Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

A Study Of Data Informatics: Data Analysis And Knowledge Discovery Via A Novel Data Mining Algorithm, Shilpa Balan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Frequent pattern mining (fpm) has become extremely popular among data mining researchers because it provides interesting and valuable patterns from large datasets. The decreasing cost of storage devices and the increasing availability of processing power make it possible for researchers to build and analyze gigantic datasets in various scientific and business domains. A filtering process is needed, however, to generate patterns that are relevant. This dissertation contributes to addressing this need. An experimental system named fpmies (frequent pattern mining information extraction system) was built to extract information from electronic documents automatically. Collocation analysis was used to analyze the relationship of …

Mobile Computing Device Adoption In Organizations: An Information-Processing Based View, Xiang Guo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobile computing devices have gained popularity in organizations. Various companies, government agencies, and academic institutions have seen a dramatic increase in employees' adoption of personal mobile devices. Current research has not provided clear explanations about the motivations behind employees' mobile device adoption behavior and the factors affecting these behaviors. This paper proposes using a new perspective, an information-processing based view, to better understand this new trend. The newly developed measurement instrument, named as Information-Processing Support Index (IPSI), captures an employee's perceptions about the capabilities of mobile devices to support his/her work-related information-processing needs. An exploratory model using IPSI and other …

Small Business Crews As High Performance Work Teams: The Role Of Vertical And Horizontal Familiarity, Foster Brett Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the influence of vertical team familiarity (past work experience between leader and members) and horizontal team familiarity (past work experience between members) on fluid team financial job performance. Utilizing role theory (Foa & Foa, 1974), leader-member exchange (Graen & Scandura, 1984) and team-member exchange (Seers, 1989) theories, within Grant's (2007) relational job design model, a conceptual model is developed and then empirically tested. It is proposed that through vertical team familiarity and horizontal team familiarity resource exchange relationships develop which influence team financial job performance. The effect of vertical team familiarity on team financial job performance …

There Is No "I" In Team: An Investigation Of Team Dynamics In The Buyer-Seller Interaction, Katerina Hybnerova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of sales team composition and the necessary team competencies is examined in this research. This research uses team intelligence, role expectancy, team cohesion, and improvisation to build an Input-Process-Output model for sales team composition. A strategic plan is devised for the sales team presentation process through three important phases, (1) team composition (2) presentation preparation, and (3) presentation execution. The team composition process, or the formation of the team, will illuminate the competencies necessary for the salespeople who will be responsible for the presentation to the buyer in the buyer-seller interaction (i.e. the initial sales pitch). Through the …

Top Management Team Attention To The Threats From Technological Disasters: Evidence From Polluters In The S&P 1500, Jaemin Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased public attention to environmental disasters is reducing the likelihood firms can ascribe the consequential damages of stakeholders to "acts of Nature". This phenomenon indicates that the absence of top management team (TMT) attention to natural environmental issues leads a firm to control-reducing and likely-loss threats, but less is known about whether firms engage in environmental actions in response to technological disasters and why some firms actively undertake environmental action, while others do not. Drawing on the attention-based view, I propose that technological disasters that happen in a focal firm's affiliated industry cause a TMT to increase a firm's environmental …

Knowledge Management: Style, Structure, And The Latent Potential Of Documented Knowledge, Sean Mcmahon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the volume, growth, and accessibility of documented knowledge – the insights and experiences stored on paper and in electronic form - management research has yet to demonstrate the same usefulness for documented knowledge as that found in knowledge residing in human sources. This dissertation explores two areas of potential for documented knowledge, suggesting the efficacy of a piece of documented knowledge is contingent not only on content, but upon the style and structure associated with that content. Style, how cognitively 'concrete' and affectively 'memorable' documented knowledge is perceived to be, is hypothesized to affect how much attention it draws …

Reinventing The Wheel: Examining The Antecedents, Moderators, And Outcomes Of The Innovation Process, John Eli Smothers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study extends research on the innovation process at the individual-level by examining antecedents, moderators, and outcomes associated with the generation, promotion, and implementation of innovative ideas in the workplace. In a sample of 667 working adults, this study found that high leader-member exchange was positively related to cognitive and behavioral learning strategies focused towards generating innovative ideas. Employees with proactive personalities were more likely to engage in the innovation process, and a sense of psychological safety in regard to the climate for innovation facilitated the implementation of innovative ideas. This study indicates that the successful implementation of an innovative …

