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(21 - 35 of 35)
Pages
- Title
- Investigating Social Capital and Political Action in the Middle East.
- Creator
-
Abdel-Wahab, Amr, Morales, Waltraud, Fine, Terri, Houghton, David, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study addresses the relationship between social capital and political action in the Middle East. The research uncovers indicators of how social capital correlates with democratic action. Using data from the 2005 World Values Survey, the examination centers on indicators of trust and membership in civic organizations and how they relate to political action in the region. The paper concludes with discussion of how trust-building and reciprocity can be interpreted within the political...
Show moreThis study addresses the relationship between social capital and political action in the Middle East. The research uncovers indicators of how social capital correlates with democratic action. Using data from the 2005 World Values Survey, the examination centers on indicators of trust and membership in civic organizations and how they relate to political action in the region. The paper concludes with discussion of how trust-building and reciprocity can be interpreted within the political context of the Middle East, and how the relevance of social capital will be an unavoidable consideration in the transition away from autocracy in the region, especially when considering recent events.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004083, ucf:49137
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004083
- Title
- The Effects of Risk and Trust on the Achievement of Sustainable Competitive Advantage from B2B E-Commerce Trading Relationships.
- Creator
-
Hampton, Clark, Sutton, Steven, Roberts, Robin, Arnold, Vicky, Khazanchi, Deepak, Benford, Tanya, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation consists of three interrelated studies focusing on the use of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce) to facilitate supply chain transactions. B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains produce substantial savings for organizations by reducing the amount of time and money necessary to negotiate contracts, processes orders, and pay suppliers. However, doubt exists as to whether reduced transaction costs are a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations....
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three interrelated studies focusing on the use of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce (e-commerce) to facilitate supply chain transactions. B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains produce substantial savings for organizations by reducing the amount of time and money necessary to negotiate contracts, processes orders, and pay suppliers. However, doubt exists as to whether reduced transaction costs are a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. The advent of widespread and cost effective B2B e-commerce enabled supply chains coupled with increasingly complex, dynamic, and global competitive markets are encouraging organizations to form long-term relationships with their trading partners to achieve sustainable competitive advantage from improved supply chain performance. Competition is no longer restricted to large firms and end-product producers, but now encompasses the extended organizational supply chain. Using three separate, but related theories, these studies investigate 1) the factors affecting satisfaction with B2B e-commerce trading relationships, 2) the antecedents and effects of risk and trust on assurance desirability in B2B e-commerce partnerships, and 3) the impact of enterprise risk management procedures on the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage from B2B e-commerce enabled transnational alliances. Critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage from B2B e-commerce capabilities is the existence of long-term mutually satisfying buyer(-)supplier relationships. The first study examines the antecedents of relationship satisfaction between B2B e-commerce trading partners. Using the relational view of the firm, a theoretical model is developed to investigate the direct and countervailing effects of trust and risk on relationship satisfaction. In addition, the indirect effects of justice and commitment on relationship satisfaction are also investigated. A field survey is used to collect data from 205 industry professionals concerning B2B e-commerce trading partnerships. Structural equation modeling is used to evaluate the hypothesized model relationships. The results support all hypotheses and indicate good model fit with strong explanatory power. This study contributes to the accounting information systems and strategic management literature by investigating the interactive but independent roles of risk and trust within B2B e-commerce trading relationships. The second study examines the integrative effects of power, risk, and trust, along with their antecedents, on the desirability of assurance over a trading partner's e-commerce processes. Using the resource advantage theory of competition as a foundation, a research model is developed to examine the relationships among the various trading partners and organizational factors that drive demand for a high information governance structure such as assurance. A field survey is used to collect data from 205 industry professionals to enable the evaluation of the complex relationships in the overall research model using structural equation modeling. The results support all hypotheses and provide good model fit, strong explanatory power, and strong support for the theory. This study expands the literature on management control systems within interorganizational relationships by addressing three contemporary concerns in the literature: (1) the minimal consideration of the impact of information technology in these relationships, (2) the minimal consideration of the impact of variances in the relative power of the trading partners, and (3) the need to consider the dual influence of risk and trust. Globalization places greater emphasis on the development of transnational alliances. The greatest benefits from alliances are derived from high-level information sharing, but risk escalates with information sharing. The purpose of the third study is to examine the influence of enterprise risk management (ERM) on risk and trust associated with transnational alliances and the resulting impact on interorganizational information sharing. Survey data is gathered from 200 senior-level managers monitoring transnational alliances. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results provide strong support for the hypothesized relationships and the overall research model, showing that high ERM leads to decreased risk, increased trust, and improved information sharing.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004117, ucf:49108
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004117
- Title
- THE IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL GOAL CONVERGENCE, INFORMATION-COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION, AND INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST ON NETWORK FORMATION AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE CASE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
- Creator
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Garayev, Vener, Kapucu, Naim, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
With the increase of severity and scope of disasters, collaborative networks have become the main tool to tackle with complex emergencies. Networks, however, are mostly effective to the extent they are maintained over time. This study analyzes whether organizational goal convergence, information-communication technology utilization, and inter-organizational trust impacts network sustainability. The main research questions of the study are: (1) How are organizational goals, technical...
