PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: School Psychology

With youth currently experiencing elevated rates of mental and behavioral health concerns, the need for flexible and cost-effective interventions in schools is at an all-time high. This need is even more pronounced in alternative education settings, where students may be at higher risk for adverse outcomes if not adequately supported. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is one increasingly popular intervention in these settings, yet relatively little is known about its capacity to impact directly observable classroom behaviors, especially when administered in a group format. At present, existing studies on ACT in educational settings have focused primarily on internalizing problems, relied on indirect measures of behavior, or utilized individual therapy, which may be time- or cost-prohibitive. Considering these gaps in the literature and the growing need for school-based providers to understand the uses and limitations of the tools available to them, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of weekly ACT groups on directly observed classroom behaviors in an alternative education setting. Results of the study indicated that although the intervention was viewed favorably by group participants, a functional relation between the intervention and the level of classroom behavior was not observed. Limitations, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Committee: Lori Vincent Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Rachel Saunders Ph.D. (Committee Member); Renee Hawkins Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Psychology

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2023, Business Administration

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a significant retail shift, with consumers turning to online shopping due to safety concerns and lockdowns. Retailers quickly adopted omnichannel strategies, merging online and offline channels to stay relevant and enhance the shopping experience. This research, grounded in innovation diffusion theory, examined the pandemic's influence on customer behavioral intentions regarding omnichannel capabilities. Using a quantitative research approach with a survey in Northwest Arkansas, the study explored the relationship between innovation diffusion attributes and customer omnichannel Buy-Online-Pickup-at-the-Store (BOPS) behavioral intention. A ten-point Likert scale survey was adapted from Kapoor to gather data from 190 respondents online. The respondent's Intention to Use BOPS increased from 36.8% pre-pandemic to 84% post-pandemic. Data was analyzed using Pearson correlation for each characteristic and regression for the combined attribute and customer intention to use BOPS. Notably, relative advantage, compatibility, and observability attributes significantly impacted the model, whereas trialability and complexity lacked significance within the combined model. The findings suggested that customers prioritize buy-Online-Pickup-at-the-Store's relative advantage, compatibility, and observability when making adoption decisions. While complexity and trialability are essential, their significance diminishes when considered with other attributes. This study contributes valuable insights into consumer behavior during crises and the evolving retail landscape post-crisis. These findings can guide strategies for optimizing omnichannel capabilities and enhancing customer adoption.

Committee: Sherry Abernathy (Committee Chair); Tim Reymann (Committee Member); Charles Fenner (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Business Administration; Management; Marketing; Technology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Having a toxic or abusive boss can make a person's experience at work a nightmare. But for some, getting away from the abusive boss does not end the nightmare. This study focuses on assessing the relationship between past experiences of abusive supervision and long-term psychological distress. Additionally, this study assesses the many factors that can impact the relationship between abusive supervision and long-term psychological distress. Data from a total of 94 participants was used to investigate several hypotheses. Eighty-one of these participants discussed experiences with a past abusive boss, while 13 discussed experiences with a current abusive boss. A regression analysis performed on the data of the past abusive supervision group showed a significant positive correlation between past experiences of abusive supervision and long-term psychological distress. Moderating effects of length of exposure to abuse, gender, race, amount of work experience, distance from abuse in time, level of positive affect, and types of coping behaviors were also assessed. The results showed that only problem focused coping had a significant impact on the relationship between past experiences of abusive supervision and psychological distress, with the data indicating that the more problem-focused coping strategies participants engaged in, the lower the impact of abusive supervision on psychological distress. Exploratory findings, further insights into the results, possible implications of this study, its limitations, and direction for future research are also discussed.

Committee: Donna Chrobot-Mason Ph.D. (Committee Member); Suzanne Masterson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Megan Church-Nally Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

Strategic business change in the 21st century has been fraught with issues, resulting in failure for more than half of all attempted efforts to transform companies. Frontline managers (FLMs) are key to successful corporate change, transforming a company's direction into action and results and the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique business challenge for every Consumer Products Group (CPG) company and FLM by interrupting supply chains. The aim of this grounded theory study was to create theory by conducting open-ended interviews with 20 frontline managers to determine how they viewed themselves and their roles, teams, and bosses during change. Results demonstrated that the FLMs viewed themselves as protectors of their teams. The FLMs were competent, resilient leaders who loved the work of managing a team to deliver daily results. Unfortunately, many FLMs were required to navigate bosses that ranged from negligent to abusive. Even the FLMs who described having great bosses asked for something more, declaring a need for help. They called for bosses to provide four elements of leadership: Delivering clarity on the role, expectations, and escalation channels, quickly producing requested resources, hosting regular one-on-one meetings to discuss issues and career, and engaging with empathy and support while giving the FLM autonomy to do the role. When the boss delivers on the four requests, the frontline manager will likely have the autonomy, confidence, and partnership to fully engage in their challenging work. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu ) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Mitchell Kusy PhD (Committee Chair); Harriet L. Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Ronald E. Riggio PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Community; Business Education; Management; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Business Administration

