Mike Grills May 16, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farHere is a look into our lives that you don’t normally see on thinkPhD….This is my first movie and YouTube video upload. I giggled the whole time I was making the video! You will meet Husband, Tucker, and Charlie. Enjoy “Mike Grills” !!!!
Additional work on assignment 2 May 15, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , add a commentI continued to work today on my revision to assignment 2 in RSH910B. I think I am closer with this latest revision; you will recall that Dr. T rejected my first submission. I have done a better job of tighter writing. I hope to turn in the paper tomorrow. In the meantime, I continue to work on the other papers due in this class.
Today, I sent an email to Dr. Craig R. Carter at the University of Nevada, Reno, requesting use of a survey/questionnaire he designed and used in several studies. I hope that I included the right mix of professionalism and begging!! I have never asked anyone if I could use a survey instrument and so I just was not sure about the protocol. Dr. Carter outlined the questionnaire scales in several papers, so one can deduce the questions; however, I would like to use the same PSR survey if possible because it is validated and I will be replicating it with another sample.
You know, its funny how much time my mind churns on my topic. I seem to be constantly thinking about it. I wonder if it is normal to go to bed thinking about it and waking up with it, too?
Tonight I made waffles and bacon; can you believe that I actually cooked something? My husband usually makes supper because I work (and he does not) and with no children at home, we are pretty easy to please regarding what to eat for dinner. I do enjoy a good wheat waffle and bacon; I guess I just needed some “comfort food”!
Abridged Literature Review May 9, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , add a commentThe syllabus states that the abridged literature review should be divided up into themes or sub-topics for organization into a “coherent narrative discussion” with 7 to 10 of the most important works or studies. Oh my, only 7 to 10? I have many more than that! I will of course have more but right now I have LOTS more but will shave it down later.
Here’s a basic outline of my themes:
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Supply Chain Management (or perhaps The Supply Chain Becomes the Value Chain)
Corporate Social Responsibility
Purchasing Social Responsibility and Sustainable Procurement
I am starting with the history of how sustainability and sustainable development entered the scene, transforming supply chain management; then I will cover how CSR led to PSR/SP. I am not sure if I will reference the foundational study of Carter and Jennings but I might close with that (the C&J study outlines PSR drivers that I will be using in my study; I’ve already mentioned them in assignment 2).
It’s Sunday and I’ve been working on my lit review off and on; let’s see what else I did today…I planted tomatoes, made guacamole, read some of “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson, ate some Mother’s Day candy my sweet Husband gave me this morning, talked to my children and Mom on the phone, checked my email, posted something on eBay, trimmed some out-of-control bushes in the front yard, planted three yellow Leopard’s Bane flowers in the front flower bed, read some Black (”Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences”), and paid some bills.
I am so NOT looking forward to going back to work tomorrow - it’s way too much fun at HOME!
Disappointed, to say the least May 8, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , 3 commentsI received my RSH9104B second assignment back from Dr. T: REJECTED. I am disappointed, to say the least. He made very few comments but the ones he did make chilled me. He indicated that I have SERIOUS PROBLEMS with the research problem, purpose, questions, and hypotheses.
I was not expecting this at all. I had expected comments to help define and clarify my topic, but this is major.
And so as soon as I got the paper back this morning, I began a re-write, changing my dissertation method from applying a questionnaire about purchasing social responsibility to a group, to using two groups and analyzing if there would be difference between the groups when taking the same questionnaire. I thought that in my rejected paper I had clearly written what the problem and purpose were, but in this re-write I am developing those parts in depth. I keep asking myself, is the “why” I see the need to do this study obvious?
I also changed my research questions because Dr. T indicated that at least one was a qualitative question, not quantitative. I started the question with “What are…” and so I can see how that will be qualitative based on the distinction in Creswell on page 133. I changed my question to start with “Does….”. I also had used the word “examine” which was judged not sufficient and not a power verb. When I wrote the paper originally, I looked up other quantitative dissertations and almost all of them use the word “examine.” So, using a suggestion from Creswell, I used the words “compare” and “relationship” and hope that these are more sufficient and powerful.
