Mei-Li Li. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 129-131.

This research starts with hackers’ communities, focusing on open processes as the key to volunteer driven cooperation. While theoretically hackers’ communities allow contributions “from each according to their ability”, I argue the inequalities continuously reproduced by capitalism hinder developments towards such production by placing socially created limits on allocation, understood as “to everyone according to their needs”. My thesis is the following: workers’ struggles and political organizations have made decisive contributions to the construction of another form of wealth creation. We can see examples of this in socialist states and in the public sector in capitalist states, where production and allocated occurs primarily to meet needs. I call this the egalitarian mode of production. Two modes, two standpoints – the capitalist and the egalitarian one – struggle to expand against each other: while the public sector introduces products to meet needs directly, capital strives to privatize everything it can – using commodities and markets. For capital, commodities are necessary for the realization of surplus value. For workers, it is provision according to needs, the outcomes, and the growth of equality, where wealth is realized. Aiming towards the full development of human capacities of all, from this developmental-egalitarian perspective, I propose to broaden the category of those who work to include: future workers (children, youth, students), former workers (pensioners, the elderly), the informal (household labourers, care workers), formal unwaged workers (interns, volunteers) and those deprived of an opportunity to work (the disabled, unemployed, and undocumented migrants). Building on the work of Michael Lebowitz and engaging with national accounting, instead of a narrow focus on commodities allocated via markets and according to an individual’s ability to pay, my field of study includes a wide variety of products that workers consume.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are dynamic and holistic processes that are not restricted to the initial activity of a new undertaking. Many studies link and draw parallels between, not only corporate entrepreneurship and innovation but also innovation and the ability to enhance an organisation’s competitive positioning and to provide outstanding value to its customers. However, a lack of research has been identified regarding the synergy between innovation and entrepreneurship, noting that the synergy between the two concepts helps organisations to prosper. Likewise, continuous service innovation has been described by many authors as the most valuable means for companies to achieve long-term success and organic growth. It is also suggested that for service firms to achieve even greater success, a customer-orientation perspective should be adopted. Although many studies concerning the service sectors and in particular service innovation have been carried out, they have rarely been conducted in the context of healthcare, and in particular, that of mental healthcare. Also, few studies have focused on the interaction and involvement of patients in the development of new health services. The study contributes to the related literature by providing conceptually developed and exploratory-based research, examining the Greek mental healthcare sector. The study contributes in two significant ways: It develops (1) a useful conceptual framework, which introduces a new perspective to the literature of both innovation and entrepreneurship, and (2) the new business model, which presents the means by which patients contribute to opportunities identification, illustrating their participation in the development process. More specifically, this study investigates the influence of user involvement on new health service development and presents the means by which the outcome can enhance a hospital’s entrepreneurial activity. On one hand, this study advances previous service innovation theory by associating with the entrepreneurship theory, while on the other, extends previous knowledge regarding the benefits of customer participation in new health service development.

<p> High performing employees in the nonprofit sector can gain better compensation, benefits, and incentives by working in the for-profit sector. Employees departing for the for-profit sector decreases the overall talent pool in the nonprofit sector, and removes top talent from nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits require employees who are working at peak performance, as they can typically only afford a reduced headcount due to budgetary restraints. Employees are attracted to positions which afford adequate or above standard levels of compensation. The most talented employees are the most unattainable with the current method of employee attraction and retention. </p><p> The research questions addressed in this dissertation are 1) How can leadership address the compensation, benefits, and incentives of high performing employees in the nonprofit sector to ensure attraction, retention and engagement? and 2) How does compensation, benefits and incentives impact the resources available to a nonprofit via donations or public funds? Sixty articles were selected for their relevance to the topic containing research based on U.S. operating entities, from peer-reviewed journals and the snowballing method. Evaluation of the articles was performed using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool. Thematic Synthesis was performed on the selected research articles and consisted of three stages; primary coding, descriptive themes, and analytical coding. </p><p> Findings from the selected articles were synthesized for best practices and implications for the field of nonprofit management. Nonprofit employees and executives were found to receive lower compensation than comparable for-profit positions. Nonprofit employees were provided with nonmonetary benefits including racial and gender equality in the workplace, flexible work schedules, medical and retirement benefits, and intrinsic motivation from moral alignment with the mission and vision of the organization. Best practice recommendations are for nonprofits to channel resources into employees and executive baseline compensation to become more competitive for attracting and retaining talented employees. Nonprofits should expect public donations to decrease as compensation rises due to the public&rsquo;s belief that the majority of resources should be allocated for the mission and vision of the organization. Organizational program service revenue should be expected to rise commensurate with public donation decreases, as talented employees are hired and retained and positively impact revenues. Organizations which treated public donations as passive income, and spent their current marketing, communications, administration and fundraising resources on business operations including employee compensation, would be better enabled to capture program service revenue, government grants, and investment income.</p><p>

