Digital Commons Network^™

Facilitating Emergence: Complex, Adaptive Systems Theory And The Shape Of Change, Peter Martin Dickens

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study used Principal Component Analysis to examine factors that facilitate emergent change in an organization. As organizational life becomes more complex, today’s dominant management paradigms no longer suffice. This is particularly true in a health care setting where multiple sources of disease interacting with each other meet with often-competing organizational priorities and accountabilities in a highly complex world. This study identifies new ways of approaching complexity by embracing the capacity of complex systems to find their own form of order and coherence. Based on a review of the literature, interviews with hospital CEOs, and my organization development practice experience …

Leading Deeply: A Heroic Journey Toward Wisdom And Transformation, Richard Warm

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation will explore leadership as a mytho-poetic transformational journey toward self-knowledge, authenticity, and ultimately wisdom; the power to make meaning and give something back to the world in which we live; and the necessity of transformation. I view leadership as a transformative process and a transformational responsibility. As leaders we must undergo our own transformation in order to lead change on a larger scale. The dissertation will be both philosophical and theoretical, exploring how the threads of the hero’s journey, transformation, wisdom, and leadership intertwine. It will also examine the role of education in this process. Education does not …

Getting Back To My Life: Exploring Adaptation To Change Through The Experiences Of Breast Cancer Survivors, Charles A. Foster

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The holding environment concept, developed by Donald Winnicott, has been used to represent the type of support that encourages adaptive change during psychosocial transitions. The leadership and change literature posited that the holding environment had the ability to shape the trajectory of the transition, yet did not test this empirically. The psychosocial breast cancer literature empirically researched support during and after treatments ended, but did not incorporate the holding environment concept. This presented the opportunity to inform both the leadership and breast cancer fields by studying holding environments in the breast cancer setting. This study had a twofold purpose: 1) …

Faculty Work: Moving Beyond The Paradox Of Autonomy And Collaboration, Mark A. Hower

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Freedom to pursue one's intellectual interests, known as professional autonomy, is a valued and longstanding faculty tradition. Profound changes in society and the academy, however, suggest new values may be emerging. Collaboration, for example, is increasingly vital to success outside of the academy, and faculty culture, long an individualistic domain, may be shifting in response. This multiple case study explores how faculty members experience the relationship between professional autonomy and collaboration within the context of their department work. Faculty members in four departments were interviewed and both qualitative and simple quantitative data collected. The study found faculty members satisfied with …

Institutional Factors Contributing To The Under-Representation Of African American Women In Higher Education: Perceptions Of Women In Leadership Positions, Kimberly Ann Robinson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

he purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of African American women who have obtained senior leadership positions in Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions. Data were collected through open-ended, phenomenological-oriented interviews with 12 African American women holding senior level positions in both academic and student affairs in the north and southeast parts of the United States. This study focused on the perceived institutional barriers that have contributed to the under-representation of African American women in higher education senior administration and strategies that were used to overcome perceived barriers. Critical Race Theory was used as a …

Gender Disparity In Professional City Management: Making The Case For Enhancing Leadership Curriculum, Leann Beaty, Trenton J. Davis

Public & Nonprofit Studies: Faculty Publications

Professionally trained administrators are critical to the operation and management of governmental agencies. That is particularly true with respect to local government, where city managers are situated at the top of the organizational hierarchy. However, these senior management positions remain largely the domain of males; female represent just 12% of the positions. This disparity, for reasons still unclear, comes to the fore at a time when the field of public administration faces a new set of global challenges, and many in the field have expressed concern about a looming leadership gap. As the world of public administration changes, so must …

Review Of Copyright Law For Librarians And Educators: Creative Strategies And Practical Solutions, Third Edition, By Kenneth D. Crews, James Roger Weaver

University Libraries Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Sustainability In The Plastics Industry: Concerns, Issues, And Strategies, Bonnie Bachman, Shristy Bashyal, Margaret Baumann

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

An increased corporate emphasis on sustainability can be seen in such areas as: annual reports with published sustainability goals, sustainability management systems with balanced scorecards and dashboards, websites using increased screen area and space for sustainability communications, internal and external stakeholder opinion gathering, development of sustainable supply chain plans, and marketing strategies focusing on green or sustainable consumers. To address this ever increasing attention to sustainability, a research project to understand sustainability in the plastics industry was initiated with the membership of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). This paper focuses on the results of the research (global survey) and …

Strategic Discourse Across Organizational Meetings:Towards A Systems Perspective., Brendan K. O'Rourke, Martin Duffy

Conference Papers

Strategic Discourse across Organizational meetings: Towards a Systems Perspective Abstract This paper presents a tentative theoretical conception of how organizational meetings may be viewed as a system rather than as individual events. Perspectives from process metaphysics(Langley and Tsoukas, 2010), meso-discourse analysis (Alvesson and Karreman, 2000, 2011) and systems thinking (von Bertalanffy, 1969) are adopted, to explore and expand the theoretical resources available to conceptualise a ‘system of meetings’. The primary data draws from 130+ hours of recorded meeting proceedings, spanning 58 meeting events, from multiple sub-groups within a medium sized company.

Library Annual Report

Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

A Strategic Model For Ingo Accountability Systems, Sarah Elizabeth Wardwell

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reconstructs the concept of International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) accountability to beneficiaries through the development of a strategic model for INGO accountability to beneficiaries. It works through the history and arguments surrounding the rise of the debate around whether INGOs should be held accountable to their beneficiary populations. Unique definitions are developed for the terms and concepts related to this topic and a framework for understanding the strategic model for INGO accountability to beneficiaries is outlined: Accountable to whom? Accountable for what? Accountable how? A practical example of an internal assessment for measuring an INGO's accountability to beneficiaries is …

Exploring Change In Local Criminal Justice Systems: An Examination Of The Implementation Of The Justice Reinvestment At The Local Level Model In Three U.S. Counties, Suzanne Rebecca Neusteter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Tough on crime policies in the U.S. began to emerge in the 1970s and steeply escalated through the 1980s and 1990s, prompting massive growth of correctional populations and criminal justice costs. Although many of these policy and legislative reforms were enacted at the federal and state levels, they have trickled down and greatly affected localities across the country. The recent economic downturn has exerted additional pressures on local governments. These factors have prompted the development of a number of planned change strategies designed to curb the escalating growth and related costs in criminal justice systems. One such approach, Justice Reinvestment …

Connecting Past And Present: A Rhetorical Analysis Of How Forensics Programs Use Storytelling To Promote Team Legacy, Stephanie Orme

National Forensic Journal

Given forensics programs' status as organizations at academic institutions, these teams experience changes in membership far more often than typical organizations. Each year, a team will graduate a class of seniors who, through their four years as a competitor, have helped shape the program's culture and legacy in numerous ways. Yet this void left by the graduating members is then filled by the incoming freshman or transfer student competitors who will now play a part in reshaping the team's culture. This constant change in organizational culture makes it vital that forensic programs go to extra lengths to ensure that their …

Student Affairs Turned Inside--Out: Evaluating Communication Satisfaction, Identity, And Values From Within An Organization, Stacey L. Reece

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"How well individuals relate to their assigned organization is vital to the organizations' success. The lack of communication within an organization is often to blame for the shortcomings of the organization. Other associated factors that lead to the dysfunction of an organization are the lack of understanding or acceptance of the values of the organization and the lack of being able to identify with the mission or values of the organization. This thesis examines how organizations internally communicate and assess the satisfaction levels of individuals within an organization in how well the organizational communication performs within the organization. In addition, …

Theism And Psychological Science: A Call For Rapprochement, Michael J. Vogel, Tyler A. Gerdin, Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The authors offer two arguments for the inclusion of theism in natural science. First, an argument against excluding theism is offered. Though early roots of science promoted a view that it is a way to accumulate knowledge that is untainted by presuppositions and traditions, postmodern critiques call this into question. Scientists have sometimes rejected religion as a context-dependent, tradition-based way of knowing, yet science itself is also context-dependent and tradition-based. Second, an argument for including theism in psychological is offered. Theistic beliefs are relevant insofar as they are part of human experience for many, they represent a form of human …

