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Guide To The School Of Business Records, University Of San Diego School Of Business

University Records

These records contain informational materials about the University of San Diego School of Business. These appear to be records compiled by the University of San Diego Public Relations Office, specifically Director of Public Relations Sara Finn. Of significance within these records are planning documents and informational materials about the Hahn Endowed Chair of Real Estate Finance dedicated in 1993. Dr. Mark Riedy served as the first Hahn Endowed Chair. Also included are building dedication materials for the Legal Research Center, and Olin Hall. In addition to Olin Hall dedication materials, are records about the Olin Foundation and the site visit …

Gender And Networking: Building And Benefiting From High Status Ties In The Workplace, Meredith L. Woehler

Theses and Dissertations--Management

While organizations have significantly reduced the overt and intentional forms of sex discrimination that impeded women’s careers in the past, a great deal of research suggests women continue to face informal barriers in the workplace. One such arena in which women tend to be disadvantaged is in their workplace networks. In many ways, men and women have similar networks, yet women are less likely than their male counterparts to have personal relationships with high status coworkers. Scholars have long suggested that these strategic connections are valuable and may be especially beneficial to or necessary for women. Networking has long been …

Managers' Network Change And Their Promotability During A Merger, Wookje Sung

Theses and Dissertations--Management

I investigate whether cross-functional or cross-organizational networking following a large corporate merger and acquisition improves managers’ career outcomes. Previous research on networks and career success has focused on stable organizational environments, finding that large, open networks with many structural holes are most advantageous because of superior information benefits and control power, while closed networks provide redundant information that is unhelpful career-wise. However, I suggest that while dense, closed networks formed within knowledge (functional) or identity (legacy organization) boundaries might be detrimental to executives’ future promotability, closed networks are helpful if they are created across those boundaries. These ties help to …

How Organizational Turbulence Shapes The Broker Vision Advantage, Jesse Fagan

Theses and Dissertations--Management

Research on social networks has established that those who bridge the gaps between dense social groups (i.e. structural holes) are granted a “vision advantage” compared to those who are embedded in dense groups. A common explanation for the advantage is that bridging a structural hole provides the broker with access to diverse information. What is less clear is how this process performs when the organizational context is turbulent. I propose that in a turbulent organizational context, when the organization is experiencing dramatic changes, employees benefit less from building a repertoire of diverse information and instead benefit more from adopting socially …

Workplace Bullying In Kuwait, Hamad A. Alaslawi

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Workplace bullying (WPB) is a pervasive problem in contemporary society, inflicting detrimental repercussions upon employees, employers, and organizations alike. It affects the physical, psychological, and financial wellbeing not only of its victims, but also their families, their communities, and society as a whole.

Research into this phenomenon has evolved significantly over the past two decades. While related to the physically violent phenomenon of schoolyard bullying, WPB is primarily a psychological phenomenon, manifesting as abusive power in workplace relationships, rather than as interpersonal conflict. Bullying at work comes in many forms, has many faces, and occurs in many places. It ranges …

Development Of A Supplier Segmentation Method For Increased Resilience And Robustness: A Study Using Agent Based Modeling And Simulation, Adam J. Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Supply chain management is a complex process requiring the coordination of numerous decisions in the attempt to balance often-conflicting objectives such as quality, cost, and on-time delivery. To meet these and other objectives, a focal company must develop organized systems for establishing and managing its supplier relationships. A reliable, decision-support tool is needed for selecting the best procurement strategy for each supplier, given knowledge of the existing sourcing environment. Supplier segmentation is a well-established and resource-efficient tool used to identify procurement strategies for groups of suppliers with similar characteristics. However, the existing methods of segmentation generally select strategies that optimize …

An Evaluation Of The Quality Of Mens 100% Cotton Jersey Knit T-Shirts Representing Three Retail Categories, Jeanne Oakes Badgett

Theses and Dissertations--Retailing and Tourism Management

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the quality of design, materials, construction, appearance, and performance of mens 100% cotton jersey knit t-shirts from three retail categories: mass merchant, fast fashion, and better. These retail categories were represented by brands Fruit of the Loom, H&M, and Brooks Brothers, respectively. A convenience sample was comprised of 78 t-shirts. 13 white and 13 navy t-shirts from each brand were used for testing according to ASTM and AATCC standards and specifications. Evaluations and measurements were conducted before washing, and after one, five, ten, and twenty laundry cycles. The t-shirts were evaluated for …

