Transmitting organizational culture : the process of assimilating female freshmen student-athletes at the University of Tennessee

Organizational culture is the interconnected pattern of norms, values, beliefs, and symbols within an organization that give an organization its identity. Organizational assimilation is the process of communicating that culture to new incoming organizational members. The women\u27s athletic department at The University of Tennessee relies on a strong assimilation process to prepare freshmen collegiate student-athletes not only for the normal stress of college, but also for the pressures of being an elite Division 1 athlete. This study examined the assimilation practices the women\u27s athletic department used to assimilate 58 female freshmen student-athletes into the culture of the department. This study focused on the socialization aspect of assimilation rather than on the individualization aspect. The scope of this study included the first two stages of the assimilation process, anticipatory and encounter, and did not address the metamorphosis stage. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Semistructured interviews with key athletic administrators helped define the cultural constructs for the women\u27s department. These cultural constructs were enriching student-athletes\u27 lives outside sport, maintaining a family oriented department, and being nationally competitive in athletics. These constructs were used to produce a survey that was administered twice to the freshmen life skills class in order to determine their understanding of the values and expectations of the department. Those three cultural constructs were operationalized into seven research questions that focused on family atmosphere, national competitiveness of athletic department, academic progress towards graduation, career development, personal development, and health of mind and body. The results reveal that female freshmen student-athletes possess a strong understanding of what the department values and what is expected of them before they arrive on campus. This indicates that female freshmen student-athletes at UT experience strong anticipatory socialization. The most significant source in communicating these values and expectations was the head coach of the student-athlete\u27s team. There is very little statistically significant change in understanding of values and expectations over time. The only statistically significant decrease was a decrease in perception of feeling a part of the Lady Vol family

Crashworthiness optimization of vehicle structures considering the effects of lightweight material substitution and dummy models

This study uses numerical design optimization with advanced metamodeling techniques to investigate the effects of material substitution and dummy models on crashworthiness characteristics of automotive structures. A full-scale Dodge Neon LS-DYNA finite element model is used in all structural analysis and optimization calculations. Optimization is performed using vehicle-based responses for multiple crash scenarios and occupant-based responses for one crash scenario. An AZ31 magnesium alloy is substituted for the baseline steel in twenty-two vehicle parts. Five base metamodels and an Optimized Ensemble metamodel are used to develop global surrogate models of crash-induced responses. Magnesium alloy is found to maintain or improve vehicle crashworthiness with an approximate 50% reduction in selected part mass using vehicle-based responses while dummy-based designs show less percentage decrease in weight. Vehicle-based responses selected to approximate dummy injury metrics do not show the same relative change compared to dummy-based responses

Crashworthiness optimization of vehicle structures considering the effects of lightweight material substitution and dummy models

This study uses numerical design optimization with advanced metamodeling techniques to investigate the effects of material substitution and dummy models on crashworthiness characteristics of automotive structures. A full-scale Dodge Neon LS-DYNA finite element model is used in all structural analysis and optimization calculations. Optimization is performed using vehicle-based responses for multiple crash scenarios and occupant-based responses for one crash scenario. An AZ31 magnesium alloy is substituted for the baseline steel in twenty-two vehicle parts. Five base metamodels and an Optimized Ensemble metamodel are used to develop global surrogate models of crash-induced responses. Magnesium alloy is found to maintain or improve vehicle crashworthiness with an approximate 50% reduction in selected part mass using vehicle-based responses while dummy-based designs show less percentage decrease in weight. Vehicle-based responses selected to approximate dummy injury metrics do not show the same relative change compared to dummy-based responses

SNS Use, Risk, and Executive Behavior

Organizations can suffer attacks designed to take advantage of employee vulnerabilities. Successful attacks cause firms to suffer financial damage ranging from minor information breaches to severe financial losses. Cybercriminals focus on organization executives, because the power and influence they wield affords access to more sensitive data and financial resources. The purpose of this research in progress submission is to identify the types of executive behaviors that information security professionals believe introduce risk to an organization, as well as to explore the degree of risk organizations face as a result of these behaviors