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Articles 421 - 450 of 1196

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

Awareness Of Advance Planning For End Of Life: A Qualitative Study Of 'Baby Boomers', Elizabeth Lada Morse Aug 2005

Awareness Of Advance Planning For End Of Life: A Qualitative Study Of 'Baby Boomers', Elizabeth Lada Morse

Student Scholarship

This qualitative study examined factors that contribute to end of life decision-making regarding formulation of advance directives for individuals within the 'baby boomer' age range. Using a grounded theory methodology a substantive theory of awareness of end of life identifies four contexts under which advance directives are formulated and implemented. The L-A-M-P awareness model was identified through a series of interviews with fifteen individuals, who are considered generally well, and not anticipating imminent incapacity or death. My findings indicate that one's prior personal experiences with death and dying are unique and these experiences may influence formulation of their own advance …

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Assessing The Role Of Values In Developing Service Competence And The Relationship Between Competence And Job Performance, Bernard J. Brunsman Jul 2005

Assessing The Role Of Values In Developing Service Competence And The Relationship Between Competence And Job Performance, Bernard J. Brunsman

Student Scholarship

This paper describes research to establish and test a model that proposes relationships between Learning Experiences and Job Performance. Service Competence--a construct that integrates technical, cognitive, and social/emotional competencies--was adapted from social learning, emotional intelligence, and emotional labor theories and was proposed as mediating the relationship between learning experiences and job performance. Individual values were proposed to moderate the relationship between Learning Experiences and Service Competence. Alignment of an individual's dominant value with the organization's dominant value was proposed to moderate the relationship between Service Competence and Job Performance. Technical help desk employees at a major US retailer participated in …

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"Retained Equity": Understanding The Impact Of Self Service Technology On Brand Trust Within The Context Of Financial Aid Administration, Matthew J. Gymer Jun 2005

"Retained Equity": Understanding The Impact Of Self Service Technology On Brand Trust Within The Context Of Financial Aid Administration, Matthew J. Gymer

Student Scholarship

There is little research in service literature that provides a contextual framework for understanding the impact of web-based self service technology on brand trust. Of particular importance is what happens to trust between customer and firm the more customers use self service technology to meet their service requests? The author synthesizes service encounter and brand trust variables to construct a contingency framework useful for effective resource allocation. From a customer perspective, this longitudinal study will integrate the variables that shape student use of web-based self service technology and the variables that define brand trust. Within higher education administration, service encounter …

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Role Innovation And Self Identity Change In Staff Nurse To Nurse Leader Transition, Pamela C. Hudson Jun 2005

Role Innovation And Self Identity Change In Staff Nurse To Nurse Leader Transition, Pamela C. Hudson

Student Scholarship

Transitions are a way of life and traditionally the transition from staff nurse to nurse leader is the natural promotion pathway or transition in one’s nursing career. The transition from staff nurse to nurse leaders produces change in self identity and role innovation. This preliminary conceptual model uses the theory of possible selves in trying to explain the degree of self identity change and role innovation when the staff nurse transitions to nurse leader. As the staff nurse transitions to the role of nurse manager, the use of “possible selves” mediates the organizational and individual influences, as the independent variables, …

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Developing New Knowledge From Health-Care Industry Quality Practices To Identify And Report Patient Incidents, Anna H. Gibson Jun 2005

Developing New Knowledge From Health-Care Industry Quality Practices To Identify And Report Patient Incidents, Anna H. Gibson

Student Scholarship

The focus of this study is to develop a sense of managements' approach to removing medical error or occurrence reporting barriers within their hospital system. Managers perceive leadership, communication, policy changes, procedure changes, education, training, and feedback as fundamental approaches. Yet, scholarly research indicates a reporting barrier can be attributed a lack of feedback to staff on previously reported errors. The staff not only desires constructive feedback, but views feedback as a means to learn from mistakes. The study findings indicate there are three levels of feedback. Although institutional and managerial feedback is provided, what appears to be missing is …

