Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Maximising Effectiveness Of Talent Pools Through Mindfulness: An Empirical Investigation In A Multinational Corporation, Tarmo Raudsepp

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Traditional human resource management is looking to identify and develop talent for maximising human capital in a competitive environment with limited resources and negative demographic trends. Attracting, deploying, motivating, developing and retaining talented employees is a corporate norm for meeting organisational goals. Proper human resource processes through rigorous mapping of employees according to the performance-potential matrix allow the grading of employees against peer groups to establish talent pools for development and internal succession planning.

Mindfulness originates from 2,500-year-old Buddhist spiritual practices and has a rare combination of spirituality and science. Eastern perspective originates from Asian traditions focusing on the self-regulation …

Trust Building Within And Across Cultures: A Study Of Guinea, Xiushun Sun

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the development of African economy and the increasing Chinese MNCs operating in Africa, there is a need to have a better understanding of the trust relationships between Chinese expatriates and African HCNs in the organizational environment. We adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches to understand the trust relationships between Chinese supervisors, Guinea supervisors and Guinea subordinates in a Chinese MNC’s subsidiary in Guinea, compare the difference within culture and across culture, and examine how the interpersonal trust and the trust in the organization affect employees’ job performance. In study 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 Chinese supervisors, 20 …

Consumer Measures Of Local Food System Performance And Shopping Behavior Across Covid, Azita Varziri

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays: In the first essay, we utilize a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to measure the residents’ perceptions of the local food system performance. Local food system (LFS) components are classified into related measures that may help explain the overall performance scores provided. LFS performance measures are explored across 15 different communities in the U.S. South. The second essay explores the awareness and performance differences toward farmers markets, including the markets themselves and the corresponding local food product quality, product diversity, and markets infrastructure across different age-range groups and community sizes in Southern states. Finally, in …

The Dominance Of Masculinity: How The Expectation Of Stereotypical Gender Role Performance Undermines The Productivity Of Gay Men Working In Public Accounting Firms, Joshua Leinheiser

Senior Theses

Discrimination against LGBTQ employees in business settings has been shown to be a problem and negatively affects these employees’ productivity and well-being. In particular, discrimination against gay and other queer men often stems from the view that homosexuality is emasculating and conflicts with traditional expectations of male gender performance. This is seen as undesirable in business since traditional masculinity is seen as useful due to its association with competitiveness and control.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether this paradigm extends to the workplaces of public accounting firms. A survey containing questions about gender, sexuality, gender expression, experiences …

A Contemporary Study On The Impact Of Regulations On Business Performance, Brian C. Mulligan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines Nobel Prize Laureate Hayek's ominous warning that economic liberty in the U.S. is at risk, due to regulations, of becoming an unplanned administrative state. The research seeks to understand the effects of regulations on business performance and how to right-size them for a healthy business environment. These objectives are accomplished with two papers: (1) a macro cross-discipline literature review and call for research on the impact of regulations on business performance, and (2) a qualitative grounded theory study from interviews from elite business executives on their perspectives on the impact of regulations on business performance. The findings …

Helping Employees Help The Environment: An Intervention To Increase Environmental Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (Ocb-E) Via A Subtle Stimulus, Rebecca C. Garden

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Researchers’ understanding of the relationships between environmentally-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (i.e., OCB-Es) and other workplace variables have improved since the turn of the century, but both our comprehension of the behaviors and the effectiveness of interventions targeting them require much more investigation. Further, there is very little research that examines the role of positive affect in promoting these behaviors, even though scholars have suggested that it may be the “silver bullet” (Kals & Müller, 2012) to facilitating employees’ voluntary environmental actions. To that end, the aim of the current research is to take an initial step towards understanding how organizations …

Examining The Utility Of The Hexaco-Pi-R For Predicting Positive And Negative Indicators Of Police Officer Performance, Angela Marie Ripley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Identifying behaviors that are either counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) or organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) may assist law enforcement agencies in selecting and aligning police officers for the various roles asked of them. The 6 dimensions of personality are not currently being used in law enforcement agencies to predict overall job performance of police officers. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the extent to which the 6 personality dimensions as measured by the HEXACO Personality Inventory Revised (HEXACO-PI-R) predicted overall indicators (OCB and CWB) of police officer job performance. A sample of 51 police officers from a variety …

The Connection Between Race And Performance Of Nba Draft Picks, Jeremiah Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between race and performance in terms of one of the highest forms of efficiency in basketball, field goal percentage, based on college statistics, with regard to draft position, career earnings and NBA win shares.

