Other Education Commons^™

Using Appreciative Inquiry To Discover School Administrators' Learning Management Best Practices Development, Michelle Estes Tittle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Department of Education has mandated that each U.S. state develop successful initiatives to help students navigate their educational experience. Yet in Alabama students neither advance academically nor in improved life skills development. It is unclear if school administrators in Alabama Schools have contextual best practices for strategic planning and implementation to support and improve the experiences of vulnerable K-12 students. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to explore how administrators of Alabama schools develop contextual best practices for strategic planning and implementation to support students. The conceptual framework was designed using collaboration theory, organizational learning theory, …

Understanding How Generation X And Millennial Entrepreneurs Manage Organizational Conflict, Sidjae T. Price

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

As the United States prepares for a generational shift in leaders, there is a lack of literature adequately examining how Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs manage organizational conflict about leadership and change management. The scope of this problem should concern individuals who are stakeholders in any organization. In preparation for the coming shift in generational leaders, the subject study explored the management of organizational conflict regarding leadership and change management for Generation X and Millennial entrepreneurs. Supported by a theoretical foundation built on theory of generations and realistic group conflict theory, this qualitative study analyzed the interviews and narratives of …

Success Strategies For Small Service Business Owners, Diana Ratcliff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners struggle to sustain their businesses over time. According to U.S. Census data in 2014, only half of all small businesses survived beyond the first 5 years of operation, and only a third survived longer than 10 years. Grounded with the strategic contingency theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small service business owners used to succeed beyond the first 5 years of operation. The target population consisted of 4 owners of small service and retail businesses in Arlington, VA, with fewer than 50 employees who have succeeded in business longer than 5 …

Strategies For Motivating A Multigenerational Workforce, Avon Donnell Cornelius

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The multigenerational workforce creates leadership challenges for business managers, and the members of each generational group have different factors that motivate them. Failure to motivate a multigenerational workforce can lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, high turnover rates, and reduced profits. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that marketing managers in a Maryland-based marketing firm use to motivate a multigenerational workforce using Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. The study comprised 7 marketing managers who have experience motivating a multigenerational workforce. The data collection process for this study consisted of semistructured interviews, observation, and member …

Small And Medium-Size Enterprise Owner Strategies For Invoice Factoring Financing, Winniefred Nabawanda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business owners influence the growth and development of sub-Saharan Africa and the welfare of its citizens. However, SME owners often lack the strategies to access and obtain invoice factoring financing to fund their businesses. Guided by the pecking order theory and the credit rationing theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that 3 SME owners in Kenya used to access and obtain invoice factoring financing to fund their businesses. Data were collected from in-depth semistructured Skype interviews and organizational documents. Data were analyzed using the Krippendorff content analysis methodology. Member …

Scope Management Strategies For Engineering Leaders To Improve Project Success Rates, Kevin Lee Ramage

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Civil engineering projects undertaken without successful implementation of scope management strategies by project leaders are approximately 10% more likely to fail than projects undertaken with scope management strategies. Using scope management theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore scope management strategies used by some project leaders in the engineering field to improve project success rates. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 3 purposefully selected project leaders in Georgia, and a review of project completion reports, budget reports, government proposals, and scope management documents. Data analysis occurred using Yin's 5-step process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, …

Strategies For Hiring Skilled Furniture Manufacturing Workers, Michael L. Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In April 2013, the U.S. unemployment rate was 7.6% and did not drop as quickly in the recent recession as in past recessions. The Unemployment and Job Creation Program study informed readers that many employers could not find qualified workers. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore hiring managers' strategies to locate and hire skilled workers in the furniture manufacturing industry. The target sample included 3 furniture manufacturers located in Huntsville, Alabama who have successfully developed and implemented strategies for hiring skilled workers. The skill shortage theory was the conceptual framework for this study. In the …

Exploring Possibilities With Professionals On Youth Aging Out Of Placement, Karen L. Garrett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homelessness with youth aging out the child welfare system has proportionally risen over the years. It is important that policy makers, professionals, and practitioners in the field of foster care understand the conditions youth find themselves in at the time of leaving placement. The purpose of this study was to describe problems that exist for youth aging out of foster care. Post placement outcomes have not generated results that suggest youth are thriving as they return to communities. Attachment Theory outlines relational bonds that form with caregivers when youth are entering and exiting placements. This qualitative study collected data from …

Human Resource Strategies And Sustainability In Small Businesses, Christopher Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that due to a lack of strategy in managing human resources (HR), small businesses frequently close within the first 5 years of operation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that HR managers used to maintain business operations for longer than the first 5 years. The targeted population comprised 2 owners of small business in North Carolina who used HR strategies successfully to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. Data collection methods included face-to-face, semistructured interviews and the review of the company documents associated with owners of the businesses and their …

Leadership Strategies To Retain Key Employees, Keith Reginald Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of key employees protects a firm's investment in its human resources. Employee retention is an issue in the insurance sector, particularly among sales employees. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore leadership strategies used by insurance sales managers to retain key employees. Herzberg's dual factor theory and Adams's equity theory were used to explore insurance sales managers' insights into leadership strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 insurance sales managers in southern California to elicit the strategies they used to maintain their key salespeople. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method. Seven themes emerged from …

Effective Leadership Strategies, Employee Performance, And Organizational Sustainability In The Boxing Industry, Rita Ali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective leadership impedes employee performance and threatens organizational sustainability, causing U.S. businesses to spend billions of dollars addressing such issues. Correspondingly, boxing promotion companies are challenged as some leaders lack strategies to improve employee performance. This single case study was focused on leadership strategies utilized in the boxing promotion industry to improve employee performance. Transformational and charismatic leadership theories were the conceptual framework for this study. The data consisted of semistructured interviews with 8 participants from 1 organization (4 leaders and 4 subordinates), as well as document review of company training materials. The 6-step model for thematic analysis coding procedure …

Cultivating Cultural Exchange: Improving University Study Abroad Programs, Katherine Crawford

Honors Theses

My affinity for culture, both foreign and domestic, has greatly shaped my life and future career path. As I have been frequently reminded, I did not take the “typical” exchange route. However, I accredit this atypical experience to my passion towards the subject. My first immersive cultural experience occurred during a yearlong, high school, Rotary led exchange to Bourges, France. Simply put, it changed my life. I encountered the culture first hand, accepting a new normal: bisous greetings, daily baguettes, and a well-structured hierarchy. Within six months, I considered myself fluent in the language. I lived with French families, was …

Vital Signs Of U.S. Osteopathic Medical Residency Programs Pivoting To Single Accreditation Standards, Timothy S. Novak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Osteopathic physician (D.O.) residency programs that do not achieve accreditation under the new Single Accreditation System (SAS) standards by June 30, 2020 will lose access to their share of more than $9,000,000,000 of public tax dollars. This U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) funding helps sponsoring institutions cover direct and indirect resident physician training expenses. A significant financial burden would then be shifted to marginal costs of the residency program’s sponsoring institution in the absence of CMS funding. The sponsoring institution’s ability or willingness to bare these costs occurs during a time when hospital operating margins are at …

Leaders Who Learn: The Intersection Of Behavioral Science, Adult Learning And Leadership, Natalya I. Sabga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines if a relationship exists among three rich research streams, specifically the behavioral science of motivation, adult learning and leadership. What motivates adult professionals to continue learning and how is that connected to their style and efficacy as leaders? An extension of literature to connect Andragogy, Self-determination and Transformational Leadership Theory is explored. Responses to questions adapted from the Carré Model of Adult Orientation and Implication on Learning and Training Activities (Carré, 1997) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2000) are compared among a sample of adult professionals in leadership positions. Results indicate that learning motivation …

Measuring What Matters: Exploring Student Motivations To Inform International Student Recruitment, Rebecca Lubitz

Capstone Collection

Over the last decade, international students in the United States have surpassed the one million mark (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2016(a). Research found here highlights the goals and motivations of this growing constituency and examines factors that influence international students to choose educational experiences in the United States.

Two online surveys were distributed, one to international recruitment agents that work for UC Berkeley Extension, and another to international students. The paper examines survey responses along with existing research to offer data-driven theories on how international educators might more effectively approach student recruitment and program design. The research concluded that …

Breach: Understanding The Mandatory Reporting Of Title Ix Violations As Pedagogy And Performance, Jacob G. Abraham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how institutions generate, teach, and authorize normative performances through texts and/as pedagogical practices. Through an analysis of the University of South Florida’s mandatory reporting policy, training, and Title IX Incident Report Form, this project examines how institutions construct and privilege certain values, performances, and individuals as means of generating the legal compliance of the institution independent. These practices are valued independent of how such compliance enables and limits the relationship between students and teachers. I argue the University’s texts and pedagogical practices serve to substantiate, authorize, and perform the materialization of certain privileges and the normative standards …

2017 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Exploring Strategies Microenterprise Owners Use To Succeed In Business Beyond 2 Years, Dr. Tamika Ebony Haynes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, microenterprises, critical segment of the small business population, accounts for 110 million small businesses that source new jobs. Despite the increase in the number of created businesses in the U.S., more than 70% of microenterprise business owners are unsuccessful after 2 years. The multiple case study included 6 participants living in Houston, Texas, and intended to explore business strategies microenterprise event management owners used to succeed in business beyond 2 years. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the 5-stage small business growth model and the 5-stage of the evolution of entrepreneurship theory. The data …

Strategies For Integrating Technological Innovations In Small Businesses, Petra Samuel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The effective integration of technological innovation is vital to the success of small businesses and can catapult growth and profitability. Some business managers and supervisors, however, may not have a firm understanding of strategies for integrating technological innovations in businesses; this lack of knowledge may result in employee frustration and costly roadblocks to achieving business objectives. This case study was conducted to identify the strategies used by business managers and supervisors to integrate technological innovations in small businesses. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation and Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovation served as the conceptual framework. Ten business managers and supervisors …

Management Contingencies Between Privately-Funded And Publically-Funded Broadcasting Organizations, Michael Godson-Amamoo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations, for-profit or not-for-profit, continually assess demands from their internal and external stakeholders and adjust their operations and strategies for long term sustainability. Building on the classical contingency theory of organization, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the differences of operational values and principles between private and public broadcasting organizations; an additional goal was to examine how these organizations use their operating choices to adapt to their environment. In a comparative study design between for-profit and not-for-profit broadcasting organizations as independent variables, the focus of the study was to compare 3 groups of dependent variables regarding operational …

Strategies To Improve Productivity Of A Multigenerational Workforce, Grace Elizabeth Beasley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that millennials will soon represent 46% of the workforce. The anticipated changes in the workforce are of great concern to business leaders who may manage individuals from different generations. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that administrative leaders in an advisory group of community-based organizations and educational institutions used to improve the productivity of a multigenerational workforce. The conceptual frameworks that grounded this study were the social constructivist perspective and generational theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews to elicit narratives from 6 administrative leaders from 6 …

Accountants And Accounting Educators' Perceptions Of Accounting Certifications/Accreditations And Communication Divides, Brigitte A. Bennerson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global changes to business exchanges of goods, services, capital, technology, and knowledge requires accountants to have more diverse skill sets than in the past. Practitioners' documented concerns about accounting graduates' inability to function globally. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was twofold: (a) to explore accounting practitioners' and educators' perceptions of the Certified Public Accountant and other accounting certifications and accreditations, and (b) to explore possible communication divides between accounting academia and professionals that may be creating a gap between what employers expect and what they receive from graduates. Phone interviews were conducted with 5 practicing accounting educators and …

Nonprofit Leaders' Strategies In Capturing The Attention Of Committed, Large Donors, Aneatra Holland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Few U.S. nonprofit organizations meet annual operational costs. Facing government funding cuts, U.S. nonprofit leaders have had to seek other revenue streams to remain operable and ensure that the clients they serve continue to receive support. Leaders often seek out large donors but lack strategies for successfully doing so. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies successful nonprofit leaders have used to capture the attention of committed, large donors in Southern California. Government failure theory and independence theory constituted the conceptual framework. The purposeful sampling method consisted of 3 nonprofit agency managers who had operated …

Acquisition And Retention Of Skilled Employees For Industries In Giles County, Tennessee, James Irvine Greene Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. manufacturing industry produces products that ship all over the world. Because of the shortage of skilled labor, some manufacturing human resource professionals lack the strategies and processes necessary to acquire and retain skilled employees. Guided by Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore the strategies and processes that manufacturing human resource professionals use to acquire and retain skilled employees. Data were gathered from a population of manufacturing human resource professionals in Giles County, Tennessee from individual interviews; focus group; and participants' internal documents, public documents, and …

Strategies For Catalyzing Workforce Engagement In Warehouse Operations, Jeannette Jackson-Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, approximately 30% of the global workers viewed experiences in the workplace as positive and fulfilling, which results in increased productivity in the workplace. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that some warehouse service center managers used to engage employees to higher levels of productivity. The population comprised of 7 warehouse service center managers in 2 companies located in the Riverport area in Louisville, KY. The conceptual framework for this study encompassed Kahn's employee engagement theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, organizational procedure handbooks, and direct observation to prompt detailed information about participants' …

Strategies Small Business Owners Use For Long-Term Existence, Sherman Eldridge Humphrey Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 90 of every 100 new businesses fail within 5 years. The need to explore ongoing strategies that provide low-cost alternatives can prove invaluable to cash-strapped new business owners. Exploration of relationships among a group of stakeholders essential to business success provided data in this case study. Those stakeholders include the owner, the customer service personnel and the consumer. Without the consumer, all other business activities would cease to be necessary. Five business owners and five employees from Redding, California participated in 2 separate focus group interviews. The conceptual framework for this case study was to explore the specific …

Strategies For Business Capacity Expansion In Jordanian Pharmaceutical Companies, Tariq Ahmad Al-Jallad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Shareholder investments declined in Jordanian pharmaceutical business expansion between 2007 and 2014, which included a reduction in the supply of essential medicines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore effective applications of expansion strategies to satisfy demand in the MENA markets among Jordanian generic pharmaceutical companies' managers. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the transformational leadership theory and stakeholders' theory. The purposive sample consisted of 4 chief executive officers and 8 managers from Jordanian pharmaceutical companies who practiced the expansion strategy in the MENA for …

Restaurant Management Strategies To Comply With Food Safety Regulations, Dr. Carlos Juan Calcador

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The recent economic crisis in Puerto Rico has created decreased health department fiscal capabilities, adding more responsibilities to health department officials in charge of restaurant inspections without adding more operational funds, which in turn led to less regulatory capacity. This situation instigated increased food safety regulation violations, and food safety legislation changes, imposing more economic pressure to restaurant owners, which leads to a lack of restaurant sustainability. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies six business visionaries, smart entrepreneurs, who have positioned themselves as successful restaurateurs, in the restaurant industry in Puerto Rico. They were key factors …

Leadership Strategies For Developing And Implementing Organizational Change, Hardy L. Delay Iv

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders in some narcotics treatment programs struggle with change development and implementation. The objective of this single-case study was to explore strategies used by leaders in a narcotics treatment program to develop and implement organizational change initiatives successfully. Participants included 4 leaders who had developed and implemented successful change initiatives repeatedly for more than 10 years in a narcotics treatment program in the southeastern United States. Bertalanffy's general systems theory was the basis for the conceptual framework. Data collection included semistructured interviews of leaders of a narcotics treatment program and collection of archival data, such as reports relating to strategic …

Spend Your Student Loans On A Vacation. No One Is Watching., Raul A. Hernandez, Morten Buttler

Capstones

Student loan debtors who spend their loans on non-educational expenses   increase the likelihood of financial hardship once they begin repayment. Contributing to the financial struggles of student loan debtors is an overly-complicated student loan system which can entangle borrowers with unclear financial statements and a glut of federal loan repayment programs.

Link to capstone project: https://medium.com/@raul.hernandez/spend-your-student-loans-on-a-vacation-no-one-is-watching-a71834ed6f45#.vj61hhxig