The advent of technology has put a number of institutions in a state of reform (Wolcott, 1997). In fact, it was predicted that technology would completely transform higher education by the end of the twentieth century (Sculley, 1989). Aside from the demographic make-up of the majority of current students (Howe & Strauss, 2000), moving away from the traditional lecture-format to one with the integration of instructional technology can enhance the teaching/learning environment (Bolger & Sprow, 2002). However, instructional technology has still not been completely integrated into the higher education curriculum and students reported that only about 20 % of instructors were found to use technology effectively ("How Students Rate Instructors' Use of Information Technology in Courses", 2011). Educators continue to face a number of barriers to adoption and many institutions are still investigating ways to provide a more effective learning and teaching environment using efficient use of instructional technology. This research used the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech as a test bed and conducted a set of three studies following a mixed methodology. The first study elicited both quantitative and qualitative data from faculty members who used instructional technology in the classroom. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships between organizational culture, usability, and instructional technology acceptance and found a significant, positive relationship between usability and instructional technology acceptance, and a positive relationship between organizational culture and instructional technology acceptance. The second study gained more insight into the relationship by collecting qualitative data in the form of focus group interviews. Results of Study 2 indicated that collaborative and innovative organizational cultures, coupled with instructional technologies that have low learnability, high efficiency, high effectiveness, and high satisfaction can facilitate instructional technology acceptance. Based on the results, a set of recommendations to facilitate instructional technology acceptance were developed. The third and final study consisted of a summative evaluation of the recommendations by a panel of experts using the Delphi technique. The overall outcome of this research effort was the development of recommendations and guidelines to facilitate instructional technology acceptance and the description of a comprehensive framework for effective instructional technology use. / Ph. D.

U.S. demographic shifts are not being reflected in higher education institutions (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.; U.S. Department of Education, 2013). While institutions recruit underrepresented students and faculty, retention of these populations continues to be an issue in part due to a lack of sense of belonging (Booker, 2007; Hurtado and Carter, 1997), poor institutional climate (Hurtado, Alvarez, Guillermo-Wann, Cuellar, and Arellano, 2012; Rhee, 2008), and institutional racism (Stanley, 2006). Organizational culture theory offers a lens to examine the underlying structural problems preventing organizations from permanently adopting diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout the institution. This qualitative study examines how faculty members describe organizational culture of diversity and inclusion at a research university with a high degree of student diversity. The conceptual framework was Schein's (2010) organizational culture model. Participants included 19 faculty members who identified as Caucasian/White, African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian/Pacific Islander. Of all participants, 12 were male and seven female. In-person interviews were conducted to gather data. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Five themes emerged: forming culture, describing diversity and inclusion within the culture, learning impacted by diversity, feeling the culture, and directing culture. Unique findings from this study reveal that participants believed there is a shifting organizational culture of diversity and inclusion at the selected institution due to newly acquired designations, causing redefinition of existing assumptions. Additionally, faculty members (a) held different definitions for diversity and inclusion, which affected how they understood the university's responsibilities; (b) relied on localized diversity initiatives over university-wide ones; (c) believed in the unique needs of a highly diverse student body; and (d) were concerned with gaining diversity and inclusion at all ranks of the institution. Findings suggest that faculty at this institution viewed the organizational culture of diversity and inclusion to be welcoming for students. However, participants' perspectives were mixed about this same culture being welcoming to all faculty members. The study has implications for administrators and faculty members seeking to create more diverse and inclusive organizational cultures. Findings also have implications for future research on organizational culture, faculty, diversity, and inclusion. / Ph. D.

Yes / and objectives: People with dementia occupy around one quarter of general hospital beds, with concerns consistently raised about care quality. Improving workforce knowledge, skills and attitudes is a mechanism for addressing this. However little is known about effective ways of training healthcare staff about dementia. This study aimed to understand models of dementia training most likely to lead to improved practice and better care experiences for people with dementia, and to understand barriers and facilitators to implementation. Method: A collective case study was conducted in three National Health Service Acute Hospital Trusts in England. Multiple data sources were used including interviews with training leads/facilitators, ward managers and staff who had attended training; satisfaction surveys with patients with dementia and/or carers; and observations of care using Dementia Care Mapping. Results: Interactive face-to-face training designed for general hospital staff was valued. Simulation and experiential learning methods were felt to be beneficial by some staff and stressful and distressing by others. Skilled delivery by an experienced and enthusiastic facilitator was identified as important. Staff identified learning and practice changes made following their training. However, observations revealed not all staff had the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to deliver good care. Patient and carer satisfaction with care was mixed. A major barrier to training implementation was lack of resources. Supportive managers, organisational culture and strong leadership were key facilitators. Conclusion: Dementia training can lead to improved care practices. There are a range of key barriers and facilitators to implementation that must be considered. / National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme (NIHR PRP) under Grant [PR-R10-0514-120006].

