<p>This study outlines the research methods and findings of an assessment performed to evaluate an organization?s diversity and inclusion climate. A survey was conducted with 67 of 81 of the organization?s employees, followed by 15 interviews, and six focus groups. The study found this organization to be very diverse and to place a high value on the importance of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) to its performance. However, there are limited formal D&I structures currently in place. A comprehensive D&I management strategy integrated with the organization?s business strategy will be critical to supporting achievement of its mission. This organization plays a unique role in bridging the gap between diverse student populations and more homogeneous tech corporations. Given this, the organization embodies the complexity of D&I challenges that many organizations must face in creating an inclusive culture in order to increase retention, job satisfaction, engagement, and performance.

<p>High tech companies face continual pressures to innovate, differentiate, and be first to market. Open innovation allows organizations to focus on their core competencies while developing strategic alliances that create win-win relationships and competitive advantages for all parties involved. However, open innovation introduces certain risks and challenges and a consistent framework for open innovation is lacking. This study developed a high-level framework for planning and executing open innovation within the high tech industry. A convenience sample of nine managers experienced in the high tech industry experience and open innovation were interviewed about their perspectives, experiences, and approaches related to open innovation. Results confirmed the lack of open innovation roadmaps or playbooks in use, due to the inherent uncertainty and complexity of open innovation. Diligent vetting of partnerships is critical for success in open innovation, as incompatible partner characteristics can undermine the success of such initiatives.

<p> The very things that provide firms with advantages in the present may undermine their future viability. This dualism pervades the organizational and strategic management literature and leads to theorization of core organizational constructs as embodying trade-offs between stability and change. For example, the concept of organizational code focuses on how organizations structure information representation to enhance coordination effectiveness and efficiency; yet, efficiency comes at the cost of information loss. Economic-based organizational theories treat the code as an integral, yet inertial part of an organization&rsquo;s invested infrastructure, inseparable from the organization&rsquo;s historical-cognitive context, and understood across the entire organization. By conceptualizing forces for continuity and change as dualities, I show how the organizational code acts as a mechanism by which organizations manage these tensions. In an abductive, longitudinal case study of communication by and within a large, multi-national pharmaceutical company from 1985 to present, I examine firm-specific language and how this language emerges. I find that, when the code is discernable as firm-specific language, it typically has more to do with change than stability. Codified blueprints for practice are an exception to this, but these play a role more akin to proprietary technology or boundary objects than to theoretical conceptualizations of the organizational code. When an organization recognizes some need to change, there is an emergent or deliberate effort to articulate what that change should look like. The emergence of the code happens through these efforts to create a novel conceptual space with unique words, acronyms, phrases, and visuals (WAPVs). This new language, with its firm-specific meaning, has an important effect on how a firm creates value. It becomes meaningful as &lsquo;use cases&rsquo; for it are identified, enabling translation into practice and mindsets. Once an organization generates a use case &lsquo;catalogue&rsquo; for new WAPVs, members better understand why change is needed, what work needs to happen, and how that work gets done. By showing how an organization transforms the &lsquo;language we use to get work done&rsquo; into new practices and ways of thinking that enrich the organizational code, I explain how dualities of continuity and change are managed over time.</p><p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational learning and expatriation in overseas subsidiaries as well as in organizations as a whole. In doing so, two issues were addressed - () the use of expatriation as firms internationalize, and (ii) the significance of various factors to expatriate success as firms gain international experience. The sample of companies for this study was drawn from U.S. Fortune 500 multinational corporations (MN1Cs) in two sets of related industries -- computers/ electronics and petroleum/chemicals. Based on the learning that takes place within organizations as they increase their involvement overseas, a positive relationship was expected between international experience and expatriation when internationalization was low, and a negative relationship was expected when internationalization was high. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between country experience and the proportion of expatriates in that subsidiary when subsidiaries were relatively young, and a negative relationship, however not significant, for more mature subsidiaries. The relationship between overall firm degree of internationalization (DOI) and the proportion of expatriates in the firm as a whole was negative regardless of stage of internationalization, but this relationship was significant only for highly internationalized firms. It was further suspected that individual, environmental, and family-related characteristics would have a significant effect on the success of expatriates whose firms were low on internationalization, and that organizational characteristics would play a significant role in highly internationalized firms. Support for these hypotheses was received with respect to certain outcomes and some determinants of success. The preponderance of support was found for those addressing the effects of both environmental and family-related characteristics on the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in firms with little international experience. Considerable support was also found for those hypotheses addressing the impact of organizational characteristics on the job satisfaction levels of expatriates assigned to mature subsidiaries. The relevant literatures on organizational learning and expatriation are reviewed, and a model is developed underlying the logic of the hypotheses. Research methods are then described in full detail, results are reported, and implications for theory and for management are discussed.

