Business Commons^™

Three Empirical Studies Of Internal Audit Quality, Steven M. Desimone

2016

This dissertation contains three studies that examine the IAF’s role in corporate governance, factors that lead IAFs to take a deliberate approach to improve IAF quality, and how IAFs influence financial reporting quality in the public sector.

The first study examines factors that are associated with IAF involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) auditing. Results suggest that organizations with more formally documented corporate governance guidance and IAF guidance are more likely to engage their IAFs in CSR auditing than those without such documentation. Findings also indicate that IAFs of governmental organizations and those within larger organizations engage in significantly more …

Evaluating Information Technology (It) Integration Risk Prior To Mergers And Acquisitions (M&A), Deepak Khazanchi, Vipin Arora

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are considered significant, from both a strategic and an economic point of view, across almost all sectors of the economy.¹ M&A is a complex process involving risk that ranges from financial and legal matters to sales and marketing challenges and everything in between. Despite well-established benefits of strategically driven expansion and integration of businesses through M&A, the consolidated organization exposes itself to a number of anticipated, unknown and unintended risk factors. The risk concerns the overall organizational integration of some or all of the previously distinct and interdependent assets, structures, business processes, technologies, systems, …

Freeup: Productivity Made Possible, Nicole E. Meyers

Honors Theses and Capstones

As education evolves, more and more emphasis is placed upon group projects. With group projects come diversity, in-depth learning, open-mindedness, and many added stressors. One of the main causes of these stresses, as concluded in this thesis, is the task of scheduling.

What if there was an app that you could download to schedule those group meetings for you? Well, there is! freeUP is an application that links to your school’s learning platform (for example, Blackboard or Canvas) to make scheduling meetings easy and more productive. freeUP will provide much needed answers to today’s top group work problems: scheduling, effective …

Altering Rules, Cumulative Voting, And Venture Capital, John F. Coyle

Utah Law Review

Legal scholars have long debated the proper balance betweenmandatory and default rules in corporate law. One group — the contractarians — maintain that corporatelaw should function as an off-the-rack set of default rules that approximate, as much as possible,the rules that the transacting parties would have agreed to if bargaining were costless. The contractarians are generally skeptical of mandatory rules because they interfere with the ability of the parties to decide for themselves how to organize their economic relationships. Another group of scholars—the anti - contractarians — have argued that corporate law should seek to achieve certain regulatory objectives separate …

The Entrepreneurial Commons: Reframing The Relationship Between Intellectual Property And Entrepreneurship, Michael J. Burstein

Utah Law Review

Reconceptualizing entrepreneurial activity as a knowledge commons leads us to ask a different set of questions than previous studies have, and to utilize a different set of methodological tools. As Part II described, existing approaches to understanding the relationship between IP and entrepreneurship focus on the firm and its reactions to various IP laws. By contrast, to the extent that the exemplar entrepreneurial activities described in Part III can be described as instances of commons governance, the analysis must necessarily be broader. The knowledge commons framework forces us to acknowledge that much of information production and dissemination depends on relationships …

The Interconnections Between Entrepreneurship, Science, And The Patent System, Amy Landers

Utah Law Review

This Article considers several related points about the recent changes to the patent system and the opportunities for entrepreneurship. The concern about the adverse effect of the recent changes to patent law on innovation may be overstated. As a practicalmatter, the concept that patents are a necessary input to innovation is built on a model that does not account for the complex relationship between this legal system, science, and innovation. Although it can be expected that there may be some adverse impacts from these decisions, this trend opens up the opportunity for entrepreneurship. By releasing more foundational information into the …

An Exploration Of Organizational Trust In Intercollegiate Athletic Departments, Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

