Business Commons^™

How Quality Management Has Been Impacted In The Face Of Covid-19, Eldina Siljkovic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted many facets of the United States. This study focuses on its magnitude in comparison to prior pandemics such as Anthrax, SARS, and Ebola. In addition to this comparison its impact on Quality Management within the agricultural sector and food supply chain was also assessed. The results of these studies showcase that COVID-19 has grown exponentially in comparison to prior pandemics and will continue to do so as we enter the winter season. Agricultural equipment manufacturing companies saw a drastic decline in quarterly revenues within 2020 in comparison to 2019. Millions in net sales were lost …

3d Printing Technology On Spare Parts Business Supply Chain Management: A Case Study In Appliance Industry, Salih Boysan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigates the effects of using Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, to produce spare parts within the supply chain of an appliance manufacturing company.

This research is based on an analysis of the operation of a spare parts business of an appliance manufacturing company. This research study used real data to investigate the feasibility of using 3D printing to reduce complexity in the spare parts division in terms of supplier rationalization, inventory reduction, and total cost of ownership. The research method used two scenarios: one where manufacturing spare parts traditionally was the baseline model and the …

Women's Occupational Health And Safety In The Informal Economy: Maternal Market Traders In Accra, Ghana, Joyceline Amoako

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Improving maternal health and women’s health is necessary, especially in countries with high maternal and child mortality rates. Most research on maternal health focuses on women’s reproductive health and, as a result, very little is known about the impact of occupation on maternal health (World Health Organization, 2006). It is also interesting to know that “Occupational Health Research” has been heavily criticized for the general absence of a gender standpoint, usually resulting in the exclusion of women and their concerns at the workplace (World Health Organization, 2006). In Ghana, an open-air market is an integral place of work for women. …

The Price Of Progress: American Agricultural Innovations In Relation To Economic And Social Change, 1920-1989, Zachary Cass Moye

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Agriculture is an industry that defines a unique society in the American Midwest. When farming technologies changed, agriculture as a system and society also changed. This thesis explores the critical changes that farmers faced during the 20th Century. Those links include a changing educational system, which would guide farmers into the world of mechanical farming technology, and the permeation of that technology in farm society. The economic cost of the changing aspects of agriculture drove social and technological change that took place during the years of the Great Depression through the 1980s Farm Crisis. Finally, this thesis covers the future …

A Study Of Non-Profit Leaders' Risk-Taking Propensity And Managerial Leadership Styles, Younis Q. Al Hassan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Risks are an inherent part of life and in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in particular. Nonprofit organizations struggle to respond to changes imposed by external and internal environmental influences. These influences revolve around the myriad social, cultural, political, environmental, and economic changes and their attendant challenges. The NPOs now face yet another challenge, which is a significant managerial leadership deficit. The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine whether nonprofit leaders’ risk-taking propensity (RTP) is associated with their managerial leadership styles (MLS). Furthermore, the study will examine if age, gender, level of education, size of an organization, and number of …

Influence Of External And Internal Factors On Financial Advisors' Guidance Of Clients In The Area Of Charitable Giving, Angela J. Gorsuch Widner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Charitable giving plays a vital role in the ability of nonprofit organizations to carry out their missions to contribute to the well-being of society. Research suggests that most wealthy Americans have an interest in being philanthropic and giving to nonprofit organizations. Financial advisors often play a substantial role in helping their clients understand the complex policies related to charitable giving. As the experts, financial advisors play an important consultative role in making sense of the benefits that can come as a result of charitable giving.

The purpose of this study was to explore how financial advisors work with clients in …

Protests, Pageants, And Publications: Narratives Of Labor Agitators, 1913-1914, Jayme Edmund

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the vast historiography on the American labor movement workers have been treated as noble artisans, brave unionists, martyrs to the cause of unionization, and losers in the triumph of the “free market”. They have not been treated as historians producing their own stories. In crafting their own narratives labor activists acted as historians, reaching beyond recent events to contextualize their struggles and create a narrative that would mobilize both labor and non-labor audiences behind their goals. They offered a vision of the past as leading to present or recent problems and framed unions or labor solidarity as the solution …

Certified Nonprofit Professionals Early Career Decisions And College Student Loan Debt, Kristina Elizabeth-Ann Kofoot

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the United States today college students graduate with more than $35,000 in student loan debt (Berman, 2015). There is little research as to what the impact of this debt has had on the career choices and trajectories of these graduates particularly those considering entering the nonprofit sector. The nonprofit sector serves millions of people across the United States every year (National Center for Charitable Statistics, 2016). In order to stay current, these organizations need to hire highly qualified professionals. The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (NLA) offers a professional credential to students that enter their program. This credential titled Certified Nonprofit …

Career Development And Trajectories: Women In Senior-Level Management Positions In Nonprofit Organizations And Government Agencies, Jennifer Diane Stevens

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Lighting the way for women today, pioneers like Jane Addams and others have helped women make gallant strides in the field of human and leisure services for the past 50 years. These women took necessary steps towards equality, which ultimately led to changes in attitudes of women, attitudes towards women, and gender roles. Women now make up half of the workforce and are accepted in all sectors today.

However, inequality still exists through transparent barriers that keep women from advancing to senior-level management and decision-making positions. Elements such as family, education, and organizational and personal factors can positively or negatively …

Aquatic Managers Of Northeast Iowa : A Description Of Current Practices Of Staff Training And Implementation Detailing Competencies, Frequency, And Evaluation, Tracy N. Carey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe how aquatic managers implement aquatic staff training and development. According to the American Society for Training and Development, U.S. organizations spend more than $50 billion annually on employee training. Organizations place an important emphasis on training and development for their employees. Aquatic facilities play an important role in the communities they serve. Operating an aquatic facility has become increasingly more complex in recent years due to new technology with filtration systems, differentiating certifications and facility regulations.

Therefore, aquatic managers must ensure their lifeguards are capable and competent of doing everything …

Spacial Analysis Of Foreclosure And Neighborhood Characteristics In Miami Metropolitan Area, Florida, Adejoh Emmanuel Ogbe

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 2013, the State of Florida had 13 of the top 20 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with the highest foreclosure rate in the country. Despite the high ranking, extensive research on foreclosure has yet to be carried out within the Miami-Fort LauderdalePompano Beach MSA. This research is a foray into an uncharted territory to understand the relationship between foreclosure and neighborhood characteristics in the Miami metropolitan area (MMA) within Miami-Dade County. The study was conducted in two phases: The first phase was to identify the foreclosure pattern in the MMA from 2010- 2013 by implementing the use of spatial analysis …

The Economic Impacts Of Annual Community Festivals: A Case Of The Sturgis Falls Celebration, 2013, Chelsea Mae Tolle

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines spending patterns and economic impact of visitors to the community of Cedar Falls, Iowa for the annual Sturgis Falls Celebration. The following aspects of festival tourism development were addressed: (1) visitors’ travel motivations and satisfaction; (2) visitors’ spending patterns and (3) the economic impacts of Sturgis Falls Celebration visitors in Black Hawk and contiguous counties.

The data for the study was collected using a questionnaire based intercept survey that was distributed to the attendees at the Sturgis Falls Celebration during the festival in 2013. Of the residents and visitors in attendance at the festival, 539 people participated …

A Clustering Based Matrix For Selecting Optimal Tools And Techniques In Quality Management, Hassan A. Alsultan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to explore a systematic pattern for selecting quality tools and techniques in the manufacturing and service industries. This study asked, “What are the best DMAIC tools and techniques concerning circumstances of quality dimensions of products and services?” To answer this question, this research developed innovative, diagnostic matrices by mimicking the contradiction matrix of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). These innovative matrices are intended to help non-expert users to select the best sets of quality tools and techniques for solving different quality problems. By conducting a cluster analysis, the researcher uncovered homogeneous patterns …

Where Loyalties Lie: A Study Of Workplace Dissent Through The Lens Of Loyalty, Katelyn L. Santy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis studied organizational dissent through the lens of loyalty in order to examine the nuanced motivations of employees' choices to dissent. The goal of this work was to approach loyalty as a nuanced concept that provides a foundational motivation for employees' dissent. In order to understand the contextualized experience of dissent, I conducted individual interviews with 17 employees in the radiology department of a healthcare organization. I adopted a grounded theory approach to data analysis, yielding a series of major findings. First, participants described their loyalties in the workplace as multiple and involving four distinct dimensions: organizational loyalty, coworker …

Destination Attractiveness Of The Silos And Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Puyong Choi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of destination attractiveness of the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) in Iowa using the relative attractiveness and importance of the 15 attributes identified by Gearing, Swart, and Var's (1974) scale and 3 attributes identified by Hu and Ritchie (1993). These attributes represent the overall destination attractiveness of the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) in Iowa. This study focused on the perspective of visitors and tourism experts.

Fishbein's (1967) multi-attribute model was used to determine the attitudes and preferences of the participants. The model is used to …

Quality Costing Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceptions In A Small Manufacturing Company, Adam M. Benner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to identify and assess employee knowledge, attitude, and perception of quality costing in a manufacturing company. The company selected for this research was a small manufacturer of agricultural processing equipment with an undeveloped quality management program. A quality costs questionnaire was discovered from a review of the literature and was slightly modified to gather data from a sample of company employees. The following information was collected from employees: knowledge of common quality costing terminology, attitude towards quality and non-quality concepts, and perception of departments associated with quality costs and the scale of quality costs …

Estimating The Economic Impact Of Tourism: A Comparative Analysis Of Albania, Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia And Greece, Arjana Çela

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study assessed the economic impact of tourism on investment, government and imports expenditures in Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia, and Greece. The objectives of this study were to develop a model to determine the impacts generated from an incremental change in tourist expenditures in the economy of Albania, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, and Greece; to estimate the multipliers of the tourism expenditures on investment, government and imports expenditures in Albania, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, and Greece and to investigate the differences and similarities of the economic impact of tourism between Albania, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, …

Design And Evaluation Of A Pdf Print Estimating System, Mengtsung Tai

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research consisted of designing and evaluating portable document format (PDF) print estimating system to commercial systems. Taking into account functionality, reliability, standardization, and integration, the conventional design method (Pressman, 1997) was used to develop the print estimating system. Considering the printer's viewpoint, added features make the system function online and offline and compatible with all common computer platforms. After the system was developed, experts and entry-level users evaluated the system for software usability (Nielsen, 2000; Shneiderman, 1998). A total of 26 experts and 38 entry-level users responded to 14 questions about usability in a personal interview survey. Statistical analysis …

An Investigation To Measure The Performance Of Commercial Printing Firms For Conducting Business-To-Customer Activities On The Web, Devang Pranlal Mehta

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was conducted to investigate the current status of commercial printing firms regarding the success of their performance using Web technology for conducting business-to-customer (B2C) activities. It was primarily based on Rogers' innovation theory and Auger's empirical study. The impact of the Web technology on the organizational performance was studied. The organizational performance was divided into three levels: financial performance (FP), non-financial performance (NFP), and overall performance (OP). The financial performance was measured by four financial indicators; whereas, the non-financial performance was measured by three non-financial indicators. The overall performance was then measured by adding the four financial performance …

Use And Effectiveness Of Decision Support Systems (Dss): Study Of The Saudi Private Sector, Ibrahim A. Alhunaishel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the industrialized world today, management is characterized by extensive use of computers to manage rapid change, information overload, and complex decision-making. Literature suggests that Decision Support Systems, computer packages offering information retrieval, problem-structuring models, decision alternatives, and other types of decision support, are effective extensions of human decision-making and offer substantial benefits to organizations utilizing them.

In spite of overwhelmingly positive reviews for DSS, empirical literature has produced inconsistent results regarding DSS effectiveness, and definitions of “effectiveness” and of DSS itself are varied and sometimes contradictory. Distinguishing DSS from MIS (management information systems) and other types of managerial computer …

A Leadership Model And Supervisory Skills Perceived By Production Employees, Supervisors, And Managers As Important To The Improvement Of Employee Performance In Manufacturing, Douglas R. Hotek

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to provide to industry and education a better understanding of what makes a supervisor a good supervisor of today's educated and technically skilled work force. Manufacturing firms that depend on advanced technologies and employee-technology relationships have made an impact on the role of supervision. The modern supervisor has a new role in managing production operations. The role has changed from that of directing and controlling employees to that of effectively leading the improvement of employee performance. This study builds upon previous research in an effort to further identify and authenticate a leadership model with …

Examining The Impact Of Internet Electronic Commerce On Commercial Organizations In Saudi Arabia, Fahad Abdullah Alyabis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Saudi Arabia is undergoing tremendous change in both infrastructure and economics, which is helping the Internet to flourish in the region. Although growth of electronic commerce (EC) is slow, it is becoming increasingly global. Businesses worldwide are engaging in this commercial evolution.

The purpose of this study was to provide consumers and commercial organizations in Saudi Arabia with practical information regarding electronic commerce. It attempted to explore the perspectives of Internet users, information technology (IT) professionals, business owners, and managers of online businesses in Saudi Arabia.

Two survey instruments were used to gather data for this study. The first survey …

A Comparison Of Web-Based And Conventional-Based Training Methods In A Leading Midwestern Company, Hani Aljadaani

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The primary purpose of this study was to compare trainees' perceptions of learning in a web-based delivery and conventional-based delivery in a leading Midwestern Electronics Company. This study examined trainees' perceptions of learning environment differences and related demographic and attitudinal perception variables. Due to the nature of human beings, interactivity is a key element in the learning process.

Two training programs were selected, one of which was Web-Based Training (WBT) and the other one was classroom based. The two have been chosen with the respect to the achievement of concepts and skills. The training programs were beginning Microsoft Word 97 …

Present Status And Perceived Importance Of Computer Skills In A Taiwanese Service Industry, En-Ming Tseng

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to provide researchers,computer technologists, management and trainers with information concerning the current status and importance regarding computer skills for agents in the Taiwanese life insurance industry. In addition to identifying important computer skills for this population, this research investigated differences in perceptions of computer directors (major computer system developers), sales managers(major training providers), and life insurance agents(computer end-users) regarding the current status and importance of computer skills for life insurance agents.

Survey instruments were developed through the literature review as well as through expert interviews and validations. Investigated samples include all 30 computer directors …

The Characteristics Of Motion And Time Study In Taiwan's Electronics Industry And Their Relationship To Business Size, Betty Chang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was conducted to investigate the characteristics of motion and time study implementation in Taiwan's electronics industry, as perceived by industrial engineers, and the relationships of these perceptions to business sizes of the firms. The questionnaires were mailed to 252 industrial engineers in the general firms group. A total of 206 (81.75%) instruments were returned. The questionnaires were then mailed to another 15 industrial engineers in the highly productive firms group. All the instruments (100%) were returned from the highly productive firm group. Telephone interviews were later conducted with six selected highly productive electronics firms to investigate their successful …

Effects Of Electronic Mail On Staff Communication Satisfaction And Computer Anxiety, Donald D. Luck

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research indicates teacher isolation and computer anxiety are significant problems effecting teachers. This study examined the influence of electronic mail on these two problems. The research hypotheses questioned whether electronic mail installation positively effected a staff's level of communication satisfaction and/or lowered their level of computer anxiety.

Three sites were used in the study. Site One had electronic mail at the time of both measurements, Site Two implemented electronic mail immediately following the first measurement, and Site Three never used electronic mail. Ten months separated the measurements.

The study used the Computer Satisfaction Questionnaire to measure eight components of communication …

A Pretension Of Place: The Industrialization Of Corn Belt Agriculture, 1940-1965, Philip Jeffrey Nelson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study concerns both the causes and effects of the industrialization of Corn Belt agriculture during and after World War II. Although industrialization is certainly a fully cultural phenomenon, with a multiplicity of competing and augmenting causal agents involved in its genesis, industrial processes are the most salient and identifiable bases of modern economies. In their application to the Corn Belt's agricultural structure, techniques of industrial farming revolutionized almost every aspect of the agricultural experience. Farm size, machinery, power sources, capitalization, supplies, and populations have all changed in response to an almost single-minded adherence and adoption of a mechanicalchemical based …

The Relationships Between Technical Operator Turnover Rate And Selected Working Condition Factors In Taiwan's Printing Industry, Ling-Hsiao Lee

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine how technical operator turnover rate related to selected working condition factors in Taiwan's printing industry. These factors, as defined in this study, included wages, employee benefits, alternative work schedules, training programs, and gainsharings. If the results of this study showed that technical operator turnover rate was related to these selected factors, then the findings of this study would be helpful to a manager making decisions on turnover management.

The data for this study were collected by using three sets of questionnaires: (a) one designed for personnel directors, (b) one targeted at financial …

Development And Validation Of A Model For Training Maintenance Supervisors For Productivity Improvements In Manufacturing Operations, Robert Reed Johnson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem of this study was to develop and validate a training model for training maintenance supervisors. This training model focused on those areas, defined by industrial managers, where additional supervisory training was most likely to improve the performance of the maintenance departments.

Research of industrial and maintenance publications identified the maintenance function as having one of the lowest productivity levels in manufacturing organizations. Supervisor training was identified as a means to improve productivity in maintenance departments. An industrial survey completed by maintenance managers in manufacturing organizations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin identified those activities that were the responsibility …

The Role Of Multinational Corporations In The Transfer Of Management Technology To Nigeria, Liwhu Undiandeye

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The development of an active and viable managerial cadre in the developing nations is necessary for the initiation and sustainment of industrial growth and productivity. Management is not only able to recognize profitable opportunities but also possess sufficient entrepreneurial skills that can be organized for technological growth. Managerial skills are abundantly present in the West and significantly lacking in the developing nations. One of the ways to stimulate industrial growth in the developing nations is to transfer these abundant skills from the West. The transferability of western management technology to non-western cultures has been characterized by uncertainty as regards its …