Leadership Studies Commons^™

The Implementation Of The Least Restrictive Environment Provision Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Idea) For Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities On Guam, Nieves P. Flores Edd

Dissertations

This study examined the implementation of the least restrictive environment (LRE) provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for secondary students with learning disabilities on Guam. The research questions for the study addressed the following areas: (a) perceptions of the definition of LRE, (b) factors influencing the implementation of LRE, and (c) determination of LRE in relation to the national trends and literature. This research utilized the qualitative method of collecting and analyzing data that included interviews and review of written documents. Parents and school personnel from the secondary schools, involved in the implementation of the least restrictive …

What It Takes For A Woman To Start Her Own Business: My Personal Quest, Kristi Rinehart

Theses and Graduate Projects

Today women in the United States are more visibly involved in the ownership of a range of enterprises - from home-based proprietorships to women-established corporations with employees. Women are achieving new goals in business; increased educational levels and work experience have opened the entrepreneurial floodgates. This study will discuss what factors influence and motivate women in corporate America to "go it alone" while also detailing what it takes for a women to start her own business. The author will also discuss her aspirations to open a small business.

Executive Coaching As An Individually Tailored Consultation Intervention: Does It Increase Leadership?, Sheila Kampa-Kokesch

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to: (a) consolidate/critique the executive coaching practice literature and empirical research to determine what is known about executive coaching as an individual consultation intervention, and (b) provide additional knowledge about outcomes by testing whether executive coaching affects leadership as measured by the MLQ 5x (Short Form) (Bass & Avolio, 1995).

Twenty-seven coaches, 50 clients (pre/early- or post/later coaching), and 62 direct-report/peers participated. Coaches provided demographic information, invited client participation, and distributed surveys to clients. Clients provided demographic information, rated themselves on a leadership instrument, and invited direct-report/ peer participation. Direct-report/peers rated clients’ leadership using …

The Role Of A Middle School Assistant Principal In Establishing And Maintaining Positive School Climate, Charles R. Girvin Iii Edd

Dissertations

Organizational theorists have for over 50 years used the concept of organizational climate to study and describe the effects of environment on the attitudes and behaviors of individual members and subgroups within organizations. Within the school setting, researchers and practitioners have increasingly used the concept of organizational climate to evaluate school effectiveness, particularly in middle schools where school climate plays a central role in middle school strategies and philosophies. Though extensive research has examined the relationship between climate and leadership in business, industry, and government, relatively few studies have eyed the linkages between school climate and leadership within the school …

The Relative Importance Of Academic Achievement In Determining The Self-Esteem Of Students In Rural British Columbia: An Empirical Examination Of Students In Grades 6, 8, 10 And 12, Scott E. Bergstrome Edd

Dissertations

As school systems across North America struggle to redefine themselves, educators everywhere are seeking a balance between academic achievement and the human and social needs of their students. The purpose of this correlational study was to quantitatively assess the construct of the school experience, as determined by academic achievement, as measured by GPA, and the level of involvement in school activities, from the perspective of four measures of student self-esteem. Data were collected from 263 students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 in a small district in southwestern Canada. The first part of this study explored the relationship between …

Health Start School-Based Clinic Staff And Hmong Adolescents: Does The Servant Leadership Theory Apply?, Tie H. Oei

Theses and Graduate Projects

This pilot study investigated whether the staff at Health Start's school-based clinics and the Hmong adolescents they serve are in agreement as to what health services Hmong adolescents want from the clinic and staff. In investigating this issue, servant leadership theory also was applied to answer the question: Does using servant leadership theory assist the staff in delivering culturally congruent healthcare to Hmong adolescents?

According to Servant Leadership Theory, leaders first want to serve for the purpose of developing a healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous follower. This theory, manifested by Robert K. Greenleaf through his work experiences and thinking about …

Leadership In The Continuous Improvement Process, Jim L. Kline

Theses and Graduate Projects

Companies are formed for many reasons, but without profitability, they will not survive. Therefore, it remains the focus of the company's employees to maintain profitability. New ideas and improvements must be implemented continuously for the company to maintain and increase their profitability.

The employees responsible for continuously implementing these new ideas and improvements will significantly contribute to the success of the company and its profitability. The key to their success is the use of positive leadership and a continuous improvement process. This study presents two theories that support this claim: Masaaki lmai's continuous improvement process, and James MacGregor Burns' theory …

Female Marketing And Communications Professionals: Challenges And Opportunities For Corporate Leadership, Wendy Celaine Wehr

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study examines three distinct trends in the literature on women and leadership: advocacy for feminine leadership styles, support of gender-neutral leadership theory, and focus on factors beyond gender, such as issues of power and organizational structure. The study continues with an in-depth examination of the leadership experiences of five middle management women who work at publicly held companies and who specialize in marketing and corporate communications, fields that are of increasing importance in today's fast-paced, competitive economy. Results and discussion indicate five themes for further exploration: (a) the importance of competence to leadership success, (b) the value of communication …

Mission, Vision, Values, And Spirituality: A Case Study, Jean Kelly

Theses and Graduate Projects

Almost every organization has published mission, vision, and values statements. Corporations, volunteer organizations, foundations, and even some families have formulated their own unique mission statements to proclaim their purpose, their reason for being, what they stand for, believe in, and aspire to be. Mission, vision, and values are an attempt to identify, in the simplest terms possible, what is at the heart of the organization--what it is about, what it values, and what it hopes to accomplish. It is within the mission statement that the spirituality of the organization is centered.

This is a case study of one organization--a non-profit, …

A Content Analysis Of The Leadership Themes Portrayed In The Dilbert Comic Strip, Stephanie L. Mccollum

Theses and Graduate Projects

Comic strips provide a graphic glimpse into the collective consciousness of a culture and its time in history. Scott Adams' popular Dilbert comic strip provides not only humor to its large audience but a social commentary on today's corporate work culture. Through the imaginative world of Dilbert, Scott Adams exposes the contradictory underlying values, attitudes and feelings of today's corporate work culture and its leadership. This paper compares the leadership themes portrayed in the Dilbert comic strip to the Augsburg Leadership Development model. One hundred Dilbert comic strips were analyzed, categorized and compared to the key leadership attributes and …

Ethical Leadership, Mary Jaworski

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

The focus of this study is on the roles and requirements for ethical leadership in business environments in the coming millennium. Many business leaders have conveniently ignored ethical concerns at the expense of the people who work for them, the organization structure, the efficiency of their businesses and the environmental well-being of the planet.

First, the nature of leadership will be examined. This author will attempt to analyze the following questions: 1) What is leadership? 2) How do leaders develop? 3) What are the common characteristics of leaders? 4) How do leaders inspire and motivate others?

Second, the absence of …

Public Schools And Islam: Accommodating The Needs Of Muslim Students In The Public Schools, Ethan Bleifuss

Theses and Graduate Projects

This project provides an overview of Islam in America, in particular the issues confronting educators in public schools with Muslim students. The primary emphasis is an examination of issues faced by Muslim and non-Muslim students and staff in the public schools. Examples of successful methods of addressing these issues are provided. Organizations, speakers, and publications that can help educators are also described. Additional background information is provided on the following topics: basic tenets of Islam, the current situation concerning Islam in the United States, problems faced by Muslims in American society at large, issues in the workplace, and examples of …

Improving The Understanding Of The Impact Of Creative Problem Solving Training Through An Examination Of Individual Differences, Russell A. Wheeler

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Theses

This thesis addressed the relationships between students who reported enjoyment of learning and the perceived future value of using the various components, stages and tools of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process, and their CPS styles as measured by the Buffalo Creative Process Inventory (BCPI). Data was collected using the BCPI and an end-of-course survey in both graduate and undergraduate introductory CPS courses from January through December 2000. A key quantitative outcome revealed that the principles and tools in relation to the divergent thinking aspect of the CPS process were the most enjoyable to learn and rated the highest future …

Leadership: Understanding And Adapting To Generational Differences And Core Work Values, Denise Gordon

Theses and Graduate Projects

Today's workforce is generationally diverse. It is comprised of 21% Mature Workers, 52% Baby Boomers, 26% Generation X and 1% Generation Y (Farren, Maurer, 1999). This diversity challenges traditional leadership assumptions and strategies.

This paper explores the core work values among the generations and how leaders can adapt to their diverse needs. It examines the workplace needs and expectations of people specifically within the Boomer and 13th generations. It will answer the following question:

• How do generations differ in regards to their core work values?

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the values within each of the …

A Case Study Of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton's Leadership, Jim L. Kline

Theses and Graduate Projects

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Antarctica explorer who was not a well known person in the United States until the past two or three years. The reason for his recent rise back into prominence is because of the leadership example he displayed while leading the famous Endurance expedition from 1914 to 1916. The expedition did not achieve its objective of being the first to walk across Antarctica. The interest in Shackleton by students of management and leadership is because he rescued and led this expedition for almost two years, while they lived on the ice and a small island, …

Reweaving The Web Of Life: A Case Study Of A Feminist Leader In A Feminist Organization, Kathryn Ringham

Theses and Graduate Projects

The cultural context of the late twentieth century has given voice to new ways of thinking, knowing, being. Emerging out of the history and traditions of feminism is a style that is on the cutting edge in leadership studies. With emphasis on connection, humanity, interdependence, caring and empowerment of people, feminist leadership also echoes chaos theory. The reinvention of nature has allowed space within science for feminist values in the public realm. The mutual reinforcement of these two leadership theories has led to a simpler way to organize human endeavors.

This paper is based on feminist and chaos theories of …

First Nations Students: What Some Teachers Do That Make Them Successful, Robert M. Peacock Edd

Dissertations

With the European settlement of North America, the education of First Nations children shifted from being carried out in a natural setting by all community members, communicated through observation and trial, and instructed through values, needs, and traditions; to a whole-group learning model founded on a standard curriculum based on successes and failures. For at least the past fifty years First Nations adults have demanded greater control over their children's education. Recently, the Ministry of Education in British Columbia (BC) has advocated for greater success of First Nations students by providing funding for additional support and by increasing the number …

Perceptions Of International Students And University Personnel Of Cultural Adjustment Problems At Two Private Universities, John R. Jenkins Edd

Dissertations

The influx of international students studying at United States colleges and universities during the past five decades has presented many challenges related to accommodating the needs of these “special” students. In the early 1950s, fewer than 40,000 international students were enrolled within the higher education system of the U.S.; today that number has grown to more than 490,000 students. The problems confronted by these students are both numerous and complex. University personnel often address these problems by developing specific programs designed to meet the needs of the international students at their university. However, the perceptions of these problems by international …

Blinded By Vision, Craig A. Dowd

Theses and Graduate Projects

Conventional wisdom states vision is a requirement of husiness leadership, but the husiness community suffers from confusion and inconsistent application of the concept. A critical analysis of the concept reveals its popularity is based on rhetoric rather than a clear conceptualization of the term. (The term's literal meaning is the "experience of seeing God".) Without an academically useful definition, "vision" collapses under the weight of disparate and conflicting ideas. This thesis proposes that the problems with "vision" may be resolved by discarding the term completely and then separating the structure and function of leadership from the behavior of leaders and …

Capturing The Policy That Air Force Raters Use When Writing Performance Appraisals On Junior Officers, Owen D. Stephens

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between four dimensions of performance leadership, task performance, interpersonal facilitation, and job dedication and overall performance by junior officers in the Air Force. It was hypothesized that the four dimensions would have different relative importance to overall performance, ratee gender would have no effect on rating policy, and raters with greater experience would show greater rating consistency. Finally, it was hypothesized that the Conscientiousness factor of the International Personality Inventory Protocol and Positive and Negative Affectivity may be correlated with the relative importance of the four dimensions of performance and a rater leniency measure and …

Heroic Leadership: A Native American Legend, Sitting Bull 1831 - 1890, Charley Price

Theses and Graduate Projects

This research paper reviews and assesses the heroic leadership of the legendary Native America Sitting Bull. A significant leader of the Oceti Sakowin Nation, or commonly referred to as the Sioux Nation Sitting Bull demonstrates great charisma and courage in his efforts to save and maintain his people's traditional way of life. The Sioux way of life was gradually affected by the westward advancement of settlers and disrupted by the U.S. government's use of military force, in its quest to control Native American lands and expand the United States. Sitting Bull emerged as a heroic leader by gaining the support …

Florence Nightingale As Servant-Leader, Theresa Duffy

Theses and Graduate Projects

Florence Nightingale directed her adult life to serving God as a nurse, teacher and author. Through her creation of a school for nursing and her writings, Nightingale set the path for developing standard practices for nursing care along with founding the evolution of nursing as a professional career for women. As a leader Nightingale demonstrated courage in her ability to take great risks in order to create change, wisdom in her ability to communicate needed reforms, and her dedication to the ethical treatment of women and children by way of providing improved healthcare and education. This case study will examine …

An Exploratory Study Of Patient Satisfaction And Servant Leadership, Carol L. Watson Saunders

