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Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace Apr 2024

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …


Empowering Voices: Exploring The Career Trajectories Of Women Of Color Hr Professionals Amid Disruptive Change, Brandi R. Muñoz Mar 2024

Empowering Voices: Exploring The Career Trajectories Of Women Of Color Hr Professionals Amid Disruptive Change, Brandi R. Muñoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated strategies to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives in organizational leadership, focusing on supporting women of color in the workplace. The specific problem addressed was the underrepresentation and barriers faced by women of color in leadership positions despite their potential contributions to organizational success. The study employed a qualitative approach, combining qualitative interviews with socioeconomic data analysis. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews with women of color and a survey to gather demographic and employment information. The sample consisted of 16 women of color human resource professionals working in various industries and organizational settings across the …


Effective Leader Development Within A Church-Planting Organization For A Changing And Chaotic World, Jeremy Davis Jul 2023

Effective Leader Development Within A Church-Planting Organization For A Changing And Chaotic World, Jeremy Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A challenge in cross-cultural church planting is developing leaders. Cross-cultural church-planting organizations like Latin American Mission (LAM; pseudonym) that lack a leadership development strategy struggle to form lasting leaders, sending missionaries with Biblical training but not leader development training. Additionally, developing leaders in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment creates specific challenges that missionaries must address. The purpose of this qualitative, Delphi method study was to investigate the leadership development perceptions and experiences among existing LAM missionaries in the regions of Latin America (Colombia, Cuba, Mexico City, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador) to provide suggestions for improving effective leadership …


Perceptions Of Student Loan Debt: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Black Undergraduate Students' Experiences., Pilar Prather May 2023

Perceptions Of Student Loan Debt: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Black Undergraduate Students' Experiences., Pilar Prather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rising cost of higher education concerns many families in the United States, especially those from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of Black students' perception of their student loan debt and how their financial knowledge influences their decisions at a public institution. This qualitative research provides space to empower individuals to share their stories through semi-structured interviews to get an account of their experiences. Grounded in Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Theory, the study seeks to capture the unique ways Black students make financial decisions. The dissertation is divided into five chapters: …


An Examination Of Consumer Perceptions Of Sponsorship Authenticity Between A Major Beer Brand And Professional Women’S And Men’S Hockey Leagues, Matthew Reid Jan 2023

An Examination Of Consumer Perceptions Of Sponsorship Authenticity Between A Major Beer Brand And Professional Women’S And Men’S Hockey Leagues, Matthew Reid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol sponsorship of women’s professional hockey in North America began in 2019, yet men’s professional hockey has received financial support from alcohol brands for decades. The purpose of this thesis was to examine consumer perceptions of sponsorship authenticity as they relate to beer sponsorship of professional men’s and women’s hockey leagues. Moreover, this study examined the differences of gender on perceptions of authenticity towards the two alcohol and sport sponsorships, as well as two correlations: first, between alcohol consumption and sponsorship authenticity, and second, between attitudes towards alcohol sponsorship and sponsorship authenticity. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was utilized, and its …


Employee Ownership And Moral Hazard: How Broad-Based Equity Sharing Can Lower Agency Costs And Reduce Inequality, Colin Clinton Hudson Jan 2021

Employee Ownership And Moral Hazard: How Broad-Based Equity Sharing Can Lower Agency Costs And Reduce Inequality, Colin Clinton Hudson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Providing incentives to top managers by offering equity has become the norm; this practice, however, does not hold for all levels of employees. After tax incentives for employee ownership were introduced through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, there has been little legislative support to encourage companies to implement broad-based equity sharing programs. Moreover, decades of neoliberal policies have incentivized the pursuit of short-term profits and speculation, which contribute to economic instability and explain the growing gap between productivity and real wages observed since the late 1970s. Developments in the literature contend that employee ownership aligns the goals …


In Search Of Work-Life Balance: Organizational And Economic Challenges Confronting Women In Banking And Management Consulting Firms In Southwest Nigeria, Oluwafisayo Ogundoro Dec 2019

In Search Of Work-Life Balance: Organizational And Economic Challenges Confronting Women In Banking And Management Consulting Firms In Southwest Nigeria, Oluwafisayo Ogundoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Married women in the banking and management consulting firms in Nigeria encounter challenges that affect their commitment to their families while working long hours in demanding jobs. This study explores the challenges married women encounter and the impacts they have on women’s family lives, social lives, and health. I analyze primary and secondary sources to understand how organizational work culture such as long working hours, work competitiveness, and Nigeria’s unstable economy negatively affect the work-life balance of married women in banking and management consulting firms. Although participants shared the belief that their workplaces practiced “equality,” their descriptions of daily life …


Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst Dec 2019

Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While benevolence-based programs have been a large part of meeting immediate financial needs of the poor, they lack the relational aspect needed to facilitate long-term behavior change. Recently many social service organizations have adopted financial coaching as a promising replacement for benevolence programming. The field of coaching has dealt with its own challenges. Most coaching practitioners surveyed in 2016 and 2019 acknowledged lack of client follow-through as their number one challenge. Behavior economics offered nudges as a solution. Nudges are cues placed within the physical environment to prod clients toward behavior change. A quantitative field study was conducted to evaluate …


Thinging : Powerful Objects., Tammy M. Burke May 2019

Thinging : Powerful Objects., Tammy M. Burke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The works in "Thinging” are inspired by desire, the genuine and the false, systems of real and perceived values, the quest for immortality, the allure of things, our use of them to make ourselves, and imagining pasts and futures via objects. The following concepts are threaded through the work: cathexis, ritual as a value builder, collections, hoarding, display, object history, exchange, use, and sign values, and vibrant materiality. At the heart of my investigation is the quest to examine the origins of object power, and by what measures it can be evaluated: value from belief, market value, and something perhaps …


Diversification And Its Implications For South Dakota Farmers’ Identity As Farmers: Wind Farm Diversification As A Case Study, Abdelrahim Abulbasher Jan 2019

Diversification And Its Implications For South Dakota Farmers’ Identity As Farmers: Wind Farm Diversification As A Case Study, Abdelrahim Abulbasher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have been conducted in the last three decades to examine the impact of the ongoing economic changes that encourage farmers to adopt nonconventional practices (such as crop diversification, on-farm recreation, and wind farming) to diversify their income. Limited research, however, has been conducted to examine the impact of on farm diversification practices on farmers’ identity as farmers (growers of food, feed, and fiber) including their role, self-conception, and family history/legacy. Using social identity and socio-ecological systems theories, this study seeks to understand how farmers construct their identity, the symbolic meanings they attach to their daily practices, and the influence …


Understanding City Parks As New Common Pool Resources: A Case Study Of The Dakota Nature Park, Keahna Margeson Jan 2018

Understanding City Parks As New Common Pool Resources: A Case Study Of The Dakota Nature Park, Keahna Margeson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines public parks as New Common Pool Resources through a case study of the Dakota Nature Park in Brookings, South Dakota. I identify the formalization and bureaucratization processes experienced by the governing body of the park. These processes occurred as a capped landfill was repurposed and collaboratively managed to serve the community by providing native, natural space and affordable recreational opportunities. The governing structure is assessed using Elinor Ostrom’s (1990) Eight Principles of Common Pool Resource Management, Weber’s (1964) ideas of status and authority and Berger and Luckman's (1966) phenomenological theory. I use three major research strategies: (1) …


A Cross-Sectional Exploration Of Household Financial Reactions And Homebuyer Awareness Of Registered Sex Offenders In A Rural, Suburban, And Urban County., John Charles Navarro Aug 2017

A Cross-Sectional Exploration Of Household Financial Reactions And Homebuyer Awareness Of Registered Sex Offenders In A Rural, Suburban, And Urban County., John Charles Navarro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As stigmatized persons, registered sex offenders betoken instability in communities. Depressed home sale values are associated with the presence of registered sex offenders even though the public is largely unaware of the presence of registered sex offenders. Using a spatial multilevel approach, the current study examines the role registered sex offenders influence sale values of homes sold in 2015 for three U.S. counties (rural, suburban, and urban) located in Illinois and Kentucky within the social disorganization framework. Homebuyers were surveyed to examine whether awareness of local registered sex offenders and the homebuyer’s community type operate as moderators between home selling …


Consumers' Perceptions Of Voluntary And Involuntary Deconsumption: An Exploratory Sequential Scale Development Study, Kranti K. Dugar Jan 2017

