Business Commons^™

Patient Satisfaction With Nurse Practitioner Delivered Primary Health Care Services, Lucie J. Agosta

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore and determine the degree of client satisfaction with utilization of primary healthcare services delivered by a nurse practitioner in the Employee Health Services department of a not for profit hospital in the Southern United States. The Nurse Practitioner Satisfaction Survey (NPSS), a 28-item Likert-type survey instrument was specifically developed for this study and administered to a sample of 300 clients. Overall high levels of patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner delivered health care services were demonstrated. The mean general satisfaction score was determined to be 86.86 / 90, with mean communication and scheduling …

The Role Of Trust In Organizations: Do Foci And Bases Matter?, Jixia Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A recent literature review shows that the effects of trust on workplace outcomes are less consistent than might be expected (Dirks & Ferrin, 2001). For some work-related outcomes, studies have revealed significant effects of trust whereas others have not. By definition, trust describes a psychological state comprising positive expectations about the behavior and intentions of another. The position of this dissertation is that, to have a full understanding of the effects of trust, researchers need to consider on what basis this positive expectation is formed (i.e., trust’s bases) as well as in whom this positive expectation is placed (i.e., trust’s …

Effectiveness Of The 4-H Advisory Committee Process As Perceived By 4-H Professionals And Advisory Committee Members, Mark Gerard Tassin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The 4-H advisory process is crucial to program development in the 4-H youth development program in Louisiana. Parish 4-H advisory committees in each of the 64 parishes are involved in the addressing the needs of the clientele. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the 4-H Advisory Process as perceived by 4-H professionals in Louisiana and primary stakeholder groups of the LSU Agricultural Center’s 4-H Program. Data for the study were obtained through surveys completed by 104 4-H youth development professionals and 142 parish 4-H advisory committee members. Additionally, six parish advisory committee members were …

A Test Of Andragogy In A Post-Secondary Educational Setting, Lynda Swanson Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This predictive study tested the theory of andragogy in a post-secondary educational setting. It produced a sound psychometric instrument (ALPDEQ). The study was one of the first to successfully isolate adult learners, a major step forward in testing andragogy. Results provided insight of andragogy’s effect on two student outcomes, learning and satisfaction. The findings revealed adult learners enrolled in a MBA degree program provided evidence of learning and were not influenced by andragogy. However, satisfaction with instructor and course was affected by perception of andragogical teaching behaviors exhibited by faculty. The study included many exploratory faculty and student characteristic variables, …

Toward A Construct Validation Of The Louisiana School Analysis Model Instructional Staff Questionnaire, Nikki Bray Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study assessed the construct validity of the School Analysis Model (SAM) Instructional Staff Questionnaire. Construct validation was necessary for several reasons. First, it has not been possible to obtain evidence of the latent factor structure of this key component of the School Analysis Model (SAM). A factor analysis using data collected with the questionnaire was conducted to assess and identify the underlying factor structure of the instrument. Second, there is no evidence that the constructs measured by the SAM are associated with attributes of school performance further empirical analysis was done to determine if latent constructs contained within the …

Communicating Effectively Across The Cultural Barrier : A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Sydney And Atlanta Hotel Industries, Danielle Lacey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study aimed to look at the importance of cultural awareness across the hospitality industry as a whole and the industry's response to this issue. The research set out three hypotheses based on one main research question. The research question postulated was: What guest services are Sydney and Atlanta hoteliers providing to meet the needs of guests from different cultural backgrounds? The research was carried out using a descriptive qualitative research design, additionally a cross-sectional time frame was used. The research was conducted within the hotel population in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, and in Sydney, New South Wales. …

The Relationship Between Participation In Community Service-Learning Projects And Personal And Leadership Life Skills Development In Louisiana High School 4-H Leadership Activities, Connie S. Phelps

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence does not exist that documents the effectiveness of Louisiana 4-H community service-learning projects. The purpose of this study is to compare self-reported perceptions of personal and leadership life skills development of Louisiana high school 4-H leadership activity participants by whether they participate in the 4-H Junior Leader Club (JLC) and/or the CHARACTER COUNTS! (CC) peer teaching program. The target population for this study was all high school students who participated in either the CC peer teaching program or the 4-H JLC. Therefore, this study was limited to those parishes that have both a CC peer teaching program and a …

New Product Launch Decisions Under Competition And Uncertainty: A Real Options And Game-Theoretic Approach To New Product Development, James O. Ostler

Theses and Dissertations

New product development is central to many firms' future success. Not only as a means to continue to maintain their piece of the market, but product development can also be a strategic means for a company to diversify, and/or alter focus to adapt to changing market conditions.

Most of the research in new product development has been on how to do it cheaper and faster than the next guy. However, early commercialization does not guarantee a position of strength in the market. Failures of EMI in CT scanners and Xerox in personal computers illustrate that being first to market does …

The Potential Effects Of The Trans-Atlantic Common Aviation Area On Shannon Airport, Ireland, Daniel James Centilli

Honors Theses

The Trans-Atlantic Aviation Area is a proposed liberalization of the air services agreements known as bilateral agreements between the United States of America and the member states of the European Union. The new agreement would replace the restrictive bilateral and Open Skies bilateral agreements between the United States and the EU with a single comprehensive agreement. The emergence of true open skies between the US and EU creates many economic opportunities and some economic threats. One such threat is the situation faced by the Shannon Airport, Ireland. Under the current US/Ireland bilateral, Shannon's existence is protected by requiring US carriers …

The Scarcity Of Women As Certified Public Accountants (Cpas), Precious Williams

McCabe Thesis Collection

By researching different sources regarding the accounting profession, the research will give readers an in depth understanding of the shortage of women as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). Some examples of jobs in the accounting profession are accounting professors, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Certified Managerial Accountants (CMA's) and business accountants. It takes plenty of time and determination to become a CPA and a CMA. Many women are apprehensive of the challenges involved in becoming an accountant. Women who have persevered can obtain a career in the accounting profession. This thesis is based on materials that show women as CPAs. It also …

Presidential Leadership And Institutional Culture In Catholic Colleges And Universities: Longevity And Cultural Congruence, Tina Sherman Holland

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars disagree about the importance of a leader's longevity. The inconsistency in the findings of previous research makes it necessary to understand more fully the dynamics between presidential leadership and institutional culture. More specifically, there is a need to actually measure and describe the relationships among presidential longevity, presidential leadership style, and institutional culture. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the leadership styles of Catholic college and university presidents and the congruence between leadership style and culture type relative to presidential longevity. This study also identifies dominant culture types and leadership styles that accompany congruence. …

Perceptions And Practices Of Indiana School Superintendents In Response To The Problem Of Sick Building Syndrome, Janet Elaine Hiller

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions and practices of Indiana public school superintendents who represent two groups, those who had experienced building exposure to mold and those who had not experienced building exposure to mold. Seventy-five Indiana public school superintendents responded to the opinionnaire with a return rate of 81.5%. Results indicate that: (1) Indiana public school superintendents who had not experienced building exposure to mold had higher mean values than those who had experienced building exposure to mold relative to closing only classrooms affected by mold and to relocating staff and students exposed to mold; …

Ebxml: Global Standard For Electronic Business, Sujatha Babu

Student Work

Business-to-business integration is transforming the market and has already begun to increase the efficiency of those companies involved. EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) became very popular during 1970’s; Today EDI transactions total about $750 billion year. EDI is being used by 90% of Fortune 1000 companies. It has indeed become a dominant technology for the largest companies, on the other hand it has been adopted by less than 5% of small and medium sized companies in general and, of these, many use EDI only because their larger customers require it. The reason behind is that EDI is a difficult, complex technology …

Modeling Usage Of An Online Research Community, Yi Zhang

Dissertations

Although online communities have been thought of as a new way for collaboration across geographic boundaries in the scientific world, they have a problem attracting people to keep visiting. The main purpose of this study is to understand how people behave in such communities, and to build and evaluate tools to stimulate engagement in a research community. These tools were designed based on a research framework of factors that influence online participation and relationship development.

There are two main objectives for people to join an online community, information sharing and interpersonal relationship development, such as friends or colleagues. The tools …

Building A Model Of Campus Diversity: An Organization-As-The-Individual Based Approach, Ian Spencer Ray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diversity is a vital concept when engaging with modern social science research and among higher education practitioners. Despite the pervasive discourse surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, quantification of diversity remains a challenge across the social sciences. This study proposes a new conceptual framework, applies the framework to the quantification of diversity and measurement of its impacts. Further, this study demonstrates the robustness of the new conceptual framework alongside the positive impacts of diversity on institutional outcomes.

