Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Importance Of Ambition In The Workplace, Jeff Bean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though a common term, ambition is a multifaceted concept that is vastly under researched despite it being labeled necessary for success in the workplace. Of even greater irony is that several sources indicate a significant majority of the reason that employees leave organizations is due to a perceived lack of career development or opportunity, a problem that speaks directly to talent management practices. In light the costly nature of this problem and the presence of sophisticated talent management professionals in large and medium-sized organizations which comprise half or more of the workforce, it causes one to question the assumptions that …

Counterpoint: Laying The Groundwork For The First Geospatial Red Team, Rachel Parkin

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The goal of this synthesis has been to develop a set of principles or strategies to guide the establishment of a permanent red team within the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Over the course of a decade spent working at NGA, I discovered a passion for analytic tradecraft and looking for ways I can push the agency toward a culture that allows critical and creative thinking to thrive. This paper combines my research about organizational culture and reflective narratives about events and observations that shaped my understanding of NGA’s current organizational culture. I identify significant blind spots in our organizational approach …

Middle Managers & Leadership Trainings For Effective Senior Leadership Positions In Public Organizations; Applications In Emergency Management, Norah Alshayhan, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf

College of Business (Strome) Posters

Leaders and training are vital dimensions of organizational development and effectiveness. Availing leadership programs provide continuous learning to the leaders in public sector organizations. However, leaders in senior positions in the public sector organizations have faced struggles and obstacles that inhibit their capacity to drive organizational agenda. Therefore, understanding the relationship between the training programs and the performance of the leaders in the senior positions is vital. The study will discover the struggles and obstacles experienced by the public-service leader and the impact training middle managers the leadership skills. The study hopes to propose a training program for middle managers …

Coalition Sustainability After Federal Funding Is Expended: A Case Study, Shawnee Marie Seese

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community coalition sustainability has been a focus of scholars as community coalitions deliver vital programs and services for communities in need. Despite the value coalitions bring to U.S. communities, they often become vulnerable after federal funding is expended. Researchers acknowledge the need to build understanding of coalition sustainability and have identified factors that contribute to the sustainability of programs, but studies on the topic remain quite limited. Federal funding requirements are more stringent than in previous years, requiring evidence of sustainability planning, which increases the urgency to identify those elements that ensure sustainability. The purpose of this study was to …

Awareness, Empathy, And Intention: Creating Constructive + Responsive Structures Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Safa Arshadullah

Scripps Senior Theses

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are three concepts widely understood as integral to positive organizational development. In a capitalist world, these notions are purposefully ignored or superficially discussed for financial and social gain. Prioritizing empathy, compassion, equity, and inclusion as worthwhile endeavours resist those tokenizing and disingenuous systems. This thesis explores the current perfunctory treatment of DE&I in organizations and examines how to incorporate intentional and human-centered values into organizational culture through intersectional thinking, applied empathy, and organizational storytelling. Recognizing lived experiences and personal narratives as equally valuable to quantitative data, this study entrusts both the individual and the organization …

Meaning Makers: A Mixed-Method Case Study Of Exemplary Small Business Owner Leaders And The Strategies They Use To Create Personal And Organizational Meaning, Margaret S. Ohlhaver

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this replication of a thematic, mixed-method case study was to identify and describe the behaviors that small business owner leaders use to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration.

Methodology. Qualitative interviews with exemplary small business owners were conducted to capture their insights on how they used behaviors associated with character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration to create personal and organizational meaning. In a quantitative survey, followers of each small business owner leader participants were asked to assess how important each of the variable behaviors were …

Philosophia Soteria: How Occupational Safety And Health Professionals Influence Decision Makers, Daniel Jay Snyder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify ideas about how occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals influence decision-makers on matters impacting occupational health and safety management systems. A modified nominal group technique was used that involved 67 participants in ten nominal groups and identified the most important ideas about how OSH professionals can influence workplace safety and health decision making. The research produced themes of communication, scientific, professionalism, leadership, adaptability, and business acumen that resulted in six domains of occupational safety and health professional influence.

