Business Commons^™

Understanding Humor In Female Leadership, Lillian Hollar

Honors Projects

This research investigates the relationship between humor, gender, and leadership effectiveness. To explore the relationship between these factors, I asked individuals what they thought about the relationship between humor and their experiences with female leaders. For this research, female is defined as a person who identifies as a woman. Humor is defined as the act of making jokes to elicit a response. My research focuses on the relationship between humor and female leadership as measured by individuals’ attitudes. The results show that some people believe there is a correlation between humor and female leadership, but does not prove conclusively that …

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 …

Marketing Leadership In A Knowledge Economy, Myles Bassell, Sonia Lambert

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Often the most valuable assets of a marketing driven firm are intangible assets such as a brand name, intellectual capital, and the expertise and knowledge of employees. The new breed of marketing leaders understand that it is important for employees to collaborate and be engaged and that leaders must be agents of change, creative, ethical, and global thinkers who can create learning organizations. The research reveals that organizations that are going to thrive in the knowledge economy are those that have marketing leaders who can build learning organizations, encourage diversity, and ensure employees are engaged in meaningful work.

Leveraging Positive Psychological Capital (Psycap) In Crisis: A Multiphase Framework, Ivana Milosevic, A. Erin Bass, Djordje Milosevic

Organization Management Journal

Despite recent advancements in understanding of leadership in context, there is surprisingly little insight into leadership in crisis. To provide insight into how leaders navigate crisis, we utilize historical sources of Sir Winston Churchill’s leadership during World War II to analyze which resources are used by leaders during a crisis and how they leverage these resources to lead through and out of the crisis. We discover that psychological capital (PsyCap) is a core individual resource that leaders leverage in crisis. Our findings suggest that leaders leverage PsyCap in varying ways based on the phase of the crisis. That is, different …

The Communication Constitution Of Law Enforcement In North Carolina’S Efforts Against Human Trafficking, Elizabeth Hampton Jeter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 20 years, human trafficking has gained international attention and resulted in the creation of anti-trafficking laws in the United States. Politicians, scholars, and organizations have called for more professional efforts against human trafficking and advocated for better education and awareness to identify victims and prosecute traffickers. Local law enforcement is recognized for its ideal position in communities to combat this crime. In 2011, North Carolina implemented a statewide human trafficking training program for law enforcement. This research study examines the communication constitution of law enforcement and the use of power through this training program and as officers …

Understanding Millennial, Generation X, And Baby Boomer Preferred Leadership Characteristics: Informing Today’S Leaders And Followers, Lee-Volker Cox

Dissertations

Purpose. This quantitative study’s purpose was to describe and determine the degree of difference and importance of leadership characteristics as perceived by Baby Boom, Generation X, and Millennial generational cohort followers in STEM-related U.S.-based or headquartered aerospace and computer organizations as measured by the Multigenerational Leadership Characteristics Questionnaire (MLCQ).

Methodology. This was a cross-sectional, nonexperimental, comparative and correlational quantitative, ex post facto study. A web-based MLCQ was developed after conducting an academic literature review. Participants used a 6-point Likert scale identifying the importance of 30 characteristics with 2 aggregation questions identifying the most and least important characteristics; 408 members of …

The Transformational Leadership Communication Of Socially Close And Distant Leaders On Vision Integration, Bethany Weaver

Wayne State University Dissertations

Applying the theories of transformational leadership and distributive leadership and drawing from diffusion of innovations, this work posits that transformational leaders are successful in transferring vision and subsequently transforming the organization by enacting their communication both systematically and interpersonally. From a system level perspective, transformational leaders in executive leadership roles direct their communicative attention to the key influencers in the organization. They expend their time and effort on an interpersonal level ensuring these individuals are infused with the vision of the organization, understand it, develop the skills necessary to contribute to its achievement, and are equipped and motivated to transfer …

Globalization, Mobile Technology, And Social Media's Influence On Leadership Communication Involving Millennials, Rasheedah Dunston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current research identifies effective leadership communication, which includes frequent direct conversational communication from company leaders, influences worker performance during organizational change. Social media, mobile technology, and the Millennial workforce have shifted leader communication style from purely top-down, town hall style communication to incorporate more collaborative and engaging forums. The case study addressed how globalization, social media, and mobile technology affects leadership communication and then subsequently effects worker performance as Millennials join the workforce. Qualitative data were collected from observations and interviews from a purposeful selection of 9 Millennial employees, including 2 Millennial leaders, and 8 non-Millennial leaders of a Fortune …

The "It" Factor, Ann Gallagher

Leadership Hour at Otterbein University

Gaining the Competitive Edge by Boosting Your Executive Presence

Have you ever known a leader or top executive who has got “it?” Well “it” is executive presence, and having “it” is the difference between moving up the ladder to leadership and being stuck on the middle rung. So have you got “it?”

