Business Commons^™

Ethical Sales And Marketing For Small Businesses, Margaret E. Gonzalez

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the importance of ethical sales and marketing in relation to small businesses. Most research in this area has focused on large businesses and therefore ignores the importance of factors such as financial and time limitations. Because of these limitations, many small businesses are viewed as having cutthroat sales and marketing teams that ignore basic ethics and are primarily motivated by business and financial growth. The thesis examines ethical marketing in relation to Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Habermas’ Discourse Ethics, and Pearce’s Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). A content analysis was completed to determine how small businesses can ethically …

Organizational Socialization Practices For Successful Newcomer Adjustment, Stacey L. Holleran

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This research study examines the practices organizational leaders can employ to assist newcomers in their adjustment to the organization, thereby creating an increase in the number of successful, long-term employees. In the workplace setting, organizational newcomers who fail to properly adapt are at risk for early “turnover” or an extended period of disengagement, producing an extremely costly scenario for the organization. Literature in the area of organizational socialization and successful newcomer adjustment suggests myriad ways to positively influence the newcomer’s experience; however, no single source offers a comprehensive approach that can be universally applied. Grounded by interpersonal communication theory and …

The Impact Of Mergers On Those Left Behind - Maintaining Employee Engagement After Merger-Based Restructuring In A Financial Services Firm, Victoria L. Basinger

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the impact of organizational restructuring on associate engagement in a financial services firm due to a merger. It determined how much weight interpersonal relationships carry on associate opinions of the new organization, and what the new organization can do to reduce uncertainty and re-engage their newly acquired associates. The literature review looked at Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Belongingness and principles from Social Information Processing Theory to identify solutions for a decrease in engagement. A survey distributed to all associates at a financial services firm that recently underwent a merger yielded data for this study, as did five individual …

Rhetorical Analysis Of Successful Brands In Social Media Discourse, Maja Stevanovich

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The expression "content is king" is a sentiment those in the marketing and public relations industries live by. When it comes to social media, still considered a newer form of communication, not all brands are sure of what makes for successful utilization of the medium. This study performed a rhetorical analysis on three brands considered to be social media standouts in their respective industries, Coca-Cola, Southwest Airlines and the U.S. Army and identified patterns on what makes these brands successful in their social media discourse. The study proved that social media discourse has much to do with sound communication principles …

Use Of Rss Feeds To Push The Online Content To Users, Dan Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Many websites use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds to actively push their online content to users rather than waiting for users to pull the content passively. In this paper, I construct a theoretical game model to study the profitability of an RSS-PUSH delivery mechanism. The model assumes a general profit structure for websites and heterogeneous users. To access valuable online content, users incur a variety of costs. They choose either to visit the website in the conventional way (the PULL model) or, if it is supported by the website, to use RSS (the PUSH model). Interestingly, I show that although …

The Value Of Public Relations: Measuring The Success Of Facebook, Twitter, And Youtube In Corporate Companies, Justine Gananian

Journalism

This paper is a combination of research and data from three experts who were interviewed about the value of social in a corporate company, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Social media’s presence has increased at an exponential pace in the past five years, and consumers are constantly looking to access new information. It has become a useful tool for both internal and external communication within a company. As research shows, “[companies] are revamping and modernizing their print publications, starting radio and video shows, using social media to foster two-way communication, using the new multimedia tools to reach new audiences, telling …

Thanksgiving, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

As with all American traditions, if it happened once or twice it is one. Therefore I present my traditional Thanksgiving piece. The History of Thanksgiving and of Football both go back into the Middle Ages, and so it may not be so strange that the two would become intertwined in modern America.

