The Millennial Generation is a young generation now required to effectively and efficiently navigate the cultural diversity that they encounter in various group settings throughout the United States. Research has examined conflict management styles and intercultural sensitivity, but few studies have investigated these two concepts specifically within the Millennial Generation. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap that exists in the current literature through an examination of the relationship between intercultural sensitivity and conflict management styles within the Millennial Generation in a hypothetical intercultural group setting. The results from 221 participants indicate that positive and negative relationships exist among the dimensions of intercultural sensitivity and conflict management styles, Millennials show a preference for conflict management styles that reflect a concern for self, and Millennials report high Interaction Confidence and low Respect for Cultural Difference. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Näringslivet har identifierat en problematik på dagens arbetsmarknad i hur företag ska kunna rekrytera, behålla och motivera generationen millennials. Dessa individer värdesätter andra saker hos arbetsgivaren mot tidigare generationer, främst relaterade till företagskulturen. Tidigare forskning visar att aspekter som motiverar millennials är utvecklingsmöjligheter, en arbetsmiljö där kollegor kan lära av varandra och en flexibilitet, såväl i sina arbetsuppgifter som i balansen mellan jobbet och fritiden. Denna studie avser att på ett kvalitativt sätt bidra med kunskap om hur företagskulturen ligger till grund för millennials arbetsmotivation, samt söka förståelse för hur denna betydelse kommer till uttryck mellan deras första och andra anställning efter högskoleexamen. Då studien skrivs inom den pedagogiska disciplinen kommer dessa aspekter vidare att diskuteras i ljuset av ett lärandeperspektiv. Empirin kommer från åtta intervjuer vilka genomfördes på millennials inom olika branscher, men där alla befinner sig på sin andra anställning efter högskoleexamen. Resultat presenteras i tre skilda kategorier: Motiverande aspekter inom företagskulturen, Den generella förändringen och Vikten av en långsiktig utveckling. Studiens resultat har analyserats utifrån Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori, om hygien- och motivationsfaktorer. Resultatet som helhet har därefter diskuterats i relation till Ellströms teori om ett livslångt lärande som en avslutande del i analysen. Vårt resultat visar att motivationen starkt påverkas av en öppen företagskultur med högt diskussionsklimat som främjar gemenskap, självständighet och möjlighet att påverka, vilket generellt ligger i linje med vad tidigare forskning har konstaterat. Studien har även kunnat urskilja andra aspekter som millennials värdesätter såsom mångfald, kreativt och innovativt tänkande. Resultatet visar på en förändringsprocess där millennials reflekterar mer över företagskulturens betydelse vid sin andra anställning jämfört med sin första, för att känna sig fortsatt motiverade. Då en öppen företagskultur i stor utsträckning främjar utveckling, är det en viktig del för att millennials ska motiveras att lära sig nya saker, kan resultatet liknas vid en strävan att nå ett livslångt lärande.

Modeindustrin har en enorm inverkan på miljö och människans hälsa. Konsumenter har dock begränsade kunskaper om hur modeföretag arbetar med hållbarhet. Millennials som har visat störst intresse för hållbarhet önskar därför transparent information från modeföretagen gällande deras hållbarhetsarbete. Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida millennials attityd och intention till att handla på modeföretag förändras när de får ny kunskap om företags hållbarhetsarbete. Det har gjorts fyra fokusgrupper kombinerat med experiment för att se om det fanns en förändrad kognition, attityd och intention när respondenterna exponeras för företags kommunikation om hållbarhet. Studien visar att attityden och intention till att handla på modeföretag förändras när kognitionen om hur företag arbetar med hållbarhet förändras. Millennials ställer sig positiva till företags kommunikation om hållbarhet som leder till en större benägenhet till att handla hos dessa företag. Resultatet indikerar på att modeföretag gynnas av att vara transparenta och tydligt kommunicera om deras hållbarhetsarbete.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Sam Mwangi / Consumption philanthropy (CP) provides consumers with an opportunity to support charities through consumption of charity-linked products promoted by corporations. Although research on consumers’ response to corporate philanthropy continues to grow, little is known about contextual factors that influence young donors’ willingness to participate in CP. Moreover, CP, also known as cause marketing (CM), has received little attention in public relations research. This study attempts to reduce the gap in the literature. Drawing from the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this research is to examine beliefs about altruistic goals, perceptions, perceived support, and external control beliefs related to CP participation among Millennials. Findings indicate that the primary factors influencing the participation willingness of the Millennial consumer group are the portion of the proceeds that benefits the cause, the beneficiary, and a high social pressure. Also, Millennials have expectations from their participation in consumption philanthropy programs. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for research and practices regarding messaging strategies for consumer advertising campaigns.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Xiaochen Zhang / This study examined crisis communication on social media applying relationship management theory. There are few credibility checks on social media platforms, and some say publics no longer believe messages through this type of media (Domonoske, 2016; Ho, 2012). However, many people get news from social media platforms and trust the information they read (Turcotte, York, Irving, Scholl, & Pingree, 2015). Crisis theories suggest strong relationships are less affected by crisis situations, and relationships are heavily based on trust (Broom, Casey, & Ritchey, 1997; Coombs, 2000; Coombs & Holladay, 2006; Ledingham, 2003). Through a survey, this study found a statistically significant positive relationship between perceived organization-public relationship, trust and, credibility in crisis communication on social media within the Millennial and Generation Z groups. These generations are the most active on social media, and this study challenged the claim that they do not believe information online (Richards, 2017; Statista, 2016).

