Business Commons^™

Are You Ready? A Proposed Framework For The Assessment Of Digital Forensic Readiness, Andres Felipe Diaz Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops a framework to assess Digital Forensic Readiness (DFR) in organizations. DFR is the state of preparedness to obtain, understand, and present digital evidence when needed. This research collects indicators of digital forensic readiness from a systematic literature review. More than one thousand indicators were found and semantically analyzed to identify the dimensions to where they belong. These dimensions were subjected to a q-sort test and validated using association rules, producing a preliminary framework of DFR for practitioners. By classifying these indicators into dimensions, it was possible to distill them into 71 variables further classified into either extant …

A Little Difference Makes A Big Difference: Essays On The Link Between Top Management Team Traits And Strategic Marketing Decisions, Cameron Duncan Nicol

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of marketing is growing. This is not just a perception: CEOs appear to see its importance as well. Despite the increase in the understood importance of marketing, there still remains a relatively scant amount of research on the impact that can be had by top management team members on a firm's strategic marketing outcomes. The research which follows explores an important question that has previously been comparatively neglected by researchers: what top management team individual differences can impact the strategic marketing outcomes of the firm? The first essay, based on a multi-industry sample of 325 publicly listed fortune …

Exploring Strategies Of American Small Business Owners In United Arab Emirates, Shelley D. Mosley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The International Trade Administration reported that 70% of worldwide revenue for American businesses comes from consumers in emergent markets such as India, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country that many American small business owners are not operating in and capitalizing on the financial opportunities that are available. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies American small business owners use in successful international entrepreneurship for increased revenue and operational longevity. The study population consisted of 5 American small business entrepreneurs who had succeeded operating in the UAE for …

Engagement Strategies To Reduce Registered Nurse Turnover In Hospitals, Robert Neeley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Skilled and experienced registered nurse employees are critical to the organizational success and stability of hospitals, but an annual average registered nurse turnover rate of 14% can result in financial losses of millions of dollars annually for the typical hospital in the United States. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the engagement strategies hospital nurse managers use to retain registered nurses. The study population included 8 nurse managers employed by hospitals in West Central Florida who have successfully implemented engagement strategies to retain registered nurses. The conceptual framework for the study was based on systems theory …

Strategies For Improving The Performance Of Project Managers In South Sudan, John Paul Mogere Ong'ondi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders persistently face the challenges of project failures. Lack of proper project alignment with business strategies is a major contributor to less successful project outcomes. One major concern of project managers in South Sudan is that misalignment of the project management processes with business strategies could result in project delays and cost overruns. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies 8 project managers from 2 telecommunication companies use to align project management processes with business strategies to improve project performance in Juba, South Sudan. Using hoshin kanri as the conceptual framework for this study, semistructured …

Improving The Efficiency Of Mortgage Loan Modification, Devan Pierce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A majority of delinquent mortgage loans during the foreclosure crises were unmodified. Lending institutions lost on average 50% of a home's value in future profit from each foreclosure. The purpose of this single case study was to explore what strategies mortgage loan officers might use to improve the selection of delinquent borrowers for mortgage loan modification. The conceptual framework for this study was contract theory. The target population included mortgage loan officers from one community bank who successfully implemented strategies to modify loans for delinquent borrowers during the foreclosure crisis. Semistructured interviews were the data collection method. Emergent themes were …

Communication Strategies Used During Organizational Change In A Health Care Organization, Amber Rose Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 4.9 million businesses exist in the United States, and leaders within these businesses have to acclimate to change. Clear and effective communication is vital to the success of an organization. According to scholars and health care leaders focusing on strategies to communicate change during organizational change is a critical aspect of sustainability and profitability. The conceptual framework of this study was communication theory. The purpose of this single case study was to explore successful strategies that some health care leaders used to communicate during organizational change in a health care organization in El Paso, Texas. The data collection …

The Effects Of Management On Commitment In The Retail Industry, Terrance D. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of employee commitment costs retail organizations billions of dollars annually in the form of decreased effectiveness, profits, and retention rates. The purpose of this case study was to identify effective strategies used by retail store managers that lead to employee commitment to increase business performance. The study population was 8,230 retail store managers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. The conceptual framework for this study was the Meyer and Allen 3-component model of commitment. Participants were purposefully selected for their knowledge, experience and success in implementing effective retention strategies. Data were collected via face-to-face semistructured interviews, indirect participant observations, …

