Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Civil Society Organisations In Sweden For The Immigrants, Surabhi Singh

International Journal on Responsibility

Various factors like globalisation and conflicts in many countries have led to a dramatic increase of immigrants in Sweden. Since the year 2000, fewer seekers have arrived in other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, and Norway) compared to Sweden which has experienced a significantly higher number of asylum seekers. The number of asylum seekers in Sweden is highest after Germany in all of Europe. The influx of migrants has put significant pressure on the country’s social services. Civil society is an important institution is plays a major role in the successful integration of migrants in the labour market and society with …

An Analysis And Examination Of Consensus Attacks In Blockchain Networks, Thomas R. Clark

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This paper examines consensus attacks as they relate to blockchain networks. Consensus attacks are a significant threat to the security and integrity of blockchain networks, and understanding these attacks is crucial for developers and stakeholders. The primary contribution of the paper is to present blockchain and consensus attacks in a clear and accessible manner, with the aim of making these complex concepts easily understandable for a general audience. Using literature review, the paper identifies various methods to prevent consensus attacks, including multi-chain networks, proof-of-work consensus algorithms, and network auditing and monitoring. An analysis revealed that these methods for preventing consensus …

An Overview Of Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Searching For Balance Between The Positive And Negative Effects, Courtney K. Fusting

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is the behavior of taking on extra roles in the workplace outside of one’s explicit duties. There are many reasons why one may be motivated to aid his/her organization in this way. Motivation may come through one’s personal values towards volunteerism, desire to build social capital, increase in self-esteem and flow, or even due to the commonality of organizational citizenship behavior among the workplace culture. Contributing to one’s workplace through OCB has the potential to positively impact an individual. However, taking on too many extra roles in the workplace can become detrimental. Role overload, stress, and …

Recruiting And Talent Acquisition Strategies In The Hospitality Industry During The Great Resignation, Kristen E. Poggi

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The Great Resignation, which stemmed from the Covid-19 pandemic, has impacted many businesses within the United States. With the nation's quit rate reaching all-time highs, businesses are struggling to retain and attract new employees. This is especially seen within the hospitality industry. The industry has been struggling to reach sufficient staffing levels while people are excited to travel and utilize these hospitality businesses after the global pandemic. To learn more about this issue and to gain awareness, I have conducted a literature review of the current research about this topic. I have also conducted my own research by interviewing three …

‘If They Laugh They Will Love The Learning’: Experiences Of The Use Of Humor By Adult Education Practitioners In Egypt And The United States, Mohamed Serry

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This qualitative research studied the experiences of adult education practitioners from Egypt and the United States with the usage of humor. The problem was that humor is a commonly used communication and education tool, yet it is not studied enough within adult education contexts. The sample included three participants from Egypt and three from the United States. All six had adult education experiences in different contexts, including educational interventions in nonprofits, manufacturing contexts, and corporate office settings. The study aimed to determine the positive and negative results of humor on adult learners, also the practitioners' needs for a better usage …

Dynamic Return Relationships In The Market For Cryptocurrency: A Var Approach, Julian Gouffray

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

This paper examines how the Bitcoin-altcoin return relationship has evolved in periods between 2015 and 2020. To understand this relation, we observe data on the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and prominent altcoins Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar, and Monero, which collectively represent over 90% of the market throughout the observed period. We employ a vector autoregressive model (VAR) to produce forecast error variance decompositions, orthogonal impulse response functions, and Granger-causality tests. We find evidence that Bitcoin return variation has increasingly explained altcoin returns and that market inefficiency increased between 2017 and 2020, as shown by increased Granger causality between Bitcoin and altcoins. These …

Examining The Factors Influencing Tourists’ Destination: A Case Of Nanhai Movie Theme Park In China, Liting Zhou, Fei Ouyang, Yang Li, Jieling Zhan, Nadeem Akhtar, Muhammad Ittefaq

School of Communication Studies - Faculty Scholarship

The present study used a stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework to examine the relationship between theme park tourists’ experience, brand identity, brand satisfaction, and brand loyalty in China. By using the structural equation model (CB-SEM), this paper illustrates the process of forming destination brand loyalty for sustainable tourism on theme parks. The results suggested a second-order structure of tourism experience. The first-order four factors have different impacts on the second-order tourism experience. Activity experience is the most important factor influencing tourism experience, followed by environment experience, then facility experience, and finally interaction experience. In terms of tourism experience, individual brand identity-brand …

A Historical Analysis Of Brand Activism And Its Impact On Company Success, Katy Sharon

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Corporate activism is a growing area of study that has become more important as the political climate becomes increasingly divided. This project evaluates how corporate activism affects company success. Four significant political events were chosen and within each event two to three companies with varying responses were analyzed to determine best practices for organizations looking to engage in corporate activism in the future. Going forward, companies should deliberate with employees and upper-level management to determine the best course of action, respond to the event in a timely manner, acknowledge previous company actions that may contradict its current position, and lastly, …

Where The Rainbow Ends: The Hidden Humanitarian Crisis For Members Of The Lgbtqia+ Community In International Business, John R. Krendel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Before pursuing an international career, members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be aware of the hardship that may be exacerbated by living and working abroad. This study addresses the trends in laws, including employment and anti-discrimination laws, that provide and restrict certain rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in eight countries. These nations, both progressive and discriminatory, include the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Kazakhstan. Eight LGBTQIA+ business professionals spoke on their experiences living and working in each of these countries and provided advice to members of the community wishing to pursue an international …

The Relationship Between Leader Composure And Career Derailment Potential, And The Moderating Effect Of Race, James D. Krauss

Dissertations, 2020-current

African Americans are underrepresented in leadership positions in the United States. The relationship between leader composure and leader career derailment potential was assessed in the present study to determine if the relationship was stronger for African Americans than for Whites. Conservation of Resources Theory was utilized as a theoretical lens suggesting that composure is a resource for leaders that would be valuable in lessening career derailment potential. Assuming racial microaggressions are present in the workplace, and such microaggression could create added emotional labor for African Americans above that which Whites experience, it was hypothesized that leader race would moderate the …

Frameworks Used To Measure The Societal Influences & Effectiveness Of Impact Investing, Mya E. Baptiste

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The purpose of this thesis is to learn how capital generates positive returns for society through impact investing. I address the different forms of impact investments along the spectrum and examples of companies that are grouped into each category. Afterward, I highlight the various pre-existing frameworks being used by the industry to properly measure their social returns and then provide insight into my personal experience working with Citigroup, Inc. Impact Fund. This paper includes an empirical study to address my hypothesis that companies who invest in producing social returns receive a positive impact on their financials. It was concluded that …

Experiencing The Pull And Push: Influences On Independent Contractor Motivation And Job Satisfaction, Andrew D. Miller

Dissertations, 2020-current

Over the past few decades, the number of individuals engaging in non-standard employment has been increasing. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines the motivation and job satisfaction of independent contractors, the largest form of these alternative work arrangements. Specifically, I examine how the rationale for workers entering contracting work arrangements affect in-role contractor motivation and job satisfaction. Based on a sample of N = 241 adjunct instructors from two universities, I find that the positive relationship between those entering contracting because the work offers autonomy, flexibility and the ability to pursue personally interesting work (pull factors) and their …

Is It Risky To Make The World A Better Place: A Study On The Association Between Environmental, Social, And Governance (Esg) Operational Risk Management And Market Derived Volatilities, Kelly L. Johnson

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Investors and firms are increasingly concerned with their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk exposures. Awareness of firms’ ESG policies by investors has grown substantially over the past five years. This growth led to the creation of company ratings for ESG operational risk exposure from third parties. We will analyze six years of ESG rankings, accounting and return data for S&P 500 firms and test whether ESG risk management ratings are associated with market derived measures of risk.

Honor Societies’ Constitution And Bylaws: The Track To Achs Accreditation, Jenna R. Jansen

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The number of predatory honor societies continues to rise, with organizations asking students to pay a membership fee while offering virtually no benefit. The Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), an accreditation body, combats this by evaluating societies on numerous criteria. This project aimed to investigate the structure of accredited honor societies to see their similarities. Areas where accredited societies differed from ACHS guidelines were also discovered. This research was conducted using content analysis of a sample of accredited honor societies. This project aims to show how honor societies can structure themselves to be on track for ACHS accreditation. Additionally, …

Transformational Leadership: The Roles Of Leader's Fromal Education And Professional Training, Ahmet Shala

Dissertations, 2020-current

Abstract

Transformational leadership is a popular leadership theory that instigates extraordinary changes in individuals, teams and organizations. Transformational leaders motivate, enhance and transform their direct subordinates’ and followers’ actions, and their ethical aspirations are beyond their immediate self-interest. The current literature and research is focused on the transformational leadership outcomes, but little is known about the antecedents of transformational leadership. This research is an attempt to discover the impact of leaders’ formal education and professional training on transformational leadership and leadership effectiveness.

The target population of this research were the top leaders of the organizations from different sectors (education, production, …

Leading Change: A Case Study Of A Transparent, Scaffolded Process For Rebalancing Workloads Across Liaisons, Carolyn Schubert

Libraries

Campus and internal position reorganizations changes had created significant imbalances across workloads of liaison librarians. Some people were experiencing burnout, some were feeling unengaged due to underutilization. To build buy-in for the change process and ultimate change decisions, the interim Director developed a multi-step process for scaffolding change and creating transparency across the decision points. Working within the constraints of existing personnel, we had to be creative. The presentation will describe the techniques the interim Director used to identify the problem, facilitate open communication, and engage shared leadership to resolve the imbalances.

An Analysis Of Technological Components In Relation To Privacy In A Smart City, Kayla Rutherford, Ben Lands, A. J. Stiles

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

A smart city is an interconnection of technological components that store, process, and wirelessly transmit information to enhance the efficiency of applications and the individuals who use those applications. Over the course of the 21st century, it is expected that an overwhelming majority of the world’s population will live in urban areas and that the number of wireless devices will increase. The resulting increase in wireless data transmission means that the privacy of data will be increasingly at risk. This paper uses a holistic problem-solving approach to evaluate the security challenges posed by the technological components that make up a …

Religiosity And National Political Leadership As Essential Conjoined Social Determinants Of Volunteerism: Implications For International Non-Governmental Organization Leaders, Theresa L. Koepfler Reimbold

Dissertations, 2020-current

Lack of an integrated and commonly accepted theory to explain volunteerism is a function of the multi-dimensional nature of the construct, which is positively correlated to multiple behavioral, cultural, and political attributes in myriad studies. Likely, there is a combination of social determinants that best predict levels of volunteerism better than others. The issue of overarching theory development to explain volunteerism becomes further convoluted when approaching the construct from a global perspective as commonly held definitions become eroded due to language barriers and cultural nuances. Despite these challenges, the importance of studying volunteerism and its determinants is essential for the …

Application For Student Safety In Harrisonburg, Clara R. Peirce

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Through the development of a smartphone application specific to the James Madison University (JMU) campus, this project confronts and combats the unique safety concerns that students in Harrisonburg are likely to face. This app addresses community-specific threats and scenarios while bolstering JMU’s current system of alerts in a preventative, proactive manner. This project meets is preventative and proactive goals through an analysis of existing measures, research, and critique of similar initiatives. This project’s creative brief is guided by a SWOT analysis and assessment of the target audience and the intended area of implementation. The application is intended for usage by …

To Discovery And Beyond: Using Workflow Automation As An Opportunity For Collaboration And Education, Rebecca B. French

Libraries

This poster describes a project to automate portions of JMU Libraries' workflow for distributing Special Collections finding aids to various discovery platforms. Through the development of a custom Python app called Spaceport, we were able to greatly improve the efficiency and sustainability of this process while also providing a more consistent discovery experience for our patrons. The project also had broad impacts in other areas. Our incremental and collaborative approach provided space for professional development related to the project, supported evolving project goals and the process of adapting to the new workflow, and strengthened relationships between departments. In addition to …

A Course Plan For Principles Of Is Programming To Withstand Covid-19, Amy J. Connolly, Leigh A. Mutchler

Department of Computer Information Systems and Business Analytics - Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a no-win situation for Fall semester classes: bring students back to campus and risk spreading the virus or teach online and risk insolvency. As faculty work through summer to plan even as situations change, flexible course plans must be built to weather COVID-19 while still meeting students’ needs and expectations for teaching at their institutions. This paper discusses how Principles of IS Programming was quickly and successfully transitioned from a face-to-face course to fully online in Spring and how lessons learned from that transition will be applied to Fall semester. In addition, the paper describes …

Theatre As An Intervention For Empathy Development Among Undergraduate Students, Jonathan Stewart

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Empathy is the ability feel into, or put oneself in the place of another. It is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. Studies have shown that this ability is decreasing among today’s college students and on the rise as a desired trait for today’s leaders. This dilemma provides an interesting opportunity to explore how institutions of higher education can help develop the leaders of tomorrow by increasing empathy among students. Specifically, this research explores theatre as an intervention for empathy development among college students.

Theatre, as a program of study, is unique within the college experience in that …

Once Upon A Time There Was A Mountain Of Paper, Robert P. Zaepfel Jr.

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

Abstract

James Madison University and the Office of Human Resources recently faced a significant challenge in the arena of records management. As the department migrated to an electronic records management system a unique yet complicated situation arose from simultaneously storing unorganized boxes of duplicate paper records. This topic which was presented at the CUPA-HR (College and University Professional Association for Human Resources) Southern Regional Conference last April and again this year at the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) National Conference will focus on the importance of a strategic and analytical approach to electronic records management, paper removal, sensitive data …

Empowering Your Staff To Solve Problems: Evidence-Based Training For Strategic Thinking, Rebecca B. French, Jennifer A. Keach

Libraries

Are you teaching procedures or are you teaching problem solving? Discover an approach to help develop your staff’s strategic thinking skills to meet the needs of the 21st-century library workplace. Explore how to apply learning theory and walk away with actionable steps for training independent problem solving.

5 Steps To Creating Quality Educational Programs: Lessons From The Field Of Instructional Design, Jennifer A. Keach

Libraries

Whether you are developing a staff training program or programming for your community, the field of instructional design offers valuable advice if your goal is to help your attendees to learn. Learn how to build your own programs from scratch with easy-to-implement steps based on learning science.

The Funding Of Start-Up Nonprofits: An Exploration Of Funder Perceptions, Attitudes, And Advice, Christina George

VA Engage Journal

With the rapid expansion of the nonprofit sector, there is approximately 43 percent of nonprofits that are not surviving past five years of operation. As there are many misconceptions about start-up organizations, this may affect their growth and financial viability. A qualitative study was conducted to understand the perception of start-up nonprofit organizations and how that may influence funder giving behaviors. Interviews were administered with three funders of Greater Richmond area foundations and corporations. Five major themes were developed from the findings to include mission alignment, life cycle stages, perception, elimination of bias, and organizational barriers and common mistakes. Funder …

Group Culture In Successful Organizations, Courtney Cybert

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Eta Delta chapter of Beta Alpha Psi and determine whether its group culture is enhancing or diminishing its success. Daniel Coyle, in his book, The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, examined several successful organizations including the U.S. Navy’s Seal Team Six, IDEO, the San Antonio Spurs, and Google. From his observations, he classified the characteristics of successful group culture into three traits: build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose. Through these traits, he places an emphasis on the idea that the interaction of group members, rather than …

Antwerp-Opedia: A Microsoft Sharepoint Site, Catherine Susco

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

As my Honors Capstone project, I implemented a Microsoft SharePoint site where JMU study abroad alumni from the College of Business Semester in Antwerp program can share their experiences and travel tips with other JMU students preparing to go to Antwerp. The goal of this project was to develop an online portal to host a collaborative, centralized site where students can find information regarding the Semester in Antwerp program. Resources on the site include information about the Antwerp program, tourist information and general international travel information. The Microsoft SharePoint site developed throughout this project includes a Wiki general information page, …

Expanding Business To Harrisonburg, Graham Maguire

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study will attempt to determine whether Harrisonburg is a viable option for expanded retail options. Fifteen stores will be examined that have performed well throughout the United States over the past several years based on several different metrics. Data used to compared these stores will be collected via a survey distributed to James Madison University students and public census data. Additionally, several stores that are already in operation in Harrisonburg will be assessed to serve as a comparison group. By the end of this study, I will offer recommendations on which of the 15 stores in the study would …

Children Of Milagros: Bringing Aid To A Community Center In Need, Matthew Ashley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Children of Milagros, Inc. (COM) was organized for the charitable purposes of providing tuition for educational and developmental services to underprivileged children in the Dominican Republic. Currently COM offers aid to a sole beneficiary, Espacio Infantil Madison (EIM). EIM is a community center in Gurabo, Dominican Republic that provides a safe, educational environment for young children of low-income families. To establish a rationale for funding the space, this project explores the needs of the community as well as the present and future benefits of early childhood education and socialization for individuals. The remainder of this project discusses the founding of …