UST Research Online Copyright (c) 2013 University of St. Thomas, Minnesota All rights reserved. http://ir.stthomas.edu Recent documents in UST Research Online en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 01:34:47 PDT 3600 Human Sigma Optimization: Engaging Employees and Customers http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/27 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/27 Tue, 14 May 2013 15:04:24 PDT In business, one of the ways of measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty is to measure the engagement level of a business’s customers. Research shows that customer engagement is directly related to the engagement level of the business’s employees. It is therefore equally important to measure employee engagement. Measuring engagement levels of employees and customers provides a business an opportunity to work toward increasing engagement levels of both. When the engagement levels of the employees and the engagement levels of the customers are above the median averages, Human Sigma is achieved. Human Sigma was developed as a way to measure and manage the human systems of business. Businesses that achieve Human Sigma have, on average, financial performance that is 3.4 times higher than businesses that rank in the bottom half on both measures (Fleming & Asplund, 2007).

There is a great deal of research about the importance and benefits of employee engagement and customer engagement, but no specific model for creating engagement. The researcher speculated that there were common activities occurring in businesses that had achieved Human Sigma. The researcher constructed the Human Sigma optimization theory and identified eight activities that appeared to optimize Human Sigma. A positivistic multiple case study was conducted. The results from the six case studies and a cross-case analysis supported the framework of the model. The Human Sigma optimization theory provides a model of activities for business owners and managers to utilize when building and maintaining engagement with employees and customers.

]]> Heather A. Zweifel Hearts of Hope: Experiences of EBD Teachers and Factors Contributing to Career Longevity http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/33 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/33 Fri, 03 May 2013 11:34:09 PDT This qualitative study examined EBD teacher experiences through phenomenological research. Data was collated through interviews, a focus group, memos, and field notes. Questions focused on how EBD teachers described their work and the factors that contributed to career longevity.

The study was conducted in one self-contained school for students with severe EBD. All but one participant arrived in their position by an indirect route and most had no awareness of self-contained schools. Even those with prior teacher training expressed they lacked information about students with severe EBD. Even though participants did not intentionally seek positions as EBD teachers, they felt it was a good fit and were committed to students with EBD. Participants found the work rewarding and were driven by the possibility to make a difference student’s lives. They expressed that one of the most positive and rewarding parts of their work was the creation of relationships and communicated feelings of kinship with colleagues. These relationships allowed them to flourish in their roles.

Findings also revealed factors contributing to career longevity. Environmental factors found to support participant’s work included both classroom and program resources. Participants indicated that classroom EA’s were critical to their success and mentorship programs provided them support while they built the skills necessary for the position. Finally, teachers exhibited dispositions of empathy, compassion, patience, adaptability, resiliency, and self-efficacy. They met challenges without hesitation, sought to continually grow through self-reflection and had a constant desire to master their work which naturally led them to readily adapt to the always-changing needs of the students and the environment.

Results explain why some teachers remain working with students with severe EBD longer than most and provide evidence for educational leaders regarding how to best support EBD teachers. Pre-service experiences in a similar environment would best inform and prepare potential EBD teachers. Those responsible for hiring EBD teachers must consider teacher dispositions as a factor contributing to success in the role and support new teachers with properly designed mentorship programs. Additionally, supportive and collaborative educational environments which foster the development of relationships are key to improving EBD teacher efficacy and retention.

]]> Val Rae Boe The Adult Dramaturgy of Youth Hockey: The Myths and Rituals of the “Hockey Family” http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/32 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/32 Fri, 03 May 2013 11:27:11 PDT Over the past 20 years, parent involvement in youth sports has changed significantly. Parents are increasingly involved in their child’s sport: encouraging them to participate year round, attending all practices and games, investing thousands of dollars, and often telling the coach how to coach the team. Because of this time and financial commitment, parents now take on their own role in their child’s sport. In this exploratory study, I looked at parental behavior and the relationship bonds made through youth hockey. The research was conducted in a Midwest town with both the local youth hockey program and High School Hockey program. Fifteen participants were researched, including: Athletic Directors, coaches, and parents.

Throughout this dissertation, a dramaturgical lens is utilized to analyze sports parents’ behavior. Parents use hockey as a stage where the child learns life skills necessary for his future. They see practice as the rehearsal and the game as the performance. Parents rely on the coaches to teach the life lessons in the front stage, and parent’s follow-up on these lessons in the backstage. When things do not go as the parents have scripted, they lose their dramaturgical focus and go off-script behaving inappropriately.

Parents and coaches must work together to co-direct the life lessons they want the athletes to take away from their sports participation. By clearly understanding each other’s roles, parents and coaches can more effectively work together. Coaches’ and parents’ expectations are analyzed in this research, providing a better understanding of the expectations each group has of each other.

Parents have changed their focus from activities for their own enjoyment to focusing on their child’s activities. The level of commitment required of hockey parents approximates the level of commitment required by sects and cults. The social connections parents make through their membership in a “hockey family” is formed and social capital is created. This close-knit group contains many of the same characteristics of benign cults. By analyzing the data using religious and cult terminology, the dynamics of the “hockey family” is seen in new ways.

]]> Clare Elizabeth Grundtner Koch Leadership for Excellence: A Case Study of Leadership Practices of School Superintendents Serving Four Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Recipient School Districts http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/31 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/31 Wed, 01 May 2013 12:40:28 PDT This purpose of this study was to examine and understand the leadership practices of four individuals who were serving in the capacity of superintendent leading to or at the time of their respective districts receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The study explored how certain leadership practices transcended the four identified superintendents.

The qualitative case-study approach, including the use of site visits to each of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient districts, document reviews, and in-depth interviews with four superintendents and four identified informants, resulted in discovering two leadership themes that were found in common among these award winning senior educational leaders. The first theme, a commitment to continuous improvement, had three supporting factors which included personal accountability by the superintendent, the use of data in the district to make decisions, and a process for improvement. The second overarching theme this research identified was the practice of collaborative leadership. Two supporting factors of this second theme included the superintendent’s willingness to share leadership responsibilities and the superintendent’s focus on empowering others in the school organization.

These findings suggest that common practices of leadership exist among superintendents of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient school districts. Furthermore, analyzing these findings through the lens of Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four frames suggests that educational leadership by senior leaders involves a blend of multiple frames, with no singular method for effectiveness. Thus, these superintendents, their leadership practices, and the mulit-frame analysis of their common leadership practices may serve to represent successful leadership practices for other senior educational leaders considering pursuit of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

]]> Klint Walter Willert Breaking the Rules: A Group Work Perspective on Focus Group Research http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/29 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/29 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:44 PDT Focus groups, originally used in fields such as marketing and consumer research, are rapidly gaining popularity as a research methodology in the social sciences. It is interesting to note that most of the scholarly work on focus groups continues to come from business rather than the social sciences. Few researchers have discussed the differing purposes and goals in social science and consumer research (Ospina, 1994; Moore, 1996). Furthermore, the literature on focus group research rarely utilizes social work knowledge of group dynamics or group facilitation skills. Rather, the literature on focus groups tends to give guidelines for leading groups, telling focus group facilitators what to do and what not to do in leading such groups. We believe that these guidelines, while generally helpful, can lead to rigidity on the part of focus group leaders. We suggest that,in social work research, focus group facilitators should use their knowledge of group dynamics and the values of individualization and empathy to modify focus group rules where appropriate.

This paper describes part of a qualitative study of client/worker relationships in residential mental health settings. During the course of this research, group work principles came into conflict, at times, with recommended guidelines for focus group leaders. The paper illustrates how insights gleaned from group work theory and practice can enable a researcher to break focus group rules responsibly, thus bringing greater depth to the data gathered and allowing the researcher to be more sensitive to the needs of focus group participants.