7 Tips To Grow Your Rural Business With Purpose And Meaning, Connie I. Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative Collections

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. The purpose of this article is to help rural entrepreneurs discover ways to grow their businesses with Living with Purpose and Meaning Megatrend.

Become A Future-Focused Leader: Use Three Megatrends To Grow Your Rural Business, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative Collections

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. This article discusses three megatrends shaping the future of rural businesses:

1) The Rise of the #GigEconomy

2) Living with Purpose and Meaning

3) The Decentralized Marketplace

The article also provides coaching tips for rural entrepreneurs on how to use megatrends to grow their businesses.

While many companies are struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of change, …

Most Admired Leader/Most Admired Follower, Susan D. Baker, Erica L. Anthony, Susan A. Stites-Doe

Organization Management Journal

In introducing concepts of leadership and followership to students, this experiential exercise highlights qualities associated with the leader and follower roles. Various learning objectives guide the development of the exercise. They focus on identification of behavioral qualities possessed by both leaders and followers and on the importance of the leader-follower relationship to the organization’s achievement of goals. Theoretical underpinnings are stressed throughout. In the exercise, students individually develop a list of characteristics associated with their own most admired leader or follower and then share their lists in small groups. In plenary discussion, groups share all characteristics identified, and the instructor …

Increasing Productivity Of Retained Employees After A Workforce Reduction, Jason Michael Matyus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is an increased use of downsizing across telecommunications in the northeast United States, and organizational leaders are challenged to motivate the productivity of the retained employees. Guided by systems theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore successful downsizing strategies of a small group of organizational leaders and managers in the operations of telecommunications in the northeast United States. The study participants, chosen for their motivation success in motivation after downsizing, consisted of 2 purposefully selected business leaders who completed individual, face-to-face interviews and a focus group of 5 managers. The coding of data and word …

Communication Constructs That Influence Information Technology Project Failure, Vanessa Lajuan Ruth Mackey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective communication behavioral constructs in the workplace that lead to information technology (IT) project failure and in some cases organization failure are increasingly becoming a management concern. Despite this trend, there is little research on the communication behavioral constructs that contribute to IT project failure rates. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of business analysts, programmers, and programmer analysts pertaining to the behavioral constructs associated with effective and ineffective communication. The research questions addressed these behaviors from a conceptual framework based on communication theory, organizational information processing theory, and critical social theory. This framework …

A Mixed Methods Study: Dimensions Of Cross-Cultural Professional Success: Experiences Of Western Women Living And Working In Eastern Cultures, Tami J. France

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In this world of global interconnectedness women continue to develop cross-cultural careers and their experiences impact and influence global scholarship and practice. Through this study, the relationships, resources, and characteristics that support female expatriate success were explored, with additional focus on the role of mentor and coach relationships. The mixed-methods study was conducted using a sequential approach to research that began with one-on-one semi structured interviews with ten professional women from the United States and Canada working or formerly working in China and Hong Kong. A survey was designed based on the interview findings. Professional women from western countries working …

Correlating Coworker Relations, Employee Involvement, And Leadership With Associate Commitment In Select Healthcare Companies Using A Mixed Sequential Explanatory Design, Kimberly Ann Lee

Theses & Dissertations

Increasing patient demands and decreasing reimbursement require better efficiency and effectiveness in health care systems and, subsequently, in health care teams. These environmental and societal factors are further complicated by the complex initiatives set forth by the Affordable Care Act (2010). In this study, the researcher sought to examine and identify the strongest variables of health care teaming and to explore resulting themes through the perception of groups of health care associates. This mixed sequential explanatory design first examined the relationships between coworker relations, employee involvement, and leadership with associate commitment and with each other. An existing database of associate …

Gender And Corporate Sustainability: On Values, Vision, And Voice, Joan L. Slepian, Gwen E. Jones

Organization Management Journal

This article presents an exploratory empirical study of the role of gender in sustainability initiatives and practices in a sample of 925 men and women from American companies. We explore gender differences and their implications for sustainability values, priorities, and perceptions of sustainability-related activities in the workplace. Drawing from studies of sustainability, gender, and environmental values and action, our study finds that corporate women hold sustainability-related concerns and values to be significantly more important to them personally than do their male colleagues, and they view and evaluate their companies’ sustainability-related value priorities, initiatives, and activities from these foundational ethical and …

Engaging And Expanding Communities: Widening The Circle Of Stakeholders, Lisa Deangelis, Maureen A. Scully, Andrea Wight

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The 32 fellows in the 2013 Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) worked with community partners to investigate the theme, “Engaging and Expanding Communities".