Transformational Leadership And Job Satisfaction Of Retired Army Noncommissioned Officers In South Korea, Terra Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations, including the military and their managers, have used transformational leadership for over 30 years to increase job satisfaction. The purpose of this correlation research study was to determine whether a relationship existed between transformational leadership and job satisfaction among retired Army noncommissioned officers who had rejoined the military workforce in South Korea. The research question was grounded in a synthesis of theories concerning transformational leadership and job satisfaction. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ5X), the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), and Job in General (JIG) scales were used to gather data from 141 participants. Univariate analyses were used to document that …

The Effect Frequent Organizational Restructure Has On Employee Perceptions, Lisa Sabasteanski

Theses and Graduate Projects

This qualitative study investigates the effect frequent organizational restructure has on employee perceptions. Frequent is defined as two or more restructures in less than eighteen months. For this study, I evaluated findings from ten employees who worked in various industries throughout the Midwest who had experienced at least two restructures in less than eighteen months. Interviews were conducted with individuals to understand their perspective of organizational restructures they've participated in at their company. Findings from this study suggested when leaders clearly articulate the rationale for the organizational restructure and when they are honest and transparent about what is going on …

Accelerating Innovation Via Industry-Scale Open Innovation Networks: A Case Study In The Us Automotive Industry, John Skardon

All Dissertations

Innovation is a key driving force of economic growth in the United States and other developed countries. A wide range of public policies seek to stimulate growth while curbing its excesses. As the rate of innovation continues to slow across many industry segments, state and federal policy makers continue to look for new ideas to stimulate growth. Between the extremes of antitrust and industrial policy lies a fertile and mostly unexplored area where government and industry may collaborate. Industry-government collaboration so far has had mixed success. Innovations in organizational form that utilize networks to link entrepreneurs, publically funded research, and …

Army Transformation: What Does It Mean?, David Jerome

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The way in which senior U.S. Army leaders such as the chiefs of staff define transformative change is important, especially if the meaning of that term is to be interpreted as originally intended by Army field grade officers. An Army chief of staff is responsible for creating a vision and establishing goals for the future, and field grade officers are responsible for pursuing that vision and those goals by implementing objectives that endeavor to arrive at the desired ends. By using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research analyzes what each of the three chiefs of staff, who have served …

School Counselor Assignment In Secondary Schools: Replication And Extension, Jennifer L. Williamson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Before school counselors can carry out the duties and responsibilities outlined as part of a comprehensive school counseling program, they must know which students they are responsible for helping. The topic of assigning students to school counselors has only recently been seen in the educational research arena in a study by Akos, Schuldt, and Walendin (2009). The current study attempts to replicate and extend the findings of Akos, Schuldt, and Walendin by addressing the questions of how secondary school counselors are assigned and what are their perceptions of their assignment. In addition, the study attempts to determine whether a particular …

Structural Pluralism And The Community Context: How And When Does The Environment Matter?, Leo Wayne Jeffres, Edward Horowitz, Cheryl Campanella Bracken, Guowei Jian, Kimberly Neuendorf, Sukki Yoon

Communication Faculty Publications

Several long-standing theories intersect in discussing the impact of community characteristics and of the mass media. The structural pluralism model popularized by Tichenor and his colleagues says that social structure influences how mass media operate in communities because they respond to how power is distributed in the social system, whereas the linear model says that the increasing size of a community's population leads to more social differentiation and diversity and corresponding increases in subcultures with their own beliefs, customs, and behaviors. Recently, there has been a concern about how changes in society have led to a decline in organizational activity …

David Palfreyman And Ted Tapper. Structuring Mass Higher Education: The Role Of Elite Institutions. New York: Routledge Press. 2009., Ryan Guffey Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

No abstract provided.

And They Were There: Reports Of Meetings — 30th Annual Charleston Conference. Creating A Mega Technical Services Department From Smaller Departments, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Publications

Brief summary of a session at the 30th Annual Charleston Conference, held in Charleston, S.C. in November 2010.

