This dissertation is a study of customer relationship management theory and practice. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy whereby companies build strong relationships with existing and prospective customers with the goal of increasing organizational profitability. It is also a learning process involving managing change in processes, people, and technology. CRM implementation and its ramifications are also not completely understood as evidenced by the high number of failures in CRM implementation in organizations and the resulting disappointments. The goal of this dissertation is_ to study emerging issues and trends in CRM, including the effect of computer software and the accompanying new management processes on organizations, and the dynamics of the alignment of marketing, sales and services, and all other functions responsible for delivering customers a satisfying experience. In order to understand CRM better a content analysis of more than a hundred articles and documents from academic and industry sources was undertaken using a new methodological twist to the traditional method. An Internet domain name (http://crm.fiu.edu) was created for the purpose of this research by uploading an initial one hundred plus abstracts of article~ and documents onto it to form a knowledge database. Once the database was formed a search engine was developed to enable the search of abstracts using relevant CRM keywords to reveal emergent dominant CRM topics. The ultimate aim of this website is to serve as an information hub for CRM research, as well as a search engine where interested parties can enter CRM -relevant keywords or phrases to access abstracts, as well as submit abstracts to enrich the knowledge hub. Research questions were investigated and answered by content analyzing the interpretation and discussion of dominant CRM topics and then amalgamating the findings. This was supported by comparisons within and across individual, paired, and sets-of-three occurrences of CRM keywords in the article abstracts. Results show that there is a lack of holistic thinking and discussion of CRM in both academics and industry which is required to understand how the people, process, and technology in CRM impact each other to affect successful implementation. Industry has to get their heads around CRM and holistically understand how these important dimensions affect each other. Only then will organizational learning occur, and overtime result in superior processes leading to strong profitable customer relationships and a hard to imitate competitive advantage.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the foreign direct investment location decision making process through the examination of non-Western investors and their investment strategies in non-traditional markets. This was accomplished through in-depth personal interviews with 50 Overseas Chinese business owners and executives in several different industries from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand about 97 separate investment projects in Southeast and East Asia, including The Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Traditional factors utilized in Western models of the foreign direct investment decision making process are reviewed, as well literature on Asian management systems and the current state of business practices in emerging countries of Southeast and East Asia. Because of the lack of institutionalization in these markets and the strong influences of Confucian and patriarchal value systems on the Overseas Chinese, it was suspected that while some aspects of Western rational economic models of foreign direct investment are utilized, these models are insufficient in this context, and thus are not fully generalizable to the unique conditions of the Overseas Chinese business network in the region without further modification. Thus, other factors based on a Confucian value system need to be integrated into these models. Results from the analysis of structured interviews suggest Overseas Chinese businesses rely more heavily on their network and traditional Confucian values than rational economic factors when making their foreign direct investment location decisions in emerging countries in Asia. This effect is moderated by the firm's industry and the age of the firm's owners.

Accounting students become practitioners facing ethical decision-making challenges that can be subject to various interpretations; hence, the profession is concerned with the appropriateness of their decisions. Moral development of these students has implications for a profession under legal challenges, negative publicity, and government scrutiny. Accounting students moral development has been studied by examining their responses to moral questions in Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT), their professional attitudes on Hall's Professionalism Scale Dimensions, and their ethical orientation-based professional commitment and ethical sensitivity. This study extended research in accounting ethics and moral development by examining students in a college where an ethics course is a requirement for graduation. Knowledge of differences in the moral development of accounting students may alert practitioners and educators to potential problems resulting from a lack of ethical understanding as measured by moral development levels. If student moral development levels differ by major, and accounting majors have lower levels than other students, the conclusion may be that this difference is a causative factor for the alleged acts of malfeasance in the profession that may result in malpractice suits. The current study compared 205 accounting, business, and nonbusiness students from a private university. In addition to academic major and completion of an ethics course, the other independent variable was academic level. Gender and age were tested as control variables and Rest's DIT score was the dependent variable. The primary analysis was a 2x3x3 ANOVA with post hoc tests for results with significant p-value of less than 0.05. The results of this study reveal that students who take an ethics course appear to have a higher level of moral development (p=0.013), as measured by the (DIT), than students at the same academic level who have not taken an ethics course. In addition, a statistically significant difference (p=0.034) exists between freshmen who took an ethics class and juniors who did not take an ethics class. For every analysis except one, the lower class year with an ethics class had a higher level of moral development than the higher class year without an ethics class. These results appear to show that ethics education in particular has a greater effect on the level of moral development than education in general. Findings based on the gender specific analyses appear to show that males and females respond differently to the effects of taking an ethics class. The male students do not appear to increase their moral development level after taking an ethics course (p=0.693) but male levels of moral development differ significantly (p=0.003) by major. Female levels of moral development appear to increase after taking an ethics course (p=0.002). However, they do not differ according to major (p=0.0 97). These findings indicate that accounting students should be required to have a class in ethics as part of their college curriculum. Students with an ethics class have a significantly higher level of moral development. The challenges facing the profession at the current time indicate that public confidence in the reports of client corporations has eroded and one way to restore this confidence could be to require ethics training of future accountants.

