Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Organization Restructuring And Leadership Development, Elizabeth Rogers, Danielle Wolf

Senior Honors Projects

The University of Rhode Island’s chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) has progressively grown as a student run organization throughout the past decade. During this period, the leadership team faced the challenge of engaging members and transitioning smoothly from year to year. These two issues were linked to the chapter organizational structure and the leadership transition processes, respectively. In order to improve and become competitive on a national level with other AMA collegiate chapters and marketing degree programs, it is important to continuously reevaluate the chapter’s strategy. This research aims to seek best practices that can be applied for …

Tour Guides Take Technology: Mobilizing The Coverage Process, Cassie Jes Jacob

Senior Honors Projects

Technology has progressed more in the past decade than it has in the past century, and it has changed the way we live. To succeed in this society, innovation is a necessity. A recent phenomenon in technology is the use of mobile applications designed to make our lives and daily activities, such as note-taking and scheduling, more convenient.

This project explores the use of mobile applications in a business. At URI, the Tour Guide team acts as a business that manages over 100 employees as they lead visits around campus for prospective students.

These employees are college-age students raised in …

Lcw Marketing Newsletter Volume 7 Issue 1, Touro College Lander College For Women, Lander College For Women

Yearbooks and Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Sandwich Approach, Tomas Klvana

Asian Management Insights

‘Doing good’ requires execution of sound strategies that effectively engage stakeholders.

The Impact Of Leadership Style On Middle Managers’ Motivation: A Study Of The Ministry Of Civil Aviation In Egypt., Safaa Shaaban

Business Administration

This paper examines the relationship between leadership styles, used by top management, to motivate middle management managers, which drives them in accomplishing their organisational goals. Leadership use two techniques to motivate employee that are extrinsic and intrinsic (Self-determination Theory (SDT)) in Civil Aviation Ministry in Egypt. The objective of this study is to search which leadership style is currently used, from the perspective of middle management, as subordinates for top management and which leadership style motivated managers, extrinsically and intrinsically. A survey-based descriptive research design was used. The study was conducted using middle managers working in the Civil Aviation Ministry …

Workplace Bullying: Proven Methodologies To Mitigate The Issue Within The Government Contracting Workplace Environment, Wendy Jan Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to ascertain proven methods to adopt within the workplace to mediate workplace bullying in organizations in a specific region of north Alabama, with emphasis given to organizations whose workforce is mixed, consisting of federal government employees as well as contracted staffers. At the theoretical level, this study aims to consolidate knowledge from Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) in the field of workplace bullying and outline concrete steps and implementable plans for area corporate leadership to implement within their organization. At the practical level this study aims to bring attention to the issue of workplace …

Women In Leadership: A Comparative Case Study On Successful Leadership, Christine Newcomb

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this report is to understand what makes a successful female leader. Since there are so few women in executive level positions, especially chief executive officer positions, I became interested in analyzing how successful leaders act in contrast with how unsuccessful leaders act. To analyze, I will focus on the leadership of two prominent businesswomen, one who has been successful in their tenure, and one who has been unsuccessful. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, Inc. has been successful throughout her tenure, while Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo has been unsuccessful in turning the company around. I will …

#Keepvolunteeringcool - A Marketing Analysis Of The Uri Service Corps, Caroline L. Hacunda

Senior Honors Projects

Since 2009, the University of Rhode Island has offered Alternative Spring Break trips to students who are passionate about service and want to become more involved within the community doing meaningful and engaging volunteer work. These trips are completely student planned and fundraised with the guidance of a group of student leaders for each trip. Over the years, this program has exponentially grown, leading to our biggest year yet with two trips staying in Rhode Island and three out of state trips offered in 2017. In the past, the spring break trips were hosted by URI S.A.V.E.S and URI Habitat …

Mitigating An Energy Utility Death Spiral In The United States: Applying Lessons From Germany, Eric W. Hopf, Will O'Brien, Timothy Downs, Alistair Pim

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence that the United States is entering a "Utility Death Spiral" - a dramatic shift away from the utility based model of electricity supply to consumers. It also explores how U.S utilities can reposition themselves to best mitigate the economic losses associated with a Death Spiral. A Utility Death Spiral is currently taking place in Germany called the "Energiewende" and it is having immediate impacts on its energy landscape. The case study of the Energiewende is presented, its impacts, and the response taken by the country’s “big four” utility companies. After analyzing …

