Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

An Eriksonian Approach To Consumer Identity, Sandra Rathod

Open Access Dissertations

Rathod, Sandra R. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. An Eriksonian Approach to Consumer Identity. Major Professor: Richard A. Feinberg.

Ego development is the fifth stage in Erikson's Lifecycle Development theory (1959) and is a major psychosocial stage beginning in adolescence and lasting into emerging adulthood. Past research based upon Marcia's Ego Identity Status Paradigm (1996) has investigated a number of ideological and interpersonal domains relevant to one's ego identity, however in today's consumer societies, where what you have is at least as important is who you are or what you do, an Eriksonian approach to consumer ego identity (CEI) has …

The Impact Of Organizational Insiders' Psychological Capital On Information Security, A. J. Burns Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation research seeks to examine the role of organizational insiders' psychological capital (PsyCap) on the performance of protection motivated behaviors (PMBs). The dissertation examines the role of PsyCap through three studies which were conducted for this research. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the responses from four distinct samples were analyzed. The results largely support the significant role of PsyCap in information security. The first study takes an expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) approach and found that PsyCap was a significant consequence of insiders' security-related expectancy dimensions. Additionally, expectancy theory was found to be an appropriate frame-work for promoting PMBs.

The …

The Effect Of Investor Sentiment On Futures Market Returns And Volatility, Kenneth Steven Lovell

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

For over thirty years research has been done on investor sentiment and their effects on market returns and volatility. The theory of De Long et al., (1990) has been used to explain the effect of uninformed investor sentiment (also known as noise trader sentiment) on market returns and volatility. Studies of Wang (2003) and Sanders et al. (2003, 2009) in the futures market have found that uninformed investor sentiment does not affect future market returns, which is contrary to De Long et al. (1990). Also previous studies of investor sentiment in the futures market do not seem to investigate the …

Your Media Speak So Loud I Can't Hear A Word You're Saying: Impact Of Media And Media Selection On Performance, Martin Hassell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the proliferation of communication media and technologies available, it is important for teams to understand the influence of these media on the performance of their communications. Additionally, it is important for researchers to understand how teams choose and use media. Literature on communication media impacts and communication performance has been somewhat fragmented, and researchers have used different theories and paradigms to study this problem. Researchers still do not have a full understanding of how media influences communication, whether teams recognize and select appropriate media for their communication needs, and what makes some communication more effective, irrespective of the communication …

Investor Return In Reits: Evidence Of Market Timing And Capacity Constraints, Ekaterina Petrova Damianova

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This dissertation studies the returns earned in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) from the point of view of the average investor. Traditional buy-and-hold returns while appropriate as a measure of return for financial asset may not adequately reflect the returns of the average individual investor because they do not take into account the capital flows in and out of an asset. Just as their name suggests, these are the returns one would earn if one buys a financial asset or portfolio at the beginning of a period and holds the investment until the end without making changes to the amount …

Institutional Distance And Entry Mode: How Do Emerging-Market Multinational Companies Overcome Competitive Disadvantages In A Developed Market?, Ru-Shiun Liou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As latecomers to global business competition, emerging-market multinational companies (EMNCs) utilize cross-border merger and acquisitions to swiftly acquire strategic assets, such as brands and distribution channels, compensating for their competency deficiency. Developed markets with well-established firms and well-developed market-supporting institutions become important destinations for EMNCs' strategic asset-seeking investments. Institutional distance, national differences in the institutional environment, constitutes a major source of competitive disadvantage for foreign firms competing with indigenous firms. Foreign firms need to overcome the challenges of unfamiliarity, relational, and discriminatory hazards to establish legitimacy in the host market. Compared to established multinationals that originate from other advanced markets …

Load Mixing To Improve Container Utilization, Crystal Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The under utilization in trucking leads to nearly 5 billion gallons of wasted fuel annually. One way to recapture part of this waste is to use collaborative logistics. This research focuses on one specific aspect of collaborative logistics: load mixing. Load mixing is the idea of mixing two or more items of different weights in the same container to reduce the number of trucks needed.

Load mixing is similar to other packing problems such as the knapsack and container loading problems. However, traditional packing problems typically only assume a single type of capacity (e.g., weight), whereas load mixing must simultaneously …

Practicing Technology Implementation: The Case Of An Enterprise System, Yukika Awazu

2013

Drawing on four theories of practice – Communities of Practice (CoP), Bourdieu's theory of practice, Pickering's mangle of practice, and Actor Network Theory (ANT), the study provides an in-depth understanding about technology implementation practice. Analysis of an Enterprise System implementation project in a software manufacturing company reveals five stories of practice that relate to the major challenges faced. The story of mentoring related to the challenge of developing skilled analysts, and is examined by focusing on episodes about newly hired staff members. The story reveals the inhibiting impact of past habits and the role of occupational status. The second challenge …

The Impact Of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods On Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes And Behavior, Jiaqi Zhu

Open Access Theses

Zhu, Jiaqi. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. The Impact of Nutrition Information Delivery Methods on Restaurant Consumers' Attitudes and Behavior. Major Professors: Barbara A. Almanza, Carl A. Behnke.

Obesity is a major public health threat. It not only creates challenges for those who are obese and overweight, but also brings an economic burden to the whole society. One important contributing factor for obesity is food eaten away from home, which accounts for more than 40% of American's food budget. Although chain quick-service restaurants are required by law to post calorie information on menus and menu boards, the efficacy of menu …

User Resistance And Trust In A Clinical Rfid Employee Location Tracking Information System, Wilson Wong

2013

User resistance has been identified as a factor in information systems implementation failures in the health care industry. RFID, radio frequency identification, is being incorporated into new health care information systems in order to effect cost reductions by tracking, identifying and monitoring individuals and medical items. This is the first study to research the relative contributions of vendor trust and IT artifact trust components to user resistance and, as a result, makes a unique contribution to the information systems literature. An understanding of the degree to which technology adoption behavioral beliefs, and particularly system trust, affect user resistance towards information …

Exploring The Development Chain – An Inquiry Into The Linkages Between New Product Development And Supply Chain Management, Dirk J. Primus

2013

This dissertation conducts an inquiry into the linkages between new product development and supply chain management. Simchi Levi, Simchi-Levi and Kaminsky (2008) coined the term "Development Chain" for the area where product development and the supply chain intersect. The first chapter of this research (Chapter 2) contributes to a more thorough understanding of the Development Chain (DC) and its impact on financial success with new products. We expand the term Development Chain and provide precise definitions for its scope and its activities. We develop a conceptual view of the DC at the single product/project level which can be understood and …