Digital Commons Network^™

Leadership In Startups: How Founder Personality And Leadership Behaviors Impact Startup Success And Psychological Safety, Ria Passi, Ronald Riggio

CMC Senior Theses

New ventures created by entrepreneurs are crucial to the economy and to the diffusion of innovative technologies. However, startups often operate in highly uncertain environments characterized by constrained resources, lack of established processes, and complex market dynamics. Despite surges in startup investment, the failure rate for new ventures remains high, making it crucial to understand the factors that can contribute to their success. This thesis explores how founder personalities, leadership styles, and cultivating psychological safety impact startup performance and growth trajectories. Founder personality traits like openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are positively associated with securing funding, achieving exit opportunities, and overall …

Transforming Church Culture: Exploring The Extent To Which Servant Leadership Behaviors Influence Organizational Culture In Small African American Baptist Churches In Central Arkansas, Derick Easter

Dissertations

This quantitative correlational study examined the extent to which servant leadership behaviors predict organizational culture in small African American Baptist churches in Central Arkansas. In light of the post-pandemic decline in church membership and participation, the study explored whether enhancing church culture through leadership practices could help stabilize or grow congregational engagement. The primary research question was: To what extent do servant leadership behaviors predict organizational culture in these churches? Five dimensions of servant leadership—altruistic calling, emotional healing, wisdom, persuasive mapping, and organizational stewardship—were evaluated. The study involved 150 participants from churches affiliated with the state’s two major African American …

Investigating The Effect Of Organizational Culture On Knowledge Management Across A Large Banking Network In Sub-Saharan Africa, Samson Debela Ayana, Getachew H. Mengesha, Philip F. Musa, Solomon Negash

Faculty Articles

This study intends to understand how organizational culture affects knowledge management using the Newman and Conrad knowledge management and competing value framework. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 161 respondents at Awash Bank located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Smart PLS V.3 was used to analyze the data. The finding reveals that organizational culture significantly affects knowledge management. The study also affirms that clan culture and adhocracy culture have a strong direct effect on knowledge management. Hierarchy culture has a less positive effect on knowledge management. In a nutshell, the outcome of the study indicates that a supportive …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 25 2024, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Impact Of Food Insecurity Among First-Generation College Students On The University Of Arkansas Campus, Madison Price, Jennie S. Popp Ph.D., Nathan Paul Kemper, Louise Michelle Hancox

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The purpose of this study was to: 1) better understand food insecurity among first-generation college students and how it might differ from that of other college students, and 2) gather opinions from students that may serve as solutions to alleviate food insecurity. This study was conducted with a mixed-methods survey that included both open-ended and closed-ended questions. This survey had 670 responses. Nearly 10% of respondents stated that they were experiencing food insecurity. Almost 18% stated they were first-generation college students. A greater percentage of African American (P = 0.0022) and Hispanic Latino (P < 0.0001) students were first-generation compared to all other students, while a lower percentage (P < 0.0001) of Caucasian students were first-generation compared to other students. The results suggested that first-generation students were more likely to experience nine food insecurity impacts than non first-generation students. Further, both first-generation and non first-generation students indicated low levels of knowledge and/or use of existing resources on the University of Arkansas campus that can help address food insecurity needs. Finally, both first-generation and non first-generation respondents overwhelmingly favored food insecurity solutions centered around expanding access to campus food programs through lower costs and increased awareness of existing campus resources via improved advertising.

