Business Commons^™

Multitasking And Communication In The Organization, Cayla A. Stephenson

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Because communication is an intricate part of how an organization works, and because organizations and employees alike are stressing the importance of multitasking on the job, studying the interaction of communication and multitasking is increasingly important. Studies relating to multitasking have revealed primarily negative impacts: doubling task completion time, overstimulating our brains to the point of dysfunction, generally diminishing our productivity, and extinguishing our stimuli filters and damaging our memories. Other studies show that we can use multitasking in a positive way by utilizing task trainings and practicing focused task completion. The study here completed two focus groups with 12 …

Sororities, Interpersonal Relationships, And A Dialogical Perspective, Jessica Lynn Fresques

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses on interpersonal relationships and skills gained through sorority membership. The purpose of this research sought to develop the understanding of potential developmental outcomes, in which a sorority can provide to its members. Research methods used: online surveys and follow-up interviews. The dialogical perspective by Martin Buber helped develop an understanding of the I-thou relationship, whereas, each person within conversation is fully valued for what they have to say. In general, sororities are known as social organizations and the use of dialogue is important when communing or working with others. Alumnae who participated provided enough feedback to determine …

Servant-Leadership And Re-Establishment Of Organization Culture After Crisis, Reese Dayle Cooper

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Organizations create a base for culture through the language in mission, vision, and value statements (Deetz, 1995). Organization culture is then shaped and molded by organization members (Deetz, 1995). As a result, members form organization identities (Mead, 1934). Identities are fluid and constantly being negotiated (Stewart, Zediker, & Witteborn, 2009, p. 82). At any moment, organizations can face crisis. During the crisis, identities are threatened and organization culture becomes unstable (Beer & Steif, 1997; Sen, 2006). Stabilizing organization culture is important to the long-term success of an organization and to the long-term success of individuals. This study uses a case …

The Intrapersonal Phenomenon: The Interactional Effects Of Intrapersonal Adjustments In The Organizational Change Of A Small Business, Jennifer Wilkes

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

It is inevitable that change involves varying levels of communication. A relationship may consist of an individual's communication with one's self or with one or more persons. The functionality of a relationship depends on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the communication of those individuals involved. When change is necessary in any form of organization, the level of communication for each member plays a vital role, especially in a small company. Based on literature and theory, intrapersonal development and influence relies on the structure of one's cultural language. Language structure shapes one's inner speech and self-talk through processes of internalization. The …

Getting Thrown Under The Bus: The Impact Of Destructive Narcissistic Management On Group Sensemaking, Russell Allen Royston

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Despite the vast research and scholarship on leaders with narcissistic traits and tendencies, little research has focused on the impact these leaders have on group communication. This thesis uses an ethnographic research methodology to explore a group under destructive narcissistic management. Karl Weick’s (1995) theory of organizational sensemaking is used to examine the affected group’s communication. The study was conducted from a phenomenological perspective of the group’s lived experience. Kierkegaard’s theory of communication is also applied to learn how the group made sense of was happening to them during a period of substantial change (Anderson, 1963). The results show that …

Assessment Centers And The Measurement Of Personality, Neil D. Christiansen, Brian J. Hoffman, Filip Lievens, Andrew B. Speer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although personality constructs are now widely accepted as being important for understanding work behavior, self-report personality tests as a method of assessment are not without their critics (e.g., Morgeson et al., 2007). Whether misguided or not, concerns persist regarding the validity of these measures and the issue of applicant faking has yet to be fully resolved (Tett & Christiansen, 2007). Moreover, applicant reactions tend to be less favorable for personality inventories than many other assessments commonly used in employment settings (Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas, 2004). To some, self-report inventories may be a poor way to assess personality traits, and yet …

The Organisational Climate Of Sustainability: A Survey, Anke Arnaud, Janet K. Tinoco, Dawna L. Rhoades

