Digital Commons Network^™

A Model: An Organization That Fosters Internal Motivation, Sheila Barber

Theses

This thesis provides a model of an organization that can maintain a continuous level of employee internal motivation. It does this by comparing the current situation with a model of a new conceptualization. It then compares the current situation and the modeled perspective to decipher what gaps are preventing the model from being implemented. From here it defines action strategies that can be used to eliminate the gaps and make it a baseline to structure the model so that the tasks completed and the organization are able to enhance the members internal motivation. The model begins with motivated leaders and …

Creating A Favorable Sentiment: Allensworth, California, Myra Frances Burton

Theses

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, most Americans expressed optimism for the future. In the decades following the Civil War, the United States emerged as a burgeoning industrial nation, a nation filled with opportunity and promise. However, not all Americans shared this optimism. For African-Americans, the future would be remarkably similar to the past. From 1865-1877, AfricanAmericans enjoyed a new status in society. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the constitution conferred a measure of legal equality upon blacks, raising hopes of eventual social inclusion in American society. These hopes vanished in the wake of a new …

The Eden Alternative, Jennifer Ellen Gettman

Theses

The purpose of this study and program implementation was to integrate animal, plants, and teamwork philosophy into the nursing home environment. The focus of measurement was to identify the therapeutic value of the Eden Alternative in nursing home residents.

Utilizing the Yesavage Geriatric depression scale, 196 residents of a St. Louis based nursing home were studied. Fifty-five percent of the residents were identified of having some depression. Utilizing the long form of the Yesavage tool, residents were questioned to establish a base level of minimal, moderate, and severe depression. In a six-month follow-up, 22% of the severely depressed were reassessed. …

The Downsizing Of American Corporations: Have They Gone Too Far?, Patricia A. Sturm

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of corporate downsizing and its impact on Americans and American businesses. Has it really been the cure-all that most top executives believe it to be, or is it simply a temporary fix that creates additional problems? Whatever the answer, this phenomenon, which began in the early eighties and still exists today, has changed the way corporations do business and the way Americans feel about their jobs.

Over the years executives have made many mistakes as they took a slash and burn type of approach toward eliminating jobs. They found that although this method …

Lindenwood College Football 1990: A New Tradition, Jay Keith Murry

Theses

This LCIE Culminating Project will exhibit the skills that I have gleaned from my courses in the LCIE Master of Science degree program in Mass Communication. My project will incorporate the fundamentals of video production, documentary journalism, photojournalism, documentary film/ video production, and what I learned from my internships at KMOV-TV and KMOX-AM.

I have completed a videotape presentation depicting the highlights of Lindenwood College's first varsity football season. This topic was chosen for three reasons: (a) I was able to combine my acquired skills with my interest in sports broadcasting and journalism, (b) I still was able to display …

Administrative Quality Planning, Carolyn Joan Costello Baker

Theses

The quality movement in American businesses is becoming increasingly popular. American businesses are now competing internationally for market and the Japanese are winning. American businesses have adopted various quality systems to help them become customer driven, assisting in the regaining of lost market share. Some companies have been successful in implementing a quality system, but most have fallen short of achieving the desired a quality operation.

Most of the successful quality programs have come in manufacturing plants, but quality in the support services of the administrative levels have fallen short. Many manufacturing organizations approach quality implementation for the plant and …

Suicide In The Elderly: A Study Of Physicians Education, Training, And Resources, Garrett Glen Wood

Theses

In the United States, the suicide rate is highest among the elderly community. Moreover, studies have concluded that elderly individuals who commit suicide see a physician 75% of the time within a month of committing the act. Therefore, it is important for physicians to be aware of the high rate of suicide among this age group.

