Business Commons^™

A Social-Cognitive Approach To Salesperson Work Motivation, Lawrence Scott Silver

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to apply a social-cognitive model of motivation, used extensively in educational psychology, to a sales setting. The topic pertaining to work motivation and its importance is evidenced by the amount of research devoted to the topic. The literature examined for this study was selected from the fields of industrial/organizational psychology, educational psychology, and marketing/sales. Specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: (1) To what extent is salespeople's goal orientation determined by their implicit personality theory? (2) Do salespeople's goal orientation determine their behavior pattern? (3) Does optimism moderate the relationship between salespeople's implicit …

The Importance Of Communication Skills: Perceptions Of Is Professionals, Is Managers, And Users, Ruth A. Spurlock Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

Information systems (IS) research has shown that communication skills tend to be more important than technical skills to IS staff in project development activities. Yet, research findings indicate that IS staff are lacking in the communication skills they need to interact successfully with users and managers during systems development. Thus, the two purposes of this research were (1) to determine whether IS staff, IS managers, and IS users differ in their perceptions of important communication skills that IS staff need and (2) if differences do exist, to assess the impact of the differences on user satisfaction with IS product and …

External Labor Markets: Job Inclusion Structures And Processes, Jeffrey Jon Snell

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to consider the determinants of external labor markets from a multilevel frame of reference. Specifically, the likelihood of a job's inclusion in an external labor market was examined in relation to environmental constraints, power and technological characteristics of the job and demographic features of the jobholder.

The sample frame consisted of a national survey conducted by the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS collected data from over 92,000 respondents relating to their having a job in an external labor market. Logistic regression and nonparametric tests were used in the statistical analyses. Statistical analysis revealed …

An Empirical Analysis Of Taxpayers' Attitudes And Behavioral Intentions Regarding Compliance With Federal Income Tax Laws, Stanley Wayne Hays

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze variables that potentially affect taxpayers' attitudes about income tax compliance. Phase one of the study focused on the relationships between four groups of variables and ethical perceptions of compliance behaviors. The four groups of variables follow: demographic variables such as age, education, and household income; personal characteristic variables such as idealism, relativism, conservatism, and religiosity; situational variables including an overall attitude about paying federal income taxes and impressions of the effectiveness of a number of law changes intended to make the IRS more responsive; and, consequential variables comprised of five dimensions of …

Examining The Impact Of Control Systems On The Implementation Of Market -Oriented And Customer-Oriented Strategies, Tara Burnthorne Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined the notion that firm control systems for managers and salespeople might impact the degree to which market oriented and customer oriented strategies are implemented throughout a firm's activities. In other words, the firm's control systems might facilitate or mitigate the execution of these particular strategies. This dissertation empirically addressed this concern by examining the impact of the management control system on the level of firm market orientation, and the impact of the salesperson control system on both salesperson customer orientation and the level of firm market orientation. In addition, it replicated previous research by testing the relationship …

Manipulating Ethos And Pathos: Accents, Product Complexity, And Promotional Messages In Chile, Victor Ramon Davila

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This dissertation is motivated by fundamental questions about source effects in persuasive communications: Do receiver attributes influence perceptions about the source and about the object of the message? Do source and object cues influence receiver perceptions about the source? Do source and object cues influence receiver perceptions about the object of the message?

Traditional conceptions of receiver responses to a source have focused on character trait inferences. Of these character trait inferences, the literature on source credibility appears to converge on two categories: source expertise and source trustworthiness. A more recent stream of research has grown around the concept of …

Genetically Evolved Dynamic Control For Quadruped Walking, Giorgio Grasso

Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to show that dynamic control of quadruped locomotion is achievable through the use of genetically evolved central pattern generators. This strategy is tested both in simulation and on a walking robot. The design of the walker has been chosen to be statically unstable, so that during motion less than three supporting feet may be in contact with the ground.

