Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Two Essays Examining Consumer Responses To Product And Service Failures, Sotires Pagiavlas

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two essays that examine consumer responses to product and service failures. In essay 1, I use the U.S. automobile industry as a backdrop to investigate how consumers respond when their products experience a defect-related failure identified by the manufacturer that necessitates a recall. I develop a conceptual framework to test the impact of a regulator-initiated digital marketing campaign (DMC) on consumer compliance to product recalls. The empirical context is the launch of a nationwide DMC by the U.S. automobile industry’s regulator. The analysis spans 12 quarters of recall completion data pertaining to 296 recalls falling …

Unpacking The Effects Of International Experience In Intercultural Negotiations, Chei Hwee Chua

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how international experience influences the outcomes of intercultural negotiations. Its main contributions lie in the novel and contextualized conceptualization of international experience and the development of a comprehensive theoretical model that unpacks the effects of international experience in intercultural negotiations. I propose that international experience is a multi-dimensional construct that encompasses four dimensions: breadth, depth, cultural distance, and cultural heterogeneity. I argue that experiences abroad develop and strengthen individuals’ intercultural competence, psychological capital and global identity, which in turn positively influence the outcomes of intercultural negotiations, i.e., they mediate the relationship between international experience and intercultural negotiation …

Having Newcomers In Diverse Teams: The Effects Of Subgroup Identification And Established Faultlines On Newcomer Information Seeking And Team Creativity, Xing Liu

Theses and Dissertations

The current literature has demonstrated the importance of newcomers’ information seeking on their socialization in teams and the consequences of newcomers on team outcomes such as team creativity. However, there is limited knowledge on the antecedents of newcomer information seeking and team creativity in diverse teams after the entry of a newcomer. In this dissertation, with a focus on newcomers in diverse teams, I investigated two phenomena at the individual level and team level, respectively. At the individual level, I explored the influence of newcomers’ subgroup identification on information seeking via their feelings of psychological safety and the role of …

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones: Social Undermining As Social Influence, Jason Kautz

Theses and Dissertations

The current social undermining literature suggests the important role of the witness in determining the negative impact on the victim. However, the literature has yet to explicitly explore the witness’ role in social undermining. In this dissertation, I integrate theory and research on social influence and emotions to develop a framework that suggests social undermining be considered a form of social influence. This framework allows for the exploration of the witness’ sense-making process following a social undermining event along with the accumulated effects of repeated exposure to a series of social undermining events. I propose that social undermining influences witness …

Operational Drivers Of Hospital And Physician Adaptation To Industry Change, Justin Taylor Kistler

Theses and Dissertations

Hospitals and physicians are often required to adapt their operations in response to macro changes in their industry environment. This dissertation examines the operational factors which influence and incentivize changes in hospital and physician operating performance. The first essay in this dissertation investigates how legislative political support and competition in the area in which a hospital operates influences hospitals’ investments and commitment to complying with performance mandates implemented by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation in the United States. Leveraging United States hospital performance data from 2007 to 2014, results indicate a differential impact of government ideology …

Serving As A Backup Plan: Accounting Reserves And Their Impact On Managerial Risk-Taking, Kun Lui

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how accounting reserves influence firms’ internal decisions. In particular, this study investigates whether and how reserves currently reported in a firm’s balance sheet affect managerial risk-taking in the making of capital investment decisions. The experimental results show that firm managers are more likely to take risks in the making of capital investment decisions when the amount of reserves is large compared with when it is small. Additionally, the amount of reserves influences managerial risk-taking through sequentially influencing managers’ perceived risks of missing relevant earnings targets and managers’ perceived risks of investing in risky capital investment options. These …

The Effect Of Audit Procedure Extent And Precision On Auditors’ Skeptical Judgments, Sarah Alexis Judge

Theses and Dissertations

I investigate how the extent and precision of an audit procedure influence auditors’ responses to errors. The results suggest that while audit procedures with expanded extents are beneficial, this benefit is influenced by the presence of false positives. Specifically, I predict and find that as the extent of an audit procedure expands, auditors will be more likely to recommend audit adjustments. However, this effect is moderated by the presence of false positives. When false positives are absent, auditors are more likely to recommend an adjustment when they use a large extent procedure, however when false positives are present, there is …

Three Essays On Optimization And Decision-Making Solutions In Grocery Retail Operations, Olga Pak

