Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

A Dynamic Model Of Competitive Entry Response, Matthew Selove

Business Faculty Articles and Research

I develop a dynamic investment game with a “memoryless” research and development process in which an incumbent and an entrant can invest in a new technology, and the entrant can also invest in the old technology. I show that an increase in the probability of successfully implementing a technology can cause the incumbent to reduce its investment. Under certain conditions, if the success probability is high, the incumbent allows the entrant to win the new technology so that firms reach an equilibrium in which they use different technologies, and threats of retaliation prevent attacks; but if the success probability is …

The Creation Of Trust - The Interplay Of Rationality, Institutions And Exchange, Martin Mathews, Peter Stokes

Martin Mathews

Relationships based on notions of trust represent a central aspect of the communitarian model of industrial districts. Examination of trust has generated a substantial literature; nevertheless, there have been relatively few studies that have empirically considered the sources of trust that operate in local ties and connections. The paper aims to redress this imbalance by investigating relationships in the Arve Valley industrial district near Geneva. It considers sources of trust by engaging the theoretical framework of Möllering’s (2006a) model of trust which is predicated on the concepts of reason, routine and reflexivity. In conjunction with this, the field research employs …

The Strategic Plan Of A Medium-Size Enterprise Compared To The Baldrige Criteria, Jordan Blacklock

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to provide a case example of one SME (small to medium-size enterprises) documented practices compared to the Baldrige Program’s Criteria for Performance Excellence (Criteria). This study evaluated the degree to which the case example organization practiced the philosophies and principles of the Criteria without direct knowledge of the Criteria. The researcher conducted evaluations by examining the case example organization’s strategic plan against the Criteria. Results of this study’s demonstrated that the Baldrige Program would not be a change in direction for the case example organization but a systematic approach to enhance the methods already …

Reflections On The Metamorphosis At Robben Island: The Role Of Institutional Work And Positive Psychological Capital, Wayne F. Cascio, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from South Africa were imprisoned on notorious Robben Island from the mid-1960s until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. The stark conditions and abusive treatment of these prisoners has been widely publicized. However, upon reflection and in retrospect, over the years, a type of metamorphosis occurred. Primarily drawing from firsthand accounts of the former prisoners and guards, it seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to freedom …

Smartphones In The Workplace: Changing Organizational Behavior, Transforming The Future, Thiraput Pitichat

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

In the past decade, Smartphones have been developed and increasingly integrated with people’s lives not only for social use, but professional use as well. Many researchers claim that Smartphones can have negative consequences in the workplace such as lowering productivity, separating people from their realities, bringing stress from personal issues to work, and creating bad manners. Companies, however, have a difficult time mandating a policy in regards to prohibiting the use of Smartphones. Therefore, CEOs and corporate leaders should encourage their employees to use their Smartphones as tools for increasing their company’s efficiency. This research aims to examine the results …

Are Committed Employees More Likely To Exhibit Innovative Behaviour : A Social Exchange Perspective, Matthew J. Xerri

Matthew J Xerri

This thesis examines workplace (social exchange) relationships and how they can be used to foster the organisational commitment and innovative behaviour of Australian nursing employees. This research addresses the paucity of knowledge about fostering innovative behaviour in the health sector. Such research is significant because developing innovative behaviour is one way of addressing issues surrounding the shortage of skilled nurses. The findings confirm that workplace social exchange is vital for ensuring employees possess networks to attain knowledge and support for innovative behaviour. Such information about innovative behaviour provides an understanding about one way of developing nurses’ efficiency.

How Do Firms Become Different? A Dynamic Model, Matthew Selove

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This paper presents a dynamic investment game in which firms that are initially identical develop assets that are specialized to different market segments. The model assumes that there are increasing returns to investment in a segment, for example, as a result of word-of-mouth or learning curve effects. I derive three key results: (1) Under certain conditions there is a unique equilibrium in which firms that are only slightly different focus all of their investment in different segments, causing small random differences to expand into large permanent differences. (2) If, on the other hand, sufficiently large random shocks are possible, firms …

Ethical Issues In Knowledge Management: Conflict Of Knowledge Ownership, Isabel D. W. Rechberg, Jawad Syed

Publications and Research

Purpose: This paper reviews ethical issues inherent in the theorisation and practice of knowledge management (KM) with specific attention to the conflict of knowledge ownership between organisations and individual employees.

Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature was identified and reviewed via EBSCO host and ISIWeb.

Findings: The paper notes that knowledge, although rooted in individuals, is often claimed or treated as owned by organisations, creating a conflict of knowledge ownership. The paper argues that such an approach to appropriation and management of knowledge leads to tension in knowledge processes between organisations and individuals, and also among individuals. This situation may, in turn, jeopardise …

Women In The Workforce: An In-Depth Analysis Of Gender Roles And Compensation Inequity In The Modern Workplace, Rebecca L. Ziman

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper explores the increase in participation and education of American women in the workforce with a special focus on women in business and accounting roles. The paper then goes on to discuss the wage gap between genders, how to remedy inequality in the workplace, and highlights several reasons why pursing a solution to gender inequality is beneficial for both the employee and the company.

The Infected Organization: “Corpz” Exposure, Bobby G. Martin

Publications

Max Brooks’ 2006 novel, World War Z: An oral history of the zombie war presents an account of life in a post-apocalyptic world, from the perspective of those who lived through the experience. In the world [earth] of which Brooks speaks, there are people who, whether by personal preparedness, or pure chance, survived the apocalypse unscathed, and there are also those less fortunate, who were infected. The infected are in effect, reanimated corpses; referred to as Zed Heads (Zed, British for the letter Z), or, perhaps more familiar, ZOMBIES! The term zombie according to Brooks (2003) is “an animated corpse …

Voice Without Say: Why Capital-Managed Firms Aren’T (Genuinely) Participatory, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Why are most capitalist enterprises of any size organized as authoritarian bureaucracies rather than incorporating genuine employee participation that would give the workers real authority? Even firms with employee participation programs leave virtually all decision-making power in the hands of management. The standard answer is that hierarchy is more economically efficient than any sort of genuine participation, so that participatory firms would be less productive and lose out to more traditional competitors. This answer is indefensible. After surveying the history, legal status, and varieties of employee participation, I examine and reject as question-begging the argument that the rarity of genuine …

Innovation And Learning Through Knowledge Gatekeepers:A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Betweentrust, Openness, And The Use Of Gatekeepers, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The term ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who collect information, knowledge and contextualise this before they can share with the rest of the members of the organisation knowledge networks-both formal and informal organisations. In this study, it was found:

1 that there is a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its knowledge sharing culture and level trust, and that firm’s use of knowledge gatekeepers

2 that the stage of a given firm’s growth corresponds to its strategic use of different types of gatekeeping.

In early and decline (renewal) stages, for …

Organizational Culture In A Terminally Ill Hospital, Alberto Coustasse, Douglas A. Mains, Kristine Lykens, Sue G. Lurie, Fernando Trevino

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

This study analyzed an organizational culture in a community hospital in Texas to measure organizational culture change and its impact on Patient Satisfaction (PS). The study employed primary and secondary data, combining quantitative and qualitative methods for a case study. Participant observation was used and archival data were collected to provide a better understanding of the organizational culture and the context in which change was taking place. This study also applied a “Shared Vision” of the organization as the central process in bringing forth the knowledge shared by members of the community hospital who were both subjects and research participants. …

The Impacts Of Founding Teams' Characteristics, Types Of Opportunities, And Types Of Strategies On Firm Performance In New Business Ventures, Kyung-Moon Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the impact of the characteristics of founding team on firm performance in new business ventures. In addition, this study investigates the moderating effects of the types of opportunities and the types of strategies on the relationships between founding teams' knowledge and firm performance. Although considerable research has examined the effects of founding teams' education and experience on firm performance, findings are inconclusive and disintegrated. Few studies have attempted to investigate the combined effects of these important factors on new ventures' performance and survival. As a result, this study investigates the impact of founding team knowledge …