They worked with six community partners, and identified ways to help them expand beyond their core stakeholders to a wider circle of stakeholders and broader potential impact. The fellows gave their time and professional skills to understand how to reach new business partners, new participants, new advisors, and new donors. They conducted surveys, interviews, and focus groups; explored social media options; examined best practices; and considered ways to tell powerful stories about the vitally important work of the …

Harnessing Charisma For Leadership Training, Meagan Roper

Masters Theses

Effective leadership develops followers toward objectives that focus a group's energy to engage in its task and accomplish its goals. The following study sought to understand charismatic leadership and its role in creating transformational change. Through a mixed methods case study using surveys and interviews, this researcher sought to explain the essence of charismatic leadership. Within the organization this study investigated, this meant first establishing organizational vision for a family atmosphere and guiding members on the path to achieving that vision, generating motivation and dedication to the task goals. The researcher discovered practical communicative strategies for incorporating charismatic leadership in …

National Sources Of Leadership In 3g M-Business Applications: A Framework And Evidence From Three Global Regions, Mark Lehrer, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Nir Kshetri

Nikhilesh Dholakia

Countries such as Finland and Sweden have exhibited long-established patterns of leadership in mobile telecommunications in general, while Japan's NTT DoCoMo represents an early national-level exemplar of a major m-commerce business system. The task of identifying and profiling the types of national leadership patterns likely to prevail in 3G wireless networks of Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, however, is a challenging one. This is because new technological and other forces are coming into play in the post-GSM world. In this paper, we present a framework and some evidence to show the potential national leadership patterns in 3G mbusiness applications in Asia-Pacific, …

Keep Relationships Positive Or Do Things Right: Bridging Women Leaders’ Conflict Management Strategies In Non-Profit Organizations In Taiwan And The Us, Chin-Chung Chao, Dexin Tian

Communication Faculty Publications

Purpose – The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of organizational communication and cross-cultural female leadership by examining the conflict management strategies between Taiwanese female presidents and their American counterparts in Rotary Clubs.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through field observations and 25 in-depth interviews with 14 Taiwanese female presidents and 11 American female presidents in Rotary Clubs. Theme analysis of the interpretive method was used in this research.

Findings – This study revealed that the female presidents in both cultures applied obliging and integrating strategies to handle management conflicts. Yet, due to the interference of past presidents, …

Emergency Service Leader Perceptions Of Legitimacy, John R. Fisher, R. Jeffery Maxfield

Dr. John R. Fisher

This study adds to the qualitative data showing how leaders in the emergency services perceive legitimacy and the bases of power. The study examines leader perception of the reasons their subordinates view their leadership as legitimate. Two definitions of legitimacy are presented: the traditional viewpoint of French and Raven (1959) associating legitimate power “with having status or formal job authority” and the other proposed by Maxfield (2012) in the LEAP leadership model basing legitimacy more on the characteristics leaders bring to their positions. Emergency service students interviewed leaders in their career fields, determining their view of legitimacy. They found that …

Relational Aesthetics And Emotional Relations: Leadership On Board Merchant Marine Ships, Nana Gharibyan-Kefalloniti, David Sims

Organization Management Journal

Life on board merchant marine ships is very tough, very male, and isolated from much of the rest of the world by language, culture, and usually a large expanse of sea. This article presents data that show that leadership in this environment is full of aesthetic appreciation that is often relational, arising in interaction with others’ appreciation, and also full of strongly felt emotion. Those who exercise leadership on merchant marine ships (captains, chief engineers, first officers) turn out to have strong views on the importance of understanding aesthetics and emotions in discharging their responsibilities. We illuminate these leaders’ aesthetics …

Eat More Chicken And Lead More People: Perceived Measures Of Servant Leadership At Chick-Fil-A, Michael Mishler

