The interview method was used to conduct a qualitative case study in a large business corporation to discover the organizational culture that supports moving minority employees into management positions, the management practices that enables the phenomena to occur, and the experiences of minority employees who have become managers. The literature was reviewed to explore studies that presented data from African American's perspective about corporate life in America and the specific themes that emerged during this research project. Those themes are culture, learning organization, motivation, leadership, goals, reward, group development, and mentoring. This researcher found little empirical work existing on mentoring and few adequate models that utilize mentoring as a legitimate management development strategy. Therefore the researcher created theoretical constructs and the MENTOR model to improve practice in this area. The findings of this investigation are that organizational culture is based on the assumptions, values, and norms shared by organizational members, that a company can create a culture that values all employees including minorities, and that the company can implement management practices that result in positive work experiences for minority employees which enables them to become managers. The minority managers interviewed have the ability to "fit" into the IBM organization and they have gained acceptance. An invisible barrier or "glass ceiling" does not prevent minorities from advancing beyond lower or middle management positions. Today, there are already minorities at the executive level and the current focus is on moving minorities into the Corporate Officer positions that manage the business. The study creates new knowledge about the value and legitimacy of mentoring as a management development strategy and it produces knowledge directly relevant to managing a diverse work force. Suggestions are offered for future research.

<p> This study explores the history of Basque immigration to the rangelands of Nevada. It views the Basque immigrant sheepherder labor within the social, economic, political, and cultural context of Nevada. Tensions and conflicts occurred as immigrant workers confronted new environments, new labor conditions, and new social adjustments in the context of their new immigrant status. As such, issues developed with other ethnic workforces and over land and water use, particularly upon the advent of the Progressive Conservation Movement in the Far West. </p><p> In the late nineteenth century, as sheep and cattle grazing expanded into Nevada (especially from California and Texas), Basque immigrant labor became increasingly visible and encountered discrimination in the use of public ranges. Yet, as the twentieth century progressed stock operators (Basque and Anglo alike) in the sheep industry began to prize Basque labor in the grazing of sheep to the point where that labor became privileged above all others. A stereotype developed of Basque sheepherders that reaffirmed an image of their natural expertise for the tending of sheep that could not be duplicated by any other racial or ethnic group. This study attempts to deconstruct the essentialism surrounding the making of these views that not only attribute to Basques special sheepherding skills, but also confer upon them a degree of racial whiteness and values that entitled them to a privileged labor category. </p><p> The 1924 restrictive Immigration Act resulted in a truncated labor supply from the Basque Country. During the Great Depression and especially in WWII the labor shortage became acute. In response Senator Patrick McCarran from Nevada lobbied on behalf of his woolgrowing constituency to open the immigration doors for Basques. Subsequently Cold War international tensions offered opportunities for a rapprochement between the United States and Francisco Franco despite Spain&rsquo;s previous sympathy with the Axis powers. McCarran took it upon himself to become an informal intermediary with the Spanish dictator to seek more flexible policies on immigration to permit Basques to enter the United States. Ultimately this study explores the role of Basque agricultural labor and McCarran&rsquo;s ad-hoc diplomacy as catalysts that eventually helped bring Spain into the orbit of western democracies.</p>

Thesis (M.A.) in Communication--University of Maine, 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-161).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-216). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-216). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brigham Young University, 1994. / Chairman: Thomas G. Alexander. Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-253).