Stand Up And Speak Up: Employees' Prosocial Reactions To Observed Abusive Supervision, Manuela Priesemuth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines what happens when employees witness supervisory abuse in the workplace. In particular, it explores whether-and when-employees will respond to witnessing supervisory abuse of a coworker by engaging in prosocial actions aimed at benefitting the target of abuse. In doing so, it extends work on abusive supervision. Traditionally, abusive supervision research has focused on the impact of abuse on the victim him/herself. However, this work explores the impact of abusive supervision on third party observers. In addition, because abusive supervision represents a form of organizational injustice, this dissertation extends both work on abusive supervision and third party reactions …

The Impact Of Servant Leadership On Follower Outcomes: Testing The Mediating Roles Of Stewardship Climate And Trust, Wallace Alexander Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the impact of servant leadership on follower citizenship behaviors (OCBs), both at the individual and organizational levels. The relationship was considered indirect, with trust, perceptions of fairness, and stewardship climate acting as mediators to the relationship between servant leadership and follower citizenship behaviors. The three major contributions are (1) the identification and empirical test of 'servant' and 'leader' components of servant leadership, and (2) the theoretical extension of servant leadership through stewardship theory, and (3) the evidence for its importance in explaining the role of stewardship climate in the relationship between servant leadership and follower OCBs. …

Why Do Individuals Act Fairly Or Unfairly? An Examination Of Psychological And Situational Antecedents Of Organizational Justice, Deshani B. Ganegoda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most studies on organizational justice have focused on individuals’ reactions to justice. As such, a key question has been left largely unanswered: Why do individuals act fairly or unfairly? The present research adopted a person-situation interactionist approach (Trevino, 1986) to examine psychological and situational antecedents of individuals’ fair behavior. The social identity model of deindividuation (SIDE; Reicher, Spears, & Postmes, 1995) and side-bet theory of continuance commitment (Becker, 1960) was used to examine how organizational identification and continuance commitment might influence employees’ fair or unfair behavior depending on an organization’s justice climate. Based on SIDE, it was hypothesized that organizational …

Geographic Clusters And Firm Innovation, Alex Vestal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars dating back to the early 1900s have been interested in the idea that organizations benefit from locating in close proximity to other similar organizations (Marshall, 1920). Largely, this research suggests that economies of agglomeration accrue to clustered organizations which create performance advantages when compared to more isolated organizations. Recently, agglomeration theory researchers have focused on high technology clusters where the primary benefit of collocation is argued to be access to knowledge spillovers from local organizations. This dissertation argues that in order to access local knowledge, firms must be active participants in the local research community. Furthermore, in clusters where …

Examining The Effects Of Realistic Recruitment On Work-Family Conflict: A Test Of The Mediating Role Of Expectations., Russell Clayton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research considered how the realistic recruitment practices of Realistic Job Preview (RJP) and Expectation Lowering Procedure (ELP) may assist employees in reducing perceptions of Work-Family Conflict (WFC). This relationship was theorized as indirect, with Met Expectations mediating the relationship between realistic recruitment and WFC. As such, the current research sheds new light on a protective antecedent of WFC. Furthermore, the disposition of work-family centrality was tested also hypothesized to moderate the relationship between realistic recruitment and Met Expectations. Three studies were conducted in order to empirically test the hypothesized relationships. Study 1 was a cross-sectional survey utilizing a broad …

Strategic Global Human Resource Management: An Analysis Of Liability-Of-Foreignness Issues Associated With Inpatriate Managers, Miriam Moeller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Essay 1: This manuscript addresses the strategic role of an inpatriate staffing approach in the development of a global mindset within global organizations. The premise lies in the development of the liability-of-foreignness concept from the individual level of analysis in the context of global assignments. I first provide arguments relative to the utility of inpatriate managers in global organizations by advocating what appears to be a shift to a strategic global human resource management paradigm. Drawing upon reference point theory, the manuscript highlights potential hardships faced through an analysis of managerial and contextual liability-of-foreignness as may be perceived by inpatriate …

Integrated Conflict Management Systems As Cure And Cause: How Leaders Address Cultural Change And Conflict In Their Organizations, Brian S. Beck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Organizations experience the bottom line impact of internal conflicts daily. Conflicts between employees simply drain organizational resources. The idea of Integrated Conflict Management Systems (ICMS) has been introduced to help minimize the impact of these conflicts. ICMS, through the development of policies and procedures to address conflicts, are actually attempting to change the organization's culture, and when organizations attempt cultural changes, conflicts are likely to occur. The primary component of cultural change is the organizational leader.

