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Full-Text Articles in Business

Manufacturing Organizations During Sub-Acute Crises: An Examination Of Critical Interactions In Five Sub-Acute Crisis Cases, William A. Brake Jan 2015

Manufacturing Organizations During Sub-Acute Crises: An Examination Of Critical Interactions In Five Sub-Acute Crisis Cases, William A. Brake

Student Scholarship

Manufacturing organizations face a steady barrage of sub-acute crises. Sudden, often surprising events that seriously threaten critical objectives provide an environment of steady disruption and uncertainty. Viewing organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), this qualitative study collects and analyses 29 interviews across five unique cases of small manufacturers recalling a recent sub-acute crisis and their responses. Interviews were conducted with a senior manager, a small group of key managers and then each of the managers individually. Our comparative analysis found that positive and negative thoughts, feelings and actions were predominate across a wide variety of cultures and crises. We propose …


Retirement Values: What Explains Career Transition And Well-Being, Gregg Lunceford Jan 2015

Retirement Values: What Explains Career Transition And Well-Being, Gregg Lunceford

Student Scholarship

In 2011, individuals in America's baby boomer cohort began reaching their full retirement age of 65. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 baby boomers will turn age 65 each day until 2031. Retirement is being discussed more frequently as a greater number of people try to figure out if and how they would like to transition from their primary careers. Our research focused on successful professionals between the ages of 50 and 75 to understand what factors contribute to the decision to make a transition toward retirement. From the study, we learned that retirement is a difficult decision and may …


Strategy As Interaction:The Dynamics Between Strategy Execution Effectiveness And Organizational Interactions During Strategy Implementation, Stanley Omeike Jan 2015

Strategy As Interaction:The Dynamics Between Strategy Execution Effectiveness And Organizational Interactions During Strategy Implementation, Stanley Omeike

Student Scholarship

Organizations have for long used strategy as a springboard for actualization of their strategic intent. The body of knowledge around strategy formulation is well established, but there is less clarity as to how organizations implement strategy to close the gap between their intent and reality. This research seeks to understand how organizations engage in strategy execution so as to reduce the “execution gap”. We uncover patterns in strategic practices with a view to conceptualize how gap reduction happens and what mechanisms influence it. We identify a number of dynamic environmental forces and mutually recursive organizational factors that mutually influence organization’s …


Bridging Executive Succession Gaps: Organizational Factors That Most Accelerate Executive Readiness, Carolynn Cameron Jan 2015

Bridging Executive Succession Gaps: Organizational Factors That Most Accelerate Executive Readiness, Carolynn Cameron

Student Scholarship

Much has been written on the topic of leadership development however little on the development of top executives, and virtually nothing on the most efficient ways of developing executives. With succession pipelines to executive jobs weak across S&P 500 firms, executive succession weakness poses a real financial, continuity and governance risk to systems globally. To address this phenomenological gap, the authors conducted a qualitative inquiry involving semi-structured interviews with managers in a single S&P 50 global firm that operates across three industries. By probing into the "lived worlds" of these executive successors and high performing non-successors, new insight has been …


The Liminal Workplace, Michael O'Hare Jan 2015

The Liminal Workplace, Michael O'Hare

Student Scholarship

This study investigates how managers, executives and professionals (MEP) working 50 or more hours per week and using Information Communication Technology (ICT) to stay connected with their work 24/7 manage their energy and thrive at work. Based on interviews with these subjects, we learn that they have adapted ICT to help them achieve the goals of their "protean careers" and meet the challenges of the transitional or liminal workplace. We also discovered that they function in an autopoietic fashion to rejuvenate themselves in the work domain by physical exercise, managing relationships, and through introspective reflection. We were surprised that for …


Empowering The 99%...One Esop At A Time! A Qualitative Study Of Employee-Owned Company Acquisitions, Suzanne Cromlish Jan 2015

Empowering The 99%...One Esop At A Time! A Qualitative Study Of Employee-Owned Company Acquisitions, Suzanne Cromlish

Student Scholarship

This research project focuses on how ESOPs can accomplish successful acquisitions. Most successful ESOPs implement various types of progressive management strategies including open book management and open door communication policies and procedures. These practices of active employee engagement and participation enhance productivity and profitability because employees are personally empowered to improve company performance. Somewhat of a mystery is the question of why there are not more ESOPs. If their numbers are to increase, it can only occur through two methods: 1) employees purchase the company from an owner, and 2) other companies are acquired by an existing ESOP. This study …


