Business Commons^™

Diffusion Of Innovation: Customer Relationship Management Adoption In Supply Chain Organizations, Vicky Ching Gu, Marc J. Schniederjans, Qing Cao

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The successful diffusion of innovations in rapidly changing supply chain technological environments is essential to support operations and supply chain management functions. In this paper we conceptualize and develop a framework for research into the diffusion of innovations in organizations pertaining to software adoption in supply chain management. Incorporating Task-Technology Fit theory with a network externalities model, we develop a novel approach in customer relations management (CRM) software adoption. An empirical study using Partial Least Squares (PLS) on data from US supply chain managers is utilized to confirm the usability of the proposed framework as well as confirming the efficacy …

The Age Of Quality Innovation, Sang M. Lee

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In this inaugural issue of International Journal of Quality Innovation, the Editor-in-Chief reports the evolution of quality management and the need for innovative research for creating new quality values.

The Influence Of Exploration On External Corporate Venturing Activity, Varkey K. Titus Jr., Jenny M. House, Jeffrey G. Covin

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

We utilize the exploration/exploitation framework to examine how a firm’s engagement in exploration influences its portfolio of external corporate venturing (ECV) activities. Three forms of equity-based ECV are considered: corporate venture capital investments, joint ventures, and acquisitions. The organizational learning literature is used to investigate how a firm’s engagement in exploration influences its usage of acquisitions relative to its overall portfolio of ECV activities. The investing firm’s industry technological dynamism is posited as a moderator of the relationship between exploration and the relative usage of acquisitions. Utilizing a sample of 1,326 firm-year observations between 1996 and 2008, we find that …

The Paradox Of Knowledge Creation In A High-Reliability Organization: A Case Study, Ivana Milosevic, A. Erin Bass, Gwendolyn Combs

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

We employed an instrumental case study of a multisystem hydroelectric power producer, a high-reliability organization (HRO), to explore how new knowledge is created in a context in which errors may result in destruction, catastrophic consequences, and even loss of human life. The findings indicate that knowledge creation is multilevel, nested within three levels of paradox: paradox of knowing, paradox of practice, and paradox of organizing. The combination of the lack of opportunity for errors with the dynamism of the HRO context necessitates that individuals work through multiple paradoxes to generate and formalize new knowledge. The findings contribute to the literature …

Contagion Effect Of Global Leaders’ Positive Psychological Capital On Followers: Does Distance And Quality Of Relationship Matter?, Joana S. P. Story, Carolyn M. Youssef-Morgan, Fred Luthans, John E. Barbuto Jr., James A. Bovaird

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

A key assumption of effective international human resource management (IHRM) is that global leaders influence and serve as role models for their followers, regardless of the inherent distance (physical and frequency of interaction) between them in today’s global context or the quality of the relationship. Although considerable attention has been devoted to cultural differences between global leaders and their diverse followers and teams, this study investigates the impact that distance and quality of the relationship has on a sample of a Fortune 100 multinational firm’s global leaders’ level of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) contagion effect on their followers located around …

Quality Management And Innovation: New Insights On A Structural Contingency Framework, Dara Schniederjans, Marc Schniederjans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

With increasing market competition, organizations are striving for greater innovation in products and services. Quality management has the potential to invigorate an organization’s product, process and administrative innovation when strategically aligned with internal contingencies. This paper seeks to address the relationship between social and technical quality management with innovation. Moreover, this paper empirically assesses contingency factors including organization size, task and managerial ethics which play roles in moderating the relationship between quality management and innovation. Based on an empirical study we find social quality management practices, not technical quality management practices, are positively associated with innovation. We also find a …

Preliminary Nutritional Profile Analysis Of Box Tops 4 Education Food Products, Hannah Griffith

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The marketing of unhealthy food to children is often cited as a cause of the obesity epidemic.¹ However, most studies that examine this issue evaluated the marketing of food through print or television advertising. This project investigates the marketing of food products to children through incentive based programs, specifically General Mill’s Box Tops 4 Education. This study undertakes a preliminary systematic analysis of Box Tops food items to determine their healthfulness. A subset of all Box Tops food products was selected for review and a basic quantitative content analysis of priority nutrients was performed. Priority nutrients were identified …

