Digital Commons Network^™

Marketing Research Is Power In Negotiations To Sell A Small Business, Michael Latta

AMTP Proceedings 2013

Small firms are at a disadvantage in negotiations with larger firms and need to have something on their side of the table to give them power in the process. Primary marketing research can provide proprietary information for the smaller firm that may be used to support a forecasting model to be used in evaluating offers during negotiations. This paper describes such a negotiation supported by a proprietary forecasting simulator that created an advantage for the smaller firm over the larger firm. As a result, the smaller firm had a go-it-alone baseline revenue forecast to determine the incremental value of a …

Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change …

Diffusion Of Csr In Global Business Networks: An Embeddedness Perspective, Valentina Marano

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of firm embeddedness in its global business network, relative to the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. Global business networks refer to the nexus of inter-firm and intra-firm relationships, in which focal actors are engaged. These networks are focal firm specific, span multiple countries and involve different types of economic relationships between the focal actor and its business partners. This study argues that global business networks affect a focal organization's CSR adoption decisions, since they provide access to resources and information and also channel CSR-related institutional influences from the various countries where the focal …

Eyes Wide Open: Learning As Strategy Under Conditions Of Complexity And Uncertainty, Patricia Patrizi, Elizabeth Heid Thompson, Julia Coffman, Tanya Beer

The Foundation Review

· Foundation strategy is hampered by a failure to recognize and engage with the complexity and uncertainty surrounding foundation work. This article identifies three common “traps” that hinder foundation capacity to learn and adapt: 1) linearity and certainty bias; 2) the autopilot effect; and 3) indicator blindness.

· This article urges foundations to alter their mindset, questions, and processes to foster a more committed approach to strategy and adaptation. In essence, it argues for learning as strategy.

· This article draws on literature from systems theory, business strategy, and philanthropic practice as well as data from foundation benchmarking surveys.

Contextual Support For Innovation In An Australian Financial Services Firm, Agung N. Fahrudi, Denise E. Gengatharen, Yuliani Suseno, Craig Standing

Research outputs 2013

Organizational learning can facilitate innovation and it is affected by internal and external contexts. Leaders can provide internal contextual support for learning to occur in the organization in order to respond to changes in external contexts. However, there are limited studies about how leaders affect innovation in financial services firms. This paper applies Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I framework to examine the impact of internal and external factors on an organization’s learning process and the extent of its innovation. An on-going case study of a large Australian financial services firm is used to gain insights about contextual support for innovation. …

Change And Discomfort In Academia: How Far Should We Stretch In Our Readiness For Change?, Laurie A. Branch

Student Scholarship

Employee attitudes and their effect on successful implementation of organizational changes continue to engross researchers and practitioners alike. In this study, we investigated the significance and nature of discomfort as it affects readiness for change in business school settings. This choice of context is deliberate. There is a strong push for change in business schools to align with market needs and there are high levels of individual and collective efficacy. Our findings indicate discomfort as a mediator explains significantly more variation in readiness than is explained by perceived collective efficacy. Surprisingly, we found that some forms of discomfort such as …

The Role Of Agency In Community Health Outcomes: Local Health Departments And Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates, James Anthony Ransom

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Organizational culture is defined as a system of shared meaning held by members of an organization that distinguishes it from other organizations. How organizational culture is experienced in the public sector, particularly local health departments (LHDs), is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether LHD organizational culture impacts childhood immunization coverage rates. I used a modified organizational culture survey tool, the Organizational Management Survey, to quantify organizational culture and determine whether an LHD's organizational culture helps explain variations in childhood immunization coverage rates. In addition, qualitative data from an earlier study of LHD immunization staff …

Measuring Normlessness In The Workplace: A Study Of Organizational Anomie In The Academic Setting, Tayo Glenn Switzer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation explores leadership and change by examining normlessness in the workplace through a multi-layered study of anomie theory, anomie research in the workplace, and organizational and business management theory. The research validates a quantitative survey designed to measure the level of normlessness experienced by workgroups within an organizational context. The survey reflects a set of six normative aspects that when disrupted produce organizational anomie—a state of normlessness that leads to an increase in worker resistance and a reduction in worker consent. The audience studied in this dissertation is associate professors at a large Midwestern research university. Data were gathered …

Re-Theorizing The “Structure–Agency” Relationship: Figurational Theory, Organizational Change And The Gaelic Athletic Association, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

Articles

This article illustrates how the figurational sociology associated with Norbert Elias provides an alternative theoretical framework for explaining the relationship between, ‘individualorganization- society’ and organizational change, and in so doing transverses what is conceived as a false dichotomy between structure and agency. Through an historical case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, the ‘individual-organization-society’ relationship is conceptualized as overlapping figurations and organizational change is explained as figurational dynamics—the shifting social interdependencies between the individuals and groups comprising an organization, between that organization and other organizations, between social groups on a higher level of integration and competition. In tandem …

Incivility In Academe: What If The Instigator Is A High Performer?, Feruzan Irani Williams, Constance Campbell, Luther T. Denton

Management: Faculty Publications

This analysis of workplace incivility focuses on instigators who are high performers, but have a negative effect on morale. We explore antecedents, manifestations, and consequences associated with these instigators, whom we label “High Performing Instigators.” This qualitative study indicates that HPIs are common in academe and engage in a broad spectrum of uncivil behaviors. The consequences of HPI behavior result in losses for all involved – loss of respect, time, emotional energy, and morale. One important finding is that there seems to be no change in HPI behavior in academe when comparing preand post-tenure status of faculty identified as HPI.

Technology Argument Frames : Examining The Impact Of Argumentation On The Development Of A Health Information Exchange Initiative, David Murithi Murungi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation applies the Technology Frames of Reference (TFR) theoretical lens to examine the implementation of a health information exchange (HIE) initiative in southeast USA. It extends the TFR lens by developing Toulminian argument maps to depict frame structure and employing the argument theories of Toulmin, Habermas and Perelman Olbrechts-Tyteca to help analyze the role that argumentation plays in the emergence and development of the technology frames that characterized this HIE endeavor. The argument maps developed in this dissertation helped to assess the level of argumentation within frames and to compare argumentation across frame domains. The argument maps were also …

Should My Spouse Be My Partner? Preliminary Evidence From The Panel Study Of Income Dynamics, W. Gibb Dyer, W. Justin Dyer, Richard G. Gardner

Faculty Publications

This study examines how firm performance and family income are affected when an “owner-managed” firm transitions to a “copreneurial” business. Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics were used to track changes in firm performance and family income from 1996 to 2006 during which time an owner-manager decided to partner with his spouse. The findings suggest that (a) involvement of one’s spouse in the business had no significant impact on firm profits and (b) working with one’s spouse had a significant impact on family income. The authors hypothesize that the lack of spousal influence on firm performance is because …

Financial Services Innovation: Local Strategy, Management, And Change – A Field Investigation, Ann-Catherine Nave

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This study examines the innovation sources and processes of regional financial services firms through inductive field research. Innovation in these firms, and presumably other financial services firms and other smaller organizations, originate primarily out of three sources, the drive for efficiency, the external environment, and strategic, ambidextrous management. Successfully innovative firms balance the short-term need for efficiency improvements with the long-term desire to grow primarily through visionary, yet adaptive, leadership.

An Examination Of Mississippi Gulf Coast Casino Management Styles With Implications For Employee Turnover, Jerome Agrusa, Joseph D. Lema

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of casino employees on management styles and the relationship of these perceptions on the employee turnover rate. The sample consisted of a balanced representation of supervisory and nonsupervisory employees. Supervisors tended to perceive themselves and their managerial style in a much move favorable light than did their employees. Future research should continue to address issues of employee retention in the casino industry and adopt strategies that can retain valuable employees while reducing employee turnover costs. Human resource development processes should support managerial styles that facilitate collaborative decision making and participative …

Holistic Leadership: A Model For Leader-Member Engagement And Development, K. Candis Best

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Dr. Candis Best explores the theory of "holistic leadership" and further provides the model and framework for it to be empirically tested. At present, Best opines that holistic leadership produces leadership which supports the development of self-leadership capacity while preparing participating members for the exercise of increasing levels of self-determination and participatory decision-making.

Change Management: Antecedents And Consequences In Casino Crm, Sudhir H. Kale

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) continues to attract increasing attention within the casino industry. While the vital role of change management in making CRM projects successful has been acknowledged for quite some time, there is little in extant literature to explain the nature and conduct of change management in the CRM context. This article posits that relevant change management is a prerequisite for successful implementation of a casino's CRM. Change management involves five key initiatives: selling change internally, creating an appropriate infrastructure for change management, CRM-relevant training, a reconfiguration of the organization structure and performance assessment measures, and recasting existing incentive …

Crm In Gaming: It's No Crapshoot!, Sudhir H. Kale

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, though slightly more than a decade old, has become the management craze of the 21st century. Yet, managerial understanding of what CRM is, what it does, how to implement it, and the grounds for success or failure in CRM implementation, seem far from crystallized. This paper looks at why so many CRM endeavors fail, and proceeds to discuss issues critical to CRM's success. CRM projects in casinos will have a higher chance of success if CRM is viewed as a business philosophy and becomes a part of the corporate culture. Appropriate customer strategy, organizational transformation, …

Power, Responsibility & Wisdom: Exploring The Issues At The Core Of Ethical Decision-Making And Leadership, Bruce Lloyd

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Decision-making ostensibly requires the exercise of Power. But that use of Power must be counterbalanced with Responsibility in order to make good decisions. Infusing Wisdom into the decision-making process necessarily incorporates an ethical component and involves both the identification and evaluation of relationships. Wise decision-making, therefore, requires the application of Wisdom which transcends simple, short-lived factual proficiency. It is this careful weighing of Wisdom, Power, Knowledge, and Responsibility which must guide our business leaders and be taught to our business students.

Authentic Identity: The Essence Of How Successful “Ecopreneurs” Communicate, Chantal B. Schauch

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Entrepreneurs can no longer ignore the environmental consequences of their industrial practices. Those that do will most certainly fail. Ms. Schauch‘s research concentrates on the five distinguishing traits of a successful ―ecopreneur‖: (1) grounded by values and living by values; (2) belief in cause and passion for cause (3) resolute in mission and consistent across mission; (4) like-minded relationships and transparent relationships; and (5) learning for life and returning for life.

Workplace Bullying And Ethical Leadership, David Yamada

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

In order to increase business productivity, benefit packages and other financial incentives might not be adequate. Rather, the focus upon common respect for — and decent treatment of — all workers is discussed, with primary emphasis given to the endemic workplace problem of worker harassment. Simple courtesies, genuine team and individual service acknowledgement, and the dismantling of a counterproductive, hierarchical worker system, often lead to increased productivity, congenial relationships, and a happier and healthier worker.

Appalachian Farmers: Building Value From Values, Natalie Shubert, Amy Taylor-Blanco, Ana L. Rosado Feger

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This trio of authors has presented a microcosm of values-based shared business practices, involving local food production and distribution in a small, rural Appalachian region in the United States. They focus upon the collective activities of a group committed to advancing local business practices while eliminating unnecessary transportation costs, boosting the region’s economic infrastructure, and most importantly, bringing people together to share experiences and pass along knowledge designed to benefit their communities and generate a sustainable agricultural-based economy.

Positively Deviant Organizational Performance And The Role Of Leadership Values, Kim S. Cameron

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Cameron cites the infusion of collaborative values and restructuring of relationships as a primary reason for the successful clean up and closure of Rocky Flats, one of U.S.’s most hazardous and controversial toxic dumps. Success was contingent upon mutual trust and respect of and between traditionally adversarial groups by adopting a mutual proactive, sharing orientation and empathetic attitudes. The true leaders in this venture shifted from a profit-first stance to changing organizational culture, ensuring that individuals (especially leaders and influencers) pursued an abundance-based vision.

