Business Commons^™

Correcting Millennials Work Performance, Timothy Izzo

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Millennials are the fastest growing segment in the workforce today. There are many different stigmas and ideas about this current work generation. They have lived with the Internet their entire lives. Papers claim this workforce is so connected that they need to be constantly stimulated. This paper looks into the stigmas to see if they are true and whether our training program should be Computer Based Training (CBT). A segment of our learners, predominantly aged 22-28 is having trouble applying the sales techniques we teach. Unsure if this is a training issue or a generational issue, we sent out a …

Basic Knowledge Training For Vfx Production Assistants And Coordinators, Sharon Anne Roberts

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Visual Effects (VFX) is a part of the film-making process that takes place during the broader phase of film-making known as post-production. There are two broad groups of individuals who are responsible for the outcome of the VFX project - artists and production. The groups work in conjunction to achieve the team goals. At present, there is no formalized training available for production individuals and much of the required learning is done on the job. This projects explores a basic training course for individuals looking to increase their basic knowledge of VFX production. Grounded in industry research conducted by the …

The Knowledge Worker And Upskilling: Can Instructional Design Frameworks Help?, Susan W. Brown

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This paper explores how knowledge workers face uncertainties in the job market and how workers sustain a decades-long career in the midst of technology changes and globalization pressures. In particular, this paper asks how knowledge workers self-assess knowledge gaps, discover appropriate learning opportunities, demonstrate mastery, and promote credentials across decades-long careers. Interviews with 8 knowledge workers in educational publishing, an industry undergoing workforce changes due to market disruption, provides real-world context to this research question. Taking into account various theoretical frameworks offered for adult education and also reviewing the realities of the postmodern workplace, the paper outlines the hurdles impairing …

Using Training To Increase Standardization And Collaboration Across Teams, Lisa Beck

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This capstone paper analyzes the effectiveness of a company’s current weekly training and its relationship with communication and dispersed teams that work in geographically separated environments. This paper examines a government contracting project and how the inconsistency of the deliverables produced by team members necessitate a need for training improvements. Research from Blayney, Kalyuga, and Sweller, (2015) and Poell, Krogt, Vermulst, Harris, and Simons (2006) on the role of workplace trainers and cognitive load theory support the training improvements presented in this paper. The proposed changes include the introduction of a standardized method of preparing for training and resources to …

Rrtc On Advancing Employment: Bringing Employment First To Scale, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The RRTC on Advancing Employment for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, housed at the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, is convening a State of the Science process in 2017. Towards that end, we are hosting a variety of listening sessions with multiple audiences to reflect the level of stakeholder engagement that has been a hallmark of the RRTC since our launch. In this listening session, we will focus on a “knowledge to action” agenda that grounds our research in issues important to the lives of individuals with disabilities and the systems and people that provide support. This …

Data Note: Time From Vr Application To Closure In Employment For Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, Uchenna Nwangwu, John Butterworth, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Getting a job as soon as possible after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for job seekers with intellectual disabilities. This DataNote describes how long it takes for job seekers with intellectual disabilities to go through the steps from application for VR services to determination of eligibility, completion of an individual employment plan, and closure into integrated employment.

Listen Up! Listening Session For The Rrtc On Advancing Employment, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Slides from a conference listening session about the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Advancing Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

What Is The Relationship Between Gender And Employment Status For Individuals With Idd? Findings From The National Core Indicators Adult Consumer Survey (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 9), Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Caro Narby, Sandra Pettingell, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Gender-based discrimination is a persistent problem in the workforce. Like their peers without disabilities, women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often have less opportunity to achieve employment outcomes as compared to their male counterparts.

Analysis of data from the 2012–2013 National Core Indicators (NCI) Adult Consumer Survey shows a disparity in access to community jobs between men and women. These data show that women are significantly less likely than men to have a paid job in the community. Among the sample of respondents who worked in a community setting, only about one third were women.