<p> Given the breadth of implications that CEO psychological characteristics have for their organisations, in this manuscript I examine those characteristics as outcomes of the new CEO selection process. At the core of this theory is the realization that organisa&not;tional successions may select executive types based on particular configurations of char-acteristics that respond to their governance, competitive, or performance needs. I first develop a typology of CEO psychological profiles (the <i>Independent Hero Leader </i>, the <i>Collaborative Champion Leader</i>, the <i> Classic Administrator Leader</i>, and the <i>Landmark Individualist Leader</i>) by cluster analysing a sample of 250 S&amp;P 500 CEOs for which relevant psychological characteristics (i.e., narcissism, charisma, regulatory focus, honesty-humility, Machiavellianism, assertiveness, social influence, political skill, and pro-activeness, CSE, individualism and collectivism) were assessed with psycho-metrically valid scales utilising a videometric approach. Then, I hypothesize that a number of firm, board, and industry characteristics significantly affect the psychological profiles or types selected for new CEO appointments.</p><p>

<p> The literature review has proven the percentage of projects that come short of meeting the expectations of stakeholders is significantly high. There is a gap in the literature on attributes that contribute to successful project outcomes, especially in the aerospace and defense industry. This study explores leadership skills in project managers and how the application of leadership skills contributed to successful project outcome. A qualitative multi-case study was conducted to explore leadership skills in project managers within the aerospace and defense industry. A semi-structured interview was conducted to understand the nature of the project that selected candidates participated in and how the usage of leadership skills resulted in successful project outcome. </p><p>

Social marketing is the adaptation of commercial marketing principles, tools and approaches to programmes designed to influence the voluntary behaviour of target audiences to improve their personal welfare and that of society of which they are a part. The idea that marketing tools and techniques could be used to promote social good and help address social problems was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it was argued that marketing is relevant to all organisations with "customers". According to this early view of social marketing, commercial approaches, such as the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) framework, could be used to influence individuals. This view places responsibility for change on individuals and largely ignores the systematic and environmental influences on behaviours. This critical review is underpinned by the need for a new perspective on social marketing, recognising the complexities of behaviour change and focusing on human beings within a systems/socio-ecological context. It starts by challenging the traditional view of social marketing and the applicability of models such as the 4Ps. Subsequent papers build upon this by demonstrating behaviour change is dependent on relationships, emotional connections, community cohesion and communications between human beings. A new behavioural change framework was developed and tested to demonstrate how this approach could be applied in practice. This model was developed further to include a unique view of 'midstream social marketing', which proposes service staff, and the interactions they have with clients and other stakeholders, is of critical importance for behaviour change. Since the relevant paper was published, midstream social marketing features regularly in journal papers and conferences. This critical review also adds to social marketing knowledge tlu·ough the adaptation and application of the socio-ecological model to the discipline. The author's research shows how the resilience construct -the ability of individuals and communities to cope with adversity -can be used to integrate upstream (policy level), midstrean1 (organisational and community level) and downstream (individual level) social marketing approaches, underpinned by socio-ecological models of behaviour. This extends the more common use of resilience in the context of ecological sustainability or response to disasters. For the first time, this thesis demonstrates how social marketers can use developmental psychology and social work theory to shift their thinking away from targeting individual behaviour problems (smoking, dangerous drinking and unhealthy eating etc.) towards working with young people, families and communities to build long-term resilience to a range of risk factors.

<p> The topic of investigation for this research was the relationship between job training, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Specifically, the researcher investigated how the quantity of job training over a one-year period predicted employees&rsquo; job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Despite the rich body of research on the mediating factors of job satisfaction on employees&rsquo; turnover intentions, little is known about factors that influence job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees within the retail grocery industry. The research question proposed for the study was: &ldquo;What is the relationship between amount of job training, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among employees in the U.S. retail grocery industry?&rdquo; Utilizing a quantitative explanatory research design, a sample was collected of 101 U.S. retail employees who were (a) 18+ years of age, (b) had at least a high school education completed, and (c) were current retail grocery employees who had worked in the industry for at least one full calendar year prior to study participation. Data were collected via online survey, which consisted of a demographic questionnaire, the <i>Job Satisfaction Scale</i>, and the <i>Turnover Intention Scale</i>. A multiple linear regression was performed to assess the predictive relationship between job training, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. The Pearson correlation coefficient <i> r</i> was used to explore the two-way association between amount of job training, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Analysis revealed no statistically significant, predictive relationship between job training, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. In addition, results from the Pearson correlation coefficient r validated the same lack of relationship. Although findings from this investigation indicated job training had no significant effect on job satisfaction or turnover intentions, organizations and managers should not dismiss the many benefits of employee training.</p><p>

