Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nonparent-Friendly Work Climate & Parental Role Value: An Updated Approach To Understanding Nonparent Work Experiences, Andrew Lutz

Wayne State University Dissertations

First, the present study entails a theoretically guided examination of relationships between nonparent-friendly organizational climate (NPFC) and important outcomes among nonparent workers. Second, the present study explores the role of social-identity theory in understanding nonparent work experiences by examining and comparing the function (i.e., moderation effect sizes) of parental role values and parental expectations (i.e., childfree status) on relationships between NPFC and outcomes including affective commitment. Third, the present study compares the relevance of NPFC and singles-friendly culture in the prediction of outcomes among nonparent workers. Lastly, the present study examines the potential role of intersectionality of nonparental role and …

Organizational And Financial Considerations Of Inter-District School Of Choice On One Small District In The Detroit Metropolitan Area, Lori Lucas

Wayne State University Dissertations

The research study investigated the organizational and financial structure of a school district that participated in inter-district school of choice. The goal was to see if choice, resident and non-resident, had any influence on these structures. The literature that I reviewed highlighted the various organizational and funding mechanisms that school districts need to account for when considering options such as school of choice. This research study was conducted on a smaller scale compared to studies that have been completed on a grander scale. The goal of this study was to review the organizational and financial changes that districts make to …

Exploring And Expanding The Utility Of Cultural Distance: A Multi-National Analysis, Daniel Wiegert

Wayne State University Dissertations

In the current study, I utilized multiple cultural constructs to create and compare the utility of various forms of cultural distance as a predictor of national-culture-level outcomes, aggregated across multiple countries (i.e., a novel term: “Aggregated Cultural Distance”, hereafter ACD). ACD was first conceptualized in the current study by utilizing the nine Global Leader and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (hereafter Project GLOBE) Societal Values dimensions in the calculation of ACD. I incrementally added and compared Project GLOBE’s Societal Practices and Tightness-Looseness scores (i.e., norms) to the Values ACD construct in predicting self-isolationist leadership behaviors (i.e., Project GLOBE’s Autonomous and Self-Protective leadership …

Turning Passion Into Profit: When Leisure Becomes Work In Modern Roller Derby, Amanda Nicole Draft

Wayne State University Dissertations

Modern roller derby operates as a “by the skater, for the skater” business model, where participants are not paid but must devote a certain amount of time, effort, and money to sustaining their sport and respective organizations. At the same time, while derby is grounded in anti-corporate values, a growing industry has sprouted to support the sport, the larger share of which consists of small business retailers selling gear, apparel, and other accessories. I use the context of modern roller derby to examine the changing natures of work and leisure, specifically how they operate as greedy institutions and emphasizing the …

Research Before Teaching And Service? Performances, Perceptions, And Experiences Of Faculty At Teaching-Intensive Institutions, Megan Elizabeth Throm

Wayne State University Dissertations

The privileging of research over teaching is well documented in scholarship regarding the teaching-research nexus. In this dissertation I analyze the experiences and identities related to research, teaching, and service of sixteen faculty members at teaching-intensive institutions through intensive interviews. The focus on teaching-intensive institutions is driven by two goals. The first goal was to gain a better understanding of how the privileging of research over teaching and service is experienced, understood, and reified by faculty members at teaching-intensive institutions. Second, by giving voice to the experiences of those at teaching-intensive institutions I hope to increase the value placed on …

The Influence Of The Physical Workspace On Creative Performance: Alternative Mediation Models, Reed James Bramble

Wayne State University Theses

The present study assessed how individuals respond to stimuli in their immediate work environment. Specifically, I conducted a laboratory experiment with a student sample to test the influence of natural stimuli in the workspace on individuals’ creative performance. Additionally, I tested a series of potential mediating variables that could have driven the effect: state positive affect, state openness to experience, and self-regulation of effort. While the results indicated that the hypotheses were broadly unsupported, supplemental analyses revealed that the intervention significantly predicted effort regulation in a high-performing subgroup. Study limitations and recommendations for future directions are discussed.

