Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Women In The Workforce: An In-Depth Analysis Of Gender Roles And Compensation Inequity In The Modern Workplace, Rebecca L. Ziman

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper explores the increase in participation and education of American women in the workforce with a special focus on women in business and accounting roles. The paper then goes on to discuss the wage gap between genders, how to remedy inequality in the workplace, and highlights several reasons why pursing a solution to gender inequality is beneficial for both the employee and the company.

The Great Regression’S Impact On Construction Training Programs: Multi-Level Analyses Of Recruiting & Retention Concepts, John S. Gaal Edd

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The intent of this practitioner-based research study is to determine if there is a difference in the attitudes of construction industry professionals—at local and international levels—towards various training-related recruiting and retention concepts. In light of the global economic malaise, training programs are being held to higher standards and, thusly, different metrics than in the past. In today’s environment, outcomes-based designs (versus outputs-based) have gained attention from both private and public funders of such training programs. Thusly, programs must adapt to the needs of the industry rather than rely on outdated materials and methods. To this end, a survey was designed …

The Impacts Of Founding Teams' Characteristics, Types Of Opportunities, And Types Of Strategies On Firm Performance In New Business Ventures, Kyung-Moon Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the impact of the characteristics of founding team on firm performance in new business ventures. In addition, this study investigates the moderating effects of the types of opportunities and the types of strategies on the relationships between founding teams' knowledge and firm performance. Although considerable research has examined the effects of founding teams' education and experience on firm performance, findings are inconclusive and disintegrated. Few studies have attempted to investigate the combined effects of these important factors on new ventures' performance and survival. As a result, this study investigates the impact of founding team knowledge …

Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its far-reaching implications. Initially, the term CSR will be introduced and defined to provide the backbone for the following discussions. The paper will address the theoretical constructs of CSR, managerial strategies for implementing CSR and the application of stakeholder theory. The thesis is built upon Dr. Archie Carroll’s four-part CSR construct. In addition, international standards of CSR, with a focus on Nike, Inc.’s actions, will be evaluated.

Female Authority In A Globalizing Market, Megan R. Mccann

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Manager’S Actions? An Exercise For Exploring Sexual Harassment, David E. Desplaces, John R. Ogilvie

Organization Management Journal

This exercise is designed to enhance students’ understanding of sexual harassment issues in the workplace, as well as to extend these issues to customer interactions in retail settings. Through research and class discussion, participants explore their perceptions and assumptions about a manager’s potentially harassing behaviors. Furthermore, discussions of the manager’s actions provide additional opportunities to explore issues dealing with legal foundations of sexual harassment as well as gender differences in response to harassment. Multiple variations are presented making this scenario/exercise suitable to various courses and all types of participants in order to facilitate a healthy discussion about the issues associated …

Nonprofit Administrators' Perceptions Of Time Use And Effective Time Management Strategies That Impact Organizational Success, Deborah Johnson-Blake

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore leaders’ perceptions of time use and the use of effective time management strategies. The study included five research questions and responses from 20 nonprofit administrators working within 33 technical college foundations across the state of Georgia. Respondents participated in follow-up interviews after completing the online Time Management Practices Inventory (TMPI) survey. The findings of the study revealed statistically significant relationships between TMPI scores and selected demographics. Findings revealed that leaders’ perception of time use, demographic characteristics, attitudes, and time management strategies were factors in implementing effective time management techniques to …

Business Teaching, Liberal Learning, And The Moral Transformation Of Business Education, Jeffrey Nesteruk

Organization Management Journal

Business ethics often draws from the content of liberal arts disciplines, but rarely from the practice of liberal education. Reconceptualizing the relation of business and liberal education offers a new strategy for promoting ethics within business schools. Under this strategy, ethics develops into more than a supplement to established functional courses. It becomes the locus for a more significant moral transformation of business education.

