Matching Items (448)
Description
The purpose of this study is to raise questions by exploring, writing, imagining, and telling the musical life stories of Billy Cioffi. Billy Cioffi is a professional musician, band leader, private teacher, professor of English, and, formerly, a musical director for acts such as Chuck Berry, Del Shannon, and others. In this document I explore the life of Billy Cioffi with the following questions in mind: 1. What might Billy's musical experiences, expertise, teaching, and learning teach us about music education? 2. What might the story of Billy’s musical life cause us to question about institutional music education? 3. How might his story trouble beliefs and perceptions about music teaching and learning? Prior to Billy’s story, which appears as a novella, I raise questions about popular music, its histories, and its place in music education contexts. Following the novella, I invite readers into four different “endings” to this document.
ContributorsBickmore, Isaac (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Mantie, Roger (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Thompson, Jason (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Engagement as a concept and emerging theory has been explored, but key elements have not been clearly described, and as such, work has not been comprehensive in nature. Research was needed to explore the concept and theory of engagement in general, as well its application to the study of volunteer tourism. Additional research was also needed to incorporate youth perspectives of a volunteer tourism program, along with exploration of engagement impacts on program youth. The purpose of this case study was to explore participant engagement in a volunteer tourism youth education program and impacts on program youth as perceived by program participants (volunteer tourist teachers, adult residents, and program youth). Confined within the Engagement Theoretical Framework, data were retrieved from nonprofit documents and websites, researcher observations, individual interviews, and focus groups (two focus groups used participant generated photo elicitation method).
Findings suggest participant engagement in a volunteer tourism program is related to the themes of connection, communication, and hope. The primary reason participant engagement in this program is due to the Mpingo (tree), the symbolic bridge between community members and volunteer tourist teachers. This culturally relevant symbol has linkages to the study of signs (or symbols) called semiotics. Through volunteers traveling to this area to teach, this culturally relevant symbol helps to connect, aids in the communication between, and gives hope to, participants. Significant contributions of this study to literature include: volunteer tourist and community member engagement plays an important role in the planning, and the sustaining, of volunteer tourism community development programs today; program youth perspectives about program impacts may result in prospective youth leadership and future adult civic engagement; program skill matched volunteers are likely to be repeat volunteers which leads to group cohesion and program sustainability; and the major theme of hope appears to be a significant motive for program participation in a community development project. In terms of deep meaning ascribed to culturally relevant symbols, this unique finding contributes to engagement research by understanding there are multiple dimensions involved in a diverse group of participants engaged in a specific community program.
Findings suggest participant engagement in a volunteer tourism program is related to the themes of connection, communication, and hope. The primary reason participant engagement in this program is due to the Mpingo (tree), the symbolic bridge between community members and volunteer tourist teachers. This culturally relevant symbol has linkages to the study of signs (or symbols) called semiotics. Through volunteers traveling to this area to teach, this culturally relevant symbol helps to connect, aids in the communication between, and gives hope to, participants. Significant contributions of this study to literature include: volunteer tourist and community member engagement plays an important role in the planning, and the sustaining, of volunteer tourism community development programs today; program youth perspectives about program impacts may result in prospective youth leadership and future adult civic engagement; program skill matched volunteers are likely to be repeat volunteers which leads to group cohesion and program sustainability; and the major theme of hope appears to be a significant motive for program participation in a community development project. In terms of deep meaning ascribed to culturally relevant symbols, this unique finding contributes to engagement research by understanding there are multiple dimensions involved in a diverse group of participants engaged in a specific community program.
ContributorsOlsen, Lana Margaret (Author) / Andereck, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Buzinde, Christine (Committee member) / Vogt, Christine (Committee member) / Mantie, Roger (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The purpose of this study was to trouble existing conceptions of disability that ground music education literature and practice. I sought plausible insights into how disability is experienced in, through, and/or around music by participants who are disabled persons/persons with disabilities (DP/PwD). Insights gained might allow readers to complexify and trouble taken-for-granted assumptions about disability. Questions included: (a) How do participants experience disability in, through, and around music? (b) What plausible insights related to disability can be gained by attending to participants’ experiences of disability in, through, and around music? (c) What plausible insights related to inclusion can be gained by attending to participants’ experiences of disability in, through, and around music? The inquiry approach was grounded in Buberian relational ontology, phenomenology, interactional theories of disability, and narrative.