Women-Owned Business Branding: Consumer Behavior Based On Hedonic Vs. Utilitarian Positioning, Gracie Leeann Arnold

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Similar to the "country of origin" effect, branding a business with a specific ownership may have an effect on consumer purchasing behavior; but, as this trend grows so does the amount of research on how this effect is manifested. Large, powerful companies like Wal-Mart, Ex-IM Bank, and Toyota have recently launched initiatives to promote women-owned business enterprises by targeting women-owned suppliers. Women-owned business have seen unprecedented growth and market share in the past decade. In response, Wal-Mart has pledged to source $20 billion in goods from women-owned businesses by 2016. Wal-Mart began using the "Women-Owned" business logo (WOB) that was …

How Culture Makes A Difference In Management: Applying Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions To Management In Germany And China, Brock Foster

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Culture has been defined by many different individuals in a variety of fields with wide ranging definitions. The following paper will define culture and give the reader a framework at how to look at differences in cultures abroad. It will elaborate upon some cultural concepts of German and Chinese individuals and then go on to use Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory to diagnose some of the issues that may arise when working with individuals identifying as German or Chinese. For the purpose of this paper, the individuals being referred to are the citizens in both the German and Chinese mainland. …

Determinants Of Demand For Cable Tv Services In The Era Of Internet Communication Technologies, Michael Gorodetsky

Honors College Theses

The rise of the Internet Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as video-on-demand (VOD) services, is expected to have substantial impact on the entertainment industry. In particular, cable TV is likely to be one of the media channels most affected by the expansion and development of these new technologies. Given these changes and the fact that the signs of the cable TV viewership decline are starting to show, it is important to investigate the potential of the loss of competitive advantage of television programming services.

Most of the existing research on the topic focuses on the relationship between TV viewing and Internet …

Old Style Havana Rum: Start Up Plan, Bryan S. Midlik

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Old Style Havana Rum Start Up Plan includes the market analysis and feasibility of creating start up rum company in North East Ohio. A rum industry analysis helps lead to a creative start up strategy and a first year financial plan for what will be a new liquor on the market.

Folgers: The New Era Of Coffee, Anthony J. Jakubowski, Danielle Hickman, Annie Pang, Adrianna Hartman, Alex Naragon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the repositioning of the Folgers brand through a new and improved Brand Pyramid and two strategic recommendations. In order to come to these conclusions, the group utilized secondary research to gain a background on the coffee industry as a whole, the acquisition of the Folgers brand by Smucker’s, the competition relative to Folgers in the coffee market, a social media analysis focusing on the competitors, and finally research regarding the Millennial generation. The conclusions from this secondary research led to the methodology used in order to come up with the new …

The Persuasive Aspect Of Brands, Kaylie A. West

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This is a state-of-the-art review, which discusses the tactics and Theories that go into enhancing a brand’s persuasive ability, and discusses how corporations go about creating an influential and successful brand identity. With constant technological innovation and evolving buyer behavior, it is important for corporations to take into account the importance of constantly developing and enhancing their brand. In this review, there is a discussion of the differences between brand and brand image, the importance of congruence between the brand and the consumer, an overview of marketing and advertising communication, and the use of endorsements and celebrities to strengthen brand …

Security Risk And Social Presence In E-Commerce, Amy Isabelle Wright

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The object is to investigate the relationship between consumers' sense of security of a store and their purchasing intention from the store. This was investigated by evaluating how perceptions of security vary among pure play websites with no social presence on the one hand and with social presence on the other; and click and mortar websites with no social presence on the one hand, and social presence on the other. It was also investigated by evaluating how social presence might mitigate the risk of security perceived by consumers. The research method included a scenario given to each participant which requires …

The Impact And Interaction Of Music Familiarity And Congruency On Responses To Advertisements, Michael Blecha

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Music is commonly used by marketers to enhance the effectiveness of ads. Research shows that music can make ads more memorable and shape a viewer's response to the ad. This study explores the impact of three music characteristics, its likability, its familiarity and its "fit" with the ad (referred to as congruency), on consumer response to an ad. I hypothesized that all three music characteristics would positively impact responses to an ad. Additionally, I hypothesized that there would be a significant interaction between music familiarity and congruency with subjects responding the most positively to an ad when the music was …

