Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

The Role Of Organisational Culture In Implementing Cybersecurity Practices To Address Insider Threats In South Africa, Thamsanqa Ngcobo, Salah Kabanda, Ronald Chiwariro

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Cybersecurity is a critical component of organisational resilience as digital transformation reshapes operations and risk management. Despite substantial investment in technical controls, insider threats remain a persistent challenge, shaped as much by cultural and organisational factors as by technology. This study examines how cultural factors influence the implementation of cybersecurity practices aimed at mitigating insider threats in South African organisations, considering national, organisational, and individual dimensions. Using a qualitative research design, semi‑structured interviews were conducted from nine participants working across a range of industries including ICT consulting, financial services, IT services, gaming, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and IT managed services. The findings …

Efforts Toward Employee Inclusion To Increase Customer Loyalty, Mario Norman

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Trust Migration In The Digital Era: Information Regimes And The Transformation Of Buyer–Seller Relationships, Stephen C. Carlson

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Business-to-business selling is being reshaped by rapid advances in digital platforms, enterprise systems, analytics, and artificial intelligence. Organizational buyers increasingly rely on algorithmic tools, peer communities, institutional certifications, and automated evaluation systems before engaging directly with sales representatives. Yet much of the buyer–seller trust literature continues to emphasize interpersonal communication quality, listening behaviors, and individual credibility as primary drivers of relational success.

This article argues that the central transformation in contemporary selling is not the erosion of trust, but its relocation. As technological infrastructures evolve, trust progressively migrates from individual sales representatives to organizational systems, platforms, governance mechanisms, and algorithmic …

Cybersecurity In Higher Education Institutions: Awareness, Policy, And Experience On Employee Behaviour, Abdullahi Abiodun Yusuf, Adriana A. Steyn

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The digital transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) has introduced unprecedented connectivity and operational efficiency, but it has also heightened their exposure to cyber threats. South African HEIs, in particular, face increasing vulnerability due to their reliance on technology, openness, and diverse user communities. This study examines the influence of the institutional cybersecurity environment on employee cybersecurity-compliant behaviour (CCB), emphasising the critical roles of awareness, policy engagement, and experience. Drawing on Protection Motivation Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, a conceptual model was developed to explore how cybersecurity awareness, policy familiarity, and prior experience shape employees’ attitudes, subjective norms, …

Introduction To International Business, Rajaram Veliyath

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

An introduction to the global business environment, this course examines the discrete and interactive effects of the geographic, historical, sociocultural, political/legal, economic and technological forces that shape business activities across borders and their consequences.

The Effects Of Relational Coordination And Supervisor Support On Thriving And Job Satisfaction: Evidence From Sales Professional In U.S. Small Businesses, Kelly R. Hall

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Job satisfaction is often fostered through costly strategic human resource management practices, yet small businesses typically lack the required resources to employ such practices. The current study explores other avenues for promoting job satisfaction, namely thriving, which is a psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of learning and a sense of vitality. By leveraging positive organizational psychology, and examining data collected from B2B salespeople, this study demonstrates the value of relational coordination and supervisor support for enhancing the thriving, and, in turn, job satisfaction of sales professionals among small businesses.

Threat Recognition In Incumbent Firms: A Case For Organizational Velocity, Alan Amling

PhD in Business Administration Dissertations

Change is not new, but the speed of change is new. Fueled by a combination of connecting and thinking technologies, the business environment is becoming increasingly dynamic and uncertain. Incumbent firms face a wider variety of threats that vary in frequency of occurrence and financial impact. How effectively firms see these threats, internalize them as important (or not) and act on them in a timely manner (or not) can be critical to their survival. However, the academic literature is incomplete on how firms navigate this threat recognition process from initial observation through action and across different organizational contexts.

