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Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

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What Keeps Them Going: Factors That Sustain U.S. Women's Life-Long Peace And Social Justice Activism, Susan Mckevitt Jan 2010

What Keeps Them Going: Factors That Sustain U.S. Women's Life-Long Peace And Social Justice Activism, Susan Mckevitt

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is a mixed methods sequential study on the factors that sustain U.S. women's life-long peace and social justice activism. The specific cohort of women sought for this study was those who entered their social justice activism during the late 1950s through the early 1970s and were active in the U.S. civil rights struggles, the anti-Vietnam war movement, or participated in the second phase of the women's liberation movement. Through utilizing a snowballing process, fifty-seven participants were obtained for the quantitative survey phase of the study from which the ten participants (five White, five women of Color) were selected …


Edge Leadership: Using Senior Leadership Perceptions To Explore Organizational Turnarounds, Lynn William Olsen Jan 2010

Edge Leadership: Using Senior Leadership Perceptions To Explore Organizational Turnarounds, Lynn William Olsen

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The researcher developed the concept of an edge leader—that is, one who can mindfully turn around a troubled business to sustain it for the future. In an increasingly turbulent and competitive climate, more edge leaders must be developed to sustain their organizations for the benefit of shareholders, employees, communities, and society. The researcher's review of the classic and contemporary leadership and change literatures suggested that four elements are necessary to develop leaders capable of leading even basic beneficial change. They include: having broad, successful experience; being emotionally and socially aware; having the ability to think differently about priorities and paradoxes …


Strategic Asymmetric Multicultural Alliances In Business, Anthony James Scriffignano Jan 2010

Strategic Asymmetric Multicultural Alliances In Business, Anthony James Scriffignano

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Global economics and other factors make it increasingly difficult for organizations to operate within the boundaries of one country in a rational way (e.g., leveraging best practices, profitable, achieving goals). In this study, I looked at strategic business alliances, transcending simple quid pro quo relationships to deliver ongoing partner value. I refined my study to multicultural relationships, having differing cultural identities (i.e., ideas, heritage, language, or demographics from differing geographies). Finally, I considered asymmetry (i.e., inequity in working relationship). Using a mixed-methodology design, I surveyed alliance participants and interviewed participants from selected alliances. A multi-case study addresses emergent themes of …


How Hospital Environmental Managers Learn Compliance: A Learning Process Model, Victoria Anne Jas Jan 2009

How Hospital Environmental Managers Learn Compliance: A Learning Process Model, Victoria Anne Jas

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Recent national media coverage of hospital mismanagement of hazardous materialsand waste has brought the practices of all hospitals into public scrutiny. Many people are amazed to learn that there is no national training or accreditation program for environmental management in hospitals. Hospitals are held to the same standards for hazardous materials management as are corporations in the industrial sector. Rural hospitals are particularly challenged because they have few resources. Overall, small hospitals need much improvement, but there are also examples of where individuals have done exemplary innovative work in improving environmental management. In this study I investigated the challenge rural …


Contextual Leadership: The Social Construction Of Leadership In A Comprehensive Healthcare System, Mark J. Moir Jan 2009

Contextual Leadership: The Social Construction Of Leadership In A Comprehensive Healthcare System, Mark J. Moir

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Healthcare is a complex and dynamic environment containing a plurality of social forces and perspectives that shape the organizational culture and the nature of the leadership. As leadership is a social phenomenon, it is important to understand the complex social processes that mediate our perceptions and that in turn influence processes of leader attribution. The central purpose of this study has been to illuminate the nature of culturally specific processes that emerge within a specific organizational setting and that fuel leader attribution and the social construction of leadership. Accordingly, this qualitative study has developed a Grounded Theory utilizing Situational Analysis …


Holographic Leadership: Leading As A Way Of Being, Janet L. Byars Jan 2009

Holographic Leadership: Leading As A Way Of Being, Janet L. Byars

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Holographic Leadership integrates values-based leadership into an understanding of an energetic holographic world. It is a world where the unseen is the primary influencer, where the smaller is more powerful (Bohm, 1994). I will synthesize many diverse ideas into an exploratory theory that will suggest new insights into sustainable leadership. I will propose a new model of practice from which to work. I suggest that it is through an internal state of physiological coherence and psychological balance that a leader can truly learn to “hold steady” (Heifetz, 1994), creating an intentional holding environment, a coherent group dynamic, which draws forth …


Making The Value Of Development Visible: A Sequential Mixed Methodology Study Of The Integral Impact Of Post-Classroom Leader And Leadership Development, Laura Curnutt Santana Jan 2009

Making The Value Of Development Visible: A Sequential Mixed Methodology Study Of The Integral Impact Of Post-Classroom Leader And Leadership Development, Laura Curnutt Santana

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In a time of increasing complexity, many organizations invest in leadership development programs to prepare those who will assume the role of leader. Although many studies have evaluated programs’ impact, the questions remain: does development happen in leadership development program? If so, what kind of development? And what is the participant’s experience of personal or organizational impact? The purpose of this sequential mixed methodology study is to address these three questions utilizing an online follow-through platform as a lens on 248 participants in the Center for Creative Leadership’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) who reported completing their LDP goals. Those who …


Developing Collaborative Leadership: A Study Of Organizational Change Toward Greater Collaboration And Shared Leadership, Jonathan Tyler Clark Jan 2008

