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The Impact Of Stockouts On Customer Loyalty To Lean Retailers, Jeffery I. Turk 2011 Walden University

The Impact Of Stockouts On Customer Loyalty To Lean Retailers, Jeffery I. Turk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lean inventory concept has been shown to streamline operations and improve efficiency in a retail environment. The negative side of the practice is that limited inventories increase the risk of stockouts, where a routinely available product is missing and the retailer is not able to meet customer demands. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine stockouts as an event and document their effects on changes in customer attitudes and behaviors. Guided by a constructivist conceptual framework, the research question explored how stockout experiences affected customers' purchasing behaviors and loyalty to brand and retailer. A survey containing …


Effects Of Proactive Leadership On Sustainability In The Nonprofit, Jamison J. Hardy 2011 Walden University

Effects Of Proactive Leadership On Sustainability In The Nonprofit, Jamison J. Hardy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The not-for-profit community serves a vital societal role. Guided by the systems-theory, the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to identify ways not-for-profit agencies could be more fiscally sound during difficult economic times and plan for uncertain futures. Face-to-face recorded interviews with 20 chief executives from different not-for-profit corporations in western Pennsylvania, were conducted to examine their professional lived experiences in order to collect best practices by which each executive dealt with difficult economic times. Structured interviews consisted of 8 questions that probed different aspects of the phenomena of dealing with fiscal challenges. Transcribed data were coded for both …


Aligning Financial Strategy With Customer Categorization Based On Environmental Scanning, Timothy Osita Anyiwe 2011 Walden University

Aligning Financial Strategy With Customer Categorization Based On Environmental Scanning, Timothy Osita Anyiwe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inadequate environmental scanning, poor financial strategy, and misaligned customer focus are responsible for 79% of retail profitability losses. The purpose of the qualitative study using a multiple-case study design was to explore the strategies needed to align financial strategy with customer-oriented processes in the retail industry. The research question involved understanding trends and operational risks influencing the establishment of financial alignment strategies. Porter's five forces model of customer influence, Pearce's environmental and economic factors affecting society values, and Albright's strategic planning of environmental influence served as the theoretical foundations for the study. 30 executives, managers, and team leaders in 2 …


Acceptance And Usage Of Electronic Health Record Systems In Small Medical Practices, Ritu Tannan 2011 Walden University

Acceptance And Usage Of Electronic Health Record Systems In Small Medical Practices, Ritu Tannan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the objectives of the U.S. government has been the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including adoption and use of an electronic health records (EHR) system. However, a 2008 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated a 41.5% usage of the EHR system by physicians in office-based practices. The purpose of this study was to explore opinions and beliefs on the barriers to the diffusion of an ERH system using Q-methodology. Specifically, the research questions examined the subjectivity in the patterns of perspectives at the preadoption stage of the nonusers and at the postadoption …


Entropy In Postmerger And Acquisition Integration From An Information Technology Perspective, Gloria S. Williams 2011 Walden University

Entropy In Postmerger And Acquisition Integration From An Information Technology Perspective, Gloria S. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mergers and acquisitions have historically experienced failure rates from 50% to more than 80%. Successful integration of information technology (IT) systems can be the difference between postmerger success or failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the entropy phenomenon during postmerger IT integration. To that end, a purposive sample of 14 midlevel and first-line managers in a manufacturing environment was interviewed to understand how the negative effects of entropy affect the ultimate success of the IT integration process. Using the theoretical framework of the process school of thought, interview data were iteratively examined by using keywords, phrases, …


The Adoption Of International Accounting Standards For Small- And Medium-Sized Entities, Doris K. Feltham 2011 Walden University

The Adoption Of International Accounting Standards For Small- And Medium-Sized Entities, Doris K. Feltham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. private entities considering adoption of International Standards for Small- and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) need to understand how the new standards will modify financial reporting. However, there has been no determination of the significance of the financial statement impact of changing from United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) to IFRS for SMEs. Without this knowledge, private entities in the United States will not be able to make an informed decision as to the benefits or consequences of adopting IFRS for SMEs. Based on stakeholder theory, this study sought to determine how adoption of IFRS for SMEs …


Church Leaders' Financial Coping Strategies During A Recession, Cecil Williams 2011 Walden University

Church Leaders' Financial Coping Strategies During A Recession, Cecil Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An economic recession can disproportionately affect the financial stability of churches because their income relies primarily on voluntary contributions. The purpose of this phenomenological study, framed by servant leadership theory, was to explore lived experiences and perceptions related to church leaders' strategies for coping with the economic downturn in 2008. A purposive sample of 20 church leaders from Tennessee was recruited to explore the changes that have been made in church operational strategies in order to cope with the recession. The interview data were iteratively examined by using keywords, phrases, and concepts and were coded into categories, which led to …