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation titled “Three Essays on Optimization and Decision-Making Solutions in Retail Operations,” we explore various techniques aimed at optimizing the operational efficiency in a grocery retail store. Specifically, the first essay examines a store manager’s decision of which stock-keeping units (SKUs) from a given category to assign to a promotional display space. We develop a decision support tool that consists of an estimation model and an optimization model. Using a grocery store sales transaction dataset, we introduce a methodology to measure the incremental lift in sales of placing a particular SKU on promotional display space. Our optimization model …

A Comparison Of Sbir Investment Methods: Afwerx Vs Legacy, Evan A. Gist

Theses and Dissertations

The AFWERX Open Topic (AOT) program uses funding from the United States Air Force’s (USAF) Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) budget to adapt commercial technology to USAF needs. The AOT approach to small business investment is markedly different from that of legacy SBIR investment methods. This research is a comparison of processes and outcomes for AOT and legacy SBIR. The first axis of comparison is on commercialization rates. Applying a legacy definition of commercialization on a sample of AOT contracts, we found AOT’s commercialization to be 37% (compared to an 8.8% for legacy SBIR). We caveat this finding by …

Three Views For Explaining And Resolving The Recruitment And Retention Challenges Of The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Eod) Career Field, John A. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Retention among the Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) career field has been a concern since the start of the war on terror. Now, as recruiting quotas are not being met, that concern is growing for senior leaders. In the coming years, retention and recruitment will be of the utmost importance to ensure full mission capability. This research analyzes two streams of data, 15 years of manpower information and the results of a survey administered to first-term Airmen, to identify the variables that have the greatest impact on turnover. An additional dataset, personnel data from more than 2,000 EOD candidates, …

Developing Ei: Leadership Journeys In Emotional Intelligence, Erin Bric

Theses and Dissertations

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

Knowledge And Skill Predictors Of Voice Behavior: Voice As An Upward Influence, Zitong Sheng

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research focused on improving our understanding of employee voice behavior. Yet this literature focuses mainly on factors that influence employees’ decisions regarding whether to speak up (i.e., quantity of voice behavior), rather than factors that influence whether voice behavior turns out to be effective. As a result, job attitudes and personality characteristics have been identified as the major personal factors predicting voice behavior. The current study contributes to the voice literature by viewing voice from an upward influence angle, examining the influences of the quality of content and …

An Exploration In Accountable Care Organization Structure, Contingency And Performance, 2015-2017, Siriporn P. Satjapot

Theses and Dissertations

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 enacted one of the most significant reforms seen in the United States healthcare landscape. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) led transformation efforts in regulatory reform and coverage expansion across the U.S. population. Since 2010, care delivery systems have been shifting from episodic, decentralized and fee-for-service models to value-based population health models, like accountable care organizations (ACO). ACOs have been specifically primed for local response to improve the health of their communities. ACO research has traditionally focused on performance measures like mortality, readmissions, quality outcomes and savings. ACO organizational characteristics …

The Economic Impact Of Anti-Corruption Legislation On Foreign Investor Perceptions Of Corruption, Jean-Marie Marthe Auguste Richard Marcel Van Der Elst

Theses and Dissertations

Corruption has increasingly become an international challenge and the coordination of Anti-Corruption Legislation (ACL) and its implementation, a priority for nations. The economic impact of corruption on economic growth, foreign direct investment flows, and international trade is indicated in international research studies. The significant increase in global financial and trade transactions has presented new and increased opportunities for rent-seeking and increased the need for coordinated action against all forms of corruption. The effectiveness of national ACL measures in combatting and reducing corruption in all its forms, remains poorly defined and the extant research inconclusive. This study explores the economic impact …

Exploring Configuration Management In Department Of Defense (Dod) Projects, Manessa Threatt

Theses and Dissertations

Configuration management has become more important than ever to managers of DoD projects. The study evaluated the relevancy of the facilitating and obstructing factors to the success of the overall configuration management process in DoD projects. It also examined the correlation between years of experience and academic qualification as well as configuration management professionals supporting DoD projects and the criticality of each factor. Hypothesis testing indicated that all facilitating and obstructing factors are relevant to the success of the overall configuration management process in DoD projects. Hypothesis testing indicated four significant positive correlations with years of experience as configuration management …

When To “Make” And When To “Buy”: A Contingency Theory Of Making Versus Buying Managerial Human Capital, Dhuha Abdulsallam