Beyond Ss: An Analysis Of Alternative Risk Measures, Jai Kedia

Senior Independent Study Theses

Investors require a return from investing in stock securities that adequately compensate the investors for the risk level assumed. Therefore, any calculation of expected returns from a stock requires knowledge of the risk of the security. While there is no strong consensus on an ideal risk measure, traditionally risk has been conceptualized as volatility and is measured by the ß of the stock or portfolio. This paper hypothesizes that alternative risk measures such as higher order moments, size, leverage, and price-to-book value add explanatory power to the ß when predicting stock returns. Empirical analysis is conducted using both regression and …

Market Microstructure And Abnormal Returns: An Analysis Of Nyse And Sgx Securities, Alex Ng

Honors Theses

This paper investigates the differences in the abnormal returns of securities in the context of the earnings announcement in both the United States (NYSE) and Singapore (SGX) markets[1]. Despite the similarities between both exchanges, there exist two key market microstructure differences: the free float factor (i.e. the portion of listed share capital that is freely traded on the market) and lot size (i.e. the minimum number of shares that an investor can trade in a single transaction). While the difference in the lot size can be attributed to the intrinsic institutional differences between both exchanges, the involvement of …

Business And Marketing Education Doctoral Students' Perceptions Of Their Profession, Michael F. Kosloski, John Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The future of the business and/or marketing education profession is dependent upon its future leadership. Many of those leaders are currently engaged in or have recently graduated from related doctoral programs. This study examined 22 doctoral students/recent graduates preparing for a career in business and/or marketing education and solicited their opinions on the future of their profession. Participants were surveyed and asked to identify what they believe to be true about future focus of instructional content, methods of teacher preparation, their commitment to their profession, and their opinions regarding the future of business and marketing education. Participants were in general …

Time-Consistent Optimal Fiscal Policy Over The Business Cycle, Zhigang Feng

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper examines a dynamic stochastic economy with a benevolent government that cannot commit to its future policies. I consider equilibria that are timeconsistent and allow for history-dependent strategies. A new numerical algorithm is developed to solve for the set of equilibrium payoffs. For a baseline economy calibrated to the U.S. economy, the capital income tax with the highest social welfare is slightly procyclical, while the labor income tax is countercyclical. Compared with the data, this equilibrium provides a better account of the cyclical properties of U.S. tax policy than other solutions that abstract from history dependence. The welfare cost …

The Power Of An Actively Managed Portfolio: An Empirical Example Using The Treynor-Black Model, Alexander D. Brown

Honors Theses

The focus of this thesis is to examine the added benefits of actively managing a portfolio of securities from an individual investor's perspective. More specifically, managing a market portfolio with the combination of a selected few actively managed securities can, in some instances, create excess return. The active portfolios are formed based on the firms' specific industries or region in which they operate. The idea is that an investor can forecast that a specific industry will outperform or underperform other industries during different periods in the market. Using the investor's forecasts can provide excess returns if the forecast is accurate. …

Diversity, Inclusion And Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: A Study Of Nurses In The Irish Healthcare Sector, Deirdre O'Donovan

PhDs

This thesis focuses on inclusion, national culture and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) in the Irish healthcare sector. Due to the high number of migrant nurses employed in the sector, the level of understaffing and subsequent requirement for effective performance and behaviours, the Irish healthcare sector was chosen as the primnary focus for the research. In particular, the study draws on in-depth interviews undertaken with 37 nurses and midwives, from four cultures, currently employed in hospitals in Cork. Analysis of the interviews resulted in the identification of a number of findings. One significant finding concerns the identification of a set of …

How The Internet Ate The World!, Diane Vitale Mba, Pauline Sutcliffe Msw, Ma

Faculty Works: Business (1973-2022)

We often think of branding in association with products, personalities and organizations. And of course the internet is one of the major tools used to achieve this. The internet and social media have opened up a whole universe of applications. And already the critics are lining up to remind us that there is sinister potential in the monolithic wealth it has created. So much so some believe that this phenomenon is going to devour the world! Our paper looks at this from a number of different perspectives and we believe there is some real potential here to go beyond the …

Anti-Discrimination In The Workplace: The Intersection Of Mental Health And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Maureen L. Mackenzie Ph.D., Megan M. Mackenzie Jd

Faculty Works: Business (1973-2022)

Anti-discrimination law focuses on the right of people to be treated equally. A person should not be treated differently based on the person’s gender, national origin, religion, race, ethnicity, or age.