Addressing Burnout: A Shift To The Progressive Work Model, Monika M. Doss

Theses and Dissertations

Worker burnout is a prevalent global issue and has persisted for decades. Commuting, traffic, and work schedules conflicting with personal responsibilities are just a few of many frustrations workers often experience as a part of the current way of working. This research brings light to a new work model that mitigates worker burnout. Maintaining focus on the worker, this study asked: Does a progressive organizational work model mitigate burnout? The Progressive Work Model (PWM) is a forward-thinking framework used to organize work activities and processes within an organization that meets the work-life balance needs of the modern workforce by mitigating …

The Latina Career Journey: Experiences Of Latinas In Accounting, Alba Ruth Prato

Theses and Dissertations

Latina voices remain largely silent in the scholarship on leadership, and their representation in leadership roles lags behind other minority and majority groups. This research explored the Latina career journey through in-depth narrative interviews with 19 Latinas who told the stories of how they carry out their role, act on opportunities, navigate between cultures, and overcome challenges. Through comprehensive qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach, a theoretical framework emerged that brings to light the larger social and cultural forces that impact the management arena and function as levers that, when activated, hinder and facilitate the emergence of Latina leaders. …

The Power Of Organizational Purpose In Customer Engagement, Claudio Ludovisi

Theses and Dissertations

In a hyperconnected world, direct customer engagement is becoming a significant competitive advantage. Technologies like database marketing, social media, personalization, and artificial intelligence are widely available to create and support direct relationships with customers at scale; yet, as evidenced by the unabated rise in marketing and paid media costs, firms continue to use third parties to engage their audiences. At the same time, organizational purpose has been shown to drive firm value, but majority of research has focused on internal dynamics of purpose rather than its effect on external stakeholders and customers in particular. Very little has been empirically studied …

Hasta La Raíz: An Exploration Of Latinidad In Venture Capital, Mariela Salas

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the multifaceted experiences and career management strategies of Latinos/as in the venture capital industry, an area marked by significant underrepresentation. This study aims to illuminate the unique challenges and strategies of Latino/a investors. Drawing on literature from identity formation, Latinidad, diversity and inclusion, and career management, this research addresses the gap in academic literature regarding the lived experiences of Latinos/as in venture capital. The study utilizes 18 narrative interviews with active Latino/a investors of diverse backgrounds and varying experience levels to develop a conceptual framework. This framework highlights the constructed identity of the venture capital investor through …

An Examination Of Emerging Technologies In Supply Chain Management And Their Impacts On Efficiency In The Automotive Industry, Wafaa A. Barakat

Theses and Dissertations

The automotive supply chain sector is facing immense transformation, particularly with the emerging digital technologies in supply chain management. This paper examines the emerging technologies in supply chain management and their impacts on efficiency in the automotive industry. This research strives to examine the underlying aspects of the automotive supply chain integration in United States companies. For the study, there is the application of the exploratory study. The reason is that there is no vivid perspective of the characteristics and the scope. The study design used is a qualitative analysis of 10 automotive personnel from different multipliers of the automotive …

Heat Shields And Friendship Bracelets: Features That Enable Effective Employee Resource Groups, Kevin Sakamoto

Theses and Dissertations

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a potentially powerful means of addressing inequalities and improving working conditions for underrepresented groups in organizations. However, little attention has been given to the motivation of employees who voluntarily donate their time in support of their ERG. The fact that membership in ERGs often coincides with a social identity group (e.g., Asian American) adds a dimension not associated with other non-formal groups (e.g., softball team) within an organization, and may increase the potential for ERGs to achieve valued outcomes. Drawing from academic literature on Social Identity Theory (SIT), employee voice, and activism, this qualitative study …

Exploring Strategies For Social Impact In Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Melanie Venture

Theses and Dissertations

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify critical society challenges in areas of poverty, gender and income equality, health, and well-being. Consensus exists among scholars and practitioners on the need for cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) for achieving the SDGs. However, we have yet to identify the means of fostering collaboration to yield optimal social impact while also generating measurable results and financial returns. We lack actionable strategic frameworks for explaining how CSPs should be implemented. This multiple case study examined five socially oriented business-nonprofit partnerships and addressed how collaboration strategies can increase social impact of CSPs. The findings revealed important insights …

Leadership In Social Service Non-Profit Organizations: An Interpreative Phenomenlogical Analysis Of Executive Leadership High Attrition Levels And Proposals For Change, Stephanie Fredericka Wanza

