Business Commons^™

A Structural Equation Model Of The Factors Associated With Influence And Power Of It Departments And Their Relationship To Firm's It Orientation And Business Performance, Raghu V. Kowshik

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although few firms can function without an information technology (IT) department, senior executives often consider IT as secondary. Historically, studies have found IT departments to have low influence and power status compared to other departments. Few, if any, studies have investigated what factors contribute to this subservient position. Three research questions that inspired this study regarding the IT department's influence and power included factors that shape the IT influence and power, the consequences for the firm's IT orientation and business performance, and how firm's IT orientation affects business performance. This quantitative study explored the notion that accountability, innovativeness, customer connectedness …

Forming Ireland's Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

Tracing the creation and (re)production of Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) through the lens of path dependence theory, the story charts the IDA’s creation within protectionism. In parallel with the gradual shift away from protection towards free trade, the story follows the IDA’s emergence as the state’s pre-eminent industrial development agency, its re-creation as a state-sponsored organisation and the growing political, institutional and monetary resources afforded it in return for delivery on objectives, largely in the shape of new job creation. However, the increasing reliance on foreign investment to meet targets, at the expense of indigenous industry, eventually surfaces as …

Institutionalizing Ireland’S Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Actor-network theory is considered to have great potential for broadening and deepening our grasp of institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006). Given its focus on process, ANT offers a means to breathe life into the practices associated with institutionalization. With Callon’s (1986) four moments of translation as analytical lens, and with Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority as empirical example, I seek to address the concerns in the call for papers to reconsider ‘the role of agency, power, persistence and change in the process of institutionalization.’

Exploring Sustainability Practices And Reporting At Musgrave Group: A Case Study Of An Irish Private Company., Rebecca Maughan, Brendan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a case study of a large Irish company, Musgrave Group, which has been engaged in sustainability practices and reporting since the late 1990s. In doing so the paper provides an in-depth account firstly of the internal motivations for the company’s engagement with sustainability practices and reporting and secondly of the process through which the sustainability practice gained internal support and began to be integrated into the day to day activities of the company. The case study of the company involved a series of interviews with key participants in the …

Organizational Paths: History, Process And Ireland’S Industrial Development Authority, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Taking issue with the largely ahistorical and aprocessual character of much organizational theorizing, and following calls for ‘building path-oriented organization research on a rigorous path theory’ (Sydow, Schreyögg and Koch, 2005: 2), I argue for knowing the organizational as an ongoing process. Through the contributions of path dependence theory, and with Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) as empirical focus, this paper will also seek to address: the historicity and evolution of the organizational; the role of initial, external conditions on the emergence and subsequent development of the organizational; the dynamics of path building and the development of path dependency; and …

How Can We Manage To Be Happy?, John Hasselberg

Global Business Leadership Faculty Publications

Management bridges people, enabling us to build sustainable organizations and societies that foster human flourishing. Surveys have consistently shown that Danes are the happiest workers in the world. The Bhutanese prefer to see their country judged by how high they are on a Gross National Happiness index rather than a Gross National Product index. Their approach to defining sustainable societal wealth is gaining interest internationally. To what can we attribute so much happiness in two such disparate parts of the world, and what can we learn from them? This paper explores what happiness is and how conceptions of it and …

Pengurusan Majlis Taklim Di Provinsi Sumatera Selatan : Kajian Dari Aspek Persepsi Guru Agama., Ali Mursyi Abdul Rasyid

Student Works (2010-2019)

The effectiveness of da’wah through religious class or majlis taklim has caused the increase of religious knowledge and appreciation in the community. One of the main reasons of the successful of a majlis taklim was a good management implemented in its activities. This dissertation, entitled Management of Majlis Taklim in South Sumatera Province: A Study on Perception of Religious Teachers has three objectives: to identify management of majlis taklim in South Sumatra; to identify the views of religious teachers on practices in management functions, such as planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling activities of da’wah in majlis taklim; and to recognize …

How Management Level And Environmental Dynamism Are Related To Change Behavior And Unit Performance, Eric C. T. E. Larsen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A survey study was conducted to determine how management level and environmental dynamism affect change leadership by managers and its impact on work unit performance. An on-line survey was used to obtain data from subordinates of the managers in many different organizations. The results showed that change-oriented behavior was used more by high level managers than by low level managers, and when the environment was dynamic rather than relatively stable. Management level enhanced the effects of a manager's change behavior on unit performance, and the enhancing effect of dynamism was marginally significant. The results are consistent with theories about the …

Assessing Interventions For Reducing Gender-Based Occupational Stereotypes : A Multi-Method Study Comparing The Implicit Association Test To Indirect And Explicit Measures Of Stereotypes, And An Examination Of Sex Roles And Entity Versus Incremental Lay Theories Of Social Perception, Carolyn C. Matheus

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Certain occupations are often stereotyped as feminine (e.g., elementary school teacher) while others are stereotyped as masculine (e.g., engineer) (White, Kruczek, Brown, & White, 1989; White & White, 2006). This study proposed using multiple methods to assess stereotypical judgments about the masculinity and femininity of five occupations: engineer, law enforcement officer, accountant, fashion designer, and elementary school teacher. Implicit, indirect, and explicit assessments were used to measure gender based stereotypes of occupations to examine similarities or differences between the different methods. Implicit assessments involve measuring automatic evaluations to stimuli, while indirect assessments involve gender ratings of attributes associated with occupations. …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Identifying Antecedents Of Work Ethic Beliefs And The Relationship Between Work Ethic Beliefs And In-Role And Extra-Role Work Behavior : New Work Ethic Dimensions And Scale Introduced, Melissa Janine Mann

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study developed a comprehensive instrument for assessing contemporary work ethic and used the instrument to investigate antecedents of the formation of work ethic beliefs. In addition, the study investigated whether work ethic beliefs correlated with in-role and extra-role job performance. The study reviewed the literature on work ethic beginning with Weber's (1904-05) construal of the Protestant Work Ethic as the underpinning of early capitalism. The review traced the evolution of the Protestant Work Ethic construct to its contemporary, secular formulations. At issue is whether the dimensions of work ethic identified by Weber 100 years ago remain relevant for understanding …

Thomas Kuhn And Corporate Governance Research, William Q. Judge

Management Faculty Publications

Back in the dark ages (i.e., 1980s) when I was pursuing my doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I read Thomas Kuhn’s (1962) book on how science evolves over time. That book had a big influence on my thinking then, and it continues to influence me. Indeed, that book seems especially pertinent to this particular issue for reasons which I will explain later on in this essay.

Guest Editorial: The Magic Pill To Success, Illene Roggensack

Collaborative Librarianship

I have come to believe that there is a “magic pill” to success in our organizations. I have witnessed it in action only a few times, and wonder if those who have it even realize it. Do they know how they got it, or how it can be used to great benefit?

The Effect Of Managerial Status On Performance Appraisal Quality And Feedback Seeking., Gary Stark

Journal Articles

This paper compares the performance appraisal quality and feedback seeking of managers to that of non-managers. This study answers Ashford et al’s (2003) call for more research on the feedback seeking of managers, especially compared to non-managers. This study also extends work by Ashford and Tsui (1991) and Tsui et al’s (1995) on negative feedback seeking by examining the phenomenon among managers. Data were collected via survey from 355 employees of two parts of an international retail chain. Results indicate that managers receive lower quality feedback than non-managers, do not feel inhibited by the psychological and impression costs of feedback …

Influence Of Continuous Improvement (Ci) On Job Satisfaction., Ong Chee Wei

Student Works (2010-2019)

The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of Continuous Improvement (CI) on job satisfaction in Malaysia industry. Based on previous studies, it was anticipated that overall job satisfaction would be higher for employees who are working in companies that implementing Continuous Improvement practices and lower for employees who are working in companies that not implementing Continuous Improvement practices. The instrument of Continuous Improvement was adapted from Culp (1992), Limon (1993) and Ying (2000). In the mean time, employee’s job satisfaction was measured based on Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985). The collected data was tested with descriptive statistic …

Retaining Talent : An Empirical Study Of Multi-Routes Model Of Job Coupling And Withdraw Tendency Among Chinese Mba Candidates., Zheng Weibo

Student Works (2010-2019)

Intellectual property and intellectual capital have become critical components of wealth creation. "Knowledge has become the pre-eminent economic resource, more important than raw material, more important, often, than money. Considered as an economic output, information and knowledge are more important than automobiles, oil, steel or any of the products of the industrial era‖ (Stewart, 2002). As the "carrier" of the talent of organizations become more significant than ever. Those employees with higher organizational performance characteristics are often entitled "core" or "talent" for their key networking status in creating organizational intelligent capital values. They can also be in fierce competition with …

