Human Resources Management Commons^™

Staff Matters: Understanding And Implementing The Earned Sick Time Act, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This month’s "Staff Matters" column provides a summary of the recent amendments to the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) in Michigan, which brought significant changes just as the original effective date approached. It clarifies the effective dates for different employer sizes, with small employers (10 or fewer employees) having an extended deadline of October 1, 2025. The article outlines key changes related to structuring time banks, policy revisions, and required employee notifications. It also mentions free resources and tools available through HRM Services and a revised MDA Staff Matters® Sample Employee Handbook to aid in ESTA compliance.

Administering Grant-Subsidized Workforce Training: A Critical Case Study, Kaleb Preston Futch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Grant monies are distributed for the purpose of funding workforce training programs aimed at affecting the skills gap in the United States. While research has shown that these grants are being awarded, there is not a well-established standard for designing and implementing the programs they fund. This study focuses on recording and classifying the lived experiences of grant staff working on a state funded workforce training program in the United States. This study will employ a qualitative case study approach designed to capture and codify, in the words of those most familiar with it, the aspects of the grant program …

The Future Of Work: Examining New Graduate Sentiment On Remote Work And Return To Office Mandates, Ishani Adidam

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic dwindles, companies that had leveraged Work from Home (WFH) flexibility are now implementing Return to Office (RTO) mandates. While 70% of employees prefer a hybrid work model, 61.4% are expected to work full-time in-office due to these mandates, leading to widespread employee discontent. This study investigates whether such dissatisfaction extends to new graduates entering the workforce. A pilot survey revealed that 68% of new graduates prefer a hybrid work modality, yet 52% stated that work modality would not significantly impact their job decision-making process, and 46% said they would be unlikely to leave …

Reframing Rudeness: Exploring Positive Reappraisal As A Pathway From Customer Incivility To Self-Efficacy, Justin S. Boyd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Customer incivility is a persistent challenge for front-line employees (FLEs), often leading to adverse workplace outcomes. This research examined whether positive reappraisal can transform incivility into a source of growth. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, the research explored how positive reappraisal mediates the relationship between customer incivility and two key forms of self-efficacy—regulatory emotional and workplace social—ultimately influencing job satisfaction. The moderating roles of perceived organizational support and trait mindfulness were also investigated.

A cross-sectional survey of 296 FLEs was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). More specifically, the results confirmed customer incivility positively predicts positive reappraisal. …

Evaluating The Impact Of Work-Based Learning On Postsecondary Completion And Job Placement Of Electronics Technology Students, Amanda J. Seidenzahl

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The manufacturing industry today is facing a critical shortage in the availability of talent and skills needed in an ever-changing technological workforce. With an estimated 2.1 million jobs in the manufacturing industry predicted to be unfilled by 2030, organizations are struggling to find a workforce with the skills needed for this evolving industry (NAM, 2020; Ahmad, 2019). Employers have often suggested there is a lack of alignment between classroom experience in higher education, and work-based learning (WBL) is one option to bridge this gap (Krishnamoorthy & Keating, 2021). WBL provides real world experiences that connect learning in the classroom (Krishnamoorthy …

A Strategic Audit: Eli Lilly & Company, Natalie Karrels, Ethan Heinemann, Jonathan Patton, Meg Williams

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This strategic audit assesses the external and internal forces impacting Eli Lilly & Company’s strategic decision-making strategies. All information has been gathered from industry reports and company reports, including reports for investors, analyst calls, financial statements, and news reports. The report highlights the quantitative, qualitative, performance, strategy, and leadership decisions that have allowed Eli Lilly & Company to succeed for the past 150 years.

Buyer Perceptions Of Single- And Mixed-Gender Dyadic Sales Teams: Should I Have A Wingman Or A Wingwoman?, Eric Kushins, Melissa Clark

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

Prior research suggests that the gender composition of sales teams may impact team performance. However, research at the intersection of sales, gender, and teams is limited. In this study, we collect survey data from hypothetical buyers who viewed one of six sales pitch videos, including solo salesmen and saleswomen, single-gender dyadic sales teams, and mixed-gender sales teams. The hypothetical buyers were asked to rate each of the salespeople on important traits that have proven to lead to successful sales interactions, including customer orientation, understanding, trustworthiness, awareness of others’ feelings, competence, knowledge, and if the hypothetical buyer would take advice from …

