Researchers increasingly study how firms pursue corporate social responsibility (CSR). In three related but stand-alone chapters, I advance this shift toward understanding different CSR approaches, and outcomes associated with them. Chapter 1 develops a multidimensional view of CSR signals in the context of strategic alliance formations. It argues environmental, social, and governance responsibilities signal a firm's innovativeness, commitment, and conscientiousness, shaping its ability to form alliances. Results indicate that environmental and social responsibility signals generally predict alliance formations, governance responsibility signals do not, and the CSR signals predict different types of alliance formations, given their governance structure or activity domain. Chapter 2 develops a portfolio-based view of CSR-as-insurance, introducing CSR portfolio industry-contribution and industry-conformity as two constructs that should shape CSR's overall insurance value. Results indicate that CSR reduces the severity of market losses firms suffer after a misconduct event, but it does not aid their recovery. Surprisingly, neither CSR portfolio industry-contribution nor industry-conformity moderates CSR's insurance value, these non-effects have remained stable, and CSR's insurance-like effect on the severity of losses has increased. I also find CSR portfolio industry-conformity independently aids firms' recovery. Chapter 3 develops a CSR portfolio theory. This theory loosens assumptions in the portfolio-based view of CSR regarding which stakeholders and performance outcomes managers should prioritize in CSR-related decision-making. It gives managers a central role in identifying whom their firms are responsible to and how they should respond to their responsibilities. From this foundation, I identify two attributes that characterize all CSR portfolios––integrativeness and congruence––which capture a CSR portfolio's relationships to stakeholder-related issues and relationships among the initiatives included in it. Drawing from research on complementarities in consumption and production, I explain how these attributes predict managers' ability to optimize the impact of their firms' CSR efforts on the stakeholder-related issues they target.

Since voice's introduction to the management literature, scholars have sought to answer the question "why do employees choose to speak up?" As the field has begun to consider voice at the collective (e.g., team) level, scholars have primarily investigated how leaders and power structures within teams impact team decisions to speak up. However, solely focusing on the role of power differences within teams ignores the important influence that social status differences among team members might have on team voice behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to take a more holistic approach to examining team structures as antecedents of team voice. I do this by testing how both power and status hierarchy steepness within teams influence team voice behavior through beliefs about when it is inappropriate to speak up based on power and status, a phenomenon known as implicit voice theories (IVTs). I begin by reviewing the literature on voice at the team-level and IVTs (Chapter 2). Then, I draw on the social hierarchy literature and social information processing theory to develop hypotheses linking power and status hierarchy steepness to team voice through team IVTs (Chapter 3). Prior to testing this theoretical model, I draw on status characteristics theory, expectation states theory, and the social hierarchy literature to develop IVTs related to status and create a scale to measure them. This status-related IVT scale was developed and validated in six stages across five studies (Chapter 4). Finally, I test my theoretical model in Chapter 5 using a sample of 68 organizational teams. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Transactive memory systems are emergent states in teams that represent the shared knowledge about skills and expertise of the team members which is encoded and stored in the collective memories and is retrieved when required. Traditionally, transactive memory systems literature has focused on encoding, storing, and retrieving only task-related information in teams. Unfortunately, this emphasis on the task-related aspect of transactive memory systems has ignored the potential for transactive memory systems involving emotional knowledge, skills, and expertise in the team. My dissertation explores the emotional side of transactive memory systems and introduces a novel construct: emotion-related transactive memory systems (ETMS). In this dissertation, I aim to expand the theory of transactive memory systems to include emotion and investigate the nomological network of ETMS. In Chapter 1, I expand traditional transactive memory systems theory by building a theory of ETMS. In this theory of ETMS, I explain how ETMS develops in teams, the boundary conditions of ETMS development, and outcomes of ETMS. In Chapter 2, I develop a scale to measure ETMS. Following best practices prescribed for scale development, I test the construct validity and reliability of my scale. Finally, in Chapter 3, I test the hypotheses rendered by the theoretical model in a two-wave survey-based study with 74 teams of employed students in US organizations. Implications and future directions are discussed.

The rise in costs associated with the delivery of health care has forced providers to compensate by restructuring in order to remain viable. In 1995 Holmes Regional Medical Center (HRMC) created a partnership with two other hospitals to ensure its ability to compete in a changing health care market. A survey of newspaper articles revealed strained labor relations at HRMC subsequent to the restructuring changes. General dissatisfaction regarding a number of issues motivated a group of nurses to initiate union organizing efforts. This study investigated the forces that motivated and influenced the nurses in this particular situation. The qualitative study analyzed interview data from five HRMC nurses to define the labor problems. Additional research revealed how management could proactively address labor concerns utilizing change theory. Findings suggest that managers must anticipate the need for change; understand that labor issues are avoided through effective communication; realize that change must be planned; provide motivation for employees to change; and understand that change will be resisted, even if desirable, and steps must be taken to lower this resistance. Utilization of the ideas presented by change theorists can ensure a secure and satisfied work force and create a collaborative working environment between labor and management that functions without the presence of a labor union.