Management, Marketing and Operations - Daytona Beach

This study describes three dimensions of the climate of sustainability and the development of a survey for assessing these dimensions. The authors report the results of two studies conducted to measure the climate of sustainability dimensions of sensitivity to sustainability (six items), motivation for sustainability (six items), and responsibility for sustainability (five items). Results support that the climate of sustainability is a reliable instrument and demonstrate the convergent and discriminant validity of each survey dimension. Furthermore, results show the criterion-related validity of the climate of sustainability with respect to innovation strategy and employee attitudes including satisfaction and turnover intentions. Implications …

Impact Of Team Citizenship Behaviors On Performance In Women's Sports Teams, Rachael Nichole Martinez

Dissertations

In organizational psychology literature, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) have demonstrated a significant relationship with performance outcomes. However, the existing research has shown some inconsistencies in the strength and direction of this relationship. Moreover, research has not yet explored the actual relationship between OCB and sports team performance (individual- and team-level), nor has research investigated potential moderators of this relationship. The current study examined the relationship between OCB and sports team performance and whether this OCB-performance relationship was moderated by task interdependence (i.e., sport). Two types of collegiate teams--softball and tennis--were utilized to represent two different levels of task interdependence with …

Negotiating Successfully In Asia, Michael Benoliel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Cross-cultural negotiations are complex, challenging, and difficult to navigate because much of the Asian culture is unstated, implicit, and internalized in subtle behavioral patterns. It is like an iceberg; more is invisible and less is visible. To understand how the Asian negotiation values and practices are different from those in the West, I describe briefly the Asian cultural roots, highlight the major dimensions that differentiate cultures, explore the factors that influence the Asian negotiation processes and outcomes, and provide a list of practical suggestions for negotiating successful deals with Asian negotiators.

Illegitimate Tasks And Employee Well-Being: A Daily Diary Study, Erin Eatough

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on an occupational stressor that has been recently introduced to the literature, illegitimate tasks, or tasks that seem unreasonable or unnecessary at work. Previous work has demonstrated the relationship between illegitimate tasks and a narrow set of discrete emotions as well as negative employee performance behaviors. The current research contributes to the literature by expanding the nomological network associated with illegitimate tasks and uses a rigorous daily diary methodology in a full-time working sample. It was expected that illegitimate tasks reduce state levels of self-esteem as well as other employee well-being indicators including anger, depressive mood, fatigue, …

Variance In Faking In High-Stakes Personality Assessment As An Indication Of Job Knowledge, Timothy Ryan Dullaghan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the personality trait elevation between honest and applicant contexts that has been widely seen throughout the personality and selection research is merely universal, blatant trait elevation, or whether something else is underlying this faking behavior. By obtaining both honest and applicant context personality responses in which respondents were provided with focal job knowledge, this study determined that while there is near-universal trait elevation across seven personality traits, there is, in fact, some trait differentiation between jobs. As such, this study provided some evidence of knowledgeable faking, defined as distortion of personality …

Characteristics Of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools, Jan Ware Russell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Progressive education has a long history within the American K-12 education system dating back to the late 1800s. During this period, two very distinct ideologies represented progressive education: 1) administrative progressives supporting standardization as a means of efficiency and 2) pedagogical progressives supporting child-centered learning based upon a well-rounded education. This study looks at 82 contemporary pedagogical progressive schools to identify common characteristics. Child-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision-making were the three overarching philosophies covered in this study. Data was collected through an online survey of school leaders. The majority of research surrounding progressive education is qualitative and focuses …

Researching Critical Incidents Of Transformation, Paul R. Scheele

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change …

Servant Leadership And African American Pastors, Clarence Bunch

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Robert Greenleaf (1977) took a follower’s, rather than a leader-centric, point of view of leadership by describing a leader as one who leads by serving. He identified a leader as one who sets other people’s needs above his or her own. He argued that motivation of leaders must begin with the conscious choice to serve others. Greenleaf’s concept provides the basis for a theoretical model of servant leadership. This dissertation examines the extent to which African American pastors exhibit servant leadership characteristics, using the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). A sample of 358 African American pastors from 11 …

