Business Commons^™

Relationships Between Goal Setting, Innovation, Project Management, Quality, Speed To Market And New Product Success, Ying-Chieh (Andrew) Yang

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Successful new products and services are critical for business success in the global economy. Many companies, however, continue to find successful new product development (NPD) difficult. Few studies have investigated the impact of organizational culture on NPD. The literature suggests that environmental conditions intervene in NPD, but little research has been conducted on relationships between organizational culture, environmental conditions, and NPD success.

This dissertation develops a theoretical framework based on Nakata and Sivakumar's (1996) culture-NPD model which integrates four cultural values, environmental uncertainty, and firm size as keys to NPD success. Research questions and hypotheses originate from this theoretical framework. …

Global Sourcing And Logistics, Martin Christopher, Fu Jia, Omera Khan, Carlos Mena, Erik Sandberg

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sourcing of products from across the global marketplace is an increasing trend associated with economic development. This trend is the result of many independent decisions taken by firms around the world looking for new sources of competitive advantage. However, these decisions can also have unintended consequences, exposing the firms to hidden costs and risks, creating congestion at different points in the global transport infrastructure and increasing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases.

This report presents the results of a project conducted in 2006-07, aimed at improving global sourcing practices, with a particular emphasis on the implications for the UK. …

The Effects Of Supervisor-Subordinate Goal Congruence On Performance And Turnover Intentions During Expatriation, Marshall Pattie

Management Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation investigates how the quality of the relationship between sending supervisors and expatriates is related to turnover and performance. Utilizing goal congruence and social exchange theories, it is hypothesized that the quality of the relationship between sending supervisors and expatriates mediates goal congruence and the two outcome variables: performance and turnover intentions. Additionally, it is hypothesized that three international factors related to sending supervisors and their business units as well as repatriate plans should be related to goal congruence. The goal examined is the degree to which the expatriation fits into expatriates' career paths at the firm. Regression analysis …

Accountability And Accreditation In The Nonprofit Sector: Examining The Louisiana Standards For Excellence Model, Lise Anne D. Slatten

Student Scholarship

The nonprofit sector of our economy is a special class of entities with an expansive array of organizations and activities dedicated to the common good and well-being of others. Even though this sector has constructed creative and forward thinking initiatives, obstacles remain which interfere with their accomplishment of significant achievements. The struggle to maintain their respected position, unique character and role in society remains prevalent. In order to stay competitive, organizations are constantly assessing their current capacity to deliver needed services. Today, a number of umbrella associations of nonprofits have implemented assessment and certification programs intended to produce organizational improvement …

Women Directors: When Championing The "Tough Issues" At The Board, How And Why Do They Do It And Do They Do It Differently Than Men?, Nancy Mcinerney-Lacombe

Student Scholarship

Boards of Directors are often criticized for being compliant or silent on critical issues. In the powerful yet collegial environment of the board, raising "tough issues" as proven to be a challenging task. This lack of action can result in ineffective decision-making and, in some cases like Enron, the demise of the firm (O'Connor, 2003). In view of the fact that management's expertise is valued (Baysinger, Kosnik and Turk, 1991), it takes tenacity to question management's judgments and recommendations (Janis, 1992; Sonnenfeld, 2002; Leblanc & Gillies, 2005). This is especially true if management is long tenured and powerful (Arthur, 2001). …

Distributed Sensemaking In Loosely Coupled Organizations, Sridhar Belavadi Seshadri

Student Scholarship

Academic Medical Centers\, despite their research and educational prowess\, are in a financial crisis. Increasing costs\, stiffer competition\, and anticipated tightening of budgets have created new levels of urgency and vibrancy among medical school deans and hospital CEOs about the need to increase the productivity of the clinical enterprise. To date\, most of these efforts have failed- this study attempts to understand why. The conceptual model sets up the relative advantage created by the organizational innovation and resulting organizational performance as the primary independent variable and dependent variables respectively. Organizational sensemaking among the sponsors\, designers\, and implementers of the change …

