<p> The topic of the study was the relationship between national culture and software development project team performance. Relationships were examined through the lenses of Hofstede&rsquo;s cultural dimension model and the human performance technology model. Research indicated that software development project teams continue to face challenges completing projects within planned scope, on schedule, and within budget despite improved project management methods. The identified gap in the research was that most studies were qualitative and non-productivity related, a gap addressed by this quantitative, productivity-focused study. Four research questions were posed to determine the relationship between national culture and project team performance. Each question inquired as to the relationship between a team-level cultural measure and the number of user stories completed by the team during a sprint. The power distance (PDI) measures were the project team&rsquo;s average PDI and the PDI variance within the project team. The uncertainty avoidance (UAI) measures were the project team&rsquo;s average UAI and the UAI variance within the project team. A quantitative method was applied using a sample from the population of software development project teams that used the Agile management method. The data were extracted from archived productivity project data from 73 sprints conducted by teams from one firm. Archived email data identifying each team member&rsquo;s country of origin was used for each member&rsquo;s national culture. Spearman&rsquo;s rho was applied to the dataset. Results indicated there was a statistically significant relationship between PDI variance and team productivity, and between UAI variance and team productivity. The relationship between a team&rsquo;s average PDI and team productivity, and between the team&rsquo;s average UAI and team productivity, tended toward significance. Avenues for future research include duplicating the study using additional cultures and analyzing the relationship using additional Hofstede cultural dimensions.</p><p>

<p> Place is shaped by history, culture, and memory. Each person who enters a place experiences it uniquely. The city is the embodiment of place. Contained within it are the memories and stories of people passed, &ldquo;nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings, the sequence of events leading up to it, the memory of past experiences&rdquo;. The city is a combination of places strung together by individual experiences. But when the memories of these places are lost, so too is their power of place. A place that seems routine today may have been a place of passion a hundred years ago. People attempt to mark these places, but their significance is still lost on the everyday person, if only because the mark shows no power or passion. </p><p> In order to counter the effect (or lack of effect) of the current day historic site, one must reach into the past and bring it jarringly into the present consciousness. It is not enough to have a text or graphic panel explaining what significant historical event happened at some location, there needs to be experience attached to it. The historic marker often highlights more than just a location; it can mark an event or a person who has contributed greatly to the story of that place. Place making has been around for centuries, but it only seems to be creating places of the present. Historic markers in cities have become mundane street furniture, when they should be beacons and pathways to the past. </p><p> The design proposal for creating relevance and significance at historic places is not an easy one. By using a city that is already filled with historic sites, Philadelphia, the common historic marker can be revolutionized to create significant places and human connection. The case study of Philadelphia, with its deep and colorful history, creates a basis for implementation in myriad cities. This city is already filled with markers making note of important people and places of the past. These markers are mostly inconspicuous, blue and gold metal signs too high to read unless you are fifteen feet away. This proposal takes a handful of the significant places in Philadelphia and weaves them together to tell the story of life in the city throughout the 19th Century. These stories connect people of the present with the stories and people of the past in innovative ways. </p><p> The stories focus on three different aspects of history: Arts &amp; Commerce, People &amp; History, and Industry &amp; Technology. The sites are located where significant buildings once stood, and use various layers of design to create a unique sense of place. Graphics, story, and experience unify the sites. The environmental interventions include kiosk structures, projections, paving, and signage, as well as lighting and aural solutions. The installations are created for the people who live and work in the city. This audience already has a connection with the place; the markers serve as a tool to strengthen this connection. They allow the city and its residents to &ldquo;move into the future without abandoning the past&rdquo;. </p><p> In order to keep up with current trends, a mobile application will be developed to accompany the physical interventions. The application serves as an additional layer of design by using video and augmented reality formats. The application is a database for all the markers and allows the user to chart their progress on their journey to the sites. It allows users to explore additional content related to the sites and interaction with their environment in a unique way. </p><p> This proposal creates a new way of experiencing historic sites within Philadelphia, but its implications are worldwide. The visitors to the sites become more aware of their surroundings and gain a stronger connection with their city&rsquo;s history and the people of the past. It allows residents of the city to experience Philadelphia in ways that could not have been imagined before. By creating places for history to come alive and renewing memories long forgotten, the site interventions create spaces that link personal stories to the city, pushing its histories into the present, and perhaps finally answering the question, &ldquo;Do people make place, or does place make people?&rdquo; </p>

No description available.

<p> The aim of this investigation is to analyze the effects of incorporating scent-based elements in ethnographic exhibits. Specifically, it attempts to identify changes in patron response to a visual display, with and without a scent element. Groups of patrons were observed throughout their engagement with the exhibit, and interviewed post-engagement to generate data on information retention, opinion on content and empathetic response in relation to the exhibit. Findings suggest that the inclusion of scent did increase memorization of the limited facts reinforced through the scent element. However, there was no detectable difference between the groups on measures of overall comprehension of the subject matter, nor their empathetic responses toward the exhibited culture. The results of the study are discussed as a measure of the observer&mdash;observed dichotomy, and the argument is made that multisensory representation in the museum can aid in the facilitation of cross-cultural education.</p>

<p> In today&rsquo;s world, people from various cultures interact on a daily basis on a number of occasions. During these intercultural encounters, conflicts often arise. Intercessors are needed to help people navigate these types of disagreements. Mediators are considered some of these peacekeepers. This thesis engaged with mediators at a mediation center in the Midwestern United States in order to understand what strategies seemed most effective. </p><p> I examined the research that scholars have conducted regarding building rapport through utilizing respect and face issues, as well as nonverbal behavior. In addition, I explored the connection between the understanding of these factors and intercultural competence and intercultural conflict competence. </p><p> The purpose of this thesis was to see how these mediators understood and valued respect and face issues, including nonverbal behavior, when building rapport with parties in mediations. These mediators were engaged in two manners, via survey and interview questions. The intercultural competence of the mediators in these domains was also explored. </p><p> The results of the research in this thesis showed how the mediators were skilled in some areas, such as in rapport building and respect issues. It further revealed that they were in need of some skills for their toolbox, such as training on face issues and nonverbal behavior, including silence, tone of voice, and eye contact. Detailed recommendations for the mediators are provided. Future research is encouraged: A group of mediators that have exhibited intercultural competence should be selected in order to test their intercultural conflict competence.</p>

<p>Rock art documentation often draws from a range of recording perspectives, in which each framework facilitates different recording goals, preconceptions, and methods. As a result, each recording project collects different types of information from a rock art panel. The intricate and visually striking rock art murals painted on rockshelter walls in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwestern Texas demand and benefit from the application of artistic, avocational archaeological, and professional archaeological documentation frameworks. </p><p> This research provided a case study that analyzed different recording projects of the Rattlesnake Canyon mural (41VV180), a Pecos River style pictograph panel located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. I applied a critical theoretical framework and the concept of &ldquo;capta&rdquo; to review and analyze the rock art documentation perspectives, methods, and materials collected from three major recording projects of the Rattlesnake Canyon mural. I focused on projects completed by artist Forrest Kirkland, the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) avocational archaeological Rock Art Task Force (RATF), and an illustration of the Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center&rsquo;s (Shumla) recording process, to examine differences between artistic, avocational archaeological, and professional archaeological recording frameworks and methods. </p><p> This case study demonstrated the ways in which the specific framework or perspective of a recorder influenced the methods selected for documentation and the types of information collected during rock art recording. The results of this critical analysis showed that the different recording projects shared a similar goal: to preserve the Rattlesnake Canyon mural for future generations and continued archaeological study. The three different projects, however, drew from distinct recording frameworks that influenced the overall conception of the panel, the methods selected for recording, and the types of information collected. </p><p> In this case study, I suggested that rock art researchers, specifically those from a professional archaeological framework, value the incorporation of different perspectives and methods into rock art documentation. The inclusion of varied perspectives and methods brings different skillsets and expertise to rock art recording. In addition, each recording project gathers different kinds of information from rock art murals that can be used in different ways by subsequent recorders, researchers, and land managers. This critical analysis of previous rock art recording projects also demonstrated that existing rock art documentation legacy materials continue to serve as productive resources for further research, management, and public education purposes. </p>