Bridging The Gap: Management Vs. Leadership And The Path To Mastering Both, Wesley A. Key

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Management and leadership, though often conflated, represent distinct but complementary skills that are critical for organizational success. This thesis aims to explore the fundamental differences between management and leadership, highlighting how these roles interact and the necessity for individuals to master both to excel in today’s dynamic business environment. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from psychology, organizational behavior, and case studies, this research synthesizes academic literature to address key questions: What core competencies distinguish leaders from managers? How do these competencies align or conflict with one another in real-world settings? And what practical steps can individuals take to develop proficiency in …

Exploratory Study On Factors That Impact Job Embeddedness For Northeast Government And Commercial Aerospace Procurement Specialists, Nicholas Alaimo

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined job embeddedness theory and its impact on commercial and government aerospace procurement professionals in the Northeast United States. The research sought to understand the factors that influence why these professionals remain in their positions and what elements contribute to improved job performance. Job embeddedness theory explains employee retention through three key factors: perceived fit within their role, perceived links to organizational culture, and perceived sacrifices that would result from leaving.

The study identified six main themes. First, the research found both similarities and differences in how aerospace procurement specialists connect with aerospace culture in government subcontracting …

Decentralized Multi-Hop Federated Reinforcement Learning For Energy-Efficient And Secure Routing In Lorawan-Based Smart City Infrastructure, Harsha Sammangi, Aditya Jagatha, Jun Liu

Research & Publications

This paper proposes a decentralized hybrid framework that integrates Federated Learning (FL) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) to enable energy-efficient and secure multi-hop routing in LoRaWAN-based smart city networks. The method allows local model training at gateways and relay nodes, combining real-time routing decisions with privacy-preserving federated aggregation. Key metrics such as residual energy, link quality, and node trust levels are embedded into the reward function, and lightweight encryption plus differential privacy safeguard routing metadata. Simulation results demonstrate substantial gains in packet-delivery ratio, latency, network lifetime and resilience to adversarial attacks when compared to traditional routing protocols.

A Qualitative Study Exploring Senior Leaders’ Experiences And Perceptions In Addressing Workplace Sexual Harassment In The U.S. Federal Government: A Systems Perspective, Karen Jane Dean

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual harassment (SH) is a prevalent, costly, and often unreported problem in the U.S. Federal Government. Despite decades of research from multiple perspectives and recommendations to address SH, the problem persists and remains complex. While some researchers and U.S. Government agencies have called upon leaders to commit to eliminating workplace SH, others have suggested using an integrated conflict management system (ICMS) to manage the complexity, nuances, and conflicts. Even though there is a call for leadership to address SH, there is limited documentation in the literature about leaders’ experiences and perceptions in addressing the problem. Therefore, this qualitative study was …

Hope Experience Essentials: The Next Generation Of Service Standards At Mayo Clinic, Jennifer Packard, Richard M. Elias, Thomas J. (Tripp) Welch, Karee A. Munson, Jonathan A. Leighton

Patient Experience Journal

Engaging employees in providing exemplary patient experience has been challenging for healthcare leaders in recent years given the pressures of the regulatory environment, increases in staff burnout and rising patient expectations. Amid these challenges, addressing patient experience remains a top priority for healthcare organizations. A novel intervention has been applied at Mayo Clinic with the goal of improving both employee engagement and patient experience. Previous efforts to teach service excellence involved customer service trainings, sometimes purchased through outside vendors. This new initiative is based on our organizational culture and values, input from our employees and patients, and considers the changing …

Balancing The Scales: The Role Of Work-Life Balance And Technological Support In Enhancing Gig Worker Productivity In Indonesia, Parman Parman, Muhammad Uliah Shafar, Deasy Soraya A. Aminartha Putri

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This study examined the impact of work-life balance (WLB) initiatives on gig worker productivity, focusing on the mediating role of job satisfaction and the moderating effects of gig work characteristics and technological support.

Design/Methodology/Approach: PLS-SEM was used in this study to analyse survey data collected from a sample of 400 gig workers engaged in various platforms, including Gojek, Grab, Shopee, and Freelancer.com. The survey instrument comprised structured questions designed to measure key constructs, namely WLB initiatives, technological support, job satisfaction, and employee productivity.

