Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Educational Studies

INTRODUCTION: Emotional intelligence (EQ) and good leadership are two crucial characteristics of an effective physician. Most leadership experiences during residency training are as a senior resident overseeing interns or during mock code simulations. As a modifiable skill, it is important to assess a trainee's leadership skills and their perspective to help them gain insight to their strengths and weaknesses. As fundamental feature of effective leadership, emotional intelligence is essential for physician practice especially in highly charged situations. Simulation has been proposed as an effective setting to perform EQ evaluation but not yet trialed. Thus, the purpose of this study was to discover the relationship between leadership skills during simulated scenarios and emotional intelligence. METHODS: Pediatric trainees performed a simulated resuscitation scenario. Crisis Resource Management (CRM) skills were scored by the instructor and trainees performed a self-evaluation both using the Resuscitation Team Leader Evaluation (RTLE). A performance gap analysis was performed, comparing the self-assessment to the instructor's. Next trainees completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) which was then compared to their CRM and performance gap analysis with a canonical correlation analysis. RESULTS: Trainees who led simulations included 58 residents and 20 fellows and 26 of those trainees completed the TEIQue. Trainees inaccurately assessed CRM skills with average gap of 3 points. Resident trainees overestimated their CRM skills while fellows underestimated theirs with mean gaps +4 and -3.5 respectively, with larger gaps in the areas of communication and future needs anticipation. In addition thee were a mix of positive and negative correlations between EQ and the CRM skills & gap analysis. CONCLUSION: Pediatric trainees inaccurately assessed their team leadership skills. Certain areas of trait EQ do correlate with CRM skills. Further stu (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Mahan (Committee Member); David Stein (Advisor) Subjects: Adult Education; Educational Evaluation; Health Care; Higher Education; Medicine

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Higher Education Administration

One of the most challenging times for campus communities is when a crisis occurs. It often causes higher education to question their policies, missions, and values. Additionally, the crisis managers and those affected by it may experience trauma as they navigate the crisis (Bataille & Cordova, 2014; Lynch 2023). Despite the research on crisis management, there are still gaps in knowledge. Because no two crises are alike, it is difficult to nuance how care is provided throughout a crisis and if communities transform post-crisis. This general descriptive-interpretive qualitative study aimed to understand how student affairs crisis managers incorporate ethics of care strategies in crisis management practices to aid social transformation. Two research questions guided this study: How do crisis managers provide care for those affected by a crisis? How have campuses and community members transformed after a crisis? Branicki's (2020) feminist crisis management framework underpinned this study. This framework considers the relationship between the cared-for and caregiver, the use of networks to provide care, and how the community recovers and transforms after a crisis. Twelve participants engaged in this general descriptive-interpretive study and participated in one semi-structured interview. They self-identified as middle managers during the crisis they discussed. All participants reported to a senior student affairs officer or the chief student affairs officer. Seven key findings emerged from this study. The first set of findings addresses how crisis managers provide care during a crisis and includes actions of care, provision of care, receipt of care, and influence on care. The second set of findings describes how campuses and their members transform after a crisis and includes middle managers reflecting on transformation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how middle managers in student affairs provide care throughout a crisis. Furthermore, it (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Maureen E. Wilson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jacob Clemens Ph.D. (Committee Member); Amy French Ph.D. (Committee Member); Beth Sanders Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Education; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

DNP, Otterbein University, 0, Nursing

Within the operating room (OR), identifying deteriorating patient conditions and effectively communicating are essential to delivering safe and efficient care. Although rare, the critical nature of emergent events necessitates early recognition and prompt intervention by an experienced anesthesia provider. The complexity of emergency management is often related to diagnostic ambiguity, individual provider experience, and disruptions of the fast-paced OR environment, requiring appropriate training methods for proficient execution. However, student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) often lack sufficient exposure to emergent clinical scenarios, leading to delayed intervention and diminished confidence during crisis management. An evidence-based simulation education guideline for intraoperative emergency management was developed following a comprehensive literature review. This project aims to implement evidence-based practice guidelines for crisis resource management education using simulation for nurse anesthesia students in central Ohio. The evidence suggests that simulation learning effectively improves recognition of deteriorating patient conditions, critical decision-making, interdisciplinary teamwork, and student confidence.

