Business Commons^™

Leader Strategies That Increase Employee Performance In The Nigerian Public Sector, Oluwashola Martha Elias-Fatile

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low employee performance can hinder productivity in the Nigerian public sector. Leaders of public sector organizations in Nigeria who lack strategies to increase employees’ performance experience decreased productivity. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies leaders in the Nigerian public sector used to increase employee performance. Participants were four public sector leaders in Nigeria who successfully developed and implemented strategies to increase employee performance. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and internal and external documents, such as training programs, training calendars, meeting agendas, staff letters of recommendation, and staff handbooks. …

Electric Cooperative Managers’ Strategies To Enhance Organizational Commitment To Increase Employee Productivity, Michael Edward White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of effective leadership strategies contributes to a reduction in employee engagement and productivity. Managers are concerned about the lack of effective leadership strategies because it negatively affects employee engagement and productivity, reducing organizational growth. Grounded in Bass’s transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore effective leadership strategies used to enhance employee engagement and increase productivity. Five managers from an electric cooperative in Northwest Florida who implemented effective leadership strategies participated in the study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of organizational documents. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five-step approach. …

Nonprofit Leaders' Strategies For Succession Planning, Regenia R. Boykins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many nonprofit organizations lack systematic approaches to succession planning. The absence of a strategic succession plan can limit leaders' abilities to maintain organizational sustainability and fulfill the organization's mission. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders used to develop succession plans. The conceptual framework for the study was the knowledge transfer theory. Participants included 3 nonprofit leaders from an educational organization in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of internal organizational documents and publicly available data. Using an inductive content analysis, 3 themes emerged: boards of directors were critical …

Involving Patient/Family Advisors And Advisory Councils With Patient And Family Engagement, Cortney D. Forward

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care consumers are under-represented in literature when defining patient and family engagement. The proportion of people living longer is rapidly growing. Future research is needed to evaluate which strategies of patient and family engagement are most useful in real-world health care settings for patient and families. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of patient/family advisors working within patient family advisory councils at an academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. The conceptual framework is based on Greenleaf's servant leadership and Bass's transformational leadership. The research questions examined how patient/family advisors describe patient and …

Surgical Perioperative Leadership: The Association Between Leadership Style And Team Job Satisfaction, Corey Louise Jamison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

The perioperative operating room (OR) is a highly complex, fast-paced environment where countless transactions must be executed with efficiency, speed, and accuracy, and where mistakes of any kind could lead to adverse patient outcome, injury, or death. The surgeon, as leader of the procedure and the OR team, sets the overall climate of the OR and determines how willing (or unwilling) team members are to speak up about potential errors or unsafe patient conditions. This exploration of the relationship between perioperative surgeon leadership style and OR team member job satisfaction fills a gap unaddressed in the literature using items …

Frontline Managers' Perceptions And Lived Experiences In The Execution Of Diversity Management Programs, James O. Rodgers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For over 30 years, organizations have engaged in programs to address the growing presence of diverse populations in their ranks, and researchers have attempted to identify and quantify a link between diversity and enterprise performance. The problem was a lack of understanding of how organizations benefit from increased diversity and the role of frontline managers in that process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address the research question aimed at the perceptions and lived experiences of frontline managers and to gain insights about how they are navigating the challenges of increased diversity to enhance their ability to produce …

Critical Success Factors In Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation In U.S. Manufacturing, Justin Goldston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational leaders have increasingly turned to enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, also known as decision-support systems, to make their firms' operational, tactical, and strategic processes more efficient and effective in the changing global marketplace. High failure rates in ERP systems implementations make these projects risky, however. Most prior research on critical success factors for conventional ERP implementation has been on large enterprises, resulting in a gap in knowledge on these factors in the small and medium enterprises that constitute the majority of U.S. employer firms. A qualitative modified Delphi study with an expert panel of U.S. manufacturing consultants and 3 …

