Browsing by Subject "Human Resource Development"
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Item Assessing Nurse and Medical Assistant Perceived Needs Prior to Implementation of Expanded Web-based Training in Physician Clinics(2012-07-16) Hopkins, Pamela Jean ClintonThe purpose of this study was to assess nurse and medical assistant perceived needs prior to implementing an expended web-based training (WBT) program in physician clinics. This case study was conducted with a mixed-data approach using quantitative and descriptive survey data collection. A total of 239 nurses and medical assistants within the Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics dispersed throughout east, north east and north central Texas participated. The participants shared knowledge and behaviors common to the culture of the organization. When new and existing clinical staff traveled to the distant primary campus for training, the operations of the clinic practice was disrupted. Employees are not hired in groups comprising convenient training class sizes, and mandatory training often cannot wait until a class is of a cost effective size. The data were collected using a 50-item survey evaluating computer access, computer usage, computer knowledge (satisfaction, frustration, and motivation to transfer learning), and WBT preference (employee's support and employee's perception of supervisor's support). Quantitative data were collected in the form of a dichotomous yes or no and ordinal data from two Likert type scales. Descriptive survey data was collected using open-ended questions emphasizing perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of WBT. Demographic data were collected to facilitate comparison of perspectives based on demographic information gathered. To support reliability and validity of the Clinic WBT Needs Assessment (CWBTNA), exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, and correlations were utilized to validate the survey instrument. Chi-squares, ANOVAs, and t-tests were conducted. Following the Bonferroni control for Type I error rate (a), four t-test, two chi-squares, and three ANOVAs demonstrated significance. Descriptive responses generated from descriptive survey items were transcribed into an Excel spreadsheet which allowed coding and sorting. Themes consistent with order sets of the quantitative survey emerged. Among additional findings, statistical data demonstrated that staff perceived they transferred learning into the work place best when they perceived greater supervisor support. All findings are detailed in the document.Item Case study: copyright issues in distance education(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Huddleston, Michael BOver the years, much attention has been given to copyright law in literature and as it pertains to textbooks and other original academic works. However, as the focus is narrowed to the copyright law as it relates to distance education within higher education, very little information or precedents can be looked to for guidance. For an institution of higher education involved in distance education, the problem demands that a model be developed specifically for universities to follow as they embrace distance education programs and course development. As the likelihood of lawsuits and grievances clearly exists, the motivation of faculty to create original works is potentially compromised when there is conflict between themselves and the universities who employ them. In addition, a set of guidelines in the form of a model lends a structural basis to university educators and administrators alike on which to formulate the process of developing distance education programs with a greatly reduced chance of legal incident. A case study design was chosen because it adds strength to what is known and deepens understanding of complex issues. According to Lincoln and Guba in their 1985 book, qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials: case study, personal experience, introspective, life story, interview, observational, historical, interactive, and visual texts that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings in individualsItem Challenging the Devadasi System from a Framework of Intersectionality(2014-12-17) Anne, MrudulaThe practice of marrying girls to deities or priests existed historically in many cultures across South Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. In India alone, this system is known by different names like Devadasi, Mathamma, Jogini, Basavis. Through this study, I represent the unheard voices of Devadasi women from South India and use HRD concepts and principles to synthesize the findings. The field of HRD is not confined to the boundaries of an organization and can play a critical role in community development. This is the first step towards empowering the members of this system and it is hoped that the findings from this study will help inform the organizational practices of NGO?s working with this populace. This study includes a unique set of participants whose experiences have not been captured and examined using intersectionality and Bourdieu, thus contributing to literature. Data was collected through interviews with Devadasi women from South India, specifically Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, and Tirupati. Five themes emerged from the data ? dichotomy, identity, status, fear and locus of control. The theme ?status? refers to the participant?s intersecting identities as women and as people from lower castes. The themes ?identity? and ?dichotomy? indicate cultural and economic capital respectively. It is the intersections of these forms of capital that create intersections in statuses, which collectively result in symbolic violence. This is evident from the last two themes, fear and locus of control, which were identified from the data.Item Chief executive officers: their mentoring relationships(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Rosser, Manda HaysThe majority of mentoring research has explored mentoring from the vantage point of prot?g? perceptions, reactions, experiences, and development (Wanberg et al. 2003; Kram, 1988). Participants in mentoring studies have commonly been employees, college students, or mid-level managers. Little is known regarding the impact of mentoring roles in relation to top executives who are, over the span of their careers, likely to participate in developmental relationships as both mentor and prot?g?. In fact, accessing people who are active CEOs has been extremely problematic for a majority of interested researchers (Thomas, 1995). Limited research on mentoring and especially that on CEOs is used to inform the current Human Resource Development (HRD) scholarship and practice. The current study will inform HRD and provide insight into how mentoring relationships can be used to develop individuals in organizations. Key findings from this study were reported from a qualitative study (Moustakas, 1994) involving twelve CEOs of large for-profit US corporations who detailed their experiences as both mentors and prot?g?s. Emerging themes from the larger study overlap, in part, with key mentoring functions as identified by Kram (1988). In addition to reinforcing and informing the work of Kram (1988), key CEOs provided insight regarding their experiences in long-term (several years or more) mentoring relationships. The combined themes resulted in a framework demonstrating the development of mentoring relationships. In addition to a general discussion of a mentoring framework, I focused the study primarily on CEO perceptions regarding the impact of their mentoring related experiences on 1) how their mentors have impacted their development; 2) how they mentor others; and 3) the relational elements in mentoring relationships. Because a rarely assessed population was studied, scholars and practitioners in HRD will gain a unique understanding and greater insight into how mentoring relationships develop professionals, particularly CEOs.Item ENVIRONMENTAL HOSTILITY, INDIVIDUAL LEARNING, AND INTRAPRENEURSHIP AS PREDICTORS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A STUDY APPLIED TO TWO SELECTED MINING COMPANIES IN CHILE(2010-07-14) Molina Oyarce, Carlos E.Organizations are faced with competitive and changeable environments which demand more prepared employees to successfully cope with these current and future challenges (Oswick, Grant, Michelson, and Wailes, 2005). Organizations, as a way to cope with more hostile environments, may foster individual learning, intrapreneurship, and organizational learning within their employees in order to potentially increase the organizational level of competitiveness. In other words, individual learning, intrapreneurship, and organizational learning may help organizations increase their levels of productivity and be better prepared to face uncertain scenarios. The purpose of this study was to examine the path of relationships among Environmental Hostility, Individual Learning, Intrapreneurship, and Organizational Learning for two selected mining companies in Chile. A survey instrument was applied to 383 participants who worked in the mining companies. Structural Equation Modeling was the statistical technique utilized to examine if the collected data supported the researcher?s proposed model. None of the models - the researcher?s proposed model, a proposed model based on Exploratory Factor Analysis, and a proposed model based on AMOS; were considered as confirmed models. For this reason, four possible arguments were elaborated to explain why the data did not fit any of the models. First, there is a lack of empirical support of the potential relationships among the construct/variables of the proposed model. Second, this study is a pioneering work in examining Environmental Hostility, Individual Learning, Intrapreneurship, and Organizational Learning altogether. Third, previous studies related to the construct/variables of this study were mainly conducted in the United States and Australia. Fourth, and finally, the social and economic scenarios that Chile faced during the last century were very different than the social and economic situations confronted by the United States in the same period.Item Exploring Paradigms of Human Resource Development(2011-10-21) Hurt, Andrew ChristopherThis study focused on the issue of paradigms in Human Resource Development (HRD). Its purpose was to validate the HRD Cube as a synthesized model of HRD and to explicate some of the extant paradigms of HRD. The study was carried out by examining the text of articles published in Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD)-sponsored journals. Purposeful, stratified, and random sampling was used to select 16 articles published in AHRD-sponsored journals. Articles were treated as if they were the representative voice(s) of their author(s). Data units from within each article were identified and coded using two sequential techniques. First, units were axially coded and sorted into one of seven pre-determined categories based on the axioms of theory, research, and practice. Second, units were open coded using the constant comparative method, and themes and sub-themes were developed. Axial coding results identified a heavy emphasis on practice. The accumulation of units representing research and theory were comparatively smaller. Evidence of shared perspectives was found that emphasized the practice axiom. The accumulation of units emphasized research-practice, followed by theory-practice, and concluded with theory-research. Data units were also found that described all three axioms concurrently, theory-research-practice. Open coding results identified representative themes and sub-themes within each of the axiom-based categories of theory, research, and practice. Six themes developed in the theory category, 9 themes and 1 sub-theme developed in the research category, and 6 themes and 10 sub-themes developed in the practice category. The results provide evidence to support the overall construction of the HRD Cube. Theory, research, and practice perspectives of HRD were represented within the 16 articles used. The results also support the components described on each side of the HRD Cube. On the theory side, people, processes, and outcomes, and informing disciplines of HRD, were identified. Post-positive, interpretive, and critical epistemologies were identified on the research side. Individual, group, organizational, national, and global levels were identified on the practice side. Given the initial validation and support of the HRD Cube and of the components described within theory, research, and practice sides, within these 16 articles published in AHRD-sponsored journals, at least 18 prospective paradigms of HRD were identified.Item Identity Formation of Women in Leadership Positions in Corporate America: Three Journeys to Top Leadership Positions(2010-07-14) Knaben, AseThe purpose of this study was to understand and interpret the identity formation of women on their journeys to leadership positions in corporate America. The narratives of these women in leadership positions described their experiences of how they became who they are, their experiences of critical points, their achievements and their sacrifices in their lives on their journey to these positions. The dissertation design was an empirical, qualitative, interpretive study which simultaneously drew upon and developed the theoretical work of Erik H. Erikson regarding the concept of ego-identity. Women in this study were purposively selected based on criteria for this research. They were successful females in engineering management positions, which is a male-dominated field. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews. Three main themes about their self-knowledge emerged from the findings in the study as components in the women's identity formation. These components shaped and developed the women to become who they are today, starting as a process from early child hood and until today. The three main themes are as follows: relations between mothers and daughters, a delayed moratorium and inner strength. The women in this study are unanimous in regard to singling out the significance of their mothers. Their mothers have been instrumental to their futures in regard to education in a male-oriented area and in giving them a "sense of being all right." Furthermore, these women seemed to undergo a delayed moratorium state as adults. This finding was a departure from and an addition to Erik H. Erikson's concept of "moratorium", in that I found that these successful women were able to make-up for their inability to obtain a moratorium in young adulthood by fashioning it in mid-life. They described these experiences of getting closer to themselves and what life was really about. Finally, this study revealed that these women had an inner strength to go on when they faced obstacles and hurdles in their careers and their personal lives. This inner strength consisted of resilience and authenticity, an ability to stay true to themselves.Item Managerial Coaching Behavior and Employee Outcomes: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis(2012-10-19) Kim, SewonDuring the last two decades, managerial coaching has become increasingly popular in organizations. Despite its popularity, there is a paucity of empirical evidence in the study of managerial coaching outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived managerial coaching behavior and employee self-reported affective and performance-related outcomes based on perceptions of selected organization employees. Three theories, path-goal leadership, career motivation, and organization support, were used to frame the hypothesized conceptual model of managerial coaching outcomes for the current study. The systematic review of relevant literature identified satisfaction with work, role ambiguity, satisfaction with manager, career commitment, job performance, and organization commitment for the potential outcomes of managerial coaching. A 36-item survey including seven existing instruments was utilized to collect data. An estimation of the readability level for the survey was Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level 7.1. The survey was sent electronically to all employees in the selected government organization. The sample included 431 respondents representing a population of 1,399 employees. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, Cronbach?s alpha estimates for reliability, correlation analysis, two-step modeling techniques for structural equation modeling, and Sobel tests were the analysis methods used in the study. The results of the analyses indicated that the hypothesized conceptual model was adequately supported by the empirical data of the study sample (?2/df = 3.53; CFI = .91; IFI = .91; RMSEA = .08). The further investigations suggested that managerial coaching had a direct impact on employee satisfaction with work and role clarity and an indirect impact on satisfaction with work, career commitment, job performance, and organization commitment. Role clarity, as a direct outcome of managerial coaching, influenced job performance?such mediation was consistent with the hypothesized model for the study. The hypothesized model had clear and comprehensive illustrations of how managerial coaching affects work and organization-related variables, satisfaction with work, role clarity, career commitment, job performance, and organization commitment. This study provides empirical support to the proposed benefits of managerial coaching in organizations, and enhances the selected theories by offering additional empirical support to them.Item Perceived consequences and concerns in the diffusion of Internet2 at Texas A&M University(2009-05-15) Mendoza Diaz, Noemi VeronicaThe purpose of this inquiry was to examine the consequences and concerns with the diffusion of Internet2 at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Internet2 is a university-led effort to develop advanced network applications and the network technologies needed to support them. Internet2 adoption at TAMU took place towards the end of the 90s decade with the inclusion of the university in the University Corporation for the Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). This dissertation reviewed the Internet development and its relationship to universities. There were two theoretical models of change used, Diffusion of Innovations and Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Specifically, ?the consequences of change? was the focus in the Diffusion model, and ?the stages of concern? was the focus in CBAM. This study used qualitative methods of inquiry with three sources of information --interviews, observations and archival information (printed and online). Seventeen participants were interviewed during the spring of 2006, selected on the basis of convenience, homogeneous, and snowball sampling. The participants were placed in an area, or an intersection of areas, of a diagram with teaching, research, and support-services realms. Through qualitative analytic induction, emerged twenty categories arranged in five different themes: (1) Texas A&M?s use of Internet2, (2) the dilemma of the information sharing, (3) the influences of Internet2, (4) Internet2 discussion, (5) Internet2 concerns. Internet2?s creation and Texas A&M University?s adoption rationale emerged through the narrative analysis. This study matched partially the frameworks of Rogers and Hall and Hord because a pre-stage of unawareness was necessary to install since Internet2 resulted to be extensively used at Texas A&M University, but with most of the users not aware of it. The audit trail, peer-debriefing, and member checks were the mechanisms installed to guarantee trustworthiness. Qualitative analytic induction and narrative analysis were the research strategies and the report was presented in the manner of a case study and summary of findings.