This thesis is an exploratory study of the effects of two job training programs for the poor in Portland, Oregon. It seeks to illustrate that training programs are designed around certain theoretical conceptions or models of poverty and that these theoretical conceptions ultimately have a strong effect on the enrollees in programs designed on the given theoretical model. Two general theoretical models have been extracted from the literature. The first is the "Culture of Poverty" model and the second may be called the "Closed Opportunity Structure" model. The culture of poverty model posits that the poor are unable to escape poverty because of certain cultural aspects of their conditions which inhibit them from taking advantage of increased opportunities when they are offered them. Some of the major aspects of the culture of poverty are: (1) The poor do not share the values of the dominant culture, e.g., that hard work brings rewards, and deferring immediate gratification also produces future rewards; (2) The poor do not participate fully in the major institutions of the society; (3) The inability to take advantage of increased opportunities is learned through the parents; and (4) This inability tends to perpetuate the culture of poverty. The closed opportunity model, on the other hand, posits that the poor do indeed share the values of the dominant culture but that they have been denied the opportunity to realize these values, i.e., the poor do not defer gratification because even if they did so their chances of receiving a future reward are low. The closed opportunity structure model sees the problems of the poor as being grounded in the larger society as opposed to being inherent deficiencies of the poor themselves. I have selected two programs for this study on the basis of their subscription to one or the other theoretical models discussed above. Portland Residential Manpower Center (PRMC), an urban Job Corps camp, was chosen because its program design conforms to the culture of poverty model in that it attempts to resocialize the trainee so that he may better fit into the society; conversely, the Portland New Careers Project was chosen because it subscribed to the closed opportunity model in that it does not see these socialization attempts as necessary, but rather, it places its trainees in social service positions with various governmental agencies and provides them with education which, hopefully, will enable the trainee to move into a more professional position at the agency. The study then attempts to describe the effects of each of these programs on its enrollees. The method of direct observation was chosen for several reasons: (1) The exploratory nature of the study; (2) The absence of a clear cut hypothesis to test; (3) inadequate statistical data available which would give me answers to the kinds of questions I had asked. The findings indicated that the two programs had very different effects on the enrollees. PRMC, because of its highly structured character and complete program of socialization, produced a high degree of distrust of the program on the part of the trainees. PRMC's socialization attempts were seen as largely unnecessary by the trainees and they felt that these attempts interfered with the primary task of skill training. New Careers, on the other hand, lacks a highly structured program. Aside from being expected to put in time at the placement agency and to attend his classes, the trainee is left largely on his own. This almost complete lack of structure has made it exceedingly difficult for many of the trainees to progress in the program because they have few guidelines for their training. The New Careerist learns what is expected of him through trial and error. The findings of this study suggest that social scientists should be aware of the consequences of their theoretical models on the people these models attempt to deal with. Both programs studies exhibited deficiencies which, in varying degrees, are the result of the theoretical models upon which the program is based.

This study examines the relationship between social class and adolescents conceptions of work. Four major areas of the adolescent's work experience are examined: (1) tasks and training, (2) relations with co-workers and managers, (3) organizational structure and change, and (4) family life and work. Forty female adolescent, nonmanagerial employees who worked part time at McDonald's franchise stores were interviewed.

This thesis examines the constructs of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and work stress, and the extent to which they are affected by perceptions of organizational justice and leadership styles. Much of the literature related to these topics focuses on exploring the relationship between either justice and commitment or leadership and commitment, with very little research investigating the way that justice and leadership combine to affect outcome variables such as commitment, satisfaction, and stress. This study reviewed the literature that details these topics in order to facilitate the understanding necessary to then focus on the relationship between commitment, organizational justice, and leadership style, as well as job satisfaction and work stress. It is important to understand how these three concepts affect one another, as increasing employee commitment is a goal of many, if not all organizations, and understanding how to better influence and facilitate it could be very valuable information.

Almost any woman who has worked in a male dominated industry has faced a gender stereotype or bias of some type. Some of these women have even developed coping mechanisms to counteract these biases and make day-to-day interactions at work tolerable. Gathering information to reveal these stereotypes and biases can pose a distinctive challenge. Many women do not want to reveal the challenges that they have faced in their careers, and the vastness of types of challenges makes asking the correct questions very difficult. Through testing, this study has developed a valid data collection instrument that can be used to gather the varying data. The final instrument yielded 22 items that have strong validity and reliability results.

Scholars describe both the military and the family as “greedy institutions,” or institutions that require expansive time and energy commitments, and alter participants’ master status (Segal 1986; Coser 1974). However, the military’s employment benefits may counteract its greedy elements. I use data from the 2008 Survey of Active Duty Members to examine commitment to military employment in wartime, accounting for greedy elements of military service (such as geographic mobility, risk of bodily harm, and separations), job benefits, family structure, and gender. The results show that women in dual-service marriages, unmarried men, and those who experienced separations reported lower career commitment and affective organizational commitment. In contrast, the use of military job benefits was positively associated with commitment. Counterintuitively, parenthood, geographic mobility, and being stationed in Afghanistan were also positively associated with commitment. These findings complicate the military’s label as a greedy institution, and contribute to the literature on work-family conflict and gendered organizations.

