Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Predictors For Florida Nurse Practitioners' Characterization Of Organizational Climate, Eric F. Haupt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare managers are failing to meet the increasing demand for services while experiencing a growing shortage of healthcare workers. The restrictive scope of practice regulations and organizational barriers have a negative effect on the number and growth of nurse practitioners available to meet the required demand. Researchers have focused on the organizational climate of the nursing profession in general, yet there is an absence of research regarding the perceptions of the advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) in their local practice environment. The purpose of this study was to examine if ARNP role identification, autonomy, and collaboration were predictive of perceived …

Escalating Commitment: Business Investments And Csr, Victoria Forrest, John Hasseldine Ph.D

Honors Theses and Capstones

There are many instances, in all areas of business, in which individuals can become committed to a course of action that begins costing more than it is producing. Because it is often possible for persons who have suffered a setback to recoup their losses through an even greater commitment of resources to the same course of action, a cycle of escalating commitment can be produced (Staw, 1981). This thesis serves to address prior literature and prior studies based on the theory of escalation behavior . We furthered our research by conducting an experiment using university students to test certain said …

Looking Beyond Culture: Building Successful Multiparty Collaboration, James R. Hemsath

Student Scholarship

The complexities of global business and the need for rapid, effective responses to problems that cross borders and span cultures demand an understanding of why transnational multiparty collaborations have failed and why they have succeeded. At the core of this work is 1) understanding the role that culture and identity play in creating a meta-identity built on the strengths of individual and organization identities and the sameness those identities represent; 2) the development of strong connectedness between the parties and 3) the creation of a shared vision of what is trying to be achieved. Ultimately the strength of the meta-identity …

When Disobedience Delivers Success: Factors Influencing Subsidiary Top Manager's Compliance With Multinationals Head Office's Instructions, Arron M. Fraser

Student Scholarship

This study examines the factors influencing subsidiary top manager’s compliance with their head office’s instructions. Our grounded theory qualitative study is based on twenty four (24) interviews with subsidiary top managers from various industries. Shared meaning and the lack of shared meaning explained incidences of compliance and non- compliance respectively. Surprisingly the lack of shared meaning in many instances resulted in better business outcomes for the subsidiary. Shared meaning resulted when there was meaningful consultation, a positive personal relationship and trust between subsidiary top managers and head office personnel. On the other hand, a lack of shared meaning existed when …

Leading From The Center Out: The Joint Library Services Leadership Team At James Madison University, K.T. L. Vaughan, Kristen S. Shuyler, Kelly N. Miller-Martin, Erika Peterson

Libraries

In a system with multiple service points, how can leadership work together to keep the library as a whole relevant and central to students? James Madison University Libraries created the Joint Library Services Leadership Team, which works outside traditional departmental silos to provide coherent, consistent, and collaborative services regardless of location.

Three major service points of James Madison University Libraries, the two main library circulation/reference departments and the media resources center, have historically been both physically and philosophically separate from each other. Although the departments shared common goals of providing excellent student learning-focused services, they did not systematically work together …

The Effects Of Home Country, Gender, And Position On Listening Behaviors, Deborah B. Roebuck, Reginald L. Bell, Reeta Raina, Cheng Ean Lee

Faculty Articles

Regardless of national culture, often listening is mentioned as an important component for effective business operations. In addition, understanding how individuals of different national cultures perceive and process listening is fundamental to our global world of work. The present study used Glenn and Pood (1989) Listening Self-Inventory to examine the distracted and attentive listening behaviors of male and female managers and non-managers who worked full time inthe countries of India, Malaysia, and the United States of America (USA). Findings in this study suggestUSA females and males, in general, are less likely to be attentive listeners than the Indian and Malaysianrespondents …

Does Steering Committee Information Processing Capacity Influence Project Success In Enterprise Wide System Implementations - A Field Study, Kris Murphy

Student Scholarship

Organizations make significant investments in enterprise-wide system development--also known as enterprise resource planning (ERP). They deploy several governance mechanisms to achieve strategic goals associated with the system implementations. Yet, success in such endeavors remains elusive. To improve success rates, companies have, for some time, deployed organization-wide executive steering committees which oversee these initiatives. Still, scholars and practitioners have limited understanding of what makes these committees, if at all, successful. This study contributes to limited research on steering committees by examining engaged steering committees (in contrast to portfolio balancing committee)--which oversee enterprise-wide system implementations--success in enterprise-wide system implementations in three ways. …