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 Jan 2008

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 Jan 2008

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 Jan 2008

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 Jan 2008

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 Scientist/Founders Lead Successful Biopharmaceutical Organizations: A Study Of Three Companies, Lynn Johnson Langer Jan 2008

How Scientist/Founders Lead Successful Biopharmaceutical Organizations: A Study Of Three Companies, Lynn Johnson Langer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine how the leadership of scientist/founders of biopharmaceutical companies affects the success of their organization. Over half of all biotechnology firms are founded by scientists, yet for every start-up biotech firm that succeeds, 15-20 fail and eight out of 10 drugs fail in clinical trials (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2007; Stanford Graduate School of Business, n.d.; Zhang & Patel, 2005). To bring a biopharmaceutical product from the research bench to the consumer costs more than $800 million (Tufts, 2007). This dissertation research explored the leadership practices of three successful scientist/founders and how …


How Are Nasa Engineers Motivated? An Analysis Of Factors That Influence Nasa Goddard Engineers’ Level Of Motivation, Howard Eric Kea Jan 2008

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 Jan 2008

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 …


Inside Outsourcing: A Grounded Theory Of Relationship Formation Within A Nascent Service System, Lisa Dell Kreeger Jan 2007

Inside Outsourcing: A Grounded Theory Of Relationship Formation Within A Nascent Service System, Lisa Dell Kreeger

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The theory of relationship formation developed in this study tells a coherent story about the relational work of service initiation in technology outsourcing. The study is focused on the contractually defined period of time at the beginning of outsourcing service delivery. As with a play-within-a-play, this work goes on primarily behind the scenes, away from the concurrent task of launching the inter-firm relationship between the client and the provider that will extend for the term of the full contract. This grounded theory study was completed over an eight-month period. The findings are grounded in interviews with 25 individuals who were …


Psychotherapists Working With Homeless Clients: The Experience Of Stress, Burnout Symptoms, And Coping, Sharon D. Young Jan 2007

Psychotherapists Working With Homeless Clients: The Experience Of Stress, Burnout Symptoms, And Coping, Sharon D. Young

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Stress, secondary trauma, and burnout symptoms are significant problems within the field of human services. Homeless clients present many challenges, frequently are highly traumatized, and often require many services. Psychotherapist working with homeless clients experience negative effects of exposure to the stress and trauma of homeless clients, and as a result must develop strategies for coping in order to continue in the work. This study used a mixed method design to investigate psychotherapists' experience working with homeless clients through Healthcare for the Homeless grantee projects, and their strategies for coping with the stress of their work. A survey, which included …


A Community-Based Social Marketing Campaign To Green The Offices At Pacific University: Recycling, Paper Reduction, And Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Elaine Janet Cole Jan 2007

A Community-Based Social Marketing Campaign To Green The Offices At Pacific University: Recycling, Paper Reduction, And Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Elaine Janet Cole

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study describes a community-based social marketing (CBSM) research project to bring awareness and behavior change around paper reduction, recycling, and purchasing of environmentally preferred products (EPP) at a small liberal arts university in the Pacific Northwest. A university-wide green office campaign was designed and implemented over a semester. Components of the multiple methods research study were pre-post surveys, purchasing reports, a recycling study, and a waste audit. The results provide examples and insights into specific community-based social marketing tools that helped foster environmental behavior change. The paper also presents suggestions for future CBSM sustainability efforts at other universities. The …


The Critical Factors Of Coaching Practice Leading To Successful Coaching Outcomes, Margaret K. Marshall Jan 2006

The Critical Factors Of Coaching Practice Leading To Successful Coaching Outcomes, Margaret K. Marshall

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the critical aspects in coaching outcomes as perceived by experienced coaches in the United States in both business and life coaching settings. Nineteen coaches provided a total of 109 critical incidents that led the client to the coaching process. Six dimensions of coaching emerged from the coding process; personal philosophies of coaching, coach functions, the coaching process, breakdown and success factors, precipitating factors and outcomes of coaching. A model was constructed to depict the relationship of the dimensions to one another. The personal philosophy of the coach influenced every other dimension. The …


Value Creation And Value Capture In Non-Profit Partnerships, Beth Birmingham Jan 2006

Value Creation And Value Capture In Non-Profit Partnerships, Beth Birmingham

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this research is to study how non-profit organizations create value from partnerships, specifically, partnerships between academic institutions and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Apart from the goals of the partnership per se, how do they create long term value for their respective organizations separate from the partnership outcomes? Educational partnerships between academic institutions and other sectors have become common and somewhat necessary in the past decade. The NGOs examined in this study benefited from partnership with an academic institution in the areas of staff development and organizational capacity building. The universities in this study benefited from direct involvement …


Portrait Of An Urban Elementary School: Place-Based Education, School Culture, And Leadership, Michael Thomas Duffin Jan 2006

Portrait Of An Urban Elementary School: Place-Based Education, School Culture, And Leadership, Michael Thomas Duffin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the interaction between place-based education, school culture, and leadership at one elementary school in an inner city section of Boston, MA. The centerpiece is a stand alone research portrait that tells a story about how an external program, a willing and ready school community, and a skillful school leader reinforced each other to achieve a shared vision under challenging conditions. From an under-subscribed school in chaos and lacking focus, the subject school transformed into a vibrant, highly sought school with a pervasive, environmentally-oriented culture and curriculum. Portraiture methods were adapted to a utilization-focused evaluation purpose, drawing on …