Matching Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies To Organizational Goals, Jason P. Vitelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many Fortune 500 organizations have policies about corporate social responsibility (CSR), but the leaders struggle to implement CSR policies that match corporate stated goals and objectives. The purpose of this case study was to explore whether leaders' CSR strategies matched the goals and objectives of the company. Twenty individuals located in New York, NY, United States, with various management-level positions, and who had experiences with CSR in a Fortune 500 organization with a CSR policy, participated in the current study. The conceptual framework was corporate social responsibility stakeholder theory. Data collection consisted of a semistructured interview with the leaders about …

Business Strategies For Small Business Survival, Betty Wong Lum

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners play a leading role in the United States economy by creating jobs and driving innovation. However, half of all new small business owners close their doors before their 5th anniversary. Following the entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what strategies 5 small business owners in the food and beverage industry in the San Francisco Bay area used to survive beyond 5 years of operation. Data sources included semistructured interviews and company documents. Data analysis included descriptive and process coding of the data and use of NVivo to identify themes. Based on …

Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Financial Performance, Christopher Lim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumers are demanding that corporations become more socially responsible. Executives are challenged to maximize shareholders' returns with achieving a favorable corporate citizen status. The research problem was a gap in knowledge and understanding of the impact of corporate social responsibility on financial performance. This study used multiple linear regression to assess the relationship between key indicators of corporate social responsibility and financial performance from 372 corporations in the S&P500 in 2014. The theoretical foundation was Freeman's stakeholder theory. Environment, community, human rights, diversity, employee relations, product quality, and corporate governance were measures of social performance. Return on assets was used …

Social Loafing Construct Validity In Higher Education: How Well Do Three Measures Of Social Loafing Stand Up To Scrutiny?, Jacquelyn Deleau

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity of social loafing using convergent and discriminant validity principles. Three instruments that purport to measure social loafing were factor analyzed: A ten-item instrument by George (1992), a 13-item instrument by Mulvey and Klein (1998), and a 22-item instrument by Jassawalla, Sashittal, and Malshe (2009) for a total of 45 items that were compiled into a single instrument with which data were collected, correlated, and factor analyzed.

One hundred and sixty graduate and undergraduates enrolled in management courses at a small private Northern California university were surveyed. Thirteen classes were …

Sustainability Strategies For Small Business Restaurant Owners, Alisa Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Half of new businesses in the United States cease to exist after the first 5 years of operations, and the failure rate continues to increase after the first 10 years. The study was grounded on von Bertalanffy's systems theory to explore business strategies that small business restaurant owners use to sustain their business beyond 5 years. Data were collected by engaging 3 small restaurant business owners in the Little Rock, Arkansas metropolis who sustained their business beyond 5 years. Information obtained from face-to-face interviews and data mining organizational document were analyzed with the support of qualitative software to generate themes. …

Strategies To Manage Enterprise Information Technology Projects, Mario West

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2005, most midsize company information technology (IT) projects had a 62.4% failure rate because of wrong project team communication skills or cost overruns. IT leaders expect negative IT project outcomes will cost over $2 billion by 2020. Using the actor-network theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by IT leaders from a midsize IT company in Washington, D.C. to plan and execute projects under budget and on time. Using purposeful sampling, 5 IT leaders were selected for this study because of their experience in implementing successful strategies for projects. Data were collected using …

Strategies To Reduce Cost Overruns And Schedule Delays In Construction Projects, Ali Al-Keim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior managers fail to control time and costs of construction projects despite available advanced project management tools. Based on project management theory, the objective of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies senior managers use to reduce cost overruns and schedule delays in construction projects. Primary data were obtained from semistructured interviews with 3 senior managers from different construction project management companies who have successfully managed construction projects in Qatar. Data analysis process included a modified Van Kaam method. The transcribed interviews were interpreted and coded to generate themes and were validated through member checking and archival documents. …

