Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Construction Industry: Profitable Corporate Sustainability Strategies And Processes Achieve Competitive Advantage, Chad Justin Czelusniak-Serviss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some construction industry managers lack strategies to integrate corporate sustainability strategies and processes for competitive advantage, which causes limited profitability. Grounded in the general systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore corporate sustainability strategies and processes senior and mid-level construction industry managers use to achieve competitive advantage in the United States. The participants were eight senior/mid-level construction industry managers from eight different construction industry organizations with at least five years of experience in the construction industry who utilized corporate sustainability strategies and processes. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Three themes emerged using thematic analysis: …

Construction Industry: Profitable Corporate Sustainability Strategies And Processes Achieve Competitive Advantage, Chad Justin Czelusniak-Serviss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some construction industry managers lack strategies to integrate corporate sustainability strategies and processes for competitive advantage, which causes limited profitability. Grounded in the general systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore corporate sustainability strategies and processes senior and mid-level construction industry managers use to achieve competitive advantage in the United States. The participants were eight senior/mid-level construction industry managers from eight different construction industry organizations with at least five years of experience in the construction industry who utilized corporate sustainability strategies and processes. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Three themes emerged using thematic analysis: …

Leadership Strategies For Improving Employee Engagement In The Information Technology Industry, Geneva L. Reed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disengaged employees in the information technology industry lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, poor job performance, higher employee turnover, and reduced organizational effectiveness. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the leadership strategies that information technology leaders used to improve employee engagement. The transformational leadership theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 3 leaders of information technology companies in Illinois and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis and using Yin's 5-step process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding data. The 3 emergent themes …

Employer Strategies For Improving Employee Work-Life Balance, Vernessa Lashawn Johnson-Hoffman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior leaders who fail to implement work-life balance strategies may experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. This single case study explored employers' strategies for improving employee work-life balance. The population for the study included 4 senior leaders of a hospice care agency in North Carolina who successfully implemented employee work-life balance strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and from the review of company documents, website, and social media pages. The conceptual framework for the study was the transformational leadership theory. The trustworthiness of interpretations was supported by member checking. Four themes emerged from inductive analysis of the data: a …

Management Of It (Ksu), Rebecca Rutherfoord, Dawn Tatum, Susan Vandeven, Richard Halstead-Nussloch, James Rutherfoord, Zhigang Li

Computer Science and Information Technology Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Management of IT was created under a Round Eleven ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Supervision In The Workplace (Clayton), Sheryne Southard, Christie Burton, Bryan Labrecque, Xueyu Cheng, Elnora Farmer

Computer Science and Information Technology Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Supervision in the Workplace was created under a Round Ten ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Applications Of Varying Leadership Structures For Software Engineering Teams, Elliot Sandfort

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the similarities and differences between applications of managing software engineering teams in Design Studio and the state of the practice. Information about the leadership structure of Design Studio teams was gathered over 3 semesters of Design Studio experiences with two companies: Hudl and TD Ameritrade. Information about leadership concepts in the state of the practice was gathered from experiences and observations with three different companies: Hudl, Garmin, and TD Ameritrade. From these experiences and observations, it can be concluded that the leadership structure of Design Studio is valuable as a student learning experience, and with proper consideration …

Corporate Social Responsibility: Examining The Effects Of A Lean And Green Supply Chain On Bottom Line Costs And Market Valuation, Sharon Maskin

Senior Theses

This paper examines the link between a firm’s adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and the resulting monetary benefits. Specifically, it addresses four major areas of business operations that present great opportunities for supply chain cost reduction and a simultaneous decrease in environmental impact. These four areas include traditional/open-loop supply chains, product packaging waste, pollution at the manufacturing site, and logistics inefficiencies. The paper then identifies several business cases in which companies have addressed several environmental issues and driven down bottom-line costs in each of the four areas through innovation and increased resource productivity. Along with cost benefits, it …