When Institutional Work Backfires: Organizational Control Of Professional Work In The Pharmaceutical Industry, Jagdip Singh, Rama K. Jayanti

Business Faculty Publications

Integrating institutional and role theories, this paper develops a Logics–Roles– Action (LRA) framework for understanding how for-profit organizations structure institutional work to managerially control the work of professionals they employ. Structurally, this institutional work involves three elements: (1) internalizing pluralistic logics (logics); (2) institutionalizing distinct roles embedded in these logics (roles); and (3) scripting goal-oriented role enactment plans (action). An empirical examination of the LRA framework in the pharmaceutical industry evidences four distinct organizational strategies that script role enactments of sales professionals in their interactions with physicians. Each strategy is intended to reaffirm prevailing institutional logics, but eventually backfires by …

Innovation, Proximity, And Knowledge Gatekeepers –Is Proximity A Necessity For Learning And Innovation?, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

Organisational desire for innovation and growth can be best achieved when they are in proximity. Geographical or technological proximity represent network structure in which a focal organisation is embedded, which has structural, cognitive and relational dimensions. Proximity influences innovation indirectly by its influence on agents’ ability to exchange and combine knowledge in four related ways: by giving access to exchange partners that provide opportunities for learning, increasing the anticipation of value, increasing the motivation to exchange, and by giving access to resources necessary for committing exchanges.

Understanding Performance Ratings: Dynamic Performance, Attributions, And Rating Purpose, Jochen Reb, Gary J. Greguras

Jochen Reb

The present two studies integrate and extend the literatures on dynamic performance, performance attributions, and rating purpose, making several important contributions. First, examining attributions of dynamic performance, Study 1 predicted that performance mean and trend would affect judged ratee ability and effort and that performance variation would affect locus of causality; both predictions were supported by the results. Second, investigating the interaction between dynamic performance and rating purpose. Study 2 predicted that performance mean would have a stronger impact on administrative than on developmental ratings, whereas performance trend and variation would have a stranger impact on developmental than on administrative …

Mindfully Eating Raisins Improves Negotiation Success: The Effect Of Mindfulness No Negotiation Performance, Jochen Matthias Reb, J. Narayanan

Jochen Reb

Anecdotal evidence suggests that mindfulness, or open, non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, is important fornegotiation performance. We find support for this prediction in four experiments using a variety of different mindfulnessmanipulations and both objective and subjective measures of negotiation performance. We also provide evidence that the effectof mindfulness on negotiation performance is partly mediated by reduced anxiety.

Dynamic Performance And The Performance-Performance Rating Relation, Jochen Reb, Gary J. Greguras

Jochen Reb

In this commentary we discuss the appropriateness and usefulness of taking into account the dynamic nature of performance when considering the relation between job performance and ratings of job performance. Like the vast majority of research in this area, Murphy (this issue) does not critically examine whether or how changes in ratee performance over time influence job performance ratings. As noted by Murphy and Cleveland (1995), a limitation of performance appraisal research is that it has ignored that employee performance “…is embedded in a context or pattern of employee performance over time” (p. 73). In this commentary, we argue that …

Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its far-reaching implications. Initially, the term CSR will be introduced and defined to provide the backbone for the following discussions. The paper will address the theoretical constructs of CSR, managerial strategies for implementing CSR and the application of stakeholder theory. The thesis is built upon Dr. Archie Carroll’s four-part CSR construct. In addition, international standards of CSR, with a focus on Nike, Inc.’s actions, will be evaluated.

Global Culture Concerns, Korcel M. Price

Korcel M Price

The following proposal seeks to change hiring, promoting, and firing practices among global and trans-national companies. The changes are intended to fortify the organization through better management, a better employee contract, and by moving closer to a learning organization.