The study interviews organizational leaders about the conflicts that occur when organizations change cultures and the methods that leaders use to work through those …

Competitive Actions Of New Technology Firms The Red Queen Effect And New Firm Performance, Robert L. Porter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The competitive strategy used by a new firm may be the most important strategy it ever employs (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Ferrier, 2001). A well-chosen and executed firm strategy is essential for a firm to realize its potential competitive advantage (Porter, 1981). A firm‘s strategic intent and resulting competitive actions are especially important when firms are new and vulnerable as they strive to learn which strategic actions help them adapt to their rivals actions and to their environment (Stinchcombe, 1965). Further, the competitive actions that new firms choose to take with rival firms affects the overall competitive dynamics of their …

Resource Accumulation Dynamics During The New Venture Formation Process, Amy Gresock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As described by the resource-based view, resource accumulation is a key concern for new ventures. Although we know that getting the right resources is a critical issue to organizations, we know far less about how fledgling firms assemble these resources over time. The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of resource accumulation and their effect on performance and growth during new venture formation. In particular, I examine the constructs of financial capital, human capital, and performance, and will test relationships using a sample from the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) that provides the necessary data to test my …

Tiered Market Structures: An Empirical Examination Of Nasdaq, Kevin D. Broom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays examining tiered market structures. We focus on the June 2006 restructuring of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange where the listing environment changed from two to three tiers, creating a top tier with the highest listing standards for any exchange in the world. The first essay examines market quality. Theoretical motivation indicates that different listing and disclosure requirements could result in different levels of information production across tiers, and thus different market quality characteristics. While we do find cross-sectional evidence of market quality differences, we do not find evidence of market quality changes when firms change …

The Role And Effectiveness Of Proactive Behaviors As Coping Strategies In The Stress Process, Laura Anne Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within the organizational sciences, researchers have examined the stress process in an effort to identify the antecedents and consequences of strain as well as moderating variables which exacerbate or ameliorate the negative effects of strain on individuals and organizations. Limited research has considered the role proactive behaviors may play as neutralizers of the negative consequences of stress. In this study, I seek to expand our knowledge of the role and effectiveness of proactive behaviors within the stress process. Using a job crafting framework, three categories of proactive behaviors (task-oriented, cognitive-oriented, and relationship-oriented) will be examined and are hypothesized to be …

Aspects Of Goals And Rewards Systems As Antecedents Of Abusive Supervision: The Mediating Effect Of Hinderance Stress, Mary Bardes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I draw on research on goal setting, stress, and aggression to examine contextual antecedents of abusive supervision. I suggest that a characteristic of the supervisors' goals (viz., goal difficulty) can contribute to abusive supervisory behaviors through the effect it has on the supervisors' level of hindrance stress. I also propose that this mediating process is moderated by two characteristics of the supervisors' rewards (viz., goal-contingent reward and reward interdependence). Thus, I suggest a moderated mediation model predicting supervisors' hindrance stress acts as a mediator of the relationship between supervisors' difficult goals and abusive supervision. Moreover, I also …

Alliance Paradox: An Empirical Study Of Alliance Portfolio Effects On Customer Service Quality In The U.S. Airline Industry, Zhe Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies the potential paradoxical effects of alliance participation. Over the past two decades, alliance participation has become a popular firm strategy to obtain benefits that are difficult for a firm to obtain on its own. Yet, as firms increasingly participate in alliances, boundedly rational managers may not effectively manage all aspects of alliances to achieve intended alliance outcomes. Paradoxically, alliance participation may cause harm to the participating firms. To unveil an alliance paradox, this dissertation first examined the relationships between alliance portfolio attributes (i.e., alliance portfolio size, multilateral alliances, alliance partner country diversity, and alliance type) and customer …

Individual Reactions To Organizational Ethical Failures And Recovery Attempts: A Recovery Paradox?, James Caldwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vast majority of behavioral ethical research focuses on the antecedents of unethical behavior. Consequently, questions involving the consequences of organizational unethical behavior remain largely unanswered. Therefore, extant business ethics research largely neglects the impacts of organizational unethical behavior on individuals. Moreover, questions involving what organizations can do to correct or recover from having engaged in unethical behavior as well as individual responses to those efforts are also mostly ignored. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of unethical activity on employees and explore organizations that have failed ethically and their attempts at recovery. This study …

An Examination Of An Antecedent And Consequences Of Supervisor Morally Questionable Expediency, Rebecca Greenbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supervisor morally questionable expediency occurs when subordinates perceive that their supervisors engage in morally questionable behavior to expedite their work for self-serving purposes (Greenbaum & Folger, 2008). A supervisor's preoccupation with the bottom-line (Greenbaum, 2007; Greenbaum & Folger, 2008; Wolfe, 1988) is examined as an antecedent of morally questionable expediency. It was hypothesized that subordinates experience deontic reactions (Folger, 2001) in the form of a moral psychological contract violation. Consequently, subordinates were hypothesized to reduce performance, engage in antisocial behavior and supervisor-directed deviance. Survey data from 259 subordinate-supervisor dyads provided general support for this hypothesized model. However, post hoc analyses …

Protecting Investment, Profit, And Personnel: Corporations As Social Change Agents, Carole C. Fotino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes a three-level toolkit - The Investment Sustainability Toolkit. The Toolkit assists firms in improving the efficacy of one segment of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by creating at the first level, a strategy of conflict prevention. This strategy is followed by Common Elements of Conflict that Resolves/Becomes Violent, and Key Areas for Stabilization as Level II. The third and final level of the toolkit describes specific initiatives for increasing success, through The Screening Checklist.

