Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business Administration, General|Business Administration, Management|Education, Administration'

Higher education institutions (HEIs) could be among organizations without effective programs for preserving tacit knowledge (TK) when knowledge workers retire, quit, take a leave of absence, or are terminated. The theoretical underpinnings of this study were neuroscience related to brain learning physiology, transformational leadership theory, succession planning theory, and knowledge management theory. Research questions addressed (a) what is the level of awareness of the role of tacit knowledge in the administration of higher education, (b) what methods exist for capturing, sharing, and creating tacit knowledge that can be effectively integrated in succession planning, and (c) what unique elements exist in the administration of higher-education that either support or prevent tacit knowledge preservation, sharing, and creation through succession planning initiatives. Data collection involved interviews and document review at a Midwestern college. Findings included the need for trust and open communication and leader behavior to support optimal TK transfer. Participants were aware of TK and its importance and recognized a connection between TK and succession planning. Participants suggested high level activities; emphasized debriefing for verifying TK transfer, transfer of roles and responsibilities over time, continued access to mentors, and allocation of adequate time to deploy these steps in succession planning. The researcher developed a nine-step process model for integrating TK in institutions with a formal succession planning program. This process model includes organization-wide education and communication focused on the concepts of TK and involves steps for capture, measurement, and sustained retention of all forms of TK as part of institutional culture.

The first timeshare resorts were created in the 1960s. Since then, the concept of vacation timesharing has spread around the world. Despite significant growth in the last 30 years, little academic research exists concerning the competencies required to manage timeshare resorts. This study provides new perspective on competency domain clusters within the timeshare industry. Three hundred thirty one property-level timeshare managers were asked to rate the importance and frequency of use of each competency domain cluster. The data gathered from the survey reveals a relationship between the types of resort a manager manages and the importance and frequency ratings of each competency's domain cluster. Further, a surprising result was the discovery of a lack of industry certification among the respondents. These results may be useful in training and development strategies for timeshare resort managers.

The concept of open innovation has been highly popularized both in academia and industry for the last decade. Various types of firms have been studied from high tech to service. Yet, there has been limited academic review of open innovation as a collective business ecosystem. In particular, little research exists on how a business ecosystem is generated, how it adopts concepts associated with open innovation in its business practice, and what sustains an ecosystem over time.

My dissertation demonstrates how one business entity – Chez Panisse – started its business journey and how it practiced what is popularly called open innovation within its community for over 42 years. In order to do so, I closely observed and participated in understanding the California Cuisine ecosystem to collect data. I employed a single-case study method by incorporating in-depth interviews, participatory observation, as well as a thorough collection of publically available data. The research findings indicate that (1) knowledge spillover was a conduit to expand and grow the Chez Panisse ecosystem, (2) co-creation of products and services with ecosystem participants contributed to collective ecosystem innovation, and (3) social innovation and learning were key factors in strengthening the bond among stakeholders and enabled the ecosystem's expansion to the nation, and global level.

I introduce the concept of an Open Innovation Ecosystem as a business ecosystem that co-creates innovations with its stakeholders and captures co-created values collectively within the ecosystem. The Chez Panisse case illustrates how what is popularly referred to as open innovation can be practiced at the level of a business ecosystem and become an important factor in its growth and expansion. The research outcomes suggest that business practitioners should consider employing the approaches identified in this thesis if they are interested in designing, creating and growing or maintaining a business ecosystem. These results additionally indicate that participants of the Chez Panisse open innovation ecosystem stayed engaged because of the educational and social innovation aspects; therefore businesses may want to consider the role that education and social innovation can play in sustaining a healthy business ecosystem.

This qualitative study, using a two iteration Delphi method, identified five supply chain leadership best practices. The primary focus of the best practices is to provide proven practices that meet the needs and requirements of supply chain leaders to effectively lead supply chains. A panel of experts selected from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals online database provided data for the study via a commercial electronic survey service. The expert panel provided open and closed ended, subjective responses to the study questions. The survey service collected and summarized the raw data. Manual analysis provided the basis for modifications to the Delphi survey instruments after the pilot study and the first iterations of the Delphi process. The findings allowed validation of three of the four candidate best practices identified during the literature review and two best practices identified during analysis of the first iteration responses. The five leadership best practices could provide leaders the knowledge to improve innovation and strategic leadership within supply chains.

Ethical leadership can be a key driver of corporate behavior but it is an individual's sense of ethics that has an impact on business success. The specific problem was that despite the plethora of academic, government, and industry studies, it remained unclear whether investing in ethics provided a competitive advantage for businesses. The purpose of this qualitative, ethnographic case study was to examine how the internal stakeholders in a single business defined and applied ethics and what elements of the business culture and competitive environment affected decision-making. The research was a practical application of the stakeholder theory, normative ethics and competitive analysis theory. The dissertation research was conducted using JWD Technologies (pseudonym) which is a for profit engineering and manufacturing business located in the southeastern United States. Through this research, the business values and culture were demonstrated through a focus on pride in the quality of the delivered product through a disciplined, continuous improvement, cooperation and teamwork with the customer and the worksite team, and leadership excellence. Key leadership characteristics included being engaged, accessible, credible, trustworthy, stable, and able to relate to the people. The keys for optimizing the culture were moral fortitude including a strong ethical tone, voicing opinions, transparent communications, and individual accountability, consistent with prior literature. The informants demonstrated that effective ethical behavior includes going beyond the practices required by law, consistent with prior literature. Finally, the informants identified ethical values used to achieve future business to deliver a differential value. Recommendations for practice include the practical application of the stakeholder theory, normative ethics, and competitive analysis theory and recommendations on the use of ethnography in a business ethics environment. Recommendations on future research include broadening research applicability with a focus on a broader stakeholder set, competition, and competitive advantage to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and ethics theory application with a focus on reputation and ethical leadership flow down.

In emerging economies, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are threatened by continuous political and economic changes. In such uncertain environments, knowledge is the distinctive factor for the achievement of a competitive advantage. However, limited funds and pressure from competitors force SMEs to seek for external sources of knowledge.

The Multinational Corporation (MNC) represents an alternative for business sustainability within the value chain, including both suppliers and clients. In the aim for pursuing such endeavor, a conceptual framework including inter-firm knowledge transfer processes from the MNC and experiential learning enhanced by the Academia is explored.

In sum, this dissertation is intended to examine the MNC’s and Academia’s role on the procurement of SMEs’ business sustainability through inter-firm knowledge transfer and experiential learning, in terms of absorptive capacity. More specifically, the impact of technical and technological knowledge transferred from the MNC on one side; and reflective learning on managerial skills and business vision from the Academia on the other side, is analyzed through SMEs’ absorptive capacity. Regarding business sustainability, the effect of the application of newly absorbed knowledge is analyzed in terms of SMEs’ selected indicators for business improvements. As a complement, a qualitative study is included in order to provide support for findings hereby obtained.

Entering into joint ventures for the purpose of addressing resource scarcity and maximizing resources with the goal of increasing competitive advantage has long been an effective strategy for companies in the United States. The question arises as to the value of such an arrangement on the long-term results of joint venture participation, specifically if this alliance strategy influences sustained competitive advantage. This dissertation examined joint ventures for firms involved in defense, technology and aerospace industries using post hoc quantitative analysis of secondary data between 1997 and 2006. This study sought to answer specific research questions to determine if firm performance, research and development intensity, and incremental innovation influences sustained competitive advantage. Results indicated that firm performance was not influenced by joint venture participation. Research and development intensity was influenced; however, results were in the opposite direction of those hypothesized. Incremental innovation among joint venture participants was highly significant for joint venture participation compared to non-participants.

Twenty successful leaders in the United States participated in the study to explore the extent to which emotional intelligence supports leadership potential and success. Competent managers with strong leadership skills are scarce (Cafolla, 2008). According to Goleman (2001), EQ might predict up to 90% of the variance in leadership effectiveness by uncovering strong positive effects of leadership commitment and effectiveness that support strong influences on leadership effectiveness. This modified Delphi study extended research on the emotional intelligence competencies to explore future possibilities of improving leadership success at mid- to high-level management tiers. The results of this study provide evidence to support emotional intelligence and leadership potential, validating the need for EQ as a leadership strategy. The Delphi study results recommended training to increase EQ in leaders and asserted that leaders with high levels of EQ are likely to improve overall organizational results, reduce turnover, reduce fraud and low performance, improve moral, and make organizations a better place to work.

Family businesses represent a key economical asset in the global economy. Leaders of family businesses have implemented internationalization as a key strategy to enhance sustainability and increase profitability in a hypercompetitive global marketplace. Guided by the Uppsala model, the purpose of this case study was to explore how Saudi family business leaders have planned and implemented internationalization. Three leaders from different international Saudi family businesses participated in semistructured interviews. The participants described their experience in achieving successful internationalization for their family businesses. After analyzing the interview data and validating through member checking, 3 main themes emerged: (a) the characteristics of the family business to compete internationally, (b) the characteristics of a suitable international market for family businesses to internationalize, and (c) the characteristics of a successful internationalization opportunity for a Saudi family business. In order to internationalize, Saudi family business leaders identified having a proper strategy, financial capability, qualified resources, well-structured policies, and globally-standardized products or services. Family business leaders should target the international market that is stable, that is secure with regulations, and that is welcoming to foreign investments. Each internationalization opportunity should have close psychic distance, available relationships in the international market, targeted family business motives, demonstrated existing market demand with the ability to satisfy, and proper timing. The findings may promote social change in Saudi family businesses by identifying essential characteristics to maintain the companies' existence and offer a roadmap to compete internationally.

At the beginning of the twenty first century, there was an ongoing debate concerning the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in achieving sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). While external stakeholders required corporations to balance economic, social and environmental dimensions, research indicated a considerable gap about how CSR initiatives could be used to contribute to the community and the corporation’s SCA. The specific problem that was addressed in this study is how CSR initiatives can be used to contribute to the community in the form of sustainable development and the corporation’s SCA. The purpose of this qualitative study, utilizing a single embedded descriptive case study research design, was to achieve a deeper understanding on how CSR initiatives are planned, aligned and implemented in large MNCs in the cement industry and how these initiatives may contribute to the community in the form of sustainable development and the corporation’s SCA. The study used stakeholder theory as the theoretical framework and was based on semi-structured interviews with 24 participants: six executive managers from three MNCs in the cement industry and 18 employed community inhabitants in the areas corresponding to three study corporations. Corporations and participants were purposively selected. The study findings clearly indicated that the strategic approach to CSR (i.e., aligning the corporation goals with the goals of the community) may balance economic value creation with the expectations of local communities. These findings revealed that corporate leaders may likely develop “mutually beneficial” relationships with potential stakeholders. As a result, the corporation can improve reputation and access to finance, capital, market and resources, as well as reduce operational risks and attract better employees. On the other hand, the community can get safe and affordable products and services, access to better job offerings, clean environment and a better quality of life. Understanding how CSR initiatives are planned, aligned and implemented in large MNCs in the cement industry may positively impact the community and the corporation’s SCA. Future research was recommended to explore the elements of organizational culture (i.e., values and beliefs) that affect the sustainable management practices of large MNCs.