Show moreWith the increase of severity and scope of disasters, collaborative networks have become the main tool to tackle with complex emergencies. Networks, however, are mostly effective to the extent they are maintained over time. This study analyzes whether organizational goal convergence, information-communication technology utilization, and inter-organizational trust impacts network sustainability. The main research questions of the study are: (1) How are organizational goals, technical/technological capacity of organizations, and trust among organizations of a network are related to the sustainability of collaborative network relationships? (2) Which of the above-mentioned factors plays the most significant role in affecting network sustainability? Covering the context of emergency management system in the United States, this study utilized a self-administered survey that was electronically distributed to county emergency managers across the country. The data consisting of 534 complete responses was analyzed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Inc. software's PASW (Predictive Analytics SoftWare) Statistics version 18.0 and transferred to Amos 18.0 software for structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. The findings suggest that organizational goal convergence, information-communication technology utilization, and inter-organizational trust have positive and statistically significant relationships with network sustainability; and, inter-organizational trust is the strongest factor followed by information-communication technology utilization and organizational goal convergence. The study contributes to the literature on network sustainability with specific suggestions for emergency management practitioners.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0003920, ucf:48738
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003920
- Title
- TRUST ON THE WEB: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL CONSENSUS ON INFORMATION CREDIBILITY.
- Creator
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Del Giudice, Katherine, Hancock, Peter, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Models of the need-driven information search and the information appraisal process were formed from a comprehensive literature review of factors affecting perceived credibility and trust in online information. The social component of online credibility has not, to date, been thoroughly researched. This componentÂÂ's impact on the development of the perceived credibility of online information was examined in two experiments. In the first experiment, the impact of...
Show moreModels of the need-driven information search and the information appraisal process were formed from a comprehensive literature review of factors affecting perceived credibility and trust in online information. The social component of online credibility has not, to date, been thoroughly researched. This componentÂÂ's impact on the development of the perceived credibility of online information was examined in two experiments. In the first experiment, the impact of positive, mixed, and negative social feedback on the development of the perceived credibility of a web page was evaluated. In the second experiment, the effect of social feedback on credibility was examined under two levels of motivation for information use to investigate whether social feedback becomes less important as motivation to obtain quality information increases. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that type of feedback can influence perceived web page credibility. Pages with negative audience feedback received the lowest credibility ratings, while pages with positive audience feedback received the highest credibility ratings. Pages with mixed or no audience feedback received higher credibility ratings than pages with negative feedback, but lower credibility ratings than pages with positive feedback. In Experiment 2, high motivation did not impact the number of web page elements participants reported that they used to determine credibility. High motivation for information use also did not reduce the impact of audience feedback on perceived credibility.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003240, ucf:48540
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003240
- Title
- Individual Differences in Trust Toward Robotic Assistants.
- Creator
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Sanders, Tracy, Hancock, Peter, Mouloua, Mustapha, Szalma, James, Behal, Aman, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This work on trust in human-robot interaction describes a series of three experiments from which a series of predictive models are developed. Previous work in trust and robotics has examined HRI components related to robots extensively, but there has been little research to quantify the influence of individual differences in trust on HRI. The present work seeks to fill that void by measuring individual differences across a variety of conditions, including differences in robot characteristics...