The control strategy adopted is capable of propelling the artificial walker at a forward locomotion speed of ~1.5 Km/h on rugged terrain and provides for stability of motion. The learning of walking, based on simulated …

Component-Based Software Engineering, Zhiyuan Wang

Dissertations

To solve the problems coming with the current software development methodologies, component-based software engineering has caught many researchers' attention recently. In component-based software engineering, a software system is considered as a set of software components assembled together instead of as a set of functions from the traditional perspective. Software components can be bought from third party vendors as off-the-shelf components and be assembled together.

Component-based software engineering, though very promising, needs to solve several core issues before it becomes a mature software development strategy. The goal of this dissertation is to establish an infrastructure for component-based software development. The author …

Applications Of Agent Architectures To Decision Support In Distributed Simulation And Training Systems, Plamen V. Petrov

Dissertations

This work develops the approach and presents the results of a new model for applying intelligent agents to complex distributed interactive simulation for command and control. In the framework of tactical command, control communications, computers and intelligence (C₄I), software agents provide a novel approach for efficient decision support and distributed interactive mission training. An agent-based architecture for decision support is designed, implemented and is applied in a distributed interactive simulation to significantly enhance the command and control training during simulated exercises. The architecture is based on monitoring, evaluation, and advice agents, which cooperate to provide alternatives to the …

Development And Characterization Of Techniques For Neuro-Imaging Registration, Carlo Ciulla

Theses

Three automated techniques were developed for the alignment of Neuro-Images acquired during distinct scanning periods and their performance were characterized. The techniques are based on the assumption that the human brain is a rigid body and will assume different positions during different scanning periods. One technique uses three fiducial markers, while the other two uses eigenvectors of the inertia matrix of the Neuro-Image, to compute the three angles (pitch, yaw and roll) needed to register the test Neuro-Image to the reference Neuro-Image. A rigid body transformation is computed and applied to the test Neuro-Image such that it results aligned to …

A Proposed Marketing Strategy For Go2hk.Com, Kit Ming Chan, Shuk Man Tam

Bachelor Degree - Marketing - Final Year Project

Within these few years, the Internet becomes popular in the world. There are many well-known websites, such as the eBay, Amazon and Yahoo, etc.. In foreign countries, Web auction is very famous for the Internet users in foreign countries, while it is a new kind of electronic business in Hong Kong. The trend of web auction has penetrated into Hong Kong in this few years, but it is still at a growth stage of the industry life cycle.

Web auction seems to be a new type of business in electronic commerce, thus it can attract the people to participate it …

Principals', Guidance Directors', And Department Chairs' Perceptions Of Goals And Effectiveness Of The Trimester Schedules In Indiana High Schools, Robert E. Brower

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to compare high school principals', guidance directors', and department chairs' perceptions of agreement (as clustered from 33 literature-based goals into school benefit, teacher benefit, and student benefit) of a trimester schedule. Secondly, this dissertation compared high school principals', guidance directors', and department chairs' perceptions of agreement (as clustered from 33 literature-based goals into school benefit, teacher benefit, and student benefit) as to whether these 3 3 goals were achieved after one year on a trimester schedule. This study is based on 10 Indiana high schools that were on the trimester schedule for a minimum …

Corporate Diversification And The Effects Of Firm Characteristics On Diversification Modes: United States, European And Japanese Firm Behavior, Somkiat Mansumitrchai

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Many studies have examined corporate diversification (Porter, 1987; Ramanujam and Varadarajan, 1989; Markides and Williamson, 1994; Markides, 1995). A classical study of diversification transactions of 33 U.S. industrial firms during 1950–1986 by Porter (1987) provided historical background on U.S. leading firms during four decades. Porter (1987) found that U.S. large industrial firms were more active in acquisitions than other diversification modes such as joint ventures and startups. His study also shows that U.S. industrial firms divested many business units they had acquired, indicating unsuccessful diversification strategy.