Budgeting By Priorities: Balancing Stability With Economic Responsiveness, Meagan M. Jordan, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Somayeh Hooshmand

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This article investigates how the budget priorities of Arkansas state government departments vary with changes in economic conditions. The Arkansas Revenue Stabilization Act (ARSA) of 1945 established a formalized method of state budgeting by priorities. State funds are allocated, meaning the funds are legally made available, according to priority levels established each year by the Governor and the General Assembly. Those allocated funds are later distributed, meaning released for spending, according to priority levels as funds become available. In this study, we ask the research question: Are departmental budget priorities driven by stability or are they responsive to economic condition? …

The Lack Of African American Women Ceos In Corporate America: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Rosalind D. Sawyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While the number of African American women filling executive level positions in Fortune 500 companies in America has improved, there is still a need for significant improvements in increasing their access to corporate chief executive officer (CEO) positions. African American women occupy only 11.7% of the board seats, and their representation as CEOs has steadily declined. Throughout the history of Fortune 500 companies, there have been only 14 African American men with CEO titles. As of January 2017, there are no African American women CEOs. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences and perceptions of …

Relationship Between Project Managers’ Age, Years Of Project Experience, And Project Success, Luli Hoxha

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project failures are costly to businesses and are increasingly present in the news. In many industries, projects have a 40% failure rate, and 90% of venture capital projects fail even to start. Project managers play a key role in delivering successful projects. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between project manager’s age and years of project experience and project success. The population of this study consisted of 108 active or former project managers working in Albania or Kosovo who were LinkedIn members. The study was not grounded in a named theory; rather, based on the …

Restaurants Owner Strategies For Financial Sustainability Beyond 5 Years, Raimi Gnonlonfoun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The restaurant industry plays an essential role in the U.S. economy. Approximately 26% of small- and medium-sized enterprise restaurants fail during their first year of business operation and 60% cannot sustain beyond 3 years. The objective of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that small- and medium-sized restaurant owners used to financially sustain business beyond 5 years. The purposive sample consisted of 4 successful restaurant owners who have been in operation for at least 5 years in the southern region of the United States. The general systems theory was the conceptual framework of this study. The data …

The Relationship Of Moral Reasoning And Ethical Decision Making Among It Employees, Karen J. Stockton-Tillman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a rise in the last decade of documented unethical business behavior by information technology (IT) employees. Over the last several years, business managers have tried to address this area of concern to find a solution to this growing problem, but they have struggled with the metrics to identify unethical behavior in IT employees. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of 3 employee constructs-ethics training (ET), education level (EL), and employee's perception of their organizations' ethical leadership (EP)-on whether an IT employee would behave in an unethical manner. The theoretical framework for the study …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Masters-Prepared And Non-Masters-Prepared Nurse Leaders, Subha Narasimha Chari

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The complex nature of healthcare requires nurse leaders to be skilled in professional practice, communication, teamwork, and problem solving to improve staff satisfaction and patient outcomes. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and Institute of Medicine promotes graduate education for nurse leaders to enhance the delivery of quality care to the nation's diverse patient populations. Guided by the diffusion of innovation theory, this project explored the differences in nursing care hours, staff turnover, nurse quality indicators, as well as leadership characteristics on units lead by masters-prepared and non-masters-prepared nurses. Forty-eight nurse leaders completed the impact of graduate education among …

Budget Planning, Budget Control, Business Age, And Financial Performance In Small Businesses, Tracy A. Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 390,000 businesses failed in the United States in 2014. The primary cause for most business failures is poor planning, and budgets are a primary means of planning. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine to what extent, if any, budget planning, budget control, and the age of the business significantly predict financial performance in small businesses. The target population consisted of small business leaders in the Midwest. Churchill and Lewis's theory on the relative importance of selected management factors of small businesses through 5 stages of development formed the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected …

Project Risk Management Strategies For It Project Managers, John Stephen Cabral

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Utilizing information technology (IT) to enable new organizational capabilities to achieve near-term objectives and long-term sustainability is a top priority for many business leaders seeking to maintain or increase market share. However, organizational leaders face significant challenges to their strategy execution because the percentage of challenged IT projects has remained relatively static for decades. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore risk management strategies used by 7 purposely selected IT project managers (PMs) from a pharmaceutical company located in the northeastern United States who have effectively managed IT project performance by using risk management strategies, leading to …