Scholars in in educational leadership, business management, and organizational psychology have thoroughly explored the construct of organizational trust. While trust has attracted some attention from sport management scholars, the research has primarily focused on the individual, rather than organization. This manuscript provides an overview of the organizational trust literature with specific application to the area of intercollegiate athletic departments. Additionally, the Athletic Department Trust Scale (ADTS) is introduced as an instrument to measure organizational trust in the setting. The procedures taken to refine and test the instrument are summarized. Results revealed the ADTS as psychometrically sound. The instrument was used …

What Made The Difference Between Senior Executives' Best And Worst Strategic Decisions? Factors Influencing Effective Strategic Decision-Making At The Executive Level, K. Shaikh

Student Scholarship

Top management team (TMT) members spend a lot of resources formulating and articulating strategy for their organization’s future state, yet this future rarely comes to fruition as intended by the strategy. As strategy is a function of decisions, both within the strategic planning cycle and ad-hoc decisions, in this research, we set out to discover what contributes towards the best and worst strategic decisions that senior executives have made in their careers. We interviewed 29 senior executives from a variety of organizations, industries,and sizes of organizations, using grounded theory. We discovered insights about the decision champion’s primary objective as they …

Improving Cooling Tower Chemistry Control And Cost Savings Through Automation, Ryan Matthew Maxwell

Theses and Dissertations

Proper chemistry control of cooling towers reduces corrosion, biological growth, and precipitation of solids. Therefore, improving control can lead to increased equipment life, operating efficiency, and safety. Chemistry of cooling towers is highly dependent on loading, weather, and time. As such, cooling tower chemistry varies day to day and even hour to hour, requiring either continuous controls or large operating bands. Through automation, 24/7 monitoring and control can be achieved, allowing for deliberate operation within tight operating bands. As a direct result of automation water consumption has been reduced by 9.1 million gallons per year, CL-49 use has been reduced …

Competencies, Clusters, And Skews In Private Equity: Exploring The Investment Professional Competencies That Distinguish Extreme Outperformance In One Leading Pe Firm, Avi I. Turetsky

Student Scholarship

Using the real world laboratory of one leading private equity (PE) firm, this paper attempts to directly connect professional competencies to performance outcomes, and more specifically, to skewed performance distributions. Though no extant research appears to focus on the shape of PE return distributions, data presented in multiple studies indicates that returns are right skewed at the levels of funds and individual portfolio company investments. At both levels, a small percentage of actors drive an outsized portion of industry returns. This paper finds that within one leading PE firm, this right skew exists at both the levels of individual investments …

What Price Success? Is It Worth It? The Emotional Journey Of 50 Female Ceos And Directors, Sabra Brock, Sharon Rowlands

Graduate School of Business Publications and Research

What is the typical emotional journey to the C-Suite? Most female CEOs and Directors love their positions despite the sacrifices The emotional associations are generally positive: excitement (82%), gratitude (62%), and pride (58%), although there are also moments of feeling overwhelmed (48%) and frustration (44%). To quote a participant, “Female leadership is living an exhausting life balancing on a razors edge the need to be smart, but not too smart. Being tough but not a bitch. Being confident but not too full of yourself. Being vocal but not too opinionated, ambitious but not too aggressive, agreeable but not weak and …

Intersectional Identity Entrepreneurship: Historic Case Of Viola Turner Pursuing Legitimacy Acquisition In Insurance Industry, M. Madison Portie

Honors Theses

In this historical organizational study, I examine how Viola Turner, a pioneering African American female business professional, managed to climb to the board membership of a black- owned insurance company. I propose that she managed her identity entrepreneurially fitting it to match the leadership role identity in the all-black men board. To assess the veracity of this proposition, I unpack how she exhibited her identity entrepreneurship given that her social identity was perceived as ambivalent by the board that was not conducive to accepting women as members in a leadership role. I chose the case of Viola Turner because I …

Intentions To Purchase Genetically Modified Foods In The United States And Germany: The Impact Of Consumer Knowledge And Attitudes, Maggie Hall

Honors Theses

Genetically modified foods are a current, ongoing issue in the world today. Much research is done on the producers and governmental regulation systems regarding GMOs, but not much research exists about direct consumer actions towards genetically modified foods. Hence, in this thesis, I focus on the consumers in Germany and the United States and their attitudes and knowledge of GMOs. I chose Germany and the US as the two overarching cases due to their perceived and reported differences surrounding GMOs on many levels, such as production and government regulation. With the aid of Clickworker and Amazon Mechanical Turk, I utilized …

An Empirical Examination Of An Agile Contingent Project/Method Fit Model, Diana K. Young, N. L. Beebe, G. Dietrich, C. Z. Liu

School of Business Faculty Research

While research has demonstrated positive productivity and quality gains from using agile software development methods (SDMs), some experts argue that no single SDM suits every project context. We lack empirical evidence about the project contextual factors that influence when one should use these methods. Research suggests several factors to explain agile method appropriateness; however, generalizable empirical evidence supporting these suggestions is weak. To address this need, we used contingency theory and the information processing model to develop the agile contingent project/method fit model. Subsequently, we used the model to analyze the influence of project contextual factors and agile practices on …

Recruiting And Maintaining Millennial Talent For The J.M. Smucker Company, Emmary Sharer, Conner J. Jones, Angela Morris, Andrew Harpel, Ashley Miesle, Jessica Dixon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project as part of the Honors Business Integrated Forum was to explore growth and innovation in the Millennial marketplace. Specifically, this particular project focused on how The J.M. Smucker Company could better attract and retain Millennial talent. Primary and secondary research was conducted in order to gain insight into the Millennial mindset and workplace trends. This research led to several findings about Millennial interests including their desires to create formal and informal bonds at work, uphold a work-life balance, interact with companies prior to the interview process, and live in more urban settings with social …

Competitive Intelligence For Mba Students: Credit Courses, Hal P. Kirkwood Jr

Libraries Faculty and Staff Creative Materials

Poster was presented at the Business & Finance Division Poster Session at the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA, 2016. Focus of the poster is on the credit-level courses taught by Prof Hal Kirkwood to MBA students in the Krannert Graduate School of Management on the topics of international business research and an introduction to competitive intelligence.

Needs Assessment As A Process For Change Management: Aligning Organizational Performance And Human Capital Investment With Strategic Planning And Change Creation, Abdulaziz Alshgeri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Research suggests that 70% of change management (CM) initiatives are considered unsuccessful. The most important reason for the dismal success rate of change initiatives is that they are driven by poor and invalid strategic decisions. Frameworks that businesses implement to secure sustainable long-term competitive advantages in the marketplace are often not effective. Therefore, decision-making related to improving results is critical, and must be based on an organization’s preset criteria. Creating and prioritizing key performance indicators direct leaders’ attention to effective change decisions. Prior research addresses several approaches to decide whether change is needed, such as statistical evidence, gut feelings, or …

The Exploration Of Machiavellianism, Logan Taylor Penticuff

Online Theses and Dissertations

Dyads, whether in an academic or practical setting, are commonplace. Workforces and academic settings alike are often comprised of groups of two or more individuals working together towards a common goal. As these interactions continue to be prevalent and important in the various settings, the context in which these interactions takes place and the people involved, influence the efficiency of these pairings. More specifically, the realm of business harbors more individuals considered high in a personality trait referred to as Machiavellianism (i.e., Mach) than other common professions. To better understand how Machiavellianism influences commonplace dyads in settings applicable to everyday …

A Mediacentric Examination Of The Corporate Psychopath, Pamela Martha Brooks

Online Theses and Dissertations

The psychopathic personality disorder is an extraordinarily complex and multidimensional phenomenon. While its study has primarily focused on criminal and forensic populations, many researchers are broadening the scope of psychopathy research to include those in the corporate world. This, after striking similarities were revealed between the personalities of corporate leaders and clinically diagnosed psychopaths. One profession that may be attractive to psychopathic personalities is the media, specifically television and radio. This exploratory study utilized a blend of original and archival data. Calculated effect sizes were used to examine the existence of personality facets among three groups of media professionals and …

