Digital Commons Network^™

Facing The Leadership Challenges On Decommissioning United States Navy Ships, Darren J. Mcglynn Edd

Dissertations

Since the late 1980s, hundreds of U.S. Navy ships have been decommissioned. Although ship decommissionings were postponed immediately after the September 11th attack, today the Navy is again engaged in “rightsizing” its force. Depending on the type of ship and its age, a ship faces different fates after the decommissioning process has been completed. Except on the rare occasion when a ship is turned into a museum, most decommissioned ships are disposed of in one of three ways. Some ships are sold to foreign navies to recoup some costs. Other ships are reassigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) to …

The Servant-Leader: From Hero To Host—An Interview With Margaret Wheatley, Larry C. Spears, John Noble

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

On November 15, 2001, Larry C. Spears, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in Indianapolis, and John Noble, Director of the Greenleaf Centre-United Kingdom, met with Margaret Wheatley in Indianapolis, Indiana. What follows is a record of the conversation that took place.

Organizational Structure And The Creative Process, Edward C. Bowen Edd

Dissertations

A creative edge can be a powerful source of competitive advantage in business, in war, in the arts, in science, and in life. In fact, creativity, innovation and the ability to adapt and change organizational structures in response to an increasingly fast-paced and competitive business environment are increasingly seen as essential for the success of many organizations. A current trend in organizational theory associates increases in formalization and both horizontal and vertical integration with decreases in an organization's ability to innovate and adapt. Consequently, organizational change efforts often involve moving from traditional, hierarchical structures toward flatter, more flexible types of …

Implementing Student Learning Outcomes: The Link To Accreditation In California Community Colleges, Lori Waite Edd

Dissertations

As the public demands accountability in higher education, regional accrediting bodies are under pressure from external governmental agencies, as well as from key stakeholders, to demonstrate their effectiveness and more specifically, provide evidence of student learning. All regional accrediting agencies now have incorporated some level of student learning outcomes into their criteria for reaffirmation of accreditation. This case study describes how three California public community colleges are implementing student learning outcomes on their campuses. Administrators, faculty and staff were interviewed about perceptions and insights related to learning outcomes. Artifact analysis was conducted to establish credibility and data triangulation. Findings suggest …

Total Resource Sharing Among Collegiate And Public Libraries In The Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands: A Narrative Case Study, Jimmie L. Ellis Edd

Dissertations

Especially in difficult economic times, educational and public sector organizations are under pressure to do more with less. At times, this means consolidating organizations to avoid costly duplication. This study focused on three attempts at consolidation that occurred on the island of Saipan and the two major outer islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). These efforts entailed total resource sharing across the collegiate and public libraries on these islands. Total resource sharing among the collegiate and public libraries in the CNMI was first envisioned in the late 1980s and early 1990s. By 1994, the concept of …

Valuing Servants Ends : A New Theory Of Ethical Service, Patricia Grace Devlin

Honors Theses

Many of today's universities encourage students to develop an ethic of service. Administrators, faculty, and staff members accompany students in campus-wide service activities; a number of collegiate honor societies reward students who engage in community service; and some academic programs require students to volunteer with local non-profit organizations. At its best, service learning inspires students to make a general commitment to service. The current emphasis placed on service learning in today's educational system reveals an emerging academic perspective not only on the value service has as an educational device but also on the significant role service plays in society. For …

Women Leaders Combining A Career In Higher Education With Raising A Family : A Study Of Leadership, Anne Simmons Williamson

Honors Theses

Much of the research within the field of Leadership Studies focuses on whether men and women lead differently and whether women can break "the glass ceiling." This study will examine women leaders in higher education administration who have children and have already broken the glass ceiling, focusing on their work-life challenges and analyzing the structural and attitudinal issues in their organization and society that impact their leadership.

Virginia Schein (1995) identified the larger challenge for society by asking,

How can we restructure work in a society in which work and family no longer are separate, but interface?...It is when this …

Employee Receptivity To Three Hundred Sixty Degree Feedback Systems As A Function Of Employee Trust And Employee Commitment: An Exploratory Study, Gregory G. Stump Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative exploratory study was to determine what affect, if any, employee trust, employee commitment, psychological androgyny (an employee sex-role inventory), and various demographic variables have on employee receptivity to 360-degree feedback (R360). Two organizations participated in the study. The first is a large university located in New York; the second is a small consulting firm located in California. A total of 62 participants responded to the 77-item Internet-based survey. The survey was composed of psychometrically adequate constructs developed in earlier studies. Employee trust, a 12-item construct, consisted of 8 items that measured trust in supervisor and …

Strategies Leaders Should Use To Respond To Hostile Questions Regarding Organizational Changes: An Empirical Investigation, Michael S. Gore

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a tool, using Speech Act Theory, which will help leaders better handle hostile questions they face during organizational change. Specifically, speech act theory, which outlines five question-response strategies, was used to test the effectiveness of question responses to hostile questions encountered during organizational change.

