Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

The Relationship Between Leadership Practices And Organizational Commitment Of Telecommunicators, André Lanier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The performance of 9-1-1 telecommunicators can mean the difference between life and death for the person on the other end of a phone. Effective leadership is critical to the success of the public safety answer point (PSAP) and the organizational commitment of the 9-1-1 telecommunicator. Bass and Riggio’s (2006) Full Range of Leadership Theory (FLRT) is the basis for the current study. The FRLT covers leadership styles from laissez-faire to transformational (Matikainen, 2019).

The purpose of conducting the study was to identify and describe the 9-1-1 telecommunicator’s organizational commitment based on the PSAP leadership categories. The study made use of …

Learning And Adaptation Under Uncertainty And Ambiguity, Lei Zheng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The first essay is about how high and moderate aspiration levels compare in terms of affecting the decision making and reinforcement learning in an uncertain environment. After developing a thought experiment and a computational model, I used lab experiments to test the model’s predictions: a high (moderate) aspiration level reduces (increases) feedback ambiguity about the relative attractiveness of different options, thus increases the exploitation (exploration) tendency of the decision maker. The behavioural difference suggests that high aspirations lead to better performance in stable environments, but worse performance after disruptive shocks. The second essay investigates whether organizations should commit more (or …

Individuals Responses To Economic Cycles: Organizational Relevance And A Multilevel Theoretical Integration, Nina Sirola

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The state of the economy represents a concern for individuals and shapes their behavior in profound ways. The current review of studies on how individuals respond to economic cycles reveals that organizational relevance of such responses has often not been considered, and the literature is characterized by a variety of seemingly disconnected explanations for how and why individuals respond to the perceived state of the economy. I develop a theoretical framework that systematizes the literature and accounts for the seemingly disparate findings, highlighting the underlying functionality of such responses for individuals. I then integrate the literature on individual responses to …

Getting Back To The “New Normal”: Autonomy Restoration During A Global Pandemic, Eric M. Anicich, Trevor A. Foulk, Merrick R. Osborne, Jake Gale, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We investigate the psychological recovery process of full-time employees during the two-week period at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Past research suggests that recovery processes start after stressors abate and can take months or years to unfold. In contrast, we build on autonomy restoration theory to suggest that recovery of impaired autonomy starts immediately even as a stressor is ongoing. Using growth curve modeling, we examined the temporal trajectories of two manifestations of impaired autonomy—powerlessness and (lack of) authenticity—to test whether recovery began as the pandemic unfolded. We tested our predictions using a unique experience-sampling dataset collected over …

Robustness, Sensitivity And Sampling Variability Of Pareto-Optimal Selection System Solutions To Address The Quality-Diversity Trade-Off, Wilfried De Corte, Paul Sackett, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In case that both the goals of selection quality and diversity are important, a selection system is Pareto-optimal (PO) when its implementation is expected to result in an optimal balance between the levels achieved with respect to both these goals. The study addresses the critical issue whether PO systems, as computed from calibration conditions, continue to perform well when applied to a large variety of different validation selection situations. To address the key issue, we introduce two new measures for gauging the achievement of these designs and conduct a large simulation study in which we manipulate 10 factors (related to …

Auditor Information Spillovers And Company Operating Performance: Evidence From Targeted Auditor Switches, Tyler Kleppe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine whether companies realize operational benefits from making “targeted auditor switches” (i.e., engaging a new auditor recently dismissed by a competitor company). While prior work provides evidence consistent with companies perceiving that auditor information spillovers are costly, there is sparse extant evidence as to whether auditors actually do transfer operational information across companies. I find that companies that switch to a competitor’s former auditor realize significant subsequent improvements in operating performance, and I provide evidence that the association between targeted auditor switches and improvements in operating performance varies predictably with several across- and within-market factors. In …

Factors Influencing Employees’ Ethical Behavior: Empirical Study Of Employees In Iraqi Organizations, Alhaboose Husam Mohammed Kamil