I extended Porter's (1987) study to investigate the diversification behavior of the same U.S. …

Professional Coaches Working In Branch Banking: Their Impact On Job Motivation And Sales Performance, Ann K. Gegelys

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Openness And Growth, Dina El Halaby

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Efficient Market Hypothesis, Mai Ahmed Kamel Farid

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Indexing Returns To Human Capital, Rana Kanaan

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting Learning Effectiveness In International Joint Ventures (Ijv): An Empirical Analysis Of Indian Ijvs, Sameer P. Vaidya

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Increasing globalization of the business environment has prompted companies to form cross-border alliances. The need to form joint ventures is evident from the increase in the number of international joint ventures (IJV) in the US as well as in other nations. Researchers are also attempting to identify relationships that foster longevity in IJVs. This study contributes to the research in the field of IJVs by examining issues relating to the learning effectiveness of IJVs. Research (Harrigan, 1985; Kogut, 1998; Beamish, 1994) has shown that there are three main approaches for joint venture formation, which are transaction cost approach, strategic behavior …

A History Of Athletics: Lynn University And It's Predecessors, Chris Emerson

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

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An Analysis Of The Socio-Economic Impact Of Casino Gaming In Mesquite, Nevada, And Its Implications For Public Policy, Janice K. Hetfeld

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study is a preliminary analysis of the socio-economic impact of casino gaming in Mesquite, Nevada. Mesquite is being studied from this perspective in order to provide policymakers with information that will aid in the determination of public policy relevant to and in conjunction with casino gaming activity. A combination of site visits to the area and interviews with casino executive personnel and relevant law enforcement was conducted for the purposes of gathering information for this study. Three police departments (Mesquite, Nevada, Cedar City, Utah and St. George, Utah) were interviewed to determine the crime rate in jurisdiction. Relevant data …

The Legislative History Of Gambling, 1861 - 1915, Ben Hetfeld

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nevada’s way of regulating gambling has been of such interest over the past years that it has been given a name, the “Nevada Model”. Interested parties usually are seeking to learn if this model of gambling regulation will work in other political units of this country. The point of this paper is to give some background to the “Nevada Model” by looking at how the acts of the legislature of the state evolved through time. Of equal importance is the understanding of the role the miners played in the formation of Nevada’s culture and lifestyle. The miners brought Nevada its …

An Analysis Of The Socio-Economic Impact Of Casino Gambling In Mesquite, Nevada, And Its Implications For Public Policy, Janice K. Herfeld

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study is a preliminary analysis of the socio-economic impact of casino gaming in Mesquite, Nevada. Mesquite is being studied from this perspective in order to provide policymakers with information that will aid in the determination of public policy relevant to and in conjunction with casino gaming activity. A combination of site visits to the area and interviews with casino executive personnel and relevant law enforcement was conducted for the purposes of gathering information for this study. Three police departments (Mesquite, Nevada, Cedar City, Utah and St. George, Utah) were interviewed to determine the crime rate in jurisdiction. Relevant data …

Public Finance Of Professional Athletic Facilities: Case Studies In Stadium And Arena Finance, Larry Harala

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the course of the 1990s cities across the country opted to expend public monies at record levels on stadium and arena construction. The focus of this paper will be an examination of whether or not spending public money on private athletic facilities is justifiable. For the purpose of this paper “justifiable” will mean; that the overall economic benefit to the community can be clearly and quantifiably demonstrate to have a net positive economic impact on the community while benefiting all socio-economic elements of the community at large. The types of facilities that this paper will examine are arenas and …

An Assessment Of The Links Between International Diversification, Product Diversification, Performance And Risk Within Service Corporations, Sally Ann Sledge

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Services currently account for the dominant share of the workforce in all developed nations and are the fastest growing sector of employment in most developing nations. Services comprise approximately two-thirds of the GDP (gross domestic product) or total domestic output of final goods and services in highly industrialized nations from the OECD (Organization for Cooperation and Development). They make up almost half of the GDP in developing nations. All economic forecasts predict that services will continue to grow and account for the vast majority of future economic expansion throughout the world. Despite these facts, services have been studied infrequently among …

