Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

The Motives For Mergers And Acquisitions And Their Implications For Research And Practice, Kris Irwin, Craig Armstrong, Paul Drnevich, Mario Schijven

Management Faculty Publications

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have long intrigued scholars given their size, complexity, and frequent failure. Despite an extensive body of research on M&A, a key limitation in M&A research is the lack of focus on the motives underpinning acquisitions, which may explain frequent mixed and inconclusive results. Much of the existing literature struggles to fully capture the complex and multifaceted nature of these motives, limiting the ability to draw consistent conclusions. In this paper, we review academic and practical perspectives on M&A motives, highlighting both discrepancies and methodological challenges. Our key contributions include a comparison of theoretical and practical insights, …

Exploring Coworker Perceptions Of And Reactions To Quiet Quitting, Andrew A. Bennett, Rhett T. Epler, Veronica L. Thomas, Daroon Jalil

Management Faculty Publications

Quiet quitting is a relatively new phenomenon that has quickly caught the attention of both practitioners and academics. With the world of work becoming increasingly interconnected, we contribute to the discourse by approaching quiet quitting from the novel perspective of understanding how others in the workplace perceive those who engage in quiet quitting. To do so, we first provide a formalized definition of quiet quitting and differentiate coworkers' perceptions of quiet quitting from similar psychological constructs (Studies 1–3). We then examine employee responses to coworkers engaging in quiet quitting with a qualitative study (Study 4) and vignette design (Study 5), …

Worknest: Balancing Focus And Life For Remote Workers, Adil Chaqra

Bakerman Student Research Awards

Many people now work from home or flexible spaces so which makes it really difficult to separate work from personal life. This often leads to overworking, distractions, burnout, and poor focus so remote workers struggle with interruptions/ irregular breaks, and feeling mentally stuck in work mode even after hours. The proposed solution, WorkNest, is a suite of connected tools including a desktop app, mobile app, and wristband that help remote workers track their focus time and manage breaks interruptions, and stay aware of their worklife balance by combining reminders and simple visual summaries along with some nonintrusive cues, WorkNest supports …

A Mixed Method Case Study Of Leadership For Change: Authentic Transformational Leadership In A Local Baptist Church, Hui Sun

Theses and Dissertations

This convergent parallel mixed methods case study explores how a local Baptist church navigated organizational change during and after the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of authentic and transformational leadership. Grounded in organizational leadership and open systems framework of organizational change, the study examined two primary hypotheses: (1) RBC demonstrated an authentic transformational leadership paradigm in its change processes since 2020, and (2) this paradigm significantly and positively influenced perceived leadership effectiveness.

Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six leaders (three pastors, one minister, one staff leader, and one deacon) and 11 raters (five lay leaders, five congregants, …

Estudio Fenomenológico Sobre La Relación Entre El Liderazgo Transformacional Y La Efectividad De Las Iniciativas De Gestión De Cambio En Las Organizaciones, Greilyn Soto-Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Esta Disertación Aplicada tuvo como propósito explorar la relación entre el liderazgo transformacional y la efectividad de las iniciativas de gestión del cambio en organizaciones de diversos sectores. Este estudio cualitativo se centró en comprender, desde el punto de vista de diferentes lideres transformacionales en distintas áreas e industrias, cómo los líderes y empleados experimentan y perciben el impacto del liderazgo transformacional en la implementación de cambios significativos organizacionales.

Este estudio de naturaleza cualitativa se enmarcó en un enfoque fenomenológico. Mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas en profundidad, se exploraron cuatro dimensiones del liderazgo transformacional: influencia idealizada, motivación inspiradora, estimulación intelectual y consideración …

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

Afrofuturism–It's A Different World: Exploring Tools For Culturally Relevant Black Student Leadership Development, Richard D. Brown

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This dissertation explored culturally relevant strategies for Black student leadership development within university multicultural centers, focusing specifically on student leaders affiliated with Black identity-based organizations. Conducted in partnership with a large public land-grant university in the United States Midwest, this study recognizes that traditional student leadership development programs often fail to address the varied cultural realities of Black students. A mixed methods sequential explanatory design approach was used, combining survey data with qualitative interviews and analyzed using a phenomenological lens. Guided by the McKinsey 7S Framework, this study identified strengths and gaps in organizational strategy, structure, systems, style, staff, skills, …

