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Full-Text Articles in Leadership Studies

Impact Of Leadership Decisions On Police Officer Well-Being: A Covid-19 Response, Jason N. Spencer May 2024

Impact Of Leadership Decisions On Police Officer Well-Being: A Covid-19 Response, Jason N. Spencer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation research project is to determine the impact that law enforcement leaders, their leadership styles, and decision-making processes have on the well-being of police officers. This study sought to understand this impact by focusing on the perspectives of frontline police officers, detectives, and first-line supervisors from various law enforcement organizations in the Central Virginia Region and within the context of leadership decisions made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the constructivist grounded theory approach to research design, 12 participants responded to an initial qualitative questionnaire, followed by a semi-structured interview to gain the rich, …


Grantmaking Decision-Making Of A Philanthropic Foundation Funding Community Colleges And Community College-Focused Intermediary Organizations: A Case Study, Tanya Wightman Giovanni Nov 2023

Grantmaking Decision-Making Of A Philanthropic Foundation Funding Community Colleges And Community College-Focused Intermediary Organizations: A Case Study, Tanya Wightman Giovanni

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative, single-instrument case study was to discover and understand how philanthropic foundations decide to fund community colleges by exploring the perceptions of the decision-making processes of the leadership team. The theoretical framework that guided this study was Cohen et al.’s garbage can model of organizational choice. Semi-structured interviews were used to engage with persons identified as members of the leadership team, decision-makers, and board of directors for the philanthropic foundation. The interviewed study participants were asked open-ended questions related to the central research question, ‘What are the decision-making processes of philanthropic foundations when deciding to fund …


Effective Decision-Making And Conflict Resolution For Church Leadership Teams And Governing Boards, Frederick Chambers Apr 2023

Effective Decision-Making And Conflict Resolution For Church Leadership Teams And Governing Boards, Frederick Chambers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Conflict is one of the primary reasons church leaders leave churches, quit vocational ministry, are terminated or are ineffective in their leadership and Christian service. Church leaders become discouraged, less effective, quit their leadership positions, or even leave congregations because of conflict or disagreements over decisions. Ineffective decision-making and conflict within the leadership team harm the ministry organization and the leaders. The problem this action research project addresses is the need for a clearly defined process of group decision-making and conflict resolution among church and ministry leadership boards. The purpose of this project was to evaluate and improve the tools …


Unpacking The Upper Echelon’S Cognitive Black Box: A Qualitative Study Of Selective Attention And Decision Making In Senior Executives, Jon Matthew Hart Mar 2023

Unpacking The Upper Echelon’S Cognitive Black Box: A Qualitative Study Of Selective Attention And Decision Making In Senior Executives, Jon Matthew Hart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, senior executives face a myriad of difficult decisions. These decisions are often accompanied by a barrage of stimuli, which can complicate decision-making processes. To traverse these challenges, those in the upper echelons of leadership must manage their selective attention well, make clear sense of unfolding events, and act upon them in ways that maximize organization outcomes. However, there is a gap in research around how the upper echelons of leadership manage their selective attention in high-stimuli decision scenarios. This qualitative grounded theory research addresses this gap by studying the cognitive processes used …