Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Strategic Plan: Amazon, Olivia J. Flamand, Aaron Wisher, Shannon Riley

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

What Works Where?, Edmond Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For this project my goal is to examine the management styles of three workplace environments and the relationships those styles create between the employees and their managers. I will endeavor to explore areas that can be improved from the management perspective of the work force so that employees will have more input in their workplace setting. The environments that this project will look into are the office setting, retail setting, and labor setting. Information for this project was collected via questionnaires that I constructed. There were two surveys distributed for this project. One survey was for employees and the others …

A Business Plan For The Fitzgerald Institute, Elaine M. King, Matthew G. Deibel, Matthew J. Bulgrin, Alex Skeen, Stephanie N. Kieke

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This piece seeks to develop a business strategy for the University of Akron's Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurship. The recommendations given were developed utilizing research on entrepreneurial education and the desires of students at the university.

Training And Development: Communication And The Multigenerational Workplace, Michael G. Strawser

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Communication practitioners, especially those who facilitate training and development workshops, should focus on generational differences as a subset of their communication training efforts. This article positions the multigenerational workplace and generational differences as a relevant topic for communication trainers and provides cursory information related to different generations. Ultimately, 10 best practices to address generational differences in business contexts are discussed.

Green Cities And Waste Management: The Restaurant Industry, Minoo Tehrani, Lawrence Fulton, Bryan Schmutz

Business Faculty Publications

“Green Cities” are cities with the ultimate goal of achieving a net zero-carbon footprint in energy, transportation, architecture, and the activity cost chain of businesses. These cities define the future of our planet by emphasizing the efficient use of resources and the well-being of communities. This study focuses on “Green Cities” and the restaurant industry. It examines the beliefs of restaurant owners/managers on the positive impact of sustainability practices on financial situation, reputation, and attraction of customers, and the relationship between such beliefs and the extent of engagement in sustainability practices. The research also explores whether declaring a city “Green” …

Diversification As A Strategy: A Research-Based Plan To Cultivate New Audiences At The Richmond Symphony, James A. Perkins Jr, C Keith Claassen, Frank G. Weber, Verona D. Wilborn

Doctor of Education Capstones

Building a more inclusive audience is not a far-fetched idea; system diversification by its very nature is a performance strategy, not a performance goal. Changing audience demographics requires well laid out plans, achievable goals, effective processes, and a total organizational commitment to diversification. This report was created to provide perspectives that inform executive leaders in arts organizations who plan to attract diverse audiences. It highlights nine research-based recommendations for audience diversification. Our report is unique in that it layers four approaches that, if used simultaneously, have the potential to both increase the likelihood of success and decrease the amount of …

“Untact”: A New Customer Service Strategy In The Digital Age, Sang M. Lee, Donhee Lee

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The Industry 4.0 era has brought a shift in consumers’ purchasing behaviors from traditional retailing to online and/or mobile channels, triggered by advanced digital technologies and an easy access to the global market. Smart digital devices and advanced technologies have enabled “untact” service, facilitating customer encounters without a face-to-face contact with employees. This study presents the concept of untact service based on a review of the literature on technology-enabled customer encounters with service providers and analysis of several real-world cases. The results indicate that untact services are becoming widespread in various areas of daily life, such as ordering food at …

Lessons Learned From Battling Covid-19: The Korean Experience, Sang M. Lee, Donhee Lee

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world like a gigantic tsunami, turning social and economic activities upside down. Methods: This paper presents some of the innovative response strategies implemented by the public health system, healthcare facilities, and government in South Korea, which has been hailed as the model country for its success in containing COVID-19. Korea reinvented its public health infrastructure with a sense of urgency. Results: Korea’s success rests on its readiness, with the capacity for massive testing and obtaining prompt test results, eective contact tracing based on its world-leading mobile technologies, timely provision of personal protective equipment …

Organizational Aspirations And External Venturing: The Contingency Of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Varkey K. Titus Jr., Owen Parker, Jeffrey G. Covin

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

We contribute to the organizational aspirations and corporate venturing literature by theorizing and testing (a) the influence of a firm’s idiosyncratic strategic posture on behavioral responses to performance attainment discrepancies, and (b) that performance feedback may influence multifaceted yet thematically related forms of search. Specifically, we examine the influence of performance feedback on equity-based external corporate venturing. We then propose that a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is a critical contingency when theorizing about how firms respond to attainment discrepancies. Our findings indicate that a firm’s EO is an important contingency when considering behavioral responses to attainment discrepancies.

