Business Commons^™

Assessment Of Discrepancies Between Residential Employees' Work Values And Program Directors Perceptions Of Residential Employees' Work Values, Trinetia L. Respress

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed discrepancies between residential employees' work values and program directors' perceptions of the residential employees' work values. Additionally, work values of residential employees were analyzed to identify variations when considering gender, age, educational level, length of service, job classification, and current position. The study was undertaken to assist in developing a clearer understanding of the work values of residential employees for the purpose of enhancing administrator-associate relationships and to determine factors in the work setting that might contribute to longevity and more productive, satisfied, motivated employees. Data for the study were gathered from 172 program directors and residential …

Perceptions Of Local Businesses Toward Customers With Physical Disabilities And Mental Retardation, Shannon M. Blackburn

Theses & Honors Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine the overall perceptions held by businesses toward people with physical disabilities and mental retardation. Subjects (SS) were employees of businesses in the Richmond area (N=50). A self-developed questionnaire with 3 parts containing a Likert scale and open-ended questions was used for data collection. One hundred percent of the questionnaires were returned. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi-square (X²) was used to test the relationship between business type and promotion of service, emergency plans, and wheelchair accessibility. A limitation of this study was that the SS were selected …

Michigan State Government Employment Sector: Are We In Line With The National Trends?, Thomas Walter Cronkright Ii

Honors Theses

Examines the national trends of employment to make a comparison for Michigan State government employment. Results show that Michigan's public employment trends do not follow national employment trends in a comparable way. Michigan is distinct from the nation for several reasons: a hiring freeze placed on Michigan State Departments, higher levels of union participation and employee pay, and benefits packages that cost more than the Executive Branch of the U.S. government. Thus, either Michigan provides superior benefits or it pays a premium for those benefits. Suggests further research is needed.

A Company Specific Analysis Of The Capital Budgeting Process As It Pertains To A Zero Emissions Mandate On The American Automobile Industry, Brian M. Woodcock

Honors Theses

The rapid growth of the U.S. auto industry in the 20th century has led to a fast-paced society that emphasizes the importance of convenience and time-efficiency. Consequently, the cost of this society has been high levels of emissions, causing pollution to the surrounding environment. General Motors' attempt at a solution to the problem is their introduction of the first electric vehicle known as the EV1. The EV1 has the potential to meet society's transportation demands and to create a more pollution-free environment. However, in a free market economy, the price tag for a solution such as GM's may currently be …

The Incremental Information Content Of The Cash And Cash Equivalents Definition Of Funds, Hugh Samuel Riner Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to attempt to determine the incremental information content of the cash and cash equivalents definition of funds. The cash and cash equivalents definition of funds is the mandated definition of funds for use in the preparation of a statement of cash flows. Prior to 1988, firms were able to use alternative definitions of funds; working capital was the most widely-used alternative definition.

In order to determine whether the cash and cash equivalents definition of funds has incremental information content, event analysis methodology was utilized to compare the market reaction to the release of financial …

A Study Of The Influence Of Broadscope Managerial Accounting Systems On The Propensity To Create Slack, Gary Linn

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study was to empirically examine the propensity to create budgetary slack. The research was designed to test the hypothesized moderating effect of broadscope managerial accounting system use on variables that are associated with the propensity to create budgetary slack, and it is the first known attempt to do so. The study also extends the previous research that has been conducted on budgetary slack.

After an extensive literature review was conducted on the variables studied, questionnaires were sent to 2,000 managers in the United States. The response rate was lower than expected at 105, but high enough …

An Empirical Examination Of Materiality By Factor Analysis And Cognitive Mapping Of User And Preparer Groups, Treba Lilley Marsh

Doctoral Dissertations

This research primarily has attempted to determine if user-decision perspective (banker) and preparer perspective (CPA) differed in their materiality decisions and materiality cognitive processes. As its second objective the research has sought to determine the factors used in materiality judgments.

