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2015

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Articles 571 - 600 of 681

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

The Recruitment Paradox: Network Recruitment, Structural Position, And East German Market Transition, Richard A. Benton, Steve Mcdonald, Anna Manzoni, David F. Warner Jan 2015

The Recruitment Paradox: Network Recruitment, Structural Position, And East German Market Transition, Richard A. Benton, Steve Mcdonald, Anna Manzoni, David F. Warner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Economic institutions structure links between labor-market informality and social stratification. The present study explores how periods of institutional change and post-socialist market transition alter network-based job finding, in particular informal recruitment. We highlight how market transitions affect both the prevalence and distribution of network-based recruitment channels: open-market environments reduce informal recruitment’s prevalence but increase its association with high wages. We test these propositions using the case of the former East Germany’s market transition and a comparison with West Germany’s more stable institutional environment. Following transition, workers in lower tiers increasingly turned toward formal intermediaries, active employee search, and socially “disembedded” …

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Resource Planning In Engineering Services Firms, Vincent Hargaden, Jennifer K. Ryan Jan 2015

Resource Planning In Engineering Services Firms, Vincent Hargaden, Jennifer K. Ryan

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

We develop a model to enable engineering professional services firms to improve the management of their competitive resources, i.e., skilled engineers, to be better able to respond to customer demand. The model was informed by semistructured interviews with senior executives from engineering, information technology (IT) services and technical consulting firms. As a result, we capture many of the complexities associated with the resource planning process in the professional engineering services sector. In the resulting model, the key attributes of supply, demand, and operations constraints are identified. Based on information obtained from the interviews, a number of test firms are created.We …

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Beyond The Bright Side: Dark Personality At Work, Peter D. Harms, Seth M. Spain Jan 2015

Beyond The Bright Side: Dark Personality At Work, Peter D. Harms, Seth M. Spain

P. D. Harms Publications

Despite the long history of the psychological study of dark personality characteristics and the recent surge of interest in the topic, much work remains to fully understand the breadth and depth of the impact of dark personality in the workplace. This commentary briefly covers the history of dark personality, discusses the place of this special issue within that history, and then proposes a number of avenues for future research in terms of defining, measuring, and providing a more comprehensive theoretical framework for the study of dark personality.

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Effects Of Psychological Capital On Mental Health And Substance Abuse, Dina V. Krasikova, Paul B. Lester, Peter D. Harms Jan 2015

Effects Of Psychological Capital On Mental Health And Substance Abuse, Dina V. Krasikova, Paul B. Lester, Peter D. Harms

P. D. Harms Publications

Luthans, Youssef, Sweetman, and Harms proposed a holistic approach to psychological capital that involves examining psychological capital and its effects across multiple life domains, including work, relationships, and health. This article focuses on the effects of psychological capital on objective health outcomes. Using data from a sample of 1,889 U.S. Army soldiers, we demonstrate that soldiers with higher levels of psychological capital prior to deployment were less likely to receive diagnoses for mental health problems and substance abuse postdeployment. In addition, the effects of psychological capital on mental health diagnoses were mediated by soldiers’ overall health perceptions.

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Quality Management And Innovation: New Insights On A Structural Contingency Framework, Dara Schniederjans, Marc Schniederjans Jan 2015

Quality Management And Innovation: New Insights On A Structural Contingency Framework, Dara Schniederjans, Marc Schniederjans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

With increasing market competition, organizations are striving for greater innovation in products and services. Quality management has the potential to invigorate an organization’s product, process and administrative innovation when strategically aligned with internal contingencies. This paper seeks to address the relationship between social and technical quality management with innovation. Moreover, this paper empirically assesses contingency factors including organization size, task and managerial ethics which play roles in moderating the relationship between quality management and innovation. Based on an empirical study we find social quality management practices, not technical quality management practices, are positively associated with innovation. We also find a …

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Racial Differences In Job Attribute Preferences: The Role Of Ethnic Identity And Self-Efficacy, Jakari N. Griffith, Gwendolyn M. Combs Jan 2015

Racial Differences In Job Attribute Preferences: The Role Of Ethnic Identity And Self-Efficacy, Jakari N. Griffith, Gwendolyn M. Combs

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Using a sample of 149 white and 190 black business students, the authors examined racial differences in job attribute preferences. Results of this study indicate there were significant racial differences in 19 of 21 job attributes examined, with black students placing greater importance on job attributes than white students. Investigation of the mechanisms contributing to this difference reveals that the relationship between race and job attribute preferences was mediated by ethnic identity. Furthermore, the relationship between ethnic identity and job attributes was moderated by personal efficacy, with higher self-efficacy levels leading to greater importance placed on job attributes.

