Leadership Studies Commons^™

What Type Of Leadership Does Africa Need To Join The First World?, Aida Ayalew

Theses and Graduate Projects

Internal conflict and lack of leadership are becoming major prohibiting agents that are hindering African countries from economic growth and prosperity. Many countries in Africa have ethnic, racial or political conflicts that are progressing and most of these conflicts are the result of negative leadership.

Resolving internal conflict in Africa requires taking responsibility for the people and for the country. Taking responsibility requires a hard study of the effects of internal conflict, the effects of war, and other contributing factors that hinder Africa from economic growth. The only way that African countries can take charge in solving the problems of …

Founder-Leader Transitions: The Role Of Succession Planning In Nonprofit Organizations, Joanne V. Kosciolek

Theses and Graduate Projects

There are both opportunities and challenges associated with executive transitions. Succession planning is becoming an increasingly significant topic for many nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities. The retirement of the large generation of baby-boom leaders during the next decade is likely to have a direct impact on the capacity of organizations to sustain their work. This is especially critical for smaller organizations and those with founders or long-term executive directors who leave. These leaders have shaped their organizations throughout their tenure and are seen as synonymous with their organizations. Founders and long-term executives have a strong presence and vision for …

Investigating Professional Development In Technology For Literacy Teachers, Michanne Hoctor Edd

Dissertations

Citrus Heights (a pseudonym) School District is an award-winning exemplar of technology integration. This small urban district has focused its resources on the re-design of its K-8 classrooms and curriculum to support educational reform through the use of technology, including hardware, software, and teacher professional development. Current best practices suggest that while staff development may begin with conventional in-service training, it should move quickly beyond to efforts that support teachers’ development as professionals involved in decision-making, inquiry, and leadership in their classroom teaching. In order to develop as professionals, teachers specifically need help and support in integrating new knowledge and …

Connecting Art And Science: An Interdisciplinary Strategy And Its Impact On The Affective Domain Of Community College Human Anatomy Students, Kevin Petti Phd

Dissertations

Educational objectives are often described within the framework of a three-domain taxonomy: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. While most of the research on educational objectives has focused on the cognitive domain, the research that has been conducted on the affective domain, which speaks to emotions, attitudes, and values, has identified a number of positive outcomes. One approach to enhancing the affective domain is that of interdisciplinary education. Science education research in the realm of interdisciplinary education and affective outcomes is limited; especially research conducted on community college students of human anatomy. This project investigated the relationship between an interdisciplinary teaching strategy …

An Exploration Of Supportive Relationships In The Lives Of Academically Successful Individuals With Autism, Jodi Ann Robledo Phd

Dissertations

This study explored 17 dyads of academically successful people with autism and individuals whom they identified as supportive. Four research questions guided this study: 1) How do individuals with autism and the people who support them describe their relationship? Specifically, how was the relationship established, how has it changed, what are the benefits and challenges, what works and what does not, and how is the relationship maintained? 2) From the perspective of both the individuals with autism and the supporting individuals, how do their relationships provide support for the individual with autism? 3) How does the mode of communication influence …

Reconsidering Academic Dishonesty: A Critical Examination Of A Complex Organizational Problem, Tricia Bertram Gallant Phd

Dissertations

Academic dishonesty, traditionally framed as a problem of student agency, plagues higher education institutions. In order to facilitate leadership toward the resolution of the problem, this study reconsiders academic dishonesty as a symptom of the complex interplay among agency, structure, and culture. The theoretical framework utilized, which I call Systemic Interactionism, builds on existing sociological, leadership, and organizational theories to provide a more robust explanation of academic dishonesty and other complex organizational problems. This reconsideration of academic dishonesty occurs in the context of three American higher education institutions. I employed a variety of field methods (interviews, observations, and document analysis) …

Mentoring Relationships: An Evaluation Of The Benefits That Female Mentors Receive From A Mentoring Relationship, Lori Toborg

Theses and Graduate Projects

The term "mentor" is a commonplace word that refers to a relationship in which a senior individual with certain knowledge and expertise provides guidance and psychosocial support to a less-experienced individual. In today's world, mentoring is associated with both career and personal development. As more women fill top positions, organizations must understand the benefits of female mentors in business.

Although many researchers have examined the dynamics of the mentor-protege relationship, most research focuses on the benefits received by the protege. The benefit for mentors has gained attention recently, finally recognizing that mentoring relationships are reciprocal.

