Business Commons^™

An Analysis Of Millennial Attitudes Towards Car Servicing, Colwell S. Shupe, Jill M. Synek, Erin M. Chips, Eric A. Van Meter

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

When our team originally began our project, we initially held the assumption that millennials do not care about car ownership or driving. As our secondary research progressed, we found that millennials do indeed care about automobiles, but limited research existed as to any underlying issues regarding car maintenance and service. We addressed this issue in our primary research and found that millennials experience anxiety as they do not know much about car maintenance. Our recommendations were targeted towards easing both the surface anxiety and addressing the underlying issues as well as helping prepare Goodyear for future trends that may arise.

Ownership Conversion As A Solution For Ex Post Agency Problems: The Case Of Franchising, Erik Tristan Markin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the strategic decision of franchising firms to convert company-owned outlets to franchise contracts in response to persistent agency problems. Moreover, this study investigates how franchisor-level, market-level, and outlet-level characteristics interact with this relationship. Using a longitudinal sample of company-owned fast-food restaurants, I find that increased agency problems at focal restaurants increases the likelihood of being converted to a franchise and that this relationship is moderated by both franchisor- and outlet-level characteristics but not market-level characteristics. Limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.

Reporting Quantitative Methods And Findings: Best Practices Fidelity In The Leisure Science Literature, Mat D. Duerden, Eric Keith Layland, Andrew Lacanienta, Camilla Hodge, Michael Goates, Michael B. Edwards

Faculty Publications

This article identified best practices for quantitative methods and results reporting and then evaluated leisure science articles’ adherence to them. A two-stage stratified sampling method identified 112 articles. A codebook was developed, and 26 universal codes addressing abstract, methods, and results were applied to each article to generate best practices scores (BPS). BPS ranged from 6 to 21 (M¼14.89, SD¼2.95). Articles were more likely to use best practices for abstract, sample selection, recruitment, statistics, and data analysis, and less likely for participant characteristics, instrumentation, and data collection procedures. Comparisons of BPS across journals identified significant differences.

Goodyear As-A-Service Project Report, Julie Mullet

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the Project Report is to explain our secondary and primary research findings, our analyses of these, and our solutions and recommendations as well as next steps for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the “as-a-service” industry. The report begins with our secondary research finding, then moves into our primary research methods, statistical testing and data results, findings, and limitations of our primary research. We will then suggest our solutions and recommendations for the company based on our research. Last, we will detail our expected financial results for the company, as well as the action steps and future …

Strategic Recommendations For Sherwin Williams, Alysha Blanchard, Cara Crookston, Jacob Kaut, Lucas Colantoni, Lillyanne Sweitzer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our project objective was to provide Sherwin Williams with a comprehensive and well researched recommendation to aid recruitment efforts for their Management Trainee Program, as well as increase employee retention. Our team’s primary research was centered around benchmarking Sherwin Williams’ business related practices with those of similar retail companies and employees. Specifically, the research was focused on company culture, training and support, employee referrals, and treatment of part-time employees of the different organizations. To complete the benchmarking effectively, our team created two variations of a survey design to capture the necessary feedback and data. After analyzing our primary research and …

The Effect Of Behavioral Traits And Background On Engineering Students’ Decision-Making Process Compared To Business Students, Joe Scott

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper looks to narrow down the reasons that students undertake new credentials, specifically in sales fields. With a focus on character traits and upbringing, the goal is to ensure that there is a better understanding of the reasons that people undertake these credentials. The different benefits of credentials will be analyzed to determine the most influential reason that people would be willing to move forward. The combination of these factors will be used to provide recommendations of the best way to reach and influence the decision of the engineering students.