Even though e-learning endeavors have significantly proliferated in recent years, current e-learning technologies provide poor support for group-oriented learning. The now popular virtual world’s technologies offer a possible solution. Virtual worlds provide the users with a 3D - computer generated shared space in which they can meet and interact through their virtual representations. Virtual worlds are very successful in developing high levels of engagement, presence and group presence in the users. These elements are also desired in educational settings since they are expected to enhance performance. The goal of this research is to test the hypothesis that a virtual world learning environment provides better support for group-oriented collaborative e-learning than other learning environments, because it facilitates the emergence of group presence. To achieve this, a quasi-experimental study was conducted and data was gathered through the use of various survey instruments and a set of collaborative tasks assigned to the participants. Data was gathered on the dependent variables: Engagement, Group Presence, Individual Presence, Perceived Individual Presence, Perceived Group Presence and Performance. The data was analyzed using the statistical procedures of Factor Analysis, Path Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The study provides support for the hypothesis. The results also show that virtual world learning environments are better than other learning environments in supporting the development of all the dependent variables. It also shows that while only Individual Presence has a significant direct effect on Performance; it is highly correlated with both Engagement and Group Presence. This suggests that these are also important in regards to performance. Developers of e-learning endeavors and educators should incorporate virtual world technologies in their efforts in order to take advantage of the benefit they provide for e-learning group collaboration.

<p> This qualitative exploratory single case study was completed to analyze the role of how middle managers evaluate coaching ability of front-line supervisors, address unsuccessful coaching, and learn how those determinants factor into the manager&rsquo;s employment decision respective to retaining or hiring a front-line supervisor. The investigation occurred at a regional company in the Midwest of the United States that had previously attempted to enact a coaching culture program. Focus was placed on senior leaders and hiring/middle manager viewpoints and interviews were conducted with nine middle managers and three senior leaders. Additional data points included document analysis, direct observation, and expert testimony from a consultant who had worked with over 100 companies to implement a coaching culture. Data were analyzed through an eclectic two-phase coding system with emphasis upon hypothesis coding, word frequency, and thematic coding reassembly. Identified themes were then investigated through a lens of assertion development, and decision modeling. Five critical conclusions emerged and those findings aligned to how companies evaluate coaching ability and use those assessments in hiring decisions. Each of the five findings have a direct effect on the success of implementing a coaching culture. (1) Leaders should fully align on organizational coaching expectations, behaviors, and definitions. (2) Organizations need a robust coaching supervision program to evaluate current front-line supervisors. (3) Companies need to develop a comprehensive interviewing process to ascertain the coaching ability of potential candidates for the front-line supervisor role. (4) Leaders should also mitigate factors that inhibit coaching activity particularly emphasizing the importance of the coaching dyad. (5) Companies need to ensure the quality and consistency of coaching throughout the organization.</p><p>

<p> Electric Vehicle (EV) has become an increasingly important topic in recent years due to energy and environmental concerns. Governments started to focus on remedies to the upcoming climate change threat and seek solutions through policies and regulations. The negative impact of carbon emissions along with pressure from governmental and social organizations force automotive manufacturers to shift to alternative energy sources. However, EV transition is a complex problem because its stakeholders are very diverse including governments, policy makers, EV manufacturers, and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Consequently, the barriers to EV adoption are not only consumer oriented, rather exist under many categories. The literature has yet to offer a comprehensive, quantified list of barriers to EV adoption. Although the enacted policies are known, the effectiveness of these policies in mitigating EV adoption is not known. </p><p> The objective of this research is to assess policy alternatives for mitigation of EV adoption barriers by developing a comprehensive evaluation model. Barriers are grouped under Social, Technical, Environmental, Economic and Political (STEEP) perspectives that are perceived by decision makers as important for adoption process. The decision model of research links the perspectives to barriers, and policy alternatives. The research implements the hierarchical decision model (HDM) to construct a generalized policy assessment framework. </p><p> Data for EV adoption barriers were collected from the abovementioned stakeholders. </p><p> Experts&rsquo; qualitative judgments were collected and quantified using the pair-wise comparison method. The final rankings and effectiveness of policy alternatives were calculated. This research&rsquo;s results showed that the most important perspective is Economic. The top three most important barriers to EV adoption were identified as Initial Cost, Battery Cost, and Entrenched Technology Resistance, respectively. The most effective policy in mitigating EV adoption barriers is R&amp;D Incentives. The research also extended the policy effectiveness research with Policy Effectiveness Curves by reaching out to additional experts. These curves helped determine the effectiveness of each of the 6 policies at different implementation levels. Based on these results, 25 scenarios were applied by combinations of policies at different implementation levels to investigate how the effectiveness of policies can change compared to today&rsquo;s conditions.</p><p>

