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Weatherhead Doctor of Management Programs
Show moreA qualitative study of eleven male and eleven female directors was undertaken to investigate gender differences relating to championing tough issues at the board. This study demonstrated that men and women at the board share common mechanisms in the championing process. Correspondingly, they also evidenced notable differences. A championing model is presented to examine the gendered differences of the “tough issues” championing process. The model incorporates (1) the preconditions to championing, (2) the board environment that impacts the choice to champion (3) the influencing factors that impact the engagement process (4) the engagement style of the champions and (5) the collateral benefits (or not) of having championed the issue. Consistent with Kramer, Konrad and Ekrut (2006), women championed twice the number of issues as men in this sample. Both male and female directors championed very difficult issues; the majority of which related to the CEO including leadership ability, performance, management style and compensation. Directors agreed that the benefits to the board and the individual champion did outweigh the difficulties of the champion process. As a result, champions of tough issues have a unique role to play in improving the decision-making quality of boards.
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Show moreTheorists such as Simon (1973), Popper (1959) and Kuhn (1962) have commented on the tendency to view scientific discovery as a “revolution” with a focus on an end result. In history, we “date” scientific discoveries as if they were events instead of the final outcome of a lengthy experimentation process. But, as Kuhn (1962:7) observed nearly a half-century ago, scientific revolution is, in fact, a “process rarely completed by a single man and never overnight”. Rather, discovery most often occurs as a result of collaboration and interaction between researchers over protracted periods of time. Surprisingly, there is a paucity of research detailing the exchange and collaboration between scientists in the process of discovery despite the assumption that understanding this process might catalyze future scientific endeavor. Brown and Duguid (1991) argue that interaction with others requires access to an overarching network, a “Community of Practice” that facilitates interaction among insiders by providing formal and informal venues for exchange. In this space, new configurations of knowledge networks emerge (Boland & Tenkasi, 1995). Geographical dispersion of researchers in laboratories minimizes opportunities for interaction with scientists outside the home institution. To compensate, scientists very often belong to professional communities that provide focused forums for exchange of information. Therein individuals form networks in which they can share ideas about common pursuits of discovery. Professional scientific organizations collect and archive the artifacts of discovery and further disseminate the information to the communities they serve. They also sponsor scientific meetings that provide a unique opportunity to interact with fellow scientists presenting a wide array of associated and/or complementary knowledge. In effect, professional research associations serve as social networks that offer a unique opportunity for interaction with those outside the home lab. This paper reports the results of qualitative research involving professionally networked scientists about their understandings of the process of scientific discovery and how it is facilitated by collegial interaction (i.e. within “networks of discovery”). Kuhn (1962) acknowledged the rendering scientific revolutions ‘invisible’ by truncating the work of scientists to the moment of outcome. This study sought to illuminate emergent revolutions by revealing the often fragmented and circuitous “routes” of discovery Most of the existing literature on organizations and social networks provide a static view, concentrating on “...monitoring the obligatory passage points of networks (Lee & Brown, 1994, p. 787) and, in doing so, maintaining a focus on endpoints but not the steps that led there. This research assumes, however, that networks of discovery may be Complex Adaptive Systems (Holland, 1995); self-organizing, made up of heterogeneous actors that maintain a high degree of connectivity, both inside the system and in the external environment with diversity as an important aspect of the structure (Holland, 1995; Chiva-Gomez, 2003; Dooley, 1997; Ashmos et al, 2002). Allowing scientists to relate their own experiences is hoped to enrich understanding about the process and product of social interaction that leads to discovery. The research suggests the need for design and development of additional navigational tools to catalyze the flow of useful information between scientists to resolve obstacles encountered during experimentation.
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Show moreHow do we reliably sustain performance of the US defense assets over their expected life cycles in an industry where the legacy skills of employees at an average age of 49 will soon be lost to attrition? While the defense industry has illustrated reliable results in the past, we now must pay serious attention to the Human Capital if we are to continue to sustain performance. This study examines the ways that HC is understood and monitored by upper echelon who work in high-tech defense companies, government as well as individuals in academia who are familiar with the defense industry.
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Show moreAdaptive, transformative changes are not just a luxury for the chosen few but a vital necessity for all organizations. The brutality of market forces, the ephemeral qualities of customer needs, the revolutionary powers of technology and the ravages caused by the passage of time make the need to constantly adapt and renew competitive advantages an undeniable high priority for organizations. Most adaptive changes begin with learning. That learning often inspires a new vision and mindset, and the actions that ensue could result in new cultures, skills, systems and processes. We have collectively referred to all these elements as the mental universe of the organization. This mental universe often governs all the interactions in the organization – from the language used internally to the delivery of their value proposition externally. In a limited context we have explored the impact of this mental universe on external performance yardsticks. Perhaps this is just a small indicator of much greater value to be extracted. The chain of events that begins with learning and transforms the mental universe of an organization to become more adaptive and resilient and, as a result, continually renew its competitive advantages is an exciting link that merits further research and development.