Seven DP/PwD participated in this study: (a) Erica, a 14-year-old diagnosed with a developmental disability of unknown etiology; (b) Duke, a drummer diagnosed with Williams syndrome; (c) Birdie, an abstract visual artist with epilepsy who used music to inform her art; (d) Daren, a b-boy/breakdancer diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, (e) Sienna, a legally blind social work college student who played banjo in a music therapy-based bluegrass band and participated in musical theatre; (f) Ice Queen, an undergraduate flute player recently diagnosed with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and (g) Culann, an adult counselor and music listener with ADHD and mood disorders. Data generation included conversational interviews, observations, artmaking, and serendipitous data.
Data co-generated with participants were crafted into narratives of their lifeworlds, including description of their experiences with disability in, through, and around music and in other aspects of their lives. An envisioned conversation among all participants demonstrates the shifts and complexities in the meanings of disability and unpacks different ways participants describe and understand disability and the myriad roles that music plays in their lifeworlds. The final chapter of the study offers discussions and suggestions regarding thinking about and approaching disability (i.e., interactional theories, intersectionality, and identity), inclusion (i.e., belonging, suggestions by participants, and anti-ableist pedagogy), and research/writing.
Seven DP/PwD participated in this study: (a) Erica, a 14-year-old diagnosed with a developmental disability of unknown etiology; (b) Duke, a drummer diagnosed with Williams syndrome; (c) Birdie, an abstract visual artist with epilepsy who used music to inform her art; (d) Daren, a b-boy/breakdancer diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, (e) Sienna, a legally blind social work college student who played banjo in a music therapy-based bluegrass band and participated in musical theatre; (f) Ice Queen, an undergraduate flute player recently diagnosed with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and (g) Culann, an adult counselor and music listener with ADHD and mood disorders. Data generation included conversational interviews, observations, artmaking, and serendipitous data.
Data co-generated with participants were crafted into narratives of their lifeworlds, including description of their experiences with disability in, through, and around music and in other aspects of their lives. An envisioned conversation among all participants demonstrates the shifts and complexities in the meanings of disability and unpacks different ways participants describe and understand disability and the myriad roles that music plays in their lifeworlds. The final chapter of the study offers discussions and suggestions regarding thinking about and approaching disability (i.e., interactional theories, intersectionality, and identity), inclusion (i.e., belonging, suggestions by participants, and anti-ableist pedagogy), and research/writing.
ContributorsRathgeber, Jesse (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra L (Thesis advisor) / Mantie, Roger (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The purpose of this paper is to understand how companies are finding high potential employees and if they are leaving top talent behind in their approach. Eugene Burke stated in 2014 that 55% of employees that are labeled as a High Potential Employee will turn over and move companies. Burke (2014) also states that the average high potential employee tenure is five years. The Corporate Leadership Council says that on average, 27% of a company's development budget is spent on its high potential program (CEB 2017). For a midsize company, the high potential development budget is almost a million dollars for only a handful of employees, only to see half of the investment walking out the door to another company . Furthermore, the Corporate Leadership Council said that a study done in 2005 revealed that 50% of high potential employees had significant problems within their job (Kotlyar and Karkowsky 2014). Are time and resources are being given to the wrong employees and the right employees are being overlooked? This paper exams how companies traditionally select high potential employees and where companies are potentially omitting employees who would be better suited for the program. This paper proposes that how a company discovers their top talent will correlate to the number of turnovers or struggles that a high potential employee has on their job. Future research direction and practical considerations are also presented in this paper.
ContributorsHarrison, Carrie (Author) / Mizzi, Philip (Thesis director) / Ruediger, Stefan (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In which industry that has ever been profit generating, does a firm profit from their failure? The United States has a mass incarceration problem. With 25% of the world prison population residing in the US, spending on detention costs the US government $80 billion annually. Over 50% of the individuals incarcerated in America are of black or Latino descent. This massive growth in the incarcerated population of America began in the 1970s and with the passive support of American citizens has created an industry whose players profit from the detention of people. Currently, the privately run detention facilities in the United States hold 7% of state prisoners, 18% of federal prisoners, and nearly 75% of ICE's undocumented detainee population. The detention of people for profit is an idea rooted in the same profit motive that allowed the institution of slavery to flourish. However even after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the U.S., the oppressive forces behind slave-era economics have been perpetuated through legislation and policies that continued the stratification of society and reinforcement of the social order. With the help of corporate lobbyists, political action committees, and organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, the corporate shareholders of private prisons, such as CoreCivic and The GEO Group, are able to directly align their profit-driven interests with those of federal and state legislators. By the incorporation of legislation and policy into state and federal law, the shareholders of private prisons are able to directly affect legislation as well as their own potential for profit. The justification for the usage of private prisons is thought to be seen in the price savings and flexibility that it provides for federal and state governments. However, due to the law enforcement contractor's exemption from public record laws, there is no clear evidence of where the cost savings occur, or even if there are cost savings at all. Is it ethical for a for-profit-prison corporation to be responsible for the care, security, and rehabilitation of an individual, when if they fail to rehabilitate the individual, it will add to the number of inmates under their control? The measure of a prison's failure to rehabilitate an inmate is considered the recidivism rate, and is affected when an inmate leaves a detention facility, commits another crime, then is arrested. This profit motive is causing our society to incarcerate increasing numbers of people in private prisons. For-profit prisons financially benefit from long-term incarceration and recidivism. The passive investments from public and private employees and institutions through investment corporations are the legs that allow the private prison industry to stand. Twenty-nine investment firms, such as The Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments, own nearly two-thirds of the two largest players in the private prison industry. This includes the passive investments by public institutions such as the Arizona State University Foundation's $600 million endowment fund as well as the $500 million directly invested into CoreCivic and GEO Group from the University of Texas/ Texas A&M Investment Management Company. The goal of abolishing private prisons will require years of litigation against the giants of the industry as well as the governmental entities supporting them. However, we can start today by demanding divestiture by our school and similar institutions as well continuing to share the knowledge of the oppressive forces associated with the detention of individuals for profit.
ContributorsBayham, Michael (Author) / Gomez, Alan (Thesis director) / Dacey, John (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to explore how Blockchain technology can help solve problems large corporations commonly face. For example, it is a common problem for large businesses and organizations to manage sales contracts with thousands of items on them. Likewise, it can be difficult to accurately monitor complex payment histories with thousands of items on them. Another issue is the difficulty that is introduced when making periodic reconciliations based on separate recording systems. At a broader level, some organizations may hesitate to do business with new strange companies or oversea companies for the first time because they do not trust that the other organization can deliver what they promise. Such problems cost organizations a lot of money, effort, and time to solve. However, Blockchain technology, first developed in 2009, could revolutionize how the business community deals with these common problems. The shared and immutable ledger on Blockchain can help organizations to keep track on transactions, manage the contracts in a smarter way, ensure correct purchase history records, eliminate the periodically reconciliation processes, and provide visibility for real-time transactions.
ContributorsHuynh, Phu Thanh (Author) / Popova, Laura (Thesis director) / Pankaj, Sneha (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
As climate change and air pollution continue to plague the world today, committed citizens are doing their part to minimize their environmental impact. However, financial limitations have hindered a majority of individuals from adopting clean, renewable energy such as rooftop photovoltaic solar systems. England Sustainability Consulting plans to reverse this limitation and increase affordability for residents across Northern California to install solar panel systems for their energy needs. The purpose of this proposal is to showcase a new approach to procuring solar panel system components while offering the same products needed by each customer. We will examine market data to further prove the feasibility of this business approach while remaining profitable and spread our company's vision across all of Northern California.
ContributorsEngland, Kaysey (Author) / Dooley, Kevin (Thesis director) / Keahey, Jennifer (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the Big Four Sporting Leagues of US Professional Sports. In recent years, the NBA has enjoyed milestone seasons in both attendance and television ratings, resulting in steady increases to both, over the previous decade. (Morgan, 2017) This surge can be attributed in part to the integration of "cultural recognition" initiatives and the overall message of inclusivity on the part of NBA franchises, with their respective promotions and advertisements such as television, social media, radio, etc. Heritage Nights, such as "Noche Latina," among other variants in the NBA, typically feature culturally influenced changes to team logos, giveaways, and other consumer offerings. In markets where Hispanics make up a significant percentage of the fan-base, such as Phoenix, NBA franchises such as the Phoenix Suns must ascertain the financial or perceptual impacts, associated with risks of stereotyping, offending or otherwise unintentionally alienating different categories of fans. To this end, data was collected from the local NBA franchises' fanbase, specifically Phoenix Suns season-ticket holders, and was statistically checked for significant relationships between both categories of fans and several different variables. This analysis found that only $192K in revenue is being missed through the investment of Heritage Nights, and that fan perceptions of stereotypical or offensive giveaways and practices have no significant effect on game or event attendance, despite the stereotypes toward giveaways and practices still being present. Implications of this study provide possible next steps for the Suns and continue to widen the scope of demographical sports marketing both in professional basketball and beyond.
ContributorsGibbens, Patrick Alexander (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / McIntosh, Daniel (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Sagebrush Coffee is a small business in Chandler, Arizona that purchases green beans, roasts them in small batches for quality, and ships fresh, gourmet roasted coffee beans across the nation. Deciding which coffee beans to buy and roast is one of the most crucial business decisions Sagebrush and other gourmet coffee roasters face. Further complicating this decision is the fact that coffee is a crop, and like all crops, has a specific growing season and the exact same product cannot usually be ordered from year to year, even if it proves to be successful. The goal of this research is to use data analytics and visualization to help Sagebrush make better purchasing decisions by identifying consumer purchasing trends and providing a recommendation for their portfolio mix. In the end, I found that Latin American coffees are popular with both returning and first-time customers, but a specific country of origin does not appear to be associated with the top coffee producing countries. Additionally, December is a critical month for Sagebrush and Sagebrush should make sure to target the states with the most sales: California, Pennsylvania, and New York. Arizona has growth potential as it is not one of the top three locations, despite the presence of a physical store. Also included in the following report is a portfolio recommendation suggesting how many of each product based on region, processing type, and roast level to carry in inventory.
ContributorsBlue, Jessica Morgan (Author) / Kellso, James (Thesis director) / Davila, Eddie (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Morrison School of Agribusiness (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Throughout my experience in college, I learned many different techniques to communicate effectively. Most professors emphasized the importance of speaking clearly, and the ability to influence others. Dr. Kashiwagi piqued my interest when he explained his thoughts on how he wanted us to communicate to him. The criteria were simple, speak to him in a way that he could easily understand, without having to think. If thinking took place for him in the conversation, he determined that the person spoke too complexly and that his understanding of the student was low. After hearing this in class, I thought back to past conversations with my managers. I then wondered if I explained things clearer or simplified my wording, would things have gone better? I was also curious about simplicity in communication through writing, and how different presentations of information affected understanding. To further analyze these issues, I explored multiple research reports on verbal communication. Furthermore, I set up an experiment to test two common types of visual communication. The research concludes that Dr. Kashiwagi's theory was indeed correct, simplicity in conversation reduces miscommunication. The effectiveness of simplicity in written communication was partially proven by the survey results. The results indicated that the time required to fully understand a given topic dropped significantly if the information was depicted in a simplified format (list format). The more complex paragraph (textbook format) did have a higher level of understanding. However, the participants rated the textbook format job objectives as more complex, and stressful. After gathering the research, and running the experiment it can be concluded that by simplifying verbal communication, there are negligible differences in understanding of the topic, but the time of understanding decreases significantly.
ContributorsWilliams, Matthew Scott (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Thesis director) / Abraham, Seth (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12