View All Items

Title: Crisis Communication in Dark Times: The 2011 Mouse River Flood in Minot, North Dakota.
Creator: Christopher L. Atkinson
Abstract/Description: Crisis communication is an essential aspect of disaster and crisis management for governments; this is particularly true for local governments, which are first into an event response and last out, and on the front lines of response and recovery. In this article, crisis communication is reviewed generally and then in the context of the 2011 Souris (Mouse) River flood in Minot, North Dakota. Using analysis of primary interview data, I deliberate on the potential that exists for public...
Show moreCrisis communication is an essential aspect of disaster and crisis management for governments; this is particularly true for local governments, which are first into an event response and last out, and on the front lines of response and recovery. In this article, crisis communication is reviewed generally and then in the context of the 2011 Souris (Mouse) River flood in Minot, North Dakota. Using analysis of primary interview data, I deliberate on the potential that exists for public communication to enhance the responsiveness of government in addressing the public’s needs under threat of hazard or disaster. Results and discussion of the analysis are provided. I find that the city learned from the challenges of the flood in a way that suggests improved responses for future events. The case represents an expression of good governance in what have been dark times for the public sector.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000473
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A Shepherd for the Naïve: Images of Future Government in Huxley, Bradbury, and Forster.
Creator: Christopher L. Atkinson
Abstract/Description: Intellectuals of the 20th century bore witness to society’s injustices. They viewed and commented on erosion of rights and humankind’s callousness to itself. For example, Huxley’s Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited illustrate with contempt a society that had renounced personal individuality and rejected freedom, choosing a drugged totalitarian state set adrift from any sense of morality. Huxley’s work is a familiar touchstone, in that it presupposed a world that seems increasingly...
Show moreIntellectuals of the 20th century bore witness to society’s injustices. They viewed and commented on erosion of rights and humankind’s callousness to itself. For example, Huxley’s Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited illustrate with contempt a society that had renounced personal individuality and rejected freedom, choosing a drugged totalitarian state set adrift from any sense of morality. Huxley’s work is a familiar touchstone, in that it presupposed a world that seems increasingly real to us, even though a faithful portrayal of the future was hardly Huxley’s intent. Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 soberly reminded the world of the wages of intolerance to divergent ideas, in envisioning a government solidifying its hold on power by banishing the spectrum of human emotion in literature and mass media. Forster’s ambitious short story “The Machine Stops” countered the naiveté of a positive equal utopia, with a world cruel in its homogenization and dependent on a deified machine for all facets of its existence. In each instance, government is an ominous, questionable character. Technology, in these texts and in today’s world, is a foundational element with muddled aims—a rich virtual society on one hand, but frightening levels of assimilation, control, and loss of interpersonal communication and privacy in the crumbling arena of the real on the other. In this article, a future technology-led existence is examined through the lenses of these fictional works.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000497
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Gendered images of expertise, leadership and virture: applying Stivers' theoretical framework to police practices as represented in publications from 1979 to 2009.
Creator: Larson, Robin Lynn., College of Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: In this dissertation, a theoretical framework is developed from Camilla Stivers' (2002) argument that images of expertise, leadership and virtue are used to defend public administration's legitimacy in the face of criticisms about the inefficiencies of government and the power wielded by bureaucrats. Stivers argues that these legitimizing and traditional images have historical and cultural roots in ideas associated with masculinity, and that this harms women in the public sector. The realm of...
Show moreIn this dissertation, a theoretical framework is developed from Camilla Stivers' (2002) argument that images of expertise, leadership and virtue are used to defend public administration's legitimacy in the face of criticisms about the inefficiencies of government and the power wielded by bureaucrats. Stivers argues that these legitimizing and traditional images have historical and cultural roots in ideas associated with masculinity, and that this harms women in the public sector. The realm of policing faced similar criticisms and defended its legitimacy by altering practices, the day-to-day actions of police practitioners. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the possibility that police practitioners have defended their legitimacy on the same basis as public administrators have done by offering images of expertise, leadership and virtue, which Stivers (2002) claims are deeply gendered. Using Ethnographic Content Analysis (ECA), imagery is qualitatively examined using using Stivers' (2002) descriptions of characteristics, qualitiers, values and actions that she associates with images of expertise, leadership and virtue... Masculine images of virtue portray the police as dedicated and committed professionals who protect the citizenry through laudable programs and initiatives. Masculine images of leadership are less prevalent, but consistently portray the police as controlling and direction-setting visionaries. Alternative imagery patterns include leadership images more aligned with femininity, such as collaboration and cooperation. Throughout the thirty-one years, these patterns of images are observed, despite differences in practices associated with the three paradigms of policing.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355628
Subject Headings: Leadership, Municipal government, Public administration, Progressivism (United States politics), Police administration, Criminal justice, Administration of
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: THE DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TESTING OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR PREDICTING GENERAL EDUCATION DIPLOMA ADULT EDUCATION DROPOUTS.