Engaging and retaining high potential employees play a key role in enhancing an organization's competitive advantage. Although multiple factors affect engagement and retention, senior leaders play an important role. This study examined senior leaders' use of touch points (intentional interactions) with high potentials as a retention and engagement strategy within one organization. This mixed-method study gathered survey and interview data from high potentials and senior leaders. Study findings revealed that touch points yielded a range of benefits for the company, for leaders, for high potentials, and for talent management within the organization. The benefits appeared to be associated with the frequency and recency of touch points. Based on these findings, senior and executive leaders are advised to engage with high potentials at least quarterly. Organizations are advised to create processes to advocate for, facilitate, and monitor senior leaders' use of touch points to optimize organizational outcomes.

The U.S. aerospace industry strategic leadership fails domestically and internationally, not managing employee thinking and behavior for continuous success in the 21^st century. The problem addressed in this study was to understand the key processes and principles involved in the strategic leadership's shaping of cultural assumptions that may contribute to the industry's failure. The qualitative study explored the shaping of cultural assumptions, as it relates to the organization's relationship to the larger society, in terms of the nature of reality and truth, the nature of human nature, the nature of human activity, and the nature of human relationships for continuous success in the 21^st century. The study was guided by Scharmer's (2009) theory U, leading from the emerging future in relation to transformative change, stressing the needs to think and act differently, Gharajedaghi's (2011) systems theory, and Schein's (2010, 2013) findings on cultural assumptions and humble inquiry. The research question asked, "How does the U.S. aerospace industry's strategic leadership identify experiences affecting the shaping of cultural assumptions for continuous success in the 21^st century?" The study utilized an exploratory qualitative inquiry that enabled access to the personal experiences of 20 U.S. aerospace industry strategic leaders. Themes and patterns were identified in a data set through inductive analysis. The findings matched the reviewed literature and revealed scarce successful attempts to lead from the emerging future through cultural assumptions shaped for continuous success. The findings encourage the majority of the U.S. aerospace industry strategic leadership to overcome internal blockage and initiate a transformative change to avoid organization declines. The successful strategic leaders in the study support the need for co-creating continuous success in the 21^st century.

Academics and practitioners have continually called for more research to provide a deeper understanding of the nonprofit sector in light of its growing importance in society. Peter Drucker's (1985) seminal work suggested that there is much the business sector can learn from the nonprofit sector. Mission drift/creep as a phenomenon in strategic management has received little academic attention even though the practitioner journals are replete with references of its proliferation. The nonprofit sector in particular, a widely diverse group, linked by a Federal tax exemption to conduct business for almost any lawful purpose, seems particularly susceptible. In the absence of a profit motive, managers and stakeholders alike look to the organizations' mission for direction as well as measurements of success. Mission is generally the principal reason for being and therefore is held as a statement upon which public trust is built. Departure either in the form of drift or creep is widely discouraged. The notion that organizations learn, therefore challenges the fundamental premise that missions should remain static.

Extant practitioner literature documents the widespread nature of mission drift within the sector and decries its proliferation. This study attempts to elevate the discourse, bringing attention to the phenomenon of mission drift/creep by first defining it and putting it in proper contextual frame. The study also through research and scholarship attempts to identify the importance of mission in organizational strategy by using secondary studies to examine this role of mission and thereby provide a fuller explanation for the occurrence of mission drift/creep.

This paper utilized a systematic procedure and content analysis to explore the contingency, resource dependency, population ecology, as well as institutional theories, to find meaningful explanations for mission drift/creep's causation in nonprofit organizations and ultimately support or refute the notion that mission drift/creep should be discouraged.

This study examined the process by which a technology company grows from a concept into a living enterprise in order to provide guidelines to technology entrepreneurs. A living enterprise is a mature and stable blue chip entity that is able to act on its own based on the structure of having a community involved in making business decisions. This study used a triangular selection process to narrow approximately 500 companies down to four companies. Using archival data to develop case studies, the growth processes of four technology companies (i.e., Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and Google) were investigated, analyzed, and compared. These case studies started by examining the backgrounds of the founders, development of the initial product, and beginning of operations to the point when each of them became a living enterprise.

The four case studies were used to build the model entitled General Growth Process: Concept to Living Enterprise. This model is a useful tool for entrepreneurs who want to start and grow their companies. The general growth process extended Larry E. Greiner’s models (1972), the model of organization development and the five phases of growth. In addition, Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell’s definitions of, build, borrow, or buy were incorporated as well as my addition and definition of abroad (i.e. international). Finally, this study provided detailed information on how each founder became a values-driven leader and built a living enterprise.

Keywords: concept, entrepreneurs, founders, growth process, growth strategy, growth options, living enterprise, organization life-cycle, product development, values-driven leadership.

Many IT projects fail despite the best efforts to keep these projects within budget, schedule, and scope. Few studies have looked at the effect of project risk management tools and techniques on project success. The primary focus of this study was to examine the extent to which utilization of project risk management processes influence project success. A secondary focus of the study was to determine if utilization of project risk management processes correlates with project success more than project manager experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration. To meet the objectives of the study, a survey instrument was developed and piloted. The final instrument was administered to a group of IT project management practitioners to assess the utilization of specific project risk management tools and techniques on a recently completed project. The answers were combined with the participants' self-reported project success as measured by end-of-project budget, schedule, and scope success metrics. While the results of the study did not point to a specific project risk management tool or technique to predict an IT project's success, valuable insight was gained when stepping back and looking at overall factors that influence project success. When looking at these factors, the researcher found there was a statistical correlation that indicated the use of project risk management processes as a whole are a better predictor of IT project success than a project manager's experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration in the majority of success areas measured.