Engagement Factors In Community College Faculty As Mediated Through Shared Vision In U.S. Community Colleges, Manoj Babu

Student Scholarship

In post-secondary institutions, the one key ingredient to student success rates is faculty engagement. Community colleges have become the entry points for many students with the ending desire to attend traditional four-year colleges. They offer more individual attention, educational focus, and a greater degree of engagement between faculty and the students. Based on the belief that engagement factor becomes the pivotal contributors to institutions and their respective student success. Engagement is separated into various forms that lead to the success of faculty members. This study separated two very different forms of engagement, cognitive and emotional engagement. The findings of this …

A Cross Country Comparison Of Best Practices In Recruitment And Selection, Greg Vickers, Michael P. Mcdonald, Sara J. Grimes

Management: Faculty Publications

This study examines best practices in hiring related to the recruitment and selection process in English-speaking countries with an Anglo-Saxon heritage. Since such countries share a similar cultural backgrounds and histories, best practices are likely to be somewhat similar. Studies of best practices were examined in the following countries: United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. After looking at commonalities across “best practices” studies, the current investigation presents a common set of such practices in terms of usage.

The Correlation Between Commerce And Management, Rochelle Dean

Other Graduate Scholarship

This paper proposes to explore the correlation between Commerce and Management as I give a better insight on the role of Management and the effects it has globally. Commerce should be properly managed as a commercial activity that enhances the standard of living within a nation that will increase its standing in the world. When commerce is allowed to run unregulated as it has, large businesses and major conglomerates can become immune to failure making them too powerful which levies negative externalities on citizens as well as globally to the benefit of business owners. Broadly speaking, nations should be concerned …

Management Challenges In Nurturing A Safe Work Environment, Thomas W. Camm

Mining Engineering

As engineers, we are trained to use logical, rational problem solving to insure our mines operate at maximum efficiency. We tend to use the same technical approach to design safety into all mining systems. This works well for machines, but not so much for the human component. Recent insights in the field of behavioral economics provide useful ideas for addressing the fact that we are driven by emotions more often than by rational thought. Understanding the nonrational aspect of human behavior is an important piece of any safety system design.

A Tale Of Two Communities: The Journey To Subjective Well-Being Via A Sense Of Community, Noble C. Philip

Student Scholarship

Cities are spatial concentrations of people and economic activities which create complex relationships. The focus of this research was to better understand the challenges of these interactions, the creation of a sense of community and the impact on the sense of well-being experienced by residents of inner city residents. Little research has been done to date on this. This qualitative study employs grounded theory to explore the lived experiences of residents in two inner city communities in the Caribbean. This study included a total of 44 interviews, 21 residents from the first or ‘prospering’ community and 21 residents from the …

How Can Business Analytics Induce Creativity: The Performance Effects Of User Interaction With Business Analytics, Tarek Soukieh

ETD Archive

Most organizations today use business analytics systems mainly for efficiency; reducing cost by contacting the right customer, generating revenue by reducing churn, etc. Nevertheless, business analytics holds promise in generating insights and in making users more creative in their decision making process.

Analytics technology is becoming sophisticated with very advanced technical capabilities. However, behavioral aspects (i.e. user interaction) of using business analytics software have not reached the same level of sophistication. Very little research in this field discusses how to implement analytical systems and what outcomes will it produce.

We are looking at conditions that can enhance user interaction with …

The 'Free Purposing' Organization: Beyond Empowerment...Towards 'Engaged Commitment', Hani N. Boulos

Student Scholarship

Wide ranges of organizations are explicitly rejecting the norms of rational bureaucracy in designing and running their organizations. Grounded in a qualitative study of those organizations, this paper seeks first to identify some common structural commonalities, and differentiate them from the traditional hierarchies, and second to develop a theoretical framework for understanding them and assess the way they foster internal commitment for desired purpose. We interviewed 61 individuals from 12 organizations in diverse sectors and different geographic locations. We discovered emergent novel forms and practices. We developed a conceptual framework to capture the main discoveries, not as models of perfection, …

Strategy As Interaction:The Dynamics Between Strategy Execution Effectiveness And Organizational Interactions During Strategy Implementation, Stanley Omeike