A Study Of Technology Implementation In Two School Districts: The Dynamics Of Leadership And Change, Rebecca D. Gillespie Edd, Ma, Ba

Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigated the role administrative leadership plays in organizational change related to the infusion of technology into district programs and pedagogical practices. School districts have been engaged in a struggle to incorporate new generations of technological advancements in meaningful ways for their students. Instructional reform and measurable performance-based outcomes are frequently conflated with the pressure to implement effective technology programs that ensure the No Child Left Behind federal mandates are met while ensuring judicious use of district funds. While technology has the potential to transform the educational process, it must align with the cultural uniqueness of the …

The Leadership Of The Domestic Violence Movement In Minnesota, Suzanne Koepplinger

Theses and Graduate Projects

The beginnings of the domestic violence movement were heavily influenced by cultural feminist thought and servant leadership styles. In recent years, more hierarchical and professional service providers have gained ground and changed the face of service provision, legislative efforts and public outreach in the domestic violence movement. What began as a social change movement has evolved into an institution in its own right. This shift has caused new styles of leadership and a new paradigm to take root. Transforming, empowering and visionary leadership, all with a base in feminism, mark the current players. It has not been an easy transition, …

Using Complexity Theory To Select Between Leaders And Managers, Michael W. Jordan

Theses and Graduate Projects

Several authors have attempted recently to extend Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory to organizations and business management (Wheatley, 1992; Lind, 1994; Beccone, 1998; Zimmerman, Lindberg & Plsek, 1998, Eoyang & Olson, 2001). The theory might be useful for practitioners, but it cannot provide detailed scientific predictions. The following questions are posed for analysis: Could CAS theory be applied to hiring and promoting leaders and managers? Would it be possible, and would it make sense, for organizations to identify emergent leaders as management prospects given Beccone's analysis of the distinction between leaders and managers? How might the procedures and results likely …

Discipleship: Empowering Followers For The Modern Church, Gordon Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

The modern church finds itself under increasing pressure as the number of individuals entering the ministry continues to fall short of the number accepting vocational calls outside of ministry or retiring. Churches of all denominations are looking for creative ways to re-engage their members into accepting a broader range of responsibility in the church. The term many are using is 'discipleship'.

This study will first examine the stewardship theory developed by Peter Block - the choice of service over self-interest. This theory will then be contrasted with the work done by Pastor Michael Foss in his recent book Power Surge. …

Genre Studies: Temporary Homogeneous Grouping To Improve Reading Or Merely Another Form Of Tracking?, Brenda Wright Campbell Edd

Dissertations

For the last fifty years, raising the achievement levels of students thought to be “at-risk” has proven to be one of the most difficult and vexing problems facing educators. Although many different strategies have been tried with varying levels of success, no single at-risk solution has emerged that both promotes significant achievement gains and helps to narrow the achievement gap between people of color and whites. This study examined the effectiveness of a particular district-wide literacy strategy in its first year that focused on literacy to educate students identified as “at-risk”. Specifically, this study used data gathered from two measures …

Leadership For Inter-Organization Collaboration, Dawn Cvengros

Theses and Graduate Projects

This work related project implemented strategies of leadership behavior designed to assist representatives from organizations that represent state and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and industry make advancements to develop a sustainable collaboration among these organizations. The representatives voluntarily convene to improve the nutritional wellness of low income people in Minnesota. The dynamics of strategic leadership theory as it was applied to this project are illustrated. The purpose of this project was to identify ways to assist them inter-organization collaboration (IOC) achieve the goal: to develop and sustain a cohesive, visible, inclusive, and productive collaboration among member organizations. The objective …

Cultivating Purpose & Meaning In Health Care Employees: A Case Study Of Spirituality Integrated Within An Organization, Denise Cleveland

Theses and Graduate Projects

This case study explores the impact of spirituality between an organization and employee. The literature supports a growing interest among leaders in the idea of integrating spirituality into the workplace. Many leaders are recognizing the role of spirituality in fostering the human spirit to create relationships and systems that allow people to feel valued and supported. These values contribute to a sense of community within the work environment. This study seeks to understand more about the attributes, characteristics and outcomes of an organization that integrates spirituality throughout its organizational culture.

