Business Commons^™

Leaders Of Today Are Challenged By Generation X Workforce Retention, Joyce K. Kutin

Joyce K Kutin RN, MSN, MOL

Many organizations today are comprised of a culturally diverse workforce. In addition to organizational diversity related to gender, ethnicity, race, or religious beliefs, there are also four different generations working side by side. Today’s workforce includes the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. The Silent Generation is known for their lifestyle approach of consistency, uniformity, conformity, law and order, hard work and playing by the rules. Baby Boomers were the first generation to grow up with television; they were the first to have broad access to news, issues, advertising, and a variety of programming. Generation X …

Images Of Leadership: A New Exercise To Teach Leadership From A Social Constructionist Perspective, Christopher I. Maxwell, Anne M. Greenhalgh

Organization Management Journal

Adopting a social constructionist approach to the teaching of leadership, we asked students in a required course in management to find or create and submit a digital image that captures leadership as they see it. Our intention was to help students understand their own perceptions of leadership and to see how their perceptions compare to those of others. We have run this exercise for the last 10 years (2000–2009), and to date we have collected 5037 digital images. These images are used throughout the course to demonstrate the relevance of the subject, to enrich the discussion of leadership theories, to …

The Positive Impact Of Negative Feedback, Mark B. Richey

Theses and Dissertations

While feedback is an essential element of performance, there is little theory explaining the effects of negative feedback. Disagreement exists as to whether negative feedback is good or bad and this impacts its use. Fortunately, control theory provides scholars with an opportunity to better understand negative feedback and the conditions necessary to support its intended function. This study examined the relationship between negative feedback and task performance in a leadership development environment. This work asserts that performance is contingent on perceived feedback usefulness, such that the relationship is stronger when feedback usefulness is high and weaker when it is low. …

Revisiting The Behavioral Matrix For Leadership And Team Development, Kathleen Kane

Organization Management Journal

The Behavioral Matrix functions on a variety of levels, as: an introduction to self-awareness; a team building exercise; an ice breaker; an introduction to individual differences; or an opening exercise to a course or leadership development program. This exercise can be adapted for a variety of participants in college courses: undergraduate and graduate, as well as for executive and corporate training. Behavioral styles are categorized on a matrix with two axis. The four quadrants created by the intersection of the axis yield four different categories: Controller (formal/dominant), Supporter (informal/flow-with), Analyzer (formal/flow-with), and Promoter (informal/dominant). Specific guidelines for using the exercise …

A Comparison Of Leadership Traits Across Countries: Taiwan And United States, Chi-Shou Justin Yang

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

With the rise of new technologies, geographical and political boundaries between companies are disappearing. Managers within multinational organizations are faced with the challenge of adapting to new paradigms of leadership while leading employees who may share different backgrounds. With businesses becoming more globalized, it is important to know and understand how to lead and interact with people from other cultures. The purpose of the study is to explore and describe similarities or differences with managers from the United States and managers from Taiwan in relation to the 29 leadership traits overall as well as at individual management levels. As a …

Communication Channels Utilized By Emirati Females To Enact Leadership, K. Kathleen O'Neill

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the communication channels six Emirati females concurrently employed in organizations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in which they had supervisory responsibilities; formal, legitimate authority; and positional leadership roles recalled using with their direct reports to enact leadership. In particular, the study attempted to ascertain the reasons for the selection of communication channels when engaged in downward communication with organizational subordinates. Data were collected via three interviews with each participant over a four week period. Interviews were conducted both face-to-face and via telephone. Data were analyzed via thematic content analysis to …

Coaching Efficacy With Academic Leaders: A Phenomenological Investigation, Deanna Lee Vansickel-Peterson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this psychological phenomenological research was to understand the efficacy of life coaching from the perspective of academic leaders. To date, not one investigation or attempt has been made towards the above stated purpose. This study includes a theoretical overview and a review of the coaching literature from Socrates (469-399 BC) to current day Humanistic theory presented in part by Roger (1902-1987).

This process included data collection from five academic leaders who have been coached for at least two years. Levels of analysis of 365 statements, quote and/or comments produced finding of efficacy in life coaching with academic …

Antecedents Of Servant Leadership: A Mixed Methods Study, Curtis D. Beck

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

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the antecedents of servant leadership. The sequential explanatory research design consisted of two distinct phases: quantitative followed by qualitative. The Phase One quantitative survey collected data from 499 leaders and 630 raters from community leadership programs in the United States using the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006). During Phase Two, selected leaders from phase one (N = 12) were interviewed to explain those results in more depth. The data were coded and analyzed for possible themes. Triangulation was used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data to validate …

Doing More With Less At Ariens: A Leadership And Transformation Case Study, Jennifer K. Hartwell, George Roth

Organization Management Journal

Ariens is a family-owned manufacturer of lawn and snow equipment that designs, manufactures, sells, distributes, and supports its products in the United States, and more recently, internationally. Ariens faced and overcame a number of difficult challenges over the last decade by adopting and sustaining lean production principles throughout the organization, as well as with its suppliers and customers. This case study describes earlier business challenges, the changes that were made, how they were led, and the response of the workforce. The case study focuses on the period from 1998 to 2005, and a post-script updates what has happened up through …