Show moreThis work on trust in human-robot interaction describes a series of three experiments from which a series of predictive models are developed. Previous work in trust and robotics has examined HRI components related to robots extensively, but there has been little research to quantify the influence of individual differences in trust on HRI. The present work seeks to fill that void by measuring individual differences across a variety of conditions, including differences in robot characteristics and environments. The models produced indicate that the main individual factors predicting trust in robotics include pre-existing attitudes towards robots, interpersonal trust, and personality traits.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006843, ucf:51776
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006843
- Title
- Two Essays on Investors' Attention to Economically Linked Firms.
- Creator
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Khoshnoud, Mahsa, Chen, Honghui, Frye, Melissa, Gatchev, Vladimir, Turnbull, Geoffrey, Harrison, David, Roberts, Robin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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My first essay examines the degree to which the market prices of publicly traded firms reflect and respond to new information regarding the economic viability and vitality of organizations to which they are strategically linked. More specifically, I exploit the uniquely transparent nature of the lessor-lessee relationship across commercial real estate markets to evaluate whether future returns to real estate investment trusts (REITs) are systematically affected by the financial return...
Show moreMy first essay examines the degree to which the market prices of publicly traded firms reflect and respond to new information regarding the economic viability and vitality of organizations to which they are strategically linked. More specifically, I exploit the uniquely transparent nature of the lessor-lessee relationship across commercial real estate markets to evaluate whether future returns to real estate investment trusts (REITs) are systematically affected by the financial return performance and/or operational opacity of the tenants who lease their investment properties. Using a hand collected data set identifying the principal tenants of 96 publicly traded REITs, I find those firms with the best performing tenants generate annualized abnormal returns which are approximately six percent higher than those realized by REITs with the worst performing tenants. These results are robust to a variety of model specifications, and a closer inspection of the results reveals these performance differentials are consistent with emerging evidence across the literature suggesting investors' limited attention materially influences the return predictability of assets. With respect to the current investigation, I thus conclude investors' limited attention leads to the failure of REIT prices to fully reflect the valuation implications of their tenants' return performance.My second essay investigates how sophisticated investors, such as short sellers, trade on information along the supply chain. Short sellers are known to be generally better informed than common investors. Given the economic linkages that exist between the suppliers and customers, one would expect short sellers to trade on such information. My results indicate that short interest predicts unexpected earnings news, consistent with short sellers extracting information from economic relationships. When I evaluate stock return and short interests in regression analysis, I find strong negative relation between short interest in supplier firm and the future stock returns for the customer firm for the return in the next month. The negative relation persists for twelve months. I find similar results from portfolio approach. I argue that one plausible channel that explains the information content of supplier (customer) firm's short interest for the customer (supplier) firms is short sale constraints on the customer (supplier) firms. My results are consistent with this explanation. Overall, my findings suggest that short sellers play an important role in the price discovery of related firms on supply chain, beyond their direct effects documented previously.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006755, ucf:51842
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006755
- Title
- Influence of Task-Role Mental Models on Human Interpretation of Robot Motion Behavior.
- Creator
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Ososky, Scott, Jentsch, Florian, Shumaker, Randall, Fiore, Stephen, Lackey, Stephanie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The transition in robotics from tools to teammates has begun. However, the benefit autonomous robots provide will be diminished if human teammates misinterpret robot behaviors. Applying mental model theory as the organizing framework for human understanding of robots, the current empirical study examined the influence of task-role mental models of robots on the interpretation of robot motion behaviors, and the resulting impact on subjective ratings of robots. Observers (N = 120) were exposed...
Show moreThe transition in robotics from tools to teammates has begun. However, the benefit autonomous robots provide will be diminished if human teammates misinterpret robot behaviors. Applying mental model theory as the organizing framework for human understanding of robots, the current empirical study examined the influence of task-role mental models of robots on the interpretation of robot motion behaviors, and the resulting impact on subjective ratings of robots. Observers (N = 120) were exposed to robot behaviors that were either congruent or incongruent with their task-role mental model, by experimental manipulation of preparatory robot task-role information to influence mental models (i.e., security guard, groundskeeper, or no information), the robot's actual task-role behaviors (i.e., security guard or groundskeeper), and the order in which these robot behaviors were presented. The results of the research supported the hypothesis that observers with congruent mental models were significantly more accurate in interpreting the motion behaviors of the robot than observers without a specific mental model. Additionally, an incongruent mental model, under certain circumstances, significantly hindered an observer's interpretation accuracy, resulting in subjective sureness of inaccurate interpretations. The strength of the effects that mental models had on the interpretation and assessment of robot behaviors was thought to have been moderated by the ease with which a particular mental model could reasonably explain the robot's behavior, termed mental model applicability. Finally, positive associations were found between differences in observers' interpretation accuracy and differences in subjective ratings of robot intelligence, safety, and trustworthiness. The current research offers implications for the relationships between mental model components, as well as implications for designing robot behaviors to appear more transparent, or opaque, to humans.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005391, ucf:50457
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005391
- Title
- ADAPTIVE SELF-REGULATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS IN THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION.
