The Republic of Cuba has been experiencing economic fluctuations for at least the last 50 years due to endogenous and exogenous socio-economic and political conditions. Based on these factors, Cuba has lost market share and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This dissertation studied macro variables from 13 countries and tested their relationships with FDI to Cuba during the period of 1998 through 2008. The results showed that level of technology, GNI per capita, and human capital had significantly impacted FDI to Cuba. The result also determined that financial capital, energy and natural resources, transportation and communication, market type, environmental factors and governmental factors in these 13 countries did not influence FDI to Cuba. Lastly, China, India and the Russian Federation had the most number of significant variables impacting FDI to Cuba. This was followed by Jamaica, Haiti, Peru, Madagascar and Nepal. The United States, Japan, France, Germany and Spain had the least impact on FDI to Cuba.

What traits and conditions are related to political behaviors in the workplace? Do diverse role stressors, such as overload, ambiguity, and conflict, relate to divergent protective reactions in an effort to fight, flee, or seek social support? This dissertation seeks to answer these questions by conceptualizing impression management tactics as individual protective reactions to workplace stressors. Although impression management behaviors in the workplace are generally believed to be the result of both situational and dispositional characteristics, an array of research has explored only single facets of each domain. For example, ingratiation alone has been explored, single role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, overload, or conflict), or one or two personality dimensions. However, the complexities of human behavior and organizational life warrants a more comprehensive view of the mix of conditions that are related to various impression management tactics. In my theoretical model, individual needs, affectivity, and situational conditions (i.e., role stressors, organizational culture, and hierarchy) are posed as important antecedents of divergent impression management behaviors exhibited in the workplace. Individual reactions to stressors, in the form of impression management, are conceptualized as fight (intimidation), flight (supplication), or social support (ingratiation) reactions. Political skill is viewed as an important resource that serves not only as a moderator that can enhance outcomes when performing impression management behaviors, but it also serves as an antecedent to the successful selection of tactics and the interpretation of threats in the environment. Dyadic survey data were collected from 110 employees and 55 managers from an automotive group in the Southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression were used to test the hypotheses. Additional post-hoc analyses were also conducted based on the results of my hypotheses tests. Results provided support for a number of my hypotheses, such that employees had diverse reactions to the tested role stressors. However, although I hypothesized that each role stressor would be related to more or less use of each of the impression management tactics, and the tactics would be related to outcomes, only some of my hypotheses were supported. Relationships discovered were primarily in the form of main effects. Interestingly, ambiguity led to a flight mechanism and a reduction in the use of impression management behaviors whereas conflict led to increased engagement in the workplace through the use of more intimidation, ingratiation, and supplication. While there is some, albeit limited, support for the mediating role of impression management tactics between my antecedents (i.e., affectivity and situational conditions) and outcomes (i.e., job tension and performance), propositions are made with regard to other outcomes that may improve our understanding of the mediating role of behaviors in the workplace. Further, our understanding of political skill is enhanced through my moderation analyses, providing an array of propositions for future research with regard to the dimensionality of political skill as it relates to impression management in the workplace. A discussion of the results includes an evaluation of research limitations, suggestions for future research, contributions to the literature, and practical implications. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / May 17, 2007. / Negative Affectivity, Positive Affectivity, Political Behavior, Job Tension, Role Stressors, Conservation Of Resources / Includes bibliographical references. / Pamela L. Perrewé, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Brymer, Outside Committee Member; Gerald R. Ferris, Committee Member; Jack T. Fiorito, Committee Member; Chad Van Iddekinge, Committee Member.

Franchising is an important organizational form, but extant theory explaining firms' use of franchising is at best incomplete. Research has primarily used agency and resource-scarcity theory to explain firms' propensity to franchise, and studies have rarely investigated the performance differences among franchising firms. In an attempt to offer a different and, hopefully, richer explanation for the antecedents to firms' propensity to franchise and franchisor performance, I build hypotheses grounded in resource-based and relational theories, and test these ideas using a survey of 156 top management team members from active franchisors. Findings support my arguments that the relational view adds explanatory power, but similar support was not found for resource-based variables. However, resource-based and relational variables both explain firm performance, both directly and by interacting with firms' propensity to franchise. I also found that some relational variables act opposite to theory, and further investigation revealed the existence of two distinct organizational types, the plural form and the turnkey operator. These findings suggest that future inquiry can benefit from looking beyond firms' exact propensity to franchise and more to organizational type as a moderator of the relationship between franchisor and relational resources and performance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / June 1, 2007. / Relational View, Resource-based Theory, Franchising, Agency Theory, Franchisor / Includes bibliographical references. / James G. Combs, Professor Directing Dissertation; Larry C. Giunipero, Outside Committee Member; Bruce T. Lamont, Committee Member; Annette L. Ranft, Committee Member.

Firms are now required to disclose environmental activities and obligations. Prior, presumably viable firms failed to include such obligations on financials. Firms in bankruptcy are often successful in discharging their environmentally liabilities often at great cost to the public. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine existing financial tests companies use to assure the Environmental Protection Agency that they can satisfy their environmental obligations. Passing these tests allows firms to continue engaging in potentially hazardous lines of business without actually allocating the necessary funds. I examine the ability of the tests to detect firms that eventually go bankrupt. I compare the performance of the tests to several methods used to predict bankruptcy such as the Altman Z-Score models, Grice and Ingram's definition of distress, bond ratings, and auditor opinion. I also test the sensitivity of the financial tests to varying cost of closure. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Finance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2005. / April 4, 2005. / Financial Assurance, Assurance Mechanism, Altman Z-Score, Bankruptcy, Environmental Protection Agency / Includes bibliographical references. / Pamela P. Peterson-Drake, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Patrick F. Maroney, Outside Committee Member; Gary A. Benesh, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation.

Competitive dynamics is the study of firms' competitive moves; and corporate governance is the study of the influence of boards of directors on managers. Both areas of study have revealed important factors that affect performance, such as making aggressive competitive moves and incentivizing managers (Ferrier, Smith, & Grimm, 1999; Sanders & Hambrick, 2007). Despite the ramifications of both perspectives on important firm outcomes, prior research has not linked these two areas. Traditionally, competitive dynamics research has focused on the market conditions and resources that encourage and enable firms to undertake aggressive competitive actions. Yet, research in this stream has not focused on the influence of directors or managers in this process. In this sense, competitive dynamics research has made predictions that are inconsistent with corporate governance research by inadvertently assuming that all managers are equally motivated and equally capable of enacting resources toward aggressive competitive actions. Corporate governance research, on the other hand, has focused on the mechanisms (i.e., monitoring, incentives, and guidance) that boards use to encourage and enable managers to act in shareholders' best interests. Yet, research on corporate governance has not linked these mechanisms to competitive interactions among rivalrous firms. Using data from the restaurant industry from 2006-2012, the results support the idea that corporate governance influences competitive aggression. Results also suggest that industry-specific experience has direct and interactive effects that enhance performance, whereas extra-industry experience can be misapplied and harm short-term performance. By combining these two areas I provide a realistic and comprehensive model of the way that boards and managers influence competitive outcomes. In doing so, I extend Chen's (1996) attention-motivation-capability theoretical framework to show that managers differ in their motivation and capability and that these differences are a driving force behind firm-variance in competitive moves. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Information Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / June 11, 2014. / Board of Directors, CEO Compensation, Competitive Dynamics, Corporate Governance, Human Capital / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce T. Lamont, Professor Directing Dissertation; James G. Combs, Committee Member; Gerald R. Ferris, Committee Member; R. Michael Holmes, Jr., Committee Member.

Today, employee-employer relationships have increasingly become an important determinant of individuals' work behaviors. The employee-employer relationship is a concept of psychological contracts which suggest that understanding work-related perceptions can help explain workplace attitudes and behaviors (Rousseau 1995). It is defined as an employee's perceptions, shaped by the employer, regarding terms of an exchange agreement between employees and their employers. A change to this perceptual agreement may contribute to an environment where a breach of psychological contract would occur. A psychological contract breach is an occasion where an employee perceives that their employer has failed to meet one or more obligations within their psychological contract. This is important to the IS literature because it helps to explain some of the external factors that employees perceive with respect to technology, which ultimately influence their attitude toward technology. This research is rooted in the social information processing theory, which explores how situational factors, such as social context of work, and the presence of consequences from previous actions influence employees' attitudes and behaviors. The social context in this study is a post-adoption diffusion context, a set of cues and messages that concern a period of time after implementation and initial usage of a diffused technology. An employee perceives their employee-employer relationship from the given salient and relevant information of the post-adoption diffusion context. A change in this perception contributes to a breach of this psychological contract. Recent IS research has found relationships between psychological contract breach, attitudes and behaviors. Similarly, this dissertation investigates the role of the technology-related psychological contract breach and its importance in explaining workplace attitudes and subsequently, behaviors toward technology. The tripartite attitude will help to explain conflicting findings in the diffusion literature regarding the attitude construct and may better explain differing and conflicting post-adoption diffusion behaviors. Results suggest that employees' technology-related psychological contract breach significantly influenced a cognitive component of attitude. Furthermore, multiple components of attitude (cognitive and conative information) determine multiple post-adoption diffusion behaviors (learning and sociopolitical diffusion behaviors). Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the post-adoption diffusion context through employees' perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward the technology. In addition, this study emphasizes the significance of the employee-employer relationship to organizations where the perceptions/judgments of employees are viewed important to determining the attitudes and behaviors toward technology that influence successful post-adoption technology. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management Information Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / May 20, 2009. / Social Information Processing Theory, Tripartite Attitude, Survey, Post-Adoption Diffusion Behaviors, Psychological Contract Breach / Includes bibliographical references. / Joey F. George, Professor Directing Dissertation; Pamela L. Perrewé, Outside Committee Member; David B. Paradice, Committee Member; Ashley A. Bush, Committee Member.

A continued focus in organizational research has been on career development, and mentoring has been continually identified as a key determinant of career success. Research has identified the phases and initiation processes of mentoring as well as the content and outcomes of these relationships. However, we still have little understanding of the interpersonal dynamics which contribute to variation in content and outcomes. This dissertation addresses the construct of mentoring relational quality and considers how affective perceptions held by mentors and protégés can affect the mentoring behaviors which are provided. Individual characteristics (e.g., behavioral integrity) of mentors and protégés were examined for their impact on mentoring relational quality. Professional identification and other outcomes were predicted as consequences of mentoring relational quality. Dyadic survey data were collected from 191 doctoral candidates or recent doctoral alumni and 120 dissertation chairs. These samples resulted in 100 matched pairs of mentor-protégé dyads in doctoral education. Hierarchical regression and partial least squares path analysis were used to test the hypotheses. Additional post-hoc analyses were also conducted to extend the insight of the findings. Results provided support for a number of hypotheses, such that mentoring relational quality emerged as an integral consideration in mentoring dynamics. However, the effects of one person's individual characteristics on the other's perceptions of mentoring were not supported as hypothesized. A discussion of the results includes an evaluation of research limitations, suggestions for future research, contributions to the literature, and practical implications. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2011. / June 27, 2011. / mentoring, doctoral studies, relational quality, mentor, protege, behavioral integrity / Includes bibliographical references. / Pamela L. Perrewé, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Hartline, University Representative; Gerald R. Ferris, Committee Member; Chad Van Iddekinge, Committee Member; Atira C. Charles, Committee Member.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a critical process business leaders use to increase profitability and grow their business. Still, the majority of M&As fail to deliver the expected value to the acquirers. Grounded in Sarasvathy's effectuation theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies to conduct successful M&A processes. The participants were 8 individuals from a global healthcare company who acted as the company's presidents and had experience conducting M&As. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The following themes emerged: leadership focus, value creation, integration strategy, the review process, relationship development, and organizational governance. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve communities, create stability in the healthcare industry, and improve health outcomes, well-being, longevity, and the quality of life for individuals who consume healthcare products.

Despite the awareness of employee motivation among scholars and business leaders, many American workers attest to being unmotivated. A lack of employee motivation can lead to negative business outcomes. Therefore, middle managers may experience challenges in identifying strategies to motivate their staff. Grounded in the path-goal theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore nonprofit health care organization middle managers' motivational strategies for the administrative workforce. The participants were comprised of 13 middle managers in the United States who supervised administrative teams of 4 or more members for over 2 years and effectively implemented motivational strategies. The data collection methods were telephonic semistructured interviews and reflective journaling. Through thematic analysis, 3 themes emerged: utilization of various leadership behaviors, awareness of motivational factors, and employee performance. The implications for positive social change include the potential to stimulate personal drive, improve career development, and allow individuals the opportunity to increase the quality of their home lives and communities. By understanding effective motivational strategies, health care leaders may realize tactical solutions to business goals through the development of their managerial staff's inspirational approaches.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a critical process business leaders use to increase profitability and grow their business. Still, the majority of M&As fail to deliver the expected value to the acquirers. Grounded in Sarasvathy's effectuation theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies to conduct successful M&A processes. The participants were 8 individuals from a global healthcare company who acted as the company's presidents and had experience conducting M&As. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The following themes emerged: leadership focus, value creation, integration strategy, the review process, relationship development, and organizational governance. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve communities, create stability in the healthcare industry, and improve health outcomes, well-being, longevity, and the quality of life for individuals who consume healthcare products.