Two hundred and seventy-three clients whose cases had been closed by the Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Division (OVRD) between March 1, 1976 and February 28, 1977 were interviewed by telephone. They were asked to identify the different methods they had used during their job search, whether they had obtained a job while being served by OVRD, whether they were presently employed, and if employed whether the job was the same or different from the one they had obtained while being served by OVRD. They were also asked to identify the sources of the lead which led to their jobs. Friends or relatives and direct application resulted in most of the jobs obtained. Efficiency was calculated for ten job search methods. Methods, in descending order of efficiency, were schools, friends or relatives, unions, vocational rehabilitation counselors, former employers, direct application, want ads, the state employment service, job developers, and private employment agencies. Clients changed jobs quite frequently during the year between case closure and the survey. Methods which led to retention of jobs were schools, unions, and former employers. The methods which led to unstable jobs were rehabilitation counselors, direct application, and friends or relatives. Intensity of job search was associated with job search success. The most frequently mentioned problem encountered in job search was disability imposed limitations. Job seeking skills instruction was not shown to be effective.

Extensive research suggests organizations have unique guiding principles, called core values, which play a central role in strategic decision making, sustaining high-performance cultures, and guiding organizational culture change. Although the Competing Values Framework (CVF) has been widely used to identify a standardized set of core values, it has not been used to identify unique core values at a given organizations. Unique core values help to distinguish organizations and drive market success. The present research focused on development of a technique to extend the application of the CVF to identify the core values unique to a given organization. The CVF-based Core Values Identification Technique (CCVI) was developed and empirically tested at three companies. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, review of documents, participant observation and the standard CVF-based Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). The data analysis employed grounded theory methods in conjunction with the standard OCAI analysis. The primary research result is the iteratively developed and empirically tested tool, the CCVI Technique. Secondary research results include the identification of unique core values at each of the three participating companies. Lessons learned and the rationale for making modifications to the technique based on the case studies, along with best practices for utilization and opportunities for informing organizational change efforts are discussed.

In 1951-58 American colleges and universities will graduate approximately two hundred thousand students, of which approximately three hundred will be graduated in Stockton, California--and will present them face to face with their prospective employers. Technically most of these students will be well qualified for their respective positions. The chemist will be qualified for further research; the doctor will be qualified to practice medicine; and the lawyer will be ready to defend his first client. But, with these technical skills mastered how will he present himself? His first interview with the employer usually tells the full story. Is his voice what it should be to take him to the top of his chosen profession? Is the pitch, the intensity, the quality, and the rhythm well integrated into the speech pattern? Does the articulation, the vocabulary, and the organization of subject matter need further work? Does he stutter? Is he hard of hearing? Does he have some personal adjustment which will hinder him in his quest for a job? For some, speech is a definite asset; but for others it becomes the sole disqualifying factor. Statement of the Problem. It was the purpose of this study (1) to find the relative extent to which certain aspects of speech influence the selection of employees; (2) to show the relation between the speech aspects studied in this work and the number of employee positions covered by the study; and (3) to present some employer attitudes with regard to speech in industry.

Occurrences of four generations working side by side are not unusual. The four generations include Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Members of each generation have views and opinions about their work ethic and their definition of loyalty to the organization. Hiring managers will need to know characteristics of each generation. This knowledge will enable the hiring managers to place the applicant in certain positions within their organizations. By matching applicants with the correct work positions, employees are able to use their skills and abilities to be productive and to establish measurable goals for themselves and their departments. Productive work enables the employees to work individually and as a team member. The research has shown that each generation has its own strengths and weakness. Members of the older generations show characteristics that accommodate customer service and loyalty to an organization. Members of the younger generations have the technical knowledge and the ability to train others in order to use this technology to the benefit of the organization.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the partnership role of noncredit continuing education in revitalizing the workforce during the economic crisis that started in 2008 in selected communities in East Tennessee. This research synthesized meaningful information regarding how the leaders of business and industry perceived the role of noncredit service providers as economic development partners. This qualitative study was conducted using interviews of chamber of commerce officials in 9 of the 10 counties served by Walters State Community College. The participants indicated that they were interested in partnering with the noncredit department to accomplish the goal of helping displaced workers be retrained and employable. In order to meet this goal, the respondents stated that communication is essential. The perceptions of the participants could serve as a catalyst for the community college to implement the specific changes identified by the respondents to the interview questions. The synthesis of data collected from a microcosm of communities in East Tennessee and their relationship with Walters State Community College suggested that there was a perceived role of noncredit continuing education as a workforce revitalization partner. The data suggested 2 barriers negating the effectiveness of this partnership: communication and awareness. This may or may not be universally applicable to other colleges in other communities. Further research could synthesize meaningful information regarding noncredit programs in other communities and identify additional barriers between colleges and business and industry.