Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-159). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2009. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until June 1, 2013. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-242)

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Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iii, 78 p. : ill. (some col.), map (part col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-55).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 60, [1] p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-49).

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-122).

År 2013 var den globala omsättningen för modeindustrin ca 76 tusen miljarder svenska kronor (Office of Textiles and Apparel, 2014). Bara i Sverige omsattes det 229 miljarder svenska kronor år 2012 inom denna sektor, en ökning på 11 % från föregående år (Tillväxtverket, 2014). Att modebranschen är under ständig utveckling och ökar i tillväxt kan man se då dessa siffror stiger varje år. Statistik från 2014 visar att trots denna ökning så överlever endast 47 % av nystartade modeföretag de tre första åren (Statistic Brain, 2014). Så hur lyckas man som modeföretag i early stage-fasen att med begränsade resurser stärka sitt varumärke och hålla sig kvar på marknaden? I denna studie berörs olika delar så som traditionell marknadsföring, okonventionell marknadsföring, branding samt transparens, där huvudfokus ligger på företag i early stage- fasen av sin uppstart. I uppsatsen genomfördes sju intervjuer med svenska modeföretag som är eller nyligen varit i denna fas för att få ett resultat med så hög validitet som möjligt. Brist på kunskap och kapital är inte ovanligt i denna bransch och med ökad medvetenhet hos konsumenter om de olika processerna, så kan det ibland uppstå svårigheter att försvara sig som nystartat företag. Då modebranschen är i ständig rörelse med stora förändringar från säsong till säsong måste man som nytt företag vara beredd på reformation samt att alltid tänka innovativt. Det är även viktigt att vara uppmärksam på kommande och rådande trender gällande alla aktiviteter ett företag arbetar med. Eftersom olika marknadsföringsstrategier både kan hjälpa och stjälpa ett varumärkes position på marknaden är den stora utmaningen att hitta rätt metod för just sitt företag (Easy, M. 2009). Resultatet av denna studie kommer alltså att bygga på de kvalitativa intervjuer som genomförts med de utvalda företag som har valt att medverka. De beskriver hur deras uppstart sett ut när det kommer till branding samt hur de i olika kanaler väljer att marknadsföra sig. I dessa intervjuer tittar vi även närmare på hur de lyckades starta sin verksamhet och vilka kapitalmedel de använt, deras syn på okonventionell marknadsföring samt hur marknadsföring och branding hänger samman.

In this dissertation I seek to answer the research question of who are those people that have the ability and motivation to facilitate other people’s creative thinking. Actors who are in the creator’s social environment, such as her coworkers and family members, can potentially enhance the creator’s level of creativity. Although these contacts can be active collaborators of the creator’s thinking processes and can eventually have a significant impact on organizational creativity, so far their role in organizational life has been overlooked by researchers. Consequently, in my dissertation I develop a theory of “creativity catalysts”, and define a creativity catalyst as an employee who helps to improve the usefulness and novelty (i.e. creativity) of the ideas and products produced by another employee (i.e. the creator) through direct interpersonal interaction with the creator. I examine two aspects of serving as a catalyst to another’s creativity: the intensity of a creativity catalyst’s contribution and the span of a creativity catalyst’s contribution. Intensity of contribution is conceptualized as the extent to which the creativity catalyst can improve the output generated by the creators to be more novel and useful. Span on the other hand, is the number of people that perceive an individual as a catalyst for her own creative performance. To answer the research question, I develop and empirically test a theory of creativity catalysts by integrating a social capital theory lens (i.e. structural social capital and relational social capital) with a stable motivational orientation (i.e., learning goal orientation). First, I argue that a catalyst’s relational social capital (i.e., quality of relationships with her coworkers) in the organizational communication network determines her motivation to take the role of a creativity catalyst. Second, I argue that the catalyst’s structural social capital (i.e., the extent to which she can connect with the disconnected others in her network structure) underlines her ability to contribute to others’ creativity. Integrating these two arguments, I hypothesize that the catalyst’s relational social capital (i.e., the motivation to become a creativity catalyst) interacts with her structural social capital (i.e., the ability of a creativity catalyst) in predicting both the intensity and span of the catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. Second, I hypothesized that learning goal orientation, a stable motivational orientation, interacts with the situational motivational characteristic of relational social capital in predicting both the span and intensity of a catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. To test my hypotheses, I first ran a pilot study on a sample of full-time MBA students in order to validate the creativity catalyst measure; and then tested my hypothesized model on employees from two companies, using multiple data sources over multiple phases of data collection. Consequently, I found support for both of these interaction hypotheses on the intensity and span of a creativity catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings, and future research directions are discussed.

Have steady increases in socioeconomic status (SES) and occupational prestige along with changes in residential context and subsequently social networks necessitated a shift in our understanding of Black political participation and group identity? Specifically, how does the unique political environment facing African-American residents in majority Anglo suburbs attach unique utilities to participation, different from their neighbors or even their own co-ethnics that reside in the central city? I argue that African Americans in majority Anglo areas who expend political resources in the most proximate races will derive a negligible benefit. Further, these citizens’ most proximate residential and social network contexts heighten feelings of minority status. Consequently, I contend this class of Black voters are pushed away from the traditional forms of participation (i.e. voting for the congressman or local school board representative) and towards non-traditional, and more resource costly, forms of group directed participation which also come at much higher utilities. / text