Are Transformational Leaders Sustainable? The Role Of Organizational Culture, Shan Ran

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the workplace becomes increasingly stressful, leaders’ well-being, a critical determinant for follower well-being and organizational effectiveness, rises as an important research direction. Under the theoretical framework of self-regulation and conservation of resources, the current study hypothesized that transformational leadership deters leaders’ affective and cognitive resources from long-term self-growth, resulting in a detrimental effect on leaders’ eudemonic well-being. In addition, organizational culture was hypothesized to moderate the overall negative relationship between transformational behaviors and well-being of the leaders. On the one hand, mastery-approach norms would facilitate restoration of resources, so the association between transformational leadership and well-being becomes positive under …

Colorism Bias In Hiring Decisions: Disentangling The Effects Of Hair Type And Skin Tone, Niambi Maia Childress Powell

Wayne State University Dissertations

Studies on colorism bias are prevalent, but there exists a gap in the literature regarding how this construct operates within organizational contexts (Marira & Mitra, 2013). The current research explores colorism bias in organizational hiring decisions, considering both hair type and skin tone as physical markers which influence the enactment of colorism biases; as well as investigating the mediating effect of racial identity strength and attractiveness of the applicant, and moderating effects of job type. In a quasi-experimental design, participants viewed a Black female job applicant being considered for either a blue or white collar job, with varying degrees of …

Efficacy Of A Structured Free Recall Intervention To Improve Rating Quality In Performance Evaluations, Maximum Mgrdich-Ararat Sirabian

Wayne State University Theses

This experiment investigated the effects of a rater training on halo errors and accuracy during performance evaluations. 408 participants were randomly assigned to three groups (n=136) where they were either presented with a structured free recall intervention (SFRI), frame of reference training (FoRT), or no training. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the efficacy of SFRI against prominent training methods and no training at all. Results were not significant, and did not support previous finding in the literature. Further explanations are offered and a discussion is presented as to why these results were obtained.

Getting Old At The Top: The Role Of Affective Abilities And Leadership Role Characteristics In The Relationship Between Age And Leadership Behaviors, Greg Thrasher

Wayne State University Dissertations

Leadership behaviors and the outcomes they foster have historically been a central issue to organizational researchers and practitioners alike. Interestingly, though, as the workforce continues to age, research on leadership from a lifespan perspective has been surprisingly rare. The current dissertation aims to address this gap in the literature through two main contributions. First, the main effect of age on the dimensions of task, relational, and change-oriented leadership behaviors is examined. Second, I examine how characteristics of leadership roles interact with of age-related changes in affective abilities in the relationship between age and leadership behaviors. Results suggest that there is …

The Effects Of Pain Interference On Exhaustion At Work And The Mediating Role Of Negative Affect: A Diary Study Of Workers With Chronic Pain, Zachary Fragoso

Wayne State University Theses

Chronic pain is prevalent, affecting an estimated 116 million Americans (Jensen & Turk, 2014), and it is one of the leading causes of work-related disability in the U.S. (Sprigg, Stride, Wall, Holman, & Smith, 2007). Therefore, pain interference at work is an important topic for organizational researchers, yet there is currently a lack of research in this area. Drawing on theory related workplace stress and the chronic pain literature, I proposed a model in which fluctuation in pain interference with work is related to negative affective responses, above and beyond daily fluctuations in pain severity, which, in turn, manifests in …

The Impact Of Age On Workplace Motivation: A Person-Centered Perspective, Keith Lynn Zabel

Wayne State University Dissertations

The present study used the person-centered approach to examine how profiles based upon six different age conceptualizations differentially impact workplace motivation. In the first known study to examine all conceptualizations of age simultaneously, results suggested the age conceptualizations of subjective age and health significantly impact growth motives for older workers, but not social or security motives. Results suggest social motives are influenced more by chronological age as opposed to other conceptualizations of age. Implications for practitioners in designing and implementing HR activities (e.g., succession planning) and researchers in utilizing all the conceptualizations of age and studying workplace interventions are discussed.

