Business Commons^™

Servant-Leadership And Re-Establishment Of Organization Culture After Crisis, Reese Dayle Cooper

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Organizations create a base for culture through the language in mission, vision, and value statements (Deetz, 1995). Organization culture is then shaped and molded by organization members (Deetz, 1995). As a result, members form organization identities (Mead, 1934). Identities are fluid and constantly being negotiated (Stewart, Zediker, & Witteborn, 2009, p. 82). At any moment, organizations can face crisis. During the crisis, identities are threatened and organization culture becomes unstable (Beer & Steif, 1997; Sen, 2006). Stabilizing organization culture is important to the long-term success of an organization and to the long-term success of individuals. This study uses a case …

The Intrapersonal Phenomenon: The Interactional Effects Of Intrapersonal Adjustments In The Organizational Change Of A Small Business, Jennifer Wilkes

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

It is inevitable that change involves varying levels of communication. A relationship may consist of an individual's communication with one's self or with one or more persons. The functionality of a relationship depends on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the communication of those individuals involved. When change is necessary in any form of organization, the level of communication for each member plays a vital role, especially in a small company. Based on literature and theory, intrapersonal development and influence relies on the structure of one's cultural language. Language structure shapes one's inner speech and self-talk through processes of internalization. The …

The Role Of Race In Marketing Communications, Brandice Patrice Saunders

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Americans are living in an age ofadvertising and successfuJly marketing to the right groups at the right time can enhance a brands marketing edge. However, in order to consider marketing successful, the marketing communication's message needs to be created appropriately. Guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Stuart Hall's Encoding/Decoding theory, this thesis examined how marketing communications have been displayed to Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics via television commercials. Also examined were how marketing communications via television commercials were perceived by each ethnic group and whether that group identified with the communication or had a cultural affinity towards the message. Results of …

Getting Thrown Under The Bus: The Impact Of Destructive Narcissistic Management On Group Sensemaking, Russell Allen Royston

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Despite the vast research and scholarship on leaders with narcissistic traits and tendencies, little research has focused on the impact these leaders have on group communication. This thesis uses an ethnographic research methodology to explore a group under destructive narcissistic management. Karl Weick’s (1995) theory of organizational sensemaking is used to examine the affected group’s communication. The study was conducted from a phenomenological perspective of the group’s lived experience. Kierkegaard’s theory of communication is also applied to learn how the group made sense of was happening to them during a period of substantial change (Anderson, 1963). The results show that …

Music Industry Market Research - The Effect Of Cover Artwork On The Music Industry, Kendall Cook

Graphic Communication

The creation and use of the Internet has revolutionized the marketing and consumption of music in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Past and current marketing tactics were researched to see why the music industry has declined in sales in recent years. Cover art has been apart of the traditional marketing of tangible goods such as vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and other media. It grabs the attention of the consumer and is their first impression of the album. The Internet has utilized cover art, but not in the same manner. It exists but is not widespread. This theory to …

The Effect Of Increased Audit Disclosure On Investors' Perceptions Of Management, Auditors, And Financial Reporting: An Experimental Investigation, Marcus M. Doxey

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

Standard setters recently proposed increasing audit disclosures and reporting. Two experiments examine the effects of auditor-provided disclosures on financial statement users’ perceptions of auditor independence, management credibility, reporting quality, materiality, and investment decisions. In the first experiment, I manipulate auditor agreement with management’s estimates and whether the estimates are incentive-consistent for management. I find that users view auditors as more (less) independent when they agree (disagree) with management, given an unqualified opinion. I also find that users are able to identify management bias using audit disclosures, and that the disclosures are value-relevant. In the second experiment, I provide users with …

The Effect Of Auditors’ Assessment Of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting On Audit Fees, Cost Of Debt And Net Compliance Benefit, Hongmei Jia

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

In this study, I use Section 404(b) of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act as an exogenous shock to examine the effect of auditors’ assessment of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) on audit fees, cost of debt, and net value of compliance between 2002 and 2010. Using firms themselves as their own control, this study conducts firm-fixed effects analyses to explore the close causal effect of SOX 404(b) on compliance costs (proxied by audit fees), compliance benefit (proxied by cost of debt) and net compliance benefit (proxied by Tobin’s q). Through analyzing how SOX 404(b) affects firms’ compliance cost, compliance …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Team Identification In Professional Sports, Lisa Schleef