Using data from 138 students the present study assessed the effects of (a) immigrant status (U.S. citizen vs. immigrant) and (b) ethnicity (Anglo vs. Mexican) on ratings of applicants' job qualifications. Results revealed that there were main effects for ethnicity and immigrant status on job ratings. However, there was also a two-way interaction of ethnicity and immigrant status on the ratings. In particular, the results revealed that when applicants were U. S. citizens, Anglos were rated higher than Mexicans. However, when applicants were immigrants, Mexicans were rated higher than Anglos. In addition, the data revealed that age of the participants was negatively rated to ratings of applicant qualifications. Implications of the results for future research and practice are discussed.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is intended to increase trade among three countries through a gradual reduction and elimination of trade barriers over a fifteen year period. As with any issue, its introduction led different parties to develop different analysis and perspectives regarding the NAFT A, and how it would impact American industry (Moran, 1994). This thesis will study trading practices among the United States, Canada and Mexico both before and after the NAFTA was passed, and how those practices impacted small business enterprises in the United States.

ABSTRACT Following the 1990 reunification of Germany, many East German businesses were acquired by West German investors and experienced the implementation of Western style participatory management practices. Assuming this would improve organizational performance, many people were full of euphoric anticipation. The term "bluhende Landschaften," [transl.: blooming landscapes] was coined, referring to the belief that after a brief time of economic difficulties, Germany would enjoy prosperity. However, particularly East Germany has yet to show its blooming side. Most notably, low productivity levels among East German businesses pose a key obstacle to economic recovery in the East. Since adequate employee management can positively influence job satisfaction, which can increase organizational productivity levels, this study reviewed the effectiveness of authoritative and participatory management in regards to East and West German employees. Results show that both groups differ in their needs for participation and job security, two basic determinants of job satisfaction. While West German respondents' job participation was significantly correlated to job satisfaction; East Germans' job satisfaction was most significantly correlated with job security concerns. One may conclude that East Germans will find greatest satisfaction under job security oriented management. Since authoritative practices tend to increase organizational responsiveness more than participatory management, chances of organizational survival in times of crises are enhanced respectively. Therefore, authoritative management may prove more effective for East German employees given the current circumstances.

The purpose of this study was to utilize biodata instruments to measure personality traits in an attempt to determine the extent to which the Big Five personality factors are correlated to an individual's service orientation. Previous studies on biodata instruments have proven that there are personality factors that are related to service orientation, however, they did not use the Big Five categorization of traits. This study collected the responses of applicants for a financial customer service position in the Midwest on a biodata questionnaire, and assigned each respondent a service orientation rating determined by a mock interaction with a customer. The items in the questionnaire were then categorized into Big Five factors and were correlated to the service orientation score. This study found that the Big Five personality factors explain 22 % of the variance in service orientation, with agreeableness, surgency, and conscientiousness explaining 21.8% of the variance in Service Orientation. The ramifications of the finding are discussed, along with areas of future research and the implications for human resource professionals.

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<p>This dissertation addresses the issue of user adoption of interface agents for electronic mail (email). Interface agents are reactive, continuous, collaborative, and autonomous software entities that act on a user's behalf by communicating directly with a person offering assistance and advice in performing computer-related activities. The study presents and empirically validates a model that describes user adoption behavior, offers insights on important features of this technology from the end-user perspective, reports on critical incidents of agent usage, and offers recommendations for developers and marketers.</p> <p>As means of investigating this phenomenon, a survey of actual users of an interface agent-based email system was conducted. Emphasis was placed on identifying user needs and key factors that influence their adoption decisions. Data analysis involved quantitative and qualitative techniques (Partial Least Squares, descriptive statistics, classical content analysis). An extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model was introduced and tested, and the user context surrounding email agent adoption was explored. Survey findings suggest that existing management information systems and social sciences theories, models, and methodologies may be fruitfully applied to investigate user adoption of novel interface agent technologies.</p> <p>By combining and synthesizing results of a deductive and inductive analysis of the survey data, a new, grand model of interface agents adoption and use is suggested that is the central contribution of this research. According to this model, in voluntarily usage conditions, two general types of factors influence user adoption behavior - user perceptions and agent operability. User perceptions are either positive or negative mental reflections of several properties of an agent, such as perceived enjoyment, usefulness, ease of use, intrusiveness, and attractiveness. Agent operability embraces factors pertaining to operational characteristics of an agent, such as compatibility, system interference, reliability, and personalization.</p> <p>Findings also suggest that to foster the diffusion of highly useful agent systems, developers and marketers need to become aware of the importance of individual user characteristics, enhance their understanding of factors influencing people's adoption decisions, and demonstrate the functionality of interface agents through non-agent technologies.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)