Digital Commons Network^™

Effective Strategies To Reduce Voluntary Employee Turnover Intentions In The Retail Sector, Connie Latoyia Owens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Voluntary employee turnover is a complex business problem that hurts organizations’ productivity and profits. High employee turnover rates require retail business leaders to implement strategies to help prevent employees from leaving their jobs. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore leadership strategies retail store managers use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The participants included six retail managers from two mid-to-large retail food organizations in Chicago who successfully reduced voluntary employee turnover. Semistructured interviews and public company information were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five-step method. Four themes were …

Meaningful Work And Remote Employee Engagement During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Monique Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the remote working trend, causing workplace leaders to be challenged and remote employees to feel meaninglessness and lose interest in their work. The subjective nature of meaningful work and enforced remote work is a relatively recent socioeconomic phenomenon, creating a gap in the literature regarding how middle managers foster meaningful work for employees in a remote work environment. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to understand how middle managers fostered meaningful work for employees in a remote work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 10 middle managers …

Containing Compounding Container Congestion, Curtis Salinger

CMC Senior Theses

The Covid-19 pandemic caused major disruptions throughout the container shipping supply chain. Professor Dongping Song of Liverpool University wrote a paper discussing the logistical vulnerabilities in the supply chain, including the issue of congestion in ports. This paper examines the Port of Los Angeles from 2018-2021 as it relates to Song’s paper to see how its operations were impacted during the Covid-19 timeframe. It is found that labor shortages, chassis shortages, and change in trade behavior each contributed to the congestion. Unfortunately, the implemented policies were insufficient to bolster the port against sustained challenges and congestion continues to worsen.

The Global Impact Of Covid-19 And Tourism On Conservation Rangers' Guardianship Capabilities, Zachary Bockler

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted wildlife rangers with an emphasis on the influences of tourism rates. Two sets of data are used: one is a survey of rangers around the world and the other looks at global governmental tourism data. While coming from a routine activities perspective, the problem of decreased capable guardianship becomes apparent in the form of massively decreased tourism arrivals and troubling ranger perceptions. This data allows for the establishment of tourism trends and changes during COVID. The findings of this thesis link the downturn in tourism with impacts on formal and informal …

Strategies That Weekly Print Newspapers Use In The Digital Age, Mia Alexander-Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The development of Web 2.0 transformed the distribution of information in the United States and challenged the print newspaper business model to develop an online presence. As a result, some weekly print newspaper managers were forced to develop digital strategies to maintain the viability of their organizations in a changing market. Grounded in Kotter’s change management model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies weekly print newspaper managers used to create an online presence. The data sources were semistructured interviews with three weekly print newspaper managers and publicly available documents, including company archives, website data, …

Adapting Through Organizational Change In Capital Projects Organizations, Mahmoud El Jazzar

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Organizational change can be defined as an alteration of a core aspect of an organization’s operation, structure, or culture. Previous research on organizational change mainly has focused on different types of technical changes, such as alternative project delivery methods and strategies to adopt the design-build approach successfully. Also, previous studies have focused on the project level changes instead of organizational level responses. Here I show using a proposed change model and performing thematic, and analysis, that there exist common responses, and challenges across different types of capital projects organizations studied. The results show that responses to change will differ as …

High Potential Programs In Professional Service Firms, Charlene Robison

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether a mixed-cohort of billable and non-billable (e.g., marketing, human resources, accounting, technology) participants in a high-potential development program is beneficial to the organizations that utilize this development approach and to the participants in such programs. This research focused on professional service firms with time-defined and structured high-potential programs. This study utilized a mixed-method design and gathered data in two phases: a survey and a focus group. These methods were used to obtain participant sentiments of participating in their respective high-potential programs. Twenty-five high-potential professionals completed the survey and six participated in the focus group. The study …

A Spatial Analysis Of Smart Meter Adoptions: Empirical Evidence From The U.S. Data, Yue Gao, Chao Fang, Jing Zhang

School of Business

With the increasing demand on grid modernization for improving environmental sustain-ability and grid security, the topic of smart meter adoption has attracted much attention, especially with regard to the roles of public policies. However, there is a lack of research investigating the association between the multi-layered government policies and smart meter adoption from a spatial perspective to explain the variant adoption rates across the United States. This study constructs a panel of 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia over the period 2007–2019. Using this unique dataset and spatial econometric models, we investigate the impacts of federal and …

Optimization Of Lean And Agile Supply Chain Management Practices In The Aviation Industry, Constantine M. Koursaris, Valerie P. Denney

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Organizations that provide products and/or services must be able to execute fast, adaptive supply and (fluctuating) demand practices. From producers to consumers, and every stakeholder involved throughout the supply chain network processes, a collaborative relationship promotes sharing information that is beneficial to all. This long-term relationship then flourishes and in return stimulates the growth, health, and stability of the supply chain. Understanding the organizational processes and requirements is a complex endeavor. However, with technological advances and with the right type of data collected, it is possible to optimize entire supply chain networks.

This research study, seeks to provide an insight …

Transformational It Leaders And Digital Innovation: The Moderating Effect Of Formal It Governance, Linda M. Pittenger, Nicholas Berente, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

Does formal IT governance encourage innovation in the traditional domains of the IT function at the expense of new forms of “digital” innovation? We report on a study of 158 IT managers and leaders to understand the conditions under which transformational IT leadership can drive innovation in traditional forms of IT, as well as in the emerging “digital” domain. We find that highly formal IT governance practices can reduce ability of transformational IT managers and leaders to innovate in both domains, and this effect is greater for digital innovation. In stable cultures the moderation effect was strengthened, while insignificant in …

Fractal Dimension As A Predictor Of Organizational Change Success, Thomas Anthony Seitz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As many as two thirds of organizational change (OC) initiatives fail to achieve their outcome objectives. Researchers have demonstrated that successful change requires alignment among all levels of an organization. However, contemporary OC models do not quantify the degree of hierarchical alignment during the change process. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine whether the fractal dimension of hierarchical alignment (predictor variable) was associated with OC success (criterion variable) as described by the self-organizing fractal theory (SOFT). The research question addressed the association between the fractal dimension related to the alignment of OC beliefs and behavioral intentions …

Optimization Of Financial Performance In E-Commerce, Ishmael Fleming

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial performance is a challenge for business managers in the e-commerce industry that lack the knowledge to meet their operational objectives consistently. Business managers are concerned with poor financial performance due to the adverse impact on business sustainability. Grounded in total quality management theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between working capital management (WCM), operating expense ratio (OER), and e-commerce financial performance. Archival data were collected from 107 small- to medium-sized publicly traded e-commerce businesses headquartered in the United States from 2019 to 2021. The results of the multiple linear regression were significant …

Strategies To Implement A Change Management Process For Public Sector Management In Nigeria, Mariam Yakubu Bala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective change management implementation causes a negative impact on business revenue in Nigeria’s public sector. Public sector leaders are concerned ineffective change management causes a negative impact on business revenue in Nigeria’s public sector. Using Lewin’s change management model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore change management strategies Nigerian public sector managers use to implement a change management process to increase revenues. Data were collected from six top management executives in North Central Nigeria through semistructured interviews, note taking, and document review, who implemented change management processes to increase revenues from business operation. Data were …

Educating Nurse Leaders On The Application Of Watson’S Caring Science, Diane Lm Updyke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurse leaders’ creation of a culture of caring for their nursing staff has been shown to improve nurses’ job satisfaction and retention, and ultimately patient outcomes. At the project site, there was a perceived gap in nursing leadership practice in integrating a culture of caring into leadership and management practices. Although staff and leadership identified similar caring behaviors, staff members did not perceive nursing leadership as caring, which affected the former’s job satisfaction. The purpose of this education project was to provide site leaders with information on specific caring behaviors and how to model these behaviors with staff using Watson’s …

Strategies For Succession Planning Of Retiring Baby Boomers, Sonya Mcfadden

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn 2020, over 20 million baby boomers retired, with an annual average growth of two million yearly. The continuous trend of baby boomers retiring from the workforce has leaders focusing on the replacement of one of the largest working classes that the world has seen. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study to explore succession planning strategies human resources managers use to manage the transition of experience, knowledge, and skills influenced by retiring baby boomers. Five human resources leaders from the southeastern United States participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using thematic …

All For One And One For All: One Market-Oriented Culture, Four Ceo Leadership Styles, Chris Linden Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The value of a market-oriented culture as one that sustainably satisfies customers, engages employees, and provides profitable growth is well-established. Market-oriented firms are more profitable, more innovative, and deliver higher customer and employee satisfaction than their competitors. However, we still know little of how leaders of such operations create and sustain their organizations’ market orientation. This research, positioned at the intersection of leadership and marketing strategy, draws on interviews with 66 CEOs and senior executives across a variety of firms and industries to generate insights into how these leaders developed their market-oriented approach and to identify the behaviors they engage …

Participant Reactions To A Leadership Development Program In A High Growth Firm: A Preliminary Study, Malika Begin

Theses and Dissertations

High growth firms (HGF), which report more than 20% annual growth for at least 3 consecutive years, have limited time and resources to support their success. Transformative leadership development interventions, which strive to create marked changes through shifting leaders’ ways of perceiving and operating, may be highly effective for rapidly expanding the firms’ leadership capacities. This study examined the perceived nature and impacts of a leadership development program that was intended to be transformative in one HGF.

All 10 leadership development trainees were interviewed about the effects of the program and the program features that contributed to those effects. Participants …

Impact Of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility Factors On The Employee’S Innovation Climate In The Medical Diagnostics Industry, Sofia M. Beglari

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between employee-driven corporate social responsibility (CSR) factors and employee innovation in U.S. medical diagnostic companies during the respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID) pandemic. This study examined what employee-driven CSR factors affect such motivation of employees toward innovation. The research population was employees who have worked in operation, quality control, research, technical, and management departments of medical diagnostics companies in the United States of America. The investigator used a survey questionnaire for this correlation design study. Employees’ responses were analyzed based on education level, gender, and job function using descriptive analysis, t-test, and ANOVA-test. The theoretical framework …

Impact Of Leadership Skills On Entrepreneurs’ Business Success In Saudi Arabia, Omar Alaqeel

Theses and Dissertations

Most entrepreneurial businesses fail within the first 5 years of establishment. One of the major causes is the lack of leadership skills by the entrepreneurs. The aim of this quantitative study was to define the leadership skills that were required by entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia in creating and sustaining entrepreneurial business successfully beyond 5 years and to identify the environmental factors affecting entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The population of interest in this study was entrepreneurs from Tasamy in Saudi Arabia. Tasamy is a non-profit organization that focuses on supporting entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. To answer the research questions for …

Scandinavian Work-Life Balance Experience: Its Implementation In The United Arab Emirates (Uae) Happiness Context, Maktoom Al Mazrouei

Theses and Dissertations

Employee happiness and satisfaction are unanimously correlated to enhanced levels of productivity and efficiency, making them important for employees and employers. Scandinavian countries consistently rank highly on the world happiness index and correspondingly possess comparatively happier employees in their workplaces. Aside from the structural setting, internal components, and atmosphere of the workplace, it is primarily understood that the initiatives undertaken by Scandinavian countries in relation to the concept of work life balance are significantly important. The concept of work-life balance is cognizant of an employee’s struggle in maintaining equilibrium between work and personal life. This study could aid the United …

Changing The Business Narrative: A Guide To Successful Experience Offerings, J. Robert Rossman, Mat D. Duerden

Faculty Publications

Purpose

Design/methodology/approach

Worker Experience A Year Into Covid: Job Demands And Resources In The Philippines, Emerald Jay D. Ilac, Jaimee Felice Caringal-Go, Ma Tonirose De Guzman Mactal, Mendiola Teng-Calleja

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

This study aimed to examine the positive and negative job characteristics that impact employees’ working experience in a country located in the Global South during the COVID-19 pandemic using the job demands and resources (JDR) theory as a framework. Data collection happened approximately one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Data came from a qualitative online survey of 122 workers which was then subjected to thematic analysis. For both demands and resources, four superordinate themes emerged: intrapersonal, interpersonal, work or task-related, and organization- related. Intrapersonal job demands included health and safety, and the complexity of …

Recognizing And Addressing Conflict That Emerges From Sociotechnical Change In Higher Education, Kathleen Ann Watkins-Richardson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Today’s unprecedented technology growth impacts at many levels—from individuals to groups to society. This study aims to characterize how exponential digital technology growth and organizational change is explained and experienced in a university setting deploying new instructional technologies—and how or where conflict emerges. Organizational conflict is a phenomenon that takes many forms and may not be fully recognized. This dissertation highlights theories of technology invention and disruption, the dynamics of sociotechnical change (defined as the interdependencies between people, technology, and the environment) and response in organizations, complex adaptive systems, and practice theory of change. It considers current technological forces at …

