KU ScholarWorks

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Open Access
Innovation Spillovers from High-skilled Labor Shocks
(University of Kansas, 2024-05-31) Kim, Jihyeon
I present empirical evidence of innovation and technology spillovers among firms that are geographically proximate. By examining the impact of a high-skilled labor shock proxied by the lottery winning rate of H-1B visa applications for each firm in a specific year, I first show that firms experiencing an exogenous labor shock have a positive effect on both the quality and quantity of their innovative activities. Secondly, I present evidence that a diversified labor composition also diversifies the knowledge base and expands the range of expertise available within firms. Lastly, I provide evidence of innovation spillovers, whereby the increased innovative activities and expanded technology base of firms spill over into neighboring firms. The degree of these spillovers varies based on factors such as financing constraints, information asymmetry, and managerial motivation. I show that these innovation spillovers are facilitated through a mechanism of 'social interaction' where foreign high-skilled workers act as a conduit for idea-sharing and interaction, leading to a greater level of spillover effects.
Embargo
All the Time, All at Once: A Person-Centered Analysis of Subjective Temporal Fit Trajectories
(University of Kansas, 2024-08-31) Tirol-Carmody, Kristina Buenvenida
Person-environment fit, which refers to the perceived compatibility between an employee and their work environment, is generally conceptualized contemporaneously using one-time assessments of current perceived fit. However, this conceptualization has been critiqued as overly simplistic (Caplan 1983; Lewin 1942a; Shipp & Jansen, 2011), as employees regularly experience and anticipate personal and environmental changes that can trigger shifts in their perceived fit over time. As such, individuals consider their temporal experience as a whole (i.e., their past, current, and future fit together), rather than an isolated moment of time, to determine their full fit experience. I suggest that a subjective temporal approach that focuses on these holistic temporal fit experiences can provide a more realistic understanding of how employees experience fit and how such experiences shape employee behavior, such as withdrawal and turnover. While fit is a critical antecedent of employee turnover (Rubenstein et al., 2018; Schneider, 1987), some employees still leave organizations where they fit, and others still persist in organizations where they do not. Adopting a subjective temporal approach to consider how employees experience their remembered past fit, current fit, and anticipated future fit together as temporal fit trajectories (Shipp & Jansen, 2011) provides the opportunity to better understand who leaves vs. stays, as employee behavior is realistically shaped by these three time periods together, rather than any one moment of fit alone (Caplan, 1983).Adopting a person-centered approach to subjective temporal fit, I develop a typology of the possible fit trajectory profiles (i.e., the unique combinations of retrospected past, current, and anticipated future fit) that might be experienced by employees. Then, I draw on theories of temporal fit and decision-making (Lewin, 1942a; Markman & McMullen, 2003; Shipp & Jansen, 2011) to build theory on how these trajectories may differ in withdrawal due to the psychological anchoring and distancing effects of rumination and anticipation, respectively. Specifically, I propose that employees with trajectories of retrospected, rather than anticipated, fit change are psychologically stuck in the past. As such, they perceive their fit experience more negatively (positively) and display higher (lower) levels of withdrawal than employees with similar trajectories (i.e., the same level of current and future fit) who do not ruminate on their previous (mis)fit. In contrast, I propose that employees with profiles characterized by anticipated rather than retrospected fit change are psychologically living in the future. This allows them to perceive their fit experience less negatively (positively) and display lower (higher) levels of withdrawal compared to employees with similar profiles (i.e., the same level of current and future fit) who do not anticipate future fit change. Finally, I propose that employees with temporary fit change trajectories interpret these changes as momentary deviations from an otherwise stable fit trajectory. As such, they perceive their fit similarly to and display withdrawal outcomes that are similar to employees with comparable consistent fit trajectories (i.e., the same levels of past and future fit).I test these ideas across two studies. In Study 1, using latent profile analysis on two samples of working adults (an online sample of working professionals and a sample of employees from a regional bank chain), I identify and confirm subgroups, or profiles, of employees who share similar subjective temporal person-organization, needs-supplies, demands-abilities, person-group, and person-supervisor fit trajectories. I find support for 8 of the 9 trajectory types proposed in my typology, uncovering 12 total unique profiles across 5 fit contexts. In Study 2, I conduct BCH analysis using time-lagged data from Study 1’s sample of bank employees to assess how each trajectory profile differs in their withdrawal outcomes (i.e., psychological withdrawal, job search, and turnover). In doing so, I identify multiple situations in which employees display withdrawal behaviors that cannot be understood by considering their current fit alone. While finding mixed support for my hypotheses, my results indicate that a subjective temporal approach not only presents a more realistic representation of employee fit experiences but also provides a more nuanced understanding of the various ways employees respond to (mis)fit at work, thereby enhancing our understanding of who stays in or leaves their organization, given their temporal fit experience.
Open Access
Beyond Traditional Diplomacy: Public Relations Strategies in Digital Engagement by Foreign Ambassadors on X in Saudi Arabia
(University of Kansas, 2024-12-31) Alhammad, Ayman
In the digital communication era ambassadors and diplomats use different methods of practicing diplomacy which take an approach based on direct communication for building relationship with the audience, rather than only communicating with government or through traditional media to reach out to the public. The overlap between public diplomacy and public relations in terms of the theoretical and the practical made scholars think that it might be useful to adopt public relations models and theories in public diplomacy research. Putting diplomacy in the context of building relationships as a key goal may help to move public diplomacy from a normative to practical paradigm. This dissertation project draws on an organizational public relations model which consists of three stages. The researcher adopted a model of cultivation relationship with stages that consists of six strategies: access, positivity, openness, networking, sharing of tasks, and assurance. The researcher used these strategies to analysis the tweets of five foreign ambassadors in Saudi Arabia to explore how do they cultivate relationships when communicating with the public on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) using qualitative content analysis. The research reveals that all ambassadors studied used more than one strategy in one tweet. The most frequently used strategy by the Djiboutian ambassador was networking, while the French and Japanese ambassadors used positivity most frequently. A cultural theme dominated the content of most ambassadors’ tweets; however, the Djibouti ambassador’s tweets focused primarily on political issues. This research contributes to the theoretical body of relationship-building literature in the context of digital diplomacy; additionally, concepts like care-based relationship building models and nation branding emerged.
Open Access
Implications of Technology Access and Use for HPV-related Cancer Detection among African Immigrants in the United States
(University of Kansas, 2022-08-31) KAMANGA, URSULA B.
Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer is preventable, yet screening and vaccination rates among African immigrants in the United States remain low. Understanding health information access and use among African immigrants is important to prevent the onset of HPV-related cancer among this population; however, little research has examined this topic. This study draws on the Health Belief Model (HBM) to understand 18-45-year-old African immigrants’ psychological and behavioral factors as they relate to HPV-related cancer. Particularly, using a cross-sectional survey research approach, a sample of African immigrants (N=330) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) completed an online questionnaire. This research assessed demographic, psychological, and behavioral factors related to HPV-related cancer, including perceived health beliefs, eHealth literacy, technology access, perceived trust, and health information seeking. The results indicated that African immigrants who are older, educated, with higher income levels, and higher technology access are more likely to seek online health information in general and for HPV specifically. Study participants who are older were more likely to screen for cancer, while those with higher education attainment and higher income levels were more likely to vaccinate against HPV. Furthermore, participants with higher levels of eHealth literacy were more prone to seek health information in general and as it relates to HPV, after controlling for demographics and technology access. These results suggest the importance of considering not only demographics, but also technological skills and access in understanding African immigrants’ informational and behavioral intentions related to HPV-related cancer. This dissertation offers scholarly, practical and policy implications for health communication researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.
Open Access
Communicating Veracity: The Impact of Emotion and Multimodal Resources for Correcting Online Misinformation in Older Adults
(University of Kansas, 2022-08-31) Blomberg, Matthew Leon
This dissertation research project explored the impact of emotion (positive or negative) and presentational modality (text-only, multimodal, motion imbued styles) in correcting online misinformation for older adults. Using the theoretical foundation of the heuristic and systematic processing model, along with the emotion-based broaden and build and socioemotional selectivity theories, participants (N=302), in an online experiment, were exposed to social media misinformation rebuttals for two topics: that vaccines cause magnetism and COVID can be cured through the intake of vitamin supplements (such as Vitamin C or D). Results showcased the effectiveness of crafting positively framed misinformation corrections for the bolstering of message credibility within typically incongruent ideological groups, and in the use of motion within correctional content for the elevation of positive affect. Additionally, this study also exposed a link between medical mistrust and the perceived credibility toward vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation corrections, a reminder for health communication practitioners of the underlying political factors behind belief in health misinformation. Lastly, results from a thought-listing exercise displayed the prominence of heuristic thinking styles with rare exceptions for systematic processing spurned by skepticism and a desire to preserve original vaccination and COVID-19 beliefs. For scholars and practitioners, results, in general, point to a de facto reliance on heuristic cues in the evaluation of online information, with important considerations for systematic processing, and two, the use of positive affect in aiding the acceptance of misinformation corrections that may run counter to the beliefs of your target audience. This lends credibility to theories that prioritize the use of positive emotion for bolstering message reception and effectiveness for older adults.