This PhD study draws from anticolonial and decolonial thought systems to explore how multi-level factors; macro-level (social-contextual contextual histories, economic, legal and religious), meso-level (organisational cultures, structures, processes and procedures), and micro-level (interpersonal and intergroup), intersect to shape the experiences of black managers in accessing top management positions within Namibian private sector organisations. This study aimed to uncover the historical and political elements that underpin black managers' experiences. The data in this study was collected through a decolonial data collection process utilizing storytelling interviews with 44 study participants, recruited through snowball sampling. The research adopts a qualitative research design that infuses thematic analysis with decolonial, and anticolonial, lenses of data analyses, rooted in the African indigenous paradigm. The findings of this study reveal influential multi-level factors influencing the experiences of black managers are interwoven and imbued with coloniality of power (coloniality)—continuing colonial social and economic patterns rooted in the colonial histories that are not lost to the past. In the Namibian context, coloniality is anchored in the histories of colonial violence, including the German genocide of black Namibians (1904-1908) and its apartheid successor. These histories continue to reside in the society and the private sector, re-inscribing and entrenching colonial social and economic relations that are (re)produced at organisational levels. The study's critical theoretical contribution highlights coloniality as the deep-seated and concealed structure undergirding the persistent racial inequalities within Namibian private sector organisations, through which black managers are subjugated, disempowered, exploited, and marginalised from opportunities to access organisational resources and top management positions. Furthermore, the study shows that coloniality in the contemporary private sector is intimately tied to the private sector's participation in past colonial violence. At present, it appears that coloniality in the private sector is facilitated by influential white executives forming white affiliations of power in maintaining the material and symbolic interests of the white minority populace. This study labels these enacted implicit political and insidious managerial practices and mechanisms as: 'managing to colonise'. Finally, this study recommends dismantling the coloniality of power underlying racial inequalities in the private sector and the broader Namibian society through anticolonial and decolonial praxis grounded in reparative social justice, equality and self-determination.

Cross sector partnerships (CSPs) are considered essential for addressing grand challenges, yet the actual partnering process often leads to friction, disappointing results, and dismay for those involved. Scholars have identified that individuals play a critical role in the success of cross sector collaboration and that their commitment to the partnership facilitates CSP functioning. However, the micro-level aspects of commitment within CSPs have yet to be examined carefully. The partnership literature calls for more in-depth research on individuals and recommends drawing from the fields of organizational behaviour and organizational psychology. Meanwhile, the commitment literature calls for examination of workplace commitment within cross boundary settings and in relation to higher purpose causes. My interpretive, micro-level study responds to these parallel and synergistic needs for additional research by exploring what shapes individuals' commitment to cross sector partnerships. I use a constructivist grounded theory approach to conduct a longitudinal, comparative case study of 23 health partnership practitioners in South Africa. My findings are consolidated in an empirically developed model that describes how the nature of individuals' CSP commitment differs depending on which of three key commitment targets (employing organization, career, or social goal) they prioritize in the context of the partnership. In distinguishing between those who are instrumentally vs altruistically committed to the CSP, the model outlines two pathways through adversity which result in four different behavioural outcomes of exiting, stepping aside, stepping away or stepping in. Critically, the model illustrates what enables certain partnership practitioners to sustain CSP commitment despite adversity and how eudaimonic well-being is generated through this process. My examination of workplace commitment within CSPs contributes to the partnership literature by enhancing micro-level understanding of the human and emotional side of cross sector partnering. I provide insight on why individuals commit to CSPs and illustrate how this influences behavioural responses to adversity. I also contribute to the commitment literature by shedding light on the interplay of different commitment targets within a cross boundary, socially oriented workplace setting and providing empirical evidence for how altruism facilitates commitment. Finally, I reveal the benefit that sustained commitment generates for partnership practitioners and suggest how my findings may be leveraged for both partnering practice and future research.