Inventory Sharing And Demand-Side Underweighting, Hui Zhao, Liang Xu, Enno Siemsen

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

Problem definition: Transshipment/inventory sharing has been used in practice because of its risk-pooling potential. However, human decision makers play a critical role in making inventory decisions in an inventory sharing system, which may affect its benefits. We investigate whether the opportunity to transship inventory influences decision makers’ inventory decisions and whether, as a result, the intended risk-pooling benefits materialize.

Academic/practical relevance: Previous research in transshipment, which is focused on finding optimal stocking and sharing decisions, assumes rational decision making without any systematic bias. As one of the first to study inventory sharing from a behavioral perspective, …

Performance Of Cross-Border Acquisitions: Evidence From China, Yuanyuan Fan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The number of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China has increased dramatically in recent years. Under China’s “go global” strategy, Chinese firms are devoting more capital and time to developing their overseas business. Cross-border M&As make up a large proportion of these activities. Therefore, it is crucial to determine what factors affect the performance of cross-border acquisitions.

Previous studies show that the acquirers’ post-merger performance is affected by various factors. Those papers mainly focus on domestic M&As. However, cross-border M&As also have unique features. In this study, I focus on Chinese cross-border acquisitions and the factors that affect the …

On Effectuation And Networks: Three Essays On Their Mutuality, Jon Kerr

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The notion of co-creating opportunities positions effectuation as both a network-driving and network-dependent phenomenon. On one hand, networks are products of relational interactions and, therefore, artefactual outcomes of effectual processes. On the other hand, it would seem that understanding networks and network processes is essential to understanding effectuation. Although past research acknowledges this mutuality, recent discourse highlights that our understanding of the relationship between effectuation and networks is far from complete. In this dissertation, I address this knowledge gap through three essays positioned at the interface of effectuation and network theory.

In the first essay, my systematic literature review synthesizes …

Leisure As Immediate Conscious Experience: Foundations, Evaluation, And Extension Of The Theory Of Structured Experiences, Gary D. Ellis, Jingxian Jiang, Patti A. Freeman, Andrew Lacanienta, Tazim Jamal

Faculty Publications

The nature, causes, and effects of immediate conscious leisure experiences have long been central interests of scholars. Significant contributions to the field include Abraham Maslow’s studies of ecstasy and peak experience, Sigmund Koch’s descriptions of two forms of consciousness, John Neulinger’s classification of immediate conscious experiences based on their motivational contexts, Michael J. Ellis’ application of arousal theory to play, Howard and Diane Tinsley’s theory of the leisure experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s career of inquiry into the “flow” phenomenon, and recently, the theory of structured experience (TSE). This paper reviews research on leisure as immediate conscious experience relating to development of …

Sme Manager Skills And Practices Survey (2020), Deirdre Mcquillan, Thomas M. Cooney, Ciara Nolan, Osa Godwin Osaghae, Wael Rashwan, Lorraine Sweeney

Research Instruments

Survey questions for assessing manager skills and practices in Small to Medium Enterprises under the Improving management development standards in SMEs in Ireland. A project funded by the European Union via the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) - No SRSS/C2019/051

What Is The Relationship Between Immigrant Enclaves And Transnational Diaspora Entrepreneurial Activity In Ireland?, Osa–Godwin Osaghae

Doctoral

This thesis is a pioneering study, exploring the relationship between immigrant enclaves (IE) and transnational diaspora entrepreneurship (TDE) in the unique context of a Nigerian immigrant community in Dublin. The study reviews the relevant literature in the field of immigrant entrepreneurship, adopting principles from the most significant studies in order to develop a conceptual model for understanding the relationship between an IE and TDE. The study employed qualitative semi-structured interviews with eleven participants in order to generate data, which was then processed through the six phases of thematic analysis described by Braun and Clarke. The researcher’s own experience as a …