Complexity Theory Of Leadership And Management Information, Mark Aloysius Simpson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Implementing effective leadership strategies in management of information systems (MIS) can positively influence overall organizational performance. This study was an exploration of the general problem of failure to lead effectively in the current knowledge-based economy and the resulting deleterious effects on organizational performance and threats to continuing organizational viability. The specific problem was the lack of understanding regarding the interaction of leadership processes with MIS functions and the impact on organizational success. Managers' and employees' lived experiences of leadership in small- to medium-sized enterprises were explored, as well as how those experiences influenced the organization's adaptive responses regarding technology and …

Optimizing Workforce Performance: Perceived Differences Of Army Officer Critical Thinking Talent Across Level Of Education, Richard B. Ayers

Dissertations

The U.S. Army’s operating environment continues to become increasingly complex and unpredictable, where U.S. technological advantage continues to erode. The complexities stem from the Army’s doctrinal assumption that the future operating environment is unknown and constantly changing (Department of the Army [DA], 2014a). Diminishing technological advantage results in more reliance on soldiers’ cognitive capability, and less on high technology weapons systems (McMaster, 2015).

A review of military literature shows extensive research on the importance of Army leaders to be talented critical thinkers (Fischer, Spiker, & Riedel, 2008, 2009; Gerras, 2008; Thomas & Gentzler, 2013). Human capital literature reveals many college …

To Transform A Culture: The Rise And Fall Of The U.S. Army Organizational Effectiveness Program, 1970–1985, James Michael Young

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In the early 1970s, following a decade of social upheaval in the US and a traumatizing military defeat in Vietnam, a group of progressive army officers, armed with recent graduate degrees in the social and behavioral sciences, created a grass roots movement that soon led to the implementation of the largest organizational development program ever conducted. Wartime atrocities and chronic careerism in the Army officer corps, along with President Richard Nixon’s promise to create an All-Volunteer Force (AVF), opened up a window of opportunity for these progressives to promote transformational leadership theories grounded in humanistic psychology. In institutionalizing OD across …

Positive Workplace Dynamics: A Qualitative Exploration Of Exceptional Performance In Community College Units, R. Michael Stapleton

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

In this companion dissertation findings are reported of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. Ample prior evidence confirmed that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit.

Emerging positive organizational theory and research shows promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. Therefore, …

Appreciative Inquiry Summits And Organizational Knowledge Creation: A Social Systems Perspective, Emi Makino

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study is to develop alternative models for analyzing the systems dynamics of a large group conference format called appreciative inquiry (AI) summits. I apply Luhmann’s social systems theory to the strategizing activities of AI summits to examine how this particular format is capable of generating organizational knowledge. An AI summit is a strategic planning conference in which hundreds of internal and external stakeholders collectively design the future of the organization through structured activities. It applies the principles of AI, a consulting method used in organizational development that attends to the positive aspects of an organization …

Psychological Net Worth: Finding The Balance Between Psychological Capital And Psychological Debt, Michele L. Millard

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This multi-level study examined a proposed framework of psychological net worth that builds on the current psychological capital conceptualization of positive psychological assets provided to an organization by articulating the construct of psychological debt or those psychological liabilities in an organization. By describing psychological debt as a collection of negative attributes that occur at the individual level for individuals that hamper productivity, morale, and effectiveness in organizations, this framework of psychological net worth proposes the need to create a psychological balance sheet of psychological capital and debt. Psychological debt is described using the dimension of emotional labor, job insecurity, job …

Technological Iatrogenesis: The Manifestation Of Inadequate Organizational Planning And The Integration Of Health Information Technology., Patrick Albert Palmieri

Patrick Albert Palmieri

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) views Health Information Technology (HIT) as an essential organizational prerequisite for the delivery of safe, reliable, and cost effective health services. However, HIT presents the proverbial double-edged sword in generating solutions to improve system performance while facilitating the genesis of novel iatrogenic problems. Incongruent organizational processes give rise to technological iatrogenesis or the unintended consequences to system integrity and the resulting organizational outcomes potentiated by incongruent organizational–technological interfaces. HIT is a disruptive innovation for health services organizations but remains an overlooked organizational development (OD) concern. Recognizing the technology–organizational misalignments that result from HIT adoption is …

Safety Culture As A Contemporary Healthcare Construct: Theoretical Review, Research Assessment, And Translation To Human Resource Management., Patrick Albert Palmieri

Patrick Albert Palmieri

Through a number of comprehensive reviews, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recommended that healthcare organizations develop safety cultures in order to align delivery system processes with the workforce requirements to improve patient outcomes. Until health systems can provide safer care environments, patients remain at risk for suboptimal care and adverse outcomes. Health science researchers have begun to explore how safety cultures might act as an essential system feature to improve organizational outcomes. Since safety cultures are established via modification in employee safety perspective and work behavior, human resource professionals need to contribute to this developing organizational domain. The IOM …