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Browsing by Subject "Organization"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Bringing parent and community engagement back into the education reform spotlight: a comparative case study.
    (2010-03) Gordon, Molly F.
    In this study I argue that educational practitioners and policy makers cannot solve the problem of increasing student learning and growth by organizationally isolating the work of schools from communities. The purpose of this study was to explore which organizational conditions have enabled and which have hindered schools and communities from successfully working together to help students learn and grow. In addition, I explore why some districts and schools continue to struggle with engaging outside stakeholders despite their efforts. I used a comparative case study design and chose to investigate three districts and two schools within each of those districts in order to see how district engagement policies and practices filter down into schools. I used neo-institutional and organizational theories as conceptual tools. Results showed that district level engagement efforts were loosely-coupled with school level policies and practices. Policies that did exist around engagement were vaguely worded and weakly monitored. In addition, few innovative approaches existed to actively engage outside stakeholders. This study confirms the neo-institutional framework and its usefulness in examining engagement policies and practices.
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    Exploring the impact of lean design and lean supply chain management on an organization’s innovation capability.
    (2010-06) Taylor, Ryan Douglas
    This thesis analyzes and discusses how implementing lean design and lean supply chain management affect an organization’s innovation capabilities. Since lean concepts focus on low risk, short-term gradual improvement of existing processes and products with an emphasis on eliminating any and all wastes in the system, applying lean to an organization often implies difficulties in promoting innovations that involve high risks and dramatic changes. Little is known about how lean design and lean supply chain management concepts might affect an organization’s innovation capability and its responsiveness to react quickly to changes brought by radical innovations. These relationships were investigated and analyzed based on findings from two online surveys. Seventy-six and seventy-seven respondents were acquired from the two surveys, respectively. Results suggest that the stressed importance of standardization in lean design has a negative effect on an organization’s radical and architectural innovation capability. It is also shown that disruptive innovation capability will be negatively influenced by value analysis in lean design, especially in terms of how an organization ranks product attributes and allocates resources based on customer requirements. For the impact on an organization’s responsiveness to radical innovations, the findings suggest no impact from minimizing buffers in a lean supply chain but a positive impact from increasing supplier commitment and involvement levels.
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    Systemic Change in a Community-Based HIV/AIDS Organization: A Case Study Examining the Response to Affordable Care Act Reforms
    (2015-07) Lee, Michael
    Background: The United States' HIV medical and social service systems remain "a fragile edifice with disparate parts" (Sherer, 2013, p. 133). While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers several opportunities, considerable uncertainty remains concerning its influence on HIV-affected populations, who face persistent socioeconomic service barriers. Since the early AIDS crisis, nonprofit HIV/AIDS service organizations ("ASOs") � have provided a critical link between healthcare providers and consumers. This qualitative case study examined the systemic change experiences of a nonprofit ASO, with specific attention to technological considerations, members' identification with HIV-affected consumers, and perceptions of the organization's ' history and service values. Methodology: This study aimed to examine an HIV/AIDS service organization's systemic change experiences via the perspectives of its members. Four central questions guided the investigation: 1) How do members of an HIV/AIDS service organization (i.e., Board, leadership, and staff) experience systemic change in the current policy environment? 2) What technological changes do members of the organization consider (i.e., interventions selected to carry out its mission) as they develop a strategic response to Affordable Care Act legislation? 3) To what extent does ASO members' knowledge of and/or identification with HIV-affected constituencies (e.g., gay/bisexual men, injection drug users, communities of color) influence the organization's systemic change process? 4) To what extent does ASO members' understanding of the organization's history and service values influence the organization's systemic change process? Data collection coincided with strategic plan implementation in 2013-2014 and included analysis of 40 documents, observation of 10 implementation meetings, and semi-structured interviews with 20 Board and staff members. This study was determined to be exempt by the university's Institutional Review Board. Results: Findings revealed ten unique themes. Members recognized an opportunity to reckon with external factors, including uncertain policy shifts and changing public perceptions. The rationale for change included both survival and positioning the organization as a sector leader and service destination. Technological considerations included defining measurable outcomes, identifying expansion opportunities, and addressing barriers to growth. Members described personal, longstanding familiarity with consumers, especially concerning stigma and marginalization. Consumers' needs were characterized as both medically and psychosocially complex. Defining organizational characteristics included nonjudgmental services tailored to consumers' needs and identities and longevity of operations. Perspectives on workplace culture were less settled concerning staff and leadership relationships, professionalism, and accountabilities. Appraisals of how to proceed included competing desires for quick, decisive action and cautious, collaborative deliberation. While most members expressed enthusiasm for the changes, some indicated waning confidence in leaders' decisions and communication, and staff departures sharply increased as the study concluded. Significance: This study is timely and relevant for understanding how changes in the U.S. health and human service system influence services targeting historically marginalized populations. Research and practice implications include the influence of shared historical trauma in organizational development and conceptually reframing community-level HIV suppression efforts around contributing social service factors. Social workers in this study demonstrated a continuing role for the profession in HIV services, including organizational leadership, policy advocacy, program supervision, and direct services to consumers.
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    Task-related variations in the surface EMG of human first dorsal interosseous.
    (2010-12) Whitford, Maureen
    Results from animal and human studies question the traditional view of a homogeneous organization of the motorneuron pool. Single muscles may be organized topographically into task groups that correspond with an intraspinal somatotopic organization. The aims of this study were to determine if: i.) there was differential activation in different locations of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle during a given task, ii.) the differential activation related to directional requirements and/or end goal of the task, and iii.) there was an anatomical pattern to the differential activation. Twenty-six healthy right-handed participants carried out 48 isometric finger/hand contractions [8 tasks x (3 M waves + 3 active contractions)] in sitting while surface EMG was collected from 4 bipolar sites on the FDI muscle simultaneously. Index finger abduction and flexion forces were collected using 2 orthogonally placed load cells. The tasks were: abduction pre, flexion, diagonal, 30% abduction + 30% flexion, 30% flexion + 30% abduction, pinch, power, and abduction post. Mean peak integrated EMG (IEMG; smoothed over 100ms and integrated over contraction period) for each task was normalized to site and task specific mean M waves. We found differential IEMG across sites for all tasks, which further differed based on task direction and end goal. The anatomical pattern of the differential IEMG was such that there was always greatest activation in the distal ulnar site. We conclude that there are task-related variations in activation across locations of the human FDI muscle. The organization of the nervous system at the level of the muscle is not necessarily an "all-or-none" phenomenon.