Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Leadership And Employee Performance In Child Welfare Agencies, Deatrice Haney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child welfare leaders reflect their organizations' mission and vision and are entrusted to provide support to employees, who in turn provide services to one of the most vulnerable populations, children. Little, however is known about how leaders perceive their roles and responsibilities in terms of providing sufficient supervisory and guidance to child welfare workers in order to support organizational goals. Guided by Houses' path-goal theory, this phenomenological study examined the perceptions of child welfare leaders related to leadership behaviors, strategies to improve administration, work performance, communication, and fostering an inclusive work environment. A sample of 16 participants working as administrators, …

Effect Of Contemplative Pedagogy On The Ecoliteracy Of Undergraduate Public State University Students, Michael Vincent Lees

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Undergraduate students lack the opportunity and environment to contemplate and develop ecoliteracy skills that serve to integrate subject matter into their everyday experiences. Ecoliteracy is grounded in Capra's web of life theoretical framework and represents students' capacities to read world systems objectively with their head, heart, hands, and spirit. Contemplative pedagogy provides educators with exercises that give students time to reflect on the integration of learning. Ecoliteracy and contemplative pedagogy research has shown little quantitative data pertaining to how contemplative pedagogy affects undergraduate student ecoliteracy. To address that gap, this causal-comparative study measured the use of contemplative pedagogy exercises relative …

How Do Counterterrorism Policies Influence Domestic Terrorism On Military Installations, Leona Rena Monroe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Department of Defense (DoD) utilizes risk management to develop antiterrorism practices and policies on military installations. However, there is a gap in understanding the impact these practices have on the culture and relationship among military personnel and their civilians. Using Schneider and Ingram's conceptualization of social construction of target populations, the purpose of this ethnographic qualitative study was to understand the nature of the relationship between antiterrorism programs, culture, and risk management on a single military installation. Using a snowball sampling strategy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 participants who were either a civilian or military person …

The Development Of Narcissism Among Lawyers And Farmers: A Quantitative Study, Steve Murdock Murdock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Narcissism has been identified as a threat to society and the individual. Individuals with high levels of narcissism (narcissistic personality disorder) struggle to maintain jobs, stable relationships, and healthy life perspectives. Without knowledge about the origins of narcissism, mental health professionals may only be treating the symptoms of narcissism and not the factors that perpetuate its development. The purpose of this study was to measure narcissism in farming and law careers and to determine whether career is a factor in the development of narcissism. It was predicted that career would be an important developmental event and process that would have …

Strategies To Minimize The Effects Of Information Security Threats On Business Performance, Stella Ifeyinwa Okoye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders in Nigeria are concerned about the high rates of business failure and economic loss from security incidents and may not understand strategies for reducing the effects of information security threats on business performance. Guided by general systems theory and transformational leadership theory, the focus of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore the strategies small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders use to minimize the effects of information security threats on business performance. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 SME leaders who worked in SME firms that support oil and gas industry sector in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, had …

The Effects Of Leveled Literacy Intervention For Students In The Rti Process, Lisa Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low reading skills constitute a serious achievement problem. Although there are remedial support in schools, between 2% and 6% of the student population continues to show persistent reading difficulties despite intensive intervention. The research problem in this study addressed the lack of effective reading interventions for students who were in Tier III of the Response to Intervention (RtI) process. Piaget's cognitive development theory, constructivism, and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory made up the theoretical framework. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effects of Fountas and Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) on reading achievement of students …

Beyond Breastfeeding: Exploring The Influence Of Maternal Control Over Child Health Behavior Among African American Women Infants And Children Nutritional Supplementation Program Participants, Maria Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The health benefits of breastfeeding exceed well beyond the first few years of an infant's life. Breast milk is often referred to as liquid gold because of its extensive protective properties that promote child growth and development. Unfortunately, African American women have the lowest breastfeeding rates compared to any other racial group. Given that African American children are disproportionately affected by the current obesity epidemic in the United States, there may be a link between a mother's preference to breastfeed her infant and her influence over her child's eating behaviors and physical activity levels. Guided by social cognitive theory, the …

Role Of Middle Managers In Mitigating Employee Cyberloafing In The Workplace, Anizizo Aku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Companies in the United States are concerned about the indeterminate effectiveness of corporate cyberloafing mitigation efforts leading to the persistence of employee cyberloafing behavior. Although middle managers are the driving force behind the transformational influences that guide employee productivity and could proffer practical solutions, a lack of clarity surrounds the middle manager's role in the overall cyberloafing mitigation efforts within organizations. The central research question for this transcendental phenomenological research study explored the lived experiences of middle managers regarding their roles in mitigating employee cyberloafing at higher education institutions in Florida. This study used a social constructivist-interpretive framework that draws …

An Integrated Approach To Malaria Prevention And Control In Rural Cameroon, Naomi Chuiwo Azunie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease spread to humans through bites of an infected mosquito. In rural Cameroon, malaria is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Several studies have examined the use of various malaria preventive tools; however, there is insufficient literature available on use of an integrated approach to prevent and control malaria in rural Cameroon. The aim of this study was to provide information necessary for bridging the gap in understanding the proper use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and antimalarial drugs and the roles of education and socioeconomic status in malaria prevention and control …

Walkability Assessment To Reduce Childhood Obesity In Wilson County Kansas, Nancy Lee Carpenter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Promoting physical exercise is necessary to combat childhood obesity. Walking to school is an encouraged physical activity, but the feasibility of walking to school depends on the walkability of the environment. During the last 40 years, the number of U.S. schoolchildren who walk to school has declined. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to perform a walkability assessment of the 2 largest communities in Wilson County Kansas to identify and address walkability issues. Frameworks for this practice initiative were social cognitive theory and the Health Promotion model. Questions for the project addressed whether sidewalks along the main pedestrian …

Nursing Informatics Competency Program, Kristina Ann Dunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently, C Hospital lacks a standardized nursing informatics competency program to validate nurses' skills and knowledge in using electronic medical records (EMRs). At the study locale, the organization is about to embark on the implementation of a new, more comprehensive EMR system. All departments will be required to use the new EMR, unlike the current policy that allows some areas to still document on paper. The Institute of Medicine, National League of Nursing, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing support and recommend that information technology be an essential core competency for nurses. Evidence of the need for nursing informatic …

Evaluation Of The Safety Of Mri Scanning Of Patients With Mr Conditional Pacemakers, Shelly Lynn Mcgurk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) has been associated with risks such as device/lead movement, device dysfunction, and lead heating. New technological advancements have made it possible for MRI to be safely performed when adhering to an evidence-based protocol; however, this practice has not yet been widely adopted. The purpose of this practice-focused question project was to examine the safety of MRI as a diagnostic modality for the aggregate population of adult patients with MR conditional pacemakers when a nurse-practitioner-led, evidence-based protocol was used. The Iowa model served as the guide for implementation of …

Assessing Provider Use Of Veterans Health Administration Tobacco-Cessation Guideline, Francisca Ogbonna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cigarette use is more prevalent among veterans who have mental disorders than it is in the general population. Rates of tobacco use are also high among individuals who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and human immune deficiency disease. Approximately 22.7 million American veterans and their families are at risk of tobacco-related health problems. Concerned about heavy tobacco use among veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs developed a Tobacco-Cessation Guideline to be used nationally. This guideline was updated in 2008 to include the '5A' mnemonic (ask, assess, advise, assist, and arrange) and is recommended for use by physicians, …

Managing Humanitarian Relief Organizations With Limited Resources In Ghana, Eric Osei

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

During disaster operations in Ghana in 2015, as a result of flood and fire, there was evidence of poor coordination between the workers and victims of the NGO, as well as inappropriate use of funds, which consequently caused compounding problems for disaster victims especially the outbreak of diseases. Little, however, is known about what conditions precipitated these events that may have delayed humanitarian, non-governmental organizations' (NGOs) ability to engage in disaster relief to victims. Using Freeman's stakeholder theory as the foundation, the purpose of this case study of the 2015 fire/flood disaster in Ghana was to understand from the perspective …

Small Business Marketing Strategies For The First 5 Years, Shiina Pai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses have an integral role in the U.S. economy and represent 99.7% of all employers in the United States; however, approximately 50% of small business start-ups fail within the first 5 years. Developing and implementing a well-formulated marketing strategy is critical to the success of business because a marketing strategy provides long-term benefits for a company's financial performance and increases the survival rate. The objective of this case study was to explore the marketing strategies that small retail business owners use to sustain their businesses for the first 5 years. The population was 5 successful retail-based small business owners …

Police And Citizens' Perceptions Of Community Policing In Richmond, Virginia, Denita R. Square-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community policing is an initiative that requires public cooperation and participation to be successful. Little is known, however, about police and citizens' perceptions of community policing and its impact on Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods. Using policy feedback theory as a lens, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and gain a better understanding of RPD's and Richmond citizens' perceptions of community-oriented policing strategies in Richmond neighborhoods. Research questions focused on how officers and citizens perceive the impact of community policing strategies and the specific strategies they viewed as most successful in building public trust. Data were collected from a …

The Relationship Between Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Stakeholder Pressure, And Financial Performance, Zulfiya Tchaikovsky

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporate sustainability confronts significant challenges when supply chain managers pursue short-term financial performance to meet stakeholders' expectations. To achieve sustainable economic success, organizational managers need to understand the relationship between corporate sustainability and long-term financial performance. Based on the resource dependence theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SCM), stakeholder pressure, and corporate sustainability performance. The population consisted of worldwide public organizations from Newsweek Global Green Ranking 2016 list engaged in sustainable SCM. The secondary data for the study were collected from databases hosted by Sustainalytics and Standard & Poor's. …

The Implementation Of The Anti-Bullying Bill Of Rights Act: New Jersey High School Educators' Perceptions, Stacey Zaremba

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New Jersey's high school teachers have many responsibilities to their students: they must educate them, work to mold their strength of character, and protect them from harming each other. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (ABR), legally fortified these goals by protecting students from harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB), at the state level. Previous research has indicated that incident rates for these negative behaviors are growing globally. This reality has driven the need for intervention and prevention programming; however, few instances of successful implementation exist. An important gap remains in the current literature, as there is still a need to …

Efficacy Of Social Media To Promote Green Technology Use, Ehi E. Aimiuwu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global warming has become a major threat to life, yet very little information systems

research has been conducted to help sustain the environment and many people do not

understand how social media can be used to combat global warming and climate change

to save the earth. The purpose of this single qualitative case study was to explore whether

social media can be used to increase the use of green technology, thereby reducing the

cost of environmental sustainment. According to the integrated sustainability framework,

which served as the conceptual framework for the study, firms should include green

practices in their business …

Pathways For Improving Nigeria's Procurement System, Donald Osebhawe Areguamen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The manual procurement processes used by some private companies result in increased costs and contract fulfillment delays. The focus of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies procurement managers use to reduce costs and contract fulfillment delays. The population for this study was three procurement managers of private plastics companies located at Maitama, in Abuja, Nigeria. Weiss's theory of change was the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured face-to-face interviews and an exploration of company archival financial documents. Data were transcribed, coded, and then validated through member checking, resulting in the emergence of 5 themes: …

Assessing For Awareness And Knowledge Regarding Diabetes In Pre-Diabetes Obese Patients, Remona Lysa Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past few decades, there has been an increase in prevalence of diabetes in the United States. Prevention of diabetes and improving patients' knowledge and awareness of diabetes are crucial for healthcare providers. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical foundation, the student used the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to improve awareness and knowledge of diabetes among obese individuals with prediabetes. The key research question of this project was to determine whether the patients' diabetes knowledge and awareness improved after the NDPP program. A convenience sample of …

Technology-Based Professional Development For Teaching And Learning In K-12 Classrooms, Nijia Byrd

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an urban Georgia school district, teacher satisfaction surveys revealed that technology-based professional development was not equipping teachers with the skills or support needed to implement technology into their teaching practices. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to explore teachers' experiences and perceptions of technology-based professional development and its effect on self-efficacy. Guided by Piaget's constructivist theory, this study was based on the perspective that teachers often construct knowledge rather than gain it. Guiding questions explore the experiences teachers have had with technology integration in daily teaching practices, their self-perceived competency level and self-efficacy regarding technology, their attitudes …

Teachers' Experiences With And Perceptions Of Single-Gender Instruction Of African American Students, Kymberli Robinson Chandler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a large, urban district in western Tennessee, African American students perform considerably lower in math, science, and reading than other districts. Several teachers in western Tennessee are using single-gender instruction as a practice, but little is known about its effectiveness in addressing the needs of African American students. Currently, there is a gap in scholarly and practical understanding of the effects of single-gender classrooms on the academic success of African American students in western Tennessee. This exploratory qualitative case study examined the experiences shared by teachers who use single-gender learning to educate African American students in secondary schools in …

Knowledge Of Malaria Infection And Treatment-Seeking Behavior Among Tanzanian Pregnant Women, Emebet T. Derjew

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the availability of effective drugs to prevent malaria during pregnancy using intermittent preventive treatment with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine or Fansidar and insecticide bed net, use of these methods are still little used in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. As a result, many pregnant women are at risk of malaria consequences such as maternal anemia and low birth weight babies, which increase the rate of infant mortality. Data from the Demographic Health Survey for Tanzania HIV/AIDs and the Malaria Indicator Survey 2011-2012 were used in a cross-sectional design guided by the health belief model. Logistic regression examined the association between (a) preventive treatment-seeking …

Strategies Small Financial Business Owners Apply To Succeed Beyond Five Years, Tina M. Despin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses in the United States employ 98% of workers, yet approximately 47% of small businesses shut down in less than five years. Business leaders who fail to implement adequate strategic strategies experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. These business closures cause unemployment rates to rise and inflict damages to the economic growth of economies in the United States. This multiple case study was grounded in the theory of transformational leadership. The purpose was to explore strategies used by small financial business owners to sustain their businesses beyond five years. The population consisted of 8small financial businesses in Southwest Florida; …

Law Enforcement Officer Knowledge Of Mental Illness, Nashira Funn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Media and activist groups have recently exposed the problem of negative interactions between law enforcement officers and civilians. Many of these civilians have a mental illness. Various researchers attribute these negative interactions to insufficient officer knowledge of mental illness due to a lack of training, education, and personal experiences. Very little research addresses how insufficient knowledge of mental illness may influence interactions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and analyze self reported law enforcement knowledge using Malcolm Knowles' conceptualization of adult learning theory and andragogy as the theoretical framework. This framework bases self-directed learning/training on a needs …

Employee Perceptions Of Loyalty As A Factor Of Performance. Grounded Theory Approach, Chanaz Gargouri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The relationship between employee loyalty and organizational performance has long been recognized but not included in performance appraisal models. This study identifies the perspectives of Master of Business Administration (MBA) candidates at a small private university in the eastern U.S. Fifteen interviews were conducted after distributing flyers among MBA classes and interested students volunteered to participate. The study was qualitative, based on personal interviews, to explore how loyalty is perceived in relation to performance. The theoretical framework used was Hogan's (1983) socioanalytic theory to explain differences in people's performance at work. Through use of a grounded theory approach, employees' perceptions …

Management Contingencies Between Privately-Funded And Publically-Funded Broadcasting Organizations, Michael Godson-Amamoo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations, for-profit or not-for-profit, continually assess demands from their internal and external stakeholders and adjust their operations and strategies for long term sustainability. Building on the classical contingency theory of organization, the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the differences of operational values and principles between private and public broadcasting organizations; an additional goal was to examine how these organizations use their operating choices to adapt to their environment. In a comparative study design between for-profit and not-for-profit broadcasting organizations as independent variables, the focus of the study was to compare 3 groups of dependent variables regarding operational …

Critical Soft Skills To Achieve Success In The Workplace, Gloria A. Meeks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this study was a problem identified by human resources directors and managers in a medium sized community in the southeast of the United States. The problem was that some college graduates are not equipped with the necessary soft skills to be successful in the workforce. Executive directors and human resources managers brought this problem to the attention of the career center directors in the community. Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence was the theoretical framework to ground this study. This study involved purposeful sampling to select 9 human resources directors from local companies. To investigate soft skills in …

Consequences Of Community Water Fluoridation Cessation For Medicaid Eligible Children And Adolescents, Jennifer Meyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oral health impacts general health and well-being throughout the lifespan. Recent trends in the United States towards cessation of community water fluoridation (CWF) may increase disparities in oral health. The purpose of this quantitative retrospective cohort study was to analyze Medicaid dental claims records for caries related procedures among 0 to18-year-old patients during an optimal CWF year 2003 (n = 854) and compare them to claims records from 2012 (n = 1,053), 5 years after CWF was ceased. The theoretical framework of this study was the diffusion of innovations theory. Statistically significant results included higher mean number of caries related …