Student Works (2020-2029)

In contemporary organizations, ethics has become one of the most vital aspects of organizational sustenance in today’s competitive business world. Earlier studies have considered employees as a potential source of success for an organization. Moreover, prior studies have designated the essential role of ethical leadership in influencing employees’ ethical behavior. Therefore, this study tries to contribute to the literature by examining the direct effect of ethical leadership on employees’ ethical behavior via the two-mediating role of ethical climate and organizational justice. Most importantly, moral identity was also identified as a boundary condition on the relationship of ethical leadership, ethical climate, …

The Study On The Use Of Project Success Framework Among Project Personnel, Suring Joshua

Student Works (2020-2029)

Projects, programs and portfolios are essential for human endeavors since time immemorial. However, project success rates in various sectors are dismal and not up to expectations. This research aims to investigate the use of a multilevel project success framework among project personnel in various sectors to identify essential success levels and criteria and determine any weaknesses and gaps for enhancing the framework. This is a qualitative study during which a conceptual framework was developed and tested with data gathered using a questionnaire survey with open-ended questions which was distributed to project personnel based on snowball sampling. A total of 52 …

Impact Of Motivation Factors On Workforce Productivity In Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Hassan Muhammad Hafeez

Student Works (2020-2029)

Motivation factors are an important aspect in workforce productivity. In an organization, workforce motivation are among the main important criteria to ensure a smooth and stable business operation. The motivation of workforce will directly impact the individual, organization and team in an organization which will also influence the organizational behavior. This research aim is to investigate the impact of motivation factors on workforce productivity in Tenaga Nasional Berhad. The objectives of the research is to explore the motivation factor affecting workforce motivation, to investigate the impact of motivation factor on workforce productivity and to recommend on how to improve motivation …

Quality Management In Oil And Gas Turnaround/Shutdown Projects, Rosli Ghadaffi

Student Works (2020-2029)

This study discusses the problem of defining quality in the oil and gas industry, to determine possible benefits of implementing quality, and to identify barriers of quality implementation in the oil and gas industry. Quality management is the process for ensuring that all project activities necessary to design, plan and implement a project are effective and efficient with respect to the purpose of the objective and its performance. Specifically in the oil and gas Turnaround Maintenance / Shut down Maintenance project, a comprehensive understanding of issues related to project quality is required. This research aims to investigate the benefit and …

The Impact Of Positive Psychological Resources On Career Success Among Academic Staff In Sudan, Mohammed Yousif Fadul Mohammed Mustafa

Student Works (2020-2029)

Career success is important in shaping individual vocation’s identity. Different individual will have various perceptions about their career accomplishment; whether they feel successful or otherwise. This research aims to investigate the impact of positive psychological resources on career success among academic staff in public universities in Sudan. This due to the importance of career success in contributing to both individual’s performance and organisational growth. The research is guided by protean career theory (PCT), conservation of resource theory (COR), and self-determination theory (SDT) for explaining the theoretical framework. On the other hand, the conceptual framework informed by protean career orientation (PCO) …

If At First You Don’T Succeed...Your Coworkers Just Might Be Pleased: A Story Of Workplace Schadenfreude, Kim Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two emotions that employees often experience in the workplace are schadenfreude (a positive reaction to others’ misfortune) and freudenschade (a negative reaction to others’ good fortune). Results of an ANOVA indicate that participants asked to imagine that they are employees were more likely to experience schadenfreude toward a hypothetical coworker if that coworker were arrogant, underperforming, rude, or deceptive. They were more likely to experience freudenschade toward a target when there was an issue involving justice. Results of an ANCOVA illustrated a negative relationship between the experience of schadenfreude and the personality variable Just-World Beliefs, but no association was found …

Developing And Applying Knowledge And Skills In Ethics And Professional Morality: An Evidence-Based Practice Paper, Donald Winiecki, Lynn Catlin, Harold Ackler

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Even without a focused interest in the topic, as we enter the third decade of the 21st Century one would have a difficult time ignoring the steady flow of stories reporting tragic consequences arising from engineering decisions that appear to have omitted ethical components, and of ethical dilemmas arising from contemporary engineering and computer science. Similarly, one would have to be willful to miss an equally steady drumbeat of calls for improved ethics in engineering and computer science education.