Social Entrepreneurship And Wealth-Building Plans: Creative Strategies For Working Class Americans, Wayne R. Curtis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigated how the elements of social entrepreneurship with wealth-building strategies can advance the creation of wealth and serve as a mechanism for social change. This research takes a modest first step toward demystifying social entrepreneurship, better understanding the phenomenon, and exploring the relevance of wealth-building in social entrepreneurial activity. Specifically, this exploratory study used a multiple case study design to understand how existing social entrepreneurial ventures include wealth-building strategies, such as employee stock ownership plans for working class Americans. The concept of social entrepreneurship is relatively new. There is general agreement that the concept combines a passion for …

Financial Services Innovation: Opportunities For Transformation Through Facial Recognition And Digital Wallet Patents, Debora S. Bartoo

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Bringing innovation to the marketplace for new products and services involves creativity, a culture in which change flourishes, and leadership that thrives on transformation and complexity. This study explored the potential for market disruption or change based on innovations involving patents granted to nonfinancial services organizations that could affect financial services, specifically consumer or retail bank products. It involved analyzing documents related to recently granted patents and completing a mixed methods survey integrating the Delphi research technique. This method required multiple iterations of a survey presented to expert panelists or industry thought leaders to attempt to gain consensus ("Consensus", 2011) …

The Role Of Agency In Community Health Outcomes: Local Health Departments And Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates, James Anthony Ransom

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Organizational culture is defined as a system of shared meaning held by members of an organization that distinguishes it from other organizations. How organizational culture is experienced in the public sector, particularly local health departments (LHDs), is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether LHD organizational culture impacts childhood immunization coverage rates. I used a modified organizational culture survey tool, the Organizational Management Survey, to quantify organizational culture and determine whether an LHD's organizational culture helps explain variations in childhood immunization coverage rates. In addition, qualitative data from an earlier study of LHD immunization staff …

Measuring Normlessness In The Workplace: A Study Of Organizational Anomie In The Academic Setting, Tayo Glenn Switzer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation explores leadership and change by examining normlessness in the workplace through a multi-layered study of anomie theory, anomie research in the workplace, and organizational and business management theory. The research validates a quantitative survey designed to measure the level of normlessness experienced by workgroups within an organizational context. The survey reflects a set of six normative aspects that when disrupted produce organizational anomie—a state of normlessness that leads to an increase in worker resistance and a reduction in worker consent. The audience studied in this dissertation is associate professors at a large Midwestern research university. Data were gathered …

Exploring Tribal College And University (Tcu) Faculty Collegiality, Nora Antoine

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation study explores Tribal College and University (TCU) faculty collegiality utilizing qualitative and indigenous research methodology approaches. Since collegiality is a multidimensional construct, a Rolling Survey process was developed to provide a vehicle for discussion. Within focus group settings, TCU faculty participants created a composite about their relationships, communications, and professional development. Dialogue affirmed important professional relationships and explored issues that contribute or detract from TCU faculty work experiences. The results of this study further suggest wider applications for leadership and businesses in general, affirming the importance of and the need to support professional working relationships. The electronic version …

Shut Up And Bill: Workplace Bullying Challenges For The Legal Profession, Maryam Omari, Megan Paull

Research outputs 2013

Competition, work intensification and requirements for efficiency are some of the hallmarks of the modern work environment. Pressures in such settings can result in stress caused by long work hours, a lack of work-life balance and interpersonal conflict. The legal profession is prone to negative impacts due to its highly competitive environment. This, coupled with established hierarchical structures, significant power imbalances and pressure to measure work input rather than output (billable hours), can create 'toxic' settings. This paper reports the findings of a study of dignity and respect in the legal profession. Results indicate that many of the issues arise …

The Transfer Of Military Culture To Private Sector Organizations: A Sense Of Duty Emerges, Janet K. Tinoco, Anke Arnaud Ph.D.

