The electric utility industry is changing fast. Tax incentives, new regulations, and rising electricity demand from AI data centers are pushing leaders to rethink sustainability. This project examines how Midwestern electric utility executives respond and whether sustainability is driven by compliance, financial incentives, or long-term strategy. Electric utilities are interested in sustainable energy, but they are restrained by complicated regulatory and economic limitations. Focusing on leadership decisions, the study connects sustainability strategy to policy shifts and emerging energy demands. Structured interviews with senior utility leaders will be analyzed by theme to reveal how sustainability fits into the business plan. Currently in the literature review phase, the project expects to find that sustainability is seen as a smart business strategy rather than just a regulatory requirement, helping utilities manage long-term risks and plan for future growth.
While AI technologies such as generative, predictive analytics, and automated communication systems are increasingly common, limited academic research has explored their use in customer facing, relationship driven sales roles. To address this gap, we are conducting semi-structured, in-depth practitioner interviews, seeking to better understand how sales professionals in the beverage industry integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their daily work. We are almost finished interviewing 12-15 sales professionals in various roles including account managers, CEOs, sales directors, those in adjacent positions within the industry. Interviews explore how participants define AI, how they use it in practice, and the perceived impact on efficiency, decision-making, and performance. We also examine attitudes toward AI, including perceived benefits, challenges with integration, ethical concerns, and how sales professionals balance AI-generated insights with human intuition. Final results will contribute to research on current AI usage in sales and provide practical insights to help organizations integrate AI in ways that enhance human relational strengths in the sales process.
The study focuses on the development and validation of a generative AI model to select attractions and construct structured travel itineraries. Using three-stage systematic framework, the model synthesizes information on user preferences, attraction characteristics, time-of-day considerations, and contextual factors to generate coherent daily travel plans. Multiple real-world destination cases were used to evaluate the consistency, personalization quality, and logical structure of the generated itineraries. Preliminary findings indicate that generative AI can integrate diverse qualitative inputs and produce customized, context-aware itineraries that go beyond rule-based recommendation tools. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using generative AI as a decision-support layer in tourism planning.
The project aims to measure student perceptions regarding the improvement in learning outcomes in the Lean Manufacturing Systems and Concepts course by introducing an innovative assignment. By implementing an A3 problem-solving assignment for daily habits and tasks, students bridge theoretical knowledge with practical applications. The study evaluates student perceptions of how this method affects learning outcomes through surveys. Additionally, it measures student perceptions on how this new assignment can help them identify issues in their daily habits and improve upon them.
While AI technologies such as generative, predictive analytics, and automated communication systems are increasingly common, limited academic research has explored their use in customer facing, relationship driven sales roles. To address this gap, we are conducting semi-structured, in-depth practitioner interviews, seeking to better understand how sales professionals in the beverage industry integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their daily work. We are almost finished interviewing 12-15 sales professionals in various roles including account managers, CEOs, sales directors, those in adjacent positions within the industry. Interviews explore how participants define AI, how they use it in practice, and the perceived impact on efficiency, decision-making, and performance. We also examine attitudes toward AI, including perceived benefits, challenges with integration, ethical concerns, and how sales professionals balance AI-generated insights with human intuition. Final results will contribute to research on current AI usage in sales and provide practical insights to help organizations integrate AI in ways that enhance human relational strengths in the sales process.
This study examines how momentary self-worth and gain vs. loss framing influence the amount of risk people take when making decisions for themselves. We ran a preliminary study, in which participants first recalled a memory that either boosts, lowers, or has a neutral effect on their sense of self-worth. Then, they chose between a riskless or risky option. This decision was presented in two versions that have equal expected outcomes across conditions, but where one version was framed in terms of gaining monetary value and the other was framed in terms of losing monetary value (Tversky &Kahneman, 1981). Across 372 participants, we found that people tended to chose the risky(riskless) option when the decision was presented as a potential loss(gain). We also found that lower momentary self-worth may lead to more cautious choices within loss framing. While this effect was not large, is provides early insight into how self-worth processes might shape risk sensitivity. We are currently running a new study, a more expanded version of what we have already distributed, that we hope shows similar and significant results.
