Matching Items (3)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Authenticity
- All Subjects: Investments
- Creators: Hillman, Amy
Description
Over the last several years there has been increased enthusiasm surrounding local interests, particularly when it comes to the economic development of local communities (Esteves, Barclay, 2011). This study seeks to identify potential barriers to local sourcing that have not been previously identified in literature. By conducting interviews with organizations in the private and public sectors, this study was able to gain a broad perspective of the sourcing decision making process across these sectors. The study was able to determine three new barriers to local sourcing. First, in the private sector, the lack of personal commitment to local sourcing from the decision maker to source locally is a barrier. Second, in the public sector, the intention behind procurement policies are creating the barrier for local sourcing opportunities. Finally, both private and public sectors experience the same external barriers due to a mismatch of the local supply base and the needs of the organization.
ContributorsKolesar, Katherine Ann (Author) / Kull, Thomas (Thesis director) / Hillman, Amy (Committee member) / Lanning, Kimber (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This dissertation examines the relationship between professionalization, economic motives, and authenticity in an Airbnb context. While perceived authenticity (defined and measured by both genuineness and consistency with category expectations) benefits organizations, it may be in tension with economic motives or professionalization which offer their own sets of benefits to an organization. This study qualitatively (using pilot interviews) and empirically (using an experimental survey design) explores the tensions surrounding authenticity, economic motives, and professionalization. This study also considers potential moderators of personalization and connection to place that could offset hypothesized negative relationships or preserve authenticity in spite of professionalization and economic motives.
The findings from this study support the negative relationship between professionalization and authenticity - but only when authenticity is measured as genuineness. Surprisingly, economic motives were not found to be negatively related to authenticity, and the explored moderators, were insignificant in affecting these relationships. The two-factor structure of authenticity (comprised of genuineness and consistency) and the implications of the professionalization finding are discussed. Theoretical reasons for non-findings, empirical limitations, and suggestions for future research to further investigate the tensions surrounding authenticity are also considered.
This study contributes to the understanding of the complex interplay between authenticity with professionalization and economic motives, offering insights for organizations wanting to navigate these tensions.
ContributorsPoli, Anika (Author) / Bundy, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / Ashforth, Blake (Committee member) / Hillman, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
In this study, I test whether firms reduce the information asymmetry stemming from the political process by investing in political connections. I expect that connected firms enjoy differential access to relevant political information, and use this information to mitigate the negative consequences of political uncertainty. I investigate this construct in the context of firm-specific investment, where prior literature has documented a negative relation between investment and uncertainty. Specifically, I regress firm investment levels on the interaction of time-varying political uncertainty and the degree of a firm's political connectedness, controlling for determinants of investment, political participation, general macroeconomic conditions, and firm and time-period fixed effects. Consistent with prior work, I first document that firm-specific investment levels are significantly lower during periods of increased uncertainty, defined as the year leading up to a national election. I then assess the extent that political connections offset the negative effect of political uncertainty. Consistent with my hypothesis, I document the mitigating effect of political connections on the negative relation between investment levels and political uncertainty. These findings are robust to controls for alternative explanations related to the pre-electoral manipulation hypothesis and industry-level political participation. These findings are also robust to alternative specifications designed to address the possibility that time-invariant firm characteristics are driving the observed results. I also examine whether investors consider time-varying political uncertainty and the mitigating effect of political connections when capitalizing current earnings news. I find support that the earnings-response coefficient is lower during periods of increased uncertainty. However, I do not find evidence that investors incorporate the value relevant information in political connections as a mitigating factor.
ContributorsWellman, Laura (Author) / Dhaliwal, Dan (Thesis advisor) / Hillegeist, Stephen (Thesis advisor) / Walther, Beverly (Committee member) / Mikhail, Mike (Committee member) / Hillman, Amy (Committee member) / Brown, Jenny (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014