The problem in the nonprofit sector is a macro-economic problem involving implementation of concepts of economies of scale, and overcoming organizational and sector inefficiencies. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that strategic restructuring is an innovative, successful management strategy for a nonprofit organization to maintain sustainability and maximize impact. This research study used three different research methods to demonstrate that idea. The first research method was a quantitative analysis of several different financial ratios using the MANOVA statistical test. The second research method was a qualitative analysis of interviews that the researcher held with 10 different third-party payers. The third research method was an archival analysis of 57 case studies of organizations that have gone through a strategic restructuring process from 2007-2010. This research failed to show conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of structural reorganization in terms of improvement in financial ratios. However, there is a definite perception among funders’ regarding the strategic restructuring process for nonprofit organizations, as well the case studies provided excellent evidence for what factors contribute to a successful strategic restructuring partnership. Funders do support strategic restructuring and want organizations to engage in this management activity, if the nonprofit organization feels it will further their mission. Given mission-focused leaders, team-oriented, mission-focused organizations, with continued financial support from third party payers, to fund consultants who use the strategic restructuring formula, strategic restructuring can be a tool to maintain sustainability in an economy that constantly challenges the principles of sustainability.

Knowledge management (KM) professionals are instrumental drivers of innovation. Their individual understanding of innovation is of seminal importance as they are instrumental in archiving and structuring the world's largest knowledge storage and knowledge generation activities. Understanding how members of members of the Federal Knowledge Management Working Group (FKMWG) perceive innovation from the personal perspective is instrumental in assisting senior leaders and decision makers better train, organization, and recruit future KM professionals to meet organization needs. Key to understanding the KM professional's personal perceptions are gender, generation, job function, and job classification. This quantitative study was designed to explore and surface valuable information concerning how KM professionals working for the Federal government view innovation from a personal level. This study built upon the earlier work of Zhuang (1995), Zhuang, Williamson, and Carter (1999), and McLaughlin and (2013). This study expands the previous work by targeting the 650 KM professionals associated with the FKMWG on-line social community employing McLaughlin and Caraballo's updated survey instrument. The study found there are differences in how FKMWG members as a whole and how genders view innovation from a personal perspective, but found there are no differences in how generations or specific job classifications (technical verse non-technical) viewed innovation from a personal perspective.

The problem addressed in this study is that the recency of the social media phenomena created a research gap in terms of understanding how companies exploit various social media platforms for marketing purposes and measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns. Thus, there is a need for increased understanding of the effectiveness of social media marketing techniques. Social media marketing is defined as the blending of sociology and technology as a means to change marketing efforts from a monologue to a dialogue. The purpose of this study was to determine, based on research participants' perceptions, the reasons that select organizations use social media marketing, the different social media marketing strategies that companies utilized, and the perceived effect of social media marketing on revenue generation. In particular, the research questions concerned whether social media marketing had its own specific social metrics, and the study investigated the evolution of social media marketing and the benefits that social media brings to traditional marketing approaches. The overall research design employed semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews with seven executives in regard to their use of social media marketing and its role as part of an integrated marketing approach. Commonalities in the interview data were color coded and analyzed, and field notes, verbatim transcriptions, and member checks were used to triangulate the data. The results of the study generated three specific categories: engagement with customers, the essence of social media presence, and communication by choice. Knowledge in each of these categories provides companies with a deeper understanding of the social consumer and enhances the value of social media marketing in terms of competitiveness. Specifically, based on such knowledge, companies have a greater ability to target qualified leads as well as to improve the conversion rate of those leads. Finally, they have a means to determine how their social media marketing efforts contributed to the overall revenue generated.

Each year, over 300 billion dollars of print coupons are distributed, yet the redemption rate is less than one percent. As of 2010, 93% of the U.S. population has one or more cell phones providing anytime, anywhere access. Despite the 2009 economic downturn, Americans still spend 41% of their food budget outside of the home. The specific problem to be studied is the behavioral intention of young adults, 18 to 24 years of age, attending private, non-profit universities to use mobile coupons for casual restaurant dining. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional correlation study was determining the relationship between five independent variables: (a) performance expectancy, (b) effort expectancy, (c) social influence, (d) fear of spam, and (e) opting-in; and one dependent variable: participants' behavioral intention to use mobile coupons for casual restaurant dining. The results demonstrated a strong positive correlation between all of the variables except fear of spam and the dependent variable: the behavioral intention to use mobile coupons for casual dining restaurants. There was no relationship between the fear of spam and the behavioral intention to use mobile coupons. This, in itself, was an important finding. Recommendations for using mobile coupons include coupon promotion as a component of the marketing mix, mobile coupons as a unique way of encouraging new menu items, creating an easy path to opt-in, and creative ideas for coupon face-value promotions. Mobile coupons have the potential to exceed the redemption rates of printed coupons.

