Browsing by Department "Human Dimensions of Organizations"
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Item Amuse-bouche Thinking: Big Ideas, Tiny Bites, and the Creative Process in Haute Cuisine(2022-05-05) Wilson, CoreyThe value of creativity as a business commodity increases each year as global markets, diversified consumer habits, and new ways of living with technology stoke an insatiable appetite for the new, the next. Haute cuisine exemplifies the unrelenting need to churn out appealing, practical ideas in a competitive market. Existing studies of creativity in haute cuisine focus on modes of creativity, perceptions of creativity, and models of the creative process that abstract creativity from the actual work haute cuisine chefs: developing a menu of numerous courses and serving them to guests. This grounded theory qualitative study aims to understand more precisely how chefs in haute cuisine manage the creative process to produce novel dishes. The findings suggest that creativity in haute cuisine is a non-linear, non-sequential process consisting of six primary phases: (a) context construction (expertise and defined success), (b) social creativity (organizational structure, culture, and processes moderated by internal and external constraints), (c) prototype dish, (d) feedback, (e) production dish, and (f) self-care. These findings potentially lend themselves to other industries that similarly rely on creativity.Item Business Sustainability Practices through Media Based Stakeholder Engagement: Maximizing Positive Social Impacts Via Locally Produced Educational Media for Young Citizens(2021) Lazo-Herencia, Sandra Estefanía; Keating, Elizabeth; Spinuzzi, ClayIn the present shifting role of business, especially post Covid-19, companies operating in developing countries can maximize the impacts of their social investment strategies in communities by addressing early-childhood capabilities development. Research shows that early childhood intervention can determine the reaching of full developmental potential by children, and as thus can have major impacts on the overall development of a nation. For this reason, it is recommendable to invest in programs that support the learning and development of the youngest stakeholders in a project area, children—especially of early childhood age, defined as a child’s first few years of life. Based off my experience working in education / outreach over many years, I have come to understand that messaging can be strengthened and broadened through supplementary educational materials such as locally-produced short-form video format because it is easily shareable, economically sound, and effective. Furthermore, incorporating local talent for the development and production of creative media can help secure adults’ collaboration and engagement, as well as assure the materials are culturally contextualized and appropriate for the age group. Through this investment in creative educational media production, both children and adults can engage, learn, and benefit from socially and culturally meaningful messages, in form and content. After a literature review to provide background and evidence for the problem and solution, I use an auto-ethnography and case study as evidence for solutions. I also include practical reflections on how to proceed in stakeholder engagement in countries where companies operate, in beneficial combination for all parties involved. The practical proposal is the use of locally produced short-form educational videos, which have an impactful and cost-efficient way to bolster stakeholder learning, especially where access to physical infrastructure and trained teachers may fall short. My personal field-work experience in a water quality research project in Peru, and recent field-work to develop stakeholder engagement materials in a liquified natural gas (LNG) development project in northern Mozambique, provide evidence to the value of investing in locally produced educational media. I, further, reflect on the importance of remembering to provide sufficient care and attention to an often-overlooked stakeholder-group, children. I urge that to maximize educational investments, a focus on early childhood is required for social and economic impacts on society as a whole. This paper’s front-end brackets and contextualizes both field experiences, to later contextualize policy, theory, finance, and sustainability frameworks, the SDGs, and how it all relates. Its second part focuses on soft-infrastructure and human-capabilities investment opportunities, child development, value of investing in education, and the power of video media as a learning tool. It concludes with ways to create locally produced successful learning media and reasons to invest in local artistic production of educational tools. As a final part of the paper, I have included appendices which focus on practical field-based take-aways. In Appendix A, I further describe the two projects I conducted, and some takeaways from those individual projects. Appendix B, contains methodological recommendations for producing educational vided, and finally, Appendix C is a photo-journal of the narrated experiences.Item Emotional Labor in the Service Industry(2019) Serafini, JulieIndividuals who carry out shift work are the life-blood of our cities and towns, and their well-being affects not only the bottom line of the organizations where they are employed, but all of us. Shift workers are a huge category of individuals that support our daily lives. They work at the tiny dive bars and food carts we love, at massive restaurant chains, and in Michelin-starred restaurants. Regulating emotions while providing genuine human interactions can take its toll on employees, and that affects the organization at every level, including employee longevity, customer experience, and fulfillment of the mission of the organization. Shift workers in the service industry are not the only portion of the workforce carries out emotional labor. However, the hospitality industry presents unique challenges that cause the effects of emotional labor to be experienced differently than in other industries. By listening to employees’ stories it is possible to better understand how they deal with the challenges of the service industry in tandem with emotional labor.Item Employee Perception of Enterprise Social