At the heart of the proposal is the desire to move hiring, promoting, and firing practices to an external or internal third party, as means of creating a global culture that consistently applies the values of supra system’s organization.

Innovators And Imitators In Product-Market Competition And Accounting Reporting, Carlos Corona, Lin Nan, Ran Zhao

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

In this study, we examine firms’ investments in explorative initiatives and their choices of capitalization method in a product-market competition setting. Since the capitalization of exploration expenditures may contain information on whether a firm’s exploration investment is successful, financial reports may reveal important information to competitors, and thus may have real consequences in product-market competition. In our paper, we identify two driving forces that induce firms to choose different capitalization methods: an information-spillover effect and a preempting effect. We also find that enforcing an accounting method that requires firms to capitalize expenditures of only successful explorations may increase or decrease …

The Comprehensive Soldier And Family Fitness Program Evaluation. Report #4: Evaluation Of Resilience Training And Mental And Behavioral Health Outcomes, Peter D. Harms, Mitchel Herian, Dina V. Krasikova, Adam J. Vanhove, Paul B. Lester

P. D. Harms Publications

The purpose of this evaluation is to examine the effectiveness of Master Resilience Training, which is a pillar of the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) program. The report evaluates the relationship between resilience training and diagnoses for mental health or substance abuse problems and whether this relationship was mediated by Soldiers’ self-reported resilience/ psychological health (R/PH). In other words, we tested whether Soldiers with MRT trainers in their units experienced increases in self-reported R/PH, and whether increases in self-reported R/PH were associated with reduced odds of Soldiers receiving diagnoses for mental health or substance abuse problems.

The results revealed …

Female Authority In A Globalizing Market, Megan R. Mccann

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

2013 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Cinco Desafíos Para El Gobierno Corporativo De Las Organizaciones Sin Fines De Lucro, Alfredo Enrione

Alfredo Enrione

No abstract provided.

The Stability Of Offshore Outsourcing Relationships: The Role Of Relation Specificity And Client Control, Stephan Manning, Arie Y. Lewin, Marc Schuerch

Stephan Manning

Offshore outsourcing of administrative and technical services has become a mainstream business practice. Increasing commoditization of business services and growing client experience with outsourcing have created a range of competitive service delivery options for client firms. Yet, data from the Offshoring Research Network (ORN) suggests that, despite increasing market options and growing client quality and cost efficiency expectations, clients typically renew provider contracts and develop longer-term relationships with providers. Based on ORN data, this paper explores drivers of this phenomenon. The findings suggest that providers promote contract renewal by making client specific investments in software, IT infrastructure and training, and …

Securing Access To Lower-Cost Talent Globally: The Dynamics Of Active Embedding And Field Structuration, Stephan Manning, Joerg Sydow, Arnold Windeler

Stephan Manning

This article examines how multinational corporations (MNCs) shape institutional conditions in emerging economies to secure access to high-skilled, yet lower-cost science and engineering talent. Based on two in-depth case studies of engineering offshoring projects of German automotive suppliers in Romania and China we analyze how MNCs engage in ‘active embedding’ by aligning local institutional conditions with global offshoring strategies and operational needs. MNCs thereby contribute to the structuration of field relations and practices of sourcing knowledge-intensive work from globally dispersed locations.Our findings stress the importance of institutional processes across geographic boundaries that regulate and get shaped by MNC activities.

A Closer Look At The Assistant (To The) Regional Manager: Personality Differences Between First And Second In Command Leaders In Organizations, Ross Benes

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Although a great deal of research has established personality differences between leaders and their followers (Lord, de Vader, & Alliger, 1986) there has been little research on how leaders at different levels of organizations may differ from one another. In particular, no research to date has examined whether or not there are personality differences between those who are first in command of their organizations and those second in command. The present study attempts to explore whether or not these differences exist in terms of both lay perceptions and in reality. The researchers in this study asked 401 individuals to contrast …

Ky. Voices: In Disasters, Shared Responsibility Is Government's Role, Aaron W. Hughey

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.