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Intrapreneurship In Nonprofit Organizations: Examining The Factors That Facilitate Entrepreneurial Behavior Among Employees, Michael G. Stull May 2005

Intrapreneurship In Nonprofit Organizations: Examining The Factors That Facilitate Entrepreneurial Behavior Among Employees, Michael G. Stull

Student Scholarship

Multi-source data from 18 organizations was utilized to examine intrapreneurship in the nonprofit sector. Specifically, individual level and firm level variables were introduced concurrently to explore competing and complementary mechanisms in an effort to provide a better understanding of intrapreneurial orientations and behaviors. Employing structural equation modeling on the multi-source cross sectional survey data, results suggest that employee entrepreneurial orientation is greater when (a) high managerial trust is perceived by an employee, and (b) and the employee feels a strong fit between his/her own personal values and those held by the organization. In turn, this individual entrepreneurial orientation has significant …

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A Framework For Maximizing Board Member Outcomes In Organizations Of Higher Education, Susan D. Williams May 2005

A Framework For Maximizing Board Member Outcomes In Organizations Of Higher Education, Susan D. Williams

Student Scholarship

A higher standard of ethical accountability has emerged as a social movement in the nonprofit sector in response to the legislation mandated in the for-profit corporate sector requiring greater accountability. In response to this social movement and driven by a personal commitment to improve nonprofit board outcomes, this study explores a new model of governance which seeks to explain what drives a board member's performance in terms of oversight of management and the provision of resources, the desired outcomes of board membership. The model takes into consideration the complex and ambiguous nature of volunteer board work within the dynamics of …

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Technology Collaboration Between Competitive Firms In The Upstream Oil Industry: The Effect Of Operational Control On Collaborative Behavior, Arun K. Sharma May 2005

Technology Collaboration Between Competitive Firms In The Upstream Oil Industry: The Effect Of Operational Control On Collaborative Behavior, Arun K. Sharma

Student Scholarship

This paper investigates the relationships between oil company competitors as they collaborate to develop and deploy new technologies within mutually owned oil-field development projects. Although the formal governance for these relationships is well defined, multiple informal managerial strategies are employed between partners to manage perceptions of potential opportunistic behavior. These perceptions and resulting managerial strategies may vary with the imbalance of operational control between partners. Thus, partners with less operational control may employ defensive strategies while those with greater control may leverage their power to seek short-term gain. The following is a conceptual model considering the effect of operational control …

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Sources Of Social Capital In Community Engagement Efforts: Qualitative Study Of Public School Boards, Suzanne K. Moore May 2005

Sources Of Social Capital In Community Engagement Efforts: Qualitative Study Of Public School Boards, Suzanne K. Moore

Student Scholarship

Never before in the history of public education has it been more critical for school boards to connect with their communities. As more and more demands are made on public schools, districts must rely on their communities to boost the value of their schools by increasing resources, building support, co-producing results and overcoming obstacles. The objective of this study was to understand the factors –within the framework of social capital - related to board members that either promote or hinder community collaboration with their school districts. As part of this exploratory case study, the superintendent and two board members in …

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Subtle Effects - Significant Consequences: An Examination Of Presentation And Framing Effect Conseqences On Mutual Fund Selection Behavior, Gary A. Walker May 2005

Subtle Effects - Significant Consequences: An Examination Of Presentation And Framing Effect Conseqences On Mutual Fund Selection Behavior, Gary A. Walker

Student Scholarship

Reliance on mutual funds is vast and continues expanding with more than half of all U.S. households collectively investing $7 trillion in fund assets. During the 1990s, frequently encountered shareholder confusion prompted SEC mandated Plain English disclosure revision to clarify risks and costs. Despite comprehensive changes in 1998, consumers continue investing billions in consistently underperforming high fee funds pushing 2004 fees to nearly $68 billion. Two competing causal theories from the literature center on consumer rationality. Either disclosure of critical selection attributes is transparent and consumers behave irrationally, or rational consumers are not given information necessary for advantageous behavior. Isolating …