Student Scholarship

Organizations have for long used strategy as a springboard for actualization of their strategic intent. The body of knowledge around strategy formulation is well established, but there is less clarity as to how organizations implement strategy to close the gap between their intent and reality. This research seeks to understand how organizations engage in strategy execution so as to reduce the “execution gap”. We uncover patterns in strategic practices with a view to conceptualize how gap reduction happens and what mechanisms influence it. We identify a number of dynamic environmental forces and mutually recursive organizational factors that mutually influence organization’s …

Manufacturing Organizations During Sub-Acute Crises: An Examination Of Critical Interactions In Five Sub-Acute Crisis Cases, William A. Brake

Student Scholarship

Manufacturing organizations face a steady barrage of sub-acute crises. Sudden, often surprising events that seriously threaten critical objectives provide an environment of steady disruption and uncertainty. Viewing organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), this qualitative study collects and analyses 29 interviews across five unique cases of small manufacturers recalling a recent sub-acute crisis and their responses. Interviews were conducted with a senior manager, a small group of key managers and then each of the managers individually. Our comparative analysis found that positive and negative thoughts, feelings and actions were predominate across a wide variety of cultures and crises. We propose …

Brazilian Women Entrepreneurs: Exploring Strategies For Building Sustainable Business Organizations, Maria Ana Church

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Brazilians create an average of 1.2 million new registered enterprises annually, but some struggle to keep their business in operation. Thirty percent of the new ventures are unable to survive the first year, and 58% go out of business after the first 5 years. The goal of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Brazilian women entrepreneurs concerning the strategies needed to build sustainable business organizations in Brazil. The individual concepts of sustainable development, sustainability, business strategies, and business models served as the theoretical foundations for the study. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs …

Assessing Student Leadership Competencies And Adequacy Of Preparation In Seminary Training, Valerie Miles-Tribble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As more seminary student-practitioners seek non-pastoral leadership roles in faith-based

and secular organizations, the complexities of the roles demand leadership competencies beyond traditional religious study. Limited research assessing leadership competencies in seminary contexts raises uncertainty about whether leadership preparation needs are addressed adequately in seminary. This quantitative study focused on whether or not student self-assessed adequacy of preparation is related to, affected by, or influenced by self-assessed leadership competencies, individually or in the aggregate. The theoretical foundation joined Evers, Rush, and Berdrow's learner-centered theory that urges student input on competency development needs and Boyatzis's leadership competency theory that frames a …

Success Factors For Women Of Color Information Technology Leaders In Corporate America, Annette Skervin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 2013 United States Census data documents the significant underrepresentation of women of color in the information technology (IT) field. Women of color (Black, Hispanic, Asian or self-classified as non-White) represent an untapped resource in an industry with a low unemployment rate, high starting salaries, and a projected 18% growth rate by the year 2022. Prior researchers have studied White women in IT and have not provided a voice to women of color leaders. The specific problem addressed was the under-representation of women of color IT leaders in corporate America. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the …

The Liminal Workplace, Michael O'Hare

Student Scholarship

This study investigates how managers, executives and professionals (MEP) working 50 or more hours per week and using Information Communication Technology (ICT) to stay connected with their work 24/7 manage their energy and thrive at work. Based on interviews with these subjects, we learn that they have adapted ICT to help them achieve the goals of their "protean careers" and meet the challenges of the transitional or liminal workplace. We also discovered that they function in an autopoietic fashion to rejuvenate themselves in the work domain by physical exercise, managing relationships, and through introspective reflection. We were surprised that for …

A Post Publication Review Of “Is Project Risks As Emergent Phenomena: Towards A Model Of Risk Escalation And Its Management”, Michael J. Cuellar, Nipon Parinyavuttichai, Angela Y. Lin

Information Systems & Analytics: Faculty Publications

A short post publication review of a recent AJIS paper.