Candidates' Perceptions Of A University's Consultancy Requirements With For-Profit/Nonprofit Partnering Organizations, Candace S. Parson

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This dissertation in practice is an action research study that investigated the perceptions of students within the Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership (DEOL) program under the University College of Education experiences in consultancy organizational partnerships in terms of key benefits, key factors, and barriers/limitations that existed in the partnership. This study provided feedback to the University College of Education that was used to understand candidates’ experiences, it identified continuous improvement and developmental opportunities that will be used to evaluate consultancy organizational partnerships. A qualitative research design was used to collect data from 10 DEOL students via one-on-one interviews. The …

A Mixed Methodology Study On Effective Products And Services For Consulting Firms, Doc S. Dillard

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This study evaluated organizational effectiveness within small- to medium-sized educational technology and technology-adjacent organizations for consulting firms to develop appropriate products and services for clients. This allowed consulting firms to develop innovation in their approaches. More specifically, this research supported consulting firms specializing in educational technology in developing products and services for industry leaders to improve organizational effectiveness. The research employed a mixed methodology consisting of 10 educational technology leaders. Data were collected from survey questions and through evaluating related literature. The literature compiled included organizations across education, technology, and technology-adjacent industries. The research evaluated organizations through McKinsey’s 7S framework. …

Rejected From Pastoral Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of The Voice And Lived Experiences Of African American Pentecostal Women In Clergy, Cynthia Ann Hurns

Dissertations

The study explored the lived experiences of 10 African American Holiness-Pentecostal clergywomen who faced rejection in a predominantly male-led church system. These women shared detailed stories of their experiences in leadership as pastors, apostles, and co-pastors. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was employed, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) because it allows for in-depth exploration of how people make sense of their experiences, aligning with the study’s focus on leadership journeys. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through descriptive and iterative coding. Codes were grouped into broader categories, resulting in five emerging themes: voiceless calling, bound to tradition, call from …

Last-Minute Coordination: Adapting To Demand To Support Last-Mile Operations, Kedong Chen, Hung-Chung Su, Kevin Linderman, William Li

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In the highly competitive e-commerce industry, customer-facing warehouses are crucial as the “order penetration points” for e-commerce last-mile operations. This research examines how warehouses use last-minute coordination, an unstructured mechanism, to ensure sufficient inventory at the order penetration points. Previous research has focused on structured mechanisms like contracts and inventory management systems to enhance warehouse performance. However, these mechanisms can be ineffective when faced with unforeseen local contingencies. To adjust inventory and adapt to changes in supply and/or demand, warehouses need to engage in unstructured, last-minute coordination with other warehouses. Using coordination and loose coupling theories, we find that coordinating …

Psychological Contract Breach And Institutional Trust In Higher Education: Extending The Triadic Framework, Hannah E. Blodget, Katelyn R. Raborn, Justin Travis, Susan Ruppel

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

Psychological Contract (PC) theory, originally developed in organizational contexts, has increasingly been applied to higher education to understand the expectations and obligations that students perceive in their relationships with institutions. In this context, the PC refers to the unwritten set of mutual expectations and perceived obligations that shape the student-university relationship (Rousseau, 1998). Psychological contract breaches (PCB), or perceived failures to fulfill promised obligations, can undermine student trust, engagement, and institutional commitment. Despite growing interest, research on PCBs in higher education remains sporadic, often limited to cross-sectional designs, single relational targets, and inconsistent measurement approaches. Moreover, most studies focus on …

The Relationship Between Mental Health Disclosures, Employee Sentiments And Turnover Intention In The Workplace, Steve G. Winkel

Open Access Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between employees’ disclosure of mental health conditions in the workplace and these employees’ sentiments, feelings, and associated outcomes. Utilizing constructs of job satisfaction, affective commitment, normative commitment, motivation, and turnover intentions, the research aims to understand quantifiable differences in the employment experience between employees who disclose and do not disclose (non-disclosure) mental health conditions, as well as the mediating roles of human resources management (HRM), supervisors support, and employee authenticity. Through self-reported data detailing employees’ disclosure experiences, the research also aims to understand the disclosure conversation's specific impact …

Confronting Indecision, Lane Allison Murray

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This course aims to increase students' understanding of indecision and how to confront it. The class provides insight into how the fear of the unknown holds people back from making decisions and about understanding one's values as a means to combat indecision. Students and teachers alike explore instances of indecision and evaluate their own impulses & thought processes by reflecting on the deeper reasons for their choices. Students will increase their comfort level of asking themselves and their peers questions about the values that guide them and, in doing so, strengthen their relationships with themselves and others.