Exploring Management Practices Of The Health Care System For Contractors, Gary L. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that military members serving in war experienced changes in physical and mental health. Military members' healthcare is managed by the Department of Defense. The problem was that management practices of the system for providing long-term healthcare for employees of a contracting company working in foreign combat zones is either minimal or nonexistent. The purpose of this case study was to explore ways that contractor managers and government managers can work together to provide healthcare for those contract employees who will be deployed with the U.S. military. The primary research question was to determine what managers of contractors …

A Grounded Theory Of Emergent Leadership In Nonhierarchical Virtual Teams, Randall Fleming

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A Grounded Theory of Emergent Leadership in Nonhierarchical Virtual Teams

by

Randall David Fleming

MS, Colorado Technical University, 2008

BA, The Ohio State University, 1984

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Management

Walden University

November 2018

Stakeholder Collaboration Strategies In The Hawaii Tourism Industry, Catherine Kaehu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Travel and tourism are concepts that date back to 3000 B.C. with globalization extending possibilities of travel to people across the world. Addressing stakeholder concerns is especially important in promoting the development of sustainable tourism contributing to the protection of Earth's natural resources and long-term sustainability of tourism businesses through collaboration and participation. This qualitative case study incorporated a strategic stakeholder management framework, focusing on exploring strategies that Hawaii tourism industry leaders use for increasing stakeholder participation in sustainable tourism development. The population consisted of individuals across 6 categories of Hawaii tourism industry stakeholders identified as visitors, residents, government or …

Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Management, And Profitability, Dr. Daisy Valentin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. hospitality industry's profitability has been shifting to environmental management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Hospitality industries accounted for 5% of the global market in 2015 and are expected to increase by 130% in 2035. Grounded in stakeholder theory, this correlation study examined the relationship between corporate sustainability officer (CSO) CSR, CSO environmental management, and hospitality business profitability. Secondary data were collected from 97 hotel websites of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area from 2014 to 2016. The multiple linear regression combinations of CSR and environmental management (EM) measured significantly related to the profitability index, F(3, 93) = 4.67, …

Educational Manager Perceptions Towards Integrated Management Information System Implementation In Yemen, Mahfood Hussain Alkaabi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The government of Yemen has been developing government offered services designed to improve the quality of education management. Yemen's managers of education and managers of higher education in the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) have sought to improve quality of education, reduce costs, and provide timely information for decision-making processes by implementing an integrated management information system (IMIS). The problem was the lack of understanding the barriers that hinder successful IMIS implementation by the MOE and MOHE, and the role that lack of collaboration has played in prior unsuccessful attempts. The purpose of this …

Information Communication Technology Management As A Gdp Growth Contributor Within Arab League Nations, Jamal Alexander Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The general problem addressed in this study was Arab League nations' over-reliance on fossil fuels as a gross domestic product (GDP) growth driver. Arab League nations that depend primarily on fossil fuel production lack alternative resources for growth in times of fossil fuel usage or price decline. Overdependence on fossil fuels has led to minimal development in other economic sectors, primarily in skilled domestic labor, and to a high dependency on foreign skilled labor for skilled domestic jobs. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent information communication technology (ICT) management can be a viable GDP growth …

Managing A Large Scale Project: Using Strengthsfinder In The Website Redesign, Laura Edwards, Cristina Tofan

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

After doing a library-wide StrengthsFinder assessment that highlighted the strengths of its individuals, EKU Libraries decided to put this strategy into practice by applying it to one of the most complex projects in the life of an academic library: the website redesign. This decentralized approach allowed project managers to align strengths-based teams with phases of the redesign that would most benefit from that team’s unique strengths.