Knowing how organizations engage employees can help researchers and practitioners better understand how to effectively communicate and engage employees to create an efficient and collaborative work environment. This research sought to discover if Tesla Motors strategically communicated values from its Master Plan through company blogs to create an imagined community. The theory of imagined communities provided the theoretical foundation. This research used a content analysis of words and phrases within Tesla's Master Plan and 2015 corporate blog. Although the blog provided some indication that it was communicating values, this study concluded that the Master Plan did not provide enough value information to support a strategic imagined community. This study does, however, imply that imagined communities can be used in public relations research. / Master of Arts

A pesquisa em Enfermagem é uma atividade que tem possibilitado avanços na prática assistencial. No Brasil iniciou-se com os programas de pós-graduação, sendo as enfermeiras professoras as detentoras desta prática. As enfermeiras assistenciais têm procurado, ao longo dos anos, superar barreiras de ordem particular e institucional na sua realização. Instituições de ensino e empregadoras de serviços de saúde buscam promover o desenvolvimento profissional das enfermeiras implementando estratégias que incentivem a atividade investigativa no contexto profissional. Seguindo essa tendência a Diretoria de Enfermagem do Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná criou em 1999 o Núcleo de Pesquisa em Enfermagem (NUPE), para apoiar as enfermeiras na realização de pesquisas. Tem-se, neste estudo, o objetivo de interpretar os sentidos atribuídos pelas enfermeiras assistenciais na participação em um serviço de incentivo à pesquisa e integrá-los em significados socialmente construídos, por meio da análise interpretativa. O quadro teóricometodológico foi delineado com base em conceitos e princípios educacionais e na cultura organizacional, visando-se interpretar como as enfermeiras constroem a atividade da pesquisa no cotidiano profissional mediante serviço de apoio inserido na instituição hospitalar. Para isso, a etnografia, como método, e o estudo de caso, como estratégia, possibilitaram a aproximação necessária do contexto cultural das envolvidas. Os dados foram coletados em entrevistas individuais e grupais, em depoimentos escritos direcionados por questões e em análise documental. O contexto histórico-estrutural do serviço foi descrito pelo olhar da diretora de enfermagem e secretária do NUPE, em exercício no período de 1999 a 2002. A produção científica nestes anos apresentou 129 projetos de pesquisa e 151 trabalhos científicos elaborados pelas enfermeiras. Destes, 36 foram publicados em periódicos e 6 premiados em eventos científicos. Os artigos, em grande parte, construídos coletivamente e publicados em diversos veículos de divulgação, relacionam-se ao Campo Temático Assistencial e Organizacional. Sobre o processo vivenciado, as enfermeiras aludiram sentidos da atividade investigativa na prática assistencial no que tange à valoração desta, ao papel de aprender por meio dela, além dos movimentos inerentes e ainda, do fato de ser uma tarefa árdua, que demanda empenho pessoal. Os significados, analisados sob o prisma do rito de passagem, evidenciaram os movimentos dos sujeitos e da instituição: no período pré-liminar, pela impregnação do fazer sem questionar; no período liminar, pela inserção das enfermeiras junto ao NUPE; e no período pós-liminar, com sinais de ruptura dos velhos paradigmas e abertura às novas perspectivas. Observou-se, no contexto cultural, o desenvolvimento de estratégias e ações pela mobilização dos atores e da instituição com o despertar para a atividade investigativa, o criar na postura de realizadoras de pesquisa, com repercussões intramuros e extramuros à instituição, percebidas no desenvolvimento pessoal-profissional e na valorização do trabalho desenvolvido. A pesquisa, apoiada pela organização e desejada pela enfermeira, consubstancia-se como estratégia científicopedagógica na formação permanente de enfermeiras assistenciais e agrega repercussões positivas para a assistência prestada. No âmbito de serviços de saúde conceber a realização de pesquisa em favor da produção do conhecimento e desenvolvimento profissional requer uma mudança na cultura organizacional por meio de inovações, tempo e interesse dos envolvidos. / The nursing research is an activity that has advanced in the assistant practice. In Brazil it started with pos-graduation programs, with nurse teachers as possessing this practice. The assistant nurses have been looking for many years to overcome barriers of particular and institutional order to get concreted. Education and health service institutions try to promote the professional development of nurses implementing strategies which encourage the research activities in the professional context. Following the tendency of the Nursery Board of Directors of the Regional University Hospital of North Paraná a Nursing Research Nucleus was created in 1999 (NUPE) to support the nurses during their researches. The aim of this study is to analyze the conferred meanings given by assistant nurses in their participation on the research incentive and include them in built social meanings, by interpretative analysis. The theoretical and methodological view was designed from concepts and educational principles and organizational culture, trying to interpret how nurses deal with research activity in their daily professional lives with support service provided in their hospital institution. For this reason, the ethnography as method, and the case of study as strategy, made the necessary approach to the cultural context of the ones involved in the process possible. The data were collected by individual and group interviews, written statements and documental analysis. The historical and structural context of the service was described through the nursing director and NUPE secretary?s view, working in the period from 1999 to 2002. The scientific production in these years present that the nurses created 129 research projects, 151 scientific works. From these, 36 were publicized in scientific newspaper and 6 awarded in scientific events. The articles, in general, were collectively written and publicized in different means, related to the assistant and organizational thematic field. About the experienced process, the nurses mentioned meanings of the research activity in the assistant practice referring to increasing the value in it, the role of learning through it, besides the movements and finality related to it, and furthermore, being a really hard task which demands personal dedication. The meanings, analyzed through the ritual process, show the movements of the subjects and from the institution during the preliminary period, by doing without asking; during the current period by the insertion of nurses into NUPE and during the pos period, with rupture signals to the old paradigms and an opened mind to new perspectives. The development of strategies and actions to mobilize the subjects and the institution were observed in the cultural context with the consciousness to the research activity, the creation of the role of research, the repercussion inside and outside the institution, realized during professional and personal development and having their work developed with an increased value. The research supported by the organization and desired by the nurse, consolidates as scientific and pedagogical strategy in the constant assistant nurse training and adds positive repercussions to the given assistance. In the health area, accepting the research realization in favor of knowledge production and professional development requires changes in the organizational culture through innovations, time and interests of the ones involved.