A Cultural Diversity Management Framework For Enhancing The Performance Of Architectural Design Firms In Egypt, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman, Nadine Ibrahim Fouda

Architectural Engineering

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a cultural diversity management (CDM) framework to enhance the performance of architecture design firms (ADFs) in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – A research methodology consisting of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to achieve the abovementioned aim. First, literature review was used to investigate the concepts of globalization, international construction, diversity, diversity management (DM) and organizational performance. Second, four case studies were presented and analyzed. The first two cases explored the role of CDM towards enhancing the performance of ADFs, while the last two cases showed initiatives carried out by NGOs to …

Strategies For Succession Planning Of Retiring Baby Boomers, Sonya Mcfadden

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn 2020, over 20 million baby boomers retired, with an annual average growth of two million yearly. The continuous trend of baby boomers retiring from the workforce has leaders focusing on the replacement of one of the largest working classes that the world has seen. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study to explore succession planning strategies human resources managers use to manage the transition of experience, knowledge, and skills influenced by retiring baby boomers. Five human resources leaders from the southeastern United States participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using thematic …

Are Emotionally Stable Employees More Ready To Change? The Moderating Role Of Emotional Stability On The Effect Of Organizational Culture Types On Individual Readiness For Change, Aktsar Hamdi Tsalits, Gugup Kismono, Luksi Visita, Dian Eka Mayasari

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Organizational culture is suggested as a significant predictor of individual readiness for change (IRFC). However, few studies examining the effect of organizational culture types on individual readiness for change showed inconsistent results. This study aims to fill the gap, specifically by testing the moderating effect of emotional stability on the effect of perceived organizational culture types (clan and adhocracy) on individual readiness for change. We obtained 264 responses from employees who worked at the SM Company, one of the companies in Indonesia that performed a change in the company. Results of moderated regression analysis on the collected data indicate support …

Change Readiness And The Mediating Role Of General-Dispositional Internal Structures, Genevieve Joy Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This case study offers insight toward the impact of the general-dispositional, internal structures on a planned organizational change in the field of education. The process used and the findings of this may be applicable to a variety of fields. Stones’ strong structuration (2005) served as the theoretical framework guiding this study, though Chater and Loewenstein’s (2016) model of sensemaking offers supplementary consideration.

The context for study was the shift to virtual learning because of the COVID-19 global pandemic and subsequent closure of schools beginning in March 2020. This empirical study examined agents-in-situ’s response to the change, including the structuring interactions …

Strategies To Overcome The Truck Driver Shortage In The United States, Erica Duckering

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High truck driver turnover rates negatively impact company profits, business operations, and customer satisfaction. Oil and gas industry supply chain and logistics leaders who lack strategies to recruit and retain truck drivers experience declines in revenue, operational effectiveness, and customer retention. Grounded in total quality management theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify and explore strategies used in the oil and gas industry to retain and recruit qualified truck drivers effectively. The participants comprised six oil and gas industry leaders in the greater Houston, Texas area who successfully managed truck driver recruitment and retention strategies …

Total Quality Management Strategies To Sustain Business Beyond 5 Years, Nida Guzon Palmore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some small business leaders lack total quality management strategies to sustain their business beyond 5 years. Small business leaders are concerned that their businesses will not survive beyond 5 years without total quality management strategies. Grounded in the Deming 14 points model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small business leaders use to sustain their business beyond 5 years of operation. The participants were five small business leaders from Central Valley, California, who sustained their businesses for more than 5 years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a review of company documents. Thematic …

Strategies Day-Care Center Leaders Use To Reduce Employee Turnover And Achieve Sustainability, Angel Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDaycare center leaders who lack effective strategies to retain employees face high employee turnover, jeopardizing children’s ability to form strong attachment bonds with their childcare staff, resulting in behavioral and developmental issues. Grounded in the hygiene-motivation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies six daycare leaders in northcentral Florida used to retain their employees for 5 years or more and achieve sustainability. Data sources were semi-structured interviews, researcher notes, and employment policies at each facility. Yin’s five-step data analysis process resulted in four themes: effective hygiene factors, building relationships with employees, setting relevant performance …