The purpose of this research …

Servant Leadership And Medical Missionaries, Jayne Arvold

Theses and Graduate Projects

Medical missionaries provide benevolent medical services to underserved people internationally. This exploratory research was conducted to examine whether medical missionaries demonstrate the ten behavioral characteristics of servant leaders as outlined by Larry Spears, president and CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. The characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others, and building communities. Qualitative data from interviews with four medical missionaries supported that Spear's ten characteristics are evident among this group of people. Analysis of these characteristics highlights their importance in the leadership of medical missionary work. This study provides …

Collaborative Leadership And The Design Of A School-Based Chemical Health Service System, Susan K. Hedlund

Theses and Graduate Projects

This work-related project used strategies of collaborative leadership behavior to facilitate the design and implementation of a county-wide, comprehensive, and coordinated school-based chemical health service system. People involved in the design included representatives from school districts, county government departments, chemical dependency treatment agencies, nonprofit organizations, and a parent. The goal of this project was to create an effective, sustainable, and cohesive collaboration through the use of a facilitation process that illustrated the principles of collaborative leadership. The project demonstrated that interagency collaboration, along with effective leadership skills, can be successful in achieving meaningful system change that benefits adolescents and their …

Effective Training Workshop Design: A Focus On Improving The Effectiveness Of Teams, Joni Marti

Theses and Graduate Projects

Organizations spend billions of dollars a year training their employees, yet most of this is wasted due to poorly designed training. Inappropriate time allotments, lack of management and organizational support, and ill-suited methods for adult learners all contribute to this waste.

Knowledge transfer to the workplace is the true measure of effective training, yet many corporations measure cost or hours of training completed. Organizations can be more effective by designing their training with factors that result in the greatest impact on the adult learner. Based on current literature on adult education these key factors are a modular format, interactive delivery …

Blessing And Sending The Church Into The World For The Sake Of The World, Using Congregational Blessings As A Missional Enterprise, Michael Harbour

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis project equipped the elders to function as a community of men called and authorized by God to bless and send his people into the world for the sake of the world. They were equipped through seven sessions of theological reflection on Scripture and reflection on narratives of those who have offered pastoral blessings. The sessions also included an examination of templates and the opportunity to practice writing and speaking blessings. The elders have been speaking a shepherd’s blessing as the last liturgical act of the Sunday assembly. In this project, missional and textual focus was given to the …

Acts 2:42 In 2006: Examining Small Group Discussion In An American Mega-Church, Sheri Guseman Edd

Dissertations

During the last century, Americans have become increasingly isolated from one another, resulting in feelings of loneliness and creating a void of community (Frazee, 2001). However, as attendance at mainline churches continues to decline (Stafford, 1998), attendance and participation in mega-churches, defined as those serving more than 2,500 individuals and offering a multiplicity of services, continues to increase (http://www.hirr.hartsem.edu/org ). One popular explanation for this phenomenon is that mega-churches are often characterized by an organized small group ministry---something absent in more traditional churches. Although this trend has clearly swept the nation (Gladwell, 2005), related research on the efficacy of the …

The Dilemma Of Disclosure For College Students With Attention Deficit Disorder, Teresa L. Spoulos Edd

Dissertations

Many college campuses are striving to recruit and retain a diverse student population, and one population making its presence known are students with disabilities. As a result of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, students with disabilities are ensured equal access to education through the removal of architectural barriers and the provision of reasonable accommodations. Despite the existence of these laws, however, many students with attention deficit disorder (ADD) choose not to request classroom accommodations from professors. Students choose not to disclose out of fear of having inaccurate labels placed on them, being …

Mentoring Of Special Education Administrators, Deborah Mcdonald Toups Edd

Dissertations

Mentoring powerfully develops human potential but little has been known about mentoring in special education administration. Because mentoring has a centuries-long record of success, because of the importance of special education administrators, and because of the paucity of empirical knowledge on mentoring in special education administration, this study examines mentoring in the special education administration community. The population for the study was approximately 1,465 practicing special education administrators in the state of California identified by the Center of Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE). Electronic mail was used to introduce the on-line survey, Mentoring for Special Education Administrators. The instrument …

Leftist Populism And Sustainable Development In Latin America, Carina Kjelstad

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Sustainable development still remains the best option to secure a viable future. Why are some leaders more prone to implement sustainable development policies than others, and does the leaders' political orientation affect such decision-making? Leaders are often faced with constraints that make them choose policies that do not necessarily lead to sustainability from an ecological point of view. This thesis addresses these issues by examining two case studies that involve an analysis of the sustainable development policies implemented by President Lula in Brazil and President Chavez in Venezuela and the constraints that have hindered them in doing so.

