Business Commons^™

Employee Empowerment, Action Research And Organizational Change: A Case Study, Victor Wooddell

Organization Management Journal

This article summarizes the results of a project designed and implemented by a cross-sectional design team of employees of a local government agency. We compare the project design to criteria associated with employee empowerment programs and action research models. Finally, we compare the outcomes of the project with important components of employee empowerment. The purpose of this article is to highlight how one such project was implemented in a field setting, and review what was learned by the participants regarding how management and employees can work more effectively together on issues of strategic importance to the organization. Both the process …

Aquarius Advertising Revisited: A Case Becomes An Experience, Kristen Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

This experiential exercise is based on a traditional organization theory case related to structural contingency theory. The exercise provides a means by which students can play the role of advertising agency professionals and their clients. The objectives of the exercise are to demonstrate structural contingency theory; to illustrate the relationship between contextual factors in an organization’s environment and its internal organization design; to demonstrate the effects of structural deficiency on communication and project completion in a creative organization; and to demonstrate the need for horizontal linkages for effective project completion. The exercise is appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Music As A Mirror: The ‘‘Choosing My Personal Theme Song’’ Exercise, Nathan S. Hartman, Thomas A. Conklin

Organization Management Journal

When asked to describe their strengths people rarely refer to their natural knowledge, skills, abilities, and talents. From this we may assume that many are unaware of their individual strengths or at the very least take them for granted. Music lyrics are particularly salient symbols available in the minds of students and can be powerful tools for learning more about themselves and others. This knowledge is valuable as they continue in their own personal evolution as they discern greater distinctions between themselves and the world around them. The interactive exercise presented here uses music to help students look in the …

Demonstrating The Challenges Of Behaving With Emotional Intelligence In A Team Setting: An On-Line/On-Ground Experiential Exercise, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

The idea of this new exercise is to involve two project team participants in an interpersonal conflict in front of a classroom of learner/observers and then to debrief the entire experience in terms of emotional intelligence (EI) concepts in a way that clarifies these concepts experientially. It is preceded by EI readings and may be followed by extended on-line discussions and a variety of different papers and/or homework assignments. It can be used in traditional, blended learning (BL), or on-line courses or training classrooms. Originally developed to involve on-ground (face-to-face) and on-line students from the same course in the same …

A Review Of Becoming A Resonant Leader (Mckee, Boyatzis, And Johnston): Contextualizing The Place Of Emotional Intelligence Skills With Respect To Team Leadership And Group Dynamics, Robert R. Klein

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

India Unleashed, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Corporations in the developed world increasingly see India as a high-growth market and its companies as acquirers of their assets, global competitors, partners for enhancing the competitiveness of their global value chain and a source of new energy and dreams for the world economy. How did this all happen? The author shares the essence of what he learned from 10 trips to India to interview more than 30 CEOs and top executives who are unleashing the new global power of Indian firms.

Tapping The Grapevine: A Closer Look At Word-Of-Mouth As A Recruitment Source, Greet Van Hoye, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

To advance knowledge of word-of-mouth as a company-independent recruitment source, this study draws on conceptualizations of word-of-mouth in the marketing literature. The sample consisted of 612 potential applicants targeted by the Belgian Defense. Consistent with the recipient-source framework, time spent receiving positive word-of-mouth was determined by the traits of the recipient (extraversion and conscientiousness), the characteristics of the source (perceived expertise), and their mutual relationship (tie strength). Only conscientiousness and source expertise were determinants of receiving negative word-of-mouth. In line with the accessibility-diagnosticity model, receiving positive employment information through word-of-mouth early in the recruitment process was positively associated with perceptual …

Different Fits Satisfy Different Needs: Linking Person-Environment Fit To Employee Commitment And Performance Using Self-Determination Theory, Gary J. Greguras, James M. Diefendorff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Integrating and expanding upon the person-environment fit (PE fit) and the self-determination theory literatures, the authors hypothesized and tested a model in which the satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence partially mediated the relations between different types of perceived PE fit (i.e., person-organization fit, person-group fit, and job demands-abilities fit) with employee affective organizational commitment and overall job performance. Data from 163 full-time working employees and their supervisors were collected across 3 time periods. Results indicate that different types of PE fit predicted different types of psychological need satisfaction trod that psychological need satisfaction predicted affective …

Initial Attraction To Organizations: The Influence Of Trait Inferences, Jerel E. Slaughter, Gary J. Greguras

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Organization personality perceptions have been defined as the set of personality characteristics associated with organizations. Previous research supports five distinct factors of organization personality perceptions: Boy Scout, Innovativeness, Dominance, Thrift, and Style. The purpose of this research was to understand how individuals' initial attraction to firms is influenced by their perceptions of the degree to which firms display these traits. Results of the present investigation indicated that organization personality perceptions accounted for significant variance in initial organizational attraction, after controlling for perceptions of the degree to which the jobs at the organizations offer traditional attributes. In addition, several self-rated Big …

Project Management Use Second Life, Collaborative Project

Dyson College- Seidenberg School of CSIS : Collaborative Projects and Presentations

This entry adheres to the use of the quad chart template to provide a succint description only of the current research project undertaken by the participants. It provides for the following information:

1. Participants and Affiliations
2.Overall Project Goals
3. Illustrative Picture
4. Specific research/artistic/pedagogic foci

Strategic Leadership And Innovation In High Technology Firms, Terri A. Scandura Phd

Management Faculty Articles and Papers

Did you ever wonder what the organizations that produce some of the high tech gadgets we marvel at such as the IPhone and the Blu-ray player are like? How do their leaders create and maintain a spirit of innovation that produces these hit products? High technology firms face unique challenges because of the fast paced and ever-changing landscape of their industry. Intellectual capital and innovation have become the key sources of competitive advantage in a wide range of industries and many have argued that the key to the future competitiveness of organizations in the U.S and abroad is the ability …

Intrapersonal Consequences Of (Un)Forgiving: How Forgiveness Affects The Victim, Edward Eli Kass

Organization, Leadership, and Communication

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Authentic Leadership And Cultural Intelligence In Cross-Cultural Contexts: An Objectivist Perspective, Gretchen Vogelgesang Lester, R. Clapp-Smith, N. Palmer

Faculty Publications, School of Management

Cultural adaptation in cross-cultural situations is an integral part of international management and leadership literature. However, there has been little theory or empirical research that takes into account the objectivist perspective of the necessity of leaders remaining true to their moral standards when operating in different host-cultures. We draw upon the authentic leadership and cultural intelligence literatures to explicate a model by which authentic leaders in a cross-cultural context can find a balance in the tension between their own deeply held values and those of the host-country’s culture.

Identifying Pre-Retirees For Bridge Employment: Factors That Influence Post-Retirement Employment Decisions, Sharon Kendrick, Melody Wollan

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In a field study of 387 pre-retirees, four factors are demonstrated to be important as tools to aid Human Resource Managers and managers in predicting and influencing employees to consider participation in bridge employment: education levels of pre-retirees, training opportunities offered, role support from others (of particular importance supervisors and coworkers), and work family balance issues. Additionally, our findings draw attention to the importance of employment status (part-time versus full-time) and the number of years to retirement in predicting pre-retirees’ intentions to work in bridge employment.

The Inspection Time And Over-Claiming Tasks As Predictors Of Mba Student Performance, Bryan Pesta, Peter J. Poznanski

Business Faculty Publications

Elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are typically used in laboratory settings for basic research on the structure of intelligence. More recently, ECTs have been shown to predict important educational and clinical outcomes. Here we found that ECTs possess both criterion and incremental validity over IQ and the graduate management admission test (GMAT) as predictors of (N = 116) MBA student grades and scores on a capstone exam. Validity coefficients for the ECTs ranged from 0.24 to 0.50. A median split on an ECT component showed that the best-performing ECT group had substantially higher grades, exam scores, IQs and GMAT scores. The …

Focusing On Process And History: Path Dependence, Paul Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

In recognition of the calls for more processual and historically informed organizational theorizing, this chapter considers the notion of path dependency, an approach which holds that a historical path of choices has the character of a branching process with a self-reinforcing dynamic such that preceding steps in a particular direction induce further movement in the same direction, thereby making the possibility of switching to some other previously credible alternative more difficult. Path dependence seeks to assess how process, sequence and temporality can be best incorporated into explanation, the focus of the researcher being on particular outcomes, temporal sequencing and the …