The Diploma thesis deals with diagnosis of ČSOB, a.s. organizational culture. The theoretical part explains various terms of organizational culture, typologies of organizational culture and methods used to diagnose organizational culture. Based on chosen methodology the practical part analyses and evaluates organizational culture of this company.

Patient safety experts identify changes in culture as critical to creating safer care (Flin, 2007; Leape, 1994; Reason, 1997; Vincent, Taylor-Adams & Stanhope, 1998). Yet there is limited understanding of how to best study, evaluate and make changes to patient safety culture. The literature on organizational culture, safety sciences and health services research suggests varying perspectives on studying culture and an evolving approach to creating tools to measure culture change. This thesis reports two projects. The first project used the Manchester Patient Safety Culture Assessment Tool, the Modified Stanford Instrument, and qualitative interviews to examine whether safety culture profiles varied by research method and instrument used to assess culture. Comparative assessment of the results suggests that while the quantitative measurement tools provide a high level organizational summary of safety issues, the qualitative interviews provide a more fine-grained understanding of the contextual and local features of the culture. The second research project used a multiple case study design to understand what hospitals have learned from trying to improve patient safety culture. Interviews in three organizations were used to determine how these organizations shifted their cultures. Although each organization had different experiences and used varying methods, they all created culture change through the simultaneous implementation of practice, policies and strategic framing of patient safety culture concepts in their everyday work. The third research paper examined how leaders measured changes in patient safety culture. Both leaders and front line workers look to both process measures (e.g., talking about safety and encouraging patient safety activities) together with outcome measures (e.g., adverse events, infection rates, and culture survey results) to evaluate their success in culture change. Overall this dissertation deepens our knowledge of how methods influence our assessment of patient safety culture and how leaders influence culture change. Future research needs to assess in more detail the roles of leaders and middle managers to understand how these individuals are able to reconcile the practice environment challenges while continuing to create a culture of patient safety.