The Mouse Who Ruled His Kingdom: An Agenda Setting Analysis Of The Walt Disney World Company, Jacob Overbey

Masters Theses

People are seeking their news in more social environments, but very little research has been conducted on agenda setting and online environments. This thesis examined the agenda setting relationship between an organization on Twitter, @WaltDisneyWorld (i.e., The Walt Disney World) and public opinion on Twitter. The relationship was examined using Twitter's database of tweets to measure public opinion on Twitter. Since the news media is losing steam on the ability to break news, and social media is growing rapidly, this study tested the value of the agenda setting theory on social media. To this end, this thesis qualitatively examined the …

Cognitive And Social Factors Affecting The Use Of Wikipedia And Information Seeking, Siyoung Chung

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is the preferred choice among resources used by college students to meet their research needs. However, Wikipedia has been criticized for its low information quality, lack of accountability, inconsistency, and vulnerability to vandalism. Despite the warnings and concerns voiced by academia, online learning tools such as Wikipedia will continue their rise as major learning resource in today's classroom. Using a sample of 184 college students, the study proposed theoretical models to test the effects of internal beliefs, motivations, and social influences on Wikipedia use and information-seeking, and further empirically tested those models. The findings of …

Wikis: The Perfect Platform For Library Policies And Procedures, Melanie J. Dunn

The Southeastern Librarian

The term wiki, derived from the Hawaiian adjective “wiki wiki” meaning quick or fast, was coined by Ward Cunningham who created the original WikiWikiWeb for the Portland Pattern Repository (Leuf, 2001, 15). Touted by Cunningham as “the simplest online database that could possibly work” (Cunningham, 2002, June 27) “ wiki” is alternately used to refer to both a wiki website and the software used to create and maintain it and was designed to allow multiple users to collaborate in its development (Klobas 2006, 3). Wikipedia is perhaps one of the best examples, as well as the most recognized, of wikis. …

Does Paying For Online Product Reviews Pay Off? The Effects Of Monetary Incentives On Content Creators And Consumers, Andrew Stephen, Yakov Bart, Christilene Du Plessis, Dilney Goncalves

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We show that although incentivizing product reviews results in more helpful content, disclosing payment lowers review consumers’ product quality expectations. This effect occurs because disclosure induces doubt in product quality and persists when more objective information is available, irrespective of disclosure specificity, across product categories and even after product trial.

Content Contribution For Revenue Sharing And Reputation: A Dynamic Structural Model, Qian Tang, Bin Gu, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study examines the incentives for content contribution in social media. We propose that exposure and reputation are the major incentives for contributors. Besides, as more and more social media Web sites offer advertising-revenue sharing with some of their contributors, shared revenue provides an extra incentive for contributors who have joined revenue-sharing programs. We develop a dynamic structural model to identify a contributor's underlying utility function from observed contribution behavior. We recognize the dynamic nature of the content-contribution decision-that contributors are forward-looking, anticipating how their decisions affect future rewards. Using data collected from YouTube, we show that content contribution is …

Scabs In Seattle, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It took all of three weeks but the excrement has finally hit the fan. It is not the end of the world, but it is the end of any further claims that the scabs impersonating NFL referees are competent. If they were competent they would already have been NFL referees and therefore would be locked out by the NFL.

Baseball Changes, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

At the end of this baseball season there will a fundamental shift in the organization of Major League Baseball. At the opening of the next season the Houston Astros will be an American League team. The change was forced by Baseball Commissioner “Bud” Selig who made it a prerequisite to the purchase of the Houston franchise.

Football In The Air, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

September is here and that means football is back, both the NFL and the collegiate pros. The student-athletes of the NCAA opened play over this extended holiday weekend with more games than any human being could possibly ingest. There seemed to be excitement in the air on and off campuses across the country and across the Atlantic.

Cofeel: Using Emotions For Social Interaction In Group Recommender Systems, Yu Chen, Pearl Pu

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

Group and social recommender systems aim to suggest items of interest to a group or a community of people. One important issue in such environment is to understand each individual’s preference and attitude within the group. Social and behavioral scientist have evidenced the role of emotions in group work and social communication. This paper aims to examine the role of emotion for social interaction in group recommenders. We implemented CoFeel, an interface that aims to provide emotional input in group recommenders. We further apply CoFeel in a GroupFun, a mobile group music recommender system. Results of an in-depth field study …

Alternative Approaches To Understanding Motivation And Leadership, Kristen Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Older-Worker-Friendly Organizational Policies On Retirement Attitudes And Planning, Jeremy Cochran, Kerri Anne Crowne, Caryl E. Carpenter