Collaboration Among Nonprofit Organizations: Factors That Affect Contribution To Education In Egypt, Magdy M. Amin Dec 2014

Collaboration Among Nonprofit Organizations: Factors That Affect Contribution To Education In Egypt, Magdy M. Amin

Student Scholarship

Education represents a critical component of development and poverty reduction for countries. In Egypt the low standard of education have resulted in several partners that collaborate with the government to support and reform education. Nonprofit organizations are among those partners who are working in collaboration with local associations at remote and rural areas to support education. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect collaboration among nonprofits in their contribution to education reform. Our findings may allow nonprofit organizations to discover their potentialities and find a system of collaboration that increase the impact of their contribution …


Tapping The Power Of Complex Adaptive Systems (Cas): What Influence Can Informal Interactions Have On Cas And The Resultant Innovation-Change Process?, Shabazz A. Rah-Khem Dec 2014

Tapping The Power Of Complex Adaptive Systems (Cas): What Influence Can Informal Interactions Have On Cas And The Resultant Innovation-Change Process?, Shabazz A. Rah-Khem

Student Scholarship

Complex adaptive systems provide essential insights about the existence of interactive relationships within an organization, their roles, and how these influential relationships can substantially affect change in formal systems. An array of elements can influence these relationships that develop between managers, employees, and union representatives, creating the landscape of a complex adaptive system. This study identifies three distinct elements of interactive situational moments that, when present, influence the complex adaptive system to stimulate the innovation–change process. In this brief paper we explore these elements, identified as degrees of connectivity, through qualitative study of a company with a unionized labor workforce …


The Impact Of Symbiotic Visions: Increasing Engagement And Motivation Through Vision Alignment, Jodi Berg Oct 2014

The Impact Of Symbiotic Visions: Increasing Engagement And Motivation Through Vision Alignment, Jodi Berg

Student Scholarship

It is believed that symbiotic visions can drive employees and organizations toward a common objective based on the premise that people will attain a higher level of motivation and engagement when they are working toward a personal purpose. The field of organizational development has been aspiring to help organizations and people align their vision for decades without much, if any, empirical support for the assumption that alignment helps. This qualitative study examines the impact of a company's aspirational vision statement, or higher purpose, on motivating and engaging employees. The presence and lack of congruency between senior managers' personal callings and …


Is Earnings Guidance A Treacherous Servant?, Thomas A. King Jul 2014

Is Earnings Guidance A Treacherous Servant?, Thomas A. King

Student Scholarship

In the wake of Enron-era scandals, some practitioners argue that earnings guidance ("management expects the firm to earn between $0.95 and $1.05 per share") invites dysfunctional behaviors as executives scramble to achieve previously announced targets. Guidance advocates counter that earnings forecasts simply reduce investor uncertainty. Quantitative analyses have not settled the matter. This qualitative study uses interviews of financial executives at 31 U.S. companies to explore how guidance influences managerial experiences. Primary findings are that executives fear credibility loss from reporting financial results that vary from guided estimates and that anxiety increases as guidance horizons stretch into the future and …


Playing To Win: Dynamics Of Teams That Innovate, Suzanne Piotrowski Jul 2014

Playing To Win: Dynamics Of Teams That Innovate, Suzanne Piotrowski

Student Scholarship

Innovation is critical for establishing and maintaining competitive advantage for today's organizations. The majority of organizational innovation occurs within teams established for the specific purpose of creating novel products and services. Innovation team research to date has focused largely on top-level management teams instead of on the teams within the organization charged with the task of innovating. As organization leaders seek better ways to initiate, develop and sustain innovation capabilities within their organizations, research on such teams has grown. To date this research has attended to elements of creative, learning and other knowledge creation processes. In contrast, relatively little attention …


How Hackers Think: Understanding The Mental Models And Cognitive Patterns Of High-Tech Wizards, Timothy C. Summers Jun 2014

How Hackers Think: Understanding The Mental Models And Cognitive Patterns Of High-Tech Wizards, Timothy C. Summers

Student Scholarship

Hackers seek out weaknesses in computers and networks that can be used to steal data or impact the functionality of the Internet. In the general sense, a hacker is a technologist with a love for computers and a "hack" is an inventive solution executed through non-obvious means. Hackers speak the language of code which propels the evolution of our information technology. This makes hackers the solvers of our largest, most complex issues facing technological systems. In consequence, they are experts at solving poorly understood and challenging technical problems in a variety of settings requiring deep understanding of technical detail and …


