Business Commons^™

The Impact Of Growth Mindset Training On Entrepreneurial Action Among Necessity Entrepreneurs: Evidence From A Randomized Control Trial, Shad Morris, W. Chad Carlos, Geoffrey Kistruck, Robert Lount, Tumsify Elly Thomas

Faculty Publications

Although entrepreneurship training programs are designed to help necessity entrepreneurs acquire skills and capabilities to take entrepreneurial action, participants in these programs often fail to do so. In partnership with a local government agency, we conducted a randomized field experiment involving 165 entrepreneurs in rural Tanzania where in addition to providing technical-skills training, approximately half of the participants also received ‘growth mindset’ psychological training. Those who received the growth mindset training displayed more entrepreneurial action in their business than those in the control group. Importantly, higher levels of entrepreneurial self efficacy mediated the positive impact on entrepreneurial action displayed by …

Leadership And Its Impact On Supervision In The Hospitality Industry, Patricia Peprah, Williams Kwasi Peprah

Faculty Publications

The hospitality industry has a high human capital requirement that depends on leadership to provide supervision for the utmost customer satisfaction. Based on this, this research looks at the impact of leadership on supervision among hotels in Ghana. This research was a causal research design. It investigated the correlational effect of leadership on supervision in the hospitality industry in Ghana. Data obtained from Ghana Tourism Authority’s National Data 2020 on Tourism Human Resource put the employees of 3 to 5 stars hotels as the study population at 7,347. The researcher used a Raosoft sample size calculator to determine a sample …

Avoiding The Appearance Of Virtue: Reactivity To Corporate Social Responsibility Ratings In An Era Of Shareholder Primacy, Ben W. Lewis, W. Chad Carlos

Faculty Publications

We examine why organizations may at times decrease their performance after receiving a positive rating. We argue that in contrast to the prevailing assumption that organizations will strive for favorable ratings to achieve reputational benefits, incompatibility between a positive rating and a dominant institutional logic may cause recognized firms to question the perceived value of maintaining superior performance, thus leading them to strategically reduce their efforts on the rated dimension. Using a difference-in-differences design, we examine how companies responded to being rated as charitable organizations, an evaluation that we argue was generally perceived as incompatible with the dominant logic of …

Leading Through Paradox In A Covid-19 World: Human Resources Comes Of Age, David G. Collings, Anthony J. Nyberg, Patrick M. Wright, John Mcmackin

Faculty Publications

The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is unprecedented. At an organisational level, the crisis has been hugely disruptive, complex and fraught with ambiguity for leaders. The crisis is fundamentally a human one, making human resource (HR) leaders central in enabling organisations to manage through and ultimately exit the crisis successfully. We apply a paradox lens to understand the HR leadership challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. We argue that how the HR function responds to the challenges of the crisis and its role in mapping the exit route from the crisis are likely to shape the trajectory of …

The Convergence Of Online Teaching And Problem Based Learning Modules Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic, Daniel Bumblauskas, Nick Vyas

Faculty Publications

There is a convergence unfolding between two formerly unique and separate areas of teaching research methodology: distance education and problem-based learning (PBL) environments. Much has been published on each field independently, however, in the modern-era of online, distance, and hybrid educational programs there is a need for more case and experiential-based learning activities which can effectively measure stated learning objectives. Trends in education have led to the development of various methods to instruct courses and conduct research online. Teaching research methodology and pedagogy have evolved to include video capture, remote conferencing, and other real-time communications techniques allowing faculty and students …

Strategic Human Resource Management And Covid-19: Emerging Challenges And Research Opportunities, David G. Collings, John Mcmackin, Anthony Nyberg, Patrick M. Wright

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Use Of Factors In Development Estimates: Improving The Cost Analysis Toolkit, Matthew R. Markman, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Edward D. White

Faculty Publications

Factor Estimating is a technique commonly used by defense acquisition analysts to develop cost estimations. However, previous studies developing factors for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the life cycle are limited. This research expands the current toolkit for cost analysts by developing cost factors in previously unexplored areas. More specifically, over 400 cost reports are utilized to create new standard cost factors that are delineated by five categories: commodity type, contract type, contractor type, development type, and Service. The factors are developed for those elements that are common in a wide array of projects such as program …

Agile Software Development: Creating A Cost Of Delay Framework For Air Force Software Factories, J. Goljan, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Scott Drylie, Edward D. White

Faculty Publications

The Air Force software development environment is experiencing a paradigm shift. The 2019 Defense Innovation Board concluded that speed and cycle time must become the most important software metrics if the US military is to maintain its advantage over adversaries.¹ This article proposes utilizing a cost-o­f-d­elay (CoD) framework to prioritize projects toward optimizing readiness. Cost-­of-d­elay is defined as the economic impact resulting from a delaying product delivery or, said another way, opportunity cost. In principle, CoD assesses the negative impacts resulting from changes to the priority of a project.

