Business Commons^™

Developing Ei: Leadership Journeys In Emotional Intelligence, Erin Bric

Theses and Dissertations

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been deemed a critical competency for leaders in today's world. However, there is little information to help OD practitioners, leaders, and organizations understand how leaders can develop these skills in ways that meaningfully and positively impact their teams and organizations. This study examined the journeys of senior leaders as they developed their emotional intelligence. The study addressed two research questions: how leaders perceive they have developed their emotional intelligence throughout their lifetimes and how leaders are continuing to develop their emotional intelligence in their lives and careers. Key themes emerged out of leader interviews and were …

Love As An Organizational Norm: An Exploration At A Values-Centered Organization, Vangie Marie Bogaty-Rodríguez

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated to what extent, if any, developing a norm of love might be accepted, incorporated, sustained, and beneficial to an organization. Participants included 18 directors, manager, and supervisors of a 24-year-old telecommunications company located in Puerto Rico. Data were collected through individual interviews where interviewees shared their perspectives on the possibility of adopting the norm of love, their acceptance of it, and how they would implement it. Findings indicated that a majority (83.33%) of the participants acknowledged that love is part of the human essence and whole selves, and that such a norm would be beneficial to employees …

A Quantitative Descriptive Study Of The Self-Perception Of Southern Oregon Entrepreneurial Leaders, Rebecca Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The study helped to identify what are the leadership styles of adult entrepreneurs, and what if any factors contribute to an entrepreneurs' leadership style. The study focused on entrepreneurial leaders, over the age of 18, who own and started their own business. These entrepreneurs are a member of one of the following Southern Oregon-based business networking groups: Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI), and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Southern Oregon. The study explored the self-perceived leadership styles of entrepreneurs in Southern Oregon through a quantitative descriptive survey method that utilized a 45-question, Likert scale from the …

Once Upon A Team: The Impact Of Personal Storytelling Types On Desire To Collaborate, Matt Ebeling

Theses and Dissertations

Personal story disclosure supports the development of interpersonal relationships through the building of trust and feelings of closeness. In organizational teams, trust is key to the promotion of cooperative behaviors and team performance, and collaboration within a team and across teams becomes exceedingly important as organizations grow and increase in complexity. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of specific types of personal storytelling on a person's desire to collaborate with others in the workplace. I conclude that the following characteristics of personal story sharing by co-workers have a positive impact on desire to collaborate with the …

Mutual Accountability And Its Impacts On Cross-Functional Teams, Lori E. Simms

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of cross-functional teams is to bring together diverse individuals of relevant functional expertise from across an organization to solve problems rapidly and efficiently. The difficulty with cross-functional teams is in establishing and maintaining mutual accountability because individuals come with their respective individual accountabilities and the methods for which those accountabilities were established. This qualitative study explored mutual accountability, how it is established, and its impact on cross-functional teams. Nine individuals participated in semi-structured interviews to explore how mutual accountability is established, barriers to establishing and maintaining it, and the impact of its presence or lack thereof on the …

An Investigation Into Educational Employee Practices For Finding And Maintaining A Sense Of Meaning In Their Work, Elizabeth P. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed method study examined how educational employees in 3 public school districts in southeast Michigan make and/or create a sense of meaning in their work and sought to understand how relationships influence employee's sense of meaningfulness. Quantitative data collection came from a survey combining the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Work and Meaning Index (WAMI). 266 employees completed the survey. Qualitative data collection included interviewing 17 employees with representation from each role category and each school district. This study found personnel working in the field of education in southeast Michigan find their work highly meaningful; and that relationships …

"Thanks For The Free Products! #Ad": The Effects Of The Number Of Followers And Sponsorship Disclosures On The Credibility Of Instagram Influencers, Allison Renee Cox

Theses and Dissertations

Instagram influencers regularly promote products for brands. Some influencers follow Federal Trade Commission rules on advertising disclosures, such as putting "ad" or "sponsored" in a visible line of text, whereas others do not. Disclosures alert users that they are viewing an ad. Many social media users view influencers as authentic, trusted information sources, so it is important they are aware when viewing paid ads. How disclosures affect source credibility remains unclear. This study used 2 x 2 factorial design to evaluate the roles of two possible credibility enhancing factors: number of followers and advertising disclosures. Instagram users (N = …

Systemic Barriers And Facilitators Of Help-Seeking And Highly Performing Individuals In Business And Sports, Jonathan N. Weller

Theses and Dissertations

The mental health and wellbeing of highly performing individuals in business and sport demands attention due to the high costs (personal and financial) that disruptions can create for these individuals and their organizations or teams. Utilizing 13 interviews with support professionals (e.g., executive coaches, psychologists), this study explored factors affecting help-seeking and wellbeing amongst high-performing athletes and executives, consequences of not seeking help, and similarities present in business and elite sports environments. Themes including stigma, career consequences, logistics, culture, and isolation of leadership were identified as factors inhibiting help-seeking and wellbeing. Service delivery factors, organizational resources and policies, and leadership …

Advancing Leadership Consciousness: Integrity From The Inside Out, Jessica Plancich Shinners

Theses and Dissertations

A poll conducted by the World Economic Forum (2015) found that 86% of respondents perceive that we are facing a global leadership crisis. At the time of this study, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global ecology in dramatic and widespread ways. In light of this uncertain political, economic, sociological, and ecological climate, humanity is in need of consistent and reliable ways of developing exemplary leaders. As society enters into massive technological advancement, leaders and collaborators are at risk of obsolescence if we do not find innovative ways to harness innate human capacities to advance consciousness and co-evolve with technology. …

Essays On Financial Institutions And Advisors, Joseph D. Farizo

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

In my first chapter, I examine how index funds vote their proxies on firms in its index that their family does not hold in its actively managed funds. For a given proxy proposal at a given point in time, I find that an index fund is more likely to oppose management on shares its family does not hold in its active funds than on shares its family does hold in its active funds. I further demonstrate that index fund governance has positive effects on the probability a proposal passes and on shareholder value. In my second chapter coauthored with Will …

Essays On Corporate Finance And Institutional Investors, Ang Li

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

The dissertation consists of three chapters spanning two areas of finance: corporate finance and institutional investors. In the first chapter, “Board Gender Diversity, Firm Culture, and Female Inventors”, I study how employee's Research and Development (R&D) activity is affected by firm culture. Using board gender diversity as a proxy for female-friendly culture, I find that a greater representation of women in the boardroom is associated with increased productivity and innovation output by female inventors relative to male inventors. Female inventors file more highly cited patents and less uncited patents. The effect is driven by female directors with R&D or high-tech …

Lessons From Leaders: Mainstreaming Corporate Valuations Of Impacts And Dependencies On Nature, Carmen L. Thissen, Jakki J. Mohr

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Historically, business practices have negatively affected the natural environment. Many environmental problems originated from businesses’ view of nature as a source of cheap inputs. Moreover, businesses haven’t accounted for negative environmental impacts on “natural capital” (e.g. water, forests, pollination, etc.) from manufacturing, pollution, toxic waste, shipping, and transportation. Given that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” various organizations are developing models and metrics to quantify business impacts on natural capital, and leading businesses are forging ahead with financial valuations. For example, the Kering Group displays their natural capital valuations through an interactive “Environmental Profit and Loss” calculator, displaying global …

Strategic Plan: Amazon, Olivia J. Flamand, Aaron Wisher, Shannon Riley

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

Essays On The Spillover Effects Of Whistleblowing On Peer Firms, Emmanuel Joseph Sequeira

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation examines the spillover effects of media reported corporate whistleblowing on industry peer firms in two essays. The first essay examines peer firm risk-taking and firm efficiency following a whistleblowing allegation. I find that peers significantly reduce their risk-taking following the allegation. They also increase their efficiency following the allegation and increase their market share at the expense of the whistleblowing firms, leading to increased profitability. My second essay examines peer firms' earnings management choices following a whistleblowing allegation. I find that peer firms significantly reduce their manipulation of real activities and reduce their use of accruals-based earnings management …

A Criteria-Based Approach To The Traveling Salesman Problem (Tsp), Daryl Ono, Jose Rincón, Althea Thomas

Librarian Publications & Presentations

The “traveling salesman problem (TSP)” is a classic minimum cost network flow problem in mathematical programming and graph theory that can be formulated in multiple configurations. The fundamental question, however, is: “what is a cost”? The original “traveling salesman problem (TSP)” defines distance as the cost and the objective is to minimize distance traveled. This paper proposes other “cost” criteria to the original problem and also proposes a maximum revenue network flow as a variant to improve managerial decision-making. The proposed decision table methodology can be applied to problems that involve multiple locations or multiple tasks to complete.

Managing Intrapreneurial Capabilities: An Overview, Sohvi Heaton

Management Faculty Works

In recent decades, there has been growing interest in intrapreneurial capabilities. The intrapreneurship and strategic management literatures have insights for entrepreneurs about how to apply entrepreneurial and strategic techniques and concepts in creating competitive advantage. More specifically, the dynamic capabilities framework has emerged as a useful tool for managers to better develop and manage intrapreneurial capabilities. Our essay and the papers in this special issue provide a timely opportunity to assess the rise of intrapreneurship and address organizational and policy implications.

Cognitive And Affective Scarcities And Relational Abundance: Lessons From The Confluence Of Extreme And Chronic Scarcities In Subsistence Marketplaces, Madhu Viswanathan

Marketing & Business Law Faculty Works

Research on subsistence marketplaces provides a number of insights about extreme and chronic resource scarcity as well as intangible scarcities in cognitive and affective realms. These insights have been developed from a variety of sources—quantitative and qualitative research, as well as education for communities and for students through a symbiotic academic-social enterprise. These insights are juxtaposed with extant work on scarcity in consumer research, to derive implications for future research and stimulate thinking on a broad variety of scarcities. Our holistic deep dive into extreme scarcity and its multiple dimensions from the perspective of consumer behavior has much to offer …

Change From The Middle: A Grounded Theory Approach On Middle Manager-Initiated Organizational Change From A Southeast Asian Context, Marcial Orlando A. Balgos Jr, Emerald Jay D. Ilac

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Prior studies on the strategic influencing done by middle managers emphasized on a unidirectional sensemaking and failed to explore how middle managers utilized discursive capabilities in engaging stakeholders in change projects. To forward this, we used the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory as embedded within the power distant cultural norms of Philippine society. Using the LMX model as frame, we aimed to understand how middle managers position and navigate themselves to promote change upward in the organizational hierarchy. Respondents for this study were middle managers in small or mid- sized companies reporting to a business unit with subordinates working under them. …

Does Racial Discrimination Exist In The Nba?, Logan Kendall

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper aims to examines the affect of race on compensation for NBA players. Based on prior research, I pose the hypothesis that racial discrimination does exist in the NBA with there being a premium for white players. A second hypothesis I present based on the previous research is that the premium for white players exist for only some groups of players and for other groups there with not exist discrimination based on player race. By using career data from every player who played in the 2019-2020 NBA season and their 2019-2020 salaries, a few different models where ran. The …

What Works Where?, Edmond Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For this project my goal is to examine the management styles of three workplace environments and the relationships those styles create between the employees and their managers. I will endeavor to explore areas that can be improved from the management perspective of the work force so that employees will have more input in their workplace setting. The environments that this project will look into are the office setting, retail setting, and labor setting. Information for this project was collected via questionnaires that I constructed. There were two surveys distributed for this project. One survey was for employees and the others …

A Business Plan For The Fitzgerald Institute, Elaine M. King, Matthew G. Deibel, Matthew J. Bulgrin, Alex Skeen, Stephanie N. Kieke

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This piece seeks to develop a business strategy for the University of Akron's Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurship. The recommendations given were developed utilizing research on entrepreneurial education and the desires of students at the university.

4 Goodyears, Justin Hofacker, Hannah Bryan, Stephen Sweitzer, Dean Dickirson, Nick Milich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this research project is to develop a new product or service line for Goodyear that does not involve the production or sale of tires. Goodyear is interested in developing unique business ideas they can capitalize on in innovative ways. To accomplish this, it is important to understand Goodyear’s core competencies and how its knowledge and talent can be applied to new business activities. For this reason, we must first understand the company’s history, values, and goals.

