Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Enhancing The Competitive Advantage Of U.S. Corporations By Incorporating A Foreign Trade Zones Strategy, Dino Adolfo Scott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some leaders of U.S. companies fail to implement proper decision-making strategies to enact and execute strategies to realize the benefits provided by a foreign trade zone (FTZ). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and to identify the proper decision-making strategies used in successfully implementing a FTZ. The target population consisted of 5 leaders, including a senior leader, a supply chain manager, and 3 department managers of a company located in the midwestern region of the United States that successfully implemented a FTZ. Porter's competitive advantage theory was the conceptual framework used for the study. Semistructured interviews …

Strategies For Motivating A Multigenerational Workforce, Avon Donnell Cornelius

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The multigenerational workforce creates leadership challenges for business managers, and the members of each generational group have different factors that motivate them. Failure to motivate a multigenerational workforce can lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, high turnover rates, and reduced profits. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that marketing managers in a Maryland-based marketing firm use to motivate a multigenerational workforce using Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. The study comprised 7 marketing managers who have experience motivating a multigenerational workforce. The data collection process for this study consisted of semistructured interviews, observation, and member …

Using Appreciative Inquiry To Discover School Administrators' Learning Management Best Practices Development, Michelle Estes Tittle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Department of Education has mandated that each U.S. state develop successful initiatives to help students navigate their educational experience. Yet in Alabama students neither advance academically nor in improved life skills development. It is unclear if school administrators in Alabama Schools have contextual best practices for strategic planning and implementation to support and improve the experiences of vulnerable K-12 students. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to explore how administrators of Alabama schools develop contextual best practices for strategic planning and implementation to support students. The conceptual framework was designed using collaboration theory, organizational learning theory, …

Leadership Strategies To Retain Key Employees, Keith Reginald Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of key employees protects a firm's investment in its human resources. Employee retention is an issue in the insurance sector, particularly among sales employees. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore leadership strategies used by insurance sales managers to retain key employees. Herzberg's dual factor theory and Adams's equity theory were used to explore insurance sales managers' insights into leadership strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 insurance sales managers in southern California to elicit the strategies they used to maintain their key salespeople. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method. Seven themes emerged from …

Exploring Possibilities With Professionals On Youth Aging Out Of Placement, Karen L. Garrett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homelessness with youth aging out the child welfare system has proportionally risen over the years. It is important that policy makers, professionals, and practitioners in the field of foster care understand the conditions youth find themselves in at the time of leaving placement. The purpose of this study was to describe problems that exist for youth aging out of foster care. Post placement outcomes have not generated results that suggest youth are thriving as they return to communities. Attachment Theory outlines relational bonds that form with caregivers when youth are entering and exiting placements. This qualitative study collected data from …

Human Resource Strategies And Sustainability In Small Businesses, Christopher Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that due to a lack of strategy in managing human resources (HR), small businesses frequently close within the first 5 years of operation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that HR managers used to maintain business operations for longer than the first 5 years. The targeted population comprised 2 owners of small business in North Carolina who used HR strategies successfully to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. Data collection methods included face-to-face, semistructured interviews and the review of the company documents associated with owners of the businesses and their …

Accountants And Accounting Educators' Perceptions Of Accounting Certifications/Accreditations And Communication Divides, Brigitte A. Bennerson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global changes to business exchanges of goods, services, capital, technology, and knowledge requires accountants to have more diverse skill sets than in the past. Practitioners' documented concerns about accounting graduates' inability to function globally. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was twofold: (a) to explore accounting practitioners' and educators' perceptions of the Certified Public Accountant and other accounting certifications and accreditations, and (b) to explore possible communication divides between accounting academia and professionals that may be creating a gap between what employers expect and what they receive from graduates. Phone interviews were conducted with 5 practicing accounting educators and …

Strategies For Catalyzing Workforce Engagement In Warehouse Operations, Jeannette Jackson-Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, approximately 30% of the global workers viewed experiences in the workplace as positive and fulfilling, which results in increased productivity in the workplace. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that some warehouse service center managers used to engage employees to higher levels of productivity. The population comprised of 7 warehouse service center managers in 2 companies located in the Riverport area in Louisville, KY. The conceptual framework for this study encompassed Kahn's employee engagement theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, organizational procedure handbooks, and direct observation to prompt detailed information about participants' …

Management Contingencies Between Privately-Funded And Publically-Funded Broadcasting Organizations, Michael Godson-Amamoo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations, for-profit or not-for-profit, continually assess demands from their internal and external stakeholders and adjust their operations and strategies for long term sustainability. Building on the classical contingency theory of organization, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the differences of operational values and principles between private and public broadcasting organizations; an additional goal was to examine how these organizations use their operating choices to adapt to their environment. In a comparative study design between for-profit and not-for-profit broadcasting organizations as independent variables, the focus of the study was to compare 3 groups of dependent variables regarding operational …

Leadership Strategies For Developing And Implementing Organizational Change, Hardy L. Delay Iv