Publications

As a government institution, the United States (US) Department of Defense (DOD) wields powerful influence on private sector organizations in the defense industry beyond the implications of public policy. In our conceptual research, we study the DOD as a key customer stakeholder in these organizations and investigate the influence of its military culture on these private sector organizations. By analyzing the culture of the DOD, we uncover a new dimension, sense of duty, not previously studied in mainstream organization literature. We propose that this dimension transfers from the DOD to its private sector suppliers in the defense industry via interorganizational …

Shared Leadership In Six Sigma Teams From The North Shore-Lij Health System, Brian J. Galli

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The main goal of the research was to identify the relationships that the internal research team environment and external coaching variables had with the degree of shared leadership in the context of Six Sigma teams from the North Shore LIJ Health System. Furthermore, the research ascertained the relationships that these variables had with two performance metrics: a team's ability to complete project deliverables and satisfy customer's requirements. This research also sought to understand additional factors that affected the five variables.

The research found that while shared leadership did not positively change as a team progressed through the phases of the …

Partnerships Between Hospitals And Community: A Qualitative Study On Collaboration For Spiritual Care In Healthcare, Angela E. Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Partnerships between Hospitals and Community: A Qualitative Study on Collaboration for Spiritual Care in Healthcare

Abstract:

Hospital-Community Collaborative (HCC) arrangements for the provision of spiritual care have been brokered in certain Ontario hospitals with varying degrees of success. The current study investigated how a community based organization could effectively partner with a healthcare institution to ensure spiritual care support for hospital patients. It asked the question: What factors are essential to make a hospital-community collaboration function well as a model for the provision of spiritual care? Qualitative research was conducted with four hospital corporations with HCC partnerships to ascertain the …

Performance Appraisals As Heuristic Judgments Under Uncertainty, Jochen Reb, Gary J. Greguras, Shenghua Luan, Michael A. Daniels

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Employees are constantly making decisions and judgments that have the potential to affect themselves, their families, their work organizations, and on some occasion even the broader societies in which they live. A few examples include: deciding which job applicant to hire, setting a production goal, judging one’s level of job satisfaction, deciding to steal from the cash register, agreeing to help organize the company’s holiday party, forecasting corporate tax rates two years later, deciding to report a coworker for sexual harassment, and predicting the level of risk inherent in a new business venture. In other words, a great many topics …

A Dynamic Perspective On Affect And Creativity, Ronald Joachim Bledow, K. Rosing, M. Frese

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We argue that creativity is influenced by the dynamic interplay of positive and negative affect: High creativity results if a person experiences an episode of negative affect that is followed by a decrease in negative affect and an increase in positive affect, a process referred to as an “affective shift.” An experience-sampling study with 102 full-time employees provided support for the hypotheses. An experimental study with 80 students underlined the proposed causal effect of an affective shift on creativity. We discuss practical implications for facilitating creativity in organizations.

Love, Hate, Ambivalence, Or Indifference? A Conceptual Examination Of Workplace Crimes And Organizational Identification, Abhijeet K. Vadera, Michael G. Pratt

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although research has shown that there may be very different types of workplace crimes, scholarly work in this area (a) is currently fragmented with very little communication between very similar streams of research and (b) tends to be incomplete and can lead to conflicting findings. We address both of these shortcomings. First, we propose a typology of different types of workplace crimes (consisting of pro-organizational, nonaligned-organizational, and anti-organizational crimes) based on the intentions of the perpetrators. Second, we link these intentions to various identification "pathologies"- such as over-identification and over-disidentification, under-identification and ambivalent identification-and argue that these pathologies are linked …

Organizational And Societal Factors: Their Impact On Individual Attitudes, Kristen Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

The Constructivist Approach To Learning, Steven Meisel

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Wrapping Up Omj’S First Year With Routledge, Taylor & Francis As Publisher, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Using The Three Stooges To Illustrate The Scientific Method, Steven M. Dunphy, Joe Dobson

Organization Management Journal

An exercise using a comedy film is proposed for illustrating social science experimentation and the scientific method. Not every consumer of research or data reports may have had training in research methodology. This article offers a way of introducing research methods and the critical examination of such reports to these consumers, who are often the ones most needful of rigor in assessing data, rather than taking things at face value. Whether one is evaluating information from business, government, or media sources, the lessons learned from Moe, Larry, and Curly in Hoi Polloi are quite valuable.