Theses and Dissertations

When should firms build talent, and when should they buy? There is theoretical consensus that internal hires would exceed externals in performance because of their firm-specific human capital. However, by integrating the creativity and innovation literature, I present a non-traditional theoretical view which argues that in creative environments with a time-lag on related expectations and outputs, externally hired managers would exceed internally promoted managers in several different performance- related outcomes. I also explore the social influence associated with the hiring origin of middle managers by integrating psychology and economic rationale to study the impact of managerial hiring origin decisions on …

Human Capital Resource Development In Teams: Antecedents, Consequences, And Scale Development Of Human Capital Resources, Jieun Park

Theses and Dissertations

Although a large body of human capital research supports the critical role of human capital resource (HCR) in unit performance, very little research has paid attention to how to measure HCR, where HCR originates, and how HCR influences team performance. Given the lack of a measure that reflects the unique characteristics of HCR (e.g., transformation of individual KSAOs through emergence processes), I develop and validate a new comprehensive HCR scale. I test a 14-item scale with a sample of 97 undergraduate students in 24 teams. Results show this scale is internally consistent, reliable, and valid. In addition, drawing on human …

Three Essays In Firm Financing Decision, Gerard Savio Pinto

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of three essays on financing decisions by firms. The first essay examines the cost of borrowing in the syndicated loan market for recent IPO firms. We find evidence of informational rent extraction by IPO underwriters that lend to firms after going public. The (informed) lender affiliated to the IPO underwriter on average earns a 5% higher abnormal payoff (interest) than an unaffiliated lender. When these loans commence trading on the secondary market, loans originated by affiliated lenders increase by 97 bps more than loans originated by unaffiliated lenders. Thus, the primary and secondary market evidence supports …

Two Essays On Market Entry And Exit: Empirical Evidence From Airline Industry, Sina Aghaie

Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation of low-cost competitors has increasingly eroded incumbent firms’ market shares and profitability in recent decades. However, incumbents are still uncertain about how to handle this new challenge. The two essays in this dissertation aim to contribute to the marketing strategy and competitive dynamics literature by exploring the link between incumbents’ marketing-mix activities and low-cost rival’s market entry, exit, and the threat of entry decisions.

In the first essay, I study a common and important phenomenon – the marketing tactics that incumbent firms employ to drive new low-cost entrants out of the market. Specifically, I investigate how incumbents’ price, …

Two Essays On Limiting The Negative Impact Of Product Recalls, Seyyed Amirali Javadinia

Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation is composed of two essays. In the first essay, authors conceptualize recall environment, test its effect on post-recall stock returns and identify the role of recall and product characteristics in moderating this relationship. The authors test their hypotheses on a sample of 90 recall announcements in the automobile industry from 2011 to 2016. The results show that on average, announcing a recall in an intense environment aggravates negative stock returns accruing from the recall. Further, while low reputation brands are mostly prone to this negative impact of recall environment, high reputation brands are less susceptible to this negative …

Multiple Concurrent Framing Effects: Evidence From A Risky Tax Decision, Ethan Gregory Lamothe

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research finds an individual’s end of year tax position is framed by expectations (e.g., prior year tax position) and withholding position (i.e., refund vs additional taxes due), and suggests individuals concurrently maintain and are influenced by multiple reference points. In this study, I examine a theoretical explanation for how multiple reference points can influence an individual’s decisions even though the shape of the prospect theory value function is based on a single reference point. Specifically, I predict expectations influence decisions through a risky choice framing effect which is caused by diminishing sensitivity in the prospect theory value function while …

Situational Judgement Selection Test Utility: Implications For Police Turnover, Marshall Alan Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Police agencies increasingly find attracting, recruiting, selecting, and retaining police officers challenging. Officer candidates selected can have up to a 25 percent fail rate in basic police training, while probationary officers in field training can fail to complete training with rates as high as 40 percent. Police selection batteries often include situational judgment tests (SJTs) designed to help ensure legal and proper hiring standards. The scores of SJTs, and other selection battery scores, are often filed once the hiring process is complete. This study explored the potential SJT selection battery scores may have in the prediction of field training and …

Distributed Team E-Leadership: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into Subordinate Perceptions Of Career Development, Coby Andrew True

