An Exploration Of Students? Perceptions Of Strategic Management Model Usefulness

This exploratory study proposes and tests a model depicting individual undergraduate student characteristics and their association with perceived strategic management model (SMM) usefulness. The constructs explored are: student’s decision style; experience; major; affectivity; willingness to try new models; and the perceived ease of use of the SMM. Findings based on structural equation modeling and partial least squares regression indicate that positive affect, perceived ease of use, and willingness to try new models/theories explain a significant amount of variance in the students’ perceived usefulness of the SMM. The study then discusses potential applications of its findings to individual classrooms, management practice, and business education as a whole. Finally, it provides suggestions for future research

Picoradian deflection measurement with an interferometric quasi-autocollimator using weak value amplification

We present an "interferometric quasi-autocollimator" that employs weak value amplification to measure angular deflections of a target mirror. The device has been designed to be insensitive to all translations of the target. We present a conceptual explanation of the amplification effect used by the device. An implementation of the device demonstrates sensitivities better than 10 picoradians per root hertz between 10 and 200 hertz.Comment: To be published in Optics Letter

Secondhand Goods, Firsthand Knowledge: An Organizational Structure Exercise At The Local Flea Market

We developed a unique and enjoyable field trip exercise to challenge students to identify various organizational structures and their properties and dimensions present in the local flea market. Drawing on students’ review of common organizational structures, i.e., simple, functional, multi-divisional, and network, this exercise requires that individuals or small groups of students visit a local flea market to observe and analyze the numerous organizational structures apparent. Students then use a given report format to identify: the properties of organizations; distinct organizational structures on varying levels of analysis (the market as a whole, areas of specialization, and vendors); and the dimensions seen in organizations (specialization, span of control, formalization, and centralization). In-class discussion of the topic, using discussion questions provided, further clarifies the concepts that students viewed in practice at the flea market

An Investigation on the Production of Sodium Thiosulfate from Trona

No Abstract

An Organizational Communication Perspective on the University: Understanding How Individuals Constitute Organizations

Change in the university has been the topic of recent discussion in contemporary business, popular, and academic literature. This thesis uses organizational communication theory and literature to examine how communication constitutes what we know as the university. This perspective provides an analytical lens to confront the organizational questions central to contemporary ideas surrounding the university. Furthermore, it generates new ways of viewing current issues, debates, and contestation regarding its constitution. This thesis examines the role of communication as a powerful process, and the agency of each individual in creating, recreating, and transforming the university. To understand the constitution of the university, a state university in the Pacific Northwest, which I call Metropolitan Research University (MRU), was examined. While not representative of all universities, MRU is a small sample of the discourse or the communicative constitution of the university. This study used the instruments of semi-structured interviews, field observation, and document collection to understand the constitution of MRU. Fifteen participants were interviewed for this study consisting of faculty, administration, and students. More than 100 students were observed in classrooms. What emerged in the data pushes the understanding of the constitution of the university. It demonstrates the fluidity of organizational boundaries and exemplifies the discursive processes that constitute what people understand and interpret as the university. The university is not an object to be described and therefore its constitution cannot be understood by simply studying the participants and practices “within” the university. This fluidity of boundaries brought to the forefront the susceptibility of the university to the ideology of dominant institutions. This is significant because even though university participants demonstrated their agency “in” the university, they sometimes were not aware of how they adopted and produced practices based on contemporary ideologies. The university then should not be thought of or researched as object to be described but as a set of complex relationships of power, knowledge, and discourse produced by social groups as they struggle with one another

Predicting Wolbachia invasion dynamics in Aedes aegypti populations using models of density-dependent demographic traits

Background Arbovirus transmission by the mosquito Aedes aegypti can be reduced by the introduction and establishment of the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia in wild populations of the vector. Wolbachia spreads by increasing the fitness of its hosts relative to uninfected mosquitoes. However, mosquito fitness is also strongly affected by population size through density-dependent competition for limited food resources. We do not understand how this natural variation in fitness affects symbiont spread, which limits our ability to design successful control strategies. Results We develop a mathematical model to predict A. aegypti–Wolbachia dynamics that incorporates larval density-dependent variation in important fitness components of infected and uninfected mosquitoes. Our model explains detailed features of the mosquito–Wolbachia dynamics observed in two independent experimental A. aegypti populations, allowing the combined effects on dynamics of multiple density-dependent fitness components to be characterized. We apply our model to investigate Wolbachia field release dynamics, and show how invasion outcomes can depend strongly on the severity of density-dependent competition at the release site. Specifically, the ratio of released relative to wild mosquitoes required to attain a target infection frequency (at the end of a release program) can vary by nearly an order of magnitude. The time taken for Wolbachia to become established following releases can differ by over 2 years. These effects depend on the relative fitness of field and insectary-reared mosquitoes. Conclusions Models of Wolbachia invasion incorporating density-dependent demographic variation in the host population explain observed dynamics in experimental A. aegypti populations. These models predict strong effects of density-dependence on Wolbachia dynamics in field populations, and can assist in the effective use of Wolbachia to control the transmission of arboviruses such as dengue, chikungunya and zika.</p

An Innovative Collaboration Of An Academic Institution With A Community Recovery Center

Research poster documenting the following project: The University of New England (UNE) collaborated with local recovery centers to create an interdisciplinary service learning partnership. Students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program explored the role of PT in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) recovery in an elective course. Three interactive PT related sessions were developed for the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at Pinetree Recovery Center with the purpose of providing tools for physical activity to aid in the SUD recovery process.https://dune.une.edu/cecespring2020/1009/thumbnail.jp