Who Leads Nonprofit Organizations And What Does It Matter? A Mixed Methods Study Of The Impact Of Different Sector Experience On Nonprofit Leadership, Darrent Robert Tune

Dissertations

The nonprofit sector serves an important economic and community-building role in California and the rest of the United States. However, the nonprofit sector may be facing a leadership deficit due to inadequate succession planning and training of future leaders. Given that nonprofit organizations are often pressured to become more business-like and that many nonprofit organizations may need to adhere to regulations imposed upon them by government funders, nonprofit organizations may be able to find qualified leaders from the for-profit and public sectors.

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to build on prior research on the sector …

Implementation Of Operational Excellence: Challenges Related To Employee Perception And Organizational Culture, Ruben Fontes

Dissertations

Industries that are traditionally technical and hierarchical present a variety of challenges for today’s leaders, particularly given the rapidly evolving, technology-driven global business environment. In addition, the movement toward more collaborative and horizontal work environments encourages a uniquely collective perspective comprised of individuals who are expected to continually shift between innovation and conformance. Success in the contemporary business environment largely depends on a firm’s speed and efficiency in relation to its competitors, which challenges leaders to not only remain on the cutting edge of their respective industries, but also stay “in tune” with the inner workings of their organizations in …

Family Therapy In Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare: Current Practices And Future Possibilities, Anita R. Tucker, Mark A. Widmer, Troy Faddis, Bryan Randolph, Michael Gass

Faculty Publications

This paper highlights the role of the family in the treatment of youth who attend Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH) programs. It discusses the history of OBH, provides a critical overview of the research on the impact of OBH programs on family functioning, and discusses the importance of increased intentional integration of family therapy into OBH settings. To show this integration, this study presents a case study that highlights the role of the family, as well as the home family therapist throughout the phase of OBH treatment. Areas for future esearch are provided as well as suggestions for the increased utilization …

In The Pursuit Of Happiness All Family Leisure Is Not Equal, Karen K. Melton, Ramon Zabriskie

Faculty Publications

In the context of family leisure, individuals are more likely to achieve happiness when recreating with their families in predictable activities and in familiar environments. This hypothesis was tested by comparing three models predicting individual happiness. The three models were grounded in distinct frameworks of family leisure incongruity: (a) the null model – all family leisure is equal; (b) activity incongruity model – familiar versus unfamiliar family activities; and (c) location incongruity model – indoor-home, outdoor-home, community, and beyond the community. Analyses used a sample of 1502 individuals in 751 families from the U.K. Models were assessed using multi-level modelling. …

A Modular Governance Architecture In-The-Making: How Transnational Standard-Setters Govern Sustainability Transitions, Stephan Manning, Juliane Reinecke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

Sustainability transitions have been studied as complex multi-level processes, but we still know relatively little about how they can be effectively governed, especially in transnational domains. Governance of transitions is often constrained by the equivocality of sustainability goals, the idiosyncrasy of niche experiments and the multiplicity of governance actors and interests. We study the role of transnational standard-setters in mitigating these challenges and governing sustainability transitions within a transnational sector. Our case is the global coffee sector where ‘sustainability standards’ are increasingly being adopted. We find that the emergence of a ‘modular governance architecture’ has helped diverse and heterogeneous actors …

Developing A Risk Model To Target High-Risk Preventive Interventions For Sexual Assault Victimization Among Female U.S. Army Soldiers, Amy E. Street, Anthony J. Rosellini, Robert J. Ursano, Steven G. Heeringa, Eric D. Hill, John Monahan, James A. Naifeh, Maria V. Petukhova, Ben Y. Reis, Nancy A. Sampson, Paul D. Biese, Murray B. Stein, Alan M. Zaslavsky, Ronald C. Kessler