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The Influence Of Exploration On External Corporate Venturing Activity, Varkey K. Titus Jr., Jenny M. House, Jeffrey G. Covin Jan 2015

The Influence Of Exploration On External Corporate Venturing Activity, Varkey K. Titus Jr., Jenny M. House, Jeffrey G. Covin

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

We utilize the exploration/exploitation framework to examine how a firm’s engagement in exploration influences its portfolio of external corporate venturing (ECV) activities. Three forms of equity-based ECV are considered: corporate venture capital investments, joint ventures, and acquisitions. The organizational learning literature is used to investigate how a firm’s engagement in exploration influences its usage of acquisitions relative to its overall portfolio of ECV activities. The investing firm’s industry technological dynamism is posited as a moderator of the relationship between exploration and the relative usage of acquisitions. Utilizing a sample of 1,326 firm-year observations between 1996 and 2008, we find that …

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Contagion Effect Of Global Leaders’ Positive Psychological Capital On Followers: Does Distance And Quality Of Relationship Matter?, Joana S. P. Story, Carolyn M. Youssef-Morgan, Fred Luthans, John E. Barbuto Jr., James A. Bovaird Jan 2015

Contagion Effect Of Global Leaders’ Positive Psychological Capital On Followers: Does Distance And Quality Of Relationship Matter?, Joana S. P. Story, Carolyn M. Youssef-Morgan, Fred Luthans, John E. Barbuto Jr., James A. Bovaird

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

A key assumption of effective international human resource management (IHRM) is that global leaders influence and serve as role models for their followers, regardless of the inherent distance (physical and frequency of interaction) between them in today’s global context or the quality of the relationship. Although considerable attention has been devoted to cultural differences between global leaders and their diverse followers and teams, this study investigates the impact that distance and quality of the relationship has on a sample of a Fortune 100 multinational firm’s global leaders’ level of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) contagion effect on their followers located around …

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Deception In Cosmetics Advertising: Examining Cosmetics Advertising Claims In Fashion Magazine Ads / 化妆品广告中的欺骗:分析时尚杂志广告中的化妆品广告, Jie G. Fowler, Timothy H. Reisenwitz, Les Carlson Jan 2015

Deception In Cosmetics Advertising: Examining Cosmetics Advertising Claims In Fashion Magazine Ads / 化妆品广告中的欺骗:分析时尚杂志广告中的化妆品广告, Jie G. Fowler, Timothy H. Reisenwitz, Les Carlson

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The FDA has only focused upon the physical safety of cosmetics and has ignored the significant reasonability of advertising claims. As such, the present article is intended to examine/ascertain the extent to which cosmetics claims contain deceptive content in fashion ads. Through a content analysis, the study reported herein revealed that cosmetics claims were not evenly distributed. To that end, the preponderance of the claims appeared to be described primarily by three categories (scientific, performance and subjective). The results also showed that more cosmetics claims were classified as deceptive than were deemed as acceptable. Close examination of these trends revealed …

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Chaos, Reports, And Quests: Narrative Agency And Co-Workers In Stories Of Workplace Bullying, Stacy Tye-Williams, Kathleen J. Krone Jan 2015

Chaos, Reports, And Quests: Narrative Agency And Co-Workers In Stories Of Workplace Bullying, Stacy Tye-Williams, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined narratives that targets of workplace bullying told about their difficult work experiences along with how co-workers were framed in these narratives. Three different narrative types emerged from their accounts: chaos, report, and quest narratives. Co-worker responses of support or lack thereof were related to the construction of various narrative forms and the level of narrative agency evident in target accounts. The study has important implications for the difference co-workers can make in a target’s ability to withstand bullying and narrate his or her experience.

