Business Commons^™

Paid Sick Time: An Essential Benefit For All Of Minnesota's Workers, Leah Hanson, Caitlin Kemp, Carrie Leggett

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Paid sick time is an essential benefit for all workers in Minnesota. Paid sick time is an economic issue, a public health issue, and an equity issue. Workers should not have to choose between going to work sick or losing a day of pay. Low wage workers, women, Black, Indigenous, people of color, and people living in rural areas are least likely to work at jobs that provide paid sick time. Three cities in Minnesota have implemented paid sick time for workers, along with twelve States and the District of Columbia. It is time for Minnesota to act now and …

Too Illegit To Quit: The Impact Of Illegitiate Tasks On Turnover Intentions And Well-Being, Jacob Wessels

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Illegitimate tasks are a contemporary workplace stressor characterized by perceived violations of norms about what can reasonably be expected to do in the workplace. Based on the “Stress-as-Offense-to-Self” (SOS) theory, the assignment of illegitimate tasks lead to feelings of disrespect and threatening to one’s professional identity, which is inherently stressful. The stressor has been linked to numerous strain outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms explaining how or why these relationships occur has seldomly been addressed in the literature. The present study examined whether illegitimate tasks were positively related to intentions to quit via organizational identity, negatively related to work engagement via …

The Relationship Between Organizations' Response To Customer Complaints, Customer Trust, And Loyalty, Abimbola Ajibola

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between organizations’ responses to customer complaints and their effects on customer loyalty and trust. Four hypotheses were established for this study to help us gain a greater understanding of the dynamics of the responses to customer complaints and their relationship with trust and loyalty. Five independent variables (apology, timeliness, explanation, compensation, and dialogue/active listening) and two dependent variables (trust and brand loyalty) were used to test the hypotheses. An online survey was conducted through Qualtrics and data were collected from participants who were students at a Midwestern University. Facebook …

Covid-19 And Work-Family Conflict: A Gendered Lens Required For Developing Organizational Benefits And Programs, Qendresa Isniqi

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted people's work and family lives. The work-family conflict has seen an increase with the onset of the pandemic as families have found themselves in complex roles such as family sustainers, teachers for their children, and family caregivers while quarantined with the same individuals for months. Concurrently there have been expectations grown from the employers to introduce effective programs or services to support employees so that an expected amount of productivity is maintained while also maintaining a sense of care for their employees. Some of the strategies suggested in the literature include flexible scheduling, leadership communication, …

Walmart's Opioid Stewardship Initiative Rhetorically Constructed As An Act Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Rachel Kaplan

Speaker & Gavel

Walmart is the largest publicly owned retailer in the world (Fishman, 2008). Walmart operates in a contested rhetorical environment because of an aggressive pricing strategy, low-paying wages, and discrimination claims made by women. This paper argues Walmart created several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to help improve corporate image and reputation. CSR encourages companies to consider a triple bottom line: people, the environment and profit. Consumers who practice socially responsible consumption choose to support companies they perceive give back to the community, participate in CSR initiatives to help people, and incorporate sustainable practices into the lifecycle of their products. This …

College Student Perceptions Of Professional Development Through Sport Management Club Participation, Emily J. Houghton, Erica J. Zonder, Brenda A. Riemer, Keith Christy

Human Performance Department Publications

Background Literature

Traditionally, college students engaged in learning within the classroom setting. Research indicates that students can also learn in extracurricular activities such as internships and student clubs (Brown & Johnson, 2018). While research in the field of sport management has focused on the role of internships in professional development (e.g. Hayes & Mudrick, 2018; Young & Baker, 2004), less research has focused on the role of sport management clubs and how club participation may enhance a club member’s professional development. In addition, little research has focused on barriers that prevent students from joining.

Purpose

The purpose of this study …

Sport Management Clubs And Their Relationship To Sport Management Student Success, Keith Christy, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton, Brenda A. Riemer

Human Performance Department Publications

Participation in student-led sport management clubs can be beneficial for college students who are pursing sport management careers. These clubs can help give students the development and networking tools needed for success in the sport industry.

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the role and benefits of sport management clubs at three universities across three NCAA divisions, with a focus on networking, fundraising, event planning, and professional development.

