play a role in the vested interest mangers and employees have concerning their work ethic (productivity, motivation, and efficiency) and company profit/personal income. Information was gathered through participant observation and interviews of branch managers, employees, and customers. Customer loyalty plays a larger role in maximizing profit than becoming …

Teaching A Man To Fish: Ngdos, Development Interventionism, And The Theory And Practice Of The Capacity Building Approach., Sa’Eed Husaini

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The international development world has witnessed a marked increase in the presence and participation of transnational non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) over the last two decades. This has in turn inspired much deliberation concerning what the appropriate roles and approaches for NGDOs in the development and poverty alleviation effort are. A large part of this discussion has been characterized by sustained criticism regarding NGDOs failure to engage with political processes in the developing world and the inability of most popular approaches to inspire empowerment for the marginalized and rely on their own agency towards achieving the improvement of their societies. Considering …

An Examination Of Middle Manager Innovation Behaviors And Institutional Factors Impact On Organizational Innovation In The Usa And Mexico, J. Lee Brown Iii

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Several scholars have suggested mid-level management is an important factor that explains strategic outcomes (Wooldridge, Schmidt, & Floyd, 2008), but little research has investigated how this relationship actually works in multiple institutional environments. The resource-based view of the firm argues that competitive advantage is a function of resource heterogeneity and immobility (Barney, 1991) and the discretionary decisions made by managers about resource creation, development, and allocation (Amit & Shoemaker, 1993). These boundedly-rational managers (Simon, 1957) make these decisions facing an uncertain and complex internal and external environment. Thus, this dissertation extends the current research by developing and testing a new …

Branding Lazos De Amor: Importance And Challenges Of Branding Small Non-Profits, The Journey Towards A Better Brand., Sugey Terrero

Capstone Collection

Branding is an integral journey that precedes, includes and surpasses any marketing and advertising effort; it entails an internal process of self-discovery, combined with the exportation (marketing) of organizational values through visual and tangible means (advertising). This capstone focused on the following questions: why is branding important for non-profits? What factors contribute to non-profits not focusing on branding? In addition, what strategies can small non-profits use to develop and manage their brand more effectively? The first question was explored through literature, while the second was explored both theoretically and empirically beginning with an analysis of why branding is a challenging …

Shareholder Activism And Its Impact On Corporate Behavior; With Special Reference To Australian Ethical's Climate Advocacy Fund, Elias Springer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Given that the single driving force behind our current myopic markets is their pursuit of maximal profits, there is a dire need for increased shareholder activism to hold these corporations accountable for the social and environmental repercussions of their single-bottom line modus operandi. This study analyzes the effectiveness of shareholder activism as a tool for changing corporate behavior, and makes a more in-depth assessment of the extent to which Australian Ethical’s Climate Advocacy Fund impacts corporate behavior.

The data collected and analyzed from five interviews was used to supplement the data collected through literature review. Two interviews were conducted on …

Income Inequality, The Changing Nature Of Work And The Student Loan Crisis: Implications For Higher Education, Aaron W. Hughey

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Self-Control As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Formal Control And Workplace Deviance: A Proposed Framework, Kabiru Maitama Kura

Dr. Kabiru Maitama Kura

Several studies in the field of management, organizational psychology, sociology and criminology have reported that workplace deviance is related to organization/work variables, such as organizational justice, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, and job stress, among others. However, few studies have attempted to consider the influence of formal control on workplace deviance. Even if any, they have reported conflicting findings. Therefore, a moderating variable is suggested. This paper proposes a moderating role of self-control on the relationship between formal control and workplace deviance.

Nonprofit Administrators' Perceptions Of Time Use And Effective Time Management Strategies That Impact Organizational Success, Deborah Johnson-Blake

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore leaders’ perceptions of time use and the use of effective time management strategies. The study included five research questions and responses from 20 nonprofit administrators working within 33 technical college foundations across the state of Georgia. Respondents participated in follow-up interviews after completing the online Time Management Practices Inventory (TMPI) survey. The findings of the study revealed statistically significant relationships between TMPI scores and selected demographics. Findings revealed that leaders’ perception of time use, demographic characteristics, attitudes, and time management strategies were factors in implementing effective time management techniques to …

Individual Resistance To Change, Jeffrey C. Sandusky

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines individual resistance to change and concludes that it is a constantly evolving process with many contributing factors. Defining resistance to change is a challenge within its own right. To account for the actions involved in change resistance is an even more complex undertaking. In this research, resistance to change is examined and explained using the influences of goals, participation, leadership effectiveness, and communication. These factors are expressed as the composition of what makes an individual resist or accept a change. Each of the four elements of resistance to change are examined independently and then synthesized into a …

The Relationships Among Gender, Work Experience, And Leadership Experience In Transformational Leadership, Jennifer Y. Mak, Chong W. Kim

Jennifer Y Mak

Transformational leadership is an organizational leadership theory centered around "the ability to inspire and motivate followers to achieve results greater than originally planned and for internal reward" The investigation into transformational leadership began in the mid-1980s with a number of influential publications by Bass (1985), Bennis and Nanus (1985), Kouzes and Posner (1987) and Tichy and Devanna (1986). In the 1980s, the study of transformational leadership was focused on case-based research (Conger, 1999). By late 1990s, a substantial body of empirical investigations on transformational leadership had been conducted.

Testing An Empathy Model Of Guest-Directed Citizenship And Counterproductive Behaviours In The Hospitality Industry: Findings From Three Hotels, Violet Ho, Naina Gupta

Management Faculty Publications

This research proposes and tests an empathy model of guest-directed discretionary behaviors (i.e., citizenship and counterproductive behaviors) using two studies conducted in three hotels. Building on the two-stage model of empathic mediation, we examined the mediating role of empathic concern in the relationship between perspective taking and both forms of discretionary behaviors in Study 1. Support for this mediated model was found in relation to citizenship behaviors but not for counterproductive behaviors. Study 2 was conducted to extend these findings using peer-reports of discretionary behaviors, and to apply an interactional psychology perspective to predict guest-directed counterproductive behaviors. We drew upon …

Alternative Approaches To Understanding Motivation And Leadership, Kristen Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.