Digital Commons Network^™

The Kanye Factor: A Brand’S Dilemma, Rachel Oyinloluwa Oyinloye

Global Strategic Communications Student Work

Adidas is a global sportswear manufacturer that grew from roots that started in 1924 by the Dassler brothers before, evolving into the second largest sports brand in the world, now known as Adidas, on August 18, 1949. The brand has had its fair share of success and scrutiny in its 73-year existence. As a company that has diversity, equity, and inclusion as key points in its global strategy, Adidas is not a stranger to facing criticism in this area. In October 2022, recording artist, producer, and entrepreneur Kanye (Ye) West came under fire for a series of controversial actions. From …

Apple “Porn” 2.0: Apple’S Vision (Pro), Suzanne E. Ferriss

Class, Race and Corporate Power

This article extends the argument made in “Apple ‘Porn’: Design Videos as Seduction and Exploitation” (Ferriss 2018) to consider the corporation’s filmed representation of its newest device: an augmented reality headset dubbed Vision Pro. It argues that Apple’s latest narratives further relegate human work and community to the margins by presenting human experience as thoroughly mediated by computer-enhanced simulation, its pinnacle achieved through its Apple Vision Pro headset that turns the home and workspace into one immersive audiovisual world. Rather than its devices and software becoming an inseparable part of our personal and shared spaces, they become the spaces. We …

Marriott Short-Term Rentals For Digital Nomads - A Campaign Aimed At Advertising Marriott Homes To Nomads And Remote Workers, Guethshina Valexia Altena

Global Strategic Communications Student Work

Marriott International is one of the most renowned travel companies in the world. They consider themselves a travel program with hotel brands and experiences. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Marriott suffered a great loss of revenue similar to other companies in the hospitality industry. Fortunately, the pandemic also brought along some changes to the American way of life and opportunities for people to travel and work remotely. The number of people who reported being digital nomads nearly doubled in the United States from 2018 to 2021, one year after the pandemic (Patterson, 2022). This new demographic of …

Strategic Communication In The Feminine Hygiene And Beauty: A Comprehensive Plan For Effective Engagement And Influence, Mikhailia A. Williams

Global Strategic Communications Student Work

The beauty and health industry is a multi-billion dollar market that includes companies that produce feminine hygiene products (Petruzzi, 22). These brands are looking for new ways to connect with their consumers and increase consumer loyalty. The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based and organic feminine hygiene brand, has an opportunity to increase its online brand sentiment by implementing a strategic communications plan for female consumers aged 15 to 50. The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the company's communication, marketing and brand strategies, as well as create a strategic communications plan to develop a positive …

Black-Boxes In Executive Assessment, Sibel Ozgen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines bias in executive assessment in two studies using field and

experimental data. The first study explores bias in promotability inferences, and the

second examines biases that may emerge in a post-promotion context. The first essay

builds on the gender-based double standards literature. It explores whether the

composition of inputs required to be seen as promotable into the upper echelons

differs for men and women. Based on an analysis of data from 490 focal executives

representing 18 countries, the first essay sheds light on the conditions under which a

gender-based double may be observed in promotability into upper …

Corporate Response To The 2020 Police Killings - Effects On Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment, Selena N. Seabrooks

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study sought to investigate the relationships between corporate response to the 2020 police killings and job satisfaction, corporate response and organizational commitment, and the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The study also tested how those relationships were moderated by race, gender, and political affiliation.

A structural equation model was used to test the relationships. Three structural models with differing items were used to measure the corporate response construct. The baseline model used a mix of items from the internal corporate response and the brand activism scales. Two other structural models, one with only the internal corporate response …

A Look At Contributing Factors That Affect Female Underrepresentation In Management, In The United States, Nushine W. Hosseini

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines contributing factors that affect female underrepresentation in management, in the United States (U.S.), within the U.S. workforce. The primary variables of interest are intrinsic motivation, work life balance and organizational climate support, which have typically not been reviewed in depth, in prior research.

Using a framework of varied theoretical approaches, this research studies the relationship between the above-mentioned constructs and gender effect, as related to interest in career advancement opportunities and female leadership underrepresentation within organizations.

