Business Commons^™

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, …

Continuous Improvement Strategies For Nonprofit Organizations, Kieran Nawaz Mohammed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organization leaders face increased performance and sustainability challenges due to reduced funding. Approximately 72% of nonprofit revenues required for the sustainability of nonprofit organizations come from program services, which are threatened by ineffective improvement strategies and reduced program funding. Using the conceptual framework of total quality management, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore strategies that nonprofit leaders use to implement successful continuous improvement programs to increase revenue. The population for this study was leaders of nonprofit organizations in Delaware. Participants were purposefully selected for their successful experience in implementing continuous improvement strategies in nonprofit organizations. Data …

Strategies To Promote It Project Success, Gerald Scheuchner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many project managers and business leaders lack effective strategies to manage information technology (IT) projects, which may inhibit business leaders from successfully implementing IT changes. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that IT leaders use to successfully implement IT projects. The target population consisted of IT leaders in IT organizations located in the Saint Louis Metro East area. The conceptual framework consisted of the general systems theory and the coordination theory. Data collection included organizational documents and semistructured interviews with 6 qualified participants. Data analysis included coding and thematic analysis, member checking, and methodological triangulation. …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Financial Performance In The Food And Beverage Industry, Giselle Rieschick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporate executives have a responsibility to stakeholders to justify expenses, including those devoted to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and strengthen the organization's financial position. Due to a lack of consistent information, some food and beverage industry managers do not understand the relationship between social and environmental CSR initiatives and financial performance. Grounded in stakeholder and ethical theory, this quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between 2 variables: the independent variable of social and environmental CSR activities, for which the 2016 Best Corporate Citizens index of 'Corporate Responsibility Magazine' served as a proxy, and the dependent variable of financial performance, …

Special Education Teachers' Voices On Co-Planning In A Suburban School District, Corinne Jeffers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited co-planning between special education and general education co-teaching partners has been documented in professional literature as a significant problem. Special education teachers do not adequately co-plan for the implementation of accommodations for students with disabilities educated in the general education classroom. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the perceptions of special education teachers in one suburban elementary school district in the United States regarding co-planning with regular education teachers. The theory of self-efficacy was utilized as the conceptual framework to understand how teachers' beliefs and experiences influenced planning and goal setting for special education students. …

Improving Employee Engagement Through Strategic Planning By Human Resources Professionals, Victoria L. Benson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Turnover rates are climbing every year, with a lack of engagement cited as a top reason, costing employers money in lost productivity. Slightly over one-third of workers worldwide consider themselves engaged. Employers are at risk of losing top talent due to a lack of engagement. Business leaders need to adapt to changing engagement practices invoking human resources (HR) as a strategic business partner. This study focused on strategic planning tools HR leaders in used to increase employee engagement. Interviews with leaders in a small-sized cloud-based data storage company in the Southeast region of the United States, were analyzed to identify …

Capitalization Strategies For Small Business Sustainability, Richard Basch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 15 years, privately held small businesses generated nearly two-thirds of the net job growth in the United States, yet much of what scholars know regarding the capitalization challenges faced by small businesses is limited to data from large corporations. In 2013 alone, business bankruptcies numbered 33,212, and each year approximately 10% to 12% of U.S. small businesses close. Ineffective capitalization strategies coupled with a limited understanding of funding options frequently results in unsustainable business practices. In this multiple case study, the capital budgeting theory was utilized to explore the capitalization strategies small business owners in the greater …

Servant Leadership Dimensions Of Bahamian Hotel Industry Front-Line Workers, Stuart Mitchell Bowe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The tourism industry dominates the Bahamian national economy. While seaport visitor arrivals continue to rise, stopover visitor arrivals continue to decline due to a recurring theme of negative front-line hotel staff attitudes. Eliminating negative staff attitudes toward stopover visitors is important for hoteliers, the government, and all stakeholders of the Bahamian tourism industry. Guided by servant leadership theory, the purpose of this research was to investigate the servant leadership dimensions that motivate Bahamian front-line hotel workers. This quantitative cross-sectional study involved the use of the Servant Leadership Survey (SLS) developed by Dierendonck and Nuijten. There were 8 specific servant leadership …

Retaining Employees After Downsizing, Chizoba C. Nwoye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oil and gas industry business leaders who fail to implement adequate talent retention strategies experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. During the first 2 years following downsizing, 67% of organizations using excuse-based downsizing reflected reduced sales and profitability, and 11% of such organizations experienced financial losses. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that successful Calgary medium size oil and gas businesses implemented to retain talented employees after downsizing. The population for the study included business leaders of 3 medium oil and gas businesses in Calgary, Canada, who had successfully implemented talented employee retention strategies. …

Employee Perceptions Of Emotional Intelligence Among Managers, Afraa Al-Bahrani

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Efficient managers influence the success and performance of organizations, in contrast to inefficient managers who may negatively affect employee motivation, productivity, stress levels, job satisfaction, and performance. Managers' ability to recognize emotions can positively affect employee motivation, job satisfaction, and performance, which is likely to decrease employee turnover. The purpose of this phenomenological research was to explore the perceptions among employees regarding their managers' EI in relation to employee motivation, job satisfaction, and performance in the Northern Virginia (NOVA) area. The presence of managers' EI skills was explored based on the emotional abilities to facilitate, understand, perceive, and manage emotions. …

Effective Leadership And Nonprofit Sustainability, Vaughn Orsborne Gleaves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A sustainability plan of an organization is useless without effective leadership in its design and execution. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that church leaders having at least 7 continuous years of organizational fiscal sustainability and leadership used to ensure fiscal sustainability. The study included 8 face-to-face and 2 phone interviews with 4 senior pastors, 3 associate pastors, a treasurer, a finance committee chair, and a certified public accountant who lived in the Akron, Ohio area along with a review of documents including a leadership meeting agenda and financial committee meeting agenda, provided by study participants. …

Business Strategies To Increase The Financial Stability Of Private Universities, Brian Greenwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

University administrators of nonprofit higher education private institutions face challenges to maintain financial stability as the projected tuition revenue is expected to decline over the next 15 years. In addition, projected closure or mergers for all colleges and universities is expected to reach 50% by 2030. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies higher education private institution administrators use to manage financial stability. Kaufman's complexity theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 4 university administrators from an Ohio higher education private institution for face-to-face interviews. Semistructured questions provided …

Retention Strategies Of Labor Union Membership, Nina W. Hatcher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Labor union membership decline spans more than 4 decades since 1954. In 2012, union membership decreased from 14.1% to 11.3%, which is the lowest since the post-Second World War Era. Union membership decline leads to the inability of some union leaders to retain union members, resulting in a loss of profitability. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies union leaders use in improving membership retention. Twenty union, former union, and nonunion participants from governmental and industrial firms of Jefferson County, Alabama participated in the study offering their lived experiences in industries with active union environments. …

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 …

Discovering Opportunities To Improve Profitability At A Federally Qualified Health Center, Robert Jackson Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) organizations, which provide health care services to low-income, underserved patients, are underfunded. From 2000 to 2007, the cost of treating an FQHC patient increased by $146, while federal compensation to FQHCs increased by only $44 per patient. One FQHC organization in rural Alabama experienced financial losses from the fiscal year 2011 through 2014, jeopardizing services to approximately 6,000 low-income patients. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to analyze the subject organization and discover opportunities to improve financial performance. The research question pertained to the opportunities for improving profitability at the subject organization. The …

Strategies Mortgage Loan Executives Need To Prequalify Mortgage Loan Applicants, Clement Olutayo Ogunyemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The mortgage industry played a major role in the recession faced by the U.S. economy in 2008, with approximately 8.8 million borrowers, or 10.8% of all homeowners, with negative equity in their homes. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies mortgage loan executives use to prequalify mortgage loan applicants. The target population consisted of 8 mortgage executives at 5 mortgage lending firms located in northwest Arkansas who demonstrated strategies to enhance the prequalification of mortgage loan applicants. The conceptual framework for the study was the theory of asymmetric information. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted and the …