Committee: Dr. Brian Garrett (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Educational Theory; Health Care; Health Care Management; Health Education; Nursing

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

An analysis of misinformation, disinformation, perverse rhetorical devices, and the origin of the Critical Race Theory (CRT) controversy were presented, as well as the motivations of those most likely to share misinformation and crisis communication strategies. The purpose of this mixed method study was to explore Ohio Superintendents' levels of understanding of CRT and preparedness to respond to allegations, as well as their perceptions of the impact of CRT allegations school, family, and community partnerships and student conflicts. An exploration of the statistical correlations between the number of CRT posts and allegations in a school district and the number of student conflicts, reported conditions of partnerships, and demographics was also presented. The outcome of this study could provide educational leaders with the needed information to better prepare proactive responses to CRT allegations as well as other school targeted allegations while building positive relationships with all stakeholders.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Kristen Bruns PhD (Committee Member); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Curriculum Development; Education; Management; Political Science; School Administration; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) rely on direct support professionals (DSPs) to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives. Provider agencies that provide services for people with IDD cannot meet the demand due to the DSP workforce crisis. The DSP workforce crisis poses a significant impact on people with IDD. Research was completed regarding the significance of the DSP workforce crisis in Ohio based on the experiences of some of the Ohio County Boards of Developmental Disabilities, which provide case management services for people with IDD. This quantitative study aimed to determine the impact of the lack of service availability or discharges precisely due to an insufficient number of DSPs. Additional data collected determined if there were any DSP capacity differences based on the size of the counties, as well as the impact the workforce crisis has on specific home and community-based services. The findings of this study found that the DSP shortages did create difficulties for people with IDD to access and maintain services. The study further found that the DSP workforce crisis worsened after March 2020 compared to what case managers experienced before March 2020. Additional data revealed that the size of the county did not have a significant effect, as all counties were experiencing the same issues related to the workforce crisis. The data also showed that services requiring around-the-clock care were more challenging to maintain adequate DSPs versus intermittent services. The research demonstrates the need for further studies to analyze the issues and develop solutions to help with the DSP workforce crisis. The data collected in these studies could benefit policymakers, IDD providers, and case managers.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Christopher Basich EdD (Committee Member); Daniel Van Dussen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care Management; Mental Health; Public Policy; Social Work

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Leadership Studies

This correlational study examined the competency of crisis readiness and leadership of ice arena managers using a cross-sectional survey. The target audience was ice arena owners, managers, and operators of ice arenas in the United States and Canada. The researcher examined which factors (ice arena characteristics) best predict ice arena managers' Crisis Readiness as well as group differences in Crisis Readiness. The Crisis Readiness Survey, which consisted of 61 items, was emailed and/or posted to participants. Twelve questions gleaned demographical information, while the remaining items generated nine subscales: Emergency Evacuation Planning, Agency Calibration, Spectator Control, Policies and Procedures, Liability, Emergency/Crisis Management, Credential Control, Perimeter Control, and Crisis Leadership. The subscales were measured using a 5-point scale from 1 (very low capability) to 5 (very high capability). Subscales were calculated as the mean of respective items. The mean of 42 items generated the variable Overall Crisis Readiness. The data indicated statistically significant differences in Crisis Readiness by Participation in Training. The more training ice industry professionals obtain, the better prepared they will be to manage a crisis and lead their staff through it. Whereas Education Levels, Years of Experience, and Job Title did not generate statistically significant differences in Crisis Readiness subscales and overall. Participation in Training was found to be the best predictor of Overall Crisis Readiness, based on the predictive model Y = 2.43X + 2.59. However, Participation in Training only accounted for 5% variance in Overall Crisis Readiness. When comparing the United States and Canada, Canadian ice arena managers reported significantly higher competency in Evacuation Planning.