]]> Kendra J. Garrett et al. The Effect of Juvenile Victim Offender Mediation on Recidivism: A Meta-analysis. http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/28 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/28 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:43 PDT This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of the effects of victim offender mediation (VOM) on juvenile recidivism. Analyses were conducted on fifteen studies consisting of 9,172 juveniles in twenty-one service sites in the United States. Participation in VOM accounted for a 34 percent reduction in juvenile recidivism. Recommendations for methodological improvements in future research are discussed.

]]> David J. Roseborough et al. An Empirical Review of Family Group Conferencing in Juvenile Offenses. http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/27 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/27 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:42 PDT This study reports the results of an effect size analysis of the effectiveness of family group conferencing (FGC) on recidivism and satisfaction in juvenile offenses. Analyses were conducted on nine studies consisting of 2,880 juveniles. The average recidivism effect size for all studies showed no FGC treatment effect on recidivism. A total satisfaction effect size was calculated by the mean score of all satisfaction variables for victims, offenders, and supporters. The average total satisfaction effect size was moderate. The average effect size for satisfaction of victim, offender, and supporters was calculated for all satisfaction variables. The average total satisfaction effect size for victims was strong, moderate for offenders, and mild for parents and supporters. Between groups, comparisons were conducted to examine differences in overall satisfaction by participant group. While there were higher effect sizes for victims compared to supporters and offenders, there were no statistically significant differences between groups. Results find no support for the effectiveness of FGC in reducing recidivism. Results do show higher effect sizes for FGC in comparison to control groups in satisfaction with the criminal justice process. Recommendations for methodological improvements in future FGC research are discussed.

]]> David J. Roseborough Evaluation of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in a Community Mental Health Center. http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/26 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/26 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:40 PDT This study describes an evaluation of the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy provided in an outpatient community mental health clinic. The study used a single group pretest-posttest design involving 78 clients. Clinical outcomes included overall psychosocial functioning and quality of life, level of subjective distress, interpersonal functioning and role functioning, measured by the Outcome Questionnaire (Lambert, Hansen, Umpress, Lunnen Okilshi, & Burlingame, 2000). Clients showed statistically significant improvement from pretest (first sessions) to completion of treatment in overall functioning, and quality of life, level of subjective distress, interpersonal functioning and role functioning. Eighty-five percent of clients made statistically and clinically significant change. Calculation of effect sizes for each outcome found moderate to strong change effects ranging from d = .4 to .9. The study illustrates a method of intervention research that therapists and agencies can use to integrate practical evaluation methods into their clinical services in order to improve mental health service to clients, to demonstrate the effectiveness of interventions, and to provide data to support coverage for needed services for clients.

]]> William Bradshaw et al. Recovery from Severe Mental Illness: The Initial Phase of Treatment. http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/25 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/25 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:39 PDT Purpose: This hermeneutic phenomenological study examined the lived experience of persons recovering from serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). The study reports results from the first six months of treatment and is part of a two-year longitudinal study. Method: Forty-four adults with SPMI referred to county case management services were recruited for the study. A semi-structured interview was conducted for 1-2 hours to elicit client narratives of their experience in recovery. The interviews were transcribed, read, and coded to cluster thematic aspects in each case and across cases. Atlas-t was used to recode transcripts and retrieve quotes to dimensionalize each essential theme. Transcripts were reread for confirming and disconfirming evidence for each theme. Results: Five themes were identified: 1) “life is happening around me” 2) striving for independence 3)“being in there with me” 4) pacing recovery and creating optimal challenge 5) the wish for meaningful community participation. Implications for Practice: Findings delineate critical factors in early stage recovery as identified by persons with SPMI. They highlight the need for clients to be an active collaborator in determining areas of therapeutic attention and emphasize the importance of relational factors in developing experiences of mastery and a more functional sense of self. Obstacles described by clients in early phase recovery provide new insight and meaning into problems of motivation and non-compliance in treatment. Findings suggest important areas for staff training and advocacy services.