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 …

A Delphi Study Of The Potential Influence Of Women In Stem Careers, Sharyn Elizabeth Mlinar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

American businesses are working with educational institutions to attract women into technical and scientific professions. However, less than one quarter of the people working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are women. The educational system as-a-pipeline model is not supplying business with skilled workers, specifically female STEM employees. Organizational change must occur and this process begins with the organization's leadership. Guided by the the conceptual frameworks of Kotter & Rathgeber and Kouzes & Posner, this Delphi study asked 54 female professionals, in various locations across the United States, about what influenced them in their education and career choices. Responses …

Small Seasonal Business Strategies To Increase Profits Through Community Collaboration, Kevin B. Gibbons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Seasonal small business owners (e.g., boating and golf industries), primarily within the upper and Midwestern United States, face challenges for profit and growth because of a brief business potential year and limited time to establish a reliable and committed customer base. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that seasonal small business owners in Oakland County, Michigan may use to collaborate with local associations and charitable organizations to increase profits. Stakeholder theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. A purposive sample of 4 successful small seasonal business owners in Oakland County, Michigan participated in face-to-face …

Physician Participation In Crowdsourcing: Effect Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation, Rod Gene Brace

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physicians must participate in developing medical protocols to ensure that medical best practices are adopted for patients' social benefit. Healthcare leaders have struggled to gain sufficient physician participation in developing medical protocols. Using technology-based crowdsourcing to assimilate knowledge from physicians may help healthcare managers improve medical protocol development. Using self-determination theory, this quantitative causal-comparative design aimed to determine whether differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation existed among the 132 participating physicians who did or did not participate in developing medical protocols in a crowdsourcing environment. Participants were recruited by e-mail through an independent physician association. Motivation levels were measured by …

Transformational Leadership Principles Within Small Businesses, Tiffany Suzanne Mckinnon-Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses in the United States experience a high rate of failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and explore consistent strategies small business owners in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania used to lead successful companies. Transformational leadership theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A mixed purposive sample of 20 small business owners participated in semistructured face- to-face and telephone interviews. Each of the participants possessed a minimum of 3 years of successful business operation and employed fewer than 500 individuals. Using Moustakas' modified van Kaam analyses, 6 main themes emerged: characteristics and experiences, leadership behaviors, managing operations, …

Interagency Coordination Of Security Operations In A Large U.S. Seaport, Edmund Levy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Protecting U.S. transportation hubs against a wide variety of security threats, while avoiding undue interference with the normal operations of the hubs, is one of the greatest challenges facing security agencies. The problem addressed in this study was the limited information on the contributing factors to seaport security. The purpose of this case study was to explore issues that can inhibit efficiency of security agency operation and collaboration and to identify actions that have enhanced collaboration. Based on theories of organizational development, leadership, and security tradecraft, this study examined the activities related to maintenance of security at a large California …

An Inquiry Into The Aviation Management Education Paradigm Shift, Matthew P. Earnhardt, Jason M. Newcomer, Daryl V. Watkins, James W. Marion

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Working adults with four-year degrees from accredited colleges or universities earn, on average, almost three times more than individuals without a degree. This pay gap led Newcomer and his colleagues to study attitudes of aviation and aerospace managers towards education. That study found that managers valued education in new hires, even though they did not deem it critical to their own positions. That finding indicated a potential paradigm shift towards the perceived value of education in the industry.

In the current qualitative, phenomenological research, we interviewed 14 managers from various capacities within the aviation and aerospace industries to determine the …

The Impact Of Symbiotic Visions: Increasing Engagement And Motivation Through Vision Alignment, Jodi Berg

Student Scholarship

It is believed that symbiotic visions can drive employees and organizations toward a common objective based on the premise that people will attain a higher level of motivation and engagement when they are working toward a personal purpose. The field of organizational development has been aspiring to help organizations and people align their vision for decades without much, if any, empirical support for the assumption that alignment helps. This qualitative study examines the impact of a company's aspirational vision statement, or higher purpose, on motivating and engaging employees. The presence and lack of congruency between senior managers' personal callings and …

Playing To Win: Dynamics Of Teams That Innovate, Suzanne Piotrowski

Student Scholarship

Innovation is critical for establishing and maintaining competitive advantage for today's organizations. The majority of organizational innovation occurs within teams established for the specific purpose of creating novel products and services. Innovation team research to date has focused largely on top-level management teams instead of on the teams within the organization charged with the task of innovating. As organization leaders seek better ways to initiate, develop and sustain innovation capabilities within their organizations, research on such teams has grown. To date this research has attended to elements of creative, learning and other knowledge creation processes. In contrast, relatively little attention …