Establishing New Orleans As A Leader In Active Transportation: Solidifying Progress, Moving Towards An Active Transportation Culture, Billy Fields

UNOTI Publications

Research in this brief by the Pedestrian Bicycle Resource Initiative (PBRI) at the University of New Orleans highlights the growing use of active transportation in New Orleans and the potential to solidify these gains through a process of culture change that makes active transportation an integral element in the overall transportation system. New Orleans is currently a regional leader in active transportation with a high national ranking in active transportation commute mode shares. While these rankings are promising, New Orleans lacks a clear, institutionalized system for integrating active transportation into the overall transportation decision-making structure. The process of solidifying and …

And They Were There: Reports Of Meetings -- Salalm 56 And The 30th Annual Charleston Conference, Sever Bordeianu

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Learning From Consistently High Performing And Improving Schools For English Language Learners In Boston Public Schools, Rosann Tung, Virginia Diez, Laurie Gagnon, Miren Uriarte, Pamela Stazesky, Eileen De Los Reyes, Antonieta Bolomey

Gastón Institute Publications

Against a backdrop of increasing BPS ELL enrollment, district ELL leadership transitions, state and federal policies affecting ELL education, and with the knowledge that many teachers and administrators within the Boston Public Schools are expert practitioners with ELL students, we addressed the following research questions:

• In which BPS schools were ELL students performing at a consistently high level or showing steady improvement during SY2006-SY2009?
• What were some of the practices that these schools’ staffs credited with their success with ELL students during SY2006-SY2009?
• Which of the practices identified by school staff were shared among the selected schools?

Through case study …

Anomalies In The System: Is A New Educational Paradigm Upon Us?, Ed Cunliff, John Barthell

Administrative Issues Journal

In this article, we describe the palpable changes of a paradigm shift in higher education. Although this shift has been described and/or predicted elsewhere, we affirm the transition from over 30 years of collective teaching and administrative experience at a predominantly undergraduate institution (PUI) with historical roots as a state normal school. In many respects, the anomalies that Thomas Kuhn predicted in such a transition are all the more evident given our institution’s history. These anomalies include (but are not limited to) 1) the state of knowledge “ownership” (as mediated by the internet), 2) student-centered (vs. faculty-centered) educational practices, 3) …

Complexity, Knowledge And Structure: A Systemic Understanding Of Organizational Learning, Justin D. Walton

Administrative Issues Journal

Organizations are among the most socially complex institutions within modern culture. As corporations face the challenges of technological change and globalization, it becomes essential that they find new ways and forms of fostering knowledge sharing and creativity. Challenging the age-old belief that employees should “dominated and directed,” complexity theory challenges the classic machine metaphor of organizational structure with a view that conceptualizes them as nonlinear systems that fluctuate between conditions of stability and chaos. This model offers new and exciting opportunities for exploring the dynamics of organizational learning. Toward this end, this paper examines the systemic features of organizations with …

Childhood Loss And Ad/Hd: Program Implications For Education Administrators, Helen Wilson Harris, Marlene Zipperlen

Administrative Issues Journal

Evidence-based practice and evidence-informed practice are not just buzzwords in education. It is essential that administrators encourage both the development and the application of new knowledge in the field. This study of 1755 elementary age children in Central Texas indicates a positive association between the experience of childhood loss and grief and a diagnosis of AD/HD. Implications of this information for administrators in education are explored, including the training of counselors and classroom teachers in grief interventions and accommodations for grief related attention problems in children.

Negotiating Tensions Across Organizational Boundaries: Communication And Refugee Resettlement Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Voluntary non-profit organizations play a critical role in mediating the transition of refugees into their new host communities in the United States. Furthermore, mediation is fundamentally a communicative phenomenon, as social services are provided in through communication between nonprofit workers and clients. Critically, for voluntary mediating organizations to create empowering spaces for refugees, communication is central. In this study, I emphasize the tensional processes inherent to mediating interactions and explore how refugee resettlement organizational staff members and refugee-clients describe and manage the communicative tensions which emerge when they interact with one another.

I conducted eighteen in-depth interviews with fifteen organizational …