Committee: Rachel Vannatta Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Janet Hartley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Monica Moll Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Paul Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Management

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2023, Business Administration

Change is difficult. A process inherently challenging and uniquely individual, change involves transitioning individuals from a state of comfort and normalcy to an uncomfortable and stressful period of transition, ultimately leading to a new, often unfamiliar future state. This difficulty is exacerbated during crises when clarity and trust become paramount. This study employs a descriptive phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of change management employees navigating change within organizations. Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis. First, inconsistent messaging from different management levels engendered confusion and uncertainty. Second, the perceived lack of transparency and honesty in leadership communications resulted in mistrust, misinformation, and erosion of leadership credibility. Third, regardless of the content of the communication, the chosen channel and its frequency emerged as key indicators shaping participant perceptions. Finally, the study revealed that how leadership conveyed messages and treated employees in terms of perceived honesty, responsiveness, and prioritization strongly reinforced participants' existing crisis-related perceptions. Additional findings were also examined, including how the participants reported distinct perspectives on leadership, communication, and organizational performance during crises. In response to the findings, the author introduces a unified crisis communications model to optimize leadership communication strategies and employee experiences during crisis events. This model integrates key elements derived from the study, emphasizing consistency, transparency, and strategic use of communication channels. By addressing the identified challenges and leveraging the model, organizations may enhance their ability to navigate change during crises, fostering resilience and sustaining stakeholder trust.

Committee: Patrick Bennett (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Ferezan (Committee Member); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Leadership Studies

Colleges and universities with residence halls on their campuses are home to a myriad of crises that can occur any day and at any time. These crises occur at a much greater frequency and are often the responsibility of entry-level residence life crisis managers that often have the least amount of crisis management experience on campus. The purpose of this study was to utilize a mixed-methods approach to discover the environmental influences, crisis characteristics, and aspects of self that inform how entry-level residence life crisis managers perform their crisis management duties. Eleven entry-level crisis managers from a large public university in the Midwestern United States provided written responses and participated in interviews to share how their response to crises were informed by the crisis itself, the environment, and themselves. The qualitative data were coded into 39 individual codes, which were brought together into four core categories of findings: 1) Characteristics of the Crisis; 2) Characteristics of the Environment; 3) Characteristics of the Crisis Manager; and 4) Coordinating with Others. The qualitative findings were reviewed by a panel of nominated experts in residence life crisis management from the Great Lakes Association of Colleges and University Housing Officers (GLACUHO) through a Delphi study, a multi-round survey where participants rated their level of agreement to the extent that each code does and should inform crisis management. The insights from the qualitative participants along with the points of agreement and disagreement from the expert panel carry implications for practitioners when it comes to training staff and working with crisis stakeholders, as well as for future researchers in terms of how residence life crisis management is discussed and researched moving forward.

Committee: Patrick Pauken J.D., Ph.D. (Advisor); Kefa Otiso Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Buck D.Mgt. (Committee Member); Christy Galletta Horner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Chris Willis Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education Administration

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Business Administration

The United States economy currently suffers a significant skills gap in its workforce, one that approaches crisis proportions. This skills gap (Christo-Baker et al., 2017; King et al., 2017; Laboissiere & Mourshed, 2017) will have profound effects on future U.S. economic growth and, by extension, on global economic growth. Researchers have highlighted the ineffective workforce development programs adopted by business organizations in the United States and recommended incorporating work-integrated learning (WIL) to address the skills gap, but their focus has been overwhelmingly on production/service-execution. This study focuses elsewhere – namely, exploring the effectiveness of a Transformational WIL (TWIL) to address procedural gaps in business development (i.e., pre-execution) through the lived experiences of senior executives and the issues they perceive as mandating a transformational application of WIL to address this “upstream” segment of business operations specifically for the small-business sector. The research employs a conceptual framework based on the work-integrated learning model developed by Sattler (2011). Three research questions guide this proposed study. This researcher used a qualitative phenomenological research design method. The research participants included fifteen senior executives from for-profit business organizations and higher education institutions that meet the recruiting criteria. The organization of workforce-development constructs here involved systematic training, structured work experience, and institutional partnerships. This research advances business knowledge and contributes scholarship to the field by re-targeting WIL on a business segment previously unaddressed by systematic workforce development. This research also results in highly practical practices and business strategies designed to immediately boost the procedural capabilities of small business in OH, benefiting that state's graduates, employees, employers, and the l (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Andy Igonor (Committee Chair); Jonathan McCombs (Committee Member); Christopher Washington (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Administration; Business Community; Business Costs; Business Education; Community College Education; Community Colleges; Continuing Education; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Sociology; Educational Theory; Entrepreneurship; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Instructional Design; Labor Economics; Labor Relations; Management; Multicultural Education; Multilingual Education; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Secondary Education; Teaching

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2020, Computer Science

In the last decade, the advent of social media and microblogging services have inevitably changed our world. These services produce vast amounts of streaming data, and one of the most important ways of analyzing and discovering interesting trends in the streaming data is through clustering. In clustering streaming data, it is desirable to perform a single pass over incoming data, such that we do not need to process old data again, and the clustering model should evolve over time not to lose any important feature statistics of the data. In this research, we have developed a new clustering system that clusters social media data based on their textual content and displays the clusters and their locations on the map. Our system takes advantage of a text stream clustering algorithm, which uses the two-phase clustering process. The online micro-clustering phase incrementally creates micro-clusters, called text droplets, that represent enough information about topics occurring in the text stream. The off-line macro-clustering phase clusters micro-clusters for a user-specified time interval and can change macro-clustering algorithms dynamically. Our experiments demonstrated that the performance of our system is scalable; and it can be easily used by first responders and crisis management personnel to quickly determine if a crisis is happening, where it is concentrated, and what resources are best to deploy to the situation.

Committee: Soon M. Chung Ph.D. (Advisor); Nikolaos Bourbakis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vincent A. Schmidt Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, Geography

Large-scale disasters result in enormous impacts on vulnerable communities worldwide, and data acquisition has become a major concern in this time-critical situation: the limitations of geospatial technologies impede the real-time data collection, also the absent or poor data collection in some regions. With the current advances of Web 2.0, crowdsourcing and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) have become commonly used. As a potential solution to fill the gap of real-time geographic data, crowdsourcing and VGI enable timely information exchange through a voluntary approach and enhance amateur citizen participation. Importantly, such geographic information can substantially facilitate emergency coordination by fulfilling the needs of impacted communities and appropriately allocating relief supplies and funds. My research interest centers on the utilization of crowdsourcing and VGI for disaster management. Particularly, I work to explore their potential value and contributions by reviewing two notable and destructive disaster events as case studies: the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan. In addition, I examine the challenges of this information and seek potential solutions. This research aims to contribute a comprehensive qualitative analysis of how Volunteer and Technical Communities (V&TCs) have used crowdsourced data and VGI to enhance the coordination of disaster management.

Committee: Stanley Toops (Advisor); John Maingi (Committee Member); Mary Henry (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2019, Counseling Psychology

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (McIntosh & Drapeau, 2018). Mental illness is prevalent among suicide deaths (Cavanaugh et al., 2003) and psychologists can expect to have clients with increased suicide risk during their training or career (Dexter-Mazza & Freeman, 2003; Kleespies, Penk, & Forsyth, 1993), it is vital that students training to be health service psychologists, including clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and school psychology (APA, 2018), be competent in providing clinical care to individuals with increased suicide risk. Competency incorporates “knowledge, skills, attitudes, and personal qualities” essential to clinical practice (Albanese et al., 2008). Although suicide is an important topic, only two studies have directly examined clinical skill with suicidal clients by graduate students (Mackelprang et al., 2014; Neimeyer & Bonnelle, 1997). There have been many calls to further emphasize clinical preparation related to suicide assessment and management (SAM; Neimeyer, 2000; Rudd et al., 2008; Westefeld et al., 2000), particularly because many students receive little training related to suicide at the internship level or beyond (Schmitz et al., 2012). The current study examined the experience, training, and competency of 140 health service psychology graduate students prior to internship, using a measure of skill (Suicide Intervention Response Inventory [SIRI-2]; Neimeyer & Bonnelle, 1997), attitudes, knowledge (Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale [ATTS]; Salander Renberg & Jacobsson, 2003), and a self-rating of clinical suicide competency (Suicide Competency Assessment Form [SCAF]; Cramer et al., 2013). These measures were compared examining a number of personal qualities identified in previous research as potentially affecting skill, attitudes, or knowledge related to suicide. Findings indicate nearly all graduate students were providing clinical services to clients with suicidal thoughts or attempts prior to (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ingrid Weigold Ph.D. (Advisor); Bernard Jesiolowski Ph.D. (Committee Member); Suzette Speight Ph.D. (Committee Member); Charles Waehler Ph.D. (Committee Member); Alan Kornspan Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide an intrinsic case study investigation of The City of Miami Beach and Miami - Dade County Public School's Education Compact. The Education Compact provides a model of how school districts are using innovative educational governance strategies to improve failing and low performing schools. The impetus for the design and instigation of The Education Compact was to address the rapidly growing changes in 21st century demographics of The City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County. The underlying goals of this case study are not to build theory, but to provide context-specific knowledge, and provide a detailed example and understanding of the intrinsic value of The City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County Public School Education Compact.