Strategies For Exploring: Acat Iii Requirement Approval Process, Donald E. Schlomer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Congress mandated the Secretary of Defense develop a strategy to streamline the joint capabilities integrated development system (JCIDS). The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that senior U.S. Army Commanders might use to reduce the approval time for an acquisition category (ACAT) III need document in the JCIDS. Data came from historical documents and semistructured interviews of 30 ACAT III requirement writers and senior U.S. Army commanders with expertise in JCIDS. The conceptual framework was Goldratt's theory of constraints. Miles, Huberman, and Saldana's data analysis method was used to identify themes. Six …

The Role Of Gender In Hiring Officials' Perceptions Of Chief Information Officer Candidates, Shanna Van Ness

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Few women in academia occupy the leadership role of chief information officer (CIO), yet little is known about the underlying causes for gender disparity in this role. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to investigate whether gender stereotypes may impact perceptions about managerial characteristics of CIO candidates in academic settings. The theoretical foundation for this study was Schein's 'Think Manager, Think Male' paradigm and Acker's gendered organization theory. Data were acquired from 48 hiring officials from four-year public, private, and nonprofit colleges, universities, and research institutions in the Northeastern region of the United States who completed the Schein …

The Role Of An Ombudsman In Mitigating Conflict, Evelyn Addison-Laurie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying behavior is a contributing factor to hostile work environments, and can cause human consequences that affect morale, performance, and productivity. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to identify the strategies that ombudsmen and human resource managers (HR) use in mitigating workplace conflict. Corporate social performance was the conceptual framework that guided this research. Nine HR managers, an ombudsman representative, and 8 ombudsmen located in New York City and in other states were interviewed based on their experience in conflict mitigation. Data extracted from the participants' shared stories along with position description documents were synthesized thematically and …

Creating An Ethical Organizational Environment In Banking, Svenja Nitsche

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An ethical organizational environment ensures a trustworthy organization. This case study explored strategies that banking managers in the United Arab Emirates used to create an ethical organizational environment, one that emphasized the inclusion of ethical values, moral principles, and commitment to society. The target population included senior managers who created and implemented strategies to ensure employees adopted the ethical values in pursuit of an ethical environment. Ethical climate theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. Interviews with 5 managers and company documentation contributed the data for this research. Data were analyzed following inductive investigation and case description. Connecting corporate …

Strategies That Logistics Leaders Use For Achieving Successful Process Improvement, Henry Childs Childs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The successful implementation of process improvement (PI) could reduce operating costs of the Department of Defense, which could lessen the impact of budget reductions and the mounting costs of the expanding global mission requirements. Organizations fail to achieve the return on investment for PI and expected savings because of leaders' inabilities and experiences in integrating critical success factors into PI to improve processes. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that logistics leaders use to implement PI in the military aviation industry. Six purposively selected group and squadron civilian leaders with over 10 years of …

Information Technology Training To Promote Collaboration Among Multiple Generations, Gregg Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The decision to implement information technology (IT) initiatives to enhance collaboration among veterans, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and Fifth Generation employees continues to challenge organizational leaders. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to identify how the implementation of information technology initiatives, coupled with the knowledge of learning styles, might enhance collaboration among generational cohort employees. The generational cohort theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, and the technology acceptance model were the theoretical frameworks used to develop an understanding of the relationships among the cohorts and the acceptance of technology to enhance collaboration. Data were collected from a …

Strategies For Minimizing Defects In Offshore-Outsourced Products, More Layen-Layeni

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders increasingly grapple with longer and more complex supply chain nodes wrought by the globalization of corporate manufacturing processes. The flow of outsourced materials is also more vulnerable to high-profile product-harm crises, sabotage, product defect, and recall problems. The purpose of this single case study was to explore manufacturing strategies used by business leaders of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the United States to minimize the defects in offshore-outsourced products. The sample was 2 OEM business leaders who have successfully reduced the defects in offshore-manufactured products in their Michigan facility. The conceptual framework was agency theory. Data were …

