Business Commons^™

An Exploratory Study Of Acculturation Experiences Of Graduate Student Immigrants At The University Of San Francisco, Courtney Lamar

Master's Theses

This study explores the shared challenges during the acculturation process of graduate student immigrants pursuing higher education in the United States. 13 graduate student immigrants at the University of San Francisco discuss their experiences of cultural adjustment into U.S. culture. Through qualitative interviews and thematic analysis, this study seeks to understand the acculturation experiences of graduate student immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. This analysis is based on the individual-level experience examining attitudes and acculturation strategies in the dominant society. Analysis, possibly policy implication for institutions of higher education, and possible directions for future research …

Testing The Structural Invariance Of Affective Commitment On Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior Across Clan And Hierarchy Organizational Culture Types, Julia A. Fulmore

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) is concerned with employees’ engagement in unethical conduct for the benefit of the organization that is immoral and/or illegal. Research findings on motivators of UPB show some contradictory findings that need to be resolved. Considering the empirical findings that clan culture discourages unethical behavior while hierarchy culture encourages unethical behavior along with the contradicting empirical findings between affective commitment and UPB based on samples with different cultures, this study sought to empirically assess the contradictory findings in the literature by testing the structural invariance of affective organizational commitment on UPB based on the two organizational of …

Merger And Acquisition Integration: Exploring Uncertainty From The Perspective Of The Middle Manager, Joseph J. Pazmany

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore middle managers’ perceptions about how organizations managed job-related, structural, and strategic uncertainty during a merger and acquisition (M&A) integration process. Furthermore, this research investigated what strategies middle managers perceived effective and ineffective for managing uncertainty and recommendations for managing uncertainty during future integrations.

Methodology. This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological research design that collected data through open-ended interviews. Fifteen middle managers participated in the study and were asked 12 questions that explored their perceptions about managing uncertainty during an M&A integration.

Findings. Overall, participants perceived strategic uncertainty …

Philosophia Soteria: How Occupational Safety And Health Professionals Influence Decision Makers, Daniel Jay Snyder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify ideas about how occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals influence decision-makers on matters impacting occupational health and safety management systems. A modified nominal group technique was used that involved 67 participants in ten nominal groups and identified the most important ideas about how OSH professionals can influence workplace safety and health decision making. The research produced themes of communication, scientific, professionalism, leadership, adaptability, and business acumen that resulted in six domains of occupational safety and health professional influence.

An Exploratory Comparative Study Of Experts And Generalists As Change Management Leaders In Non-Core Areas Of Organizations, Steven Glenn Burton

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Large-scale organizational change is a necessary undertaking critical to the ongoing success of most firms. Despite the necessity of such change, it is also an undertaking that fails at approximately twice the rate that it succeeds. Prior work on change leadership primarily looks at characteristics of the individual leader and does not differentiate on areas of the organization where change will be occurring. The work conducted in this research compares categories of change leaders and looks at change within a specific area of a firm, its non-core business area.

This exploratory research compared core-area technical experts to generalists as change …

The Impact Of Camaderie On Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty In The Hotel Industry, Huiping Josephine Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In the hotel industry, the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty has always been ambiguous, as a satisfied hotel guest may not necessarily be loyal. Loyalty is of greater interest to the hotel industry as it translates to more business opportunities. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate how camaraderie and emotional customer satisfaction can predict potential service loyalty. Empirical tests of the relationship between camaraderie, emotional satisfaction and loyalty had never been conducted before in the hotel industry. The findings of this research suggest that camaraderie has a direct and significant relationship to the four phases of …

The Conceptualization Of Justice Perceptions In Appraising Performance Of Knowledge Work, Christina (Minuth) Norton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizational justice theory suggests employees are more likely to accept appraisal outcomes if they believe the process to be fair. As an increasing percentage of the workforce is made up of knowledge workers with job characteristics that are less structured and more autonomous, the shift in appraisal research from measurement accuracy to perceptions on fairness is fitting. This research investigates the relationships between justice perceptions and performance appraisal satisfaction by knowledge workers. The study extends previous research with the creation of composite measures to examine whether perceptions of fairness vary according to the characteristics of work performed.