The Influence Of Trust And Affective Organizational Commitment On Intent To Leave, Melvin, Jr. Sinclair 2011 Walden University

The Influence Of Trust And Affective Organizational Commitment On Intent To Leave, Melvin, Jr. Sinclair

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As global competition has increased and organizations have become more competitive, a reliance on knowledge workers for innovation, initiative, and commitment is necessary. Having the ability to predict personnel intent to leave (ITL) provides business leaders the opportunity to reduce turnover and retain institutional knowledge. In the current study, a structural equation model was used to examine the degree to which organizational trust and commitment, as correlated variables, predicted ITL. Organizational citizenship behavior, social exchange, and organizational commitment theories formed the theoretical basis for the study. Data were gathered using online surveys from 423 participants at 5 financial institutions located …


Information Withholding And The Management Of Productivity In Teams, Dolores Drumheller 2011 Walden University

Information Withholding And The Management Of Productivity In Teams, Dolores Drumheller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The importance of good communications between team members has been well documented. Yet previous studies on communications between team members have neglected to focus on reasons for information withholding between people working on teams. The purpose of this case study of 16 engineers and 6 educators was to understand why team members withhold information when working together. A convenience sample was selected from a software engineering organization. Collective intelligence theory in a modern communications environment was used as the theoretical foundation. This theory posits that the synergy of full group collaboration results in enhanced performance and the spread of new …


Navy Downsizing And Its Effect On Active Enlisted Navy Personnel, Eden Velasco Castro 2011 Walden University

Navy Downsizing And Its Effect On Active Enlisted Navy Personnel, Eden Velasco Castro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The overall scope of naval missions has remained largely unchanged despite the loss of more than 8,000 naval personnel each year since 2002. The downsized naval workforce experienced an overload in work assignments and an increase of health-related issues resulting in lowered morale, motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity. Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs links personal satisfaction to work productivity, which is critical for naval personnel to protect national security, provide humanitarian services, and respond to international crises effectively. This phenomenological study included semi-structured interviews with military and civilian leaders at naval bases located in San Diego and El Centro, …


Internationalization Of Family Businesses In Saudi Arabia, Farid Fouad Bouges 2011 Walden University

Internationalization Of Family Businesses In Saudi Arabia, Farid Fouad Bouges

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Family businesses represent a key economical asset in the global economy. Leaders of family businesses have implemented internationalization as a key strategy to enhance sustainability and increase profitability in a hypercompetitive global marketplace. Guided by the Uppsala model, the purpose of this case study was to explore how Saudi family business leaders have planned and implemented internationalization. Three leaders from different international Saudi family businesses participated in semistructured interviews. The participants described their experience in achieving successful internationalization for their family businesses. After analyzing the interview data and validating through member checking, 3 main themes emerged: (a) the characteristics of …


The Role Of Leadership In Safety Performance And Results, Halina E. Caravello 2011 Walden University

The Role Of Leadership In Safety Performance And Results, Halina E. Caravello

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee injury rates in U.S. land-based operations in the energy industry are 2 to 3 times higher relative to other regions in the world. Although a rich literature exists on drivers of safety performance, no previous studies investigated factors influencing this elevated rate. Leadership has been identified as a key contributor to safety outcomes and this grounded theory study drew upon the full range leadership model, situational leadership, and leader-member exchange theories for the conceptual framework. Leadership aspects influencing safety performance were investigated through guided interviews of 27 study participants; data analyses included open and axial coding, and constant comparisons …


Knowledge Sharing And Competitiveness Of Professional Service Firms: A Case Study, Albert P. Cruz 2011 Walden University

Knowledge Sharing And Competitiveness Of Professional Service Firms: A Case Study, Albert P. Cruz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is that little action is taken to create the social aspects and social value of knowledge-sharing culture within organizations. There is a need for increased understanding of the behavioral side of knowledge management. The purpose of this study was to focus on knowledge sharing from a behavioral perspective. Knowledge management is defined as the accumulation, protection, and leverage of knowledge. This research study investigated the relationship between knowledge sharing and competitiveness and approached the field of knowledge management from the organizational, cultural, and behavioral perspectives. The research questions examined how knowledge workers described the …


Continual Energy Management Dynamics: Energy Efficiency In U.S. Automotive Manufacturing Industry, Cem O. Onus 2011 Walden University

Continual Energy Management Dynamics: Energy Efficiency In U.S. Automotive Manufacturing Industry, Cem O. Onus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Managers at automotive manufacturers are seeking ways to reduce energy consumption, costs, carbon emissions, and waste from production processes. Researchers and practitioners perceive energy efficiency as the least expensive and most effective way to deal with issues related to climate change, but adoption of energy efficiency measures has been slow among industrial facilities. The topic of this research study was the decision-making process for energy efficiency projects in the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. Flaws in this decision-making processes are preventing changes that can dramatically reduce energy usage, cost, and pollution. The study was grounded in the theories of energy management, …


