The politics of AIDS: An analysis of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power

Since 1987, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) continues to pressure the government, corporate America, and society into confronting the AIDS epidemic. This work analyzes ACT UP as a movement organization. First, the organizational structure of ACT UP is discussed. All aspects (membership, leadership, revenue, etc) which make ACT UP a truly unique organization are elaborated upon. Second, the tactics and targets of opportunity of ACT UP are analyzed. Some of the groups more notable demonstrations are discussed in order to illustrate the evolution of ACT UP. Finally, ACT UP is analyzed in terms of how influential it has been upon both government and corporate policy

Conference methods training in American business and industry

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, Speech Communication and Human Relations, 1973

An Empirical Investigation Of Information Technology Mediated Customer Services In China

Information technology mediated customer service is a reality of the 21st century. More and more companies have moved their customer services from in store and in person to online through computer or mobile devices. Using 208 respondents collected from two Chinese universities, this paper investigates customer preference over two service delivery model (either in store or online) on five type of purchasing (retail, eating-out, banking, travel and entertainment) and their perception difference in customer service quality between those two delivery model. Results show that a majority of Chinese students prefer in store and in person for eating out. For ordering tickets for travel and entertainment, they prefer computer/mobile device. For retail purchasing and banking, less than half of the students prefer in person services. In general, the results show that ordering through computer/mobile devices has become more popular in China and has received higher rating for most of customer service quality except security compared to ordering in store. In addition, it is found that there exist a gender difference in purchasing preference and perception in service delivery quality in China

Three Essays on Sustainable Operations Management

This dissertation consists of three essays on sustainable operations management. The unifying theme in this work is the focus on sustainability-related risks originating from an organization’s internal operations or its supply chain, operational-level initiatives for managing such risks, and the determinants and subsequent outcomes of those initiatives. The first essay focuses on safety and environmental risks and looks into the role of a safety-oriented culture in effectively managing them. Building on the safety culture literature and organizational support theory, a conceptual model is developed suggesting that a safety-oriented culture enhances an organization’s financial performance and sets the stage for successful implementation of environmental and safety practices, which in turn, result in improved environmental and safety performance. The hypothesized relationships are empirically examined and validated using the data collected through a survey of 251 Canadian plants. The second essay is a conceptual paper focusing on supplier sustainability risks which materialize when buying organizations face their stakeholders’ negative reactions to their suppliers’ misconducts related to natural environment or society. The purpose of this paper is to explain the underlying factors of buying organizations’ operational-level responses to such risks. Drawing on agency/management control and resource dependence theories, a contingent conceptual framework is developed that explains how three major factors ─ i.e., supply managers’ perceived risk, dependence structure of buyer-supplier relationship, and the slack resources available to supply managers ─ interact to affect supply managers’ choice among four risk management strategies: monitoring-based or collaboration-based sustainable supplier development (risk mitigation), supplier phase-out (risk avoidance), and taking no actions (risk acceptance). This framework also suggests that these contingent risk management strategies improve buying organizations’ financial performance directly or indirectly through enhancing their organizational reputation. Finally, the third essay presents a vignette-based experiment conducted with a sample of 200 U.S.-based supply managers to empirically test and validate a set of propositions put forth in the second essay. Specifically, this study investigates and confirms the effect of three factors, i.e., supply manager’s perceived risk, supplier dependence on the buying organization, and slack resources available to supply managers, and their interactions on supply managers’ choice among the four risk management strategies

Best Practices in Disaster Grantmaking: Lessons From the Gulf Coast

Summarizes NYRAG members' response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, highlights innovative grantmaking, and outlines best practices, practices to avoid, and strategies for promoting the recovery, transformation, and revitalization of the Gulf Coast

Strategian toimeenpano: Selitettävien tekijöiden tunnistus onnistuneen liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten organisaatiossa