Consumers' Perceptions Of Voluntary And Involuntary Deconsumption: An Exploratory Sequential Scale Development Study, Kranti K. Dugar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory sequential mixed methods study of scale development was conducted among baby boomers in the United States to render conceptual clarity to the concepts of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption, to explore deconsumption behavior under the tenets of the attribution theory of motivation, and to examine the components, structures, uses, and measurement properties of scales of voluntary and involuntary deconsumption. It was also an attempt to reiterate the importance of the baby boomer segment(s) for marketing practitioners based on growth, economic viability, and the power of influence, and to establish a deep understanding of the deconsumption processes, which could enable …


Heritage Tourism In Washington County, Tennessee: Linking Place, Placelessness, And Preservation, Chad F. Bailey Dec 2016

Heritage Tourism In Washington County, Tennessee: Linking Place, Placelessness, And Preservation, Chad F. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the formation of spatial theory and the linkage between space and place and their relationship with historic preservation and heritage tourism. First, this thesis analyzes the terms space and place, and how scholars define each term. Second, this thesis focuses on the concept of placelessness. Third, this thesis examines historic preservation as a strategy to help alleviate placelessness and as a crucial link to heritage tourism. This thesis also will use regional examples of preservation and tourism as exemplified by the preservation efforts of private organizations, citizens, and government officials in Jonesborough,Johnson City, and Washington County,Tennessee. This …


Modern Megachurch Organization In The United States (2005-2013) : An Exploratory Organizational Study Of The American Megachurch Phenomenon., Robert Lee Shelby Jr. Aug 2016

Modern Megachurch Organization In The United States (2005-2013) : An Exploratory Organizational Study Of The American Megachurch Phenomenon., Robert Lee Shelby Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation study explores the applicability of two for-profit organizational theories on a non-profit sector. Theoretical concepts from organizational ecology (OE) and new institutional sociology (NIS) provide the framework for exploring modern megachurches as an organizational phenomenon in the United States between 2005 and 2013. Modern megachurches are modern in the sense they really began to be an organizational population starting in the 1970s and 1980s. These churches are distinctively from the Protestant Christian tradition having 2,000 or more attendees (Thumma & Travis, 2007; Hartford Institute for Religion Research, n.d.). Three empirical chapters test several hypotheses germane to these aforementioned …


Cripping The Workspace: Performing Physically Disabled Professional Identity In Personal Narrative, Julie-Ann Scott Jan 2010

Cripping The Workspace: Performing Physically Disabled Professional Identity In Personal Narrative, Julie-Ann Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a performance of identity analysis of 26 physically disabled professionals‘ open-ended personal narratives. Through adapting Riessman‘s five steps to narrative analysis to a performance methodology and applying Bamberg‘s narrative positioning, this study crystallizes the ongoing formation and re-formation of physically disabled professional identity in time, space, and discourse and the possibilities to reiterate, dismantle, and transform these meanings in future interactions. From a performance perspective, a story not only reflects reality, but is its own reality, constituting meaning and understanding in time and space. Physical disability is at once a personal experience and a shared cultural creation …


Class And Gender Roles In The Company Towns Of Millinocket And East Millinocket, Maine, And Benham And Lynch, Kentucky, 1901-2004: A Comparative History, Betty Duff Jan 2004

Class And Gender Roles In The Company Towns Of Millinocket And East Millinocket, Maine, And Benham And Lynch, Kentucky, 1901-2004: A Comparative History, Betty Duff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Company towns were products of nineteenth and early twentieth century attempts to attract and control the labor force needed for industrial production outside of urban areas. A comparison of the paper mill towns of Millinocket and East Millinocket. Maine, with the coal mining towns of Benham and Lynch, Kentucky, explores different management philosophies and methods of labor control employed in towns constructed by corporations in the early twentieth century. Great Northern Paper built Millinocket and East Millinocket; United States Coal and Coke, a subsidiary of United States Steel built Lynch, and Wisconsin Steel, a subsidiary of International Harvester, built Benham. …


A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Civilian Conservation Centers And Contract Centers From 1984 To 1988, Robert P. Slaughter May 1990

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Civilian Conservation Centers And Contract Centers From 1984 To 1988, Robert P. Slaughter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the continuous instability of policy decisions relating to the effectiveness of Civilian Conservation Centers and Contract Centers was a result of measurable differences in performance between the two models. Six hypotheses tested differences between types of centers on six quantitative variables which were: average length of stay, job placement, hourly starting wages, educational gains in reading, math, and General Educational Development (GED). To investigate the problem, 30 Civilian Conservation Centers and 17 comparably sized Contract Centers were selected. Reports from the Department of Labor's Automated Management System provided data for comparison …