Exploring Crossover Effects Among Working Spouses Through The Lens Of Social Cognitive Theory: Soc And Work-Family Conflict, Kevin Thomas Wynne

Wayne State University Dissertations

Managing competing demands from multiple life domains poses a significant challenge for today's workforce. In particular, employees who also have an active role at home often experience work-family conflict (WFC), which is associated with a number of negative outcomes. Research has shown that the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) set of coping strategies includes behaviors that tend to reduce WFC. However, it remains unknown how working spouses' use of these effective strategies "crossover" to influence the partner’s outcomes. Do individuals' use of SOC coping strategies reduce their spouse's experience of WFC? Using an emergent data analytic method—the actor-partner interdependence model …

The Transformational Leadership Communication Of Socially Close And Distant Leaders On Vision Integration, Bethany Weaver

Wayne State University Dissertations

Applying the theories of transformational leadership and distributive leadership and drawing from diffusion of innovations, this work posits that transformational leaders are successful in transferring vision and subsequently transforming the organization by enacting their communication both systematically and interpersonally. From a system level perspective, transformational leaders in executive leadership roles direct their communicative attention to the key influencers in the organization. They expend their time and effort on an interpersonal level ensuring these individuals are infused with the vision of the organization, understand it, develop the skills necessary to contribute to its achievement, and are equipped and motivated to transfer …

Are Our Values Being Measured Adequately? Creation Of A More Comprhensive Work Values Scale, Daniel Ryan Krenn

Wayne State University Theses

Personal values are essential components in organizational climate and culture, leader-follower relationships, as well as other variables frequently investigated in I/O and management. Even though understanding values is vital to organizational research, the scales that assess these constructs have many problems. Depending on the scale that is used, the value taxonomy may vary significantly. There are also problems with the measurement of these values. Some scales assess the degree to which each value is important individually. Other values scales assess the order of importance of values. However, no scale has been created that assesses the extent of importance and the …

Communication And Identity: The Paternity Leave Decision, Scott Sellnow-Richmond

Wayne State University Dissertations

Paternity leave has remained an under-studied phenomenon in the United States. The US stands in contrast to countries such as Sweden and Norway, which have a history of government-regulated paid time off for fathers of new children. Therefore new fathers in the US face a unique situation regarding their decision of whether or not to take whatever form of paternity leave may be available to them. This study explores what aspects of new fathers’ identities are salient regarding the paternity leave decision. The Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) is used as a theoretical framework to explore how these identities correspond …

A Study Of Performance Based Budgeting Reforms In The National Park Service And Their Effects On Agency Management And Operations, Nichole Marie Fifer

Wayne State University Dissertations

This is a case study of performance-based and budgeting reforms in National Park Service (NPS). The study examines the effects of reform initiatives on the agency’s administration, budgeting, and management. Previous research suggests that current reform initiatives are more effective than those of the past. Further research on reforms suggests reform impacts, while small or non-existent at the agency level may be significant at the sub-agency level. The main reform studied here is performance based budgeting (PBB), under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Its purpose is to improve policy implementation at the “street level.” If working as intended, …

Essays On Horizontal Divestitures And Product Market Relationships, Norkeith Ervin Smith

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is the first to study the product effect of horizontal divestitures on upstream and downstream firms. This first essay examines product market impact of a sample of horizontal asset sales from 1988 to 2005 on corporate customers, suppliers, and industry rivals. I create a sample of firms that classifies corporate customers, suppliers, and industry competitors of firms proposing horizontal asset sales, and employ this data set to investigate the wealth effects at announcement. This study also considers post-divestiture changes in abnormal operating performance for divesting firms, customers, and suppliers.

