Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Effect Of Organizational Policy Changeon Taser Utilizations, Michael Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of organizational policy changes within the Use-of-Force Continuum on taser usage and officer's perceptions of taser effectiveness. Tasers have been used by police since the 1970s and their use is increasing as the technology has improved. Data reveals that tasers are beneficial for controlling non-compliant suspects while preventing serious injuries and rarely has their use resulted in death. Much of the public controversy surrounding tasers centers on when and how often officers deploy them. Use of force data from 890 police citizen encounters during a two-year period was analyzed to …

Review Of Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries In Transition, Glenda A. Thornton

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Review of Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries in Transition

Developing Collaborative Leadership: A Study Of Organizational Change Toward Greater Collaboration And Shared Leadership, Jonathan Tyler Clark

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Implicit in leadership behavior is the ability to work with others, to be in relationship, and to collaborate. Contemporary theories about leadership have shifted from a focus on the individual “leader” toward the collective act of “leadership.” A concrete understanding of collaborative leadership remains somewhat underdeveloped in the literature and theoretically. This dissertation is a case study of organization's efforts to change from autocratic organizational leadership to a more collaborative working environment. Taking the form of a literary portrait, the study analyzes an example of action learning about collaborative leadership. The portrait will be of the agency's change, with special …

Energy-Flow – A New Perspective On James Macgregor Burns’ Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit Of Happiness, Pi-Jern Caroline Fu

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This theoretical dissertation documents a personal transforming leadership experience; during which, I explored my Leadership as Energy-Flow model by having a virtual dialogue with the polymathic works of theorists and thinkers to corroborate and refine it. The model consists of a theory and a conceptual scheme. The energy-flow theory, based on the laws of physics and Chinese philosophy and cosmological science, fashions the energy-flow conceptual scheme. Using the conceptual scheme, I delve into the Premise of the Dialogue, “In what ways and to what extent would using the energy-flow frame of reference describe and stimulate new meanings in Transforming Leadership: …

Dimensions Of Mentoring Relationships In The Workplace: A Holistic Perspective, Miriam Grace-Rowland

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This was an exploratory study to understand the lived experience of those involved in mentoring relationships within a formal mentoring program in a corporate context. The researcher looked for rich detail about the nature of the relationship from the perspective of the mentor and mentee. To achieve a holistic perspective, the experience of organizational managers was deliberately included in the research. Exploration of this triadic relationship of mentor, mentee, and organizational manager has been neglected in the empirical literature. An exploration of where meaning intersected and diverged among the triad relationship members gave depth to the dimensional frame. Findings suggested …

Evolving Learning: Educators’ Inner Experiences Of Engaging In Service-Learning With Undergraduates, Cara Meixner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Evolving Learning: Educators’ Inner Experiences of Engaging in Service-Learning with Undergraduates is an exploratory, qualitative study of faculty members’ learning, growth, and development in service-learning contexts. Through two, interwoven forms of constructivist grounded theory – situational mapping and dimensional analysis – this dissertation brought voice to a once ‘private’ perspective, making explicit what all is happening as participants make meaning of their experiences engaging in service-learning with college students. A three-phased series of recursive, comparative interviews and concurrent analysis resulted in the development of a grounded theory best captured by a core, organizing perspective – evolving learning. This perspective is …

Life-Affirming Leadership: An Inquiry Into The Culture Of Social Justice, Raquel Delores Gutierrez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A new paradigm for leading social change is emerging; a worldview acknowledging the importance of leadership that is life-affirming and lasts over time. The current inquiry explored the ways in which the social reality of Life-Affirming Leadership is created and the implications those realities have for the current and future generations of social justice workers, their organizations, and the communities in which they work. The dominant paradigm for social justice work needs to be radically renovated (see Horwitz, 2002; James, 2005; Ohlson, 2006; Polansky, 2005; Utne, 2006; Wheatley, 2005; Williamson, 1997; Yáhzí, 2005); as such, a re-evolution is in progress, …

How Are Nasa Engineers Motivated? An Analysis Of Factors That Influence Nasa Goddard Engineers’ Level Of Motivation, Howard Eric Kea

