Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Your Media Speak So Loud I Can't Hear A Word You're Saying: Impact Of Media And Media Selection On Performance, Martin Hassell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the proliferation of communication media and technologies available, it is important for teams to understand the influence of these media on the performance of their communications. Additionally, it is important for researchers to understand how teams choose and use media. Literature on communication media impacts and communication performance has been somewhat fragmented, and researchers have used different theories and paradigms to study this problem. Researchers still do not have a full understanding of how media influences communication, whether teams recognize and select appropriate media for their communication needs, and what makes some communication more effective, irrespective of the communication …

Bottled Water Logistics And Forecasting, Michael Galbreth, Matthew A. Waller, Christopher Vincent, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

CASE OVERVIEW This case presents an interesting and very real dilemma: In 2005, Walmart committed to selling “products that sustain people and the environment.” However, despite environmental and social concerns of the category that include energy required for transport and storage, the plastic used for bottling, the potential lack of purity due to chemicals leeching from the plastic, massive waste, and the cost relative to tap water, consumers want and continue to buy bottled water. Thus the espoused goals of the company are in seeming conflict with its business model. Bottled water is an item under public scrutiny, and producers …

Bottled Water Mini Case, Michael Galbreth, Matthew A. Waller, Christopher Vincent, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

CASE OVERVIEW This case presents an interesting and very real dilemma: In 2005, Walmart committed to selling “products that sustain people and the environment.” However, despite environmental and social concerns of the category that include energy required for transport and storage, the plastic used for bottling, the potential lack of purity due to chemicals leeching from the plastic, massive waste, and the cost relative to tap water, consumers want and continue to buy bottled water. Thus the espoused goals of the company are in seeming conflict with its business model. Bottled water is an item under public scrutiny, and producers …

Institutional Distance And Entry Mode: How Do Emerging-Market Multinational Companies Overcome Competitive Disadvantages In A Developed Market?, Ru-Shiun Liou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As latecomers to global business competition, emerging-market multinational companies (EMNCs) utilize cross-border merger and acquisitions to swiftly acquire strategic assets, such as brands and distribution channels, compensating for their competency deficiency. Developed markets with well-established firms and well-developed market-supporting institutions become important destinations for EMNCs' strategic asset-seeking investments. Institutional distance, national differences in the institutional environment, constitutes a major source of competitive disadvantage for foreign firms competing with indigenous firms. Foreign firms need to overcome the challenges of unfamiliarity, relational, and discriminatory hazards to establish legitimacy in the host market. Compared to established multinationals that originate from other advanced markets …

Load Mixing To Improve Container Utilization, Crystal Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The under utilization in trucking leads to nearly 5 billion gallons of wasted fuel annually. One way to recapture part of this waste is to use collaborative logistics. This research focuses on one specific aspect of collaborative logistics: load mixing. Load mixing is the idea of mixing two or more items of different weights in the same container to reduce the number of trucks needed.

Load mixing is similar to other packing problems such as the knapsack and container loading problems. However, traditional packing problems typically only assume a single type of capacity (e.g., weight), whereas load mixing must simultaneously …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Andy Ruben And The Design Of Organizational Structures And Systems (B), David G. Hyatt, Andrew Spicer

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

The case “Andy Ruben and the Design of Strategic Goals and Processes” flows from the previous discussion, by moving from the development of an ambitious vision to the challenges of adopting strategic policies and processes to reach those aspirations in practice. This case puts students into the role of Andy Ruben, Walmart’s first Vice-President for Sustainability , asking them to make concrete decisions about what should be done, in what order, and by what process if they were to implement an ambitious corporate sustainability strategy. In the case, Ruben confronts specific choices about how to define the responsibilities of the …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Andy Ruben And The Design Of Organizaional Structures And Systems (A), Andrew Spicer, Laura Lambdin

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

The case “Andy Ruben and the Design of Strategic Goals and Processes” flows from the previous discussion, by moving from the development of an ambitious vision to the challenges of adopting strategic policies and processes to reach those aspirations in practice. This case puts students into the role of Andy Ruben, Walmart’s first Vice-President for Sustainability , asking them to make concrete decisions about what should be done, in what order, and by what process if they were to implement an ambitious corporate sustainability strategy. In the case, Ruben confronts specific choices about how to define the responsibilities of the …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Defining Sustainable Products (B), David G. Hyatt, Andrew Spicer