- Creator
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Howell, Sharon, Peggy D. Dwyer, Robin W. Roberts, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether or not perceptions of organizational politics mediate the relationships between accountants' personality and interpersonal traits and their perceptions of a superior's leadership ability and performance. An accountant who has a higher degree of confidence in his or her superior's abilities is more likely to be committed to a given project, resulting in a better project outcome. This benefits the client and ultimately society as a...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether or not perceptions of organizational politics mediate the relationships between accountants' personality and interpersonal traits and their perceptions of a superior's leadership ability and performance. An accountant who has a higher degree of confidence in his or her superior's abilities is more likely to be committed to a given project, resulting in a better project outcome. This benefits the client and ultimately society as a whole. This study contributes to the accounting and psychology literatures because extant research views perceptions of leadership ability and performance from the perspective of the individual agent, with little or no recognition that social action and interaction shape and mold both the individual agent's actions and perceptions of those actions. Perceived leadership and perceived performance are important in accounting for several reasons. First, individuals act in part in relation and response to the expectations of others. Thus, the perception of effective leadership and performance is gained by meeting the expectations of others. Secondly, accountants with reputations for effectiveness have been found to be more successful in their careers. Finally, the reputation for effectiveness in performance and leadership ability has been shown to increase those abilities. This study draws on the adaptive self-regulation framework as well as other theoretical models of perceived performance. The study results indicate that certain manageable personality, interpersonal, and contextual variables affect how accountants view the level of organizational politics within the workplace. In turn, the accountant's view of the organizations' politics is shown to very strongly affect how the accountant perceives his or her superiors' performance and leadership ability.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000507, ucf:46458
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000507
- Title
- Transparency in human-agent teaming and its effect on complacent behavior.
- Creator
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Wright, Julia, Hancock, Peter, Szalma, James, Jentsch, Florian, Chen, Jessie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study examined how transparency of an intelligent agent's reasoning affected complacent behavior in a route selection task in a simulated environment. Also examined was how the information available to the operator affected those results.In two experiments, participants supervised a three-vehicle convoy as it traversed a simulated environment and re-routed the convoy when needed with the assistance of an intelligent agent, RoboLeader. Participants were randomly assigned to an Agent...
Show moreThis study examined how transparency of an intelligent agent's reasoning affected complacent behavior in a route selection task in a simulated environment. Also examined was how the information available to the operator affected those results.In two experiments, participants supervised a three-vehicle convoy as it traversed a simulated environment and re-routed the convoy when needed with the assistance of an intelligent agent, RoboLeader. Participants were randomly assigned to an Agent Reasoning Transparency condition. Participants received communications from a commander confirming either the presence or absence of activity in the area. They also received information regarding potential events along their route via icons that appeared on a map displaying the convoy route and surrounding area. Participants in Experiment 1 (low information setting) received information about their current route only; they did not receive any information about the suggested alternate route. Participants in Experiment 2 (high information setting) received information about both their current route and the agent recommended an alternative route. In the first experiment, access to agent reasoning was found to be an effective deterrent to complacent behavior when the operator has limited information about their task environment. However, the addition of information that created ambiguity for the operator encouraged complacency, resulting in reduced performance and poorer trust calibration. Agent reasoning did not increase response time or workload and appeared to have improved performance on the secondary task. These findings align with studies that have shown ambiguous information can increase workload and encourage complacency, as such, caution should be exercised when considering how transparent to make agent reasoning and what information should be included.In the second experiment, access to agent reasoning was found to have little effect on complacent behavior when the operator had complete information about the task environment. However, the addition of information that created ambiguity for the operator appeared to encourage complacency, as indicated by reduced performance and shorter decision times. Agent reasoning transparency did not increase overall workload, and operators reported higher satisfaction with their performance and reduced mental