Sales Training Practices In Malaysia: Comparisons Of Domestic And Multinational Companies, Mohamad Asri Jantan

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation expands the domestic sales training research into international settings by examining and comparing sales training practices of domestic and multinational companies (MNCs) in Malaysia. Fourteen hypotheses were proposed and examined: (1) the two groups' comparative sales training practices; (2) the two groups' sales managers' perceptions toward important sales training tasks; (3) the relationships of the different perceptions toward important sales training tasks to sales 9 managers' performance measures; and (4) the effect of two groups' demographic variables on perceived adequacy of the overall sales training programs.

Cross-sectional data were collected via self-administered questionnaires distributed to sales managers, marketing …

Explicating Sex Differences In Marketing Managers' Egoist Versus Utilitarian Ethical Orientations: The Effects Of The Enactment Of Agentic Versus Communal Social Roles, Jason Blair Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study examines the issue of sex differences in ethical orientations and suggests that the enactment of social roles and the associated use of information processing strategies influence the presence of sex differences in managers' ethical orientations. Managers' ethical judgments and intentions to use punishments or rewards to encourage ethical behavior are the two dependent variables in the study.

A 3 (prime: gender-role, work-role, no role) by 4 (ethical condition: positive egoist/positive utilitarian, positive egoist/negative utilitarian, negative egoist/positive utilitarian, and negative egoist/negative utilitarian) experimental design was applied in the efforts to answer the main research question: What is the role …

The Distributor’S Three-Dimensional Pallet-Packing Problem: A Mathematical Formulation And Heuristic Solution Approach, Brian P. Ballew

Theses and Dissertations

It is through practice and experience Air Force loadmasters are able to pack the Air Force standard HCU-6/E (463L) pallets efficiently. Although the loadmasters perform their jobs exceptionally well, the Air Force is in search of a model that will more efficiently pack the pallets. We have developed a mathematical formulation of the three-dimensional pallet-packing problem which minimizes the amount of unused space on a pallet. The formulation ensures each box is packed with the correct volume and dimensions, and ensures the volume of all the boxes packed is less than the available pallet volume. Additionally, the formulation ensures that …

Factors Affecting Perceptions Of Ethics Within Organizations: A Case Study Of Organizations Within Aeronautical Systems Center (Asc), David W. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studied some of the factors that can be used to help predict perceptions of ethical climate within organizations. specifically, five organizations within Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) were analyzed by evaluating four years of cultural survey data. The factors that were studied were analyzed through the use of different statistical processes (to include a regression analysis) to order to determine if they could significantly predict the perceptions of the ethical climate of the five ASC organizations studied. The factors were also analyzed to determine how influential the significant factors were in predicting perceptions of the ethical climate of the …

Linking Engineer Career Orientation And Human Resource Management Practices: Does Fit Affect Retention?, Cynthia M. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Turnover of the Air Force civil engineering (CE) officers is becoming increasingly important, as levels of CE Captains consistently decreases. Allen and Katz (1986) identified three career orientations of engineers based on their job preference-project, professional, and management engineers. Shepard (1958) suggested a dual-ladder promotion system to meet the cancer desires of technical and management workers. Additional research has proposed "desired" Human Resource Management (HRM) practices to facilitate the retention of each type of career-based engineer (Lee and Maurer, 1997). In an effort to determine if these career orientations, along with Air Force HRM practices, were linked to declining retention, …

A Combined Inventory And Delivery Model For Repairable Items, Bahtiyar Eren

Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, logistics analysts have treated the delivery problem separate from the inventory and repair problems. In other words, each of these three problems-delivery, inventory, and repair-are treated individually. We combine the vehicle routing problems and inventory allocation problems in a single formulation. Furthermore, lateral re-supply is considered, in that supplies are not only available from the main depot, but also from other bases. After we get the lateral re-supply information, we set a delivery allocation plan out of the main depot. Such allocations are then delivered via vehicles stationed at the main depot. There is a repair capability for each …