]]> William Bradshaw et al. Restorative justice dialogue: The Impact of Mediation and Conferencing on Juvenile Recidivism http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/24 http://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_pub/24 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:20:38 PDT This is the first meta-analysis that examined the effectiveness of the two most prominent restorative justice dialogue programs in reducing juvenile recidivism. The use of meta-analytic methods provides a useful means for summarizing diverse research findings across restorative justice studies and synthesizing these findings in an objective manner. The use of an effect size is an easily interpreted way of assessing the strength of an intervention effect.

]]> William Bradshaw et al. Abortion and Virtue Ethics http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/16 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/16 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:18:41 PDT My goal here is to consider what contemporary virtue ethics can say about the problem of abortion. I begin by outlining virtue ethics in comparison to the two other dominant approaches in normative ethics. I then consider what some important virtue ethicists have said about abortion, especially the work of Rosalind Hursthouse. After recognizing the many contributions her analysis offers, I also note some of the deficiencies in her approach, particularly in her attempt to bracket the problems of fetal status and women’s rights. Finally, in light of these criticisms I attempt to extend a virtue ethics analysis to embrace a more robust recognition of the humanity of the fetus and the attendant demand of a near absolute prohibition on abortion.

]]> Mathew Lu Potential Being and the Source of Cosmic Order http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/15 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/15 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:08:54 PDT This paper argues (a) that the concept of "potential being" is central to the theory and practice of contemporary cosmology and evolutionary science, and (b) that the reality of potential being points to the existence of an intelligent and purposive cause of the intelligible order among potential beings that existed from the first moments of the Big Bang. The paper introduces and explains the concept of "potential being" and then traces the existence of potential beings back to the beginnings of the cosmos at the instant of the Big Bang. This primeval existence of potential beings is shown to possess a character and order that points to a cause external to that order. The paper concludes with a consideration of the features that must be possessed by that external cause in order to make sense of what we know.

]]> Gary M. Atkinson What Else Could I Do? The Self Definition of Consequentialists. http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/14 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/14 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:08:53 PDT Ask yourself, what am I capable of, what incapable of? Answering that question will tell you the kind of person you are. The consequentialist is in principle capable of anything, Thomas More was not. Which kind of person do you want to be? And your children?

]]> Gary M. Atkinson Employees' Responses to the Mismatch between Organizations' Espoused Values and Basic Assumptions about Organizational Culture http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/26 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/26 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:30:54 PDT During the initial phase of the recruitment process, job applicants base their attraction and job choice decisions on the organization‟s espoused values that manifest themselves through the organization‟s use of positive images and signals. Based on this limited amount of data, applicants develop a perceived notion of how well they would fit within that organization. When applicants become employees of that organization and discover a mismatch between their perception of the espoused values and the reality of the basic assumptions of that culture, the results may be detrimental to the employee as well as to the organization. The researcher wanted to test his theory and examine the potential outcomes of the discovery of employees of a mismatch between an organization‟s espoused values and the basic assumptions that exist within the organization. The researcher believed that one of these outcomes was employee turnover. This study used the positivistic multiple case study method to test his theory. The researcher interviewed a total of 17 participants from a variety of occupations and industries from the Midwest region of the United States. This study was able to contribute to the research on recruitment and person-organization (P-O) fit. While the findings supported the researcher‟s theory that employees leave organizations because of a mismatch between initial perceptions of espoused values and the basic assumptions of the organizational culture, additional replications of this study may be necessary to have a theoretical generalization.

