Digital Commons Network^™

Mergers And Acquisitions: A Primer For Successful Employee Transition, Jan Dunlap

Theses

This thesis will focus on the 'human side' of mergers and acquisitions. It will show the impact on employees and ways in which management can ease these employees through the transition.

Research has shown that there are many more failures than successes, when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Even with all the failures that exist, mergers and acquisitions are more prevalent than they have been in the past. Everyday the newspapers, news casts and radio stations mention a merger that is in the works.

If mergers and acquisitions are going to continue, and research shows that they will, then …

Utilizing Aromatherapy To Reduce Situational Anger In An Academic Setting, Karen R. Duncan

Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of aromatherapy in promoting a positive affect, or emotion, by reducing situational or state anger in an academic setting. Seventeen graduate level counseling students in a Research Methods and Statistics class participated in the study one time per week over a period of four weeks. Subjects completed the state anger portion of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXJ) during each of the four weeks. During two of the weeks, participants were exposed to the scent of rose oil; during the other two weeks no aroma was introduced into the classroom. While a decrease in the …

Coping Resources: A Comparative Study Of Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome And Parents Of Children Without Down Syndrome, Randee Jo Feco

Theses

A comparative study was conducted on differences in coping resources in parents of a child with Down syndrome and parents of children without Down syndrome. Participants included twenty- three parents of a child with Down syndrome and twenty-nine parents of children without Down syndrome . All parents were from the St. Louis metropolitan area. The participants completed a personal data questionnaire and the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI). The personal data questionnaire contained demographic questions, and the CRI measured coping resources in five domains: cognitive , social, emotional, spiritual/philosophical, and physical . Data was statistically analyzed to determine differences in each …

Business Ethics...A Contradiction In Terms?, Kimberly Rose Crawford

Theses

Business ethics occupies a unique position in the field of ethics. It consists of uneasy applications of some very general ethical principles (ie: duty or utility) to rather specific and often unique situations and crises. Unlike the professions of medicine and law, business ethics is concerned with an area of hum.an enterprise whose practitioners do not, for the most part, enjoy professional status and whose motives, to put it mildly, are often thought (and said) to be less than noble. Breed is often cited as the sole purpose of business, and much of the history of business ethics, accordingly, is …

Motivating Sales Personnel, Kel T. Denker

Theses

The purpose of this study is to develop a reference manual for managers to examine on a periodic basis and refresh their memories about the motivational process and its importance in the field of sales.

Research has shown that individuals are motivated differently to achieve specific goals and those who are positively motivated definitely out perform those who are not. In the field of sales, this is extremely important. This project illustrates motivational theory, personality types, a managers role, a sales persons role, and a variety of different motivational techniques.

This project is not intended to teach managers how to …

Getting Ready For Total Joint Replacement Surgery: A Pre-Operative Education Program, Jason R. Delaney

Theses

Today's health care system is in a state of constant flux attempting to merge, decrease jobs and increase profits. A method to accomplish the goal for increased profits is to have a decline in the number of days any patient remains in the hospital. One such facility attempting to achieve this goal is a 340 bed acute care hospital in the Midwest.

ln the view of the author it seems possible for the physical and occupational therapy departments to have the ability to improve outcomes and decrease the total amount of time any patient remains hospitalized. With this in mind, …

Employee Motivation: What Works, What Doesn't, Michelle A. Koenig

Theses

Corporate America has seen a multitude of changes in the last century, but the change with the greatest impact is that of the employees. In the 'old' days, it was an employer's market. Employees felt lucky just to have a job. Companies did not spend time or money worrying about whether or not their employees were happy or motivated. The majority of jobs required manual labor and little or no education. This made replacing an unhappy or unmotivated worker much easier. In addition, there weren't as many U.S. or foreign companies competing for employees.