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Collaborative Advantage In Volatile Business Environments, Baldev Singh May 2005

Collaborative Advantage In Volatile Business Environments, Baldev Singh

Student Scholarship

A changing business environment with market consolidation and convergence is imposing new demands on organizations where old ways of doing business are fast becoming obsolete. Much of the resulting interconnectivity and interdependence in the environment is obscure to organizational business units. As such they are unable to select a viable course of action- forcing the organizations to reexamine their operational strategies both at the organization and business unit levels. Constant restructuring to maintain differentiation among business units and alignment with shifting market segments is simply infeasible and disruptive. This paper explores intra-organizational collaboration as an alternate means for developing business …

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A Conceptual Study Of Employee Self-Limiting Behaviors In Non-Dominant Culture Organizations, Monika L. Hudson May 2005

A Conceptual Study Of Employee Self-Limiting Behaviors In Non-Dominant Culture Organizations, Monika L. Hudson

Student Scholarship

In 2005, most large cities in the United States--those with populations of 400,000 or more--find that the majority of their residents are persons of color (US Census, 2000). Various non-profit and/or public sector organizations try to serve these populations; often, these agencies will employ a preponderance of persons from the communities they are attempting to serve to assure that clients can have direct contact with people who "look, speak and act like them". For the purpose of this analysis, when the majority of the employees are non-Euro-Americans, the agencies are called "non-dominant culture" organizations. This paper conceptualizes the impact that …

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Corporate Governance In The Era Of Sarbanes-Oxley: Governance Types And Trust Dynamics, Larry W. Ettner May 2005

Corporate Governance In The Era Of Sarbanes-Oxley: Governance Types And Trust Dynamics, Larry W. Ettner

Student Scholarship

This research focused on corporate independent directors and senior executive officers: their perceptions of Sarbanes-Oxley; their roles and responsibilities as officers and directors; how board relationships have transformed as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley; and how the CEO-board and board member-board member trust dynamics impact the management of the board. Implicit in Sarbanes-Oxley is agency theory and the responsibility of independent directors to monitor and control management. The central findings are that independent directors and executive officers are culturally adapting to the new institutional environment of Sarbanes-Oxley, and their new relationship is characterized by "creative tension" whereby distinct and separate roles …

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An Institutional Theory Perspective: Corporate Responses To Section 404 Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002, Richard R. Clune May 2005

An Institutional Theory Perspective: Corporate Responses To Section 404 Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002, Richard R. Clune

Student Scholarship

Institutional theory is explored as a way of explaining Section 404 first year experiences as the constituents set about to socially construct the law that regulates them. The normative pressure from the professional network of consultants emerges as most influential. By examining the Section 404 process in this fashion, it focuses attention as to whether the external auditors, taking turns as consultants at their competitors' external audit clients, drove the Section 404 compliance process and in a manner that resulted in perceived protection for them but with less than optimal benefit for their clients. Perhaps this study's results open up …

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Understanding The Decisions Of Trial Court Judges To Adopt A New Statewide Case Management System, James Hill Apr 2005

Understanding The Decisions Of Trial Court Judges To Adopt A New Statewide Case Management System, James Hill

Student Scholarship

This study analyzes the decisions of mid-level managers in an organization about whether or not to adopt a new information technology. Prior investigations of technology adoption have focused on firms or organization and the executives who lead them or end-users. They have largely ignored the people in the middle, the managers, who influence the executives and end-users and whose decisions help explain why the development and implementation of new technology falters or fails or succeeds. By contrast, this study uses a survey to explore the decisions of county-based trial court judges who have discretionary power to adopt or not adopt …