demand. Access to agent reasoning did not improve operators' secondary task performance, situation awareness, or operator trust. However, when agent reasoning transparency included ambiguous information complacent behavior was again encouraged. Unlike the first experiment, there were notable differences in complacent behavior, performance, operator trust, and situation awareness due to individual difference factors. As such, these findings would suggest that when the operator has complete information regarding their task environment, access to agent reasoning may be beneficial, but not dramatically so. However, individual difference factors will greatly influence performance outcomes. The amount of information the operator has regarding the task environment has a profound effect on the proper use of the agent. Increased environmental information resulted in more rejections of the agent recommendation regardless of the transparency of agent reasoning. The addition of agent reasoning transparency appeared to be effective at keeping the operator engaged, while complacent behavior appeared to be encouraged both when agent reasoning was either not transparent or so transparent as to become ambiguous. Even so, operators reported lower trust and usability for the agent than when environmental information was limited. Situation awareness (SA2) scores were also higher in the high information environment when agent reasoning was either not transparent or so transparent as to become ambiguous, compared to the low information environment. However, when a moderate amount of agent reasoning was available to the operator, the amount of information available to the operator had no effect on the operators' complacent behavior, subjective trust, or SA. These findings indicate that some negative outcomes resulting from the incongruous transparency of agent reasoning may be mitigated by increasing the information the operator has regarding the task environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006422, ucf:51469
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006422
- Title
- Through the Eyes of First-Year College Students: The Importance of Trust in the Development of Effective Advising Relationships.
- Creator
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Lemon, Mark, Cintron Delgado, Rosa, Boyd, Tammy, Owens, James, Beverly, Monifa, Laureano Fuentes, Gloria, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This research was conducted to better understand how first-year college students make sense of the role of trust in the development of the relationship with their academic advisors and how they characterize the conditions that enhance or hinder trust in this relationship. An extensive literature review was conducted, identifying relevant scholarship concerning trust and academic advising--the history, philosophy, and professionalization of the field. Also, a brief section on distrust was...
Show moreThis research was conducted to better understand how first-year college students make sense of the role of trust in the development of the relationship with their academic advisors and how they characterize the conditions that enhance or hinder trust in this relationship. An extensive literature review was conducted, identifying relevant scholarship concerning trust and academic advising--the history, philosophy, and professionalization of the field. Also, a brief section on distrust was presented to offer balance in the trust literature and to support the Lewicki, McAllister, (&) Bies' (1998) theoretical framework that guided this research endeavor. Moreover, a profile of the traditional, first-year college student was introduced, as this distinct population was asked to participate in this study and to share their unique lived experiences, detailing the relationships they have developed with their academic advisors. A phenomenological research design was employed, collecting participant data via in-depth interviews, an advisor/trust orientation exercise, and member checking. After these data were collected, the Moustakas (1994) four-step approach to data analysis was utilized as a means of data reduction. Eight traditional, first-year college students participated in this research endeavor, and all indicated that the role of trust was important in the development of the relationship with their academic advisors. Also, they isolated four trust characteristics that may enhance trust in their advising relationships: initiative, knowledge/expertise, kindness, and reliability. Likewise, the inverse of these named trust facets may hinder trust in their advising relationships. These new discoveries offer powerful insights for advancing the field of collegiate level academic advising.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005022, ucf:49984
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005022
- Title
- Managing Effective Collaboration among Law Enforcement, Intelligence Services, and Military Forces in Fight against Terrorism and Organized Crime.
- Creator
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Demirhan, Cihan, Kapucu, Naim, Hu, Qian, Feldheim, Mary Ann, Rivera, Fernando, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The fight against terrorism and organized crime require strong collaboration between public security organizations. Public security networks include several agencies that are not bound to each other with strong hierarchical ties. Because of a lack of the strong hierarchical structure, managing public networks is not similar to managing a single government agency. This study aims to examine the factors influencing network effectiveness in the public security sector. The main research questions...