Our discussion will also include specific events that our students have completed as well as how the clubs provide students with opportunities to develop the skills and abilities to succeed …

Sexual Harassment, Jessica Gagnier, Kara Kocmick, Stepanie Voegele

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

According to a Star Tribune MN Poll, nearly 2 out of 3 women in the state of Minnesota have personally experienced sexual harassment. “It is estimated that over half of all women will experience some form of sexual harassment during college and/or their work lives” (Buchanan, 2008, p. 2). It is very difficult to track the true prevalence of sexual harassment because many women do not report. There are several reasons that victims do not report, some include “…the fear of retaliation or because they do not always recognize the offending behaviors as such” (Champion, 2010, p.3). In her Ted …

Gender Differences In Development Center Performance In A Healthcare Organization, Samuel Lawson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Over the past 50 years, the assessment center has evolved into a tool used for making selection and job placement decisions, as well as for identifying development areas among incumbents to promote skill and competency development where gaps exist. The present study examined the latter, that of development centers, to address potential gender differences in performance on a variety of exercise and competency areas within a development center context. Research efforts were also directed toward the exercises and competencies themselves and the relationships between them. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate exercise-competency relationships, while t-tests were conducted to investigate …

A Study Of The Soft Skills That Contribute To The Success Of Newly Graduated Business Students In The Workplace, Promeet Jaswant Singh

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This quantitative study is focused on assessing the soft skills that newly graduated business students possess. Using the first and only skills inventory in the United States that has been endorsed by Department of Labor, the study seeks to determine what sets employees apart based on their level of performance on the job. The main purpose was to assess and interpret the soft skills that employees bring to the workplace soon after graduating. The population for the current study was human resources professionals from a variety of industry sectors in the state of Minnesota. The businesses represented a range of …

Participant Self-Assessment Of Development Center Performance, Ryan Powley

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In order to navigate the political and cultural realities of modern organizations, individuals must possess an accurate self-perception (Ostroff, Atwater, & Feinberg, 2004). One way to gauge the accuracy of a person's self-perception is to compare that individual's self-assessment against other people's assessments of him or her. This technique is known as self-other rating agreement (SORA). Heneman (1980) posited that development centers are an ideal setting in which to study self-assessment and SORA. The present study examined self-assessment and SORA in development centers. Particular attention was paid to exercises, competencies, and gender differences in self-ratings and SORA. Correlations and t-tests …

When Men Are Sexually Harassed: A Foundation For Studying Men’S Experiences As Targets Of Sexual Harassment, Leland Spencer, Joshua Trey Barnett

Speaker & Gavel

While much scholarly attention has been given to sexual harassment, scholarship about men’s experiences as targets of sexual harassment has been limited. This essay is a review of the literature about men’s experiences of sexual harassment; it explores the operational definitions and sources of sexual harassment, the inadequacy of the instruments used to study sexual harassment, and the implications of this research for organizations and the field of communication studies. It also examines sexual harassment at the intersections of gender and sexual orientation, finding that there are apparent differences in incidences that feature diversity in these areas. This review concludes …

‘I Don’T Want To Become A Rules Cop’: An Organizational Culture And Leadership Discourse Analysis Of The Npda As A Failed Organization, Audra R. Diers

Speaker & Gavel

On March 23, 2010 Dr. Robert Trapp, former President of the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA), posted a message to the parli listserve (parli-l) suggesting the final round of the national tournament lacked the sub-stance and nuance that the community should see in debate. Trapp’s post reflects a larger issue in the NPDA—the emergent divide and disparate organizational cultures emerging over the organization’s short lifetime. This paper investigates the often discussed, but still under-developed relationship between leadership and culture in mission-based organizations by analyzing the discourse of cultural leadership in the NPDA from 1994 to 1999. Findings suggest that the …

Organizational Identification Strategies Of A Low Face-To-Face Member-Contact Organization, Deepa Oommen

Speaker & Gavel

This study looked at the identification seeking strategies of a low face-to-face member-contact organization, The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. I used thematic analysis to identify the strategies that the organization used to seek the identification of its members. Findings of the study showed that by emphasizing membership as an exclusive privilege, recognizing the individual as a symbol of excellence, celebrating member achievements, inviting member contributions, emphasizing commitment to diversity, emphasizing organizational symbolism and highlighting testimonials of appreciation, the organization tried to seek the identification of its members. In many of the above-mentioned strategies, the overarching theme of elitism …