The paper assesses through case study, the efforts of Firestone, Inc. in Liberia regarding regional development, stabilization, and economic development. This is done …

An Integrated Model Of Work Climate, Maribeth Kuenzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Management scholars have become increasingly interested in the role of organizational context. As part of this trend, research on work climates has thrived. This contemporary climate research differs from traditional approaches by concentrating on facet-specific climate types like service or innovation, rather than general, global conceptualizations of climate. Consequently, the climate literature has become fragmented and disorderly. I seek to remedy this in my dissertation. Specifically, I propose and test an integrated model of work climate that examines both molar and facet-specific climates. Chapter 1 is a review of the organizational work climate literature. This review seeks to review, reorganize, …

The Cost Of Being Me: Assessing The Consequences Of Compliance With Perceived Pressure To Assimilate In Work Roles, Tangela Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation refers to the process of change and adaptation that occurs between members of cultural groups, especially when one or more minority groups merge with the majority (Berry, 1980). In order to effectively manage diversity, organizational leaders are beginning to realize the importance of understanding the dynamics associated with cross cultural interactions in the workplace. This dissertation focuses on the acculturation mode of assimilation relative to the experiences of 101 African Americans employed in faculty and staff positions in colleges and universities located in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, the moderating role of ethnic identity on the relation between perceived …

Perceived Organizational Forgiveness And Punitive Intent, Rommel Salvador

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although management scholars have examined various antecedents of punishment in the workplace, there has been scant research on how perceptions of the organizational context influence decision-making regarding punishment. Building on the work of Cameron and colleagues (Cameron, Bright, & Caza, 2004; Cameron & Caza, 2002), I propose that one's perceived organizational forgiveness - the perception of the extent to which the workplace is forgiving - is negatively related with one's punitive intent in response to ethical misconduct. In addition, I identify variables involving the disciplinary agent and the ethical misconduct itself as moderators of this relationship. In a lab study …

Organizational Justice And Workplace Deviance: The Role Of Organizational Structure, Powerlessness, And Information Salience, Jie Guo Mccardle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate both individual and structural factors in predicting workplace deviance. Deviant workplace behavior is a prevailing and costly phenomenon in organizations. It includes a wide range of negative acts conducted by employees to harm the organization and its members. In the first section, I conducted a comprehensive literature review. In the review, I first review the current state of research on the relationship between organizational justice and workplace deviance by presenting the various theoretical frameworks, as well as empirical findings. Next, I summarize existing research patterns and identify research challenges that must be …

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining: Positive Effects Of Deviant Coworkers, Gergana Markova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to recognize and explore the reactions of employees to a deviant coworker. Specifically, I focused on the potential positive effects for employees who are in the presence of a coworker perceived as deviant, dysfunctional, or negative. Consistent with a labeling perspective on deviance, I argued that an employee may become a deviant as a result of social construction, fostered either by observed norm violations or the perceived dissimilarity of this person. Drawing on diverse theories from social psychology and sociology, I hypothesized that in the presence of a deviant coworker, other employees may have …

The Relations Among Cultural Values, Ethnicity, And Job Choice Trade-Off Preferences, Linda Isenhour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers in human resource management (HRM) have long been concerned with the attraction and retention of organizational members (Breaugh, 1992; Rynes, 1991; Vroom, 1966). However, as the U.S. work force has become more diverse (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), the need to consider how issues of cultural diversity are related to the recruitment process has become increasingly important. For example, although past research has investigated relations among individuals' values, personality, and job choice preferences, no research has examined the job choice trade-off preferences of culturally diverse individuals. Moreover, researchers have not examined explicit job choice trade-off preferences involving job and organizational …

Understanding Employees' Behavioral Reactions To Aggression In Organizations, Marie Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore employees' behavioral reactions to the perceived aggression of others. Perceived aggression is defined as behavior that is perceived to be intentionally harmful by the intended target. A typology is developed that identifies two primary dimensions of behavioral reaction: (1) the form of the behavior (aggression/non-aggression) and (2) the direction of the behavior (toward the source of the harm/not toward the source of the harm). Based on these dimensions, the typology produces four categories of behavioral reactions: retaliatory aggression, displaced aggression, constructive problem-solving, and withdrawal. A model is then presented, which identifies various …