Creator: TIERNEY, BRIAN ASHLEY, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study was the development and field testing of an instrument for predicting adult education dropouts. The test instrument was designed to predict whether or not a student enrolling in an adult education high school review course would become a dropout. The sample consisted of eight classes of adult education students enrolled in a General Education Diploma (G.E.D.) review program. The developed test instrument used descriptive word pairs. These word pairs were antonyms....
Show moreThe purpose of this study was the development and field testing of an instrument for predicting adult education dropouts. The test instrument was designed to predict whether or not a student enrolling in an adult education high school review course would become a dropout. The sample consisted of eight classes of adult education students enrolled in a General Education Diploma (G.E.D.) review program. The developed test instrument used descriptive word pairs. These word pairs were antonyms. The word pairs were designed to elicit attitudinal responses from the students. The student's responses to these word pairs were used in the prediction of the potential dropout. Stimulus pictures of hypothetical persisters and dropouts were used to stimulate the responses. The developed test instrument was used to measure the difference between the student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical persister in Form I of the test instrument and that student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical dropout in Form II. The difference between the student's scores on Form I and Form II of the developed test instrument was computed. The difference-score was matched to the student's subsequent behavior: dropout or persister. The interpretation of the data in the context of this research indicated that the study with a high difference-score is more likely to become a dropout and that the student with a low difference-score is more likely to become a persister. In this study the student's attitudinal responses to descriptive word pairs were used in analysis of the data. Analysis was performed in order to evaluate the contribution of specific descriptive word pairs and the relation of these word pairs to the prediction of the potential dropout. Analysis indicated that certain of the descriptive word pairs were found to be useful as predictors of student behavior: dropout or persister. It was concluded that the use of the developed test instrument using certain descriptive word pairs could be effective in predicting the potential dropout. It was recommended that early prediction of the potential dropout and sufficient concentration on effective guidance would be productive and would motivate the student to continue working toward his original goals.
Show less
Date Issued: 1983
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11835
Subject Headings: Adult education, GED tests, Adult education dropouts
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A SELECTED COMPARISON OF PROFIT AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ACCOUNTING PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES.
Creator: LAGASSE, ROBERT CLAUDE, Florida Atlantic University, College of Business, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The study compares and contrasts general accounting practices and procedures as they are applied in profit and not-for-profit organizations. The data from which this study was made was gathered from existing publications in the fields of accounting and association management as well as policy and practice statements issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The study describes the differences in for-profit and not-for-profit accounting practices and procedures...
Show moreThe study compares and contrasts general accounting practices and procedures as they are applied in profit and not-for-profit organizations. The data from which this study was made was gathered from existing publications in the fields of accounting and association management as well as policy and practice statements issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The study describes the differences in for-profit and not-for-profit accounting practices and procedures as they exist in current practice. The study represents a state-of-the-art overview of not-for-profit accounting procedures of use to anyone establishing operating guidelines for such an organization.
Show less
Date Issued: 1977
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13846
Subject Headings: Business Administration, Accounting
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A Baudrillardian examination of municipalities as public relations and marketing firms.
Creator: Zavattaro, Staci M., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Local governments are adopting both the rhetoric and practices of market-based governance interventions. Imported into these cities are public relations and marketing tactics to sell cities to internal and external audiences alike. Public communication in these cities went from a public information focus hinging on a just-the-facts approach to a public relations and marketing focus on selling and image generation to please customers. Acute attention to image generation leads to the metaphor...
Show moreLocal governments are adopting both the rhetoric and practices of market-based governance interventions. Imported into these cities are public relations and marketing tactics to sell cities to internal and external audiences alike. Public communication in these cities went from a public information focus hinging on a just-the-facts approach to a public relations and marketing focus on selling and image generation to please customers. Acute attention to image generation leads to the metaphor of municipalities presented in this research - as public relations and marketing firms. Private sector public relations (PR) and marketing firms gain results for their clients, usually in the form of consumer consumption. A city acting as a public relations and marketing firm puts priority on the image-generation potentials of nearly all its governance functions to sell a commodity to customers. To illustrate this, a six-point model was devised of PR and marketing tactics used in cities operating as public relations and marketing firms: branding, media relations, in-house publications, use of volunteers and outside organizations as PR tools, aesthetic and affective appeal, and sustainability and going green. A city using all six is a fully realized PR and marketing firm, as it adopts, adapts and executes the tactics in meaningful ways. An over-reliance on image-generation (PR and marketing) versus substance (information) pushes public organizations through Baudrillard's four phases of the image. The image of the city becomes dissociated with reality, and the government operates in a simulation of itself. This research uses Qualitative Media Analysis (Altheide, 1996) supplemented by a discourse analysis method created for this research - Baudrillardian Discourse Analysis., Baudrillardian Discourse Analysis examines market-based, consumer-driven, postmodern language found in public organizations because of the governance changes mentioned earlier. Implications for public administration include: developing a model of organizations for other scholars to examine; introducing a discourse analysis method; and showing realizations of postmodern critiques and impacts of market models on cities.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927610
Subject Headings: Influence, City and town life, Social aspects, Sociology, Urban, Place marketing
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An empirical analysis of the roles assumed by public administrators: the case of public procurement specialists.
Creator: Roman, Alexandru V., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation examines administrative roles within the context of everyday public administration. Specifically, it studies the relationship between administrative roles assumed by public administrators and (1) the perceived presence of administrative discretion, (2) individual level beliefs regarding involvement in policy formulation and (3) tenure with organization. This dissertation has a three-fold purpose. First, it delineates the types of roles assumed by public procurement...
Show moreThis dissertation examines administrative roles within the context of everyday public administration. Specifically, it studies the relationship between administrative roles assumed by public administrators and (1) the perceived presence of administrative discretion, (2) individual level beliefs regarding involvement in policy formulation and (3) tenure with organization. This dissertation has a three-fold purpose. First, it delineates the types of roles assumed by public procurement specialists. Second, it tests whether administrative discretion, beliefs regarding participation in policy formulation and organizational tenure are significant in explaining the assumption of certain types of roles. Finally, the dissertation evaluates the implications for the public procurement process of the predominance of certain roles. vi The theoretical logic for this dissertation draws on the theory of representative bureaucracy and role theory. ... It is found that administrative discretion, individual expectations and organizational tenure are indeed important predictors of the assumption of administrative roles. Administrators who believe that they have access to relatively high levels of discretion and those who believe they should be involved in policy formulation are more likely to assume a representative type role. On the other hand, with increased tenure public administrators are less likely to assume a representative type role.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362569
Subject Headings: Public administration, Methodology, Transparency in government, Comparative government, Bureaucracy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Collaborative governance and the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act: a case study of HIV health services planning councils in two South Florida counties.
Creator: Agbodzakey, James K., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional...
Show moreThe complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional management in addressing contemporary complex problems. Collaborative governance is thus a type of governance that promotes joint participation of state and non-state stakeholders in decision making and/or implementation by using agreed upon processes of engagement to collectively address problems. Such governance is especially beneficial for addressing the challenges posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This dissertation uses the collaborative governance concept to explicate the efforts of HIV Health Services Planning Councils in Broward County and Palm Beach County of South Florida with the purpose of accentuating how collaborative governance works in providing various categories of services to meet the needs of people with AIDS (PWAs), as part of the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act. The study focuses on critical variables of collaborative governance such as facilitative leadership and institutional design, the collaborative process variables such as trust building, commitment to the process and shared understanding, and outputs such as allocation priorities of the Councils. This study employed mixed methods in collecting data from various relevant sources., The combined findings from surveys, interviews, observations and document reviews were essential to knowledge and understanding of collaborative governance of the respective Councils. The results revealed more similarities than differences between the Councils in their efforts towards addressing the HIV/AIDS problem. The Councils are similar in all variables of collaborative governance with few exceptions relative to facilitative leadership and institutional design. The differences were relative to membership, number of committees, amount allocated for various service categories and number of clients served. Furthermore, the Councils were slightly different in reaching consensus on subjects of deliberation. On the average, Palm Beach County's Council make decisions by consensus relatively easily when compared with the Broward County's Council. Nonetheless, both Councils are consensus-oriented and strive to make decision by consensus as evidenced by unanimous votes or simple majority votes on various subjects of deliberation. In addition, representation and participation of target populations in collaborative governance have contributed to the empowerment of those target populations. The study contributes to the literature by developing a conceptual model for HIV/AIDS collaborative governance for producing outputs to help meet needs of target populations. Also, the study contributes to collaborative governance theorizing by drawing a nexus between variables of collaborative governance and by complementing the existing non-linear perspective of collaborative process for collective problem solving. Collaborative governance involving state and non-state stakeholders thereby enhances efforts of public managers by harnessing resources to effectively manage and/or address complex problems for the benefit of society.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368614
Subject Headings: HIV infections, Government policy, AIDS (Disease), Patients, Services for, Public-private sector cooperation, Public administration, Decision making
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Democratic accountability for outsourced government services.