Show moreThe fight against terrorism and organized crime require strong collaboration between public security organizations. Public security networks include several agencies that are not bound to each other with strong hierarchical ties. Because of a lack of the strong hierarchical structure, managing public networks is not similar to managing a single government agency. This study aims to examine the factors influencing network effectiveness in the public security sector. The main research questions of the study are: Which factors are important for effectiveness in public security networks? What is the role of inter-organizational trust among partner agencies? Which kind of leadership style will achieve the highest performance in public security networks? What is the relative importance of goal convergence and organizational culture in network effectiveness? How does the relationship between inter-organizational trust, leadership style, goal convergence and organizational culture impact network effectiveness? In order to find these relations, a self-reported survey was sent to 2,095 current and previous Turkish public security network managers. The study found that inter-organizational trust and goal convergence have a positive relationship with network effectiveness. Although facilitator leadership is found to be the most common leadership style in Turkish public security networks, it is found as inappropriate to achieve higher network effectiveness. According to the results, the co-producer network leadership is the most convenient leadership style in terms of network effectiveness. While the results of the descriptive statistics confirm that six specific features of organizational culture in public security sector have negative influence on network effectiveness, the hypothesis testing with the covariance structure model only support the negative impact of competition among partner organization. This study contributes to the literature on network effectiveness with particular proposals for the public security managers and practitioners.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005479, ucf:50350
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005479
- Title
- Determinants of Satisfaction and EWOM in Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy: Timeshare Stays Versus Peer-to-Peer Accommodations.
- Creator
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Redditt, Jennifer, Fyall, Alan, Gregory, Amy, Ro, Heejung, Orlowski, Marissa, Altinay, Levent, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Considered a disrupter in the lodging industry, sharing economy accommodations have become an emergent field in hospitality literature. While this literature predominantly addresses peer-to-peer accommodations such as Airbnb, it has not considered timeshares, one of the sharing economy pioneers. However, consumer behavior literature has integrated timeshares into the sharing economy due to the shared resource of accommodations between consumers. This study examined the determinants of...
Show moreConsidered a disrupter in the lodging industry, sharing economy accommodations have become an emergent field in hospitality literature. While this literature predominantly addresses peer-to-peer accommodations such as Airbnb, it has not considered timeshares, one of the sharing economy pioneers. However, consumer behavior literature has integrated timeshares into the sharing economy due to the shared resource of accommodations between consumers. This study examined the determinants of Satisfaction (Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host) for consumers of two different types of sharing economy lodging products, timeshares and peer-to-peer accommodations, and their electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior. Considered a critical travel information source, eWOM has been attributed to affecting purchase decisions in hospitality literature. Current research has revealed a gap in peer-to-peer accommodation studies related to eWOM. This study extended eWOM research by exploring the role of Satisfaction as a mediator between the determinants and eWOM. In addition, accommodation type (timeshare vs. peer-to-peer accommodation) was investigated as a moderator to the relationship between the determinants and Satisfaction, and to the relationship between Satisfaction and eWOM. The study employed the two-step approach of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicated that Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host had a positive impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction. Amenities, Economic Benefits, and Trust demonstrated an indirect effect on eWOM behavior through sharing economy lodging satisfaction. The model also revealed that Community Belonging had a direct effect on eWOM. Multiple group SEM revealed that accommodation type moderated the effect of Community Belonging's impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction, as well as the effect of sharing economy lodging Satisfaction on eWOM behavior. Satisfaction did not mediate any relationships for peer-to-peer accommodations. This study extends eWOM literature and provides competitive advantage insights between two sharing economy accommodation types.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007854, ucf:52785
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007854
- Title
- Reexamining the Relationship Between Divided Government and Voter Turnout.
- Creator
-
Beck, Heidi, Knuckey, Jonathan, Jewett, Aubrey, Lanier, Drew, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This thesis reexamines the effect of divided government on voter turnout originally posited byFranklin and Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o (1998), which suggested that each year of exposure to dividedgovernment resulted in a cumulative negative effect on voters leading to alienation and lowerturnout. It reconsiders this argument using more recent data, given that voter turnout in U.S.presidential elections (as measured by the Voting Eligible Population) has increased since 2000,even though divided...
