Digital Commons Network^™

Book Review: Standing Up Space Force: The Road To The Nation’S Sixth Armed Service, Robert D. Bradford Iii

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Forrest L. Marion

Reviewed by Robert D. Bradford III, associate professor of defense and Joint processes, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, US Army War College

Robert D. Bradford III reviews this “first history” of the United States Space Force. He overviews the author Forrest L. Marion’s resources (“primary sources and extensive oral history interviews”) and highlights the book’s value in the way it “depicts cultural and bureaucratic barriers to…organizational change.” Bradford notes the history’s universal applicability as it relates to other situations in which an institution successfully approaches change.

How Can Dei Training Change The Culture Of An Organization To Achieve Belonging And Retain Diverse Employees?, Kaisa S. Holt

University Honors Theses

Studies show the need for innovation and higher productivity yields can be best achieved through workforce heterogeneity. Creating effective DEI training frameworks is crucial for belonging, sustainable social well-being and enacting real change. This is key to proactively shifting our current system from one that responds to the need for DEI on a surface level to something that is regenerative. The aim of this review is to evaluate characteristics and enhancements added to evidence-based DEI training between 2020 and 2024. Studies were identified using the Portland State advanced database of academic journals on the DEI training and impacts of the …

Job Task Analysis: Exploring A Nonprofit Mental Health Administrative Staff’S Perceptions Of Their Job Duties And Priorities, Ella Faye Warren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to a recent expansion, Organization A encountered challenges in aligning its administrative staff duties and responsibilities with the strategic objectives of the organization. This difficulty was driven by the need to accommodate new services and the increasing demand for mental health services within the region. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the job duties the administrative staff at Organization A currently perform, and what were their perceptions concerning the priorities to be fulfilled in the future. The conceptual frameworks of job task analysis and job task inventory guided the data collection process, which involved conducting …

Coproduction Revisited: From Theory To Practice., Brenton Clarke Hereford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coproduction, or the interaction of citizens with their public service provider, has been used in policy responses to a myriad of service delivery problems, especially policing. This dissertation uses a three-manuscript approach to revisit coproduction both as a theory and a practice. The first manuscript tracks the evolution of coproduction as a theory from three different disciplines: economics, urban theory, and public administration. In addressing the three disciplines, the manuscript explains what broadly united the coproduction literature and the differences that hindered the early development of the concept. It concludes with how the concept is used today, and how future …

Learning From Burning: Connecting Fire Managers And Fire Scientists, Coleman Lloyd Little

All Theses

The fire community is one of transparency and learning, and embedded in its culture is an openness of sharing successes and failures in order to learn and adapt. United by a shared desire to effectively understand and utilize controlled burns to successfully extinguish wildfires and research their lasting effects, fire managers and fire scientists coexist in partnerships commonly referred to as knowledge exchange networks. This research examines one such network, the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists (CAFMS), through the experiences of some of its members, serving to develop an understanding of how the consortium functions as a knowledge …

Deviance And Innovation: Change In A “Society Of Saints”, Thaddeus V. Drake, Derrick L. Mcclain

Joint Force Quarterly

Μilitary innovation and adaptation studies are a growth industry. Since the publication of Barry Posen’s seminal study The Sources of Military Doctrine in the early 1980s, the field has grown extensively. Despite well-known military thinkers’ recent book-length treatments of the topic, most studies of change in the military retain two key commonalities. First, nearly all assume that innovation or adaptation is inherently good and worth pursuing. Second, they agree that militaries are famously resistant to change and accept this as part of the fundamental nature of the military system. This article acknowledges the first point; indeed, modern military leaders continually …

Employees Speak Up: Engaging Voices From The Human Services Field, Henry J. Davis, Janna C. Heyman, Linda White-Ryan, Dana Marlowe

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This qualitative study aims to understand the perceptions and experiences of human services professionals working within urban communities with respect to their work experiences, compensation, and work-life balance. Focus groups were used to collect data from direct service staff and executive leadership from diverse agencies. This study examined the words and stories, generating the following overarching themes: (1) dedication to agency model and communities served; (2) compensation and responsibilities; (3) reality of work-life balance; and (4) desire for professional growth and personal growth. The results show that while employees expressed personal fulfillment with their work, the issues of compensation, workload, …

Transforming School Leadership: An Examination Of The Impetus And Evolution Of An Internal District Principal Preparation Program, Whitney Szoke

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

School districts, faced with increasing shortages in the education profession, are leveraging internal district strategies to recruit and grow their educators. In addition to preparing and credentialing new educators, districts are turning inward to cultivate their leadership pipeline. This case study explores a post-credential inner-district principal preparation program in a large school district in the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants were central office leaders involved in creating and developing the program. This study's findings reveal insights into the creation and development of an inner-district principal preparation program and how initiatives are shaped and influenced during the development phase. Central office leaders were …