Recently, relationship scholars have demonstrated the importance of expressions of gratitude in cultivating relational bonds and relational satisfaction between close friends and romantic partners. Although there is growing evidence that gratitude facilitates improved relationships, organizational scholars have largely ignored the importance of gratitude in the workplace. What little we know indicates that expressions of gratitude in organizations may be rare. Indeed, a recent national survey revealed that 74% of the participants rarely, if ever, expressed gratitude to their supervisors (Kaplan, 2012). What might explain this apparent lack of gratitude? Research demonstrates that when individuals feel grateful for the generosity of a benefactor, they are motivated to acknowledge the benefactor's efforts and this typically manifests in a desire to express thanks or appreciation. Thus, in order to understand why subordinates may be unlikely to express gratitude towards their supervisors for benefits received, we must understand why they may not feel grateful in the first place. In this dissertation, I review the extant research on gratitude expressions and theorize about the factors that may influence subordinates' emotional reactions to benefits received from supervisors. Using a cognitive-emotion framework, I explain how subordinates' attributions can elicit divergent emotional responses that exert differential influences on upward expressions of gratitude and how supervisors' behavior influences these attributions. Across two studies, I find mixed support for my hypotheses.

Obesity is a condition affecting billions of people around the world. Its societal, psychological, and health outcomes have been well documented across multiple disciplines. Moreover, obesity leads to serious workplace outcomes for the organization, the obese individual, and the coworkers working around the obese employee. With this multi-chapter dissertation, I review the literature on the workplace consequences of obesity and extend one potentially fruitful area within this literature base: obesity's impact on a proximal employee. Chapter 1 reviews the workplace consequences associated with obesity. The purpose is to evaluate and integrate this multidisciplinary literature so that management scholars can take up the study of obesity. Although a limited amount of work is being done in management, this work is stagnant and ignoring the larger body of literature from other areas. Addressing this weakness, this chapter accomplishes three goals. First, it reviews the empirical literature and conceptual foundations that have examined the workplace consequences of obesity. Second, it develops an integrated conceptual model of obesity's impact on workplace outcomes, with particular attention to the processes by which obesity is associated with these outcomes. Third, it presents key unanswered questions and directions for future research. Chapter 2 explores a new target for the impact of obesity, the non-obese coworker working around the obese employee. This chapter considers how an employee's obesity can affect a proximal coworker's job performance. To do so, it considers the three people: an observer (Person A), an obese employee (Person B), and a non-obese coworker (Person C). To date, the main theoretical framework has only considered ratings in the mind of an observer (Person A) and how the negative attitudes associated with obesity (Person B) can spill over onto a proximal worker (Person C). This leads an observer (Person A) to rate the coworker's (Person C) performance more negatively than a coworker not working around an obese employee (Person B). However, beyond the impact of obesity on the subjective evaluations by an observer (Person A), there is reason to believe that the non-obese employee (Person C) may be impacted in such a way to affect actual job performance. Accordingly, I competitively test three theoretical perspectives that may explain the processes by which a coworker's obesity (Person B) may impact a proximal coworker's (Person C) job performance. One of these perspectives (stereotype activation theory), receives consistent support across samples. Chapter 3 presents a concluding discussion. I consider lessons learned from Chapter 2 and integrate these with the literature reviewed in Chapter 1.

With supply chains spanning the globe, and with increasing time-sensitivity for various products in many markets, timely deliveries are becoming a strategy, as important as productivity, quality, and even innovation (see, e.g., Gunasekaran, Patel, and McGaughey (2004), Christopher (2005), and Nagurney (2006)). A product is considered to be time-sensitive, if there is a strict time requirement regarding that product, either as a characteristic of the product itself or on the demand side. In particular, a time-sensitive product must have at least one of the following two properties: 1. the product loses its value rapidly, due to either obsolescence or perishability, which can lead to extra waste and cost, if unused; 2. the demand for it is sensitive to the elapsed time for the order fulfillment; the failure to satisfy the demand on-time may result in the loss of potential market share, or, even worse, additional injuries or death as in times of crises. This dissertation formulates, analyzes, and solves a spectrum of supply chain network problems for time-sensitive products, ranging from fast fashion to food to pharmaceuticals. Specifically, I first develop a model that captures the trade-offs between the operational costs and time issues in the apparel industry. I then construct a sustainable fashion supply chain network model under oligopolistic competition and brand differentiation. I, subsequently, capture the deterioration of fresh produce along the entire supply chain through arc multipliers with time decay. Finally, I consider the supply chain network design problem for critical needs products, as in times of crises and humanitarian relief operations. I also develop a supply chain network design/redesign model with multiple products, with particular relevance to healthcare. This dissertation consists of advances in the modeling, analysis, and design of supply chain networks for time-sensitive products, all unified through the methodology of variational inequality theory (see Nagurney (1999)), coupled with network theory and multicriteria decision-making. The framework captures the underlying behavior associated with the operation and management of the associated supply chains, whether that of central optimization or competition, allows for the graphical depiction of the supply chain network structures, and efficient and effective solution.