Show moreThis thesis reexamines the effect of divided government on voter turnout originally posited byFranklin and Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o (1998), which suggested that each year of exposure to dividedgovernment resulted in a cumulative negative effect on voters leading to alienation and lowerturnout. It reconsiders this argument using more recent data, given that voter turnout in U.S.presidential elections (as measured by the Voting Eligible Population) has increased since 2000,even though divided government has occurred during this period.This thesis also uses new data and methods to address concerns about the original aggregatelevelresearch design. The research question is tested at the individual-level of analysis todetermine if divided government does interact with political trust to lower turnout. Previousresearch assumed this relationship since there is no aggregate-level proxy for political trust. Byusing survey data from the American National Election Studies it is now possible to test the fulltheory.The aggregate-level models show that misspecifications in the research design of Franklinand Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o resulting in multicollinearity, and in two instances autocorrelation, whichresulted in a failure to reject the null hypothesis. The individual-level models show that dividedgovernment interacts with low levels of political trust to increase voter turnout, falsifying theargument about the effect of divided government on turnout. Overall, the thesis suggests that theimplications of an aspect of the American political system that renders it distinguishable frommost other advanced-industrial democracies(-)divided party control of the executive andlegislative branches(-)should be reassessed. More generally, the thesis demonstrates theimportance of reevaluating hypotheses in political science with the most recent data and morerobust methods in order to establish whether those original hypotheses are still supported
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007783, ucf:52363
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007783
- Title
- Environmental Physical(-)Virtual Interaction to Improve Social Presence with a Virtual Human in Mixed Reality.
- Creator
-
Kim, Kangsoo, Welch, Gregory, Gonzalez, Avelino, Sukthankar, Gita, Bruder, Gerd, Fiore, Stephen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Interactive Virtual Humans (VHs) are increasingly used to replace or assist real humans in various applications, e.g., military and medical training, education, or entertainment. In most VH research, the perceived social presence with a VH, which denotes the user's sense of being socially connected or co-located with the VH, is the decisive factor in evaluating the social influence of the VH(-)a phenomenon where human users' emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by the VH. The purpose...
Show moreInteractive Virtual Humans (VHs) are increasingly used to replace or assist real humans in various applications, e.g., military and medical training, education, or entertainment. In most VH research, the perceived social presence with a VH, which denotes the user's sense of being socially connected or co-located with the VH, is the decisive factor in evaluating the social influence of the VH(-)a phenomenon where human users' emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by the VH. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop new knowledge about how characteristics and behaviors of a VH in a Mixed Reality (MR) environment can affect the perception of and resulting behavior with the VH, and to find effective and efficient ways to improve the quality and performance of social interactions with VHs. Important issues and challenges in real(-)virtual human interactions in MR, e.g., lack of physical(-)virtual interaction, are identified and discussed through several user studies incorporating interactions with VH systems. In the studies, different features of VHs are prototyped and evaluated, such as a VH's ability to be aware of and influence the surrounding physical environment, while measuring objective behavioral data as well as collecting subjective responses from the participants. The results from the studies support the idea that the VH's awareness and influence of the physical environment can improve not only the perceived social presence with the VH, but also the trustworthiness of the VH within a social context. The findings will contribute towards designing more influential VHs that can benefit a wide range of simulation and training applications for which a high level of social realism is important, and that can be more easily incorporated into our daily lives as social companions, providing reliable relationships and convenience in assisting with daily tasks.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007340, ucf:52115
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007340
- Title
- Mirrors and Vanities.
- Creator
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Salas, Leslie, Rushin, Patrick, Poissant, David, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the...
Show more"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the complications of characters keeping secrets. A husband discovers the truth behind his wife's miscarriage. A girl visits her fianc(&)#233; in purgatory. A boy crosses a line and loses his best friend. Meanwhile, the nonfiction centers on self-discovery and gender roles associated with power struggles. A schizophrenic threatens to ruin my mother's wedding. I rediscover my relationship with my father through food writing. Sword-work teaches me to fail and succeed at making martial art. The title work of the thesis is a collaged story highlighting the tribulations of a physicist fixated on recovering his lost love by manipulating the multiverse. The multi-modal format implicates the nebulosity of physics theories and how different aspects of the narrative can be presented in various formats to best suit the nature of the storytelling.Through the interactions of characters in mundane and extraordinary circumstances, the works in this thesis examine the consequences of choice, the contrast between reality and expectation, coming of age, and the Truth of narrative.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004745, ucf:49789
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004745
