Business Commons^™

Internet-Based Behavior Of It Professionals: Implications For Online Ergonomic Education To Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Priyadarshini Pattath

Theses and Dissertations

INTERNET-BASED BEHAVIOR OF IT PROFESSIONALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ONLINE ERGONOMIC EDUCATION TO PREVENT WORK-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS

By Priyadarshini Pattath, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017 Director: Dr. Robin Hurst, Assistant Professor of Adult Learning, Teaching and Learning,

School of Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the preferences of medium of ergonomic education and views about self-directed online training modules to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in computer professionals and understand their perspectives and experiences about online health information seeking using a …

Technology Mergers And Acquisitions In The Presence Of An Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis, Qiu-Hong Wang, Kai-Lung Hui

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We study the strategic benefits of M&A when competing IT vendors sell different generations of the same product with different quality. We assume the new product arrives unexpectedly when an installed base of old product exists. We show that the combination of consumers' purchase history and heterogeneity leads to new demand complexity that gives rise to innovative product strategies. We find that shelving the old product is an important motivation for M&A. The acquirer may exercise static or intertemporal price discrimination depending on whether it can exercise upgrade pricing. M&A may speed up or slow down new product consumption, and …

Factors Affecting Virtual Gift Acceptance: Mediating Roles Of Hedonic And Utilitarian Values, Eric M. Tamandja, Assion Lawson-Body, Laurence Lawson-Body, Jun Liu

Research & Publications

There is little formalized knowledge of virtual gifting in the information technology (IT) literature. The objective of this paper is to explore the factors affecting the acceptance of virtual gifts and specifically the factors within a virtual gift that affect individuals’ intention to accept it and the mediating role of these factors. This research combines several acceptances, hedonic and utilitarian view related theories to explore the factors affecting acceptance of virtual gifts. Moreover, this study investigates the effects of usefulness, beautifulness, subjective norms of the receiver, and importance of the giver of a virtual gift as determinants of its utilitarian …

Two Essays On Marketing Capabilities, Hamed Mehrabi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A critical decision for any firm involves allocating investment to different types of marketing activities. One argument is that firms should invest resources in both explorative and exploitative activities to develop ambidexterity. Considering the extensive theoretical and practical implications of ambidexterity, several research gaps exist in this area provide opportunities for both theoretical and practical contributions. In this dissertation, I identify and explore three important research opportunities.

First, based on one argument regarding ambidexterity, firms should pursue exploration and exploitation in a balanced manner. This is even though there is little evidence confirming that being ‘out of balance’ actually hurts …

Three Essays In Green Product Development: Co-Opetition, Sustainability, And Regulations, Maryam Hafezi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Pollution, global warming, ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect have brought environmental issues to the fore. As a result, consumers, governments and NGOs have pressured firms to develop green products. Green products are those “that strive to protect or enhance the natural environment by conserving energy and/or resources and reducing or eliminating use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste’’. Pressures from those stakeholders are not the only reasons for firms to become involved in green product development. Other reasons include the opportunities for accessing new markets, enhancing competitive advantages, gaining cost efficiency, and building a better reputation.

This dissertation includes …

Three Essays On Banking, Capital Market Frictions And Corporate Payout Policy, Hosein Nooriaan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The prevalence of financial market frictions is far from uncommon. Between 1970 and 2011, Laeven & Valencia (2012) identify 147 banking crises, along with 218 episodes of currency crises, and 66 episodes of sovereign debt default. Thus, understanding a firm’s behavior in the presence of financial crisis is an important issue for future financial research. My dissertation explores corporate payout and liquidity policy either during a financial market crisis, or in anticipation of a financial market crisis.

In the first essay, “Capital Market Friction and Corporate Payout Policy”, I focus on the role of supply of capital on corporate payout …

Ambivalent But Not Indifferent: Consumer Motivations To Seek Versus Avoid Professional Advice, David Lewis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An under-explored dimension of consumer decision-making is the motivation for seeking professional advice. While extant research in marketing describes some antecedents to seeking advice (e.g. complexity, risk), it is not known how these factors combine to influence consumer intentions to seek advice. Given the general consumer reluctance to obtain professional advice, the current research examines the factors that influence the motivations to seek advice. Professional financial advice is selected as the empirical context to investigate this issue.