Members of the workplace are at the heart of the organizational learning process. They play a major role by communicating their shared perceptions, distributing knowledge, and acting as human components of the broader organizational memory. Today, three generations cohabitate in the work environment, each of whom have their own distinct traits that influence how they perceive and enact learning. This thesis explores how Millennials experience organizational learning and its significance. By applying Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I Framework, the process of intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionalizing are considered from the standpoint of the Millennial generation. The methodology for this study includes semi-structured interviews and qualitative thematic analysis to better understand this relationship. This is based on 13 conversations with members all drawn from a single organization. The findings describe how Millennials see learning as fundamental as well as how they overcome the challenges they face and apply their knowledge.

Education has changed as a result of technological advances. Distance learning, particularly online learning, has rapidly increased its presence in higher education. Millennials, a new generation of students who have grown up with the Internet, are college-age. They expect access to the Internet to manage their daily lives. However, as they enter college, many discover that support services that are requisite to a successful college experience, are available on-campus but not online. The goal was to determine what contemporary college-aged students expect as online student support services so that institutions will know what to provide. Data gathered through interviews with administrative support staff were used to modify a published survey and to guide construction of new questions. The modified instrument was validated by three experts and revised accordingly. All current students at Farmingdale State College were invited to respond to the web-based instrument that examined the current status of online support services. Following full-scale implementation, the data were analyzed. Results were used to create recommendations and considerations for the implementation of online support services at the college reviewed by the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The final report is a comprehensive resource for college administrators who serve millennial undergraduates. It contains valuable information and guidance for the development and implementation of student support services in the 21st century. A serendipitous finding was that many non-traditional, older students expressed comparable needs for online support services.

Millennial students make up a large portion of undergraduate students attending colleges and universities, and they have a variety of online resources available to them to complete academically related information searches, primarily Web based and library-based online information retrieval systems. The content, ease of use, and required search techniques are different between the two information retrieval systems. Students often prefer searching the Web, but in doing so often miss higher quality materials that may be available only through their library. Furthermore, each system uses different information retrieval algorithms for producing results, so proficiency in one search system may not transfer to another. Web based information retrieval systems are unable to search and retrieve many resources available in libraries and other proprietary information retrieval systems, often referred to as the Invisible Web. These are resources that are not available to the general public and are password protected (from anyone not considered to be an affiliated user of that particular organization). These resources are often licensed to libraries by third party vendors or publishers and include fee-based access to content. Therefore, many millennial students may not be accessing many scholarly resources available to them if they were to use Web based information retrieval systems. Investigation of how millennial students approach searches for the same topic in both systems was conducted. The goal was to build upon theory of why students search using various techniques, why they often choose the Web for their searches, and what can be done to improve library online information retrieval systems. Mixed qualitative methods of data gathering were used to elicit this information. The investigation showed that millennial undergraduate students lacked detailed search strategies, and often used the same search techniques regardless of system or subject. Students displayed greater familiarity and ease of use with Web based IR systems than online library IR systems. Results illustrated suggestions for search design enhancements to library online information retrieval systems such as better natural language searching and easier linking to full text articles. Design enhancements based on millennial search strategies should encourage students to use library-based information retrieval systems more often.

Helping through acts of philanthropy is a cultural norm in the United States. People of all generations give to a variety of causes, including their alma maters. Research shows that millennials had positive experiences at their institutions and want to stay engaged. However, they are more likely to donate to their favorite cause than their alma mater. This study investigates what motivates the millennial generation to give to their undergraduate alma mater. Building on existing work targeted at giving, it asks: To what extent does personal experience affect millennials giving to their alma mater before graduation, during the process of graduation, and after graduation? Based on the review of literature on generational giving, and the theory of planned behavior, a survey was distributed targeting millennials who met the following two criteria: 1) born between 1980–2000, and 2) graduated with an undergraduate degree between 2005 and 2015. A secondary analysis of data was employed to correlate the findings from the close-ended survey and examine the giving trends among millennials and how those trends vary among the other three giving generations: mature/silents, baby boomers, and Generation X. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Millennials are known for being a unique generation that places a high value on improving their community. They are also unlike any other generation because they are harder to market to since they are more aware of common marketing strategies used by companies today. Millennials want to improve the community and expect others to do the same. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a popular topic and has gained momentum in research over the years; understanding the relationship between CSR and millennials is important due to the generational shifts. Therefore, this study examines the importance of CSR to different generations and how companies can use that information to gain millennials as loyal consumers. This study examines the following constructs to evaluate CSR from a generational perspective: awareness, satisfaction, and loyalty. Although it is believed that millennials value CSR more than other generations, all generations appear to be aware, satisfied, and loyal.