The Influence Of A Caregiver Support Program On Consumer Well-Being, Wallace Thomas Peake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Caregiving has been shown to be a potential burden for the well-being of caregivers. The focus of this study was a caregiver support program whose managers lacked an understanding of the efficacy of the program in enhancing the well-being of the consumers of the program. The purpose of this quantitative study was to develop and administer a consumer satisfaction survey that evaluated the efficacy of caregiver support program services from the consumer perspective. This study was grounded by the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment model, which informed the development of the survey that was administered to the participants …

The Influence Of A Caregiver Support Program On Consumer Well-Being, Wallace Thomas Peake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Caregiving has been shown to be a potential burden for the well-being of caregivers. The focus of this study was a caregiver support program whose managers lacked an understanding of the efficacy of the program in enhancing the well-being of the consumers of the program. The purpose of this quantitative study was to develop and administer a consumer satisfaction survey that evaluated the efficacy of caregiver support program services from the consumer perspective. This study was grounded by the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment model, which informed the development of the survey that was administered to the participants …

Personal Reflections From A Grassroots Peacebuilding Journey, Mark Clark

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article presents the author’s personal reflections from experiences over the past thirty years, working at the intersection of leadership development, complexity, and conflict: a journey from corporate law, the British Army, and armed conflict, through the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the US-led coalition’s intervention in Iraq, emergency humanitarian response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and violence reduction and post-conflict reconciliation in Papua New Guinea, to a Jordan-based international peacebuilding organization that supports grassroots peacebuilding efforts in fifty-two countries, and finally a return home to Scotland. It is a journey of naïveté, hubris, curiosity, and an …

Law Enforcement Agencies’ Policy Impact On Police Officers’ Mental Health And Wellness: A Content Analysis, Na'shayla M. Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Law enforcement officers are available to answer the calls of citizens in the communities they serve. They are required to deal with some of the most horrific and stressful situations imaginable. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to investigate law enforcement agencies’ policies related to adequate provision of early mental health intervention services for law enforcement officers after critical incidents and those policies’ impact on officer mental health. The focus of this study was on law enforcement agencies’ policies from 34 departments from across the United States. The agencies vary in geographic location and size. The results demonstrate …

Law Enforcement Agencies’ Policy Impact On Police Officers’ Mental Health And Wellness: A Content Analysis, Na'shayla M. Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Law enforcement officers are available to answer the calls of citizens in the communities they serve. They are required to deal with some of the most horrific and stressful situations imaginable. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to investigate law enforcement agencies’ policies related to adequate provision of early mental health intervention services for law enforcement officers after critical incidents and those policies’ impact on officer mental health. The focus of this study was on law enforcement agencies’ policies from 34 departments from across the United States. The agencies vary in geographic location and size. The results demonstrate …

Black Superintendents’ Perceptions On The Effectiveness Of Diversity And Equity Professional Development In New Jersey Schools, Tanisha Hinton

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Providing an accessible and equitable education for all students has been an ongoing process mandated by the Managing for Equality and Equity initiative to close the achievement and opportunity gaps among students. This qualitative study examined Black superintendents' perspectives about the effectiveness and impact of diversity, equity, and inclusive initiatives in majority White staffed school districts in New Jersey. Furthermore, the study explored the perceptions of Black superintendents across different regions of New Jersey to understand if there were significant differences in how DEI initiative was perceived. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 Black superintendents and the data was analyzed …

The Bonneville Power Administration In A Transformative Decade: A Study Of Collibration In Public Administration, Christopher M. Frost

Dissertations and Theses

In 1987, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) celebrated its 50th year as a federal agency. It was created in 1937 to market power produced by federal dam operations on the Columbia River and provide electric transmission service in the Pacific Northwest region. A decade later, while its organizational mission had largely remained the same, BPA had undergone a major transformation both in its governance role with regional partners and as an institution of the Pacific Northwest. This study seeks to understand how this change occurred.

My research identifies three factors that enabled BPA to successfully respond to external challenges to …

Raising The Bar — Integrating Cultural Competence And Equity: Equitable Evaluation – With 2024 Prologue, Jara Dean-Coffey, Jill Casey, Leon D. Caldwell

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2014, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

Whether implicit or explicit, social justice and human rights are part of the mission of many philanthropies. Evaluation produced, sponsored, or consumed by these philanthropies that doesn’t pay attention to the imperatives of cultural competency may be inconsistent with their missions.