Media For Collaboration and Voice(2021-12-03) Aguero, JaimeToday’s prevalent use of social media in employees’ personal lives has led to the introduction of enterprise social media platforms in organizations (Rode, 2016; Treem et al., 2015). These enterprise social media platforms are designed, among other things, for organization-wide collaboration and to create more open dialogs between senior leaders and staff (Bennett, 2009; Prohaska, 2011; Treem et al., 2015). This study seeks to understand employee perception of enterprise social media platforms that provide the opportunity for collaboration and for giving employees a voice to influence an organization’s operations. My initial hypothesis is that employees do not embrace attempts to incorporate enterprise social media platforms as a way to work together and achieve joint goals within their organization or influence work-related matters.Item Evolution of a Digital Producer How Traditional & Digital Journalists Interpret Collaboration in Local Newsrooms(2021-12) Mooney, Andrea; Keating, Elizabeth L.News organizations have been forced to transform how they produce, publish and deliver the news as local news readership and viewership trends change away from traditional media in favor of digital media. This study seeks to understand how newsroom employees perceive the digital roles in their newsrooms and how traditional and digital journalists collaborate across media channels. In this research project, traditional media is defined as print, television, and radio formats; digital media is defined as websites, mobile apps, social media, and over-the-top streaming networks. To investigate how all journalists perceive the digital producer role in their newsrooms, the core concepts studied were the function of the digital producer role, the cooperation between traditional and digital journalist, and how each type of journalist incorporates audience into the work they perform. Using a mixed method approach of an online survey coupled with semi-structured interviews, this study defines how traditional and digital journalists view the digital producer role with the goal of finding shared meaning that can bolster future collaboration and shared responsibilities for publishing content across many platforms and for many different audiences. Interview participants identified five ways in which digital producers service their newsrooms: initiator, coordinator, facilitator, teacher and evangelist. Based on those aspects of work and the feedback provided participants, this study recommends newsrooms focus on five activities: inclusion, education, accountability, reinforcement and recognition. Researching this topic also produced a surprise finding: The discussion created epiphanies and recognition of how a traditional newsroom’s digital team contributes to the broader operation of the organization. Several journalists interviewed said they never really thought about all the different types of tasks digital producers do and how those activities cross the spectrum of newsroom roles. There is still a lack of awareness in the tasks and digital best practices traditional journalists can adopt and share across their newsrooms to prepare for a more digital-first future despite participants recognizing their digital colleagues do more than they initially perceived.Item Information Flow to Front-line Employees(2015-12-01) Crump, NeilThis research is a case study within a large bureaucracy; the physical plant operations of a Tier-one university in the United States. The organization of study received low scores for internal communication in their all-employee surveys in 2012 and 2014 and was cited for “lack of information flow to front-line employees” in a peer audit conducted in 2011. Root causes for these deficiencies are investigated through (1) Activity Theory analysis, (2) Leader-Member Exchange Theory and (3) linear regression analysis of all-employee survey data. No formal initiatives addressing internal communications had been initiated when this study was launched so the research was used to identify areas for improvement within the organization.Item Is the Future Female? How Emotional Intelligence and Gender Affect Workplace Leadership(2016-11) Burchfield, Sarah K.Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a highly discussed, but not fully utilized element in human resource management, hiring practices, leadership, and professional success. Research has shown that having high EQ is a top indicator of workplace success and workplace flourishing. Research also indicates that women display higher levels of EQ than men, but do not prosper or excel as highly as men in the workplace. This paper reviews the original, representative, and popular research on EQ, its use in the workplace, and its implications across gender, as well as a discussion on the barriers women face in career success and leadership. I present empirical studies, popular literature, and anecdotes regarding these topics and provide my own understanding of the topic and outlook towards the future.Item Keep the Doors Open: A Case for Preserving Individual and Institutional History(2016-12) Williams, Janice Veronica; Spinuzzi, Clay; Thompson, ShirleyThere are several churches across the United States that are called Mount Pleasant Baptist Church but the subject of this capstone is Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in New Kent County, Virginia. One cannot visit a website to find any information about its 127-year-old history or the people who form this church. In this thesis/capstone I ask the question, “What is Mount Pleasant Baptist Church’s story?” then take an oral history approach to find answers. Oral history interviews seek to find lived experiences that are not necessarily found in standard historical documents. The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Oral History Project brings to light the struggle that the church faces today: to keep the church’s doors open with limited resources. This capstone presents eight narratives that arose from semi-structured interviews with individuals who have a deep connection to the church. Using a multidisciplinary approach to argue that the importance of gathering, organizing and sharing institutional memory will serve as an invaluable tool to help a younger generation care for this historic Black church.