Achieving Alignment Through Adaptive Leadership, Susan Schultze

Theses and Graduate Projects

This application project will focus on achieving strategic alignment through adaptive leadership. It will look at intrinsic motivation as a means for adaptive leadership to develop the entrepreneurial spirit within an organization. It will develop the intrinsic motivation building blocks as a means of working through alignment frameworks. The emphasis will be on components that can be used at the workgroup level, as individuals and as a team. The Five Disciplines of the Learning Organization support the concept of connectivity across an organization that achieves alignment through iterations of the alignment model. This project will also refer to complex adaptive …

Veteran Teacher Perceptions Of The Grossmont Model Of Peer Assistance And Review. Is It A Viable Alternative To Traditional Evaluation?, Edwin L. Basilio Edd

Dissertations

This study looked at factors that influenced veteran teacher perceptions of the newly implemented Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program in the Grossmont Union High School District. More specifically, the study explored (1) reasons why teachers with at least five years of successful teaching experience voluntarily chose to forfeit their regularly scheduled traditional evaluation and substitute it with a peer review, (2) factors that contributed to positive perceptions of the PAR program, (3) factors that contributed to negative perceptions of the PAR program, and (4) perceived differences between the traditional and PAR methods of teacher evaluation. This study incorporated multiple …

Impact Of Transformational Leadership On Follower Development And Performance: A Field Experiment, Taly Dvir, Dov Eden, Bruce Avolio, Boas Shamir

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In a longitudinal, randomized field experiment, we tested the impact of transformational leadership, enhanced hy training, on follower development and performance. Experimental group leaders received transformational leadership training, and control group leaders, eclectic leadership training. The sample included 54 military leaders, their 90 direct followers, and 724 indirect followers. Results indicated the leaders in the experimental group had a more positive impact on direct followers' development and on indirect followers' performance than did the leaders in the control group.

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction Of Repatriated Managers, Michael A. Duoto Edd

Dissertations

Turnover due to repatriation is an increasingly costly occurrence for multinational corporations. Understanding why repatriates decide to leave their companies upon being called back from abroad may help to devise ways in which organizations can mitigate such turnover and reduce cost in hiring and training new personnel. To that end, this study examines the impact of training and orientation programs on the job satisfaction of repatriated managers. In general the study looks at whether or not training, orientation, and family support programs have an impact on the job satisfaction of repatriated managers. The study puts forward the hypothesis that training …

Perception And Reality: An Empirical Assessment Of Navy Leadership Styles And Business Process Reengineering Outcomes, Andre D. Murphy Edd

Dissertations

Seeking to improve mission readiness and organizational effectiveness while reducing expenditures, the Department of the Navy (DoN) eliminated and reconstructed many of its business practices. Reconstruction of the military's business practices was accomplished through business process reengineering (BPR). Business process reengineering is a change strategy that provides organizations the opportunity to do “more with less.” Although doing more with less is not a new concept in military settings, the organizational change construct of business process reengineering is new. Most organizations in the private sector that attempt reengineering do not attain their intended results; the literature reveals that 50–70% of organizations …

Leadership In The Continuous Improvement Process, Jim L. Kline

Theses and Graduate Projects

Companies are formed for many reasons, but without profitability, they will not survive. Therefore, it remains the focus of the company's employees to maintain profitability. New ideas and improvements must be implemented continuously for the company to maintain and increase their profitability.