A Learning Curve Model Accounting For The Flattening Effect In Production Cycles, Evan R. Boone, John J. Elshaw, Clay M. Koschnick, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Adedeji B. Badiru

Faculty Publications

We investigate production cost estimates to identify and model modifications to a prescribed learning curve. Our new model examines the learning rate as a decreasing function over time as opposed to a constant rate that is frequently used. The purpose of this research is to determine whether a new learning curve model could be implemented to reduce the error in cost estimates for production processes. A new model was created that mathematically allows for a “flattening effect,” which typically occurs later in the production process. This model was then compared to Wright’s learning curve, which is a popular method used …

Be Like Me: The Effects Of Manager-Supervisor Alignment, Johanna Anzengruber, Sabine Bergner, Herbert Nold, Daniel Bumblauskas

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study examines whether managerial capability fit between line-managers, middle-managers, and top-level managers enhances effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach: Effectiveness data and managerial capability ratings from more than 1,600 manager-supervisor dyads were collected in the United States and Germany. Polynomial regression was used to study the relation between manager-supervisor fit and managerial effectiveness.

Findings: Our results indicate that the fit of managerial capabilities between a manager and his/her supervisor predicts the effectiveness of this manager. The most effective managers show particularly high managerial capabilities that are in line with predominantly high managerial capabilities of their supervisors. Two aspects are …

Applications Of Open Innovation To The Supply Chain System In The Smes, Taeho Park, Tianqin Shi, Ming Zhou, Shu Zhou

Faculty Publications

The close-knitted structure of a supply chain seems to leave no room for the word 'open'. Closeness builds trust, enables information sharing, benefits transportation and more. Somehow, openness started to benefit supply chain management recently, through a trend called 'open innovation'. Based on gathered anecdotes and our interviews of industry professionals, we attempted to present a more complete picture of open innovation in supply chain management, including its potential benefits, major concerns, adoption hurdles, and future solutions. Our findings identified current perceptions of supply chain practitioners on open innovation and major hurdles and difficulties of implementing open innovation in supply …

Combat And Trajectories Of Physical Health Functioning In Us Service Members, Ben Porter, George A. Bonanno, Paul D. Bliese, Christopher J. Philips, Susan P. Proctor

Faculty Publications

Introduction

Previous research has demonstrated that different forms of mental health trajectories can be observed in service members, and that these trajectories are related to combat. However, limited research has examined this phenomenon in relation to physical health. This study aims to determine how combat exposure relates to trajectories of physical health functioning in U.S. service members.

Methods

This study included 11,950 Millennium Cohort Study participants who had an index deployment between 2001 and 2005. Self-reported physical health functioning was obtained 5 times between 2001 and 2016 (analyzed in 2017), and latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify longitudinal …

Toward A Temporal Theory Of Faultlines And Subgroup Entrenchment, Alyson Meister, Sherry Thatcher, Jieun Park, Mark Maltarich

Faculty Publications

A wealth of scholarship shows that faultlines drive important outcomes for groups. However, despite mounting calls for incorporating time in the group literature, our understanding of faultlines is bound by assumptions that constrain our ability to incorporate the crucial role of time as it relates to faultlines and their effects. Drawing together guidance for exploring temporal phenomena, with the faultline and group literatures, we embark on an understanding of the temporal nature of faultlines. We distinguish faultlines from specific subgroup configurations by introducing the concept of subgroup entrenchment – the agreement among group members about the existence and composition of …

The Evolution Of A Christian Business School's Mission--Bringing "Business As Mission" To A Business School's Mission, Chuck Capps, Rob Touchstone, Ray Eldridge, Leanne Smith, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

Colleges of business typically seek accreditation to achieve legitimacy and raise their reputations. Major business school accreditors (AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE) all base their accreditation standards on college-created mission statements. This paper describes how one Christian business school developed a unique mission statement in response to both accreditation standards and as a spiritual transformation catalyst. This statement calls for the college to “develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus,” and it is now being inculcated through curricular and co-curricular activities. This paper details how three programs in particular: Business as Mission, Servant Leadership, and Service Learning—manifest …

Promoting Cross-Functional Team Interactions Within General Business Classes, Christopher J. Mckenna

Faculty Publications

This session discusses an attempt to integrate both unitary team and cross-functional team deliverables among general business students designing a complex client solution within an “IT for managers” class.