Strategic Transformation Process: Toward Purpose, People, Process And Power, Elizabeth B. Davis, James Kee, Kathryn Newcomer

Organization Management Journal

Across the world, public and non-profit sector leaders face an extremely turbulent socio-political-economic environment. This environment creates additional risks and uncertainties for organizations and may hinder a leader’s ability to act strategically. Addressing these complex, constantly evolving conditions requires leaders to develop processes that involve the organization’s stakeholders and that create organizational conditions for self-generation, creativity, resilience and action planning. In this paper we provide an organizational-level, integrative framework for the strategic transformation of public and non-profit organizations to assist leaders who are committed to effective stewardship of their organizations. The Strategic Transformation Process involves an intense dialogue among organizational …

Expanding Leader Capability: An Exploratory Study Of The Effect Of Daily Practices For Leader Development, Simon Rakoff

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Leadership is, at its essence, an influence relationship between people. Leaders are often thought of as those who are able to influence people to take actions oriented toward achieving specific goals and objectives. While many books have been written, and myriad scholarly research studies conducted enumerating countless personal characteristics, qualities, and skills of the exemplary leader, little has been done to understand and convey the ways in which an individual might go about cultivating these virtues; which are often said to include charisma, empathy, communication skills, and others. Through a multiple single-subject design, this research examines the individual-level effect of …

The Great Leader Project, James P. Burton

Organization Management Journal

This paper examines a project that has been incorporated into an undergraduate Leadership and Decision Making class. The project, the Great Leader Project, focuses student attention on the fact that effective leadership is not only a function of the specific traits and behaviors of a leader, but also a function of the characteristics of the followers and the leader’s context. In this project, a leader is randomly assigned to a group of students who are charged with analyzing the leader (both in a written report and an oral debate) using the concepts discussed in class. At the end of the …

Emotional Intelligence And Leadership In Organization: A Meta-Analytic Test Of Process Mechanisms, Daniel S. Whitman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study – employing psychometric meta-analysis of 92 independent studies with sample sizes ranging from 26 to 322 leaders – examined the relationship between EI and leadership effectiveness. Overall, the results supported a linkage between leader EI and effectiveness that was moderate in nature (ρ = .25). In addition, the positive manifold of the effect sizes presented in this study, ranging from .10 to .44, indicate that emotional intelligence has meaningful relations with myriad leadership outcomes including effectiveness, transformational leadership, LMX, follower job satisfaction, and others. Furthermore, this paper examined potential process mechanisms that may account for the EI-leadership …

Lessons In Leadership: Robert Oppenheimer And The Los Alamos Laboratory, Richard C. Ringer

Organization Management Journal

The leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during WWII, serves as a vivid lesson in leadership. The recollections of those who worked with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos clearly attribute much of the success of the laboratory to Oppenheimer’s leadership. Of specific interest are: Oppenheimer's efforts in recruiting, his ability to create a sense of meaning and purpose at the laboratory, his technical competence, and his ability to generate commitment and involvement among members of the laboratory.

Lessons In Leadership: Robert Oppenheimer And The Los Alamos Laboratory, Richard C. Ringer

Organization Management Journal

The leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during WWII, serves as a vivid lesson in leadership. The recollections of those who worked with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos clearly attribute much of the success of the laboratory to Oppenheimer’s leadership. Of specific interest are: Oppenheimer's efforts in recruiting, his ability to create a sense of meaning and purpose at the laboratory, his technical competence, and his ability to generate commitment and involvement among members of the laboratory.

Effective Empowerment In Organizations, Gary A. Yukl, Wendy S. Baker

Organization Management Journal

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself.

Fostering Emotional And Social Intelligence In Organizations, Craig R. Seal, Richard E. Boyatzis, James R. Bailey

Organization Management Journal

This paper integrates diverse research to provide a theoretical model of the process whereby emotional and social intelligence (ESI) is fostered in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide: (1) an overview of the theory of ESI, including the historical contributions and current conceptualizations; (2) the impact of ESI on performance, including the research evidence and examples of organizations using ESI; (3) developing ESI competencies and a model for desirable, sustainable change; and (4) a call to action for education and management, including guidelines for fostering ESI in organizations. Unlike general intelligence or personality, the key assumption and …

Fostering Emotional And Social Intelligence In Organizations, Craig R. Seal, Richard E. Boyatzis, James R. Bailey

Organization Management Journal

This paper integrates diverse research to provide a theoretical model of the process whereby emotional and social intelligence (ESI) is fostered in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide: (1) an overview of the theory of ESI, including the historical contributions and current conceptualizations; (2) the impact of ESI on performance, including the research evidence and examples of organizations using ESI; (3) developing ESI competencies and a model for desirable, sustainable change; and (4) a call to action for education and management, including guidelines for fostering ESI in organizations. Unlike general intelligence or personality, the key assumption and …

Effective Empowerment In Organizations, Gary A. Yukl, Wendy S. Baker

Organization Management Journal

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself.

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

College of Business Faculty Publications

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, …