Other Business Commons^™

2011 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

The Effects Of The Attacks Of 9/11 On Organizational Policies, Employee Attitudes And Workers’ Psychological States, Amy E. Hurley-Hanson, Cristina M. Giannantonio, Heidi Carlos, Jessica Harnett, Melanie Jetta, Madeline Mercier

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Problem statement: The attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) on the United States have had a profound effect on organizations and their employees. These effects occurred in the days and weeks immediately following the attacks, as well as in the years since the attacks occurred. In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, this study focuses on the impact that the attacks of September 11, 2001 have had on organizational policies, employee attitudes and workers’ psychological states. Approach: Managers were surveyed regarding the effects of 9/11 on these issues. Results: The results of the study indicate that …

Fairness-Trust-Loyalty Relationship Under Varying Conditions Of Supplier-Buyer Interdependence, Thani Jambulingam, Ravi Kathuria, John R. Nevin

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Relationship marketing plays a significant role in supply chain practice and academic studies. Using the resource advantage theory within the relationship marketing framework, we studied the mediating role of trust as a governance mechanism in the fairness-loyalty relationship under different types of interdependence structure between suppliers (wholesalers) and buyers (retailers). Our findings, based on data from retail pharmacies, demonstrate that only under conditions of symmetric independence, trust, as a governance mechanism, completely mediate the relationship between fairness and loyalty. Under conditions of both perceived independence (i.e., lack of interdependence) and asymmetric buyer dependence, however, trust does not mediate but fairness …

Greenleaf's 'Best Test' Of Servant Leadership: A Multilevel Analysis, Robert W. Hayden

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study empirically tests Robert Greenleaf’s (1970) seminal articulation of servant leadership. The four personal outcomes he theorized (health, wisdom, freedom-autonomy, and service orientation) were tested against established dimensions of servant leadership. All correlations were significant and positive. Using multilevel analysis, the predictive strength of these servant leadership dimensions were assessed at two levels within an organization, and explained. Implications and future direction of research were discussed.

Leadership Development In Financial Institutions In South Dakota: A Slow Growth State, Stan Wayne Vinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation asks the question, “What are the challenges of developing a leadership program in community banks in South Dakota, a slow growth environment?” The research looks at the intersection of leadership development, transformational leadership, and context—against a backdrop of community banking, corporate social responsibility, and demographic trends in South Dakota. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical and practical understanding of leadership development activities in South Dakota community banks. Using quantitative methods, seven hypotheses were created and tested using insights gained from reviewed literature and informational interviews that framed the study. The hypotheses were built looking to …

Developing A Culturally Responsive Classroom Collaborative Of Faculty, Students, And Institution, Paul J. Colbert

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

Culture is integral to the learning process. It is the organization and way of life within the community of students and teachers and directs the way they communicate, interact, and approach teaching and learning. Although founded in particular values and principles, the academy, like most organizations, is impacted day-to-day by its culture. Yet, the traditional higher education institution has not been designed to operate within a racially or ethnically diverse student population. The social, political, economic, and cultural forces that support the institution influence the teaching and learning environments. To better address cultural diversity in the classroom, faculty must first …

2010 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.

Competitive Priorities And Strategic Consensus In Emerging Economies: Evidence From India, Ravi Kathuria, Stephen J. Porth, N. N. Kathuria, T. K. Kohli

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the competitive priorities of manufacturers in India, and examine the level of agreement or strategic consensus between senior executives and manufacturing managers on manufacturing competitive priorities in light of the prevalent culture.

Design/methodology/approach

– Survey data collected from 156 respondents from 78 manufacturing units based on a national sample in India are used to test the hypotheses using the paired samples t‐tests and multivariate analysis of variance.

Findings

– A relatively high emphasis by both levels of managers on quality, compared to the other three competitive priorities, is noteworthy and …

Benefits Of Continuing Professional Development In The Visual Communications Sector In Ireland, Con Kennedy

Other resources

This research is concerned with identifying the benefits of Continuous Professional Development for the Visual Communications sector in Ireland, with the aim of establishing what benefits exist for both the employee and employer. Research is undertaken to identify CPD programmes that currently exist in other industries in Ireland for the purpose of establishing commonalities and how this may apply to the Visual Communications sector. This is achieved through a combination of literature review, desk research, surveys of employees and employers in the Visual Communications sector and a number of semi-formal interviews with representatives from various industry sectors with established CPD …