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to address how leaders who are employed at non-profit organizations can utilize change management frameworks, leadership style, strategic planning and organizational best practices to reduce attrition levels at their organizations. The focus of this study is three-fold: a) to understand why high attrition takes place at non-profits; identify what change model/s, types of leadership styles and best practices can be effective in reducing leader attrition, b) explore the development of a leadership framework by understanding how to manage change at nonprofits through the Carnall (1986), Shields (1999) and Cummings and Worley (2009) change management …

An Integrated Model For Information Adoption & Trust In Mobile Social Commerce, Fulya Acikgoz, Abdelsalam Busalim, James Gaskin, Shahla Asadi

Faculty Publications

Despite the growing importance of mobile social commerce (ms-commerce), little research has been conducted on the effects of informational and social factors on users’ post-adoption behavior. We, therefore, build on the understanding of mobile social commerce in the UK market and how it affects users’ post-adoption behaviors. Our theoretical model leverages the information adoption model, social support theory, and social influence theory. Data was gathered from 377 ms-commerce users from the UK and analyzed via Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM). The research findings show that both informational and social factors have a positive impact on information adoption in ms-commerce apps. Furthermore, …

The New Marshmallow: The Effects Of Screen Use On Children's Ability To Delay Gratification, Benjamin Richardson, P. Thomas Fife, Joseph Steed, Caroline Crane, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

In a digital age where screens are as ubiquitous as crayons once were, the relationship between screen use and a child’s development necessitates examination. This study investigates the effect of screen use—both by children and their parents—on children’s ability to delay gratification, a key predictor of future success. Utilizing an experimental design modeled after the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, we found that children’s screen use did not significantly affect their ability to delay gratification. However, parental screen use for entertainment purposes was negatively associated with children’s capacity to delay gratification. Additionally, screens proved to be a more potent temptation than traditional …

Technological Health: A New Perspective On Individual Well-Being In The Digital Era, Tanner Skousen, J. Andrew Lear

Faculty Publications

An individual’s well-being encompasses various facets, including physical, mental, and social health. This paper proposes that in a technology-dependent world, practitioners and researchers must adopt a “technological health” perspective. Through conceptual inquiry and extensive literature review, we propose the concept of technological health, drawing from related concepts. We present an initial framework that explicates technological health through the dimensions of access to technology, ability to use technology, and autonomy over technology. Practically, this new perspective refocuses our understanding of technological challenges and invites an ideology of diagnoses and treatments to comprehensively address individual-level concerns associated with personal technology use. Academically, …

Managerial Coaches’ Enacted Behaviors And The Beliefs That Guide Them: Perspectives From Managers And Their Coachees, Beth Adele, Andrea D. Ellinger

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Managerial coaching is considered a powerful developmental intervention in the workplace that has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. A growing base of scholarship examining the efficacy of this form of coaching has identified numerous benefits, primarily for employees receiving this form of coaching, and some limited attention has focused on benefits for managers who coach. However, an important topic related to managerial coaching that has gone under-explored is the beliefs that managers have about coaching. Since beliefs often guide behaviors, obtaining a more robust understanding of the beliefs that guide managers who serve as coaches is warranted and …

Discourses That Undermine Union Movements: A Multimodal Analysis Of Union-Busting Videos, Theresa A. Catalano, Julia Schleck

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Labor unions in the United States have experienced decades of decline, but recent years have seen a rebirth of union campaigns and successes. Because unions are once again becoming a threat to large companies, it is reasonable to assume that efforts to discourage organizing efforts will increase and become even more robust in the near future. Although traditionally, companies have worked to suspend union organizing through captive audience meetings in which unions were discussed via verbal or written modes, more recent means of reaching workers with anti-union messages incorporate a variety of communication strategies to get the message across. As …

Heterogeneity Of Capital Structure Adjustment Speed Across Industry Sector: Evidence From Non-Financial Firms In Malaysia., Mei-Shan Chua, Noor Maimun Abdul Wahab, Siti Nurhidayah Mohd Roslen, Soo-Cheng Chuah, Nurhuda Nizar, Hon-Choong Chin

