Business Commons^™

Business Leadership Education: A Virtual Storytellers Exercise, Maria Mendez, Yue Cai Hillon, Khadija Al Arkoubi

Management Faculty Publications

Online courses are becoming popular in business education and require creative strategies to maintain students’ engagement and facilitate contextual and complex understanding of class concepts and theories. In this paper, we are proposing an exercise for online undergraduate Organizational Behavior courses to motivate students and enhance their understanding of class concepts through the use of storytelling. In this exercise, students work in teams to narrate stories that describe with rich detail different concepts and theories pertaining to team management in general and virtual team management in particular. The results suggest that students develop a higher level of critical thinking in …

What Do Institutional Investors Know And Act On Before Almost Everyone Else: Evidence From Corporate Bankruptcies, Elena Precourt, Henry Oppenheimer

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

We analyze investment behavior of institutional managers who hold and trade shares of firms that file for bankruptcy. We find that during the five-year period preceding a bankruptcy filing, institutional investors (except those managing investment companies) are net buyers with a positive abnormal net number of shares traded during the period. Institutional managers start to sell shares of bankrupt firms sooner in some firms than in others; these earlier sales are of smaller firms with weaker operating performance, and lower equity risk. We do not find evidence that institutional stockholders trade strategically and avoid material price declines before they occur.

Information Systems Strategy And The Role Of Chief Information Officers: Strategizing And Aligning Practices, Anna Karpovsky

2015

Information Systems (IS) pose both a challenge and an opportunity for organizations. The topic of strategizing around IS issues is thus of considerable importance. While there has been substantial academic research relating to the strategic value of IS – over 50 years – much of it focuses on such aspects of the topic as strategic IS planning, strategic alignment, and IS for competitive advantage. Fewer studies have taken into account the emergent nature of strategy formation. Fewer still have given attention to strategy-making practitioners, in particular their role and influence in the strategizing process. Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation …

Utilization Of 340b Program In A Rural Hospital, Heath Ashford, Lauren Valli, William K. Willis, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Introduction: The 340B is a federal program that provides eligible rural hospitals, providers, and clinics the capability to purchase medications at reduced prices for outpatient use. Enrollment in the 340B program requires drug manufacturers to supply covered healthcare entities and eligible healthcare organizations medications at substantially reduced prices and has allowed covered entities to extend federal resources by offering more comprehensive services and reaching more of the vulnerable populations. The purpose of this research study was to examine utilization of 340B program within provider based clinics of a university medical school affiliated with a rural hospital to assess the benefits …

Effects Of International Study Tours On Attitude Toward Doing Business Globally: Assurance Of Learning In Executive Mba Programs, Uday S. Tate, Kamal Fatehi, Basanna Patagundi

Management Faculty Research

The past two decades have experienced and realized the wave of globalization as pervasive and impactful imperative in the world of academia, and not just in the corporate world. This realization is reflected in the 2011-13 Report by AACSB Task Force on Globalization of Management Education (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business - International, June 2011-13). The AACSB report highlights broad globalization trends in management education that have drawn the attention of institutions, corporations and business schools alike, that are striving to prepare their key stakeholders (managers and students) to face today’s complex global challenges. Today’s increasingly integrated …

Diffusion Of Innovation: Customer Relationship Management Adoption In Supply Chain Organizations, Vicky Ching Gu, Marc J. Schniederjans, Qing Cao

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The successful diffusion of innovations in rapidly changing supply chain technological environments is essential to support operations and supply chain management functions. In this paper we conceptualize and develop a framework for research into the diffusion of innovations in organizations pertaining to software adoption in supply chain management. Incorporating Task-Technology Fit theory with a network externalities model, we develop a novel approach in customer relations management (CRM) software adoption. An empirical study using Partial Least Squares (PLS) on data from US supply chain managers is utilized to confirm the usability of the proposed framework as well as confirming the efficacy …

Construction Of Entrepreneurial Orientation: Dispute, Demand, And Dare, Vishal K. Gupta

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Invited editorial by Vishal K. Gupta, discussing the concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Stated succinctly, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) refers to specific aspects of an organization-wide proclivity toward new endeavors. After about four decades of research on this topic, EO has emerged as a predominant construct of interest in strategic management. Over the years, a large—and growing—body of research has accumulated about EO, but questions do persist about the way(s) in which the various facets of EO are linked to each other. This essay distinguishes between three ways in which the various entrepreneurial elements can be combined to form the overall …