The objective of the mixed-methods research project was to expand understanding of economic incentives and barriers to international expansion for small and medium sized enterprises located in the coastal counties of South Carolina. Growing global markets are linked to increased opportunities for smaller enterprises to participate in international commerce. Limited understanding of incentives that enable success and techniques effective for overcoming barriers that restrict South Carolina firms from rewarding participation in international markets was the research problem addressed in the study. The purpose of the study was to explore the international expansion experience of leaders for South Carolina small and medium-sized enterprises and examine differences in leader-perceived levels of success for Lowcountry firms because of international status. The project was a mixed methods study using an exploratory, sequential design with an initial stream employing qualitative techniques followed by a subsequent stream using quantitative tools to analyze survey data. Qualitative interview techniques were used to engage a limited number of firms to acquire data on common internationalization experiences among participants. Three internationalization incentives and three barriers were identified. Hypotheses developed from the initial strand of the project were then answered using analysis of survey data collected via a census of the available population. Triangulation of data from two phases of the mixed-methods study revealed foreign market opportunity and supply chain resources as incentives, and ample domestic-market opportunity as a significant barrier to international commerce. Leaders of internationally active firms reported larger customer bases, larger numbers of employees, higher levels of competition, and higher five-year average rates of revenue growth.

This research analyzes the internal capital allocation decisions in Mexican family business groups using a novel approach in which allocation decisions are not only influenced by efficiency (firm performance) but also by the social connections among the managers of the funded firms and the family that controls the group. The results suggest that family ownership and group affiliation have economically large effects on firm performance, meaning that family firms outperform non-family firms and, within family firms, those affiliated with a business group exhibit higher performance than those standing alone. These findings also indicate that professional-managed firms outperform family-managed firms, except when the CEO is the founder of the firm; implying that founders have a personal bias toward their offspring because more competent individuals are not considered to manage the firm. Additional analysis reveals that the internal capital allocation process in Mexico is inefficient because there are strong nepotism practices that favor family managers over non-family managers. These socialist tendencies are aligned with the dark side theories of internal capital allocation, in which weak-performing firms receive too much capital (family-managed firms) and strong-performing firms receive too little (non-family-managed firms).

Keywords: Capital allocation, family business groups, social connections, corporate governance.

Automated Logistics Environment (ALE) is a new term used by Navy and aerospace industry executives to describe the aggregate of logistics-related information systems that support modern aircraft weapon systems. The development of logistics information systems is not always well coordinated among programs, often resulting in solutions that cannot be easily integrated or made interoperable with other information systems used within the Department of Defense. A phenomenological approach was used to explore ALE program managers' lived experiences of coordinating defense acquisition programs toward the goal of creating a common environment in which information systems are well integrated and interoperable. The business problems associated with smart aircraft diagnostic, prognostic, health and usage monitoring systems, and the challenges created by the large volumes of data that are being collected by sensors onboard newly deployed smart aircraft also were explored. This qualitative study was accomplished by conducting interviews with 18 logistics and information technology managers from Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland with first-hand experience in dealing with ALE. The study results were presented in the form of a composite description derived from the textural-structural descriptions for each study participant. Results of the study included the structures of meaning surrounding ALE and identified social, organizational, and other non-technical components of systems integration that have been largely ignored in the information systems literature. Study results also included the perceived benefits and disadvantages of a common Automated Logistics Environment. Future researchers should consider the rich opportunities available to study other system of systems environments in federal government agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense, military departments, and subordinate defense agencies. While scholars may desire to simplify complex phenomena, future researchers should take care to avoid oversimplification of systems integration constructs in system of systems environments. As shown by this current ALE study, some technical and nontechnical issues may be inseparable in a real world setting. The ALE study results indicated that research that focuses on either technical or non-technical aspects of systems integration may not fully account for dynamic, interrelated (and often subtle) factors and may restrict our understanding of systems integration.

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to examine the perceptions and lived experiences of senior leaders of three different small-to medium sized manufacturing companies, located in the state of Colorado, as related to success strategies and barriers to lean manufacturing implementation. Findings resulted in nine emergent themes: (a) lean manufacturing implementation should be implemented in a way specific to the context of the individual organization; (b) time, resources, and changes in customer demand present challenges in sustaining lean manufacturing implementation; (c) resistance to change is a barrier to lean manufacturing implementation; (d) small-tomedium sized companies use outside consultants and trainers for training staff on lean manufacturing implementation; (e) front line workers need to be trained to apply lean tools and concepts for successful lean manufacturing implementation; (f) front line workers have to own and believe in lean manufacturing for it to be successful; (g) senior leaders have varying definitions of what their role is in leading lean manufacturing implementation; (h) senior leaders have differing perspectives regarding the degree of leadership knowledge required for successful lean manufacturing implementation; and (i) senior leaders struggle to expand lean manufacturing implementation into support departments. Recommendations included (a) viewing lean as a philosophy for managing the business, (b) training and education for senior leaders, (c) defining senior leader roles in implementing lean manufacturing, and (d) strategies when using outside consultants in a company’s lean efforts.

Downsizing is common place in today's business world. Economic conditions and dynamic markets force companies to constantly evaluate their bottom line and work toward leaner operations to create better financial returns and organizational sustainability. As a result, downsizing or reductions-in-force have morphed from being occasionally used tools with `last ditch effort' stigma and association to commonplace, every-day options of the corporate strategy toolbox.

Focusing upon the overarching theme of organizational shock and understanding voluntary turnover post-downsizing, this study attempted to determine to what extent transitional change services offered to employees during times of organizational shock (such as downsizing) affect employees' feelings of commitment toward the organization and/or their intent to leave the organization. Survey data was collected from individuals employed by pharmaceutical companies having downsized within the last 5 years. The results were analyzed to determine whether the variables of organizational commitment and the sub-types of organizational commitment normative, continuance and affective commitment as well as intent to leave were impacted by the amount of transitional change services offered by their downsizing organization.

