Scholarship & Research
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/1
Browse
9 results
Search Results
Item A survey of businesses on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to determine the degree of importance of entry-level skills of word processors/secretaries(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1990) Kolstad, Sharon A.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinThe purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of small businesses on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana on what skills they preferred an entry-level word processor/secretary possess. Those findings would then be used as the basis for establishing effective business and vocational education programs at Fort Peck Community College, Poplar, Montana. To assess the needs of the small businesses on the reservation, a questionnaire was mailed in August, 1989, to those small businesses employing entry-level office workers. The survey was comprehensive in nature, covering technical and nontechnical skills. Since one of the objectives of the College is to meet community needs, this assessment will aid in the formulation of effective business and vocational courses and serve as areas of emphasis in other courses that will give the graduate competencies for ready employment.Item A survey of businesses in Gallatin County to determine their perception of employees non-technical skills(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1991) Samuelson, Patty L.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinThe purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of Gallatin County employers on the non-technical skills their employees possess. Those findings would then be used as a basis for establishing effective adult education, secondary and post-secondary programs in the Gallatin County. To assess the needs of employers in Gallatin County an interview was conducted. The survey was comprehensive in nature and covered non-technical skills needed. The findings illustrate clearly the needs of employers in eight sectors of business. The major findings indicated that employers feel that overall communications are the weakest non-technical skill, and that non-technical skills can best be learned on the job. Also, good personal appearance, honesty, and loyalty to the company are very important non-technical skills. The researcher recommends that educators make an effort to allow students to learn non-technical skills on the job whenever possible. Also, that human relations and written communications be taught as individual classes.Item An assessment of the opinions of Montana business personnel regarding non-technical skills of employees that are secondary school business education completers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1985) Jacobsen, Cynthia Jane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinIn order to develop more complete long-range goals for vocational programs, it is very important to first make an evaluation of current programs. Opinions of the employers of the graduates of the program should be part of the program evaluation. The employer's point of view can add greatly to the information on the vocational education program. Once this information is collected, it can be used to improve the total program. The data would indicate where the program needs to be improved, enabling students to better fill the positions in the market place. The different areas to explore are: verbal skills, broad educational skills, specific occupational or technical skills, and general occupational or non-technical skills.Item A survey of Montana employers participating in high school distributive education programs during the 1970-71 school year to determine coordination practices and employer preferences(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Professional Schools, 1973) Koon, Charles William; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinWhat do Montana's high school distributive education participating employers claim is occurring in regards to coordination practices, and what are their opinions on the operation of their programs? To attack this problem and keep the information as current as possible, the 1970-71 school year was applied since it held the latest completed academic school year. Thirteen of fourteen distributive education programs in operation during the selected year in Montana submitted coordination reports to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which were screened and 193 employers were identified. All 14 programs in operation were classified as Part B programs under the Vocational Education Amendments of 1968 and have no state stipulations on coordination practices. Simultaneously a questionnaire to be mass mailed to all identified employers was prepared and submitted to the Executive Director of the Montana Advisory Council for Vocational Education, the Supervisor for Marketing and Distributive Education, the Autumn 1971 Business Research class at Montana State University, and the Distributive Education Teacher-Educator for constructive criticism. The questionnaire was mailed in November, 1971, a follow-up was forwarded in January, 1972, and the survey was terminated on February 11, 1972. The invited sample (193) was revised downward to 189 upon survey termination because 4 employers were either out of business or claimed no association with the program. Of the 189 revised invited sample, there were 133 (70.9 percent) responses and 107 (56.6 percent) usable. Findings presented tended to substantiate the hypothesis that teacher-coordinators during the 1970-71 school year were not in strict compliance with commonly accepted coordination practices. However, it should be kept in mind that the survey was limited in scope in that only one of the three major participants in the distributive education program--the employer---was questioned: the teacher-coordinator and the student were not involved. Furthermore, findings suggested that participating employers tended to prefer teacher-coordinator visitations to their business establishments on an average of once a month. Based upon the survey findings, two important conclusions were reached: (1) There is a need to develop and maintain a periodic inquiry of participating employers and to follow-up with feedback on what was revealed in comparison to commonly accepted coordination practices; and (2) There is a need to strive for improvement on all fronts dealing with commonly accepted coordination practices.Item Results of questionnaire submitted to employer involved in the cooperative office program of Columbia Falls High(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Professional Schools, 1974) Hagen, Norman E.The purpose of this study is to survey the ideas or opinions of the employers who employ students from the cooperative office program at Columbia Falls High School. Does the related class of instruction fulfill the needs of the student on the job? What do employers expect of students on the job? Is this program of any value to the employers as a whole? What changes need to be made to make the students more valuable to the employer? One of the main reasons for organizing the cooperative office program was the fact that funds were available for reimbursable programs. Now that this program is functioning smoothly it is necessary to determine if the program is of benefit to the community. A good program that is of benefit to all concerned will generally remain funded either locally or federally. It may in turn provide other ecucational opportunities when needed. Therefore, a study of the cooperative office program and a survey of all training sponsors to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the program is the purpose or this study.Item [A survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction of secretarial/clerical students at Churchill High School](Montana State University - Bozeman, College of School of Business, 1977) Spear, Frank J.The sample chosen for the survey was the cooperative work experience