Masters Theses

This present study used survey data from 31 employees working at 2 Chick-fil-A locations to assess the supervisor's perceived level of supervisor's level of servant leadership and how the level (a) affects coworker's perceptions of performance, (b) job satisfaction, and (c) relational trust amongst coworkers. The participants ranged in ages from 18-50. The average age for the participants was 26. The data for the study was collected through the distribution of surveys to individuals who currently work at Chick-fil-A. The two selected locations were approximately 300 miles apart in Virginia. The study employed quantitative research methods in order to collect …

Leadership, Complex Adaptive Systems, And Equivocality: The Role Of Managers In Emergent Change, Robert J. Blomme

Organization Management Journal

When managers are confronted with the necessity to change their organization owing to a turbulent and unpredictable environment, their change efforts are often not very successful. As managers are part of the change context itself, they have to act in a way that is different from the traditional role of the administrative leader to become successful change leaders. This article attempts to redefine organizational change using complexity theory and the work of Karl Weick and Ralph Stacey as a basis. Organizational change can be defined as emergent change in complex adaptive systems and is based on self-organizational principles. One important …

Leadership And The Psychology Of Awareness: Three Theoretical Approaches To Information Security Management, Robert Holmberg, Mikael Sundstrom

Organization Management Journal

The authors argue that information security management (ISM) would benefit from studies that examine the social and psychological mechanisms that, when in evidence, generate employee awareness of information security (IS)-related issues. Properly instilled, IS awareness has the power to engender a proactive wariness beyond mechanical guidelines, however detailed. To study how awareness travels in complex organizations, the authors devise a framework to catch mechanisms grounded in psychological and sociological theories. To illustrate the framework, the authors then turn to an empirical study of a medium-sized company where they sound out managers for definitions of IS and ISM; for initiatives intended …

Leadership Tactics: Enabling Quality Social Exchange And Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Unnikammu Moideenkutty, Stuart M. Schmidt

Organization Management Journal

We examined the relationship between leaders’ positive and negative influence tactics and their subordinates’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed toward them as well as the quality of the social exchange with them in westernized Middle Eastern organizations. In this study, we used data from 202 supervisor–subordinate dyads in the Sultanate of Oman. Our findings supported the hypothesis that positive leader influence tactics would be positively associated with affirmative social exchange (represented by a combination of leader–member exchange (LMX) and trust) and subordinates’ OCB directed toward supervisors. However, while negative leader influence tactics were related negatively to social exchange, they were …

Leadership In “Confucian Asia”: A Three-Country Study Of Justice, Trust, And Transformational Leadership, Rajnandini Pillai, Jeffrey S. Kohles, Michelle C. Bligh, Melissa K. Carsten, Glen Brodowsky

Organization Management Journal

Increasing globalization and the economic uncertainty inherent in the recent financial crisis have strained the already tenuous commitment of many employees, making followers’ perceptions of justice and trust more critical now than ever before in retaining a loyal workforce. A model of leadership, organizational justice, trust, and work outcomes such as commitment and satisfaction, similar to the one tested in the US, was extended to three countries in the so-called “Confucian Asian Cluster” in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study. Data were collected from executives in: Mainland China (N¼131), Singapore (N¼246), and Taiwan (N¼99). Results indicate that …

Top-Level Communication: Behind The Scenes With Famous French Spin Doctor Jacques Seguela, Christophe Haag, Jean-Francois Coget, Tessa Melkonian

Organization Management Journal

This article explores the practice of spin doctoring through the point of view of a practitioner and possible differences between France and America in that practice. We do so by reporting and analyzing an exclusive interview with famous French spin doctor Jacques Seguela, VP of Havas, one of the world’s largest advertising and communications groups. Seguela was involved in 20 political campaigns in France and abroad, advising, among others, French President Francois Mitterrand in 1981, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack in 1999. He still advises a number of politicians and top-level executives worldwide. In the interview, Seguela talks about …

Climbing The Himalayas: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Female Leadership And Glass Ceiling Effects In Non-Profit Organizations, Chin-Chung Chao

Communication Faculty Publications

Purpose – The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of organizational communication and cross-cultural leadership by examining the relationship between cultural values and expected female leadership styles in non-profit organizations in Taiwan and the US. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 307 Rotarians in Taiwan and the US completed a survey meant to reveal their cultural values and expected female leadership styles. In addition, the method of semi-structured interviews was used to raise the participants’ consciousness of and critical reflections upon social practices regarding female leadership.

Findings – The research results are threefold. First, among the three major leadership styles, …