I document evidence that divestiture related wealth effects for …

Elections And Asset Pricing: The Politically Sensitive Equity Of Us Military Contractors, Matthew Mark Ross

Wayne State University Dissertations

I quantify the relationship between political uncertainty and equity volatility in the months around US elections from 1989-2012. The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data are employed to measure political uncertainty faced by military contractors, capitalizing on the unique monopsony-oligopoly business environment of these firms. I employ a GARCH (1,1) model with cross-sectionally correlated moments to produce daily firm-election volatility measures. Volatility increases 11% for local, 27% for midterm, and 43% for presidential elections. These measures demonstrate that all election categories: local, federal, presidential, and midterm exhibit differential effects on equity volatility. My results …

Examining The Costs Of Providing An Adequate Education For Michigan's K-12 Public School Students, Sean Haskin Wightman

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXAMINING THE COSTS OF PROVIDING AN ADEQUATE EDUCATION

FOR MICHIGAN'S K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

by

SEAN WIGHTMAN

February 2014

Advisor: Dr. Michael F. Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Because the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires students to perform at predefined proficiency levels on state standardized testing instruments, adequate school funding has become arguably the single most important factor influencing the success of children in schools. Because State legislators are the one's primarily responsible for establishing annual budgets for K-12 public education, it is essential they are made aware …

Subordinate-Supervisor Demographic And Perceived Value Similarity: Relationships To Subordinate Perceptions Of Organizational Justice, Charles Levi Wells, Iv

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the empirical relationship between subordinate-supervisor demographic and value similarity with subordinate perceptions of organizational justice using three structural equation models. The first model indicated that subordinate-supervisor demographic and value similarity were directly related to subordinate perceptions of organizational justice (Direct Model). The second model indicated that subordinate perceived value similarity with their supervisor mediated the relationship between the subordinate-supervisor demographic similarity and subordinate perceptions of organizational justice (Mediated Model). The last model indicated subordinate perceived value similarity with their supervisor moderated the relationship between subordinate-supervisor demographic similarity and subordinate perceptions of organizational …

An Examination Of The Impact Of Early Retirement Incentives On School District Financial Health, Michael Jon Dean

Wayne State University Dissertations

The combination of state controlled school funding in Michigan, rising employee costs and shrinking school enrollments have caused school districts to seek a variety of cost control measures. One of the measures frequently supported by both school districts and employee unions is the use of Early Retirement Incentives (ERI) to incentivize teachers to separate from the school district via a cash payment.

The purpose of this study was to analyze how offering or not-offering an ERI impacted on the financial health of a school districts in the State of Michigan. Selected school districts in Michigan were surveyed regarding any ERI's …

The Development And Validation Of A Conditional Reasoning Test Of Withdrawal, Levi Ryan Gust Nieminen

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study developed and evaluated a measure of implicit dispositional tendencies associated with lateness, absenteeism, and permanent withdrawal behaviors. The conditional reasoning framework developed by Lawrence James and colleagues was adopted. Novel cognitive biases or justification mechanisms associated with withdrawal were proposed, drawing on research and theory from the attribution (marginalization of withdrawal), commitment (revocable commitment), and fairness/equity (social injustice bias) domains. As part of the empirical validation design, college students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course completed the conditional reasoning measure, and corresponding behavioral withdrawal criteria were collected unobtrusively throughout the 16-week course. Results of scale development analyses pointed …

Antecedents And Outcomes Of Workplace Engagement, Ariel Maya Lelchook

Wayne State University Dissertations

There has been a recent interest in positive organizational scholarship. Leadership stemming from a positive framework and employee engagement in the workplace have become of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners. Antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement were examined using a sample of 327 employees from retail organizations in the Midwest United States. The leadership styles of authentic, transformational, and transactional leadership were examined as antecedents of employee job engagement, beyond employees' psychological meaningfulness, safety, and availability. Engagement was examined as a mediator between the leadership constructs and employees' extra-role behaviors and work withdrawal behaviors. The results suggest employee job …

Investigating A Leadership Fix For A Suboptimal Mix: A Transformational Leadership Intervention For Teams With Incompatible Personalities, Marcus Daniel Weller