However, one can make the argument that simply offering new or more content related to ethics in engineering education is not …

Made In The Usa: Technological Corporatism, Infrastructure Regulation, And Dupont 1902-1917, Roman Y. Shemakov

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The turn of the twentieth century radically renewed industrial organization across the United States. Early American corporations -- centralized manufacturing hubs with journeymen and apprentices laboring under one roof -- were seldom prepared for the transformations that scientific management and structural reorganization would bring to social relations. At the helm of World War 1, DuPont became the epitome of broader national restructuring. Through a close relationship with American military industries and legislatures, the DuPont brothers came to represent Business as an inseparable component of the State. While labor historiography has primarily focused on organizers’ relationship with regulators, important segments of …

Strategic, Tactical And Operational Decisions In Family Businesses: A Qualitative Case Study, Ravindra Hewa Kuruppuge, Ales Gregar

The Qualitative Report

Previous studies of family businesses have no common agreement on what should be the most effective and efficient approach for making decisions at different managerial levels to solve business issues. Accordingly, the main objective of this study was to understand the nature of decision-making by family members who are involved in a business in different capacities such as owners, owner managers, and managers. Locating the research in the interpretivist paradigm, and utilizing qualitative case study methods (Yin, 1994), we interviewed 24 respondents from 12 well-known family firms from different districts in Sri Lanka. Thematic analysis indicated that the consultative approach …

Hustle Culture And The Implications For Our Workforce, Arianna Balkeran

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study defines hustle culture as an unspoken agreement between supervisors and employees concerning a designated workplace commitment compliance, which determines the minimum expectation of an employee's productivity capability. As such, this research paper aims to explore hustle culture within the workforce and how employee engagement, or lack of, affects the quality of professional relationships within the workplace. By doing so, we can begin a broader discourse on employee and managerial accountability in the relational aspect of supervisor-employee relationships and work dyads. With current changes to employment opportunities, such as the sudden influx of remote corporate workers resulting from COVID-19, …

Predictor Of Turnover Intention Of Register Nurses: Job Satisfaction Or Work Engagement?, Yolanda Edwards-Dandridge, Brandon D. Simmons, Douglas G. Campbell

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Both employee job satisfaction (JS) and employee work engagement (WE) have been examined as possible predictors of employees’ intention to voluntarily leave a specific job or company, known as turnover intention (TI). While the body of knowledge has grown concerning the nature of TI, there remains the unsettled question of which of the two concepts most accurately predicates TI. The high turnover rate of registered nurses (RNs) in hospitals in the U.S. presented an opportunity to examine if JS and WE predict, and to what degree, among RNs. For this quantitative correlational research probability sampling was used to identify 155 …

Exploring The Role Of Transformational Leaders In The Mentorship Of Top-Level Administrators: A Case Study Of The Veterans Health Administration (Vha) Visn Lead Program, Frederick Giovanni White Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the proliferation of studies focused on transformational leadership, there is a lack of clarity related to how transformational leaders are developed in public organizations and the impact of mentors in this process. This is particularly troubling given a 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that over 44% of the current U.S. workforce is 45 years or older.

In public and private settings, organizations are challenged to develop the competencies critical at higher levels of management in their future leaders, specifically advanced human and conceptual skills. These skills are most useful for emerging leaders that will have the responsibilities to …

Followers’ Reactions To Leader Differentiation, Yuchuan Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Leaders generally differentiate their relationships with followers, for example, by providing some with more respect, trust, support, or information than others (Liden & Graen, 1980). However, the effects of such leader differentiation on followers remain inconclusive such that research suggests that leader differentiation may have negative, positive, or null effects on favorable employee work-related outcomes (for a recent review, see Martin et al., 2018). To better understand the effects of leader differentiation, utilizing leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, I considered three inherently connected properties in the leader differentiation process – LMX differentiation, LMX quality and LMX social comparison (Martin et al., …

Getting To The Heart Of Professional Development And Employee Engagement Among Non-Teaching Personnel In Higher Education: An Appreciative Inquiry Into The Influential Role Of A Staff Development Center, Rowena Casis-Woidyla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Despite the importance and incorporation of staff development in higher education, there is limited research on the availability and use of learning opportunities for non-teaching personnel (NTP) in the form of professional development. Work performed by NTP in higher education is critical to university operations. Without professional development and engagement opportunities, NTP lack visibility, disengage and ultimately may separate from institutions of higher education. Deliberate organizational efforts to provide access to new learning opportunities and promote personal growth among NTP is the development and institutionalization of centers for professional development, also called staff development centers and staff training and professional …

Attention, Entrainment, And Rules In High Reliability Organizations, Tingting Lang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Chapter 1: How institutions enhance mindfulness: interactions between external regulators and front-line operators around safety rules (with Ravi S. Kudesia and Jochen Reb) How is it that some organizations can maintain nearly error-free performance, despite trying conditions? Within research on such high-reliability organizations, mindful organizing has been offered as a key explanation. It entails interaction patterns among front-line operators that keep them attentive to potential failures—and relies on them having the expertise and autonomy to address any such failures. In this study, we extend the mindful organizing literature, which emphasizes local interactions among operators, by considering the broader institutional context …

Power And Negotiation: Review Of Current Evidence And Future Directions, Michael Schaerer, Laurel Teo, Nikhil Madan, Roderick I. Swaab

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This review synthesizes the impact of power on individual and joint negotiation performance. Although power generally has positive effects on negotiators’ individual performance (value claiming), recent work suggests that more power is not always beneficial. Taking a dyadic perspective, we also find mixed evidence for how power affects joint performance (value creation); some studies show that equal-power dyads create more value than unequal-power dyads, but others find the opposite. We identify the source of power, power distribution, and competitiveness as critical moderators of this relationship. Finally, we suggest that future research should move beyond studying alternatives in dyadic deal-making, identify …

Investigating Work Engagement And Affective Commitment Through A Multi-Dimensional Work Underload Scale, Mediated By Work-Related Boredom, Jessica Clemons

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Previous research on workload has primarily approached work underload as unidimensional focusing on either repetitive monotonous tasks or the employee’s perception of their current workload. Researchers have focused on work related outcomes, such as job engagement and organizational commitment, as consequences of those perceptions. Recently, work related boredom has been measured alongside work underload as precursors to aforementioned outcomes. In the current study we investigated if a recently developed, more complex, multidimensional scale of work underload, including desire for more work and expectation of more work, would better explain the relationship between perceived work underload, and work-related boredom, job engagement, …

It's Lonely At The Bottom (Too): The Effects Of Experienced Powerlessness On Social Closeness And Disengagement, Trevor A. Foulk, Irene E. De Pater, Michael Schaerer, Christilene Du Plessis, Randy Lee, Amir Erez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although powerlessness is a pervasive experience for employees, prior social power research has predominantly focused on consequences of powerfulness. This has led to contradictory predictions for how experienced powerlessness influences employees’ social perceptions and behaviors. To resolve this theoretical tension, we build on Social Distance Theory (Magee & Smith, 2013) to develop a theoretical model suggesting that experienced powerlessness reduces social closeness and subsequently causes social disengagement behaviors both at work (reduced helping, increased interaction avoidance) and at home (increased withdrawal). Our model also elucidates the processes that cause powerlessness to reduce social closeness, demonstrating that employees’ affiliation motive and …

Transparency And Fairness In Organizational Decisions: An Experimental Investigation Using The Paired Ultimatum Game, Jared Nai, Reddi Kotha, Phanish Puranam

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Organizations often keep secret their decisions about what employees receive (e.g., salary, budgets, benefits) to manage fairness concerns. We propose that this can be counterproductive because of a mechanism we call the “escalation of deservingness under secrecy”, where the existence of peers can inflate one’s own sense of deservingness, even when the actual allocations to peers are unknown. Building on the ultimatum game, we developed a Paired Ultimatum Game (PUG) in which a player and a peer respondent engage with the same offeror simultaneously but with no direct competition between respondents. Across three experiments- a live interaction study as well …

Across The Great Divides: Gender Dynamics Influence How Intercultural Conflict Helps Or Hurts Creative Collaboration, Roy Y. J. Chua, Mengzi Jin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Collaborating across cultures can potentially increase creativity due to access to diverse ideas and perspectives, but this benefit is not always realized. One reason is that the conflict that arises in intercultural creative collaboration is a double-edged sword and how it is managed matters. In this research, we examine how the gender of collaborating dyads influences the link between intercultural conflict (task and relationship) and creative collaboration effectiveness. Through two studies (a laboratory study and a field survey), we found that intercultural task conflict has a negative effect on creative collaboration in men dyads but a positive effect on creative …

The Profile Of The ‘Good Judge’ In Hrm: A Systematic Review And Agenda For Future Research, François S. De Kock, Filip Lievens, Marise P. Born

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In light of the pivotal importance of judgments and ratings in human resource management (HRM) settings, a better understanding of the individual differences associated with being a good judge is sorely needed. This review provides an overview of individual difference characteristics that have been associated with the accurate judges in HRM. We review empirical findings over >80 years to identify what we know and do not know about the individual difference correlates of being an accurate judge. Overall, findings suggest that judges' cognitive factors show stronger and more consistent relationships with rating accuracy than personality-related factors. Specific intelligences in the …

Perceptions And Challenges Of Female Workplace Mediators And How They Overcome Them, Gaedria B. Goodwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This holistic case study with embedded units was conducted to understand and describe the perceptions of female workplace mediators and if they encounter stereotypes, bias, and other challenges as mediators in the state of Texas. Ten female workplace mediators in Texas participated with in-depth, semistructured interviews and an open-ended survey response describing a unique experience they had while mediating workplace disputes. A cross-case synthesis analysis of the results was then conducted with journal notes, literature on gender inequality, mediation, alternative dispute resolution, and Goffman’s theory of stigma. The results of this qualitative research can provide additional alternative dispute resolution techniques …

Social Responsibility: Preparing Students For The Real World, Alicen Flosi, Jeff Dyson, Gisele Moss

Southwestern Business Administration Journal

Ethics and corporate social responsibility are widely discussed in business and in the classroom. In fact, many mission statements for Colleges of Business include ethics as a major component. As corporations become increasingly aware of their impact on the environment, sustainability and social responsibility have become significant issues for many executives.

How to “teach” ethics and social responsibility is a dilemma that has been addressed with no definitive solution. Research shows that the traditional model of teaching and/or learning is outdated. In many disciplines, instructor/lecture and student note-taking are outdated methods of teaching. To increase student engagement and to reach …

Low In Advantageous Personality Traits? Find An Alternative Path To Higher Job Performance, Ares Boira Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research has provided evidence that the trait positive affect (PA) and the personality trait conscientiousness are positively related to job performance (JP). Although recent studies have challenged the common perspective that these traits do not change, their variability is often low. Thus, their stability makes these traits especially useful for hiring practices. However, for developmental purposes, that same characteristic might pose limitations to effective increases in employees’ performance. The current study aims to offer a solution to contribute to the research and practice of employee development. Given the potential difficulty of changing an individual’s PA, this article develops hypotheses …