The Disclosure Of Organizational Secrets By Employees, Danny Franklin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizational secrets enable firms to protect their unique stocks of knowledge, reduce the imitability of their capabilities and achieve sustained competitive advantages (Hannah, 2005). In today’s business environments, the loss of valuable proprietary organizational knowledge due to intentional employee disclosure represents a substantial threat to firm competitiveness. Anecdotal evidence suggests that firms in the United States lose more than $250 billion of intellectual property every year, with intentional employee disclosure accounting for a significant portion of these losses (Dandliker, 2012; Heffernan & Swartwood, 1993). Thus, understanding factors that influence such intentional secret disclosure is a key concern, especially in knowledge-intensive …

A Multi-Period Facility Location Model For Service Organizations Operating In A Competitive Environment., Sven W. Brose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a multi-period, mathematical programming location model for facilities operating in a competitive environment. The objective is to maximize the profit in a variable demand environment. The solution of the problem can either be done in a robust or in a dynamic manner. A robust solution methodology forecasts the demand for all the periods in the planning horizon and provides a robust solution that may be suboptimal for any given period, but optimal when all the periods are taken into consideration. A problem with this approach is that it requires accurate forecast of demand for multiple periods into …

Volunteer Management In Faith-Based Organizations, Cheryl Regina Coleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) rely heavily on volunteers to carry out their mission, making volunteer labor fundamental to an organization’s business operations and outcomes. A review of the literature revealed a significant gap in managing volunteers effectively in a nonprofit, faith- based setting. The standard business management practices typically employed when managing volunteers lack effectiveness in nonprofit FBO environments. Employing for-profit management practices to managing volunteer labor in nonprofit settings is especially challenging given the uniqueness of nonprofit organizations that rely on volunteer over paid labor. Challenges include the organization’s values, mission, identity, social goals, outcomes, and ideological characteristics. The purpose …

The Effects Of Availability Heuristic Cues On Restaurant Purchase Decisions, Nadia Hanin Nazlan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation applied the theory of judgment heuristics to investigate the influence of availability cues on restaurant purchase decisions. Two studies were conducted in which respondents made food choice decisions. In the first study, respondents evaluated menu items in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design that manipulated scarcity cues, bundling, and price. In the second study, respondents evaluated restaurant appeal and menu choice in a 3 × 2 × 2 experiment that manipulated information vividness, message frequency, and price. The results of Study 1 suggest that respondents’ evaluations and purchase intentions can be influenced by scarcity …

The Impact Of Duty Cycle Workflow On Sign-Out Practices: A Qualitative Study Of An Internal Medicine Residency Program In Maryland, Usa, Soo-Hoon Lee, Sanjay V. Desai, Philip H. Phan

Management Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: Although JCAHO requires a standardised approach to handoffs, and while many standardised protocols have been tested, sign-out practices continue to vary. We believe this is due to the variability in workflow during inpatient duty cycle. We investigate the impact of such workflows on intern sign-out practices.

DESIGN: We employed a prospective, grounded theory mixed-method design.

SETTING: The study was conducted at a residency programme in the mid-Atlantic USA. Two observers randomly evaluated three types of daily sign-outs for 1 week every 3 months from September 2013 to March 2014. The compliance of each observed behaviour to JCAHO's Handoff Communication …

Price Prediction: Determining Changes In Stock Pricing Through Sentiment Analysis Of Online Consumer Reviews, Daryl F. Boykin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The rapid growth of technology has changed the dynamics in which consumers socialize and make their purchasing decisions. The volume of online reviews has grown rapidly over the past decade, leading the peer groups of consumer to carry a disproportionate weight in the purchasing decision process. The sheer volume of reviews can be a daunting task for an operator to attempt to incorporate the reviews in their analysis. Sentiment analysis allows for large volumes of consumer reviews to be processed in a relatively easy, and time sensitive manner. The information contained in these reviews, the sentiment score, is the same …

A Case Study On The Emergence Of Boutique And Lifestyle Hotels, Tiffany M. Braun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lifestyle and boutique hotels entered hospitality landscape twenty years ago. When they arrived, they were competing with the larger brands and chains and at first struggled to stay competitive (Sears, 2016). However, these hotels were eventually able to survive, and then compete, and then excel in the hospitality industry. Over the last five years, the supply of lifestyle hotel rooms has now increased at a double-digit annual rate (Skinner, 2016). And in 2015, both segments of hotels generated room revenues of over $13.7 billion (Skinner, 2016).