The Impact Of Team Member Familiarity On Communication Media Use And Subsequent Project Performance, Priscilla Arling, Hongjiang Xu

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study explores how team member familiarity is related to the communication media used in the completion of projects and how that use impacts project performance. We surveyed 148 university undergraduate students who were enrolled in information systems courses. The students worked on projects in teams of 3 to 4 students. The results suggest that prior collaboration with current te am members, as well as a stude nt’s class year, are related to what communication media are used. The influen ce of team member familiarity and class year varies by the type of media used. We also find that higher …

Trust Differences Across National-Societal Cultures: Much To Do, Or Much Ado About Nothing?, Don Ferrin, Nicole Gillespie

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Does trust and its development, functions and meaning, differ between people from different national–societal cultures? There is considerable anecdotal evidence and some theoretical argumentation to suggest it does, but are these supported by empirical research? This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence on the effects of national–societal culture on interpersonal trust. It focuses largely on quantitative empirical evidence to consider the extent to which, and the ways in which, interpersonal trust differs across national–societal cultures. In every category of our review we found evidence of cross-cultural differences, particularly on generalized trust, and also evidence of trust universals across cultures. In …

An Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Psychological Capital On Performance, Engagement, And The Contagion Effect, Timothy Daniel Hodges

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Psychological Capital, or PsyCap, is a core construct consisting of the positive psychological resources of efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. Previous research has consistently linked PsyCap to workplace outcomes including employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Further research has explored the ways in which PsyCap can be developed through relatively brief workplace interventions. The present study focuses on PsyCap development and the relationship to employee engagement and performance. In an experimental design with random assignment of subjects to control group (n = 52 managers and 152 associates) and treatment group (n = 58 managers and 239 employees), a field sample of …

Reflecting On Experience For Leadership Development, Adrian Chan

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study proposes that being reflective or ruminative about one's leadership experience can have differential effects on one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and psychological capital. Specifically, through the aid of an event history calendar, conscript military trainees of high and low military experience from a SE Asian military organization were randomly assigned to recall and reflect or ruminate on his past leadership experience. Results show that type of reflection interacts with level of military leadership experience to differentially affect one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and leadership self-awareness. Reflection triggers produced significantly higher levels of implicit leadership theories under …

The Employment Relationship, John W. Budd, Devasheesh P. Bhave

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The employment relationship is the connection between employees and employers through which individuals sell their labor. This might consist of an immigrant day laborer paid by the bushel to pick fruit in the hot sun, a salaried manager who has been working in an air-conditioned office for the same company for 40 years, or innumerable other situations. Irrespective of situation, all employees and employers have fundamental interests they pursue through the employment relationship, all forms of this relationship are mediated by labor markets and states, and each instance of this relationship is governed by some form of a contract, ranging …

Knowledge Clusters And Knowledge Hubs: Designing Epistemic Landscapes For Development, Hans-Dieter Evers, Solvay Gerke, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose – With globalization and knowledge-based production, firms may cooperate on a global scale, outsource parts of their administrative or productive units and negate location altogether. The extremely low transaction costs of data, information and knowledge seem to invalidate the theory of agglomeration and the spatial clustering of firms, going back to the classical work by Alfred Weber and Alfred Marshall, who emphasized the microeconomic benefits of industrial collocation. This paper aims to argue against this view and show why the growth of knowledge societies will rather increase than decrease the relevance of location by creating knowledge clusters and knowledge …

Faculty Inside A Changing University: Constructing Roles, Making Spaces, Leslie D. Gonzales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The notion of a multiversity was stamped into the higher education literature by Clark Kerr in 1963 when he spoke about the numerous purposes tied to U.S. higher education. Kerr highlighted how the University is often pulled in many directions at once, asked to fulfill promises of the cultural, educational, national, societal, and now, of the global kind. Yet it is imperative to remember that these multiversities are not empty spaces. They are occupied and brought to life by the people who work inside them, especially the faculty, who Gregorian (2005) names as the "heart and soul, the bone marrow …

The Effects Of Self-Directed Teams In An Automotive Manufacturing Environment, David Wayne Shall