Effective Stakeholder Management Strategies For Information Technology Projects, Andrew Stephen Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information Technology (IT) projects have become critical to business strategy. However, one major issue is that, historically, IT projects have high failure rates, with scholars asserting that ineffective stakeholder management strategies were a major factor for project failure. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies IT executives use for managing IT project stakeholders by exploring the experiences of 2 CIOs and 4 IT directors in two multinational companies, based in Switzerland. Stakeholder theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and company documentation, and analyzed using Yin's 5-step data analysis …

Strategies For Increased Productivity Through Control Of Process Constraints, Fabian Aniemene

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Nigeria, manufacturing businesses play a vital role in the industrial growth of the nation and have many dynamic benefits crucial for the growth of a sustainable economy. The manufacturing sector has added substantially to the gross domestic products of many countries. Nonetheless, 50% of manufacturing firms in Nigeria experience a decline in production capacity utilization and profitability because of inefficient production processes. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies leaders of manufacturing firms in Nigeria use to support efficient manufacturing operations. The theory of constraints served as the conceptual framework for this study. Eight …

Business Alignment Strategies For Middle East Real Estate Construction Projects, Ali Chiri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the Middle East real estate industry, 46% of projects fail in terms of strategic dimensions. Based on the dynamic capabilities approach and contingency approach, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to identify the successful strategies project leaders used to improve the alignment of projects with business strategy. Data were collected from 7 Skype semistructured interviews with real estate construction project leaders from 3 real estate organizations ranked among the top 10 in the Middle East. Public organizational documents were used for methodological triangulation. A thematic coding approach was adopted following a nonlinear sequential process that involved …

Exploring The Impact Of Shared Leadership Styles And Nonprofit Performance, Will Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empirical data have not adequately revealed current methods of nonprofit leadership in a way that reflects shared leadership in the nonprofit sector leaving nonprofit organizations (NPOs) at a disadvantage in relation to understanding and describing leadership effectiveness. Using a conceptual framework that incorporated organizational theory, shared leadership theory, path goal theory, transformational theory, leader member exchange, and fund development theory, this mini ethnographic study was conducted to explore the effect of leadership styles in shared leadership situations and the impact of matched and unmatched leadership styles on NPO funding performance. With the use of purposeful sampling to conduct the study, …

The Impacts Of Credit On Small Business Financing In Florida, Ike Chukwuma

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, small businesses represent 99.7% of firms that provide employment and account for over 50% of all private sector employment. Nevertheless, the rationing of small business borrowing is an indicative of acute credit constraints emanating from poverty, lack of collateral, lack of cosigners for bank loans, high administrative fees associated with processing credit loans, and information asymmetry along with other socioeconomic factors. In a 4-year study from 2004-2008, it was determined that small businesses suffer tremendously from credit rationing. The purpose of this study was to determine the induced effect of loan guarantee scheme, collateral, and leverage …

Racial Microaggressions, Faculty Motivation, And Job Satisfaction In Southeastern Universities, Saundra Elizabeth Carr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For racial minority faculty, racism is associated with adverse outcomes, including poor job satisfaction and less motivation, which may lead faculty to leave the teaching profession. It is unknown what relationships, if any, exist among perceived racial microaggression, job satisfaction, and employee motivation among African American (AA) faculty and other faculty of color in colleges and universities in the southeastern United States. Critical race theory provided a framework to investigate the relationship of perceived racial microaggressions toward AA faculty and other faculty of color with motivation and job satisfaction. This study involved a correlational design using multiple linear regressions to …

Amnesty As A Public Policy Tool For Countering Insurgence In Nigeria, Ayodeji A. Dada

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although research has been done on amnesty, little is known about amnesty as a public policy tool toward countering insurgence in Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of amnesty as a public policy tool. The research questions are: Is there a difference in people's view of amnesty that explain the relevance of infrastructural facilities to stimulate economic growth and development in Nigeria? And, are there specific citizen characteristics that explain the differences in the way citizens perceive amnesty as a public policy choice? The theoretical framework was based on Marx's ideology of conflict theory. This …