Choice, Gender, And Succession In The Family Business, Kathyann Kessler Overbeke

Student Scholarship

This paper proposes a research initiative to investigate the factors that may inhibit women from entering their family’s business in a managerial or decision making capacity. Based on a review of the literature\, very few women become successors in family firms. In 1994 only 2% of CEO’s in family businesses were female. Yet\, despite the abundance of literature on succession in family businesses\, few studies have examined the experience of daughters of family business owners. Some literature investigates the experience of daughters who have entered their family’s business\, but research on daughters who have not entered their family’s business is …

Distributed Sensemaking In Loosely Coupled Organizations, Sridhar Belavadi Seshadar

Student Scholarship

Academic Medical Centers, despite their research and educational prowess, are in a financial crisis. Increasing costs, stiffer competition, and anticipated tightening of budgets have created new levels of urgency and vibrancy among medical school deans and hospital CEOs about the need to increase the productivity of the clinical enterprise. To date, most of these efforts have failed- this study attempts to understand why. The conceptual model sets up the relative advantage created by the organizational innovation and resulting organizational performance as the primary independent variable and dependent variables respectively. Organizational sensemaking among the sponsors, designers, and implementers of the change …

Enhanced Business Reporting: A Reemergence Of 19th Century Gaap Policies, Chester H. Brearey

Student Scholarship

Existing literature on financial reporting practices within the first wave of regulation- the Interstate Commerce Commission may have its historical roots in the work of Charles Francis Adams Jr., and his fellow Commissioners contained within the financial reporting requirements established through state regulation in the Annual Reports of the Board of Railroad Commissioners in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1870 - 1913. In addition, the regulatory environment and the scope of railway activities found within the afore-mentioned reports may throw light on the question of what forces converted the simply recording technology of the Italian merchants of the fourteenth and fifteenth …

In Search Of Bold And Wise Decision Making In Associations, Mark Engle

Student Scholarship

What if we could encourage association leaders to make bold and wise decision? Board members of nonprofit societies have limited time to devote to strategic issues confronting their associations. It is essential that they use their limited time productively and remain focused on strategic decision making. Therefore, this study addresses how association leadership--both boards and CEOs--consider significant issues and make decisions. The purpose is to determine how boards and staff of professional societies (associations comprised of individual memberships whose primary purpose is to provide learning and knowledge for members of the profession they represent) navigate the decision-making process and make …

Association In Associations: Network Dynamics In Dermatology Research, Rebecca M. Minnillo

Student Scholarship

The work of scientists is heterogeneous-a series of interactions within networks composed of individuals from diverse fields and disciplines (Star & Griesemer, 1989). Generation of new knowledge is essential in the organizations in which these individuals associate; the bridge that holds them together. Knowledge generation takes place at both the individual and collective levels (Brown and Duguid, 1998). Professional organizations attract individuals because they provide a unique forum, a space in which they converge to pursue common goals. Actor-network Theory (ANT) is concerned with how heterogeneous networks and the associations that comprise them come into existence and operate to construct …

The Effect Of Operational Control And Experience On Joint Venture Performance, Arun K. Sharma

Student Scholarship

This study investigates the nature of control rights and experience among oil company competitors as they collaborate to develop mutually owned oil and gas development projects. Using fundamental pinciples derived from Transaction Cost Economics and Property Rights theories in conjunction with archival joint venture data, I attempt to empirically explain Joint Venture performance with respect to operational control. The typical oil-field Joint Venture governance model (the Joint Operating Agreement -- or JOA) is designed to minimize transaction costs and equitably distribute benefits in accordance with Transaction Cost Economics Theory Property Rights Theory, however, may more accurately descirbe JOA partner behavior …

Performance Appraisal And The Balanced Scorecard, Farrar Langlois

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Internal Static Manufacturing Complexity On Manufacturing Performance, Anthony Gabriel

All Dissertations

Manufacturing systems are complex. They consist of many interrelated subsystems and elements. This study investigates the effect on performance due to the complexity resulting from system design, i.e. internal static manufacturing complexity. The quantitative measure, ISMC, consisting of eight measurable complexity elements is proposed. This new measure of complexity was then tested with another existing measure of internal static manufacturing complexity proposed by Frizelle and Woodcock (1995).
A large set of simulation experiments, each modeling a general batch-type manufacturing system, was employed to test the effects of the overall complexity measure, ISMC, and the eight individual elements on five measures …

Sales Sense: Improving Communication Through A Network Of Frames, Stuart R. Strolin

