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Fpdr And Portland: A Concerned Accountant's Perspective, Noah A. Roth

University Honors Theses

Established in 1942, the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement (FPDR) fund was intended to attract young men to serve as firefighters and police officers in the city of Portland. FPDR provides defined benefit retirement payments to some 2000 retirees from Portland Fire and Rescue and the Portland Police Bureau. Portlanders are obligated to pay these benefits through a property tax levy determined by the proprietors of the Fund itself. The overall liability owed to these retirees, and current employees, accounts for more than half of all liabilities owed by the city of Portland, representing a fiscal burden that calls …

Not On The Menu: Customer Sexual Harassment In The Restaurant Industry, Fernanda Wolburg Martinez

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the high prevalence of customer sexual harassment (CSH) paired with a high turnover in the restaurant industry, there have been few suggestions on resources that may attenuate the effect that bystander and direct CSH might have on strain--anxiety and depressive symptoms--and turnover intentions among restaurant workers. Based on the stipulations of the job-demands resources theory and the empowerment framework, the current study frames direct and bystander CSH as job demands that may be linked to employee strain and turnover intentions. Moreover, CSH preventive supervisor behaviors and organizational intolerance towards CSH are introduced as job resources that may weaken the …

The Impact Of Sars-Cov-2 On The Consolidated Meatpacking System In The United States, Judith R. Solomon

Anthós

The Sars-Cov-2 virus has had a particularly intense impact on the meatpacking industry in the United States. In this paper I provide a brief introduction to the social, economic, and political realities that lead to mass deaths of meatpacking workers from COVID, and the impact of a consolidated meatpacking system on disease mitigation. These workers are considered expendable due to a lack of power.

Proxies Of Design: A Case Study And Analysis Of Place And Commercial Real Estate In Seattle, Nicholas Miranda

University Honors Theses

What kinds of relationships exist between individual buildings and greater society in Seattle? Focusing on the role of design in shaping the value and desirability of commercial properties, the study examines and utilizes a large temporal and spatial dataset to test price analogs between common building attributes and metrics. By employing a hedonic pricing model, the study seeks to identify the impact of these attributes on property values and ultimately relate them to architectural and contextual design, from a micro to a macro level. The empirical findings are not necessarily novel or groundbreaking, but rather, they shed light on the …

An On-Ramp To Financial Inclusion: Measuring The Impact Of Mercy Corps' Community Investment Trust Program On Minority Investors, Lexi Yokote

University Honors Theses

Mercy Corps' Community Investment Trust (CIT) was launched in 2017 as a low-risk real estate investment and education initiative. The program is now working to replicate this in cities across the United States. However, it has not been able to collect much feedback from existing investors about their experiences and needs. This paper will use primary and secondary research in the form of a literature review and original surveys to collect information about investor demographics, attitudes toward the CIT and investing, risk perceptions, and future investment plans. The results show that U.S.-born versus foreign-born status, ethnicity, and gender affect the …

The Factors Contributing To The Resilience Of Thailand's Social Welfare Nonprofit Organizations Since The Onset Of The Country's Prolonged Political Crisis In 2005, Narttana Sakolvittayanon

Dissertations and Theses

Since 2005, nonprofit organizations in Thailand, a transitive country, have experienced survival challenges due to social, economic, and political changes. This study aims to explore the organizational attributes of nonprofit organizations in Thailand that contribute to resilient capacity, which is an ability to survive and continue providing goods and services to fulfill missions when facing challenges. The research questions of this study are what factors have affected the resilience of social welfare nonprofit organizations in Thailand since the onset of the country’s prolonged political crisis in 2005? And to what extent do theories of nonprofit resilience in advanced liberal democracies …

Why So Serious? Using The Belongingness Need Tenet From The Self-Determination Theory To Examine Workplace Humor And Its Outcomes, Katharine Lucille Mcmahon

Dissertations and Theses

The small body of literature for workplace humor remains fragmented due to the lack of coherence in conceptualization and theory. Furthermore, the distinction between positive and negative humor adds complexity to predicting the outcomes of humor. Focusing on the foundation aspect of humor as a form of social play provides guidance on choosing a theory-informed integrative framework that could explain the implications of humor in the workplace. The belongingness need tenet of the self-determination theory offers a promising framework to synthesize existing research and to direct future studies. Paper 1 reviews the literature and concludes with an integrative framework suggesting …

