The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate consumers' health care decision choices in a dynamic market setting. The unprecedented demands on the U.S. health care system coupled with the mounting controversies surrounding health care reform suggest that consumers' health care decisions warrant empirical research attention. Toward this end, this dissertation empirically explored (1) the characteristics of consumers who possess a willingness to use non-conventional treatments over conventional treatments, (2) the characteristics of consumers who elect self-medication in lieu of health care practitioner-directed medication, and (3) the salient dimensions of consumers' channel choice for the procurement of health care products. Each of these decision choice factors were tested across two U.S. generational segments to assess whether differences existed across Baby Boomers' and Gen Yers' health care decision choices. The conceptual framework for empirical assessment is Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. From Bandura's social cognitive theory, a general model of healthcare decision choice is proposed to assess consumers' states of mind, states of being and states of action (decision choice). Results indicate that social cognitive factors (e.g., self-efficacy, objectivism) play an important role in each of the decision domains explored in this dissertation. Moreover, health value was found to be an important moderator between the social cognitive factors and health care decision choices. The predictors of the health care decision choices were found to vary across the Baby Boomers and Generation Yers on several dimensions, confirming the notion that generational differences may be a salient dimension of consumers' health care decision choice. The research offers several implications for practitioners, academicians and policy makers. Both descriptive and normative implications are gleaned from the research findings. Most notably, the results indicate that consumers' social cognitive factors and health value may be mechanisms for managing health care decisions.

The potential knowledge loss from Baby Boomer generation employee retirements can negatively affect information systems organizations. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenology study was to explore the lived experiences of the leaders and managers of information systems organizations as they tried to maintain operational continuity after Baby Boomer worker retirements. The impact of this issue was the operational continuity after the Baby Boomer worker retirement. The social impact of this issue was the knowledge loss events that might result in business loss or even bankruptcy. McElroy's knowledge life cycle model was the conceptual framework for this study that included knowledge production and knowledge integration processes within a feedback loop. The lived experiences of 20 knowledgeable participants who had experienced institutional knowledge loss from retired Baby Boomer generation employees were captured through purposeful sampling. Data were collected through individual interviews using either face-to-face or a web conferencing tool such as Skype and analyzed through a modified Van Kaam. Five themes were identified: business climate, delivery practices, work processes, camaraderie, and management response. Significant attributes that added to the body of knowledge were workplace navigation, alternate focus, and outsourcing management. The results of the study may enable organizations to be better able to understand and manage the Baby Boomer knowledge loss effects and subsequently create systems to help maintain their competitive edge and avoid knowledge loss that might result in business loss or even bankruptcy.

Female baby boomer students (born 1946-1964) need to augment their skills in mobile collaborative learning because current knowledge of technologies is essential for making informed decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine the need to promote technologies based on the experiences of female baby boomer students. Andragogy and constructivism provided the conceptual framework for this research. The research questions were devised to investigate female boomer students' collaborative experiences using smart devices and barriers to their adoption of technology. This phenomenological study included 8 participants from a Canadian university recruited through purposeful sampling. Per the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, data were simultaneously collected via interviews, analyzed by coding, and organized into themes until saturation. Age was the main deterrent for technology adoption, and obstacles included embracing a new process, feeling that information was secure, and resolving technical difficulties. Results indicated that female baby boomer students were not ready to lead in the use of mobile collaborative learning and could not maintain rapid technological changes. Mature students may need training in cloud computing; a 1-semester blended course was proposed to enable these students to learn mobile technologies and collaborative skills. This study identifies the technology learning needs of baby boomer students, which will help those looking for ways to teach students in this age range. When leaders in their field of study know how to use current technologies, they will be more productive in their communities.

Nutritional food label understanding (NFLU) in African American Women (AAW) is a philosophy that addresses obesity. Public health efforts have implemented nutritional and caloric information to packaged and restaurant foods to improve nutrient and calorie literacy. Research suggest NFLU might have a minimal effect on reducing obesity. However, it is not known how obese AAW born during the baby-boom era (51 to 64 years of age) perceive NFLU in relation to their dietary behaviors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experience of obese AAW regarding NFLU from a cognitive and behavioral perspective. Twelve, AAW answered 21-semi-structured questions that were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Findings of the study revealed the limited appreciation of NFLU in relation to healthy nutrition behaviors. Reasons for not applying nutritional food label (NFL) information centered on self-help perception, the time to read and understand the content on the NFL, skills required for effective NFL usage (math, organization of content), barriers to overcome while grocery shopping and motivational interest to change their behavior. In addition, the interviews of obese AAW revealed a lack of interest in NFL information while dining out despite understanding the perceived health benefits of knowing such information. Positive social change implications for obese AAW include improved nutrition literacy and nutritional behavior using NFLU as the guide to healthier dietary choice. From an individual, community, societal and nation level, reversing the trajectory of obesity through nutritional health literacy needs further improvement and individual adoption to possibly assist with obesity self-management.