Bibliography: leaves 105-118. / The issue of the relationship between innovation and market orientation is a vexing yet vital problem for researcher and practitioner alike. The recent strategic management and marketing literatures have featured an ongoing debate concerning these philosophies as guiding templates for the way in which organisations conduct their business activity. This dissertation takes as its theme this central tension. Specifically, it focuses on the dialectic between marketing and innovation. The contrast between serving and creating customers is explored and the sometimes-uneasy relationship between an innovation and a customer orientation is examined in the light of both philosophical origin and contemporary research. From this discussion, a model that provides an inclusive paradigm is developed. The resulting archetypes and their inter-relationships are then discussed and related to the different strategies that firms have used to resolve the tension. The dissertation then explores the dynamics of the change process for several well-known companies, based on the insights generated by the model. Managerial implications of the model are explored, with a particular emphasis on how new technology is changing the desirability of alternative strategies. Having specified and explored the model on a conceptual level, the dissertation then goes on to operationalize the framework. Specifically, a measurement scale to assess the extent to which a firm or a business corresponds to a particular archetype is developed. Tests of reliability and validity are conducted. The results indicate in four clearly defied factors that correspond to the archetypes in the model. The use of the model and scale for management and academics are discussed.

This study quantifies the business value of consumer reviews and discusses its wider implications to hotel performance, specifically to delineate the unique effects of the User-Generated Content (UGC) components on room sales. In contrast to earlier studies that take consumer reviews as an exogenous factor, this study finds empirical evidence that consumer reviews both influence and are influenced by room sales through a dynamic framework. In consideration of the endogeneity in consumer reviews, this study uses a dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) model to address the reviews/sales relation and illustrates why other commonly used estimation that ignore the dynamic relationship between current reviews and room sales may be biased. A longitudinal panel-data sample of 56,284 hotel reviews on a daily basis, along with quarterly hotel performance over a ten-quarter observation window, is used for the empirical modeling. This study finds that room sales are significantly influenced by the review volume, suggesting the importance of awareness effect. Specifically, a 1% increase in the average quarterly number of reviews received would result in a 0.10 units increase in the average revenue per available room. Compared to paid or owned traditional marketing channels, the earned consumer reviews' business value can be justified by the marginal costs of producing extra copies of reviews by consumers and providing social media service by hotel managers. Nevertheless, this study shows that the rating of consumer reviews and its variation does not have effect on hotel room sales after accounting for the endogeneity, indicating that online reviews have little persuasion effect on consumer purchase decisions. Thus, this study considers the awareness effect of Word-of-Mouth (WOM) as the primary effect in the dynamic mechanism between consumer reviews and room sales. From the theoretical perspective, this study represents a comprehensive understanding of consumer reviews by integrating both awareness and persuasion effects. By identifying strategically important review components and their effects, the study adds to the prior literature by providing a positive reconciliation of the mixed findings about the effect of consumer reviews. From the managerial perspective, the awareness effect of consumer reviews suggests that businesses should embrace and facilitate WOM activities. However, consumers are not influenced by the persuasion effect of online WOM, thus presenting a challenge to businesses that try to influence sales through "planting" positive product reviews. Hotel managers shall therefore focus more on the mechanisms that facilitate dispersion of underlying word-of- mouth exchange rather than try to influence online ratings. From the methodology perspective, this study contributes to the hospitality literature by providing econometric justifications for the use of dynamic panel data estimation, discussing the conditions under which it improves inference beyond the traditional pooled OLS and traditional fixed- effects estimates. This study shows that dynamic effect is likely to be particularly important in hospitality research since much of our research seeks to determine the effect of different stimulating variables (e.g., consumer reviews, pricing strategy, customer relationship management, etc.) on hotel performance, an aspect of research that is particularly susceptible to biases that may arise by ignoring the effect of historical performance on current stimulating variables. The empirical attempt initiated in this study welcomes replications of future research. / Tourism and Sport

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