Digital Commons Network^™

Airline Safety Improvement Through Experience With Near-Misses: A Cautionary Tale, Peter Madsen, Robin L. Dillon, Catherine H. Tinsley

Faculty Publications

In recent years, the U.S. commercial airline industry has achieved unprecedented levels of safety, with the statistical risk associated with U.S. commercial aviation falling to 0.003 fatalities per 100 million passengers. But decades of research on organizational learning show that success often breeds complacency and failure inspires improvement. With accidents as rare events, can the airline industry continue safety advancements? This question is complicated by the complex system in which the industry operates where chance combinations of multiple factors contribute to what are largely probabilistic (rather than deterministic) outcomes. Thus, some apparent successes are realized because of good fortune rather …

Time-Chunking And Hyper-Refocusing In A Digitally-Enabled Workplace: Six Forms Of Knowledge Workers, James E. Gaskin, Tanner Skousen

Faculty Publications

Until the turn of the millennium, switching tasks required moving locations or reconfiguring physical workspaces. However, contemporary digital tools and workspaces allow knowledge workers to perform an increasingly diverse set of tasks, with an increasingly extending arm of influence, all from the same physical location without any physical reconfigurations or traversing of physical space. Along with this increased ambidexterity comes an increase in the quantity and frequency of demands on the time of knowledge workers. This digitalization of work now tethers their ability to perform largely to their ability to intensely focus in small chunks, and then “hyperjump” that focus …

What Is Organizational History: Toward A Creative Synthesis Of History And Organization Studies, Paul C. Godfrey, John Hassard, Ellen S. O'Connor, Michael Rowlinson, Martin Ruef

Faculty Publications

As a synthesis of organization theory and historiography, the field of organizational history is mature enough to contribute to wider theoretical and historiographical debates and is sufficiently developed for a theoretical consideration of its subject matter. In this introduction to the Special Topic Forum on History and Organization Studies, we take up the question, “What is organizational history?” and consider three distinct arguments that we believe frame the next phase of development for historical work within organization studies. First, we argue that following the “historic turn,” organizational history has developed as a subfield of organization studies that takes seriously the …

Institutional Drivers And Barriers To Faculty Adoption Of Blended Learning In Higher Education, Wendy W. Porter, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

Relatively little research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption, although such research would benefit institutions of higher education in strategically adopting and implementing BL. In a prior study, the authors proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption, identifying three stages: (1) awareness/exploration, (2) adoption/early implementation, and (3) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure and support issues universities may address at each stage. The current study applies that framework as well as Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory to determine the degree to which institutional strategy, structure and support decisions facilitate or impede BL adoption among higher education …

Firms As Peaceful Oases Conceptualising The Role Of Conflict-Sensitive Human Resource Management, Carol Reade

Faculty Publications

The United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), has identified Corporate Peace as an important component of fostering peaceful societies. This includes the need for companies to incorporate peace and reduction of violence into their core business strategy. Realisation of business strategy requires alignment with all organisational business functions, including human resource management. I propose that one avenue toward Corporate Peace, particularly in contexts of protracted and violent political conflict, is through conflict-sensitive human resource management practices in the areas of employee support, participation, and integration. These practices include providing material and emotional support to employees, encouraging employee …

Electronic Health Records And User Participation: Digital Natives Versus Digital Immigrants, Deanna House, Rajat Mishra

Faculty Publications

The need for clarity in the healthcare management is a matter of frequent discussion and concern among healthcare professionals, practitioners, patients and academicians. Electronic Health Records would provide clarity, transparency, interoperability and transferability in the health care information and data of the patients. It will also reduce the human mistakes and will reduce the likelihood of wrongly reading or interpreting the information. This paper introduces this useful concept and links it to the two classes of health care practitioners- ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital immigrants’. The paper further identifies and discusses the relationship between user participation and system success and analyses …

Lost (But Not Missing) At Work: Organizational Lostness As An Employee Response To Change, Lisa Jones Christensen, Scott C. Hammond

Faculty Publications

This article draws from the psychology of lost person behavior, established from wilderness search and rescue missions, to suggest that employees experience the condition of being lost within organizations. Data from wilderness searches, survivors, and organizational actors suggests that lessons from lost person behaviors apply in organizations. Reactions to being lost in an organization follow predictable patterns and include five specific stages: separation, isolation, deviation, deprivation, and realization. In defining the construct of organizational lostness and differentiating it from stress, coping, and resistance, we suggest an organizing framework to understand employee behaviors that would previously seem idiosyncratic. This article offers …