The American Evaluation Association’s Statement on Cultural Competence provides those who produce, sponsor, and use evaluation an opportunity to examine and align their practices and policies within a context of racial and cultural equity and inclusion. The …

Internal Culture, External Impact: How A Changemaking Culture Positions Foundations To Achieve Transformational Change – With 2024 Prologue, Amy Celep, Sara Brenner, Rachel Mosher-Williams

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2016, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

This article argues that a foundation’s internal culture is critical to achieving large-scale social change, but that efforts to build a changemaking culture too often are left out of strategy conversations.

While there is no one culture that suits every foundation, a particular set of characteristics must be present in those that seek largescale social change: a focus on outcomes, transparency, authenticity, collaboration, racial equity and inclusion, continuous learning, and openness to risk.

This article offers insights into …

The Soft Stuff Doesn’T Have To Be Hard: Foundation Investments In Grantee Workers Are Necessary, Valuable, And Measurable – With 2024 Prologue, Rusty M. Stahl

The Foundation Review

Editor’s Note: This article, first published in print and online in 2022, has been republished by The Foundation Review with minor updates.

There is an urgent need for funder investments in the ability of grantee nonprofit organizations to support their staff. Such investments, when done well, can yield significant value for individuals, organizations, and fields of work or movements. Furthermore, the value of these investments can be evaluated and communicated.

This article explores the reasons for and implications of the inadequate response by funders, offers a path forward for designing investments in grantee staff, and documents how funders can capture …

Examining Public Service Innovations In Indonesia: Challenges, Characteristics, And Implementation Within Bureaucratic Systems, Anugerah Yuka Asmara, Setiowiji Handoyo, Purwadi Purwadi, Anggini Dinaseviani, Ria Jayanthi, Dhian Kusumawardhani

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

In the twenty-first century, public sector organizations (PSOs) have embraced various innovations to enhance productivity, efficiency, and accountability. Indonesia’s local and central governmental agencies have incorporated public service innovations into their systems, achieving notable improvements. The Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (Kementerian PANRB) reported 3478 public service innovations through the Public Service Innovation Competition Program (KIPP) by 2022. These innovations have led to significant enhancements in service delivery, increasing productivity by streamlining processes, boosting efficiency by reducing bureaucratic delays, and improving accountability through better transparency and governance. This research employs a post-positivist paradigm with a descriptive methodology, …

Critical Success Factors Of Agile Innovation Management In The Government Of Palu Municipality In Central Sulawesi Province, Rahmawati Halim Rhm, Mashuri H. Tahili Mht

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

Agile governance plays a crucial role in developing agile innovation to enhance performance in Palu Municipality. This study examines the critical success factors of agile innovation management (AIM) in the government of Palu Municipality. This study employed an exploratory survey and a quantitative method to collect data through questionnaires, with analysis conducted using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. The findings identify end-user involvement, technology development, organizational innovation, and agile methodology for service innovation as crucial success elements in achieving effective AIM

The Urgency Of Administrative Reform In E-Government-Based Recruitment Of General Elections Commission Members In Bali Province, Ni Wayan Widhiasthini, Ni Kadek Winda Yanti, Nyoman Sri Subawa, Made Srinitha Millinia Utami

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

This study aims to explore the role of information technology, particularly the application of e-government, in the recruitment process for General Elections Commission (KPU) members, focusing on administrative reform in Bali. It emphasizes the optimization of administrative reform through an e-government-based recruitment system. Utilizing a qualitative research framework, this study employed a descriptive approach with a post-positivist perspective. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis, followed by systematic stages of data reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources and validated through source triangulation and determination. Informants were purposively …

Performance Of The Public Service Bureaucracy: Urban, Rural, And Building Tax Service Model (Pbb-P2) Based On Information And Technology, Rahmawati Rahmawati, Raniasa Putra

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The community needs effective, efficient, and accountable public services, including tax services. The Urban & Rural Land & Building Tax (PBB-P2) is a new type of tax for the regions. In the course of its management, there are obstacles and problems. Among them, the community as taxpayers (WP) has difficulty fulfilling their obligations to pay taxes. In addition, the weak administration system of services to taxpayers is due to limited human resources (HR) facilities, infrastructure, organizations, and others. Regional Financial and Asset Management (BPPKAD) considers the bureaucracy too long and prone to deposit discrepancies. The research method used is descriptive …

A Path Towards Trust: Enhancing Relations Between Ngos Using The Intergroup Trust Model, Mariska Kappmeier, Chiara Venanzetti

Peace and Conflict Studies

Trust is a fundamental element of human relations, facilitating positive cooperation among individuals, groups, and organizations, including those dedicated to peacebuilding. While these organizations ideally collaborate toward their shared goals, interorganizational competition often undermines relationships, breeding distrust. Cultivating interorganizational trust can make the difference between failure and success. However, building trust is challenging due to trust’s elusive, multifaceted nature.