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Inventory Optimization In Manufacturing Organizations, Scott William Lemke Jan 2015

Inventory Optimization In Manufacturing Organizations, Scott William Lemke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inventories totaling 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars represent an opportunity for U.S. manufacturers. This exploratory case study researched supply chain strategies used to manage inventory in manufacturing operations of a U.S. manufacturing company. A mature value chain contained within a single organization using the value chain framework was the basis for this study. Individual interviews conducted with 16 managers responsible for defining and implementing inventory control strategies, and 4 internal users provided primary information for the study. Other sources of information included a value chain map created through the observation of operations, various inventory measurements, and policies and guidelines related to …

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Project Duration, Budget, Individual Role, And Burnout Among Construction Managers, Matthew M. Motil Jan 2015

Project Duration, Budget, Individual Role, And Burnout Among Construction Managers, Matthew M. Motil

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Professionals who experience burnout are less productive and lead to decreases in both profitability and human resource (HR) capital. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between construction project duration; project budget; an individual's role on a project; and Maslach's three dimensions of burnout, (a) professional efficacy, (b) emotional exhaustion, and (c) cynicism, for the target population of construction management team members working within the Midwestern United States. Using data from an online survey, a multiple linear regression analysis was used, along with a separate multiple linear regression model, to quantify the relationship of each dimension …

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Evaluating Success Factors In Implementing E-Maintenance In Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organizations, Peter Rocky Toves Jan 2015

Evaluating Success Factors In Implementing E-Maintenance In Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organizations, Peter Rocky Toves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite more than a decade-long process to transition aircraft maintenance practices from paper-to electronic-based systems, some organizations remain unable to complete this transition. Researchers have indicated that while organizations have invested resources in technology improvements, there remains a limited understanding of the factors that contribute to effectively managing technology-enabled change. The purpose of this case study was to identify and explore socio-technical (ST) factors that inhibit an effective transition from a paper-based system to an electronic-based system for aircraft maintenance. A conceptual model applying theories of change management, technology acceptance, systems thinking, and ST theory informed the research. Thirteen participants …

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Exploring Consumers' Experiences With Corporate Greenwashing, Mark Emerson Wood Jan 2015

Exploring Consumers' Experiences With Corporate Greenwashing, Mark Emerson Wood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Greenwashing means the advertisement of goods and services that are alleged to be of benefit to the environment, and is a phenomenon that persists as an advertising tactic in corporate marketing. Research has found that consumers are distrustful of greenwashing, as many claims of eco-friendly products have been shown to be false. This crisis of confidence recalls scandals of the past decade related to insider trading, price fixing, and lack of corporate social responsibility placing the brand equity of major corporations at risk. Given a limited understanding among corporate leaders of consumers' experiences with greenwashing, the purpose of this phenomenological …

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Distinguishing Leadership Of Information Assurance Teams, Bamidele Adetokunbo Bankole Jan 2015

Distinguishing Leadership Of Information Assurance Teams, Bamidele Adetokunbo Bankole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information assurance (IA) projects are essential components of the information technology industry and often fail due to budget overruns, missed deadlines, and lack of performance by the project teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies necessary to improve IA project team performance. Lewin's situational leadership theory was used as the conceptual framework for this study. Interviews were conducted with 20 IA professionals located in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. The data were transcribed, coded, and clustered for the identification of common patterns based on the Moustakas' modified van Kaam analysis. The major themes that emerged …

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Transformational Leadership And Safe Driving Performance In The U.S. Electric Utility Industry, Mackington Joseph Jan 2015

Transformational Leadership And Safe Driving Performance In The U.S. Electric Utility Industry, Mackington Joseph

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transformational leadership (TL) has been found popular in many industries in the United States and abroad for the perceived transformational leaders' effectiveness in improving occupational safety. There is a lack of empirical evidence to confirm these claims for safe occupational driving. This phenomenological study attempted to fill this knowledge gap in the electric utility industry where employees must drive in all weather conditions to restore power to customers. The conceptual framework for the study was based on leadership and motivation theories of Burns and Maslow. The research questions explored the influence of (a) TL on safe driving performance improvement in …

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General Strain Theory As A Predictor Of Occupational Fraud, Timothy Bergsma Jan 2015

General Strain Theory As A Predictor Of Occupational Fraud, Timothy Bergsma

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The world economy loses an estimated $3.5 trillion annually due to fraud. A weakened economy leads to additional hardships for individuals, families, and organizations. General strain theory (GST) posits that certain strains lead to negative emotional responses, and the result is delinquent behavior. The purpose of this research was to analyze the relationship between strain and occupational fraud through the theoretical framework of GST. The research questions addressed (a) occupational frauds as measured by strain levels of perpetrators, (b) the relationship between strain scores and the different occupational fraud types, and (c) the significance of the relationship between fraud motivation …

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Human Factors Analysis And Classification System Interrater Reliability For Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Investigations, Roberto Cintron Jan 2015

Human Factors Analysis And Classification System Interrater Reliability For Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Investigations, Roberto Cintron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human errors are an expected result of operations performed by individuals and frequently lead to accidents and other catastrophic events. The problem is that the current process used to investigate and mitigate human errors in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industries is not effective, as it does not include the effects of human factors found to be effective in aviation and nuclear power organizations. The human factors and classification system (HFACS) was created for the investigations of accidents using the Swiss cheese model of accident causation as a theoretical framework. The purpose of this quantitative, inter-rater reliability study was to demonstrate the …

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Leadership Influences Of The Veteran Alpha Female Leader, Danielle J. Moncrief Jan 2015

Leadership Influences Of The Veteran Alpha Female Leader, Danielle J. Moncrief

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In recent years, more women have entered positions of leadership, and their alpha personalities have compelled them to strive for higher positions of authority. With this influx, it has become necessary to better understand the influences of this type of female leader and to expand narrow conceptualizations. Previous studies examined alpha female leaders of high school and college-age, but studies have yet to explore this type of leader beyond college. This phenomenological study sought to examine the influence of the minority identity, life experience, and leadership duration on veteran alpha female leaders. It was grounded in social-role and ethnic-identity theory. …

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Exploring Critical Success Factors Of The Redesigned Military Transitioning Program, Gloria Jean Edwards Jan 2015

Exploring Critical Success Factors Of The Redesigned Military Transitioning Program, Gloria Jean Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A task force commissioned by President Obama overhauled the U.S. Military Transitioning Program (MTP) in 2012-2013. U.S. veterans have continued to struggle with military transitions following the MTP restructuring. The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore the critical success factors of the MTP after the redesign based on perceptions of 20 military officers intending to transition to the civilian sector in the National Capital Region. The problem studied was that there was no indication that the redesigned MTP was effective in helping officers transition to the civilian workforce. The study included 3 research questions and semistructured interviews were …

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Financing School-Based Health Centers: Sustaining Business Operational Services, Ingrid Monique Hayes-Burrell Jan 2015

Financing School-Based Health Centers: Sustaining Business Operational Services, Ingrid Monique Hayes-Burrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School-based health centers (SBHCs) have faced challenges in securing adequate funding for operations and developing sound business systems for billing and reimbursement. Specifically, administrators often lack strategies to develop and sustain funding levels to support appropriate resources for business operations. The focus of this descriptive study was to explore best practice strategies to develop and sustain funding through the experiences of SBHC administrators. The conceptual framework included Elkington's sustainability theory, which posits that corporate social responsibility, stakeholder involvement, and citizenship improve manager's effect on the business system. Twenty full-time SBHC administrators working in separate locations throughout the state of Maryland …

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A Cross-Regional Comparison Of Fabricated Metals' Manufacturing Sector Resiliency, Linda Ann Holt Jan 2015

A Cross-Regional Comparison Of Fabricated Metals' Manufacturing Sector Resiliency, Linda Ann Holt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fabricated metals' manufacturing sector employment in the United States declined following the onset of the 2008 recession. Premium compensation and benefits afforded to employees within the manufacturing sector amplified the negative effects of recessionary job losses. Using the regional macroeconomic complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the geographic distribution of job losses, recovery rates, and adaptive behavior after the recession for the fabricated metals manufacturing sector by measuring and comparing effects in 50 East North Central division MSAs and 50 South Atlantic division MSAs in the United States. Independent sample t tests compared …

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Experiences And Perceptions Of Liberian Business Leaders' Transformational Leadership Skills, Kingsley Lington Ighobor Jan 2015

Experiences And Perceptions Of Liberian Business Leaders' Transformational Leadership Skills, Kingsley Lington Ighobor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African business leaders may not be effective because of a lack of transformational leadership skills. Business leaders applying transformational leadership skills can strengthen relationships with followers and enhance organizational performance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of Liberian business leaders regarding transformational leadership skills needed to lead profitable organizations. Building on a conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, data were obtained from open-ended interviews of 20 Liberian business leaders operating in the capital city of Monrovia. Interviews were transcribed, coded, validated through transcript review, and analyzed to generate themes. The most prominent themes …

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Lived Experiences Of Women Over 50 Who Have Experienced Involuntary Job Loss, Roxine Denise Phillips Jan 2015

Lived Experiences Of Women Over 50 Who Have Experienced Involuntary Job Loss, Roxine Denise Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Both the short-term and long-term unemployment rates for older workers in the United States have increased significantly since the 2007 recession. Researchers who examine the impact of involuntary job loss have predominantly focused on the experiences of men. Limited prior research exists on the job loss experiences of women over 50 years of age compared to men. The goal of this study was to address this gap in knowledge by examining the lived experiences of women over 50 who had experienced involuntary job loss, the barriers faced to reemployment, and the ways women overcame the barriers to reemployment. A phenomenological …

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When Does Six Sigma Reduce Defects And Increase Efficiencies?, Richard Jay Sands Jan 2015

When Does Six Sigma Reduce Defects And Increase Efficiencies?, Richard Jay Sands

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A field research-based statistical study was used to investigate successes and failures of Six Sigma methodologies based projects. Six Sigma methodologies require that projects be designed, planned, and implemented using techniques specifically designed to achieve desired benefits that are based on the method's key drivers for project success. This study addressed an identified gap in the literature that Six Sigma projects do not fail because of Six Sigma methodologies, but that the projects can fail because of deficient support processes. Six Sigma projects that do not achieve the desired benefits are often labeled as "fads". Research questions related to management …

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Transformational Strategic Choice: The Generational Succession Effect On Small Businesses, Eric D. Williams Jan 2015

Transformational Strategic Choice: The Generational Succession Effect On Small Businesses, Eric D. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Changing workforce demographics, combined with a gap in knowledge and skills between older and younger generations, threatens small business viability. The presence of four generations in the workforce, where 1 in 5 employees are 55 years and older, presents an unprecedented challenge for small business leaders planning for succession with a multigenerational workforce. The purpose of this case study was to explore the effect of Baby Boomers' presence on small business leaders' ability to retain and transfer knowledge to successive generations. Using snowball and purposeful sampling techniques, 36 small business leaders in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated. The conceptual …

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Employee Conduct When Administering Government Contracts In The Defense Logistics Agency, Sandra Genevieve Haynes-Michaels Jan 2015

Employee Conduct When Administering Government Contracts In The Defense Logistics Agency, Sandra Genevieve Haynes-Michaels

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Justice reported cases of government contracting employees accepting bribes totaling over $540 million within a 6-year period. The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions of government contracting managers regarding the knowledge needed to mitigate employees' unethical behaviors when administering government contracts. Previous studies on government contracting employees' unethical behaviors focused on employees' behaviors, but lacked data concerning managers' roles in mitigating employees' unethical behaviors. The study's conceptual framework was stakeholder theory. The data were gathered through semistructured interviews conducted with 21 government contracting managers in the …

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Relationships Between Job Design, Job Crafting, Idiosyncratic Deals, And Psychological Empowerment, Marsha Miller Jan 2015

Relationships Between Job Design, Job Crafting, Idiosyncratic Deals, And Psychological Empowerment, Marsha Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although much is known about employee empowerment and work designs, numerous companies and management practitioners struggle to implement empowerment initiatives effectively because it is not known which approach best facilitates individual levels of psychological empowerment. Traditional job design theory focuses on the role of managers and portrays employees as passive grantees of empowerment. Employees may influence their own empowerment by taking an active role in work design. The primary purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether job crafting or idiosyncratic deals are more or less empowering than job design and how work locus of control influences these relationships. …

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The Triple Bottom Line And Social Responsibility Framework In Public Sector Management, Matthew Ajiake Jan 2015

The Triple Bottom Line And Social Responsibility Framework In Public Sector Management, Matthew Ajiake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of public sector agencies must incorporate the voices of diversified stakeholders into planning and decision-making processes. With aging infrastructures around the world, public agencies are challenged to move public benefit projects forward when citizens are not engaged or empowered to participate in the process. The purpose of this triple bottom line (social, ecological, and financial) and social responsibility study was to explore whether public sector organizations are socially responsible by law. A case study was developed using data from publicly available documents and interviews that explored how the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) implemented a social responsibility framework …

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Political Leadership And Management Of Civic Services In A Downturn Economy, Patrick Charles Williams Jan 2015

Political Leadership And Management Of Civic Services In A Downturn Economy, Patrick Charles Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Municipal leaders in the United States face difficult decisions when prioritizing nonmandated civic projects for funding, especially when operating budgets are restricted. This phenomenological study investigated municipal leaders' decision-making processes in a state in the southern United States, using a conceptual framework based on rational choice theory, bounded rationality, and group decision-making theory. It specifically explored personal and organizational decision-making processes related to the prioritization and funding of nonmandated civic projects via in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 15 municipal leaders. Thematic analysis identified expert opinions, the time and cost to complete a project, the perceived value relative to …

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