The researcher collected the data for the study while attending graduate and undergraduate classes of the American Banking Association's National Commercial Lending School and a training session of a Big Six accounting firm. Factor analysis of the data determined the underlying dimensions of materiality decisions. The accountants identified three relevant sets of factors: ratios, sensitive areas, and unrecorded items; the …

Towards Understanding Why Assessment Centers Work: An Evaluation Of The Subtle Criterion Contamination Hypothesis, Christopher T. Rotolo

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The success of the assessment center method in predicting job performance has been one of the most researched efforts in personnel psychology (Thornton, 1992). However, there is little reported evidence showing that assessment center procedures produce scores that serve as valid representations of separate constructs (Klimoski & Brickner, 1987). It is perhaps ironic, then, that despite the success stories, we still do not understand why assessment centers "work," (i.e., predict performance).

This study examined the subtle criterion contamination hypothesis as an explanation to assessment center validity. The subtle criterion contamination hypothesis states that assessment centers predict managerial performance because assessors …

The Pricing Behaviors Of Stock Index Futures: Some Preliminary Evidence In The Korean Market, Jaehoon Min

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This research examines the pricing behaviors of futures contract in the Korean market in its early inception period. This research is mainly organized into three parts. The first chapter investigates the mispricing of futures contract relative to its theoretical value. Consistent with earlier studies regarding futures markets in other countries, futures have been persistently underpriced in the Korean market. Even after accounting for 10 minute execution lag in the arbitrage trading, arbitrage opportunities have been largely unexploited. Market inertia caused by institutional investors' unfamiliarity is presumed to be largely responsible for underpricing of futures. Unfavorable spot market condition also hinders …

Recycling At Work: Waste Reduction And Recycling In The Las Vegas Hospitality Industry, Darlene M. Cartier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas hotel and restaurant industries generate 27% of the total waste for Clark County, Nevada. In an effort to study and increase recycling participation in the hospitality industry, Las Vegas hotels and restaurants were contacted to participate in a collaborative project between UNLV's Department of Environmental Studies and the Clark County Health District's Environmental Health Division, The project involved interviewing establishments with recycling programs currently in place. Information gathered from interviews and program tours was used to develop programs for hotels and restaurants who were not yet recycling. This thesis contains case studies of restaurants and hotels who …

Massively Parallel Reasoning In Transitive Relationship Hierarchies, Yugyung Lee

Dissertations

This research focuses on building a parallel knowledge representation and reasoning system for the purpose of making progress in realizing human-like intelligence. To achieve human-like intelligence, it is necessary to model human reasoning processes by programs. Knowledge in the real world is huge in size, complex in structure, and is also constantly changing even in limited domains. Unfortunately, reasoning algorithms are very often intractable, which means that they are too slow for any practical applications. One technique to deal with this problem is to design special-purpose reasoners. Many past Al systems have worked rather nicely for limited problem sizes, but …

Design, Simulation And Fabrication Of A Mems In-Situ Contactless Sensor To Detect Plasma Induced Damage During Reactive Ion Etching, Subramanian Ganesh

Theses

The present trend in the semiconductor industry is towards submicron devices. An inevitable process technique in achieving this is by reactive ion etching of the polysilicon gate. During RIE, the gate oxide may get damaged due to several causes. One of the main causes of the damage is the non-uniformity of the plasma. It is reported that these plasma inconsistencies are mainly due to electrode design and that they create spatial plasma potential fluctuation. These fluctuations are reported to be in the range of 10-20 Volts. By providing an in-situ monitoring of the wafers, the reliability of the device could …

Issues In Stabilization And Structural Adjustment, Dahlia Anwar El Hawary

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mergers And Acquisitions: A Primer For Successful Employee Transition, Jan Dunlap

Theses

This thesis will focus on the 'human side' of mergers and acquisitions. It will show the impact on employees and ways in which management can ease these employees through the transition.

Research has shown that there are many more failures than successes, when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Even with all the failures that exist, mergers and acquisitions are more prevalent than they have been in the past. Everyday the newspapers, news casts and radio stations mention a merger that is in the works.