In today's competitive market, hiring and …

The New American Family, And A New Generation Of Young Americans Entering The Workforce, Flo A. Kistner

Theses

This thesis focuses on the dysfunction of a significant proportion of America's youth and shows how it can be attributed directly to lack of parental presence or parental control. Today's youth are in total chaos. Research shows there is a definite lack of quality time with today's children from their parents. This lack of parental involvement plays a crucial role in the development or lack of development of today's youth and tomorrow's workers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in the structure of the American family, and the resulting need for management to assume a more …

Kenyatta International Conference Center: A Proposed Marketing Plan, Rose M. Kwena

Theses

This study will focus on analyzing the marketing capabilities of the America's Center and the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC) in the conventions and exhibitions industry, with the aim of preparing a marketing plan to be implemented by Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) in Kenya based on the success of St. Louis CVC. The information gathered from researching published data and personal interviews will be used to develop strategies and recommendations.

Kenyatta International Conference Center was not purposely built to host events of large magnitude as exhibitions and conventions. The center was built with public funds by the …

A Comparison Of Self-Esteem Scores For Adolescents Who Have Not Been Pregnant, Have Been Pregnant And Have A Child, Bridget Laffleur

Theses

The differences in the average self-esteem scores between adolescents who have not been pregnant, adolescents who are pregnant, and adolescents who have a child was the focus of this study. The subjects were adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 19 who were living in a residential treatment facility. The participants were administered the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory. The results found that self-esteem and pregnancy status were weakly correlated but was unable to find a significance due to the low number of subjects .

Immigration Issues Of Indian Women, Hema Srikanta

Theses

There are a few thousand Indian families living in St. Louis at the present time. Most of them came here in pursuit of higher education and a better life. Now this population is growing old. Here most of the Indian women are working outside of their homes. Their lives are totally different than that of their mothers and grand mothers. The values they grew up with in India are totally different than what they are experiencing in America. Most of the Indian population has made a home in America; they are growing old here and are going to retire here. …

Competitive Intelligence, Victoria Ann Stamps

Theses

The focus of this project is competitive intelligence. According to Larry Kahaner in Competitive Intelligence, "Competitive intelligence is a systematic program for gathering and analyzing information about your competitors' activities and general business trends to further your own company's goals."

Facing an information overload, business people are beginning to realize that information must be analyzed to produce actionable intelligence. Actionable intelligence has an impact on the bottom line. This new field is growing at an astonishing rate as business people realize that analyzing this information is vital to success.

The purpose of this study is to investigate why business people …

Corporate Communication With The Intranet, Carol J. Sonderman

Theses

This project will focus on the study of the intranet through a review of literature and interviews to determine its value as a corporate communication tool. Currently, the intranet is in the early "innovator and adaptor" stage of development. However, it is moving rapidly forward to the early maturity stage within the corporate world.

Intranets can connect every person, every document, and every application within an organization, no matter where they are physically located. Intranets help companies reduce their paper costs in core areas of communication such as company telephone directories, employee benefits handbooks, manuals, and interoffice or department newsletters. …

Organizational And Social Systems, Ronald James Snelson

Theses

This project explores systems theory and practice as applied to Communications. A system is an organized or complex whole; an assemblage or combination of things, or parts forming a complex or unitary whole. A system is made up of (1) inputs, (2) operations (or processes), (3) outputs. Each interacts with, and is dependent on the proper functioning of the other. If something happens to one part the others parts are affected. Thus, within an organization, what happens to one can affect the whole.

An organization is a system. The systems approach has three goals: ( 1) to define relationships both …

Taoist Medical Practices In Taiwan, Da-Chen Sun

Theses

Taiwan has a strange combination of Taoist practices, high education rate, and quality of medical care. This thesis will explore the various, aspects of Taoist medical practices and identify the root and future of Taoist medical practices in Taiwan.

There are various types of Taoist medical methods and each one has developed its own distinctive system. We will focus on how Taoist medical practices fit the needs of the society.

