First Advisor

Bob Everhart

Term of Graduation

Spring 2000

Date of Publication

5-5-2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Sociology

Department

Sociology

Language

English

Subjects

Organizational effectiveness, Motion pictures in higher education -- Oregon -- Portland, Video tapes in education -- Oregon -- Portland, Portland State University. Television Services -- Management

Physical Description

1 online resource (98 pages)

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship that exists between organizational structure and levels of organizational resource utilization. Literature establishes that levels of organizational resource utilization can be impacted by the usefulness of the structures designed to facilitate their access and use.

A case study was developed to demonstrate these principles in action. It focused on one organization, Portland State University, and the utilization of one resource, film and video in classroom teaching. These films and videos, as previously acquired resources, represent the learning potential they bring to students at Portland State University. The structures that connect instructors with this resource were viewed as potentially limiting the maximization of the utilization of this resource. Those structures listed the films and videos by title only, with no summary provided concerning their content. This resulted in instructors having to choose a film or video to match the subject they were teaching based only on the title of the film or video. This lack of content-specific information was seen as potentially limiting the maximization of this resource's utilization.

Potential adjustments to those structures were forwarded in this study. Those adjustments would allow instructors to access a keyword search option. This would result in instructors being able to enter words or phrases specific to their courses and be presented with a list of which films and videos address those subjects with a brief summary provided in terms of their content.

Interviews were conducted to determine instructor perceptions concerning the usefulness of the current structures. The results of these interviews indicated that the majority of instructors found the current system to be ineffective if they didn't know the specific title of the film or video they were searching for. All of the instructors interviewed reported that the proposed adjustments would be useful to them and eight out of the nine instructors reported that the adjustments, if implemented, would increase their projected use of this resource in the future. This is a strong indication that such structural adjustments, in the Portland State case study, could lead to increased resource utilization and potentially increased organizational effectiveness.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44675

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