The employees responsible for continuously implementing these new ideas and improvements will significantly contribute to the success of the company and its profitability. The key to their success is the use of positive leadership and a continuous improvement process. This study presents two theories that support this claim: Masaaki lmai's continuous improvement process, and James MacGregor Burns' theory …

Blinded By Vision, Craig A. Dowd

Theses and Graduate Projects

Conventional wisdom states vision is a requirement of husiness leadership, but the husiness community suffers from confusion and inconsistent application of the concept. A critical analysis of the concept reveals its popularity is based on rhetoric rather than a clear conceptualization of the term. (The term's literal meaning is the "experience of seeing God".) Without an academically useful definition, "vision" collapses under the weight of disparate and conflicting ideas. This thesis proposes that the problems with "vision" may be resolved by discarding the term completely and then separating the structure and function of leadership from the behavior of leaders and …

An Exploratory Study Of Patient Satisfaction And Servant Leadership, Carol L. Watson Saunders

Theses and Graduate Projects

Servant Leadership is a theory of leadership in which the Servant Leader is motivated primarily by an intuitive desire to serve his/her followers. The leadership aspect is secondary. In this study, the concept of Servant Leadership was applied to the physician-patient relationship in a healthcare setting. The purpose of the research was to determine the satisfaction level of patients with their physicians. Questionnaires were mailed to one hundred randomly selected patients at a large mid-western outpatient clinic. Following are several of the questions included in the questionnaire. On the average, how long do you have to wait to see your …

Establishing A 'Place Of Hope' In A Homeless Shelter For Families And Children, Annette E. Rodriguez

Theses and Graduate Projects

This project analyzes the critical leadership style of the management team, including this writer, in establishing "A Place of Hope' at a homeless shelter (The Shelter) for families and children located in a major city in the Upper Midwest Region. This project will assess the author's use of the following characteristics found in critical leadership: critical in nature, transformative in style, educative in form, and ethical in character (Foster, 1986, p.52). This project took place from 1999 to 2001.

School-Based Management In Alberta: Perceptions Of Public School Leaders, 1994–1997, Robert James Wilson Edd

Dissertations

In 1994, the Government of Alberta, Canada, instituted major fiscal measures designed to reduce operating costs and a large provincial debt. In tandem, Alberta Education restructured public education by: reducing the number of school districts, redefining the role of school boards, increasing the involvement of parents, initiating Charter schools, expanding student testing, downsizing Alberta Education, improving delivery of services to children, and mandating the implementation of school-based management in all public schools (Alberta Education News Release, January 18, 1994). The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how the implementation of school-based management, through the first three …

Faculty Perceptions Of Dean Transitions: Does Trust Matter? An Interpretive Case Study Of Organizational Trust And Organizational Culture, Rebecca L. Woolston Edd

Dissertations

This study looked for factors that might have influenced faculty perceptions of new deans at a professional school in the western part of the United States. More specifically, the study explored the question of how organizational trust may have influenced perceptions of new deans and faculty willingness to trust new deans. A single case study used guided interviews as data for the interpretive analysis. The study sought to provide insight into the phenomenon of dean transitions. The study also endeavored to add new dimensions to current conceptualizations of organizational trust and culture by highlighting a previously underexplored but potentially relevant …

The "Tao Te Ching:" A Primer For Developing A Leadership Philosophy, Merilee J. Light

Theses and Graduate Projects

A leader's behavior and actions flow from their values and beliefs. The focus of this thesis is to create a forum where people can explore their beliefs around how to positively influence others when in a position of leadership.

The forum is a three-session study group using a 2,500 year-old book of Chinese philosophy called the "Tao Te Ching." The 5,100-word book of 81 aphorisms provides pearls of wisdom on leadership--using nature as the model. Participants documented their leadership philosophy in session 1 and after reading the "Tao Te Ching" in session 3. Session 1 is an introduction to the …

Dying To Lead: Connections Of Fear Of Death, Personal Power And Leadership, Ann Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

From the earliest phases of the development of human consciousness to the present day, it appears that death is what is most feared. Consequently, over vast periods of historical time, strategies to avoid death became increasingly sophisticated - from sacrificial rituals to complex symbolic structures created to transcend or forestall death's eventuality. The topics of death and dying have regularly mystified and engaged many of the world's most highly respected leaders, from scientists and healers to playwrights and poets; and their extensive observations - both in scope and depth - illuminate the fact that death and dying are an extremely …

An Ethical Exploration Of Gender Inequality In Church Leadership, Elizabeth Rickert

Honors Theses

An Ethical Exploration of Gender Inequality in Church Leadership provides a moral analysis of the current status of women leaders in the church. Drawing on socio- analytical, ethical-theological, and leadership studies perspectives, this thesis sheds light on the disparity between the theological principles of equality and the ecclesiastical practices of inequality that create an unhealthy moral environment in churches.

Gender inequality in church leadership exists today in both the congregations permitting the ordination of women as well as in those that do not. This widespread discrepancy between rules and practices concerning women leaders in the church points to the socially …