A Business Case For Return On Investment: Understanding Organizational Change, Rya S. Henderson-Carter 2011 Walden University

A Business Case For Return On Investment: Understanding Organizational Change, Rya S. Henderson-Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2010, 2,000 U. S. leaders spent {dollar}150 billion on return on investment (ROI) training, yet questions still exist on how to measure the benefits of organizational change. The purpose of this embedded single-case study was to explore how business leaders could use ROI to characterize the benefit of intervention strategies for organizational change. Stakeholder theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A purposive sample of 20 civilian personnel managers located at a medical facility for veterans in central Texas participated in semistructured interviews. The 5 primary themes that emerged using thematic analysis …


Firm Governance And Shareholder Value Creation: A Study Of Cross-Border Acquisitions By U.S. Acquiring Firms, Dynah A. Basuil 2011 University of Texas at Arlington

Firm Governance And Shareholder Value Creation: A Study Of Cross-Border Acquisitions By U.S. Acquiring Firms, Dynah A. Basuil

Management Dissertations - Archive

Cross-border acquisitions have become an important part of the arsenal of strategies that firms deploy in internationalizing their operations. With the significant resources that are generally involved in such transactions and the wide range of performance outcomes, it is important that studies examine the factors that contribute to the performance of such acquisitions. My study seeks to do that. By drawing primarily on agency theory, I examine the role of firm governance in the creation of value from the perspective of shareholders at U.S. acquiring firms in international acquisitions. Further, guided by the tenets of transaction cost economics and resource …


Form, Fit, And Swim, Kristin DeVaughn 2011 Whittier College

Form, Fit, And Swim, Kristin Devaughn

Whittier Scholars Program

The history of bathing suits reflects enormous change in social norms and moves over the last century. Bathing attire for both men and women have evolved at different paces. HIstorically men swam in the nude, while women rarely ever wore swimsuits or swam. Women were typically found strolling down the beach shores dressed in a tunic, the basic swimwear of the 1800’s. Throughout the modern design history of swimwear, there have been two major types of garments for women, the one-piece and the two-piece. The one-piece swimsuit consisted of a tunic complimented by a woven skirt. This one-piece garment made …


Geographic Clusters And Firm Innovation, Alex Vestal 2011 University of Central Florida

Geographic Clusters And Firm Innovation, Alex Vestal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars dating back to the early 1900s have been interested in the idea that organizations benefit from locating in close proximity to other similar organizations (Marshall, 1920). Largely, this research suggests that economies of agglomeration accrue to clustered organizations which create performance advantages when compared to more isolated organizations. Recently, agglomeration theory researchers have focused on high technology clusters where the primary benefit of collocation is argued to be access to knowledge spillovers from local organizations. This dissertation argues that in order to access local knowledge, firms must be active participants in the local research community. Furthermore, in clusters where …


A Tale Of Passion: Linking Job Passion And Cognitive Engagement To Employee Work Performance, Violet Ho, Sze-Sze Wong, Chay Hoon Lee 2011 University of Richmond

A Tale Of Passion: Linking Job Passion And Cognitive Engagement To Employee Work Performance, Violet Ho, Sze-Sze Wong, Chay Hoon Lee

Management Faculty Publications

We propose a model of job passion that links two types of passion, harmonious and obsessive passion, to employees’ work performance, via the mediating mechanism of cognitive engagement (comprising attention and absorption). Results from a survey conducted with 509 employees from an insurance firm indicate that employees with harmonious passion performed better at work, and that this relationship was mediated primarily by cognitive absorption, that is, the intensity of focus and immersion experienced by the employees when working. However, even though obsessive passion was negatively related to cognitive attention (i.e., the amount of cognitive resources spent thinking about work), it …


Abandoning Ship At Scandia, Inc.: Parts B And C, Herbert Sherman, Barry Armandi, Adva Dinur 2011 Long Island University

Abandoning Ship At Scandia, Inc.: Parts B And C, Herbert Sherman, Barry Armandi, Adva Dinur

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Scandia, Inc., is a commercial vessel management company located in the New York Metropolitan area and is part of a family of firms including Scandia Technical; International Tankers, Ltd.; Global Tankers, Ltd.; Sun Maritime S.A.;Adger Tankers AS; Leeward Tankers, Inc.; Manhattan Tankers, Ltd.; and Liu’s Tankers, S.A. The company’s current market niche is the commercial management of chemical tankers serving the transatlantic market with a focus on the east and gulf coast of the United States and Northern Europe. This three-part case describes the commercial shipping industry as well as several mishaps that the company and its President, Chris Haas, …


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