Creator: Keeler, Rebecca L., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Public administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable...
Show morePublic administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable populations, special democratic responsibilities arise. It is these three features of outsourcing transactions that constitute the elements of the proposed framework used in this research in order to assess need for heightened attention to democratic accountability. Some scholars argue for application of constitutional and administrative law norms to some government contractors., Public service ethics and transparency requirements found in administrative law are heavily value-laden and mission-driven. If applied to certain government contractors, they can help to bridge the sectors' mission and value differences, thus enhancing democratic accountability for the services performed by governments' private sector agents. This research offers an analytical framework for identifying features of outsourcing transactions that call for enhanced democratic accountability measures such as ethics and transparency requirements, and explores the application of ethics and transparency requirements to governments' contractors. Contracts and laws governing three Florida local government service categories were subjected to close systematic textual and legal analysis: residential trash collection, building code inspection, and inmate health care., The analysis revealed circumstances calling for greater attention to democratic accountability in that the selected outsourcing transactions delegated to contractors the authority to exercise police power, make public policy, and commit expenditures of public funds. Contracts and laws haphazardly required contractors to abide by public service ethics and transparency requirements, thus beginning to adapt the mission and value system of their private sector agents to those of government.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927311
Subject Headings: Contracting out, Privatization, Public administration, Decision making, Public contracts, Management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The social construction of breast and prostate cancer policy.
Creator: Martinez, Jocilyn., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Breast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in women and men in the United States. The federal government has played an active role in dedicating resources toward breast and prostate cancers since the early 1990s, when policy actors successfully lobbied Congress to adopt policies that increased awareness and spending. Using theories of social construction, I argue that the key to their success was the ability of these policy actors to socially construct the...
Show moreBreast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in women and men in the United States. The federal government has played an active role in dedicating resources toward breast and prostate cancers since the early 1990s, when policy actors successfully lobbied Congress to adopt policies that increased awareness and spending. Using theories of social construction, I argue that the key to their success was the ability of these policy actors to socially construct the illnesses of breast and prostate cancers into politically attractive public issues that appealed to federal policymakers. Through the use of embedded collective case study and content analysis of newspaper coverage and congressional data, this dissertation demonstrates how the social constructions of these illnesses impacted the way that breast and prostate cancers were treated as they moved through the policy process. The way in which social construction influenced the types of policies that were adopted to deal with these illnesses is also examined. Because social construction is a multidimensional and dynamic process, several different elements of this process were examined in this dissertation: the ways that policy actors attracted attention to these illnesses, how gender influenced advocacy efforts, the symbolic aspects of these illnesses, and the way the illnesses were defined on systemic and institutional agendas. Since this dissertation examines two different policy issues, the similarities and differences in breast and prostate cancer policymaking were analyzed. I found that discussing breast and prostate cancers in relation to their social constructions provides support for the importance of symbolism and non-rational policy-making processes.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927310
Subject Headings: Breast, Cancer, Patients, Services for, Prostate, Cancer, Patients, Services for, Health services accessibility, Government policy, Medical policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The influence of the global economic crisis on the relationship between governance and economic growth.
Creator: Albassam, Bassam A., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The current economic crisis has affected all aspects of life, which has resulted in political instability, personal financial troubles, and a growing number of business bankruptcies. While these are serious issues, simply developoing a government policy that injects an economy with money is not an appropriate means to achieve economic recovery and long-term economic development unless combined with an effective and efficient governing system. The present research studies whether the strong...
Show moreThe current economic crisis has affected all aspects of life, which has resulted in political instability, personal financial troubles, and a growing number of business bankruptcies. While these are serious issues, simply developoing a government policy that injects an economy with money is not an appropriate means to achieve economic recovery and long-term economic development unless combined with an effective and efficient governing system. The present research studies whether the strong relationship between governance and growth exists during economic crises or only during non-crisis periods. The results of the current research show that the global economic crisis has had an influence on the relationship between governance and economic growth. In addition, this study found that different levels of development affect the relationship between governance and growth differently during times of crisis. Consequently, the results of the current research show the instability in the relationship between governance and economic growth during the economic crisis ; this unsteadiness is a sign of the need for long-term strategies to promote global and national good governance practices that are not adversely affected by crises.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360745
Subject Headings: Globalization, Economic aspects, Financial crises, History, Sustainable development, Government policy, Industrial organization (Economic theory)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An evaluation of the impact of local government institutions on business resilience in disaster.
Creator: Atkinson, Christopher L., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation explores how local government policies affect pre-and postdisaster business resilience, in the context of institutional and neo-institutional frameworks. The study builds on past research on business vulnerability and resilience to examine government policies in the pre-disaster and response and recovery periods, and explore how government responses of varying types can contribute to different outcomes for local small businesses in the recovery period following hurricane...
Show moreThis dissertation explores how local government policies affect pre-and postdisaster business resilience, in the context of institutional and neo-institutional frameworks. The study builds on past research on business vulnerability and resilience to examine government policies in the pre-disaster and response and recovery periods, and explore how government responses of varying types can contribute to different outcomes for local small businesses in the recovery period following hurricane disasters. The project examines two cases surrounding events in 2005 and their impact on business resilience: Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the New Orleans metropolitan area; and Palm Beach County's experience with Hurricane Wilma. The dissertation involves a mixed-method approach to the subject matter. The statistical analysis portion uses multiple regression analysis of surveys of government-registered business owners in the affected areas. Business resilience is examined in light of the p redictive power of the size of the disaster; the influence of the institutional policies in public procurement, and vii economic development through small business programs; the role of institutional culture; and finally business vulnerability. The interview portion involves interviews with public officials, and coding and analysis of the field texts of these discussions, for additional information about the role that institutions play in the resilience of businesses before and after disaster. The statistical results suggest that institutional culture; size of disaster, institutional policies (particularly in procurement practices), and vulnerability can play a role in determining the resilience of a local business community., The statistical analysis is supported by interview data, which suggest that public institutions can create a culture of resilience in the business communities they serve, through support of proactive measures that make businesses less vulnerable, and creation and maintenance of supportive networks in the business community through public-private channels. Such approaches, combined with forward-thinking policy toward economic development as a general imperative, can create business communities that are more resilient in the face of disaster.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3174502
Subject Headings: Business cycles, Emergency management, Government policy, Small business, Planning, Disaster relief, Government policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A comparative study of the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job among Saudi and American universities' faculty members.
Creator: Alzahrani, Mohammed., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This study used Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form C to examine the preference for conflict management styles among Saudi and American faculty members. Additionally, the study examined the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. A random sample that consisted of (N = 300) faculty members was drawn evenly from Al-Baha University (BU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Multivariate...
Show moreThis study used Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form C to examine the preference for conflict management styles among Saudi and American faculty members. Additionally, the study examined the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. A random sample that consisted of (N = 300) faculty members was drawn evenly from Al-Baha University (BU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine whether or not there are differences between American and Saudi faculty members in their conflict management styles. Nationality was used as the factor, and the five conflict management styles (Integrating, Obliging, Dominating, Avoiding, and Compromising) were entered as dependent variables. The level of significance was 0.05. Additionally, Pearson's correlation was used to determine if a statistically significant relationship exists between the five conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in conflict management styles between Saudi and American faculty members. Furthermore there were no significant correlations between any of the conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. Results were discussed in light of literature review. Practical implications, limitations of the study, and recommendations were provided.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362326
Subject Headings: Conflict management, Interpersonal communication, Job satisfaction, Personnel management, Labor turnover
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Public asset management: empirical evidence from the state governments in the United States.
Creator: Lu, Yaotai, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Public asset management is a critical component of the financial integrity of government. However, in practice, problems exist in the field of public asset management at different levels of government in the United States. This research explores the management of public fixed assets owned, controlled and used by state governments in America. It attempts to answer two major questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a modern public asset management system based on the available literature?...
Show morePublic asset management is a critical component of the financial integrity of government. However, in practice, problems exist in the field of public asset management at different levels of government in the United States. This research explores the management of public fixed assets owned, controlled and used by state governments in America. It attempts to answer two major questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a modern public asset management system based on the available literature? and (2) How do public asset management practices at the U.S. state government compare to the system standard described in the first question? Based on systems theory and current research on public asset management and public procurement systems, this research develops an intellectual framework of a public fixed asset management system. This system is composed of six interdependent cornerstones, including legal and regulatory requirements, organization structure, management process throughout th e life cycle of assets, human capital strategies, information and technology resources, and monitoring, integrity, and transparency. Each cornerstone consists of a number of components that reveal the underlying working principles of the relevant cornerstone and together determine the standards of fixed asset management in the relevant area. Survey results demonstrate that state governments fundamentally satisfy the standards identified in the fixed asset management system. However, certain problems obviously exist in the area of each cornerstone. In addition, survey results reveal that the six cornerstones of fixed asset management system are interrelated with one another. In most states, when a management element in the area of one cornerstone is widely implemented, the relevant management elements in areas of other cornerstones are employed and vice versa., A major contribution of this research is the development of a fixed asset management system. State and federal governments may compare their fixed asset management to the standards identified in this system. Local governments may find appropriate management components to adapt to their characteristics from this system.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3171677
Subject Headings: Finance, Public, Infrastructure (Economics), Finance, Organizational behavior, Government policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: How do home and community based services change long-term care?.
Creator: Perez, Enrique M., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The relationship between Public Administration and the people is one that requires legitimacy and compromise in order to solve complex problems. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families during the last fifty years have put forth an agenda that calls for the advancement of rights for the disabled and more integration into the larger society. In this arena, government, with post civil rights legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act ...
Show moreThe relationship between Public Administration and the people is one that requires legitimacy and compromise in order to solve complex problems. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families during the last fifty years have put forth an agenda that calls for the advancement of rights for the disabled and more integration into the larger society. In this arena, government, with post civil rights legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), plays a huge role in promoting social awareness and bringing down barriers of stigmatization, understanding, and access. This struggle is fought on many fronts. A significant part of the effort focuses on moving the locus of long-term care of the disabled, including the IDD population, from an institutional setting to the least restrictive setting that will foster social ties and integration. Since the early 1980s as part of this effort to deinstitutionalize the disabled, legislation at both the federal and state level has supported and incentivized the creation of Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) programs. HCBS waivers, as they are typically called, are also promoted as a means of containing government expenditures for long-term care. However, the effectiveness of these waivers is poorly understood. The critical questions being - Do HCBS waivers promote and create an environment that increases awareness of the needs of IDD individuals? Do the programs help reduce stigmatization, promote understanding, and increase access to services and activities that foster social interaction? Or, do HCBS waivers create a new "iron cage" where the intellectually or developmentally disabled are once again relegated to existing as second class citizens? In this research, programs are mapped and then evaluated to paint a better picture of how HCBS waivers change long-term care., This research combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to triangulate on these phenoamea as a means to investigate when and how HCBS waiver programs facilitate, promote, or stifle the social integration of those with IDD. How does social integration manifest itself in the quality long-term care of those who often cannot take care of themselves?
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318667
Subject Headings: Long-term care of the sick, Medical care, Quality control, Sociology of disabiltiy, Heath care rationing, Outcome assessment (Medical care), Community health services
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Mimetic, coercive, and normative influences in institutionalization of organizational practices: the case of distance learning in higher education.
Creator: Caravella, Kristi D., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: In this study, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) institutional model of isomorphic change is hypothesized to explain the changes witnessed in educational organizations with regard to the acceptance, implementation and institutionalization of distance learning. In order to show the power of institutional theory in explaining organizational change over time, a comparative qualitative case study methodology is utilized. Document analysis and interviews are used to explore the utility of this...
Show moreIn this study, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) institutional model of isomorphic change is hypothesized to explain the changes witnessed in educational organizations with regard to the acceptance, implementation and institutionalization of distance learning. In order to show the power of institutional theory in explaining organizational change over time, a comparative qualitative case study methodology is utilized. Document analysis and interviews are used to explore the utility of this isomorphic change model. Each research question seeks to explore different influences of institutional isomorphism, coercive, normative, and mimetic. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) suggest organizations converge on similar practices and behaviors and appear similar to like organizations over time. The appearance of change toward homogeneity is explored through the isomorphic change theory which indentifies three forces, coercive, normative and mimetic, influential in determining how adopted behaviors and pr actices become isomorphically accepted by the organizational field. Coercive isomorphism stems from political influence and organizational legitimacy, often conveyed through laws, regulations, and accreditation processes (or outside agency requirements); normative isomorphism is associated with professional values; and mimetic isomorphism is copying or mimicking behaviors that is a result of organizational response to uncertainty. By examining the organizational field for the presence of these forces and measuring the extent of these forces at various points in time one is able to explain convergence on regularized practices and institutionalized behaviors, or how an organizational field becomes institutionalized, around a particular idea or practice., The coercive, mimetic, and normative forces present in the field dictate institutionalization and theoretically produce an environment that induces organizational conformity, or homogeneity, through pressure to appear legitimate, competition, mandates associated with funding, and influential professional group and network values.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3169915
Subject Headings: Distance education, Influence of technological innovations on, Education, Political aspects, Organizational behavior, Diffusion of innovations
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Sisyphusian predicament: existentialism and a grounded theory analysis of the experience and practice of public administration.
Creator: Hollar, T. Lucas., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Public administration addresses issues that competing and aligning groups determine to be meaningful enough to address. However, there seems to be no shared universally objective ways of remedying anything. Everything is up for argument. Additionally, attempting to solve one set of problems often creates other connected problems and/or unintended consequences. So, public work ever [sic] never ends. This dissertation's purpose was to contribute a new theoretical understanding of the experience...
Show morePublic administration addresses issues that competing and aligning groups determine to be meaningful enough to address. However, there seems to be no shared universally objective ways of remedying anything. Everything is up for argument. Additionally, attempting to solve one set of problems often creates other connected problems and/or unintended consequences. So, public work ever [sic] never ends. This dissertation's purpose was to contribute a new theoretical understanding of the experience and practice of public administration. Its research addressed if and how a grounded existential theoretical framework could emerge that would help practitioners and scholars understand and describe public administrative efforts and experiences. Currently, there is no existential theory of public administration. This dissertation sought to initiate work in that direction. This dissertation employed a grounded theory methodology to collect information from Senior Executive Service (SES) members, to analyze the information for emerging concepts and theoretical relevance through constant comparison, and to discover/construct a theoretical framework for understanding public administrative efforts and experiences. "The grounded theory approach is a general methodology of analysis linked with data collection that uses a systematically applied set of methods to generate an inductive theory about a substantive area" (Glaser, 1992, p. 16)., This dissertation identified the emergence of three categories/themes that organized what the SES members were saying, doing, and perceiving. These categories include "the environment," "the work," and "the individual." The core category/theme, "the Sisyphusian predicament," theoretically unifies these categories/themes through a metaphorical application of existential concepts. It describes the issues administrators experience (never-endingness, boundedness, and finitude in the face of infinitude (managing the scope and scale of one's intentions; generating and authoring relevance, significance, and meaning; and the choice for metaphysical revolt/ microemancipation). There are scholarly and practicable applications of this framework. This dissertation contributes exploratory work towards developing a new theoretical alternative within public administration. It provides an alternative approach for viewing and understanding organizational processes within public organizations. Additionally, an existential approach facilitates a plurality of competing schools of thought wherein administrators can select approaches to decision making and acting on the basis of context and utility.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165673
Subject Headings: Public administration, Philosophy, Public administration, Moral and ethical aspects, Administrative agencies, Management, Policy sciences, Public administration, Research, Methodology
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Space, place, and identity in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World.
Creator: Mandell, Megan., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Intimate spaces play a key role in the development of human identity, constructing identity through an internalized experience of the house itself. Building on Bachelard's theories in The Poetics of Space, I argue that characters in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World gain a new awareness of self after experiencing nature as a substitute for the house. The emergence of a new identity occurs because nature offers protection from the forces that inhibit both D-503 and...
Show moreIntimate spaces play a key role in the development of human identity, constructing identity through an internalized experience of the house itself. Building on Bachelard's theories in The Poetics of Space, I argue that characters in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We and J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World gain a new awareness of self after experiencing nature as a substitute for the house. The emergence of a new identity occurs because nature offers protection from the forces that inhibit both D-503 and Keran's individual growth ; it offers the safety of the house that neither character is allowed in a private home : D-503 because of the panoptic space of the One state and Kerans due to the nature of the changing circumstances of the environment and his own biology that force him to accept his role as a "new" human and the jungle as "home".
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362559
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Gender identity in literature, Nature in literature, Dystopias, Totalitarianism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BASIC SKILLS ATTAINMENT OF SIXTH GRADE PUPILS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN VOLUSIA COUNTY.
Creator: TRAVIS, DONALD O'NEIL, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: At the time of this study the private schools in Volusia County were enjoying much publicity portraying them as institutions that provided a "better" quality of education for their students. A review of the literature revealed this view to be shared by many evaluators of current education programs. The findings of these evaluators were based on varying methodologies of obtaining data. In most cases, the public school students and the private school students were compared in unmatched groups....
Show moreAt the time of this study the private schools in Volusia County were enjoying much publicity portraying them as institutions that provided a "better" quality of education for their students. A review of the literature revealed this view to be shared by many evaluators of current education programs. The findings of these evaluators were based on varying methodologies of obtaining data. In most cases, the public school students and the private school students were compared in unmatched groups. This study takes issue with the methodology used in those previous studies. The number of intervening variables allowed to interact makes the results suspect. In the present study, public and private school students were matched on five variables: sex, ethnic background, socioeconomic level, geographical location, and IQ. This decreased the number of intervening variables allowed to interact between the groups. The sixth grade students of seven private schools in Volusia County participated in the study. For each of the 187 private school students, a public school sixth grade student of the same sex, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, geographical region, and IQ was chosen. These students were given the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills in Mathematics, Language and Reading. Comparison of scores between groups showed that the public school sample scored significantly higher on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills than the private school students. The public school students had a mean standard score of 535 compared to a mean of 500 for private school students. Converted to grade equivalents, the scores of public school students yielded a mean placement of eighth grade, seventh month versus seventh grade, seventh month for private school students. This reflected an achievement level one year greater for the public school student than the private school student. When these results were submitted to careful statistical controls, it was found the assumption of homogeneity of variance was not violated.
Show less
Date Issued: 1981
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11791
Subject Headings: Private schools--Florida--Volusia County--Evaluation, Public schools--Florida--Volusia County--Evaluation, Sixth grade (Education)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The frames and ideographs of water reuse policy discourses: an application of narrative analysis and text analytics.
Creator: Stevens, Jeff M., Miller, Hugh T., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation examines environmental policymaking as more of a symboldriven ideological contest over meaning than a rationally discursive democratic process through two interpretive modes of research: historical narrative analysis and text analytic frame mapping. Both are applied to the case example of the city of San Diego’s controversial policy innovation of indirect potable reuse via reservoir augmentation, or “toilet-to-tap,” as it became known through local news media. The...
Show moreThis dissertation examines environmental policymaking as more of a symboldriven ideological contest over meaning than a rationally discursive democratic process through two interpretive modes of research: historical narrative analysis and text analytic frame mapping. Both are applied to the case example of the city of San Diego’s controversial policy innovation of indirect potable reuse via reservoir augmentation, or “toilet-to-tap,” as it became known through local news media. The dissertation develops its theoretical foundation from the literature pertaining to political communication in public policy, including the role of signs and symbols, media theory, frames and framing, and agenda setting. Electronic documents are used as data.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004257
Format: Document (PDF)

FAU Theses and Dissertations (62)	+ -
Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Analysis (7)	+ -
FAU College Collections (2)	+ -

Public administration (8)	+ -
Government policy (5)	+ -
Organizational behavior (3)	+ -
Bureaucracy (2)	+ -
Contracting out (2)	+ -

Decision making (2)	+ -
Finance, Public (2)	+ -
Job satisfaction (2)	+ -
Labor turnover (2)	+ -
Management (2)	+ -
Methodology (2)	+ -
Moral and ethical aspects (2)	+ -
Organizational effectiveness (2)	+ -
Patients (2)	+ -
Public administration--Moral and ethical aspects. (2)	+ -
Public private sector cooperation (2)	+ -
Services for (2)	+ -
Transformational leadership (2)	+ -
AIDS (Disease) (1)	+ -
Actor network theory (1)	+ -
Addiction (1)	+ -
Administrative agencies (1)	+ -
Administrative discretion. (1)	+ -
Administrative procedure. (1)	+ -
Administrative responsibility (1)	+ -
Adult education (1)	+ -
Adult education dropouts (1)	+ -
Applied ethics. (1)	+ -
Breast (1)	+ -
Budget (1)	+ -

United States (8)	+ -
Florida (1)	+ -
States (1)	+ -

2001- (1)	+ -
21st century (1)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Collection

Topical Subject

Geographic Subject

Temporal Subject

Title as Subject

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner