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Case Western Reserve University

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Articles 181 - 210 of 1196

Full-Text Articles in Business Administration, Management, and Operations

Managing Individual And Organizational Performance: The Critical Mediating Role Of Collaboration, Oliver L.G Bouclier Nov 2011

Managing Individual And Organizational Performance: The Critical Mediating Role Of Collaboration, Oliver L.G Bouclier

Student Scholarship

Although collaboration has often been suggested as a critical factor for improving performance, its relation to individual and organizational performance has been given little attention in management research. This paper proposes a model of collaboration including affective, cognitive and organizational antecedents, and measures its effects on individual and organizational success. Over 900 front line employees in two firms in the service industry were surveyed. Structural Equation Modeling and bootstrap analysis were used to examine its role as a mediator between three independent variables (i.e. commitment, self-efficacy, and rewards) and three dependent variables (i.e. individual success, organizational efficiency and quality) while …

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Social Entrepreneurial Venture Performance: The Impact Of Behaviors And Organizing Activities, Aparna Katre Nov 2011

Social Entrepreneurial Venture Performance: The Impact Of Behaviors And Organizing Activities, Aparna Katre

Student Scholarship

Social-purpose entrepreneurs in achieving the “middle-ground” of social-mission and profits, face unique legitimacy-related challenges. Regardless of the legal structure and the specific social-mission, they need to demonstrate behaviors and undertake activities which satisfy both mission and business stakeholders. This research explores the relationships between entrepreneurial behaviors, organizing activities and early stage venture performance. Results show that entrepreneur’s proactiveness positively effects both mission and business performance. Contrary to intuition mission organizing activities dampen the effect of experimentation on mission performance particularly for entrepreneurs with prior for-profit experience. Entrepreneurs with for-profit experience may maintain caution regarding how much they do to achieve …

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The Organizational Design For Pricing And Its Consequences On Relative Firm Performance, Stephan M. Liozu Aug 2011

The Organizational Design For Pricing And Its Consequences On Relative Firm Performance, Stephan M. Liozu

Student Scholarship

Despite strong evidence of substantial impact on the bottom line, most companies counter-intuitively neglect the pricing function--as do most scholars. Only 2% of all articles published in major marketing journals focus on pricing and scholars have long begged the question of how organizational and behavioral characteristics of firms affect the link between pricing practices and firm performance. To address these practical and theoretical deficits we surveyed 748 professionals involved in pricing at firms from around the world to measure the influence of five organizational factors on pricing orientation and firm performance identified in a prior qualitative phase of our research. …

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Mitigating A Conflict Paradox: The Struggle Between Tenure And Charisma In Venture Backed Teams, Marty Abbott Jul 2011

Mitigating A Conflict Paradox: The Struggle Between Tenure And Charisma In Venture Backed Teams, Marty Abbott

Student Scholarship

Investors of venture backed firms, seeking to increase knowledge diversity, cognitive conflict, professionalism and charisma within their top management teams (TMTs), tend to accelerate the turnover of executives within these teams, often resulting in multiple cohorts of tenure. Paradoxically, this search for increased professionalism and beneficial cognitive conflict results in heightened affective (or role based) conflict. Past studies have identified an inverse relationship between charisma and affective conflict, on one hand, and a positive relationship between tenure diversity and affective conflict, on the other hand. This study is the first to integrate these two relationships while simultaneously seeking to identify …

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How Do Stakeholder Pressures Drive Proactive Environmental Strategies? External Institutional Forces And Legitimacy, David Graham Hyatt May 2011

How Do Stakeholder Pressures Drive Proactive Environmental Strategies? External Institutional Forces And Legitimacy, David Graham Hyatt

Student Scholarship

Previous research indicates that stakeholder pressures can drive proactive environmental firm strategies--that is, strategies that reflect an internalized, voluntary commitment to the natural environment and typically involve dedication to environmental leadership by the firm. An institutional perspective highlights how legitimizing strategies can mediate the effect of stakeholder pressures on proactive environmental strategies. Furthermore, by distinguishing between "internal" and "external" normative pressures, this chapter theoretically accounts for the institutionally plural contexts of organizations and their environments. The findings suggest that though internal pressures directly drive environmental proactivity, external pressures drive legitimating responses and then indirectly affect environmental proactivity

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Non-Financial Indicators Of Family Firm Performance: A Portfolio Model Approach, John E. Neff May 2011

Non-Financial Indicators Of Family Firm Performance: A Portfolio Model Approach, John E. Neff

Student Scholarship

This study sought to explore and understand the drivers of family firm performance from a non-financial perspective. The key research question underlying this research is whether certain organizational traits may compose a predictor of firm financial performance. This research extends the findings of an earlier inductive study on aspects of success in private family owned manufacturing firms. Organizational traits identified in the prior inductive study appeared to influence either or both the family and the business and ultimately the long term sustainability of family firms. Research findings suggest that certain organizational features combine to form an 'effective family business culture' …

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The Effects Of Potential And Realized Knowledge Sharing In Bioscience Clusters, Francisco Montalvo Apr 2011

The Effects Of Potential And Realized Knowledge Sharing In Bioscience Clusters, Francisco Montalvo

Student Scholarship

This paper examines the nature, evolution, and effects of potential and realized economic and industrial knowledge sharing through the comparison and contrast of two bioscience industrial regional clusters at different stages of development. The paper draws conclusions on research related to effects of knowledge spillover, regional innovation systems, knowledge management, and social network theory. Building on previous qualitative research, we argue that knowledge absorption and spillovers comprise a critical factor in the evolution of specialized knowledge in regional industrial clusters in biotech industries. Although bioscience industrial clusters have been widely researched in the last decade, the nature of knowledge creation …

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Under The Shade Of The Plane Tree: Examining Postures And Interdependent Relationships In Highly Regulated Government-Funded Programs, Marilyn A. Hosea Apr 2011

Under The Shade Of The Plane Tree: Examining Postures And Interdependent Relationships In Highly Regulated Government-Funded Programs, Marilyn A. Hosea

Student Scholarship

As government regulations and penalties for non-compliance increase, highly regulated, government funded programs (HRGFPs) are pressed to meet regulatory compliance demands that are perceived to override agency and consumer needs. This research builds upon classic theoretical studies to reconceptualize how power dependence and resource dependence impact government-agency interactions, relations and program effectiveness. Survey results from a national sample of federally funded Head Start organizations suggest: (1) agency/government co- rather than inter-dependency; (2) compliant rather than innovative agency behavior, and (3) age, auspice and funding levels effects on agency/government relations.

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The Strategic Decision-Making Process Of The Board And Its Impact On Decision Outcomes, Mark T. Engle Mar 2011

The Strategic Decision-Making Process Of The Board And Its Impact On Decision Outcomes, Mark T. Engle

Student Scholarship

If association boards of directors are to favorably impact decision outcomes for their organizations, they must make high-quality, consequential decisions. Through a quantitative study, the researchers examined how associations and their boards make high-quality strategic decisions. This paper argues that (a) boards are most fundamentally decision-making bodies, and (b) boards struggle with a challenging paradox when deliberating major issues: vigorously and properly debating differing perspectives on a consequential issue engenders tensions that can easily lead to dysfunctional interactions among decision makers. Decision-making constructs that relate to this paradox are identified and examined for their applicability to the nonprofit context. Gathering …

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Institutional Compliance Vs. Client Loyalty In The Consideration Of Ambiguous Issues: The Social Construction Of Tax Advice, David E. Jones Jan 2011

Institutional Compliance Vs. Client Loyalty In The Consideration Of Ambiguous Issues: The Social Construction Of Tax Advice, David E. Jones