Student Scholarship

Why, when one business unit is successfully using an IT product, will another business unit reject or block its deployment when they have the same or similar business needs? Sales practitioners involved in making sense of these situations, centered on the assimilation of complex software innovations, lack the descriptive tools and language for methodically formulating approaches to overcome such obstacles. Insights have been offered by theories such as Diffusion of Innovation (Rogers, 1995), Technological Frames (Orlikowski & Gash, 1994), and Actor-Network Theory (Callon & Latour, 1981; Law, 1987). Various authors (Fichman, 1992; Lamb, 2003; Letch & Perth, 2001; Silver, Markus, …

Exploring Constructive Career Transition: The Roles Of Dispositional Optimism, Cognitive Behavioral Hope, Emotion Regulation And Social Resources, Kathryn V. Kaminsky

Student Scholarship

This quantitative study explores constructive career transition among mid-career individuals. The study's primary focus is the exploration of the intrinsic individual attributes of dispositional optimism, cognitive behavioral hope, the cognitive reappraisal dimension of emotion regulation and their predictive relationships to career satisfaction as an outcome variable. Secondarily, the study posits a mediation effect of the more contextual variable of social resources utilized for instrumental reasons in the achievement of career satisfaction. Primary findings of this research include support for the predictive relationships of dispositional optimism and cognitive behavioral hope to achieving career satisfaction in the career transition respondents sampled. The …

College And University Endowment Diversification: An Extension Of Institutional Theory, Mary (Mimi) E. Lord

Student Scholarship

Today’s college and university endowments look dramatically different than they did 25 years ago. The quest for greater investment returns has been accompanied by an explosion in the number of asset classes in endowment portfolios\, particularly among large endowments. According to Modern Portfolio Theory\, greater diversification of holdings can help to improve the return/risk profile of a portfolio either by: a) enabling greater returns without adding to risk; or b) lowering risk without lowering returns. Transformation toward greater diversification has resembled to some extent the diffusion process described in institutional theory\, where new practices are initiated by large\, prestigious organizations …

Measuring Human Capital In High-Tech Defense Companies, Alexander Eksir

Student Scholarship

Within the hightech defense industry, product reliability results are delivered through the integration of technology solutions and process innovation. This is entirely a result of the ways that people in defense corporations and government agencies develop and use their talent. However, due to the increased average age of defense industry employees and the bimodal distribution characteristics of most technical companies, sustainability of performance is currently at risk. A robust and meaningful way to measure human capital and its contribution to the corporation's net worth is essential to enabling analysis, discussion and appropriate investment. Unfortunately, literature dedicated to human resource accounting …

Employee Level Dynamics Within A Merger Or Acquisition. The "Me-I" Theory Of Organization Consolidations; Avoiding Merger-Encouraged-Individualism, Todd Creasy

Student Scholarship

With the employee as the unit of analysis while studying mergers and acquisitions, our results suggested for merger consolidations, perceived organization support (POS) and identification with the new merged organization partially mediated the relationship between procedural justice and job satisfaction. Identity with the new organization fully mediated the relationship between cultural discontinuity and job satisfaction. For acquisition consolidations, we suggest identification with the new organization partially mediated the relationship between procedural justice and organization citizenship behavior (OCB). Further, POS fully mediated the relationships between procedural justice and job satisfaction and between trust in management and job satisfaction. Lastly, identification with …

Sales Opportunity Crafting: Explaining Diverse Selling Approaches, Ganesh Kumar

Student Scholarship

Salespeople play a critical boundary-spanning role in establishing productive relationships with their buyers. In doing so, they employ diverse selling approaches that resulting in a wide range of customer experiences—some that align well with the overall marketing strategies and some that conflict with the intent of the organization. Several theoretical explanations for the variations in selling approaches, but no singular theory provide us a lens to understand how salespeople approach various selling opportunities. The primary goal of this inquiry is to compile the extant theoretical knowledge from various disciplines in order to develop a conceptual framework for future empirical research …

Peer Influence On Moral Choice Among College Student Athletes, Mary-Beth A. Cooper