Masters Theses

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are becoming more relevant, especially in professional sports. Community members have begun to expect sport organizations to have charitable foundations, given that they are in a perfect position to have successful CSR programs. Explained through team identification and social identity theory, CSR programs provide a great opportunity to bring fans together and foster team identification. CSR programs should help fans develop a positive social identity, by allowing them to become part of a group and interact with other fans. If a person is a fan of a team that helps its community and does good …

Conflict Management Between Employees From Different Departments : Contribution Of Organizational Identification And Controversy, Taohong Zhu

Lingnan Theses

Synthesizing theories of social identity, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study built and tested a theoretical model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through constructive controversy (i.e. the open-minded discussion for mutual benefit) dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that organizational identification moderates the link between interdepartmental goal interdependence and constructive controversy.

An interview sample of 129 employees from various business organizations and diverse industries in mainland China described and rated a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from another department in …

Hello, Is Anybody There? Corporate Accessibility For Minority Shareholders As A Signal Of Agency Problems In China, Xiaofeng Zhao

Lingnan Theses

My thesis examines whether corporate accessibility for minority shareholders, defined as the ease with which minority shareholders are able to contact corporate insiders, can be a signal of the severity of a firm’s agency problems. Using Chinese public listed firms as the testing group, I find that accessible firms are associated with less serious agency problems than is the case for non-accessible firms. Specifically, accessible firms tend to be associated with lower agency costs, lower cost of equity, higher firm valuation, and better operating performance. I also find that accessibility can signal agency problems in firms with different ownership and …

The Role Of Credit Ratings On Capital Structure And Its Speed Of Adjustment In Bank-Oriented And Market-Oriented Economies, Michal Wojewodzki

Lingnan Theses

This study investigates both the direct and indirect roles of credit ratings (CR) on the capital structures of 1,513 firms operating in 19 countries with different financial orientations and levels of economic development over the 20-year period (1991-2010).

Until recently, it has been common place to classify countries into capital market-based oriented (MB) and bank-based oriented (BB) in terms of their financial systems’ orientation (Antoniou et al. 2008). Traditionally, in MB economies (Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S.) having a CR helps firms issue equity or bonds. In contrast, …

An Exploratory Study Of Customer Vulnerability: A Cross-Segment Approach, Taryn Aiello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of customer vulnerability across varying service industries. While the concept of customer vulnerability has been debated in business, marketing, sociology, and psychology scholarly literature, there has been little research conducted that specifically investigates consumers’ perceptions of vulnerability during the service exchange. Specific to this research, customer vulnerability is defined as experiences in which consumers participate in a service exchange with a firm during a time of individual or shared medical, physical, emotional, or spiritual necessity, whether the vulnerability is experienced during the course of the transaction or whether consumers arrive …

Students' Consumption Of Healthy Food Items Using A Social Marketing Intervention, Kayla Autumn Dalton

Masters Theses

This study was an analysis of student eating habits in an "all-you-care-to-eat" dining center at a mid-size, four year, Midwest residential institution. The present, quantitative study was replicated based off a study conducted in 2008 at a similar Midwest university by Diana Poovey Duncan. The present study examined college students' (n = 218) eating habits and consumption patterns over a nine-week study period. Participants were solicited to take the pre-intervention survey in person with incentives during the second week of the study while a post-intervention survey was sent electronically during the seventh week only to those whom provided an …

Pygmalion Music Festival As Alternative Media? A Critical Analysis Of The Intersection Of Independence And Corporatization, Patrick R. Singer

Masters Theses

This study of Pygmalion Music Festival utilizes a theoretical framework of alternative media theory to analyze the festival's position in independent and corporate music festival and concert production. Pygmalion Music Festival is a mid-sized independently owned and operated music festival held annually in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. This research investigates the progression of independent ( or "indie") music culture, how the industry has gradually become co-opted by the corporate music industry, and how Pygmalion Music Festival is situated within the indie/corporate binary. This binary is not black and white, rather an intersection that creates a blurred area between the two. "Indie" artists …

The Impact Of Technology On Management Control: Degradation, Empowerment, Or Technology Dominance?, Joseph Canada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of technology brings with it the evolution of business processes. Without a doubt, technology changes how work is performed. At first glance, workplace technology appears to be a great boon to society. However, research presents opposing views on how workplace technologies impact the individual. One perspective argues that organizations utilize technology to redesign work processes, such that the worker requires less skill, autonomy, and compensation. The opposing perspective argues that organizations utilize technology to empower employees to improve efficiency and profits. This dissertation consists of three interrelated studies examining workplace technology’s impact on decision makers. The first study …