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders in some narcotics treatment programs struggle with change development and implementation. The objective of this single-case study was to explore strategies used by leaders in a narcotics treatment program to develop and implement organizational change initiatives successfully. Participants included 4 leaders who had developed and implemented successful change initiatives repeatedly for more than 10 years in a narcotics treatment program in the southeastern United States. Bertalanffy's general systems theory was the basis for the conceptual framework. Data collection included semistructured interviews of leaders of a narcotics treatment program and collection of archival data, such as reports relating to strategic …

Strategies To Improve Productivity Of A Multigenerational Workforce, Grace Elizabeth Beasley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that millennials will soon represent 46% of the workforce. The anticipated changes in the workforce are of great concern to business leaders who may manage individuals from different generations. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that administrative leaders in an advisory group of community-based organizations and educational institutions used to improve the productivity of a multigenerational workforce. The conceptual frameworks that grounded this study were the social constructivist perspective and generational theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews to elicit narratives from 6 administrative leaders from 6 …

Innovation Strategies Of Small And Medium-Sized Central North Carolina Discount Retailers, Godwin Oseloka Okonkwo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In central North Carolina, small and medium-sized discount retailers have had a high failure rate, which is troubling considering that small businesses create jobs and drive successful innovation that is critical for economic development. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore experiences regarding successful innovation strategies of 20 discount retail industry owners and general managers located in central North Carolina. This study was grounded in Rogers`s diffusion of innovations conceptual framework and Christensen`s disruptive innovation theory. Data collection occurred through semistructured face-to-face interviews with owners and general managers of discount retail industry. Data analysis strategies included a modified …

Midlevel Manager Strategies To Improve Employee Engagement In Small Businesses, Patricia Ann Silva

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The ability to improve employee engagement in small businesses is critical, not only to workers but also to midlevel managers who want to retain productive employees in the workplace. Supervisors who lack efficient managerial practices also risk decreases in productivity, profitability, and sustainability. The conceptual framework for this qualitative, exploratory single-case study was Kahn's theory of personal engagement and disengagement. The population consisted of 2 midlevel managers from a single, small, franchise company in metropolitan Alabama, both of whom used engagement practices, and managed at least 5 subordinates in the company. Data collected, analyzed, and triangulated were from semistructured interviews, …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Style On The Success Of Global Virtual Teams, Shery Wojtara-Perry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations in the age of modern technology have a diverse workforce, who are spread around the globe, and the business leaders of the 21st century need to understand how best to manage, overcome new challenges, and know the various skills of team members to capitalize on their differences and unique skills. To allow those geographically dispersed workers to reach their full potential and facilitate team success. Global virtual teams (GVTs) operate in complex environments characterized by diverse cultural and organizational elements. The primary purpose of this correlational and nonexperimental quantitative research was to examine the impact of transformational leadership on …

Strategies For Employee Engagement In A Small Business Enterprise, Jennifer L. Kizer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2013, 35% of the workforce was not engaged, which results in lack of productivity and loss of profitability for small business enterprises (SBEs). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore successful strategies that frontline leaders in a 4 generation, family-owned excavating business used to engage their frontline employees. The excavating business was started in 1947 by the father of the current business owners. William Kahn's employee engagement theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through a focus group and direct observations of engagement during meetings and frontline areas from a population of …

Closing The Innovation Gap For Business Sustainability, Wayne Philip Stamler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior business leaders may deliberately impede innovation or inadvertently fail at creating a culture of innovation to foster new product development. The gap between desired and achieved levels of innovation is cause for concern. Addressing the innovation gap may require new ways of thinking from senior executives and a departure from a locked-in mindset to make the linkage between innovation, branding, and financial performance. In this quantitative research study, multiple regression analyses were used to examine and analyze the relationship between innovation rankings, brand valuation, and economic sustainability to address possible reasons for an innovation gap. The theoretical framework of …

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 …

The Effect Of Nationality Differences On The Emotional Intelligence Of Leaders, Hossein Reza Nikoui

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous studies related to manager effectiveness and organizational culture have determined that emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical predictor of intercultural adjustment and business success. However, few investigators have examined the relationship between EI and nationality differences. In today's globalized business environment, such understanding is crucial to the development of more effective leadership programs for international workers. This quantitative study explored the degrees to which the EI of organizational managers varied across nationalities. A theoretical framework, provided by several theories related to personality, leadership, and types of intelligence, created a lens through which to analyze study results. The Trait Emotional …

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 …

Assessing Student Leadership Competencies And Adequacy Of Preparation In Seminary Training, Valerie Miles-Tribble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As more seminary student-practitioners seek non-pastoral leadership roles in faith-based

and secular organizations, the complexities of the roles demand leadership competencies beyond traditional religious study. Limited research assessing leadership competencies in seminary contexts raises uncertainty about whether leadership preparation needs are addressed adequately in seminary. This quantitative study focused on whether or not student self-assessed adequacy of preparation is related to, affected by, or influenced by self-assessed leadership competencies, individually or in the aggregate. The theoretical foundation joined Evers, Rush, and Berdrow's learner-centered theory that urges student input on competency development needs and Boyatzis's leadership competency theory that frames a …