It was determined via data analysis results that whether services were offered or not, and regardless of the amount of services offered, those retained by the organization provided responses undifferentiated from those provided by respondents who were severed. In total, these results indicate despite the level of services provided, organizations post-downsizing are staffed with employees that may share the same reduced level of organizational commitment as those having been let go from the company. In sum, these findings demand consideration as to whether large scale organizational investment in transitional change services during a downsizing is a worthwhile endeavor at all.

This research study examined the ecological damage in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria for the past over 50 years, which has resulted from oil exploration activities. It presents a detail review and analysis and a partial solution to the crisis that has metamorphosed from the neglect and abject environmental destruction the Niger Delta of Nigeria. The toll of environmental damage brought to the indigenes of the Niger Delta was investigated as well as the clamor of the indigenes against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria. The study’s objective was to identify the gap that exists between corporate social responsibility programs (CSR) of SPDC and the needs and aspirations of the indigenes of the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta and the reason that the Niger Delta has become unfriendly with the SPDC. The research unveils this gap as the absence of holistic management and suggests how a holistic concept in management could significantly add to the solution of the existing conflict between the indigenes and SPDC. The researcher conducted a qualitative research that focused on stakeholders’ perceptions, which succinctly sifted the reasons for the consequential unrest in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. In order to address the prevailing problems, the researcher used descriptions, interpretations and transparency techniques for the purpose, analysis, and conclusions.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become an important business strategy to help improve organizational performance. M&As have been identified as one of the key strategies to help organizations compete in the global economy and have become attractive business strategies widely adopted and utilized among industries and global businesses. From the employee perspective, a merger or acquisition event can create uncertainty, changes and job losses. The literature suggests that some mergers and acquisitions fail not so much because of financial factors but more often because of the lack of integration of organizational cultures and other human factors. There is general agreement among some authors that studying human factors, rather than just M&A financial factors, provides a far better understanding of M&As' successes and failures. Research on M&As suggests that managers should encourage employees to support an organizational (or collective) identity in order to maximize the positive outcome of M&As. Through an extensive systematic review of the literature and an evidence based research methodology, this dissertation critically analyzed and examined the following questions: 1) How does the process of cultural integration during the post-merger and acquisition (M&A) period impact the performance outcome of M&As, specifically, on employee commitment, employee turnover rates and employee job satisfaction? 2) What is the impact of employee identification with the organization in the M&A's organizational cultural integration process? 3) What is the effect of leaders' communication on employee identification with the organization during the post-M&A cultural integration period? Based on the findings from the systematic review of the literature, the research questions are addressed and recommendations for ensuring successful post-merger and acquisition (M&A) cultural integration are presented.

Small business owners face challenges associated with leading change, and many times lack the necessary resources to manage it properly. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to determine what challenges leaders of small businesses face in managing change, what strategies and practices those leaders employ, and how the leaders of small businesses measure success in managing change. This study also determined what advice leaders of small businesses would suggest for managing change. Four research questions were created to assist with this process, and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted in various cities throughout the state of Michigan. The participants were small business owners of privately held American companies that had been in business for a minimum of 5 years. Twelve interview questions were asked to answer the 4 research questions. Many themes emerged. Some of the challenges that participants face while managing change are resistance to change, communication issues, lack of confidence, lack of resources, lack of knowledge/experience, absence of strategy, conflicts of interest, and lack of emotional intelligence. The participants shared many different strategies for successful management of change and also offered their lessons learned over the years. The main overall theme presented by all of the participants in this study was the importance of knowledge and experience for management of change in small businesses.

Too many outsourcing models fail to deliver expected results in Integrated Facility Management (IFM) models. IFM is a type of outsourcing model that transfers in-house work to an outside company that performs it onsite as if it were part of the client’s organization. This process requires collaboration, coordination, and communication, merging 2 corporate cultures into 1 cohesive business model. Managing the change process related to an IFM outsourcing arrangement is crucial because changing an organizational culture can heighten risk and potentially produce unsatisfactory results. Creating, changing, and managing an IFM outsourcing model require acceptance, coordination, and a clear understanding of expectations from both the client and the service provider. People in general are apprehensive about change, especially when they don’t understand it. IFM, being a complex process, requires the proper training and education in order to avoid resistance that creates leadership challenges. According to the literature, effective leadership was the solution to mitigate the resistance to change associated with outsourcing but little research exists to explain the phenomenon experienced by leaders during the initial transition (first-generation) to an IFM model. This descriptive, qualitative study was conducted in order to determine what strategies and practices leaders employ during a first-generation IFM outsourcing initiative. Additionally, challenges associated with implementation, measurement of success, and recommendations from leaders of IFM outsourcing was explored. Fourteen IFM leaders were interviewed and asked 10 questions. These interview questions yielded results such as leadership, communication, and clarity in scope of work as some of the dominant themes. These themes were then used to develop recommendations for further research and recommendations for future leaders of change.