Regulation And The Auditing Profession, Alexey Lyubimov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation consists of three studies examining three different regulatory issues that affect the auditing profession. The first study has two main foci. First, the study investigates the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on the Big 4 fee premium. Second, the study investigates the relationship between the size of an audit client and annual fee change. The results show that in the post-SOX environment, clients of non-Big 4 firms have experienced greater increases in audit fees than the clients of the Big 4 firms, resulting in a diminishing Big 4 premium. This is consistent with the notion that non-Big 4 …

The Diffusion Of Digital Dashboards: An Examination Of Dashboard Utilization And The Managerial Decision Environment, Jeffrey Reinking

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three related studies examining the diffusion of digital dashboard technology throughout today’s organizations. Dashboards, once reserved for the executive level, are now available to managers at the lower levels of the organization. For these managers, dashboards have become an integral part of their work life to support their decision environment, to provide consistency in measures, to monitor performance, and to communicate information throughout the organization. Prior research in the practice literature has shown that dashboards improve managerial performance and organizational performance as well as communicate organizational goals and objectives; however, empirical research has not been conducted …

Undergraduate Sport Management Students' Perceptions Of Leadership Behaviors Through Service Learning: A Quantitative, Quasi-Experimental Study, Bryan Romsa

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative, quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of a service learning activity on the perceived leadership behaviors of sport management undergraduate students at a mid-sized, Midwestern, public university. The participants in the study were 74 undergraduate students who were enrolled in four undergraduate sport management courses. The first research question analyzed how a service learning experience affects the self-reported perceptions of leadership behavior in sport management undergraduate students. The findings indicated that the students who participated in a service learning activity (experiential group) self-reported a decrease in all five leadership practices. The second research question asked how not having a …

The Effects Of Social Media On Fashion Consumption, Sydney Mccarthy

Honors Theses

The fashion industry, like most business in general, has been heavily impacted in recent years by the introduction of online social media. Social media has changed the way in which people not only communicate, but also how firms advertise and reach their consumer. The purpose of this research was to explore the ways social media impacts fashion consumption, specifically among the female, college-age demographic. Secondary research was used in the initial stages of the process to gather information prior to conducting primary research. Both qualitative and quantitative research was then conducted. The primary method for collecting qualitative data was personal …

Structure And Mission Effectiveness: A Study Focused On Seventh-Day Adventist Mission To Unreached People Groups Between 1980 And 2010, Abraham Guerrero

Dissertations

The present study examines the impact of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's structure on mission effectiveness in taking the gospel to unreached people groups between 1980 and 2010. A historical descriptive study, this dissertation's theory base includes structure from an anthropological perspective; structure, mission, and effectiveness from an organizational perspective; and church structure and mission effectiveness in Christian history.

The impact of structure on mission effectivenessis evaluated in the present work by looking for patterns in history in which the structure has been either a facilitator or a hindrance for establishing churches among those who have not been reached with the …

Analysis And Application Of The Vector Marketing Corporation Business Model, Tyler Nabel Yasa

Honors Theses

Vector Marketing Corporation, an established direct sales company, has strong sales and recruiting programs. The goal of this research is first, to analyze the effectiveness of Vector's sales and recruiting programs and second, to assess variations of the application of the Vector business model to other businesses. For easier comparison and analysis, Vector's business model was divided into nine segments. This business model was then applied to the operations processes of Goodwill, Amway Global, and Andrews University School of Business Administration (SBA). While findings indicate useful applications for all three businesses, the strongest results pointed to Amway Global and Andrews …

The Federal Estate Tax: A Comprehensive Look At The Effects On American Farming And Ranching Businesses, Taylor G. Johnson

Honors Program Theses

One central divide that has emerged on the federal estate tax issue is whether or not it adversely affects farming and ranching businesses in America. An adverse effect on a farming and ranching business would be if business assets would need to be sold in order to pay the federal estate tax. There are opinions on both sides of this issue. Thus, the first research question to answer will be:

i. Does the federal estate tax have adverse consequences on farming and ranching businesses in America?