Phone Selection Through Data Envelopment Analysis, Elissa R. Turpin, Adam Sanchez

Undergraduate Review

Today’s digital era has increased the competition for smart devices tremendously, especially in the mobile phone industry. Each manufacturer is trying to out perform its competitors; therefore these phones are being created with a large amount of attractive features. It is important for consumers to understand these different features while comparing phones to choose the one the best suits his or her own needs. In this paper, we present the findings that compared eight different phones using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Features such as weight, battery power, standby time, and megapixels were considered as outputs, where as the retail price …

Exploring The Solar Pv Industry: A Survey Of Pv Manufacturers In China, Patrick E. Prince, Bingqing Zheng

Undergraduate Review

China’s photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing industry has grown significantly since 2000, from being almost nonexistent to providing over 50% of the market share of solar panels in 2012. However, due to the high tariff resulting from an anti-dumping investigation by the US and a shrinking export market, Chinese PV manufacturers are faced with a large amount of challenges. This paper investigated 1) the general issues influencing the success of this industry; 2) the current market channels and the advertising methods; 3) the comparison of supports from government and utility between desired and perceived; 4) the attitude of manufacturers towards external opportunity …

Purchasing Efficiency Measurement Of Selected Chinese Pv Panels Using Data Envelopment Analysis (Dea), Bingqing Zheng, Patrick E. Prince

Undergraduate Review

As a renewable energy generation, the solar Photovoltaic (PV) system has become a popular technique that converts sunlight to generate electrical power. However, most countries, especially like China met challenges in expanding their domestic market and widespread adoption by their own citizens. One of the major reasons why customers are hesitated to adopt solar panels is the difficulty in comparing a variety of solar panels with respect of multiple different dimensions without the aid of appropriate quantitative models. The PV panel’s purchasing efficiency is determined not only just by those technical factors identified by the current literature and practice, but …

The Left Bank Brasseries: The Evolution Of A French-Inspired Restaurant, John A. Sansone

Student Research Posters

Due to the high failure rates of restaurants in the United States, many studies have come up with various reasons to explain the underlying causes of such a phenomenon. One key study by Parsa (2005) suggests, “Restaurant failures have been attributed to economic and social factors […]” and “Restaurant failures can be studied from economic, marketing, and managerial perspectives.” In particular, lack of capital is a major contributing factor for restaurants failure and researchers agree that a restaurant without a sufficient amount of capital will not survive because of three major expenses: overhead, labor, and food cost. Today’s service industry …

Ryanair Holdings, Nicole Blake Tran, Jamie Perkinson, Caron Sinnenberg, Lionel Tarcia, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Robins Case Network

The crass Irish CEO of Ryanair presides over a modern miracle. Ryanair, with its ridiculously low prices and poor reputation for service, has become one of Europe’s largest and most successful airlines. Employees pay for their own training, flights are cancelled if they won’t be full enough to be profitable, and the concept of “no frills” is heartily embraced. However, some new competitors have come on the scene, and Ryanair may be forced to improve its service and reputation to keep up.

Inquiry Into The Conceptual Dimensions Of Project Portfolio Management, Pedro Bruno De Souza, Jorge Carneiro, Rodrigo Bandeira De Mello

Strategy and Operations Faculty Publications

Although much has been written about how to manage individual projects, there is still little guidance on how to evaluate the “quality” of project portfolio management itself, that is, the degree of “accomplishment” of the process by which the project portfolio is formed and run. This study addresses this gap by employing a qualitative approach to uncover managerial perceptions about what is encompassed by project portfolio management and how the this construct should be evaluated. By building from a review of the scant literature on project portfolio management, conversations with expert scholars on project management, interpretations provided by managers, and …

Selection Of Inflatable Bounce Houses Using Data Envelopment Analysis, Janice Bowen, Rebecca Uboldi

Undergraduate Review

The decision to purchase one consumer product over another is becoming more challenging as the choices that are made available to consumers have increased. This research studies the decision making process when consumers purchase an inflatable bounce house. In addition to cost, a variety of features such as structure size, weight capacity, weight of product, customer ratings, and the number of customer ratings must be compared. It is difficult to make a direct comparison of each of these individual features through traditional methods. As a result, Data Envelopment Analysis is used to compare the outputs and inputs to determine which …

The Capacity For Mobilization In Project-Based Cultural Work: A Case Of The Video Game Industry, Marie-Josee Legault, Johanna Weststar

Management and Organizational Studies Publications

Though dissatisfied with some management practices and working conditions, like most high-tech knowledge workers, videogame developers remain reluctant towards unionization. This article examines the factors of collective action among developers as an example, using data gathered from an international survey and interviews. We conclude that developers meet some conditions conducive to collective action but face many obstacles as well, both to collective action and to unionization proper. This does not lead us to share the belief of a decline in collective action, but rather raises the issue of conflating union action and collective action. Our study reveals how unsuited the …

Work Hour Congruence: The Effect On Job Satisfaction And Absenteeism, Bryon Y. Lee, Jing Wang, Johanna Weststar

Management and Organizational Studies Publications

This study examines the effect of work hour congruence on employee job satisfaction and absenteeism using a large, longitudinal sample from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey (WES). An employee is said to have work hour congruence when they actually work the number of hours that they desire. Results indicate a difference between employees who desire more hours and those who desire fewer hours: employee desire for and receipt of more hours was related to positive changes in job satisfaction, while employee desire for and receipt of fewer hours was related to reduced absenteeism. In addition, the results suggest that …

Ceo Duality And Performance Of Not-For-Profit Hospitals, Anh Ngoc Pham

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Depending on their needs for enhancing and sustaining their business and market values, some firms choose to operate with a corporate governance structure of CEO duality, in which an executive serves as the CEO and the chairperson of the board of directors. This study used multiple regression data analyses of financial indicators from 146 U.S. not-for-profit hospitals selected from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development database of California, for the period from 2009 to 2012. The results of this study suggested CEO duality and presence of physicians on healthcare governance were not related to financial performance of not-for-profit …

Administrative Effectiveness And Public Administration Practice In Midwestern State Employment Agencies, Kathleen A. Frederick Dr.

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Researchers have examined the multiple dimensions of unemployment. Performance rates had declined significantly in a majority of CR 5 states in the 3-year period, 2007-2009. What was not known, however, was the effectiveness of the public administration practice in individual state employment agencies when addressing the economic crisis and rising unemployment. In this evaluative study, the effectiveness of each of 10 state employment agencies in the Central Region 5 of the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration was investigated.

Creating A Business Plan For Thin Air Reflections, Savanah Thompson

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

How Can Business Analytics Induce Creativity: The Performance Effects Of User Interaction With Business Analytics, Tarek Soukieh

ETD Archive

Most organizations today use business analytics systems mainly for efficiency; reducing cost by contacting the right customer, generating revenue by reducing churn, etc. Nevertheless, business analytics holds promise in generating insights and in making users more creative in their decision making process.

Analytics technology is becoming sophisticated with very advanced technical capabilities. However, behavioral aspects (i.e. user interaction) of using business analytics software have not reached the same level of sophistication. Very little research in this field discusses how to implement analytical systems and what outcomes will it produce.

We are looking at conditions that can enhance user interaction with …

Essays On Horizontal Divestitures And Product Market Relationships, Norkeith Ervin Smith

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is the first to study the product effect of horizontal divestitures on upstream and downstream firms. This first essay examines product market impact of a sample of horizontal asset sales from 1988 to 2005 on corporate customers, suppliers, and industry rivals. I create a sample of firms that classifies corporate customers, suppliers, and industry competitors of firms proposing horizontal asset sales, and employ this data set to investigate the wealth effects at announcement. This study also considers post-divestiture changes in abnormal operating performance for divesting firms, customers, and suppliers.

I document evidence that divestiture related wealth effects for …

The 'Free Purposing' Organization: Beyond Empowerment...Towards 'Engaged Commitment', Hani N. Boulos

Student Scholarship

Wide ranges of organizations are explicitly rejecting the norms of rational bureaucracy in designing and running their organizations. Grounded in a qualitative study of those organizations, this paper seeks first to identify some common structural commonalities, and differentiate them from the traditional hierarchies, and second to develop a theoretical framework for understanding them and assess the way they foster internal commitment for desired purpose. We interviewed 61 individuals from 12 organizations in diverse sectors and different geographic locations. We discovered emergent novel forms and practices. We developed a conceptual framework to capture the main discoveries, not as models of perfection, …