If mergers and acquisitions are going to continue, and research shows that they will, then …

Business Ethics...A Contradiction In Terms?, Kimberly Rose Crawford

Theses

Business ethics occupies a unique position in the field of ethics. It consists of uneasy applications of some very general ethical principles (ie: duty or utility) to rather specific and often unique situations and crises. Unlike the professions of medicine and law, business ethics is concerned with an area of hum.an enterprise whose practitioners do not, for the most part, enjoy professional status and whose motives, to put it mildly, are often thought (and said) to be less than noble. Breed is often cited as the sole purpose of business, and much of the history of business ethics, accordingly, is …

An Investigation Of Principled Negotiations As It Applies To Contract Negotiations In The Public Schools, Jerry L. Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of principled negotiations in contract negotiations between teachers and Illinois public school district boards of education. The study examined three questions from both the union president's perspective and the superintendent's viewpoint. The first question was "If superintendents and teacher union leaders had the opportunity to become familiar with the principled negotiations model, to what extent did they perceive themselves interested in using this model for negotiations?" The second question was "Why has principled negotiations not been used as a model more often in Illinois public education contract negotiations?" The third …

Employee Motivation: What Works, What Doesn't, Michelle A. Koenig

Theses

Corporate America has seen a multitude of changes in the last century, but the change with the greatest impact is that of the employees. In the 'old' days, it was an employer's market. Employees felt lucky just to have a job. Companies did not spend time or money worrying about whether or not their employees were happy or motivated. The majority of jobs required manual labor and little or no education. This made replacing an unhappy or unmotivated worker much easier. In addition, there weren't as many U.S. or foreign companies competing for employees.

In today's competitive market, hiring and …

A Model Program To Develop Management Strategies And Training Skills For Fast Food Industry Employees In Taiwan, David Ruey-Lin Lai

All Graduate Projects

A model program in developing corporate personnel was designed for domestic fast food industry in Taiwan. The program emphasizes on successful business leaders' skills in the basic management function of decision making, planning, organizing, communicating, directing and controlling. Meanwhile, the successful fast food employee development have focused on training activity of customer service, personal appearance, company rules and regulations. The program concentrates on two specific areas: a management model and an employee training model. More specifically the management approach and training skills are addressed through a variety of methods and activities.

A Model Training Program To Prepare Hotel Service Employment Candidate For Hire, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Kevin Li-Ming Lu

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design a model training program to prepare hotel service employment candidates for hire, in selected hotels in Vancouver, Btitish Columbia, Canada. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current literature regarding training criteria for hotel service occupations employment was conducted.

A Model Business Ethics Curriculum For Changhua Provincial Commercial High School Changhua, Taiwan, R. O. C., Jane Chuan-Chuan Wu

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a model business ethics curriculum for high school students at Changhua Provincial Commercial High School in Changhua, Taiwan, (R.O.C.). To accomplish this purpose, current research and literature related to recent developments in business ethics curriculum and instruction was reviewed. Additionally, related information from selected schools with business ethics programs was obtained and analyzed.

Motivating And Leading Today's Workforce, Janet Brown-Mitchell

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of motivation tactics used by American companies in reaching their two most important goals - goals which are one, to grow and expand by increasing profits and two, to stay in business.

Organizations are finding that they cannot survive and prosper merely by laying off employees and restructuring . Events are unraveling at a dramatic pace, and businesses are no longer able to compete globally.

Companies must begin to think long term if they are to meet their goals. Downsizing and restructuring are resulting in poor employee morale, and reduction of quality in …

A Study Of Stress In The Workplace In The 1990s, Reva Carol Mays

Theses

This study was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in the intensity and frequency of organizational stress and job risk stress perceived between salaried, white-collar (N=37) employees and skilled blue-collar, union employees (N=35). 59 of the subjects were male and 13 were female.

The respondents completed two self-administered questionnaires. One was a work stress instrument, and the other was a demographic data sheet. The stress instrument contained 40 items, with scoring based on a 5-point Likert-type scale, that measured intensity and frequency of stress. The demographic data sheet contained 13 items.

Major findings of the research concluded …

An Analysis Of Price Discrimination Of Alcoholic Beverages: Marketing Towards African-American Vs. Anglo-Americans In St. Louis Communities, Tamara L. Morrow

Theses

This thesis will focus on the analysis of price discrimination of alcoholic beverages marketed towards African-Americans in St. Louis. Missouri.

Research has indicated that alcoholic beverages cost more in predominantly African-American communities compared to predominantly Anglo-American communities. Previous studies indicate certain factors that play a major role in identifying price discrimination. Some of these factors include social class, type of retail store and brand names and images.

However, an investigation of price discrimination of alcoholic beverages can indicate other reasons why prices are higher in certain areas. The percentage of alcohol and consumer demand in particular areas may pre-determine the …

Organizational And Social Systems, Ronald James Snelson

Theses

This project explores systems theory and practice as applied to Communications. A system is an organized or complex whole; an assemblage or combination of things, or parts forming a complex or unitary whole. A system is made up of (1) inputs, (2) operations (or processes), (3) outputs. Each interacts with, and is dependent on the proper functioning of the other. If something happens to one part the others parts are affected. Thus, within an organization, what happens to one can affect the whole.

An organization is a system. The systems approach has three goals: ( 1) to define relationships both …

The Effects Of Organizational Culture On Employee Motivation, Vickie R. Newman

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of organizational culture and the effect of the organization's beliefs and value systems on employee behavior. Current research has focused on the organization as the unit of analysis, rather than on the individual . Measuring individual behavior at t he organizational level is a challenging endeavor . However, the measurement o f organizational behavior, in its individual components, must be assessed for each individual within the organization.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the internalization of organizational culture by individuals and the resultant outcome behaviors. It is hypothesized that organizational culture, …

Employee Benefits, Kimberly Elinor Miller

Theses

This paper discusses how group benefits have changed over the past ten years, what corporations are offering their employees such as medical insurance, employee assistance programs, wellness training programs, child care programs, flexible compensation plans, continuing education benefits and retirement benefits and how each one of these benefits is set up . Employers want not only to implement benefit programs which will help them meet their organizational goals, but also to attract, retain and motivate employees. In order to succeed in these efforts they must install a program of benefits that is both cost effective and will meet organizational profit …

An Investigation Into The Design And Implementation Of A Business Plan For Ozark Builders, A Housing Development Company, Benjamin Luke Beaman

Theses

This thesis will investigate the design and implementation of a business plan for Ozark Builders, a housing development company.

One of the oldest professions in the United States, is the construction industry . This diverse industry that employs a large percent of the populace, plays an important role in our nation ' s economy . While, profits are to be made in the construction industry, the risks are overwhelming. The turnover rate for contractors exceeds twenty percent a year. Speculative building is considered a big gamble, and the builder ' s need to stay attuned to changes in consumer preferences, …

An Investigation Into The Design & Implementation Of A Customer Service Manual For Laboratories In A Hospital Setting, Fay M. Craft

Theses

The following applied learning expository thesis will focus on the design and implementation of a customer service manual for reference laboratories in a hospital setting.

The purpose of the manual is to provide direction for the reference laboratory customer service employees. Specifically, the manual consists of a series of steps which will enable employees to better service the hospital reference laboratory customers. The manual was broken down into sections which addressed characteristics, order taking, dispatching phlebotomists, proper collection of specimens, phlebotomy notification, registration of patient specimens, processing and reviewing of specimens, hiring, training, customer satisfaction, complaints and expectations.

Three reference …

Motivating Sales Personnel, Kel T. Denker

Theses

The purpose of this study is to develop a reference manual for managers to examine on a periodic basis and refresh their memories about the motivational process and its importance in the field of sales.

Research has shown that individuals are motivated differently to achieve specific goals and those who are positively motivated definitely out perform those who are not. In the field of sales, this is extremely important. This project illustrates motivational theory, personality types, a managers role, a sales persons role, and a variety of different motivational techniques.

This project is not intended to teach managers how to …

The Impact Of The Year 2000 Date Change On Corporations And Their Computer Systems, Michael O. Diggs

Theses

This thesis will focus on the year 2000 computer glitch and the impact it will have on corporations and their data processing systems.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, data storage for computers was expensive, so computer programmers routinely saved two bytes of memory by dropping the prefix 19 from the continuous date function. Thus, the year 2000 will bring a switch in the year indicator from 99 to 00. The business implications of this seemingly trivial technical event are potentially devastating. The simplest date comparison or arithmetic calculation could fail. It will foul up date critical calculation for loans, …