After a conclusion is drawn on whether or not there are adverse effects from …

The Implications Of Solvency Ii To Insurance Companies, Lu Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Solvency II is a new regulatory standard for European insurance companies. It aims to establish a revised set of capital requirements and risk management standards that will replace the current solvency requirements within the European Union market and will take effect in 2014. The directive will impact companies located in countries beyond the European Union.

An Analysis Of The Possibilities Of Applying The North American Management Model To Most Large-Scale Sports Facilities In China, Xi Li

Theses and Dissertations

As more and more international mega events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Universiade Shenzhen 2011,the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games as well as the China National Sports Games take place in different cities, a lot of large-scale sports facilities have been built in China. However, over a long period of time, these large-scale sports facilities struggle with several operational and maintenance problems, such as high maintenance fees, design defects, low use of efficiency, single functionality and management challenges. This situation did not change until a group of North American facilities management companies came to China in the last few …

Brand Reputation And Product Recall, Anne Meike Eilert

Theses and Dissertations

Every year, firms make numerous announcements to recall products that are deemed unsafe or defective. These recalls pose a significant threat to a firm's brand reputation. The strong, negative reactions of consumers and the media to the recalls initiated by Toyota in 2010 show how fragile brands are in the wake of a recall. Firms spend a great amount of resources on building strong brands and it is unclear how such brands influence the firm's decision to announce a recall and the consumer's decision to return the recalled product. The objective of this dissertation is to shed some light on …

Egocentric Biases In Consumer Judgment Of Products With And Without Target Market Labels, David Norton

Theses and Dissertations

Consumer research to date has posited that if we are cued to think of others, then we are likely to be influenced by the type of others we consider. Thus, research on product evaluations has focused on motivational accounts of either favoring or disfavoring a product contingent upon which specific reference group the product is associated with. In this dissertation I advance the theory that product evaluations are also cognitive in nature. Due to egocentric biases of self availability and self positivity I propose that the cueing of an 'other' lowers the valence of thoughts available (relative to thoughts of …

When Less Is More: The Effect Of Reducing Auditor Liability On Auditor Judgments In Principles-Based And Rules-Based Environments, Linda Quick

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint effects of accounting guidance type (principles-based versus rules-based) and legal liability regime (unlimited versus limited) on auditor decisions. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) believe that moving to more principles-based standards in the United States will allow companies and auditors to more appropriately reflect the economic substance of transactions in the financial statements. However, very little attention has been paid to the possibility that principles-based standards will be applied differently in the United States than in other countries due to a different …

The Effects Of Social Costs And Internal Quality Reviews On Auditor Consultation Strategies, Tammie Janell Schaefer

Theses and Dissertations

Seeking advice from knowledgeable individuals within the firm is an essential feature of firms' quality control systems and is intended to improve auditor decision making. It is important to understand factors that encourage or discourage auditors from proactively seeking out help and relying on the 'right' people because advice can influence audit judgments. Existing studies in accounting focus on factors that affect how auditors use the advice they obtain during informal consultations. In this study, I examine factors that affect when auditors seek advice, to whom auditors go for advice, and how they present audit issues to the advisor, which …

Unintended Consequences Of Regulated Contract Structure, Bryan W. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effect of contract structure (fixed versus contingent) and a contextual factor (positive versus negative benefit surprise) on tax professionals' behavior. Regulatory restrictions on contract structure are based on the belief that contingent fee contracts "encourage tax return preparers to take unsupported positions on the taxpayers' returns" (Murphy 1989, p. 2). Experienced tax professionals participated in an experiment investigating the effect of contract structure and benefit surprise on their judgments and decisions. Contrary to regulators' beliefs about the effect of contingent fee structures, I do not find a main effect of contract structure. Rather, results show that …

Essays On Market Dominance And Price Discovery, James Michael Lockwood

Theses and Dissertations

In the first essay, I examine the burden of cross-listing prices to adjust to changes in exchange rates. Using a 3-system vector moving average model, I measure the effects of exchange rate shocks on cross-listing stock prices in the home and U.S. markets. My sample consists of 46 cross-listings on the NYSE from Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. Findings indicate that New York prices bear roughly 60% of the adjustment to exchange rates for Canadian and Mexican securities, and roughly 45% for Brazilian securities. The NYSE burden of adjustment varies considerably across firms, ranging from 7% to 100% for Canada, 10% …