The Effects Of Participating In Youth Theater, Mark Plato Arapostathis Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of student participation in youth theater on the students. Research suggests that theater arts have aided in building student cognition and contributed to the development of literacy. Davenport (1999) concluded that the experience and knowledge that one gains from theater arts form the basic building blocks for the skills needed to learn and to become literate. He added that creative expression is the actual production of a work of art, and this direct, personal involvement provides the experience base upon which cognitive development occurs. This cognitive development has practical application …

Gender Influences In The Graduate Classroom: An Investigation Of Female And Male Student Perceptions, Gerald B. Blanton Edd

Dissertations

Defined by Mary Rowe (1977) as micro inequities, seemingly insignificant gender bias behaviors create an inequitable academic environment and marginalize groups and individuals in the American classroom. Popularized by Hall and Sandler's 1982 report on the "chilly" classroom, gender bias is subtle and differs from the more obvious behaviors associated with sexual harassment. However, gender bias research appears incomplete. Study findings contradict each other, few studies explore gender bias in the graduate classroom, and fewer yet compare the perceptions of women and men concerning gender influences in the graduate classroom. This dissertation investigates perceptions of the influence of gender in …

Officers' Use Of Leadership Skills Learned In The Navy's Intermediate Officer Leadership Training Course: A Replication Study, Terrence Eugene Hammond Edd

Dissertations

All Naval enlisted personnel and officers are required to attend Leadership Continuum courses at designated career intervals. One of the required courses for officers is the Intermediate Officer Leadership Training Course (IOLTC). This study replicated William F. Conroy III's 2001 dissertation study of graduates of the IOLTC offered in San Diego with graduates of a similar course offered by the Center for Naval Leadership (CNL) at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB), Little Creek, VA. Like the Conroy study, this study attempted to identify barriers and incentives that IOLTC graduates encounter on-the-job that either encourage or discourage their use of leadership skills …

The Reluctant Sorority: Stories Of American Wives Of Prisoners Of War And Missing In Action, 1965–1973. Lessons In Exercising Leadership In The Absence Of Power, Steven L. Smith Edd

Dissertations

Increasingly, political action committees and special interest groups dominate the national policy-making process. Critics charge that campaign contributions buy access to and influence with policy makers, and that the differential ability to make such contributions results in disproportional representation. The question then becomes: how do ordinary citizens who are unable to use substantial financial contributions to "purchase" access to power mobilize people to influence public policy. To state the question another way: how can people provide leadership when they possess neither positional power nor the means commonly used to influence those with positional power? This historical study examines these questions …

So You Think It's Inclusion…Think Again: A Quantitative Analysis Of Stakeholder Perceptions In Community Youth Organizations, Mary Mcallister Shea Edd

Dissertations

Over the last thirty years, a cultural transformation has occurred in public schools as students with disabilities have slowly moved from segregated sites and special day classes to more inclusive classroom environments. Although this change has largely been driven by legislative mandate, including the requirement that students be supported in the least restrictive environment possible, the benefits of inclusion have been exceedingly well documented in the literature. Unfortunately, the inclusiveness seen within schools has not extended to the provision of out-of-school programs, and as a result, sixteen years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, children with disabilities …

Effects Of Information Flow On People-Driven Processes Within A Remote-Based Field Staff, James M. Hennen

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study examines the potential of open information flow in leading autonomous and decentralized field staffs. Research questions focus on participant perceptions of access to useful information and whether a participant's more positive organizational outlook compared favorably to their actual process performance. A chaotic model of people-driven processes formed the framework that explored these effects. A set of perception-based questions centered on the goals, roles, processes, and relationships held within a field organization created the model's structure. An assessment tool collected participant self-reported views of their organization and compared them to the high and low participant performance groups of four …

Leadership In Groups: Social Networks And Perceptions Of Formal And Informal Leaders, Mitchell D. Stratton

Theses and Dissertations

The labors of organizational and behavioral science researchers have resulted in a literature robust in the study of leadership and social networks. Empirical examination of both topics has shown significant organizational outcomes, but breadth is lacking both within and between the disciplines. Studies of leadership have seen the preponderance of the effort focused on formal leaders, while most social network studies examine only one informal structure. Moreover, there exists a paucity of studies, which have sought to examine the interrelationships between leadership and social networks. In an effort to address these voids, this thesis investigated: 1) The concurrent existence of …

High Performance Individuals And How They Manage Their Personal Knowledge For Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study Of Us Air Force Leaders, Kenneth M. Ivey

Theses and Dissertations

The ability of Colonels, Generals, and Chiefs to effectively manage their personal knowledge may lead to better decisions; however, the Air Force does not have an understanding of how these high performance leaders manage their personal knowledge. This research used a multiple-case study methodology to explore how USAF leaders manage their personal knowledge when making routine and novel decisions. Viewing personal knowledge management as it related to sociotechnical theory provided the basis to determine how the need to accomplish the tasks associated with personal knowledge management impacted the people, technology, organizational structure, and the tasks associated with managing personal knowledge. …

A Study Of New Jersey State Police Physical Qualification Test And It's Relationship To Leadership, Organizational Decision Making, And Policy Implementation, Richard J. Cosgrove

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Relationship Between Leadership Traits And Church Growth Among Pastors Of Free Churches In Germany, Edgar Machel

Dissertations

Problem. Many German Christian denominations have been losing members year by year for the past five decades. There are more and more voices that question the way pastors function as leaders. Therefore, this study looked at the differences of personality traits among pastors of Free Churches in Germany in the context of church growth. The leading research question was. What kind of leadership traits, behaviors, and attitudes are favorable to lead a church toward growth and to return stagnating churches to vibrancy?

Methodology. The “Business-focused Inventory of Personality” was sent out to 1,100 Pentecostal, Baptist, and Adventist pastors, of …

Hearing Whiteness, Seeing Race: Women Leaders Give Visibility To Their White Identity: A Dissertation, Ann Moritz

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigates what it means for women leaders to identify as White. The purpose is to examine a sense of racial identity and how that identity affects a sense of self as a leader. Twelve women answered questions from a designed interview protocol in two settings that occurred approximately four weeks apart.

Personalization For English Learners At A Small Conversion High School, Mary Jewell Edd

Dissertations

One of the most notable ways in which large, comprehensive high schools are working to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs), and other students who may be struggling with academics, is by subdividing into smaller schools. One of the most appealing features of small schools is their emphasis on personalized instruction for students. While it takes many forms, personalizing education means knowing all students well and designing curriculum that meets their individual needs. Personalized learning environments hold enormous potential for improving the educational experiences, and even very lives, of English learners. The purpose of …

They Who Persist: A Longitudinal Quantitative Case Study Of A University Student Cohort, Kenneth J. Marra Phd

Dissertations

Since the first published work on student persistence in 1929 by Edgerton and Toups, there have been literally thousands of studies that have attempted to unravel the mystery of why some higher education students persist through to graduation while others do not. Many of these studies have been qualitative in nature, restricting their generalizability, while those that have used the few existing national databases to quantitatively study persistence have been restricted to looking within a single year at multiple institutions. What is clearly missing from the literature are methodologically sound, year-to-year persistence studies conducted at individual institutions. This deficiency in …

The Impact Of Gender-Linked Tasks On Female And Male Leaders, Ashley Pyle

Honors Theses

Because gender inequalities still exist, research is needed to better understand the differences in leadership perceptions and preference between genders. This research examines the role of gender, sex role orientation, and gender-linked tasks in shaping leadership efficacy, perceived preference, and leadership persistence. It was predicted that men and women will have higher levels of leadership efficacy, perceive themselves as better leaders, have a stronger desire to attain leadership roles in the future and be more likely to persist in the leadership role for the gender congruent task than the gender incongruent task. I also predicted that sex role orientation will …

Political Differentiation In Consumer Preferences For Underdog Businesses : Does Everybody Love A Winner?, Kelly O'Connor

Honors Theses

In an exploratory study of the intersection between the worlds of social behavior and personal economics, this experiment will examine the links between political ideology and consumer preference for an ''underdog" business. The stereotypical image of the Mom and Pop comer store is romantic, but when we juxtapose this sentiment with the convenience and predictability of shopping at a giant retailer, it is unclear which store consumers will prefer, and why. This study tested the hypothesis that individuals with more liberal political orientations will be more likely to exhibit a preference for underdog businesses than individuals with conservative political leanings, …