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

In “Defining Sustainable Products (A),” we examine Walmart’s search for a systemic solution to define a sustainable product precisely. In this case, Matt Kistler, who succeeded Andy Ruben as the company sustainability leader in 2007, knows that the company is lagging behind on its espoused goal of selling sustainable products. The case asks students step into Kistler’s shoes as he leads Walmart’s sustainability office through a systematic review of the different models and frameworks available for measuring the sustainability of products presently in use. Eventually, the students face a decision about what Walmart should do to make systemic progress with …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Lee Scott's Founding Vision, Andrew Spicer, Laura Lambdin

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

The first case—“Lee Scott’s Founding Vision”—takes the perspective from the apex of the organization as Walmart’s CEO, Lee Scott, develops and articulates his vision of what Walmart hopes to achieve by pursuing an aggressive sustainability strategy. This case explores the pressures that led Scott to announce the company’s ambitious sustainability goals: achieving zero waste, 100% renewable energy, and selling sustainable products. It also explores the choices made when defining and communicating the scope of the strategy, particularly through an in-depth analysis of his announcement of Walmart’s new goals in his October 2005, “Twenty-First Century Leadership” speech.

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Defining Sustainable Products (A), David G. Hyatt, Andrew Spicer

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

In “Defining Sustainable Products (A),” we examine Walmart’s search for a systemic solution to define a sustainable product precisely. In this case, Matt Kistler, who succeeded Andy Ruben as the company sustainability leader in 2007, knows that the company is lagging behind on its espoused goal of selling sustainable products. The case asks students step into Kistler’s shoes as he leads Walmart’s sustainability office through a systematic review of the different models and frameworks available for measuring the sustainability of products presently in use. Eventually, the students face a decision about what Walmart should do to make systemic progress with …

Walmart's Sustainability Journey: Peter Redmond And The Search For Sustainable Seafood, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

In “Peter Redmond and the Search for Sustainable Seafood,” students examine the responses of Peter Redmond, Vice President and Divisional Merchandise Manager of Deli and Seafood, to organizational pressures to make seafood more sustainable at Walmart.

Consumers And Sustainability At Walmart: A Student's Perspective, Kealy Carter, Satish Jayachandran

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

To further encourage students to analyze initial goals in comparison with outcomes over time, we have developed a consumer-oriented case—“Consumers and Sustainability at Walmart: A Student’s Perspective”—that moves beyond the perspective of internal Walmart participants to explores issues of sustainability from the point of view of a typical Walmart shopper. In this case, we examine the experience of a fictional student shopper who goes to Walmart and wants to buy sustainable products, which helps raise questions for students about what Walmart’s actions mean to them as consumers, citizens as well as business professionals. The case also asks students to evaluate …

Empirical And Analytical Essays On The Relationship Between Inventory And Transportation, Rodger David Swanson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between inventory cost (IC) and transportation cost (TC). The association of the two has been recognized for over a hundred years; accordingly, managers and academics have believed that these costs have offsetting properties such that combinations of inventory and transportation expenditures can be altered to fit different strategic objectives. However, the behavior of this relationship in practice has not been tested. The essays of this dissertation examine this relationship through multiple theoretical lenses and with multiple data sets. Essay 1 examines aggregate IC and TC in the United States from 1960-2009. This period coincides with …

Determinants And Consequences Of Risk Management Committee Formation, Chris Hines

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the determinants and consequences of financial institutions voluntarily forming risk management committees (RMCs). Specifically, I determine whether RMCs are related to a change in risk outcomes, an increase in profitability, a change in hedging and trading derivative structures, and greater financial reporting quality during the post-committee formation period compared to a control group. I use a sample of financial institutions that form a RMC in any year from 1994 through 2008 and a control sample of financial institutions that do not form a RMC during the sample period. The results provide evidence to suggest that financial institutions …

The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Black Women Leaders In Fortune 500 Companies, Latonya R. Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black women are underrepresented in leadership positions within organizations. The extent to which self-efficacy influences the advancement potential of Black females is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the self-efficacy beliefs of black women in leadership positions and to determine how Black women leaders' careers are influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs. Participants for the study were determined using convenient random sampling. The objectives of this study were to determine the profile and level of self-efficacy, and leadership practices of participants based on tenure (length of time in a leadership position), age comparison and work experience (total number …