Organization Management Journal

This study develops and analyzes a model of the impact of older-worker-friendly (OWF) organizations’ policies on retirement, specifically attitudes toward retirement, preparation for retirement, and years to planned retirement age. This is particularly a timely topic as the Baby Boomer generation heads into retirement and organizations need to better understand the retirement intentions of this group. A model was developed and tested using linear regression, and results indicate that the hypothesized relationships are supported. Instituting certain OWF policies leads to older workers who are more prepared for retirement, and thus have more positive attitudes about retiring, which ultimately leads to …

A Variety Of Kinds Of Empirical Studies And A White Paper On Giving Voice To Values, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Relational Aesthetics And Emotional Relations: Leadership On Board Merchant Marine Ships, Nana Gharibyan-Kefalloniti, David Sims

Organization Management Journal

Life on board merchant marine ships is very tough, very male, and isolated from much of the rest of the world by language, culture, and usually a large expanse of sea. This article presents data that show that leadership in this environment is full of aesthetic appreciation that is often relational, arising in interaction with others’ appreciation, and also full of strongly felt emotion. Those who exercise leadership on merchant marine ships (captains, chief engineers, first officers) turn out to have strong views on the importance of understanding aesthetics and emotions in discharging their responsibilities. We illuminate these leaders’ aesthetics …

Mary Gentile Helps Our Students Give Voice To Their Values, John R. Ogilvie

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

The Interactive Effects Of Self-Esteem, Goal Instructions, And Incentives On Personal Goals And Goal Attainment, Faten M. Moussa

Organization Management Journal

An individual’s personal goal is one of the strongest motivators, yet its determinants and processes are not well understood, especially those dealing with person–situation interaction. This research examines the interactive effects of monetary incentive types, self-set goal level instructions, and self-esteem on personal goals and goal attainment. A laboratory research study with a sample of 300 students found a statistically significant three-way interaction among monetary incentive types (pay for performance [piece rate], pay for goal attainment [GA-bonus], and pay for participation [hourly flat rate]), self-set goal level instructions (an instruction to set hard, easy, any, and no goals), and self-esteem …

2011 Presidential Address: What Is Eam Doing To Bridge The Practitioner–Academy Gap?, John R. Ogilvie

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Meeting The Ethical Challenges Of Leadership: Casting Light Or Shadow (4th Ed.) By Craig E. Johnson, Charles D. Johnson

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Values-Driven Leadership Development: Where We Have Been And Where We Could Go, Mary C. Gentile

Organization Management Journal

This essay revisits the premises upon which business ethics education has been based and then “flips” them, in an effort to help transform management education’s approach to valuesdriven leadership development. Previous assumptions about what we teach, who we teach, and how we teach ethics are described, and a summary of how the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) pedagogy/curriculum flips these assumptions is provided. A brief review of the impact to date of this experiment is included, along with reflection on some of the new opportunities and challenges GVV has begun to face as a result of the rapid take-up of …

Appendix, Nana Gharibyan-Kefalloniti, David Sims

Organization Management Journal

The photographs in this Appendix accompany the article, “Relational Aesthetics and Emotional Relations: Leadership on Board Merchant Marine Ships” by Nana Gharibyan-Kefalloniti and David Sims in this issue of Organization Management Journal.

Ethical Leadership, Devi Akella

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Armstrong, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

How does it end for Lance Armstrong? “Not with a bang but a whimper.” Although T.S. Eliot did not know Lance Armstrong, it is an interesting coincidence that Eliot’s 1925 poem, from which this line is taken, is titled “The Hollow Men.” If you were someone who idolized Armstrong and believe now that he is guilty and there is a blot on his entire career, then he will indeed seem as one of those Hollow Men.

Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

So it has ended. A bit over two weeks, a fortnight of intense athletic competition with spectacular performances, highs and lows, and way too much national naval gazing by the host nation and by NBC on behalf of the USA. That said, it was at the sporting level a wonderful two weeks of competition.

Leadership Development In Undergraduate Public Relations Students: A Case Study, Mitchell Friedman

Communication Studies

This qualitative case study considered the relationship between a Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter at a public state university in Northern California and its local Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) affiliate chapter. Its purpose was to explore student perceptions of the contributions of this relationship to what they learned about leadership while serving as club officers. Research was conducted during the fall semester 2010.

The study explored efforts designed to help PRSSA chapter officers fulfill their individual responsibilities. Local and national PRSA representatives provided advice and counsel through diverse channels, the intent of which was to …