The research was …

Testing An Adapted And Integrated Model Of Motivation To Lead And Intention To Apply, Mandolen Mull

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Leader development is a growing field of study within the leadership and human resource development (HRD) fields. As such, various studies have evaluated the traits, skills, and situational influences that contribute to an individual’s likelihood of becoming a leader. However, often researchers fail to examine an individual’s intention to apply for a leadership position within their examination of an individual’s leadership potential. Although prior research has examined the motivation to lead (MTL), very little research has examined the relationship between an individual’s MTL and their intention to apply for a leadership position. Furthermore, no research to date has evaluated the …

The Evolution Of A Collaborative Network: Understanding Partnerships In A Policy Mandated Collaboration Through Social Network Analysis, Pallavi Singh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Federal funding agencies that administer financial support in the form of program grants to non-profit organizations (NPOs) that provide child and family services increasingly require NPOs to formalize inter-organizational partnerships in order to receive this vital source of funding. That is, by mandate NPOs must participate in inter-organizational collaboration networks to receive these essential federal funds. Therefore, there is a need to understand the collaboration behavior of NPOs in a policy-mandated environment. This study considers collaboration behavior as information sharing and advice-seeking between the organizations who are part of a collaboration network as a result of a policy mandate.

Drawing …

Knowledge Sharing Behavior: Clarifying Its Measurement And Antecedents, Tiffany T. Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is increasing recognition that informal learning is a crucial component of organizational functioning and a necessary complement to the formal training that employees receive. As jobs evolve and demand more complex skills, workers must use informal learning to adapt to ever-changing work requirements. Informal learning is often dependent on voluntary knowledge sharing behavior, as evident among members of mastermind groups or communities of practice. In order to assist organizations, researchers must seek to understand the factors that motivate employees to engage in knowledge sharing behavior.

Empirical research on knowledge sharing is nascent. There exists only a handful of quantitative …

Corporate Innovation Activism In A Multidivisional Firm: Rationale, Genesis, Evolution, Zdenek Necas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Various streams of foundational management literatures imply that corporate managers can play a role in the management of intra-organizational innovation processes. However, management scholars have largely assumed that corporate managers do not become actively involved in the management of intra-organizational innovation processes occurring within multidivisional firms. This assumption contrasts with the importance given in the management literature to innovation as an enabler of organizational long-term survival. To address this contrast, my dissertation explores why and how corporate managers adopt an active approach to the management of intra-organizational innovation processes in complex multidivisional firms.

In the first paper, I map extant …

Asian Immigrants In Leadership Roles In The United States: Exploration For Leader Development, Ramil L. Cabela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cultural identity and resource availability aspects in traditional leadership development literature remain understudied, especially among minority populations like Asian immigrants.

This study explores the leadership journeys of 24 United States immigrants from China, India and the Philippines using a phenomenological approach, primarily with semi-structured interviews. Experiences of 18 additional immigrant leaders published in popular media were also analyzed.

Data from the study reveals that Asian migrants’ roads to leadership in U.S. organizations are heterogeneous and characterized by either linear or nonlinear, overlapping phases of leader development where migrant leaders overcome assimilation challenges and leverage their unique, individual human capital to …

Intercultural Coworker Relationships (Icors) In The Global Workplace: A Grounded Theory Study, Jennifer L. Morton

Dissertations

Previous research supports what employees intuitively sense: peers make the place (Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008; Schneider, 1987). Extant research suggests coworker relationships have critical influence on outcomes ranging from turnover (Felps, Mitchell, Hekman, Lee, Holtom, & Harman, 2009) to creativity (Homan, Buengeler, Eckhoff, van Ginkel, & Voelpel, 2015) to organizational commitment (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002) to employee health and well-being (Heaphy & Dutton, 2008). Despite the increase of Intercultural COworker Relationships (ICORs), particularly in multinational firms in the technology industry, research has yet to examine what defines coworker relationship quality in the presence of national cultural differences. In other words, …

Leading Mindfully In Dynamic Times: Can A Mindfulness-Based Leadership Training And Coaching Program Increase Leadership Effectiveness?, Nina Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This research examined the influence of a Mindfulness-based Leadership Training and Coaching Program (MBP), in garnering three aspects of leadership effectiveness; extra employee effort, productive performance and followers’ satisfaction with leadership.

We hypothesized that mindfulness-based leadership training and coaching program can influence leaders’ frequency in adopting authentic, transformational and transactional leadership behaviors to enhance leadership effectiveness.

We tested these predictions separately on two control and intervention groups. Results suggested that the combined training and coaching mindfulness-based intervention program had predictive effects between the practice of mindful attunement of leaders’ behaviors and enhancement in leadership effectiveness, even in a short span …

The Dark Side Of Charismatic Leadership: A Social Exchange Perspective, Bin Ma

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on a possible dark side of charismatic leadership and its behavioral consequences from a social exchange perspective. By revealing the positive correlations between charismatic leadership and the Dark Triad personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, this study provides empirical evidence for the possibility of charismatic leaders with negative personality traits generating harm. Based on a sample of 99 leader-follower dyads recruited from a Chinese work organization, the findings suggest that more charismatic leaders are more likely to behave in autocratic ways and the followers of such leaders will more likely enact pro-leader unethical behaviors. These findings …

A Closed Mouth Gonna Get You Nothin’: How Conflict Is Handled After Diversity And Inclusion Training, Enrico E. Manalo

Graduate Masters Theses

Diversity and Inclusion training is often used in organizations to engage with the increasing demographic diversity in the United States. However, many organizations continue to base their trainings and initiatives on a paradigm which was primarily motivated to prevent litigation, rather than to ensure economic opportunity for all. Over time, such Diversity efforts failed in many documented instances to ensure such opportunities and in fact, created a host of unwanted side-effects, such as employee turnover, job dissatisfaction, and misconceptions regarding the soundness of Diversity and Inclusion efforts.

However, a number of organizations have undertaken Diversity and Inclusion efforts in earnest. …

Harmonies And Dissonances: The Relationship Between Values Taught And Values Experienced In Three Values-Oriented High Schools, Barbara Merson

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the relationship between values taught and values experienced in three values-oriented high schools, i.e., high schools whose educational philosophy and objectives include an emphasis on specific values. The research questions focused on description of values taught and experienced within the schools, the perception of leaders and teachers about this relationship, and the theories of action developed by school leaders and teachers to enhance the relationship. Primary data sources included interviews with leaders and teachers, observations of classrooms and public spaces, and document reviews in each school. Data were analyzed both within each school and across the …

Morality In Organizations: Ethics, Meaning, And God At Work, Elizabeth Ann Luckman

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores morality in organizations through three distinct research projects. In Chapter 1, I begin to examine a century of business ethics research conducted across business functions in order to bridge the silos of research and teaching that have evolved over time. Preliminary findings suggest that the field of management has produced comparatively more business ethics research than other functions, and that marketing and accounting have examined the ethical implications of their professional responsibilities. Chapter 2 examines the effect of meaning at work on unethical behavior. Through three studies, I find evidence to suggest that individuals with a stronger …

An Examination Of The Linkages Between Climate, Engagement, And Wellbeing In Higher Education., Ebo Kobena Atomo Osam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research coalescing around psychological climate, engagement, and wellbeing has been receiving considerable attention in management and HRD literature recently. However, research associated with these variables has generally been limited to for-profit businesses and organizations with little of note done using higher educational institutions. Thus, this cross sectional research study examined the extent to which psychological climate, engagement, and wellbeing are associated with each other in higher educational institutions. The study begins with an overview of how these variables have been identified as being connected with each other in research and practice, as well as discusses context specific factors in higher …

Assessing The Impacts Of Crowdsourcing In Logistics And Supply Chain Operations, Ha Hai Ta

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crowdsourcing models, whereby firms start to delegate supply chain operations activities to a mass of actors in the marketplace, have grown drastically in recent years. 85% of the top global brands have reported to use crowdsourcing in the last ten year with top names such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Nestle. These emergent business models, however, have remained unexplored in extant SCM literature. Drawing on various theoretical underpinnings, this dissertation aims to investigate and develop a holistic understanding of the importance and impacts of crowdsourcing in SCM from multiple perspectives. Three individual studies implementing a range of methodological approaches …

Employee Longevity In Difficult Environments, Loretta Tolliver

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Worker tenure in this country averages 4.5 years (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Stressful work environments cause loss productivity and profitability to companies and a diminished well-being and ill health to employees. Why, then, do some employees remain working in difficult environments despite the dangers to health? This phenomenological study researches reasons employees continued to work for longer than five years in difficult environments. Discussed are impacts of difficult environments on employees and the negative health repercussions experienced. These negative effects are also experienced in organizations through turnover, lower productivity, and reduced profitability. This study incorporates factors of toxic environments on …

Toward A Model Of Strategic Human Capital Management Using The Balanced Scorecard - An Exploratory Case Study, Jeffrey A. Risinger

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The issue of strategic human capital management has been studied and written about extensively over the last 20 years. Much of the focus of this work has addressed the need for internal human resources organizations to transition from transactional, processing organizations to more strategic partner functions addressing the key business needs of the organization. The vast majority of the research addressing this transition has focused on the professional characteristics of senior human resource executives. Whereas the literature presents anecdotal evidence of progress, there also exists consensus support for the idea that very little systemic movement has occurred at the organizational …

A Study On The Direct And Moderating Effects Of Leader Facilitated Workplace Learning And Leader-Member Exchange On Employee Engagement, Candi S. Mcelheny

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Employee engagement (EE) is a problem across all industries and is especially troublesome in the nursing profession. However the existing literature, both within and outside nursing professional publications, does not offer explicit solutions for combatting the current EE dilemma. The primary purpose of this study was to test a researcher-developed causal model linking Leader Facilitated Workplace Learning (LFWL), Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), and EE. LFWL, a new construct, was proposed as an antecedent for LMX and EE. Furthermore, LFWL was posited to have a moderating effect on the LMX and EE relationship. The model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). …

The Relationships Of Team Diversity, Social Capital And Ambidexterity, Hock Seng Ng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This study seeks to gain insights into the impact of team diversity on building ambidextrous teams, i.e., managing trade-offs of “exploiting the present” and “exploring the future.” Given the inconsistent findings of the effects of diversity on team outcomes to date, the effect (if any) will likely be mediated and/or moderated by contextual factors. Hence, in this study, I have examined team social capital to understand better its role in fostering the relationship between team diversity and team ambidexterity.

The results of this empirical study using 211 work teams (include 1,342 managers and employees) from two multi-national companies spanning fourteen …

Foreign Direct Investment, A Movement Toward Investors' Centricity, A Behavioral Perspective, Jimmy Wee Teck Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation proposal studies the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in a frontier economy from the behavioral perspective of a manager. There are many determinants used in determining a Foreign Direct Investment. These determinants range from economic, social, institutional, technology, organization, and commercial down to cultural distance. The objective of this research is not to duplicate the methodologies of many quantitative research studies that have been conducted, in which many economists use quantitative analysis of several years of data to determine the many factors that correlate with levels of FDI. The behavioral aspect of a manager’s decision is noticeably …

The Effects Of Rating Source, Rating Target, And Job Position On Ratings Of Perceived Training Needs, Phillip Joseph Dillulio

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Organizational investments in employee training and development have steadily increased over the past decade, with a recent estimate of $160 billion dollars annually. An important component of any training program is the subsequent training needs assessment (TNA), which provides critical information regarding who and what needs trained. Unfortunately, TNA research is severely limited compared to other aspects of the training process. The primary aim of the current study was to examine two important variables that can potentially influence TNA ratings beyond an actual need for training, the source and target of TNA ratings. Based on the assumptions of attribution theory, …

Grateful Beneficiaries And Proud Benefactors: A Moderated Mediation Model Relating Supervisors' Gratitude Expression To Employees' Organizational Citizenship Behavior, William Peter Jimenez

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Few organizational researchers have considered examining gratitude or pride—much less both simultaneously. In the present study, two complementary emotion theories (i.e., affective events theory and broaden-and-build theory) are integrated in an examination of the prosocial consequences of supervisors’ gratitude expression, employees’ authentic and hubristic pride experiences, and employees’ narcissism in a large construction company in China. Results from the analyses of the moderated mediation model pathways indicated that most of the proposed relationships were nonsignificant. Supervisors’ gratitude expression predicted employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) but did not predict employees’ authentic or hubristic pride. Employees’ hubristic pride—but not authentic pride—predicted employees’ …

The Relationship Between Recidivism Rates And Post Release Employment, Richard Louis

Theses and Dissertations

The Relationship Between Recidivism Rates and Post Release Employment. Richard Louis 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. Keywords: Ban the Box; Conviction, Incarceration, and Recidivism; Disparate Impact; Human Resources and Negligent Hiring; Parole, Probation, and Ex-Offenders

This applied dissertation was designed to study the relationship between recidivism rates and post release employment. This study utilized three survey instruments with human resource or hiring officers, probation or parole officers, and direct service providers as the respective participants. The survey instruments were distributed anonymously to each of the populations via Survey Monkey. The research study and …

Examining Managerial Leadership Behavior, Perceived Proximity, And Job Satisfaction In Distributed Work Arrangements, David D. Macauley

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

More than 70% of all employers and managers utilize flexible or distributed work arrangements (Greenfield, 2017; World at work, 2017). Yet, it appears that few organizations are prepared to manage the relationship elements that come with a distributed workforce (Boss, 2017; Miller & Campell, 2013). Using structural equation modeling and data from 838 participants, the study examined the relationship between managerial behavior, perceived proximity, and job satisfaction within organizations that utilize distributed work. The results indicate that managerial behavior has a positive relationship with perceived proximity and employee job satisfaction and supports previous literature showing perceived proximity to be more …

A Study Of Transformational Leadership Practices To Police Officers' Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment, John P. Decker

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study is based upon Bass and Riggio’s (2006) Augmentation Model on Transactional and Transformational Leadership, in which this quantitative study sought to identify the amount of variance in police officer job satisfaction and organizational commitment that can be explained by police chiefs’ transformational leadership behaviors above and beyond the influence of transactional behaviors. A total of 166 police officers were surveyed in five central New Jersey police departments in relation to their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, as well as the leadership behaviors in which their police chiefs engaged, utilizing Bass and Avolio’s (2004) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). This …