Unpacking the Process and Outcomes of Ethical Markets: A Focus on Certified B Corporations

Curtis, Renee Bogin Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The growth in conscious consumption presents an opportunity to 1) better understand the potential outcomes of ethical market practices as a community-advocacy tool and 2) to consider potential policy considerations. The marketplace has increasingly become an arena for social action. This leads to the question of how can markets facilitate ethical business practices and community benefits? The recent rise of social benefit corporations warrants an evaluation of the outcomes of ethically-driven markets. Using a comparative research design and qualitative interview methods, this study examines certified Benefit Corporations (B Corps) in two selected cities: Philadelphia and Portland. Through interviews with B Corps and Key Informants in the targeted cities, the research investigates how place-based factors support or impede both the certification process and the adoption of ethical market practices, and evaluates participant perceptions about the impacts of becoming a B Corp. Ultimately the research identifies contextual factors which contribute to why and how firms become B Corps and demonstrates how place can limit or enable local ethical markets. The findings suggest ways contextual location-based factors of culture, institutions and relationships in a climate of supporting motivations, can lead to a potentially impactful cluster of ethical market practices. Theoretical considerations include political consumerism/ ethical markets, social entrepreneurship, clustering and agglomeration economies, and community-led social change. The findings may guide policymakers, community advocates or activists, and scholars to better understand the role of place in the adoption of emergent ethical market practices, and to promote enabling legislation and other supportive factors.

Addressing Structural Inequalities in Planning Processes: A Case Study of an Equity Lens

McGuire, Marta Conkle Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The use of equity lenses is growing rapidly in the public sector as a means to reform institutional practices that produce racialized outcomes; yet, organizations are interpreting and using an equity lens in different ways, leaving open questions on the extent to which a lens addresses structural inequalities. This dissertation focuses on an in-depth case study of a planning process that incorporated an equity lens in the development of a large scale urban system plan in Portland (OR) to build understanding of how an equity lens may change the institutional planning process. Insights from the study suggest an equity lens addresses structural inequalities in the planning process in three main ways: 1) by shifting underlying values for decision making by taking into account social structural relations that provide for differences in social identity, power and opportunity and attributing value to the “lived experience” in policy deliberation; 2) by providing special treatment for oppressed groups in decision making including appointed representation and compensation; and 3) by positioning these groups at the onset of the planning process and in advance of each decision point, allowing them to interact directly with decision makers rather than later as a review body. While the potential for the use of an equity lens to address structural inequalities appears substantial, the case study suggests factors such as organizational policies and values within the institutional environment that may either constrain or support the use of an equity lens.

Faculty Use of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Internationalization at Home

Mudiamu, Sally Strand Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Universities are not preparing all of their students for 21st century global work and citizenship. Internationalization of the Curriculum is critical to this preparation and equity in higher education. Over the past decades, universities have relied on outbound and inbound student mobility to internationalize their institutions, the curriculum, the faculty, and student learning. However, 90% of U.S. students neither study nor intern abroad. Of the 10% who do go abroad, very few are underrepresented, Pell-eligible, or post-traditional students. Universities need to shift their focus from student mobility to Internationalization at Home so that all students may have an internationalized education experience as part of their degree. This qualitative study examined faculty experience in teaching Collaborative Online International Learning courses as a pedagogical approach with curricular implications for Internationalization at Home. The interview data and analysis have implications for institutional internationalization strategy to equitably prepare all students for 21st century global work and citizenship. Key findings include that Collaborative Online International Learning is a faculty-driven intervention for Internationalization at Home, giving all students opportunities for global learning and engagement.

Sense of Belonging from a Distance: How Online Students Describe, Perceive, and Experience Belonging to the Institution

Perez, Marleigh Luster Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

The availability and ease of access to online bachelor’s degree programs has led to a dynamic shift in the world of higher education. While overall, there has been a decrease in student enrollments, distance student enrollment has been growing. According to a report by the Babson Survey Research Group, between the fall of 2012 and the fall of 2016 students pursuing higher education at all levels across degree-granting institutions fell by 3.8%. During the same four-year period, the percentage of those students choosing to take all or some of their courses at a distance increased from 25.9% to 29.7%. Among all students taking courses at a distance, approximately half are exclusively taking online courses. In light of this national student data, some argue that distance education is in fact shifting into the mainstream of higher education, rather than being marginal or unconventional. While growing online enrollments may breed optimism, online students are more likely to experience feelings of isolation and lack of motivation and self-direction, often contributing to high attrition rates and low completion rates compared to their on-campus counterparts. Institutions struggle to find ways to best support online learners and address common challenges that most students face who enroll exclusively in online degree programs. Studies have demonstrated that sense of belonging is a critical component to the retention of students enrolling in traditional campus courses, but a substantial gap exists in the literature on sense of belonging in online learners. This study filled a gap in the research by focusing on distance learners and sense of belonging, specifically if they experience it, if it matters to their satisfaction, persistence and academic success, and how the institution fosters a sense of belonging among them. This mixed methods study sought to fill a gap in the research by asking (a) To what extent do distance students report a sense of belonging to the institution? (b) Does a sense of belonging play a central role in distance students’ satisfaction, persistence, and success at the institution? and (c) What can the institution do to promote a sense of belonging in distance students? Through the use of an online survey, this study found that distance students experience a sense of belonging to the institution, measured by the University Belonging Questionnaire (UBQ), and that belonging was strongly correlated with their satisfaction and intent to persist. Additionally, both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that faculty and staff play a critical role in facilitating distance students’ belonging. Participants reported that attending university events, either in their area or on campus, specifically made them feel most connected to the institution. Finally, data analysis indicated that White students experienced stronger sense of belonging to the institution than students identifying as other race/ethnicity groups. Implications for practice and recommendations for universities managing online programs are discussed.

Long Term Changes to the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE) Hydrodynamics and Salinity Patterns

Al-bahadily, Aqeel Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Changing the morphological and hydrological conditions of an estuary can affect the estuarine hydrodynamics. The hydrograph of the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE) and its bathymetry have been altered significantly over the past 150 years, such that the spring-freshet has decreased by 40-50% while winter flow has increased by 50%. In addition, the inlet width has been narrowed from 9.7 to 3.2km by the construction of jetties, and the controlling depth of the navigation channel has been deepened from 6 to 13m by continuous dredging. Also, ~70% of the shallow water habitat has been lost due to diking and wetland reclamation. Finally, the main shipping channel was changed from the north to the south side of the estuary. These system alterations lead to the following question: how have changes since the mid-1800s altered the salinity intrusion, freshwater distribution, transport processes, and water levels in the Lower Columbia River estuary?In this study, I use a 3D hydrodynamic model to gain insights into changes in circulation and salinity intrusion from the mid-1800s to the present. Two models were constructed: one based on bathymetric measurements made between 1869 and 1900, and a second based on bathymetric surveys made from 2008 to 2010. The horizontal resolution is typically 50m inside the estuary and 2000m offshore, with 36 sigma layers of vertical resolution. The models have been calibrated and verified using field measurements distributed over the lower 40km of the estuary. The average skill assessment of the calibration is 0.98; the root mean square error is between 0.11m and 0.15m for water level, 2-4psu for salinity, and 0.25m/s for velocity.Analysis of flow bifurcation (water distribution between channels at a junction) showed that morphology, tidal forcing, and water surface slope have played major roles in freshwater distribution in the multi-channel estuary. However, the asymmetry in the water surface slope between the North and the South Channels is what controls the distribution of flow between the two channels. In the historical model, the two channels surface slopes are equal. Therefore, the hydraulic radius and the cross-sectional area control the flow distribution, but the percentage of freshwater in each channel is still a function of river discharge. For the modern model, the percentage of freshwater in the South Channel decreases as the river discharge increases. During spring tide, 88% of freshwater passes through the South Channel during low river discharge conditions (3,000m3/s), while 48% passes through during high river discharge (15,000m3/s). Conversely, in the historical model, the percentage of freshwater in the South Channel increases as the river discharge increases. This implies that the morphological changes in the estuary causes the South Channel to export more freshwater today, as compared to 150 years ago. Finally, model results suggest that M2 amplitude has increased by 10% in the city of Astoria due exclusively to channel deepening, and about 12.5% (~0.11m) when both channel deepening and river discharge alteration are included.The LCRE system alteration is modeled to change the average location and the seasonal cycle of salinity intrusion. The simulation results found that average winter-time salinity intrusion has decreased due to a 50% increase in river discharge. During the annual spring freshet, salinity intrusion has increased because of decreased river flow. Due to changes in river discharge, the seasonality of maximum salinity intrusion has shifted from wintertime to late summer/early fall. Channel deepening exerts a strong control on salinity intrusion, and has caused greater landward salinity intrusion landward due to increased stratification. Channel deepening also amplified spring-neap variations in intrusion and altered the sensitivity of intrusion to river discharge. Altogether, the change in freshwater distribution, salinity intrusion, and stratification produced a change in the LCRE system classification. A parameter space classification based on Geyer & MacCready, (2014), suggests that morphological changes and river discharge alteration have shifted the LCRE from partially mixed 41% of the time to a salt wedge estuary 34% of the time.Finally, the effects of future sea-level rise and a subduction zone earthquake on tidal amplitudes and salinity intrusion are investigated. A future sea-level rise of 0.21m will have an insignificant effect on salinity intrusion and tidal variation inside the estuary. On the other hand, sudden land subsidence resulting from a potential M9 earthquake and/or a future 1.5m SLR (extreme cases) could produce a substantial effect on tidal amplitudes and circulation. Modeling analyses suggest that either scenario could elevate the major tidal constituent (M2) by 0.05m. Moreover, the maximum value could be moved upstream by 4km. Combined together, the combined effect of 1.5m SLR and sudden land subsidence might raise M2 by 0.11m and advance the location of maximum M2 by 10km landward. Similarly, salinity intrusion could increase 4km as a result of either the SLR or land subsidence cases, and might increase by 10km with both scenarios combined. Moreover, both cases have altered the habitat water depth and inundation by increasing the mean depth.

An Assessment of the Decision-making Units’ Efficiency in Service Systems

Dabab, Maoloud Yakhlif Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Most tools and models of performance and quality of service management are generic and do not solve complex technical systems. The critical components of the system need such tools to assess their efficiency to make a better decision about them. One of the primary objectives in the service systems is to improve the ability of efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of critical assets. One of the challenges with improving critical assets is the amount of major capital spending needed to upgrade a technology infrastructure with a high obsolescence rate. This along with usage and reliability issues, makes evaluating mobile cells to enhance the Quality of Services (QoS) more difficult. This research bridges engineering and management by using a robust and objective management tool for benchmarking mobile Base Transceiver Station’s (BTS) efficiency with the important radio Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for evaluating technical efficiency. The objective of this research is to assess the cellular performance and BTS efficiency by demonstrating a robust model that is derived from multiple KPIs based on technical and financial aspects. This novel research provides a comprehensive multidimensional model for tuning the BTS’s parameters, which can lead to developing a standard global mobile network KPI. The model measures the efficiency of BTSs and offers a reference set for inefficient BTSs to improve their efficiency. This creates tuning guidelines for the network optimization engineers to improve inefficient BTSs by comparing their configurations with efficient BTSs to achieve a high level of network optimization. Thus, the benchmarking classifies the BTSs into four categories using a performance matrix, and this analysis helps the decision-makers to focus on the right area, and to identify the most critical BTSs based on best practices.The first part of the research includes a literature review, highlights of the problem statement, research motivation, and the research focus. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed as the main methodology to build the evaluating model, and to identify a robust multi-dimensional benchmarking model using resources allocated as inputs and multi-outputs of KPIs. The expert judgments were also used to validate the model and the results. The second stage of the model uses the principles of the Boston Consulting group’s product portfolio matrix (BCG matrix) as a performance matrix approach to provide target-setting strategies. Also, the statistical and regression analyses are adopted to extract useful insights, which helps the implementation of the enhancements. The real data from a local mobile operator in North Africa is used as a case study.Besides the analysis and the assessment of the BTSs’ efficiency, a set of recommendations is provided to improve the inefficient BTSs. Moreover, the set of references from the best practice point of view for the inefficient BTSs are defined. These results give network engineers specific suggestions to improve the inefficient BTSs based on tuning parameters of best practices for peers. Finally, the scope of further research is provided along with some opportunities to enhance the model for new technology and other aspects of application areas as well as the future steps to validate the results in a real network.

Sensitivity Diagnostics and Adaptive Tuning of the Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Model

Baldivieso, Sebastian Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Tending the Fire: Wildfire Risk Management at the Interface

Evers, Cody Randolph Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Statistical Analysis of Social Network Change

Schmidt, Teresa Danielle Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Exploring the Role of Transformational Leaders in the Mentorship of Top-level Administrators: A Case Study of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) VISN LEAD Program

White, Frederick Giovanni, Jr Portland State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2020 해외박사(DDOD)