How do abusive supervisors affect their employee’s psychological safety? An employee’s relationship with their leader is one of the most consequential influences on an individual in the workplace. Having an abusive supervisor, characterized by their hostile verbal and nonverbal actions can have a detrimental effect on their employees, including the perceived level of psychological safety. Through a time-lagged survey-based methodology, we examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee’s psychological safety, and the intervening role played by varying levels of social support. We hypothesize that employees who experience more abusive supervision will enact defensive actions to protect themselves and their resources, including social withdrawals and engaging in unhealthy competition with colleagues, diminishing levels of social support. Through this diminished social support, people feel less supported and safe speaking up and sharing their thoughts, ideas, and values in the workplace (i.e., less psychologically safe). Our results provide support for the negative abusive supervision – psychological safety relationship and the mediating role of social support. A discussion of the practical and theoretical implications, as well we recommendations for future research will be provided.
The impostor phenomenon (IP; Clance & Imes, 1978) is a common experience among individuals in the workplace, often occurring without their knowledge. IP describes how an individual can convince themselves they are a ‘fraud’ within the workplace, having ‘faked’ their way to success, in which they fear being exposed as an imposter. Individuals who experience IP often experience mental blocks that impact their competence, affecting their behaviors and performance in the workplace. This study was measured through a time-lagged survey that explores the relationship between IP and creativity within the workplace, using ego depletion as the mediator of that relationship. Results of the study support the hypothesis, showing that IP is positively related to ego depletion, and ego depletion is negatively related to creativity, which ego depletion mediates the relationship between IP and workplace creativity. These findings support the concept that IP can be a resource-draining experience, shown through ego depletion, and that IP is negatively related to workplace creativity. A discussion of these implications for theory and directions for future research will be provided.
This project examines potential administrative barriers to initial Nursing Home Administrator (NHA) licensure, with particular attention to the timeline required to obtain licensure after completing educational and experiential requirements. Over half of U.S. states recognize the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) Health Services Executive (HSE) Qualification as meeting eligibility standards for NHA licensure. To earn the HSE via the education pathway, applicants must graduate from a NAB HSE-accredited program, complete a 1,000-hour Administrator Residency (primarily in skilled nursing, with exposure to assisted living and home- and community-based services), and pass the NAB Core and three line-of-service examinations. However, in many states, applicants must first apply for initial licensure before receiving authorization to sit for these exams, potentially creating delays.Using a mixed-methods design, three trained data collectors in each of 51 U.S. jurisdictions evaluated timelines, communication processes, and barriers to licensure while posing as graduates of NAB HSE-accredited programs. Descriptive statistics and thematic qualitative analyses are underway. Preliminary findings suggest variability in exam authorization procedures, communication clarity, and overall processing timelines. Identifying administrative barriers may inform policy alignment and streamline licensure processes to support a competent leadership workforce amid growing long-term care demands.
Our goal is to assess the administrative burden undertaken by prospective long-term care administrators seeking licensure. With the growing need for long term care, and increasing need for healthcare leaders, studying possible deterrents to joining the industry can help make long-term care more accessible. To study the administrative burden taken on by prospective licensees, investigators developed a rubric with qualitative and quantitative questions relating to expected costs, online information, timelines, and other challenges for Licensed Nursing Home Administrator (LNHA) applicants. 35 student data collectors underwent training and were each assigned three U.S. states, following a simulated applicant journey with no knowledge about licensure requirements in each assigned state. Using the structured data collection rubric, they tracked time spent on each step while documenting websites visited and roadblocks encountered. After data analysis, several trends emerged, suggesting a significant portion of states appeared to have barriers to finding and understanding initial licensure requirements. Participant feedback such as including clear flowcharts, simplifying language, and improving website navigation are offered as suggestions for state licensing websites. Reducing administrative burden and increasing clarity about the licensure pathway can make jobs more accessible and ensure people motivated to join this profession feel supported.
This project, supported by a UWEC International Fellows Blugold Commitment Funding, examined long-term care (LTC) services in Spain to inform cross-national comparisons with the United States and contribute to a larger mixed-methods study on aging- and dementia-related attitudes among healthcare professionals. The team toured LTC facilities, met with administrators and staff, and conducted qualitative interviews of health care workers on their self perceptions of aging. Qualitative analysis (n=15) focused on how working with older adults and people living with dementia shapes professionals’ perceptions of aging. Findings showed that most respondents reported shifts in how they view older adults, particularly greater recognition of autonomy, cognitive abilities, and emotional capacity. Participants highlighted the influence of exposure through family, workplace experiences, and broader social norms. When asked about their own aging, responses varied: not all professionals described personal change, but many reflected on aging through the lens of locus of control-distinguishing between modifiable factors (e.g., physical health through diet and exercise) and less controllable social or environmental influences. These insights illustrate how professional contact with aging and dementia can reshape attitudes and may inform strategies to reduce stigma and support high-quality dementia care.
Parental justice-involvement, including parental incarceration and/or supervision on parole or probation, is often associated with lasting challenges for families. This project explores the experiences of adult children with parental justice-involvement. While existing research has focused primarily on the immediate effects of parental incarceration on minor children, fewer studies have explored these experiences with adult children. Additionally limited work has looked at justice-involvement more broadly as opposed to specific parental incarceration. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the lived experiences of adult children with justice-involved parents using semi-structured interviews. The findings will contribute to academic discourse and inform policies and practices aimed at supporting individuals affected by parental justice-involvement.
This research investigates how multilingual identity influences communication tool preferences and personal self-efficacy in global virtual teams, examining the mediating role of conflicts. Drawing on Media Richness Theory, Social Identity Theory, and Conflict Management Theory, we hypothesized that (H1) individuals speaking more languages prefer richer communication tools (video calls) over leaner channels (email); (H2) richer tool preferences reduce both task and relationship conflict; (H3) task conflict is positively related to self-efficacy while relationship conflict is negatively related to self-efficacy; and (H4) tool selection and conflicts sequentially mediate individual outcomes.Analyzing data from 2,823 students across 629 teams in the 2022 Spring X-Culture project using SPSS PROCESS, we examined ten communication scenarios. Our findings challenge the hypothesized conflict-centered framework: the direct pathway (multilingual identity → tool preferences → self-efficacy) proved significantly stronger than the conflict-mediated pathway. In “introduction” and “member missing” scenarios, multilingual identity increased preference for high-richness tools, enhancing self-efficacy directly, with conflict playing minor mediating roles. The relationship between multilingual identity and tool preferences proved context-dependent: significant positive correlations in three scenarios, non-significant correlations in five routine scenarios, and slight negative correlations in two explanatory contexts. While information-rich tool preferences consistently correlated negatively with both conflict types (especially relationship conflict), these reductions played surprisingly modest mediating roles. Both conflict types negatively impacted self-efficacy (especially task conflict), contradicting H3. This reversal occurs because virtual environments lack the non-verbal cues that help teams navigate disagreements productively.The critical exception emerged when addressing the “member missing” question: language number significantly predicted tool preferences (β=0.0530, p
This project investigates how geographic diversity moderates the relationship between cultural diversity and team mental models (TMMs). Guided by Harrison and Klein’s (2007) framework on diversity mechanisms, we conceptualize cultural diversity as an information-based resource that enhances collective understanding, while geographic dispersion may amplify information exchange demands. Using regression modeling, results show that high geographic diversity strengthens the positive association between cultural diversity and TMMs, whereas low geographic diversity weakens this effect. These findings align with information-elaboration theory and highlight that when teams span varied geographic contexts, cultural differences are more actively interpreted and integrated into shared mental structures.
This study explores whether trust and voice jointly moderate the influence of peer evaluation scores on task conflict and whether task conflict subsequently predicts team performance. Grounded in De Dreu & Weingart’s (2003) task conflict meta-analysis, we expected peer evaluation to shift conflict depending on interpersonal trust and voice climate. Using PROCESS Model 9 with 1,157 observations, peer evaluation showed no significant effect on conflict, and conflict did not predict performance. Small conditional effects appeared under high trust or high voice. These results suggest that peer evaluations may not trigger strong conflict dynamics in classroom-based teams due to lower stakes or socially desirable behaviors.
This study examines how academic pedigree diversity influences team conflict and performance through the mechanism of process conflict, drawing on Stahl et al.’s (2010) information/decision-making perspective. Using SPSS PROCESS Model 9 with data from global virtual teams, results show that academic pedigree diversity does not significantly increase process conflict, nor does conflict mediate performance. IQ and EQ did not meaningfully moderate these relationships. Findings suggest that academic pedigree diversity may not inherently generate harmful process frictions in student GVTs and may operate through alternative pathways beyond conflict mechanisms.