Taking A Heavier Toll? Racial Differences In The Effects Of Workplace Mistreatment On Depression, Ji Woon Ryu, Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Ernest H. O'Boyle

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies have found that workplace mistreatment positively relates to depression, a critical mental health disorder. However, it is unknown whether mistreatment affects all individuals’ depressive symptoms equally. Drawing from the hopelessness theory of depression and the stigma literature, we suggest that Blacks suffer from greater depression than Whites when they experience similar levels of workplace mistreatment because Blacks, as members of a racial minority group, are more likely to attribute workplace mistreatment to their race. This, in turn, causes them to make a pessimistic attribution (i.e., attributions that are internal, stable, and global) about themselves that, ultimately, leads to …

Feeling The Heat: Climate Change Is Becoming A Big Factor In Business Decision-Making, Risk Assessment, Candace Beeke, Sahan Dissanayake, Jennifer Price, Moss Adams

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland Business Journal Publisher and President Candace Beeke spoke recently with PSU’s Sahan Dissanayake and Jennifer Price, with Moss Adams, about the direct and indirect effects of climate change on business, along with the physical impacts and economic hazards. Here are their insights.

Social Media Impact On Small Brick And Mortar Businesses, David N. Bowles

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the implementation of various strategies and goals for small to medium brick-and-mortar enterprises regarding their use of social media. Drawing from primary data collection with small brick-and-mortar businesses within the greater metro area of Portland, Oregon, the value of social media is the ability of an organization to create a sense of value for their consumers while promoting positive relations and enhancing the consumer's ability to interact with an organization on a more personal level. Focusing on the implementation of various strategies and promotional efforts to increase the success of these small businesses and align their organizational …

Public History Is Now, Sarah E. Dougher

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

A walking tour of downtown Portland in August 2021 raises questions for the writer about the purpose of “memory activism,” its relation to writing-as-activism. Drawing on critiques of urbanist Jane Jacobs and interrogating the concept of “reckoning,” the essay explores ways in which the streetscape and people there can deliver meaning and pose questions about systemic racism and unsheltered existence.

Clarifying And Measuring Inclusive Leadership, Kelly Mason Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

Many organizations view diversity as a strategic business priority that provides important benefits such as increased creativity and innovation. Research indicates, however, that the potential benefits of diversity cannot be realized without employees feeling a sense of inclusion, which involves feeling like one belongs and can be themselves at work. Although scholars acknowledge the important role managers play in fostering inclusion, there remains limited research on specific behaviors they can enact to foster inclusion perceptions in their work groups. Additionally, there is a lack of agreement in the literature about the scope of "inclusive leadership." Historically, scholars viewed inclusive leadership …

Social Media Marketing And Insurance: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media Marketing On Small Independent Brokerages Of Property And Casualty Insurance, Kaylee B. Brucker

University Honors Theses

Property and casualty insurance is an intangible service. It is a large industry within the US that in most regard is perpetual. Marketing for insurance is not similar to marketing for most other services or products. The agent must relay the value to the consumer prior to them purchasing it. Further, when considering social media marketing, we find a separate strategy of marketing. Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular, it has shown as a successful strategy for obtaining consumers' attention and their business. This success has been seen in many industries, including insurance. However, there is a lack of …

Maturity Model For Customer-Centric Approach In Enterprise: The Case Of E-Commerce And Online Retail Industry, Soheil Zarrin

Dissertations and Theses

The network technologies are changing the dynamics of the interaction between customer and provider. Customers demand closer relationships and higher investment between partners, as well as cooperation between companies to build supporting technologies for their unique needs. Customer-centricity is defined as interaction with the customer through various touchpoints and aggregating these relations to create a position for the customer. Each Customer has a different need and expectation from the provider or seller, and companies need to be flexible enough to fulfill their needs. One of the reasons organizations invest less in customer experience is that they believe they are already …

Building And Expanding Avestor’S Social Media Presence: A Capstone Review, Hope Foley

University Honors Theses

The Business capstone project involves a small team working directly with a local business to provide assistance in achieving a specific goal the company may have for their future. Through research, informational visuals, and presentations to the client, the team presents a final recommendation as to the best option to achieve the company's goal and the most effective way to implement it.

Reconstructability Analysis: Discrete Multivariate Modeling, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

An introduction to Reconstructability Analysis for the Discrete Multivariate Modeling course and for other purposes.

The Longitudinal Effects Of A Family And Sleep Supportive Intervention On Service Member Anger And Resilience, Shalene Joyce Allen

Dissertations and Theses

The vast majority of workplace intervention research on employee anger and resilience primarily focuses on individual-level strategies for mitigating employee anger and resilience outcomes in the workplace, with no studies having examined these outcomes with tangible occupational health interventions utilizing organizational-level techniques. Thus, the current study extends the literature on how to provide improvements in employee anger and resilience using higher system and organizational change mechanisms by providing evidence-based support for the effectiveness of a Total Worker Health® intervention, referred to as the Family and Sleep Supportive Intervention Training (FaSST). This approach employs both health protection and health promotion strategies …

Fandom In The Digital Age: Examining Parasocial Relationships Between Fans And Music Artists On Instagram, Brittani Wert

University Honors Theses

With the rise of social media as a cultural staple in entertainment industries such as music, Instagram changes the landscape of the artist-fan connection and muddles the boundaries of parasocial relationships in a digital space. While a wealth of research exists on how fans perceive mediated relationships, the perspective of the artist and how they navigate this connectivity is missing from the discourse. This study builds on the current literature surrounding mediated artist-fan interactions and examines how music artists use Instagram to build strong, loyal relationships with fans through the lens of parasocial relationships. Through interviews with up-and-coming artists and …

Market Research For Small Businesses: A “Real World” Perspective, Kerry Wu

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

SCORE plays an essential role in supporting predominantly new small business entrepreneurs with limited resources. This article shares findings from in-depth interviews with SCORE mentors on how they advised clients on doing market research, their strategies and recommended resources on popular topics, and the perceived challenges their clients faced. Academic librarians can take advantage of opportunities identified in the study to build a robust relationship with SCORE, as well as leveraging SCORE methods and resources in their core reference and instruction work with students.

Ronald E. Mcnair Scholars Program Profiles And Abstracts 2021, Mcnair Scholars Program

McNair Symposium

This is the complete event program and provides presentation abstracts and biographies of McNair scholars and their mentors.

The Role Of Cognitive Load And Individual Differences When Interpreting Human-Resource Data Visualizations, Zachary Hesson

University Honors Theses

Data visualizations (e.g., bar graph, dashboard) can be used as decision-support and storytelling tools that aid users’ interpretation of sometimes complex information, including within the human resource management (HRM) context. As HRM evolves towards implementing more data-informed decisions, it is important to understand how users interpret data visualizations. The aims of this thesis are to (a) identify whether cognitive load affects the amount of time users spend arriving forming and interpretation and the accuracy of their interpretations, and (b) to evaluate whether cognitive load moderates the association between individual-difference variables and interpretation time and accuracy. The individual differences that are …

Police Union Contracts And Impediments To Accountability: A Case Study Analysis Of Ppa Bargaining Agreements, Elizabeth Ott

University Honors Theses

Despite a growing widespread recognition that police unions represent a major component of policing and have major influences on aspects of policing such as disciplinary procedures, day-to-day management, and police-community relations, they have until recently been largely ignored by police scholars. In light of significant gaps in knowledge regarding police unions and the impacts that they have on law enforcement behavior and police accountability, this paper utilizes a case study approach to analyze all existing union contracts between the Portland Police Association (PPA) and the City of Portland in order to explore the prevalence of particular contract provisions that critics …

Perceived Value Of Technology Product Features By Crowdfunding Backers: The Case Of 3d Printing Technology On Kickstarter Platform, Nina Chaichi

Dissertations and Theses

Crowdfunding is an activity that gathers funds by drawing on a relatively small contribution from a relatively large number of individuals using the internet. One of the crowdfunding purposes is to fund entrepreneurial ventures. Modern crowdfunding activities--that utilize the internet--go back to 1997 and gained popularity in the music and video community. However, the most common platforms for entrepreneurial activities, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, have been established as recently as 2008. Thus the understanding of crowdfunding's dynamic is in its infancy.

Crowdfunding has been studied from various perspectives, primarily focusing on the factors that increase the platform's participation and determinants …

How To Effectively Manage Virtual Teams Created Due To Covid-19?, Aakanksha Santosh Rane

University Honors Theses

With the spread of COVID-19 and the social distancing regulations in place, multiple organizations have transitioned their workplace to a virtual setting. With the increase in business' transitioning to remote teams, it is first crucial to understand the various needs and characteristics of virtual teams. Through the analysis of multiple peer-reviewed articles and other texts on virtual teams, this study identifies building trust, effective communication, and performance management as the main points of focus in order to ensure effectiveness of virtual teams.

Immersive Media & Books: Consumer Behavior And Experience With Multiple Media Forms, Panorama Project, Rachel Noorda, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is the first study to capture data about how people engage with books, video games and TV/movies. The study’s main emphasis is on behavior with books, with demographic data in three age groups, five U.S. regions, and seven racial/ethnic groups. Books exist in a connected media ecosystem where the most important customers are avid: avid book engagers (4+ books per month), but also avid consumers of other media. It is possible that these people are the ones who drove the 8.2% increase in book sales during 2020. This study finds that customers who engage avidly with books do so …

Home-Deliveries Before-During Covid-19 Lockdown: Accessibility, Environmental Justice, Equity, And Policy Implications, Miguel Figliozzi, Avinash Unnikrishnan

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, home deliveries have changed from being a desirable luxury or comfortable solution to a health-supporting and essential service for many COVID-19 at-risk populations. However, not all households are equal in terms of access to home deliveries. The onset of COVID-19 has brought to light access inequalities that preceded the pandemic and that the COVID-19 lockdown has exacerbated and made visible. The concept of home-based accessibility (HBA) is introduced, and novel research questions are addressed: (i) What type of households had zero home deliveries before COVID-19 lockdown? (ii) How the COVID-19 lockdown affected the type of households …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Transit Workers: Perceptions Of Employer Responses And Associations With Health Factors, Sean P.M. Rice, Leah S. Greenspan, Talya N. Bauer, Jarred Rimby, Todd Bodner, Ryan Olson

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on transit workers’ lives, especially among public-facing vehicle operators. The current project examined relationships between workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer’s COVID-19 safety responses, job attitudes, and health. We surveyed transit workers (N = 174) between July and August 2020 and followed up 3 months later. Fifty-seven workers responded to the follow-up survey. Surveys addressed workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended COVID-19 safety responses, COVID-19 risk perceptions, job attitudes, and health factors. Employees reported knowledge of their employer implementing ~8 of 12 CDC-recommended responses. …

Policing Politics: Facebook And A Politician's Right To Free Speech, Adewunmi Adedji, Nisha Hemantha Raju, Jennifer Wagner, Alfonso Herrero, Matthew Johnson

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Advancements in technology are not without their own ethical concerns. Social media technology provides for platforms which allow users to interact and exchange ideas in virtual communities. Of these Facebook is among the leaders of the pack with an estimated 2.7 billion monthly active users globally as of the second quarter of 2020 and estimated 190 million users in the United States as of October 2020.

This wide reach, in combination with low cost for advertisement makes it one of the platforms of choice for Organization to promote their products, services or agenda. This accounts for why 98% of the …

Trailblazing Transformation: Pioneering Transformative Peacebuilding In Academic Labor Conflicts, Sam Frazier Hediger

Dissertations and Theses

Unionized contingent faculty in the United States face an increasingly difficult economic landscape in their labor-management conflicts with university administrations. These unions, comprised of graduate student employees and adjunct instructors, won significant victories for their members but have failed to shift the broader patterns of casualization, unsustainable compensation, and job precarity, stemming from the systemic debasement of higher education institutions and the American labor movement, both of which pose significant challenges to conventional conflict resolution strategies. To find a path forward, this thesis explores the nature and possibility of transforming of the academic labor conflict, using a transformative peacebuilding approach …

Ronald E. Mcnair Scholars Program Profiles And Abstracts 2020, Mcnair Scholars Program

McNair Symposium

This is the complete event program and provides presentation abstracts and biographies of McNair scholars and their mentors.