Browsing by Author "Kline, Theresa"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A Just and Trusting Culture: Identification of Enhancers and Hindrances via a Policy-Capturing Study
    (2013-05-23) Pattison, Jill; Kline, Theresa
    Recognition of the importance of a just and trusting culture has been a focal point in enhancing patient safety; as it stands however, healthcare organizations are impeded by a culture of blame. In the present study, 12 subject matter experts were interviewed regarding behaviors that would create or hinder the development of a just and trusting culture. An additional 29 participants took part in a policy-capturing study that allowed for the direct assessment of identified factors that were seen as important to the development of a just and trusting culture. Violation type, explanation, blame by manager, and blame by organization were all significant predictors of perceptions of trust. The present findings can be useful in terms of developing training systems for managers and organizational executive teams for managing medical error events and ultimately improving patient safety. Research implications and directions for future research are also presented.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Gender Diversity, Board Interlocks and Environmental Performance
    (2016-01-15) Lu, Jing; Herremans, Irene; Gordon, Irene; Anderson, Mark; Dick, David; Nazari, Jamal; Kline, Theresa
    My dissertation consists of three studies that investigate gender diversity, board interlocks, and environmental performance. In the first study, I investigate whether gender diversity is related to firms’ environmental performance. Built on resource dependence theory, I argue that compared to male directors, female directors provide different human resources. Thus, gender diversity in the boardroom leads to better environmental performance by providing a greater pool of resources. Using a sample of S&P 1500 firms in the US between 2009 and 2012, I find a positive relationship between gender diversity and environmental performance using regressions. This study provides a recent snapshot of gender diversity practice and firms’ environmental performance after Sarbanes-Oxley and the 2007-2008 financial crisis, using a much larger sample size than previous research. In the second study, I delve deeper into the relational dimension of corporate governance, specifically the link between board interlocks and environmental performance. Social network theory argues that an organization’s outcome is affected by its position in the network and board interlocks create channels for sharing of information between firms. Using the same sample as study No. 1, I find an interesting phenomenon that board interlocks serve as channels of information diffusion that result in good environmental performance, but poor environmental performing firms do not share information as much. This study provides empirical evidence that board interlocks serve an information filtering function depending on directors’ values alignment. In my last study, I test the link between board interlocks, the interlocking directors’ sustainability-related human and social capital, and environmental performance. I combine resource dependence theory and social network theory, which suggest that board interlocks serve as effective channels of sharing information and the interlocking directors’ experiences play a role in the process of diffusion. Using regressions, I find that both interlocking directors’ sustainability-related human and social capital contribute to environmental performance positively. My work responds to numerous research studies that call for empirical evidence of the relationship among board interlocks, interlocking directors’ characteristics, and organizational outcomes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Impact of Human Capital on Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Outcomes
    (2019-06-11) Sinha, Kanhaiya Kumar; Dewald, Jim R.; Saunders, W. Chad; Keyhani, Mohammad; Kwon, Seok-Woo; Kline, Theresa; Yuan, Wenlong
    In the extant literature, innovativeness, opportunity identification, and performance of the firm are considered to be independently affected by the human capital (i.e., knowledge, skills, and experience) and entrepreneurship. The view that entrepreneurship involves both opportunity and people has led to the call from scholars to look at entrepreneurship in conjunction with human capital to better explain the firm’s growth. Acknowledging this need, the three studies in this thesis explore the relationship between human capital and its impact on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial outcomes. Chapter 2 of the thesis examines the underlying similarities and complementarities of human capital and entrepreneurship by studying the relationship between learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. Using a meta-analysis methodology, this study finds a fairly high correlation of 0.44 between learning and entrepreneurial orientations. The findings indicate that these two orientations have a combinative impact on firm performance, with a combined ability to explain as high as 38% of performance variance. Chapter 3, taking a process view, studies the relationship between human capital and innovation as an essential component of entrepreneurship. The study theorizes and tests the novel idea that learning across the organization (i.e., learning breadth) is associated with organization-wide innovation (i.e., innovation breadth) which in turn impacts performance. Using ordinary Least squares moderated regression, the study demonstrates a curvilinear relationship between learning breadth and