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

This study investigates the speed of adjustment (SOA) to target leverage for different industry sec- tors in Malaysia. Using the two-step system generalized method of moments for 415 non-financial firms from 2010 to 2021, we found that the SOA for the overall sample is 38.6% and 22.0% for total debt and long-term debt, respectively. Our paper reveals the heterogeneity of SOA based on industry sectors. The industrial sector has the slowest adjustment speed (14.1%), whereas the healthcare in- dustry has the quickest adjustment speed (80.4%) to target leverage. Our results are consistent with the dynamic capital structure theory regarding the …

Determinants Of Islamic Banks’ Stability In Malaysia And Indonesia, Siti Zaitun Saddam, Mohamad Nizam Jaafar, Amirul Afif Muhamat, Nurien Syahirah Mohd Nizam, Nurin Aqilah Halim

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

The economic prosperity of any nation relies on its banking sector, which serves as the linchpin of the economy. This paper investigates key bank-specific factors influencing the stability of Islamic banks in Malaysia and Indonesia from 2012 to 2021. Using panel data analysis, the study identifies the fixed effect model as the optimal approach. The subsequent fixed effect regression analysis highlights the significance of the cost-to-income ratio in determining financial stability for both Malaysian and In- donesian Islamic banks. Notably the study reveals that the non-performing loan ratio is the primary stability indicator in Malaysia, while Indonesian counterparts prioritize maintaining …

Impact Of The Relationship Among Financial Development, Ict And English Proficiency On Income Inequality: Evidence From Malaysia, Norhasimah Shaharuddin, Abdul Hafiz Mohd Azam, Mohd Hafiz Abdul Wahab, Norzitah Abdul Karim, Nurul Hilmiyah, Sharul Shahida Shakrein, Adibah Alawiah Osman

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

Income inequality is a persistent phenomenon and fundamental issue of concern, especially in this new digital era, because unequal access to finance has long been recognized as a critical mechanism for generating persistent income inequality. ICT tools and approaches are being used widely today due to their convenience, omnipresence and economy. This study examines the influence of financial development, ICT, and English proficiency on income inequality in Malaysia during the period of 1979-2019. The empirical results based on the ARDL bounds test indicated that financial develop- ment and English proficiency support the hypothesis that both factors can reduce the income …

A Rare Leadership Journey: Exploring Perspectives Of Women In Construction, Taylor M. Krueger

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of female leaders in the U.S. construction industry. A narrative method and methodology was used incorporating Mezirow’s (1978) transformative learning, Super’s (1957) career development, and Cooperrider et al. 's (2008) appreciative inquiry theories. The primary research question: How do women currently leading at their respective construction firms make meaning of their leadership development experiences? Eight interpretations emerged. First, leadership development experiences occur in non-formal settings, since childhood, and rarely follow a linear path. Second, company culture or the perspective and bias of upper management strongly dictate the opportunities and occurrences of female employment, …

Climate Risk, Insurance Retreat, And State Response, Mark P. Nevitt, Michael Pappas

Faculty Articles

Climate change is fundamentally destabilizing the private insurance industry, with many high-profile insurance companies exiting states in the face of catastrophic, climate-­induced risk. This rapid "insurance retreat" represents a major market signal in response to climate-exacerbated risks. Private businesses are making actuarial decisions, assessing that some locations are just too vulnerable to insure. At the same time, this insurance retreat also poses a policy challenge for states as they react to the mounting insurance gaps left by exiting private insurers.

This Article analyzes insurance retreat, its attendant policy challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from state responses. It …

Exoneration Finance, Kay L. Levine, Russell M. Gold

Faculty Articles

The path to financial compensation for the wrongfully convicted can be complex and time-consuming. Exonerees often struggle to make ends meet and function in free society, let alone navigate serpentine processes while waiting years for the recovery they deserve. Securing the assistance of an attorney is often a critical step, but too few lawyers are willing to risk accepting these complicated cases on a contingency-fee basis—the only way that exoneree-clients can likely pay their lawyers without outside help.