Anti-discrimination law include the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Age discrimination Act, The pregnancy discrimination Act, and the Americans With Disability Act.

This paper look at the intersection of Mental Health and the ADA.

Ada News Convention Daily - 2015 Day 4, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

ADA News

The ADA News Daily (also called the ADA News Convention Daily) is a special edition of the ADA News published each day during American Dental Association Annual Sessions.

Linking Goal Perceptions To Employee Performance In The Public Sector : Assessing The Mediating Role Of Psychological Empowerment And The Moderating Role Of Work Context, Jaehee Jong

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A substantial number of management and psychology studies have examined the positive effect of goal setting on organizational outcomes (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002). Conceptually, goal setting theory is as applicable for motivating an employee in the public sector as it is for motivating an employee in the private sector (Latham, Borgogni, & Petitta, 2008). There have, however, been relatively few studies that have examined employee motivation as a linking mechanism between goal setting and employee performance in the context of public sector organizations (Perry, Mesch, & Paarlberg, 2006; Wright, 2001, 2004). In addition to suggesting the motivational mechanism underlying …

The Measurement Of Student Motivation: Does One Scale Do It All?, Rebekah L. Hanousek-Monge Mba, Ed.D., Niall Hegarty

Faculty Works: Business (1973-2022)

This article focuses on the use of the Academic Motivation Scale in measuring motivation levels in undergraduate business students. The article poses the question whether this scale, which works in tandem with Self Determination Theory is an adequate motivation scale in the measure of student motivation. Other measurement scales are explored which do not have a corresponding motivation theory in order to highlight the complexity of this area of research. 232 undergraduate business students are administered the Academic Motivation Scale and results indicate that these students are severely lacking in subject motivation to such an extent that other options of …

Career Development Among College Students: Determining The Influence Of Career Services On Student Persistence To Graduation, Anne Wanjiku Sang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of participation in career services activities and selected demographic characteristics on the persistence to graduation among undergraduate students at a research university-very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States. The target population was all undergraduate students enrolled at a research university –very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States. The accessible population for this study was undergraduate students at one selected research university –very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States and the sample …

Defining A Filipino Heritage Brand In The Digital Age, Paz Esperanza T. Poblador

Center for Business Research and Development

How does an undefined yet strong heritage human brand compete in this rapidly-evolving, social-media crazed, digital-marketing driven business environment? The fiercely competitive arena of the fashion industry, where artisanal apparel tends to be so quickly commoditized by imitators and aggressive competition from top-of-mind global mass-produced brands, is where Filipina designer Patis Tesoro has been thriving and surviving as a passionate serial entrepreneur for over four decades now. Regarded as The Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion, she has done her fair share in uplifting homegrown arts and crafts by meticulously creating unique pieces of textile, clothing, home decor, and fine art, …

Managing Excessive Entitlement In Support Of Family Business Longevity, Maria Andrea L. Santiago

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Family members feel entitled to family wealth because of various reasons. Some claim that they deserve part of the wealth since they are members of the family. Others assert that they earned rights to the wealth through hard work, while still others argue that they deserve part of the family wealth because they are special. When family members do not get what they think they deserve based on their perceptions of entitlement, they declare that it is unfair. This becomes problematic when family members manifest their sense of entitlement in a dysfunctional manner. In a family business, this may result …

Growing The Mission: Nonprofit Organizations Conducting Food-Growing Activities In The Twin Cities Of Minnesota, Marcos Stoltzfus

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Growing food has become an increasingly common activity for nonprofit organizations, and doing so offers many opportunities to confer benefits to individuals and communities. Through a qualitative methodology, this research project uses a grounded theory approach to explore the challenges, opportunities, and issues faced by nonprofits in the Twin Cities that conduct food-growing activities as part of their mission. The study found three main categories of themes relevant to this sub-sector: Food Philosophy and mission prioritization, business model and economic concerns, and integrated program design characteristics. These factors are discussed from a nonprofit management lens, and implications for leaders are …