Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore if there was a relationship between the amount of tuition reimbursement, partnership benefits, and turnover intention at the partner organizations of a mid-size, private, non-profit university in the Midwest United States. It also examined if other factors, like tenure within an organization, industry, or position type, impacted turnover intention when employees utilized education benefits. The study applied social exchange theory and human capital theory to explain why benefits may influence an employee's turnover intentions. Using a non-experimental, correlational design, the researcher used surveys responses from 152 partnership students. Their responses were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and a correlation analysis was run to determine if there was a relationship between the variables. A statistically significant relationship was found between turnover intention and both tenure and an employee's commitment to their organization due to additional partnership benefits. Both of these relationships aligned with the ideas of social exchange theory. The study emphasizes the need for H.R. professionals at organizations to evaluate their education benefits and policies to help reduce turnover intention.

Committee: Patrick Bennett (Committee Chair); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member); Kevin Daberkow (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; Organization Theory

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

Social media had a tremendous impact during the pandemic as a means of disseminating information about COVID-19. Local state government organizations utilize various social media platforms to share information with the public about their adjusted services, positive COVID-19 numbers and more, which is essential. There is little research analyzing organizations' overall social media communications with stakeholders and how organizations are using social media to serve the public during the pandemic. The non-experimental, quantitative study analyzed the public perception of local government social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) activeness during the pandemic and if they perceived the organizations' content as credible and transparent. The literature reviewed for this study reiterated the importance of social media use by the public and organizations, theoretical frameworks, and measurement tools and scales for the survey questionnaire. Literature reviewed found no measurement tool for measuring activeness on social media platforms. Simple linear regression provided insight into the variance of the independent variable (activeness) and the dependent variables (transparency and credibility). Simple linear regression led to the findings of a statistically significant relationship. However, the independent variable alone was insufficient in predicting the perceived dependent variables of local state government organizations given the derived R-squared value. The study results indicated that participants perceived an organization as active if they post 2-5 times per week on their social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Although this study was limited to state government organizations, the findings have potential implications for all organizations on knowledge of how active they are on social media sites and how it may impact the perception of their credibility and transparency. This study determined if understudied local government agencies took ad (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brenda Jones (Committee Chair); Lewis Chongwony (Committee Member); Kenneth Knox (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Communication

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Health Programs

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic placed a greater strain on hospital systems to keep their nursing teams at optimal levels to meet the increased demand. A loss of nursing staff can have a detrimental effect on patient care and safety, productivity, psychological well-being of the nursing staff, and overall organizational performance. The purpose of this quantitative study focused on examining the relationship between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions among urban frontline nurses working in acute-care facilities. Social exchange theory and Jobs Demands Resource Model represented the theoretical framework in the research study. Six research questions ascertained if a statistically significant relationship existed between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. The hypothesis for the study was that there is no statistically significant relationship between the variables. Data were analyzed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis from a random sample of 135 frontline registered nurses working in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Variables job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention were measured using the Job Satisfaction Survey, Three-Component Model of Employee Commitment, and Turnover Intention scale-6. The study demonstrated a statistically significant correlations between job satisfaction and turnover intention r (135) = .62, p <.01 and organizational commitment and turnover intention r (135) = .42, p < .01. The predictor variables explained 40.2% of the variance in turnover intention among frontline nurses. Future research should examine nurses' perceptions of their work environment, contributing factors nurses face post-COVID-19, and job satisfaction factors driving turnover among nursing teams.

Committee: Gail Frankle RN, DHA (Committee Chair); Michelle Geiman Ph.D (Committee Member); Alyncia Bowen Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Care Management; Management; Nursing; Organizational Behavior

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2017, Sociology

With colleges and universities functioning more as businesses, students have been conceptualized as consumers and customers of the “products” and services “sold” by higher education institutions. Anecdotally, a considerable amount of college students have consumer-orientations. This rise in student consumerism has not only transformed student ideologies regarding the purpose of higher education, but its negatively impacting student behavior and learning processes inside the classroom. However, empirical studies have yet to support the suggested prevalence of student consumerism. Additionally, no study has attempted to understand student consumerism at the social psychological level. Using an electronic survey administered to undergraduate students at a public university, this pilot study shows that student-consumer orientations are moderate at best, and many students do not agree with certain beliefs or behaviors that are attributed to consumer-orientations. At the social psychological level, multiple regression results indicated student consumer attitudes are significantly associated with social exchanges or activities involving academic costs. Furthermore, the results suggested that males find academic activities or exchanges more costly than females, and males also find putting off academic work for non-academic social exchanges or activities more rewarding than females. In using a social psychological perspective on student consumerism, this pilot study will contribute to future research that explores students educational decision-making processes.