The results of this study further validate existing research and highlights the importance of establishing programs, geared towards shifting mindsets and …

Is Generational Diversity Good For Engagement? Generational Diversity's Moderation Of The Relationship Between An Employee's Perception Of Leadership Effectiveness And Their Own Engagement, Matthew J. Baumann

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation manuscript is rooted in the notion that an employee’s perception of their immediate supervisor’s leadership effectiveness, and the associated social exchange, are significant contributors to their engagement. Engagement, when consistently elevated, results in positive organizational outcomes. While perceived leadership effectiveness and engagement present a relatively intuitive connection, other less clearly defined factors might moderate this relationship. These factors include a myriad of supervisor and employee traits and behaviors, many of which represent levels and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, when misunderstood and subsequently over or underestimated, can result in unforeseen impact to organizational outcomes. One critical diversity construct is …

Hiring People With Disabilities From An Employer’S Perspective And Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Claude B. Kershner Iv

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When employers hire people with disabilities, collective behavioral change occurs within organizations. Specifically, attitudes towards people with disabilities improve through professional interventions and encourage organizational citizenship behavior. Previous studies have demonstrated the economic and client-focused impact of hiring people with disabilities — resulting in a tested model of competitive integrated employment. This study indicates that — when organizations employ best practices when integrating people with disabilities into the workplace — there is a performance-based behavioral change in non-disabled employees.

This study uses intergroup contact theory and social exchange theory to develop a model and a corresponding survey instrument that measures …

Assessment Of Factors Affecting Dropout Intentions During The First Year In A Modeling School, Mauro Echeverri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, there has been little research done on student dropout rates in modeling schools. This quantitative study utilizes applied research methods to analyze 138 female students in STAGE, a modeling school, where most students are between the ages of 11 and 18 years old. This study aims to examine why students drop out during their first year of study. The model utilized in this research integrates variables derived from Vincent Tito’s theory of departure, in addition to other variables not included in this theory like the parental support impact on extracurricular activities. Correlations analyses were used to assess the …

Closing The Gap In Career Selection Pathways: Factors That Influence Career Indecision Of High School Students In The Us., Juan Carlos Rey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Based on Donald Super’s Developmental Self-Concept theory, Osipow’s theory of career development, Crite’s career maturity theory, and Bandura’s social cognitive theory; this study observes the impact of Self-Efficacy (specifically Career Decision Self-Efficacy) on Career Indecision in high school students of the United States by applying the Career Decision Self Efficacy scale (CDSE) (Taylor and Betz, 1983), and the Career Decision Scale (CDS) (Osipow, 1987) to a sample 250 high school students. A comprehensive study of the major theories related to career development is performed as well as an analysis of relevant factors that impact career decision. When applied in educational …

An Examination Of Job Resources And Self-Determination In Employees' Job Involvement, Hernan Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As employees and organizations continually strive to do more with less, the employer must remain an active partner in understanding the nature of their employee’s job involvement for its competitive advantage. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of several work characteristics and motivational forces on job involvement. The study used a quantitative methodology. The sample of the current study was composed of 214 subjects. The reliability and factor structure of the scales used were evaluated and validated. The main results showed that intrinsic and prosocial motivations significantly influenced individual job involvement. Moreover, the results show …

Is Brand Activism The New Normal?, Nuket Serin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, brands have begun “taking a stand” on sociopolitical issues to influence societal change. As such, brand activism is a newly evolved form of brand communication. Consumer expectations of brands have been evolving rapidly, as brands are expected to profess a more purposeful ethos to society now more than ever before. In the modern marketplace, it has become an increasingly popular trend to see brands promote social movements and fight for issues happening worldwide. Although this emerging phenomenon has caught the attention of marketing literature in recent years, the effects of brand activism on consumer brand perceptions still …

Near Field Communication Payment Technology Usage: A Jamaican Consumer Perspective, Tamiko Sadler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the effect of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, security concern, and social influence on Jamaican consumers’ willingness to use near field communication enabled credit/debit cards. The study builds on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) theory framework (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

A quantitative method was used, and the model tested via a survey that had 408 completed survey responses from a local online crowd-sourcing market. Statistical analysis of the data confirms perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, security concern, and social influence had significant impact on consumer’s intention to use …

A Study To Investigate How Transformational Leadership Relates To Frontline Employees' Behavior In The Hotel Tourism Industry Of The Bahamas, Tyrone G. Sawyer Ii

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of the tourism industry of The Bahamas is important as it is the prevailing industry in this growing country. According to The Bahamas Ministry of Statistics, in 2018 the country had approximately 1.6 million stopover visitors and 5 million cruise visitors that year, which would make it the largest industry in the country by a far margin. Most of the tourists who visit The Bahamas originate from the USA due to its closeness with the country. The Bahamas, which is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean is 50 miles southeast of Florida.