Identifying Pre-Retirees For Bridge Employment: Factors That Influence Post-Retirement Employment Decisions, Sharon Kendrick, Melody L. Wollan

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In a field study of 387 pre-retirees, four factors are demonstrated to be important as tools to aid Human Resource Managers and managers in predicting and influencing employees to consider participation in bridge employment: education levels of pre-retirees, training opportunities offered, role support from others (of particular importance supervisors and coworkers), and work family balance issues. Additionally, our findings draw attention to the importance of employment status (part-time versus full-time) and the number of years to retirement in predicting pre-retirees’ intentions to work in bridge employment.

Commonalities And Differences Between Service And Manufacturing Supply Chains: Combining Operations Management Studies With Supply Chain Management, Ming Zhou, Taeho Park, John Yi

Faculty Publications, School of Management

The service sector of the US economy has been gaining importance. As the service sector evolves, the study of service supply chain starts to gain attention. In this study, we conduct an exploratory review on the studies of manufacturing and service supply chains. We focus on the studies that explore the differences and commonalities between manufacturing and service supply chains. We combine operations management literature with supply chain studies in order to provide an interdisciplinary framework that brings up both the operational and strategic views on the management commonalities and differences between the two types of supply chains.

The Responses Of Bamenda Disability Organizations To Hiv And Aids: A Multiple Case Study, Lynn Cockburn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Cameroon, many disabled people (an estimated 10-20% of the population) have inadequate access to education and health care, and disabled people's organizations (DPOs) are advocating for social change. Yet, there is a scarcity of information regarding how African DPOs address HIV and AIDS. The purpose of this study was to assess how DPOs in Cameroon have responded to AIDS in the disabled population and to identify strategies to enable DPOs to manage AIDS issues. This study was guided by the complex adaptive systems theory as the theoretical framework. The research questions focused on what DPOs have done to develop …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Information Systems On The Level Of Trust In The Construction Industry, Michael Wayne Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Even though the current level of communication and information sharing is greater than it has ever been throughout the history of the construction industry, the problem under investigation stems from the results of current research that indicate that many major projects have difficulty in achieving client expectations, resulting in a negative image of the construction industry. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact on the level of trust in the use of information systems between construction firms and their clients. The theoretical foundations of this research were based in interdependence and coordination theories. While information systems enable …

Perceptions Of Leadership Effectiveness In The Management Of Intergenerational Work-Values Conflict: An Antecedent Of Organizational Citizenship Behavior Of Perioperative Registered Nurses, Patricia G. Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies reveal a progressive net decrease in the nursing profession across four generations, creating a shortage that poses a critical threat to the health care delivery system and to the health and safety of patients within that system. Research also suggests that generational cohorts reflect social change in attitudes toward work-life balance, organizational commitment, personal-professional relationships, autonomy, focus on career advancement, and actions that represent organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Previous research grounded in theoretical frameworks of organizational behavior, leadership, and social capital indicates that leadership support of workforce diversity and effectiveness in conflict management influence OCB. However, little research explores …

Tracing The Path To 'Tiger Hood': Ireland's Move From Protectionism To Outward-Looking Economic Development, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Up to very recently, Ireland was spoken of in very adulatory terms, to the point of being dubbed the ‘Celtic Tiger.’ Taking path dependence as lens, this paper looks at an early sequence of events that shaped the country’s path to ‘tiger hood’, i.e., the policy shift from protectionism to outward-looking economic development. From relatively contingent and unpredictable beginnings has evolved an institutional matrix, with a clear focus on the global, that, ex ante, could not have been predicted when it was first established.