A questionnaire developed by the researcher was sent to 200 practicing physicians associated with a health center located in a moderate sized midwestern suburb 30 miles from a large metropolitan city. The questionnaire was based on a Rockwell and O'Brien (1973) study. Therefore, the …

Communication: The Vital Link Between The Sexes, Ruth A. Weber

Theses

Our ability to get along with the opposite sex is often directly affected by our inability to communicate. We believe we are communicating, only to realize that what we said is not what was understood. This is not the fault of any one person or sex but is a misunderstanding of the different ways women and men communicate. These differences begin in infancy and continue to thrive throughout our lives. Our culture, religion, history, language, stereotypes, sex, and other influences discussed in this study affect how and what we perceive others to be. We observe each other from our own …

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: Selling Lifelong Learning To Adults, Suzanne Walton

Theses

As St. Charles County continues to grow, more businesses and industries are locating here. Companies often require specialized training for their employees. When companies train their employees, firms will often utilize outside services or consulting firms. With many companies downsizing, many individuals face a mid-life career change. They need to learn new skills, but do not have the time or capital to return to school full time.

Both companies and individuals desire to gain knowledge of new technologies, but not necessarily in the traditional classroom setting with the pressure of homework assignments and tests. While St. Charles County Community College …

The Making Of A New Product Development Process, William Scott Robertson

Theses

The core process that almost all manufacturing organizations are built on is new product development. It is the new product development process that determines how the Technical Operations, i.e., Engineering, Manufacturing, etc., of a particular company will be organized.

In 1993, Michael Hammer and James Champy wrote a revolutionary book entitled 11Reengineering the Corporation." In this book, they tell businesses to forget most of what they know about how business should run -- because it is all wrong.

They say that businesses must learn to reinvent themselves in order to compete in the ever-changing business climate of the 1990s and …

Long Term Care Policy And Procedure Manual, Glynis Warters

Theses

This culminating project will focus on the changes that have occurred in the medical world and how those changes have, and will continue to impact the elderly, specifically in the long term care setting .

Over the years the main consideration of health care has changed from direct patient impact to direct dollar impact . With these changes has come the ethical dilemma of providing care for the elderly in a dignified and individualized manner while maintaining a positive cash flow . No longer will society accept mediocre care for the elderly, gone are the days of few and poorly …

The Investigation Of The Needs Of Contemporary Woman And Development Of The Business Plan For Time For You, Ltd., Paula P. Macmann

Theses

This project focuses on the changing roles - and subsequent needs - of today's women.

Society slowly adapts to change; consequently, the responses to women's needs result in some being met, some only being addressed while others are completely ignored.

Still. changes in society have afforded unique opportunities for today's woman. Associated with these opportunities comes challenges. Segments of society continue to hold gender based stereotypical beliefs limiting women to traditional roles. But a new version of women's potential has emerged in the last quarter century. These new attitudes open up a more expanded scope of roles. They also result …

A Comparison On Student Motivation Of Students Who Enroll Voluntarily And Involuntarily A Vocational Training Program, Teresa Ross-Taylor

Theses

The present study compared the motivation of female students who enrolled in a federally funded vocational training program voluntarily with those who enrolled involuntarily. The federal government has mandated that females receiving public aid must complete a trade and obtain full-time employment. The study was conducted from January 1, 1994 through March 31, 1994. Motivation was evaluated by vocational completion, average length of stay (ALOS) , and GED completion. The students have to complete all the required assignments and pass a competency test in the vocational area to be considered a vocational completer. In addition, they were required to complete …

The Impact Of Year-Round School On Stress In Elementary School Teachers, Henriette Ingeborg Baker

Theses

In an effort to assess the impact of year-round school on teacher stress, a sample of 39 elementary school teachers from a year-round school was compared with a sample of 35 teachers from an elementary school in an adjacent district that is on a traditional schedule. A measure of teacher stress, the Teacher stress Inventory (TSI), was administered to the teachers after they had completed one-half of the school year. Analysis of the data revealed that there was no significant difference in stress levels between the year-round teachers and the teachers on the traditional schedule. Stress levels were in the …

The Importance Of Utilizing Older Workers As They Become A More Significant Factor In America's Work Force, Marilyn K. Brown

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of how America's companies are beginning to realize what a valuable asset their older employees have become. These people bring years of experience, knowledge , skill and loyalty to the work place. Contrary to stereotypes of older workers being slow, inflexible, unproductive, costly, uncreative and not adaptable , organizations are discovering that these people in general do not fit this "mold."

Throughout history there has been a change in attitudes toward older individuals. During colonial America, age represented authority, power , arrogance and greed. Around the time of the American Revolution, equality among …

The Impact Of Corporate Training Programs And Business/Education Partnerships On The Skills Gap Of The American Workforce, Clare G. Romeo

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of the impact of corporate training programs and business education partnerships on the skills gap of the American workforce.

Research indicates that there is an emerging crisis in the American workplace. Increased demand for highly skilled workers, combined with an aging workforce, has created shortages of skilled workers, shortages that are predicted to grow for many years to come. This shortage of skilled workers required by employers is defined as the skills gap.

Some of the causes of the skills gap are demographic trends, technological change and increased international competition. One major factor …

Special Care Units: Specialization In Long-Term Care, Marilynn Anne Schaus

Theses

i99SThere were two purposes of this study. The first was to conduct a literature review of the research findings on special care units. These units are segregated areas of a nursing home specializing in the care of Alzheimer's and dementia related patients. The purpose of the research was to determine what constitutes a special care unit, what is "special'' about the units and the units effectiveness in the treatment of dementia patients.

The second purpose of the study was to compare existing special care units in the St. Louis Metropolitan area with the research findings. Eight nursing facilities with a …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Alcoholism And Self-Esteem, Judy A. Astel

Theses

The relationship between the length of sobriety in the twelve step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and self-esteem level was examined for 27 recovering alcoholics. Participants included L3 male and 14 female members of AA who volunteered to complete the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and a cover/survey letter that contained demographic questions. Where it was predicted that there would be no relationship between length of sobriety and self-esteem level, it was found that there was a positive relationship between the two for the total group and the female group. That is, where length of time sober in AA increased, the alcoholic's …

The Unemployed Bring More Than Career Needs To Career Counseling, Gerald Edward Curtin

Theses

For much of its hi story career counseling has focused on the career needs of the unemployed (Herr, 1989). Career concerns were more oriented to economic health, to change of an occupation, to the development of pre-vocational ski I ls and the preparation for work. Over the years an ever increasing amount of research has indicated the unemployed suffer many personal needs as a consequence of unemployment (Borgen & Amundsen, 1984; Kasi, Gore, & Cobb, 1975) in addition to career needs. These personal needs are both physical and mental (Banks & Jackson, 1982; O'Brien & Kabanoff, 1979).

In recent years …

House Bill 564, The School Health Initiative: An Implementation Manual For St. Charles County, Anne F. Zerr

Theses

This thesis project will be an Applied Learning Expository Study, creating an Implementation Manual for the provisions set forth in House Bill 564, the School Health Initiative.

The manual will be specific to St. Charles County. It will take into consideration the needs of the St. Charles community relative to the health of its school children.

Passed by the Missouri legislature and signed into law by Governor Mel Carnahan in the summer of 1994, House Bill 564 aims to improve health care access for Missouri's children by creating an innovative infrastructure for primary care delivery. It is a multi-faceted bill …

Violence In The Womb, Violence In The World: The Effects Of Fetal Exposure To Alcohol, Drugs, And Nicotine, Aileen R. Wynne

Theses

This project will focus on prenatal substance abuse and the long term adverse effects of birth defects in the offspring of these women. The focus will discuss a relationship between the drug exposed fetus as a predictor of later development of behavior problems , running along the continuum from antisocial behavior to aggression and violence.

Research will show that of the three leading contributors to birth defects , Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is number one, greater than Downs Syndrome and Spina Bifida. The risk factors of prenatal substance abuse will be described as use of alcohol , other drugs , and …

The Relationship Between Mind Altering Substances And Aggressive Behavior, Keith A. Leonard

Theses

The relationship between aggressive behaviors and substance abuse was examined using subjects placed on probation for assault in St. Louis County. These subjects were administered the Substance Abuse Questionnaire, at the probation office, within seven days of sentencing . The Substance Abuse Questionnaire, designed to assess behavior and risk for behaviors including aggressivity, has a validity scale which measures how truthful the individual was while completing the test. Those subjects whose scores on the Substance Abuse Questionnaire were determined to be valid, were considered in this research. The purpose of this research was to examine whether the introduction of legal …

Stress Levels In Seminarians And Spouses Of Seminarians, Martha C. Lintvedt

Theses

Clients frequently present for therapy reporting high levels of stress. While an overview of the literature indicates that clergy are particularly vulnerable to the impact of negative stress, little is written on the evidence of stress among those preparing for the ministry.

This study examines levels of stress in seminarians and spouses of seminarians. The Osipow and Spokane Stress Inventory (Osipow & Spokane , 1988) was utilized to determine stress levels, the degree to which occupational roles match an individual's training, and the coping resources among a sampling of 13 male students preparing for the ministry at Concordia Seminary. The …

Empowerment Through Motivational Tactics, Kathleeen M. Bruno

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of empowerment and motivation tactics that are used to increase the action and interest of employees to improve performance. Empowering and motivating others in the pursuit of organizational objectives is one of the most challenging roles of management in today's workforce. A look into past. present. and future methods will be traveled to provide a better understanding of which motivators are the most successful and what tactics are most useful in empowering employees from management's point of view, while at the same time fulfilling the physical and psychological requirements of the employer.

Empowerment …

Trauma Symptoms In Sexual Abuse Counselors At Centers Funded By The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Cynthia Michele Presson

Theses

There were two purposes of this study . The first was to describe the demographic nature of counselors at the 30 Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (!CASA) funded centers and their responses to a trauma symptom checklist developed for use with sexual abuse victims. The second purpose was to determine if there is a significant difference in the means of responses to the Trauma Symptom Checklist=33 when sub jects were divided into two categories . Subjects (N=81) were placed in the nominal categories of Victims (those who reported personal sexual trauma, N=41, 50.6%) and Non-Victims (those who did not report …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Personality Preference And Vehicle Type, Nathan Eric Lundin

Theses

Tile researcher examined the association between personality type and primary vehicle driven. The Myers-Briggs Type_lndicator (MBTI) short form was administered to 59 participants. On a questionnaire, respondents chose one of eight vehicle body types. The personality functions of extroversion/ introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiviJ1g were compared within the groups of vehicle type through chi-square analysis - Goodman & Kruskal's tau. No measurable relationships were found at .05 significance.

Effects Of Eeg Biofeedback Treatment On Attention-Deficit Disorders And Learning Disabilities, Kathleen M. Randazzo

Theses

The goal of this study was to measure the effects of EEG biofeedback treatment on attention-deficit disordered and learning disabled subjects. The study was conducted in a private psychologist's office, located in St . Louis County, a suburban section of the mid-West. Subjects for the study were chosen from children and adolescents who had been referred for academic and behavioral problems . The treatment group was composed of thirty eight subjects, who had been diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder and/or a learning disability . A one-group pretest-posttest research design was used. The dependent variables were : theta to beta …

Chained To The Night: An Examination Of The Vampire, All That Remain, Jeffrey Richard Stone

Theses

It is the intent of this project to form an evaluation of the myth and legend of the vampire. It is the intent of the author to use this evaluation to develop an original screenplay.

This project provides a historical foundation by discussing the vampire's legendary existence in different cultures , including the possible birthplace of the vampire myth, Eastern Europe. The author examines works of literature and other mass media to provide a wide spectrum of examples of the myths and legends of the vampire.

The vampire is a mysteriously alluring creature that has evolved from the common myths …

Hard Feelings, An Original Screenplay, Barbara Sachs Kremer

Theses

The central objective of this creative project was to develop an original screenplay and enhance my writing skills in the process. The project consists of five chapters, the first being an introduction that provides an overview of the project.

Chapter II chronicles the progression of a screenwriter's training through a review of the books read that contributed to this project: four about writing in general, ten concerning fiction writing, fifteen on screenwriting in particular, two focusing on psychology, six about the movie business and film history, and one book about media aesthetics. Chapter ill provides a detailed view of the …

Mental Pictures Drawings And Objects, Deborah Rieders

Theses

Not provided.