Digital Commons Network^™

Organizational Development Consulting: A Study Of Expert Consultants' Key Strategies, Mona Vosoughi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study was conducted to capture the collective voice of expert organizational development consultants. Until now, very few studies have been conducted that take into account the collective voices of organizational development consultants. More specifically, the purpose of the present study is to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the approaches expert organizational development consultants use throughout their engagement with their clients in an attempt to add value to and enhance organizational capacity. To understand the process used by this distinct group of leaders, phenomenological qualitative inquiry was the methodology used to conduct this study. Data were collected …

New Life, Shirley Freed

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Leaders And Their Use Of Power In Facilitating Organizational Change, Randy Wollf

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Leading Dangerously: A Case Study Of Military Teams And Shared Leadership In Dangerous Environments, Alex J Ramthun, Gina S. Matkin

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

In a qualitative case study, we described and explained shared leadership in dangerous contexts for military teams. We conducted eight semistructured interviews with shared, team, and military leadership subject matter experts in order to gain an improved understanding of the relationship between shared leadership and team performance in the presence of danger. We found the themes of mutual influence, leadership emergence, dangerous dynamism, and distributed knowledge, skills, and abilities provided rich description of the phenomenon. Specifically, our findings suggest military teams in dangerous situations use mutual influence and leadership emergence to share leadership and achieve high performance. Additionally, we found …

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 …

Leadership Characteristics And Practices Of American Association Of School Administrators (Aasa) Superintendents Of The Year And Finalists, Doris Lynette Crawford

Online Theses and Dissertations

Houston (2007) concluded, "To preserve the possibilities for our children requires leadership, and that leadership is also a critical condition for success. While the educational journey takes place in the classroom and school, the trip is planned, the fuel is acquired, and the steering is done in the superintendent's office" (p. 432). The purpose of this study was to determine the key characteristics and practices needed by school district superintendents to meet the demands of this position in the twenty-first century. The key characteristics were identified by exemplary superintendents who had been recognized for their effectiveness. 55% of the population …

How The Narrative Paradigm Affects Military Stories, Richard Irving Mcnamara

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This project defines how the narrative paradigm can be used with military storytelling to improve the credibility of the U.S. military. Furthermore, it outlines how the American Forces Network (AFN) can model its training with the narrative paradigm to become an innovative organization. The literature review examines the rules that the military has to follow with their stories, the narrative paradigm, transformational leadership and the path to innovation with the intent of creating a path for military Public Affairs leaders to follow while leading an AFN, or any story producing unit. The primary purpose of this project is a completed …

Surviving The Digital Age, David Franklin Meland

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This project provides a look at educational studies, theories, and principles to help people understand the enhancing and diminishing characteristics of contemporary communication technologies. The project uses the theoretical framework of media ecology to show that through an understanding of today’s media environments, society can better grasp just how media technology has been, and continues to be, an influential part of everyday life. The primary feature of the project is a comprehensive website – titled Surviving the Digital Age (http://melandd.wix.com/survivingdigitalage) – which also serves as a way to show how media plays an enormous role in shaping who we are …

Using General Systems Theory To Evaluate Channels Of Feedback In A Law Enforcement Agency, Trent Aaron Gerbers

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The principles of General Systems Theory and Management Cybernetics have been used, not only to analyze and evaluate organizational communication, but also to help improve communicative efficiency through the strengthening of message sending/receiving channels. This thesis continues the exploration of channel efficiency and feedback by examining the principles of General Systems Theory and Management Cybernetics through the daily interactions that occur at a municipal police department. The unique ranking structure and paramilitary nature of the law enforcement agency dictates policy that regulates the means of vertical communication between employees, but measuring the department’s current communication system against the principles of …

Understanding Relational Agility: Exploring Constructs Of Relational Leadership Through Story, David M.I. Mclean

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Organizational storytelling was used within Tri Fit, a Canadian health promotion and fitness company, to explore relational leadership practices. Through 27 confidential one-on-one interviews and an interview of the four-person leadership team, the research attempted to examine how relational agility, a new leadership construct, exists, how it is defined, and to describe its organizational impacts. Two hundred and forty unique stories were shared through this process, out of which nine storylines emerged. The distillation of these revealed three cultural themes: a culture of relational connection; a culture of nice and a culture that values positivity. Demonstrations of transformational leadership, authentic …

Servant-Leadership: A Feminist Perspective, Kae Reynolds

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

At the heart of this paper is the notion that servant-leadership has potential as a feminism-informed, care-oriented, and gender-integrative approach to organizational leadership. Although there is a significant body of literature on feminist and gender-based interpretations of leadership, the same is not true for servant-leadership. The main contributors to date include Crippen's (2004) narrative inquiry of three women servant-leaders, Eicher-Catt's (2005) feminist critique of servant-leadership, Oner's (2009) and Barbuto and Gifford's (2010) empirical studies of gender differences in servantleadership, and Ngunjiri's (2010) phenomenological study of African women servant-leaders.