This article proposes a multidimensional trust model to facilitate a systematic approach to trust assessment and subsequent trust-building

Through a case study of two NGOs, we present firstly, the Intergroup Trust Model, which proposes trust consists of five dimensions competence-, …

Crafting A Succession Process For A Nonprofit Organization: Exploring And Plotting The Creation Of A Succession Plan For The Chips Montgomery Foundation, Robert King

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this case study, the phenomena of leadership loss and transition within a small nonprofit organization, which is a pivotal cycle impacting businesses of all sizes and types, was explored. The study underscored that employee turnover is an inevitable occurrence, influenced by a myriad of factors, leading to significant decisions on staff replacement and thereby shaping future organizational trajectories. Central to this investigation was the exploration of various organizational development theories, functionalism, and human resource planning, which provided a conceptual framework for understanding leadership transitions. Both for-profit and nonprofit entities grapple with leadership losses, yet nonprofits encounter distinct challenges necessitated …

Impact Of Leadership Decisions On Police Officer Well-Being: A Covid-19 Response, Jason N. Spencer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation research project is to determine the impact that law enforcement leaders, their leadership styles, and decision-making processes have on the well-being of police officers. This study sought to understand this impact by focusing on the perspectives of frontline police officers, detectives, and first-line supervisors from various law enforcement organizations in the Central Virginia Region and within the context of leadership decisions made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the constructivist grounded theory approach to research design, 12 participants responded to an initial qualitative questionnaire, followed by a semi-structured interview to gain the rich, …

Using Student Voices To Inform Educational Reform: Exploring High School Educational Desires To Improve Curricular Decisions, Anna Colquitt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the education system, the integration of student perspectives into effective pedagogical strategies is gaining momentum. This dissertation delves into the concept of 'Student Voice' and its role in shaping educational frameworks. Recognizing the growing gap in soft skill proficiency among newly recruited employees, contrasted with the emphasis on hard skills within current educational standards, this study analyzes what those skill gaps are in the education and what skills students perceive are necessary to integrate into a high school education to better prepare students for life, the workforce, and higher education. Focused on recent high school graduates in Nevada, the …

Well-Being Behaviors And Outcomes In Arkansas Teachers: A Qualitative Analysis Of Teachers In Arkansas During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ashton Elizabeth Human

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges to teachers and emphasized those already existing in the education system. The increased reliance upon technology and lack of administrative support perceived during distance learning led to lower levels of commitment to teaching and increased levels of teacher burnout. Burnout risk is associated with an increased workload, exhaustion from job demands, cynicism toward the professional community and has been shown to have a negative relationship with well-being. Teachers experiencing burnout are unable to establish positive relationships with students, understand students’ needs, stay in contact with trends in the education field, or provide pedagogically …

An Effective, Robust, And Strategic Succession Plan For A Primary Law Enforcement Agency In Guyana, South America, Nicola Denise Kendall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The client organization, Guyana’s principal law enforcement agency, lacked a robust, effective, and strategic succession plan to fill vacancies for senior leadership and management. The current qualitative case study was to ascertain the appropriate strategies that could be employed for this organization, and by extension public organizations and law enforcement agencies, to have a robust, effective, and strategic succession plan. The conceptual framework was based on the succession planning model, which focused on key concepts such as strategy, knowledge management, talent management, organizational culture, leadership development, and management commitment. Data were collected from interviews, with 23 participants and a review …

How Covid-19 Changed Us: Compassion, Leadership, And Policy, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

Nevada was one of the hardest hit states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past three years, researchers at The Lincy Institute and other institutions collected interviews from 80 Nevada leaders across sectors including elected officials, leaders in education, community organizations, government agencies, and the business community. Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our communities continue to build a resilient and healthy Nevada. This forum discusses how the crisis prompted us to rethink how we lead and how we can prepare for future challenges. Following a presentation of the project and its deliverables, leaders across sectors discuss …

The Need For States To Implement Trauma-Informed Care Policies, Teodora-Maria Uglean

School of Professional Studies

Currently, one of the biggest struggles of both the U.S. government and its population is the high percentage of youth and adults who have mental illness which causes several drawbacks where it concerns the economy, but also, one of the main leading causes of death, and incarceration. This research paper demonstrates the advantages of implementing trauma-informed care (TIC) policies at a state level for public organizations such as Social Care, Schools., and Criminal System Justice. TIC is a recent approach that focuses on addressing the impact of early traumatic experiences in an individual’s life.

Results: The results found in this …