Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

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 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 …

Intercultural Coworker Relationships (Icors) In The Global Workplace: A Grounded Theory Study, Jennifer L. Morton

Dissertations

Previous research supports what employees intuitively sense: peers make the place (Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008; Schneider, 1987). Extant research suggests coworker relationships have critical influence on outcomes ranging from turnover (Felps, Mitchell, Hekman, Lee, Holtom, & Harman, 2009) to creativity (Homan, Buengeler, Eckhoff, van Ginkel, & Voelpel, 2015) to organizational commitment (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002) to employee health and well-being (Heaphy & Dutton, 2008). Despite the increase of Intercultural COworker Relationships (ICORs), particularly in multinational firms in the technology industry, research has yet to examine what defines coworker relationship quality in the presence of national cultural differences. In other words, …

Employee Longevity In Difficult Environments, Loretta Tolliver

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Worker tenure in this country averages 4.5 years (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Stressful work environments cause loss productivity and profitability to companies and a diminished well-being and ill health to employees. Why, then, do some employees remain working in difficult environments despite the dangers to health? This phenomenological study researches reasons employees continued to work for longer than five years in difficult environments. Discussed are impacts of difficult environments on employees and the negative health repercussions experienced. These negative effects are also experienced in organizations through turnover, lower productivity, and reduced profitability. This study incorporates factors of toxic environments on …

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 …

Examining Managerial Leadership Behavior, Perceived Proximity, And Job Satisfaction In Distributed Work Arrangements, David D. Macauley

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

More than 70% of all employers and managers utilize flexible or distributed work arrangements (Greenfield, 2017; World at work, 2017). Yet, it appears that few organizations are prepared to manage the relationship elements that come with a distributed workforce (Boss, 2017; Miller & Campell, 2013). Using structural equation modeling and data from 838 participants, the study examined the relationship between managerial behavior, perceived proximity, and job satisfaction within organizations that utilize distributed work. The results indicate that managerial behavior has a positive relationship with perceived proximity and employee job satisfaction and supports previous literature showing perceived proximity to be more …

An Exploration Of Barriers To Integration Of Strategic Human Resource Development In The United States Fire Service: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Chief Officers' Perceptions, Jon D. Musgrave

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Trends in the current human resource development (HRD) literature emphasize the role that integration of strategic human resource development (SHRD) practices has on organizational effectiveness (Garavan, 1991; Garavan, 2007; Gilley & Gilley, 2003; Gilley & Maycunich, 2000; Ruona & Gilley, 2009; Wright, 2007). The United States Fire Service currently views human resource development as a management practice to be utilized by the chief officer to address vocational or technical skills (Stowell, 2004). This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) qualitative study explored the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of chief officers in the United States Fire Service to further understanding of barriers to …

A Case Study Of Congregational And Search Committee Desired Leadership Qualities In A Senior Pastor, David Fowler

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study that utilized an inductive qualitative research approach was to uncover desired leadership qualities in a senior pastor. Membership numbers are dwindling for religious organizations as the landscape of the United States becomes more secular. Studies reveal that negative issues with ineffective leadership within these organizations impact congregational health and membership decline. Within the context of leadership’s futility, studies need to be conducted to identify qualifiers of effective leadership in religious organizations, as a lack of research has been conducted concerning religious organizational leaders. Specifically, churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative conglomerate of …

A Cross-Cultural Examination Of The Effect Of Employer Support On Employee Productivity, Shawn Tuman, Haley Lipton

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this creative, collaborative, capstone project is to conduct a cross-cultural examination of the effect of employer support on employee productivity by compiling, examining, and synthesizing conclusions from existing research. In a world of growing globalization and technological innovation, the speed of productivity is often the cornerstone that differentiates successful businesses from unsuccessful businesses, providing a competitive advantage to the quick while the others fall behind. Often this increased level of efficiency comes at a cost beyond the price of the product and the salary of employees, a deeper, psychological cost. By reviewing research focused in the United …

Exploring Churn And Alignment Between Retention And Occupational Culture As Perceived By Professional Truck Drivers, Catherine M. Cole

Dissertations

Despite advances in logistics software and increased driver pay, the trucking industry continues a historic wave of human capital risks in the form of driver turnover and driver shortages. Previous efforts to understand the phenomenon of driver turnover rely heavily on supply chain, transportation, and logistics based disciplines. The current study provides a human capital ontology towards understanding professional truck driver perceptions. Within the interpretive framework of pragmatism, the study applied a simultaneous ethnographic and phenomenological research design to explore the phenomenon of churn and professional truck driver perceptions of environmental alignment between trucking industry retention strategies and the occupational …

Surprisingly Open Or Openly Surprised? That Is The Question; Using Surprise Experiences To Increase Openness To Experience And Tolerance Of Ambiguity, Anneke Veenendaal-De Kort

