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1 – 10 of 35Russell Haines and Lori N.K. Leonard
The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test an ethical decision‐making model in an information technology (IT) context. The model includes both demographic and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test an ethical decision‐making model in an information technology (IT) context. The model includes both demographic and personality variables, their direct influence on beliefs and judgments, and their influence on the relationships between beliefs, judgments, and moral intent.
Design/methodology/approach
Subjects were assessed on their perceptions of IT ethical scenarios both before and after discussing them with others in a web‐based chat room in order to test the research model.
Findings
The results show that gender has the most profound effect on ethical decision‐making, with ego strength also having a strong effect, while locus of control has a negligible effect. Beliefs and judgments about questionable behavior shifted after (a chat) discussion more for those with low ego strength than those with high ego strength.
Originality/value
The results suggest that the relationship among factors that influence ethical decision‐making is complex and different factors become more important in determining moral intent for different individuals.
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Lori N.K. Leonard and Timothy Paul Cronan
In this study the researchers attempt to identify factors that could influence an individual's attitude toward ethical behavior in the information systems (IS) environment and…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study the researchers attempt to identify factors that could influence an individual's attitude toward ethical behavior in the information systems (IS) environment and compare them to the findings of an earlier study to determine any changes.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of university students is used to assess environmental influences (societal, belief system, personal, professional, legal, and business), moral obligation, consequences of the action, and gender, in order to determine what influences an individual's attitude toward a behavior. Discriminant analysis is used to assess the factor influences.
Findings
The findings indicate that many factors influence attitude toward ethical decisions and are dependent upon the type of ethical issue involved. Moreover, based on two time periods, the ethical attitude influencers have shifted over time. The gender findings indicate that attitude influencers are also dependent on the sex of the individual.
Originality/value
The findings show that attitude influencers have shifted over time (since an earlier study), which means that organizations must periodically reassess their employees' ethical climate and adjust their ethics' programs as attitude influencers change. The findings also show that training programs need to focus on the different influencers for males and females.
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Lori N.K. Leonard and Christine Clemons Davis
This study seeks to determine whether electronic supply chains using electronic data interchange (EDI) are more successful than non‐electronic supply chains using manual (paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to determine whether electronic supply chains using electronic data interchange (EDI) are more successful than non‐electronic supply chains using manual (paper) purchase orders by analyzing the supplier‐manufacturer link in the SC.
Design/methodology/approach
Identical products are analyzed before‐and‐after EDI implementation in an organization, therefore representing both electronic supply chain products and non‐electronic supply chain products.
Findings
The empirical findings indicate that the EDI supply chain is more effective than the manual supply chain in terms of: shorter order cycles, greater availability, lower (purchase) price, and lower (transaction) cost.
Originality/value
The present research study provides for a number of future research possibilities. First, the present research study focuses only on the supplier‐manufacturer link of the SC. Other links in the SC (manufacturer‐distributor, distributor‐retail outlet, and retail outlet‐customer) should be analyzed for products that have been replenished manually and then replenished using EDI.
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Jeff Crawford, Lori N.K. Leonard and Kiku Jones
The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of an organization's human resource on its IT competence. The IT human resource is examined in terms of worker tenure and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of an organization's human resource on its IT competence. The IT human resource is examined in terms of worker tenure and worker composition, and IT competence is defined in terms of IT‐business relationships, IT‐business knowledge, and IT infrastructure.
Design/methodology/approach
The study examines the activities of one organization's software development group over a three‐year period, 2004‐2006. The organization is a US‐based financial services firm, and data are drawn from archived software development project information.
Findings
The findings help to clarify how changes in the IT human resource influence a firm's IT competence. A model of organizational IT competence is developed and discussed, along with propositions for future study.
Research limitations/implications
The propositions developed in this study provide direction for future IT value research, and are key to the understanding the development of a firm's IT competence.
Practical implications
The paper's findings will help organizations understand how employee turnover and the blending of employees and contract workers can impact the long‐term effectiveness of a firm's software development function.
Originality/value
Previous models of IT value suggest that IT competence is key in a firm's performance. However, those models do not address the changing nature of the IT human resource. The proposed model underlies that organizations can benefit from changes in worker tenure and composition (dimensions of the IT human resource) over time provided they understand and appropriately manage their impact on IT competence.
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Jeff Crawford and Lori N.K. Leonard
This study seeks to determine factors that encourage post‐meeting work activity in a software development group by assessing attendee diversity (functional, staffing and tenure)…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to determine factors that encourage post‐meeting work activity in a software development group by assessing attendee diversity (functional, staffing and tenure), meeting size, and meeting history.
Design/methodology/approach
One year's worth of meeting data from a software development group in a US‐based financial services company were collected and analyzed. A binary logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine the impact of diversity, meeting size, and meeting history on the likelihood of post‐meeting work activity.
Findings
Tenure diversity and meeting history for each meeting event significantly contribute to the likelihood of post‐meeting work activity.
Research limitations/implications
A lack of variance in the data does not allow for the examination of staffing diversity. Further, generalizability of findings is limited since data come entirely from one organization. Findings suggest that meeting characteristics, specifically tenure diversity and meeting history, can improve the likelihood of post‐meeting work activity occurring.
Practical implications
Findings illustrate that management can leverage tenure diversity and meeting history within a software development group to encourage post‐meeting work activity.
Originality/value
All organizations employ meetings, and research that clarifies how to extract maximum value from meeting events is critical. This study provides a first step in uncovering specific meeting characteristics which are most likely to impact post‐meeting work activity.
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Allison L. Dunn, Summer F. Odom, Lori L. Moore and Craig Rotter
First-year college students in a leadership-themed living-learning community (N= 60) at Texas A&M University were surveyed to examine if participation in the learning community…
Abstract
First-year college students in a leadership-themed living-learning community (N= 60) at Texas A&M University were surveyed to examine if participation in the learning community influenced their leadership mindset using hierarchical and systemic thinking preferences. Utilizing a pre-test and post-test methodology, significant differences for hierarchical thinking were not found; however, significant differences for systemic thinking were found. At the end of the program year, students had larger systemic scores than when they started the program, but their hierarchical thinking scores remain fairly steady. Findings indicated that participation in a leadership-themed living-learning community influenced students’ leadership mindsets.
Nancy J. Mezey, Lori A. Post and Christopher D. Maxwell
This study examines the relationship between age, physical violence and non‐physical abuse within the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). It tests the hypothesis that…
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between age, physical violence and non‐physical abuse within the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). It tests the hypothesis that while the prevalence of physical violence is lower among older women, other forms of intimate partner violence are not related to age. The study uses data from the Michigan Violence Against Women Survey to measure physical violence and two forms of non‐physical abuse: psychological vulnerability and autonomy‐limiting behavior. Findings support the hypothesis that the rate of physical abuse is negatively related to age but the rate of nonphysical abuse is not. By expanding the definition of IPV to include other forms of abusive behavior, the study finds that older women have IPV prevalence rates similar to younger women. This raises the question of whether batterers alter their means of power and control by emphasizing non‐physical abuse rather than continuing to use physical violence that exposes them to formal and informal social controls and sanctions.
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Allison L. Dunn and Lori L. Moore
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the learning experienced by second-year undergraduate students serving as peer mentors to first-year students within a…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the learning experienced by second-year undergraduate students serving as peer mentors to first-year students within a leadership-themed living-learning community. A basic qualitative approach was used, with data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with participants at the beginning and end of their year-term as peer mentors. The interview transcripts were coded using Fink’s (2003) taxonomy of significant learning, where lasting change is a consequence of the learning. Five of the six categories of significant learning were evident, suggesting that the experience of being a peer mentor within a leadership-themed living-learning community creates lasting change within the peer mentors. Additionally, this study reinforces Fink’s (2003) claim of the interactive rather than hierarchical nature of learning.
Lori Leach, Bradley Hastings, Gavin Schwarz, Bernadette Watson, Dave Bouckenooghe, Leonardo Seoane and David Hewett
This paper aims to extend the consideration of distributed leadership in health-care settings. Leadership is typically studied from the classical notion of the place of single…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to extend the consideration of distributed leadership in health-care settings. Leadership is typically studied from the classical notion of the place of single leaders and continues to examine distributed leadership within small teams or horizontally. The purpose is to develop a practical understanding of how distributed leadership may occur vertically, between different layers of the health-care leadership hierarchy, examining its influence on health-care outcomes across two hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
Using semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 107 hospital employees (including executive leadership, clinical management and clinicians) from two hospitals in Australia and the USA. Using thematic content analysis, an iterative process was adopted characterized by alternating between social identity and distributed leadership literature and empirical themes to answer the question of how the practice of distributed leadership influences performance outcomes in hospitals?
Findings
The perceived social identities of leadership groups shaped communication and performance both positively and negatively. In one hospital a moderating structure emerged as a leadership dyad, where leadership was distributed vertically between hospital hierarchal layers, observed to overcome communication limitations. Findings suggest dyad creation is an effective mechanism to overcome hospital hierarchy-based communication issues and ameliorate health-care outcomes.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates how current leadership development practices that focus on leadership relational and social competencies can benefit from a structural approach to include leadership dyads that can foster these same competencies. This approach could help develop future hospital leaders and in doing so, improve hospital outcomes.
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