A Description Of Nonprofit Executive Leaders' Perceptions Of Human Resource Capacity Building Within Their Organizations, Synetra Danielle Gilmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have predicted that within the next 5 to 15 years the nonprofit sector will undergo a dramatic loss in leadership due to baby boomers entering retirement, job transitions, and underdeveloped talent within nonprofit organizations. Effective leaders are critical in keeping these organizations running so that they can serve and provide much needed services, thus investing in their organizations is the key to keeping NPOs relevant in the future. Investing in training and development, intellectual capital, and succession planning are just a few of the human resource capacity building efforts that have been credited for helping to alleviate some of …

Perceived Gender-Typing Of Successful Managerial Characteristics, Sarah Holtzen

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research has indicated that the characteristics associated with successful business managers are more often attributed to men in general than to women in general. This paper seeks to examine the current state of perceived gender-typing of the characteristics associated with successful business managers. Using the Schein Descriptive Index (Schein, 1973), undergraduate business students (N=177) were asked to rate women in general, men in general, or successful business managers on a set of 92 descriptive terms. Intraclass correlation coefficients were computed to estimate the ANOVA between groups. Respondents were also asked to describe in their own words what they believe …

The Role Of Leadership In Facilitating The Performance Of Dispersed Teamwork, Jaime Beth Newell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A mature body of research on leadership has investigated the impact of a variety of leadership behaviors and styles on team performance. This corpus of work is built on an assumption that team leaders can motivate, direct, and monitor teams by way of sustained, personal contact with team members. However, this assumption is being challenged by recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Use of ICTs has altered traditional team-based structures, enabling organizations to employ teams composed of members who are dispersed across geographic boundaries, while severing the direct, personal ties leaders have to team members. Recent reviews of …

Three Essays On Opacity, Corporate Governance, And Credit Ratings, Yiwen Gu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first essay, utilizing a more recent and expanded 20-year sample 1991-2010 of dual-rated bonds issued, I confirm Morgan's (2002) finding that banks are relatively more opaque than nonbanks. The likelihood of a rating split is higher, and the magnitude of the rating gap is larger, for banks than nonnbanks. Moreover, rating agency disagreements are more significant for banks with relatively higher loan and trading securities holdings and maintain lower capital, and for banks engaged in mortgage securitization. Importantly, I find that rating agency disagreements reflect market proxies of information uncertainty. Further, opacity makes external financing more costly. Equity …

New Business Initiatives And Financial Performance, Douglass Cagwin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship o f improvement in financial performance with use o f new business initiatives such as JIT, TQM, and ABC. The investigation is organized into three areas o f inquiry that telescope from the general to the specific to reach a conclusion regarding the efficacy of initiatives. The first two studies contain regression analyses o f the association between the use of the initiatives and change in industry mean-adjusted ROI. The third study develops and test a comprehensive structural model that incorporates factors postulated by previous researchers to affect the efficacy of ABC. Data are obtained …

The Integration Of Firm Resources: The Role Of Capabilities In Strategy And Firm Performance, Daniel Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distinctive capabilities are defined as a firm’s accumulated skills and knowledge that may lead to competitive advantage (Day 1994). Distinctive capabilities are founded upon Resource-Based Theory (Barney 1991) that focuses on internal resources as opposed to external market forces (Porter 1980). The present research discusses the integration of distinctive capabilities into this framework; that is, do certain distinctive capabilities (resources) create superior firm performance when linked to the appropriate generic business strategy?

The literature on firm performance has a rich history and is theoretically grounded in several disciplines including economics, sociology, and organizational behavior (Anderson 1982). However, there has not …

Generic Strategies, Leader Attributes, Environmental Uncertainty, And Organizational Performance: An Empirical Investigation Of Contingencies And Configurational Outcomes, Tope Adeyemi-Bello

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The implications of strategy, environmental uncertainty, and leader attributes to the performance of organizations have been the subject of many research studies. The traditional interaction-based contingency approach that has typically been used in the management literature for examining the interrelationships between these variables, may very often be inadequate to capture the overall pattern of fit among them. A contemporary approach that allows researchers to examine sophisticated relationships between variables is configuration or systems theory— which suggests that inevitable relationships exist between strategic, environmental, contextual, and organizational variables and performance. This study used both the interaction and configuration-based approaches to determine …