Does An It Organization Transform Its Identity When Engaged In Outsourcing?, Carol Mcguire Jan 2014

Does An It Organization Transform Its Identity When Engaged In Outsourcing?, Carol Mcguire

Student Scholarship

Firms have outsourced since the infant days of manufacturing. Many firms find that the ability to fill gaps in their expertise or gaps in human capital with individuals outside the organization is crucial to keep pace with customer demand. Much has been published about the decision making process and resulting impacts of outsourcing from business operations point of view, with financial considerations being extensively explored. But less has been published about the relationship between outsourcing and the identity of the organization engaged in outsourcing. Worldwide IT spending was estimated to be $2 Trillion in 2013 with approximately 12% directed to …


Situational Factors Influencing Sustained Volunteer Commitment In Professional Associations, Michael G. Niederpruem Jan 2014

Situational Factors Influencing Sustained Volunteer Commitment In Professional Associations, Michael G. Niederpruem

Student Scholarship

Professional associations rely on member volunteers to perform organizational work. Yet, half of these volunteers do not intend to volunteer in the future or are ambivalent towards future volunteering (Gazley, 2013). Combined with a dearth of empirical research on both professional associations in general (Webb & Abzug, 2008) and on the volunteer experience in particular (Wilson, 2012), this qualitative study utilizes grounded theory methodology to improve our understanding of the volunteer experience of volunteering at professional associations. Our aim is to determine how this experience occurs to professional volunteers, and in what ways this experience (or these experiences) lead to …


Support For Sister-Affiliated Ministries During Challenging Times: Understanding A Foundation Initiative In Two Regions, Robert L. Fischer Jan 2014

Support For Sister-Affiliated Ministries During Challenging Times: Understanding A Foundation Initiative In Two Regions, Robert L. Fischer

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the efforts of two foundations to sustain the ministries of Catholic sisters in two regions: northeast Ohio and South Carolina. Spanning more than 10 years, the initiative has drawn on multiple strategies – including convening, grantmaking, communicating, and research – in partnership with sisters themselves to sustain a diverse set of ministries. The work informs foundation practice by illuminating an approach to capacity development in very different regional contexts. Key lessons include being sensitive to the context, paying attention to both individual and organizational capacity, and the need for data.


Energy Development In Africa And The Performance Of Renewable Energy Projects, Yohannes Haile Dec 2013

Energy Development In Africa And The Performance Of Renewable Energy Projects, Yohannes Haile

Student Scholarship

Africa has abundant energy resources; however, it is estimated that no more than 30% of its population has access to reliable and sustainable grid electricity. Furthermore, only 50% of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are expected to have universal access to electricity by 2050. Literatures identify affordability, financing mechanisms, and policy instruments as key factors for the performance of renewable energy projects. Our research data has revealed that the performance of renewable energy systems cannot be viewed or determined in isolation (contextual reduction) from the social system of the host community. Furthermore, the performance of renewable energy projects is …


The Strategic Decision-Making Process Of The Board And Its Impact On Decision Outcomes, Mark T. Engle Aug 2013

The Strategic Decision-Making Process Of The Board And Its Impact On Decision Outcomes, Mark T. Engle

Student Scholarship

Associations have the capacity to transform society because every day they touch people's lives in meaningful ways. Association boards of directors have the tremendous responsibility of being the key decision-making body for their organizations. Too often they fail to deliver crucial decisions for consequential issues. How do association boards make high-quality, consequential decisions? This study, which spanned more than 3 years, produced a body of research that can help association chief executive officers (CEOs) and board presidents lead their boards toward making wise decisions. Key variables studied during the research project included decision consensus and decision quality, procedural justice, strategic …


Decision Styles Of Corporate Leaders: Do Differences Make A Difference, Sherry Sanger Jul 2013

Decision Styles Of Corporate Leaders: Do Differences Make A Difference, Sherry Sanger

Student Scholarship

Ineffective decision making at the top rungs of organizations is a perennial concern, yet empirical research into the decision styles of corporate leaders is scant. Conceptually sound and psychometrically validated constructs for alternative decision styles of corporate leaders are rare. This study develops and validates a multi-dimensional measure of different decision styles used by corporate leaders. Structural equation modeling is used to examine if different decision styles are associated with different performance outcomes for strategic decisions related to new opportunities. The three dimensions of decision styles evidence convergent and discriminant validity in a sample of 100 Corporate Leaders. In addition, …


Effects Of Changes In Temperature On Mechanical Behavior Of Bulk Metallic Glasses And Bmg Composites, Jessica A. Booth, S. Mohsen Seifi, John J. Lewandowski Apr 2013

Effects Of Changes In Temperature On Mechanical Behavior Of Bulk Metallic Glasses And Bmg Composites, Jessica A. Booth, S. Mohsen Seifi, John J. Lewandowski

Student Scholarship

Fracture and fracture toughness behavior of Zr-based metallic glass composites were investigated while varying test temperature. Samples were tested in tension and three-point bending to determine the effect of temperature change on the tensile strength, ductility, fracture toughness and fracture surface appearance. Significant effects of changes in the test temperature were observed. Fracture surface observations showed ductile and brittle features which were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques.


