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The Mediating Effect Of Leader Member Exchange On Personality Congruence And Affective Commitment, Ebru Evrensel Inanc

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The personality congruence of supervisors and subordinates and its influence on work outcomes is a relatively new topic in social and behavioral sciences. Most well-known personality theory is Big Five that includes openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness traits. LMX theory focuses on the mutual relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate. There is a gap in the literature regarding the mediating role of LMX perceptions of subordinates on the relationship between personality congruence of supervisors and subordinates and affective commitment (AC). The purpose of this cross-sectional design was first to explore the direct relationship between supervisors and subordinates personality …

Fidelity Of Implementation Of An Urban Elementary Montessori Kindergarten Program, Damesia Denise Starling

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Texas school district, administrators did not monitor the fidelity of implementation (FOI) of the Montessori kindergarten program implemented in 2005, which left administrators without empirical data regarding program implementation. The purpose of this qualitative evaluative case study was to explore teachers' and administrators' perceptions and implementation of the Montessori program. Using the implementation of science framework, which involves examining FOI by monitoring interventions, implementation methods, enabling contexts, and intended outcomes, data were collected through interviews, nonparticipatory observations, and a review of archived Montessori documents. A convenience sample of 10 Montessori teachers, who met criteria of over 5 years …

Evaluating A Discharge Bundle For Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Sharon Scardina Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of hospital readmissions within 30 days. Frequent readmissions negatively affect hospital reimbursements and patient outcomes. Creative strategies, such as COPD care bundles, have been shown to reduce readmission rates according to existing studies. A COPD discharge bundle was developed and implemented at 1 community hospital in response to an identified problem with COPD readmissions. Evaluation of this quality improvement initiative was the purpose of this project study. The practice-focused question was: Have 30-day readmission rates changed following the implementation of a COPD discharge bundle prior to …

Executive Succession In Community Action Agencies In A Southern State, Johnnie Faye Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Without adequate succession planning (SP) for executive directors, nonprofit organizations risk losing their mission and direction and their ability to sustain the quality of program and services and maintain superior leadership. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which SP was being developed and implemented in community action agencies (CAAs) in a southern state. This study also focused on the challenges that these organizations experienced from not implementing SP. This single case study design was based on the theoretical framework of organizational change, using Lewin's 3-stage model. Identified through purposive and snowball sampling, 17 participants from …

Sustainability Strategies For Immigrant Small Business Owners, Hope Obika Waobikeze

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2017, the Texas economy grew faster than the U.S. economy; however, the rate of failed immigrant-owned small businesses is an economic problem for the southwestern United States. The objective of this multiple case study was to explore strategies immigrant small business owners practiced in sustaining their businesses for longer than 5 years. The population of the study was 3 immigrant small business owners in the southwestern United States. The conceptual framework for this study was transformational leadership theory. Thematic analysis of interviews, member checking, participant observations, and field notes identified 5 emergent themes: acquired leadership skills (with transformational leadership …

Interpreting Middle And High School Teacher Concerns Toward Rti Implementation, Kim E. Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research exists about secondary school Response to Intervention (RTI) models, but little is known about the concerns of middle and high school teachers who are working together to implement RTI practices as a shared responsibility. The extensive body of documentation on RTI at the elementary level has not helped educators develop systematic RTI implementation practices across all levels (Ehren, 2013). The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether there were differences in practice concerns, if any among middle school and high school teachers' RTI practice concerns when measured by the Impact Stage of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire …

Reducing Lateral Violence Among Nurses Through Staff Education, Alexandra Lindsay Tripp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Most nurses experience lateral violence (LV) during their careers. LV can be detrimental to nurses' livelihoods and careers, to facilities due to nurse replacement costs, to the nursing profession due to attrition, and to patient safety. The purpose of this staff education project was to educate registered nurses on the issue of LV and to equip nurses to respond to their aggressors. The project question addressed whether education would increase awareness of LV and empower nurses to stand up to their aggressors. The theory of the nurse as the wounded healer, social learning theory, and the theory of reciprocal determinism …

Are Hospital Efficiency And Quality Of Care Affordable Without External Revenue?, Frank Pieter M. Naus, Carol-Anne Faint, Rocky J. Dwyer

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

This qualitative study explored strategies academic research hospital administrators in Ontario, Canada, apply to generate nongovernment revenue to remain sustainable. The participants in the study consisted of senior-level academic research hospital executives with extensive experience in the subject area from major academic research hospitals, ranking the hospitals from highest to lowest in revenue generation. From this study, five themes emerged: working within the fiscal reality, the impact of the political environment, the focus on the mission, nongovernment revenue generation, and opportunities for the Ontario academic research hospitals. Findings from this study may contribute to discussions on implementing change by encouraging …

Direct Supervisor Influence On Nurse Engagement, Kelly Elaine Tapp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurse engagement is essential for organizational success. If organizations can engage nurses, they may be able to improve organization and patient outcomes. The purpose of the evidence-based practice project was to use current evidence of direct supervisor influence on nurse engagement to create an educational program for clinical leads to use in their interactions with direct reports. The relationship-based care model was used as a framework for the project, and concepts included work engagement, nurse engagement, recognition versus meaningful recognition, professional development, communication, transformational leadership, and authentic leadership. Before and after attending the education program, clinical leads were given a …

Attraction And Retention Of Individual Donor Funding In Nonprofit Organizations, Andria Coleman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individual donors are an important source of revenue for nonprofit organizations. However, there is limited information on the attraction and retention of individual donors in nonprofit organizations. This single-case study addressed strategies 3 nonprofit leaders in the Northeast United States use to attract and retain individual donors. The conceptual framework was Kaplan and Norton's strategy map and the 2015-2016 Baldrige Excellence Framework used to evaluate organizational performance. Data collection included semistructured interviews; review of company documents; analysis of data available via GuideStar, an online provider of information on U.S. nonprofit organizations; analysis of data available about U.S. agencies; and review …

Thematic Narrative Of Lgbt Faculty Members' Professional Identity And Activism, Kathy Luanne Williamson Gall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 20 years, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals have made progress in attaining the same basic civil rights as heterosexual individuals. As in other civil rights movements, the college campus has played an important role. The LGBT community participates in academic and campus life, and numerous colleges are developing and supporting an inclusive, safe, and respectful culture. However, bias and prejudice continue to occur. While researchers have studied the repercussions of prejudice, discrimination, and low evaluation scores for LGBT faculty, little research has been done to explore professional identity and activism in LGBT faculty at traditional …

Smoking Cessation Education For Acute Care Nurses, Dawn Garcia-Brinker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Tobacco use among veterans is significantly higher than among members of the general population. The purpose of this quality-improvement project was to increase acute care staff members' knowledge and confidence in using tobacco cessation interventions to increase quit rates among the inpatients of a veterans' hospital in the midwestern region of the United States. An evidence-based, standardized Tobacco Tactics Toolkit was developed and implemented, and a 6 sigma method guided the quality improvement process to define, measure, analyze, improve, and control the tobacco-cessation education initiative. The reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance framework was used to ensure that evidence-based interventions …

Leadership Strategies To Increase Employee Engagement, Christine Garza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sixty-five percent of small business leaders indicated a lack of workforce engagement practices as an administrative strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of employee disengagement. Guided by Weber's organizational theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies some leaders used to increase employee engagement. Five small business leaders in the southwestern United States participated in semistructured interviews. The participants employed successful strategies to increase employee engagement. Data collection included the review of company documents, face-to-face interviews, and member checking to explore successful strategies to increase employee engagement. Data analysis included coding and organizing data and information …

Strategies For Increasing Volunteer Engagement In Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations, Sanja Katina Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Implementing effective strategies to address the challenges of volunteer engagement is critical for helping ensure the sustainability of nonprofit healthcare organizations. Nonprofit healthcare leaders seek strategies to increase the volunteer workforce and enhance volunteer engagement. Through the conceptual lens of Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory, the strategies nonprofit healthcare leaders used to reduce volunteer turnover were explored in this single-case study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 5 nonprofit healthcare leaders from a single organization in the southwestern United States. Analysis of internal and external organizational documents and publicly available data were manually coded and thematically organized. The use …

Strategies Hospitality Leaders Use To Reduce Employee Turnover, Borislav Perev

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover is a global problem with adverse effects on financial performance and sustainability of organizations. In the hospitality industry, employee turnover levels increased to 58.8%, and the associated cost of turnover may be more than 100% of an employee's yearly wage, with a total loss of over $25 billion a year. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by hospitality leaders in the southeastern United States to reduce employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory. Purposeful selection of participants included leaders with experience in developing and implementing strategies for reducing employee …

Educating Nurse Managers To Create A Culture Of Nurse Retention, Stacey Trotman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurse managers are stakeholders in creating a culture of nurse retention. The purpose of this staff education project was to identify evidence-based best practices that promote nurse retention and to educate nurse managers about these strategies. Knowles's theory of adult learning was the theoretical framework for the project. The practice-focused question addressed whether an education program for nurse managers would increase their understanding of evidence-based strategies to create a culture of nurse retention. The education program centered on 4 themes: professional development, communication and relationships, culture and work environment, and organizational structures and support. The concepts of 5 domains-- status, …

Strategies To Improve The Youth Programs Of Nonprofit Organizations, Joseph Conteh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of nonprofit organizations and researchers who focus on organizational performance affirm that improved youth programs are a crucial component of performance excellence and organizational sustainability. As seen through the lens of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this single-case study was to explore the strategies used by 3 executive-level leaders/managers of a nonprofit organization in the southwestern region of the United States to equip families to overcome poverty, conquer homelessness, and achieve self-sufficiency. Data collected from semistructured interviews, organizational documents, and publicly available resources were manually coded and then analyzed. The 2 key themes that emerged were effective collaboration …

Leadership Satisfaction And Turnover Intention Among Public Sector Employees, Marcia Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The changing demographics of the federal workforce require managers to understand generational differences in experiences, values, and leadership preferences that can negatively impact an agency's ability to fulfill its mission. There is a gap in the literature regarding generational cohort perceptions of employee satisfaction with leadership and turnover intention in the Small Business Administration (SBA). The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine the generational perceptions of SBA employees regarding leadership satisfaction and intent to leave the organization within the next year. Strauss and Howe's generational theory served as the theoretical framework. This non-experimental quantitative study used the …

Leadership Strategies For Enhancing Employee Engagement, Ada Vanessa Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the food manufacturing industry, employee engagement is critical to the survival of organizations because engaged employees increase productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Using the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that leaders in the food-manufacturing industry in the northeastern region of the United States use to engage employees. Participants were purposefully selected based upon their experience implementing effective employee engagement strategies. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 7 food manufacturing leaders and the review of organizational documents on employee engagement. Data were analyzed using inductive coding of phrases, word frequency …

Phenomenological Study On Female Engineering Leaders In The New York Utility Industry, Shelanda Gonsalves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the development of women with an engineering background who became leaders. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of female engineering leaders in the New York utility sector. The research problem was why few women with engineering degrees obtain leadership positions. Women comprise half the total working population, yet few hold leadership positions, especially in the utility sector. In this study, 28 women in the New York utility sector shared experiences on their progression from engineer to leadership. The conceptual framework was the Moustakas phenomenological approach, investigating the humanistic properties of …

Community College Professors' Engagement And Perceptions Of Professional Development In Remote Environments, Norma-Jean J. Nielsen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that consistent, supportive, and relevant professional development (PD) is an action that empowers educators to change. In the east central region of Canada, the sustainability of community colleges had been linked to program collaboration and internationalization which requires implementation of high-quality PD for its professors. Guided by Mezirow's adult transformative learning theory, the purpose of this study was to understand the PD practices of full-time professors by investigating the connections between professors' level of engagement in PD and their perceptions of the resources and processes that may improve their instructional practices. This single-phased, concurrent mixed-methods study was conducted …

The Emotional Intelligence Of Successful African American Entrepreneurs, Breanna Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American entrepreneurs in Houston, TX, lack the emotional intelligence required

to be self-employed and remain in business. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to gain a robust understanding of what strategies African American entrepreneurs can adopt to increase emotional intelligence, which will aid them in remaining in business beyond the first 5 years. The central research question focused on common understandings of the strategies African-American entrepreneurs in Houston, TX, adopt to increase their emotional intelligence such that it contributes to them remaining in business beyond the initial 5 years. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was …

Inclusion Teachers' Perspectives On Coteaching, Allison Nunes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The coteaching classroom has grown with the influx of special needs students in general education classrooms. New state and federal laws mandated the need for collaboration when instructing special education students, and middle school teachers in a Northern New Jersey school district are experiencing challenges with the implementation of coteaching in inclusion classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of collaboration challenges that resulted from coteaching in the classroom. The key research question of this study involved general and special education teachers' lived experiences in relation to the inclusion classroom and their attitudes and …

Effective Management Communication Strategies, Dr. Cad W. Shannon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Managing employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization, but 85% of managers struggle with engaging employees. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore effective communication strategies within an organization and determine how managers used these strategies to increase employee engagement, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected from organizational documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 6 managers of a corporation located in the midwestern United States. All participants were working full-time for at least 3 years, had a managerial title, and were responsible for departmental communication. Moustakas's modified van Kaam method was used for data …

Assessing Governmental Anticorruption Strategies: The Case Of The National Anticorruption Commission In Cameroon, Daniel Ketuama Tangumonkem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Combatting corruption in Cameroon has become a primary policy focus for the government and the civil society; yet, the success on that front has been modest. The literature on anticorruption efforts in the country is scant. Using Rothstein and Santiso's conceptualization of anticorruption strategies as the guide, the purpose of this case study of government's anticorruption policy and practice was to explore and contextualize the anticorruption strategies in Cameroon to fill the gap in the literature and potentially contribute to solving the problem. Data were collected through interviews with 20 government employees working with the government's main anticorruption agency -- …

An Autoethnographic Examination Of Personal And Organizational Transformation In The U.S. Military, Marjon K. John

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Large-scale transformational change, such as the integration and acceptance of gays in the U.S. military, necessitates a long-term effort by management to mitigate unanticipated consequences. Suboptimal implementation may not account for damaging consequences among individuals expected to live the change. The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to examine the individual experiences of a closeted gay personnel member living through a transformational change in identity, which paralleled an organizational change in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The conceptual framework included elements of general systems theory, Kotter's theory of change management, Ostroff's change management for government, and Maslow's self-actualization theory. …

The Impact Of Shared Governance On Nursing Satisfaction And Retention, Melanie Wetmore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Shared governance is a practice model that supports shared decision making between direct care nurses and their leaders. Developed from Kanter's theory of structural empowerment, shared governance allows employees to influence decisions made in an organization. Shared governance has been shown to increase nursing satisfaction, positively impact outcomes, and reduce nursing turnover. The purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between implementation of a system-wide, multihospital shared governance structure and registered nurse (RN) satisfaction, turnover, and perceptions of shared governance. The 3 sources of evidence used in the study were 2016-2017 organizational RN engagement survey results, 2016-2017 organizational …

Medication Reconciliation In The Elderly, Munjanja Yvonne Litell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medication therapy is the most prevalent and critical intervention of health delivery and the source of most errors in healthcare. Medication errors and associated adverse drug events (ADE) have serious health and economic ramifications, and in elderly patients ADE are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Medication reconciliation is the process of evaluating current medication treatment to manage the risk and optimize the outcomes of medication treatment by detecting, solving, and preventing ADEs. This education project answered the question whether education provided to long term care staff would improve knowledge of medication reconciliation and be retained over time. The …

Leadership Strategies For Implementing Quality Improvement Initiatives In Primary Care Facilities, Jose A. Poncevega

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care spending accounts for 17.7% of the gross domestic product in the United States, and it is expected to continue rising at an annual rate of 5.3%. Despite high costs, health care quality lags behind other high-income countries; yet, over 70% of change initiatives fail. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies primary care leaders use for implementing quality improvement initiatives to improve patient outcomes and reduce waste in primary care facilities. The target population consisted of 3 health care leaders of 3 primary care facilities in southern California who successfully implemented quality improvement initiatives. …

Employee Perceptions Of Leadership Styles That Influence Workplace Performance, Carla Wren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The leadership style found in government is usually diverse in nature, with the chain of command being top-down and focused on bureaucracy. There are some leadership styles that can adversely impact or vastly improve workplace performance. This descriptive phenomenological study was used to understand employee perceptions of leadership styles that affect their workplace performance. Bass's transformational leadership theory guided this study to explore how a supervisor's leadership style impacts an employee's workplace performance. The primary research question focused on positive and negative perceptions employees held related to supervisors' leadership behaviors and characteristics. The data collection was derived from in-depth interviews …