Factors Affecting Student Loan Default In Proprietary Non-Degree Granting Colleges, Samuel Hanson Kelley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The significant problem addressed in this research was the increasing default rate among federal student loan borrowers who attended non-degree-granting proprietary colleges in Florida (i.e., career and technical colleges). The purpose of this study was to identify, better understand, and predict which borrower characteristics increased the likelihood of student loan default at proprietary non-degree-granting colleges. The research was based on the structural-functional and planned behavior theories and utilized a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design to explore the relationship between academic success, age, college graduation status, ethnicity, gender, high school class ranking, and federal student loan default. Self-reported data were obtained from …

Driving Strategies In Performance Excellence, Nathan Lawrence

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Only a small number of U.S. businesses have implemented the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to improve their performance. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that executive business leaders use to implement the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The study population consisted of 6 business executives and 2 organizations in the U.S. state of Texas, all with experience in implementing the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The theory of high performance work systems provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were gathered from interviews and record reviews that were conducted within the organizations. Inductive …

Exploring Frontline Management Strategies Used To Improve Employee Engagement, Michael P. Wise

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Managers who foster at least 65% employee engagement, based on employee engagement surveys conducted by Hewitt Associates, Inc., provide a 19% higher return to shareholders than managers who do not foster a 65% or higher employee engagement level. The purpose of this single site case study was to identify strategies that frontline managers used to build employee engagement, leading to higher organizational performance. The transformational leadership theory was used as the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 3 frontline managers at a beverage manufacturing facility in the Midwest of the …

Strategic Alignment Of Information Technology Projects And Project Success, Joan Barnes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alignment of information technology (IT) projects remains a concern for business executives and negatively impacts IT investments through failed projects. Drawing from the theory of systems thinking and the concept of holism, the purpose of this correlational study was to provide executive leaders with information about influences associated with the independent variables of project alignment and performance outputs, and the dependent variable, project success rates. Accordingly, the research question addressed the relationship between the 2-predictor variables and the outcome variable. Data collection involved a nonprobability, purposive sample of 49 credentialed project managers from Arizona who completed an online survey. Results …

Decision-Making Strategies Of Venture Capitalists For Risky Startups, Antonio Wendill Mcclain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, venture capitalist (VC) investments were as high as $87 billion for startup companies. Furthermore, although more than 50% of venture-backed startups failed, return on investment came from only 10% of the investee companies. The high VC investment dollars and the low number of profitable VC-backed startups suggest challenges that VCs might experience in identifying profitable startups. Using a real options theory conceptual framework, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies VCs in the southeastern United States use to identify profitable startups. Data collection included observation and archival document reviews and involved semistructured interviews of …

Decreasing Food Waste Through Increased Awareness At A University’S Dining Facilities, Scott Taylor, Jr., Thomas Pratt

ICHRIE Research Reports

Purpose: The current study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a semester-long anti-food waste campaign regarding university student diners’ food waste behaviors.

Originality/Value: Food waste and specifically post-consumer food waste has become one of the most critical concerns in recent years. Post-consumer food waste has also become a major concern and area of interest on U.S. college and university campuses, as numerous administrators have started considering the impact of waste within their dining operations. However, there have been limited examples of how to successfully cut down on food waste that is produced by students. Therefore, this study offers insight …

Do Hotels And Mixed-Use Projects Benefit Each Other? Evidence From China, Yun Zhang, Chun-Hung (Hugo) Tang, Yunzi Zhang

ICHRIE Research Reports

Purpose: In China, many mixed-use projects included a luxury hotel on the property. The present study aims to answer two questions: Do mixed-use projects benefit from including a hotel? Do hotels benefit from being located in a project?

Design/Methodology/Approach: The present study collected a sample of 76 mixed-use projects from Sina Commercial Real Estate database (Sydc.sina.com.cn). Hotel performance data are provided by STR. A hedonic model was used to test hotels’ effect on office rents and residential unit prices in mixed-projects. A matched-subjects designed was used to analyze the effect of mixed-use projects on hotel performance.

Key Findings: The …