This study attempted to identify the issues confronting athletic directors at the NCAA Division I FBS membership institutions from the following athletic conferences: American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and Sun Belt Conference. These conferences are considered to be non-BCS automatic qualifying conferences. Since the literature showed a lack of research on most of the issues that impact the university athletic director, this research attempted to present an enhanced perspective of the issues that the athletic director must confront in his or her career and daily life. The researcher utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to identify and explore the issues. Twenty-two of sixty-one athletic directors responded to a thirteen item electronic survey. Follow-up interviews were administered to six of the athletic directors who indicated a willingness to participate. Athletic directors identified fundraising, managing the budget and finance issues, and student-athlete welfare as the top three issues affecting his or her career. Athletic directors identified the following as those issues that consumed most of their time: fundraising, managing his or her department's budget, and staying current on NCAA regulations. Athletic directors identified the following as their most stressful issues: fundraising, budget, decision making, personnel, the pending autonomy of the high resource conferences, and general uncertainty. Warning signs identified by the athletic directors included: national lawsuits, declining attendance (both alumni/fans and students) at sporting events, and decreasing state support. In addition, individual athletic directors identified the following issues that may impact the future: negative impact on the United States Olympic movement due to significantly increased emphasis on football and men's basketball, impact of non-practioner perspective in governance of collegiate athletics, and possible significant change in the definition of amateurism.

Academic quality in for-profit vocational (Gainful Employment) programs is a concern for all stakeholders. However, academic quality is not easily defined. The Department of Education's Gainful Employment Rule defines academic quality With a few easily measured metrics such as student retention and job placement rate, despite the fact that academic quality is widely considered to be complex and multidimensional. Gainful Employment standards alone are not adequate to describe academic quality in for-profit vocational programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to expand understanding of academic quality in on-ground Gainful Employment programs by gathering the lived experiences of faculty who taught in these programs. The study used a phenomenological approach, in which faculty members of two for-profit vocational colleges in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area were interviewed in person. Faculty were recruited using Linkedln groups and e-mail invitations. Systems theory served as the theoretical foundation for the study. The four common systems elements of inputs, processes, outcomes, and institutional environment formed the basis for the research questions. The systems thinking tool of rich pictures was employed to gain deeper insight into the phenomenon of academic quality. Triangulation was accomplished through the comparison of interview data; visual data from the rich pictures; my memos; and institutional Web content and college catalogs. Analysis of the interviews and rich pictures generated 301 attributes, which were organized first by research question, and then by key stakeholder group (faculty, students, administrators, and institution). Ten discernible themes emerged from faculty perceptions of academic quality, categorized according to systems inputs, processes, outcomes, and institutional environment. The conclusion was that academic quality is a multidimensional construct that includes many more attributes than simply student retention or job placement rate. A dynamic model of academic quality incorporating the systems elements of inputs, processes, outcomes, and system environment was proposed, and a composite rich picture was presented. The scope of the research should be expanded to include the perceptions of other stakeholder groups, for example, administrators, students, employers, and taxpayers. Future research should also include other geographical areas and comparisons between for-profit and nonprofit vocational education.

The three primary objectives of this project were: (1) to identify and codify a framework for best practices in developing a simulation; (2) to construct a prototype or test simulation based on these best practices, and (3) to create a methodology to assess pedagogical efficacy and economic fidelity.

While the current body of knowledge is rich in describing the virtues and pitfalls of computer simulation technology that has existed for close to 60 years, the literature nonetheless lacks a codified set of best practices for developers and objective assessment methods to judge a simulation quality for both the pedagogical effectiveness and economic fidelity. This study addresses both issues and offers a solution that is unique and effective. A General Framework for Effective Simulation Development that is derivative, and an extension of existing research in the business simulation domain. A simulation prototype, SimWrite!, has been developed that is consistent with the 12 elements identified in this framework. Each stage of the development of this test simulation is explicitly tied to the best practices that emerged from the literature. A second assessment tool, The Economic Theory Input-Output Matrix, is presented to enable a user to measure the economic fidelity of a simulation. This tool is based on microeconomic theory that is taught at business schools throughout the globe. Both assessment tools will be applied to the test simulation in a manner that will enable the user to replicate this research with other simulations they are interested in. The products of this dissertation are intended to aid current and future developers make better simulations and faculty users of simulations to better select simulations that will help them to achieve the goal of all involved in teaching business: To produce greater learning for students.

Prompted by frequent media reports of school fraud and a lack of relevant K-12 literature, this research study was designed to investigate current fraud prevention practices in public school districts in New York State. Using a "fraud triangle" model, an analysis of existing legislation and professional practice guidelines reveals that an integral element is being overlooked in current fraud prevention efforts, namely employee attitudes (more formally rationalization).

In an effort to fill this gap, management and accounting literature is used to identify ten specific practices associated with a decreased likelihood of fraud rationalization in the business setting. Primary research is then used to ascertain the extent to which these business practices have been implemented in New York State public schools. HLM is used to examine the nature of the relationship between the presence of these practices within a school district and employee attitudes about rationalization, as a proxy measure of fraud risk.

Data concerning both district practices and employee attitudes about fraud were collected using an online survey of 938 employees from 56 randomly selected K-12 school districts in New York State. Findings reveal low or non-existent levels of district implementation for eight of the ten suggested fraud prevention strategies. However, where strategies have been implemented, employees are less likely to report rationalization about fraud. (As the number of strategies increases, rationalization tends to decrease.) The effect of individual strategies is examined. Several district and employee demographic factors are also found to have mitigating effects.

Based on the results of this research and analysis, specific recommendations are presented in an attempt to improve school district fraud prevention efforts. The analysis also suggests areas where follow-up research studies are warranted in light of this new base-line data.

The purpose of the study was to explore the application of the strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results (SOAR) framework derived from the appreciative inquiry literature and through the lived experiences of California-based association management and non-profit executives leading professional societies, trade associations, or foundations. In addition, this research, using phenomenological interviewing techniques, aimed to determine whether or not association management executives working in California-based professional societies and trade associations changed their individual thought processes or behaviors as a result of attending a professional development program that demonstrated the SOAR framework. The research questions that guided this research were: (a) what changed mindsets were experienced as a result of an understanding with the SOAR framework in the strategic thinking process? and (b) what changed mindsets and organizational application were experienced as a result of an understanding with the SOAR framework in the strategic thinking process?

This qualitative study, using semi-structured interview questions, sought to explore and document the experiences of California-based senior association management executives with SOAR framework. This research aimed to add to the body of knowledge of SOAR as a result of expanded individual and organizational application of this approach as compared to other strategic thinking experiences. The study documents comparisons, by the non-profit executives involved in this study, between the more commonly known strategic thinking of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis and the positivity-focused SOAR framework.

Absence of management transition planning in Nigerian family enterprises undermines economic growth and job creation. Family businesses contribute significantly to the economic development in Europe and North America. This Mixed methods study involving sequential explanatory design investigated and explored the connection between culture and management transition planning in Nigeria. The specific problem investigated was the incessant collapse of family businesses after the death of founders. Management transition planning and its relationship with national culture of Nigeria, from the perspectives of nonfamily managers, is the main objective of this research. A survey involving a self-developed 40-item Likert-type scale was used for collection of data for the quantitative segment of the study. One hundred managers from 10 family businesses located in Lagos and Ogun states of Nigeria participated in the survey. During data analysis, SPSS 21.0 aided the computation of Spearman’s Rank Order correlation coefficient, which revealed that cultural beliefs and values, extended family system, tradition/legacy, and lifestyles of the family business owners had negative relationship with management transition planning. The quantitative findings indicated statistically significant correlation between culture and attitudes of family business owners toward management transition planning and allowed rejection of the four null hypotheses. Five top managers of the family businesses participated in the qualitative segment by responding to semi-structured interview questions. NVivo 10 software assisted the analysis of the qualitative data. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative results. Administrators, bankers, family business entrepreneurs, and academics would obtain valuable information from the outcomes of this study.

Educational leaders across the United States face changes affecting the educational system related to federal and state mandates. The stress of those changes may be related to superintendents’ longevity. The superintendent position has a mobility rate that is quite high. Every superintendent is different and may have a different leadership style than their predecessor. The district culture, goals, and expectations may change depending on the superintendents’ leadership style. If superintendents’ leadership style affects principals’ performance, it may affect the principals’ success or failure. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to identify if correlations existed linking 126 principals’ perception of superintendents’ leadership style and principals’ performance as reflected by student achievement data. The goal was to obtain principals’ perception of the superintendents’ leadership style as measured by the MLQ and principals’ performance as measured by AIMS reading and math data from the 2011- 2012 to 2012-2013 school years. The results indicated that superintendents’ transformational, passive avoidant and transactional leadership styles did not correlate positively to math difference scores. However, the results indicated that the passive avoidant leadership style was positively, correlated to reading difference scores. The results also indicated that there was a positive correlation between reading and math difference scores. Educational leaders should be aware that the analysis of data indicates that it is plausible that passive avoidant leadership may be more complex than nonleadership as labeled in previous research.

Healthcare spending in the United States has reached an all-time high in recent years, with an estimated $3.2 trillion spent, without any significant impact on patient outcomes because of this excessive spending. Whether the excess be attributed to over-utilization, fee-for-service payment methodology or medical errors, there is an immediate need to mitigate these issues and greatly reduce healthcare costs.

Epic Systems Corporation has developed a widely-adopted health management software that provides functionality to accomplish such goals. It applies a fully-integrated methodology to all of its different applications that support different healthcare business and clinical functions. Epic is a leader in the health management software industry.

ALLTAP Solutions, LLC provides high quality, efficient custom solutions to its clients, by applying healthcare industry expertise and Epic technical knowledge to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The market analysis that is to be presented will provide an overview of the target market, key players, the demand for these services and growth potential.

The percentage of failure in traditional project management is high, as nearly 70% of projects fail (The Standish Group, 2009). Unsuccessful projects impact businesses, customers, and society in sizable ways.

Project success and failure research fit into two categories: (a) project management methodological issues and (b) leadership and organizational behavior issues. Most research focuses on the former. This research addressed the later, specifically examining Information Technology (IT) project workers who reside in the United States.

The central research question was, What is the optimal organizational culture for IT project teams such that success factors are enhanced and failure factors are lessened? A mixed-methods study was designed and implemented. For Phase One, an internet survey was conducted using Cameron and Quinn's (2006) Competing Values Framework (Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI)) and compared to a measure of IT Project Success. For Phase Two, qualitative interviews were carried out using Schein's (2004) Three Levels Model of organizational culture, and then a Thematic Analysis was completed to obtain an optimal culture model.

One hundred forty-one participants completed Phase One. Results showed no significant correlation between the four culture types (Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy) and IT project success. For Phase Two, 15 participants of varying job roles and demographics completed interviews. Applying Thematic Analysis techniques, 175 codes related to leadership and organizational behavior issues were determined, which produced twenty-six themes.

The findings from Phase Two produced a set of interrelated organizational culture factors that IT project workers believed were optimal for project success. The framework was termed Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM and comprised four dimensions: (a) organizational behavior/leadership, (b) processes, (c) support, and (d) technology. The results suggest that if managers and consultants implemented this model, or applicable factors, that their IT projects would likely have greater success, or lower degrees of failure.

Suggestions for future research is to continue to study leadership and organizational behavior issues of project teams. Additional research is needed on the Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM framework to determine whether differing demographics of IT workers and company (or project) types impact the results.