Student Scholarship

Tax professionals are required to serve two masters equally: their client and the tax law. Often, serving these two masters creates conflicts that put the tax professional in a tension filled environment. We interviewed 29 tax professionals to generate a grounded theory about how tax professionals use their experiences, tools, training, judgment and decision-making processes to manage the tension they feel. Research is scant about how adherence to professional requirements and responsibilities weigh on tax professionals' advocacy attitudes and behaviors and about how tax professionals understand or define client loyalty and its relationship to regulatory and professional standards. Our data …

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Why They Stay: Individual Factors Predicting Career Commitment For Woman Engineers, Kathleen R. Buse Jan 2011

Why They Stay: Individual Factors Predicting Career Commitment For Woman Engineers, Kathleen R. Buse

Student Scholarship

Women remain underrepresented in the engineering profession comprising only 10% of the employed engineers in 2009 while in that same year− according to the US Bureau of Labor statistics − women exceeded more than half of those employed in professional, managerial and related occupations. While others have studied the reasons women leave engineering careers, this study focused uniquely on women who persist in a career in engineering. A quantitative research study was conducted which surveyed 495 women ages 21 to 60 with engineering degrees to develop a model of the individual factors that lead women to commit to a career …

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Managing (Detecting, Preventing, And Mitigating) The Unexpected: How Banks Managed The Financal Meltdown, Ronald W. Eastburn Jan 2011

Managing (Detecting, Preventing, And Mitigating) The Unexpected: How Banks Managed The Financal Meltdown, Ronald W. Eastburn

Student Scholarship

Managing the unexpected is relevant for all organizations and banks experienced this bitterly during the financial crisis of 2007-2009. In this study we argue that the organizational mindset driving unexpected results within the banking sector stemmed from an inability to anticipate and detect the early warning signals. The goal of this study was to gain insights into how successful banks are continuously "adaptive" in that banks with higher levels of absorptive capacity (ACAP) - the mechanisms used for sensing and experimentation of knowledge- are more likely to screen and acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit knowledge to positively influence performance. We …

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Nonprofit Performance During The Great Recession: Damned If You Do And Damned If You Don't - Mission-Defensive Paradox, Kathleen Roche Jan 2011

Nonprofit Performance During The Great Recession: Damned If You Do And Damned If You Don't - Mission-Defensive Paradox, Kathleen Roche

Student Scholarship

During the recent Great Recession and its aftermath, from 2007 - 2010, nonprofit organizations had to carry out their charitable missions to larger and needier constituencies despite endowment erosion, dwindling contributions, reduced staff, and severe funding cuts. Findings from our qualitative research guided this quantitative study, which used PLS to analyze results from 351 online surveys to discern how executive nonprofit leaders and their boards influenced organizational resiliency during this critical period, by employing protective / anticipatory measures and defensive / containment practices, as well as coping strategies. In this exploratory study, leaders' previous experience and external task focus, and …

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School Leadership, Collective Mindfulness And Mathematices Achievement In Kenya, Renson Muchiri Mwangi Jan 2011

School Leadership, Collective Mindfulness And Mathematices Achievement In Kenya, Renson Muchiri Mwangi

Student Scholarship

In spite of the long instituted government initiatives to improve mathematics performance in Kenyan secondary schools, students’ performance in the subject at the secondary school level in Kenya continues to be poor. Studies on mathematics achievement in Kenya have primarily focused on teachers’ classroom practices neglecting the potential influence of school leadership. Using data collected from 273 schools involving 607 mathematics teachers we examined how school leadership could impact schools’ mathematics performance in Kenyan public secondary schools. We found school leadership behaviors – principal’s visibility, inspiration and influence – to have weak but significant indirect effect on mathematics achievement through …

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Nested Identities: A Concept For Improving Banker Engagement, Glen Weaver Jan 2011

Nested Identities: A Concept For Improving Banker Engagement, Glen Weaver

Student Scholarship

The financial crisis served as an interesting backdrop for this study of the impact of identification upon banker engagement. Studies have shown that leadership style influences employee engagement, but little research reflects the impact of various levels of identity (nested identity) upon engagement. A survey of 511 mid-level bankers displayed the significance of career, organizational, and industry identity upon vigor, dedication, and absorption. Further, it was determined that organizational identity mediated the relationship between leadership and engagement. This research suggests that bank leadership would be wise to enact management tactics that elevate the level of career, organizational, and industry identity …

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The Practices Of A Non-Diversity-Focused Organization And Their Impact On Its Members' Intercultural Behavioral Comfort, Learning, And Competence, Ruth Sessler Bernstein Dec 2010

The Practices Of A Non-Diversity-Focused Organization And Their Impact On Its Members' Intercultural Behavioral Comfort, Learning, And Competence, Ruth Sessler Bernstein

Student Scholarship

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that university student groups' practices have on their members' intercultural behavioral comfort and interactions and their cultural learning. We surveyed 360 undergraduate members of a national voluntary service organization at 50 U.S. four-year colleges. Findings indicate that an organization's ability to nurture a sense of feeling welcome and identification with organizational purpose predict skills and confidence in dealing with diverse intra-group members' a competency we call behavioral comfort. An additional practice using proactive efforts to promote social interaction predicts behavioral comfort when mediated by a sense of belonging. While high …

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Making Markowitz Proud: How High-Performing University Endowments Achieve Portfolio Diversification, Mimi Lord Dec 2010

Making Markowitz Proud: How High-Performing University Endowments Achieve Portfolio Diversification, Mimi Lord

Student Scholarship

University endowments with broad portfolio diversification have been correlated with performance, but antecedents to investment committees' diversification decisions have not been tested previously. Investment committee characteristics including diverse investment expertise, a learning commitment and open-mindedness are postulated to affect portfolio diversification via the mediating effect of Portfolio Theory. The use of Portfolio Theory framework leads to greater portfolio diversification among top-performing endowments than among bottom-performing endowments

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Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey Dec 2010

Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

This study seeks to better understand board effectiveness by opening the "black box" associated with board dynamics and behaviors. Drawing on the process oriented perspective of board level strategic decision making from Forbes and Milliken (1999) as well as the group engagement model by Tyler and Blader (2000; 2003), we analyzed surveys from 151 board directors representing 119 U. S. publicly traded companies. Our findings show that the creation of a climate of respect within the boardroom, as well as board member and top management team (TMT) collaboration are positively related to "effort norms" and "cognitive conflict" processes. TMT and …

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Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey Dec 2010

Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

This study seeks to better understand board effectiveness by opening the "black box" associated with board dynamics and behaviors. Drawing on the process oriented perspective of board level strategic decision making from Forbes and Milliken (1999) as well as the group engagement model by Tyler and Blader (2000; 2003), we analyzed surveys from 151 board directors representing 119 U. S. publicly traded companies. Our findings show that the creation of a climate of respect within the boardroom, as well as board member and top management team (TMT) collaboration are positively related to "effort norms" and "cognitive conflict" processes. TMT and …

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Roadmap For The Survival Of Nascent Social Entrepreneurial Ventures, Aparna Katre Dec 2010

Roadmap For The Survival Of Nascent Social Entrepreneurial Ventures, Aparna Katre

Student Scholarship

Facing issues of survivability, social-purpose entrepreneurs are reinventing to better balance market and mission goals. Addressing the deficit of empirical data about how they do it and, in particular, a gap in knowledge about the crucial start up phase of the social entrepreneurial process we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 31 North American founder/CEO's at various points in early stage social venture creation. The data revealed a four-stage early venture developmental continuum featuring progressive critical success factors on which we mapped successful, struggling and failed ventures in our sample. While effective execution of each factor helps secure incremental legitimacy with …

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Stretching Role Breadth: The Affect Of Overachieving It Managers In Underperforming It Organizations, Linda M. Pittenger Dec 2010

Stretching Role Breadth: The Affect Of Overachieving It Managers In Underperforming It Organizations, Linda M. Pittenger

Student Scholarship

We addressed both the well documented perception that corporate information technology organizations fail to maximize returns on the significant investments firms make in them and the paucity of empirical evidence about how IT professionals contribute to the problem . Although there may be many explanations for IT performance shortcomings, we focused on people, seeking to shed light on the competencies of professionals overseeing or executing IT projects in three multinational firms operating in North America in distinctly different industries. Our findings revealed differences between two tiers of IT professionals individual contributors and managers appraised by their organizations as achieving two …

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The Co-Production Of Social Contagion: A Comparative Analysis Of Two Social Networking Sites, Michael Fisher Dec 2010

The Co-Production Of Social Contagion: A Comparative Analysis Of Two Social Networking Sites, Michael Fisher

Student Scholarship

Theories of technology product adoption and diffusion fail to adequately explain social contagion or viral growth. Additionally\, the role of product design in users propensity to use and recommend products is both understudied and poorly understood. To address a vexing gap in knowledge about what explains viral growth\, we conducted ethnographic interviews with technology executives and users of two social networking sites that have experienced dramatically different growth patterns. Our findings reveal that product co-production and user self identity- not product attributes fuel viral growth. Social networking products co-produced by users and providers\, with meaning socially constructed by customers\, permit …

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Temporal Tribes: The Origin And Resolution Of Tenure Based Affective Conflict In Venture Backed Top Management Teams, Mary Abbott Dec 2010

Temporal Tribes: The Origin And Resolution Of Tenure Based Affective Conflict In Venture Backed Top Management Teams, Mary Abbott

Student Scholarship

Venture backed firms with both exceptionally high and relatively low growth experience a comparatively fast turnover of executives, often resulting in multiple cohorts within the top management team (TMT). These tenure cohorts often act like warring tribes, generating value destroying affective conflict. While several studies have validated the relationship between tenure diversity and affective conflict, none explain its source. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews with 34 executives from six U.S. venture backed private companies. Our results move beyond those of previous studies on tenure based affective team conflict by revealing its source to be …

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The Socio-Cognitive Dynamics Of Entrepreneurial Ideation, Robert M. Gemmell Dec 2010

The Socio-Cognitive Dynamics Of Entrepreneurial Ideation, Robert M. Gemmell

Student Scholarship

Entrepreneurs need creative ideas to develop innovative new products. We interviewed 32 technology entrepreneurs to generate a grounded theory about how technology entrepreneurs use social behaviors, techniques and cognitive processes to attain, develop, refine, validate and filter (for usefulness) creative ideas for successful new products, processes or services. The results reveal a complex, cyclical and recursive multi-level social process with emphasis on active and social experimentation. Greatest ideational productivity occurs when strong social ties interactively solve problems in an environment of trust -- in particular, when 'Trusted Partners' exchange and refine ideas through a form of shared cognition. Findings will …

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Pricing Orientation In Industrial Markets: The Organizational Transformation To Value-Based Pricing, Stephan M. Liozu Dec 2010

Pricing Orientation In Industrial Markets: The Organizational Transformation To Value-Based Pricing, Stephan M. Liozu

Student Scholarship

Of three main orientations to pricing in industrial markets cost-based, competition-based and customer value-based most marketing and pricing scholars consider the latter superior but few firms use it. The literature is silent about how organizational and behavioral characteristics of industrial firms may affect pricing orientation and, more specifically, value-based pricing. Semi-structured interviews with 44 managers of small to medium size U.S. industrial firms yielded insights into firm pricing orientations, processes and decision making patterns. We identified five organizational characteristics common to firms implementing value-based pricing: ability to effect deep transformational change, presence of a champion, skill in diffusing organizational capabilities, …

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Toward An Understanding Of Entrepreneurship Environment: The Case Of Puerto Rico, Moraima De Hoyos-Ruperto Dec 2010

Toward An Understanding Of Entrepreneurship Environment: The Case Of Puerto Rico, Moraima De Hoyos-Ruperto

Student Scholarship

This study aims to address the unexplained stagnant entrepreneurial environment in Puerto Rico despite average or above average entrepreneurial potential, capabilities, and intentions compared to other high-income countries. Analysis of interviews with public, private and civic sector leaders and both successful and less successful entrepreneurs suggest a pervasive lack of support for entrepreneurs from formal organizations charged with entrepreneurship development and a failure of entrepreneurs themselves to develop networks to support venture startup and sustainment.

