Business Commons^™

Congruence Between Course Modality And Professor Communication: A Study Of Pedagogical Impact Using Sales Techniques, Cindy B. Rippé, Suri Weisfeld-Spolter, Shannon Cummins, Yuliya Yurova

Marketing & Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

Purpose of the Study: Given the similarities between influencing others when teaching and when selling, this work explores student perceptions of selling techniques used by professors. This work investigates faculty instructional methods informed by the prospecting and follow-up sales process’s steps to positively affect student perceptions, and to attract and retain students in online and traditional formats. Selling efforts are developed, described, and examined to see how prospecting and follow-up can be used to increase course learning, retention, and subsequent course enrollment.

Method/Design and Sample: The study used a 2 (Professor Communication Type: Face-to-face vs. Virtual) by 2 …

A Strategic Approach To Employee Retention At Nebraska Families Collaborative, Rachel Walters

Capstone Experience

Nebraska Families Collaborative (NFC) is a nonprofit organization that supports children and families who are at risk, in eastern Nebraska. They offer a variety of services with the goal of moving children toward safety, permanency and well-being. Organizations such as NFC rely heavily on the commitment of the employees to carry out their mission, as do many other non-profit social service agencies across the country. The overall goal of the project was to identify reasons for high turnover and to identify potential solutions to reduce turnover and increase retention in the workplace at NFC. The main objectives were to analyze …

Exploring Churn And Alignment Between Retention And Occupational Culture As Perceived By Professional Truck Drivers, Catherine M. Cole

Dissertations

Despite advances in logistics software and increased driver pay, the trucking industry continues a historic wave of human capital risks in the form of driver turnover and driver shortages. Previous efforts to understand the phenomenon of driver turnover rely heavily on supply chain, transportation, and logistics based disciplines. The current study provides a human capital ontology towards understanding professional truck driver perceptions. Within the interpretive framework of pragmatism, the study applied a simultaneous ethnographic and phenomenological research design to explore the phenomenon of churn and professional truck driver perceptions of environmental alignment between trucking industry retention strategies and the occupational …

The Relationship Between Financial Literacy, Financial Status, And Academic Success In College Students, Brian Douglas Brausch

Dissertations

As the cost of college continues to rise, an increasing number of students are relying on loans and credit cards to fund their postsecondary education. In an effort to curb student debt and increase retention and graduation rates, many universities have begun to offer financial literacy initiatives to stimulate financial knowledge and promote positive money management behaviors.

This study examines the relationship between a for-credit personal financial literacy course and student academic success and economic status. Students who took a personal finance course during their first or second year of college are compared to a random sampling of students who …

Examining Generational Differences In The Workplace: Employee Engagement Practices And Their Impact On Retention Of Different Generations Of Human Resources Employees In Higher Education, Lamija Basic

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the employee engagement practices that Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial human resources (HR) employees in four-year private institutions of higher education (IHEs) in southern California perceive as most important to their retention. The secondary purpose of the study was to determine the similarities and differences between the engagement practices considered most important for retention by Millennial HR employees compared to Baby Boomer and Generation X employees in IHEs.

Methodology: A quantitative descriptive, nonexperimental research design was selected for this study. The population included three generations of HR professionals working …

Exploring The Relationship Of Burnout, Retention, And Tenure Between Full-Time Professors Teaching In A Traditional Brick-And-Mortar Environment And Full-Time Professors Teaching In A Fully Online Environment, Scott Dunbar

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of educational delivery as it related to burnout in full-time college professors in a Southern California Christian university. The problem addressed was examining the relationship of full-time faculty burnout between two educational delivery methods, traditional brick-and-mortar educational delivery and fully online educational delivery, in a Southern California Christian university. This study was significant as the phenomenon of burnout in relation to brick-and-mortar full-time professors and online full-time professors had yet to be researched in a Southern California Christian university. In addition, burnout in online faculty members had rarely been studied …

Stay In School, Kids, Caleb Reynolds, Julia Wenndt

Student Scholarship - College of Business

This paper presents an analysis of the effects of football wins percentage on universities’ retention rates. Using an OLS model we determine the causal relationship between football wins percentages, other independent variables, and universities’ retention rates. Throughout the paper we will define all relevant independent variables and present an overview of the data gathered in order to formulate our results. A theoretical framework will be presented followed by a thorough analysis of the OLS estimation results.