Faculty Publications

Sexual violence victimization is a significant problem among female U.S. military personnel. Preventive interventions for high-risk individuals might reduce prevalence but would require accurate targeting. We attempted to develop a targeting model for female Regular U.S. Army soldiers based on theoretically guided predictors abstracted from administrative data records. As administrative reports of sexual assault victimization are known to be incomplete, parallel machine learning models were developed to predict administratively recorded (in the population) and self-reported (in a representative survey) victimization. Capture–recapture methods were used to combine predictions across models. Key predictors included low status, crime involvement, and treated mental disorders. …

The Geography Of Learning: Ferrari Gestione Sportiva 1929-2008, Mark Jenkins, Stephen Tallman

Management Faculty Publications

This article considers the mechanisms that permit and enhance the movement of highly tacit component (technical) knowledge and geographically sticky architectural knowledge across borders and between clusters and firms. We address a number of critical research questions that relate to intra- and inter-locational knowledge transfer. We use a theory-driven, longitudinal, single case study to develop a conceptual framework to examine and describe how shifting the geography of knowledge sourcing can facilitate architectural change by following the transformation of one business unit within a specialist global organization through a series of evolutionary steps that involved internalizing new component knowledge from other …

Contribuicao Do Bpm (Business Process Management) Nas Operacoes Da Cadeia De Suprimentos De Uma Organizacao Sem Fins Lucrativos, Claudio Valdir Knoener

Master's Theses

Purpose

There are many activities that depend on an organization in order to provide conditions for an excellent service. In the present study, there was deepening and exploiting processes and sub processes involving the sector's supply West Paulista Association of the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization, considering the importance of offering supply service to internal customers seeking continuity of work and scope the organization's objectives. The research objective was to present possibilities for improvement in the development of processes and sub processes mentioned by the interviewees' perceptions and their contributions.

Method

Through data collection through qualitative research aimed to identify the …

Three Essays On Institutional Sensemaking Of Political Connectedness, Tolga Ulusemre

Theses and Dissertations

Through a collection of three integrated essays, this dissertation investigates how institutional logics shape the way firms and their decision makers perceive, interpret, and respond to political connectedness. More specifically, it elaborates on the cognitive mechanisms through which institutional logics affect responses to political connectedness. Essay 1 provides a fresh perspective to studying political connectedness by showing how the differences in the interplay between multiple institutional logics generate opposing logics – bureaucratic logic in developed countries vs. patrimonial logic in emerging countries –, which lead to two dissimilar forms of firm-government interaction across countries. Essay 2 proposes a new conceptual …

The Structural Choice Of A Senior Marketing Executive In The Top Management Teams In Mncs In Usa, Uk And Germany: Antecedents And Impact On Firm Performance, Kurt John Gleichauf

Theses and Dissertations

The role of the Chief Marketing Officer (senior marketing executive) has received minimal attention in the literature. Only recently has academic research investigated the position of the senior marketing executive. This dissertation uses neo-institutional and contingency lenses to extend prior theory and add cross-national perspectives on marketing management structural choices. An analysis of secondary data sources is used to clarify the key antecedents involved in the organizational choice of a senior marketing executive as a structural response in both one-tier and two-tier board governance systems. Possible mechanisms for the hypothesized effects are presented. Further, gaps in the prior literature on …

Positive Psychology In Sales: Integrating Psychological Capital, Scott B. Friend, Jeff S. Johnson, Fred Luthans, Ravipreet Sohi

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

As positive psychology moves into the workplace, researchers have been able to demonstrate the desirable impact of positive organizational behavior. Specifically, psychological capital (PsyCap) improves employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Advancing PsyCap in sales research is important given the need for a comprehensive positive approach to drive sales performance, offset the high cost of salesperson turnover, improve cross-functional sales interfaces, and enrich customer relationships. The authors provide an integrative review of PsyCap, discuss its application in sales, and advance an agenda for future research. Research prescriptions are organized according to individual-level, intra-organizational, and extra-organizational outcomes pertinent to the sales field.