Litigation finance—an important tool for increasing access to justice in tort cases—could help close this access to justice gap for exonerees. In …

Human Capital Disclosure & Corporate Governance: The New Evidence, George S. Georgiev

Faculty Articles

This Article explores the evolution of human capital disclosure—firm-supplied information about various workforce-related matters—as a factor in contemporary corporate governance. Regulatory and nonregulatory developments from recent years have upended longstanding practices and generated extensive new evidence. Most notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a human capital management (“HCM”) disclosure mandate in 2020, which, though long overdue, was criticized from the outset for its modest scope and lax design. In the meantime, courts have taken a renewed interest in board of directors’ oversight responsibilities in a number of areas, including HCM, while labor’s power has unexpectedly increased in some …

Innovator Ecosystem Diversity As A Global Competitiveness Imperative, Margo A. Bagley

Faculty Articles

There are myriad ways that discrimination and bias can combine to profoundly limit inventor participation in the patent process. The utilitarian purpose of patents is to incentivize inventors to invent and disclose, so it makes sense to incentivize as large and as diverse a group as possible in order to maximize the likely output of innovative activity. This incentive is important in terms of our geopolitical aspirations as a country, but hopefully also because of our democratic commitment to provide opportunities for flourishing and reaching one's potential that are available to all.

How Integrity Culture Affects Trade Credit Availability, Sarocha Limchaisiri

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This study examines whether corporate integrity culture plays a role in shaping firms’ access to trade credit. Focusing on a panel of U.S. publicly listed firms from 2002 to 2021, it employs a text-based proxy for integrity constructed from annual reports and uses pooled OLS regression with industry and year fixed effects. The goal is to understand how ethical culture, as a non-financial factor, influences trade credit availability beyond traditional financial metrics. While the measure used—accounts payable to COGS ratio—is commonly applied in the literature, it reflects both the willingness of suppliers to extend credit and the firm’s decision to …

Understanding The Application Of Evolutionary Psychology In Consumer Behavior: A Review And Future Research Agenda, Faegheh Taheran, Veronica L. Thomas, Kendra Fowler, Abdolati Mortazavi

Marketing Faculty Publications

This paper is the first to offer a comprehensive literature review of the role of evolutionary psychology (EP) in marketing and consumer behavior. This study takes a holistic approach, combining techniques of a systematic review with bibliometric analysis, to provide a performance analysis and identify theories and methodologies used in the literature. Most importantly, by studying the current state of EP, we elucidate six major themes: the role of gender in families, the role of affect in consumer behavior, food preferences and shopping behavior, motivations for and consequences of status signaling, the impact of ovulation on consumer motives and behaviors, …

Narrative Transportation: A Systematic Literature Review And Future Research Agenda, Veronica L. Thomas, Jaime L. Grigsby

Marketing Faculty Publications

Consumers are inundated with opportunities to become engaged with marketing-generated stories, from watching an influencer detail her adventures abroad or a commercial about a military service member who makes it home just in time for the holidays. When consumers become so engaged with a story that they begin to connect with the story characters and imagine what will happen next, they experience a process known as narrative transportation, which has significant positive outcomes for marketers. Given the value that narrative transportation provides to marketers, we conduct a systematic literature review to both synthesize and provide direction on the literature of …

(In)Attention To Attractive Brand Alternatives, Danielle J. Brick, Veronica L. Thomas

Marketing Faculty Publications

Understanding how consumers maintain their brand relationships has important implications for marketers as committed consumers contribute significant value to firms. In the present research, we propose and test one such way consumers protect their brand relationships, namely through attentional avoidance of attractive alternative partners. Across multiple studies, we find support for our theory that committed consumers avoid attending to alternative brand partners by recalling less about and spending less time focused on attractive alternatives. We further find that this inattention occurs because consumers view the competing brand as a threat to the consumer’s current relationship. In addition, we investigate a …