Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Microfoundations Of Dynamic Managerial Capabilities: A Personality Perspective, Alan Jiun Haw Tea

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Research in dynamic capabilities (Teece 2007) looks at how organizations derive and potentially sustain competitive advantage by dynamically making sense of opportunities, marshalling and manipulating assets and resources in response to these opportunities (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000; Teece, 2007). The study of dynamic managerial capabilities is concerned with the microfoundations – attendant attributes as it were – that underpin managers’ ability to effectively participate in the dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and reconfiguring (Helfat & Martin, 2015b; Helfat & Peteraf, 2015). Apart from the predominant cognitive account of microfoundations, there remains an under-theorized and underresearched gap in the field of …

The Relationship Between The Protean Career Attitude And Feedback After The Employee Promotion Process, Marcie Overstreet

Dissertations

The deterioration of the traditional organizational career model progressively challenges employees to manage their careers (Briscoe et al., 2006). Increasingly, individuals self-manage their careers, focusing on both professional and personal circumstances throughout a career (Li et al., 2019). Employees continue to pursue career advancement by developing their knowledge, skills, and competencies. While individuals seek career development pursuing more challenging and higher paying jobs, organizations also show interest in career development.

Organizations take an interest in the career growth of employees because career advancement leads to increased morale and productivity and reduced costs associated with employee turnover (Bowness, 2019). Increased morale …

A Focused Evaluation Of Sales Employees' Ethics Training And Its Effect On The Diffusion Of Ethics In A Financial Organization, Justin Luebker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ethical scandals have continued to batter corporate America into the twenty-first century. Companies such as Enron and MCI WorldCom became household names overnight because of ethical issues that shuttered the organizations’ operations and stunned shareholders. Training has served as a primary mechanism for companies to impart ethical values in employees and leadership teams. However, despite the ongoing focus and resources dedicated to education and associate development in this area, historically there appears to be no diffusion of ethical standards within organizations. There is a lack of consensus in current research regarding the effectiveness of organizational ethics training and its ability …

Servant Leadership And Conflict Adaptivity In Local Government Leaders, June F. Mighty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Government organizations’ focus on public service provides a fertile ground for conflict due to competing interests and goals. Conflicts exist and persist because of workplace pressures such as unstable political climates, budget restrictions, technological advances, a diverse workforce, disruptive change, and organizational transformation. Although typically risk-averse, these organizations need flexible and adaptive leaders who exhibit the appropriate behaviors in the best interests of the organization and the community. Servant-leaders seem likely to demonstrate conflict adaptivity due to their focus on serving the needs of followers and other stakeholders, which may require different conflict styles at different times and in different …

Gender Differences In Leadership: An Investigation Into Female Leadership Styles And Affective Organisational Commitment, Katrine Juliane Schubert

Business ETD Collections

As many women enter the ranks of leadership, more research is conducted and needed. Through qualitative analyses based on bibliographic research, this study aims to explore the gender differences in leadership, providing an investigation into female leadership styles and affective organisational commitment. The review and analysis of existing literature demonstrated that the transformational leadership style is more typical of females than male leaders. The study’s findings also indicate that there are differences between female and male leaders’ styles and traits, reinforcing the existing leadership gender stereotype that female leaders are seen as more emotional, supportive, caring, and people-oriented. In contrast, …

Leadership Development In Saudi Arabia’S Private Sector: A Mixed Methods Approach, Khaled Hanaky

Dissertations

There is currently a proliferation of business-focused leadership development programs in Saudi Arabia. These programs represent a reaction to the shortage of qualified leaders who can drive and sustain both recent and future advances introduced by Saudi Vision 2030, the national transformation program that is introducing social and economic reforms. Importantly, business leadership development has not been studied in this context of contemporary Saudi Arabia.

