Business Commons^™

U.S. Government Acquisition Reform And Its Influence On Defense Contracting, Innovation, Diversification, And Collaboration, Edgar Quiñones Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Acquisition reform has been active within the Defense Industry for over two centuries and continues to this day for the Federal Government. Recently, due to sequestration, high national debt, and political pressures, the Weapon System Acquisition Reform Act (WSARA) and Better Buying Power (BBP) was put into action, in 2009 and 2010 respectively, as a way to further streamline the Defense Industry. This study examined the Defense Industry’s attitudes and coping strategies (focused on ‘countervailing power’) deal with the actions and the influence of a monopsonist (sole) buyer on the contracting process and how that ultimately affects costs, industry strategy, …

Organizational Innovations That Stick: Best Practices In Sustainable Organizational Change, Abdoulie Jammeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizational change is an essential ingredient of organizational growth/life and can be difficult to accomplish. Many researchers and practitioners have studied the challenges and opportunities surrounding effectuating change and innovation in organizations. However, there has been little practical analysis of the theoretical relationships among the key apparatuses that make change stick, institutionalizing innovation in big bureaucratic organizations. In order to develop practical insights that can inform best practices, this paper aims to provide a collection of successful organizational innovation examples based on responses to a critical incident analysis survey of 12 participants from a 2018 World Bank – USC Annenberg …

Banking On Blockchain: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Innovation Evaluation Process, Priya D. Dozier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Blockchain technology emerged as the underlying database structure for Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, in 2008. Interest in blockchain by the Financial Services industry grew because of its purported transparency, security, and trust elements which resulted in over $240 million in venture capital funds raised by blockchain firms mostly from banks in the first half of 2017.

The purpose of this study was to examine the underlying innovation evaluation process that Financial Services organizations employed as they evaluated blockchain technology. In this research study, blockchain was considered a technology innovation, which drove the research question: “How do financial services organizations evaluate blockchain …

Essays On Innovation, Analyst Coverage, And Corporate Finance, Yang Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters that encompass corporate innovation, analyst coverage, public firm disclosure, and institutional investors.

Innovation Under Stress, Zhaojun Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aim of the dissertation is to explore firms’ innovation strategies during certain stressful periods. This dissertation consists of 3 chapters. . .

Chapter 1: Innovation Diversification Under Policy Uncertainty

Using detailed data on patent grants and applications, I explore the effect of policy uncertainty on firms’ innovation strategies. I show that firms that invest in R&D tend to pursue more diversified strategies and are more likely to explore unfamiliar fields during periods of policy uncertainty. These findings hold after adjusting for possible sample-selection bias using variation from patent examiners’ historical approval rates, and after adjusting for potential endogeneity using …

Technological Diversity In Finance, Blake K. Rayfield

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation consists of two chapters on measuring firms technological profile. Patent data can be grouped into two primary generations. The first generation lead by the work of Schmookler (1966), Scherer (1982), and Griliches (1984), and the second generation led by Trajtenberg, Jaffe, and Henderson (1997) and Kogan et al. (2016). When combined, both generations data spans from nearly 1926-2010 and has made a meaningful impact on innovation research. In the first chapter, I propose a third generation of patent data. The third generation of patent data has two distinct contributions. First, it extends patent-firm ownership information beyond 2010 to …

Essays In Knowledge Transfer, Leonardo Mayer Kluppel

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation advances our understanding of when firms are able to get information from outside agents and the impact of that information on innovation. In chapter one, I set up a theoretical model that illuminates how vertical integration changes the incentives for producers to share information with suppliers. Both transaction costs and bargain ability play major roles in information sharing. One result from chapter one is that producers share less information with vertically integrated suppliers. The second chapter tests this prediction, finding robust evidence that once a supplier vertically integrates, it gains fewer spillovers from competitor producers. Finally, the last …

The Leadership Role Of Management Accountants As It Contributes To Innovation And Entrepreneurship In Start-Up Businesses In Southern California, Paula Edwards

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and describe the leadership role of managerial accountants as it contributes to innovation in start-up businesses in Southern California.

Methodology: The methodology used to understand and describe the leadership role of managerial accountants as it contributes to the innovation and entrepreneurship in start-up businesses in Southern California was a qualitative study. The study participants included 12 entrepreneurs who had started a business in the last five years, had utilized a management accountant on a part-time, full-time or consultant basis and are located in the San Diego, Orange, or Los …

The Relationship Between A Firm’S Ownership Structure, Governance, And Innovation, Erica J. Wagner

College of Business Theses and Dissertations

Firm innovation is key for many companies to continuously thrive in the marketplace. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks to making innovative investments because of the upfront costs and riskiness of future returns. This creates conflicts because managers are under pressure to meet short-term earnings forecasts. A managers’ short-term focus on a firm’s business strategy may not be in the best interests of the shareholders’ long-term vision of a firm. For this reason, a strong corporate governance system can trigger an increased level of monitoring of the decision-making of managers so that it’s aligned with shareholders’ goals. Often, a firm’s long-term strategy …

A Confident Culture For Creativity? Creative Self-Efficacy And Innovation Behavior Moderated By Perception Of Culture: Millennials Versus Generation Xers, Karen Bartuch

College of Business Theses and Dissertations

Innovation is a strategic priority for many companies today and some are more successful at it than others. This study aims to understand what factors affect the innovation behavior of employees. Specifically, this study examined the perceptions of creative self-efficacy (CSE) in individuals and their innovation behavior. In addition, individual perceptions of culture for innovation within their organization were measured to determine how culture affects the relationship between CSE and innovation behavior. According to social cognitive theory (SCT), an individual’s behavior, cognitions and the environment influence each other in a dynamic fashion.

Given the prevalence of millennials in the workforce …

A Socioemotional Wealth Perspective On Innovativeness And Performance Of Family Businesses., Vasiliki Kosmidou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a theoretical and empirical examination of the relationships among socioemotional wealth, innovativeness, and performance in family firms. Building on the Behavioral Agency Theory’s predictions that socioemotional wealth of family firms may affect their strategic decision making both positively and negatively, this study theoretically develops and tests a research model that aims at understanding the nuanced influences of different socioemotional wealth dimensions on firm innovativeness and performance. Specifically, the study hypothesizes that a family’s socioemotional wealth affects the firm’s innovativeness and performance both negatively, in the case of internal socioemotional wealth and positively, in the case of external …

Understanding The Role Of Social Capital On Performance In Family Firms., Mahshid Jessri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One important form of social capital is family social capital, which is mainly the relationship among family members in family business. In this dissertation, we utilize two perspectives of innovativeness and network mobilization to study the relationship between family social capital and firm performance. In the first study, we examine family social capital as a multidimensional construct, and study the relationship between the three aspects of structural, cognitive, and relational family social capital. The relationship between relational social capital and performance is studied through the lens of network mobilization, and the model investigates how family firm identity alters this relationship, …

Unlocking Innovation Through Social Media Usage: A Study In Uae, Maher Farid Shirah

Business Administration Dissertations

It has been suggested that the use of social media is advantageous for a firm, but few academic studies have examined this issue. The objective of our study is to investigate the impact of the use of social media on an employee’s creativity and propensity to innovate, in the context of a public-sector firm in the UAE. Specifically, we examine the impact of social media use on an employee’s creativity and propensity to innovate using the innovations that are internal to a firm: service, process, and organization. Surveys were used to collect data from the employees of the selected organization …

The Adoption And Diffusion Of The Air Taxi/Air Charter Travel Innovation, Joseph Paul Leader

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The inefficient use and knowledge of direct, on-demand air taxi/air charter flights in the United States was the topic of this dissertation. The general problem studied was the inefficient use of air transportation options by business travelers in the United States. The specific problem was how business travelers in the United States learn of and thereby elect to embrace a newer air travel option. Using Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory as the framework, the dissemination of air travel choices made by business travelers using ImagineAir air taxi service in the United States was explored via a qualitative case study research …

Autonomous Vehicles As A Disruptive Innovation: Economic And Social Impact, Tomasz Walivander