employers in Eugene, Oregon. Seventy-five questionnaires were distributed and a return of 84 percent was received after one distribution and one follow-up phone call. The results provided valuable information which can be used in the instruction of secretarial/clerical students at Churchill High School. The results indicated that the human relations aspect of office work is considered just as important as the specific training they receive in the skill subjects. It was found that shorthand was not a necessary requirement for beginning secretarial clerical jobs and it may decrease in the next five years. Also, shorthand did not necessarily provide promotional opportunities. Typewriting was considered an important aspect of office work and that its importance will increase in the next five years along with records management, accounting, calculating machines and the magnetic tape selectric typewriter. It was found that most firms pay a beginning salary of $400 or more for all types of office work and that some large firms pay $500 or more. Results also indicated that business college, and community college graduates performance ranged from outstanding to excellent while high school performance was average and non high school was inadequate. Based upon the survey findings, several important conclusions were reached: (1) the human relations aspect of office work is very important, (2) typewriting will continue to be important, (3) the importance of shorthand will decrease, and (4) that the high school business education curriculum is meeting and should continue to meet the needs of the cooperative work experience student and employer.Item An evaluation of the office practice course at Sentinel High School, Missoula, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Professional Schools, 1967) Wiles, Ann Lawton; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Harvey A. LarsonThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the Office Practice course at Sentinel High School by comparing skills and attitudes actually taught in each unit with the skills and attitudes which employees and employers indicated as desirable for beginning employees to possess when they enter the labor market. Methods used to arrive at the evaluation included an initial questionnaire submitted to the members of the 1965-66 Office Practice class of Sentinel High School to determine their employment status; questionnaires completed by those graduates who indicated non-clerical or clerically related employment; and, completion of questionnaires and personal interviews with the clerically employed and their employers. All of the employees rated each unit of the Office Practice course, using an A-B-C-D-E rating scale (A indicating great value and E, little value), in terms of individual on-the-job value. Employers used the same rating scale and rated each unit in terms of on-the-job value to these beginning clerical employees. Employees and clerical employers made suggestions for course content changes or additions. Conclusions drawn as a result of this study were: (1) beginning employees lacked proficient skill and confidence in the operation of some business machines, especially the typewriter and dictating machines; (2) too much emphasis was placed on the automated data processing unit in view of the present requirements of Missoula employers; (3) additional instruction in communicative skills was needed; (4) additional emphasis needed to be placed on accuracy in all units; and, (5) some type of work experience prior to graduation and employment would be desirable. Recommendations were made as a result of this study that (1) additional office machines be purchased for the Office Practice laboratory to insure adequate machine instruction; (2) units on production and statistical typing and oral and written communication be added to the course; (3) an introductory unit containing terms and types and uses of equipment be substituted for the present ADP unit; and (4) adoption of a three-phase plan of pre-employment work (cooperative, directed, simulated) be included to meet the needs of all students enrolled in Office Practice at Sentinel High School.Item Coordination practices and employer preferences for secondary cooperative distributive education programs in Montana during the 1975-1976 school term(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of School of Business, 1976) Darsow, Richard Edward; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinHow closely do Montana's distributive education teacher-coordinators follow commonly accepted practices for cooperative vocational education, and what are the participating employers' opinions on the operation of the distributive education programs? To address this question and to keep information as current as possible, the school -term of 1975-1976 was selected since it was the basis of the most current information on the programs currently in operation. Of the eighteen distributive education programs in operation at the time of the study, sixteen were classified as cooperative programs under Part G funding. Of these sixteen programs, fifteen submitted reports listing the training stations that were utilized at the time of this study, to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. From this information, 243 employers were identified as being participating employers in the Part G programs in operation. A questionnaire was mass mailed to all the identified employers, after being verified by Mr. Norman L. Millikin and Dr. Daniel G. Hertz of the School of Business staff at Montana State University. The questionnaire was mailed on May 28, 1976, a follow-up was forwarded on June 28, 1976, and the survey was terminated on July 12, 1976. The initial sample of 243 was revised down to 220 upon survey termination because 23 employers had experienced management changes, went out of business, or claimed no connection with the programs. This resulted in the revised base of 220, of which 170 responses were received and were usable, yielding a 77.27 percent return. Findings were presented that showed the teacher-coordinators were not in strict compliance with the commonly accepted coordination practices revealed in the review of literature. However, it must be also kept in mind that only those coordination practices visible to the participating employer were included in the survey instrument, and that the survey was limited in scope to only the employer---neither the teacher-coordinator nor the student were included in the survey to seek their opinions. Findings indicated that the participating employers tended to prefer that the teacher-coordinator make visitations on a monthly basis, rather than more often as is suggested by commonly accepted practices. Based upon the survey findings and the conclusions drawn from the data, recommendations were made, of which two are of high importance: (1) Training plans should be in a written form constructed by the employer, the teacher-coordinator, and the student, for every placement made; and (2) Effort should be made by the teacher-coordinator to have more control over student placement by selecting a number of students for interviews for each training station opening, rather than allowing students to seek their own training stations, as is often the case.Item A survey of attitudes and perceptions of employers in Baker, Montana toward selected aspects of cooperative education(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1985) Blake, David E.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinThe educational effectiveness of cooperative education programs is dependent upon the participation of the employers. In order to improve the participation of the employers and the relationship between the school and the employers, this study was designed to answer the following questions: 1. How many sales-related jobs are available to cooperative education students? 2. Do employers have a positive perception of the cooperative education program? 3. What types of training do employers find desirable for entry-level employees?