Training and Development Commons^™

Leadership Behaviors, Practices, And Sytles In Mergers And Acquisitions In The U.S. Technology-Based Organizations: A Qualitative Study, Susan E. Glover

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Leaders guide and shape the success of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to meet an organization’s goals and objectives. In this study, I explored the role of leadership during M&A and the effect of different leadership behaviors, practices, and styles (BPS) on different organizational cultures during M&A. This study explored the contribution of leadership BPS on M&A outcomes within an organization with a robust and innovative culture. I focused on the human capital investment strategies of M&A integration concerning different leadership BPS utilized to improve the success rate of M&A goals and objectives. I concentrated on technology-based organizations because they are …

Human Resource Development Professionals’ Competencies And Career Success In The Service Industry: A Qualitative Study, Cheryl Deponte

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore HRD professionals’ competencies leading to career success through an examination of their lived experiences of working in the service industry and to provide implications for HRD research and practice. Two research questions guiding this inquiry included: How do HRD professionals in the service industry experience career success? And how do HRD professionals in the service industry define and experience competencies leading to career success? To answer the two research questions, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 HRD professionals in the service industry. I then transcribed and coded the interview data and identified …

Campus-Level Teacher Turnover In Texas Public Elementary Schools: An Examination Of The Impact Of Leadership Factors And School Demographics Using Heirarchical Linear Modeling, Amy Welch Baskin

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The 2022 Texas Teacher Survey conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation reported that in the past year 77% of public school teachers in Texas considered leaving their positions or the teaching profession, an increase of 19% since 2020. A secondary finding was that the presence or absence of administrative support was a key factor in the decision making about whether to leave. Teachers are the backbone of the U.S. education system which exists to educate future generations of citizens and leaders, and the teacher–student relationship is one of the most important school-related factors to student learning and success (Ronfeldt et …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Employee Engagement And Performance In The Teleworking Context In The U.S. Public Sector: A Phenomenological Case Study, Elizabeth Nesuda

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The global shift to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined work environments and created challenges and opportunities for the public sector. This study addressed a significant gap in the existing literature by exploring the relationship between employee engagement and performance in the context of COVID-19. This study explores employee engagement and performance in teleworking environments within the federal public sector. This study adopted a phenomenological case study design focused on understanding the experiences of public sector employees who shifted to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research and interview questions were developed to uncover employee engagement and performance experiences in …

Evaluating Healthcare Student Learning Performance During The Initial Year Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study, Maria D. Garcia-Villarreal

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a mass interruption to daily life lasting almost an entire academic year. Return to normalcy was hard won and phased over the following academic year. Neither time-period offered “traditional” learning experiences in academic institutions. The extent to which the operational shut-down affected academic institutions and their learners is just now beginning to be elucidated. Human resource development (HRD) is uniquely positioned to apply established and newly developed theories and applications to the study of this phenomenon. One particular case lends itself to observation. A major academic medical center launched a technology-driven state-of-the-art simulation education center mere …

Workplace Fun For Employee Engagement: A Function Of Organizational Culture?, Lacey Logan

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Workplace fun is an organizational phenomenon intended to bring cheerfulness and joviality to employees’ daily work-related interactions. Because of its uplifting nature, workplace fun is prevalent in numerous organizations. A great number of employees have experienced some aspect of having fun at work. This actuality makes the concept of having fun at work familiar to most employees. HRD practitioners use workplace fun to engage employees. However, research has associated workplace fun with employee disengagement as well. Organizational culture potentially explains the different effects of workplace fun on employee engagement. Organizations with clan cultures have a family-like feel. Contrastingly, hierarchy cultures …

Organizational Silofication: Implications In Grouping Experts For Organizational Performance, Dave Silberman, Rob E. Carpenter, Elena Cabrera, Jasmine Kernaleguen

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper offers that organizational underachievement sourced to workplace expertise is a product of bounded perspective constructed by the agency of expertise. Embedded in any bounded perspective is limitations to what can be seen. Organizations that seek to leverage expertise solely on their agency risk organizational silofication. We conclude that recognizing organizational silofication is an opportunity for organizations to address organizational underachievement by addressing the perspectives that create the hidden impediments limiting their overall potential.

Effect Of Training Opportunity And Job Satisfaction On Turnover Intentions Among Gen X And Gen Y, Regin Justin

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Employee turnover costs billions of dollars for companies every year, and it has been increasing over the years. Multiple studies have explored the different antecedents that affect turnover intentions. However, there has been little focus on the effects of training opportunities on turnover intentions. This study examines the impacts of training opportunity on job satisfaction and turnover intention among the generation X and generation Y cohorts in the United States. A total of 252 respondents completed questionnaires that assessed the internal elements of the model among Amazon mturk workers. Data from the measurements of training opportunity, job satisfaction, and turnover …

Mentoring Early Career Teachers Under Covid-19 Pandemic In The State Of Texas: A Phenomenological Case Study, Sonya H. Niazy

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the mentoring relationship, processes, and outcomes from the mentee’s perspective in the K-12 sector and how this understanding changes the organization’s role in facilitating these relationships. The framework for the study was based on the theoretical foundations of social exchange theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen first- and second- year teachers who were participating in a formal mentoring program at a Texas school district during the 2020-2021 school year. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and 26 themes were identified in the resulting data. These …

The Effects Of Perceived Organizational Justice Of Inclusive Talent Management Practices On Employee Work Effort, Thomas Kramer

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Talent management is an immature but growing topic for both researchers and practitioners. The academic literature identifies two conflicting approaches to talent management which vary in their level of inclusivity of employees. Researchers have concentrated on the exclusive approach, which identifies a small percentage of the workforce eligible for talent management initiatives. Through the lens of organizational justice, these studies have evaluated the individual and organization-level outcomes of the exclusive approach but have neglected the outcomes for those not selected for inclusion. This study sought to empirically assess a theoretical model that hypothesized a moderated mediation effect of organizational justice …

Testing The Modality Effect In An Online Training Of Virtual Workers: An Experiment Inspired By Social Distancing, Janice Lambert Chretien

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, and within 10 days, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that all 50 U.S. states had confirmed cases of the virus.

Facing a national mandate of social distancing, most U.S. workers needed training on how to use tools and technologies required to do their jobs virtually. As a result, HRD professionals needed to quickly transition their practice onto virtual platforms with the most effective strategies for delivering learning content. Research findings have evidenced the presence of the modality effect, which states that learning …

The Impact Of Work Alienation On The Relationship Between Person-Organization Fit And Organizational Citizenship Behavior In Higher Education, Andrew R. Krouse

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions are an established system for individual development and knowledge transfer. Recently, this system has come under pressure to implement additional oversight practices previously associated with business. These business practices, including centralization, are recognized as sources that include elements of work alienation (WA). This study investigated the impact of WA on the relationship between person-organization fit (POF) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and sought to determine if a statistically significant relationship existed between these constructs. Qualtrics®, an online survey tool, was used to collect the data for this study, and IBM® SPSS® Amos 25.0 was used to perform …

Psychological Well-Being During Retirement Transition And Adjustment For Southern Baptist Pastors: A Phenomenological Multi-Case Study, Tresa Gamblin

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological multi-case study was to understand the psychological well-being experience of Southern Baptist pastors during transition and adjustment to retirement. Questions centered around their upbringing, their calling experience, their education, career progression in churches, reasons for retiring, preparation for retirement, experience after retiring, and how identity and purpose may or may not have been related to their role as pastor. The goal of the study was to investigate these experiences to provide rich data and analysis that is missing in current literature.

The research was based on two theories: continuity theory and role theory. The study …

Examining The Mediating Effect Of Job Crafting On The Relationship Between Managerial Coaching And Job Engagement In The Skilled Trades, Jennifer H. Duplessis

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Employee engagement continues to gain considerable attention owing to its positive correlation with numerous desired work-related outcomes (Saks, 2019; Shuck et al., 2017). Engagement in one’s job has become of particular interest in industry sectors experiencing shortages, such as the skilled trades (Bilginsoy, 2003). The skilled trades have reportedly been the most difficult segment of the employee market to staff globally year over year (Schwartz, 2015; Wright, 2013).

As organizations wish to improve engagement in one’s job, they have looked to developmental antecedents of engagement (Ellinger, Musgrove, & Ellinger, 2012). Managerial coaching has been supported as having a significant direct …

Examining Managerial Coaching Dyads And The Developmental Learning Outcomes For Managers Serving As Coaches And The Reverse Coaching Behaviors Of Their Subordinate Coachees, Beth Adele

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Scholars and practitioners have acknowledged that managerial coaching has been linked to positive outcomes for the coachee and organization and have begun to examine the dual developmental outcomes for managerial coaches as well as the concept of reverse managerial coaching. The purpose of this study was to explore how the facilitation of learning (coaching) occurs within manager/employee dyads, such that the behaviors, beliefs, and learning outcomes for the “manager as coach” are identified when exemplary managers are engaged in coaching their respective employees. It also explored the behaviors, beliefs, and learning outcomes of managers’ respective employees, who may have also …