The Organization-As-The-Individual (OATI) framework arises from an integration of the social and biological sciences. The framework argues that humans, as biological organisms, …

Hybrid Stochastic Models For Remaining Lifetime Prognosis, Steven M. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force is developing its next generation aircraft and is seeking to reduce the risk of catastrophic failures, maintenance activities, and the logistics footprint while improving its sortie generation rate through a process called autonomic logistics. Vital to the successful implementation of this process is remaining lifetime prognosis of critical aircraft components. Complicating this problem is the absence of failure time information; however, sensors located on the aircraft are providing degradation measures. This research has provided a method to address at least a portion of this problem by uniting analytical lifetime distribution models with environment and/or degradation …

The Organizational Analysis Of Non-Governmental Development Organizations (Ngdos), Urelmaa Tsolmon

Theses and Dissertations

This paper uses the current organizational ecology theory to clearly define organizational population ecology constructs of non-governmental development organizations, and offers specific terminology and understanding of main organizational forms and relational dynamics that define the population ecology of these organizations. The paper examines closely the significance of such interaction and interdependence through transactional relationship of obtaining and distributing of resources and forces of competition. Original organizational theory frameworks are offered for future NGDO organizational research.

Family Differentiation, Family Recreation, And Symptoms Of Eating Disorders, Birgitta Lynne Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between family differentiation, family recreation and symptoms of eating disorders. The Family Intrusiveness Scales, the Perceived Social Support from Family, the Family Leisure Activity Profile and the Eating Attitudes Test were used. Participants were students at two large universities, one in the East and one in the West. Data were analyzed using correlation and ANCOVA. Findings supported the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between family leisure involvement and family differentiation. In addition, a negative relationship between family differentiation and symptoms of eating disorders for individuals whose parents are not …

A Local Market Analysis Of Various Exempt And Non-Exempt Positions At A Community Mental Health Provider, Stephanie Wallace

Honors Theses

Market analysis of pay structure for employees of Summit Pointe using data from two surveys, CompData (Compensation Data Michigan) and ASE (American Society of Employers-Southwest Michigan Region).

An Empirical Investigation Of A Model Of Environmentally Concerned Consumer Behavior And Its Determinants: The Moderating Role Of Market Mavenship And Product Involvement, Kishwar A. Joonas

Doctoral Dissertations

Extant literature offers incomplete explanations of environmentally concerned consumer behavior (ECCB), based on subsets of determinants. In this study, I have presented an integrated model of ECCB, and examined the main effects of three key psychological determinants (environmentally concerned beliefs and attitudes, personal norm, and perceived consumer effectiveness) and two key socio-cultural determinants (injunctive norm and collectivist orientation), on four dimensions of ECCB, namely purchase behavior, search for information, conserving behavior, and supporting intent. The study also examined the interactional effects of market mavenship and involvement on these direct linkages.

I conducted a national online survey among members of environmental …

An Experimental Examination Of Equivalence Failures In Multi-Cultural Comparative Research, F. Mark Case

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

As the global economy integrates, there is an increased need to understand international business phenomena. This forces a reliance upon multi-cultural marketing research, which is evidenced by a marked increase in international studies, particularly multi-cultural comparative research (Sin, Cheung & Lee 1999). Central to the usefulness of this research is the question of the validity and comparability of results, which is greatly affected by a property known as equivalence of test instruments; or the degree to which the scales and the items in them are seen to be the same across cultures.

To date, no research exists that approaches the …

Business Crime: The Perception And Experience Of Victimization And Corresponding Use Of Crime Prevention Measures, John A. Casten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study uses the concepts of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory to examine some of the factors that influence a business owner's use of crime prevention measures. I predicted that neighborhood conditions as well as personal experience with crime would influence a business owner's decision to use crime prevention measures. In addition, I controlled for sex, race, age, education level, and police presence.

The results of the study were fairly consistent with the hypothesis except for two of the variables. In this particular study, age was not a significant factor in predicting the use of crime prevention measures, …

How The U.S. Military's Equal Opportunity Training Program Impacts Operational Readiness And Effectiveness: An Exploratory Study, James R. Camic

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The Department of Defense is dedicated to creating an environment that recognizes individuals' diverse backgrounds. The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) was developed to train Equal Opportunity Advisors (EOAs), implement training programs at the unit level, and evaluate the Equal Opportunity Climate of the military. Many of the programs developed at DEOMI were developed with the belief that diversity appreciation and prejudice avoidance (DAPA) lead to combat readiness and operational effectiveness (CROE).