Innovation Within Regulations: Gaining Insight On Cultivating Employee-Led Innovation In California Public-Sector Organizations, Rebecca N. Franklin

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The inquiry concerned gaining insights into environmental elements needed within California public-sector organizations to increase employees’ willingness to share innovative ideas. Although research exists regarding the need for service innovation and employees as fruitful sources of innovative ideas, there have been limited studies concerning public-sector organizations and the best method to solicit employee ideas. The data collection for this qualitative research study consisted of a series of interviews with front-line, non-supervisory civil servants. The results provide insights and information on how public-sector organizations may foster a culture that promotes and encourages employee-led innovation. The themes that emerged were (a) transparency …

Feeling Activated And Acting Unethically: The Influence Of Activated Mood On Unethical Behavior To Benefit A Teammate, Elizabeth E. Umphress, Richard G. Gardner, Adam C. Stoverink, Keith Leavitt

Faculty Publications

Research on the effects of mood in organizations tends to focus on the valence dimension of mood (positive vs. negative), overlooking the activation dimension (activated vs. deactivated).We suggest that activation level prompts unethical behavior. Based on the affective infusion model (AIM; Forgas, 1995), we predict that positive activated and negative activated moods facilitate unethical behavior to benefit a teammate, via the mediating mechanism of a creative mindset. We test our fullmodel using an experience sampling method over 2 weeks, in which mood and creative mindset were assessed in the morning and unethical behavior conducted that day was assessed in the …

Provocation And Related Subjective Experiences Along The Dark Tourism Spectrum, Andrew Lacanienta, Gary Ellis, Brian Hill, Patti Freeman, Jingxian Jiang

Faculty Publications

We examined relations between ‘darkness’ of dark tourism sites, provocation, and select indicators of the quality of visitors’ immediate subjective experiences. Experience observations (N = 101) were collected from tourists who visited Auschwitz (Krakow), Schindler’s Factory (Krakow), Execution Square (Paris), and a ghost tour (Edinburgh). Research participants completed measures of provocation and quality of experience at the end of their visits to each site. Hypotheses were founded in four theories: self-determination theory, cognitive dissonance theory, arousal theory, and the theory of structured experience. These hypotheses proposed that particular experience outcomes vary according to the ‘darkness’ of the dark tourism site. …

Rethinking Leisure Time Use Metrics: Greater Diversity In Shared Sibling Leisure Is Associated With Higher Relationship Quality During Emerging Adulthood, Eric K. Layland, Camilla Hodge, Mikala Glaza, Jerrica O. Peets

Faculty Publications

Leisure diversity—the total number of unique leisure categories shared within a sibling dyad—may vary according to sibling characteristics (e.g., sibling gender, age difference) and predict sibling relationship quality. Using triangulated lists, brief narratives, and focus groups, we constructed a taxonomy of shared sibling leisure in emerging adulthood and then calculated individual leisure diversity scores. The sample (N ¼ 185) included college-attending emerging adults with an average age of 20.1 years (35.7% female). Taxonomic analysis suggested 19 categories of shared sibling leisure. Analyses of variance indicated differences by dyadic gender composition in endorsement rates of select leisure categories and average levels …

In Situ Engagement During Structured Leisure Experiences: Conceptualization, Measurement, And Theory Testing, Gary D. Ellis, Jingxian Jiang, Patti A. Freeman, Andrew Lacanienta, Elizabeth J. Ellis

Faculty Publications

We conducted an experiment to test theoretical propositions relating coherence, personalization, and provocation to in-situ engagement, deep experience, delight, and perceived value of time spent. Four hundred adults from a national panel viewed one of eight versions of a video centered on a character in Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables, and then completed measures of engagement, deep experience, delight, perceived value of time spent, preexisting familiarity with the story, and the subjective experience of provocation. Each video represented a unique combination of presence or absence of the three hypothesized determinants: coherence, personalization, and provocation. Coherence, personalization, and preexisting familiarity …