Patient safety experts identify changes in culture as critical to creating safer care (Flin, 2007; Leape, 1994; Reason, 1997; Vincent, Taylor-Adams & Stanhope, 1998). Yet there is limited understanding of how to best study, evaluate and make changes to patient safety culture. The literature on organizational culture, safety sciences and health services research suggests varying perspectives on studying culture and an evolving approach to creating tools to measure culture change. This thesis reports two projects. The first project used the Manchester Patient Safety Culture Assessment Tool, the Modified Stanford Instrument, and qualitative interviews to examine whether safety culture profiles varied by research method and instrument used to assess culture. Comparative assessment of the results suggests that while the quantitative measurement tools provide a high level organizational summary of safety issues, the qualitative interviews provide a more fine-grained understanding of the contextual and local features of the culture. The second research project used a multiple case study design to understand what hospitals have learned from trying to improve patient safety culture. Interviews in three organizations were used to determine how these organizations shifted their cultures. Although each organization had different experiences and used varying methods, they all created culture change through the simultaneous implementation of practice, policies and strategic framing of patient safety culture concepts in their everyday work. The third research paper examined how leaders measured changes in patient safety culture. Both leaders and front line workers look to both process measures (e.g., talking about safety and encouraging patient safety activities) together with outcome measures (e.g., adverse events, infection rates, and culture survey results) to evaluate their success in culture change. Overall this dissertation deepens our knowledge of how methods influence our assessment of patient safety culture and how leaders influence culture change. Future research needs to assess in more detail the roles of leaders and middle managers to understand how these individuals are able to reconcile the practice environment challenges while continuing to create a culture of patient safety.

Talented employees are leaving small businesses in the search for more lucrative opportunities where their talent is acknowledged, valued and able to grow. Dealing with voluntary talent turnover decreases profitability and becomes a roadblock for achieving strategic goals. Businesses incur additional costs to find and replace talent to maintain continuity. However, the time and money spent replacing talent does not guarantee turnover will vanish. What were the stimuli that caused disengagement? Were they strategically managed? Did employees leave because the initial stimuli were not addressed? These are all questions that can lead to decisive actions focused on reducing talent departure. The goal of a small business should be to find a balance where employee values are met and human capital levers are strategically managed; consequently adding value to small businesses by reducing unnecessary costs due to turnover. / text

Magistrantūros studijų baigiamasis darbas, 76 puslapiai, 25 paveikslai, 7 lentelės, 45 literatūros šaltinių, 2 priedai, lietuvių kalba. PRASMINIAI ŽODŽIAI: organizacinė kultūra, organizacinės kultūros vystymas, Spragų modelis. Tyrimo objektas - organizacinė kultūra. Tyrimo tikslas - nustatyti kredito unijų organizacinės kultūros vystymo problemines sritis ir parengti Kaišiadorių, Panevėžio ir Trakų kredito unijų organizacinės kultūros vystymo Spragų modelį. Uždaviniai: 1) išnagrinėti organizacinės kultūros sampratos raidą; 2) nustatyti organizacinės kultūros vystymą lemiančius veiksnius ir metodus; 3) nustatyti Kaišiadorių, Panevėžio ir Trakų kreditų unijų kultūros vystymo problemines sritis; 4) parengti organizacinės kultūros vystymo Spragų modelį ir pasiūlyti priemones organizacinės kultūros vystymo gerinimui Kaišiadorių, Panevėžio ir Trakų kredito unijose. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė ir sintezė, dokumentų ir statistinių duomenų analizė bei sintezė, ekspertinis vertinimas ir anketinė apklausa, duomenų grupavimo ir grafinio vaizdavimo bei modeliavimo metodai. Tyrimo rezultatai: • Pirmoje darbo dalyje remiantis įvairiais literatūros šaltiniais analizuojama organizacijos kultūros sampratos raida ir kitimas bei jos vystymą lemiantys veiksniai, kultūros elementų vertinimo kriterijai ir metodai. Išskiriamos kultūros analizavimo kryptys tam, kad geriau suprastume, kokius metodus pasitelkus gali būti analizuojama organizacinė kultūra. • Antroje dalyje, kurios... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Final work of University Masterstudies Studies, 76 pages, 25 figures, 7 tables, 45 references, 2 appendices, in Lithuanian. KEY WORDS: organizational culture, organizational culture development, Model of Gaps. Research object - organizational culture. Research aim - to identify problem areas of Credit Union organizational culture development, to prepare the Model of Gaps in Kaisiadorys, Panevezys, Trakai Credit Union organizational culture development. Objectives: 1) to analyse the evolution of organizational culture concept; 2) to identify the factors and the methods affecting organizational culture development; 3) to identify the culture development problem areas in Kaisiadorys, Panevezys and Trakai Credit Unions; 4) to prepare a Model of Gaps in organizational culture development and to propose measures for organizational culture development improvement in Kaisiadorys, Panevezys and Trakai Credit Unions. Research methods: questionnaire, structured interview, analysis of documents, analysis of data, filing, graphical representation. Research results: • In the first part the evolution of organizational culture concept and factors affecting its development, as well as cultural element assessment criterions ant methods are analysed on the grounds of various literature sources. Trends of culture analysis are identified in order to better understand, which methods can be used for organizational culture analysis. • In the second part, entitled “Evaluation of Credit... [to full text]