This study examined the state of Saudi leadership development programs by employing an explanatory sequential case study design that focused on a particular leadership development program. Through the use of surveys and participant interviews, results …

How Positive Practices In Organizations Are Associated With Employee Engagement Via The Moderating Effects Of Generational Cohorts In U.S. Customer Service Organizations, Deborah A. Poole

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role that the respective workforce generational cohorts may have on the relationship between positive practices in organizations and levels of employee engagement of U.S. based adult customer service representatives of all races. Studies show that higher employee engagement positively affects employee motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and ultimately the financial success of the organization. However, the levels of engagement for front line customer service positions are some of the lowest of occupations measured by Gallup and have actually declined in recent years. The broaden and build theory of positive emotions shows that …

How The Level Of Job Complexity Impacts The Gender Wage Gap Across Occupations, Zytlaly Magaña Corona

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The present study focused on unpacking the social and structural aspects of job complexity to better understand its effects on the gender wage gap. Previous research on the job complexity-compensation dynamic has primarily focused on cognitive complexity. Job complexity across occupations were examined using work activity data from O*NET and merging it with the Current Population Survey data sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (N=67,003). Results revealed that higher complexity jobs in this study yielded greater wage disparities across different occupations as predicted. Furthermore, physical activities and gaining knowledge from the Generalized Work Activities were the two most …

The Relationship Between Religious Freedom In America And The Current And Future Workplace, Liz Spence

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

In regards to religious freedom, the current climate in America is ambiguous and sensitive. This has carried over into the workplace and will continue to affect the way that leaders must manage their employees. This study contains a survey that addresses historical cases dealing with religious freedom, personal experiences in the workplace, and finally, questions regarding the ideal workplace and leadership. This study also includes in-depth interviews of current employees in a variety of careers that adhere to a religion. The paper concludes with a summary that explores how managers should react in the future to the findings in this …

Exploring The Impact Of Coronavirus Response Policies On The Long-Term Financial Health Of Sports Leagues Around The World, Alexander Seager

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will outline and explore the responses of leagues in the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain, with an emphasis on how these decisions affected the overall financial health of sports leagues within them.

While the brunt of the Coronavirus can be felt in nearly all facets of life, the goal of this paper is to research policies specifically tied to sports. There is much more to the COVID response than simple economics, but the scope of this paper is to dig into sports and the financial health of leagues moving forward. The intention is not …

Barriers To Succession Planning: A Case Study Of Atlanta Nonprofit Organizations, Adonnis J. Jules

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Succession planning is not a common practice among nonprofit organizations, despite support for its effectiveness in supporting leadership development and providing organizational stability during a planned or unplanned transition. Nonprofits have acknowledged that their leadership ranks are thin, and a leadership transition tends to bring challenges to the organizations when vacancies need to be filled. Barriers exist that prevent nonprofits from engaging in succession planning, but little research has examined the nature of these barriers. This study focused on nonprofit organizations across four different industry sectors to determine the extent of their succession planning efforts and the barriers that exist …

How Exemplary Industrial Production Managers Lead Successfully Through The Turbulence Of The Covid-19 Crisis, Wendi Fast

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover and describe behaviors that exemplary industrial production managers in organizations practice to lead their organizations through the turbulent times of COVID -19 using the leadership attributes of personal temperament, concern for the collective interest, resilience, and moral purpose.

Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological research design. Data was collected from 10 interviews of industrial production managers and artifacts collected to discover and describe behaviors that industrial production managers in manufacturing organizations practice to lead their organizations through the turbulent times of the COVID-19 crisis.

Findings: The study revealed 27 …

Covid-19 And Virtual Leadership Challenges, Rachelle Samsoondar

Major Papers

This paper attempts to investigate the structure and efficacy of e-leadership in the workplace. In addition, the paper focuses on the impacts and challenges e-leaders must overcome to successfully manage teams whilst maintaining business objectives and goals. Three challenges were selected for this research from productivity, personal management/human resources, communication/change management and organizational structure. To accomplish the objective, the paper addressed the efficacy and suitability of e-leadership in many of today’s industries.

I’Ve Got The Power! Agency, Empowerment, And Motivation In Career Management, Mirit Kastelman Grabarski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Careers are increasingly understood to be agentic. Therefore, individual motivation is now critically important to career development. Yet, the motivational, agentic, aspect of career development is still under-theorized. Existing concepts that refer to agentic control combine motivation, values, behaviours, emotions, and even contextual factors. These compound constructs are effective for predicting career outcomes, but they do not allow a direct examination of motivation alone. By conceptualizing motivation as a strictly cognitive construct following the established understanding of psychological empowerment, I develop a new scale of career empowerment that predicts additional variance above and beyond several existing career scales.

Based on …

The Benefits Of Evidence Based Practices In Public Administration: Does Therapeutic Listening Training Increase Emotional Intelligence To Affect Change Management Outcomes In Public And Private Sector Organizations, John Sillup

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation considers change management as it relates directly to evidence-based practices in public administration. The problem under study was the lack of scholarly research on the effect of an administrative leader’s emotional intelligence (EI) has on follower self-efficacy during change management. This study provided findings on the effect of therapeutic listening training as a means to increase emotional intelligence to potentially affect change management outcomes in public and private sector organizations. Change management is a systematic and structured process of developing and implementing strategies and interventions for organizations transitioning from current state to a desired state. The …

Chief Nurse Executive Work Engagement: System Leadership Through A Natural Disaster, Strike, And Pandemic, Ryan Fuller

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem. In a 21-hospital region of a 39-hospital integrated health system, CNE turnover peaked at 63% (12 CNEs) in 2015. Interviews were conducted in 2019 with 12 CNEs across the region to understand potential issues related to CNE job satisfaction. Responses revealed concerns regarding empowerment, alignment, work-life balance, information transparency/sharing, and recognition. While identifying a solution to address CNE concerns, the organization experienced successive crisis events during a 12-month period that included a record-setting wildfire, multiple labor union strikes, and a novel pandemic. The regional leadership team (RLT) required new approaches to facilitate effective communication during a crisis between the …

Employee Engagement As A Shared Responsibility: A Study Of Engagement Strategies Employed By Legal Assistants, Thomas A. Steele

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify strategies used by legal assistants to engage, stay engaged, and reengage, when appropriate, in their work, in particular when common organizational efforts fall short or do not exist. Constructivism and job demands-resources (JD-R) were the primary frameworks for understanding and analyzing the phenomenon of developing engagement strategies.

Qualitative data were drawn through semi-structured interviews with 16 legal assistants. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Trustworthiness and validity were enhanced by using multiple respondents and allowing each to review the transcripts for accuracy, fairness, and clarity. The transcriptions were then analyzed for themes. …

The Role Of Employee Proactive Behaviors In Influencing Supervisors’ Trust In Employees, Ngai Meng Ho

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In organizations, proactive employees make things happen. They anticipate, initiate, and drive meaningful changes for a better future. Such proactive behaviors can be manifested in different forms. Initiating work improvements and voicing for changes are examples of the different proactive behaviors commonly demonstrated by employees.

Empirical studies have associated proactive behaviors at work with a range of positive workplace outcomes. However, only limited research has examined how proactive behaviors might be related to one particularly important outcome, trust, i.e., whether an employee’s proactive behaviors will influence the supervisor’s trust toward the employee. Accordingly, in this present research, I conducted two …

Organizational Stressors As Predictors Of Burnout, Kristen Albritton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if organizational stress, measured by role conflict and role ambiguity, predicts burnout among employees. A review of the related literature identified variables that demonstrate a relationship with burnout, supported by the Maslach (1998) theory of burnout and Katz and Kahn’s (1966) organizational role theory. The researcher also examined whether organizational level and demographic variables (gender, education level, and job tenure) moderate the relationships between role conflict, role ambiguity, and burnout.

The study follows a non-experimental, cross-sectional design using data collected from a survey. Results of linear regression analyses reveal role conflict and …

Team-Based Effects On Individual Human Capital: A Proxy For Organizational Performance, Rob Carpenter

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that in today’s changing and uncertain business environment, the success of an organization can be influenced by the organization’s ability to harness team-level feedback behaviors as drivers for organizational performance. This study illustrates this argument by conducting a stream of inquiry on higher-order cognitive capacities. Learning as cognition, critical thinking, sensemaking, and social identity were studied as output behaviors from the cognitive interplay of team-based activity. Then, rooted in a view of human capital theory, each higher-order cognitive output behavior was conceptually explored for successive benefit on individual human capital and a model for each benefit provided. …

Challenges To Adopting Hybrid Methodology: Addressing Organizational Culture And Change Control Problems In Enterprise It Infrastructure Projects, Harishankar Krishnakumar

Dissertations and Theses

IT infrastructure projects have long been an overlooked field superseded by the more popular software development silos and cross-functional project teams when it comes to enterprise Agile transformations. This paper presents a systematic literature review by leveraging a qualitative research methodology based on empirical evidence provided in contemporary scholarly research articles to explore how certain variables such as organizational culture- including team structure, leadership hierarchy, geolocation, etc. along with an organization’s change management processes affect the adoption of a Hybrid/Agile project management methodology, focusing on reported challenges and critical success factors that define such large-scale enterprise transformations. The salient features …

Human Factors Analysis Of Marine Accidents Based On Hfacs By Nvivo, Chen Liu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Is Responsible Leadership Possible? Exploring The Experiences Of Business Leaders, Educators, And Scholars, Kanina Blanchard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study addresses a simple yet complex question: How can leaders come to make more responsible decisions within today’s highly economized context? Using narrative inquiry, I explore the stories which leaders in academia, business, and education tell about their experiences at what I call the point of impingement—the point where, as leaders, they must make decisions while facing conflicting and opposing norms and values. Underpinning the inquiry is Kempster and Carroll’s (2016) conceptualization of responsibility in leadership, and their argument that transformation toward a future in which responsible leaders address societal, ecological, and humanitarian challenges requires exploration of lived experience. …

Local Workforce Development, Federally Legislated Purposes, And A Systemigram: A Mixed-Methods Study, Tracey A. Regenold

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The public system of workforce development has existed for over 45 years, yet there are still issues with adequate skill-building, training, and employment for the vulnerable populations the system is mandated to serve. This study first used a modified Delphi method to survey a sample of executive directors and board members of local workforce development areas regarding the proper systems design needed to fulfill the purposes of current federal legislation. Subsequently using a visual representation of an “ideal” local workforce development area, participants were then interviewed and asked about the utility of such a model for strategic planning and systems …

Getting To The Heart Of Professional Development And Employee Engagement Among Non-Teaching Personnel In Higher Education: An Appreciative Inquiry Into The Influential Role Of A Staff Development Center, Rowena Casis-Woidyla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Despite the importance and incorporation of staff development in higher education, there is limited research on the availability and use of learning opportunities for non-teaching personnel (NTP) in the form of professional development. Work performed by NTP in higher education is critical to university operations. Without professional development and engagement opportunities, NTP lack visibility, disengage and ultimately may separate from institutions of higher education. Deliberate organizational efforts to provide access to new learning opportunities and promote personal growth among NTP is the development and institutionalization of centers for professional development, also called staff development centers and staff training and professional …

Perceptions And Challenges Of Female Workplace Mediators And How They Overcome Them, Gaedria B. Goodwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This holistic case study with embedded units was conducted to understand and describe the perceptions of female workplace mediators and if they encounter stereotypes, bias, and other challenges as mediators in the state of Texas. Ten female workplace mediators in Texas participated with in-depth, semistructured interviews and an open-ended survey response describing a unique experience they had while mediating workplace disputes. A cross-case synthesis analysis of the results was then conducted with journal notes, literature on gender inequality, mediation, alternative dispute resolution, and Goffman’s theory of stigma. The results of this qualitative research can provide additional alternative dispute resolution techniques …

Working Around Political Divides: A Multidisciplinary Examination Of Political Identity As A Factor Of Organizational Diversity, Blake D. Horner

University Honors Theses

In an age of targeted rhetoric and extreme polarization, the political has trespassed into the personal. As a result of this obtrusive integration, disagreements in the workplace are on the rise. Friction caused by inter-employee political diversity has been shown to cause several harmful organizational outcomes including job dissatisfaction, turnover, burnout, and psychological distress. Although this issue is common and harmful, few studies have been published on the subject. In this literature review, I attempt to contribute to the scholarly knowledge on this under-researched concept of workplace political diversity by employing a multidisciplinary approach. To illustrate the components of this …

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 …

Multigenerational Perceptions Of The Law Enforcement Work Environment, William K. Akin

Ed.D. Dissertations

Leaders struggle to address shifting characteristics between generational cohorts in a multigenerational workforce. Research has shown that law enforcement culture supports an antiquated approach to leadership and that popular generational stereotypes are not consistent with behaviors in the workplace. This research was designed to help the law enforcement community understand generational values, beliefs, and work ethics, and to recommend ways to reduce generational stereotypes, address employee shortages, and improve the overall connection to their communities. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II was used in an online survey to anonymously collect data from 441 law enforcement participants within the Baby Boomer, Generation …