An Evaluation Of Customer Satisfaction Dimensions In The Ghanaian Banking Industry, Joyce Esther Dadzie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The banking industry in Ghana has seen tremendous growth in recent times. This exponential growth has led to high levels of competition and necessitated that all banks devise strategies to improve customer satisfaction to gain competitive advantage. The growing demands of customers have a significant impact on bank management's ability to attract and retain them. The ability to retain customers depends on the strategy in place to exceed customer expectations and satisfaction. Grounded in relationship marketing theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies banking leaders use to increase customer satisfaction. Data were collected through …

Strategic Leadership In Public Sector Administration In Nigeria, Joy Onyinye Eliogu-Anenih

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inefficiency in the public sector as a result of leadership ineptitude is said to have contributed significantly to the underdevelopment of Nigeria. This has led to the mismanagement of human and financial resources as well as contributed extensively to poor service delivery to the citizens. The research considered the critical role of public sector administration to the functionality of a society, noting that the major determinant for public sector success is leadership effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to identify how leadership ineffectiveness could be addressed in public sector administration in Nigeria and consider the implications of …

Relationships Between Women's Glass Ceiling Beliefs, Career Advancement Satisfaction, And Quit Intention, Michelle Roman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on the glass ceiling shows that women may encounter obstacles in their pursuit of high-level management positions. The purpose of this quantitative study was to test the explanatory style theoretical framework by examining relationships between women's glass ceiling beliefs, career advancement satisfaction, and quit intention and to determine whether satisfaction with career advancement opportunities mediated the relationship between glass ceilings beliefs and quit intention. Data were collected from 179 working women in the public or private sector and women who exited the public or private sector job market within the past 5 years via Web-based surveys. Glass ceiling beliefs …

Strategies For Integrating Technological Innovations In Small Businesses, Petra Samuel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The effective integration of technological innovation is vital to the success of small businesses and can catapult growth and profitability. Some business managers and supervisors, however, may not have a firm understanding of strategies for integrating technological innovations in businesses; this lack of knowledge may result in employee frustration and costly roadblocks to achieving business objectives. This case study was conducted to identify the strategies used by business managers and supervisors to integrate technological innovations in small businesses. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation and Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovation served as the conceptual framework. Ten business managers and supervisors …

The Impact Of Socially Conscious Initiative Announcements On Coffee Company Stock Values, Glenn Thomas Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stockholders invest billions of dollars in the purchase of new corporate coffee stock while producers of these commodities exist in poverty of developing nations. Corporate managers may miss the opportunities for offering humanitarian aid if potential stockholders do not know of corporate social change initiatives. Little research in the influence of socially conscious initiatives exists in the coffee sector and none concentrating on socially conscious initiative announcements. If a relationship exists between socially conscious initiative announcements and stock investments, then managers could justify funding social change initiatives. This quantitative study used a 5 day pre and post event study methodology …

Small Business Profitability Strategies During Retail Gentrification, Jalysa Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners can suffer fluctuations in profitability during the entrance of big box stores within their neighborhood that grab market share with more recognizable brands and change the retail environment. A multiple case study was completed to explore the strategies small business owners use to stay profitable during retail gentrification, looking specifically at the neighborhoods of Adams Morgan and Congress Heights in Washington, DC. Porter's five forces and the resource-based view served as the conceptual framework for the study. Seven small business owners with over 80 years of experience in their locations provided input through semistructured interviews and identified …

Strategies Using The Affordable Care Act With Small Businesses In Northeastern Ohio, Donald White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners with 50 to 100 employees in the physical and mental health care industry face a primary challenge of implementing health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) while sustaining their business. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies small business owners use to provide health insurance coverage under the ACA and sustained business operations. Semistructured interviews took place in Northeastern Ohio with 3 business owners in the physical and mental health care industry to acquire health care without increasing service cost. The conceptual framework for this study was strategic …

Engaging The Private Sector To Fortify Strategic Base And Port Community Resiliency In The Aftermath Of A National Crisis, Rosalie J. Wyatt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The initial 72 hours after a large-scale crisis are critical in terms of preserving life and property, and the private sector and its critical infrastructure are often called upon to assist government organizations in such events. However, little research explores the unique circumstances surrounding the relationship between public-private partnerships and community resilience in strategic communities including military installations and ports. Using Bryson, Crosby, and Stone's conceptualization of cross-sector collaboration, the purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory of private sector engagement and collaboration with military base and port community leaders in response to large scale crises. …