Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Fighting Mass Diffusion Of Fake News On Social Media, Abdallah Musmar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fake news has been considered one of the most challenging problems in the last few years. The effects of spreading fake news over social media platforms are widely observed across the globe as the depth and velocity of fake news reach far more than real news (Vosoughi et al., 2018). The plan for the following dissertation is to investigate the mass spread of fake news across social media and propose a framework to fight the spread of fake news by mixing preventive methods that could hinder the overall percentage of fake news sharing. We plan to create a study on …

Understanding Nonprofit Boards: An Exploratory Study Of The Governance Practices Of Regional Nonprofits, Susan Ryan Goodman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers have catalogued best practices of board governance. Most of the existing research employed surveys to review compliance with these practices, and the results are highly quantitative as well as self-reported. This study used interviews of board members representing a cross-section of nonprofits to examine conformity with recommended governance best practices and procedures as well as to provide insight into how these practices have changed during their tenure.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 nonprofit board members in the Tampa Bay area. Using the thematic coding approach proposed by Braun and Clark (2006), four themes emerged from the data: Recruiting, …

Engagement And Meaningfulness As Determinants Of Employee Retention: A Longitudinal Case Study, Calvin Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The lack of financial resources has long challenged government institutions to move employee wages toward the market rate average for hourly and salaried positions. This area of public employment, where motivation other than a pay increase is necessary due to constrained budgets, is not well studied or understood. The primary purpose of this longitudinal case study is to investigate factors that influence Administrative Service employees and increase their level of retention at the University of South Florida (USF), a state funded university. The objective of the case study was to better understand how enhanced psychological meaningfulness, and increased employee engagement …

Exploration Of Post-Merger Integration Meetings, Through A Qualitative Study Of Individuals’ Perceptions, Ruben Cintron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2020, the United Sates mergers and acquisitions (M&As) had a total value of $1.2 trillion. Organizations engage in M&As for a variety of reasons, such as to gain economies of scale and scope, obtain technologies, enter new markets, or gain competitive advantage by eliminating competitors or combining forces. However, studies indicate that less than half achieve their stated strategic and financial goals. Two factors cited within the M&A literature that contribute to the failure rate are cultural clashes and post-merger integration activities. This three-paper dissertation explores the influence organizational cultures and post-merger integration activity (post-merger meetings) may have on …

Successful Leadership Through Rapid, Unplanned Change, Robert "Darin" Grimm

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The studies of leadership and leadership models are voluminous, as is the work onchange within organizations. While scores of information can be found on each of these topics, the combination of the two is less ubiquitous. The grouping of specific leadership models related to corporate changes, be it structural or operational, provides an opportunity for new knowledge. Notably, the literature is scant when the added variable of rapid unplanned change is included in the combination of leadership and change. This study sought to better understand the impact of specific leadership behaviors and the impact on an organization during rapid, unplanned …

Driving Health Care Results With Authenticity, Kindness, And Vulnerability: A New Model Of Authentic Leadership, John D. Couris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current management scholars have defined authentic leadership as consisting of four dimensions: relational transparency, self-awareness, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective. This research extends the concept of authentic leadership to include kindness and vulnerability. I created two scales to measure kindness and vulnerability within the context of leadership and used them to examine perceptions of authentic leadership and its impact on three organizational outcomes: trust in one’s leader, work engagement, and psychological safety. Using a two-group, pretest-posttest experimental design, 44 Tampa General Hospital managers were either selected to participate in a four-hour authentic leadership training that included instruction on kindness …

Informing Complexity: The Business Case For Managing Digital Twins Of Complex Process Facilities As A Valuable Asset, William Randell Mcnair

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Digital Twins of complex facilities, specifically 3D models created during their design, is a potentially valuable information asset. This three- article dissertation explores the business case for firms in the petrochemical process industry to manage throughout the facility lifecycle. A maturity model is provided to illustrate the stages of digital twin evolution and serves as a tool to help communicate each of the five levels of digital twin maturity achievable in various use cases. An industry analysis reviews existing literature and proposes a model to assess informing or insight value of digital twins from three perspectives. Next, an empirical …

Residential Curbside Recycle Context Analysis, Ntchanang Mpafe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Curbside recycling as a preferred mode of residential and municipal sustainability goals seems to have an overwhelming acceptance and adoption in the US. About 69.8 million out of 97.3 million (72%) single-family households in the United States have access to curbside recycling services (State of Curbside Recycling Report, 2020). Collectively, the programs divert about nine million tons of recyclables from landfill disposal each year (Cottom, 2019).

For a design that started in the 1980s in the US, its rapid universal adoption seems to have precluded a concerted effort in examining the coproduced nature (Households: service receptors and Municipalities: service providers) …

Strengthening The Entrepreneurial Support Community, Andrew J. Hafer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to discover ways of improving the impact and effectiveness of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tampa Bay, Florida. First, the study establishes a comprehensive catalog (called the “Superset”) of potential support programs that might be offered by ESOs and consumed by entrepreneurs. Through empirical data collection, the programs in the Superset are ranked by entrepreneurs and ESO leaders according to their opinion of perceived value and importance for gaining the competency in said program. The rankings allow a mapping of the regional ecosystem to identify gaps, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.