Senior-Level African American Women, Underrepresentation, And Career Decision-Making, Marquita Barron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2015, 0.2% of African American women were in chief executive officer (CEO) roles and 1.2% were in executive or senior-level roles within a 500 Standard & Poor's (S&P) organization. African American women's lived experiences are underutilized by organizational and human resources (HR) leaders in the development and implementation of recruitment, talent development, diversity and inclusion, and succession planning strategies. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand lived experiences regarding career advancement decision-making strategies for senior-level African American women. The conceptual framework used was social cognitive career theory (SCCT), which addresses the 'what' and 'how' of career …

Management Of Virtual Offices, Cheryl Donaldson Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many organizational leaders manage virtual employees without the specific training and experience required for leading a virtual organization, which can lead to billions of dollars in lost productivity. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies managers used to manage a virtual office. The target population consisted of 4 managers located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who had a minimum of 2 years of experience managing virtual offices. The conceptual framework for this study was social exchange theory. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using …

Exploring How Women On Corporate Boards Cope With Gender Bias, Sharon Roberts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gender bias may cause organizations to lose the values that women bring to the workplace in leadership positions and may thwart women from reaching their personal goals. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive multiple case study was to explore gender bias and its influence on women on corporate boards, their roles, appointment, and the need to develop coping strategies to deal with gender bias to execute their roles. The conceptual lens used was Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory to explain the basis for intergroup discrimination, and Eagly and Karau's role congruity theory of prejudice to explain the exclusion of …

Strategies To Increase Employee Engagement In Long-Term Residential Agencies, Corey Fair

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disengaged employees adversely affect organizational strategies to promote higher standards of care and quality of life for long-term residential patients. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders use to engage employees. The targeted population for this study was the senior leaders of a long-term residential care agency located in South Carolina who had initiated strategies and practices to engage employees. Kahn's theory of personal engagement and disengagement was the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured face-to-face interviews with open-ended questions, and the long-term residential agency's employee handbook, training agenda, and incentive …

Leadership, Organizational Turnarounds, And Gil Hodges's 1969 New York Mets, John Rebecchi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The impact of the 2008 global financial crisis, shifting market demands, and prolonged underperformance has forced organizations to devise and implement turnaround strategies or risk business failure. Researchers have pointed to the importance of leadership in the turnaround process, yet there are a limited number of research studies identifying characteristics of successful turnaround leaders. Using the full range leadership model, the purpose of this nonexperimental, ex post facto study was to examine the leadership style of Gil Hodges, manager during the 1969 New York Mets successful turnaround season and explore the organization's culture and climate. Data were collected using the …

Factors That Encourage Unethical Practices By Organizational Leaders In Nigeria, Ebenezer Bankole Odole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underlying concern for this research was the increasing numbers of reported culpability of organizational leaders' involvement in unethical practices, and the lack of previous literature on organizational factors that encourage unethical practices by organizational leaders in Nigeria. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the factors that encourage unethical practices by organizational leaders in Nigeria despite having ethical leadership skills and knowledge. This study was grounded in the framework of moral development theory by Lawrence Kohlberg, also known as the cognitive developmental theory of moralization. Data were gathered from document reviews from public library …

Strategies To Implement Succession Planning In A Nonprofit, Talecia Y. Parks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Surveys of nonprofit organizations conducted between 2004 and 2014 showed that 74% of the 6,923 leaders surveyed did not have a succession plan. In this qualitative single case study, the human capital theory was used as a guide to explore strategies used to implement a succession plan by 3 nonprofit leaders in a single nonprofit organization in a large metropolitan city in Southeastern Georgia. The participants were selected based on their implementation of succession plan strategies and geographical location. Semistructured interviews and document review were used to collect the data, which were analyzed using Yin's 5-step approach. Three themes emerged: …

Ensuring Quality Consumer Service Encounters, Katina Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counterproductive employee behaviors are inevitable, unpredictable, and widespread in the U.S. retail industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore U.S. midlevel retail leadership strategies used to prevent and correct employee behaviors that sabotage quality service encounters. Gilbert's behavior engineering model, which links employee behaviors to performance, was the framework used in this study. The data-collection process comprised 7 semistructured interviews with midlevel retail leaders, online company documentation, and researcher observations and assisted in achieving methodological triangulation. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses, while Moustakas' modified van Kaam method was used to guide the data …