Lifestyle and boutique hotels have brought back the elements of architecture, design, and authenticity …

Examining The High-End Gaming Segment: Toward A Shift In Market Focus, Jiaqi Wu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas gaming and hospitality industry has seen many changes over the last two decades. For the longest time, casinos were illegal everywhere except in Nevada, and gambling was viewed as a vice. It was not until the 1970s when attitudes started to shift. The Nevada Gaming Control Board was established to oversee and govern many aspects of the business, in order to promote the industry and reduce the perceived negative social impacts. LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) also strategically promotes the city as the ideal tourist destination. Las Vegas has now become a highly competitive tourist …

On The Right Track: Exploring Influences Contributing To Successful Track-Switching Of Indians Working For A U.S. Company, Rose-Marie Speck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how Indian managers assessed the influences leading to their transition from technician to manager when working for a company in the U.S. This study was based on interviews with fifteen Indian managers who had track-switched from a technical job to a management position in the U.S. in a U.S. company. The interviewees were asked five questions about what they believed made them successful in track-switching, and the consensus among interviewees was that for a technician to track-switch effectively, the technician had to have excellent technical skills. In addition to technical skills, the …

Mcdm Method For N-Wise Criteria Comparisons And Inconsistent Problems, Florentin Smarandache, Azeddine Elhassouny

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The purpose of this paper is to present an e[xtension and alternative of the hybrid method based on Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method (AHP-TOPSIS), that based on the AHP and its use of pairwise comparisons, to a new method called α -D MCDM-TOPSIS( α -Discounting Method for multicriteria decision making-TOPSIS). The new method overcomes limits of AHP which work only for pairwise comparisons of criteria to any-wise (n-wise) comparisons, with crisp coefficients or with interval-valued coefficients. α-D MCDM-TOPSIS is verified by some examples to demonstrate how it allows for consistency, …

Exploring Effects Of Organizational Culture Upon Implementation Of Information Security Awareness And Training Programs Within The Defense Industry Located In The Tennessee Valley Region, Robert Luther Grant

Theses and Dissertations

Data breaches due to social engineering attacks and employee negligence are on the rise. The only known defense against social engineering attacks and employee negligence is information security awareness and training. However, implementation of awareness and training programs within organizations are lagging in priority. This research used the constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore the effects organizational culture had upon the implementation of information security awareness and training programs and to discover why those programs were lagging in priority within the defense industry located in the Tennessee valley region.

A Qualitative Study Of Millennials In The Workplace: Gaining Their Long-Term Employment In News Media Firms In North Alabama, Harry L. Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to understand why millennials are not remaining long-term in news media firms located in North Alabama. Long-term is defined as three or more years of employment in the news media firm where they are currently employed (Deal et al., 2010; Deloitte, 2014; Gedeon, 2013 & Saiidi, 2014). There is a lack of understanding as to why millennial generation employees in North Alabama news media firms, on average, fail to remain employed long-term. As of March 2015, millennials are the largest working generational cohort in the U.S. workforce (Feeney, 2015; Pew Research Center, 2015). The …

Business Practices Which Have The Greatest Influence On Retention As It Relates To Wired Boomers In The Aerospace Industry In Huntsville, Alabama, Karen L. Newsom

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the business practices which have the greatest influence on retention as it relates to wired boomers (born 1956-1964) in the aerospace industry in Huntsville, Alabama, and was directed toward maintaining technical expertise, job skills, experience, and knowledge within the organization. Baby boomers (born in 1946-1964) represent the largest generation in U.S. history to reach the traditional age of retirement and prepare to leave the workforce, vacating approximately 152 million jobs by 2030. Researchers have suggested the baby boomer cohort is actually two separate groups, with the second half (1956-1964, presently 53-61) …

A Comprehensive Study Of Intrapreneruship As A Cultural Form Of Innovation And Sustainable Competive Advantage, Timothy Charles Mcdowell

Theses and Dissertations

Intrapreneurial activity within the firm varies within the contexts of employee perception and motivation. The problem explored in this study is to better understand complex internal workings of organizational dynamics, discovering what factors energize employees to perform intrapreneurially in the aerospace industry. This study examines antecedents and consequences of intrapreneurial activity within firms leading to innovation as a sustainable competitive advantage. The need for specific research is evident from limited data available regarding intrapreneurial motivation from the individual perspective within the aerospace community. The phenomenon of intrapreneurship within the aerospace industry often occurs over multiple years. This study examines the …

Factors Contributing To Millennial Turnover Rates In Department Of Defense (Dod) Organizations, Christine Danielle Schaefer