Green Leaf Grocery - Executive Compensation Case Study, Marcus Z. Cox, Robert M. Crocker

Faculty Publications

The primary purpose of this teaching case is to aid students in understanding how executive compensation plans are utilized to achieve organizational goals and to then construct their own executive compensation plan for the CEO of Greenleaf Grocery, a fictional retail business based on an actual company.

Students have the opportunity to create a comprehensive executive compensation plan using salary, bonuses, stock options, benefits, and other compensation tools. Additionally, the case provides the opportunity to discuss the use of both short-term and long-term incentive compensation. The company in this case is poised to undertake an initial public offering of stock …

Curvilinear Relationship Between Diversification And Performance: A Replication And Extension Of Previous Research, Phil Stetz, Elton Scifres

Faculty Publications

As argued in most strategic management textbooks, the relationship between diversification and performance is curvilinear and firms pursuing a related diversification strategy outperform those firms pursuing a dominant or an unrelated diversification strategy. Using SAS modeling techniques and controlling for industry, corporate and business unit effects new insights were gleaned with regards to the relationship between diversification and performance. The implications to performance (statistical significance), given the type and extent of diversification strategies, are discussed resulting in a deeper understanding of how the complex relationships between performance and diversification play out across the entire diversification spectrum.

Orchids Paper Company 2014-2015, John K. Masters, Pamela P. Rogers

Faculty Publications

This case captures Orchids Paper Company at a time of significant change internally and in its environment. It presents opportunities to examine the concept of fit between Strategy, Environment, and Resources to maximize profit potential. The nature of Orchids’ products and industry facilitate the case’s accessibility, since Orchids operates in an industry which is fairly simple to understand (paper manufacturing). The case is intended for use in business policy and strategy classes at the undergraduate or MBA level, but might be used in operations, supply chain, finance, accounting or marketing classes by focusing on specific questions facing the firm.

Management Communication Failures In Faculty Hiring Processes: A Case Study, Christopher J. Mckenna

Faculty Publications

While universities contribute directly to the future successes of students through the delivery of content knowledge and the development of key career skills, they might also reasonably be expected to model the “best practices” of industry professionals. However, based upon a three-year study of the communications between universities and graduate students applying to nearly two-hundred faculty positions, universities often fail the best practice test when interacting with job candidates. Ironically, they do so even when recruiting for faculty positions that target candidates specializing in the pedagogies and practices of effective communication.

Local County Hospital: A Review Of Challenges And Opportunities, Mary Fischer, Treba Marsh

Faculty Publications

There are multiple factors regarding current health care delivery in the U.S. These factors include the high-priced medical care, hospitals, equipment, and pharmaceutical charges, and the private system of health insurance. This discussion looks at these factors’ impact on Local County Hospital ranging from Obamacare to a host of other challenges. The hospital is going through difficult times as it struggles to make ends meet. Although it will take time to adjust to an inconsistent environment and changing health care industry, Local County Hospital continues to focus on the patients first and attempts to keep the region healthy.

Unmasking Cost Growth Behavior: A Longitudinal Study, Cory N. D'Amico, Edward D. White, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Scott R. Kozlak

Faculty Publications

This article examines how cost growth factors (CGF) change over a program’s acquisition life cycle for 36 Department of Defense aircraft programs. Starting from Milestone B, the authors examine CGFs at five gateways: Critical Design Review, First Flight (FF), the end of Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E), Initial Operational Capability, and Full Operational Capability. Each CGF is assigned a color rating based upon the program’s cost growth: Green (low), Amber (moderate), or Red (high). Significant findings include dependencies among similar CGF color ratings and cost growth occurring primarily between FF and the end of DT&E during a program’s life cycle.

Innovation In Ill-Structured Decision-Making By Teams: Contributions Of What Members Say And Don’T Say And How They Are Related, Steven D. Silver

Faculty Publications

The contributions of both types of information that are exchanged and coaction in silence to innovation objectives of decision-making teams are considered. Ideation and idea generation are recognized as critical to innovation in decisions that are ill structured. We focus on coaction in silence and the conditions in interaction that are likely to facilitate idea generation. Integration of ideas and evaluations that are likely to contribute most to the quality of decisions are given explicit forms. Major contentions of the account are examined in experimental data.