Organizing To Support Wounded, Ill, And Injured Marine Veterans, Thomas Allan Gorry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan fade from headline news, the effect remains a national concern for the 2.6 million post-9/11 veterans. Their hardships form the basis for this qualitative case study, which analyzed the organizational change effort at the Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR). This organization, specifically formed by the U.S. Marine Corps, instituted the necessary programs to meet the needs of Marine wounded warriors. However, the needs of these warriors are different now, and the WWR must adapt to remain relevant. The transformative change model presented by Anderson and Anderson formed the conceptual framework for this …

Using Succession Strategies To Increase Workplace Productivity, Dayton Dave Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Approximately 70% of small and medium-sized enterprises fail due to a lack of effective leadership succession planning. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that some business leaders in the manufacturing sector in Jamaica used to implement leadership succession plans. Data were collected from semistructured interviews conducted with 5 business leaders who participated in the succession strategies of a manufacturing organization in Jamaica. Data were analyzed according to Yin's 5-step process. Analysis of data collected from interview sessions and review of company documentation were used to conduct methodological triangulation to validate the findings. Five themes …

Leadership Strategies To Retain Key Employees, Keith Reginald Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of key employees protects a firm's investment in its human resources. Employee retention is an issue in the insurance sector, particularly among sales employees. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore leadership strategies used by insurance sales managers to retain key employees. Herzberg's dual factor theory and Adams's equity theory were used to explore insurance sales managers' insights into leadership strategies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 insurance sales managers in southern California to elicit the strategies they used to maintain their key salespeople. Data were analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method. Seven themes emerged from …

Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand understanding of leadership behaviors and their influence on follower engagement. Researchers have shown that engagement is a predictor of retention and organizational performance. Leadership theory and the conceptual framework of worker engagement were the study's theoretical anchors. Despite a proliferation of leadership studies, engagement antecedents are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to narrow the gap in the literature by examining the extent to which there may be a relationship between college instructors' behaviors and student engagement. Although not traditionally regarded as frontline leaders, extant leadership literature affirmed college …

Industrial Voluntary Consensus Standards – A Process Under Threat, Joel Blumenthal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The world relies heavily on industrial voluntary consensus standards to serve public interests through the development of uniform and harmonized social and economic procedures. The research problem focused on generating suggestions for improving collaborative practices between U.S.-based accredited and unaccredited standards development organizations that create voluntary consensus standards. The research centered on assessing the level of consensus among experts regarding what actions may be conducive to improving collaborative practices through the lenses of stakeholder and institutional theory. This modified 3-round qualitative Delphi study began with open-ended questions in Round 1 and progressed towards consensus in Rounds 2 and 3 using …

Private Sector Defense Contractor Management Strategies For Contract Fulfillment, Rachel Stallworth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Private sector U.S. defense contractors failing to meet contract objectives experience lower profitability, pay costly penalties, and risk survivability. Using the theory of contracts, the purpose of this multiple case study was to the explore strategies that some leaders of U.S. defense contracting businesses use to meet all the contract terms with the U.S. Department of Defense. Data were collected from 5 leaders of private sector defense contracting companies in northwest Florida through face-to-face, semistructured interviews and through a review of operations manuals, quality assurance policy manuals, and archived U.S. Department of Defense contracts. During data analysis using Yin's 5-step …

Virtual Worker Perceptions Of Retention In The Financial Services Industry, Shelly Zaldivar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the need for cost-efficient, talented teams continues to grow, leaders often consider the use of globally dispersed teams, also defined as virtual teams. Despite the apparent benefits, the unique needs of virtual team members are often overlooked in general leadership, change management, and retention discussions. Leaders need to understand contributing factors to the attrition of virtual workers. The foundation for this research included theories of employee retention and change management. The research question for this qualitative phenomenological study focused on the lived experiences of current or former virtual financial services workers regarding job retention. Participants were chosen using purposeful …

