Business Commons^™

Communicating For Success: The Importance Of Fairness In Pre-Merger Communication, Correy Retzloff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explores the complexities and influences of pre-merger communication on M&A outcomes from a stakeholder perspective, using the Fair Process Theoretical Framework. The study identified the following six key themes related to pre-merger communication broken down into two distinct categories: important aspects to employees, which include Open and Honest Communication, Engagement and Clarity, Participation and Collaboration, and best practices managers can implement, such as Undertake Fair and Engaging Communication, Prioritize Strategic and Cultural Communication, Ensure Effective and Compliant Communication. The study also found that effective pre-merger communication can positively influence perceptions of fairness in the merging process. These …

Commitment To Change Dimensions: The Influence Of Innovative Work Behavior And Organizational Environments, Michael Holmes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the phenomenon of commitment to organizational change using both positive and negative organizational contexts and employee behaviors that may influence an employee’s commitment to change dimensions (affective, continuance, normative). A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 407 physician assistants across a national healthcare system and analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple regression to test the relationships among constructs. Results indicate that commitment to change dimensions are related to innovative work behavior, climate for innovation, and organizational constraints. Affective commitment was positively related to innovative work …

Organizing Economies: Narrative Sensemaking And Communciative Resilience During Economic Disruption, Timothy Betts

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation unites organizational communication, and economic theory to understand how individuals make sense of economic crises, imbed power and logic in those understandings, and construct new economic realities in the aftermath of crisis. Contra economic orthodoxy, this project conceives of economy and economics as a social construct. As a social construct, individuals organize economy and economics through discourse, make sense of through narrative, and rebuild through communication. This dissertation combines different theoretical perspectives—actor-network theory, antenarrative organization theory, and the communication theory of resilience—to recenter social scientific accounts of economic reality around communication, story, and power.

Specifically, I focus on …

Prevalence And Predictors Of Careless Responding In Experience Sampling Research, Alexander J. Denison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the current study we examine the prevalence and several predictors of careless responding to an experience sampling (ESM) study. While careless responding has been noted as a potential problem in ESM research, few studies have examined the prevalence of this behavior (Beal, 2015; Berkel et al., 2017; Eisele et al., 2020; Gabriel et al., 2019; Jaso et al., 2021). Using statistical methods of careless response classification, we derive cut scores from data simulation and graphical examination of item correlations, and flag 44.98% of response episodes as careless. A majority of these flagged episodes were the product of overly consistent …

Environmental Transmission Of Career Interests Through A Genetic Lens: Understanding The Confounding Around Parental Occupation, Tyler Allan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has established that parents can influence the career interests of their children through both their shared genetics and the household environment they create. However, most studies look at these parental influences in isolation either focusing on the environmental influences or the genetic influences. As such, the results of these studies fail to account for potential confounding in their results do to the nature of career interests. This study used a genetically informative twin sample to address the issue of shared genetics while looking at the measured environmental influence a parent’s occupation has on their child’s career interests. A …

Decisions And How Doctors Make Them: Modeling Multilevel Decision-Making Within Diagnostic Medicine, Michelle S. Kaplan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Effective decision-making is critical and necessary for organizational success across a wide range of occupations, situations, and industries. However, decision making, by its nature, is not always a direct process of a single decision leading to a direct outcome. Rather, it can often become a multilevel process whereby one decision’s outcome leads to information that is used in subsequent larger or other types of decisions. The decision-making process then becomes progressively more complex and more difficult to navigate as these decisions compound within one another. Thus, decision-makers must find an appropriate way to approach such decisions. Understanding the multilevel nature …

Successful Leadership Through Rapid, Unplanned Change, Robert "Darin" Grimm

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The studies of leadership and leadership models are voluminous, as is the work onchange within organizations. While scores of information can be found on each of these topics, the combination of the two is less ubiquitous. The grouping of specific leadership models related to corporate changes, be it structural or operational, provides an opportunity for new knowledge. Notably, the literature is scant when the added variable of rapid unplanned change is included in the combination of leadership and change. This study sought to better understand the impact of specific leadership behaviors and the impact on an organization during rapid, unplanned …

Testing The Congruence Of Espousals And Enactments Predicting Team Innovation, Rylan M. Charlton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study employs a social identity perspective (Hogg, 2008) to test whether perceptions of both espoused and enacted values drive team innovation, and tests whether both their level and congruence determine their impact on innovation. This relationship is tested in a multilevel latent polynomial regression model (MLPM) framework (Zyphur, Zammuto, & Zhang, 2016). The study also leverages block variable procedures (e.g., Edwards & Cable, 2009) to model the combined effects of espoused and enacted values, and tests whether these combined effects mediate between leader behavior and team innovation. This represents the first test of Zohar and Hofmann’s (2012) proposition that …

Driving Health Care Results With Authenticity, Kindness, And Vulnerability: A New Model Of Authentic Leadership, John D. Couris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current management scholars have defined authentic leadership as consisting of four dimensions: relational transparency, self-awareness, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective. This research extends the concept of authentic leadership to include kindness and vulnerability. I created two scales to measure kindness and vulnerability within the context of leadership and used them to examine perceptions of authentic leadership and its impact on three organizational outcomes: trust in one’s leader, work engagement, and psychological safety. Using a two-group, pretest-posttest experimental design, 44 Tampa General Hospital managers were either selected to participate in a four-hour authentic leadership training that included instruction on kindness …

Strengthening The Entrepreneurial Support Community, Andrew J. Hafer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to discover ways of improving the impact and effectiveness of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tampa Bay, Florida. First, the study establishes a comprehensive catalog (called the “Superset”) of potential support programs that might be offered by ESOs and consumed by entrepreneurs. Through empirical data collection, the programs in the Superset are ranked by entrepreneurs and ESO leaders according to their opinion of perceived value and importance for gaining the competency in said program. The rankings allow a mapping of the regional ecosystem to identify gaps, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.

The study …

The Nature Of Resilience: A Person-Centered Approach Using Latent Profile Analysis, Yuejia Teng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience research has become increasingly popular in organizational sciences in recent years. Different factor structures of resilience have been proposed and yet no consensus has been reached regarding its underlying dimensions. Such a variable-centered perspective of studying resilience may be well complemented by a typological approach, which may shed fresh light on the nature of resilience. The current study took a person-centered approach with the advantage of using latent profile analysis to explore a set of latent profiles of resilience. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1 (N = 479), archival undergraduate data were used to explore resilience profiles and …

Waive It Away: Systemic Injustices Against Black And Brown Faculty And Staff Professionals, Past And Present, Marquis B. Holley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates perceptions and experiences of systemic injustices/racism, which is reflected in policy misuse and/or abuse at a large Research One (R1) university located in the Southeastern United States. In particular, the study will provide a lens for viewing the shortcomings regarding hiring practices, with the misuse of the Waiver of Advertisement, which was an initiative aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of Black and Brown professionals in faculty and staff/administrative positions. It is critical to note that the assumption of this project is that white faculty and staff/administrators are the beneficiaries of the waiver. The study will assess this …

Relationship Between Working With Professional Evaluators And An Organization’S Evaluation Culture, James M. Wharton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mission-based organizations like zoos and aquariums are investing in evaluation capacity to help them improve their mission performance, but are these resources improving their professional culture, or merely creating evaluations? This study surveyed the leadership from 100 programming departments at accredited U.S. zoos and aquariums to learn how work with professional evaluators might be related to the nature of an organization’s evaluation culture. Survey results showed no statistically significant relationships between a self-reported measure of evaluation culture and either institutional demographics or work with professional evaluators. Follow-up interviews with nine case study organizations, however, were more supportive of the role …

Stakeholder Experiences With Arts-Based University-Community Partnerships In General Education, Veronica Leone Matthews

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

University-community partnerships (UCPs) have significant potential as a way for universities to connect with communities and provide students with High Impact Practices (HIPs). Despite over 20 years of literature calling for increased community engagement, institutions of higher education have been slow to integrate UCPs into the General Education curriculum. Certain components have been identified as necessary for the effectiveness and sustainability of UCPs. However, little is known about the experiences and perceptions of key stakeholders including students, faculty, and community partners who participate in arts-based UCPs. This study investigated these stakeholders’ perceptions regarding participating in arts-based UCPs as part of …