Success And Failure Rates, Factors, And Alignment With Change Models: A Meta-Ethnographic Analysis Of Planned Organizational Change Qualitative Case Study Literature, Diana Mcburnett

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The literature on planned organizational change contains numerous theories and models proposed and many references to success and failure rates and factors. However, the literature does not currently provide a synthesized body of evidence on such rates and factors and the effectiveness of specific models. The literature was reviewed to provide a brief historical overview of organizational change, evidence on change success and failure rates and factors, and an overview of contingency and paradox theories which provided the theoretical underpinnings for the study. This study provided a meta-ethnographic synthesis of 298 articles reporting qualitative case studies of planned organizational change …

Organizational Cognition As Intervened By Organizational Support And Engagement On Medical Coders’ Exhibition Of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, David W. Conley

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Informed by the social cognitive theory and social exchange theory, this study examined medical coders’ evaluation of organizational cognition in the presence or perception of organizational support and organization engagement and their resultant behavior. The reciprocal exchanges present in the employee and organization relationship are identified, as positive valuations facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes. Specifically, the examination of cognitions, implicit employee judgments, and behaviors provide a framework to examine the state of engagement and its related outcomes. The use of perceived organizational support and organization engagement as intervening variables provided insight into the complex relationships between medical coding employees’ evaluation of …

Effects Of The Dimensions Of Quality Of Work Life On Turnover Intention Of Millennial Employees In The U.S., Julie Lewis

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Voluntary employee turnover, or quitting jobs, in the U.S. has been steadily increasing since 2009. This study investigated the relationships among the dimensions of quality of work life (QWL), job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention among millennial employees in the U.S. It sought to determine whether statistically significant relationships existed among these variables. The study tested a model of the relationships among the aforementioned constructs using structural equation modeling with the IBM^® SPSS^® Amos 25.0 (SPSS) software package.

Using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), 339 respondents drawn from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) were examined. Results showed that job …

Examining The United Kingdom’S Soft Law Approach For Women On Boards With Regard To Gender Diversity And The Gender Pay Gap: A Regression Discontinuity Design, Silvana Chambers

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to remove barriers that hinder women’s advancement in the workplace, legislators have adopted gender quotas and targets to increase the numbers of women on boards (WOB). In 2011, the Davies Review rolled out the guidelines of the United Kingdom’s soft law approach for increasing the proportion of WOB in the largest publicly listed organizations. Promoted by advocates and proponents of WOB initiatives, the assumption that inequality is perpetuated by men and not women, has resulted in the expectation that WOB initiatives are a top-down approach to achieve gender equality in the workforce. This study examined the effects …

Exploring Workplace Spirituality In The Context Of Work Teams, Nandini O. Mcclurg

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The topic of spirituality has been widely explored by scholars, researchers, and organizations in an effort to understand human responses to life endeavors and to individuals’ relationships to society at large and to work environments more specifically (Giacalone & Jurkiewicz, 2010a, 2010b). Spirituality has been associated with a person’s desire to perform meaningful work and to feel connected with the community that is being served through this work (Chalofsky, 2003; Fagley & Adler, 2012). Since most adults spend a large amount of their productive hours at work pursuing meaning and purpose in their jobs (Madden, 2015), the concept of workplace …

Examining The Relationships Between Employee Engagement, Job Satisfaction, Job Burnout, And Turnover Intention Of Student Services Employees In Higher Education, Susan Grove

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between engagement, job satisfaction, job burnout, and turnover intention as provided by higher education student services employees. This study addressed the gap in the literature: the lack of information regarding the experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of student services employees and examined the relationships among employee engagement, job satisfaction, job burnout, turnover intention by analyzing the responses received from members of the electronically mailed (e-mail) survey that contains a combination of three main survey instruments to review employee engagement, job burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention.

Six research hypotheses for the …

Testing The Structural Invariance Of Affective Commitment On Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior Across Clan And Hierarchy Organizational Culture Types, Julia A. Fulmore

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) is concerned with employees’ engagement in unethical conduct for the benefit of the organization that is immoral and/or illegal. Research findings on motivators of UPB show some contradictory findings that need to be resolved. Considering the empirical findings that clan culture discourages unethical behavior while hierarchy culture encourages unethical behavior along with the contradicting empirical findings between affective commitment and UPB based on samples with different cultures, this study sought to empirically assess the contradictory findings in the literature by testing the structural invariance of affective organizational commitment on UPB based on the two organizational of …

Testing The Measurement Invariance And Latent Mean Differences Of Data From The Employee Perceptions Of Supervisor/Line Manager Coaching Behavior Measure Between Virtual And Traditional Employees From Generation X And Y, Bryn Hammack-Brown

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the workforce is comprised of multiple generations, of which Generation X and Y are the largest, working in a variety of arrangements. These include working from home, satellite centers, on the road, collaboration offices, and brick and mortar locations. As information and communication technology advances, more opportunities for individuals to supplement or change their working environments are available. Along with these different modes of work comes occasions and challenges for managers to demonstrate coaching behaviors toward employees who work alongside them on an on-going basis, and simultaneously to those who are removed from the face-to-face interactions and instead rely …

Examining Work-Life Balance Of Female Faculty In Chair Roles At Medical Academic Institutions: A Phenomenological Study, Stephanie N. Dunn

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore the work-life balance of women in Chair positions within medical academic institutions and to research their ability to balance roles at work and home. The study wanted to investigate the impact of a prestigious leadership position on their lives. The study explored the reason for their success in such a male-dominated position and how they obtained such a position. The women who participated in this study gave accounts for their triumphs and disappointments during the data collection phase of the study.

This research was a phenomenological study based on three theoretical …

Testing An Adapted And Integrated Model Of Motivation To Lead And Intention To Apply, Mandolen Mull

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Leader development is a growing field of study within the leadership and human resource development (HRD) fields. As such, various studies have evaluated the traits, skills, and situational influences that contribute to an individual’s likelihood of becoming a leader. However, often researchers fail to examine an individual’s intention to apply for a leadership position within their examination of an individual’s leadership potential. Although prior research has examined the motivation to lead (MTL), very little research has examined the relationship between an individual’s MTL and their intention to apply for a leadership position. Furthermore, no research to date has evaluated the …

Reliability Generalization For The Motivated Strategies For Learning Questionnaire: A Meta-Analytic View Of Reliability Estimates, David F. Holland, Amanda Kraha, Linda R. Zientek, Kim Nimon, Julia A. Fulmore, Ursula Y. Johnson, Hector F. Ponce, Mariya Gavrilova Aguilar, Robin K. Henson

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

A reliability generalization meta-analysis was performed to explore the relationship between study factors and levels of alpha reliability for the 15 subscales of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ has been widely adapted over the past 25 years to investigate the role of motivation and strategies in learning, primarily at the postsecondary level. A literature search from the years 1991 to 2015 yielded 295 peer-reviewed journal articles and 1,369 alpha reliability coefficients. Articles were coded for six potential moderator study variables. A novel varying coefficient (VC) model was adopted to determine average reliabilities across studies for each …

Exploring Spirituality And Affective Commitment As Antecedents To Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Elva A. Resendez

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of my study is to investigate the relationships between workplace spirituality, individual spirituality, affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. My literature review resulted in the following research question: If workplace spirituality and individual spirituality are inherent in organizations and individuals, what is their relationship to employees’ workplace behavior? Three testable hypotheses are examined in hopes of identifying and developing practical and scholarly applications of OCB’s and developing the roles of individual spirituality and workplace spirituality as distinct assets in the general business culture: (1) the moderating effect of workplace spirituality in the relationship between individual spirituality and …

Toward A Model Of Strategic Human Capital Management Using The Balanced Scorecard - An Exploratory Case Study, Jeffrey A. Risinger

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The issue of strategic human capital management has been studied and written about extensively over the last 20 years. Much of the focus of this work has addressed the need for internal human resources organizations to transition from transactional, processing organizations to more strategic partner functions addressing the key business needs of the organization. The vast majority of the research addressing this transition has focused on the professional characteristics of senior human resource executives. Whereas the literature presents anecdotal evidence of progress, there also exists consensus support for the idea that very little systemic movement has occurred at the organizational …

Exploring Grit In The Experiences Of Higher Education Development Officers: A Phenomenological Study, Jessica A. Mccann

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to gain insight into experiences of grit by development officers in higher education as they pursued their goals and processed their disappointments in the course of soliciting major gifts. Three main domains of literature underpinned the research: (a) motivation theory, (b) goal-setting theory, and (c) the grit model. An extensive literature review revealed little is known about how individuals make sense and assign meaning to their experiences of passion and perseverance, and less is known about how development officers in higher education foundations and institutionally-related nonprofit organizations decide how to set and pursue goals …

Understanding Antecedents To Long-Term Sustainability For Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Phenomenological Study Of Entrepreneurs, Randall Trent Stevenson

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the antecedents to long-term sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures through successful entrepreneurs’ perspectives of the roles and importance of entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, abilities, and attitudes, as well as external factors. This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach. The participants were comprised of entrepreneurs from the north and northeast regions of Texas who have launched and managed businesses that have continued operations for 10 years or more.