Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Managing Goal Heterogeneity In Strategic Initiatives, Erim Ergene, Steven Floyd, Seray Ergene

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

Strategic initiatives are temporary group undertakings designed to renew organizational capabilities and are crucial to organizational performance. Despite the inherent goal heterogeneity stemming from individual, departmental, organizational, and initiative levels, research conceptualizes goals as unitary within the team. Our objective is to explore ways to manage goal heterogeneity for the successful development of strategic initiatives within the intraorganizational context. We argue that organizational controls and decision comprehensiveness can be effective in mitigating the negative effects of heterogeneity. This will help facilitate a group of individuals in behaving as a team and being committed to the agreed-upon task at hand. We …

An Investigation On The Role Of Positive Psychological Constructs On Educational Outcomes In Business Schools, Eileen Kwesiga, Katharina Spraul, Baniyelme D. Zoogah

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

Business schools are increasingly interested in empowering students to be more competent and driven for social changes through service learning. However, studies examining the role of positive traits and cross-cultural differences of service-learning education are limited. As a result, we leveraged positive psychology reasoning to explore the relationship between positive behavior as indicated by compassion, ethical leadership, perceived supervisory support and service-learning benefits for students (N = 272; n = 59 teams) in the United States of America (U.S.) and Germany. We used hierarchical linear modeling (2-Level model) to find main effects of relational compassion, ethical leadership, perceived supervisory support, …

Supervisor Gender, Culture And Employee Creativity: The Mediating Role Of Interaction Frequency, Holly Chadwick

Honors Projects in Management

Despite the fact that women have consistently proved that they excel through transformational leadership styles (Eagly, et al., 2003; Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001), a type of leadership that drives creativity in individuals, they remain underrepresented in organizations globally (Michalidis, et al 2012). Thus, it is important to understand how creativity is influenced by leadership, and how leadership is influenced by gender and frequency of supervisor-employee interaction. This study utilizes a self-reporting survey which was distributed to several companies involved in federal direct investment within China. The countries accounted for in the study were Germany, Japan, and South Korea, and results …

Challenging Perceptions: Actual Vs Perceived Generational Differences In Workplace Concepts Conducted During Covid 19, Jacob Slide

Honors Projects in Management

With three different generations in the workforce (Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z), it is important for managers to understand what each generation expects in the workplace. This is especially important when managing intergenerational teams. As the only true digital natives enter the workforce, employers must select managers who can manage the conflict that arises from differences, actual or perceived, that often stem from poor communication and a lack of understanding. This study, grounded in Generational Cohort Theory and replicating the Lester et al. study conducted in 2012 with Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials, aims to examine whether participants’ …

Personality Research In The 21st Century: New Developments And Directions For The Field, Michele N. Medina-Craven, Kathryn Ostermeier, Pratigya Sigdyal, Benjamin David Mclarty

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

The purpose of this study is to systematically examine and classify the multitude of personality traits that have emerged in the literature beyond the Big Five (Five Factor Model) since the turn of the 21st century. The authors argue that this represents a new phase of personality research that is characterized both by construct proliferation and a movement away from the Big Five and demonstrates how personality as a construct has substantially evolved in the 21st century.

Effective Management In The Post-Pandemic Hybrid Workplace, Logan Michael Sarkisian

Honors Projects in Management

In 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic struck the world and called for a change in the way business is conducted. Companies are being forced to redesign their business models to accommodate the widespread push to digital platforms, also known as the digital transformation era. As a result, more companies are shifting their environments to utilize a blend of the increasingly popular remote work approach with the traditional in-office practice. This sudden rise in remote work and the numerous affects it has on employees has caused a need for change in the way managers conduct their business. A qualitative research study …

The Monster Of Management, Alexandra Meise

Honors Projects in English and Cultural Studies

This thesis aims to cross examine the philosophy, history, and psychology of power dynamics as seen in literature, teamwork case studies, and parenting styles. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein defines what it means to be in an unequal power dynamic. This thesis develops Shelley’s story into one of interpersonal relationship philosophy. It is both counter argument and continuation of the cited works. Management case studies support the philosophical claims through comparison of fictional, hypothetical, and real-life scenarios. Over the course of research, an unexpected discovery placed trust-based conflict at the core of innovative team success. This thesis shows the long …

Corporate Social Responsibility Within The American Craft Beer Industry: Environmental Sustainability And Community Engagement, Bradley Demild

Honors Projects in Management

Craft brewing and craft beer is emerging as an established business in the United States, with many states housing established regional breweries. As the United States looks to implement environmentally friendly practices in business operations, the goal of this report is to analyze the respective steps taken by the craft beer industry to achieve sustainability. Looking into environmental sustainability and community efforts holistically, the corporate social responsibly (CSR) practices of certified independent, craft brewers who are members of the Brewers Association of various sizes, lends insights into the current state of the industry. A combination of educational materials provided by …

Nsfw: Not So Feminist Women - A Media And Cultural Studies Analysis Of Working Women In Popular Media, Josephine Schofield

Honors Projects in English and Cultural Studies

Even though gender diversity of characters has increased in television shows and films, this study hypothesized that female characters who are presented as feminist icons function as feminist backlash and perpetuate negative and harmful stereotypes. This was found to be especially true for career-focused women. Applying a cultural studies approach to reading television and film studies through a feminist lens identified the antifeminist factors that continue to cause the perpetual loop of independent women reverting to dated social roles. This research connects what audiences consume through popular media to how they perceive their female co-workers. The findings of this study …

Personality Configurations In Teams: A Comparison Of Compilation And Composition Models, Kathryn Ostermeier, Mark Davis, Robert Pavur

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the facilitating and inhibiting influence of team-level negative affectivity and conscientiousness on a dyad of emergent states, adopting and comparing both the composition and compilation perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected over three time points from 410 undergraduate students nested within cross-functional project teams (N = 62). The data, including individual self-reports and judges’ ratings of team performance, were aggregated to the team-level using both composition (mean) and compilation (skewness) approaches.

Findings

The findings indicate that mean-levels of negative affectivity were associated with decreased psychological safety. The use of skewed conscientiousness counterintuitively …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Likelihood Of Financial Distress, Ying Zheng, Yong Wang, Crystal Jiang

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

Does doing good to society make firms less likely to have financial trouble? This paper looks at the benefit of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and examines whether firms’ CSR engagement affects their chance of falling into financial distress. After analyzing a broad U.S. database spanning 25 years from 1991 to 2015, we find that CSR engagement indeed reduces the likelihood of firms falling into financial distress, and the results are statistically robust and economically significant. Further, we find the impact of CSR on the likelihood of financial distress is more pronounced in economic downturns and for firms with high levels …

Crafting Better Team Climate: The Benefits Of Using Creative Methods During Team Initiation, Dirk Primus, Crystal Jiang

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

This study employs a mixed methods approach to investigate the effect of creative methods, the combinative use of model building and storytelling, during team initiation on team climate, a critical people-related factor in the management of collective innovation work. Qualitative analysis provides empirical evidence that creative methods benefit team initiation by raising participative confidence, engagement with the social environment as well as the team activities, friendly competition among team members, and by reducing fear of failure and habitual thinking. We also find support that the use of creative methods initiates and supports the development of positive team climate over the …

Working With Messy Data Bus 4xx, Andree Rathemacher

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Logistics Performance On The Success Of Trade Agreements, Kevin Arbeiter

Honors Projects in Management

The purpose of this capstone project is to determine whether or not it is possible to predict the success and effectiveness of new trade agreements by looking at fundamental factors associated with efficient supply chain management. Typically, free trade agreements are analyzed using economic factors such as Gross Domestic Product or labor gains and losses. When this is done to determine whether or not a trade agreement is successful, it is usually backwards looking and too late for a country to opt out without economic repercussions. The aim of this study is to determine whether it is possible to predict …

The Numbers Behind Celebrating More Birthdays: An Analysis Of The American Cancer Society’S Relay For Life, Eva Mahan

Honors Projects in Management

Despite all of the medical technological advances society has experienced, and is still experiencing, there has not been an ultimate cure for cancer found. Non-profit organizations like the American Cancer Society have been working for 100 years to raise funding and awareness for this issue and although great progress has been made since their founding in 1913, there is still more work that needs to be done to make cancer a disease of the past. This study first focuses on the structure of non-profit organizations, their role in society, and the techniques and procedures they follow when looking for donors. …

Coordination, Cooperation, And Collaboration: Defining The C3 Framework, Breanna Weaver

Honors Projects in Management

The term C3 refers to the framework of coordinative, cooperative and collaborative relationships within the realm of external supply chain partnerships. Each unique partnership offers both benefits and challenges within a supply chain and must be aligned with company and supply chain strategy in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. This paper aims to fill the current void in supply chain literature concerning C3 by defining each term based upon current supply chain research as well as give the most prevalent characteristics and differences between each “C” in this phase model. This research is then compared to the industry through a …

Uncovering Hidden Profiles; Managerial Interventions For Discovering Superior Decision Alternatives, Brian D. Waddell

Honors Projects in Management

A common reason for the use of teams in organizations is the idea that each individual can bring a unique perspective to the decision task; however, research shows that teams often fail to surface and use unique information to evaluate decision alternatives. Under a condition known as the hidden profile, each member uniquely possesses a critical clue needed to uncover the superior solution. Failure to share and adequately evaluate this information will result in poor decision quality. In order to mitigate this team decision-making bias, the present study utilizes experimental research to examine the impact of the devil’s advocacy technique …

Complexity In Work Identifications: The Case Of The H-1b Worker In The United States, Cinthia Fruci

Honors Projects in Management

The H-1B visa program allows for United States employers to supplement their workforce with high-skilled foreign workers. Issues arise for these workers when transitioning their lives to the U.S because they have to adapt to a new culture and are exposed to a constantly changing work environment. This exploratory study addresses how these individuals identify with their employing organization and their clients. The findings show that the H-1B contract workers identify more with the client organization as opposed to the employer, who was viewed by the majority as the “payroll department.” Primary factors of such client identification include treatment and …

Managing Growth: Best Practices Of Family-Owned Businesses, Justin M. Andrews

Honors Projects in Management

Family-owned businesses represent the majority of business in the United States. As consumers and employees, we are compelled to their sense of trustworthiness that all too often disappears in the business world. Our economy depends on the success of family-owned businesses, but only one third of these organizations successfully transition to the second generation and only one in ten survive to the third generation. While a series of best practices attempt to prescribe solutions their challenges, these practices fail to account for the various types of family-owned businesses. More specifically, many types of family-owned businesses exist as evident by specific …

A Study On Workforce Integration In An International Acquisition, Christopher Lussier

Honors Projects in Management

International acquisitions are extremely difficult to maneuver and success is far from guaranteed. Navigating through financial statements is one thing, but trying to link together two or more geographically and culturally diverse workforces is an entirely another thing. This study analyzes fourteen employee interviews from four different companies involved in international acquisitions within the last ten years. It develops a comprehensive comparison of companies looking to partially integrate through hands-off management or fully integrate through synergistic collaboration of workforces. The analysis looks at the actions companies take once the decision is made to grow internationally through mergers and acquisitions in …

Evaluating Effectiveness Of Employee Attraction Strategies, Gregory Doane

Honors Projects in Management

This project deals with the effectiveness of attraction strategies, specifically those utilized by corporate accounting firms at Bryant University. The primary concern of the research was to identify various aspects that influence the recruitment of college students and ultimately share this knowledge with the companies, subsequently rendering the recruitment process more efficient for everyone involved. In order to accomplish this task, several methods of data collection were used including surveys of companies, surveys of students, interviews, and participant observation. This data was then organized and analyzed to determine the strategies each firm engaged in, the effect of those strategies, and …

Correct Conduct For Career And College, Anne Kent

Historical Documents of Bryant University (1863-present)

Pamphlet outlining the rules of etiquette young female students should follow throughout their academic and business careers, as determined by Anne Kent and Emily Post.

Making Good

Historical Documents of Bryant University (1863-present)

Bulletin urging prospective male and female students to enroll in business and clerical programs at Bryant & Stratton, particularly those who are not going to fight in World War I but could still use their clerical skills to help the government.

"The government needs the services of 100,000 young men and young women... ACT PROMPTLY, as the government needs the help of every efficient stenographer and clerk it can secure."