Embedding In Organizations: Individuals' Perspective Of The Effects Of Internal Versus External Focus On Team Adaptability And Potency, Heather Grooms Apr 2013

Embedding In Organizations: Individuals' Perspective Of The Effects Of Internal Versus External Focus On Team Adaptability And Potency, Heather Grooms

Student Scholarship

Teams must balance internally focused interactions with externally focused processes of embedding in organizations. These inputs and processes influence the team's ability to manage changing tasks, goals, and priorities as well as build confidence in its capability to achieve its goals which may be predictive of performance. We utilized factor analyses to verify our constructs and structural equation modeling to test direct effects, mediation effects, and moderation to analyze responses to our survey. This study was informed at the individual level by participants on workplace teams from more than 10 industries, the majority in healthcare and education. What emerged was …


The "People" In Science: Identifying Lived Experiences Of Physician Scientists In Academic Medical Centers, Philip A. Cola Jan 2013

The "People" In Science: Identifying Lived Experiences Of Physician Scientists In Academic Medical Centers, Philip A. Cola

Student Scholarship

Inefficient knowledge transfer in biomedical sciences impacts quality and cost of healthcare while increasing economic burden. Such is of tremendous interest to society and practitioner scholars alike as we are encountering the situation where less physician scientists are entering this system making them "endangered" due to the challenging crossroads they experience in this journey. In this study, we hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the challenges by determining factors that influence physician scientist lived experiences. How and to what extent do experience, motivation & skills, education & training, environment and institutional mission impact their role performance regarding knowledge creation, …


The Institutional-Professoriate Tension: Scholarship Identity And Academic Alignment That Impact Scholars' Productivity And Well-Being, Milagros Pereyra-Rojas Jan 2013

The Institutional-Professoriate Tension: Scholarship Identity And Academic Alignment That Impact Scholars' Productivity And Well-Being, Milagros Pereyra-Rojas

Student Scholarship

Scholars and institutions alike are concerned with academic productivity. Scholars not only further knowledge in their professional fields, they also bring visibility and prestige to themselves and their institutions, which in turn attracts research grants and more qualified faculty and graduate students. Many studies have been done on scholar productivity; however, most of them focus on individual factors such as gender, marital status, and psychological characteristics rather than intrinsic academic factors such as scholars' academic values, institutional expectations and academic alignment between the scholar and the institution. In this study, we developed measures for the different kinds of scholarship based …


Understanding Supply Chain Resiliency: Identification Of The Factors Contributing To Performance, David Widdifield Jan 2013

Understanding Supply Chain Resiliency: Identification Of The Factors Contributing To Performance, David Widdifield

Student Scholarship

Businesses view supply chain operations as critical components to customer satisfaction, market competitiveness, and profitability. Over the last decade, these operations have been exposed to ever increasing levels of disruption risk from sources such as cultural differences, geography, managerial actions, shifting market demand and supply, and technological changes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the types and management of risks within the supply chains of large US base companies in the apparel, footwear, nutritional supplement and supply chain services sectors operating on a global basis. We intend to compare relevant frameworks within extant literature and data obtained during …


Design For Social Change: Consequential Shifts In The Designer's Role, Mariana V. Amatullo Jan 2013

Design For Social Change: Consequential Shifts In The Designer's Role, Mariana V. Amatullo

Student Scholarship

This study focuses on the shifting role of the designer as change agent in the 21st century. The investigation includes four case studies in which designers are addressing human needs linked to large-scale social, cultural and economic challenges. These cases underscore how designers contribute to and experience complex projects in which their expertise is deployed among multidisciplinary teams with a transdisciplinary focus across a variety of organizational structures. Key aims were to uncover 1) what the distinct methods to inquiry put forth by the various design groups are, and in turn, what critical implications arise for organizational practice as a …


Enhancing Firm Profitability By Improving Director Dynamics, Solange Charas Jan 2013