Managing For Resilience: Lessons From Ecology, Nancy E. Landrum, Ray Dybzinski, Amina Smajlovic, Brian M. Ohsowski

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Understanding and developing resilience is becoming increasingly important in business for both leaders and organizations. Resilient organizations can successfully navigate uncertainty and change. Resilience, however, is a poorly understood attribute. We thus turn to ecosystem resilience theory to understand the concept of resilience. We identify four lessons that can be adapted from management for ecological resilience to management for business resilience: 1) resilience can be positive or negative depending on the nature of the function it supports, 2) diversity of individuals, departments, flows of information, perspective, and other attributes contributes to resilience, 3) because we have imperfect knowledge about the …

Annual Report 2014-2015, Houston Academy Of Medicine - Texas Medical Center Library

Annual Reports: 1943 - Present

This file contains the Annual Report for the library from 2014-2015.

Performance Implications Of Fortune 500 Companies' Self-Interest In Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, Peter M. Neeves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous prior studies examining the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance have produced mixed results. Consumers expect alignment between corporation's CSR and business activities, yet a paucity of research examines the nature of CSR activities as related to corporate financial performance. Corporate leaders lack direction as to what CSR activities are most impactful. CSR is grounded in stakeholder theory, ethical work climate, and servant leadership theories. The relationship between self-interest in CSR activities, an index of alignment between business activities and CSR activities, and financial performance as measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity …

The Link Between Leadership And Reduced Dropout Rates, Kathy Evans-Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Urban high schools that predominantly service at-risk students have not been faring well, with disproportionate numbers of minority children and poor White children are dropping out. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between leaders' successes and the number of reduced dropout initiatives in 2 urban schools. This research was guided by empirical literature that included a review of various successful leadership practices. Case study interviews were conducted with 2 principals and 3 directors and were analyzed for common themes. Quantitative survey data were collected from a purposeful sample of 195 students and 7 administrative …

An Analysis Of The Interplay Between Goal Orientation And Ethical Leadership And The Theoretical Processes Through Which Ethical Leadership Influences Work Outcomes, Dennis John Marquardt

Business Administration Dissertations - Archive

Due to recent heightened public awareness of ethics and ethical scandals inbusiness, the ethical leadership construct has become increasingly popular. However, scholars still know little about the predictors of ethical leadership and the specific processes through which ethical leaders influence their followers. Across three different papers, I contribute to the literature by addressing these gaps. The first paper consists of a theoretical review of goal orientation and ethical leadership with specific focus on the interplay between the two constructs. In the second paper I use latent path analysis with a sample of 234 supervisor/subordinate dyads and find leader trait-avoid goal …

Assessing Organizational Data Culture To Create An Ideal Data Ecosystem, Lauren M. Leary

Capstone Collection

The year 2015 marks a critical turning point in the global development arena. The Millennium Development Goals galvanized support and collaboration across sectors and now the world is recalibrating focus to prepare for the final push with the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goal Framework. We are also in the midst of a data revolution that aims to hold governments and organizations accountable to these goals and to ultimately create synergy between systems and processes in an ever-globalizing world. This paper intends to prompt discussion and learning around organizational readiness and preparedness for these imminent changes. Drawing from best practices within the …

Building Productivity In Virtual Project Teams, William Hamersly, Denise Land

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

The steady increase in project failure rates is leaving businesses searching for better integration techniques to virtualize their project environments. Through virtualization, organizations may have positive impacts on communities across geographical boundaries and resource constraints. The focus of this phenomenological study was to explore, via the experiences of successful project management practitioners, best practice strategies for integrating virtual project teams through data analysis. The conceptual framework included von Bertalanffy’s general systems theory, decomposition model of business process and project management frameworks, and the recomposition approach. Twenty-two senior project managers with more than 5 years of experience managing virtual project environments …

An Action Plan For Implementing Responsible Management Education In Business Schools In The Uk And Ireland, Maeve O'Connell, Lorraine Sweeney

Other resources

Recent corporate scandals have resulted in criticism of business schools for graduating students who put too much emphasis on shareholder value and profit maximisation but neglect the broader social and environmental context in which businesses operate. The Principles for Responsible Management (PRME) are a set of voluntary standards developed in 2007 under the coordination of the UN Global Compact, to address weaknesses in ethical education. This paper reviews the context of the PRME principles and UK and Irish school signatories’ approaches to implementation through a review of their reports to PRME to outline the range of options available to a …