Student Scholarship

Since the inception of sport, much has been written about the behavior of athletes on and off the field of play. Some suggest that the culture of athletics and the very nature of competition promote aggressiveness, performance-related stress, and increased social pressure on student athletes. It is the intent of this research to explore what influences college athlete behavior. Specifically this researcher will focus on peer influence as a factor in impacting athletes' decisions regarding moral choice. Parson's conceptualization of influence introduces the idea of vulnerability to influence. Suggesting that influence varies by the perceived trustworthiness of the source of …

Where Have All The Children Gone?: Young Adult Commitment In Chinese Protestant Churches In United States, Cecilia C. Chan

Student Scholarship

Many Chinese Protestant churches in North America (hereafter referred to as Chinese churches) have noted a severe membership reduction due to the exiting of second generation Asian Americans, i.e. American raised Chinese (ARC) and American born Chinese (ABC). Lee coins this phenomenon as “the Silent Exodus” (p. 588). This research proposal investigates why the “Silent Exodus” group of 25-35 year-old young adults return to Chinese churches after a hiatus usually caused by relocation to attend college. The purpose of the study is to examine the young adult group’s motives for re-entering and staying with the church and to examine the …

Where Was The Board? A "Moves"-Based Approach To Improving Npo Accountability, Frederick O. Udochi

Student Scholarship

Strong arguments have been made that traditional definitions of accountability – financial health, internal controls and regulatory compliance – do not fully capture an organization’s performance (Ospina et al, 2002; Behn, 2001; Kearns, 1996). Failures evidenced by multiple breakdowns of accountability in nonprofit organizations have resulted in calls for boards to pursue a broadened level of accountability. There is little or no corresponding guidance in the literature to show how that could be accomplished. This research paper proposes to explore the “how” by adopting the notion of “moves” (Pentland, 1992), which are the verbal and/or nonverbal actions, routines or accomplishments …

Omanization Of Oman's Private Sector: Implementation, Challenges, And Solutions, Mazid Al-Rawas

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the status of the implementation of the Omanization policy, challenges associated with the Omani government in implementing the Omanization policy, and the solutions appropriate to overcome these challenges in the implementation of Omanization. Data for this study was collected through a survey that included 13 Likert-type statements developed by the researcher. The population of this study consisted of 50 human resource managers in private companies; these companies were randomly selected from the list of all companies registered in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the Sultanate of Oman. The researcher received a total …

Developing Expanded Conceptions Of Governance In Community Foundations, Michael Wolfe

Student Scholarship

Community foundations administer over $44 billion and distribute $3.5 billion annually to improve the quality of life throughout the United States. In 2000, a series of "National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations" was developed. Are changes currently promoted by the field of community foundations truly propelling community foundations to a more advanced role? Present research posits the value to community foundations of engaged proactive behavior by the board of directors and CEO. By examining the developmental responses of boards during times of institutional pressure, we can inform research and practice that seeks to improve nonprofit governance.

An Empirical Investigation Of Poison Pill Use In The Banking Industry, Zachary Hooper '07

Honors Projects

This study examines the use of poison pill plans in the banking industry. This research demonstrates that the increasing number of banks adopting a poison pill plan is related to increasing market concentration. There are two hypotheses explaining the intent of these adoptions: (l) Managerial Entrenchment and (2) Shareholder Interest. This study specifically examined these hypotheses in the banking industry between 1986 and 2003. Results indicated that comparison banks not adopting a poison pill had a significant improvement in ROE the year after their peers adopted a poison pill. Additional results of this research contradict the popularly held belief that …

Bulls Eye Marketing, Inc.: Business Plan And Strategy, David Forrest

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a complete business plan and strategy for a marketing agency that will operate in Los Angeles County, called Bulls Eye Marketing.

Why Most Mergers Fail: An Emphasis On The Human Factors, Kimberly Defouw

Honors Theses

Recent studies have shown that 60-80% of all mergers are failures when measured by their ability to outperform the stock market or to deliver profit increases. Mergers must create value and grow the business to have true success. Often mergers fail due to financial and market factors, such as a poor economy, market entry timing, unrealized synergies, or a saturated market. It is easy to overlook the human factors, the characteristics of people that need to be considered when implementing mergers in order for people to interact effectively. While a CEO may be the first to say that people are …

2007-04-19 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2007.

2007-04-05 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for April 5, 2007.