Education Commons^™

Development Of Modeling Tools To Determine The Effects Of Customer Diversification On Customer Lifetime Value Volatility In Higher Education, Oscar Neal

Dissertations

As societies become increasingly global the competition for customers continues to increase. In competitive markets, it is important to identify a process to acquire and retain the most profitable customers. To discriminate customers, it is important to understand the value different customers bring to an organization. Much research has been done modeling customer value using customer lifetime value, however, there is limited research on the effect current customer diversity has on future customer lifetime value of future customer portfolios.

In this dissertation, a Lifetime Value Model considering the interaction between customer diversity, revenue management, and customer lifetime value in an …

Crowd Sourced Product Reviews: A Study Of Evaluation Standards Used, Alexander W. Manga

Dissertations

People are using online product reviews and evaluations more and more (Chandler et al., 2013). As the usage of online reviews persists and more smart phone applications are created, the demand for online product review continues to increase; yet, there is no indication of the quality of these reviews. In fact, some online reviews have been found to be fraudulent and misleading. Many online product reviews come from Internet-based crowdsource organizations. Few studies have explored evaluation practices among these organizations, and as a result, it is unclear what, if any, evaluation standards are used by crowdsource reviewers, particularly those found …

Comparing Online And Traditional Interview Techniques: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Researchers And Participants In The Malaysian Context, Diyana Kamarudin

Dissertations

The study employed an innovative simulation of interview conditions using both face-to-face and online techniques that facilitated both emic and etic perspectives. The dissertation utilized both micro and a macro levels of study. At the micro level, 10 researcher participants interviewed 30 parent participants utilizing two different interview techniques: online face-to-face interviews via Skype, and traditional face-to-face interview. The interviews focused on parental mediation on children’s television habits. At the macro level the researcher coordinated the study and conducted interviews with the researcher participants, after they completed their own interviews in the simulation. Both online and face-to-face interviews were video …

From Altruism To Investment: Venture Philanthropy And Its Impact On Shared Governance At Liberal Arts Colleges, Joshua D. Merchant

Dissertations

Competition for philanthropic dollars has escalated in recent years, particularly in higher education. A new type of charitable giving – venture philanthropy – has emerged and is impacting both educational policy and practice. Venture philanthropy involves donors using business models, championed practices of venture capitalists, and decision making procedures to drive their philanthropy and ongoing engagement with organizations they support.

Venture philanthropy has the potential to improve the financial vitality of colleges and universities. However, it also poses significant questions to the academy as more colleges and universities engage with donors who embrace its tenets. The primary research question seeks …

The Role Of Experiential Learning In Nurturing Management Competenciesin Hospitality And Tourism Management Students: Perceptions From Students, Facultyand Industry Professionals, Kristen Jack

Dissertations

Previous research has revealed that industry professionals and educators in the field of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) agree that classroom theory and experience in the field are essential components of undergraduate HTM education. Yet there is some disagreement on internship hour requirements, and limited data on actual outcomes. This study therefore examines the perceptions of students and industry professionals as to the extent HTM undergraduate students actually develop key management competencies while participating in experiential learning components. In addition, it captures the views of university faculty and hospitality industry professionals who work with these students regarding essential competencies and …

Paths To Upper Level Positions In Public Relations, Patrick J. Bishop

Dissertations

Preparation for a career in the field of public relations (PR) is based on a set of unique core competencies typically found in liberal arts. Though PR professionals rarely gain business degrees, they acquire knowledge, skills, perspectives, and strategies wellsuited to executive-level positions in business. Additionally, managerial positions in PR offer greater potential for influence than task-oriented roles with limited strategic opportunity.

This study examines the advancement of PR practitioners into upper-level management positions in business. The purpose of this research is to identify factors and behaviors that contribute to, or hinder, PR professional’s attainment of top-management positions. This study …

Performance Evaluation Models For Strategic Decision-Making: Towards A Hybrid Model, Geraldina Villalobos Quezada

Dissertations

Performance management systems serve strategic, administrative, and developmental purposes; therefore, their role in an organization cannot be overestimated. As a function of this strategic role, different evaluation models have been developed and implemented by organizations: BSC, CIPP, TQM, Six Sigma, and AOP.

Following a review of current evaluation theory and practice models that focus on improving strategic decision-making in organizations, four research questions were developed that sought to identify the interrelationships, evaluation components, evaluation indicators, data collected to support the evaluation,evaluation implementation protocols, quantitative and qualitative analyses, outcomes, and critical factors of the BSC and CIPP models.

A multiple case …

Examining The Similarities And Differences In Benefits Of School-To-Work As A Workforce Development Strategy: A Study Of Key Stakeholder Involvement Using A Multiple Case Study Approach, Alton Leon Alford

Dissertations

Violence is a significant occupational hazard in the American workplace. Nearly a thousand employees are murdered on the job each year and workplacehomicide has become the leading cause of death for women and the second for men. From 1993 to 1999, there were an average of 1.7 million nonfatal violent victimizations each year, accounting for 18% of all violent crime. Although government employees accounted for 18% of the U.S. workforce, they made up 37% of workplace violence victims.