The first of two studies involved exploratory qualitative research and revealed the factors affecting the motivation to seek advice. It was observed that …

Inside Sales Force And Gender: Mediating Effects Of Intrinsic Motivation On Sales Controls And Performance, Anne Gottfried, Scott Ambrose, Richard Plank

Publications

Business-to-business sales organizations are experiencing inside sales growth as well as increased importance and utilization of their inside sales people. This dynamic role change towards inside sales is resulting in organizations re-thinking their sales control structure. To fill this gap, data was collected from 183 inside sales professionals representing a variety of industries. Utilizing Partial Least Square Analysis (PLS), this study analyzed the influences of gender on the relationship between sales controls and job performance to include measuring effects of intrinsic motivation, both challenge seeking and task enjoyment, on the model relationships. Findings suggest that differences do exist between males …

Leading Change In Complex Systems: A Paradigm Shift, Cheryl Lemaster

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study is an in-depth exploration of the experiences of 20 executive-level leaders from American corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and universities.At the heart of this investigation are stories that reveal the challenge of leading change in complex systems from the leader perspective, creating an opportunity to explore sense-making and sense-giving as guided by individual values and organizational contexts.Complexity Science, the framework for this research, is the study of relationships within and among systems.The aim of approaching this research from a complexity perspective is to gain a more realistic view of the issues and challenges that leaders face during change, …

Exploring The Lives Of Women Who Lead, Susan Cloninger

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Scholars have identified various reasons for the underrepresentation of women in the upper echelons of organizations.This study used grounded theory methodology enhanced by situational analysis to explore how American women at senior levels in large organizational contexts engage and negotiate the totality of their situation.Utilizing a predominately White, married, middle to upper class, heterosexual sample, this study sought to understand how women create and consign meaning around their experiences; how they experience the fluidity and boundaries of multiple identities; and how they experience the entanglement of macro, meso, and micro societal forces.It explores relationships among factors participants named as influential …

Elements Of Effective Interorganizational Collaboration: A Mixed Methods Study, Patricia A. Greer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Interorganizational collaboration is a process used by committed stakeholders within a problem domain to solve 'messy’ or complex issues. Joint identification and resolution of complex problems is achieved through an iterative process, using elements for success: committed members, resources, time, communication, trust, shared goal, defined process, and collective identity. This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed methods process as a practical approach, resulting in richer data and increased understanding of the phenomenon of collaboration. The guiding research problem explored which elements influence successful collaborations and, specifically, how collective identity is developed, sustained, and related to the perception of success. The …

Rhizomatic Learning And Adapting: A Case Study Exploring An Interprofessional Team's Lived Experiences, Renee Charney

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this theoretical case study was to explore the lived experiences of members within an inter-professional team about how they learn and adapt while dedicating their lives toward the well-being of students residing in and attending a rehabilitation home school. Although there is broad literature that addresses legacy learning theories and frameworks, as well as complex-adaptive organizations, very little shows how the application of rhizome philosophy principles address learning and adapting within an organizational context. This study is a step toward addressing that gap. Using interviews, thematic analysis, and storyline networking, the study explored in depth the lived …

Design Thinker Profile: Creating And Validating A Scale For Measuring Design Thinking Capabilities, Dani Chesson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study developed a scale for assessing design thinking capabilities in individuals. Many organizations today are turning to design thinking to tackle the complex challenges they face. As organizations move toward adopting this way of working the need to develop design thinking capabilities in individuals becomes imperative. The capabilities needed for engaging in design thinking are skills that we all have to some varying degree, but we do not all use them to their full potential when solving problems. The scale developed in this study measures the degree to which an individual uses design thinking capabilities when engaged in problem …

Inclusive Leadership's Evolving Context: Organizational Climate And Culture Connect, Maria E. Dezenberg