<p> This thesis examines the early years (1921-1939) of the Smoki People of Prescott, Arizona. The Smoki were a civic organization predicated upon a perceived imperative to act within the capacity of guardians and authorities of regional and cultural heritage. This work seeks to examine the social and political dynamics that shaped the mission of the Smoki, and to evaluate the historical context that facilitated and sustained the organization's ability to engage in the politics of indigenous cultural appropriation, representation and display.</p>

<p> The leadership styles and behaviors of African American women executives across multiple economic sectors were studied using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. Senior leaders from six of the following sectors Academia, Business, Government, Law, Military, and Nonprofit were surveyed using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to quantitatively assess their leadership styles and behaviors. A subset of survey respondents from each sector were interviewed one-on-one to provide contextual details regarding their MLQ results, and to elicit additional perspectives on leadership styles in general and the development of their individual style in particular. </p><p> The preponderance of the relatively limited published studies on the leadership attributes of African American women have involved one or more of the following design methodologies: (a) use of qualitative methods, (b) focus on a single sector of the economy, (c) inclusion of a range of leadership positions from middle to senior management within their sample size, and (d) exploration of the obstacles and barriers encountered by the women during their journey to leadership. </p><p> The purpose of the present research augmented the scope and results of the previous work. MLQ data from a numerically significant sample of executives, coupled with the interview narratives, potentially provided the necessary quantitative and qualitative underpinnings to support and/or reshape findings from the past studies. Expanding the scope to include leaders from different sectors furnished insight into potential sector-specific influences on leadership styles; and tightening of the sampling process to include only senior-level leaders in organizations reduced experimental variability and insured a pool of participants with extensive leadership experience. The obstacles and barriers facing African American women leaders received the most attention in prior studies and therefore is not a key focus of this work. However, salient information gleaned from interviews concerning their impact on leadership styles have been reported.</p><p> It is expected that the data and information from this study has yielded a more comprehensive evaluation of the leadership styles and behaviors of these African American women executives in particular, and potentially enabled meaningful comparisons with previously published findings on such leadership characteristics in general.</p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the work experiences of foreign-born, first-generation Latino immigrants with regard to cultural diversity and inclusion initiatives to obtain a holistic understanding of their experiences and facilitate their achievements in the organization. Based upon the review of the existing literature regarding Latinos and the outcomes of interviewing 24 participants (13 females and 11 males) in this research study, there are ample opportunities to conduct future empirical studies. The results of this study show the challenges first-generation Latino immigrants faced in the workplace and the importance for organizations with a diverse workforce to foster a more inclusive work environment for Latino immigrants. There is growing evidence that diversity and inclusion initiatives are critical for multicultural organizations. However, the results organizations have achieved and their efforts to create an inclusive workplace for Latino immigrants have been dissatisfactory thus far (Cox Jr., 2011). The methodology applied in this study was a qualitative approach to reflect the essence of the phenomenon studied. Results from this research found 14 family units and four major themes. These themes described how first-generation Latino immigrants understood and defined diversity and inclusion, their positive and negatives perceptions in the work environment, workplace challenges they faced, and their insights on organizational development. Additionally, this research discovered how interviewed participants were excluded by others and by themselves in the workplace. Lastly, this research study contributes to the literature and to the field by offering information that would eventually promote a better understanding of Latino immigrants and a more inclusive environment that encourages belongingness, uniqueness, and a constructive work experience for Latino immigrants. </p>

<p> School-centric views of Latinx parent involvement value preexisting particular middle -class and Eurocentric forms of parent participation in the classroom and in the school. In contrast, there is a growing body of research that looks at Latinx parenting practices from asset-based perspectives. However, there are few studies that illustrate the Mexican immigrant mothers&rsquo; points of view. The purpose of this qualitative study was to document and understand what Mexican immigrant mothers perceived to be good approaches to parenting. The conceptual framework drew from Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). The study was conducted using <i>pl&aacute;ticas</i> as a method and methodology. The following themes emerged (1) <i>consejos</i>, (2) faith/catholicism (3) <i> estar al pendiente</i> (4) <i>educaci&oacute;n</i>, (5) setting bounderies and being consistent, and (7) obstacles. Results showed that Mexican immigrant mothers are deeply involved and do a series of parenting practices that help their children be ready to learn.</p><p>