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Show moreCommunity foundations administer over $44 billion and distribute $3.6 billion annually to improve quality of life throughout America. The Council on Foundations, a nationwide membership association of grantmaking organizations of all types, developed rigorous, but voluntary, “National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations” in 2000. In light of increased public scrutiny of charitable organizations, standards were developed to define and distinguish community foundations from other philanthropic vehicles and to aid them in establishing legal, ethical and effective operational practices that demonstrate transparency and financial responsibility. In addition, the Standards were conceived to promote self-regulation in a manner viewed positively by policy makers. Qualitative research based on interviews with board members and CEOs of nine Ohio community foundations, sought to gauge the relative impact of standards on organizational performance and advancement. Findings suggest that engaged and proactive leadership and membership in an association of grantmakers are more important than the National Standards as factors that propel community foundation role advancement. The results have relevance to not-for-profit sector practitioners and scholars concerned about the governance and impact of community foundations.
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Show moreThis paper describes selection processes of successors in family businesses with respect to daughters of family business owners. Statistics reveal a paucity of daughters in the ranks of successors. Understanding of this issue might identify beliefs and practices within business owning families that may contribute to the success or failure of transitioning from one generation to the next. A conceptual model was developed based on the decision making process described by The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985). A qualitative approach was used to investigate this phenomenon allowing for feelings, stories, and reflective thought to emerge and provide insights into this issue. A total of twenty-one interview subjects participated in this study. Themes from the interviews were identified, compared, and contrasted between three sample subgroups: 1) daughters who did not become successors, 2) daughters who became successors, and 3) sons who became successors in their family’s business. Findings reveal that social and gender norms, not a decision making process, drive the initial selection process. These norms preclude daughters from perceiving themselves as potential successors. The norms are generated by a recursive process with popular media, parents, teachers, and other community leaders and practices reinforcing roles for men and women that deter daughters from assuming leadership positions in industry and business. Findings also disclose that an unusual event creating a critical need may collapse these norms and allow daughters an opportunity to become a successor. The opportunity, coupled with mentoring and the development of self-efficacy can lead to effective, sustainable succession. Key Words: Family Owned Business, Succession, Gender, Self-Efficacy, Norms, Mentoring, Theory of Planned Behavior
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Show moreSeveral nonprofit umbrella associations have implemented assessment and certification programs intending to produce institutional improvement for member organizations. An analysis of semi-structured interviews guided by institutional theory, reveals factors that differentiate among organizations that chose to participate in one such program (the Louisiana Standards for Excellence organizational assessment) and those that did not. Drawing on organizational learning and accountability literatures, the research investigates the antecedents and consequences of accreditation in nonprofits. Results indicate that, integrity-enhancement, continuous improvement and financial motives drive the decision to seek accreditation, and outcomes of remediation-oriented process improvement initiatives were contingent upon staff commitment.
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Show moreMany Chinese Protestant churches in North America have noted a severe membership reduction due to the exiting of second generation Asian Americans, i.e. American-Raised Chinese (ARC) and American-Born Chinese (ABC). This research investigates why 22- to 35-year-old young adults return or do not return to Chinese churches after a hiatus usually caused by relocation to attend college. The purpose of the study is to examine motives of these young adults, to examine the nature and extent of their commitment and loyalty to the church and to consider how acculturation and cultural conflicts influence retention decisions. Our findings may allow church leaders to nurture young adults’ long-term commitment, thereby facilitating the overall health and survival of Chinese churches in the United States.