Theses

The pace of technology development and innovation is accelerating. The impact of new innovations becomes more and more disruptive, enriching but also challenging peoples' concept of life and the perception of the world. Social and economic implications of new innovations cause rapid and deep shifts in the existing paradigms. The number of tasks, at which machines exceed human capabilities is growing rapidly. Computers analyse medical images, make financial decisions and drive vehicles better than humans. This study is aimed to understand the disruptive nature of self-driving cars and explore the possible socio-economic outcomes that this innovation is expected to bring. …

Strategies For Healthcare Payer Information Technology Integration After Mergers And Acquisitions, Kishore Maranganti

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the high rate of failure in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, many organizations continue to rely on M&As as their primary growth strategy and to address market competition. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies managers from a large healthcare payer in the midwestern United States used to achieve operational and strategic synergies during the postacquisition information technology (IT) integration phase. Haspeslagh and Jemison's acquisition integration approaches model was the conceptual framework for the study. Methodological triangulation was established by analyzing the data from the semistructured interviews of 6 senior executives and 6 IT …

Effective Marketing Strategies To Reach Mobile Users, Melissa R. Roy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Reaching users on mobile devices has never been more critical for retailers given the ubiquitous use of mobile devices. U.S. consumers who shop online are using personal computers less and mobile devices more when doing so. The purpose of this single case study was to explore mobile device marketing strategies used by retail marketing leaders to reach mobile users effectively. Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Participants included a purposeful sample of 8 marketing managers employed by a Fortune 1000 retail organization in the Pacific Northwest. Data collected via in-person, semistructured interviews and a …

Leadership Skills To Sustain High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures, Zoaib Z. Rangwala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High-tech (HT) innovation-oriented entrepreneurs start 35% more ventures and create 10% more jobs in the first 5 years of operation than the rest of the private sector and drive significant economic growth across all industries; however, more than 50% of the entrepreneurial HT ventures fail during the first 5 years of operations. Guided by the conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore skills used by successful entrepreneurial leaders to sustain their HT ventures in Silicon Valley, California. Data collection was from 8 participants in semistructured 1-on-1 interviews and 3 participants in a …

Making Money And Making Change: Understanding And Overcoming Tension Between Profits And Purpose Within Social Entrepreneurship, Elijah H. Etzioni

CMC Senior Theses

Using a combination of interviews of social entrepreneurs and secondary research, this paper investigates the strategies that social entrepreneurs use to overcome tension and conflict between the two distinct goals of financial sustainability and mission fulfillment. The results suggest that although some social entrepreneurs can simultaneously achieve revenue generation and mission fulfillment, thus almost entirely eliminating any tension or misalignment, it is the creative responses of social entrepreneurs who have achieved one of these objectives and are attempting to achieve the other that prove the unique value of the practice. Additionally, the results gesture towards the conclusion that different kinds …

Pathways To Entrepreneurship Training Towards Addressing Youth Unemployment In Nigeria, Edward Perekebina Agbai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The inadequacy of entrepreneurial knowledge among 21-25 year olds in Nigeria with recent undergraduate degrees has led to youth unemployment after graduating from universities. The development of entrepreneurship skills through entrepreneurship education programs for the students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria may bridge the unemployment gap. Guided by the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to gain a robust common understanding of how undergraduates from 21-25 years old can obtain the entrepreneurial knowledge required for self-employment in Nigeria. Data collection involved semistructured interviews, field notes, and archived training documents, with a purposeful sample …

Strategies For Implementing Innovation In Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Monther I. S. Haddad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inefficient processes for innovation implementation can prevent owners of small and medium-sized enterprises from realizing goals and growth potential. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that managers of small and medium-sized enterprises use to implement innovation in their organizations to improve performance. The population for this study consisted of 5 managers from 4 small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Dubai. The resource-based view theory was the conceptual framework of this study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and review of companies' documents. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-step process. After transcribing the interviews and coding …

Strategies To Improve Business Performance With Information From Social Media, Taylor Chan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the past 3 decades, China has experienced rapid economic growth. The China retail market reached renminbi (RMB) 29,651 billion in 2016, up by 10.4% from 2015. Using traditional ways that developed before the Internet era to acquire information regarding customers' changing preferences for products and services in a fast-moving business world is insufficient to support management in the retail industry to make informed strategic decisions. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore successful customer-centric strategies that business leaders used to improve business performance with marketing information acquired from social media. The population comprised business leaders from …