Successful Ethical Decision-Making Practices From The Professional Accountants' Perspective, Tammy Tanner Webster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unethical behavior includes all decisions and actions counterproductive to an organization's mission and can cause irrevocable damage to the organization's professional reputation. The Securities and Exchange Commission reported 807 ethical violations in 2015. This study was underpinned by the ethical leadership theory, which emphasizes leadership decision making based on fair and just practices, for all involved parties. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore the ethical decision-making best practices that not-for-profit accounting managers in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area needed to strengthen the ethical decision-making process in their organizations. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from 5 …

Strategies In Mitigating Medicare/Medicaid Fraud Risk, Godfred Adomako

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the fiscal year 2014, approximately 1,337 health care providers lost their provider license to Medicare/Medicaid fraud. Out of the 1,318 criminal convictions reported by the U.S. Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU), 395 (30%) were home health care aides who claimed to have rendered services not provided. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore licensed and certified home health care business managers' strategies to mitigate Medicare/Medicaid fraud risk. A purposive sampling of 9 business managers and chief executive officers from 3 licensed and certified home health care businesses in Franklin County, Ohio participated in semistructured face-to-face interviews. …

Effective Strategies For Transformational Teams In The Danish Retail Banking Sector, Dorthe Hã¥Hr Dupont

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Successful transformation projects in the retail banking industry focusing on improving customer experiences have yielded a verified increase in earnings per employee. The purpose of this single case study was to reveal the strategies used by transformational team managers to ensure improved customer experiences. The stakeholder theory was used as the theoretical framework to analyze the interplay between the project team and the base organization during the process of improving customer experiences. The population consisted of 6 managers of transformational teams in the Danish retail banking sector who were successfully delivering on assigned goals of improving customer services. The data …

Offshore Outsourcing Of The United States Semiconductor Manufacturing: Management Approaches And Strategies, Oscar Mostofi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States manufacturing employment decreased 33% from 1985 to 2014. During the same period, the United States semiconductor manufacturing, accounting for 1.7% of the total of the United States manufacturing workforce, lost 35% of its employees. The decline in semiconductor manufacturing jobs began in 1985 when semiconductor firms began offshoring product manufacturing overseas because of low cost of qualified labor force and facilities. This qualitative case study explored the analytical approaches and strategies business leaders of semiconductor firms that offshore manufacturing use in making informed strategic outsourcing and offshoring decisions conducive to sustainability and profitability of operations. The location …

Strategies Needed For Small Business Sustainability: A Case Study Of Thai Restaurants, Vanida Sirilarbanan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to U.S. Small Business Association, the failure rates for small businesses in 2014 were as high as 50% to 80% within the first 5 years of establishment. Failure rates were especially high among restaurant businesses. The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies that small business owners needed to sustain their businesses beyond the first 5 years. Guided by entrepreneurship theory as the conceptual framework, a case study was conducted with semistructured interviews of 3 successful Thai restaurant owners in Salt Lake City, Utah. Member checking and methodological triangulation with field notes, interview data, company websites, customer …

Strategies To Retain Revenue Management Analysts In The U.S. Airline Industry, Curtis Raynard Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The voluntary turnover of revenue management analysts in the U.S. airline industry is an issue, compelling revenue management leaders to implement retention strategies that successfully reduce employee turnover. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies revenue management leaders used within the last 15 years to retain revenue management analysts. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was Maertz's 8 motivational forces of job attachment and voluntary turnover. The targeted population was comprised of revenue management leaders at an airline in Dallas, Texas who had demonstrated successful strategies to reduce employee turnover. Using criterion-based sampling, 4 …

The Relationship Between Ethical Leadership And Sustainability In Small Businesses, David Amisano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the 2008 financial crisis, business leaders' ethical behaviors have been under scrutiny. These leaders face uncertainty regarding ethical leadership behaviors and their impact. Because small business leadership involves multiple facets of behavior and decision-making, small business leaders may have an insufficient understanding of the impact of ethical leadership behaviors on the sustainability of their businesses. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between ethical leadership and financial, social, and environmental sustainability in small businesses. Integrated social contracts theory was the theoretical framework. The participants consisted of 80 members of a chamber of commerce located in …

Understanding Financial Value Of Cloud-Based Business Applications: A Phenomenological Study, Victor Arthur Arthur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An understanding of opportunities and challenges in cloud computing is needed to better manage technology costs and create financial value. The purposes of this transcendental phenomenological study were to understand the lived experiences of minority business owners who operated business applications in the cloud and to explore how these experiences created financial value for businesses despite security challenges. Historically, minority business owners have experienced high rates of business failures and could benefit from information to help them manage business costs in order to position their businesses to grow and succeed. Modigliani-Miller's theorem on capital structure and Brealey and Young's concept …

Strategies To Mitigate Losses From Product-Harm Crises In The Agri-Food Industry, Leslie Owen Paull

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some agri-food managers of United States-based companies use strategies to mitigate product-harm crises.The loss of brand and corporate sustainability increases for companies not utilizing mitigating strategies to reduce losses from agri-food product-harm crisis.The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies managers use to mitigate losses from agri-food product-harm crises. Coombs' situational crisis communication theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. A sample of 3 managers from 3 agri-food companies in the southern United States shared their mitigating strategies to reduce losses from a product-harm crisis. Methodological triangulation assisted in reviewing and analyzing information from …

Sustainable Supply Chain: Maintaining A Competitive Advantage In Retail Organizations, Sherman M. Arthur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some retail managers encounter challenges with efficiency and responsiveness in their attempts to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the retail industry. Many retail managers are receptive to changes in global markets, technology, and customer demands. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies that some retail managers used to motivate their sales associates to maintain a competitive advantage in the retail industry. Maintaining a competitive advantage increases profitability and customer satisfaction. Sustainable Supply Chain Management was the primary conceptual framework for this study. The purposive sample consisted of 4 retail managers from a …

Leadership Strategies For Developing And Implementing Organizational Change, Hardy L. Delay Iv

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders in some narcotics treatment programs struggle with change development and implementation. The objective of this single-case study was to explore strategies used by leaders in a narcotics treatment program to develop and implement organizational change initiatives successfully. Participants included 4 leaders who had developed and implemented successful change initiatives repeatedly for more than 10 years in a narcotics treatment program in the southeastern United States. Bertalanffy's general systems theory was the basis for the conceptual framework. Data collection included semistructured interviews of leaders of a narcotics treatment program and collection of archival data, such as reports relating to strategic …

Predicting Bank Failure Using Regulatory Accounting Data, Helen Pruitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A liquidity shortfall in the United States triggered the bankruptcy of several large commercial banks, and bank failures continue to occur, with 50 banks failing between 2013 and 2015. Therefore, it is critical banking regulators understand the correlates of financial performance measures and the potential for banks to fail. In this study, binary logistic regression was employed to assess the theoretical proposition that banks with higher nonperforming loans, lower Tier 1 leverage capital, and higher noncore funding dependence are more likely to fail. Archival data ranging from 2012-2015 were collected from 250 commercial banks listed on the Federal Deposit Insurance …

Organizational Strategies In The Mortgage Industry, Rachelle Sutton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mortgage managers lack the organizational strategies to evolve after the 2008 economic decline of the U.S. and the global economy. The significance in the lack of organizational strategies threaten the U.S. and global communities with challenges in defaults for homeowners, performance and profits for the mortgage industry that jeopardize solvent economies. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies mortgage loan managers use to avoid mortgage crises and maintain profitability. The conceptual framework for this study was the social audit theory. The participants of the study were 7 mortgage managers, in the North-Eastern region of …

Strategies For Implementing Advertisements In The Green Industry, Ashley Deal Castle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After a growth in sales of 30% from 2007 to 2010, green product market sales declined 2% from 2010 to 2014 in the United States. Business leaders need to incorporate sustainable business practices and use green messaging within advertisements and marketing campaigns to assure that present needs do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This qualitative case study explored marketing strategies that business leaders in the green advertising industry use to increase the sale of green products. The social cognitive theory was the conceptual framework used in this study. In-depth interviews with 5 purposively selected …

Exploring General Career Barriers And Self-Constructed Career Impediments Of Minority Women Managers And Leaders, Octavia A. Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau indicated only 39.1% of women occupied management and leadership occupations. The absence of women in leadership roles minimizes career aspirations, reduces the benefits of gender diversity, and lowers growth opportunities for women. The purpose of this interpretive hermeneutical phenomenological study was to unveil the lived experiences of a sample of minority women managers and leaders in the finance and insurance sector in Central Florida who encountered general career barriers and self-imposed career impediments that hindered them from advancing. The conceptual framework that guided this study was the social cognitive career theory coupled with the …