I had hoped to work on the fourth assignment (lit review) today, but instead I have re-read relevant Creswell and Black sections regarding problem, purpose, questions, and hypotheses. Then I re-wrote much of the paper. I am still not sure about the format because the assignment says “topic paper” but Dr. T said to use the “concept paper” template, which has sections that are not included in the required sections as noted in the syllabus. For example, both have a lit review but that is not listed in the required sections for the assignment. The CP uses the term “Purpose of the Study” and the TP use the term “Purpose Statement.”
Nonetheless, I am disappointed but not deterred. I can do this.
Critical and Unique Terms May 7, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , add a commentAssignment 3 of RSH9104B is to define terms that are critical and unique to my dissertation topic. The information in the syllabus includes an example of a definition of “combat verteran” in a hypothetical concept paper (CP) of “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Iraq War Combat Veterans”:
Example: Combat Veteran. A combat veteran is defined as a person who experienced “any level of hostility resulting from offensive, defensive or friendly fire military action involving a real or perceived enemy in any pre- or post-designated theater of combat (war) operations” (American War Library, 1988, p. 3).
The CP template shows the section “Definition of Key Terms” before “Brief Review of Literature.” Here is the format, which is APA third-level heading (indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period):
Term 1. Definition (APA citation).
So far, I have a list of 16 words to define as “critical and unique terms”:
corporate social responsibility (CSR)
corporate sustainability
diversity
environment
human rights
philanthropy/community
purchasing social responsibility (PSR)
safety
stakeholder theory
supply chain management
supply management
sustainability
sustainable development
sustainable procurement
sustainable supply chain management (SSCM)
sustainable supply management
This assignment is due no later than the end of week 2 and should be up to 4 pages. I am working on this assignment today and should finish it.
I’ve been struggling with motivation this week as I have waited since last Sunday to get assignment 2 back, which is the topic paper revision. That paper is the first time my chair gets to see my topic. I am so nervous to find out if he thinks it is a good topic and do-able. If he comes back to me and says the topic stinks, that means that I would have to modify it. Mentors are allowed 5 days to grade the assignments and today is Day 5. I really want to stay on schedule in this class and so if I get it back today that will help my motivation! If he had turned it back to me earlier in the week, I am sure that I would have already completed this critical and unique terms assignment.
RSH9104B Concept Paper Timeline May 3, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , 1 comment so farRSH9104B has nine assignments and comes with a suggested timeline. My start date was Saturday May 1 and ends Saturday July 24. Even though the class is 12 weeks long, all the preliminary papers and the first submittal of the Concept Paper (CP) must be completed by the beginning of Week 7, which is June 13. The rest of the course is dedicated to the Chair and Committee Review, updating the CP, then the University Review.
Each cycle of Chair and Committee Review and University Review are up to 14 days in length, meaning that the course only allows for two reviews if they take the maximum of 14 days. Plus, for all the regular standard assignments (#1-7), mentors have up to 5 days to grade and return papers. It sounds like this schedule is going to be VERY VERY TIGHT!
Many students end up having to take RSH9104 courses more than once or get an extension if the hold up is caused by the reviewers. The CP is worth 40 points in this class, which precludes the student from getting extensions if he does not turn in the papers per the recommended timeline. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to keep up this tight schedule! And I am hoping that Dr. T and the committee are free enough to tackle my CP when the time comes!!
My May and June are already filling up with things: we close on a sale of rental property in Alabama, Husband is going to a Racing School at RIR (a birthday gift from me), plus work sapping my brain cells, and I am trying to start back dancing as a fitness/health thing. I did schedule some Schoolwork vacation days for May 6 & 7 in addition to the weekends that I normally use for writing and research.
Here is the schedule that I designed for the class (click on the link and it opens as an image):
If you would like to have the RSH9104B Schedule as an Excel file that you can modify for your own path through RSH9104B, just email me (thinkPhD at yahoo dot com) or comment below and I will send it to you.
Now back to writing a Letter of Recommendation for a student planning to work on her MBA and then more work on Assignment #3: Define Critical and Unique Terms.
LOA ended: RSH9104B started May 2, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B , 2 commentsMy leave of absence (LOA) ended on May 1 and RSH9104B started the same day. This is the last of four RSH courses; the next class is the comprehensive examination course and then the DIS (dissertation) classes after that. My plan for the month of April was to get a head start on the assignments for this class. I only partially fulfilled that desire. I didn’t get as far along as I had hoped. My April turned out to be very busy but I did complete the first two assignments, and have started on #3 and #4.