The Quality Management Ecosystem For Predictive Maintenance In The Industry 4.0 Era, Sang M. Lee, Donhee Lee, Youn Sung Kim

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The Industry 4.0 era requires new quality management systems due to the ever increasing complexity of the global business environment and the advent of advanced digital technologies. This study presents new ideas for predictive quality management based on an extensive review of the literature on quality management and five realworld cases of predictive quality management based on new technologies. The results of the study indicate that advanced technology enabled predictive maintenance can be applied in various industries by leveraging big data analytics, smart sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and platform construction. Such predictive quality management systems can become living ecosystems that …

Born To Take Risk? The Effect Of Ceo Birth Order On Strategic Risk Taking, Robert J. Campbell, Seung-Hwan Jeong, Scott D. Graffin

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The importance of birth order has been the subject of debate for centuries, and has captured the attention of the general public and researchers alike. Despite this interest, scholars have little understanding of the impact birth order has on CEOs and their strategic decisions. With this in mind, we develop theory that explains how CEO birth order may be associated with strategic risk taking. Drawing from evolutionary theory arguments related to birth order,we theorize that CEO birth order is positively associatedwith strategic risk taking; that is, earlier-born CEOswill take less risk than later-born CEOs. As evolutionary theory proposes that birth …

Employee Performance, Well‐Being, And Differential Effects Of Human Resource Management Subdimensions: Mutual Gains Or Conflicting Outcomes?, Chidiebere Ogbonnaya, Jake G. Messersmith

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The human resource management (HRM) literature supports the idea that coherent systems of HRM practices can induce attitudinal effects when perceived subjectively by employees. Recently, scholars have proposed that subdimensions of HRM systems exist and account for variance in outcomes. This study explores differential effects of three subdimensions of HRM systems (skill‐, motivation‐, and opportunity‐enhancing HRM practices) on employee innovative behaviors and well‐being. Our predictions are based on the mutual gains perspective, which specifies positive relationships between HRM practices and employee performance, and the conflicting outcomes perspective that links HRM practices to higher job demands and stress. Using data from …

A Game-Theoretic Approach To Share The Costs Of Cooperating Healthcare Networks, Jay M. Lightfoot

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The growing demand for healthcare services combined with the disarray in the health insurance market in the United States has created a situation where rival health networks are aggressively competing by building duplicate health facilities and providing redundant services in localized geographic regions. Unfortunately, this strategy can reduce the quality of patient care and decrease profits (Kaissi & Charland, 2013). A solution to this problem is for health networks to cooperate and share healthcare equipment, facilities, and personnel. Toward that end, this paper presents a game-theoretic method that can share these costs in a fair, efficient, and repeatable manner.

Strategies To Minimize Perishable Food Loss In The Retail Grocery Business, Thankgod Chukwumeka Aleruchi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supply chain managers in the retail grocery industry face significant challenges in reducing the wastage of perishable food. Perishable food spoilage and deterioration in the retail grocery industry result in a significant loss of profitability and consumer satisfaction. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that supply chain managers in the retail grocery business used to minimize perishable food loss. The perishable inventory theory was used as the conceptual framework. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 6 Pennsylvania retail grocery supply chain managers who implemented strategies to minimize perishable food loss and from organizational …

The School-Based Family: Teachers As Parental Figures For Orphans And Vulnerable Children In Ugandan Schools, Stacy Taniguchi, Angela Warren, Steve Hite, Mark Widmer, Ramon B. Zabriskie, Yusef Nsubuga, Christopher Mugimu

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the possible formation of surrogate families within Ugandan schools, especially among orphans who lack positive development opportunities typically provided by parents. This qualitative study sample of 66 Ugandan secondary school students were selected from eight schools in the Mukono district of Uganda. Findings suggest a potentially widespread family formation pattern between students and their teachers. More than 75% of students interviewed self-identified their teacher as family. Some teachers were able to offer orphans and vulnerable children positive developmental assets and were, therefore, identified as family.