Cle Promising Practices: Using Mobile Communication Technology, Oliver Lyons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

SEEC (Seeking Equality, Empowerment, and Community) is a Maryland-based provider of employment, community living, and community development supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Because SEEC has no central facility, having ways to maintain contact between staff and management is paramount. From prepaid cell phones in 2005 to outfitting every staff member with a tablet or a laptop today, SEEC has embraced mobile communication since it started its conversion. By pursuing non- disability-specific grants and reallocating resources, SEEC is able to maintain a mobile organization.

Africa Business Research As A Laboratory For Theory-Building: Extreme Conditions, New Phenomena And Alternative Paradigms Of Social Relationships, Helena Barnard, Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Stephan Manning

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

Africa is an increasingly important business context, yet we still know very little about it. We review the challenges and opportunities that firms in Africa face and propose that these can serve as the basis for extending current theories and models of the firm. We do so by challenging some of the implicit assumptions and stereotypes on firms in Africa and proposing three avenues for extending theories. One is taking the extreme conditions of some Africa countries and using them as a laboratory for modifying current theories and models of the firm, as we illustrate in the case of institutional …

The Rise Of Project Network Organizations: Building Core Teams And Flexible Partner Pools For Interorganizational Projects, Stephan Manning

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This study shifts attention from project-based firms (PBFs) to project network organizations (PNOs) as increasingly important interorganizational contexts of project collaboration. As a result of organizational specialization, PNOs have emerged as generic organizational forms combining the coordination capacity of PBFs with the resource richness of networks. PNOs connect legally independent, yet often operationally interdependent individuals and organizations in strategically coordinated sets of core project teams and flexible partner pools that sustain beyond singular projects. Based on an empirical review of PNOs in film, event organizing, construction, complex product and system development, research, open innovation and international development, core features, antecedents …

The Strategic Potential Of Community-Based Hybrid Models: The Case Of Global Business Services In Africa, Stephan Manning, Chacko G. Kannothra, Nichole K. Wissman-Weber

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

As a latecomer economy, Africa faces persistent difficulties with catching up in global markets. This study examines the strategic potential of community-based hybrid models, which balance market profitability with social impact in local communities. Focusing on the global business services industry in Kenya and South Africa, and the practice of ‘impact sourcing’ – hiring and training of disadvantaged staff servicing business clients – we find that while regular providers struggle to compete with global peers, hybrid model adopters manage to access underutilized labor pools through community organizations, and target less competitive niche client markets. We further identify key industry, institutional …

How Hybrids Manage Growth And Social-Business Tensions In Global Supply Chains: The Case Of Impact Sourcing, Chacko G. Kannothra, Stephan Manning, Nardia Haigh

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This study contributes to the growing interest in how hybrid organizations manage paradoxical social—business tensions. Our empirical case is ‘impact sourcing’ – hybrids in global supply chains that hire staff from disadvantaged communities to provide services to business clients. We identify two major growth orientations - ‘community-focused’ and ‘client-focused’ growth - their inherent tensions and ways that hybrids manage them. The former favors slow growth and manages tensions through highly-integrated client and community relations; the latter promotes faster growth and manages client and community relations separately. Both growth orientations address social-business tensions in particular ways, but also create latent constraints …

Convincing The Crowd: Entrepreneurial Storytelling In Crowdfunding Campaigns, Stephan Manning, Thomas A. Bejarano

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This study examines the structure of entrepreneurial stories in pursuit of mobilizing resources from crowds. Based on a comparative analysis of Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns, we examine in particular how, across different project types, project histories and potential futures are framed and interlinked in narratives to appeal to funders. We find that projects are narrated in different styles – as ‘ongoing journeys’ or ‘results-in-progress’ – to convey project value. The former style narrates projects as longer-term endeavors powered by creative initial ideas and a bold vision, inviting audiences to ‘join the journey’; the latter narrates projects more narrowly as a progression …

Cle Promising Practices: Flexible Scheduling And Creative Staffing, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

Headquartered in a small rural town in northern Maine, Katahdin Friends, Inc. (KFI) provides community employment and life engagement supports, as well as home supports, to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A flexible approach to staffing and support scheduling helps KFI ensure customized daily support schedules that meet individual goals. This approach also allows individuals to interact with a variety of direct support professionals, which is important for having a more engaged and meaningful life in the community.

Cle Promising Practices: A Staffing Approach Based On Client Relationships, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

Avenues Supported Living Services of Valencia, California was founded in 1997 by a husband- and-wife team, Scott and Lori Shepard. The agency provides supported living and community life engagement (CLE) services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Key to Avenues’ success is a staffing approach that is grounded in client relationships.

Cle Promising Practices: Using Staff Networks To Build Community Membership, Oliver Lyons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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LOQW (Learning Opportunities/Quality Works) is a community skills training, service coordination, and employment services provider in northeast Missouri. LOQW operates several satellite offices in addition to its main office in Monroe City, MO. One of these satellite offices is located in Hannibal, MO, a city with a population of less than 18,000. But being located in a small city does have its advantages. One advantage is that a majority of the Hannibal staff has lived there for their entire lives, and they have countless connections in the area. Staff often use their own networks to bring people they support into …

Cle Promising Practices: Braiding Community Employment And Life Engagement Services, Heike Boeltzig-Brown, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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WorkLink is a program that braids community employment and life engagement services. The goal is to enable individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to work while receiving wrap-around day supports, as needed. Started in 1996, WorkLink is a program of TransCen, Inc. and is based in San Francisco.

WorkLink clients do not have to give up day supports when deciding to pursue work. In addition to helping individuals establish and maintain meaningful community relationships, day supports are used to discover and explore vocational goals and job options. This information then helps guide individuals’ employment planning process.

From Sheltered Work To Competitive Integrated Employment: Lessons From The Field (Bringing Employment First To Scale, Issue No. 11), Amie Lulinski, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Stephane Leblois, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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Community providers across the nation are embracing the transformation from facility-based employment supports to competitive integrated employment. While many providers believe in inclusion and Employment First for the individuals they support, some struggle to make their vision a reality. The process of organizational transformation can seem daunting without an understanding of the full range of tactics and approaches available.

The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), in conjunction with The Arc of the United States, is conducting research to better understand the transformation process and to guide the development of tools and resources for providers seeking to transform their services. As …

Five Potential Barriers To Lms Usage, John Contrado

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This paper began as a needs assessment investigating low Learning Management System (LMS) usage at a worldwide technology corporation. Subsequently, the company in question underwent a number of personnel changes and decide to forgo the needs assessment. As such, this paper became a review of research literature related to LMS usage barriers, with the intentions of identifying potential causes of low LMS usage in corporate environments. The review of the existing literature identified five major potential barriers to LMS usage. Because of the nature of the process, these are generalized broad barriers that can easily be identified and discovered in …

Benchmarking, Brokering, And Branding: Resources For Success Across Sectors, Maureen Scully, Lisa Deangelis, Katie Bates

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The fellows in the Center for Collaborative Leadership's Emerging Leaders Program practice collaborative leadership skills by working together in peer-led teams on projects that involve multiple stakeholders and have a civic impact. The theme that emerged for the 2016 projects was Benchmarking, Brokering, and Branding: Resources for Success Across Sectors - recognizing that the fellows' social capital and ability to step back and take a wide comparative view provided new resources for their partners.

Statedata: The National Report On Employment Services And Outcomes, 2016, Jean Winsor, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, John Butterworth, John Shepard, Cady Landa, Frank A. Smith, Daria Domin, Alberto Migliore, Jennifer Bose, Lydia Landim, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

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This report provides statistics over 25 years from several national datasets that address the status of employment and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The authors use abbreviations for both intellectual disability (ID) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in this report. This is because data sources vary in the specific target groups that can be described. Please refer to each chapter for the disability definition used in that chapter. We provide a comprehensive overview that describes national trends in employment for people with IDD, and the appendices provide individual state profiles with data from several sources. …

A Modular Governance Architecture In-The-Making: How Transnational Standard-Setters Govern Sustainability Transitions, Stephan Manning, Juliane Reinecke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

Sustainability transitions have been studied as complex multi-level processes, but we still know relatively little about how they can be effectively governed, especially in transnational domains. Governance of transitions is often constrained by the equivocality of sustainability goals, the idiosyncrasy of niche experiments and the multiplicity of governance actors and interests. We study the role of transnational standard-setters in mitigating these challenges and governing sustainability transitions within a transnational sector. Our case is the global coffee sector where ‘sustainability standards’ are increasingly being adopted. We find that the emergence of a ‘modular governance architecture’ has helped diverse and heterogeneous actors …

Trends In Employment Outcomes Of Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, 2006-2013, John Butterworth, Alberto Migliore, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This report summarizes the employment and economic outcomes for young adults with intellectual disabilities between 2006 and 2013 in the nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC). Data are reported separately for two age groups: 16 to 21 years old, and 22 to 30 years old. Data are from the American Community Survey (ACS), the Rehabilitation Services Administration 911 (RSA-911), and the National Core Indicators (NCI).

Finding A Financial Planner, Emily G. Brown Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

This fact sheet provides information on how to find the right financial planner to help you meet your retirement planning goals. This fact sheet suggests things to consider prior to picking a financial planner and answers questions like:

• What do financial planners do?
• How do you know if you need a financial planner?
• How do you find the right financial planner?
• What type of professional title does a financial planner have?

Think Unbound: Changing The Way People View And Teach Creativity In The Work Environment, Michael Wienke

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The traditional model of innovation in the workplace leaves no room for the true meandering nature of innovation and thus detracts from effective workplace innovation. This paper presents a new non-linear model, the Clover Model, which guides thinkers through a flexible and interconnected six-step process of innovation while still allowing room for the cycles and epicycles of real-world innovation. The “clover” refers to the 4 interconnected critical and creative thinking epicycles (investigation, ideation, incubation and refinement) that come together at a central point and allow thinkers to follow the natural ebbs and flows of innovation by seamlessly transitioning between clover …

Your Former Employer’S 401(K) Plan, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

When you leave a job where you have participated in a 401(k) plan, you may have a number of different options about what to do with the money in that account. This fact sheet explains those options and offers guidance about the pros and cons of each option.

Here are some frequently asked questions answered in this face sheet:

Q. Can I leave my money in my former employer’s plan?

Q. What are my other options?

Q. If I decide to withdraw the account balance from my former employer’s plan, how do I do that, and how long should it …

Organizational Study Of Information Technology, Law, And Purchasing Departments : City Of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center For Public Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management Publications

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management was hired by the City of Fitchburg to perform organizational studies of three departments, including the Information Technology (IT) Department, the Law Department, and the Purchasing Department. All three of the studies were to review the respective departments’ organizational structures, responsibilities, and practices with a goal of identifying areas of improvement that could result in improved operations and time and cost savings (IT and Purchasing) and areas in need of improvement (Law Department).

The Collins Center project team met with the directors of the three departments under review to understand their …

Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Passed Jan. 4, 2015), Emily G. Brown Jd, Ellen Bruce Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act, passed on January 4, 2015, creates an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA. The purpose of the program is to promote increased retirement savings participation for employees in the private sector. This fact sheet answers some basic questions about how this new program will affect workers and their employers in Illinois.

Hardship Withdrawals And Loans: Some Words Of Caution, Emily G. Brown Jd, Jeanne Medeiros Jd, Ellen Bruce Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

As defined benefit pension plans become more and more rare, the responsibility of saving for retirement falls increasingly on individuals. Many studies have been published about the average or median balances in retirement savings accounts and virtually all of them have reached the same conclusion - most Americans aren’t saving enough money to last them through their retirement years.

In this fact sheet we will take a look at one of the factors that contributes to this problem, that is, the availability of loans and hardship withdrawals from 401(k) retirement accounts, which can lead to lower account balances overall. Sometimes, …