How Fairness Garners Loyalty In The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: Role Of Trust In The Wholesaler-Pharmacy Relationship, Thani Jambulingam, Ravi Kathuria, John R. Nevin

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand how fairness garners loyalty by breeding trust in the pharmaceutical wholesaler‐pharmacy relationship. Specifically, the paper seeks to understand if the two dimensions of fairness – procedural and distributive – contribute differently in fostering the two types of trust – credibility and benevolence. The paper further aims to examine how the two dimensions of trust mediate the fairness‐loyalty relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data from 156 retail pharmacies on their relationship with the pharmaceutical wholesalers are used to test the hypotheses. The mediation models are tested using the Barron and Kenny procedure.

Findings …

Optimizing Product Line Designs: Efficient Methods And Comparisons, Alexandre Belloni, Robert Freund, Matthew Selove, Duncan Simester

Business Faculty Articles and Research

We take advantage of recent advances in optimization methods and computer hardware to identify globally optimal solutions of product line design problems that are too large for complete enumeration. We then use this guarantee of global optimality to benchmark the performance of more practical heuristic methods. We use two sources of data: (1) a conjoint study previously conducted for a real product line design problem, and (2) simulated problems of various sizes. For both data sources, several of the heuristic methods consistently find optimal or near-optimal solutions, including simulated annealing, divide-and-conquer, product-swapping, and genetic algorithms.

Using Van Valens Procedure In Business Research To Assess Consistent Differences In Multidimensional Variability In Two Or More Groups, Mark L. Berenson, Kimberly Killmer Hollister

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Much business research involves comparisons in two or more groups on many dimensions. This paper primarily focuses on demonstrating and providing guidance as to how researchers should approach a multivariate analysis in the comparison of sets of corresponding characteristics in two or more independent groups. In particular, this paper demonstrates the utility of a simple but not widely known procedure developed by Van Valen (1978) that should be employed to test for the significance of differences in overall variability in the sets of corresponding characteristics in two or more groups, a test that enjoys much statistical power in detecting significant …

Perceived Random Leader Selection In Work Groups, Daniel Marsh

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Different methods of selecting a leader for work groups have been shown to have significant effects on the group's overall performance (Henningsen, et al., 2004). It has been suggested that systematic selection of leadership is detrimental to a group's performance and cohesiveness in certain cases (Haslam et al., 1998). This has been supported by many studies (Haslam et al., 1998; Henningsen et. al., 2004). In such cases it may be more beneficial to pick a leader in a random fashion instead of picking one due to leadership abilities. It was hypothesized that it is even more beneficial in these cases …

International Growth Strategies Of Service And Manufacturing Firms: The Case Of Banking And Chemical Industries, Ravi Kathuria, Maheshkumar P. Joshi, Stephanie Dellande

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in growth strategies – domestic and international – of manufacturing and service firms. Hardly any literature exists that empirically investigates the differences on account of the distinctive characteristics of goods and services, and such studies rarely draw from the operations management field.

Design/methodology/approach

– Multiple analysis of variance is used to analyze longitudinal data from multiple secondary sources.

Findings

– Mixed services, such as banks, focus more on domestic growth and less on international growth. Manufacturers, such as chemical firms, focus more on international activities as compared to …

Corporate Citizenship And Community Stakeholders, Robert A. Phillips, R. Edward Freeman

Management Faculty Publications

Stipulating that work on corporate citizenship is intended to add to the conversation around the role of business in society, it is reasonable to assume that scholars adopting (and adapting) the language of corporate citizenship find something there that allows for better description, analysis and synthesis of this role. Though what 'better' may mean here remains an open question, a sensible place to begin considering the question is to compare and contrast corporate citizenship with more established ways of conceiving business's role in society such as, in the case of this chapter, stakeholder theory.

Image Norms: A Model Of Formation And Operation, Amy E. Hurley-Hanson, Cristina M. Giannantonio

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This paper presents a model describing the formation and operation of image norms. Image norms are discussed from both the individual and the organizational perspective. This is followed by a discussion of the implications of image norms for individuals’ career choice decisions. The implications of image norms for organizations are also presented. Suggestions for future research on image norms are provided.

Organizational Alignment And Performance: Past, Present And Future, Ravi Kathuria, Maheshkumar P. Joshi, Stephen J. Porth

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify and define the types of organizational alignment – vertical and horizontal; to examine the evidence for the alignment‐performance relationship, and propose research questions and practical implications to advance the theory and practice of managing alignment.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is a conceptual examination based on a thorough review of both theoretical and empirical research.