Identifying Effective Systems And Processes To Promote Ethical Workplace Cultures In The Applied Behavior Analysis (Aba) Therapy Industry, Manuel Rodriguez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to identify methods and practices which encourages and enables ethics in organizations providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapeutic services to individuals with development disabilities. The professional and organizations they represent must protect the consumer, the employees and the integrity of the practice as part of their ethical responsibilities. The specific focus of this research is the behavior analyst and the ABA industry. The behavior analyst is a practitioner who studies and applies behavior analysis, working with various populations such as individuals with development disabilities, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities. The subject …

If At First You Don’T Succeed...Your Coworkers Just Might Be Pleased: A Story Of Workplace Schadenfreude, Kim Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two emotions that employees often experience in the workplace are schadenfreude (a positive reaction to others’ misfortune) and freudenschade (a negative reaction to others’ good fortune). Results of an ANOVA indicate that participants asked to imagine that they are employees were more likely to experience schadenfreude toward a hypothetical coworker if that coworker were arrogant, underperforming, rude, or deceptive. They were more likely to experience freudenschade toward a target when there was an issue involving justice. Results of an ANCOVA illustrated a negative relationship between the experience of schadenfreude and the personality variable Just-World Beliefs, but no association was found …

Disciplinary D/Discourses: Navigating And Negotiating Disciplinary Paradigms, Michael R. P. Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past twenty-five years, in the United States, zero-tolerance policies that were initially implemented to deter gun violence and drugs in schools have expanded to include a wide range of discretionary offenses such as disrespect and defiance. As a result, many students have been denied access to educational opportunities, been excluded from their peers, and had their lives irrevocably changed due to systemic sanctioning of exclusionary practices. Educators, who are caught between competing societal demands, job expectations, and ethical beliefs about their profession are tasked with balancing the instructional and interactional components of their work in an attempt to …

Playing Darts In The Dark: How Are Chamber Of Commerce Leaders Aligned For Greater Effectiveness?, Robert J. Rohrlack Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper researched what the United States chamber of commerce paid Executives and the volunteer Chairpersons identified as the factors influencing their chamber for effectiveness. There has been little research on chambers of commerce in the U.S. This study adds to the small amount of research available, working to establish baseline information for research to continue this ubiquitous industry. We conducted 24 interviews, 12 paid Executives, and 12 volunteer Chairpersons at chambers of commerce in 11 states. They were asked to identify factors that make their chamber more effective or inhibit their chamber from being effective. The interviews were coded, …

Controlling Turnover In An Inside Sales Organization: What Are The Contributing Factors, Dennis H. Kimerer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The turnover rate for inside sales team, particularly in Central Florida, is exceedingly high. I have experienced this negative scenario managing inside sales teams for two major Telecom companies over the past 11 years, having as many as 40% of the salesforce resign within 30 days. Organizational costs to hire a new salesperson can be as high as 300% of the replaced employee’s salary and take as long as eight months to reach full productivity. The purpose of this research is to determine the internal and external factors that impact a salesperson’s propensity to leave a company. This qualitative research …

From C++ To Conscientiousness: Modeling The Psychosocial Characteristics Influencing Cybersecurity Personnel Performance, Rachel C. Dreibelbis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study drew upon several theoretical frameworks of cybersecurity performance to evaluate distal and proximal individual attributes that may predict cyber performance in a variety of cybersecurity work roles. The proposed models in this study predicted that cognitive ability, personality (conscientiousness and openness to experience), and motivational factors like learning orientation would work through proximal attributes like technical knowledge, communication, and problem solving to influence performance. Hypotheses were tested using 139 employee responses to predictor variables and performance ratings from their supervisors across two industries and several cybersecurity work roles. Correlational analyses and path models supported that several individual …

The Underutilized Tool Of Project Management - Emotional Intelligence, Gerald C. Lowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has typically focused on singular attributes that impact a leader’s effectiveness. This study, instead, looks at whether emotional intelligence moderates the anticipated negative effect of distributed presence on engagement and influence, and ultimately, leader effectiveness. Buttressed by emotional intelligence, engagement, and influence theories, the research question focused on how emotional intelligence skills moderate the impact of a project manager’s distributed presence to render the leader effective. The study sample for this research came from voluntary participants who work for a U.S. government agency comprising leaders co-located with their teams and distributed presence leaders. Descriptive statistics showed that leaders …

Communication As Constitutive Of Organization: Practicing Collaboration In And English Language Program, Ariadne Miranda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is about collaboration as an organizational practice that is communicatively constituted. Specifically, I examine how members of a team in an English language program located in a large southeastern university in the United States make sense of what they define as a collaborative work environment and materialize it in their meetings in spoken and written discourse, and in their mention and use of organizational artifacts. Though the study examines the practices of one organizational setting, the insights generated illuminate broader organizational and discourse dynamics and speak to important issues in the discipline of communication such as authority, leadership, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Case Study Of A Collaborative Approach To Evaluation Within A School District Central Office, Oriana Eversole

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) provides an in-depth examination of a collaborative approach to evaluation within a school district’s central office. This study analyzes the implementation of collaborative approaches to evaluation (CAE) within a school district’s central office with an emphasis on evaluation use from the evaluators’ perspectives. It also explores the role and evolution of the evaluators throughout the evaluation process. Furthermore, this study adds to educational research on how to support the implementation and use of improvement processes in school district central offices. The analysis focuses on the evaluation activities that my colleagues and I led as …

Breach: Understanding The Mandatory Reporting Of Title Ix Violations As Pedagogy And Performance, Jacob G. Abraham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how institutions generate, teach, and authorize normative performances through texts and/as pedagogical practices. Through an analysis of the University of South Florida’s mandatory reporting policy, training, and Title IX Incident Report Form, this project examines how institutions construct and privilege certain values, performances, and individuals as means of generating the legal compliance of the institution independent. These practices are valued independent of how such compliance enables and limits the relationship between students and teachers. I argue the University’s texts and pedagogical practices serve to substantiate, authorize, and perform the materialization of certain privileges and the normative standards …

Ohm … Pardon The Interruption! An Exploration Of Mindfulness As A Buffer Against The Effects Of Intrusions, Keaton Allen Fletcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has provided a helpful, albeit narrow, understanding of task interruptions as related to outcomes such as wellness and performance (e.g., Eyrolle & Cellier, 2000). Building on this foundation by viewing interruptions through the broader theoretical context of the theory of mental workload, this study sought to explain the cognitive processes underlying the negative performance effects often associated with interruptions and to apply an intervention aimed at mitigating these effects. Specifically, mindfulness has emerged as a promising method for reducing the cognitive burden of interruptions. This study examined the effects of intrusions (a type of interruption) on psychological strain …

The Communication Constitution Of Law Enforcement In North Carolina’S Efforts Against Human Trafficking, Elizabeth Hampton Jeter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 20 years, human trafficking has gained international attention and resulted in the creation of anti-trafficking laws in the United States. Politicians, scholars, and organizations have called for more professional efforts against human trafficking and advocated for better education and awareness to identify victims and prosecute traffickers. Local law enforcement is recognized for its ideal position in communities to combat this crime. In 2011, North Carolina implemented a statewide human trafficking training program for law enforcement. This research study examines the communication constitution of law enforcement and the use of power through this training program and as officers …

An Exploratory Study Of Factors Eliciting Va Employee No-Show Behavior In Veterans Affairs Employee Development Courses, Kenyon Tillotson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recognizing the need for companies and organizations to retain employees, one of the topics given very little attention in the research is non-attendance in face-to-face training. This study presents findings from the analysis of archival data from a 2013 employee education survey. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on two sets of data exploring barriers to participation in employee-development education classes. Extrinsic factors were identified as ‘more important things take priority’ and ‘circumstances beyond the employee’s control’. Intrinsic factors were identified as ‘personal motivation challenges’. These factors emerged as potential reasons for non-participation or no-show behavior in employee education courses. Possible …