<p> More than half of information technology (IT) outsourced projects fail, primarily due to a lack of effective management practices surrounding the outsourcing end-to-end process. Ineffective management of the IT outsourcing (ITO) process affects organizations in the form of higher than expected project costs, including greater vendor switching or reintegration costs, poor quality, and loss of profits. These effects indicate that some business leaders lack the strategies to effectively manage the ITO process. The purpose of this single-case study was to apply the transaction cost economics (TCE) theory to explore strategies 5 business professionals use to manage an ITO project in a financial services organization located in the Midwestern region of the United States. Participant selection was purposeful and was based on the integral role the participants play on the ITO project. Data collection occurred via face-to-face semistructured interviews with the participants and the review of company documents. Data were analyzed using inductive coding of phrases, word frequency searches, and theme interpretation. Three themes emerged: vendor governance and oversight, collaborative strategic partnership, and risk management strategies enabled effective management of ITO. Identifying and executing appropriate outsourcing strategies may contribute to social change by improving outsourcing infrastructure, which might support job creation; increasing standards of living, especially within emerging markets; and heightening awareness of different cultures, norms, and languages among people living in different regions around the world to establish commonalities and gain alignment with business practices.</p><p>

<p> This study examined the status of field employee turnover at a national afterschool program provider in relation to its turnover improvement goal and assessed the knowledge, skills, motivation, and organizational influences of those with the greatest impact on retention and turnover&mdash;frontline Area Managers (AMs) who directly supervise afterschool staff. Clark and Estes&rsquo; (2008) gap analysis served as the general conceptual and methodological framework for the study. A mixed methods convergent parallel study was conducted using document analysis, surveys, interviews, and observations. Document analysis revealed high employee turnover in the school year of study (62%), far surpassing industry norms and prior year performance. However, analysis also found high employee retention (74%), which can coexist with high turnover when most staff are retained, but a smaller segment repeatedly churns over the same period. Specifically, recurring turnover among 37% of the organization&rsquo;s field employee roles was found to be the source of its high turnover rate, while 63% of roles remained filled and therefore stable across the school year. Gap analysis of quantitative and qualitative survey results triangulated with interview and observation data illuminated barriers to AM success with retention and turnover. Barriers included limited knowledge of factors related to turnover, perception of minimal organizational focus on and resources for retention, significant external locus of control over turnover, and lack of ownership and accountability for turnover. The implications of these findings signal the risk of continued high turnover, where AMs could remain disempowered due to lack of critical knowledge, skills, motivation, and organizational resources for retention. The study concludes with recommendations for context-specific solutions grounded in literature and in the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick &amp; Kirkpatrick, 2016), as well as an integrated implementation and evaluation plan, strengths and weaknesses of the study, limitations and delimitations, and recommendations for future study.</p><p>

<p> Counterproductive employee behaviors are inevitable, unpredictable, and widespread in the U.S. retail industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore U.S. midlevel retail leadership strategies used to prevent and correct employee behaviors that sabotage quality service encounters. Gilbert&rsquo;s behavior engineering model, which links employee behaviors to performance, was the framework used in this study. The data-collection process comprised 7 semistructured interviews with midlevel retail leaders, online company documentation, and researcher observations and assisted in achieving methodological triangulation. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses, while Moustakas&rsquo; modified van Kaam method was used to guide the data analysis process. Making the customer service experience special, employee rudeness and bad attitudes, and leading by example were the primary emergent themes. The participants revealed key behavior intervention and corrective strategies prior to termination consisted of only 2 steps: coaching or 1-on-1 discussions and formal training. The findings of this study may contribute to retail business practices by expanding existing leadership strategies to engineer employee behaviors that produce consistent quality service encounters, empower employees, improve consumer satisfaction, and increase retail profitability and competitiveness. Resultant retailers&rsquo; profitability and consumer satisfaction may contribute to social change by directly impacting the U.S. gross domestic product, local communal tax base, and reinforce human civility throughout the retail industry.</p><p>