The electric utility industry is changing fast. Tax incentives, new regulations, and rising electricity demand from AI data centers are pushing leaders to rethink sustainability. This project examines how Midwestern electric utility executives respond and whether sustainability is driven by compliance, financial incentives, or long-term strategy. Electric utilities are interested in sustainable energy, but they are restrained by complicated regulatory and economic limitations. Focusing on leadership decisions, the study connects sustainability strategy to policy shifts and emerging energy demands. Structured interviews with senior utility leaders will be analyzed by theme to reveal how sustainability fits into the business plan. Currently in the literature review phase, the project expects to find that sustainability is seen as a smart business strategy rather than just a regulatory requirement, helping utilities manage long-term risks and plan for future growth.
This project examines how voluntary NAB Health Services Executive (HSE) accreditation strengthens long-term care (LTC) administration programs and prepares future administrators. Accreditation is recognized as a tool to enhance education quality, workforce readiness, and program visibility while aligning with employer expectations and standards. To prepare for accreditation, faculty conduct comprehensive curriculum mapping across all NAB domains, implement robust Assurance of Learning plans, and integrate high-impact, real-world learning experiences through professional partnerships. The program also gathers alumni feedback, evaluates advisory board representation, and reviews student recruitment and engagement strategies to inform continuous improvement. Over five accreditation cycles, these processes have led to substantial program enhancements, including a strengthened on-campus curriculum, redesigned administrative residencies, and a data-driven assessment system that promotes ongoing curricular refinement. Students benefit from enriched experiential learning opportunities, and the program gains internal visibility and assurance of alignment with contemporary standards. Voluntary NAB HSE accreditation thus enhances student preparedness, supports licensure mobility, and strengthens stakeholder confidence. Ultimately, the accreditation process fosters continuous quality improvement, positions programs as leaders in LTC administration education, and contributes to developing a competent, well-prepared long-term care leadership workforce.
In global virtual teams, creative performance is influenced by both stable individual traits and dynamic moment-to-moment behaviors. Guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this study examines how proactive personality predicts stable engagement and creativity, and how within-person fluctuations in effort and creative idea quality influence one another across time. Utilizing a four-wave longitudinal design and RI – CLPM framework, we successfully distinguished stable between – person tendencies from momentary within-person changes. This analysis yielded a discernible reciprocal effort–creativity cycle: when individuals engaged more intensely than usual at time t, they produced higher-quality creative ideas at time t+1 (β = 0.180, p < .001). Conversely, periods of heightened creativity contributed to increased engagement in subsequent phases (β = 0.078, p < .001). Despite its bidirectional nature, the effect from effort to creativity was found to be notably stronger, suggesting that effort functions as a primary resource that initiates a Creative Resource Gain Spiral across time. At the between-person level, individuals with more stable proactive tendencies consistently exhibited higher levels of average engagement (β = 0.119, p < .001). The accumulation of engagement resources resulted in significant cross-level consequences, with stable effort exhibiting a string prediction of distal team creative performance (β = 0.816, p = .029). This underscores the role of enduring individual resource investment in shaping collective creative outcomes within global virtual teams. This study is among the first to use an RI-CLPM framework to demonstrate a bidirectional effort - creativity cycle within global virtual teams and provides new evidence for dynamic resource processes in distributed collaboration. At the team level, contextual characteristics such as average team age (β = 0.050, p
This study explores how the interaction between cultural distance, technological readiness, and reciprocal investment patterns influences bilateral Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows between the United States and its partner countries. To conduct this study, we utilize an extensive dataset of 83 countries compiled from various World Bank sources, Hofstede’s cultural indices, and other measures of technological readiness to create a bilateral investment framework to analyze both U.S. outbound and inbound foreign direct investment.We employ fixed effects regression analyses to evaluate the multidimensional impacts of culture, technology, and economic ties on investment behavior. The results show that technological readiness is strongly associated with higher levels of bilateral FDI flows.Additionally, the findings reveal an important moderating effect: cultural distance weakens the positive influence of technological readiness on FDI flows, indicating that cultural compatibility is essential for countries to fully leverage technological advantages in international investment.The results of this research indicate that countries wishing to invest more heavily in each other's markets do so by first establishing a strong technological base, then building strong cultural relationships.