Goodyear Project - Mile Marker 0, Nolan Howard, Catherine Elizabeth Rardin, Tyler Michael Henning, Benjamin D. Benton, Matthew Jacob Kennelly

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report offers recommendations and implementation methods of different modes of entry for Goodyear to enter into the last mile delivery market. Goodyear came to us with the prompt, "pick a customer segment, build a strategy, frame how it works and pitch the idea," and this paper attempts to answer this prompt.

Metisentry E-Sports Project Honors Forum, Dylan Meyer, Michael Ciarvarella, Ben Stephens, Michael Farkas, Miya Timura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our group, as part of the CBA Honors Integrated Business Forum, was chosen to work with the Service as a Software company MetiSentry. We are required to help them create some type of software to capitalize on the growing e-sports market. We will be researching the current state, as well as the future state, of the e-sports community and determining the most effective way to capitalize on the growing market. This will culminate in a presentation to MetiSentry at the end of the Spring 2020 semester.

Culture Of Countries And Country-Index Crash Risk, Jason Petri

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Previously crash- risk studies have focused on assessing at the firm level the likelihood of a firm’s equity to crash (a rapid decline in value), apart from the dynamics of its respective country-level market. In this study, however, I examine the determinants of an overall countrylevel equity crash apart from the dynamics of the global market. I will argue that this is a very different focus of analysis that will provide valuable information to both investors and policy makers. Expansion of credit and subsequent equity-market bubbles and crashes are of particular concern to foreign direct investors (FDI), as country-level equity …

A Socioeconomic Analysis Of Francophone And Anglophone West Africa, Jackson Gagne

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project seeks to examine and analyze the socioeconomic performances of four West-African countries; two from Francophone (French-speaking) West Africa and two from Anglophone (English-speaking) West Africa. It will tackle questions such as:

• What is the current socioeconomic condition of countries in this region?
• Which country is most suitable for investment?
• Is there a marked difference between the Francophone and Anglophone countries of West Africa?

And many more.

A Brand New Narrative: Social Attitudes Toward Conflict Resolution And Inefficiency In Marketing And Branding, Emily Skinner

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to bring to light infield internal assumptions, expectations, and knowledge that may influence limitations on fostering an environment that can increase a social demand for conflict resolution services, knowledge, and practices. The research explored if the field’s marketing is influenced by the macro social norms, assumptions, and expectations of conflict and if they influence how the field communicates with its market. The study’s goal was to investigate if the marketing and the branding of conflict resolution are influenced by the social fact of conflict as negative. This study explored conscious and unconscious broad patterns of common-sense knowledge, …

Canada Opens Its Courts To Overseas Human Rights Abuses, Peter Bowal, Thomas D. Brierton

Eberhardt School of Business Faculty Articles

On February 28, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada by a five-to-four majority in its Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya decision, refused to strike damages claims for international human rights abuses and Canadian torts by three former workers at a Canadian majority-owned mining company in Eritrea. Canadian courts are open to hear claims under Canadian law for wrongs committed outside Canada.

New Technologies And The Evolution Of Tax Compliance, James Alm, Joyce Beebe, Michael S. Kirsch, Omri Marian, Jay A. Soled

Journal Articles

Improving tax compliance is a common goal of governments worldwide. The United States is no exception. The size of the nation's "tax gap" - or the difference between what taxpayers pay in taxes in a timely manner and what they should pay if they fully complied with the tax laws - is hundreds of billions of dollars annually, significantly depriving the nation of much-needed revenue.

This paper explores the mixed effects of technological advancements on tax compliance - and, thus, its counterpart, tax noncompliance. On the one hand, technological advances have largely eradicated many of the commonplace tax-noncompliance techniques that …

Using Online Tutorials To Teach The Accounting Cycle, Tracey Chunqi Zhang, Lay Chin Low, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The accounting cycle is an important yet difficult topic for introductory financial accounting students to learn. These students often lack the business context to understand the accounting cycle and find the traditional teaching approach dry. This problem motivates the authors to examine whether a blended learning approach via online tutorials can improve students’ perceived knowledge of the accounting cycle for the undergraduate introductory financial accounting course. The authors developed four innovative online tutorials with a coherent storyline to enable students to learn the accounting cycle and to supplement in-class learning. To test the effectiveness of online tutorials, an independent survey …