This study investigates the association between earnings management and executive compensation by examining evidence from firms in the FTSE350 Index. It questions whether CEOs manipulate earnings, particularly with regard to bonus entitlement and discusses the possible reasons for their actions. It explores whther earnings are manipulated in self-interest to reach pre-specified bonus levels and increase compensation. It also examines the extent of manipulation when bonuses are deffered or when long-term compensation is offered, The effect of non-financial measures in assessing performance is also examined, when they are used alongisde financial meaures and when giving equal or more weight. There are many studies concerning earnings management (hereafter, EM) and executive compensation, particularly in the US, but accruals management has mostly been used to determine the extent of manipulation and real activities management has received comparatively little attention. The present study uses both discretionary accruals (hereafter, DAC) and real activities management (hereafter, RAM) which gives wider understanding of the issue. The findings reveal that executives indulge in income-increasing earnings management through DAC and adjusting sales when company earnings approach their pre-specified minimum and target bonus levels. It is also found that executives employ income-decreasing earnings management by adjusting DAC and sales when earnings approach their pre-specified maximum bonus levels. When a deferred bonus is equal to or greater than the annual bonus, results reveal that firms engage in less income-increasing manipulation than those with less deffered bonus. In a situation where the proportion of long-term bonus is greater than short-term bonus, less income-increasing earnings management are exhibited in terms of both DAC and RAM. The use of non-financial performance measures in bonus contracts also can have a significant effect on constraining EM. The results of the present study reveal that when both financial and non-financial performance measures are used together, less income-increasing manipulation by DAC and expenses takes place. If equal or more weight is given to non-financial performance measure compared with financial measures, minimal EM takes place both in DAC and RAM. This study cotnrols for corporate governance variables particularly related to executive compensation to assess their influence on EM. Despit increasing regulation designed to restrict manipulation of company results, the results show that stronger corporate governance rules have a minimal effect in controlling earnings management. A major contribution of this study is that it concludes that although RAM is not widely used it has great importance in relation to executive compensation. DAC is relatively easily identified and executives may avoid detection by adopting RAM. This suggests that tests for RAM should be more extensively used. Another unique feature of this study is that the effectiveness of deferred bonus in controlling EM has not to the best of my knowledge been previously examined. Whilst other researchers have concentrated on the relationship between stock options and EM, this research additionally takes into account other forms of long-term incentive such as share incentive plan, company incentive plan etc. Another important consideration, largely unexplored by previous researchers, is the advantage of using non-financial performance measures as well as financial performance measures and the degree of weighting given to both when determining pay and bonuses. Shareholders and other stakeholders expect pay to be limked to performance by incentives relating reward to increased company earnings and the choice of performance measures is important to achieve this. The findings of this study will be of interest to shareholders and regulators because it will assis them in undertanding how compensation characteristics are related to EM.

Classical perspectives on problem solving are embedded in computational models of insight problem solving, such as the information-processing model (e.g., Newell & Simon, 1972). Problem-solving activity is viewed as a product of information-processing in which people see or hear problem information, think about the solution, then produce the solution: see or hear, think, then act. More recently, Ohlsson (2011) suggested people solve problems by mentally restructuring the problem information. Hence, insight comes about as a consequence of restructuring (Weisberg, 2014). As such, the origin of insight is commonly understood as a mental experience. However, the traditional frameworks explaining the insight experience commonly overlook the influence of reasoners' immediate environment. Systemic cognition frameworks such as the Extended Mind Thesis (Clark & Chalmers, 1998), Distributed Cognition (Hollan, Hutchins, & Kirsh, 2000) and the Systemic Thinking Model (Vallée-Tourangeau, Abadie, & Vallée-Tourangeau, 2015; Vallée-Tourangeau & Vallée-Tourangeau, 2017) assume information-processing is augmented when spread across mental and physical resources. When presented with a physical representation of a task, making changes to that physical representation, even arbitrary ones, may offer cues to new strategies, enabling better planning and efficiency in progressing towards a goal. Accordingly, the opportunity to interact and coordinate with the immediate environment enhances insight performance. This thesis sought to explore insight performance from a systemic cognition perspective. The research program investigated how the level of interactivity influenced solution rate in the Cheap Necklace Problem (de Bono, 1967; Silveira, 1971). Across four experiments, participants attempted to solve the problem either in a low interactivity condition, using only pen-and-paper and relying heavily on mental restructuring, or in a high interactivity condition, with a physical model of the problem with constituent elements they could manipulate while attempting to find a solution. The results across the experiments confirmed that increasing the level of interactivity resulted in enhanced insight performance. Incubation and transfer are often upheld as key determinants for insight performance. Thus, in addition to exploring the impact of interactivity, the experiments investigated how interactivity may interact with incubation and transfer to promote insight. To measure incubation effects, participants in the first two experiments reattempted the same problem after a two-week break. There was evidence of an incubation effect as performance substantially improved on the subsequent attempt. To explore transfer, a new Cheap Necklace Problem variant was introduced, which participants in the final two experiments attempted following the original version of the problem. Transfer was evident as participants were able to successfully transfer their solution to solve the new variant. Moreover, overall performance improved on the subsequent problem. Across the four experiments, the level of interactivity offered on the second problem attempt was important: When the problem presentation changed (low interactivity to high interactivity or high interactivity to low interactivity) performance only improved when working in a highly interactive task environment second. Thus, insight through interactivity fosters stronger performance on both the initial and subsequent task. This thesis further explored how interactivity prompts insight in a dynamic agent-environment by recording and analysing participants' actions. One important finding from these behavioural analyses was the fact that those who spent the largest proportion of their time reconfiguring the task environment, thus making the most of the malleability of the artefacts available, were also most likely to reach insight.