Chapman University 2016 Environmental Audit: Residence Life Dining Services Equipment, Alexandra Fw Sidun, Devon T. Bloss

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Chapman University accommodates over 1700 student meal plans per day through the on-campus dining services provided by Sodexo Restaurant Services. The commercial-grade kitchens found in the Randall Dining Commons (RDC) of Sandhu Conference Center are frequently used to prepare food for students for every meal, seven days a week. The RDC kitchen facility has staff working around the clock and high consumption electrical, water, and gas appliances constantly running to parallel the high demand. The frequent use of commercial kitchen appliances results in an enormous consumption of energy and water resources leading to comparably high utility bills. Measuring the energy …

Moocs And The Online Delivery Of Business Education: What's New? What's Not? What Now?, Jonathan W. Whitaker, J. Randolph New, R. Duane Ireland

Management Faculty Publications

Although the past 2 decades have produced much promise (and accompanying research) on the use of information technology (IT) in business school courses, it is not entirely clear whether IT has truly "transformed" management education. There are compelling arguments on both sides. On one hand, advocates for the transformative role of IT can point to several success stories. On the other hand, skeptics of the role of IT in management education can also point to support for their view. This lack of consensus has led researchers in Academy of Management Learning & Education to call for scholars to confront the …

Patient Portals: Achieving Technology Acceptance And Meaningful Use In Independent Physician-Managed Practices, Kimberly W. Bartholomew

CCE Theses and Dissertations

As the bulk of medical health records shift from paper-based file systems to electronic formats, the promise of the transformation process called healthcare reform included adding efficiencies to medical practice workflows, lower costs, improved quality of care and most important, and the freeing of patient information from traditional propriety silos. With this incoming largess of protected health information data now viewable through online patient portals, patients can be empowered to become educated and active in their own health care decisions, but only if they have admission to their information. A digital divide currently exists in many medical practices where only …

Understanding The Impact Of Hacker Innovation Upon Is Security Countermeasures, Sean M. Zadig

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Hackers external to the organization continue to wreak havoc upon the information systems infrastructure of firms through breaches of security defenses, despite constant development of and continual investment in new IS security countermeasures by security professionals and vendors. These breaches are exceedingly costly and damaging to the affected organizations. The continued success of hackers in the face of massive amounts of security investments suggests that the defenders are losing and that the hackers can innovate at a much faster pace.

Underground hacker communities have been shown to be an environment where attackers can learn new techniques and share tools pertaining …

Comparative Analysis: Successes And Failures Of St. Louis, Stephen Anane-Boakye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The St. Louis School District (SLSD) provided its students with a virtual education program (VEP) but abandoned it following a cut in federal funding, omitting an alternative pathway for students to complete their education. The problem addressed in this study was the effect of technology and management's decision to discontinue the VEP. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine management's role and the effect of the technology in discontinuing the VEP. Dewey's theory of education and Koskela and Howell's theory of management established the theoretical foundation for the study. A purposeful sampling selection approach was used to recruit …

Developing Sustainable Leadership Strategies To Increase Corporate Revenue, Linda Goulet Crosby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The business environment is in constant flux where stakeholders encourage organizational leaders to consider sustainable business tactics alongside corporate profits. While most business leaders recognize the importance of including sustainability into corporate goals, evidence suggested that only 10% have sustainable action plans in place. Using the honeybee leadership model as the conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the sustainable leadership strategies that business leaders from small- and medium- sized companies integrated to increase corporate revenue. These companies were B Corp certified which ensures a third party endorsement of sustainable practices. The data were collected …

The Impact Of Technology Acceptance And Openess To Innovaion On Software Implementation, Michael Marin Bertini

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior management decisions to foster innovation and adopt new technology solutions have serious implications for the success of their organization change initiatives. This project examined the issue of senior management decision or reasons of their decision to adopt new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems as a solution to solve their business problems. This project investigated the degree that perceived ease of use and usefulness of the ERP system influenced decisions made by senior managers to innovate. Roger's diffusion of innovations theory and Davis technology acceptance model theory were used to predict when senior managers were open to innovation, and whether …

A Multisite Hospital's Transition To An Interoperable Electronic Health Records System, Valerie Gerene Drill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The health care industry is transforming into an industry that requires health information technology, yet many health care organizations are reluctant to implement new technology. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that led to a successful transition from an older electronic health record (EHR) system to a compliant EHR system at a multisite hospital system (MHS). The study included face-to-face and phone interviews with 12 managers who worked on the transition of an MHS's EHR system in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The technology acceptance model was used to frame the study. Audio …

Managing People And Technology: The Challenges In Csr And Energy Efficient Shipping, Momoko Kitada, Aykut Ölçer

Aykut Ölçer

This paper addresses the challenges of managers in the shipping industry to implement energy efficient measures in ship operations and their roles of managing both people and technology under the fulfilment of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). An increasing pressure on shipping companies to concern about marine environment, including energy efficiency, has led managers to consider CSR as their ethical business practices. It is an accepted norm that shipping is generally the most environmentally friendly mode of transport in terms of CO2 produced per ton nautical mile. Despite an extensive amount of research available to improve energy efficiency in shipping, …

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

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

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

Derivatives Pricing With Accelerated Trinomial Trees, Conall O'Sullivan, Stephen O'Sullivan

Articles

Accelerated Trinomial Trees (ATTs) are a derivatives pricing lattice method that circumvent the restrictive time step condition inherent in standard trinomial trees and explicit finite difference methods (FDMs) in which the time step must scale with the square of the spatial step. ATTs consist of L uniform supersteps each of which contains an inner lattice/trinomial tree with N non-uniform subtime steps. Similarly to implicit FDMs, the size of the superstep in ATTs, a function of N, are constrained primarily by accuracy demands. ATTs can price options up to N times faster than standard trinomial trees (explicit FDMs). ATTs can be …

Sustainability Efforts Of One Oil Company In Niger Delta Of Nigeria, Charles Afam Anosike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Environmental degradation and socioeconomic dilemma continue to stigmatize oil production in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Sustainability programs of oil companies often determine the improvement of living conditions in the region. This explanatory qualitative case study, guided by systems thinking theory and sustainable value framework, explored practitioners' perceptions of sustainability programs to identify its impact on business and the host communities. The research question was designed to address how sustainability efforts of a single oil company in the Niger Delta contributed to the business performance and the livelihood of the local people. Research data were gathered from a sample of …

A Distributed Consensus Algorithm For Decision Making In Service-Oriented Internet Of Things, Shancang Li, George Oikonomou, Theo Tryfonas, Thomas M. Chen, Li Da Xu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In a service-oriented Internet of things (IoT) deployment, it is difficult to make consensus decisions for services at different IoT edge nodes where available information might be insufficient or overloaded. Existing statistical methods attempt to resolve the inconsistency, which requires adequate information to make decisions. Distributed consensus decision making (CDM) methods can provide an efficient and reliable means of synthesizing information by using a wider range of information than existing statistical methods. In this paper, we first discuss service composition for the IoT by minimizing the multi-parameter dependent matching value. Subsequently, a cluster-based distributed algorithm is proposed, whereby consensuses are …

Project Management For The Openorbiter Operating Software Team, Kelton Karboviak, Dayln Limesand, Michael Hlas, Eric Berg, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, Scott Kerlin

Jeremy Straub

OpenOrbiter is producing a 1-U CubeSat spacecraft1 to facilitate the construction of low-cost2 spacecraft by others in the future. The Operating Software team is in charge of designing and creating the software that controls most of the CubeSat’s operations such as image capturing, storage management, and temperature sensing. The project management deliverables that we have worked on as a team are the Project Definition, Work Breakdown Structure, and the Project Schedule. The Project Definition defines exactly what our project team will be developing including, but not limited to, what the team is in charge of developing, what its not in …

The International Trafficking In Arms Regulations: Precluding Innovation In Academic Spacecraft Engineering — Or Are They?, Jeremy Straub, Joe Vacek

Jeremy Straub

Government regulations and uncertainty about their enforcement can be a significant barrier to innovation. In business, it is undesirable to consume time and other resources developing a product that cannot be sold or which requires navigating significant bureaucracy for each sale. In academ-ia, where limited funding is available prior to the submission of a grant pro-posal and receipt of an award, proposal-stage compliance costs can derail a project long before it begins. This paper reviews the International Traffick-ing in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and their impact on spacecraft research in academia, private research labs and industry. It reviews the exemptions available, …