A review of literature found no unified definition of workplace violence. Recent scientific research regarding this problem is rare, despite its increasing …

An Exploratory Study Of Michigan Grantmaker Attributes And Competencies, Lisa R. Wyatt Knowlton

Dissertations

Foundation trustees and professional staff are giving greater attention to issues of accountability and return on investment, while voices of those with significant experience in the private sector inquire with increasing frequency and vigor about the organizational performance of foundations. For these reasons there must be renewed attention on the competencies and attributes of grantmaking practitioners. This study is a self-assessment by grantmakers based on the construct of Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, 1995) as well as competency studies in organizational management and leadership.

In association with the Council of Michigan Foundations, grantmakers associated with foundations holding in excess of $1 million …

The Field Study Of A Training Transfer Enhancement Process And Its Effect On Transfer Of Training, Andrew W. Bowne

Dissertations

Transfer of training is defined as the degree to which trainees apply, in their jobs, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they gained in training. Research regarding transfer of training has called training effectiveness into question. For example, Baldwin and Ford (1988) reported average transfer rates typically in the 10% range.

The study tested the effectiveness of particular procedures and tools intended to enhance transfer of training. These transfer enhancing tools were employed by an experimental group of trainees’ supervisors (who received training from the researcher in the application of the tools) before a half-day problem-solving training workshop for their employees …

Relationships Between Leader Characteristics, Planned Change And Organizational Culture In A Dynamic Manufacturing Environment, Matthew Chodkowski

Dissertations

The new economic era has been marked by profound global change. In response, researchers and practitioners have called for a rethinking of the conventional concepts of leadership, change, and organizational culture to improve our competitiveness in this turbulent world market. This study investigated the relationships between leader style, leader behavior, leadership paradigm, leader knowledge of change, organizational culture potency, and planned change efficacy in a manufacturing company implementing a high performance work system change initiative. This study intended to contribute to the reconceptualization of the leadership construct and the explication of the leadership-culture-change linkage.

Six hundred and eighty-nine subjects representing …

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And The Practice Of Program Evaluation In Human Service Organizations, Lorraine Marais

Dissertations

There are many obstacles for human service organizations in evaluating programs. Some of these barriers are the difficulty in defining human behavior and the change that needs to be evaluated, human service programs that take a long time to show results, agency capacity to do evaluation, and cost (Young, Hollister, Hodgkinson, & Associates, 1993). Another subtle yet powerful influence on the practice of evaluation in nonprofit organizations may be organizational culture (Schein, 1990). If an organization is going to employ self-evaluation, an organizational culture may be needed that will support such efforts. This study was designed to assess the relationship …

The Effect Of Managers' Clarification Of Business Linkage Of Training On Trainees' Transfer Of Training, Elizabeth J. Benanzer

Dissertations

This study investigated the hypotheses that if managers were engaged in specific activities aimed at increasing their understanding of the linkage of employee training to business goals, then they would in turn create a more positive transfer environment, resulting in greater transfer of training received by their employees. Some managers of trainees participated in a workshop in which they used an “impact mapping” procedure to clearly explain the relationship between training of their employees and strategic goals of the business; another group of managers did not receive this impact mapping training. Then, all managers’ employees participated in a supervisory training …

A Test Of A Rapid Developer Model: Workplace Factors Associated With Learning And Development, James A. Alexander

Dissertations

The speed at which individuals and organizations learn and develop is a vital contributor to organizational change and organizational effectiveness. This study postulated the notion of "rapid developers”, those persons who learn and acquire job competence more quickly than their peers. The purpose of this study was to identify, define, and differentiate the factors associated with "rapid development."

The author constructed a rapid developer model based upon the review of the disciplines of training, performance technology, total quality, organization learning, and organization culture. The model identified and defined the contextual factors that could be expected, based on an understanding of …

An Analysis Of Available Selection Factors For Judging The Educational Merit Of Short Duration, Out-Of-House, Management Training Programs For American Corporations, Douglas R. Loomer

Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was twofold. First, to determine which, if any, information items, normally known about short duration out-of-house management training programs (seminars, workshops, etc.) prior to attendance, are indicative of educational merit. Second, to utilize this knowledge of educational merit indicators to test for a difference between the educational merit of out-of-house management training programs provided by (a) academic and (b) nonacademic instructional sources.

A total of 20 program characteristics were identified as indicators of educational merit by a review of literature and/or survey of corporate training officers. Six of these 20 indicators produced a difference …

The Investigation Of Middle Managers’ Perceptions Concerning Factors And Conditions Necessary To Implement And Adapt Career Development Systems To Their Organizations, Gail A. Ganakas

Dissertations

This study investigated middle managers' perceptions concerning factors and conditions necessary to implement and adapt a career development system within an organization. More specifically, this study drew implications regarding the vital role played by middle managers in the initiation, implementation, and adaptation of a career development system in a large industrial organization.

Five research questions dealing with the role of middle managers in implementation of career development systems were investigated by means of an interview schedule developed by the researcher adapted from instruments developed by the American Management Association (Walker & Gutteridge, 1979) and Burack and Mathys (1980). The survey …