Business Commons^™

Factors Leading Corporations To Continue To Engage In Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives, Radu-Marius Gavrila

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Accountability for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its societal challenges is undetermined, and it is unclear whether business or society should carry these responsibilities. Despite severe criticism from some, many organizations continue to invest in and promote CSR. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to increase the understanding of the phenomenon from the perspective of a purposeful sample of participants who contribute to CSR execution and who were representatives of the 10 organizations identified as active promoters. The participant corporations (case studies), in Europe and North America, were mainly in the telecommunications industry. Study data came from 11 face-to-face, …

Workplace Isolation Occurring In Remote Workers, Adam Hickman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational leaders and managers may not have the management acumen, organizational awareness, or leadership expertise to construct and implement effective strategies, policies, and procedures to help reduce the frequency of the phenomenon of workplace isolation. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, multiple case study was to gain a common understanding about how workplace isolation may influence a remote employee'€™s performance in a customer service organization in the United States. Emerson'€™s social exchange theory was used as the conceptual framework. A series of semistructured interviews with 21 remote workers that consisted of four different divisions at the same organization was conducted …

Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Practices And Enterprise Longevity: A Multiple Case Study, Debra Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women entrepreneurs are emerging in the national economy as important players, yet gender bias and stereotypes still exist in organizations that prevent firms from taking advantage of women'€™s potential as leaders in entrepreneurial ventures. At the same time, traditional leadership models are lacking in diversity and unanswered questions remain regarding the role of gender in entrepreneurial leadership and enterprise sustainability. The purpose of this qualitative study, which used an exploratory, multiple-case research design, was to gain insight into the leadership practices of women entrepreneurial leaders and the implications of these practices for enterprise longevity 5 years after their business'€™s start-up …

Strategies To Implement Efficient Closing Cycles, Mary Christine Scott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many financial leaders lack strategies to make the timely fiscal reporting needed for business to obtain profitability, competitive advantage, and sustainability. The purpose of this single case study was to explore successful strategies used to complete efficient closing cycles to evaluate performance and support business decisions. The conceptual framework for this study was process improvement and the theory of constraints. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 5 purposively selected leaders; data were supplemented with information from the organization's website and print materials. Financial leaders who had developed successful strategies to complete timely financial statements were selected to participate in …

Business Sustainability Strategies Of Small Technology Companies, Eric Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Each year, almost 12% of small technology companies fail to survive, and the risks associated with high-tech startups are high for business failure due to the introduction of new technology, similar competitor technology, and the short product life cycle of new products. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the business sustainability strategies that some owners of small technology companies used to remain in operation for longer than 5 years. The population for the study was the owners of 5 small technology companies located in the southeast region of the United States. The general systems theory was …

Leadership Strategies For Increasing Employee Productivity In The Banking Industry, Thiquita Ward

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Investing in employee engagement is beneficial to ensuring an organization's ability to sustain and improve productivity and performance. The purpose of this single case study was to explore effective leadership strategies leaders used to increase employee productivity. The population for this study were 6 bank leaders from Mississippi with a minimum of 5 years of experience implementing effective strategies to increase employee productivity. The conceptual framework for this study was Bass's transformational leadership theory. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, observations, and a review of company documents. The data analysis process involved Yin's 5-step approach, methodological triangulation, and member checking …

Reducing Operational Costs In The Trucking Industry To Increase Profitability, Theophlius Bush Ii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of small trucking businesses who fail to reduce operational cost and increase profitability can experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. During the first 2 years of operation, 75% of small trucking businesses in the United States fail. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that successful leaders of small trucking businesses implemented to retain talented employees after downsizing. Transformational leadership was the conceptual framework for the study. The population for the study included 3 business leaders in a small trucking business in the southeastern region of the United States who had successfully reduced operational …

The Experience Of Founder's Syndrome In Nonprofit Organizations Founded By Women, Coutanya Moultry Coombs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gaps exist in the literature on knowledge of how founder behavior affects volunteers and employees in nonprofit organizations. Through exploration of founder relationships with volunteers and employees, this study fills some of those gaps and adds to the body of knowledge of how those relationships are perceived by founders, volunteers, and employees. The purpose of this narrative study was to address the question of the impact of founder behavior on founders, employees and volunteers in nonprofit women's organizations founded by African American and Caucasian women. The theory of psychological ownership was used as the framework to understand founder behavior. The …