A Comparative Study Of Organisational Commitment Of Bank Employees In Ireland And China, Helen Chen

Conference papers

Organizational commitment is a complicated concept. However it is primarily regarded as an attitudinal construct dealing with the perceived utility of continued participation in the employing organization (Hrebriniak & Alutto, 1972). In a similar vein, it has also been described, according to Buchanan, (1974), as a partisan, affective attachment to the goals and values of an organization, to one’s role in relation to goals and values of an organization, and to the organization for its own sake; or according to Porter et al. (1974), as a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values, a willingness to …

Empowerment-Based Advocacy Conducted By Not-For-Profit Organizations, Margery C. Saunders

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the advocacy patterns of over 200 nonprofit human service providers active in both anti-violence and anti-poverty service arenas. A mailed survey to organizations associated with three statewide advocacy organizations in New York State examined the organizational factors associated with three advocacy activities: case advocacy, public policy education, and legislative issue advocacy. Using empowerment theory, predictors that captured the degree of ethnic diversity of an organization's staff and board, and whether or not consumers served on the staff or board, and whether having social workers as advocates were examined along with other control variables to explain the conditions …

On The Fence Of Legitimacy : A Framework For Understanding And Assessing The Legitimacy Of New Academic Disciplines In U.S. Higher Education, Karin Diann Bump

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Legitimacy is a concept frequently employed but rarely discussed in more than vague terms (Suchman1995, Hybels 1994). Consequently, this research seeks to develop a clearer understanding of the ways new disciplines become established within a sociological framework of legitimacy. Two theoretical models are used in this study through an approach that melds key aspects of each; the presence of three levels (Suchman 1995) and six sources (Boulding 1971) of legitimacy. Unique to Boulding's model is the purposeful inclusion of internal views of legitimacy as most discussions of legitimacy focus on external views.

Explaining Torture And Its Reduction In A Police Department : A View From Below, Ahmet Guler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This is an ethnographic study of police deviance and police reform. This study investigates how organizational members rationalize the torture they perpetuated in the past, how they explain their sensemaking process and organizational identity change during the change process using empirical data from a counterterrorism division of the metropolitan police department (MPD) in a prospective member state of the EU.

Organizational Justice And Fairness In China: An Inductive Analysis Of The Meaning And Dimensions, Chun (Grace) Guo, Jane K. Giacobbe-Miller

WCBT Faculty Publications

Taking an inductive approach, we examined the meaning and dimensionality of the organizational justice construct in the People's Republic of China. By triangulating qualitative data from in-depth interviews and structured open-ended surveys, we found that organizational justice and organizational fairness were perceived as distinct constructs in a Chinese context.

An Investigation Of The Perceptions Of Clergy And Laity On Race-Based Organizational Segregation In The Southern Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, David K. Penno

Dissertations

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States maintains a racially segregated organization in a society that has intentionally dismantled segregation in most of its organizations. The church needs to evaluate its current conference organization in light of this reality. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist clergy and members in two conferences in the Southern Union concerning race-based organizational segregation in the church.

Method

This study used a mixed method and was descriptive in design. Four focus groups were conducted to explore the dimensions of the research problem. This step was followed …

How Fairness Garners Loyalty In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: Role Of Trust In The Wholesaler-Pharmacy Relationship, Thani Jambulingam, Ravi Kathuria, John R. Nevin

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand how fairness garners loyalty by breeding trust in the pharmaceutical wholesaler‐pharmacy relationship. Specifically, the paper seeks to understand if the two dimensions of fairness – procedural and distributive – contribute differently in fostering the two types of trust – credibility and benevolence. The paper further aims to examine how the two dimensions of trust mediate the fairness‐loyalty relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data from 156 retail pharmacies on their relationship with the pharmaceutical wholesalers are used to test the hypotheses. The mediation models are tested using the Barron and Kenny procedure.

Findings …

How Effective Leaders Learn From Life: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Impact Of Significant Life Experiences Upon Leadership Development, Ryan P. Meers

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Fifteen effective leaders from diverse organizational backgrounds described their significant life experiences and the impact upon their development as leaders. Using grounded theory methodology, a theoretical model emerged for assisting leaders absorb greater learning from their various life experiences. Related to the central phenomenon of how effective leaders learn from significant life experiences, four causal conditions of types of experiences were identified as influencing how leaders learn: (1) experiences of adversity or loss; (2) experiences of “stretch assignments”; (3) inspirational experiences; and (4) experiences with conflict. Strategies used by the leaders to absorb learning from their significant experiences were active …