The increasing demands of efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector encourage political leaders and policy makers to adopt and apply advanced techniques and solutions to overcome flaws in public organizational performance. Entrepreneurship was introduced in several Western countries as a way to improve their processes and management through adopting private sector management principles and market-oriented techniques. In 2015, Saudi Arabia announced its 2030 vision, which introduced hundreds of innovative and creative initiatives aiming to overcome issues of the turbulent environment, future oil depletion, budgetary pressures, and public demands for efficiency and effectiveness. Building on interdisciplinary perspectives, this study investigates entrepreneurial orientation among Saudi public employees from all administrative regions across the country. Building on McClelland's theory of motivation, this study hypothesizes that the motives of need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power are positively associated with entrepreneurial behavior. It also hypothesizes that excessive organizational hierarchy, formalization, and lack of autonomy constrain employees' entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, this study adopts a sociological perspective in proposing solutions for facilitating entrepreneurial orientation among public employees by hypothesizing that human and social capital promote an entrepreneurial orientation. Multiple regression analysis reveals that Saudi public employees with a higher level of need for achievement and need for power tend to be more entrepreneurial, while need for affiliation fails to predict entrepreneurial orientation. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a high level of hierarchy and formalization in public organizations is negatively associated to entrepreneurial orientation, while a high level of autonomy is positively associated with entrepreneurial orientation. Finally, the study finds that employees with a high level of breadth and depth of experience (human capital) are more likely to be entrepreneurial, while a high level of bonding social capital and bridging social capital promote a negative and a positive entrepreneurial orientation, respectively.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Cost-share programs to improve sustainable land and water use are offered from federal, state, and non-governmental entities to non-industrial private (NIP) landowners. Despite the broad attention given to the ecological benefits of these programs, far less attention has been focused on their social impacts and benefits. To achieve the desired environmental objectives laid out within these programs, natural resource agencies must work to maintain high levels of satisfaction and participation among private landowners. The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes and motivations of participants enrolled in one of three cost-share programs in Mississippi and compare those with the views of natural resource professionals throughout the state regarding landowner attitudes and motivations. Overall, landowners had positive views of their program experiences and the views of natural resource professionals coincided largely with those of landowners.

Alcohol use among international students in a U.S. community college setting was explored in regard to the interrelationships with acculturation stress and drinking motivations. Misuse of alcohol has been acknowledged as a serious problem on American college campuses. A positive relationship between stress and alcohol use has been documented among those who lack internal and external resources and support systems. International students have been recognized as higher-risk than other college students due to acculturation stress. However, very few studies have investigated the drinking behaviors of this population. To fill this research gap, a survey was conducted with non-immigrant international students (F-1 students) (N = 126) and immigrants international students (non-F-1 students) (N = 136) enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in a U.S. community college. The results, which were derived from responses to three published instruments, Index of Life Stress (ILS), Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CADS) Community College Long Form, and Revised Drinking Motivation Questionnaire (DMQ-R), as well as the researcher-made demographic information sheet, indicated that these groups were not engaged in abusive drinking behavior. This finding may reflect the support systems available to these students in an ESL setting and their family/friend networks. However, moderately strong zero-order correlations between acculturation stress and drinking motives to control negative affects were revealed. Further discussions and implication are provided. / Ph. D.

With the significant growth of purpose-oriented networks in the realm of public affairs, the challenges for public and nonprofit organizations in deciding which networks to engage with have also increased. This work explores whether organizations with different collaborative motivations prefer networks with different sets of characteristics. By bridging organizational theory and social network literatures, this study proposes a conceptual framework regarding the connections between organizational collaborative motivations and network characteristics. The conceptual framework is then further investigated using a two-phase exploratory sequential mixed-methods design and data from both local and statewide public and nonprofit organizations with experience working in networks. The first phase is a qualitative exploration of the conceptual framework using interview data, and the second phase draws on survey data and crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (cs-QCA) to refine the theoretical framework. The two-phase study indicates that organizations with different collaborative motivations indeed prefer different kinds of networks. The results also identify multiple pathways for each motivation and which network characteristics need to be combined for each motivation, as well as offer some universal combinations that work for different motivations. The findings are valuable for both network managers' efforts in recruiting members and public and nonprofit organization managers' attempts at seeking beneficial collaborations. / Doctor of Philosophy / Public and nonprofit organizations are often expected to work with others through different collaborative entities, such as organizational networks, to solve complex problems. Given the significant growth of networks in the field of public affairs and the limited time and resources that organizations have available, however, it can be challenging for organizations to decide which networks to participate in. To help make this decision easier, this study sets out to find combinations of network features that match with different collaborative motivations. A framework linking organizational and social network theories is first created, and then examined through a two-phase mixed-methods approach. The first phase involves interviewing a selection of local public and nonprofit organizations and using their feedback to improve the framework. The second phase is an online survey targeting public and nonprofit organizations across Virginia, which further investigates the refined framework. The framework developed from this study not only finds connections between organizational collaborative motivations and network characteristics, but also offers a tool for organizations to identify networks that better match their goals for collaboration and a roadmap for network managers to design networks that better meet the needs of their participants.