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The Rx For Electronic Medical Records: A Research Proposal, Edward W. Wright Apr 2005

The Rx For Electronic Medical Records: A Research Proposal, Edward W. Wright

Student Scholarship

Rising US healthcare costs are a growing societal concern. President Bush has called for a voluntary initiative by health care providers to adopt electronic health record technology (EMR) in an effort to save an estimated $140B annually. Despite the anticipated benefits, less than ten percent of US physicians have adopted EMR. This paper proposes research to discover the main influences on the IT technology adoption decision by physicians. Mediating variables from previous studies of IT adoption by small and healthcare businesses are melded with those of economic rational choice theory to provide a plausible conceptual model to explain what is …

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Executive Style Not Gender: Moving Toward A Clearer View Of The Consequences Of Executive Transition In The Nonprofit Sector, Jane A. Van Buren Apr 2005

Executive Style Not Gender: Moving Toward A Clearer View Of The Consequences Of Executive Transition In The Nonprofit Sector, Jane A. Van Buren

Student Scholarship

The primary purpose of this research is to clarify the operational characteristics in nonprofit organizations and to propose a framework for organizational success. This study aims to conceptualize and disentangle gender, board power and executive style effects and examine the relationship between board power and executive style under the possible scenarios of executive transition. We explore and refine the dimensions of board power and executive style and discuss the usefulness of viewing an organization's orientation as a multidimensional construct. We suggest an alternative model to outcomes of financial performance which includes the interaction of internal and external executive style, and …

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Social Entrepreneurship: Scaling Social Impact, David A. Sherman Apr 2005

Social Entrepreneurship: Scaling Social Impact, David A. Sherman

Student Scholarship

This paper presents a conceptual model and research questions for qualitative research of pattern-changing social entrepreneurs who catalyze social transformations by introducing new paradigms at critical leverage points. The research will be conducted during the summer of 2005. The objective of the research is to understand the factors that enable successful pattern-changing social entrepreneurs in the nonprofit sector to scale their social impact. The results of the qualitative research will be used to inform the design of quantitative research to be conducted during 2006. The dependent variables or outputs of interest center around three concepts: changes in scale, social impact …

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Social Change - Making The Improbable Possible Through Collaboration. The Effectiveness Of Ngo Collaboration Arrangements In South Africa Tackling Hiv/Aids, Jane Cooke-Lauder Apr 2005

Social Change - Making The Improbable Possible Through Collaboration. The Effectiveness Of Ngo Collaboration Arrangements In South Africa Tackling Hiv/Aids, Jane Cooke-Lauder

Student Scholarship

HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa has reached pandemic proportions, with an adult prevalence rate of 8.4%. Of the 30 million African people infected with AIDS at the end of 2002, 58% were women. The economic impact is devastating as is the effect on society and families as measured by reduced life expectancy, family income, and agricultural and industrial efficiency. While funding and the number of aid organizations (including non-government organizations [NGOs]) operating in Africa have increased exponentially, their effectiveness is being debated. Worldwide, a trend is discernible for organizations from a range of disciplines and sectors to work together in tackling …

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Change Leader Career Development: The Leveraging Of Social Networks In Planned Organizational Change, Zara F. Larsen Apr 2005

Change Leader Career Development: The Leveraging Of Social Networks In Planned Organizational Change, Zara F. Larsen

Student Scholarship

This research studies the extent to which a change leader is embedded in and leverages internal and external social networks to contribute to favorable project outcome\, influencing his or her career development upon completion of the change initiative. A conceptual framework will be presented to explore the premise that the effectiveness of the leader in implementing planned change is based on successful access to\, development and leveraging of social networks- the often informal structure of relationships among organizational members that provide invaluable resources such as information\, power\, and trust between individuals and groups. These resources are often critical for a …

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Is "Culture Clash" In A Merger Or Acquisition Well Modeled As A Managerial Prisoner's Dilemma?, Todd Creasey Apr 2005