In the contemporary era where the value of data is being compared to oil, it is no wonder that executives are actively pursuing to extract value from data with business analytics to gain competitive advantage. Despite accelerating investments into business analytics, there lacks a unified model for executives to rely on during the implementation process, hence explaining the large variance partially amongst organizations’ ROIs. This thesis, therefore, addresses the void by proposing a conceptual model for business analytics implementation (CMBAI) for executives to utilize when implementing business analytics. To address the void rightfully, initially, I identify an organizational model framework that holistically considers the multidimensional internal environment of an organization when implementing a strategy. This is followed by the identification of business analytics conformities associated with each variable under the chosen organizational model framework, creating a rudimentary CMBAI. The CMBAI is finally developed and consolidated by cross-referencing it against a case study in accordance to abductive research methodology. The revised CMBAI model is framed around the McKinsey 7S Framework (M7S), thus addressing comprehensively the variables related to strategy implementation. The model identifies three overarching themes that influence the success of reaping the benefits of business analytics: (1) leadership- structured manner of communication in both strategical and operational level synchronized with a leadership style that both ease organizational adoption of business analytics and promotes active insight generation to occur among employees; (2) organizational BA competency- ensuring competency in both system level through business analytic tools and human level through multiple level skill development; and (3) ownership facilitation- enablement of an appropriate structure and culture that promote to self-initiatively take actions based on insights gathered. Moreover, research indicates the entangled nature of M7S variables requires business analytics implementors to take a holistic approach to implementation in contrast to focusing only on a handful of elements related to business analytics. The research contributes to the existing theory by unifying the vast scope of business analytics literature under a single research and provides an in-depth analysis of the success factors when applying business analytics. Despite consolidation of CMBAI for becoming a universal model requires further similar studies to be conducted, this thesis provides a solid foundation for a holistic business analytics implementation model to emerge.Siinä missä nyky-yhteiskunnassa rinnastetaan öljyn arvoa dataan, on täysin luonnollista, että yritysjohtajat pyrkivät aktiivisesti hyödyntämään dataa luodakseen kilpailuetua kilpailijoihinsa nähden. Huolimatta kasvavista sijoituksesta liiketoiminta-analytiikkaan, yrityksiltä puuttuu yhteinen malli liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon, joka osin selittää yritysten välisen suurehkon hajonnan liiketoiminta-analytiikan sijoitetun pääoman tuottoprosenteissa. Tämä diplomityö pyrkii vastaamaan edellä mainittuun tarpeeseen ehdottamalla käsitteellisen mallin liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon (KMLAT). Vastatakseen tarpeeseen oikeudenmukaisesti, pyrin alussa tunnistamaan viitekehyksen, joka ottaa organisaation moniulotteisen sisäisen ympäristön huomioon toimeenpantaessa uutta strategiaa. Seuraavana selvitän valitun viitekehyksen muuttujien liiketoiminta-analytiikan keskinäiset alaisuudet luodakseen alustavan KMLAT:n. Hyödyntäen abduktiivista tutkimusmenetelmää, KMLAT:ia jatkojalostetaan ja sen asemaa vahvistetaan käyttämällä sitä erään tapausyrityksen tutkimisessa. Diplomityön lopullinen KMLAT perustuu McKinsey:n 7S viitekehykseen, jolla saadaan kokonaisvaltainen ymmärrys organisaation muuttujista toimeenpantaessa strategiaa. Mallin avulla on tunnistettu kolme rajoja ylittävää teema, jotka vaikuttavat liiketoiminta-analytiikan menestykselliseen toimeenpanoon; johtajuus, organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys, ja omistajuuden edistäminen. Johtajuudessa merkittävinä osatekijöinä ovat strateginen ja operatiivinen viestintä, ja johtamismalli, joka edistää oivalluksien tuottamista. Organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys taas ottaa kantaa tekijöistä, joihin tulisi erityisesti asettaa huomiota kehittäessä liiketoimintaa-analytiikka järjestelmää ja työntekijöitä. Kolmanneksi, omistajuuden edistäminen organisaatiorakenne ja kulttuuritasolla on havaittu olennaiseksi tekijäksi toimeenpannakseen käytäntöön liiketoiminta-analytiikasta saadut havainnot. Tämä tutkimus edistää olemassa olevaa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa kirjallisuutta yhdistämällä niitä yhden tutkimuksen alle ja tuo perusteellisen analyysin kriittisistä menetystekijöistä toimeenpantaessa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa. Vaikka KMLAT:ia on jatkojalostettu erään tutkimustapauksen avulla, sitä tulee jatkojalostaa ja vahvistaa edelleen, jotta mallia voidaan pitää yleispätevänä. Siitä huolimatta, tämä diplomityö luo vankan perustan tulevalle tutkimukselle, ja toimii lähtökohtana rakentaessa yleismallia liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten