Business Commons^™

Employee Locus Of Control And Engagement In Nonprofit Organizations, Jacqueline Myers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transformational leadership and employee engagement have been studied in the private sector, yet research in the nonprofit sector is scarce. Addressing this gap is important to improve nonprofit practices, as nonprofit organizations contribute to a myriad of social issues critical to positive social change. Using Burns's theory of transformational leadership, which places emphasis on motivating and inspiring performance through a shared vision and mission, the purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the effects of transformational leadership on employee engagement in nonprofit organizations. The study also assessed whether locus of control acted as a mediating variable on employee engagement. …

Supporting And Securing Personal Mobile Devices Within An Existing Information Technology Environment, George Allen Patton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Personal mobile devices are becoming integrated into the daily operations of business. Managers are realizing that employees who are allowed to use personal mobile devices to access corporate information systems may reduce costs as users buy their own devices. The problem was that managers have a limited understanding of the need to secure or support personal mobile devices. The purpose of this survey study was to examine the relationship between employees' desire to use personal mobile devices and corporation needs for security and support. Hypotheses were tested by examining the relationships between the requirement to support and secure personal mobile …

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Savings Account For Microenterprise, Meghan Jarow

Honors College Theses

Will bundling savings accounts with loans increase the effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for alleviating poverty? Microfinance is the practice of offering small loans to poor people in developing countries. The development of this practice into a poverty dimishining, self-sustaining business won Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Prize in 2006. Today, there are thousands of microfinance institutions (MFIs) serving millions of people in developing countries. However, there is recent evidence that these loans do not help reduce poverty, and may do as much ahrm as good.

In truth providing credit to the poor may not be enough to eliminate poverty. …

Space Tourism: Hurdles And Hopes, Robert A. Goehlich

Publications

According to the Space Policy Institute (2002, Bib. section), “Space tourism is the term broadly applied to the concept of paying customers traveling beyond Earth’s atmosphere.” Operating reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) might be a first step toward achieving mass space tourism. Thus, the aim of this article is to investigate the potential hurdles and other aspects of importance that must be overcome in order to use RLVs for space tourism flights. The primary ones are social issues (e.g., “Is space tourism ethically acceptable?”), institutional issues (e.g., “Is environmental pollution caused by space tourism more harmful than other emission sources?”), and …

Evaluating Spatial Model Accuracy In Mass Real Estate Appraisal: A Comparison Of Geographically Weighted Regression And The Spatial Lag Model, Paul E. Bidanset, John R. Lombard

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Geographically weighted regression (GWR) has been shown to greatly increase the performance of ordinary least squares-based appraisal models, specifically regarding industry standard measurements of equity, namely the price-related differential and the coefficient of dispersion (COD; Borst and McCluskey, 2008; Lockwood and Rossini, 2011; McCluskey et al., 2013; Moore, 2009; Moore and Myers, 2010). Additional spatial regression models, such as spatial lag models (SLMs), have shown to improve multiple regression real estate models that suffer from spatial heterogeneity (Wilhelmsson, 2002). This research is performed using arms-length residential sales from 2010 to 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia, and compares the performance of GWR …

Tribal And Commercial Casinos In The Midwestern United States: Effect On County Unemployment, Amber Irlmeier

Honors Program Theses

The subject of casinos is constantly surrounded by debate. The proponents of casinos frequently say that casinos bring jobs, and therefore, they will reduce the unemployment rate. This study quantitatively analyzes this claim. Furthermore, previous research looked at either tribal or commercial casinos. This study looks at both tribal and commercial casinos so a comparison can be made between the impacts of the two types of casinos. The sample analyzed is a set of commercial and tribal casinos in eight Midwestern states. The findings are that a commercial casino entering a county is significantly negatively correlated with the unemployment rate, …

How Large Are The Benefits Of Emerging Market Equities?, C. Mitchell Conover, Gerald R. Jensen, Robert R. Johnson

Finance Faculty Publications

We perform a comprehensive evaluation of the benefits of emerging market equities by extending previous research in four fundamental ways. The contribution of this study is that it 1) evaluates a more complete sample; 2) examines performance measures that account for asymmetric return distributions; 3) separates emerging markets by region; and 4) considers the influence that the market environment has on the benefits of emerging market investments. Our results suggest that previous research has understated the benefits associated with investing in emerging markets. We find that broad emerging market indices have relatively low downside risk, which results in Sortino ratios …

Web Development For The Home Builders Associoation Serving Portage And Summit Counties, Gail Lewis White

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Gail Lewis White

Major: Business and Organizational Communication

Project Sponsor: Dr. Sylvia White

Number of Project Credits: 3

Abstract

This Honors project redesigned the website of the Home Builders Association serving greater Portage and Summit counties (HBA). The goal of the new website was to enhance the social media image and internet presence of the HBA. The project included a competitive analysis of competing websites throughout the construction industry and a thorough analysis of the HBA’s internal and external communications. Under the supervision of Vice President of Operations Carmine Torio, this project has met and surpassed the goals set by …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 17, Number 1, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Adam G. Walke

Departmental Papers (E & F)

No abstract provided.

The Business Of Transition: A Curriculum, Hayley Hill

Honors Projects

This project consists of a basic money management and business skills curriculum that is intended for students aged 16-20 at the Uganda Orphans Fund (UOF) and has been developed with Uganda’s unique culture specifically in mind. The curriculum aims to equip the young adults at UOF for a successful life, both financially and vocationally, once they leave the orphanage. Currently, the students are equipped with neither personal money management nor basic business skills. With the addition of financial and business comprehension to UOFs current curriculum, students will be provided the students with the ability to make responsible financial and business …

Cracking The Code On Stem: A People Strategy For Nevada's Economy Executive Summary, Jessica A. Lee, Mark Muro, Jonathan Rothwell, Scott Andes, Siddharth Kulkarni

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Nevada has in place a plausible economic diversification strategy—and it’s beginning to work. Now, the state and its regions need to craft a people strategy. Specifically, the state needs to boost the number of Nevadans who possess at least some postsecondary training in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math—the so-called “STEM” disciplines (to which some leaders add arts and design to make it “STEAM”).

The moment is urgent—and only heightened by the projected worker needs of Tesla Motors’ planned “gigafactory” for lithium-ion batteries in Storey County.

Even before the recent Tesla commitment, a number of the more high-tech …

What Type Of Relationship Do We Have With Loved Brands?, Marc Fetscherin

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion, testing and comparing two different relationship theories and their underlying scales as applied to brand love. Current brand love studies neglect a detailed discussion and analysis of the appropriate relationship theory and underlying measurement scale to be used. Design/methodology/approach – We use a 2 × 2 experimental design where we compare two relationship theories (interpersonal versus parasocial) across two samples (USA and Japan). Model testing were conducted using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group structural equation modeling techniques assessing the type of relationship consumers have with …

A Pilot Study On Nurse-Led Rounds: Preliminary Data On Patient Contact Time, Soo-Hoon Lee, Alice Lee, Siang-Ngim Lim, Mei-Jiao Koh, Benjamin Tan, Phillip H. Phan, Reshma A. Merchant, Aisha Lateef, Dale A. Fisher

Management Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY. Ward rounding has been a historical clinical method of inter-professional collaboration to support inpatient care through the sharing of mental models by exchanging information and discussing plans of care, treatment goals, and discharge plans for the patient. The extant literature reports that rounds are frequently led by doctors with infrequent nurse-physician collaboration and patients’ interactions with doctors during ward rounds tend to be brief.

OBJECTIVE. To explore the effects of nurse-led morning ward rounds on patient contact time.

DESIGN. An ethnographic prospective observational study comparing nurse-led and physician-led rounds. SETTING. A General Medicine ward at the …

Performance Implications Of Stage-Wise Lead User Participation In Software Development Problem Solving, Jorge A. Colazo

School of Business Faculty Research

The problem-solving view of new product development sees the innovation process as a series of problem-solving loops broken down into three stages: problem detection, analysis and removal. We link this framework with lead user-driven innovation regarding software and show that effort by lead users (LUs) in each stage of the innovation problem solving process is, in varying degrees, associated with the source code’s quality, the productivity of the development process and the software’s popularity. We also test whether front loading the problem solving process is associated with development performance and we find that front loading is associated with increased code …

Innowacyjność W Gospodarce Polski. Modele, Bariery, Instrumenty Wsparcia, Andrzej H. Jasiński

Monografie/Monographs

Książka opiera się na badaniach, które zostały przeprowadzone przez autora w projekcie badawczym: Analiza stosowanych w Polsce narzędzi wspomagania innowacyjności w ramach Programu Strategicznego "Innowacyjne Systemy Wspomagania Technicznego Zrównoważonego Rozwoju Gospodarki". Publikacja jest przeznaczona głównie dla menedżerów firm, badaczy i studentów zajmujących się zarządzaniem innowacjami. Z pewnością przyda się również instytucjom publicznym odpowiedzialnym za politykę innowacyjną.

Does An It Organization Transform Its Identity When Engaged In Outsourcing?, Carol Mcguire

Student Scholarship

Firms have outsourced since the infant days of manufacturing. Many firms find that the ability to fill gaps in their expertise or gaps in human capital with individuals outside the organization is crucial to keep pace with customer demand. Much has been published about the decision making process and resulting impacts of outsourcing from business operations point of view, with financial considerations being extensively explored. But less has been published about the relationship between outsourcing and the identity of the organization engaged in outsourcing. Worldwide IT spending was estimated to be $2 Trillion in 2013 with approximately 12% directed to …

Situational Factors Influencing Sustained Volunteer Commitment In Professional Associations, Michael G. Niederpruem

Student Scholarship

Professional associations rely on member volunteers to perform organizational work. Yet, half of these volunteers do not intend to volunteer in the future or are ambivalent towards future volunteering (Gazley, 2013). Combined with a dearth of empirical research on both professional associations in general (Webb & Abzug, 2008) and on the volunteer experience in particular (Wilson, 2012), this qualitative study utilizes grounded theory methodology to improve our understanding of the volunteer experience of volunteering at professional associations. Our aim is to determine how this experience occurs to professional volunteers, and in what ways this experience (or these experiences) lead to …

دور الأنماط القيادية والمتغيرات الشخصية للأفراد في التغيير التنظيمي, برباوي كمال

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

يعد التغيير التنظيمي من سمات المؤسسات الحديثة وهذا التغيير لا يكون عفوي بل تفرضه الظروف المحيطة بالمؤسسة، فعليه فقباء المؤسسات يعتبر رهان والشغل الشاغل لدى القياديين الإداريين،فبهذا نقول بأن نجاح التغيير التنظيمي في المؤسسة لا يكون إلا بنمط قيادي فعال، فقد تتشابه أهداف المؤسسات في التغيير التنظيمي لكن نتائج التغيير تختلف باختلاف الأنماط القيادية في المؤسسات.فمن خلال هذا نهدف من المقال إلى إبراز دور النمط القيادي في عملية التغيير التنظيمي، بالإضافة إلى دور المتغيرات الشخصية( الجنس، العمر، المستوى التعليمي،الخبرة المهنية،المركز الوظيفي) لذا الأفراد في عملية التغيير التنظيمي.

Developing A Framework For Sustainable Manufacturing Strategies Selection, Lanndon A. Ocampo, Eppie Estanislao–Clark

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Manufacturing organizations adopt sustainability manufacturing in their attempt to address the triple-bottomline (TBL): environmental stewardship, economic growth, and social well-being. This study was conducted in order to characterize the programs adopted by a manufacturing firm with respect to the TBL and in the end, recommend a framework that could be utilized by decision-makers in the firm as they start to pursue a more sustainable strategy. This paper utilized the case study of a prime multinational semiconductor firm that promotes sustainability among their corporate initiatives.The semiconductor industry was chosen because of its prominence in sustainability efforts worldwide. Weaknesses of the current …

Adult Offender Recidivism Rates: How Effective Is Pre-Release And Vocational Education Programing And What Demographic Factors Contribute To An Offenders Return To Prison, James K. Bueche, Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections’ 100 hour pre-release program and vocational education had a significant impact on offender recidivism. Additionally, a model of predicating offender recidivism using demographic data was another aspect of the study. Offenders in the study were 404 offenders who completed the pre-release program, 404 offenders who completed vocational education and 808 offenders who composed the control group. All offenders were released from prison in the year of 2010, and if they returned to prison between their release and December 31, 2013, they were …

A Mixed Methods Evaluation Of The Coastal Roots Program, Jenna Lachenaye

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Few evaluation-based studies of the LSU Coastal Roots™ program have been conducted over the 14-year life of the project. Teacher participant numbers and the scope of the program have grown since its inception, changing the face and shape of the program in each manifestation. A goal free approach to a mixed methods evaluation was employed to meet the exploratory nature of the investigation and to remain open to the myriad of possibilities within the program as it exists today. The exploratory sequential design employed qualitative methods in the early stages of the project through the collection and analysis of interview …

Whites And The Active Representation Of Racial Minority Interests, Maykao Y. Hang

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

This study explored personal and organizational factors that contribute to White public administrators actively representing the interests of racial minority minorities. Data collection comprised of 15 semi-structured interviews. The average age was 54, and the length of service was 3-33 years. Subjects were asked about their personal background, what it means to be White, and work experiences in local county government.

Personal factors found were racial consciousness, major life events, and significant relationships with people of color. Organizational factors included a diverse and inclusive work environment, bureaucracy, legal and compliance issues, and supervisor support. Findings included that Whites did not …

Role Of Digital Collections In The Cultural Heritage Institution: Pathways For Strengthening Social Identity, Kimberly A. Arleth

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

According to the theory of social identity, the more connected an individual feels to other group members, the more likely they are to feel a part of this group. The stronger the connection is, the more likely the individual is to become an active member. Cultural collections illustrate the shared history of a group. By increasing access to these collections via online access, organizations expose more users to these shared histories. Viewing such shared history, individuals will experience stronger connections to the history and members of the group resulting in an increase in social identity. When this connection solidified, users …

Adviser's Guide To Social Security: Unlocking The Mystery Of Retirement Planning, Theodore J. Sarenski, Elaine Floyd

Guides, Handbooks and Manuals

No abstract provided.

The Inevitable And Difficult Transition From Relation-Based To Rule-Based Governance In China, Shaomin Li

Management Faculty Publications

China has benefited tremendously from replying on the relation-based way of doing business and governance, as evidenced in its rapid economic growth up to now. However, further relying on the relation-based governance may eventually hinder China's economic growth and exacerbate inequality, resulting in political instability. On the other hand, given China's cultural heritage and powerful vested interest groups, can China shed its relation-based way? This article argues from logical, theoretical, and empirical perspectives the inevitability and difficulty of China's transition from relations to rules, and discuss the implications of the transition or the lack of it for China.

The Impact Of A Freshmen-Year Seminar On Students' Second-Year Retention, Lori Henry Richard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the impact a freshman-year seminar course, UNIV 101, had on students’ second-year retention. Retention was determined based on a student’s subsequent enrollment at the university, one year after their initial semester. In addition, this study explored the relationship between selected independent variables found in literature and second-year retention. Finally, the study sought to determine if selected variables, completion of UNIV 101, and final letter grade earned by students in UNIV 101 was able to predict the probability of retention. The target population for this study was all first-time freshmen enrolled in a small, public, regional institution in …

Three Essays On Digital Marketing, Xia Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is primarily interested in finding out how marketing can play a more strategic role in helping firms to improve performance in the Digital Age. It contains three essays on digital marketing. The unifying theme is figuring out how the marketing department can benefit from the informational value of (big) data and advanced analytics and thus improve customer and business performance. The first essay develops a scale for measuring marketing information capability. The scale has passed rigorous tests standards. The second essay empirically examines the antecedents, moderators and consequences of marketing information capability. The antecedents include cross-functional coopetition between …

Alternative Teacher Certification: The Politics, The Preparation, And The Promise Of A Quality Education, Yasheka Adams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alternative routes to teacher certification have increasingly gained popularity since the early 1980s. This increased attention is due to added focus on teacher quality and quantity. By participating in an alternative certification program, candidates are afforded the opportunity to obtain full teacher certification in an abbreviated time period. Completers of alternative certification programs are tasked with the same responsibilities as traditionally certified teachers. A substantial number of adults are making the decision to transition into the dynamic world of teaching. There are numerous debates regarding the efficacy of alternative pathways. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the belief …

Understanding The Impact Of Motivation On The Effectiveness Of Various Content Delivery Methods In Training Program Development: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation, Serena Lynn Fisher

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an online training program designed for part-time undergraduate Desk Assistants (DAs) employed by Louisiana State University’s (LSU) department of Residence Education. The evaluation of the training program included a comparison of video and lecture versions of a training program with comparable content to determine the effectiveness across a set of four outcomes: motivation during training, motivation after training, satisfaction, and learning. Additionally, this research contributed to the understanding of the impact of technology-mediated learning in training by examining factors that may differentially benefit or challenge the effectiveness of the training delivery method. …