Playing To Win: The Surprising Power Of Play In Innovation, Suzanne M. Piotrowski, Kalle Lyytinen, Richard Boland, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

Organizational teams are the primary mechanism by which ideas are birthed and recombined into innovations for maintaining or achieving competitive advantage. We know that resources of people, time and funding impact team effectiveness in innovating. We also know that factors such as individual traits of talent, expertise, and collaboration skills also matter greatly. What is less known, and less studied, is the role of team characteristics, in particular, team play and team playfulness on innovation results. Our two-part study examined 145 teams and discovered that team playfulness is present on all successful innovation teams and emerges as divergence and deep …

Increasing Police Accountability: Restoring Trust And Legitimacy Through The Appointment Of Independent Prosecutors, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

Criminal prosecution of police officers raises a myriad of issues that this Article will begin to explore. First, while there has been a paradigmatic shift in police accountability in recent decades from remedies focusing on individual officers to those focusing on broad organizational reform, this Article will explore the important role that the deterrence rationale of criminal prosecution might play as one tool to address police misconduct. Second, other than deterrence, criminal prosecutions serve numerous goals, including retribution for the harms imposed upon the victims and society for the crimes. Historically, many racial minorities, when compared with their white counterparts, …

The Robust Beauty Of “Little Ideas”: The Past And Future Of A Behavioral Theory Of The Firm, David Maslach, Chengwei Liu, Peter Madsen, Vinit Desai

Faculty Publications

This introductory and the following nine articles reflect comments made by panelists during a symposium honoring A Behavioral Theory of the Firm by Richard Cyert and James G. March at the 2013 Academy of Management meeting. Not surprisingly, what emerged from these comments is that the Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTF) was enormously influential to the creation of many “little ideas” that have a big impact on a number of social sciences. More surprising is the potential for many new “little ideas” that build on the BTF. The panelists detail what these new “little ideas” may be in future …

Proximity-Driven Liability, Bryant Walker Smith

Faculty Publications

This working paper argues that commercial sellers’ growing information about, access to, and control over their products, product users, and product uses could significantly expand their point-of-sale and post-sale obligations toward people endangered by these products. The paper first describes how companies are embracing new technologies that expand their information, access, and control, with primary reference to the increasingly automated and connected motor vehicle. It next analyzes how this proximity to product, user, and use could impact product-related claims for breach of implied warranty, defect in design or information, post-sale failure to warn or update, and negligent enabling of a …

Conceptual Frameworks And Research Models On Resilience In Leadership, Janet Ledesma

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article was to discuss conceptual frameworks and research models on resilience theory. The constructs of resilience, the history of resilience theory, models of resilience, variables of resilience, career resilience, and organizational resilience will be examined and discussed as they relate to leadership development. The literature demonstrates that there is a direct relationship between the stress of the leader’s job and his or her ability to maintain resilience in the face of prolonged contact with adversity. This article discusses resilience theory as it relates to leadership development. The concept associated with resilience, which includes thriving and hardiness, …

“Parallel Poleis”: Towards A Theoretical Framework Of The Modern Public Sphere, Civic Engagement And The Structural Advantages Of The Internet To Foster And Maintain Parallel Socio-Political Institutions, Taso Logos, Ted Coopman, Jonathan Tomhave

Faculty Publications

The role of the internet in large-scale demonstrations, as witnessed in the Arab Spring, has been debated and reflects continued interest in the intermingling of social movements and digital technology. Yet behind these large photogenic events stand other less obvious social activities that may be equally profound, particularly in the form of alternative institutional frameworks that better meet the social needs of individuals than current models. We categorize these “dissident” frameworks as “parallel poleis” as developed by Czech philosopher and activist Vaclav Benda and offer two case studies to support this contention. At the heart of parallel poleis lies the …

Difference In Degrees: Ceo Characteristics And Firm Environmental Disclosure, Ben W. Lewis, Judith L. Walls, Glen W. S. Dowell

Faculty Publications

We contribute to the literature on firms’ responses to institutional pressures and environmental information disclosure. We hypothesize that CEO characteristics such as education and tenure will influence firms’ likelihood to voluntarily disclose environmental information. We test our hypotheses by examining firms’ responses to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and find that firms led by newly appointed CEOs and CEOs with MBA degrees are more likely to respond to the CDP, while those led by lawyers are less likely to respond. Our results have implications for research on strategic responses to institutional pressures and corporate environmental performance.

