IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Sandwina, Ronald M."

Browsing by Author "Sandwina, Ronald M."

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Big Trouble for the Big Three: An Audience Perspective of the Appropriateness and Effectiveness of the Big Three Automakers’ Image Repair Strategies
(2010-07-19T14:48:46Z) Anderson, Lindsey B.; Sandwina, Ronald M.; Sheeler, Kristina Horn; Parrish-Sprowl, John
The importance of image management has created the need to for organizations to continually work in order to improve their image or defend it against perceived threats. Since organizations engage in a constant struggle to preserve their reputation, it is important to understand the persuasive discourse associated with image repair strategies. In addition, a successful rhetor must also acknowledge the importance of perception of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the apologetic discourse from the perspective of an audience. Focus groups were conducted and analyzed in order to better understand the perceived appropriateness and effectiveness of the image repair strategies employed by the Big Three Automakers as perceived by the audience. The findings of this study complement the original findings of Benoit and Drew’s quantitative study assessing the appropriateness and effectiveness of image repair strategies in an interpersonal setting. However, there were observable differences between the studies in terms of the perception of both the appropriateness and effectiveness of bolstering and the effectiveness of differentiation. The implications of these differences can be important in developing a better understanding of the utilization of image repair strategies in the apologetic discourse of organizations. Specifically, the results demonstrate how the audience determines the appropriateness and effectiveness of the strategies and how rhetors are able to successfully use different strategies based in context.
Black Women and Contemporary Media: The Struggle to Self-Define Black Womanhood
(2010-02-26T18:47:24Z) Mayo, Tilicia L.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sandwina, Ronald M.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Sheeler, Kristina H.
This thesis sought to understand the messages Black women receive from contemporary images and how these messages may be used to help them develop a sense of womanhood. The framework for the analysis used in this research lies within the feminist standpoint theory and Black feminist thought. The interviews conducted for this research helped to reveal that young Black women recognize patterns within the images of Black women in contemporary media. The images help them to understand the treatment of Black women and about the Black women they want to be.
Building communities through communication: Understanding community development success and failure using a narrative approach
(2012-03-19) Bell, Anne Elizabeth; Dobris, Catherine A.; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
This study uses narrative analysis to investigate public communication efforts of community development groups to provide a richer understanding of the indicators of group success or failure in this context. The subjects are participants of the Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness program, an initiative that seeks to develop local economic capacity to move rural communities beyond outdated economic models and generate more innovative, sustainable community development. Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness emphasizes four points: entrepreneurship, leadership, youth engagement, and local wealth or philanthropic giving. The impetus for this study is the pilot program’s need for a better understanding of the manner in which participating groups might generate engagement from external community members. To better understand the groups’ success or failure regarding public communication efforts, instances of seven pre-determined themes derived from narratives provided by group members are investigated. The themes, identified by existing research, include group relationships, group structure, group process, member attributes, external forces, group communication, and member emotions. This study uses a blend of quantitative and qualitative analysis to give broad perspective to successful identification of effective tactics which groups may use to engage community members in economic initiatives by means of public communication. Though the study is exploratory in nature, the findings indicate that group communication, relationships, and group structure are likely predictors of a group’s success or failure. The findings of this study also offer a reflection of actions that were successful and also actions that were not successful to program participants, and documents results for future program participants to use. The results also expand upon the available research regarding community development using communication theory. Using a narrative approach also identifies directions of further study to address the multiple discourses created by groups that give insight into community and group communication.
Communication for behavioral impact: a COMBI plan for cancer prevention in Taiwan
(2014-12) Chao, Kang-I; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
The aims of this research were to evaluate the merit of a communication-based medical approach to cancer prevention in Taiwan and to give deeper understanding of whether physicians view this type of method as a possible solution to public health problems. It is also hoped that this research will be able to find out whether doctors support the use of COMBI for managing public health issues in Taiwan. The results show that Taiwanese physicians perceive communication-based approach and communication methods as a way for managing public health problems, and they also agree that COMBI can be used for cancer or other public health issues prevention. The World Health Organization has used COMBI to deal with public health issues and has made a huge impact in many countries, combating diseases such as dengue fever, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS with successful results. There is also a large body of research indicating that there is a strong relationship between eating fruits and vegetables and cancer prevention. In Taiwan, cancer has been both the top cause of death for 18 years and one of the top ten causes of death for 30 years. However, more than 80% of people in Taiwan still do not consume enough fruits and vegetables daily. Thus, this COMBI plan is hoped to help change these people’s eating habits for cancer prevention. The plan is also evaluated by doctors from Taiwan in terms of its pros and cons in this document, and suggestions for changes are made. These doctors view communication-based strategies like COMBI as a key component for managing public health problems, and they also believe that this COMBI plan will accomplish its goal of increasing people's fruit and vegetable intake for cancer prevention in Taiwan. Up till now, only minimal research has been conducted on the use of COMBI in Taiwan. Therefore, this investigation is hoped to initiate this research and provide a guideline for future COMBI-based actions taken in Taiwan.
Conflict management styles : a predictor of likability and perceived effectiveness among subordinates
(2008-08-13T18:25:49Z) Copley, Rachel D.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
As greater numbers of women throughout the past few decades have assumed managerial roles in organizations, the question of whether gender differences exist in the ability to manage effectively has become an important concern. According to Korabik, Baril, and Watson (1993), conflict management skills are a fundamental aspect of leadership effectiveness and “perceptions of how females handle crisis and conflict often are cited as blocks to the female manager’s ascent to the executive suite” (Shockley-Zalabak, 1981, p. 289). Additionally, the importance of likability of supervisors by their subordinates has become of greater importance in the past few years as researchers have discovered that more people leave their job because they do not like their supervisor than for any other reason (Agrusa, Spears, Agrusa, & Tanner, 2006; Joyce, 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in supervisor’s conflict management styles and to determine how they relate to both effectiveness and likability among their subordinates. Specifically, research was conducted to reveal a) what differences exist between conflict management styles chosen by women and men leaders, b) if a relationship exists between conflict management styles and likeability among subordinates, c) what influence conflict management styles have upon perceived effectiveness among subordinates, and d) what correlation exists between likability and perceived effectiveness.
Coping with organizational change: a multidimensional perspective
(2011-03-10) Bussell, Stephen L.; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Sandwina, Ronald M.
This paper introduces a unified model for organizational change that is designed to help change analysts think through the decision-making process. Most organizational leaders do not manage change effectively because they fail to acquire the minimum amount of information necessary to make a sound decision. In large part, this deficiency is a result of considering only a small part of the organization’s total change reality, which can be expressed in terms of the following four categories: 1) Environment creates change, 2) Organization responds to environmental change, 3) Organization initiates new changes, and 4) Organization changes environment. Through the principle of diagnostic communication, leaders can adjust to the incoming changes [categories 1 and 2]. Through the principle of rhetorical communication, they can create effective outgoing changes [categories 3 and 4]. Through the principle of dialogical communication, they can achieve a strategic balance between too much conformity, which results from diagnostic communication in isolation, and too much non-conformity, which results from communication in isolation. By understanding and communicating about change from this multi-dimensional perspective, organizational leaders, both designated and non-designated, can learn to appreciate the extent to which they influence and are influenced by the larger cultural environment of which they are a part.
Increasing communication effectiveness per personality types in an effort to enhance student retention
(2010-05-03T19:52:55Z) Barnett, Melissa G.; Goering, Elizabeth; Sandwina, Ronald M.; White-Mills, Kim
Student retention is a problem that continues to plaque higher education institutions whose ultimate goal is to graduate students. The reported national student retention average in 2006 was between 58 and 71.6 percent, depending on to which statistics you refer. The importance for the academic community is that “the loss of students returning to campus for another year usually results in greater financial loss and a lower graduation rate for the institution, and might also affect the way that stakeholders, legislators, parents, and students view the institution” (Lau, 2003). In order to combat low student retention rates, many have initiated a variety of programs and strategic measures to increase students’ likelihood to complete their education. These initiatives can be found in the form of committees designated to conduct research and subsequently implement programs, colleges hiring outside consultants to assist with retention strategies, and the implementation of “student success” courses into the existing curriculum. Additional measures at the campus level may include: retention merit initiatives, student satisfaction and instructor surveys, and re-entry campaigns to target withdrawn students. According to Tinto (2002), “Most institutions, in my view, have not taken student retention seriously. They have done little to change the way they organize their activities, done little to alter the student experience, and therefore done little to address the deeper roots of student attrition”. The author faults the institutions that attempt to combat the issue by simply adding a course that is “marginal to the academic life of the institution”. While he does not directly address using personality or learning styles as a tool to combat student attrition, he states that, “Institutions that are successful in building settings that educate their students, all students, not just some, are institutions that are successful in retaining their students”. This research will provide an in depth look at existing personality type and retention data, an examination of communication incidents as reported by both “graduates” and “withdrawn” students, and recommendations for implementing personality-based communication techniques in the classroom in an effort to enhance overall student satisfaction. Considering the explosive growth of web-based distance education courses and program offerings, additional considerations will be made to address the online learning environment and its unique communicative needs. It is my assertion that both student retention and overall satisfaction can be enhanced with knowledge of existing personality and learning types of both students and teachers and a modification of the communication processes to fit students’ varying styles and communicative needs. By conducting a very basic level of research on personality types, one can find an abundance of information, each assessment claiming to be more effective than the others. Several textbooks, websites, and employer profiling systems guide users to various paper or web based tests which solicit descriptors of one’s own behavior, characteristics, and tendencies. First published in 1962, one widely recognized psychometric questionnaire used frequently in career counseling is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Respondents are asked to answer 93 forced-choice questions based on their preference of two words or short statements. The results are given in the form of a four letter abbreviation, each letter representing one of their four type preferences based on four dichotomies. The four dichotomies are Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving. “The MBTI suggests general areas of life, or careers, in which persons are most apt to be interested, motivated, and successful” (Van, 1992, p. 20). As described by John (1990), “The five-factor model is a descriptive framework within which all the important individual differences in personality are subsumed under five global traits” (as quoted in Wolfe & Johnson, 1995, p. 178). The Five Factor Model identifies the “Big Five” personality traits of its respondents and presents them as percentile scores. Measures are comprised of either self-descriptive sentences or adjectives. The Big Five factors are as follows: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. “A personality taxonomy such as the “16-factor model developed by Cattell (1965), posits that there are 16 primary personality factors” (Lidy & Kahn, 2006, p. 124). Through extensive research on the subject, and self assessing with a variety of these tests, the model I have chosen to highlight here is the DiSC personality assessment. The tool measures personality types based on a word association that offers a number of descriptors and asks participants to select the one that is “most like” and “least like” them. The in-depth profile then provides a bar graph measure of each of the four dimensions and a “classical pattern” to the participants. The four dimensions of the assessment are as follows: D (Dominant), i (Influencer), S (Steadiness), C (Conscientiousness).
Japanese Boy-Love Manga and the Global Fandom: A Case Study of Chinese Female Readers
(2009-09-03T13:32:27Z) Li, Yannan; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
Boy-love (or BL) manga (comic book) is a subgenre of Japanese girl’s manga. It features the homoerotic relationships between beautiful young boys and is popular among young straight women. This thesis explores the transnational influence of BL manga on young women and examines how Chinese female readers perceive and interpret this cultural artifact. An online survey has been conducted to answer key questions including: Who consumes BL productions in Chinese-speaking communities, how is BL fandom formed and what are the patterns of such fandom. Outcomes indicate women enjoy the queer fantasy deriving from reading BL manga and such fantasy should not be stigmatized or pathologized.
A qualitative analysis of calorie menu labeling: Point of sale conversations with cashiers at fast-casual retsaurants
(2015-05) Bechtel, Kimberly; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
The study was conducted to examine the communication between the customer and the cashier at the point of purchase in the process of determining the impact of the labeling laws. This study used an inductive qualitative design for data collection and data analysis. Data from this study suggest that calorie counts on menu labels are discussed frequently between the customer and the cashier at the point of sale at fast-casual restaurants. The data found gives us a framework and rationale as to why previous research on the effectiveness of the calorie labeling law in the Affordable Care Act have yet to make a significant impact in reducing consumer’s total daily caloric intake when eating food away from the home and found three specific reasons as to why the calorie labeling law may not be working the way the government intended it to. First, consumers at fast-casual restaurants rely on the cashiers as calorie guides because they are not aware or knowledgeable about the recommended daily caloric intake and often underestimate the total calories in their meals. Secondly, the study’s findings indicate that when restaurants offer lower calorie choices and downsizing options like a “small pita” at Pita Pit instead of a “regular pita”, many consumers buy the downsized item or smaller portion but food chains are not downsizing their signature items. Third, the study examined if the cashiers are trained in any way to discuss new regulations and calorie count/nutritional value and not one cashier was trained specifically about the calorie labeling law and why certain foods on the menu have more calories than others even though they are influencing decision making. Conversations at the point of sale have been routinely ignored in research about the calorie labeling law and this research helps to understand the choices consumers are making with the newly implemented calorie labeling regulation. The results from this study helps us further advance our understanding as to why consumers make the food choices they do while eating at restaurants.
Resources at Risk: The Coordinated Management of Meaning and Study Abroad
(2012-03-16) Noblet, Nicholas Patrick; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Sandwina, Ronald M.; Goering, Elizabeth M.
This study seeks to elucidate the concept of resources at risk as detailed in the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) theoretical framework. Risk is the possibility that a communicator’s resources are in jeopardy of change, and this study seeks to explicate how a communicator places his or her resources at risk. An undergraduate spring break study abroad program was selected as the context for this examination, with six students participating in before and after interviews. Results showed that three types of resources at risk were identified, with a fourth type unable to be identified through transcript analysis. This study demonstrates theoretical and practical implications that further the understanding of CMM and its execution. In addition, limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

Browsing by Author "Sandwina, Ronald M."

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