]]> Terrence Jermyn Porter "We Are of This Place, Not Just From It" The Culture that Sustains a Rural Charter School in Northern Minnesota http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/25 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/25 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:59:10 PDT The focus of this research was in the area of organization development and culture within the context of a rural, Minnesota, charter school. The methodology best suited for this work was ethnography; through observation and interviews, the levels of culture were defined including the outermost layer of tangible artifacts, the deeper layer of espoused beliefs and values, and the deepest, most tacit layer of basic underlying assumptions. The analysis of these layers utilized Schein’s culture model and another lens of Adizes corporate lifecycles model. Such a study is important in order to expand the limited body of ethnographic research within charter schools and continue the conversation about culture in education.

The findings from this research were intended to give a comprehensive look at the culture of North Shore Community School and how the groups of adults in the building made meaning of it. The school has been successful in nurturing its students and upholding its mission as a small, rural school that served its surrounding community. As the school has grown and drawn students and staff from a broader area, the changes have been aligned with their espoused beliefs and values, but challenge the tacit, basic assumptions of their culture. Change presents the excitement and hope for continuing their innovation and conversely raises concerns that the history and tradition that distinguishes them may change beyond recognition.

]]> Julie W. Goldsmith Workplace Stress, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV): Innovative Practical Measurements in Organization Development (OD) and Employee Wellness http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/24 http://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/24 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:20:31 PDT Employee stress is a current costly business challenge affecting profits, productivity, attrition, engagement, and overall wellbeing of employees. Furthermore, the effects of stress at work are a pressing concern among business leaders and scholar practitioners. Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) meditation is an intervention that has been proven to reduce stress. However, assessments used to measure employee stress and intervention effectiveness remain unchanged and are not representative of the modern workforce population.

This study used a mixed methods convergent design to test an innovative stress measurement, gas discharge visualization (GVD), in conjunction with free writing related to qualitative self-reported perceived stress, as well as the effectiveness of the guided breathing meditation from an MBSR intervention in a field study for 3 consecutive months for 2 different company work teams; 1 workgroup within a F500 company and a second workgroup within a start-up company.

The quantitative findings indicated mixed results. For some months the paired t test did not show the data were statistically significant. However, for some months the paired t test did indicate a reduction in employee stress. Therefore, the data are inconclusive as to a definitive answer if the MBSR was truly effective or not. The qualitative analysis suggests that perceived stress is individualized and that coping skills used to address stressors are either favorable or adverse. The converged quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated mixed results. The first analysis was inconclusive. However, the second and more in-depth analysis showed a strong, statistically significant correlation.

]]> Debra A. Lindh Prolife Voting: More Than a Hill of Beans. http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/13 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/13 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:45:55 PDT Focuses on the connections between one's moral convictions and one's action in terms of public policy particularly in choosing a public figure with respect to one's personal belief about abortion. Issues concerning abortion and euthanasia; Law justification and its nature in understanding abortion; Concept of human rights; Responsibilities of voters and political candidates.

]]> Stephen J. Heaney The Dangerous Confusions of Goodridge http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/12 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/12 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:45:54 PDT This article presents information on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which decided in November 2003 that the marriage of two people of the same sex was not only possible, but a constitutional right under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In "Goodridge v. Department of Public Health," chief justice Margaret Marshall and three of her colleagues concluded that same-sex couples had been hitherto arbitrarily deprived of the benefits of marriage, and so the court gave the legislature six months to remedy this apparently unjust discrimination by adapting current law to contemporary realities.

]]> Stephen J. Heaney The Visitor http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/11 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/11 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:45:53 PDT Stephen J. Heaney Protecting Conscience in Health Care: A Road Not Traveled. http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/10 http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/10 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:45:51 PDT The current approach to guaranteeing rights of conscience depends on the recognition of a human (and constitutional) right not to be required to cooperate in actions one deems immoral, such as abortion, euthanasia, contraception, and mutilation. But in the culture at large, arguments made within a moral and religious framework may be ineffective. The author suggests that health care workers consider a basis for refusal that may be both simpler and more effective: refusing to do such actions not because one is Catholic but because the actions are the very opposite of health care.

]]> Stephen J. Heaney