Exploring The Ethical Leadership Of Bank Managers, Jeannette Devine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ethical dilemmas in banks have resulted in financial losses. A bank manager's ethical leadership strategy can affect the direction, success, operations, and profits of banks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the ethical leadership strategies of bank managers that promoted profitability. This study's conceptual framework was Bandura's social learning theory. Data were collected from semistructured, face-to-face interviews with a sample of 2 bank managers from different Maryland banks and a review of these banks' documents. Member checking was conducted to verify the trustworthiness of the findings. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-step approach. Themes that emerged …

Employee Commitment Among Direct Care Professionals In An Intermediate Health Care Facility, Sharron Theresa Nicholson-Mccall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of employee commitment affects the overall practice in healthcare organizations and can cause a disruption in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities who are receiving care. Researchers have demonstrated that increasing employee commitment and decreasing employee turnover are related to employee commitment in healthcare organizations. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that leaders of an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the northwestern United States used to enhance employee commitment. Meyer and Herchovitch's model of employee commitment was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collecting from semistructured interviews …

Stakeholders' Explanations Of The State Of Cricket In Barbados, Derek Mcdonald Alleyne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Policy processes influence decision-making and when processes are influenced by multiple stakeholders, individual interests can go against the general good of the organization or community. The multiple stakeholders of cricket in Barbados have governed the development of cricket. Over the last 30 years the sport has been on a steady decline evidenced by the low attendance at games and the number of teams and individuals playing the sport. At a time when the sport has been growing at the international level, the decline in the fortunes of the sport in Barbados had led to a climate of mistrust and blame …

Information Sources That Influence The Financial Literacy Of Puerto Rican College Students, Enid Alvarez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers agree that Puerto Ricans lack basic financial knowledge that would allow them to participate in the financial system actively. However, the literature did not provide any data about the knowledge transmission practices that Puerto Ricans use to gather and transmit financial knowledge. As a result, there was a limited understanding of the social learning processes used by Puerto Rican college students to make financial decisions. Using consumer socialization and family financial socialization models as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to identify the information sources that Puerto Ricans use to gather financial knowledge. A …

Millennial Business Owners' Strategies To Survive In Business, Andrietta Bryant-Minter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals in the millennial generation, born from 1980 to 1996, have many entrepreneurial opportunities; however, many people in the millennial generation lack the skills, motivation, and business strategies to survive in business. Because of the influx of competition, lack of experience, and lack of business-world strategies, entrepreneurs can miss opportunities and fail within the first few years of business operations. Grounded in the systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that business owners in the millennial generation used to survive in business longer than 6 years. Participants consisted of 5 business owners in …

Strategies For Reducing Nurses' Turnover In Specialty Care Clinics, Lawrence Benjamin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The nursing shortage and high turnover rates are a problem in Canada and the world over. The purpose of this single case study was to explore leadership strategies that nurse leaders in specialty care clinics in Canada use to reduce nurse turnover. The participants were 7 nurse leaders from a single organization with specialty care clinics across Canada who all had above average nurse retention rates when compared to the case organization's average nurse retention rate. The authentic leadership theory was the conceptual framework. Data sources for this study were company documents, participants' semistructured interview responses, member checking of the …

Strategies To Increase Profitability And Longevity Of Small Trucking Businesses, Derrick Olando Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Typically, small businesses have encountered issues with sustaining their enterprise for longer than 5 years after inception, which can adversely affect the prosperity of the communities in which the businesses operate. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify and explore strategies some owners of small business trucking companies used to achieve profitability and longevity for longer than 5 years. The population of the study consisted of owners of 4 small business trucking companies located in Northern Virginia, who demonstrated profitability and longevity for longer than 5 years of operation. The conceptual framework for this study was systems …