Findings

– The paper finds that vertical alignment has received considerably more attention in the literature. Studies of horizontal alignment within organizations are less common. When horizontal alignment is studied, the focus tends to be dyadic …

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.

Competitive Priorities As Trade-Offs Or Mutually Supportive: Can We Call The Question Yet?, Ravi Kathuria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

As the field of operations strategy matures, we need to refine the theories and abandon weak models through cumulative research. This study contributes to the debate on whether competitive priorities present potential trade-offs or are mutually supportive.

Microeconomics Of Brand Loyalty: Learning, Switching, And Uncertainty, Ronia Ahmed Moustafa Hawash

Archived Theses and Dissertations

In a world of competition, loyalty to a particular brand has a significant role in the behaviour of economic agents and the outcome of markets. The objective of this thesis is to examine the microeconomics of brand loyalty from three dimensions: consumer learning by using markets with switching costs, and uncertainty in product quality. The various methodologies used are based on extensions, modeling, and integrative analysis of some works in the literature, most notably those of Klemperer, Pepall, Thisse, Gabszewicz, Schwartz and Wilde, and Tirole. Brand loyalty arising from the above mentioned perspectives is tackled via three models. The first …

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …

Sampling Concepts, Paul Boyd, Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

The usefulness of any research is dependent upon how well the group studied represents the group about which decisions are to be made or conclusions drawn. That is, it depends upon how well the sample reflects relevant characteristics of the population. When it is possible to study every member of that group there is no problem, for on these occasions we can easily calculate the exact attribute (parameter) of interest for our population.

For example, if we were interested in determining the average number of gallons of gasoline sold to customers at our service station yesterday, we …

Short Term Effects Of The Retrenchment Exercise On Individual And Organisational Performance In The Uganda Civil Service: Part Ii, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

IBPP Note. The concluding segment of this article provides theory, empirical data, and analysis on some political psychological consequences of organizational retrenchment in a political bureaucracy within a country often unattended to by Western researchers. It was written by Dr. Peter Baguma, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychology, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and International Editor, IBPP. Dr. Baguma can be reached at [email protected].

Abstract. This study set out to assess the short-term effects of a retrenchment exercise on individual and organisational performance in the Uganda civil service. In all, 247 senior and lower rank employees from 6 civil service ministries were …

Short Term Effects Of The Retrenchment Exercise On Individual And Organisational Performance In The Uganda Civil Service: Part I, Peter Baguma

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This study set out to assess the short-term effects of a retrenchment exercise on individual and organisational performance in the Uganda civil service. In all, 247 senior and lower rank employees from 6 civil service ministries were administered a questionnaire that measured individual performance, factors hindering employee performance and suggestions on how performance could be improved, and organisational performance factors. The majority of participants reported retrenchment had positive or unknown effects on individual performance. Factors hindering employee performance were inadequate funding, lack of motivation, work overload, and lack of tools--to mention but a few. Providing a living wage, improved incentives, …

Selecting It Applications In Manufacturing: A Kbs Approach, Ravi Kathuria, Murugan Anandarajan, Magid Igbaria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

The use of the right type of Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems is expected to usher in a competitive advantage. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we present a Knowledge Based System (KBS) that would assist managers with the identification of IT applications that …

Quality And Work Force Practices: The Managerial Performance Implication, Ravi Kathuria, Elizabeth B. Davis

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This paper examines the managerial performance impact of work force management practices appropriate for manufacturing environments when quality is highly emphasized. The hypotheses are tested using data from 483 individuals in 99 manufacturing plants in the United States. The results indicate that when the emphasis is high on quality, certain work force management practices seem to play an important role in managerial performance in manufacturing settings.

Managing For Flexibility: A Manufacturing Perspective, Ravi Kathuria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This paper investigates managerial practices that are conducive to the management of flexibility. Using data from manufacturing plants in the United States, this paper identifies managerial practices that manufacturing managers strongly demonstrate in plants that place a high emphasis on flexibility. The results indicate that managers who pursue flexibility, emphatically engage in team building, employee empowerment, and other relationship oriented practices that generate enthusiasm among employees. These practices seemingly motivate workers to deal with the uncertainty and changes, in the form of product mix, customer delivery schedule, capacity adjustments, etc., that characterize manufacturing flexibility. Furthermore, workers are entrusted with the …