Transformational leadership, a theory of leadership …

Exploring Factors That Influence U.S. Consumer Intention To Covet Loose Change, Carlos Emilio Bared

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to assess U.S. consumer intention to save, store, and account for the coins received as change from a cash transaction. Using a behavioral economics framework and applying Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (1985), this research provides a template to capture, observe, and analyze consumer perceptions about and behavior towards loose change or other similar byproduct decisions. Following procedures prescribed by Icek Ajzen (2006) and (2013), a questionnaire was developed for the critical constructs used to predict consumer intention to covet loose change. A sample population (n= 490) of adults residing in the United States participated …

Impact Of Students’ Satisfaction With Their Internship Experience On Their Career Decision Intention To Stay In The Chinese Hospitality Industry: Moderating Role Of Organizational Climate And Organizational Culture, Lan Lu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This nonexperimental, quantitative study (N = 318) examined the hypothesized model of the relationship between Chinese interns' level of satisfaction, perceptions of organizational climate, perceptions of organizational culture, and career decision intention to stay in the hospitality industry when they graduate. An internet-based self-report battery of four scales was administered to students with an internship experience from the Marriott Tianjin China Program, a branch of the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University (FIU). Hypotheses were tested through correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analytic procedures.

The results show that the variables interns' satisfaction, perceived organizational climate, …

Demographic Variables That Influence The Purchase Decision, Rafael Antonio Lugioyo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative correlations study is to investigate factors influencing consumer purchase decision for tires for new entrants’ decision-making. This research serves three purposes. The focus will be the role of demographic influences that interact consumer with ethnocentrism and the factors at the actual point of purchase. The author analyzes the direct effect on actual purchase from five (5) factors of gender, age, educational level, income level, and political leaning. The moderating factors of warranty and free tire services are also noted in the model. The sample included 2945 respondents who participated in a survey conducted from …

Technology Assisted Choice In Medicare Part D Plan Selection, John H. Schmidt Jr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a new benefit for Medicare enrollees that was under schedule Part D of Medicare. This new benefit, known as Medicare Part D, covered prescription medications for enrollees in the Medicare programs. Medicare beneficiaries had to enroll in this new benefit to access this coverage. A new website, the Medicare Part D Plan Finder, was developed as part of this rollout to allow Medicare beneficiaries the opportunity to view available plan in their area and enroll in those plans. Several years after the original enrollment, several studies were conducted to …

Adaptive Delivery As A Means To Increase Student Engagement And Learning Outcomes, Juan M. Pinera

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The process of education involves at its core level the support of Learning, which leads to the acquiring of skills, knowledge, values, and habits. Technology has allowed educators and learners to move to a digital platform. These electronic learning platforms, previously classified as distance learning, have their advantages but also their pitfalls. The adaptive modification of learning systems can provide the student's needs by educators even when the student is outside of the classroom. Community colleges are faced with a dilemma of funding and mission. To survey they to need act as agents to find their own solution. This research …

Three Essays In Corporate Governance, Dung Thanh Nguyen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines exploring how a board structure protects and creates shareholder value. The main responsibilities of a board of directors are to enhance the shareholder value by setting a strategic direction for the firm, monitoring, and advising managers. A structure of a board of directors could range from board size, independent board ratio to gender diversity, inside-outside chairperson, committee designs. How exactly a board structure could create value and through what channels are one of the biggest challenges in corporate finance.

In the first essay, I use board structure changes brought by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX; 2002) and subsequent …

The Impact Of Family Member Ceo Demographics On Entrepreneurial Orientation And Financial Performance In Family Firms, Jaly Vibeth Chea Menéndez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on the upper echelons theory, this study investigates how entrepreneurial orientation is impacted by the family member CEO's demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level, tenure, and generation) and how entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) influences the family firm's financial performance. The model was empirically tested with survey data of 1314 family firms CEO respondents from 33 countries worldwide using data from the "Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices Project" (STEP Project) applying Partial Least Squares analysis.

Moreover, it was considered the moderating effect of national culture (uncertainty avoidance and gender egalitarianism). The findings highlight no significant relation from any of …

The Relationships Between A Benevolent Paternalistic Managerial Behavior, Employee Perceptions Of A Caring Ethical Organizational Climate And Affective Organizational Commitment In Mexico, Alejandro Miguel Delaney Dr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing upon social exchange theory and extant literature on climate and leadership, the goal of this research was to look at the role of employee perceived ethical organizational climate as a potential mechanism through which a benevolent paternalistic leadership style relates to employee affective organizational commitment in Mexico. The research is guided by the following major question: What is the relationship, if any, between benevolent paternalistic managerial behavior, employee perceptions of ethical organizational climate, and affective organizational commitment in Mexico? The study sample consisted of 152 retained subjects, all of whom had a confirmed substantial working experience within Mexico. The …

The Influence Of Effective Communication And Interpersonal Trust On Employee Engagement: The Role Of Employee Involvement, Ligia Trejo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Employee Engagement has become a more frequent area of organizational study. Engaged Employees are believed to raise performance, customer satisfaction, and overall growth to the organizations (Hough, Green, & Plumlee, 2015). This dissertation aims to investigate how effective communication, broadly defined to include the quality of feedback, and interpersonal trust relates to employee engagement through the influence of employee involvement. The dissertation uses employee voice theory as theoretical foundation to explain the direct and indirect effects of effective communication and trust on employee engagement through employee involvement. An online survey was conducted using MTurk with about 250 employees from different …

Fixed Effects Estimation Of Private Health Insurance Influence On Factors Affecting Workplace Outcomes: Survey Of Income And Program Participation Analysis, Scott Phillips

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a critical component of thriving administrative culture and management, I find the need to improve workplace outcomes by better understanding factors that influence worker demographics and employment characteristics influenced by private health insurance. As such, I conducted this quantitative longitudinal, panel survey analysis on Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) variables. Fixed effects regression is employed to analyze the factors among the two predictors and one outcome variable. The interactions among the thirteen variables tested and mediation from private health insurance are examined and substantiated via a series of Sobel tests. Results showed that independent variables of employment …

Is Price Why Students Don't Get Their Books? Undergraduate Acquisition Of Class Materials, Joseph Todd Patton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A study of the acquisition of assigned textbooks and materials was conducted among 1,333 active undergraduates, exploring the widely reported phenomenon of two-thirds of students not getting all the books and materials assigned to them in their college classes. Current research focuses on high textbook & materials prices as the reason why students do not get assigned materials, and government policies are focused on bringing down these prices. This study’s major focus was investigating whether it is true that high prices explain why undergraduates do not get their assigned class materials. The findings suggest that price is not the reason …

Examining The Relationships Between Factors Of Employees’ Perceptions Of Knowledge Worker Productivity, Psychological Well-Being, And Performance, Walter Liu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peter Drucker, known as the “father of modern management”, suggested that the most valuable asset of a 21^st-century institution would be knowledge workers and their productivity. Since then, there has been a steady shift from manual work to knowledge work over the past several decades and with it, an interest in knowledge worker productivity. A 2013 study identified six factors with the highest association regarding the performance of knowledge workers. Drawing on insights of relational cohesion theory, social exchange theory, transactive memory systems theory, goal setting theory, social network theory, and Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001, 2004) broaden-and-build theory, the …

Predictors Of Fraudulent Monday Effect Workers Compensation Claims Filing, Sharla St. Rose

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monday Effect Claims refer to workers compensation claims filed on Mondays for easy to conceal injuries such as strains, sprains, and back injuries. Researchers and industry experts have long believed that there is an element of fraud in these claims, resulting from individuals who were injured during the weekend, while not at work, looking to take advantage of the medical benefits available through workers compensation insurance. Fraudulent Monday Effect Claims (FMEC), as presented in this study, specifically refer to workers compensation claims filed for injuries that occurred while an individual was not at work, presumably during the weekend.

A study …

The Effect Of Socialization Practices And Onboarding On Newcomer Adjustment And Turnover Intention, Alex George Vilayil

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

New employee (newcomer) turnover is a severe problem in many organizations and inevitably leads to both operational and financial concerns. The hospitality industry, in particular, faces this challenge and struggles with acquiring and retaining talent. Studies have suggested that many newcomers leave their job due to inadequate socialization efforts on the employer’s part. While several researchers have explored the relationship involving newcomer onboarding and turnover intention, the hospitality domain lacks research investigating the effect of socialization practices on turnover intention. This study attempts to fill this void by exploring the effectiveness of four different socialization practices on onboarding success and …

Gen Z And Millennials In The Workplace: How Are Leaders Adapting To Their Short Attention Span And How Will They Keep Them From Leaving A Qualitative Study, Maribel Rachel Diz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a new type of employee entering the workforce that is a true digital native with allegedly the shortest attention span known as Generation Z. Coupled with millennials, they will dominate the workforce. The problem investigated is the effects of short attention spans in the workplace and how this is being magnified by the incoming Generation Z cohort and existing millennials. Companies will need to adapt to short attention spans, along with what will engage and retain these two cohorts. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore both generations as there are no current studies with this …