Various theories including mental, classical, and superstitions, advantage and disadvantages in analyzing Taoist medical practices in Taiwan. The mental theory, which focuses on the psychological analysis, belongs to the sphere …

The Positive Effects Of Differing Communication Styles On An Organization, Julie A. Saylor

Theses

This project explores the issue of communications between people who have different educational backgrounds, experiences, and social styles, yet who are bound together as a team through membership in an organization.

A common definition of the word team is "a group of individuals working collaboratively toward a common goal" John Scott). Teamwork can be accomplished by utilizing communication, cooperation, and collaboration. An easily remembered acronym is:

Together Everyone Achieving More

This study will establish ways that people of varying communications and social styles can work together in a way that will ultimately prove to positively effect …

Opening A Child Care Facility: Tomorrow's Stars, Star E. Seeger

Theses

This thesis focuses on the child care industry and the feasibility of opening a child care center in the O'Fallon, Missouri area. It takes a look at the industry from both a national level as well as a local level, analyzing the history, business philosophy, marketing strategies, financial components, competition, management needs, and the service itself.

Research shows there is a definite lack of quality child care centers to care for the number of children in the United States who are between the ages of six months and twelve years. This is also the case in the O'Fallon area where …

Cultural Transformation: Desire To Change?, Arthur L. Seaman

Theses

Gaining knowledge about what motivates people working in an environment afflicted with laws, statutes, policies, regulations, procedures, standards and jobs threatened by political movements is considered valuable information. This thesis is a focused study of human motivation theory, with the intent of learning why past attempts to change the culture of the United States Army Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM) and the co-located Aviation Program Executive Office (PEO) organizations have failed to produce lasting results.

It is theorized that past attempts to bring about lasting change to the culture of ATCOM and the PEO organizations have failed in part because …

Familiar Stories: Plain-Spoken Poetry From A Missouri Woman, W. Carolyn Smith

Theses

This project started as an exercise in a creative writing cluster class. Then I paid a visit to my mother and heard a couple of stories about two nephews that were poignant, yet amusing. I wrote them as I heard them, in conversational style, and the format of my story-poems was born.

The first three chapters cover my background, my training, the influences on my writing, and specifically, examples of three authors whose writing encouraged me to write. The training emphasized factual writing in business communications and journalism. Because of this training, most of the facts in the poems are …

Intravenous To Oral Medication Streamlining Manual, Christina Cognata Smith

Theses

This thesis will examine intravenous to oral medication streamlining in hospitalized patients.

For multiple reasons the cost of healthcare has been rising over the past ten years. As a result of rapidly escalating expenditures, pharmacoeconomic strategies that center on reducing costs without adversely affecting patients' outcomes are commonplace throughout the pharmaceutical industry.

The literature demonstrates that the early transition from intravenous to oral medications is an opportunity to decrease hospital and patients' costs without compromising patients outcomes. It is important to note that an inappropriate or careless transition can result in a drastic increase in cost, therefor, patients should be …

A Study Of Stress In The Workplace In The 1990s, Reva Carol Mays

Theses

This study was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in the intensity and frequency of organizational stress and job risk stress perceived between salaried, white-collar (N=37) employees and skilled blue-collar, union employees (N=35). 59 of the subjects were male and 13 were female.

The respondents completed two self-administered questionnaires. One was a work stress instrument, and the other was a demographic data sheet. The stress instrument contained 40 items, with scoring based on a 5-point Likert-type scale, that measured intensity and frequency of stress. The demographic data sheet contained 13 items.

Major findings of the research concluded …

Gender Differences In Career And Educational Decisions, Anita Melton

Theses

Differences in male and female self-reported interest and ability in occupations were examined. The researcher studied participants' interest and ability scores on 7 occupational categories of the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey : influencing, analyzing, producing, adventuring, organizing, helping, and creating. Thirty-nine subjects, age 17 to 23, completed the 320 item survey. The sample included 26 female and 13 male subjects. The survey utilized a 6 point response format requiring the subject to determine to what degree they share the interest or ability mentioned. To determine gender differences in response scores, descriptive statistics and one way analysis of variance ( …

Attitudes Of Student Nurses Toward Domestic Violence, Phyllis Jean Messing

Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if student nurses needed more education about domestic violence. Nurses, more than any other profession, are frequently in a position to identify and assist the victims of abuse. Presently, however, rather than addressing the hidden problem of family violence, nurses may inadvertently contribute to it, due to their lack of awareness and knowledge. Nurses, including student nurses, need to fine tune their knowledge in order to recognize the signs and symptoms surrounding family violence. Once identified, it will take an expanded level of awareness and enhanced skills to deal effectively with this …

A Study Of Body Dissatisfaction And Drive For Thinness Between African-American And Caucasian College Women, Suzanne M. Monroe

Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the similarities and/or differences in body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness between Caucasian and African-American college women. The Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) as well as questions measuring hours spent reading women's magazines and family, close friends, and significant other's view on the importance of physical thinness was distributed to 18 to 25 year old African-American and Caucasian college women at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE). The EDI-2 is a self-report questionnaire that consists of 91 questions which generate 11 independent subscales. Only 3 of the II subscales were analyzed: I) Drive …

Employee Benefits, Kimberly Elinor Miller

Theses

This paper discusses how group benefits have changed over the past ten years, what corporations are offering their employees such as medical insurance, employee assistance programs, wellness training programs, child care programs, flexible compensation plans, continuing education benefits and retirement benefits and how each one of these benefits is set up. Employers want not only to implement benefit programs which will help them meet their organizational goals, but also to attract, retain and motivate employees. In order to succeed in these efforts they must install a program of benefits that is both cost effective and will meet organizational profit goals. …

The Integration Of The Long Term Care Continuum Into A Seamless Health Delivery System, Viriginia E. Moseley

Theses

A seamless continuum of healthcare services is necessary to serve older adults, caregivers and the community. Personal knowledge and experience of the author, a nurse and skilled nursing facility administrator, is combined with a literature review to determine a vision for serving older adults and caregivers. A vertical integration of long term care into a health delivery network traditionally focused on acute and primary care is proposed.

The History Of American Health Care, Michael R. Niehaus

Theses

Health care in America has grown predominately in response to both social and religious need. All though historically social position was the primary determinant of a patients ability to receive health care, today insurance plays a major role in ones ability to receive that care. This thesis will examine some of the social changes which have effected American hospital and its relation to the patients ability to pay .

The Team Concept In Today's Work Environment: People Are Our Greatest Asset, Jack D. Patten

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of The Team Concept in today's work environment. People are the greatest asset any company possesses and how they are utilized directly affects the success and failure of that organization. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of what is required to implement a team approach.

Both knowledge and skills associated with the subject must be fully attained before any results can be achieved. This study provides knowledge around the team concept and provides some tools necessary for implementation. Knowledge is what any student can learn about a subject, but …

Marital Status And The Parent-Child Relationship: Contentment With The Parent-Child Relationship Of Single Parents And Married Parents, Jennifer Marie Reinsch

Theses

A study was completed looking at marital status as it relates to parental contentment with the parent-child relationship. This varied from previous studies which looked at the quality of the marital relationship or measured the child's satisfaction with the parent-child relationship. A total sample of 48 parents participated, comprised of 34 married parents and 14 single parents. All participants were Caucasian, had children ages five to 14 attending a Midwest, urban, Catholic elementary school, and were between the ages of 27 and 49. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The Index of Parental Attitudes (IP A) was utilized to measure parental …

A Guidebook To Nonprofit Agency Board Service For The New Board Member, Barbara Ward

Theses

This thesis will investigate the need for a training manual to assist in preparing not-for-profit agency volunteers to become effective board members.

In 1996, a presidential initiative was launched in which the general American public was encouraged to actively become involved in local not-for-profit agencies. Because of this call for volunteers, an influx of people are likely to become non-profit agency board members. Many of these new board members may not have previous board experience. As a result, an increased need to train and orient new board members will develop.

Providing sufficient board training can be a time-consuming endeavor. Today's …