Manu Militari: The Institutional Contingencies Of Stakeholder Relationships On Entrepreneurial Performance, Shon R. Hiatt, W. Chad Carlos, Wesley D. Sine

Faculty Publications

This study examines how ventures can leverage relationships with heterogeneous government stakeholders to enhance survival in different institutional environments. We consider how the distinct resources provided from venture ties to military and political actors represent complementary strategic assets that differentially influence performance in varying political and economic environments as well as under conditions of violence and political conflict. Empirically, we examine the effect of these respective stakeholder relationships on new venture survival across 10 countries over a 65-year period. By distinguishing between the resources obtained through relationships with different types of government stakeholders and showing how the value of these …

When Life Throws A Curve: Mid - Course Financial Corrections, Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

A presentation on mid-course financial corrections given at the mid-American union conference pastors convention, August 2017

Transparency, Accountability, Governance, And Ethics, Annetta M. Gibson

Faculty Publications

Presentation for the SPD 2017 Business Professional Convention, May 16, 2017

Strategic Silence: Withholding Certification Status As A Hypocrisy Avoidance Tactic, W. Chad Carlos, Ben William Lewis

Faculty Publications

We examine why organizations that obtain prominent certifications may at times elect not to publicize them. Drawing on the impression management literature, we argue and show that concerns about being perceived as hypocritical may cause organizations to strategically withhold their certification status. Using a longitudinal panel of corporations that were members of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a prominent environmental certification, we show that in the face of reputational threats, organizations are less likely to publicize their certification status when the threat appears to directly contradict the claims implied by the certification. Our findings suggest that the threat of hypocrisy …

Special Business Entity Reporting: One Plugged Hole Is Better Than None, Mary Fischer, Treba Marsh

Faculty Publications

This discussion includes an overview of special business entities and their status and outlines legitimate uses. It also illustrates what can and has happened, when individuals who lack integrity direct special business entities. Problems are identified that can arise when special business entities are not used as they were intended, namely, inaccurate financial reporting. The company in the illustration walked the line between legal and illegal, but was past the line of what was morally right, and in the shareholder’s best interest. The discussion concludes with an accounting solution for the special business entity problems.

The Impact Of Learning Curve Model Selection And Criteria For Cost Estimation Accuracy In The Dod, Candace Honious, Brandon Johnson, John J. Elshaw, A. B. Badiru

Faculty Publications

The first part of this manuscript examines the impact of configuration changes to the learning curve when implemented during production. This research is a study on the impact to the learning curve slope when production is continuous but a configuration change occurs. Analysis discovered the learning curve slope after a configuration change is different from the stable learning curve slope pre-configuration change. The newly configured units were statistically different from previous units. This supports that the new configuration should be estimated with a new learning curve equation. The research also discovered the post-configuration slope is always steeper than the stable …

Developing A Risk Model To Target High-Risk Preventive Interventions For Sexual Assault Victimization Among Female U.S. Army Soldiers, Amy E. Street, Anthony J. Rosellini, Robert J. Ursano, Steven G. Heeringa, Eric D. Hill, John Monahan, James A. Naifeh, Maria V. Petukhova, Ben Y. Reis, Nancy A. Sampson, Paul D. Biese, Murray B. Stein, Alan M. Zaslavsky, Ronald C. Kessler

Faculty Publications

Sexual violence victimization is a significant problem among female U.S. military personnel. Preventive interventions for high-risk individuals might reduce prevalence but would require accurate targeting. We attempted to develop a targeting model for female Regular U.S. Army soldiers based on theoretically guided predictors abstracted from administrative data records. As administrative reports of sexual assault victimization are known to be incomplete, parallel machine learning models were developed to predict administratively recorded (in the population) and self-reported (in a representative survey) victimization. Capture–recapture methods were used to combine predictions across models. Key predictors included low status, crime involvement, and treated mental disorders. …

Acquisition Challenge: The Importance Of Incompressibility In Comparing Learning Curve Models, Justin R. Moore, John J. Elshaw, Adedeji B. Badiru, Jonathan D. Ritschel

Faculty Publications

The Department of Defense (DoD) cost estimating methodology currently employs T. P. Wrights 75-plus-year-old learning curve formula. The goal of this research was to examine alternative learning curve models and determine if a more reliable and valid cost estimation method exists, which could be incorporated within the DoD acquisition environment. This study tested three alternative learning models (the Stanford-B model, DeJong's learning formula, and the S-Curve model) to compare predicted against actual costs for the F-15 A-E jet fighter platform. The results indicate that the S-Curve and DeJong models offer improvement over current estimation techniques, but more importantly and unexpectedly …