Passing The Baton: A Comparative Analysis Of The Ceo Succession Of Walmart And Exxon Mobil, Anna K. Seale

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the CEO succession of Walmart and Exxon Mobile with the commonly accepted best practices within the CEO’s distinguishable attributes and roles. The succession of executive leadership within any organization is inevitable. Research speaks to the importance of both strong executive leadership and CEO succession plans to allow for sustainable success within an organization. The researcher examined the literature on commonly accepted best practices of CEO succession as well as the importance of them. The executive successions of Walmart and Exxon Mobil were examined in light of the history of executive succession planning. …

The Contribution Of Family Leisure To Family Functioning And Family Satisfaction Among Urban Russian Families, Mikale Williamson, Ramon Zabriskie, Jasmine Townsend, Peter Ward, Gilbert Fellingham, Irina Kuznetsova

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine how both family leisure involvement and family leisure satisfaction contributed to the explanation of variance in family functioning and satisfaction with family life among urban Russian families (n = 597). As an initial examination of family leisure functioning in the Russian culture, mixed model analysis accounted for family-level and individual level variance, and indicated core family leisure satisfaction was the strongest predictor of all aspects of family functioning and satisfaction with family life, a pattern similar across other cultures. There were also positive relationships between balance family leisure and various aspects of …

Over-Design Versus Redesign As A Response To Future Requirements, Jeffrey D. Allen, Phillip D. Stevenson, Christopher A. Mattson, Nile W. Hatch

Faculty Publications

Though little research has been done in the field of over-design as a product development strategy, an over-design approach can help products avoid the issue of premature obsolescence. This paper compares over-design to redesign as approaches to address the emergence of future requirements. Net present value (NPV) analyses of several real world applications are examined from the perspective of manufacturers (i.e., defense contractors, automobile, pharmaceutical, and microprocessor manufactures) and customers (i.e., purchases of vehicles, televisions, cell phones, washing machines, and buildings). This analysis is used to determine the conditions under which an over-design approach provides a greater benefit than a …

Using The Hierarchical Decision Model (Hdm) To Select A Sustainable Voice Over Internet Protocol (Voip) Provider, Fayez Alsoubaie

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The continued technological progression has instituted a modification in communication facets. Consequently, the use of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has enhanced and technical researchers believe that this innovation will be at the center stage for future phone engagements. VoIP services are offered by different providers depending on the customer's unique personal or corporate requirement. Therefore, firms should undertake extensive researches to determine the most appropriate service providers that would optimize operations and improve productivity. In most cases, the choice of VoIP in a hierarchical organization is influenced by factors such as the number of users within various protocols, …

Strategies For Using Analytics To Improve Human Resource Management, Rosaline Uduak Etukudo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The use of analytics in human resource (HR) management has proven successful in improving company performance by reducing workforce costs, improving the quality of recruitment, improving talent management and employee engagement, and generally improving productivity. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to explore how HR managers use analytics to improve company performance using the contextually based human resource theory as the conceptual framework. The target population comprised a purposeful sample of 5 HR managers in Washington DC; the United States; and Lagos, Nigeria, who had experience using analytics for HR management. Data were collected through semistructured interviews using …

Competency Development And Implementation Among Direct Support Professionals In New York State, Johanna Loporto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Direct support professionals (DSPs) serve an important function in the daily supervision and care of clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) through standardization of technical, cognitive, and ethical competencies for all DSPs. It is not clear, however, how these DSPs and managers perceive the implementation process and utility of these competencies or whether implementation results in meeting the desired outcomes for clients. Using Donabedian's quality of care model as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative case study in New York State to understand how DSPs perceived the implementation of the DSP core competencies under the direction of front-line …

Recognizing And Anticipating Stress Related Complacent Behavior In Manufacturing Industries, Ricardo Alberto Pineda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous safety studies suggest that stress complacency related accidents in manufacturing industries continue to cause injuries or fatalities because of the absence of emotional resources for leaders, who are unable to prevent accidents when these conditions exist. Leaders of the manufactory industries may not have the appropriate emotional measures which are significant to recognize employees' underlying complacent behavior. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to evaluate the relationship between leaders' emotional intelligence resources and their ability to manage to prevent injuries and fatalities in the workplace. The research questions address key traits of emotional intelligence regarding emotional perceptions …

Nonprofit Leaders' Strategies For Succession Planning, Regenia R. Boykins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many nonprofit organizations lack systematic approaches to succession planning. The absence of a strategic succession plan can limit leaders' abilities to maintain organizational sustainability and fulfill the organization's mission. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders used to develop succession plans. The conceptual framework for the study was the knowledge transfer theory. Participants included 3 nonprofit leaders from an educational organization in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of internal organizational documents and publicly available data. Using an inductive content analysis, 3 themes emerged: boards of directors were critical …