Assignment #2 is “Revision of Topic Paper,” which refers back to the topic paper from RSH9101B. You may recall that I had what I believed to be a pretty good topic and then as I worked through the next two courses, it became clear that I would not have access to the data/information that I would need, namely a list of all of the participants in the Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard. This information has not been released to the public so I could not send a questionnaire to participants.
So I have completely revised my topic, while still maintaining the sustainability or “green” piece. The new topic is related to purchasing social responsibility (PSR). Green business is an interest of mine, as reflected in my education and career: I have a BS in Environmental Science and an MBA, and I work for a paper company selling the non-primary products (damaged, rejected, obsolete, scrap, recyclables, etc.).
The mentor for RSH9104 classes is always the dissertation chair; in my case, it is Dr. T. I turned in the first assignment yesterday, which consisted of submitting the names, contact information, and a short bio highlighting their potential relevance to my topic. I have completed the next assignment but am not sure if he wants the full topic paper template with table of contents (TOC) or not. I am going to send him a note to se if he wants the paper formatted using a TOC or not.
The third assignment is “Define Unique and Critical Terms.” I have a list of terms but I plan to let Husband read my topic paper and let him identify terms that I may have missed. Right now, I have 14 terms but am not sure how many is the “right” number.
Letters of Recommendation April 25, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : Miscellaneous , add a commentFrom time to time, colleagues at work and students at school will ask for a letter of recommendation. I am always happy to accomodate these types of requests. Having been on the “asking” end of these letters, I know that it is sometimes difficult to decide who in my circle of influence can provide the most effective letter.
If you are a student, do not assume that your professor is always the best source. Unfortunately, sometimes this person may not know you as well as others! Pick someone who has seen you perform as a student. Have you considered your academic counselor or your dean? Provide some information so that the person can write an effective letter. To be honest, I have a one-size-fits-all generic letter that I can write for you, but if you tell me what masters or doctoral program or school you are applying to, I can tailor my letter to increase its impact.
If you are looking for a work-related recommendation, consider asking those in other departments or work groups that have been on the receiving end of your work. For example, suppose you work in the billing department; consider asking a credit manager or account manager to write a letter. Your boss is sometimes too obvious; of course you let your boss see how hard you work - but what about people you are not obligated to? A powerful recommendation can come from someone who is on the receiving end of your work!
When I write a letter of recommendation, I turn it into a pdf file; I do not give out an easily editable MS Word document. I always include my contact information and date the letter. I also date the information (such as “I worked with John from 2008-2009…” or “Trish was a student in my GEN/300 class in the fall of 2009…”).
Remember, pick your letter writer carefully and be specific as to the purpose or recipient of the letter.
A Vision of Students Today April 18, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : Education, Teaching , 1 comment so farThis video brings education into sharp focus: what are we doing to educate our students? When I watched the video for the first tim, it hit me hard because I am a TEACHER as well as a STUDENT. I am asking what is my classroom like? Do I meet my students’ needs? Are my classes meeting MY needs?
Watch the video and share your comments.
Academy of Management & DPE Committee April 16, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : Career , add a commentI decided to join the Academy of Management, an organization devoted to advancing management research and scholarship. Dues are $140/year so you can see why I had to weigh my options carefully. In addition to the obvious benefit to having AOM on my resume, I want to become more involved in research and publishing. Membership includes subscriptions to five journals. Of course, I have access to journals on the school website, but I am so very “old school” that I enjoy sitting and reading a real magazine!
This week, I was also asked to serve on the Delta Pi Epsilon (DPE) Research Projects committee. DPE is an honor society for those who support business education. Delta stands for Scholarship; Pi for Leadership; and Epsilon for Cooperation.
Membership in both of these organizations is one way to keep education and research a priority. It also gives me the opportunity to network in the business and higher education community. I recommend these two organizations as well as the National Business Education Association (NBEA).
Good progress April 10, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B, Books , 2 commentsI made good progress on my topic revision, in prep for turning in the second assignment in RSH9104B. The more I work on this topic, the more I believe it is do-able. It is not my first choice of topic, but my goal is to get my PhD, and then I can work on other topics that interest me. I ordered some books this week and will be working to publish some reviews. I finished up Environmentalism and the New Logic of Business by R. Edward Freeman, Jessica Pierce, and Richard H. Dodd as well as Writing Your Dissertation by Derek Swetnam.
Environmentalism and the New Logic of Business was interesting because it spelled out some of the critical problems facing us on the environmental front. I particularly like the “Shade of Green” idea; firms might be “legal green or light green,” “market green,” “stakeholder green,” “dark green,” or any combination of those.
Writing Your Dissertation was such a high-level overview of the process that it was not relevant to me in my situation. I should have read this book two years ago. If you are a new graduate student or considering grad school, the book may interest you. Otherwise, choose another book. In contrast, I am now reading Destination Dissertation: A Traveler’s Guid to a Done Dissertation, and I am finding this book much more relevant.
Tomorrow morning my goal is to grade papers for the GEN/480 class I am teaching now, and finish up the second assignment in RSH9104B. I hope to also start and finish the first assignment in that class as well.
Taxes “Almost” Done April 4, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : Home , 1 comment so farI started working on my taxes back in February but then I had so many school assignments and other life events that I did not finish them. My taxes are complicated and I have to file in three states. I keep great records so pulling together the information is not the problem. The difficulty lies in making sure that I have everything in the right place on the form.
I use TaxAct and that helps a good bit, but sometimes their explanations are not clear. Clicking the help link takes you to the IRS explanations, which as we all know, are phrased like muddy water. I also have the Earnst & Young Tax Guide that is much easier to read and follow. The Guide has examples and a good index making it easy to find answers to tax questions.
I keep track of school expenses and in 2009 I bought many more books than usual in prep for the RSH and DIS classes. I highly recommend getting all of the books plus several more. I am compiling a list of additional books to recommend to my readers. I am expecting a couple of new ones from Amazon so I will review those and add to the list.
I am “almost” done my taxes; my daughter has a few of my receipts to send to me that classify as expenses on a piece of rental property we have. Once I have those receipts, I can add them to TaxAct and finish my return. I always feel relieved when I get my taxes finished because they take so much time to complete. I can get started back on my school work and freelancing again!
Have a blessed Easter!
Course completed + Looking to RSH9104B March 28, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9104B, RSH9103QNB , add a commentI finished RSH9103QNB using the revised topic rather than my original topic. The original topic had two significant flaws - the sample would have included firms subject to Wal-Mart’s Packaging Scorecard and that list is not publically available, and since it was new research, there were no previously validated surveys to use. I will hold this topic for future research; I realized that the purpose of a PhD dissertation is to GET A PHD not to open a new research can of worms.
So I wrote on my second topic, which is based on previous research with validated surveys; however, the population included self-identified sustainable firms and publically identified sustainable firms. Essentially, I am looking at firms which are identified as sustainable and their purchasing activities. I don’t have as much excitement for this topic but my goal is to get a PhD (see GET A PHD above).
I decided to take a leave of absence for 30 days (LOA) and start RSH9104B in May rather than April. The main reason is that this course is very time-bound and many people do not complete it in time and have to take it twice. I want to have my topic polished up and the first assignments completed in April so that I can turn them in at the beginning of the course. I am very busy with work and teaching at the University of Phoenix, so I don’t have time in this next week to pull these things together. I need to do some more reading and developing my ideas and really immerse myself into this paper.
Here are the assignments in RSH9104B:
Activity 1: Submit a 1-page paper identifying Committee Members including contact info and reason I selected them (which is very funny since we do not select our own committee any more - the dean’s office does). This is a quickie turn-in.
Activity 2: Revise topic paper from RSH9101B based on learnings from subsequent RSH classes (and for me that means re-doing the whole thing). I will dedicate significant time in April for this one.
Activity 3: Define critical and unique terms; this assignment requires use of third-level headings, brief definitions, and supporting citations. I already have a good idea of what I need to do on this assignment and plan to have it completed in April.
Activity 4: Create an abridged literature review, which includes 7 to 10 of the most relevant studies/works related to the topic. I think I will have issues here because I have so many relevant studies and will have to prioritize them. This is a brief review which lays the foundation for the Literature Review section in the dissertation.