Economic Empowerment Through Income Generating Activities And Social Mobilization: The Case Of Married Amhara Women Of Wadla Woreda, North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, Belete Deribie Woldegies

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Wadla Woreda is located in North Wollo Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. The woreda is predominantly agrarian and the population produces mainly subsistence food crops with small amounts of cash crops. Access to basic social and economic services such as health, education, and employment for rural communities is limited due to poor development of rural infrastructure. Wadla is one of the food insecure woredas in the region. As a result some of the people are internally displaced and a portion of the population is included in safety-net programs. The Wadla Woreda is prone to famine due to severe droughts, soil …

To Transform A Culture: The Rise And Fall Of The U.S. Army Organizational Effectiveness Program, 1970–1985, James Michael Young

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In the early 1970s, following a decade of social upheaval in the US and a traumatizing military defeat in Vietnam, a group of progressive army officers, armed with recent graduate degrees in the social and behavioral sciences, created a grass roots movement that soon led to the implementation of the largest organizational development program ever conducted. Wartime atrocities and chronic careerism in the Army officer corps, along with President Richard Nixon’s promise to create an All-Volunteer Force (AVF), opened up a window of opportunity for these progressives to promote transformational leadership theories grounded in humanistic psychology. In institutionalizing OD across …

Leadership And The Australian Greens, Christine Cunningham, Stewart Jackson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper examines the inherent tension between a Green political party’s genesis and official ideology and the conventional forms and practices of party leadership enacted in the vast bulk of other parties, regardless of their place on the ideological spectrum. A rich picture is painted of this ongoing struggle through a case study of the Australian Greens with vivid descriptions presented on organisational leadership issues by Australian state and federal Green members of parliaments. What emerges from the data is the Australian Green MPs’ conundrum in retaining an egalitarian and participatory democracy ethos while seeking to expand their existing frame …

Reflections On The Metamorphosis At Robben Island: The Role Of Institutional Work And Positive Psychological Capital, Wayne F. Cascio, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from South Africa were imprisoned on notorious Robben Island from the mid-1960s until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. The stark conditions and abusive treatment of these prisoners has been widely publicized. However, upon reflection and in retrospect, over the years, a type of metamorphosis occurred. Primarily drawing from firsthand accounts of the former prisoners and guards, it seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to freedom …

Leadership Department Newsletter - July 2013, Andrews University

Leadership Department Newsletter 2013

No abstract provided.

Leadership Department Newsletter - June 2013, Andrews University

Leadership Department Newsletter 2013

No abstract provided.

Managerial Competencies And Exemplary Leadership In The Lodging Industry: An Empirical Study, Fadila Maraouch

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

In facing the rising demand for improved quality, reduced costs, and constant innovation, the need to continuously upgrade knowledge, skills, and abilities is essential for all leadership roles including those held by executives, managers, and supervisors (Kay & Russette, 2000; Mirabile, 1997; Okeiyi, Finley, & Postel, 1994; Sandwith, 1993; Tas, 1988; Tas, LaBreque, & Clayton, 1996). With management scholars racing to meet this demand, competency modeling has become one of the most frequently used techniques to help organizations profile jobs, select, as well as prepare the right person for the right leadership position (Katz, 1955; Sandwith, 1993).

Under the …

Leadership For Innovation In The Memories Business: A Mixed Methods Study Of A Hospitality And Tourism Marketplace, Lori J. Sipe Phd

Dissertations

In the past 35 years, substantial research has been conducted examining innovation in the business environment. Despite the vast quantity of innovation studies, a large percentage of the contributions are focused on product innovation outputs in manufacturing, while innovation theory in the services industry is still struggling to emerge. The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the largest service industries in the world. In this industry context, innovation is less about producing new things and more about delivering unique experiences to create lasting memories. The purpose of this study was to extend the work already done regarding innovation in …

Leadership In Tough Times: How Executives Sustain Organizational Faithfulness, Rick Stiffney

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Evidence-Based Management And Leadership, R B. Briner, Neil D. Walshe

Organization, Leadership, and Communication

Organizations can be led and managed in many different ways and there is no shortage of perspectives, models, and frameworks for thinking about how such tasks can be accomplished. This chapter focuses on one such perspective: evidence-based management (EBMgt). At its core is the idea that when managers and organizations make decisions, evidence of various types should be collected, critically appraised, and taken into account. Put this way, EBMgt does not appear to be either new or radical. However, as we shall go on to discuss, recent attempts to elaborate and flesh out this idea show that while some of …

The Role Of Leadership In Ict Integration And Its Impact On The Economy In Haiti, Carmel Louis-Jacques

2010-2016 Archived Posters

A phenomenological study on the process and effect Haitian leaders have on the implementation and application of information communication technologies in Haiti. Guided by Colaizzi’s Seven Steps of Phenomenological Analysis, the emerging concepts included key sectors, corruption, lack of infrastructure, decentralization, and engagement. The findings can aid researchers, academicians, and leaders interested in investigating how the use of ICT can produce positive or negative social and political outcomes in LDCs.

Religious Commitment And Servant-Leadership: The Development Of An Exploratory Conceptual Model, Gary E. Roberts, Diane Hess-Hernandez

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Irrespective of one's personal religious beliefs, no objective observer can deny that religion exerts a major influence on society and human resources management. The influence of religious beliefs and spirituality on the jobrelated attitudes, behaviors, and performance of employees is an often neglected and underresearched topic across the major organizational sectors (Garcia Zamor 2003; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz 2003; King 2007; Exline and Bright 2011; Byrne, Morton, and Dahling 2011 ). This article strives to develop a conceptual framework for the influence of religious commitment on servant-leader and human resource management work-related outcomes. It will include the main dependent and independent …

Transformational Leadership And Profitability In A Retail Setting, Barbara Koziol

Theses and Graduate Projects

Creative Kidstuff, a privately owned company with five retail locations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and a sixth location in West Des Moines, Iowa, experienced rapid growth in its first 15 years of business, Sales started to decline due to vendor mergers, consolidations, and bankruptcies along with increased competition from other toy retailers and the advent of on-line shopping. Transformational leadership has been shown to be effective in organizations undergoing change. My hypothesis was that there are significant leadership differences between stores which are highly profitable and those that are not. The Creative Kidstuff Employee Survey was designed with questions …

Communication Satisfaction And Part-Time Employees In A Park And Recreation Organization, Debra Lynn Derosa

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate levels of communication satisfaction depending on work status (whether employees work on a full-time or part-time basis) in a single municipal park and recreation organization. Part-time and full-time employees were surveyed using the Down and Hazen's Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire, resulting in 40 usable responses. The results showed that both part-time and full-time employees surveyed had low levels of communication satisfaction in the researched organization. Part-time employees had slightly higher levels of communication satisfaction than the full-time employees in each of the eight communication dimensions researched. This study draws attention for organizational need …

Servant-Leadership... To Teach Or To Awaken?, Paul Nakai

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

For the past thirty years, my professional life has focused on better understanding the principles of organizational culture change and the development of leadership capacity within that organization to achieve that change. I have had the good fortune during that time to work with a cadre of highly competent culture change professionals. As a company, we have been able to work in many challenging situations as well as with some of the premier organizations at the time. As satisfied as our clients have been, many of them have partnered with us to make the endeavor even more meaningful. As a …

The Promised Land: Robert Greenleaf, Bruce Springsteen, And Servant-Leadership, Joe Albert, Larry C. Spears

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Bruce Springsteen and Robert K. Greenleaf. Two very different men, born into different ages, different environments, different careers. Yet, despite all of their differences, these two men share much in common. Beyond certain superficial similarities-during the 1950s and '60s they lived a short distance from one another in New Jersey-we contend that Springsteen and Greenleaf share a commitment to what has come to be called "servant-leadership," and to a set of characteristics that exemplify servant-leaders. We live in an age of deepening cynicism-a time where a lack of integrity and mistrust abound. Yet, we see in the writings of Robert …

Enhancing Servant-Leadership’S Practice Through Utilization Of Authentic Dialogue, Russell Horton

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

While the concept of servant-leadership dates back to biblical times more than two thousand years ago (Sendjaya and Sarros 2002, 57), it is only since the 1970s that the ideas of servant-leadership came into modern leadership scholarship through Robert Greenleaf's writings (ibid.). Several authors, including Gergen and Zelleke (2008), Heineman (2006), Russell and Stone (2002), and Tierney (2006) have commented on a societal leadership deficit. Wong and Davey noted that in some cases this manifests itself as a lack of interested or available leaders for a given organizational or community leadership position (Wong and Davey 2007, 1 ). The lack …

Subordinate-Supervisor Communication: Junior Naval Officer Feelings And Obstacles When Communicating Up The Chain Of Command, Neva R. Fuentes

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Research on subordinate-supervisor communication has revealed that employees in civilian organizations often stay silent about workplace problems. Comfort levels between subordinates and supervisors, was a major factor to this silence. Currently, there exists very little literature on upward communication from subordinate to supervisor amongst U.S. Naval Officers. The purpose of this thesis was to explore Junior Officer (JO) feelings and perceived obstacles about communicating up the chain of command with senior officers. Interview questions from a previous study (Milliken, Morrison, & Hewlin, 2003) on subordinate-supervisor communication were adapted for an electronic survey and used to explore JO feelings and perceived …

The Impacts Of Multiple 360 Feedback Projects Utilizing Coaching And Follow-Up: A Quantitative Longitudinal Exploratory Descriptive Research Study, Jeremy Unruh

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

360 degree feedback is a great tool for organizational development, however many organizations don’t include coaching and follow-up to maximize impact for long term results. This quantitative longitudinal exploratory descriptive research study explores the impact of conducting the same 360 feedback survey within the same organization over a 3 year time frame utilizing coaching and follow-up. Data from 6 individuals indicate an improvement of self-awareness and an increase of set goals and completed goals. Theories of self-awareness and self-perception are discussed as well as the development of a new communication channel between manager and employee for organizational development purposes.