Corporate Environmental Strategies For Balancing Profitability With Environmental Stewardship, Stephen I. Carmer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, citizens concerned with climate change and income inequity scrutinize the activities of corporations. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have a critical role in business management, because stakeholders demand transparency in a company's operations. This correlation study, grounded in stakeholder theory, examined the relationship between environmental initiatives, CSR, and net profit for U.S. corporations. Participants included 96 companies with listing on either National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or the New York Stock Exchange, or both, with and without evidence of CSR and environmental disclosures. The multiple regression analysis significantly predicted higher net profit for …

Multicase Historic Studies Of Innovative Work Behavior Among Intellectually Gifted Adults, Karen Denise Gaskins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

ABSTRACT

This qualitative research study was conducted to examine whether investing in innovation and gifted intelligence would improve America's economic well-being. The investment issue became a problem because educational researchers researched innovation as creativity rather than as productive behavior. Moreover, in the literature, adult giftedness was perceived as negative development rather than as alternate normative behavior. The purpose of this research study was to generate new knowledge about innovation and adult giftedness. WICS (wisdom, intelligence, creativity, synthesized) theory of intelligence provided the theoretical framework because intelligence is a measure of human productivity potential. The neuropsychological conceptual framework facilitated a cognitive …

Small Business Strategies For Information Technology Implementation In Developing Countries, William Archibold Kwabiah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of small businesses need dynamic capabilities created through careful implementation of information technologies (ITs) to enhance efficiency, performance, and output. The purpose of this multicase study was to explore strategies leaders of small businesses used in developing countries to implement ITs for improved business performance. The framework for this study was the technology, organization, and environment model. The sample population consisted of 10 leaders of small businesses located in the Accra region of Ghana. The study participants had at least 5 years of experience working with small businesses that implemented IT. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and review …

The Role Of Team Development In Ensuring Small Business Profitability, Sharon Hunter Nikolaus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some small business leaders lack strategies to develop effective teams. Lack of team development affects the ability of restaurant small business owners to remain profitable for longer than 5 years. The focus of this multiple case study was an exploration of the role team development plays in business profitability. The population for this study was 3 experienced owners of restaurants in New Jersey that remained open for longer than 5 years. The conceptual framework was based on the Tuckman model of team development to highlight the connection between the model and how small business owners use team development to remain …

Strategies For Increasing Healthcare Employees' Retention, Lakeisha Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover in healthcare negatively affects patient care. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify the strategies that managers used to increase employee retention in healthcare organizations. The study population was healthcare managers and human resources personnel in 3 healthcare organizations in the southeastern region of the United States who had successfully implemented strategies to increase employee retention. The conceptual framework was the job-embeddedness theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews and the review of organizational documents. Data analysis included identifying patterns and developing themes. Three key themes emerged from the data: increased, effective communication; praise …

Reducing Reliance On Government Funding In The Nonprofit Sector, Bryan K. Kieler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many leaders of nonprofit organizations are challenged by limited and declining financial resources from government grants, while being asked by funders and their constituent base to provide better quality services to a larger population. Nonprofit leaders are exploring strategies to reduce their reliance on government grants by diversifying and growing alternative funding sources. The purpose of this single case study was to explore, through the conceptual lens of the balanced scorecard theory, strategies used by 4 leaders of a nonprofit organization in southern California who have experience managing and growing alternative revenue sources by creating a social enterprise. Semistructured interviews …

Health Care Leaders' Strategies To Reduce Nursing Turnover, John Clayton Phelps

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care leaders who lack effective nurse turnover strategies can negatively affect patient quality of care, productivity, and profitability. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies health care leaders used to reduce nursing turnover in a health care organization. The conceptual framework for this study was Herzberg's 2-factor theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 4 health care leaders in the West Texas region who had a history of reducing nurse turnover for a minimum of 5 years from the date of hire, and from review of organizational documents related to the strategies to reduce …

Relationship Between Regulatory Compliance Cost, Operation Cost, And Profitability Of Credit Unions, Maher Shbaita