Research Findings: WLB initiatives significantly positively impacted employee productivity, with job satisfaction functioning as a …

Navigating Work-Life Balance: The Role Of Personality, Burnout, And Technology In Indonesian Educators, Badaruddin Badaruddin, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Fatmasari Fatmasari

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This study investigates the impact of personality traits, job demands, and emotional intelligence on work-life balance (WLB) among Indonesian educators, with burnout and boundary management styles serving as mediating factors.

Design/Methodology/Approach: This study employed a quantitative research approach, gathering survey data from 295 Indonesian educators. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using SmartPLS 4 was conducted to examine direct, indirect, and moderating effects.

Research Findings: Conscientiousness positively influences boundary management, while neuroticism has a detrimental effect. Increased job demands contribute to higher burnout levels, which, in turn, negatively impact both work-life balance (WLB) and boundary management. Burnout serves as …

Organizational Policy Initiatives For A Neurodiverse Workforce, Renae Taylor

ATU Scholars Symposium

Neurodivergent individuals make up a significant percentage of the population and yet lag in employment due to employment barriers of the traditional workplace. While the benefits of a diverse workplace are well documented, there is still a large deficit when it comes to neurodiversity equitable access. To attract and retain a neurodiverse workforce, organizations must make changes that align with research-backed methods for policy building and in turn change the organizational leadership focus to a transformational, growth-based framework.

This applied project focuses on organizational policy initiatives that support the neurodivergent employee, with an emphasis on accommodations and modifications, inclusion, and …

Changing Salaries: Salary Constraints In North American Sports, Reese Shull

Honors Projects

The structure, impact, and potential future of the cap systems housed by the primarily North American sports leagues, NFL, NBA, and MLB, are examined. By comparing each of the different constraint models used to influence competitive balance, player compensation, and various team-building strategies, a comprehensive understanding of which league operates more effectively. Paramount is the relationship to rising revenues and the different returning and emerging channels that are being formed.

The Impact Of Globalization On Human Resources Policy And Performance, Katherine H. Alford

Senior Honors Theses

Globalization is a rapidly growing phenomenon that impacts individuals, governments, and businesses. Businesses develop and run on polices implemented through HR and employee performance that drives efficiency. Therefore, the relationship between these two topics is vital to understand the adaptations that need to be made and why. Changes can be made on both a macro and micro level addressing each area of concern. Addressing the issue is the first step followed by implementation into HR polices through the employee handbook.

Unleashing Excellence: Strengthening It Leaders Through Executive Coaching, Tonya S. Rivers

Dissertations

This paper explores the impact of executive coaching on Information Technology (IT) leaders. Many organizations across different industries lack strong leadership, as exposed by COVID-19. Companies aim to keep exceptional leaders and establish upbeat workplaces to achieve success. Although previous research has examined leadership effectiveness, it is still unclear how best to manage employees' perceptions of effective leadership. The goal of this research is to provide new insights into what can improve perceptions of leadership effectiveness. I explored the role executive leadership coaching has on managers working in the Information Technology (IT) field. Current literature often mentions the need for …

Bridging Experience And Intention: The Mediating Role Of Outcome Expectations In Social Entrepreneurship Among Creative Economy Actors, Muhammad Iqbal Rezky, Janah Sojanah, Rasto Rasto

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

This study explores the role of outcome expectations in mediating the influence of prior experience on social entrepreneurship intention in the creative economy sector of Indonesia. Despite the increasing interest in social entrepreneurship, research on the factors driving the intention to become a social entrepreneur remains scarce. This study employed the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a theoretical framework to investigate social entrepreneurship as a career choice, focusing on the influence of outcome expectations on social entrepreneurship intention. A quantitative explanatory survey was conducted with 290 creative economy actors in Bandung through questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Partial Least …

Designing A Human-Centered Public Relations System For Layoffs At Organizations Across Financial And Professional Services, Kateryna Kzhemanovska

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

Public relations professionals support businesses across financial and professional services sectors with several initiatives, including reduction of workforce. Given the current macroeconomic situation, as of April 2025, many companies are laying off employees, and doing so in a non-user-centric way. This study will examine existing literature on the topics of corporate communications, reduction of the workforce, reputation management, human-centered interaction design, and project management, and explore the opportunity and relevance of applying human-centered methods to the reduction of workforce processes.