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The Mechanisms And Effects Of Boundary Spanning For Enterprise-Class System Development Project Success, Alan G.D. Fisk Apr 2010

The Mechanisms And Effects Of Boundary Spanning For Enterprise-Class System Development Project Success, Alan G.D. Fisk

Student Scholarship

Information System Development (ISD) relies on cross-functional teams with distinct cultures and non-overlapping knowledge. Developing a shared understanding of the business needs and associated IS solutions by drawing upon these disparate knowledge sets is critical for project success. We extend theorizing regarding the mechanisms and effects of boundary on ISD success by exploring the relationships between acculturation, competence, and boundary spanning roles. We utilize survey data derived from 139 ISD projects in a global US automotive OEM, completed between 2006 and 2009. We show that the presence of boundary spanning roles, acculturative processes, and cross-domain knowledge and experience acquisition are …

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The Impact Of Charisma In Employee Volunteer Programs: Do Employees Motivate Their Coworkers?, Don E. Teague Mar 2010

The Impact Of Charisma In Employee Volunteer Programs: Do Employees Motivate Their Coworkers?, Don E. Teague

Student Scholarship

The influence of charismatic coworkers on employee motivation to volunteer is examined in a corporate context in which group social identity has already been established. Beyond "asking" or volunteers, inspiration and personal experience are recruiting tools whose effects on motivation we measure for 117 corporate employee volunteers. Employee group social identity is tested as an antecedent variable mediated by charismatic recruiting. The results indicate that inspiration and charisma positively influence motivation among employee volunteers and mediate the effect of group social identity. This study responds to the nonprofit sector's call for more theory-driven research on employee volunteering with practical applications …

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How Many Minds Does A Team Have? Contextual Ambidexterity And Goal Harmony In Healthcare, Sridhar Belavadi Seshadri Feb 2010

How Many Minds Does A Team Have? Contextual Ambidexterity And Goal Harmony In Healthcare, Sridhar Belavadi Seshadri

Student Scholarship

"Ambidexterity: Noun: 1. ambidextrous ease, skill, or facility; 2. unusual cleverness; 3.duplicity; deceitfulness." Retrieved March 21, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambidexterity Despite their research and educational prowess, Academic Medical Centers are in a crisis. Public reporting of quality and patient satisfaction data, increasing costs, stiffer competition, and anticipated tightening of budgets have created new levels of urgency among medical school deans and hospital CEOs to increase the effectiveness of the clinical enterprise on multiple fronts. This study models an AMC as a loosely coupled system and examines how interdisciplinary teams--comprising administrators, physicians, and nurses--work to harmonize seemingly disparate quality improvement …

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When The Risk Of System Use If Life Or Death: A Study Of The Adoption Of Surgical Technology, Jonathan B. Brewster Jan 2010

When The Risk Of System Use If Life Or Death: A Study Of The Adoption Of Surgical Technology, Jonathan B. Brewster

Student Scholarship

Much of the research in IT innovation diffusion has been in the study of the diffusion of common technological innovations that intersect human activity in business processes (e.g. web-based e-commerce). There has been less research into the diffusion of specialized technologies in high risk environments where the potentially highly negative but low probability consequences of adopting the technology can affect the adoption decision. Such technologies are employed by highly trained individuals whose work is enhanced and transformed by the IT use. Computer assisted surgery (CAS) exemplifies this technology diffusion arena: surgeons must exhibit a high level of trust in such …

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