Buy-online-ship-from-store (BOSS) is a relatively new and increasingly popular omnichannel fulfillment strategy for retailers. Shipping from stores allows retailers the capability to offer in-store inventory to online customers. The combined inventory available in stores and their locations closer to the customer make them attractive for online direct-to-consumer order fulfillment. In three essays, we identify statistical-economies-of-scale benefits from this pooling technique across asymmetrical retail channels. Working with a retailer, we detect ship-from-store contributed store stockouts. We also examine consumer behavior in response to stockouts according to the channel of intended purchase. In the first study we use chance constrained analytical models and Monte Carlo simulation to demonstrate the distinctly different inventory pooling behavior caused network-wide when implementing buy-online-ship-from-store. The asymmetrical availability of inventory to online customers versus in-store customers allows for unique to omnichannel captive inventories within stores. When online demand is strong enough, all safety stocks can be redirected to online customers. Otherwise, safety stocks can remain stagnant in the stores. In our second study, we partner with an apparel retailer and distinguish the counter-phenomenon observed in essay one. We observe stores unevenly stocking out when contributing to online demand fulfillment. Using panel data from the 2016 holiday season, we utilize store-based fixed-effects models to show that assigning stores to fulfill local online demand where both channels have strong sales leads to uneven store stockouts across the network. By utilizing consumer experiments, our third study demonstrates that in-store customers are more likely to remain with the retailer and substitute for out-of-stock products. Online customers are more likely to leave the retailer to seek their exact desired product elsewhere. Mitigating strategies for the ret (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: August Knemeyer (Committee Co-Chair); Keely Croxton (Committee Co-Chair); Elliot Bendoly (Committee Member); Xiang Wan (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Costs; Management; Operations Research

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2009, Music Composition

In partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Composition I have written a single-movement work entitled Last Castle, whose program depicts a battle between an archetypal hero and his adversary. It is scored for orchestra with double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, harp, timpani, two percussionists, and strings. The work lasts approximately nine minutes.Many of Last Castle's musical elements are derived from a programmatic narrative structure. A hero stands outside his adversary's castle on a foggy, moonlit night. He draws closer to the entrance, and the castle's massive doors open. As the hero steps inside, the doors suddenly slam behind him, and the hero slowly ascends a staircase leading to his adversary's chamber. When he arrives, a long, intense battle ensues, the outcome of which is inconclusive. Although the work ends with a dissonant, climactic gesture, it is not certain who deals the final blow in this battle. Last Castle's formal structure, which parallels the above program, contains two primary sections: the events leading up to the battle, and the battle itself. The tension built throughout the first section culminates in the arrival of the battle sequence, which in turn escalates toward the work's final climax. Between the two sections there is an overall shift from slow to fast tempi, from sparse to dense orchestration, and from soft to loud dynamics. Juxtaposed against this shift is a harmonic language that fluctuates frequently between consonance and dissonance. These components further highlight the intensity of the battle and the conflict between the hero and his adversary.

Committee: Elainie Lillios Dr. (Advisor); Mikel Kuehn Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2012, Apparel, Textiles, and Merchandising (Education)

Women hold the majority of positions in the retail industry; however, they hold proportionally fewer top leadership positions than men. Therefore, it is important to understand the opportunities in leadership development available to women in the retail industry so that appropriate professional development for future female leaders can be offered. The influences of first bosses of women in retail leadership positions and their roles as mentors in the women's career paths were investigated. Understanding the role that primary early career mentors play in the development of leaders, particularly female leaders, can be valuable to positioning future leaders in career growth and professional development opportunities. The purpose of this study was to explore the overarching research question: What is the role that primary early career mentors play in the development of female leaders in the retail industry? More specifically, exploratory interviews among a small convenience sample of women who have achieved successful mid-level leadership positions in the retail industry were conducted. The four emergent themes generated from the study were: (a) generally first bosses are seen as mentors, though the role of mentor is not fully defined and not necessarily associated with transactional or transformational leadership, (b) the first boss, regardless of the leadership trait style, was considered to be an important influence, (c) transformational first bosses, but not transactional first bosses, were emulated, and (d) with respect to emulating first bosses, women most often noted task-oriented qualities. Additionally, support for the understanding of transactional and transformational leadership styles was evidenced in the interviews; women reported more relationship- oriented influences when describing transformational bosses, and more task-oriented items when describing transactional bosses. No evident differences emerged with respect to execution of the big five personal (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ann Paulins PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Management; Personal Relationships