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Using Surprise Experiences to Increase Openness to Experience and Tolerance of Ambiguity

In the fast-changing world in which we are currently living, we constantly come across situations and problems that we have not encountered before. An open mind and the ability to tolerate ambiguity are important skills in uncertain times. People who embrace the unpredictable can develop their resilience and flexibility. Surprisologists Luna and Renninger (2015) have discovered that a great way of dipping into unpredictability is through surprise. For my Master’s Project, I designed experiences that transform people’s openness and tolerance for ambiguity through surprise. This paper begins with …

A Qualitative Approach To Examining The Rules Of A Community College And Industry Partnership., Cara Dimattina-Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the governance structure of a successful community college and industry advisory board that collaborate to improve regional workforce development initiatives. The institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework was used as a lens to describe the partnership. The results determined that there were many informal rules that governed the relationship between the community college and industry partners, which led to successful implementation of decisions. The community college leaders created the informal rules with the purpose of encouraging involvement among industry stakeholders, sharing power among all the participants, and facilitating communication. The findings …

Positive Organizational Leadership: Some Recent Findings In Positive Organizational Scholarship, Lawrence Chan

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

The study of positivity is multifaceted, with roots across psychology, philosophy, and more recently organizational behavior (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; 2014). This review article highlights the framework from which the study of positivity originates, and then explores positive behaviors in the workplace that have correlated to increases in fulfillment, productivity, engagement, and leadership capacity (Cameron & Dutton, 2003). This essay reveals core components of positive organizational scholarship (POS), notably the interaction of positivity within job demands and job resources, positive employee engagement, and positive deviance, and uncovers some recent findings of these POS components in empirical research and application within human resource …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Leadership Style And Lean Expressed Through Respect, Proactivity, And Innovative Work Behavior, Reiner Martens

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

This dissertation is based on the idea that a leadership style is necessary to implement a lean culture within an organization. This research study employed a systematic literature review, from which a lean leadership model was developed. Based on the two principles of a lean organizational culture, 1. respect for people and 2. continuous improvement, three measurable variables were identified, respect, proactivity, and innovative work behavior. These three variables were connected to the lean leadership model. Leadership styles based on the full range model of leadership were used as independent variable(s). The overarching results of this study were: (1) transformational …

Middle Managers Working Beyond Senior Management’S Expectations: A Phenomenological Study Of The Managed Healthcare Industry In Southern California, Gerald Dugas

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how middle managers and senior managers working in the managed healthcare industry in southern California perceive what factors motivated middle managers to work beyond senior management’s expectations.

Methodology. A qualitative phenomenology study was chosen because it allowed the researcher to acquire a firm understanding of the nature of everyday lived experiences. This methodology was used to capture the meaning of experiences that motivated middle managers to work beyond expectations. The researcher conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experience of the participants. Participants …

An Examination Of The Influences Of Organizational, Supervisor, And Coworker Support On The Relationship Between Flexible Work Arrangements And Turnover Intention Of Civilian Federal Employees, Marvin Bontrager

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Technological advancements and a rapidly changing workforce have created the need for researchers and practitioners to continually examine how work is designed, managed, and accomplished. As increased work demands have blurred the lines between work and family domains, stressors can create conflict between these environments. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) represent one of the work-family benefit programs offered by employers to alleviate work-family conflict and provide flexibility to workers.

This study examined the relationships between multiple support measures (organizational, supervisor, and coworker) and turnover intention in the context of FWAs. The study’s hypotheses predicted negative relationships between the support measures and …

Understanding Knowledge Sharing Motivation In The Public Sector: Application Of Self-Determination And Person-Environment Fit Theories, Jaeyong Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge has been recognized as an important resource that should be carefully managed in order to enhance organizational competitiveness. Therefore, it is important to manage knowledge resources that have been learned and stored in organizations. Several scholars in the public administration literature have examined whether public service motivation (PSM) can help employees share their knowledge in ways that contribute to the effective functioning of public organizations. However, the mechanisms by which PSM influences individuals’ propensity to share knowledge have not been clarified by past research.

Against this background, at first, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between PSM and …

Is Leadership The Key To Public Sector Retention In Regional Western Australia? An Exploratory Study, Damian Lambert

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research reviewed retention factors affecting the West Australian public sector (WAPS) in regional areas seeking to determine whether a leadership development program (LDP) could provide a strategic HRM solution. Using a mixed methods approach views of 9 leaders and 156 regional WAPS employees provided insights on retention issues and how a LDP might be designed and delivered to regional employees. Despite the attraction and retention factors impacting the WAPS, it was found that a LDP designed specifically for the regions can assist to attract talented staff and to a lesser extent improve retention in the regions.