Psychology Commons^™

The Dark Side Of Leadership: Mid-Level Managers And Their Experience With Hubristic Behaviors Of Executives, Leili Sadaghiani

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the emotional reactions of mid-level managers to executives’ hubris behaviors in a corporate setting.

Methodology: This leadership study uses qualitative phenomenological methodology was executed to explore the lived experiences of mid-level managers with past executives who practiced hubristic behavior.

Findings: The findings of this research on the lived experiences of mid-level managers with hubristic behaviors of executives suggest that the lack of support lessens the mid-level manager’s confidence; with little support; the mid-level manager was either afraid to fight the executive or gave up trying; the mid-level manager faced stress even …

Reaching For The Stars: A Constructivist Investigation Of Astrology As A Tool For Self-Discovery In A New Age Of Leadership, Cameron Martin

Dissertations

To fully understand leadership in today’s world, we need a radical reconceptualization of the developmental process required to lead. Changing paradigms demands new perspectives on leadership; these new paradigms suggest leaders must turn inward and develop knowledge of their inner selves to realize their full potential as leaders.

Astrology is an ancient way of knowing and making sense of the world and one’s place in it that provides benefits to many people in our modern world, despite fervent academic, religious, and scientific criticism. Astrology is more than a divination tool. It is an entire epistemology of self in relation to …

Exploring The Impact Of An Online Leadership Course On Japanese Undergraduates' Conceptions Of Leadership, Ryosuke Watanabe

Dissertations

Today’s complex problems transcend borders and require a collective and adaptive learning response. Literature suggests that, because the traditional hierarchical or positional style of leadership cannot effectively address problems we face today, leadership should take a more collaborative and systemic form. Rost (1991) characterized this new approach as the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. Unfortunately, changing the existing conception of leadership is not easy. Furthermore, assessing people’s leadership perceptions is challenging because leadership is often a tacit and latent construct. Because formal leadership education is still in its infancy in Japan, little is known about the impact of leadership education in …

Exploring Intergenerational Value Changes Across Three Generations Of Emirati Women Using Focused Ethnography, Ebtesam Ali Alteneiji

Dissertations

Intergenerational value change, influenced by technological advancements, economic development, formal education, and urbanization, becomes especially complex when it occurs in times of rapid changes, as in the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through the lens of social change and human development theory, heavily constructed in the Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft paradigm, this focused ethnography explored the push and pull of traditional boundaries within a collectivist society and the necessary navigation of infused Westernized philosophies promoting individualism and autonomy. Participants in this study (N = 24) were members of 8 family triads of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters who represented 8 different …

An Exploration Of Contextual Factors Of Weight-Based Discrimination Against Business Leaders, Ellen Hermann Lynch

Dissertations

Two-thirds of the adult population of the United States are considered overweight (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2013) and are susceptible to weight-based discrimination in the workplace (Rudolph, Wells, Weller, & Baltes, 2009). The weight-based discrimination experienced by business leaders is relatively unknown. The present research used Leader Categorization Theory (Lord & Maher, 1991) as a framework to examine the extent to which a business leader’s weight is associated with their perceived leadership qualities and effectiveness in two studies. The first study isolated the relationship between the base rate of weight in an organization and the assumed weight of the …

The Replication Of The Globe Study In Turkey: Understanding The Effects Of Social, Economical, And Political Changes On Cultural Dimensions And Leadership Ideals: A Mixed Methods Study, Zeki Pagda

Dissertations

Starting in 1995, the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) project has conducted a comprehensive study of cultural values and leadership ideals of 62 countries. GLOBE has identified nine cultural and six leadership dimensions, examined the relationship between cultural values and leadership ideals, grouped countries into clusters, and presented culturally derived leadership ideals. According to the 1995 GLOBE findings, Turkey fits in the Middle Eastern cluster with its corresponding expectations regarding leadership ideals. However, in the past thirty years, Turkey has undergone dramatic social, economic and political changes that may have affected ideals of leadership. The goal of this …

Social Innovators And Developmental Stages, Juan Carlos Rivas Espinosa

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The past two decades have seen increased interest in social innovation as a leading source of change. While social innovation literature experienced vast growth, particularly in the Western world, there is limited research on the individuals engaged in it, especially concerning their leadership practice. The extant research focuses mostly on identifying traits and competencies exhibited by social innovators. These individuals are often thought of as exceptional people able to think systemically to identify and solve problems in novel ways. The field runs the risk of perpetuating the idea that to be a social innovator one must possess a specific …

Mechanism For Leadership Development And Effectiveness: The Relationship Between Followership, Leadership, And Psychological Capital, Saurabh Gupta

Dissertations

Research supports the strategic role of a leader in improving individual and organizational performance (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). Developing leadership and enhancing leadership effectiveness remains at the forefront of organizational strategic plans (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). However, a majority of leadership development efforts fail in their purpose, which causes a leadership crisis in many organizations (Fernández-Aráoz, Roscoe, & Aramaki, 2017; Gurdjian, Halbeisen, & Lane, 2014; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013; Madanchian, Hussein, Noordin, & Taherdoost, 2017; Pfeffer, 2015; Wakefield, Abbatiello, Agarwal, Pastakia, & van Berkel, 2016). Neglecting the role of followership and using …

Development And Application Of Self-Awareness In Project Leadership: A Multiple Case Study Of Department Of Defense Project Managers, Jeffrey Brian Hart

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored how Project Managers (PMs) in the Department of Defense (DoD) come to understand, develop, and apply self-awareness in leading their projects. The DoD invests heavily in developing their project leaders by providing training, experiences, developmental assignments, and other tools such as self-assessments presumably to help them lead more authentically and become more self-aware as a way to improve project management. Despite this investment, it is unclear how self-awareness is actually developed in PMs and integrated into their leadership practice. In view of the importance of self-awareness in leadership, more understanding is needed on how self-awareness is …

Optimizing Workforce Performance: Perceived Differences Of Army Officer Critical Thinking Talent Across Level Of Education, Richard B. Ayers

Dissertations

The U.S. Army’s operating environment continues to become increasingly complex and unpredictable, where U.S. technological advantage continues to erode. The complexities stem from the Army’s doctrinal assumption that the future operating environment is unknown and constantly changing (Department of the Army [DA], 2014a). Diminishing technological advantage results in more reliance on soldiers’ cognitive capability, and less on high technology weapons systems (McMaster, 2015).

A review of military literature shows extensive research on the importance of Army leaders to be talented critical thinkers (Fischer, Spiker, & Riedel, 2008, 2009; Gerras, 2008; Thomas & Gentzler, 2013). Human capital literature reveals many college …

Beyond Biracial: The Complexity Of Identity Construction For Women With One Black And One White Parent, Roxanne Kymaani

Dissertations

In the United States, the post-Civil Rights Movement era changed forever the social perceptions about race and the self-perceptions of people who are born with mixed racial origin. Choosing to identify as mixed race in America inevitably leads to a racial cross-examination linked to America’s continued struggle with its racial heritage and the enduring legacy of a dominant discourse.

This dissertation focuses on the lived experience of women with one Black and one White parent. While subject to labels such as Black and White, Black, mulatto, biracial, mixed, or other, the central question is what do these women wish to …

Wheel Of Innovation : How Leaders' Attitudes And Behaviors Drive Disruptive Technology In The U.S. Navy, Eddy Wayne Witzel

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose

Innovative solutions in national defense are needed to respond to national security threats in our uncertain environment. Leader attitudes and behaviors have a substantial impact on innovation. Unfortunately we did not completely understand the effect of leader attitudes and behaviors on innovation and the team dynamics that lead to innovation, especially in the military. The purpose of this study was to determine how leadership attitudes and behaviors contribute to product innovation within the U.S. Navy and how leadership emerges within this complex adaptive system of innovation.

Method

The research was a qualitative design based on a multiple …