Maintaining And Regaining Organizational Legitimacy : The U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission, Karen R. Bryce

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Focusing on organizational legitimacy is an essential element to the survival of an organization. Suchman (1995) suggests that "Legitimacy is a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions" (p. 574). Legitimacy must first be gained and then maintained. If lost, legitimacy must be regained or the organization is unlikely to survive. Organizations can use both symbolic and substantive means of gaining, maintaining or regaining legitimacy. This dissertation explores organizational legitimacy by examining the case of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission …

The Second Glass Ceiling Impedes Women Entrepreneurs, Douglas A. Bosse, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

Management Faculty Publications

The glass ceiling phenomenon that impedes the advancement of talented women professionals into senior executive roles inside large corporations is widely recognized in society, studied in the management literature, taught in business schools, and tangibly felt by many women executives. Outside the corporate setting, we show that a second glass ceiling exists for women entrepreneurs and women small business owners. This second glass ceiling is a gender bias that obstructs women-owned small firms from accessing the financial capital required to start new firms and fuel the growth of existing firms. This paper (1) defines the second glass ceiling phenomenon, (2) …

Women Managing Women: A Good Idea?, Wendy Cook, Nancy Graber Pigeon, James L. Nimnicht

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

As women continue to move into the workplace and into managerial positions, the wage gap for female employees is not improving. In this study, we examine the effect of having a female manager on the wages and hierarchical growth of female employees. Findings suggest that female employees may be better served by working for male managers.

Millennial Integration: Challenges Millennials Face In The Workplace And What They Can Do About Them, Chip Espinoza

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is a monumental changing of the guard that is currently taking place in organizations due to demographic metabolism. One of the largest birth cohorts or generations in history (Baby Boomer) is beginning to retire while their predecessor (Builder) is almost completely out of the workforce. Gen X is hitting stride and on the cusp of inheriting the proverbial organizational mantle. The three aforementioned age cohorts have learned to play in the organizational sandbox together. However, a new age cohort (Millennial, a.k.a. Gen Y), equal or greater in size to the Baby Boomer cohort started entering the playground approximately ten …

Harnessing Social Capital : An Exploratory Investigation Of Stakeholder Disposition In Boundary Spanning Networks, Brett Martin-Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis confronts existing bilateral models of stakeholder management. It is based upon the premise that existing models place insufficient value upon the mediating power of individuals and small groups imbued with social capital within an organisational stakeholder environment. Initially, this study explores and maps the complex theoretical relations between organisations, stakeholders and social capital to construct an argument for addressing stakeholder management from a more plural and holistic perspective. The thesis suggests that rapid advances in social media and social interconnection now enables the sentiment of individual stakeholders to aggregate and rapidly form issue-specific interest groups that harness social …

Modern Leadership Compared To Historical Leadership Shown Biblically, Forrest Jones

Master's Theses

Modern Leadership Compared to Historical Leadership Shown Biblically

Forrest Jones

This thesis is a comparison between modern leadership and historical leadership.  Modern leadership has been differentiated from management since the early 1980’s.  Historical leadership is shown by Jesus Christ through the Bible, used as a historical text.  Historical leadership was found to have two separate tools used by Jesus Christ which would be useful additions to what leadership today is.  The first tool is submission to authority.  Most people in positions that would be considered leadership positions do not feel that they need to follow anyone else.  Often times they …

Acceptance And Usage Of Electronic Health Record Systems In Small Medical Practices, Ritu Tannan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the objectives of the U.S. government has been the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including adoption and use of an electronic health records (EHR) system. However, a 2008 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated a 41.5% usage of the EHR system by physicians in office-based practices. The purpose of this study was to explore opinions and beliefs on the barriers to the diffusion of an ERH system using Q-methodology. Specifically, the research questions examined the subjectivity in the patterns of perspectives at the preadoption stage of the nonusers and at the postadoption …

The Influence Of Trust And Affective Organizational Commitment On Intent To Leave, Melvin, Jr. Sinclair

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As global competition has increased and organizations have become more competitive, a reliance on knowledge workers for innovation, initiative, and commitment is necessary. Having the ability to predict personnel intent to leave (ITL) provides business leaders the opportunity to reduce turnover and retain institutional knowledge. In the current study, a structural equation model was used to examine the degree to which organizational trust and commitment, as correlated variables, predicted ITL. Organizational citizenship behavior, social exchange, and organizational commitment theories formed the theoretical basis for the study. Data were gathered using online surveys from 423 participants at 5 financial institutions located …

