Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Experiencing Objectification In Platform Work: Food Delivery Riders’ Accounts Of Organizational Absence And Self-Valuation, Emerald Jay D. Ilac, Ma. Tonirose D. Mactal, Clarisse Aeaea M. Kilboy

Leadership and Strategy Faculty Publications

This study aimed to explain how food delivery platform riders experience objectification in the context of platform-based work, with particular attention to how organizational practices and leadership shape experiences of marginalization, dignity, and voice. A qualitative design was employed using Descriptive Phenomenological Analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine food delivery platform riders to describe the essential structures of their lived experiences of objectification. Subaltern Theory was used as an interpretive lens in making sense of the findings. Five experiential themes were identified: (1) leaders’ non-presence resulting in perceived abandonment, (2) leaders’ devaluing of food delivery riders, (3) social devaluation …

Burnout And Workforce Outcomes Among Registered Nurses, Madeline Willcoxen

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between staffing and organizational support interventions and workforce outcomes among registered nurses providing direct patient care in hospital settings. The study focused on three measurable outcomes: emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and annual nurse turnover. The population included hospital-based registered nurses, and the comparison involved standard staffing and support conditions.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Studies published between 2015 and 2026 were identified using PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases. Inclusion criteria required quantitative studies examining staffing or organizational support interventions among registered nurses in …

Generative Ai Scoring Of Constructed Responses: Psychometric Evidence For Research Applications, Thomas M. Cavanagh, Christa Kiersch, A O'Brien

Barowsky School of Business | Conference Presenations

Constructed response assessments provide rich evidence of transfer and deep learning but require resource-intensive human scoring that creates practical barriers for management researchers. This study examines the reliability and validity of generative AI scoring as an alternative to traditional human scoring for research applications. Using an EvidenceCentered Design framework, we evaluated three commercial GenAI systems (GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash) scoring constructed responses assessing transfer of learning in motivation and leadership content domains (N = 243). Results demonstrated that GenAI achieved interrater reliability comparable to trained human raters, excellent test-retest reliability (ICC > .90) across all items, strong convergent …

Validating Generative Ai For Scoring Open-Ended Training Assessments, Thomas M. Cavanagh, Christa Kiersch, A. O'Brien

Barowsky School of Business | Conference Presenations

Open-ended assessments are essential for workplace training but limited by scoring resources. This paper provides a psychometric evaluation of generative AI ratings of open-ended responses in training contexts, offering evidence for the reliability, validity, and utility of GenAI scores. The study demonstrates best practices for using GenAI as a rater through effective task design, quality rubrics, and optimized prompts. Results support GenAI as a practical solution for scaling open-ended assessments while maintaining psychometric rigor in workplace learning and development.

Ai In The Workplace: Understanding Role Ambiguity, Employee Motivation, And Learning Engagement, Sheena Leah Metzger

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational processes has altered how work is performed and experienced by employees, yet empirical research examining the human implications of AI-driven change remains limited. This study examined the perceived impact of AI implementation on role ambiguity, employee motivation, and training engagement, and investigated the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS). Grounded in Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Theory and Organizational Support Theory (OST), the research examined how employees interpreted and responded to AI-related changes in their work environment.

The results offer valuable insights into a shifting perception of how employees experience technology in …

Artisanal Retreats, Michelle Larose

MA Projects

Artisanal Retreats is a luxury travel provider blending holistic personal wellness with art creation, appreciation, education and collection. We offer our clients an unparalleled retreat experience at our 250-acre pastoral escape, combining traditional wellness amenities and activities with art focused pursuits to aid guests in achieving optimal Creative Wellness. Set on a gorgeous, historic farm near the bucolic town of Middleburg, Virginia, Artisanal Retreats’ guests are transported to a heightened level of relaxation and vitality through our exceptional programming and hospitality. Our team is comprised of seasoned professionals, from both the art world and the wellness industry, intent on bringing …

Enhancing Military Health System Organizational Efficiency And Quality Of Care Through A Social-Ecological Framework, Eric L. Peipelman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Timely and fair adjudication of incivility-related actions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Military Health System (MHS) is increasingly crucial for maintaining accountability, mission readiness, and quality of care. Ongoing delays in resolving workplace complaints and inefficiencies in resource-heavy adjudications highlight the need to shift from reactive complaint handling toward proactive civility promotion and transparent decision-making. This Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) introduces the Peipelman Civility Discussion and Assessment Toolkit (PCDAT)—a comprehensive, evidence-based framework designed to improve civility, optimize resources, and enhance communication, even in the MHS. Based on the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) and adapted from the Workplace Power and …

Global Art: An Economic Exploration Of The Factors Driving Sensible Gallery Expansion, James Mclennan