When Fund Management Skill Is More Valuable?, Feng Dong, John A. Doukas

Finance Faculty Publications

Does fund management skill allow managers to identify mispriced securities more accurately and thereby make better portfolio choices resulting in superior fund performance when noise trading- a natural setting to detect skill - is more prevalent? We find skilled-fund managers with superior past performance to generate persistent excess risk-adjusted returns and experience significant capital inflows, especially in high sentiment times, high stock dispersion and economic expansion states when price signals are noisier. This pattern persists after we control for lucky bias, using the "false discovery rate" approach, which permits to disentangle manager "skill" from "luck".

The World’S Game, But Not America’S: An Analysis Of Soccer’S Disposition In The United States, Catherine Reese Neely

Honors Theses

Globally, soccer is the most prominent sport, drawing devoted fans from nearly every country in the world. The World Cup grosses the highest attendance and viewership rates of any international professional sports tournament. For many countries, the game of soccer is a source of national identity and pride. Despite soccer’s global impression, the sport has failed to fully captivate its American audience. The introduction of the professional men’s league, Major League Soccer (MLS), in 1996 spurred interest. The sport has experienced slight growth in popularity, but its national attendance and viewership ratings are trivial in comparison to America’s elite three …

The Correlation Between Employee Job Satisfaction And Leadership Style By Leadership Personnel In Massage Businesses, Veronica Henry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Job satisfaction plays a significant role in employee retention outcomes. Therefore, examining factors that contribute to employee job satisfaction is vital to formulating and implementing effective organizational protocols that increase job satisfaction, employee retention, and overall business performance. This study was designed to examine the relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction in massage-based businesses. The research question was as follows: Is there a relationship between job satisfaction and leadership style in massage businesses in Columbia, SC? This study utilized three primary leadership styles: transformational, transactional, and passive/ avoidant. The research question was answered through a quantitative correlational analysis of …

Journeys Through Rough Country: An Ethnographic Study Of Blind Adults Successfully Employed In American Corporations, Kirk Adams

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Blind and visually impaired people in the United States face a dire employment situation within professional careers and corporate employment. The purpose of this research study was to gain insights into the phenomenon of employment of blind people through analyzing the lived experience of successfully employed blind adults through ethnographic interviews. Previous research has shown that seven out of ten blind adults are not in the workforce, that a large percentage of those who are employed consider themselves underemployed, and that these numbers have not improved over time. Missing from previous research were insights into the conditions leading to successful …

Bribery And Export Intensity: The Role Of Formal Institutional Constraint Susceptibility, Randika Eramudugoda Gamage

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the influence of home country formal institutional constraints on firm bribery payments and export intensity. Distinguishing between forms of formal institutional constraints based on their susceptibility to bribery, this study highlights the different mechanisms through which formal institutional constraints impact export intensity. I propose that highly susceptible formal institutional constraints will behave as incentives leading to increased bribery payments. In contrast, less-susceptible formal institutional constraints will act as an added cost, ex-post to bribery payments, in the bribery-export intensity relationship. These less-susceptible formal institutional constraints will further decrease export intensity. Utilizing a firm-level dataset from 25 countries, …

Do Conflicts Of Interest Require Outside Boards? Yes. Bsps? Maybe., Usha Rodrigues

Scholarly Works

From the Symposium: Outsourcing the Board: How Board Service Providers Can Improve Corporate Governance

Boards of directors are curious creatures. The law generally requires corporations to have them—indeed, they are the focus of the corporate law we teach in Business Associations in U.S. law schools. The corporation is managed by directors or under their direction; directors hire and fire officers; directors are necessary for fundamental transactions.