This study investigates why language barriers impact communication quality differently across individuals in global virtual teams. While previous research has established that language barriers impair team communication, the individual-level mechanisms explaining this variability remain underexplored. We examined whether two motivational dispositions—Learning Goal Orientation (L-GO) and Performance Goal Orientation (P-GO)—moderate this relationship. We analyzed data from 1,520 students in 324 teams participating in an 8-week global business competition using a multilevel moderation model. Language barriers were distinguished as internal (self-perceived expressive difficulties) and external (team-level communication challenges). Results revealed a "tale of two motivations." L-GO did not significantly moderate the barrier-communication relationship, suggesting stable communication behavior regardless of contextual barriers. Conversely, P-GO demonstrated a "double-edged sword" effect: it amplified the negative impact of internal barriers, as high-P-GO individuals appeared susceptible to fear of appearing incompetent, causing communication quality to deteriorate sharply. However, P-GO positively moderated external barriers, with high-P-GO individuals framing team challenges as legitimate opportunities for improvement. These findings demonstrate that language barriers' impact depends on individuals' motivational frameworks, suggesting targeted interventions based on goal orientation profiles.
This study investigates the longitudinal associations between perceived language barriers and leadership-communication dynamics in global virtual teams. Despite extensive research on language barriers' detrimental effects, how individuals navigate these challenges over time and whether barriers might paradoxically motivate leadership emergence remains unclear. We analyzed multi-wave data from 1,520 students in 324 teams participating in an 8-week global business competition using a Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to distinguish stable individual traits from dynamic weekly fluctuations. Results revealed distinct patterns at two levels. At the between-person level, internal language barriers (self-perceived expressive difficulties) negatively predicted stable leadership and communication traits. Conversely, external barriers (perceiving others' communication difficulties) positively predicted leadership traits, suggesting individuals "step up" to fill leadership vacuums created by team communication challenges. At the within-person level, an evolutionary pattern emerged: communication initially drove leadership emergence mid-project, with this influence sustained throughout. The reverse path—leadership predicting communication—was initially absent but emerged strongly in later stages, shifting the relationship from unidirectional to reciprocal. These findings reveal that while external barriers may motivate stable leadership emergence, active communication serves as the initial catalyst for leadership dynamics, later evolving into a mutually reinforcing cycle.
Using creative problem-solving skills, a team of introductory accounting students evaluated a grocery store’s business operations in a case analysis and developed innovative recommendations to help a grocery store implement practices and policies that would deter fraud and theft and minimize the risk of misstated financial statements. Using principles of internal control outlined by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) framework and the fraud triangle framework, the team of students presented recommendations that critiqued the grocery store’s internal control environment and provided a plan to address the grocery store’s internal control weaknesses and mitigate the store’s ongoing problems. The team won first place at the UWEC case competition for introductory accounting students after presented their recommendations and power point before a judging panel comprised of accounting professionals.
This study examines how individual traits and dynamic behaviors shape creative performance in global virtual teams (GVTs). Integrating Conservation of Resources Theory and Social Cognitive Theory, we investigate whether proactive personality predicts stable engagement and creativity, and whether within-person fluctuations in task engagement and creative idea quality reciprocally influence each other over time. Using four-wave longitudinal data from 1,475 students across 312 GVTs participating in the X-Culture project, we applied a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to separate stable between-person differences from dynamic within-person changes. Results revealed a bidirectional effort–creativity cycle: elevated engagement predicted subsequent creative idea quality (β = 0.180), while heightened creativity predicted subsequent engagement (β = 0.078), suggesting effort initiates a resource gain spiral. At the team level, individuals' stable engagement significantly predicted collective creative performance (β = 0.816). Findings advance understanding of how individual resource investment accumulates into team-level creative outcomes in distributed collaboration contexts.
Circular economy (CE) strategies, which emphasize keeping materials and products in a closed loop through reuse and regeneration, have attracted growing attention in healthcare. For medical textiles, this could dramatically reduce healthcare waste and associated environmental impacts, yet barriers make it challenging to transition from traditional linear economies, which rely on single-use materials. While existing research explores medical textile waste, environmental deterioration, and waste management practices in healthcare, there is a gap in understanding the implementation of sustainable practices from an administrative standpoint for non-medical textiles. Understanding why some hospitals implement CE strategies while others remain linear necessitates an examination of the institutional environment in which these decisions happen. Drawing on Institutional Theory, this case study explores how institutional structures and governance, administrative norms, and stakeholder behaviors within hospital systems influence the adoption and implementation of CE strategies for non-medical textile waste. Using Yin’s explanatory case study design, the analysis utilizes secondary data to describe how institutional factors influence organizational behavior. This case study’s findings support several recommendations for policymakers and administrators.