Organizational And Societal Factors: Their Impact On Individual Attitudes, Kristen Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

A Model And Test Of Individual And Organization Factors Influencing Individual Adaptation To Change, Jane D. Parent, Cheryl C. Sullivan, Christina Hardway, D. Anthony Butterfield

Organization Management Journal

This study analyzed the antecedents and outcomes of individual adaptation to a changing work environment. We developed and tested a model of both individual factors and organizational factors affecting individual responses to change. We hypothesized that individuals reporting higher levels of the antecedent variables would also report higher levels of adaptability. We also hypothesized better adaptors would perceive better work outcomes. The model was tested in a field study of 169 participants across four different organizations experiencing varying changes. Results indicated participation, role clarity, and optimism were positively related to adaptability. Further, we found that better adaptors were more satisfied …

Designing Selection Systems For Medicine: The Importance Of Balancing Predictive And Political Validity In High-Stakes Selection Contexts, Fiona Patterson, Filip Lievens, Máire Kerrin, Lara Zibarras, Bernd Carette

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Selection into medical education and training is a high-stakes process. A key unanswered issue is the effectiveness of measuring noncognitive predictors via both low-fidelity and high-fidelity selection approaches in this high-stakes context. We review studies investigating the effectiveness of multiple selection instruments in terms of predictive validity, incremental validity, and applicant reactions in both entry-level and advanced-level medical selection. Our results show that the situational judgment test (SJT) is the best single predictor of performance, operationalized in multiple ways. In addition, the low-fidelity SJT has incremental predictive power over cognitively oriented tests, and high-fidelity assessment center (AC) exercises add incremental …

Listening To Organizational Change: Exploring Dialogue During Sensemaking, Dianna L. Stratton

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative study explored the role of dialogue during sensemaking and how that affects receptivity to organizational change. The philosophical framework for this study comes from Buber’s (1958) I and Thou dialogue theories concerning the value of existential acknowledgement. Both communication and organizational study theories grounded this research. Bohm (1996) and Isaacs’ (1999) dialogue theories converge with Weick’s (1995) sensemaking theories as a means to explore the role of listening during organizational change. Data was obtained through ethnographic observation and interview. A cultural research framework provided the means to explore the relationships between dialogue, sensemaking and organizational change. The results …

The Impact Of Mergers On Those Left Behind - Maintaining Employee Engagement After Merger-Based Restructuring In A Financial Services Firm, Victoria L. Basinger

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the impact of organizational restructuring on associate engagement in a financial services firm due to a merger. It determined how much weight interpersonal relationships carry on associate opinions of the new organization, and what the new organization can do to reduce uncertainty and re-engage their newly acquired associates. The literature review looked at Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Belongingness and principles from Social Information Processing Theory to identify solutions for a decrease in engagement. A survey distributed to all associates at a financial services firm that recently underwent a merger yielded data for this study, as did five individual …

Lean And Mean: Workplace Culture And The Prevention Of Workplace Bullying, Andra Gumbus, Patricia Meglich

WCBT Faculty Publications

Workplace bullying has become a hot topic in the popular press as well as scholarly literature. Compared to targets of sexual harassment, bullied workers quit their jobs more often, are more unhappy, stressed at work, and less committed to the workplace. Little is done about it because there currently is no US law against bullying and often the only recourse for targets is to quit their jobs. We present a case study and then review various legal remedies and sample company policies to explore the actions organizations might take to eliminate this destructive workplace behavior.

An Enhanced Model For Managing Change In Organizations, Thomas A. Pollack, John M. Lanasa, Dorene Ciletti

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

Change has become a “way of life” in organizations. The pace of change has increased substantially in recent years as a result of issues such as the pressures of global competition the impact of the Internet, customer demands and ever changing enhancement of technical capabilities. These changes affect what people do and how they fulfill their responsibilities, and therefore, there are varied reactions Historically, failures in change implementation have not been attributable to a lack of technical feasibility and functionality but instead have been the result of employee resistance. The difficulty of implementing organizational change has presented an ongoing challenge …

Examining Competencies For The Human Resources Professional Within Idaho State Government, Cecil R. Torres Jr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the vital competencies of the Human Resource (HR) professional within Idaho state government. Through the lens of comparability and factor analysis, the competencies examined in this study utilize the Human Resource Competency Survey (HRCS) study framework as a basis for study. Since the HRCS model was primarily designed for the private sector, this study examines these study findings in light of public services on a state government level.

This study establishes a competency model that the human resource professional in state level government can use in various facets related to their individual performance, training and development, recruitment, …