911,What's My Emergency? Emotional Labor, Work-Related Rumination, And Strain Outcomes In Emergency Medical Dispatchers, Jessica Lee Deselms

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The work of Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs) is filled with a variety of stressors, and one of those being emotional labor. Despite research on emotional labor, few studies have quantitatively examined this construct within EMDs. Compared to the plethora of emotional labor literature that focuses on the display of positive emotions, EMDs are required to suppress or neutralize any negative reactions they may experience. Hence, this study was concerned with the further examination of emotional labor, physical health outcomes, burnout, and job satisfaction in a unique population. Additionally, the construct of work-related rumination is in its infancy. It can be …

Why Do Some Employees Readjust To Their Home Organizations Better Than Others? Job Demands-Resources Model Of Repatriation Adjustment, Yukiko Yamasaki

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present study applied the Demands-Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) to investigate factors related to repatriate adjustment. Specifically, this study proposed three organizational factors (role ambiguity, lack of work autonomy, and absence of pre-training) as job demands, which would inhibit adjustment of repatriates. The second part of this study identified three personal characteristics (openness, cultural intelligence, and proactivity) as job resources and examined whether these characteristics would minimize the negative effects of the job demands on repatriate adjustment. Repatriate adjustment was assessed as expatriate adjustment (Black & Stephens, 1989), job stress (Lambert, Hogan, & Griffin, 2007), job satisfaction (Warr, …

An Analysis Of Reinforcers Maintaining Caregiving Behaviors Of Long-Term Care Facility Staff, Sandra Garcia

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Traditionally, the medical model has been the standard level of care in long-term care facilities. However, many facilities are transitioning from the medical model to a person-centered approach. The core of person-centered care is the relationship between frontline staff and residents. Empirical research has found person-centered care to reduce depressive and behavioral symptoms, levels of loneliness, and increase quality of care in residents; person-centered care has increased job satisfaction in nursing staff. Unfortunately, little is known about what motivates caregiving behavior in nursing staff and whether these motivators are consistent with principles of person-centered care. The current study attempted to …

Examination Of The Antecedents, Reactions, And Outcomes To A Major Technology-Driven Organizational Change, Ngoc Dinh Nguyen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The goal of this study was to test a multi-level model of organizational change that examined how various antecedents, employee reactions, and organizational and personal outcomes relate to one another. The research was conducted via online surveys and as a longitudinal study. Participants were employees at a large supply distribution company, and were a part of the Pilot implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Results from the study revealed that job stress was closely related to organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being, while change commitment was associated with higher organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Positive training …

Assessing The Effect Of Personality Characteristics Of Minnesota Golfers On The Brand Equity Of Golf Drivers, Eric Schinella

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Although many researchers have focused on the attributes of a product that affect brand equity, this study focuses on the attributes of the consumer that affect brand equity. More specifically, the current study examines how a variety of golfer personality characteristics affect the equity they assign to various brands of golf equipment. The results of the survey showed that as golfers are more skilled, they are willing to pay a higher premium for their preferred driver. This may be because golfers who are more skilled tend to take the sport more seriously and will probably have no problem spending more …

Two Repositories, One Strategy: Marketing Digital Collections, Daardi Sizemore, Heidi J. Southworth

Library Services Publications

In the last year, the Library at Minnesota State University, Mankato has launched two repositories for digital content, Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works and ARCH: University Archives Digital Collections. An important component of developing these repositories has been our marketing efforts. We will share how we worked together with Integrated Marketing, Printing Services, and the Library Outreach Committee to actively promote and advance the collections.

Tax Season, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Organizational Trust As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Burnout And Intentions To Quit, Glenn Trussell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research explores an individual's trust in his or her organization and an individual's perceptions of the level of organizational trust he or she receives as potential moderators of the relationship between burnout and intentions to quit. Reciprocal trust, as defined by high levels of both individual and perceived organizational trust, was also examined as a potential moderator. Research was conducted in partnership with a regional consulting firm. Survey data was collected through MechanicalTurk. A total of 2,922 participants from eighteen business sectors across the United States and Canada were represented. Level of trust was shown to significantly impact intentions …

Depth Of A Salesman: Exploring Personality As A Predictor Of Sales Performance In A Multi-Level Marketing Sample, Colleen Rose Miller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite its growing prevalence in the realm of sales occupations, multi-level marketing (MLM) and its primary participants are not very well understood. In particular, there is a dearth of understanding in terms of the differentiating characteristics of individual sellers who are financially successful in comparison to those who perform poorly. This study sought to fill in some of these research gaps by exploring the antecedents of sales success by examining the validity of personality as a predictor of sales performance in the context of MLM. While significant relationships were indeed observed between certain facets of personality (specifically components of conscientiousness, …

Direct Care Staff And Influential Factors, Michelle Jean Ryan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The shortage of direct care workers will continue to influence the quality of care that the elderly population will receive. With the projected increase of worker shortages there will be not enough direct care workers to take care of the growing elderly population. With the baby boomer population's need for long term care, the need for qualified staff is also growing. Staff training development and consistent staffing, along with employee friendly benefits and policies will be needed to recruit and retain employees. The growing aging population, along with the increase in demand for quality care drives a need to find …

So, I Can't Just Do Homework?: Training And Using Student Workers To The Fullest, Jessi Zimmerman, Joni D. Myers, Anne Stenzel

Library Services Publications

Panelists for this discussion presentation will kick things off by talking about how they acquire their student workers, describing training plans, and sharing some tips and techniques about what has worked and what has been less successful. Attendees will be encouraged to participate in a dialogue about the topic and to compare notes about “best practices”.

Community Assistance For Refugees And Gender Roles: What Could Make This C.A.R. Run Better?, Nathan E. Meyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Community Assistance for Refugees is a non-profit service organization in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. Secondary migration to southern Minnesota has increased the refugee population as well as the need for research assessing the needs and concerns of refugees. The purpose of this project was two-fold: first to analyze how C.A.R. is able to meet the needs of its clients and second, to investigate ways in which C.A.R. could improve its services. Traditionally female refugees are less educated and less mainstreamed into American society. This research was designed to help all clients, but special attention was paid to the specific needs of …

The Effect Of Online Training On Teams, Ariel Becker

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Many organizations recognize the importance of utilizing teams to accomplish work (Chuboda et al., 2005; Devine et al., 1999; Ilgen, 1999; Martins et al., 2004). As technology has advanced, many of these organizations have recently become more reliant on virtual project work, which allows work teams to communicate across geographical distances (Driskell et al., 2003). Considering the growing prevalence of virtual teams in organizations, more needs to be known about how to facilitate virtual team effectiveness. In addition, the increased use of teams in organizations has identified and created the need for team training (Ilgen, 1999). Creating a training environment …

A New Look At Nonprofit Online Fundraising: Persuasion Through The Means Of Credibility And Psychological Consistency, Kaytlin Lemier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A study was conducted to examine how the persuasive elements of a message contribute to non-profit organizations’ potential to gain financial support. The purpose of the study was to apply theories of persuasion to advance an understanding of the underlying elements relevant to successful fundraising appeals. The two main constructs examined were credibility and psychological consistency. Applied to the context of non-profit fundraising, credibility refers to the judgments granting institutions and/or donors make about the believability of the non-profit organization or its individual representatives, and psychological consistency refers to donors’ internal drive to reduce inconsistencies between their behavior and their …

The Role Of The International Monetary Funds (Imf) In The East Asian Debt Crisis Of 1997, Yaro Sadek Tahirou

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

During the East Asian Financial crisis in particular, the IMF has been criticized of promoting international cooperation because of the supervised enforcement of its rules. The purpose of this research is to find out how the IMF responded to the East Asian debt crisis and whether or not its responses were the best possible responses to this crisis. Through my research, I talked about the causes of the East Asian financial crisis, the role of the IMF in the international monetary system, and if the IMF responses to Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia were the best responses or not. After …

Learn To Interview More Effectively, Kristie L. Campana

Psychology Department Publications

No abstract provided.