Is "Culture Clash" In A Merger Or Acquisition Well Modeled As A Managerial Prisoner's Dilemma?, Todd Creasey

Student Scholarship

Many mergers and acquisitions have proven successful due to their additional shareholder value creation, combined synergies in the research and development arena or improved consumer marketing of related products. This paper seeks to explain a primary cause of less successful mergers or acquisitions (M/A) through the prism of a multi-scale, iterative, Prisoner’s Dilemma taking place between department managers. The paper first presents the theory of the firm and its attempts to explain why companies merge and the sources of their subsequent success or failure brought on by M/A activity. Aspects of “Coping Theory,” “Resource (conservation) Theory,” and “Social Comparison Theory” …

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The Dearth Of Entrepreneurship Among African Americans In Cleveland Inner City, Daniel M. Oruoch Apr 2005

The Dearth Of Entrepreneurship Among African Americans In Cleveland Inner City, Daniel M. Oruoch

Student Scholarship

This research paper examines the role of Mentoring and Role Modeling in enhancing entrepreneurship among African Americans in Cleveland Inner City. The paper analyzes indepth interviews of 15 African American entrepreneurs. The interviews were carried out among existing and upcoming entrepreneurs. Some of the interviewees are using the mentoring services to enhance their business potential. From the interviews, it is concluded that there seems to be low psychological capital among Black entrepreneurs in the inner city which requires the intervention of social capital in the form of mentoring and role modeling. The mentoring is done by successful African American entrepreneurs …

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The Effect Of Term Limits And Professionalization On State Legislative Performance, Susan B. Waters Apr 2005

The Effect Of Term Limits And Professionalization On State Legislative Performance, Susan B. Waters

Student Scholarship

This paper examines the effects of term limits and state legislative professionalization on the performance of state legislatures in the United States by analyzing two key measures of performance: bond ratings and the ability of the states to adopt their budgets on time. All fifty states are included in the study, although some states do not have general obligation debt, and some states do not adopt their budgets as a whole but rather in multiple bills, making them ineligible for testing. Both professionalization and term limits increase the odds of a lower bond rating at a significance level of .05 …

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Transformational Leadership Development In Adolescent Youth: Authoritative Parenting, And The Mediating Effect Of Psychological Autonomy And Mastery Orientation, Franklin T. Kudo Apr 2005

Transformational Leadership Development In Adolescent Youth: Authoritative Parenting, And The Mediating Effect Of Psychological Autonomy And Mastery Orientation, Franklin T. Kudo

Student Scholarship

This is an empirical research study exploring how adolescent youth can develop into transformational leaders. It investigates the question whether adolescent children through proper parenting practices develop specific leadership capabilities. It is argued that certain parent-child interactions promote adolescent psychological autonomy and mastery-orientation, and that these interactions lead to the development of leadership qualities similar to those found in the literature of the adult transformational leader. Through the use of specific measurement survey instruments, data from adolescent boys and a few girls was collected and analyzed. The results obtained help explain the possible interactions between parenting and leadership development in …

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Paying Online: The Effect Of Consumer Attitudes On E-Government, Ademola O. Solaru Feb 2005

Paying Online: The Effect Of Consumer Attitudes On E-Government, Ademola O. Solaru

Student Scholarship

With the rapid growth, acceptance and uses of the Internet for financial transactions, understanding the consumer decision process to pay for goods or settle obligations online has become important in the public and private sectors alike. Online payment applications have become a commonly offered alternative to traditional methods (phone, mail, cash), with merchants and government agencies actively encouraging consumers to make the switch. The objective of this study was to understand the factors that explain the consumers decision process to pay online, and also to understand the differences in the rapid adoption of e-Commerce, and, by comparison, slower adoption of …

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Toward An Interpretive Evaluation Of Electricity Markets: Comparing Western U.S. And Northern Europe - Whether Common Knowledge Of Rationality Results In Correlated Equilibrium, Eric Charles Woychik Dec 2004

Toward An Interpretive Evaluation Of Electricity Markets: Comparing Western U.S. And Northern Europe - Whether Common Knowledge Of Rationality Results In Correlated Equilibrium, Eric Charles Woychik

Student Scholarship

Non-experts easily observe that the competitive Northern Europe electricity market2 reflects far less market manipulation (gaming) than in the Western U.S.3 Joseph Stiglitz presents a stark view of U.S. competition, particularly of deregulation gone amok: Basic laws of economics say that competition is supposed to result in zero profits; if the lobbyists really believed their proposals would result in intense competition, why were they investing so much in trying to convince the government to adopt these proposals that would, presumably, wipe away their profits? (Stiglitz 2003, at pg. 90). Competitive market research suggests that inter-firm competition can become muted by …

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Commitment And Cognitive Reinforcement In Workplace Values-Oriented Ethics Programs, Robert M. Krug Dec 2004

Commitment And Cognitive Reinforcement In Workplace Values-Oriented Ethics Programs, Robert M. Krug

Student Scholarship

Organizations requiring their employees to maintain consistent standards of ethical behavior have need of a means of disseminating the required standards throughout the organization. The use of selected workplace programs\, such as workplace ethics programs\, has been found to fulfill that requirement. The creation of certain types of workplace ethics programs requires the establishment of employee commitment to those programs\, as well as a means of reinforcing that commitment. This paper provides a preliminary conceptual framework for identifying and studying those elements that aid in the long-term sustainability of workplace ethics programs. Two related theories\, work commitment theory and innovation …

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Nigerian Immigrants Utilizing Ethnic Affiliation To Create And Transfer Social And Economic Capital To Develop Their Home Communities, James B. Ogundele Dec 2004

Nigerian Immigrants Utilizing Ethnic Affiliation To Create And Transfer Social And Economic Capital To Develop Their Home Communities, James B. Ogundele

Student Scholarship

Generation and transfer of capital by Nigerian immigrants to their homeland for development of their society and relatives seems to be the right things to do. From pure philanthropy concepts and theory, these goals should be easy to accomplish because of purposive benefits to the immigrants and their strong ethnic identity ties back home. Unfortunately there is a significant gap between existing theory and the actual practice. From personal experience and literature reviews, an individual immigrant's desire to transfer economic capital for assisting relatives and home communities have mixed results of success and failure with continuing frustrations and unintended consequences. …

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Health Alert: Underreported Medical Errors, Anna H. Gibson Dec 2004

Health Alert: Underreported Medical Errors, Anna H. Gibson

Student Scholarship

Patient medical errors cause thousands of individual injuries and deaths each year. Avoidable medical errors occur every day, thus creating serious concern as to the safety, ethical and legal implications in healthcare delivery. A literature review of scholarly work indicates medical errors are underreported both at the institutional level and on the individual level. This paper attempts to explain why medical errors are underreported. It considers reporting practices from other industries that are applicable to the medical industry, the importance of reporting medical errors along with those incidents that have the potential to improve patient safety and patient quality of …

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Career System Practices: A Pallative Or Strategic Approach To Managerial Internal Labor Market Choices?, Schalon Harrison Newton Nov 2004

Career System Practices: A Pallative Or Strategic Approach To Managerial Internal Labor Market Choices?, Schalon Harrison Newton

Student Scholarship

With departments of human resource (HR) struggling over the past ten years to establish an equal strategic role with operating managers and other functional specialties, there is ongoing debate regarding the strategic alignment and practical impact of human resource management (HRM) practices. A manageable domain for studying the impact of HR in supporting organization strategy is that of formal career system (CS) programs. Investments in CS programs are made with the expectation that there will be a return in the form of internally developed and strategically deployed managerial talent. However, do these systems actually influence internal labor market decisions, such …

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