Long-Term Retention Among Child Welfare Workers In Michigan: A Phenomenological Study, Andrea Vajdic-Pena

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High turnover of child welfare workers is a problem to the children and families that receive services and the child welfare organizations that lose their staff. For children and their families, turnover of their assigned worker may interrupt their ability to achieve their permanency goals. Child welfare organizations encounter high costs for hiring staff due to the turnover and the staff that remain suffer with higher caseloads and not being able to provide the quality of services that they should be able to offer. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of child welfare workers …

Reducing The Number Of Nonparticipants In The U.S. Army Reserve, Dr. Renata Washington Hannah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The nonparticipation of U.S. Army Reserve soldiers throughout the Army Reserve Command is a critical problem for it results in millions of dollars in lost revenue. Retaining nonparticipant soldiers is a strategic, operational, and tactical priority for Army Reserve leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to determine key themes concerning the potential root causes of nonparticipation in the Army Reserve. Using Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory, research was conducted to analyze the themes that contributed to nonparticipation, particularly lack of attendance at monthly battle assembly and extended combat training. Data were collected from telephone interviews that were conducted with …

Leadership Strategies For Retaining Mariners Aboard State Maritime Academy Training Ships, Augusta D. Roth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The shortage of qualified merchant marines in the United States requires State Maritime Academy (SMA) leaders to develop competitive retention strategies to retain merchant mariners aboard training vessels. The purpose of this single case study was to identify retention strategies that U.S. SMA leaders used to retain mariners aboard training ships. The conceptual framework of this study was Vroom's expectancy theory. The study participants consisted of 5 SMA leaders overseeing the mariners aboard a training vessel. Semistructured interviews and review of SMA documents pertaining to employment strategies provided the study data. The data analysis included collecting and coding data, and …

Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand understanding of leadership behaviors and their influence on follower engagement. Researchers have shown that engagement is a predictor of retention and organizational performance. Leadership theory and the conceptual framework of worker engagement were the study's theoretical anchors. Despite a proliferation of leadership studies, engagement antecedents are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to narrow the gap in the literature by examining the extent to which there may be a relationship between college instructors' behaviors and student engagement. Although not traditionally regarded as frontline leaders, extant leadership literature affirmed college …

Relationship Between Job Embeddedness And Turnover Intention Of High School Math Teachers, Cynthia Davis Osowski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher turnover has been a problem in U.S. public schools, especially among math teachers, and is more prevalent in schools that have a majority of students from low-income families. Teacher turnover has been shown to have a negative effect on student performance. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to investigate on-the job and off-the job embeddedness and its dimensions of links, fit, and sacrifice to determine effects on math teacher turnover intention. The theory of job embeddedness provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from 152 high school math teachers from 17 counties in a western …

Strategies Hospitality Leaders Use To Reduce Employee Turnover, Borislav Perev

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover is a global problem with adverse effects on financial performance and sustainability of organizations. In the hospitality industry, employee turnover levels increased to 58.8%, and the associated cost of turnover may be more than 100% of an employee's yearly wage, with a total loss of over $25 billion a year. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by hospitality leaders in the southeastern United States to reduce employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory. Purposeful selection of participants included leaders with experience in developing and implementing strategies for reducing employee …

Strategies To Attract And Retain Customers For U.S. Private Country Clubs, Lisa Marie Burnside

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The decline in the number of customers in the private country club (PCC) industry in the United States is causing a reduction of revenues, which inhibits the sustainability of the clubs. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore marketing innovation strategies (MIS) that Arizona PCC managers used to attract and retain customers successfully. Relationship marketing theory was the conceptual framework; key constructs of the theory include customer loyalty, service quality, experience satisfaction, trust, and communication. The study explored successful MIS that PCC managers have used to attract and retain customers to prevent closure. Participants consisted of 1 …

Strategies For Increasing Volunteer Engagement In Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations, Sanja Katina Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Implementing effective strategies to address the challenges of volunteer engagement is critical for helping ensure the sustainability of nonprofit healthcare organizations. Nonprofit healthcare leaders seek strategies to increase the volunteer workforce and enhance volunteer engagement. Through the conceptual lens of Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory, the strategies nonprofit healthcare leaders used to reduce volunteer turnover were explored in this single-case study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 5 nonprofit healthcare leaders from a single organization in the southwestern United States. Analysis of internal and external organizational documents and publicly available data were manually coded and thematically organized. The use …

Strategies To Reduce Employee Turnover, Diane Krzan Merla

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Businesses that fail to retain knowledgeable employees risk remaining competitive in the marketplace. Approximately 25 million people quit their jobs in 2016, overall. This single case study explored strategies business managers use to reduce employee turnover. The population for this study was 5 business managers from a business and technical personnel support organization in the information and solutions industry in the state of New Jersey who had experience with strategies to improve employee retention. The conceptual framework used in this study was systems theory. Data were collected from company archival documents and semistructured face-to-face interviews with 5 business managers. Moustakas' …

Impact Of Empowerment And Autonomy On The Nursing Director's Intent To Stay, Tiffany Bergquist

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of nursing directors is important to the viability and success of the healthcare industry because they have a large impact on nursing job satisfaction, overall retention of nurses in an institution, productivity, and patient outcomes. Factors that retain nurse directors, such as autonomy and empowerment, appear to be important to job satisfaction, but there is little in the current research to corroborate these findings. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what factors impact nursing directors' intent to stay in their current role and what effect role autonomy and empowerment have on their intent to stay as …

Strategies For Reducing Corporate Accountants' Turnover Through Implementing Workplace Flexibility, Elizabeth Nwoseh-Streeter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Flexibility in the workplace is no longer perceived as a benefit to employees but as a requirement for organizations to remain competitive. Financial compensation alone may be insufficient to encourage employee retention. The purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to explore the strategies that corporate accounting and finance leaders implement to promote workplace flexibility for increasing accountants' retention. The conceptual framework for this study was Karasek's demand control support framework. The research sample consisted of 6 corporate accounting and finance leaders who had a history of successfully implementing a workplace flexibility program. Data analysis consisted of compiling the …

Employee Retention Strategies In Trinidadian Small Enterprises, Alicia Singh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational leaders face obstacles stemming from the lack of employee retention. An ineffective retention strategy can result in the loss of employees and the loss of institutional knowledge. Lack of appropriate retention strategies can negatively impact the reputation of the organization and ultimately affect the financial standing of an organization. Grounded by Herzberg's 2-factor theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small retail business managers in Trinidad used to retain employees. I collected data through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 5 small business managers and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using methodological triangulation, …

Virtual Worker Perceptions Of Retention In The Financial Services Industry, Shelly Zaldivar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the need for cost-efficient, talented teams continues to grow, leaders often consider the use of globally dispersed teams, also defined as virtual teams. Despite the apparent benefits, the unique needs of virtual team members are often overlooked in general leadership, change management, and retention discussions. Leaders need to understand contributing factors to the attrition of virtual workers. The foundation for this research included theories of employee retention and change management. The research question for this qualitative phenomenological study focused on the lived experiences of current or former virtual financial services workers regarding job retention. Participants were chosen using purposeful …

Modelling Volunteer Retention In Professional Membership Associations Through Targeting Specific Motivations And Satisfying Certain Aspects Of Volunteer Experience, Marina Saitgalina

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Despite the abundance of the literature on volunteer motivation, satisfaction, retention, and the logical connection between the three concepts, the idea that certain types of motivation and satisfaction can sustain volunteer retention better than others has not been studied much. Furthermore, nonprofit research literature abounds with studies of charitable 501(c)(3) organizations, when far less is known about other kinds of nonprofits such as 501(c)(6) professional membership associations.

Strategies For Training A Multigenerational Workforce, Lydia Butler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For the first time in history, 5 generations are working side by side, creating a challenge concerning training, developing, and managing a multigenerational workforce. More people are working into their later years, and the U.S. labor force participation rate of individuals age 55 and older is projected to increase from 22.4% to 24.8% by 2026. The purpose of this single case study was to explore training strategies managers used to improve multigenerational employee productivity. The sample population included 6 managers of an automotive company in the Great Lakes area of the United States who had knowledge and experience supervising multigenerational …

Strategies For Retaining Employees In The Nonprofit Sector, George Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Voluntary employee turnover is a concern for nonprofit leaders due to human capital's strategic role in achieving performance excellence. The consequences of volunteer turnover include loss of profitability, productivity, knowledge, and financial stability. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies used by 3 leaders of a nonprofit organization in the Washington, DC, area who have experience with the nonprofit's employee retention efforts. Data were collected from semistructured face-to-face interviews and organizational documentation and analyzed through the conceptual lens of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. Data gathered from interviews and analyses of organizational data and performance outcomes were …

Leadership Satisfaction And Turnover Intention Among Public Sector Employees, Marcia Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The changing demographics of the federal workforce require managers to understand generational differences in experiences, values, and leadership preferences that can negatively impact an agency's ability to fulfill its mission. There is a gap in the literature regarding generational cohort perceptions of employee satisfaction with leadership and turnover intention in the Small Business Administration (SBA). The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine the generational perceptions of SBA employees regarding leadership satisfaction and intent to leave the organization within the next year. Strauss and Howe's generational theory served as the theoretical framework. This non-experimental quantitative study used the …

Strategies To Retain Employees In The Health Care Industry, Francelia Luis Knight

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care leaders who fail to apply effective retention strategies could negatively affect employee well-being, patient outcomes, and business performance. The purpose of this single case study was to explore effective strategies that leaders used to retain employees in a health care organization. Human capital theory was the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected via on-site semistructured interviews with 10 leaders of a Texas health care organization who had a history of retaining employees for a minimum of 2 years from the date of hire, and from the review of organizational documents pertaining to employee retention. Data were …

A Grounded Theory Of Millennials Job-Hopping, Deborah L. Rivers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporations are finding it challenging to attract and retain the top talented Millennials. Their frequent job-hopping is costing the U.S. economy $30.5 billion annually despite corporations' best efforts to retain them. The central research question concerns the decision-making process that Millennials use to decide whether to job-hop or stay with an organization. The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a theory that explains the Millennials' process for deciding whether to job-hop or stay with an organization. The conceptual framework for this grounded theory research is generational theory, Herzberg's hygiene and motivational factors, and psychological contract theory. The data …

Strategies To Reduce Employee Turnover In The Durable Goods Industry, Mary Jane Burnett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some durable goods industry leaders lack strategies needed to successfully reduce voluntary employee turnover, which is detrimental to organizational performance and decreases an organization's competitive advantage. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies durable goods industry leaders used to reduce employee turnover in their organizations. The population consisted of 4 durable goods industry leaders in the southeastern region of the United States who had at least 3 years of managerial experience in reducing employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory of Bass. Methodological triangulation was used to increase the validity and …

An Analysis Of The Factors Which Effectively Attract College Graduates, Mandy Kaur, Kaleb Oney, Joseph Chadbourne, Kayli Bookman, Benjamin Beckman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Team Smucker Love was assigned the task of understanding recent graduates’ work environment priorities by the J. M. Smucker company. Through primary and secondary research, the team collaborated and discovered a variety of factors that are important to recent college graduates, as well as other millennials. This research seeks to define a few elements that can sway a recent college graduate whether to ultimately accept a position offered to them. Identified were five key areas of improvement at the target client, the J.M. Smucker Company, including technology in the workplace, work-life balance, workplace layout, work place culture, and amenities offered …

An Analysis Of The Factors Which Effectively Attract College Graduates, Mandy Kaur, Kaleb Oney, Joseph Chadbourne, Kayli Bookman, Benjamin Beckman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Team Smucker Love was assigned the task of understanding recent graduates’ work environment priorities by the J. M. Smucker company. Through primary and secondary research, the team collaborated and discovered a variety of factors that are important to recent college graduates, as well as other millennials. This research seeks to define a few elements that can sway a recent college graduate whether to ultimately accept a position offered to them. Identified were five key areas of improvement at the target client, the J.M. Smucker Company, including technology in the workplace, work-life balance, workplace layout, work place culture, and amenities offered …

Is Leadership The Key To Public Sector Retention In Regional Western Australia? An Exploratory Study, Damian Lambert

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research reviewed retention factors affecting the West Australian public sector (WAPS) in regional areas seeking to determine whether a leadership development program (LDP) could provide a strategic HRM solution. Using a mixed methods approach views of 9 leaders and 156 regional WAPS employees provided insights on retention issues and how a LDP might be designed and delivered to regional employees. Despite the attraction and retention factors impacting the WAPS, it was found that a LDP designed specifically for the regions can assist to attract talented staff and to a lesser extent improve retention in the regions.