Committee: Patricia Case Dr. (Committee Chair); Karie Peralta Dr. (Committee Member); Barbara Coventry Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Higher Education; Social Psychology; Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Business: Business Administration

Knowledge exchange behavior is often portrayed as a key determinant of the competitive position of a firm operating in a knowledge intensive environment. Of interest to researchers and managers alike are the conditions that promote, attenuate or even retard knowledge sharing between firms. This research employs a supply channel context to study knowledge exchange behavior (KEB). Whether knowledge exchange occurs, and if so, to what extent, may be contingent on various factors. While inter-organizational trust has widely been posited to be a key antecedent of knowledge exchange behavior, a review of the literature reveals that the evidence is conflicting. Sometimes a high level of inter-organizational trust may not be necessary for a decision to exchange valuable knowledge. Likewise, despite high inter-organizational trust KEB may not be present. A recent empirical study by Kim, Umanath, Kim, Ahrens & Kim, (2012) found that increasing levels of inter-organizational trust actually resulted in inhibition of knowledge exchange behavior in supply channel dyads even with a high level of knowledge complementarity. This specific finding has served as the springboard for this project; that is, this inquiry is focused on identifying conditions that render inter-organizational trust unimportant. In short, this research seeks to examine the contingent effect of knowledge interdependence (joint dependence + dependence asymmetry) on KEB – speculated to be a missing contingency by Kim, et al (2012).

Committee: Amitabh Raturi Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vivek Choudhury Ph.D. (Committee Member); Suzanne Masterson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Narayan Umanath Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

This study examined the application of the Social Exchange Theory (SET) in intercollegiate athletics. Using Blau (1964) and Homans's (1961) definitional scheme of social exchange, the theory was first deconstructed and individual elements were explored. As a result, the constructs of trust, justice, commitment, obligation and performance were identified and defined. Furthermore, relationships between these constructs where hypothesized in relation to intercollegiate coach-student-athlete dyads. The amalgamation of these hypotheses led to a fully and partially mediated model of student-athlete performance being proposed. To test the individual hypotheses, as well as the proposed models, a convenient population of student-athletes at a large Midwestern university was asked to partake in a study. A sample of 132 student-athletes completed usable questionnaires and analysis of their responses was conducted through use of structural equation modeling (SEM). Results of the analysis showed: (1) Procedural, interpersonal, and information justice all had positive significant relationships with trust; (2) Trust had a positive, significant relationship with leader-member exchange (LMX); (3) LMX had a positive, significant relationship with commitment, as measured by feelings of obligation and emotional attachment; and (4) Commitment had a positive, significant relationship with performance, as measured by self-evaluations of individual performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Additionally, it was found that a fully mediated model most aptly explained the pathway of student-athlete production. In the model, procedural, interpersonal, and information justice were treated as independent variables and were found to positively relate to trust; that is, the greater the perceptions of each form of justice the greater the level of trust student-athletes had in the coach. Trust then served as a mediating variable that positively influenced the quality of the exchange (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Turner PhD (Advisor); Packianathan Chelladurai PhD (Committee Member); Donna Pastore PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sports Management

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2007, Speech Communication

Previous research suggests that roommate relationships can influence students' academic performance and collegiate experiences. Unfortunately, the literature on roommate relationships consists of inconclusive and contradictory findings about the complex interplay between roommate factors and relational satisfaction. This study aims to establish a typology that accounts for relational satisfaction amongst first year college roommates. Drawing from the theoretical framework of relational dialectics, social exchange theory, and interactional dialectics, three roommate types were proposed and analyzed. The results suggest that individuals who share the same roommate type tend to report higher levels of relational satisfaction. Furthermore, this study found that smaller discrepancies between individuals' ideal and actual roommate relationships yielded higher levels of relational satisfaction. Finally, this study found that roommates who emphasize communicative patterns of acceptance and avoid patterns of judgment tend to report higher levels of relational satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research on roommate relationships are discussed.

Committee: Larry Nadler (Advisor) Subjects: