Contemporary business leaders require suitable leadership strategies, skills, capabilities, and competencies to lead individuals with culturally diverse backgrounds effectively. Local retail business executives have experienced complex leadership challenges leading international and intercultural teams when expanding business operations into global markets. The objective of this multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies local retail business leaders used to lead a global workforce. The target population included 3 local retail business leaders from Minnesota who had 6 to 8 years of global leadership experience. The composite conceptual framework that grounded this study was leadership and transformational leadership. Data were collected from semistructured, face-to-face interviews and organizational documents. Member checking was used to ensure trustworthiness of findings. The data analysis followed Yin’s 5-phase process: compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: cross-cultural awareness, cross-cultural challenges and competence, and cross-cultural leadership strategies. The findings from the study might contribute to positive social change by encouraging business leaders to explore business opportunities locally and globally, resulting in an understanding of cross-cultural differences, enhanced quality of cross-cultural work environments, increased job creation, and improved living standards for communities’ citizens.

Uncivil behavior in the workplace can cause absenteeism or low job performance among employees, yet little academic literature addresses this relationship, particularly in the public sector. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to use the transactional analysis of communication (TAC) model to explore the ramifications of incivility in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The central research questions focused on employee perceptions of incivility and effective communication within the VHA. Twelve VHA employees were recruited for participation through a snowball sampling technique. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with the participants along with some VHA archived video training. Data were inductively coded and analyzed for emergent themes. Key findings revealed that VHA lacked effective communication, and malingering occurred due to workplace incivility. It was concluded that TAC curtailed misunderstandings of social dysfunctions in communicating. Another theme that emerged is that although workplace relationships were highly esteemed by employees, they believed that communication issues hindered those professional relationships and suggested training could be a valuable tool to improve workplace communication and reduce incivility. It was recommended that similar studies of this phenomenon be conducted for greater understanding and knowledge to the discipline. TAC served to effect positive social change by educating VHA leadership and their employees on how to thwart incivility in the workplace.

This thesis is an examination and description of the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management's program for the management of cultural resources in the State of Oregon. The author has worked for the Bureau from March, 1975 to the present as a District cultural resource specialist. The major emphasis of the thesis is a description and explanation of the Bureau's cultural resource management program and its major problems in relation to the taxpayer and archaeologists.

Originally published in 1976 and updated in 1995 by the First-Tennessee Virginia Development District this map showcases what future land use projections were for East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia at the time. Includes 9 counties which are listed on the bottom left of the map. Legend includes notations for existing and proposed highways as well as population density based on housing units per square mile. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1003/thumbnail.jpg

Most scientific studies concerning energy conservation benefits of trees have been completed in cooling dominated climates or have involved model-based engineering studies. An infestation of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) (anoplophora glabripennis) has initiated an extensive tree removal program in Worcester, Massachusetts. A June 1, 2011 tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts has damaged a randomized sample of the urban canopy cover in Springfield. These events provide natural, controlled experiments to quantify the energy use impact of trees in real-world settings. Large-scale tree removal and natural disasters completely transform the landscape. Due to the reduction in shade, near-ground temperature increase is substantial. With the trees gone, the increased velocity of cold winter winds is noticeable for neighborhood residents. Tree removal due to ALB infestation in two residential neighborhoods in Worcester, Massachusetts in the winter of 2008-2009 resulted in a 37% increase (t = -9.09, p<0.001) in baseline-corrected, weather-normalized electrical consumption from the 2008 to 2009 cooling seasons. In Springfield, Massachusetts we find no difference in baseline-corrected, weather-normalized natural gas consumption for the heating season for individual homes after the June 1, 2011 tornado. The results of this research will aid in the development and implementation of energy conserving treeplanting and retention programs and policies pursuant to the Clean Energy and Climate Change Plan of 2010 in Massachusetts.

Currently 10% of all single family homes produced in the U.S. are manufactured homes with 75% of these households making less than $50,000 in annual income (Manufactured Housing Survey). Manufactured homes typically use twice as much primary energy per square foot than site built homes yet there is no agenda within the industry or its governing bodies to address this excess energy consumption. The research presented in this thesis compares the thermal envelope performance of the typical wood stud framing used in the manufactured home industry to the thermal envelope of structural insulated panels (SIPs). This comparison examines the energy savings a SIP manufactured home could create for a home owner while speculating on the financial and technical feasibility of using SIPs in the manufactured housing industry. Ultimately, the comparison reveals the short comings of the Manufactured Homes Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) regarding thermal envelope requirements and energy use intensity. These short comings are revealed when the energy use of HUD compliant manufactured homes is scrutinized and compared to the energy use of a similar home built with SIPs for the thermal envelope. The continuous insulation and airtight qualities of the SIP home allow it to use 32%-46% less energy than the HUD compliant homes in the same locations. Manufactured homes require much more energy to heat and cool because the HUD code does not require a certain performance criteria be met for the airtightness of manufactured homes and the overall U-values it requires for the thermal envelopes of such homes is too high for the varying climate zones found in the U.S. If SIP panels were to be used for the thermal envelope of the manufactured housing industry, low income manufactured home owners could be saving $300-$700 annually in energy costs. These savings are not insignificant to low income households and could create a 5-8 year payback period of additional ownership costs under $2500. Unfortunately, the SIP industry cannot offer its product at a low enough price to compete with the economies of scale achieved by the manufactured housing industry when buying raw construction materials. The value of this research then, is the exposure of the manufactured home’s inferior envelope performance when compared to more modern construction technologies and the speculation of how the manufactured housing industry could begin to incorporate a more robust building envelope without putting its customers at a monetary disadvantage.

Urban Villages are a specific phenomenon raised in modern China due to the high-speed economic development and urbanization in recent three decades. And there are social, economic, cultural and architectural transformations happened in these villages during these years. They appear on both the outskirts and the downtown segments of major cities, and surrounded by skyscrapers, transportation infrastructures, and other modern urban constructions. They are commonly inhabited by the poor and transient. Most of Urban Villages are heavily populated, overdeveloped, and lack of basic infrastructure. Some villages' building density is higher than 70%. They are composed of overcrowded multi-story buildings from three to five (or more) floors, also with narrow alleys, which are difficult for vehicles to pass through. Inside these villages, it is dark and damp year round and the lights have to be kept on during daytime. However, they are also among the liveliest areas in some cities and are notable for affording economic opportunity for newcomers to the city. However, Urban Villages are rejected by the governor and face demolition–redevelopment programs in order to replace them with formal urban neighborhoods. But the demolition-redevelopment approach would be devastating not only for the rural migrants, but also for the city’s economy which is largely based on labor-intensive sectors. In my study, I take Gangsha Village, a typical urban village in Shenzhen City, as a study case, to explore an appropriate reformation approach that combines urban design and architectural strategy to solve social, economic and cultural problems in Urban Village. To provide them a better living condition, and make the village better serves the city.

Information Technology (IT) Project Management methodologies are numerous, often varying from organization to organization, and sometimes from project to project within the same organization. Although project type and scope can be a powerful indicator of what methodologies may work best for a given project, choosing which methodology to use can be daunting for project teams. At times, even after due diligence has been practiced to identify the management options available for a given project, there may not be a perfect fit. At such times, or when a formal methodology does not exist in an organization or project management office, the best approach for a project may be to utilize a collective of “best practices,” instead of a concrete methodology. When tasked with the IT Project Management of the new Gary Ransdell Hall on WKU’s main campus, the IT Project Manager (PM) did not have a tried-and-true methodology to use for managing the project. As a result, the IT PM and project team chose to research best practices, as reflected in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), to formulate a project plan that would maximize efficiency while protecting the triple constraints. Early in this paper, the author outlines assumptions, constraints, and risks that faced the IT team throughout the project cycle. Afterwards, the resulting methods and procedures used to manage the IT scope for the project are discussed, with figures included for reference. Next, a brief project summary is included to summarize the results of the project, with performance and scope metrics and limited end-user feedback. Finally, the lessons learned section outlines changes that have been implemented since project completion, as part of a continuous improvement effort by the WKU IT Division.

The research, presented here, is about the collaborative governance and adaptive management in coastal planning efforts of Louisiana. Fundamental conflict, between the idea of environmental conservation and developmental growth, has always existed in the coastal regions. The presence of the large number of environmental laws, at various levels of government and their different management objectives for utilization of coastal resources, requires study of intergovernmental relationship. Taking Plaquemines Parish as a case in point, this thesis will, therefore, review the critical restoration plans for intergovernmental coordination and conflicts. It will also provide recommendations, for elected representatives and policy makers, with an aim to promote collaborative governance and improve adaptive management of coastal resources.

Diversity practitioners in the United States have taken steps to implement programs for integration of people in organizations from across the socioeconomic and demographic spectrum. Despite changes in U.S. discrimination laws and work by diversity practitioners, maintaining equitable workplace diversity continues to be a problem in U.S. corporations. This correlational study was conducted to examine differences in life-guiding principles, urban identification, and person-organization fit between urban and suburban residents. A purposive sample of 180 adults was drawn in a voluntary online survey from industries in two U.S. representative counties with a mix of urban and suburban sprawl. This study was also conducted to further examine planned behavior, expectancy, normative social influence, and social impact theories by comparing how the independent variable of participant residence location affected the dependent variables of life-guiding principles, urban identification, and person-organization fit. T-test statistics were used to test mean differences in normally distributed data sets, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for testing differences in non-normally distributed data sets. Test results revealed that there were differences in the dependent variables with a significant difference in urban identification for urban and suburban residents, confirming the hypothesis. Findings from this study may help diversity practitioners and organizational leaders understand the differences among urban and suburban residents. Study findings may also support organizations' social agenda toward addressing diversity issues and for narrowing career achievement gaps between urban and suburban residents through a better understanding of variations in culture.