Exploring Increased Productivity Through Employee Engagement, Wayne K. Richards Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disengaged employees cost U.S. companies billions of dollars annually in lowered productivity, a cost which has been compounded by the difficult economic situations in the country. The potential for increasing productivity through increased employee engagement was examined in this study. Using personal engagement theory and the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how the experiences of salaried aerospace employees affected productivity and the financial performance of an organization. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 20 aerospace employees whose responses were codified and analyzed to identify themes. The analysis indicated that (a) …

Generational Cohort Differences In Types Of Organizational Commitment Among Nurses In Alabama, April Lavette Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In hospitals in the United States, the ratio of nurses to patients is declining, resulting in an increase in work demands for nurses. Consequently, organizations face challenges with nurses' organizational commitment. Studies have revealed generational differences, as determined by birth year, in employee levels of organizational commitment in a number of organizational settings. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of generational cohorts on the organizational commitment of nurses. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional design was to address whether generational cohorts of nurses differed in their levels of organizational commitment, and to investigate whether …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of The Influence Of Dimensions Of Support On Training Transfer, Laura A. Schindler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations invest a significant amount of time and money on training; however, most employees do not transfer what they learned in training to the specific tasks required in their job. While extant research suggests that supervisor support may facilitate training transfer, the influence of specific types or dimensions of support is still unknown. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to examine how specific dimensions of support (mentoring, coaching, social support, and task support) influence training transfer. Organizational support theory and the theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework for this study. Quantitative data were …

Exploration Of The Project Management Practitioner's Emotional Intelligence Competencies, Linda A. Hooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The success rate of information technology projects is on a downward trend, with reported losses in the billions of dollars. Recent studies indicate a 50--56% project success rate based on quality, budget, and on-time criteria. Building upon the conceptual framework of the emotional intelligence and knowledge management theories, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how project management practitioners apply self- and cultural-awareness competencies to affect project outcomes. Using a purposeful sampling method, 24 experienced U.S.-based project management practitioners participated in a web-based questionnaire. Following Giorgi's data reduction process resulted in numeric data coding. Thematic analysis revealed themes …

How Leaders Think: Measuring Cognitive Complexity In Leading Organizational Change, Iva Vurdelja

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The ability to lead complex organizational change is considered the most difficult leadership responsibility. Habitual linear thinking based on sequential procedural decision making is insufficient when responding to ambiguous and unpredictable challenges and interpreting systemic variables in the context of unforeseen problems, risks, and invisible interrelationships. The purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to expand our understanding of the structure of the thinking employed by executive leaders as initiators and enablers of complex, large-scale organizational change. The researcher integrated knowledge of adult cognitive development and organizational leadership to examine the higher forms of reasoning abilities required for dealing …

Does Talking The Talk Help Walking The Walk? An Examination Of The Effect Of Vocal Attractiveness In Leader Effectiveness , Timothy Degroot, Federico Aime, Scott G. Johnson, Donald Kluemper

Business Faculty Publications

The authors tested the hypothesis that leaders' vocal attractiveness is positively related to perceptions of leadership effectiveness. In a first study using vocal spectral analysis on a sample of U.S. presidents and Canadian prime ministers, vocal attractiveness accounted for significant variance in historians' perceptions of leadership effectiveness (β = .35, p < .05), explaining an additional 12% of the variance above that explained by personality, motives, and charisma. A second study of 255 subjects distributed into 85 teams in a laboratory setting found similar results for the relationship between vocal attractiveness and perceptions of leadership effectiveness. The second study also supported the hypothesis that personal reactions mediate the relationship between vocal attractiveness and perceptions of leadership effectiveness. In contrast, vocal attractiveness and personal reactions were found to have no significant effects on leadership effectiveness outcomes.

Emotion Management Ability: Predicting Task Performance, Citizenship, And Deviance, Donald H. Kluemper, Timothy Degroot, Sungwon Choi

Business Faculty Publications

This article examines emotion management ability (EMA) as a theoretically relevant predictor of job performance. The authors argue that EMA predicts task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and workplace deviance behavior. Moreover, to be practically meaningful, managing emotions should predict these important organizational outcomes after accounting for the effects of general mental ability and the Big Five personality traits. Two studies of job incumbents show that EMA consistently demonstrates incremental validity and is the strongest relative predictor of task performance, individually directed OCB, and individually directed and objectively measured deviance.

Stories Of Resistance: Black Women Corporate Executives Opposing Gendered (Everyday) Racism, Cheryl D. Jordan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

For this research, I explored contemporary resistance strategies that Black women executives in the corporate world use to oppose negative behaviors by others associated with their race and gender. The dissertation reviews scholarship about the major role the convergence of race and gender play in the day-to-day existence of Black women. Historically, negative images and beliefs have influenced the treatment of Black women in society. These same thoughts and images affect Black women executives in today’s workplace. African-American women continue to see limited advancement to senior levels within the corporate organization, even though diversity programs abound. As leaders in the …

Navigating The Innovation Landscape: Past Research, Present Practice, And Future Trends, Shanthi Gopalakrishnan, Eric H. Kessler, Joanne L. Scillitoe

Organization Management Journal

The management of innovation is among the most critical capabilities contributing to the success of modern organizations. It is also complex and frequently misunderstood. In this paper we first provide a broad overview of the organizational innovation literature [the Past] to distill five fundamental themes: What is innovation, why is it important, where does it come from, who engages in it, and how can it be best executed? Second, we illustrate how these concepts are applied by three companies on the vanguard of innovation management [the Present] – Google, Walt Disney, and Johnson & Johnson. Third, we project the discussion …

A Correlational Study Of Telework Frequency, Information Communication Technology, And Job Satisfaction Of Home-Based Teleworkers, Shana P. Webster-Trotman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2008, 33.7 million Americans teleworked from home. The Telework Enhancement Act (S. 707) and the Telework Improvements Act (H.R. 1722) of 2009 were designed to increase the number of teleworkers. The research problem addressed was the lack of understanding of factors that influence home-based teleworkers' job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction has been found to have a significant impact on voluntary turnover. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship among telework frequency, information communication technology (ICT), and job satisfaction. The research questions were designed to answer whether correlational relationships exist among telework frequency, ICT, and job satisfaction and …

A Structural Equation Model Of The Factors Associated With Influence And Power Of It Departments And Their Relationship To Firm's It Orientation And Business Performance, Raghu V. Kowshik

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although few firms can function without an information technology (IT) department, senior executives often consider IT as secondary. Historically, studies have found IT departments to have low influence and power status compared to other departments. Few, if any, studies have investigated what factors contribute to this subservient position. Three research questions that inspired this study regarding the IT department's influence and power included factors that shape the IT influence and power, the consequences for the firm's IT orientation and business performance, and how firm's IT orientation affects business performance. This quantitative study explored the notion that accountability, innovativeness, customer connectedness …

How Can We Manage To Be Happy?, John Hasselberg

Global Business Leadership Faculty Publications

Management bridges people, enabling us to build sustainable organizations and societies that foster human flourishing. Surveys have consistently shown that Danes are the happiest workers in the world. The Bhutanese prefer to see their country judged by how high they are on a Gross National Happiness index rather than a Gross National Product index. Their approach to defining sustainable societal wealth is gaining interest internationally. To what can we attribute so much happiness in two such disparate parts of the world, and what can we learn from them? This paper explores what happiness is and how conceptions of it and …

Not So Black And White: The Color Of Perception In Corporate Layoffs, Carole A. Isom

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research addressed the question of whether or not the perception exists that African Americans are disproportionately impacted during layoff periods within corporations. Portraiture was the selected method of inquiry for this research as it captures the experience of the participants and enables storytelling which is based upon perception as opposed to hard, quantitative data. Additionally, portraiture’s autobiographical roots supported my autoethnographic position, encouraging the artistic process while including aesthetic aspects. Portraiture allowed for the voice of the researcher everywhere: in the assumptions, preoccupations, and frameworks brought to the inquiry; in the questions asked; in the data gathered; in the …

Strategic Asymmetric Multicultural Alliances In Business, Anthony James Scriffignano

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Global economics and other factors make it increasingly difficult for organizations to operate within the boundaries of one country in a rational way (e.g., leveraging best practices, profitable, achieving goals). In this study, I looked at strategic business alliances, transcending simple quid pro quo relationships to deliver ongoing partner value. I refined my study to multicultural relationships, having differing cultural identities (i.e., ideas, heritage, language, or demographics from differing geographies). Finally, I considered asymmetry (i.e., inequity in working relationship). Using a mixed-methodology design, I surveyed alliance participants and interviewed participants from selected alliances. A multi-case study addresses emergent themes of …