Theses and Dissertations

According to research, Millennials are becoming the predominant generation in the workforce with only 7% of them working for Department of Defense (DOD) organizations. It is critical for DOD organizations to recognize and understand the strengths and challenges in a multigenerational workplace to maximize performance and reduce turnover. DOD organizations need to be able to attract and retain Millennials to build a strong workforce to prepare for a global, technological, changing, and a connected future. This study examined the factors that contributed to turnover among Millennials in DOD organizations within the Tennessee Valley region. The researcher’s intentions were to find …

Coupling Mobile Technology, Position Data Mining, And Attitude Toward Risk To Improve Construction Site Safety, Khandakar Mamunur Rashid

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Construction sites comprise constantly moving heterogeneous resources that interact in close proximity of each other. The sporadic nature of such interactions creates an accident prone physical space surrounding workers. Despite efforts to improve site safety using location-aware proximity sensing techniques, major scientific gaps still remain in reliably forecasting impending hazardous scenarios before they occur. In the research documented in this thesis, spatiotemporal data of workers and site hazards are fused with a quantifiable model of an individual's attitude toward risk to generate proximity-based safety alerts in real time. In particular, two trajectory prediction models, namely polynomial regression (PR) and hidden …

Restaurant Entrepreneurship: Theory And Practice, Margaret Leach

Selected Honors Theses

Mirroring its industry, restaurant entrepreneurship is an expansive, evolving topic. This thesis seeks to answer the question, “How do community-focused restaurants, operated by lifestyle entrepreneurs, launch and scale?” A case study approach is taken and literature regarding restaurant ownership, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise is reviewed. Interviews of ten different non-franchise restaurant owners were obtained and analyzed. The interviewees detailed the processing of launching the venture, scaling and growing the business, and supporting and partnering with the surrounding community.

Interview With J. Clay Singleton, J. Clay Singleton, Wenxian Zhang

Oral Histories

A native of St. Louis, MO, J. Clay Singleton received his BAS in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 1969, his MBA and PhD in Business from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1972 and 1979, respectively. In addition, he also earned his CFA designation in 1985. After college, Singleton first served in the US Army, then became a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1979-1991), and later the Dean of College of Business Administration at the University of North Texas (1991-1995).

Before joining the Crummer faculty, Singleton was Vice President of Ibbotson Associates (1999-2002), where he was …

Perceived Organisational Injustice And Counterproductive Behaviour: The Mediating Role Of Work Alienation Evidence From The Egyptian Public Sector, Dr. Maha Ahmed Zaki Dajani, Dr. Mohamed Saad Mohamed

Business Administration

This study examines the relationship between the four dimensions of organisational justice, namely, distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice, and workers’ counterproductive behaviour, and whether work alienation has mediating effect in this relationship. These relationships were tested in a sample of 300 blue-collar workers operating in Egyptian public industrial context, only 236 responded positively. Results revealed that there are significant relationships between organisational injustice (in its four types) and counterproductive behaviours, and each of the work alienation dimensions partially mediated this relationship. These findings were discussed in the light of extant literature. Research limitations and implications for future research were …

The Free-Play Tax Deduction Debate: How Academic Research Can Help, Anthony F. Lucas, Katherine Spilde

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Free-play is the primary play incentive for slot players in many jurisdictions, with some campaigns eclipsing $50 million in annual redemptions. The efficacy of these incentives remains questionable at best, creating some contentious tax policy issues. Operators want to deduct the face value of these offers from taxable gaming win, based in part on the assumption that they expand the tax base; however, many regulators and taxing authorities question this claim. Any failure to fully recover redeemed free-play creates a deduction that is partially funded by tax payers. Arguments on both sides of this complex tax policy issue are thoroughly …

Examining The Relationships Between Performance Appraisal Reactions And Employee Engagement, Kenneth B. Levan

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the long-standing debate among scholars and practitioners regarding the effectiveness of the performance appraisal (PA) process as a useful tool to manage individual and organizational performance (Glover, 1996; Gruman & Saks, 2011; Kondrasuk, 2012; Light, 2010; Pulakos & O’Leary, 2011; Thomas & Bretz, 1994). To further this discussion, the relationship between employees’ reactions to the PA process and perceptions of engagement in the workplace is examined.

A survey of 466 respondents finds there to be a significant positive relationship between PA reactions and employee engagement. Other significant findings of the study include: 1) high correlations among Keeping …