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在1946至1964年之間出生的戰後嬰兒潮,奉獻了大半輩子在於工作,因此擁有較 高的收入以及較充裕的自由時間。毫無疑問地,他們是最有資格也最值得去追求 幸福的族群了。 這篇論文基於PERMA這個模型對於幸福所提出的五個元素,針對其中的“社交 關係”進行研究。並以社會資本來當作研究的核心,近而探討線上以及線下的行 為對於社會資本所造成的影響。 在這篇論文中,我們會透過所設計的機制,來量化個體的社會資本。並利用活動 導向的推薦來增加以及最佳化個體的社會資本。更希望可以透過人與人之間的強 弱連結,使彼此之間互相影響,共同創造更大的社會資本以及更好的社交關係。 透過我們的機制,系統可以了解嬰兒潮顧客的社交情形,並推薦適合他們從事的 社交活動。 長期來看,我們認為微觀的社會資本可以影響到宏觀的社會資本。如同個體可以 影響到其所在的群體一樣。研究最後的目標是幫助嬰兒潮顧客達到社會幸福,並 創造一個使用者可以共同創造價值的生態系。 / Baby boomers, which mean people who were born between 1946 and 1964, devoted most of their life at work. Because of the high income and free time they have, they undoubtedly are the most capable but also the most worthy to pursue wellbeing. This paper will focus on one of the elements of wellbeing, which is the relationship part of PERMA model. The core of this research is on social capital that is related to user's behaviors online and offline. In this research, we want to quantify each user’s social capital, and then increase and maximize it through our particularly devised mechanism. By the strong or weak ties between users, they could co-create higher social capital and better relationships. Through our mechanism, we can understand baby boomers’ social situation and improve it by recommending virtual and physical activities. In the long term, we thought micro social capital can affect macro social capital, as a person can affect others. The final goal of this research is helping baby boomers achieve social wellbeing and create an ecosystem for users to co-create value in relationships.

A proposta deste trabalho é de analisar o comprometimento organizacional dos funcionários de uma empresa metalúrgica de Caxias do sul. Esta empresa em análise é a Cemar Legrand empresa pertencente ao Grupo Legrand (Grupo Multinacional Francês). Foi utilizado para a análise um instrumento de pesquisa com reconhecimento pela comunidade científica chamado de modelo dos três componentes de Allen e Meyer (1997) , modelo que caracteriza o comprometimento organizacional em suas dimensões afetivo, instrumental e normativo, e foi aplicado o questionário em uma amostra de 311 funcionários da empresa. A análise deste trabalho também foi ampliada no sentido analisar este comprometimento organizacional por grupo de funcionários pertencentes às gerações (Geração Veteranos, Geração Baby boomers, Geração X e Geração Y), esta teoria das gerações, tem seu nascedouro na teoria geracional de Strauss e Howe (1991) onde os autores definem que em cada século há quatro gerações distintas e que cada uma das gerações comportam-se conforme as características de cada período geracional, bem como pelos acontecimentos de sua época. O resultado deste trabalho demonstra que há um bom comprometimento dos funcionários para com a empresa e não foi encontrado diferenças entre as dimensões do comprometimento para as gerações pesquisadas. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-06-03T17:14:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Francisco H A Batista.pdf: 1507649 bytes, checksum: 9b3ef22087ae3901c216ccc051c879d9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-03T17:14:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Francisco H A Batista.pdf: 1507649 bytes, checksum: 9b3ef22087ae3901c216ccc051c879d9 (MD5) / The purpose of this study is to examine organizational commitment of employees at a metallurgical company in Caxias do Sul. This company in question is Cemar Legrand company belonging to Legrand Group. Was used to analyze a research tool to recognize the scientific community called "model of the three components of Allen and Meyer (1997)," model that characterizes the organizational commitment in their affective, instrumental and normative dimensions, and the questionnaire was applied in a sample of 311 employees. This analysis has also been expanded in order to analyze organizational commitment by this group of employees through the theory of generations (Generation Veterans, Generation Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y), this theory of generations, has its origin in the theory of generational Strauss and Howe (1991) where the authors define it in every century there are four different generations and each generation behaves according to the characteristics of each generational period, as well as by the events of his time. This investigation demonstrates that there is a good employee commitment to the company and was not found differences between the dimensions of commitment for the four generations surveyed.

A proposta deste trabalho é de analisar o comprometimento organizacional dos funcionários de uma empresa metalúrgica de Caxias do sul. Esta empresa em análise é a Cemar Legrand empresa pertencente ao Grupo Legrand (Grupo Multinacional Francês). Foi utilizado para a análise um instrumento de pesquisa com reconhecimento pela comunidade científica chamado de modelo dos três componentes de Allen e Meyer (1997) , modelo que caracteriza o comprometimento organizacional em suas dimensões afetivo, instrumental e normativo, e foi aplicado o questionário em uma amostra de 311 funcionários da empresa. A análise deste trabalho também foi ampliada no sentido analisar este comprometimento organizacional por grupo de funcionários pertencentes às gerações (Geração Veteranos, Geração Baby boomers, Geração X e Geração Y), esta teoria das gerações, tem seu nascedouro na teoria geracional de Strauss e Howe (1991) onde os autores definem que em cada século há quatro gerações distintas e que cada uma das gerações comportam-se conforme as características de cada período geracional, bem como pelos acontecimentos de sua época. O resultado deste trabalho demonstra que há um bom comprometimento dos funcionários para com a empresa e não foi encontrado diferenças entre as dimensões do comprometimento para as gerações pesquisadas. / The purpose of this study is to examine organizational commitment of employees at a metallurgical company in Caxias do Sul. This company in question is Cemar Legrand company belonging to Legrand Group. Was used to analyze a research tool to recognize the scientific community called "model of the three components of Allen and Meyer (1997)," model that characterizes the organizational commitment in their affective, instrumental and normative dimensions, and the questionnaire was applied in a sample of 311 employees. This analysis has also been expanded in order to analyze organizational commitment by this group of employees through the theory of generations (Generation Veterans, Generation Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y), this theory of generations, has its origin in the theory of generational Strauss and Howe (1991) where the authors define it in every century there are four different generations and each generation behaves according to the characteristics of each generational period, as well as by the events of his time. This investigation demonstrates that there is a good employee commitment to the company and was not found differences between the dimensions of commitment for the four generations surveyed.