A qualitative, grounded theory approach was employed to help understand how DAP A is related to CROE. Interviews were conducted with retired EOAs in which they related …

An Examination Of Perceptions For Family Acculturation, Family Leisure Involvement, And Family Functioning Among Mexican-Americans, Owen D. Christenson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between acculturation and aspects of family functioning (cohesion and adaptability) and family leisure involvement from Mexican-American parent, youth, and family perspectives. Acculturation of parents, youth, and families was measured using the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS). Family leisure involvement was measured using the Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP). Aspects of family functioning were measured using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES II). Sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, generation, family size, income, and education were also used to help predict levels of acculturation for family perspectives. The …

An Examination Of The Meaning Of Family Recreational Storytelling Among Parents And Their Adult Children, Kelly Gagalis-Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the role and function of family recreational storytelling across the lifespan from the perspective of parents and their adult children. Twelve adults, (six pairs of adult children and their parents) were interviewed. Questions focused on ascertaining the meaning of storytelling (including the role, purpose, and function) from the perspectives of the parents and children from the same family unit. Interviews were transcribed and themes were identified and reported. Participants reported that stories generated feelings of safety, comfort, and security, and often helped create a sense of importance and belonging for individual family …

International Transfer Pricing In A Developing Economy Context : Perspectives From The Taxpayers And The Tax Authorities, Wai Yee, Agnes Lo

Lingnan Theses

Since the 1979 economic reforms, China has been characterized by a rapid increase in international trade and an inflow of foreign direct investment. Foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) play an increasing important role in the Chinese economy and are substantially engaged in transactions with affiliates outside China. Therefore, international transfer pricing in China has become a significant issue.

Empirical research on international transfer pricing has focused on multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developed countries. However, it is difficult to generalize their findings to MNCs operating in developing countries as the business environment of developing countries is quite different from that of …

Small Business Participation In Air Force Procurement: Participation Trends And The Effect Of Acquisition Reform Initiatives On Air Force Procurement Via Selected Contract Types In Selected Product Categories, Douglas E. Leedy

Theses and Dissertations

Small Businesses (SB) have been of recognized important to the Federal Government for many years. This thesis explores the role of SB contractors in Air Force (AF) procurement and the effects of recent acquisition reform (AR) initiatives on their involvement, including their method of involvement (contract type), product areas in which they participate, and possible new areas of measurement. This thesis answers the research and investigative questions in three ways. First, it explores the correlation of AR initiatives to SB participation as a whole, via selected contract types, and in selected product categories via causal regression models. Next, it identifies …

An Update On Analyzing Differences Between Public And Private Sector Information Resource Management: Strategic Information Challenges And Critical Technologies, James R. Orlovsky

Theses and Dissertations

Change is a constant within our contemporary IRM environment. The rapid development of information and communication technologies has been the most predominant among the many agents of change that are forcing a reevaluation of the role of the IRM professional. Few studies to date have compared public and private sector CIO perceptions concerning the IRM challenges and critical technologies faced by their organization. An earlier study concluded that the sectors CIOs do perceive to be faced with many of the same challenges and also view many of the same technologies as critical to the organization's operations. A limiting factor identified …

Relationship Analysis : Improving The Systems Analysis Process, Joseph Thomas Catanio

Dissertations

A significant aspect of systems analysis involves discovering and representing entities and their inter-relationships. Guidelines exist to identify entities but do not provide a rigorous and comprehensive process to explicitly capture the relationship structure of the problem domain. Whereas, other analysis techniques lightly address the relationship discovery process, Relationship Analysis is the only systematic, domain-independent analysis technique focusing exclusively on a domain's relationship structure.

The quality of design artifacts, such as class diagrams, and development time necessary to generate these artifacts can be improved by first representing the complete relationship structure of the problem domain. The Relationship Analysis Model is …

A Discovery And Analysis Of Influencing Factors Of Pair Programming, Kyungsub Steve Choi

Dissertations

The exploration into the underlying psychosocial links of pair programming. a new and unorthodox programming paradigm in which two programmers share one keyboard and monitor during real-time programming sessions, is undertaken. These complex psychosocial relationships, along with cognitive process exchanges, ultimately mold the programming output as well as determine the level of communication, satisfaction. confidence and compatibility. Laying the framework for this research, a through review of traditional and contemporary paradigms with a special focus on their limitations and a list of current software development problems are presented. Next, a detailed summary of pair programming and related agile software paradigms, …