“Remember, You Are Not A Superhuman”: The Lived Experience Of Rest, Unrest, And Leadership In Special Operations, Trey Zoda

Dissertations

U.S. special operations forces (SOF) operate in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments that demand cognitive clarity, emotional regulation, and relational presence. While previous research on SOF readiness has addressed physical fitness, resilience, and sleep, little attention has been given to the psychological dimensions of rest and their implications for leadership. The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of psychological rest and unrest in U.S. government SOF and the perceived influence of these states on their leadership. Guided by Moustakas’s transcendental method, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with SOF personnel. They were …

Voices From Within: Employees' Sensemaking Of Corporate Volunteerism, Janet Laadi Anani

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate volunteerism is a key component of the philanthropic pillar of CSR, shaping employee engagement and organizational identity. This study employed the social exchange and sensemaking theories to explore how employees make meaning of their experiences in corporate volunteer initiatives and how their experiences influence their perceptions of their organizations. Data was gathered from in-depth interviews with employees with varied corporate volunteer experiences across multiple organizations. The findings show that despite employees’ strong motivations to engage in corporate volunteerism, they face challenges such as time and workload constraints and limited variety of volunteer opportunities. The study also found that employees’ …

Women On Boards Annual Monitoring Report 2024, Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Faculty Books

The AUC Egypt women on boards monitoring report is issued annually to track and monitor the presence and representation of women on boards towards meeting the goal of having 30% women on boards by 2030. The importance of improving representation of women on boards stems from the fact that it is one of the good governance pillars, in addition to the positive impact on firm performance and profitability. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 has accordingly promoted for increasing the leadership roles of women and holding key positions in public institutions and companies, setting the target …

Resilience Of Food Sovereignty Organizations To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rachel M. Brice

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This sequential explanatory mixed methods study explored the organizational resilience of food sovereignty organizations (FSOs) in the northeastern United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a novel “open structural learning approach” that integrates structural contingency theory, open systems theory, and organizational learning theory, this research examined how FSOs’ structural attributes, resource flows, and organizational culture shaped their ability to navigate crisis. The study engaged FSO leaders through surveys (n = 13) and in-depth interviews (n = 7), supplemented by archival data analysis, to explore factors that strengthened or diminished FSO resilience. Findings revealed that FSOs navigated COVID-19 with multiple concurrent …

Women’S Leader Development: Examining The Impact Of Leadership Grants, Bias Interrupters, Stereotype Threat, And Purpose On Leader Identity, Emily L. Chan

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Leader identity is a proximal outcome of individual leader development processes, particularly important for women leaders who may face systematic denials of their leadership. Understanding the mechanisms that bolster and hinder leader identity is crucial for emerging women leaders. In two simulation experiments, I proposed and tested strategies for mitigating the negative impact of leadership denials and stereotype threat on an individual’s leader identity. In the first experiment, I hypothesized that perceptions of granted leadership claims through written bias interrupter statements (i.e., “women are encouraged to apply”) buffered the negative relationship between leadership denials (ads without the statement “women are …

Sounds Of Silence: Using The Stereotype Content Model To Understand Perceptions Of Introverts And Extraverts At Work, Mallory A. Mccord

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper drew on the stereotype content model (SCM) to clarify cultural stereotypes about introverted and extraverted people at work to increase our understanding of the stereotype-driven process that may lead to negative responses to introversion and subsequent detriment to employee health and well-being. The hypothesis that introverted workers would be rated as lower in warmth and competence than extraverted workers was examined across three studies. Study 1 used qualitative content analyses to assess open responses that freely described introverted and extraverted colleagues. Study 2 tested the hypothesis quantitatively using established measures of warmth and competence. Finally, Study 3 tested …