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The decline in the profitability of credit unions with less than $10 million in assets harms the number of small credit unions available to serve local communities. Grounded in the financial intermediation theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between regulatory compliance costs, operation costs, and profitability. The population of this study consisted of federally insured credit unions with less than $10 million in assets and located in the state of Texas. Archival data from the National Credit Union Administration database were collected and analyzed. Multiple regression was used to identify a statistically significant …

Strategies For Implementing Workplace Violence Prevention Policies In Small Businesses, Anthony Fleming

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace violence can produce adverse financial outcomes for organizational shareholders, harms employees, and might create long-lasting mental health issues for survivors. Leaders of small businesses might lack the tools available to larger organizations to effectively address the growing incidence of violence in the workplace. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies some leaders of small businesses used to prevent workplace violence. The targeted population consisted of 3 leaders of small businesses from 3 different organizations in the government consulting industry in northern Virginia who successfully implemented workplace violence prevention programs. The general systems theory was the …

Small Construction Business Owners' Strategies For Employee Retention, Charles H. Griner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Thirty-four percent of people in the United States of America work for businesses that employ fewer than 100 people. However, many small business owners lack the strategies necessary to retain their valuable employees. Businesses that fail to retain valuable employees are as much as 28% less efficient. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small construction business owners use to retain their valuable employees. Contingency theory provided the conceptual framework. The participants were three owners of three small businesses in the construction industry located in Mississippi which implemented successful policies and procedures to retain their …

Human Resources Management Professionals' Experience With Online Degree Holders In Recruitment, Dominic Ugochukwu Isaac

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Online degree holders in Nigeria have poor acceptability during recruitment and promotion decisions because of reliability and legality perceptions of online degrees. There is little knowledge about how human resource (HR) managers identify employability skills in online degree holders. Guided by Bills's screening conceptual framework, the purpose of this case study was to explore how Nigerian recruiters identify employability skills in online degree holders. The participants for this study consisted of 2 participants from each of 10 sectors covering the government and nongovernmental organizations; participants had at least 5 years' experience in working with online degree holders. Data were collected …

Revenue Diversification To Improve And Maintain Service Offerings Of Nonprofit Organizations, Ganga Kosala Bandara Heengama

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of nonprofits businesses adopt revenue diversification strategies to create innovative program services, creative ways to source materials, utilize volunteers and community partnerships, and identify business solutions related to solving societal problems. To continue providing services, it is crucial for nonprofit leaders to maintain adequate financial resources. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore revenue diversification strategies used by 3 leaders of a nonprofit organization in western California of the United States using Markowitz's modern portfolio theory as the conceptual lens. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews and examination of organizational documents, internal archival data, and online …

Manufacturing Companies' Strategies To Mitigate Supply Chain Disruptions, Vanessa Kaye Benton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supply chains have become increasingly unstable due to unanticipated disruptive events, which undermines a firm's capacity to achieve a competitive market advantage and increase profitability. The disruption of a supply chain is essential to supply chain managers, as the interruption can be expensive, and the goods and services lost can negatively affect the entire supply chain. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies that manufacturing firm managers use to mitigate supply chain disruptions to remain profitable. The population consisted of 4 supply chain managers from 2 manufacturing firms located in the southern region of eastern …

Small Construction Business Owners' Strategies For Employee Retention, Charles H. Griner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Thirty-four percent of people in the United States of America work for businesses that employ fewer than 100 people. However, many small business owners lack the strategies necessary to retain their valuable employees. Businesses that fail to retain valuable employees are as much as 28% less efficient. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small construction business owners use to retain their valuable employees. Contingency theory provided the conceptual framework. The participants were three owners of three small businesses in the construction industry located in Mississippi which implemented successful policies and procedures to retain their …

Training Program Effectiveness In Building Workforce Agility And Resilience, Olya Taran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Decades of qualitative case studies suggest that organizations must be able to deal with change effectively to compete and survive. Many researchers have linked higher workforce levels of agility and resilience to organizations' abilities to deal with change more successfully; however, there is a scarcity of empirical research addressing the efficacy of agility and resilience development in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the development of workforce resilience and agility, as measured by FIT for Change assessment. The theory of planned behavior was the study's theoretical framework, theorizing that changing attitudes and beliefs about change …