But the reason why corporations have directors is not entirely clear. In the prototypical privately held corporation, the family firm, the same individuals serve both as directors and officers. The CEO (better known as …

Financial Market Risk And Macroeconomic Stability Variables: Dynamic Interactions And Feedback Effects, Agnieszka M. Chomicz-Grabowska

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This study investigates dynamic interactions and feedback effects between financial market risk proxied by VIX and key macroeconomic stability variables that include the rate of unemployment, headline inflation and market-based inflation expectations reflected by the breakeven inflation. I argue that market risk should play a stronger role in macroeconomic modeling and forecasting than it has been recognized thus far in the literature. I employ vector autoregression with impulse response functions, as well as two-state Markov switching tests to examine these interactions on the longest available US monthly data. The empirical tests show that the association between market risk and macroeconomic …

Mindspace And Development Of Organizational Culture In Aviation Safety Management, Wilson Gilliam Jr

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Abstract

The organization’s role in establishing a culture fertile for safety development, risk management and mitigation is paramount. Barriers to the effectiveness of aviation safety systems may emerge when human biases interfere with the basic processes of safety management systems. Biases come in many forms and can serve as unconscious discriminatory behaviors against a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, profession, skill level or other characteristic. Biases can also result from instinctive reactions and habitual patterns serving to protect one’s status, sense of belonging, desire to be viewed as normal and other characteristics. Minimizing biases within an organization is a key …

ความตั้งใจในการคงสมาชิกภาพของเจนเนอเรชั่น Z : บทบาทของคุณลักษณะของความรู้และความยึดมั่นผูกพันในงาน, ณิชาภัทร แก้วพงศ์มงคล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาอิทธิพลและบทบาทของคุณลักษณะของความรู้และความยึดมั่นผูกพันในงานต่อความตั้งใจในการคงสมาชิกภาพของพนักงานเจนเนอเรชั่น Z โดยกลุ่มตัวอย่าง คือ ลูกจ้างภาคเอกชนในจังหวัดกรุงเทพมหานคร อายุระหว่าง 20-24 ปี จำนวน 200 คน ผู้วิจัยเก็บข้อมูลด้วยการใช้แบบสอบถามออนไลน์ ผลการวิเคราะห์การถดถอยพหุเชิงชั้นพบว่าในการตัดสินใจคงสมาชิกภาพกับองค์กร พนักงานเจนเนอเรชั่น Z ให้ความสำคัญตามลำดับกับคุณลักษณะของความรู้ 2 ด้าน ได้แก่ ด้านที่ต้องใช้ความรู้ความเชี่ยวชาญในงานและด้านการใช้ความรู้เพื่อทำงานที่มีความซับซ้อน โดยคุณลักษณะของความรู้ดังกล่าวทำให้พนักงานเจนเนอเรชั่น Z มีความผูกพันในงานอันนำไปสู่การคงสมาชิกภาพต่อองค์กร หรือสรุปได้ว่าความยึดมั่นผูกพันในงานทำหน้าที่เป็นตัวแปรคั่นกลางโดยสมบูรณ์ระหว่างคุณลักษณะความรู้ด้านความเชี่ยวชาญในงานกับความตั้งใจในการคงสมาชิกภาพ และระหว่างคุณลักษณะความรู้ด้านความซับซ้อนของงานกับความตั้งใจในการคงสมาชิกภาพ ผลการวิจัยทำให้องค์กรเข้าใจบุคลากรกลุ่มเจนเนอเรชั่น Z มากยิ่งขึ้น และสามารถออกแบบงานที่จูงใจและตรงกับความต้องการของคนรุ่นใหม่ได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ องค์กรสามารถใช้กลยุทธ์การออกแบบงานเป็นเครื่องมือในการสร้างความผูกพันและการรักษาบุคลากรให้คงอยู่กับองค์กรระยะยาวเพื่อสร้างความได้เปรียบในการบริหารทรัพยากรมนุษย์

Group Decision-Making, Edward Cook

Theses and Dissertations

The present work explores improvements in group decision-making. It begins with a practical example using state-of-the-art techniques for a complex, high-risk decision. We show how these techniques can reveal a better alternative. Although we created an improved decision process, decision-makers were apt to protect their own organizations instead of the project. This tendency was reduced over the course of the decision-making process but inspired the first conceptual component of this work.

The first concept describes the “Cost of Conflict” that can arise in a group decision, using game theory to represent the non-cooperative approach and comparing the outcome to the …