innovation breadth. Further, past venture experience of the firm’s leadership moderates this relationship, while innovation breadth is positively related to business performance. The findings highlight the breadth of the innovations as an important extension of inquiry in addition to consideration of a single or dominant type of innovation. Drawing on the insights of the behavioral theory of the firm, Chapter 4 argues that human capital of founders, apart from being associated with the mean performance of new ventures, is also associated with performance variability. The estimated multiplicative heteroscedasticity regression model reveals that (i) past venture experience positively affects firm growth without affecting the variability, (ii) team industry work experience and education increase variability without affecting the mean, and (iii) the age of team members and the ratio of native-born owners hurt the firm’s growth and have a positive effect on variability. Finally, Chapter 5 provides a synthesis across the three essays to demonstrate three interrelated but little explored aspects of human capital and its impact on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial outcomes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Short form version of the Quality of Trauma Care Patient-Reported Experience Measure (SF QTAC-PREM)
    (2017-12-06) Bobrovitz, Niklas; Santana, Maria J; Boyd, Jamie; Kline, Theresa; Kortbeek, John; Widder, Sandy; Martin, Kevin; Stelfox, Henry T
    Abstract Objective To enable the valid and reliable measurement of patient experiences we previously published a multicenter multi-center validation of the Quality of Trauma Care Patient-Reported Experience Measure (QTAC-PREM). The purpose of this study was to derive a simplified, short form version of the QTAC-PREM to further enhance the feasibility of measuring patient experiences in injury care. To identify candidate items for the short form we reviewed the results of the original multi-center long form validation cohort study, which included 400 injury care patients and their family members recruited from three trauma centers. We only included the best performing items on the revised short form. Results The acute care component of the measure was shortened by 30% and the post-acute care component was shortened by 42%. We identified two subscales on the acute measure (information and communication; clinical and ancillary care) and one subscale on the post-acute measure (post-discharge information and communication). The measurement properties of the short form measure were similar to that of the validated long form. This short form assessment of patient injury care experiences offers a useful, practical, and easy tool for trauma centers to implement for service evaluation, quality improvement, and injury care research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Integration of the Internal Strategic and Operational Controls to Maintain Sustainability Performance: The Linkage of the Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Performance to Pay Ratio, CEO Power, and the Board Diversity
    (2017) Mahmoudian, Fereshteh; Herremans, Irene; Anderson, Mark; Dick, David; Kline, Theresa; Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran (Giri)
    This dissertation consists of three studies on sustainability performance and the internal strategic and operational components that lead to higher sustainability performance. By applying a systems approach, the first paper demonstrates how the internal strategic and operational components predict sustainability performance and the quality of the sustainability reporting. I find that leading performers (companies with higher sustainability performance) employ systems that are more comprehensive at both the strategic and operational levels. Region of incorporation, business activities, financial variables, and firm size also play a role in achieving sustainability outcomes. Delving into the details of the strategic controls, the second paper investigates the determinants of the pay ratio (between executive managers and non-executive employees) and the influence of the ratio on sustainability performance. I find that the firm’s operational performance and the employees’ skills are positively associated with the pay ratio, but the higher the ratio between executive and non-executive compensation, the lower the sustainability performance. I conclude that a high relative pay ratio provides a tournament incentive for executives to increase the firm’s operational performance. However, the high pay ratio might also lead to non-executive employees’ dissatisfaction stemming from the perceived inequity in pay. In addition, high pay ratios are inconsistent with the values of a sustainable company. Rather than investigating compensation for all executives, the third paper narrows the focus to CEO compensation as a proxy for CEO power. Thus, the third paper examines the determinants of CEO power along with compensation committee members’ diversity in relation to sustainability performance. I find that CEO power is associated with the executives’ demographic structure. After controlling for a firm’s ownership structure and internal factors, including financial performance, I determine the short-term and long-term levels of CEO power. I investigate whether CEO power, along with compensation committee members’ diversity, is associated with firms’ sustainability performance. I find that CEO power (both short term and long term) is significantly associated with sustainability performance. Moreover, I find mostly positive, albeit weak associations between compensation committee members’ diversity and sustainability performance.