Theses and Graduate Projects

Servant Leadership is a theory of leadership in which the Servant Leader is motivated primarily by an intuitive desire to serve his/her followers. The leadership aspect is secondary. In this study, the concept of Servant Leadership was applied to the physician-patient relationship in a healthcare setting. The purpose of the research was to determine the satisfaction level of patients with their physicians. Questionnaires were mailed to one hundred randomly selected patients at a large mid-western outpatient clinic. Following are several of the questions included in the questionnaire. On the average, how long do you have to wait to see your …

Transformational Leadership: A Case Study Of Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights, Denise Cleveland

Theses and Graduate Projects

This case study will explore the leadership of Mary Robinson and demonstrate that she exemplifies transformational leadership as developed by Bemard Bass using his leadership factors of charisma, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Mary Robinson was the President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and currently serves as L)nited Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This leader contributes toward the study of leadership through our ability to apply multiple models of effective leadership. A comparison to cultural competency theory and women centered theories of leadership are assessed in relation to this leader. Just as this case study demonstrates Robinson's effective …

Reflective Practices: Collective Case Studies Of Selected K–8 General Music Teachers In Peer Problem-Solving Discipline And Management Workshop Settings, Nan Leslie Mcdonald Edd

Dissertations

Considerable research indicates that classroom discipline is the most important factor influencing teachers' self-concepts of teaching effectiveness and job satisfaction. Yet, time is not allotted for critical reflection with peers closest to these practice concerns. K–8 general music teachers are further isolated from other teachers and experience discipline concerns specific to music teaching, concerns they need to reflectively problem-solve with job-alike peers. This qualitative study examined processes of guided critical reflection of 137 K–8 general music teachers from 16 states within researcher-led discipline and management workshops. Multiple sources of data included observation notes, participants' self-written case studies of their own …

Implications Of Early Brain Development On Child Care, Troy Dunkley

Theses and Graduate Projects

The goal of my research is to put together a paper that goes into enough detail about early brain research to convince the reader that child care centers must improve their quality and then to give an assessment of how the public can support the necessary changes. This is a Literature Review of writings and research on early brain development early childhood education and the suggestions to improve child care center quality. These changes are intended to get child care quality moving in the right direction.

The new research suggests that early childhood is critical to a child's healthy development …

Followership: Why Leadership Works, Gordon Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Using the theory of followership developed by Robert Kelley, this case study will examine the role of the follower, the various types of followers present in organizations and their importance to the study of leadership. lt will examine an alternative theory by lra Chaleff and discuss current literature on the follower-leader relationship. This case study will then examine the followership skills of Agnes Anderson (name changed), through analysis of her followership self-assessment and the followership assessments completed by leaders she has worked with in both professional and volunteer situations and conclude with general observations on the topic.

The Balancing Act: Work Environment Issues For Women With Children In Student Affairs, Mary Kimberly Braun Padulo Edd

Dissertations

Increasingly in the past two decades, student affairs work at American's universities has been undertaken by women. This work with the co-curricular life of the students in higher education requires administrators at all levels to have a flexible schedule with the ability to commit evenings and weekends to their work. Challenges for academe and for women in the profession have emerged as more women enter the field. One of the most problematic areas is the retention of highly educated and experienced female administrators once they have children. Workplace environment, including work schedule, job demands and employer support, have been suggested …

School-Based Management In Alberta: Perceptions Of Public School Leaders, 1994–1997, Robert James Wilson Edd

Dissertations

In 1994, the Government of Alberta, Canada, instituted major fiscal measures designed to reduce operating costs and a large provincial debt. In tandem, Alberta Education restructured public education by: reducing the number of school districts, redefining the role of school boards, increasing the involvement of parents, initiating Charter schools, expanding student testing, downsizing Alberta Education, improving delivery of services to children, and mandating the implementation of school-based management in all public schools (Alberta Education News Release, January 18, 1994). The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how the implementation of school-based management, through the first three …

A Case Study Of Shared Governance At Imperial Valley College, Gregorio A. Ponce Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze and synthesize the perceptions and experiences of individuals and groups responsible for implementing shared governance at Imperial Valley College. Consequently, this investigation sought to establish (a) who was directly involved with the governance process, (b) how the process was operationalized, and (c) the benefits, drawbacks, and unresolved issues for implementing the governance process. The design of this investigation was a qualitative case study. Noting that the use of multiple sources of data collection adds to the reliability and validity of a study, interviews, observations, documents, and the professional literature on governance were …