Managing Major Library Issues: Practical Tips From The Pros - "Conflict Management In Libraries", Michele Lucero, Pamela Cash, Tracie Hall, Rhea Lawson

Faculty Publications

Experts offer great take-home value with their top tips for dealing with big issues such as conflict management, transitioning from peer to supervisor, leading vs. managing, and more.

“It Is Silly To Hide Your Most Active Patrons”: Exploring User Participation Of Library Space Designs For Young Adults In The United States, Anthony Bernier, Mike Males, Collin Rickman

Faculty Publications

This article advances the first attempt to collect and examine empirical data on young adult (YA) spaces in public libraries from institutions across the United States by surveying current practices in new and renovated buildings. Analysis of an online survey of 257 library and information science (LIS) professionals produced an innovative Youth Participation Index (YPI) used to document the relative intensities of youth involvement in the design and execution of YA spaces. Libraries claiming higher levels of youth participation reported significant quality service improvements across a wide range of outcomes. However, after several decades of advocating for youth involvement in …

Adverse Impacts Of Furlough Programs On Employee Work Rate And Organizational Productivity, Adedeji B. Badiru

Faculty Publications

This article is primarily a research-provoking exposition against the management approach used in the 2013 government furlough program. It is intended to prompt potentially productive research investigations on the impact of personnel furloughs, particularly on defense acquisition programs. Defense acquisition programs are time-sensitive and systems oriented. What appears as a minor delay in one unit of an acquisition life cycle can lead to long-term encumbrances within the entire defense system, resulting in enormous cost escalation. Pertinent analytical techniques/methodologies are provided to illustrate potential pathways for further research studies of furloughs and how they adversely impact organizational productivity. The author’s intent …

A Review And Evaluation Of Audit Quality Oversight, Srinivasan Ragothaman, Theodore Mock, Rajendra Srivastava

Faculty Publications

As a result of massive financial statement frauds at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Sunbeam, Waste Management, Xerox and others, the US Congress enacted the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX 2002). This Act set up the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) which regulates the auditing profession in the US. The PCAOB issues auditing standards, inspects audit quality and also has enforcement powers. Following the US lead, nations such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have set up national statutory bodies to monitor audit quality.

This paper summarizes the work of these national bodies and synthesizes recent reports of these …

A Review And Evaluation Of Audit Quality Oversight, Srinivasan Ragothaman, Theodore J. Mock, Rajendra P. Srivastava

Faculty Publications

As a result of massive financial statement frauds at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Sunbeam, Waste Management, Xerox and others, the US Congress enacted the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX 2002). This Act sets up the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) which regulates the auditing profession in the US. The PCAOB issues auditing standards, inspects audit quality and also has enforcement powers. Following the US lead, nations, such as, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have set up national statutory bodies to monitor audit quality. This paper summarises the work of these national bodies and synthesises recent reports of these …

A Review Of Business Communication Under The Leadership Function, Clive Muir

Faculty Publications

An effective way to perpetuate an academic discipline is to identify and to define its intellectual and historical roots, then to set such roots in the foundation textbooks and courses of the discipline. In that regard, Business Communication still struggles to establish its roots when compared to other disciplines in business schools, particularly Management. For this study, we undertook an extensive review of significant scholarly works on Business Communication as a discipline. We discovered there are prevalent themes in the broader context of rhetoric, technology, culture, dissemination, and impression; and this was confirmed by our examining the tables of contents …

A Method For Evaluating Library Liaison Activities In Small Academic Libraries, Jonathan Miller

Faculty Publications

This article presents a practical method for formative, self-reflective assessment of the liaison activities of individual librarians and to evaluate liaison activities in general. Many libraries evaluate their liaison programs, but few evaluate the effectiveness of individual librarians’ efforts within the program.

Librarians of Rollins College redefined and re-branded their liaison program as “Your Librarian.” As part of this effort, the author surveyed the faculty and assessed the program and the effectiveness of individual librarians. The author outlines the liaison responsibilities, the survey instrument, and how the results are analyzed and used in a process of continuous reflective improvement for …

Mythologizing Change: Examining Rhetorical Myth As A Strategic Change Management Discourse, Jacob D. Rawlins

Faculty Publications

This article explores how rhetorical myth can be used as a tool for persuading employees to accept change and to maintain consensus during the process. It defines rhetorical myth using three concepts: chronographia (a rhetorical interpretation of history), epideictic prediction (defining a present action by assigning praise and blame to both past and future), and communal markers (using Burkean identification and rhetorically defined boundary objects to define a community). The article reports on a 3-year ethnographic study that documents the development of a rhetorical myth at Iowa State University’s Printing Services department as it underwent changes to its central software …