This qualitative …

Psychological Ownership Of Simple Jobs: The Effect Of Job Crafting, John S. Furrh Iii

PhD in Business Administration Dissertations

Previous research on the relationship of job characteristics and psychological ownership has primarily focused on the specific dimensions of work and possessive behaviors and their impact on employees in complex jobs. This study takes a new path by examining how psychological ownership can be increased for a previously unexamined group, employees in simple (i.e., routine and repetitive) jobs. Based on 2016 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, almost 60% of jobs in the U.S. workforce could be considered to be simple or low in complexity. This study intends to investigate the answer to the following key research question: Can psychological …

Teaching Traditional College Students Professional Marketing Via Linkedin, Necall Wilson

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

A Theoretical Framework Of Sports Team’S Well-Being: An Integrative Perspective Of Emotional Intelligence And Equivocality On Trust And Happiness, Drew Sannes, Wooyang Kim

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract – The purpose of this study is to develop and provide an integrative conceptual model of sports teams’ well-being to achieve a win-win situation of happiness for all stakeholders of sports teams, grounded in role theory and commitment-trust theory. We first conceptualized the well-being as an ultimate consequence by exploring sub-dimensions of happiness and provide relevant propositions linking with the respective antecedents. Second, we explored the effect of antecedents of sports team’s well-being in the spectrum of the anchor between positive and negative sides on the resultant outcomes – i.e., trust and happiness. Third, we examined the role of …

Leadership In Information Technology: Leadership Theories, Perspectives And Ethical Dilemmas, Douglas B. Malcolm

The Siegel Institute Journal of Applied Ethics

This paper will describe various leadership theories and how they were formed, current leadership perspectives for information technology (IT) and the impact they can have on an IT workforce due to negative impressions and conditions. It will then relate current ethical issues faced by Information Technology to the key driving forces behind IT today along with detailing the current ethical issues faced by IT Leadership. Finally it will recommend some future research to help IT Leadership navigate the ethical and leadership issues faced today and to prepare for the future issues that will appear as technology advances.

Reflecting On Performance Feedback: The Effect Of Counterfactual Thinking On Subsequent Leader Performance, Kelly R. Hall

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Performance feedback is an integral aspect of facilitating employee learning. Despite its importance, research suggests that when that feedback conveys a performance discrepancy, subsequent performance does not improve. Researchers have advanced reflection as a strategy for increasing feedback effectiveness and have established its value for learning and performance improvement. However, these studies have not accounted for the effects of specific types of reflection on performance. To this point, the current research examines the role of one form of reflection, counterfactual thinking, for learning after performance discrepancies. I explored boundary conditions that might influence self-focused upward counterfactual thinking—a form of reflection …

The Role Of Demographics: Who Engages In And Who Benefits From Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior?, John Neglia

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Organizations have traditionally instituted formal workplace benefits to help employees alleviate the stress of work-family conflict. However, largely due to implementation difficulties, the effectiveness of formal work-family benefits is questionable. Informal workplace supports, such as family supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) provide a better explanation for employee well-being. However, we know little about what predicts FSSB or about which employees benefit from it the most. Thus, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine demographic predictors of FSSB and of which employees benefit most from FSSB.

Drawing on social identity theory, a research model is proposed to examine whether an …

A Game Theory Analysis Of Team Based Incentivization In Retailing, Don Shemwell

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The connection between incentives and outcomes has long found consistent support in management literature generally (Bartol and Hagmann 1992; Miller & Schuster 1993; Swinehart 1986) and retailing in particular (Banker et al. 1996; Team Pay Case Studies 1997). Later meta-studies strongly support this view. (Condly, Noe and Jackson 2002; Garbers and Konradt 2014). Yet, providing performance-based incentives, at least for rank and file retail employees, still is not common in U.S. retailing and team-based incentives are even rarer.

The next section of this manuscript describes some of the issues with individualized commissions, which though not prevalent in a many product …

Collegiate Competition And The Propensity For Gender Bias, Deborah H. Lester, Aberdeen Leila Borders, Terry W. Loe, Keith Tudor

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Since the dawn of time gender has played a starring role in human behavior. The behavioral implications of an individual’s sex have permeated research findings in a wide variety of academic disciplines. This preliminary investigation will explore the concept and definition of gender, gender bias, and gender stereotype on actions and conduct. Specifically, this inquiry will determine the scope and types of gender bias/stereotypes that exist in the business world with a primary concentration on the area of professional sales. The ultimate objective is to discover the type and level of influence a person’s gender contributes to evaluation, performance and …

Do Our Graduates Know What Companies Are Seeking In An Employee, And, Perhaps More Importantly, Do We?, Michael A. Jones, George Stone, April Kemp

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

University marketing faculty teach and embrace a concept referred to as the Marketing Concept, which places an emphasis on customer needs as a central focus in managing the marketing effort. Understanding customer needs through marketing research is thus essential to the process. If college marketing programs are to prepare students for their customers, the companies that hiring these students, the question then follows: do college marketing faculty and college marketing graduates know what qualities employers are seeking? This exploratory study reports the results of a survey of employers who were attending a Career Fair at a Southeastern US state …

College Students Use Social Networking Sites For Sharing With Friends, But Guess Who Else Is Looking?, Liz Alexander, Fred Mader, Deanna Mader

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Jobvite, a recruiting platform for the social web, reports from their annual 2012 survey of recruiters that 92% of U.S. companies are using social networking sites (SNS) for hiring purposes (Jobvit, 2012). Career Builder reported in 2009 that 45% of employers were using SNS to screen and research applicants (CareerBuilder, 2009). It is important that faculty and support staff working to place students, and the students themselves, understand the developments and practices in the use of social networking sites for job search and recruiting and the best methods, as well as detriments when marketing themselves. This study examines corporate recruiters’, …

Profile Of Corporate Social Media Consumer Segments, Beverly Wright, Aberdeen Leila Borders, Paul H. Schwager, S. Scott Nadler

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The trade and academic literature is replete with commentary about the need for companies to develop promotional strategies and to adopt media platforms that are more engaging and conversational with customers than the traditional top-down company directed one-way communication strategies of the past (Thomas, Peters, Howell and Robbins, 2012; Foster, West and Francescucci 2011; Deighton and Kornfeld, 2009). This viewpoint is supported by Christodoulides (2008) who reported that many customers view information about a company or brand that they obtained from blogs, social networking sites and the like as being more relevant, believable and important to them in their interactions …

The Clothing Swap: Social, Sustainable, And Sacred, Mary M. Long, Deborah Fain

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

While there is much focus on recycling household waste such as paper, plastic, and metal, there is less focused attention on the waste produced by clothing and textiles. As noted by Joung (2013), consumers dispose of clothes by recycling, donating to charities, or giving to friends and family. But when individuals are not motivated to do this or are unaware of recycling options, they simply discard unwanted clothing where it ends up in landfill sites.

Motives for recycling clothes can range from altruistic (e.g., donating to a clothing drive for the poor or victims of a natural disaster) to economic …

Contolling And Informational Planned Behavior: Self-Determination Theory And The Theory Of Planned Behavior, J. Paul Leavell

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a paradigm of human motivation and an approach to personality that focuses on an individual’s psychological needs and how those needs interact with self motivation (Ryan and Deci, 2000). SDT explores the foundation of intrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 1985) which can be applied as marketing theory. Additionally this theory offers the opportunity for comparison and integration with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Deci and Ryan (1985) published this theory within the same year that Ajzen (1985) published the theory of planned behavior (TPB). While SDT has a predominantly intrinsic focus, TPB maintains a primarily …

Eco-Friendly Or Eco-Frenzy? A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Companies’ Environmental Decisions, Sandria S. Stephenson, Natalie Rodriquez

Faculty Articles

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the incremental costs of businesses becoming “green.” It answers the overarching question: are businesses becoming eco-friendly or eco-frenzy? For the purposes of this paper, eco-friendly is defined as companies that strive to be environmentally conscious. Conversely, companies that are eco-frenzy become environmentally conscious for the wrong reasons, such as gaining an environmental reputation. With the increase in popularity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the legal requirements related to environmental laws, more businesses have been incorporating the ideas of sustainability into their strategic positioning. At the start of the 21st …

A Comparative Analysis Of Training, Mentoring And Coaching In The Sales Environment: Evaluating The Impact Of Personal Learning On Role Ambiguity And Organizational Commitment, Shalonda K. Bradford

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The move towards a more knowledge-intensive sales market has increased the complexity of the sales job. Salespeople must continuously learn and grow to meet the evolving demands of the job. A critical concern for organizational leaders becomes identifying learning strategies to encourage salespeople to apply what they learn. Researchers have advanced multiple studies on the learning needs of salespeople, yet there is not a consensus as to the most effective mechanisms to increase learning transfer in the sales environment. To determine which knowledge tools better prepare the sales force for success, this study investigates whether training, mentoring and/or coaching is …

Reflections On The Market-Oriented Theory In The Behaviour Of Real Organization, Michal Felcman

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper presents market-oriented marketing concept which is reflected in the case study describing the behaviour of existing organization. An initial theoretical section of the paper introduces the reader to the market-oriented theory throughout the literature review, which provides different scholastic approaches to this theory. The practical section focuses on the qualitative assessment of the real organization and its behaviour. It starts with the description of the organization itself and it is subsequently expanded into the assessment of the organization´s behaviour in the light of the market-oriented theory. The goal of this assessment is to present benefits and challenges which …

Speaking Up: A Conceptual Model Of Voice Responses Following The Unfair Treatment Of Others In Non-Union Settings, Caren B. Goldberg, Mark A. Clark, Amy B. Henley

Faculty Articles

Bridging the literature of procedural justice, social identification, and voice, we present a conceptual model of observers' voice responses to injustices perpetrated on coworkers. Based on social identity theory, we contend that similarity to the target of injustice influences observer identification with the target, as moderated by the observer's scope of justice, which then influences the observer's perceptions of injustice and decision to express voice. Additionally, we posit that the link between observers' perceptions of injustice and expressed voice is moderated by the observer's perceived opportunity to express voice. Finally, we propose that the decision to express voice individually or …

A Forward-Looking Commentary: China's Agricultural Development, Priya A. Roy

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper describes China's agricultural development before the reform period from institutional, economic, and ideological perspectives; the reform period; the 11th 5-year plan; and the current situation. The paper gives two case examples of the Soviet Union and India. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion of what this means for China.

Business Faculty Perceptions Of Positive And Negative Student Behaviors, David C. Shepherd, Kathy Shepherd, Sheb L. True

Faculty Articles

The behavior of students can enhance or degrade the classroom experience for students and faculty alike. While a stream of research has focused on student behaviors in primary and secondary education, little attention has been directed at student behaviors in the higher education setting. The qualitative research presented in this manuscript identifies student behaviors that business faculty perceive to be examples of unusually positive or negative behaviors. Research implications and suggestions for future research are also presented.

Organizational Adoption Of Web-Enabled Services For Information Dissemination, Pamila Dembla, Prashant Palvia, Lloyd Brooks

Faculty Articles

Although communication, collaboration, and transaction processing are some of the important business functions facilitated by the web, timely dissemination of information is critical for ultimate customer satisfaction and potential profitability. The purpose of this study is to determine the affect that contextual factors such as IS maturity, organizational attributes, and environmental characteristics have on perceived usefulness and adoption of web-enabled services for information dissemination in organizations. The key focus of this article is "organizational adoption" as opposed to individual acceptance for which there have been numerous studies. A research model and eight hypotheses were developed based on past literature. Data …

Project Management Issues In It Offshore Outsourcing, Kathy Schwaig, Stephen Gillam, Elke M. Leeds

Faculty Articles

Global partnerships are forming to take advantage of the cost savings associated with offshoring as well as other strategic benefits. Not all information technology offshoring projects, however, are successful. Cost overruns, increased complexity and defective code cause organizations to rethink their offshoring strategy and their methods for managing these projects. In this paper, project management issues associated with offshore information technology outsourcing projects are identified and specific recommendations for addressing these issues are presented.

Differences Between Stayers And Leavers Among Part-Time Workers, Kevin W. Sightler, Janet S. Adams

Faculty Articles

Some 23 million US workers are employed part-time, presenting significant challenges to the practicing manager. Successfully managing turnover has both operational and strategic consequences for an organization. However, very little is known about the turnover of part-time employees. In this exploratory study, a discriminant analysis is presented of biographic characteristics of stayers and leavers among 1,053 part-time hospital employees. Pay, length of employment, management status, race and gender significantly discriminate stayers from leavers. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

The Role Of Gender In A Developmental Assessment Center, Ted H. Shore, Armen Tashchian, Janet S. Adams

Faculty Articles

Male (n = 119) and female (n = 90) professional employees in a large financial services organization participated in a one-day developmental assessment center, and were assessed in three dyadic role-playing exercises by male or female assessors. In each exercise, one assessor rated participants on specific behaviors which were subsequently averaged by a computer program to produce final exercise dimension ratings. Results showed no significant differences in ratings for male and female assessees on any dimensions in any of the exercises. Women assessors rated candidates of both sexes higher on some dimensions than did male assessors in an employee counseling …