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

NASA is an organization known for pushing the envelope of engineering and scientific achievement. It can be argued that engineers working for NASA are intrinsically highly motivated due to the nature of the work and the mission of NASA. This study explores how supervisor behaviors, both intrinsic and extrinsic and demographic factors influence motivation of NASA Goddard engineers in their current environment. Recent Congressional and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policies, such as full cost accounting, levy strict oversight of project spending. As a result of these policies, NASA engineers must now focus their attention on getting assigned work …

Fostering Sustainability In Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Transformative Leadership And Change Strategies, Kim H. Mcnamara

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As evidence of the earth’s limited capacity to sustain human life mounts, institutions of higher education are being looked to for leadership in the effort to educate students about environmental concerns and support the development of sustainable innovations. Colleges and universities are responding to this call for leadership by starting and/or expanding environmental research programs, integrating sustainability issues throughout the curriculum, adopting sustainable operations, and building green facilities. Reflecting upon the sustainability efforts of these institutions, this research study explores the following questions: What factors are essential for initiating and leading a successful change effort to foster sustainability in higher …

Cultural Considerations In Adolescent Suicide Prevention And Psychosocial Treatment, David B. Goldston, Sherry Davis Molock, Les B. Whitbeck, Jessica L. Murakami, Luis H. Zayas, Gordon C. Nagayama Hall

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Ethnic groups differ in rates of suicidal behaviors among youths, the context within which suicidal behavior occurs (e.g., different precipitants, vulnerability and protective factors, and reactions to suicidal behaviors), and patterns of help-seeking. In this article, the authors discuss the cultural context of suicidal behavior among African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Latino adolescents, and the implications of these contexts for suicide prevention and treatment. Several cross-cutting issues are discussed, including acculturative stress and protective factors within cultures; the roles of religion and spirituality and the family in culturally sensitive interventions; different manifestations …

Rethinking The Organisational: From ‘Form’ To ‘Forming’, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

The organisational theory literature has identified the emergence and evolution of organisational forms as a critical issue to be addressed, yet new ways of looking at organisational form have yet to be addressed and there are concerns about the largely ahistorical and aprocessual character of much organisational theorising. Most “new” theories that have been put forward continue to view form as something already formed, as an essence, with the attention focused on what constitutes form. Further, extant organisational theories, from the original Weberian ideal type through all other theories, be they in appearance ahistorical (i.e., contingency) or historical (i.e., ecological) …

Research In Academic Library Collection Management, Mary F. Casserly

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

This chapter describes the empirical quantitative and qualitative research and case studies pertaining to collection management practice in academic libraries published between 1990 and 2007. The topics covered include collection size and growth, material cost, library expenditures, budgets and budgeting, collection development policies, collection composition, organization and staffing for collection management, selection, and the evaluation of the collection development process and the collection itself. The chapter identifies the most influential and useful studies and the most active areas of research. The collection management research literature was limited in the methodologies employed (surveys and case studies), statistical analyses applied (basic and …

Toward A New Social Contract: A Tripartite Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Social Sustainability At Three Land-Grant Universities, Lyndsay Josephine Agans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly, colleges and universities in the United States are adapting toward a model of behavior that incorporates issues of sustainability. This adaptation in universities and in society has implications on the organizational and nation-state level, the very core of which may serve to reshape the social contract between the two. In addition to supplying a strong counter-hegemonic argument that alters the competitive economic agenda-setting paradigm, this study serves as a tripartite comparative case study analysis of university adaptation toward social sustainability. By employing a social capital lens to understanding social sustainability in higher education, this study seeks to examine the …

Hiding Out: Creative Resistance Among Anonymous Workbloggers, Abigail Schoneboom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anonymous workbloggers—employees who write online diaries about their work—are often simultaneously productive workers and savage critics of the corporate cultures in which they toil. Writing under an assumed identity, these workers create satirical portraits of their supervisors and colleagues, rail against management gurus and corporate buzzwords, celebrate time-wasting capers, and daydream about quitting. Their irreverent and fictionalized accounts of work, which are shielded from the gaze of co-workers and supervisors, reveal how office workers critically negotiate a labor process that, increasingly, demands their hearts and minds.

This study, which comprises an overview of media and organizational responses to the phenomenon, …

Exploring Producers', Staff Members', And Board Members' Cognitive Frame On Decision Making In An Appalachian Organic Farming Venture, Curt D. Gervich, Max Stephensen Jr., Marc J. Stern

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Sustainable development assistance organizations (SDAOs) aim to help producers of natural resource products move their goods and services to market. This article explores how the cognitive frames held by producers, staff, and board members in an agricultural SDAO in rural Appalachia influence organizational decision-making. This study explores identity, characterization, value, and membership frames. Data collected through semi-structured interviews with growers, staff, and board members reveal that the frames these stakeholders hold lead to the institutionalization of decision-making processes that allow organizational managers to make quick, consistent, and clear decisions while avoiding conflicts among members who hold competing frames. Simultaneously, these …

Disaster Recovery In Rural Communities: A Case Study Of Southwest Louisiana, Deborah Tootle

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper provides a descriptive case study to develop a better understanding of the disaster recovery and rebuilding process in the three parishes (counties) in South Louisiana that were hardest hit by Hurricane Rita in 2005. The data come from a number of sources: official documents, news articles, published data, and personal observations. This case study’s implications raise questions about current approaches to disaster recovery. It also suggests strategies for practice, program development, and policy.

Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Community Engagement In A System-Wide Educational Change Effort: Implications For Building Partnerships., Lindsay K. Nickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study should provide insight into stakeholders' perceptions of a system-wide educational partnership focused on a change effort to increase student achievement in a school system located in a large, metropolitan city in the southeastern United States. The importance of partnering to assure that all children are succeeding in school has never been more important to local communities and our nation. Not only are definitions of educational partnerships expanding, but so are the parameters, the players, and the structures. As educational improvement initiatives are put into effect by local, state, and national governments, schools across the country are realizing …

Pioneers In Twentieth Century Mormon Media: Oral Histories Of Latter-Day Saint Electronic And Public Relations Professionals, Jonice L. Hubbard

Theses and Dissertations

The project consists of three parts: a summary of the research, a collection of sixteen oral histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations professionals who contributed to the development and growth of media in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a one-hour documentary film, Pioneers in Mormon Media, which gives a brief history of the development of modern mass communications and its use by the Church. This qualitative study investigates who has been involved in Church media, what projects have been accomplished and provides some explanation as to why the Church uses media. The oral …

Jane's Decision: Her Experience As A Plebe: Instructor's Manual, Andra Gumbus, Jill Woodilla, Christopher C. York

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

The Potential Of Erin Brokovitch To Introduce Organizaitonal Behavior Topics, J. Benjamin Forbes, Jonathan E. Smith

Organization Management Journal

Real organizational behavior is rich, and messy, and emotional, and at times painful, but at other times immensely rewarding. The movie, Erin Brockovich, captures this richness and provides an exciting means to introduce a variety of individual or micro- organizational behavior concepts (such as perception, personality, and motivation) typically covered at the beginning of the Organizational Behavior course. In this paper, we describe the use of the film, including a takehome viewing assignment, an in-class assignment, a description of clips and comments for in-class use, and suggestions for the types of issues to discuss in relation to the major topics …

Jane's Decision: Her Experience As A Plebe, Andra Gumbus, Jill Woodilla, Christopher C. York

Organization Management Journal

Jane (a pseudonym) describes her experience as a first year student at one of the military service academies sometime during the period 2000-2005. She portrays the rigors of training to be an officer in the US military service and the special burdens of being a good-looking, high-achieving woman in this environment. She provides an insider's perspective on the academy culture, including the importance of the honor code, and spoken and unspoken rules against fraternization and for protecting ―one's own. At the end of the case Jane must make a decision that could change the course of her life. The case …

Volume 27, Number 4, December 2007 Olac Newsletter, Jain Fletcher, Jay Weitz, Barbara Vaughan, Amy K. Weiss

OLAC Newsletters

Digitized December 2007 issue of the OLAC Newsletter.