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Show moreThis paper examines the spontaneous, situational, adaptive capabilities in successful business-to-business salespeople. Salespeople craft appropriate sales value propositions that resonate with buyers to achieve a sale. Findings indicate sales value propositions occur in four distinct patterns, as a combination of a salespeople’s choice in emphasizing the value of their relationship and/or the solution itself. This paper combines contingency selling approaches with job crafting to suggest a new construct—“sales opportunity crafting (SOC)”—to explain how salespeople frame a sales opportunity and then decide on a sales value positioning response. The suggested model highlights the role of antecedents— such as influence over customers’ decisions, ability to fulfill customers’ needs, and the importance of the sales opportunity— in shaping a salesperson’s response to and effort exerted in a particular selling situation. Findings may help organizations better understand and manage the aspects influencing sales force performance. Keywords: adaptive selling behavior, contingency theory, job crafting, organizational improvisation, sales identities, relationship selling, sales performance, solution selling
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Show moreAcademic Medical Centers (AMC), despite their research and educational prowess, are in a financial crisis. Increasing costs, stiffer competition, and anticipated tightening of budgets have created new levels of urgency among medical school deans and hospital CEOs to increase the efficiency of the clinical enterprise. This study models an AMC as a loosely coupled system and examines why interdisciplinary teams—comprising administrators, physicians, and nurses—struggle to successfully reengineer healthcare processes. Semi-structured interviews in an U.S. AMC were the basis for the development of a grounded theory framework. The findings suggest that: (a) the ambivalent culture of an AMC alternately supports and block reengineering, efforts, (b) improved patient outcomes must drive, and will result in, organizational efficiencies, (c) successful reengineering efforts share several common characteristics, and (d) good planning is important, but insufficient to drive change. The accompanying conceptual model suggests that the hospital-focused and patient-focused reengineering goals act as independent variables. The reengineering process is mediated by an iterative convergence of the sensemaking and meaning-arbitrage dyad that results in equifinal meaning. Subsequent actions result in organizational performance. The process is moderated by the psychological safety afforded to the team as well as the resources provided to implement the changes. Implications for both scholars and practitioners are presented. Key words: Loosely coupled systems, reengineering, sensemaking, meaning arbitrage, equifinal meaning, psychological safety.
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Show moreCommunity foundations administer over $44 billion and distribute $3.6 billion annually to improve quality of life throughout America. The Council on Foundations, a nationwide membership association of grantmaking organizations of all types, developed rigorous, but voluntary, “National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations” in 2000. In light of increased public scrutiny of charitable organizations, standards were developed to define and distinguish community foundations from other philanthropic vehicles and to aid them in establishing legal, ethical and effective operational practices that demonstrate transparency and financial responsibility. In addition, the Standards were conceived to promote self-regulation in a manner viewed positively by policy makers. Qualitative research based on interviews with board members and CEOs of nine Ohio community foundations, sought to gauge the relative impact of standards on organizational performance and advancement. Findings suggest that engaged and proactive leadership and membership in an association of grantmakers are more important than the National Standards as factors that propel community foundation role advancement. The results have relevance to not-for-profit sector practitioners and scholars concerned about the governance and impact of community foundations.
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Show moreBuying decisions surrounding complex, transformational software are not made by individuals but instead by buying teams. Existing research on sales behavior and salesperson traits focuses on one-to-one selling and gives little insight into the training and selection required of a successful sales force. This paper describes the selling style and personal traits of twelve successful salespeople engaged in complex computer software sales to buying teams. What do successful salespeople do and what is it about him/her that distinguishes the most successful? Technology Frames of Reference and Actor Network Theory were used to interpret the methods used in successfully selling to a buying team. Emotional and cognitive intelligence traits of top performers were identified. The results indicate behavior different to that predicted by the literature. There was no evidence that salespeople attempt to create a shared Frame of Reference or that they focus on classic sales ideas such as negotiation or personal relationships. To flourish in complex software sales to buying teams, successful salespeople strive to manage the interactions between members of the buying team; assembling and disassembling the network of relationships to maximize support. The emotional and cognitive intelligences evident in the top performers were consistent with the literature on one-to-one selling however further research on which combinations are the true discriminators is needed. The practices used by successful salespeople can be used as a learning model for new and developing salespeople. Knowing which traits predict superior performance allows a priori selection in the hiring process.
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Show moreSemi-structured interviews were conducted with nineteen senior North American business practitioners in multinational corporations to understand their experiences with strategic planning and resource allocation for R&D. In particular, we sought to elicit insight about where planning and allocation overlap, and how they are executed today, vs. five to ten years ago. Findings indicate the outsourcing of R&D is rapidly increasing. R&D is becoming an operational business function as opposed to an internal investment in key knowledge for future firm sustainability. R&D also appears to no longer be a major focus of the strategic planning effort at the highest management levels. Conclusions are that 1.) Practitioners are having to act quickly for the short term without having time to plan strategy for the long term; 2.) The economic environment is changing so rapidly that formal planning processes are too static for today’s tumultuous business world; and, 3.) There are so many options for acquiring R&D via “open innovation,” that managers perceive it to be an operating manager’s choice versus a strategic decision.
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Show moreSixteen intercollegiate athletes, eight male and eight female basketball players representing both Division I and Division III institutions, were interviewed to understand what influences college student athletes when making moral choices. The study focused on how student athletes define moral choice and what social referent groups impact them. The effects of gender and NCAA Division level were also investigated. Fear of consequences, influence of individuals occupying key leadership positions on the team, and the role of upper class students were revealed to impact moral choice
Doctorate of Management Programs
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