Performance Motivation: Tests Of An Integrated Model, Jerry Kopf

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Different individuals, with the same ability and faced with the same environmental constraints, exert varying amounts of effort, and, to the extent that performance is a function of effort, achieve different levels of performance. This study proposes and tests a theory of motivation which is an integration of what have previously been considered separate, and often conflicting, theories of motivation. The study hypothesizes that motivational differences in effort or performance may be due to either differences in goal level or differences in goal commitment and tests the integrated model against a model which uses assigned goals to predict effort (goal …

The Importance Of Management Philosophy To The Success Of Pay-For-Knowledge Systems: An Empirical Test, Timothy P. Schweizer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, pay-for-knowledge compensation systems have received serious attention from practitioners and organizational researchers. Some have hypothesized that the specific mechanics of pay-for-knowledge systems are critical to success while others have suggested that contextual factors determine whether or not these systems will be successful. Empirical research has not been very supportive of these hypotheses, however.

Another hypothesis is that management philosophy is important to the success of pay-for-knowledge systems. The purpose of this study is to test this hypothesis by addressing three questions: 1) Are the components that make up management philosophy related to the successes experienced by companies …

A Comparison Of The Classification Accuracy Of Linear And Quadratic Statistical Discriminant Models Versus Linear And Quadratic Programming Discriminant Models, Jerry William Ferry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to compare the classification accuracy of two mathematical programming models versus traditional statistical discriminant analysis. Monte Carlo techniques were used to compute population 1, population 2, and average misclassification rates for the linear discriminant function (LDF), the quadratic discriminant function (QDF), a linear programming discriminant model (LPDM), and a quadratic programming discriminant model (QPDM) for specific values of several parameters which affect discriminant analysis. This study was restricted to the two group, two variable discriminant problem.

A Study Of Standard Setting And Productivity Measurements Using Learning Curves, Don William Finn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Performance standards encompass information characteristics which decay over time. Consequently, it is worthwhile to identify factors affecting information decay. In Chapter I, the objectives of this study were discussed. They are restated: (1) determine if production worker performance has changed over time, (2) provide broad guidelines and recommendations for production type industries concerning performance evaluation of employees during training, (3) find evidence that standards and environmental factors for production workers can be linked and provide information to the firm for budgeting and planning purposes, and (4) provide a basis for further research associated with identifying variables related to improving worker …

An Investigation Of Social Class As A Criterion For Deriving Market Segments Among An Elderly Population, George Bernard Glisan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of social class as a basis for deriving target markets among elderly consumers. Using the retirement communities of Bella Vista and Hillcrest in Bentonville and Fayetteville, Arkansas, respectively, four social class groupings were derived. The social class groupings were obtained via the Hollingshead Three-Item Index of Social Position. Three of the hypotheses were developed in a manner to assess buyer behavior for prepurchase information acquisition, purchase decision choice criteria, and post-purchase degree of satisfaction for limited problem-solving types of purchases. In all instances the null hypotheses could not be rejected. …

An Analysis Of Employee Turnover In A Selected Multi-Unit Retail Institution, Stephen Coleman Garrott

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the problems of voluntary employee turnover of a major retailing organization. Studies related to employee turnover in manufacturing organizations dominate the literature.

A Managerial Planning Model: An Application To The Farm-Cultured Catfish Industry In Determining The Characteristics Of Processed Farm-Cultured Catfish Consumers In Little Rock And North Little Rock, Arkansas, Argus Kenneth Pippin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of the study were: (1) to evaluate the processed farm-cultured catfish business in its embryonic stage during 1968 in terms of a systematic managerial planning model (MPH); (2) to focus on the managerial strategy of market segmentation and determine the relationships between the number of processed farm-cultured catfish sales and selected economic and socio-economic determinants or consumer market behavior. From the evaluation of the processed farm-cultured catfish business as it existed in 1968, it was suggestive that the planning process was not implemented thoroughly. Several areas exhibited weaknesses or unfavorable influence that were deterrents to the success of …

The Future Of Credit Unions: Growth Or Stagnation?, Charles Paul Edmonds Iii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The general purpose of this study was to evaluate the operation and problems of credit unions in the United States. More specifically, the study attempted to evaluate the contributions of credit unions, to reveal their major problems, to evaluate their competitive position among financial institutions, and to evaluate the influence of current and proposed credit union legislation. To accomplish the stated purposes, the credit union industry was surveyed at various levels. A questionnaire was sent to all credit union leagues in the United States. Another questionnaire was sent to selected credit unions in the fifth district of the Credit Union …