Funding Allocations Strategies For Improving Nonprofit Organizations' Effectiveness And Sustainability, Jaime L. Friedel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizational leaders (NOLs) face laws that require increased transparency and more oversight on funding allocations. Grounded by a conceptual framework of Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory, Burns's transformational leadership theory, and Greenleaf's servant leadership theory, this multiple case study was developed to explore the leadership strategies of NOLs who implemented requirements of New York's Non-Profit Revitalization Act to increase funding allocations to support fulfillment of the organizational mission and achieve sustainability. The study population comprised NOLs from the Northeastern United States, who implemented requirements of the Non-Profit Revitalization Act requirements. Face-to-face semistructured interviews with 5 NOLs, a review …

Strategies Hospitality Leaders Use To Reduce Employee Turnover, Borislav Perev

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover is a global problem with adverse effects on financial performance and sustainability of organizations. In the hospitality industry, employee turnover levels increased to 58.8%, and the associated cost of turnover may be more than 100% of an employee's yearly wage, with a total loss of over $25 billion a year. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by hospitality leaders in the southeastern United States to reduce employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory. Purposeful selection of participants included leaders with experience in developing and implementing strategies for reducing employee …

Barriers To Women Leadership Of Small And Medium Enterprises In Nigeria, Roseline Iruoma Ojinta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Management literature lacks a deeper understanding of barriers to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) leadership among women entrepreneurs in Nigeria focusing on women leaders' daily business experiences, their agency, and their entrepreneurial context. Women in Nigeria seeking promotion to leadership roles in SMEs continue to look for answers on how to surmount the multiple barriers hampering their leadership aspirations. To address this need, this study was designed to explore how women entrepreneurs in Nigeria describe barriers to SME leadership through narratives about their daily business experiences, their agency, and their entrepreneurial context. The women's entrepreneurial development in Nigeria, the Nigerian …

Leadership Strategies For Enhancing Employee Engagement, Ada Vanessa Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the food manufacturing industry, employee engagement is critical to the survival of organizations because engaged employees increase productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Using the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that leaders in the food-manufacturing industry in the northeastern region of the United States use to engage employees. Participants were purposefully selected based upon their experience implementing effective employee engagement strategies. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 7 food manufacturing leaders and the review of organizational documents on employee engagement. Data were analyzed using inductive coding of phrases, word frequency …

Leadership Satisfaction And Turnover Intention Among Public Sector Employees, Marcia Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The changing demographics of the federal workforce require managers to understand generational differences in experiences, values, and leadership preferences that can negatively impact an agency's ability to fulfill its mission. There is a gap in the literature regarding generational cohort perceptions of employee satisfaction with leadership and turnover intention in the Small Business Administration (SBA). The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine the generational perceptions of SBA employees regarding leadership satisfaction and intent to leave the organization within the next year. Strauss and Howe's generational theory served as the theoretical framework. This non-experimental quantitative study used the …

Leadership, Perceptions, And Turnover In Fire And Emergency New Zealand, Mark Anthony Long

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fire and Emergency New Zealand experiences voluntary turnover at local volunteer fire brigades. The purpose of the quantitative component of this sequential explanatory study was to examine the relationship between volunteer chief fire officers' leadership styles, perceptions of organizational support, and voluntary firefighter turnover; the purpose of the qualitative component was to explore strategies that volunteer chief fire officers used to reduce volunteer firefighter turnover. The population for the quantitative study was 21 volunteer chief fire officers, and the population for the qualitative study was 6 volunteer firefighters. The theoretical frameworks that grounded this study were transformational leadership theory (TL) …

Experiences Of Correctional Principals Of Teacher Attrition In Juvenile Correctional Facilities, Sherese Moton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of teachers in correctional organizations is an ongoing challenge. A correctional education setting is a nontraditional unstable academic setting where teacher turnover is one third within the first 5 years. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of leaders in correctional organizations who are challenged with finding ways to reduce teacher turnover in a juvenile correctional facility. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Using purposive sampling, 6 former juvenile correctional principals participated in the study. Data were collected through systematic open-ended semistructured interviews with 4 occurring via …

A Grounded Theory Of Emergent Leadership In Nonhierarchical Virtual Teams, Randall Fleming

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A Grounded Theory of Emergent Leadership in Nonhierarchical Virtual Teams

by

Randall David Fleming

MS, Colorado Technical University, 2008

BA, The Ohio State University, 1984

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Management

Walden University

November 2018