Monetary Incentives And Adolescent Males' Athletic Performance, Sean Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the use of monetary incentives as motivational tools has been studied by previous researchers, the mechanism of the relationship between monetary incentives and behavior/performance remains poorly understood. The purpose of this quasi-experimental investigation was to explore the relationship between 3 levels of monetary incentives ($0, $3, and $10) and the athletic performance of adolescent male soccer players. The moderating effect of perceived physical self-efficacy or intrinsic motivation on the relationship between athletic performance and monetary incentives was also investigated. The framework for the study was comprised of expectancy theory, the theory of planned behavior, and self-determination theory. Study participants …

Team Member Selection Strategies, Robert Carl Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business teams have been losing millions of dollars every year in cost and schedule over-runs from incomplete or failed projects. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that business managers use to determine team fit when selecting employees for assignment to cross-functional project teams. The participants for this study were 3 senior management personnel and a 6-member employee focus group, all from midsized, nonprofit organizations located within 200 miles of the tri-state region of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The conceptual framework for this study was Werbel and Gilliland's theory of person-group fit, McCrae's and John's …

Employee Perceptions Of Merit Pay And Its Influence On Work Performance, Michael John Mcknight, Sr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The work performance of employees remains a vital factor both in an organization's viability as well as in the prosperity of its employees. Merit pay can influence employee performance and is one of the most frequently used monetary reward incentives for motivating employees to achieve a higher level of performance. The problem is the limited knowledge on how state employees in a southern state perceive merit pay and how those perceptions may influence employee work performance. Using a conceptual framework built from elements of various motivational theories including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's 2 factor theory, the purpose of …

Ohm … Pardon The Interruption! An Exploration Of Mindfulness As A Buffer Against The Effects Of Intrusions, Keaton Allen Fletcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has provided a helpful, albeit narrow, understanding of task interruptions as related to outcomes such as wellness and performance (e.g., Eyrolle & Cellier, 2000). Building on this foundation by viewing interruptions through the broader theoretical context of the theory of mental workload, this study sought to explain the cognitive processes underlying the negative performance effects often associated with interruptions and to apply an intervention aimed at mitigating these effects. Specifically, mindfulness has emerged as a promising method for reducing the cognitive burden of interruptions. This study examined the effects of intrusions (a type of interruption) on psychological strain …

Psychological Capital As A Mediator Between Team Cohesion And Productivity, Robert John Cesaro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations attempting to optimize productivity are seeking new ways to develop psychological capital in teams. The researcher conducted a quantitative study to determine whether team cohesion, as assessed by the Revised Group Environment Questionnaire (RGEQ), impacts team productivity, as assessed by the Performance Measurement Team (PMT) Manufacturing Resource System (MRS); whether this relationship can be attributed to a team's level of psychological capital, as assessed by the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12); and whether psychological capital mediates the relationship between team cohesion and team productivity. Forty-five PMTs in a large U.S. defense manufacturing organization were surveyed using the PCQ-12 and the …

Examining Alignment Between Canadian Municipal Police Performance Evaluation Policies And Officer Perceptions, Birdella Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A lack of alignment between police performance evaluation policy purposes and officer performance evaluation perceptions has implications for the organizations' resource management, officer morale, and public safety. A literature review points towards a gap existing between policy purpose statements and employee perceptions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the policy purposes of police performance evaluations and the officers' perceptions of those evaluation experiences in 4 Ontario municipal police services. DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) Institutional theory was the foundation for this study. Data for this study were collected from 4 police services in Ontario, Canada. The …

The Benefits Of Lunch Breaks, Joseph Dipilato Iv

Honors Theses

The question as to whether or not taking breaks from work is beneficial for improving employee productivity has not been thoroughly examined, as it is still a fairly new topic of discussion. This thesis project sought to compile evidence to support the claim that breaks are indeed useful for this purpose. A review of the literature found not only information that directly supports this assertion, but also information that shows the numerous negative side-effects of not taking breaks from work. Certain workplace factors that influence break-taking behaviors were also discussed. For the purpose of providing modern-day companies several means by …

Crime In The Nfl: Does An Arrest History Lead To Better Performance?, Austin D. Crist

CMC Senior Theses

Teams in the National Football League will do whatever it takes to win football games, even if that means having players with a criminal arrest history on their roster. However, does being arrested result in improved performance? Do NFL players with an arrest history perform better than those without one? I examine the effect a criminal arrest record has on player performance in the NFL from 2000-2014, using the top 30 ranked players within each position group. The position I chose to analyze were: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Defensive Linemen, Linebackers, and Defensive Backs. My findings show that having …

Player Compensation And Team Performance: Salary Cap Allocation Strategies Across The Nfl, Max Winsberg

CMC Senior Theses

The National Football League’s salary cap constrains the available resources each franchise is allotted to spend on player personnel. I examine the effects of executive management’s compensation allocation strategies on team performance from 2006 to 2013. The findings suggest that spending more than the league-average on offensive lineman hurts overall team performance. Spending above the league average on both the offensive line and quarterback positions negatively affects offensive performance as well. This supports previous research stating that taking a superstar-approach to cap distribution negatively affects team performance. Furthermore, I find evidence of increased compensation inequality among players under the Collective …

Identifying Functional Characteristics That Influence Team Outcomes, Eduardo Diego Diaz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Industry and research have shown that, in addition to the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individuals, other factors play an influential role in the efficiency of a team. The research questions for this study examined the influence of functional characteristics, defined as the cognitive and evaluative processes such as intentions, emotions, planning, and perception that influence decisions, on team outcomes and the time it takes to complete a task. Using a quantitative, experimental research design, the research questions were grounded in personality systems interactions as the theoretical framework. Analysis of variance was applied to evaluate the hypotheses with an independent …

Transnational Companies And Radical Transformation Processes: A Study Of Performance In Comparison To Other Multinational Companies, Jorge Alejandro Palacios

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to answer the following question: Do organizations that were defined as having successfully adopted the transnational model, as per Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989), and labeled as transnational companies (TNC), perform significantly better than other multinational companies (MNC) when going through radical transformation processes?

This research question was answered through a mixed method research design. The first part used a quantitative research approach and evaluated the financial performance of TNCs selected from the Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) research, using secondary data sources from 6 TNCs and 20 MNCs. The second part used a qualitative approach …

Characteristics Of Successful Minority Female Police Supervisors Within A Large Urban Midwest Police Department, Yasmia G. Dunn

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study explored the leadership characteristics of minority female police supervisors, the actual and perceived barriers to their advancement through the ranks, and the strategies and factors that aided their success and career advancement within the police department participating in the study. Statistical data was gathered regarding the status of high-ranking minority women in the agency, administered participant questionnaires and surveys, and conducted individual semi-structured interviews with the participants. Information obtained from the department's online personnel data system aided in identifying study participants within the agency. The study participants met the criteria of being high-ranking minority female supervisors holding the …

An Analysis Of The Contract Year Phenomenon In The Nba: Do Players Perform Better Or Worse, Tyler Gaffaney

CMC Senior Theses

The present study uses a novel measure of over performance (percent deviation from career average) to analyze the contract year phenomenon in the NBA. Historically, the literature has pointed toward over performance across almost all statistical measures of performance. However, previous research has assumed that all players are universally affected by the presence of a contract year in the same manner. The present study finds significant results that contradict previous research by dividing the sample of players into subgroups by age, career PER and position. Furthermore, the results of this paper’s statistical analysis illustrate the first examples of systematic underperformance …

The Relationship Among Training Policy, Knowledge Transfer, And Performance Improvement: A Study Of Private Sector Organizations In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Fayez M. Shafloot

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore human resource (HR) managers' perceptions of training practices (i.e., needs assessment, trainee preparation, training program review, accountability, management support, knowledge transfer, and performance improvement) in Saudi private sector organizations. The research questions were: (1) How do HR managers perceive the importance and or occurrence of training needs assessment, trainee preparation, training program review, accountability and management support? (2) How do HR managers perceive knowledge transfer and performance improvement as a function of training? and (3) What training factors do HR managers identify as being important to the delivery of training?

Data were …

The Look Of The Line: An Empirical Investigation Of The Impacts Of Facial Symmetry On Salary Levels Of Offensive Linemen In The Nfl, Kristen Wampole

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Evaluation of a professional athlete's performance for the purposes of compensation determination is difficult, especially when decision making may not follow the expected "instrumental rationality." This paper will look to examine the factors, both productive and non-productive, impacting an Offensive Lineman's salary in the NFL. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an offensive lineman's salary is based on productive characteristics adhering to instrumental rationality, or whether the influence of non-productive characteristics influence salary as ultimately determined by team management. Results indicate that players within the tackle position with earning salaries in the seventy-fifth percentile gain additional benefits …

An Exploratory Study Of Reception Of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors And Work Related Outcomes: It Is Good For Your Co-Workers, Xinxuan Che

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The predictors of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) - performance that supports the social and psychological environment in which task performance takes place - have been studied extensively in previous research. Surprisingly, only a few studies have looked into OCB's effects on individuals who might benefit from it. The purpose of the current study was to explore effects of individual-level OCB on its recipients. Reception of OCB (ROCB) is described and proposed to be related to targets' performance, job stress and job strains. In addition, narcissism and proactive personality were explored as predictors of reception of OCB also as moderators of …

Social Networking And Individual Performance: Examining Predictors Of Participation, Michael Anthony Brown Sr.

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation addresses relationships between social networking and individual performance. The "act" of social networking is a process and practice by which people and organizations are drawn together by family, work or hobby to interact via websites. The explosion of these new network connections in the workplace suggests the need for an exploration of the various ways organizations can affect and improve performance and productivity.

This dissertation suggests a social networking participation model that may help organizations predict and understand the value proposition that affects acceptance or rejection of participation. Innovation adoption, governing by network and social capital are important …

Performance Of The Indian Banking Industry Over The Last Ten Years, Saumya Lohia

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes the performance of Indian banks over the period of the last ten years. It uses the CAMEL Framework to determine the performance of public and private banks in India. The paper also conducts an empirical analysis to determine the share price performance of Indian banks relative to the share price performance of banks in Hong Kong, Europe and the US. This paper finds that private banks perform better than public banks overall based on the CAMEL Framework. In addition it also finds that the Indian banks share price performance is dependent on the share price performance of …

Running Backs In The Nfl Draft And Nfl Combine: Can Performance Be Predicted?, Chris Blees

CMC Senior Theses

Berri and Simmons (2009) investigate the relationship between the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft. They find that a quarterback’s performance in the Combine can have a significant impact on that player’s draft position. However, they find that no known aspect of a quarterback before they are drafted is an indicator of success in the NFL. I examine if these relationships exist for the Running Back position. I find similar results to Berri and Simmons: that performance in the Combine does have an effect on that player’s draft position, but that no aspect of a running back’s pre-draft characteristics can …

Utility Assessment Of Specificity In Upward Feedback Instruments For Leadership Development, Theresa M. Wardak

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, organizations have been modifying performance appraisal systems to collect data from multiple sources to guide the development of supervisors. Upward feedback programs focus on development rather than appraisal by supplementing traditional downward feedback with subordinate feedback. The utility of two upward feedback instruments was assessed in this study; one is a commercially available instrument, the Leadership Practices Inventory (Posner & Kouzes, 1988) and the other is the recently developed, non-proprietary Upward Feedback Instrument (2002). The Upward Feedback Instrument was designed to measure leadership behaviors at a more specific level. It was thought that greater feedback specificity world lead to …

The Relationship Between Recruitment Source And Employee Performance, Colleen Marie Derenia

Theses Digitization Project

Relationships between recruitment referral sources and performance, work skills, inter-personal skills, attendance, retention, gender, ethnicity, age, etc. -- Formal recruiting (radio, tv, newspaper, employment/placement office) -- Informal recruiting (employee referrals, walk-ins, etc.).

The Effects Of Training And Feedback Format On Reactions To In-Basket Feedback And On In-Basket Performance, Michael G. Fedorko

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of training and feedback format on reactions to in-basket feedback and on in-basket performance. Performance was evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (In-Basket) x 5 (Dimension) repeated measures factorial design. Reactions were evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (Questionnaire) repeated measures factorial design. The Training factor was comprised of frame-of-reference training (designed to prepare the recipient to receive the feedback) and a control condition (a lecture on Mintzberg's managerial role classification system). The Feedback factor was comprised of written feedback, oral feedback, …