Activity 5: Measurements/assessment Paper summarizes the literature related to variables and constructs, and includes measurement validity and reliability. I am using a survey that has been used several times. I will include a section on research repetition here.
Activity 6: This paper reflects on the appropriateness of the research design and is called “Justify Research Design.” At first glance it appears to be repetitive but I will have to dig into the assignment.
Activity 7: Revise Annotated Bibliography; this activity makes the assumption that I missed something in earlier papers. LOL
Activity 8: Submit Concept Paper - this one is the real reason I am taking a LOA: it has to be submitted no later than the end of week 6/beginning of week 7. After submission, the Chair and Committee has 14 days to review it, and request changes. This starts the cycle of change and review, change and review, until my Chair permits me to to do the next activity.
Activity 9: In this activity, the Concept Paper (CP) is submitted for University Review. This is a blind review and revisions can be requested over and over. If my paper does not pass University Review in a timely manner (they have 14 days each cycle, which by the way, eats up lots of time), I have to re-take the course.
RSH9104B is really designed for concentrated work on the topic; and with two jobs + my freelancing on the side, it is hard to find the time. I plan to work under a schedule in April to do this work and take a day or two of vacation to make it happen. RSH9104B will start on May 1st with an end date of July 24th. After grading some papers this morning, my plan is to develop a timeline to complete these assignments. This will help me stay focused!
Envisioned Research Plan March 13, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9103QNB , add a commentI am working on the final assignment in RSH9103QNB:
Based on your problem statement, purpose statement, research questions, method, and design identified in RSH9101, RSH9102 and course activities, compose a comprehensive paper in which you discuss the envisioned context and variables in your envisioned research. Also, include discussion of envisioned data collection method and analyses along with the reasoning behind your selection. Finally, propose plans to ensure validity and reliability of your outcomes. The expected length of this assignment is 8-15 pages.
So here is my quandry: Do I work up this assignment based on my original topic, or the revised one that a previous mentor steered me toward because he believed my original topic was not do-able? I am vacillating! So this evening I declared a truce with my dissertation topic and have been organizing the stack of journal articles I printed in the past week. I am bad about printing and setting aside articles for a more in-depth reading. Right now I am punching holes and snapping them into my binders with alphabetic dividers. I use small sticky notes for individual articles’ author names. I have other 3-ring binders with school papers in them cataloged by course number. This all sounds as though I am organized but if you could see my desk you would not think that!
I plan to get up tomorrow morning and get a fresh start on this paper, hoping that my research muse shows up!
Warning: G-Power is a time stealer March 7, 2010
Posted by thinkphd in : RSH9103QNB , 1 comment so farSo today I finished up the 11th activity in RSH9103QNB and got ready for the 12th as outlined in the syllabus:
Consider your study, conduct a mock power analysis using G*Power. Include the results of your power analysis in a word document. Submit these results along with a brief paragraph, approximately 250 words, stating the role of a power analysis in your dissertation, and why you must include a power analysis in your paper.
Sounds pretty straight forward, but little did I know it would take me way too long to even get the program up and running and start working on the assignment. The syllabus directed me here and so I read up on G-Power. G-Power is a tool that a researcher can use to identify the sample size most appropriate for the study, i.e. one that provides enough of a sample, but not too much of a sample. The idea is to find at what level is the size meaningful.
Well, I downloaded G-Power 2 and then after installation a little note pops up and tells me that G-Power 2 cannot run on my Vista system…that is, after it went through even setting up some “missing files” to run the program. So I went back to the website and downloaded G-Power 3. This program also tells me that I am missing some files so I have to wait for those to download. Then the setup informs me that I have to reboot, then it finishes setup. Then I can’t find the program on my computer.
Five minutes later I find the program and run it. And I am not sure what I am supposed to do with it.
So I spend an hour looking up the two pdfs the syllabus gives me, plus reading the tutorials on the G-Power website, plus doing a Google search for any information that I can find about power and G-Power.
I end up spending way too much time just prepping for this activity. I haven’t even started writing yet. Of course, the activity is only 250 words or about a page, but I have to understand the program and G-Power before I can write even a word!
