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The Ethnographic Method In Csr Research: The Role And Importance Of Methodological Fit, A. Erin Bass, Ivana Milosevec

Marketing and Management Faculty Publications

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) research has burgeoned in the past several decades. Despite significant advances, our review of the literature reveals a problematic gap: We know little about how culture, practices, and interactions shape CSR. On further investigation, we discover that limited research utilizes ethnography to understand CSR, which may provide some explanation for this gap. Thus, the purpose of this article is to illustrate the utility of ethnography for advancing business and society research via a multistage framework that demonstrates how three different types of ethnography may be applied to the exploration of CSR. We specifically focus on the …

An Exploration Of Leadership Styles And Motivation In Egyptian Business Organizations, Nady Ahmed El-Zayaty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leadership styles can have a profound impact on employee motivation and performance. The changing global business landscape has drawn much attention to transformational leadership as an approach that addresses the demands of organizations in this complex environment. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to understand the nature of employee motivation with regard to leadership styles and the role of transformational leadership in Egyptian business organizations. Seventeen Egyptian professionals were recruited through a combination of e-mail and telephone procedures and were interviewed regarding their experiences with organizational leaders; their perception of the ideal organizational leader; their feelings about …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Style On The Success Of Global Virtual Teams, Shery Wojtara-Perry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations in the age of modern technology have a diverse workforce, who are spread around the globe, and the business leaders of the 21st century need to understand how best to manage, overcome new challenges, and know the various skills of team members to capitalize on their differences and unique skills. To allow those geographically dispersed workers to reach their full potential and facilitate team success. Global virtual teams (GVTs) operate in complex environments characterized by diverse cultural and organizational elements. The primary purpose of this correlational and nonexperimental quantitative research was to examine the impact of transformational leadership on …

What Are The Key Qualities And Skills Of Effective Team Coaches?, William Jacox

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this dissertation was to identify and understand the key qualities and skills of effective team coaches. The results serve to educate and inform those aspiring to be organizational team coaches, those presently serving as team coaches, those developing curriculum to train team coaches, and those responsible for choosing and hiring team coaches for their organizations. Study participants were all experienced professional team coaches representing several states and a few different countries. The Delphi method was used, resulting in the emergence of consensus judgements of 15 qualities and 15 skills based on anonymous responses during multiple iterations. While …

Strategies For Improving First-Line Supervisor Problem-Solving Abilities In The Retail Supermarket Industry, John E. Jarvis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

First-line supervisors in U.S. retail organizations are unable to resolve nearly 34% of typical daily customer problems for their organizations. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies retail supermarket managers have used to improve 1st line supervisor problem solving abilities within a retail supermarket company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The conceptual framework for this study was the skills-based leadership model. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 4 retail store manager participants with a successful record of improving first-line supervisor problem solving abilities. Additionally, the review of company documents including training guides, training checklists, job …

Narcissism And Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Linear And Nonlinear Relationships, Emily Grijalva, Peter D. Harms, Daniel A. Newman, Blaine H. Gaddis, R. Chris Fraley

P. D. Harms Publications

Past empirical studies relating narcissism to leadership have offered mixed results. This study integrates prior research findings via meta-analysis to make four contributions to theory on narcissism and leadership, by (a) distinguishing between leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness, to reveal that narcissism displays a positive relationship with leadership emergence, but no relationship with leadership effectiveness; (b) showing narcissism’s positive effect on leadership emergence can be explained by leader extraversion; (c) demonstrating that whereas observer-reported leadership effectiveness ratings (e.g., supervisor-report, subordinate-report, and peer-report) are not related to narcissism, self-reported leadership effectiveness ratings are positively related to narcissism; and (d) illustrating that …

Business Leadership Education: A Virtual Storytellers Exercise, Maria Mendez, Yue Cai Hillon, Khadija Al Arkoubi

Management Faculty Publications

Online courses are becoming popular in business education and require creative strategies to maintain students’ engagement and facilitate contextual and complex understanding of class concepts and theories. In this paper, we are proposing an exercise for online undergraduate Organizational Behavior courses to motivate students and enhance their understanding of class concepts through the use of storytelling. In this exercise, students work in teams to narrate stories that describe with rich detail different concepts and theories pertaining to team management in general and virtual team management in particular. The results suggest that students develop a higher level of critical thinking in …

Leadership And Conflict Resolution On The Production Line, Patricia I. Fusch Ph.D., Gene E. Fusch Ph.D.

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Conflict between coworkers on the production line can be expensive as well as time consuming for companies. The business problem investigated in the study is the inability of supervisors on the production line to resolve conflict in nonunion companies, which, consequently, may lead to a drop in organizational productivity. Behaviors impacting shop floor productivity and performance were detected through miniethnographic and descriptive case study qualitative research methods through research of the production line leadership in a global company that manufactures kitchen and fireplace accessories. Results obtained from themes demonstrated that the production supervisor had some leader–member exchange leader characteristics including …

Individual Traits And Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Mediating Role Of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy And Need For Cognition, Chao Miao

Theses and Dissertations

The field of entrepreneurship is rapidly advancing and matures as a discipline that receives substantial amount of attention. One popular area of research in the discipline of entrepreneurship is to investigate one’s intent to start a business, which is entrepreneurial intention. This is an important construct that warrants ongoing research because entrepreneurial intention is not only a great predictor of entrepreneurial behavior but also an important step in the process of becoming an entrepreneur. The present study, based on a sample of 321 subjects along with 264 observers, makes five contributions to the entrepreneurship literature. First, I examined the psychometric …

A Case Study Of E-Leadership Constructs: An Assessment Of Leadership In A Healthcare Organization, Kevin James Lovelace

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to identify the components of e-leadership theory and how it can be used to teach healthcare leaders to develop virtual teams in a healthcare organization. This study will define a way in which leaders can use e-leadership components to increase the efficacy of virtual teams. In particular, this study will examine the perceptions executive leaders have of e-leadership constructs.

This study used a mixed method concurrent triangulation design to examine perceptions of e-leadership theory which may be used to improve the efficacy of virtual teams. The e-leadership theory as a construct was first measured …

There Is No "I" In Team: An Investigation Of Team Dynamics In The Buyer-Seller Interaction, Katerina Hybnerova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of sales team composition and the necessary team competencies is examined in this research. This research uses team intelligence, role expectancy, team cohesion, and improvisation to build an Input-Process-Output model for sales team composition. A strategic plan is devised for the sales team presentation process through three important phases, (1) team composition (2) presentation preparation, and (3) presentation execution. The team composition process, or the formation of the team, will illuminate the competencies necessary for the salespeople who will be responsible for the presentation to the buyer in the buyer-seller interaction (i.e. the initial sales pitch). Through the …

The Role Of Followership During Periods Of Absent Leadership, Robert Alan Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With a culture focused on leadership, the purpose in this study was to explore untested assumptions about followers and their being ignored as independent productive actors in the workplace. The lived experience of followers and their impact on the success or failure of organizations during periods of absent leadership was explored via 4 independent situations. A qualitative, phenomenological research design based primarily on the theoretical framework of Moustakas and the research design of Patton guided the study. The 3 key research questions were explored with regard to followers during periods of absent leadership: how they respond, what actions they take …

The Perceived Personal Characteristics Of Entrepreneurial Leaders, Ling He

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The concept of entrepreneurial leadership has attracted growing interest from leadership scholars but research is still in an early stage and empirical studies are rare. This thesis explores this new concept in an empirical study of the personal characteristics of entrepreneurial leaders (ELs). The study is underpinned by the “common characteristics” model in which ELs have characteristics of both entrepreneurs and leaders. Semi-structured interviews and a short questionnaire were used to explore business owners’ and corporate managers’ perceptions of the personal characteristics of ELs. Responses were summarised with thematic analysis and descriptive statistics.

The findings show participants perceived EL as …

A Closer Look At The Assistant (To The) Regional Manager: Personality Differences Between First And Second In Command Leaders In Organizations, Ross Benes

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Although a great deal of research has established personality differences between leaders and their followers (Lord, de Vader, & Alliger, 1986) there has been little research on how leaders at different levels of organizations may differ from one another. In particular, no research to date has examined whether or not there are personality differences between those who are first in command of their organizations and those second in command. The present study attempts to explore whether or not these differences exist in terms of both lay perceptions and in reality. The researchers in this study asked 401 individuals to contrast …

Shared Leadership In Six Sigma Teams From The North Shore-Lij Health System, Brian J. Galli

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The main goal of the research was to identify the relationships that the internal research team environment and external coaching variables had with the degree of shared leadership in the context of Six Sigma teams from the North Shore LIJ Health System. Furthermore, the research ascertained the relationships that these variables had with two performance metrics: a team's ability to complete project deliverables and satisfy customer's requirements. This research also sought to understand additional factors that affected the five variables.

The research found that while shared leadership did not positively change as a team progressed through the phases of the …

Work-Life Fusion: A Paradigm Shift In Understanding Work And Life Management: Scale Development, Validation, And Multigenerational Analysis, Donna L. Haeger

Student Scholarship

A Work-Life Fusion scale is introduced and developed to measure the extent to which people leverage technological tools both virtually and in face-to-face exchanges to concurrently manage work and life issues while at work. Subscales emerge from the data with strong reliability measures and rigorous techniques are employed to achieve validation. The scale is used as a resource to explore its impact on Work-Life Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, and Psychological Job Control. Multi-group analysis across generations surfaces clear indication of a shift to a fused approach toward work and life management as cohorts become younger.

Positive Global Leadership, Carolyn M. Youssef, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In the wake of increasing globalization, today’s organizational leaders are faced with unprecedented complexity. To help meeting the challenge, this article proposes a new positive approach to global leadership. After first providing the background on positivity, positive global leadership is carefully defined and its similarities and differences with both the established and contemporary leadership theories are noted. The discussion then turns to how positive global leadership addresses three major challenges in the global context of distance, cultural differences and cross-cultural barriers. The article concludes that this new positive approach can help global leaders to leverage diverse strengths in themselves and …

Transformational Leadership In China: The Role Of Trust And Harmony, Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Management Faculty Research

Transformational leadership attracted a significant amount of scholarly attention in the past few decades. This study is designed to develop an effective transformational leadership model that works in the Chinese context. A model is proposed to clarify the mediating effects of trust and harmony on the relationship between transformational leadership and its effectiveness. The model provides a new perspective on leadership in the Chinese context that is ignored in the Western leadership literature. It also offers a clearer understanding of how best transformational leadership practice combines with traditional Chinese wisdom to do a better job in accounting for the leader-follower …

The Role Of Communication And Listening In Leadership, Elinor Kay Van Engen

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

In our world today, leadership is important in many organizations. Leaders create the opportunity to develop relationships based on listening. Listening is a multidimensional construct that requires further integration within leadership studies. This study aimed to seek the validity of focusing on listening within the study of leadership. The research promotes the understanding of the verbal and nonverbal characteristics of the listening process that have the greatest ability to influence a person’s leadership potential, as well as examining what leadership characteristics can influence a person’s listening. Understanding these characteristics presents evidence that listening deserves the recognition to be studied as …

Traditional And Nontraditional Dean's Multi Level Multi Dimensional Complexity Leadership, Nicholas Spezza

Student Scholarship

The higher education leadership literature has little to say about nontraditional candidates (executives who have never held a full time faculty post) and their ability to perform in senior leadership roles in higher education administration. We conducted a qualitative research design to capture the lived experiences of participants in higher education administration. We interviewed 21 deans in higher educational institutions. Our findings show that deans operate within what we label as a Multi Level Multi Dimensional System (MLMDS). We view this MLMDS through the lens and disciplines emerging from Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT). We also find the higher education environment …

Sustainability Leader Competencies: A Grounded Theory Study, Pamela G. Schwalb

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this critical qualitative study was to develop a theory of the competencies of a sustainability leader, grounded in research. A sustainability leader is generally described as an individual who creates profit for his/her stakeholders, while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those for whom he/she impacts as a result of his/her leadership. Nearly 60 individuals familiar with sustainability were asked to characterize an effective leader of a sustainability initiative or a sustainability organization.

The study revealed there is more than one way to be a sustainability leader—different paths can result in decisions and actions that …

Exploration Of The Project Management Practitioner's Emotional Intelligence Competencies, Linda A. Hooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The success rate of information technology projects is on a downward trend, with reported losses in the billions of dollars. Recent studies indicate a 50--56% project success rate based on quality, budget, and on-time criteria. Building upon the conceptual framework of the emotional intelligence and knowledge management theories, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how project management practitioners apply self- and cultural-awareness competencies to affect project outcomes. Using a purposeful sampling method, 24 experienced U.S.-based project management practitioners participated in a web-based questionnaire. Following Giorgi's data reduction process resulted in numeric data coding. Thematic analysis revealed themes …

The Intersection Of Punctuated Equilibrium And Leadership Emergence Within The Framework Of Naturalistic Decision Making, Linda Moerschell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Punctuated equilibrium, a theory of unexpected and sudden change arising out of evolutionary biology and paleontology, has been applied to decision sciences, physics, organizational theory, and group behavior but never to leadership emergence theories. The purpose of the study was to discover how leadership emerges during a period of punctuated equilibrium, a sudden and unexpected change event, using a naturalistic decision making framework. Thus, the research question probed how leadership emergence could be theoretically modeled in a critical event. This grounded theory study was particularly unique because it drew from, and helped unify the four scientific foundations of complexity science, …

The Relationship Between Reproducing Ownership And Sustaining Non-Profit Collaboration, Nonie Brennan

Student Scholarship

Semi-structured interviews with 21 partners of three long-standing, non-profit collaborations in the health and human services sector emphasize the role of constituents’ sense of “ownership”– and their continuous reproduction of it − on collaboration sustainability. The data suggests that enduring collaborations are characterized, on the one hand, by employee behaviors typically considered aberrant – including rule breaking and rule making – and on the other, “appreciative” participant behaviors. Findings imply non-profit governance and leadership can purposefully foster environments in which collaboration ownership can reproduce.

Decision Making In Complex Environments: The Role Of The Pathfinder Leader, Bruce C. Gockerman

Student Scholarship

In a world of increasingly complex environments decision making processes become ever more important. This research examines the role of the pathfinder leader in a specific collective action of a complex galaxy of actors seeking to develop an enforceable water resources regime and extends that examination to a more general population engaged in complex civic collective actions within the context of municipal governance. This work extends emergent leadership research within governance structures, with implications for research and practice. The research also develops quantitative measures for collective action costs, benefits and outcomes.

Sustaining Non-Profit Collaboration: The Relationship Between Governance And Leadership, Nonie Brennan

Student Scholarship

More and more, not-for-profit health and human service organizations are turning to collaboration to address serious community problems. Understanding the role of governance and leadership within a collaborative structure is critical. This research proposal focuses on governance and leadership within interorganizational collaboration addressing health and human service issues. We propose an examination of three collaborations sharing the same lead agency. The intention is to explore the governance structure and the elements of leadership that provide the infrastructure and lay the ground work for a sustained collaboration. The research question is: How do governance structures and leadership practices facilitate sustained collaboration …

Cross-Ideology Management In Transition Economies: The Effect Of Incentives And Leadership Attributes On Management Practice In Vietnam, Christian Kamm

Student Scholarship

In recent years, globalization has promoted one of the most momentous changes in economic history, the demise of the communist-based command economies. One of these transition economies, Vietnam, has experienced vast and dramatic political and economic change since the country embarked on its policy to open its markets and create a market-driven economy. Specifically, the country has authorized-the operation of joint-ventures and privately-owned firms and has equitized (sold to investors) many previously state-owned firms. Senior management of these firms have had to respond to market incentives--both challenges and opportunities--in order to remain competitive and be successful. This paper proposes qualitative …

The Effect Of Personality And Trust On Virtual Team Effectiveness, Eugene A. Pierce

Student Scholarship

Many organizations, such as the Department of Defense (DoD), are using virtual teams to meet the challenges of working globally. These teams are faced with unique challenges due to geographical distance. Literature suggests that trust is especially important in a virtual environment and that team leader personality is suggested to impact team member trust (Handy, l995; Cohen & Bailey, 1997). The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between team leader personality, team member trust and perceived team effectiveness in virtual teamwork. Participants in the study included 873 virtual team members within a combined government (DoD) and commercial …

Learning To Co-Create The Solutions We Seek: The Art Of Hosting A Nonprofit Organization, Jeannel E. King

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The Art of Hosting is an emergent leadership model that compliments rapidly changing business needs and environments. This paper presents grounded theory on Art of Hosting components, including the Four Fold Invitation, Hobbit Tools, Five Diamonds of Participation, and Harvesting. An in-depth case study describes the use of Hosting architecture as the design for a nonprofit organization. While the Art of Hosting is effective for involving the community in discussions to co-create solutions to difficult problems, the practice does not easily facilitate a transition from discussion to action. As a framework for operating a nonprofit organization, further research is necessary …

Inter-Sector Decision Making: Governance, Social Learning, Negotiated Order And Emergent Leadership As Adaptive Responses To System Complexity, Bruce C. Gockerman

Student Scholarship

This paper examines the work of the Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) from an organizational effectiveness frame of reference as the CGLG sought to develop an enforceable regional water management regime for the water resources of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin. It seeks to find both the theoretical and applied framings that tie the pieces of the applicable descriptive literature on social learning and negotiated order as decision making models together, and to draw generalized lessons about organizational effectiveness from the particular geo-politically complex venue under study. This will advance the study of collective action, collaboration, …