Enhancing Firm Profitability By Improving Director Dynamics, Solange Charas

Student Scholarship

Board performance research focused on individual director's economically-motivated behaviors and outcomes has generated inconsistent and disappointing results. Most research does not consider the board as a team, despite recent calls for a focus on collective board processes and behaviors. As 90% of directors rate their individual performance at very effective but only 30% rate overall board performance at an equivalent level, it is obvious that this gap needs to be addressed. The discrepancy between individual and team performance effectiveness was the focus of this research, based on original data from 182 directors and their assessment of their board's dynamic, team …


Institutional Factors Influencing The Effectiveness Of Scientist-Physician Partnerships In Biomedical Research, Yunmei Wang Jan 2013

Institutional Factors Influencing The Effectiveness Of Scientist-Physician Partnerships In Biomedical Research, Yunmei Wang

Student Scholarship

Substantial resources invested in biomedical research have generated revolutionary discoveries in medical science. However, it takes on average 17 years to turn about 14% of research findings into changes that benefit patients. Lack of scientist-physician partnership (SPP) is one main reason for the extremely slow translation of science into medical practice. Our previous study identified several institutional and socio-cultural barriers that hinder SPP and slow down knowledge transfer in medicine. However, the relationships among the identified factors, as well as the prevalence of their impacts on scientist-physician partnership and transfer of knowledge are not clear. This study focuses on the …


Leading In Combat: The Role Of Situation Awareness And Perceived Control During In Extremis Situations, Deirdre Dixon Jan 2013

Leading In Combat: The Role Of Situation Awareness And Perceived Control During In Extremis Situations, Deirdre Dixon

Student Scholarship

For military teams faced with the threat of death, this study found that the generally accepted positive effects of training and experience may be insufficient to ensure survival and met mission goals. Positive outcomes of acute--or "at the point of death"--events encountered by military team leaders did not correlate with general training, overall team leadership experience or frequency of experience. Survey responses of 494 military team leaders reveals situation awareness and perceived control trump training and experience in positive outcomes of in extremis events. These results empirically support the rapidly accreting, but, to date, mostly theoretical literature on situation awareness …


Managerial And Organizational Factors That Influence A Firm's Safety And Environmental Performance: An Examination Of The Fortune 500 Companies, David Klossner Jan 2013

Managerial And Organizational Factors That Influence A Firm's Safety And Environmental Performance: An Examination Of The Fortune 500 Companies, David Klossner

Student Scholarship

This research seeks to illuminate which managerial and organizational factors lead large corporations to operate in an environmentally conscious manner. We used a blended quantitative approach to test the effects of managerial and organizational factors on a corporation's environmental performance. We used three data sets: (a) firm's actual environmental performance, (b) firm's actual safety performance, and (c) survey from top executives of the Fortune 500 companies. Our data shows that profit seeking positively affects environmental performance; in contrast, a manager's intrinsic values have little effect; and surprisingly a corporation's environmental performance is inversely related to coercive external pressure and risk …


Strategic Anticipation: Toward An Understanding Of How Managers Anticipate Strategic Moves, Gabriel Berczely Jan 2013

Strategic Anticipation: Toward An Understanding Of How Managers Anticipate Strategic Moves, Gabriel Berczely

Student Scholarship

Strategic anticipation refers to the capacity to anticipate possible future strategic scenarios and thus anticipate required strategic moves in response to them. The academic community has produced significant literature regarding strategy formulation and implementation, but very little has been published in regard to what managers actually do, and should do, to anticipate the need for a strategic change. This study aims to uncover factors that influence the capacity for strategic anticipation. This paper reports on a qualitative, interviewed based, grounded theory study I conducted on the strategy practices of successful CEOs in Chile. I discovered that Mintzberg’s critique of the …


Change And Discomfort In Academia: How Far Should We Stretch In Our Readiness For Change?, Laurie A. Branch Jan 2013

Change And Discomfort In Academia: How Far Should We Stretch In Our Readiness For Change?, Laurie A. Branch

Student Scholarship

Employee attitudes and their effect on successful implementation of organizational changes continue to engross researchers and practitioners alike. In this study, we investigated the significance and nature of discomfort as it affects readiness for change in business school settings. This choice of context is deliberate. There is a strong push for change in business schools to align with market needs and there are high levels of individual and collective efficacy. Our findings indicate discomfort as a mediator explains significantly more variation in readiness than is explained by perceived collective efficacy. Surprisingly, we found that some forms of discomfort such as …