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study uses experimental methodology to examine transformational leadership as a buffering mechanism for problematic personality combinations. 118 German university students comprising 59 dyadic teams participated in a lab-based investigation to examine matched high levels of extraversion within dyadic teams. The presence of transformational leadership (TL) as opposed to a non-leadership intervention was investigated to examine the effects of TL on group members' task performance on both conjunctive and disjunctive tasks. To assess conjunctive task performance, participants performed an employee selection task, and to assess disjunctive task performance participants performed a NASA survival ranking task. Performance was measured against expert …

Economic Deregulation And Corporate Dividend Policy, Xinghua Gao

Wayne State University Dissertations

I investigate the evolution of corporate dividend policy in response to the changing operating environment induced by economic deregulation from the 1970s-1990s. Specifically, I examine the impact of deregulation on the firm's propensity to pay dividends, dividend payout ratio, the sensitivity of corporate dividend policy to current and past earnings, changes in the information content of dividends, and changes in corporate financing behavior along the deregulation process. Empirical results reveal that economic deregulation per se does not have significant impacts on firms' propensity to pay dividends. However, it seems that firms reduce dividend payout along the deregulation process and adjust …

Consumer Xenocentrism And Consumer Cosmopolitanism: The De-Velopment And Validation Of Scales Of Constructs Influencing Attitudes Towards Foreign Product Consumption, Steven James Lawrence

Wayne State University Dissertations

Like many other attributes, consumers exhibit varying degrees of preference with regard to foreign and domestic products. Some consumers have preferences for domestic products while other, seemingly similar, consumers prefer the foreign counterpart. Product quality differences aside, we aim to investigate the attitudinal constructs behind the varying preferences among consumers as they relate to foreign and domestic products.

The author created two new scales for the measurement of the consumer xenocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism constructs. The consumer xenocentrism scale is intended to measure consumers' favorable orientations to products from outside their membership group. The consumer cosmopolitanism scale is designed to …

Crossing The Valley Of Death: A Multi-Sited, Multi-Level Ethnographic Study Of Growth Startups And Entrepreneurial Communities In Post-Industrial Detroit, Marlo Rencher

Wayne State University Dissertations

The intention of this research is to reveal the humanity of the startup experience for American growth companies. What is it about the growth entrepreneurship experience that has been hidden from view? Can we begin to articulate a holistic view of entrepreneurship--including those human universals and culture-bound particulars that must be successfully navigated?

This study is an ethnographic account of three Detroit-based entrepreneurial communities and the people within them. This research examines the sociocultural features of entrepreneurship on three levels. The first level of context for growth businesses to be studied is that of their entrepreneurial community. These communities have …

Profiling Leaders: Using A Profiling Approach To Examine The Effects Of Multifactor Leadership On Follower Deviance, Kevin Thomas Wynne

Wayne State University Theses

Researchers are only beginning to understand how leadership types affect important organizational outcomes at the individual level. Specifically, as a leading theoretical model, multifactor leadership theory has been used as a framework to study various organizational phenomena. However, researchers have largely examined leadership types in isolation, failing to explicitly acknowledge that leaders can and often do enact varying levels of multiple leadership types. The current thesis suggests that leaders demonstrate a profile made up of different types of leadership and proposes four specific leader profiles. This thesis also aimed to determine the conditions under which leadership profile types affect follower …

Case Study: Evaluating Performance Outcomes Of A Technology Change Management Initiative In A Health Care Organization, Dion Nathanial Johnson

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine a case study by evaluating performance outcomes of a technology change management initiative in a health care organization. This study was developed with an array of issues surrounding change management programs with technology platforms, the management of complex change and the amount of criticism that became the impetus behind the implementation of the Electronic Health Records Management Systems (EHRMS) across the healthcare industry and its long-term transformative effects. Despite recognition that user response largely determined the success of a technology implementation or change management program and the fact significant resources are spent …