How Does Focus On Form Affect The Revising Processes Of Esl Writers?: Two Case Studies, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

This study considers the ongoing “grammar correction debate” in second language writing by examining how a focus on formal accuracy would affect the revising processes of ESL writers and the students’ written products. A case study approach was used to find out how two ESL students would respond in the two different rewriting situations: (a) when there is no explicit expectation for them to produce grammatically correct text, and (b) when this expectation was clearly present. The protocol analysis and interviews with the participants showed that students’ revision processes had not been affected by the kind of instruction and expectation …

Exploring Configurations Of Affordances: The Case Of Software Development, Aron Lindberg, James Gaskin, Nicholas Berente, Kalle Lyytinen

Faculty Publications

Affordances have been increasingly used in the information systems literature to account for the usage and effects of information technology. However, a review of the literature shows that the construct has remained nebulously defined, rarely used in anything but singular forms and with little consideration of context. This has resulted in a lack of cumulative research on affordances. We propose that affordances need to be considered not only individually, but also as configurations of multiple affordances. Through a sociomaterial sequence analysis of two software development teams – one waterfall and one agile - we build a framework for the study …

An Issue Of Equity: Assessing The Cultural Knowledge Of Pre-Service Teachers In Teach For America, Eric Ruiz Bybee

Faculty Publications

This literature review examines the research on the development of “cultural knowledge” for preservice teachers in Teach for America program. “Cultural knowledge” refers to a teacher’s awareness of the sociopolitical contexts of education and the development of critical consciousness about issues of educational equity. After a brief introduction to the organizational structure of TFA, I will discuss some of the recent research on the organization-- much of which has focused on achievement, teacher preparation, and the public policy implications of the program. Then, I will examine themes in the research on the cultural knowledge of preservice teachers’ in traditional preparation …

The Internationalization Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms, Ilan Alon, Orly Yeheskel, Miri Lerner, Wenxian Zhang

Faculty Publications

This article uses the resource-based and internationalization theories to explain the export behavior of Chinese entrepreneurial firms. Based on multi-year data on Chinese firms from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), we show that contextualized resource-based theory can adequately explain some of the variation in export behavior among young Chinese firms. Exports by small Chinese firms are driven by the social and intellectual capital of the entrepreneur and their entrepreneurial proclivity, and the innovativeness/uniqueness of the product/offering.

Study Of Health And Activity In Preschool Environments (Shapes): Study Protocol For A Randomized Trial Evaluating A Multi-Component Physical Activity Intervention In Preschool Children, Karin A. Pfeiffer, Ruth P. Saunders, William H. Brown, Marsha Dowda, Cheryl L. Addy, Russell R. Pate

Faculty Publications

Background: Physical inactivity is a recognized public health concern. Inadequate proportions of children in the U.S, including those of preschool age, are meeting physical activity recommendations. In response to low numbers of preschool children attaining appropriate physical activity levels, combined with the large number of young children who attend preschool, researchers have identified the need to devise interventions to increase physical activity at preschools. However, few multi-component interventions to increase physical activity in preschool children exist. The aims of this study were to observe the effects of a multi-component intervention on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and physical activity energy expenditure …

James White Library: The First Seventh-Day Adventist Library For Advanced Education, Merlin D. Burt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Moderating Effects Of Environmental Dynamism On The Relationship Between Dynamic Capabilities Strategy And New Venture Performance In An Emerging Market, Ilan Alon, Hao Jiao, Koo Chun Kwong, Yu Cui

Faculty Publications

Building from resource-based view, this study developed a model of the dynamic capabilities strategy in an emerging market, especially with a particular focus on the new ventures. We generated hypotheses based on this framework, linking them with new venture performance, with the moderation role of environmental dynamism. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of new ventures in the context of China's Yangtze River Delta Region. Empirical results showed that environmental sensing capability and changing and renewal capability had significant impacts on new venture performance. Additionally, environmental sensing capability, and changing and renewal capability both had a stronger impact on …

Culturally Congruent Practices In Counseling And Psychotherapy: A Review Of Research., Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Are mental health interventions that are intentionally made congruent with clients’ cultural contexts more effective than traditional practices? If a large body of empirical data supports an affirmative response to this question, then multiculturalism may be deemed not only legitimate within but integral (primary) to mental health interventions. However, if the data are inconclusive or deemed inadequate, then multiculturalism will remain marginalized (secondary) as an egalitarian ideal, possibly worthy of public praise but privately labeled as “impractical” or worse. All other things being equal, empirical evidence should determine which path will be taken; this chapter will attempt to provide direction.