The study …

External And Internal Factors Of Sports Sponsorship Selling Cycles In North American Professional Sports, Dan Kaufmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In sports sponsorship, sellers and management seek to shorten their sales cycles to renew, upsell, and close new business. This research covers what professional sports organizations can do to help shorten the sales process. The study includes an industry analysis, literature review, and a mixed method survey of 212 people within the North American Sports Sponsorship Industry. The surveyed individuals are C-suite sponsorship salespeople and managers. These individuals work in the following professional sports leagues in North America: The National Football League (NFL), National Basketball League (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and Major League Soccer (MLS). …

The Is Social Continuance Model: Using Conversational Agents To Support Co-Creation, Naif Alawi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rise of Agentic IS Artifact and the increasing integration of this technology within organizations, our understanding of the impact of this technology on individuals remains limited. Although IS use literature provides important guidance for organization to increase employees’ willingness to work with new technology implementations, the utilitarian view of prior IS use limits its application in light of the new evolving social interaction between humans and Agentic IS Artifacts. To that end, we contribute to the IS use literature by implementing a social view to understand the impact of Agentic IS Artifacts on an individual’s perception and behavior. …

Designing A Health Coach-Augmented Mhealth System For The Secondary Prevention Of Coronary Heart Disease, Avijit Sengupta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents research that employs design science research (DSR) methodology to develop and evaluate a high-fidelity prototype of a home-based cardiac rehabilitation (HBCR) system to support self-management of chronic cardiovascular diseases like coronary heart disease (CHD) and to offer secondary prevention against other chronic diseases with similar risk factors. While the population of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients requiring cardiac rehabilitation (CR) continues to expand, lack of access and other barriers to center based cardiac rehabilitation (CBCR) presents a huge challenge. A mobile phone and wearable device based technological system can offer an HBCR program for CHD. By following …

Designing Targeted Mobile Advertising Campaigns, Kimia Keshanian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the proliferation of smart, handheld devices, there has been a multifold increase in the ability of firms to target and engage with customers through mobile advertising. Therefore, not surprisingly, mobile advertising campaigns have become an integral aspect of firms’ brand building activities, such as improving the awareness and overall visibility of firms' brands. In addition, retailers are increasingly using mobile advertising for targeted promotional activities that increase in-store visits and eventual sales conversions. However, in recent years, mobile or in general online advertising campaigns have been facing one major challenge and one major threat that can negatively impact the …

Bridging The Innovatino Gap At Socom, Gregory J. Ingram

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to provide a case study of how a highly bureaucratic organization located on a relatively inaccessible military base created organizational structures and climates to minimize innovation time and efforts. Typical approaches to government acquisition are not conducive to innovation and inhibit it in many cases. Conducting business with any government element, including the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM), can be difficult. A few of the physical and regulatory challenges include gaining access to MacDill Air Force Base, entering the SOCOM compound and the prohibition of electronic devices on the compound. Another noteworthy challenge …

Gao Bid Protests By Small Business: Analysis Of Perceived And Reported Outcomes In Federal Contracting, David M. Snyder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to better understand GAO bid protest outcomes, if they are perceived as effective by stakeholders particularly small businesses, and what implications perceptions of outcomes have for small businesses. As a small business owner in the U.S. Federal government contracting space, the rationale for this research improves my business’s performance and inform other small business practitioners of the practical utility of GAO protests. The GAO protest system is well intended American innovation in accountability of government agencies’ acquisition of supplies and services.

The GAO reports protest outcome rates are reflected as moderately effective at approximately …

Impact Of Health It On Practice Of Medicine, Deepti Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on three key facets of health IT impact on the practice of medicine: (1) Clinical impact on practitioner outcomes through malpractice claims, (2) Socio-economic impact on patient outcomes through the clinical treatment of social determinants of health (SDOH), and (3) Organizational impact on Long-Term Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Facilities. The first dissertation essay (Chapter 1) investigates the impact of Health IT on the nature and severity of malpractice claims reported in Florida from 2009-2016. The essay empirically examines the treatment effect of federal initiatives, specifically the Meaningful Use program, on medical practitioners enrolled in the Medicare program and …

Identification Of Entrepreneurial Competencies In I-Corps Site Teams At The University Of South Florida, Mark A. Giddarie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act was introduced by Congressman Daniel Lipinski of Illinois and several other congressional colleagues in January of 2019. This bill enables broader participation in the successful National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program and provides additional training for innovators to learn how to turn their research into new products and businesses. I-Corps connects scientists and engineers within the technological, entrepreneurial, and business communities to move discoveries from the laboratory to the market.

The most successful federal program of its kind, I-Corps has trained over 1,300 teams, led to the formation of 644 startup companies and resulted …