Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

A key precept in work place motivation theory is that management knows what job attributes are valued by the employee. Management can benefit by asking employees what they want from their work experience (i.e., job attribute preferences), rather than assume they know. This is particularly important to Polish high technology companies that are in transition to a free-market economy and to Polish workers who must be appropriately motivated to compete globally. This study attempts to better understand the job attribute preferences of Polish managers and workers, the potential gaps between Polish managers' perception of their workers' preferences (system), and how these preferences are affected by the worker's personal economic situation (sub system) and by business organization type (supra system). Managers and workers from five Polish high technology enterprises were surveyed on-site regarding their job attribute preferences. The results compared to a similar survey done with six American high technology firms(Eder 1988). Consistent with Maslow's prepotentcy theory, workers who tended to be optimistic about their personal economic situation rated all five extrinsic job attributes higher and four of the five intrinsics lower than those workers who tended to be pessimistic. Polish workers at firms that operated under central planning had only a few differences in their job attribute preferences indicating a strong supra-system or organizational effect on individuals in the firm. Contrary to what was expected, the Polish managers and workers rated a number of intrinsic attributes higher than their American counterparts suggesting a pent up need for intrinsic-type motivational policies. Polish managers appeared to be closer and more in touch with their workers than their American counterparts. American managers clearly underestimated the importance of intrinsic job attributes and overestimated the importance of the extrinsics, while Polish managers accurately predicted most of the workers' job attribute preferences. The results also raised questions regarding the stability of job attributes and the concept of clusters of extrinsic and intrinsic groups of job attributes.

This study investigates black-white status inequality as an explication of central city residential segregation interregionally in 1960 and 1970. Using the popular index of dissimilarity (delta) to quantify educational, occupational and income inequality, it was found that the South was more unequal than the North, but much less so in 1970. Moreover, the level of Southern inequality was more the product of white advantage and the level of Northern inequality results more from significant black disadvantage than is commonly thought. While inequality in both the North and South varies greatly among cities, the sources of inequality were not stable over time nor across regions, as status dissimilarity was more a high status event in the North and in 1970. Since delta, as a nominal measure, is insensitive to such divergent sources of inequality, it was discounted for comparative research. Gini, an ordinal statistic, was also found inadequate in detecting these changes in what status inequality means. Therefore, a interval/ratio index, tridelta, was constructed for accurate interregional and cross time contrasts of status inequality. Furthermore, it was shown that delta measures racial differences as inequality, gini detects degrees of absolute deprivation and tridelta is a quantification of relative deprivation. Using status to explain residential segregation since 1940, showed that status is a weak, but increasingly important, determinant of the nation's cities' levels of segregation. Surprisingly, the North showed less status influence on segregation and closer congruence to 1940 and 1950 levels of segregation than did the South in 1960 and 1970, despite index employed. Occupational dissimilarity, not deprivation, was important in explaining segregation. In contrast, educational and to a lesser extent, income deprivation (relative in the South and absolute in the North) was important, although in the North, education's effect was unexplainedly inverse. Since the South was found to have a more egalitarian housing market, it was suggested that perhaps black status gains have been more visible in the South and that "the American dilemma" may be more salient there. Whatever, the South approaches parity with the North.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Conventional interpretations of WWII hold that the war brought the United States out of the Great Depression and laid the path for future economic prosperity. However, this was not the case for all businesses and industries. During WWII, unprecedented production output was required of U.S. industries to supply the great “Arsenal of Democracy.” Industrial mobilization required the creation of new agencies and commissions to manage the nation’s resources. These organizations created policies that deeply impacted U.S. industries involved in war production. Policies governing such areas as the allocation of raw materials, transportation of finished goods, and distribution of war contracts created challenges for businesses that often resulted in lost productivity and in some cases, loss of profitability. Government regulation of the labor force and labor problems such as labor shortages, high absenteeism and turnover rates, and labor disputes presented further challenges for businesses navigating the wartime economy. Most studies of WWII industrial mobilization have focused on large corporations in high priority industries, such as the aircraft, petroleum, or steel industries, which achieved great success during the war. This thesis presents a case study of The Real Silk Hosiery Mills of Indianapolis, Indiana, a company that is representative of small and mid-sized companies that produced lower priority goods. The study demonstrates that the policies created by the military and civilian wartime agencies favored large corporations and had a negative affect on some businesses like Real Silk. As such,the economic boost associated with the war did not occur across the board.