North American Business Strategies Towards Climate Change, Charles Jones, David Levy

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

Business has become a key part of the fabric of global environmental governance, considered here as the network which orders and regulates economic activity and its impacts. We argue that businesses generally are willing to undertake limited measures consistent with a fragmented and weak policy regime. Further, the actions of businesses act to create, shape and preserve that compromised regime. We examine three types of indicators of business responses in North America: ratings by external organizations, commitments regarding emissions, and joint political action. We find business response to be highly ambiguous, with energetic efforts yielding few results.

Japanese Corporate Governance: Structural Change And Financial Performance, Asli M. Colpan, Toru Yoshikawa, Takashi Hikino, Hiroaki Miyoshi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper analyzes institutional and legal changes related to corporate governance and their impact on financial performance in Japan since the second half of the 1990s. We attempt to address two issues systematically: (1) how much the governance reforms of Japanese firms transformed the conventional system of alliance capitalism and managerial control; and (2) what economic outcomes those governance changes have yielded. As the Commercial Code and other legal and institutional frameworks were revised, Japanese firms experienced shifts in terms of stock ownership, corporate control and managerial organizations. Our empirical results show that the influence of new ownership composition and …

The Effects Of Entrepreneurial Growth Orientation On Organizational Change And Firm Growth, Wee Liang Tan, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Managing growth in an enterprise as it grows beyond the startup phase is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. One key element that can help or hinder growth is the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial growth has been linked to micro variables (motivations and psychological attributes of the entrepreneur) and macro variables. However, few studies have examined the role of the growth aspirations of the entrepreneur on the necessary elements of organization change related to growth.

This paper reports a study employing a typology of entrepreneurs based on their growth aspirations using an established dichotomous scale devised by Smith to differentiate between what he …

The Validity Of Assessment Centres For The Prediction Of Supervisory Performance Ratings: A Meta-Analysis, Eran Hermelin, Filip Lievens, Ivan T. Robertson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current meta-analysis of the selection validity of assessment centres aims to update an earlier meta-analysis of assessment centre validity. To this end, we retrieved 26 studies and 27 validity coefficients (N=5850) relating the Overall Assessment Rating (OAR) to supervisory performance ratings. The current study obtained a corrected correlation of .28 between the OAR and supervisory job performance ratings (95% confidence interval .24 < =rho < =.32). It is further suggested that this validity estimate is likely to be conservative given that assessment centre validities tend to be affected by indirect range restriction.

Evaluative Inquiry: The Road To A Learning Organization, Antonia Pérez Bolívar

Capstone Collection

This study looks at the effects of evaluative inquiry as a tool for organizational development in the “Centro de Lenguas y Educación Intercultural”(CELEI), a small educational institution. The study is framed as an action research and its purpose is to initiate a process of organizational change that will consolidate the newly established institution and to introduce learning as a built-in organizational strategy. The study is structured as a meta-research on the evaluative inquiry intervention. The intervention was a cooperative effort carried out by an in-house evaluation team and the participation of all staff members. As Action Research, the evaluation process …

Fall 2007, John M. Pfau Library

Peacock – John M. Pfau Library Newsletter

Contents:

• Message from the Dean by Cesar Caballero
• Hail Cesar! Pfau Library Welcomes New Dean by Lisa Bartle
• Database Developments by Stacy Magedanz
• Library Goings On
• Home Page Face Lift by Brent Singleton

Practical Application Of Five Leadership Theories On A U.S. Naval Vessel, Matthew P. Earnhardt

Publications

On a United States naval vessel, task accomplishment and leadership decisions are vital to personnel survival and mission success (Phillips, 2007). The United States Navy relies on leadership decisions made from admiral to seaman, and as a result, invests heavily in leadership development.

Implementing An Embedded Information Literacy Program At The University Level: Best Practices, Ann Agee

Faculty and Staff Publications

Information literacy is the ability of individuals "to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" (American Library Association, 1989, para. 3). At San Jose State University (SJSU), information literacy has been traditionally taught through one-shot, 50-minute lectures delivered by university librarians to students enrolled in a select few undergraduate courses. This method of instruction has proven to be neither sustainable nor effective. The lectures are not tailored by discipline and students might receive the same lecture several times while completing their lower-division coursework. SJSU wants to replace this format …