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE EFFECTS OF SELF DIRECTED TEAMS IN AN AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT

by

DAVID W. SHALL

December 2010

Advisor: James L. Moseley, EdD, LPC, CHES, CPT

Major: Instructional Technology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

This study compares self-directed work structures to more traditional supervised work structures in order to determine if the expenditures and efforts required to implement self-directed work teams are warranted. Multiple internal performance metrics are examined in comparing plant work structures in various degrees of implementation between traditional work structures and self-directed work teams. The researcher collected data from multiple organizations within Ford Motor Company and four participating …

The Effect Of Initial Entry Training On The Moral And Character Development Of Military Police Soldiers, Kenneth R. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Army conducts extensive training on its core values beginning with initial entry training (IET), commonly referred to as basic training, in order to shape soldiers' behavior and decision making in combat and noncombat situations. This mixed methods study addressed the problem of limited empirical research on the effects of U.S. Army IET on soldiers' moral and character development. The purpose was to explore the effects of Military Police (MP) IET on soldiers in training through a mixed methods quantitative and qualitative model. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Rest's four component model (FCM) of moral …

Organizational Slack, International Expansion And Firm Profitability, Anran Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

International expansion is a viable growth strategy for firms operating in an increasingly competitive business environment. Understanding the relationship between international expansion and firm performance has been a significant concern for theory development in the strategy and international business literature. The extant literature, however, has paid insufficient attention to the tradeoff between firm growth and profitability that may imply the existence of an optimal rate of growth. Drawing from the Penrosian perspective that emphasizes the role of resources in firm growth, this study investigates whether and how firm slack resources affect the tradeoff between international expansion and profitability. Specifically, this …

The Impact Of Employees' Perception Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Job Attitudes And Behaviors: A Study In China, Dan Zheng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is regarded as voluntary bahaviors that contribute to the soceity welfare. Based on the concept of sustainable development, corporations should not only stress on their economic and business outcomes, but also pay attention to their effect on the society and environment. Corporations are expected to engage in the improvement of their employees' quality of life, as well as the well-being of employees' families, local communities, and the overall society. With the acceleration of global integration, CSR has become a main concern by the public, and is considered as an essential part of the business strategy. It …

The Impact Of Women Leaders Upon Organizational Performance, Humair Hashmi

Business Review

The aim of this research was to target television professionals in the state, and the private sector to develop their professional capabilities to address gender issues, and to portray women in an affirmative manner in the media. Research literature of the past indicated that women were paid 30% less than men: That they experienced an invisible barrier, the “glass ceiling effect": That organizations headed by women were less corrupt and more efficient. The present research focused on these issues in Pakistani organizations. Imperial College of Business Studies Lahore was assigned the research by United Nation Development Programme, to see if …

New Media: A New Medium In Escalating Crises?, Joanna Ann Mei Siah, Namrata Bansal, Augustine Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose– The use of new media in crisis is a double‐edged sword. On one hand, its pivotal role in online monitoring and dissemination of information can help an organisation manage crisis. On the other hand, it can also create organisational crisis. The purpose of this paper is to examine how new media can be used to escalate crisis.Design/methodology/approach– Four crises were examined: the 2008 Edison Chen sex scandal in Hong Kong; and in the USA, New York Taco Bell‐KFC rats infestation crisis in 2007; JetBlue Airways crisis in 2007, and the Kryptonite locks crisis in 2004.Findings– The very characteristics that …

Does Organizational Culture Affect Employee's Readiness To Implementation Of Evidence-Based Practices?, Joseph Waller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The emergent trend toward the use of evidence-based practices in children’s mental health services has been gaining recognition (Barwick et al., 2005). The motivation for implementing evidence-based practices is to build quality and accountability in the delivery of mental health services. Children with emotional and behavioral disorders should be able to rely on receiving services that can accommodate their personal needs based on the best scientific evidence available. Most children who receive evidence-based treatment display significant progress and do so much more quickly than children that receive other non evidence-based treatment or no treatment at all.

The importance of implementing …

Dysfunctional Audit Behaviour: An Exploratory Study In Malaysia, Halil Paino, Zubaidah Ismail, Malcolm Smith

Research outputs pre 2011

The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the incidence of dysfunctional audit behaviours and audit quality reduction behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness. The paper is based on a survey of 244 auditors working in small/medium and big audit firms in Malaysia. The paper identifies key variables leading to dysfunctional audit behaviour. The paper is subject …