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Conventional forms of leadership that are prominent in organizational life today are seemingly antithetical to the landscape of our dynamic, global society. The continued focus on traditional hierarchies with leadership that functions in a “chain of command” manner begs the question of how organizations can reshape routines and relationships to reflect processes of inclusion and collaboration that have the capability of provoking progressive change in organizations. Diversity and Inclusion scholars have identified the newer construct of inclusive leadership as apt to advance climates and cultures of inclusion through social processes that encourage inclusive practices and behaviors. These fluid aspects of …

Pharmaceutical M&A Activity: Effects On Prices, Innovation, And Competition, Barak D. Richman, Will Mitchell, Elena Vidal, Kevin Schulman

Faculty Scholarship

The rise of blockbuster pharmaceutical acquisitions has prompted fears that unprecedented market concentration will weaken competition. Two of the most prominent concerns focus on the upstream and downstream ends of the pharmaceutical industry: (1) the concern that these mergers will concentrate the market for discovery and will therefore lead to fewer discoveries; and (2) the concern that merging large marketing, sales, and distribution forces will strengthen the hands of select pharmaceutical manufacturers and weaken downstream competition. Having considered potential dynamic effects in the industry and conducted a series of preliminary interviews with knowledgeable observers, though, this Article argues that neither …

The Missing Framework For Virtually Assisted Activities, Jacob Steffen, James Gaskin, Thomas Meservy, Jeffrey Jenkins

Faculty Publications

Various frameworks and taxonomies exist that classify virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) by their attributes and technical specifications. However, no extant frameworks specifically classify the activities executed with VR and AR devices, which we refer to as virtually assisted activities (VAAs). In the context of past definitions and frameworks of VR and AR, we present a framework for VAAs that examines the underlying motivations for virtualizing some aspect of an activity. By so doing, VAAs are easily compared to similar non-virtualized activities done in physical reality, VR is better compared with AR, and potential benefits …

Liquidity In Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison, John Beshears, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

What is the socially optimal level of liquidity in a retirement savings system? Liquid retirement savings are desirable because liquidity enables agents to flexibly respond to preretirement events that raise the marginal utility of consumption, like income shocks.¹ On the other hand, preretirement liquidity is undesirable when it leads to undersaving arising from, for example, planning mistakes or self- control problems.²

Neural Networks In Strategic Marketing: Exploring The Possibilities, Kristen Bell Detienne, David H. Detienne

Faculty Publications

A review of the literature indicates that few studies have used artificial neural networks (ANNs) for data analysis in business and marketing research, even though there are many benefits to the use of ANNs. Therefore, this article discusses neural networks (NNs) that can be used in addition to or as an alternative to linear regression for data analysis in strategic marketing. The function and layout of NNs make them ideal for research dealing with nonlinear, incomplete, unspecified, or ‘fuzzy’ data and offer several advantages over linear regression. Unfortunately, in many marketing studies, the information being modeled is far from flawless …

Case Teaching And Writing, Peter Ward, Brian Hill

Faculty Publications

College students desire a practitioner-focused education. Case teaching and writing provide more meaningful connections with practitioners and the “real” world than traditional lecture classes. Case teaching is a teaching approach using authentic, challenging, organizational scenarios with unstructured problems requiring students to analyze situations, apply principles, and create solutions through a discussion format. Case teaching provides students with the opportunity to work from the higher-order learning levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and encourages them to challenge their existing mental models, experiment with new ideas, become engaged in the learning process, and reach higher levels of learning. Cases can be taught successfully in …

The Value Of A Master’S Degree To Recreation Professionals, Camilla J. Hodge, Brian J. Hill, Christian Brinton

Faculty Publications

This study assessed the nature of the relationship between earning advanced degrees and career outcomes such as salary, job satisfaction, social capital, and human capital among professionals in the parks and recreation field. The sample (n = 196) was drawn from parks and recreation agencies located in the United States. Agencies, excluding educational institutions, were identified via an Internet search for parks and recreation agencies in urban areas. Findings indicated there was a positive relationship between earning a master’s degree and salary. Earning a master’s degree, however, was not significantly related to job satisfaction, social capital, or human capital. Furthermore, …