Theses and Dissertations

As changes in the global economy coupled with fast-paced advancements in technology continue to evolve and merge, the need to deploy a distributed workforce becomes increasingly important to remain competitive. Just as managers adapt traditional leadership styles to meet the needs of the distributed environment, individual team members must also overcome the challenges of increased geographic proximity, or physical distance between team members and team leader. As distributed teams continue to become more prevalent in the work environment, adaptations of traditional leadership styles must evolve to account for the unique conditions. The increasing use of Advanced Information Technology (AIT) has …

Does Organizational Culture Serve As An Antecedent To The Dynamic Capability Of An Automated Customer Relationship System As An Example Of A Big Data Analytics Program In A Firm? A Case Study, Franklin Gregory Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine if and how organizational culture can be an antecedent to the formation and exploitation of a dynamic capability at the firm level. This proposed study method is a holistic single case study of a privately owned multi-state regional independent insurance agency to determine the relationship between organizational culture and the dynamic capability of an automated customer relationship management system (ACRMS). The theoretical framework used in this study is dynamic capabilities developed by Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997) and further modified and refined by Teece (2014). This framework is based on the premise of the ability …

Women Entrepreneurs In Egypt: A Qualitative Study Of Perceptions And Challenges, Rwan Zakria Abdelrhman

Theses and Dissertations

Although all entrepreneurs and business owners encounter obstacles and barriers, the challenges that female entrepreneurs face in Egypt are surmount. Female entrepreneurs in Egypt lack the requisite training and basic advising services that would keep them updated with new technological skills. Moreover, women are more likely to discontinue their businesses due to limited access to finance. Furthermore, women face restrictive legal and institutional burdens when establishing their business or when starting a new one. In addition, cultural constraints are another challenge that negatively influence women's credibility, their empowerment and self-confidence. The current study, intends to investigate the challenges that female …

The Quality Of Xbrl Structured Financial Statements: An Empirical Examination Of Custom Tags, Aidana Razhap Kyzy

Theses and Dissertations

In 2009 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) system to improve the process by which financial statements can be used. Interactive financial data filed with the SEC using XBRL provides easily readable and comparable financial data, thereby improving transparency and efficiency in the corporate market. SEC rules permit companies to use custom tags in their financial reports in cases when an appropriate element cannot be found in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) standard XBRL taxonomy. The inordinate use of custom tags may result in a reduction of financial report quality by …

Essays On The Roles Of Employee Representatives On The Board In Corporate Policy-Making, Amirhossein Fard

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of four chapters, investigating the roles of employee representatives on the board in corporate policies in a sample of European countries. I examine the role of employee representatives on the board in firms’ merger and acquisition intensity and performance. In addition, I study the value-creating roles of these directors. In particular, I study the effects of employee representative directors on the firms’ pay gap between the CEO and average employees. In chapter Ι, I describe the background on the idea behind the presence of employee representatives and how the laws mandating this presence have changed in Europe. …

Transforming Human Resource Management Into A Dynamic Capability And The Effects On Employee Attraction And Retention, William Ricardo Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

Employee attraction and retention remain one of the biggest difficulties faced by employers in the United States. One way for firms to combat this issue is through the creation of dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities are processes developed by a company that are based on its history, asset positioning, and process changes which could potentially lead firms to a competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a dynamic capability could be created through a firm’s Human Resource Management (HRM). More specifically, the study examined the relationship between a business’s HRM through the creation of a dynamic capability …

The Effects Of Product Feature Complexity, Market Activity, And Update Scheduling On Mobile App Life Cycles, Moonwon Chung

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid advancements in telecommunication devices and the emergence of the mobile app ecosystem have immensely impacted our lives. Innovative apps have helped improve market efficiency in agriculture, contributed to environmental sustainability through peer-to-peer sharing services, and stimulated financial inclusion in developing economies. However, mobile app developers have to deal with challenges that can hinder the app to reach its full potential. In order to achieve commercial success in the hyper-competitive business landscape where freemium business models are dominating, developers need deep understanding on how non-price operational levers such as product design, delivery, and continued service lead to user adoption.

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The Influence Of Consumer Inference About A Company’S Motive On Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Evaluation, Taehoon Park

Theses and Dissertations

The author investigates the roles of consumer inferences and consumer suspicion in responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities by companies.

Chapter 1 examines how consumers infer a company’s motive for its prosocial activity when the same company is also involved in a socially harmful accident. When a company is involved in both CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and CSI (Corporate Social Irresponsibility), consumers can infer the motive for the CSR campaign from the temporal order of these two events. The author further proposes that this effect will be moderated by perceived invested effort in CSR campaign. Specifically, high effort invested …