MA Theses

The goal of this thesis is to develop a practical and defensible decision tool to guide art gallery expansion. Focusing on four cities – New York, Hong Kong, London, and Doha – the thesis translates heterogeneous considerations into a matrix that scores each of the cities according to eight factors: Market & Demand; Regulation & Tax; Logistics & Shipping; Labor & Immigration; Legal Entity & Finance; Brand, PR & Audience; Competition & Benchmarking; and Risk. Sub-factors are scored and averaged to provide results on how each city scores against each other. The output is a ranked set of city recommendations …

Does Blue-Chip Art Genuinely Provide Diversification And Risk Mitigation Once Illiquidity, Transaction Frictions, And Survivorship Bias Are Explicitly Incorporated Into Performance Analysis, Or Is The “Safe Haven” Label Fundamentally Misleading?, Radhika Vissanji

MA Theses

Blue-chip art is widely presented as a safe haven and portfolio diversifier, particularly during periods of financial market uncertainty. This perception is reinforced by art price indices and industry reports that emphasise long-term appreciation, relatively low volatility, and weak correlation with traditional financial assets. Despite the growing prominence of these claims in advisory and institutional discourse, there remains limited agreement on whether such properties persist once the structural characteristics of the art market are fully taken into account. This thesis evaluates whether blue-chip art genuinely delivers diversification and risk-mitigation benefits under realistic market conditions. Focusing on three structural factors, illiquidity, …

Do Students Have Satisfying Educational Experiences At Sustainable Universities? Evidence From Australian Universities, Junru Zhang, Yuan George Shan, Nirosha Dilhani Kapu Arachchilage

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Drawing on a sample of Australian universities from 2012 to 2018, we investigate the association between the extent of university sustainability disclosure and student satisfaction. University sustainability disclosures are critical for communicating with key stakeholders when seeking resources, thereby facilitating student satisfaction. Using hand-collected data from university annual reports and the Student Experience Survey, we find that the extent of university sustainability disclosure is positively associated with student satisfaction in both short and long terms. Our channel analysis suggests that sustainability disclosures help universities attract increased government funding and student income. Moreover, universities with a greater extent of sustainability disclosure …

Fostering Sustainable Business Performance: The Synergistic Role Of Entrepreneurial Leadership And Green Organizational Support In The Hotel Industry, Kwame Owusu Boakye, Michael Kyei-Frimpong, Aaron Makafui Ametorwo, Linda Quagraine, Richard Sam-Mensah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study investigated the moderating role of green organizational support in the nexus between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable business performance. The study adopted the explanatory research design, where data were collected from 208 employees working in star-rated hotels in Ghana and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that entrepreneurial leadership significantly relates to sustainable social and environmental performance but not to sustainable economic performance. More so, green organizational support moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable economic and social performance but did not moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable environmental performance. Theoretical and practical …

Just Be Yourself....But Only If You Are Like Us? A Social Identity Theory Cross-Cultural Meta-Analysis Of Authentic Leadership, Andrei A. Lux, Kevin B. Lowe, Patricio Duran, Darren K. Bharanitharan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

We apply social identity theory (SIT) within a culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory (CLT) frame to model how cultural values shape relationships between authentic leadership and follower outcomes. We use meta-analytic methods to test hypotheses with data from 292 studies drawn from over 40 countries, comprised of 100,641 individuals, and including 35 attitudinal, behavioural, and performance outcomes. Meta-analytic regression of cultural values coded at the country level reveals a significant pattern of moderation effects across 42.9% of the correlates we tested, suggesting that authentic leadership theory is culturally embedded. The effects of authentic leadership vary to the extent that it …

When Affect Is Not Episodic: Extending Affective Events Theory Under Sustained Oversight, Cathrine Frost, Andrei A. Lux, Peter Galvin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Affective Events Theory explains how workplace emotions arise from discrete events and shape attitudes and behaviour. Drawing on a phenomenological study of 29 employees and 13 managers working within oversight saturated supervisory contexts in the post–Royal Commission Australian financial services sector, this paper extends Affective Events Theory by examining how affective experience unfolds when accountability is continuous, and discretion is constrained. Across dual-cohort findings, affect was not primarily anchored to identifiable events that resolved over time. Instead, participants described emotion as persistent and cumulative, produced through ambiguity and emotional restraint, and circulating across supervisory roles. Employees reported sustained interpretive effort …

Strategizing Success: Advancing Women's Leadership And Careers In Healthcare Through A Positive Gain Spiral, Farveh Farivar, Andrei A. Lux, Nasim Salehi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose – Women’s career progression in healthcare continues to lag men’s, particularly at senior leadership levels, limiting organizational performance and weakening leadership pipelines. This study applies Conservation of Resources (COR) theory’s positive gains cycle to examine how supportive organizational environments and human resource management practices can accelerate women’s advancement from early career stages to senior leadership. Design/methodology/approach – Using a social constructivist approach, we conducted 30 in-depth interviews with Australian healthcare leaders (20 female and 10 male) across multiple organizational levels. Thematic analysis identified the resources and interactions that enable sustained leadership progression for women. Findings – Four interconnected resources, …

Designing And Evaluating Quality Transdisciplinary Work-Integrated Learning: Insights Into Practice, Denise Jackson, Claire Lambert, Sonja Coetzee

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Higher education’s role in fostering innovation and enacting social change is increasingly important. Transdisciplinary Work-Integrated Learning (TWIL) offers opportunities to prepare students to address societal issues by transcending disciplinary boundaries and collaboratively tackling real-world global challenges. While extensive literature exists on established WIL models, research on the critical aspects of designing, implementing and evaluating impactful TWIL activities remains scarce. This paper draws together insights from 15 TWIL academics across 14 Australian universities, highlighting important design elements such as training for small group collaboration, open-ended projects, design thinking, sustained mentorship and reciprocal partnerships. Emerging challenges related to online delivery, teamwork, scalability, …

Emerging Stronger From Challenging Times: How Servant Leaders Manage Workplace Spirituality And Employee Flourishing, Mahdi Vesal, Muhammad Aftab Alam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Business leaders, particularly in challenging times like the post-COVID era, grapple with fostering employee well-being and addressing spiritual needs. Our research explores the link between workplace spirituality—marked by meaningful work, community, and value alignment—and employee flourishing, with a focus on the role of servant leadership. Using self-determination theory, we analyzed survey data from SMEs in Iran and India, where employees navigated challenging times amid COVID-related difficulties. Study 1 (303 employees in 128 Iranian firms) found meaningful work and a sense of community positively influence employee flourishing, while value alignment has a curvilinear effect. Study 2 (215 senior Indian employees) replicated …

Getting Ready Right: The Impact And Influence Of The University Appointed Supervisor, Madlen Griffiths

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Initial Teacher Education professional experience is a valued component of teacher education courses, where preservice teachers can practise applying what they have learned at university in classroom settings. Key to these experiences are supervisors, who are employed by the university and support these aspiring teachers during their professional experiences. This supervisory role is complex, underrated, under-theorised and under researched. Consequently, this research sought to address this shortfall through an investigation into the perspectives of two of the major stakeholders in these experiences: the preservice teachers and the supervisors.

Adopting a social constructivist methodology, this research examined the stakeholders’ perceptions of …

Csr Disclosure In Family-Controlled And Politically Connected Firms: Do Audit Committees Matter?, Md Harun Ur Rashid, Habib, Rashid Zaman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose – This study aims to investigate whether audit committees shape the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practices of family-controlled and politically connected firms. Specifically, this study examines the extent to which audit committees mitigate the tendency of these firms to withhold CSR information and enhance transparency in an emerging market context. Design/methodology/approach – This study analyses 1, 108 firm-year observations from 140 non-financial firms listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange over the period 2013–2023. To examine how family control, political connections and audit committees influence CSR disclosure. This study estimates several multivariate regression models. In addition, to strengthen causal …

Przedsiębiorczość: Praktyczny Przewodnik Dla Sukcesu W Biznesie, Jalleh Sharafizad, Violetta Wilk, Kerry Brown, Aglae Hernandez Grande, Fleur Sharafizad, Dorothy Wardale, Arkadiusz Gwarda, Artur Korkoszkiewicz, Marta Komorska, Bartosz Sobotka, Michał Wójcik

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This book is tailored for entrepreneurs in their startups or moving to the next stage of their businesses, micro and small business owners, as well as individuals who are considering starting their own ventures. It brings together essential insights, practical tools, and valuable resources developed through two Western Australian government initiatives focused on entrepreneurial training and support. In addition, it draws on a range of business concepts from other sources, refining and simplifying them to suit the specific needs of emerging and growing enterprises.

Designed to be both flexible and supportive, the book serves multiple roles throughout your entrepreneurial journey. …

Configuring For Success: A Conceptual Framework Of Project Portfolio Management Archetypes And Capability Bundles, Masoud Aghajani, Ashkan Memari, Olabode Emmanuel Ogunmakinde

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Project portfolio management (PPM) is critical for achieving strategic objectives but has been studied in fragmented silos. We propose a configuration-theoretic perspective that views project portfolios as coherent clusters of practices and capabilities. Drawing on the literature on portfolio success and dynamic capabilities, we identify four archetypal project portfolio configurations– innovation-driven, governance-driven, alignment-driven, and balanced-adaptive –each combining distinct success determinants (e.g., stakeholder engagement, formal processes, agility, culture). The proposed conceptual framework maps how these configurations mobilize sensing, seizing, and transforming capabilities to realize different dimensions of portfolio success. The paper contributes a holistic model that unifies disparate findings, generates formal …