Each year, white-collar crime costs American businesses billions of dollars. One specific type of white-collar crime is embezzlement. Embezzlement is a topic highly relevant to organizations because it is a crime committed by one of its own employees. Motivated employees, when given the opportunity to embezzle from the organization, will commit the crime. Since organizations cannot control external pressures on employees, specifically financial pressures, how do organizations protect themselves? Implementing internal control systems can minimize organization's vulnerability. The literature review for this thesis explores the development of control theory over the past century. Additionally, the definition of embezzlement is clarified and its relevance to organizations proven. Offenders, organizational structure and size, and industry classification are discussed to determine if a "typical" victim exists. Finally, practical control devices are suggested to prevent organizational victimization. The studies conducted by the author include interviews with law enforcement officers and victimized organizations. The motivation is to develop a prevention strategy for organizations, so that they do not become another statistic.

Discretionary behaviors such as counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) exist outside of the job description, but these behaviors nevertheless have profound influence on the organization and its members. Using Spector and Fox’s (2002) General OCB-CWB emotion centered model as the conceptual framework, I tested a specific model with personality, perceptions of the workplace, and emotional processes as antecedents of both OCB and CWB. The proposed model fit the data well and the results indicated that the emotional processes of burnout and engagement partially mediate the individual and organizational antecedents.

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In recent years, supermarkets have become more complex and challenging to operate. Many supermarkets offer an expanded selection of products and services not found in the traditional format. These new generation supermarkets have been labeled by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) as superstores. The purpose of this study was to identify a competency model needed to successfully operate a superstore over the next 5-10 years. In addition, the study sought to identify the core competencies that formulate the superstore competency model and to compare the results of the model to the Contemporary Store Manager Model which was created from a similar study conducted in 1984. The Contemporary Store Manager Model identified three distinct roles of the 1984 contemporary store manager. These roles were culture builder, local strategist, and computer-assisted analyst. The findings presented in this study can provide a blueprint for professional development programs established by the retail food industry and higher education.;This study utilized three panels of experts to generate and validate the core competencies required to be successful in a superstore over the next 5-10 years. The first panel consisted of eight superstore managers from Ukrop's Super Markets who were rated as outstanding performers. This group generated the initial pool of core competencies. The second panel consisted of 10 well-known supermarket industry experts. These individuals rated the initial pool of competencies created by the superstore managers. The third panel of experts consisted of 29 senior leaders from the most innovative supermarkets in the United States. These individuals rated the results of the second panel. The final pool of core competencies was clustered by the panel of superstore managers to create the Superstore Competency Model.;The Superstore Manager Competency Model consists of 46 core competencies bundled into four clusters. The clusters include the ambassador, the educator, the technician, and the futurist The four clusters identified in this model are generally consistent with the roles identified in the Contemporary Store Manager Model. The new model provides greater clarity in terms of the core competencies.;The Superstore Competency Model can be utilized by the supermarket industry as well as the field of higher education to build curriculums targeted to the professional development of the superstore manager. These curriculums could involve undergraduate degrees, certificates, and non-credit seminars. Further research could focus on using the results to build superstore manager selection systems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons why recent high school graduates choose to attend a postsecondary proprietary school or a community college. Choice models based on the choices of prospective four-year college and university students provided the basis for the study. Three sets of variables--significant persons, relatively fixed institutional characteristics, and other institutional characteristics--were analyzed in order to determine students' choice of the two types of institutions.;The populations of this study were a group of 22 students in business and related curricula at the Virginia Beach Campus of Commonwealth College and a group of thirty randomly selected students in similar curricula at the Virginia Beach Campus of Tidewater Community College. The participants had to have graduated from high school during the spring of 1986 or 1987 and had to be enrolled in an associate degree program in business or related curricula. They did not have to be enrolled full-time. These participants responded to a survey addressing variables which caused them to choose a postsecondary proprietary institution or a community college. Interviews were conducted with five survey respondents from each of the populations.;Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance to investigate the differences between the two institutions. Statistically significant results were established at the.05 level of confidence. The results support the theory that recent high school graduates planning to matriculate at four-year colleges and universities choose their institutions for some of the same reasons that students planning to enroll in proprietary institutions or community colleges choose their schools. Differences were also identified.;Future research on student choice in higher education is needed in localities across the country. More information is essential regarding students who intend to enroll in local/regional proprietary schools and community colleges so that institutions may respond to the needs of prospective students.

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The purpose of the study is to investigate the hotel manager’s reaction to the increasing electricity rates in the City of Miami.