Committee: Candace Stout (Committee Chair); Joni Acuff (Committee Member); Wayne Lawson (Committee Member); James Sanders (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Arts Management; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Demographics; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Organizational Behavior

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2018, Computer Science

Although Twitter has been around for more than ten years, crisis management agencies and first response personnel are not able to fully use the information this type of data provides during a crisis or natural disaster. This thesis addresses clustering and visualizing social media data by textual similarity, rather than by only time and location, as a tool for first responders. This thesis presents a tool that automatically clusters geotagged text data based on their content and displays the clusters and their locations on the map. It allows at-a-glance information to be displayed throughout the evolution of a crisis. For accurate clustering, we used silhouette coefficients to determine the number of clusters automatically. To visualize the topics (i.e., frequent words) within each cluster, we used the word cloud. This tool could be easily used by first response and official management personnel to quickly determine when a crisis is occurring, where it is concentrated, and what resources to best deploy to stabilize the situation.

Committee: Soon Chung Ph.D. (Advisor); Nikolaos Bourbakis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vincent Schmidt Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

This study examined the effects of channel richness, source credibility and organizational reputation on both the perceived efficacy of pre-crisis messages, as well as participants' intent to comply with prescribed behavior in a severe weather context. Using the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model as a foundation, channel richness, source credibility and organizational reputation were examined, as were the potential effects of prior experiences with severe weather, and the perceived severity of said experiences. An experimental design was run with 100 participants, and several factors emerged. The findings suggest that media richness has no effect, with organizational reputation and source credibility instead predicting message efficacy, and competence emerging as the most important factor in source credibility. The implications on both future crisis research and crisis management are discussed.

Committee: Robert Whitbred PhD (Committee Chair); Anup Kumar PhD (Committee Member); Gary Pettey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Political Science

Why do states use secrecy? Specifically, why do great powers often seem to create a kind of “backstage” area around local conflicts? That is, why create a kind of covert realm where external powers can meddle in local conflicts to pursue their security interests? This project generally analyzes how secrecy is used in international politics and why states are individually and collectively motivated to use it. Existing scholarship suggests states use secrecy to surprise their adversaries or insulate their leaders from dovish domestic political groups. I develop an alternative logic rooted in the desire to control conflict escalation risks. In the context of interventions in local conflicts by outside powers, I find intervening states use covert methods to maintain control over the perceptions and interpretations of outside audiences whose reactions determine the magnitude of external pressure on leaders to escalate further. Intervening in a secret, plausibly deniable manner makes restraint and withdrawal on the part of the intervening state easier. It also creates ambiguity about their role which can give the political space to responding states to ignore covert meddling and respond with restraint. Escalation control dynamics therefore make sense of why states intervene secretly and, more puzzling, why other states – even adversaries – may join in ignoring and covering up such covert activity (what I call “tacit collusion”). Drawing on Erving Goffman and others, I develop an “impression management” theory for why states individually and jointly use secrecy and political denial to achieve their goals. To illustrate several new concepts and evaluate the theory’s value-added, I use a sophisticated comparative case study research design that leverages within- and between-case variation in the Korean War, Spanish Civil War, and the civil war in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Each conflict hosts se (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Randall Schweller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Richard Herrmann Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Mitzen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Relations; Political Science

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This multi-disciplinary project examines the style, structure, and performance of presidential management of international crises in order to determine both the impact of earlier crisis management experiences on subsequent crisis management behavior, and the role of a structured presidential approach to crisis management in either encouraging or discouraging such institutional learning. The aim of such an approach is twofold. First, it is to discover the level of learning and adaptation, from both positive and negative experiences, that takes place among presidents and their advisors during and after the handling of an international crisis, including how that learning may be maximized and directed toward more effective management efforts in the future. Second, it is to determine the role of a structured crisis management approach in shaping decision-making behavior, including how such an approach may affect the ability of presidents and their advisors to learn from prior experiences. The study integrates research from the international crisis, presidential management, and organizational learning literatures, utilizing George's (1979) comparative case study method to examine several crises during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The paper concludes with a presentation of findings and discusses the relevance of such findings on issues such as; recent and looming international crisis situations in North Korea, the Middle East, and elsewhere; the impact of a changing global landscape that includes such dangers as nuclear proliferation; and the prospects for successful crisis management efforts by the current and future American presidents in the 21st century.

Committee: Dr. Richard Harknett (Advisor) Subjects:

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Employing a case study and qualitative research using thematic networks, this thesis examines the impact of country and corporate culture on public relations crisis response. Tokyo Electric Power's Company's handling of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 will be considered along with the proposition that Japanese culture directly affected the corporation's crisis communications response. This thesis considers the influence the country's traditional corporate culture has on governance, lifetime employment, hierarchy, diversity, and information sharing. It extends this analysis to Japan's unique culture using Hofstede's Cultural Index. Finally, the thesis examines the evolution and current role of public relations practitioners and firms within this culture. In considering the proposition, the author explores: • how local corporate culture can have a dramatic impact on public relations crisis response; • how country culture directly affects corporate culture; • why the public relations function in an open society must be more than a collecting and distribution point for C-suite communications; and • how Hofstede's Cultural Index and Thematic Networks can be useful in illuminating potential challenges for public relations professionals. This thesis adds to the what the author discovered is a scarce body of knowledge on this subject and encourages additional study in the area of country and corporate culture and its affect on public relations in-country and globally. While much has been written about country culture and organizational/corporate culture, the blending of these topics with public relations practice provides insights that will assist practitioners in the planning and execution of PR practices, policies, and programs.

Committee: Bob Batchelor Ph.D (Advisor); William Sledzik PhD (Committee Member); Gene Sasso (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Energy; Ethics; Management; Mass Communications

Doctor of Education, University of Akron, 2010, Educational Leadership

This study examines the system of crisis leadership in higher education. Using case study methods, five crisis leadership participants were interviewed to develop a deep understanding of how they perceive their university crisis leadership system. Two participants were from a private institution, and three were from a public institution. Higher education factors that contribute to and detract from effective crisis leadership were found, as well as training aspects that contribute to and detract from effective crisis leadership processes. The case studies were analyzed using a cross- comparison method, and also according to a framework drawn from the research literature related to leadership, training, and crisis. The findings suggest a new practical model for use in higher education crisis leadership.

Committee: Sharon Kruse Dr. (Advisor); Sandra Coyner EdD (Committee Member); Xin Liang PhD (Committee Member); Megan Moore Gardner PhD (Committee Member); Robert C. Schwartz PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Inservice Training; Occupational Health; Political Science; School Administration

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2010, Communication

Crises happen indiscriminately and without warning to organizations of every type. Institutions of higher education are places where students can pursue education to brighten their futures, but even they face potential crises. In the same way that crisis mismanagement can perpetuate the escalation of a crisis, miscommunication at the time of a crisis can cause irreparable damage to an organization's reputation and, ultimately, its future. Research indicates that preparation is essential to swift crisis resolution and prevention of crisis escalation. A crisis public relations plan enables an organization to be prepared to respond to key constituencies in the midst of a crisis by providing in depth guidelines of what to say and to whom. This thesis examines literature on crisis public relations for the purpose of creating a crisis public relations plan for Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Committee: David Ritchey Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: