Digital Commons Network^™

The National Basketball Association’S (Nba) Digital Transformation: An Explanatory Case Study, James Santomier, Harald Dolles, Reinhard Kunz

WCBT Faculty Publications

Purpose. Digital transformation in the global sport industry has resulted in digitally focused business strategies, innovative business models, targeted social media marketing strategies, increased consumer, and sponsor demand, accelerated growth in women’s sports, and streaming media (OTT) worldwide. This paper aims to study the case of the U.S.-based National Basketball Association’s (NBA) digital transformation, including multiple interactions of actors in the digital transformation process. A key aim is understanding the synergies resulting from the league’s integration of digital technologies, its business strategy, the evolution of its hybrid business model and the increase in revenue and global branding.

Design/methodology/approach. An explanatory …

Scholarship With A Reach, Lori B. Doyle, Tanya M. Tarbutton, Kellie L. Albrecht

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

While the goal of providing a path to degree completion for master’s level participants is worthy, universities can consider ways for scholarship to have a far-reaching impact beyond the individual benefits to program completers. The field of education is situated in the social sciences and rationale for program development, when tied to a theoretical foundation, provides for theory-to-practice implications. Organizational change theory is an appropriate foundation for a discussion on master’s level culminating research projects designed with a goal of enacting change in classrooms, schools, districts, and even around the globe. One university’s approach will be highlighted and two culminating …

Managing Cyber Defense As A Business Threat For Small And Medium Enterprises, Binh Quang Vo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The U.S small and medium businesses (SMBs) are constantly attacked by cybercriminals. Alarmingly, the number of victimized SMBs is growing considerably every year. This results in the increasing loss of billions of dollars and risks to the national economy. The problem addressed was the rising number of cyberattacks critically harming SMBs resulting in revenue loss, damages to reputation, and business closure. The purpose of this research was to reveal the contemporary barriers and challenges that impact cybersecurity competencies of SMBs. This study used semi-structured interviews of participants who are currently working as cyber professionals in SMBs across industries. The goal …

Secondary Teacher Experiences In Professional Learning Communities: A Phenomenological Research Study, Tiphani Jo Morris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to describe secondary mathematics, science, English Language Arts (ELA), and social studies teachers’ experiences with PLCs at Central Texas secondary schools. Using Wenger’s (1998) social theory, the study answered the central research question: What are the lived experiences of secondary mathematics, science, ELA, and social studies teachers involved in PLCs in Central Texas? The sub-questions included: What collaborative experiences do secondary teachers have during PLCs? What professional learning experiences do secondary teachers have during PLCs? The setting included two middle schools and one high school located in Central Texas. The sample …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Underrepresentation Of Blacks In Leadership Roles In Professional Services Organizations, Marcia E. Stokes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of Blacks in professional services organizations who were promoted into leadership positions. The theories which guided this study were Spence’s theory on signaling and the Critical Race Theory (CRT). They provided lenses that were used to view the problem of access to advancements and promotions for Blacks in professional services organizations. The research design used for this study was qualitative, and the approach was hermeneutical phenomenological. The qualitative design provided an opportunity to gather the data by hearing the lived experiences of the participants and by capturing …

A Phenomenological Study Of Pastors Leaving Employment Due To Experienced Poor Person-Organization Fit, Stephen T. Buys

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe pastors’ experiences who have served full-time in a lead/senior pastor role in evangelical churches after having lost or left their employment as a result of experiencing poor person-organization fit. For this study, pastoral staff turnover was defined as the employment of full-time pastoral staff employed for at least one year who have resulted in voluntary or involuntary resignation from their place of employment because of value incongruence. In this phenomenology, the church is viewed as an educational institution, including similarities between pastoral roles and educator and administrator roles. As …

Effective Public Sector Leadership In A Mandatory Remote Work Environment, Sara Janene Valdez Hoffer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to identify effective public sector leadership skills when operating in a mandatory remote work environment. The research topic was driven by the adjustments many public sector organizations were mandated to make due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to attract and retain a talented workforce in the future, many government agencies have been faced with implementing reconstitution efforts that include more flexible schedule options for employees following the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, these organizations began exploring offering additional remote opportunities that were previously not available. Thus, identifying effective leadership skills …

Exploring Niche Alteration In Nonprofit Organizations, Duncan J. Mayer, Robert L. Fischer

Faculty Scholarship

The organizational niche is a concept integral to organizational ecology, reflecting an organization’s mission, expertise, capacity, and resource requirements. The choice of niche is crucial to the viability of the organization; however, the reasons organizations alter their niche are poorly understood. We hypothesize that nonprofit organizations alter their niche to reduce environmental pressure and gain access to resources. The results indicate that niche alteration predicts increases in total revenue with average increases in revenue from program services and contributions (depending on the measure). Additionally, nonprofits that are younger, larger, and have more concentrated revenue, are more likely to alter their …

The Benefits Of Family Presence During Resuscitation, Abigail Harris, Payton Hale, Audrey Jeziorski

Scholars Week

The research provided analyzes the benefits and fears concerning Family Presence During Resuscitation (FPDR) as a standard practice in healthcare facilities. Evidence is available that FPDR supports increased familial satisfaction and psychological outcomes as well as benefits to the patient and healthcare team involved in resuscitation efforts, however this practice is not consistently implemented in healthcare facilities. Three main studies were analyzed throughout this research in order to determine the causation of inconsistent and absent policies regarding FPDR. The analysis of these studies determined that there is a lack of guidelines, education, and policies resulting in absence of family members …

Emergency And Disaster Management Requires Complex Systems Thinking And Practices, Larry M. Starr, Phd

School of Business Faculty Papers

There are two broad classes of challenges (problems and opportunities) that may be addressed by educators in the academic and practice domain of Emergency and Disaster Management (EDM). Graduate education programs should acknowledge both kinds when formulating and presenting curricula and courses. However, the conventional approach is to treat all problems as part of a single type as if there is a one-size-fits-all premise underpinning how to think about, frame, decide, respond, and follow-up to EDM problems. I argue that a second conceptualization of EDM challenges should be formally acknowledged and added. I also argue that to adequately appreciate the …

Effects Of An Evidence-Based Practice Bundle Project On Nurse Empowerment, Kevin Jay Inman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The project determined the effect of an Evidence-Based Practice bundle program on nurses’ perception of empowerment. The EBP bundle included 7 interventions implemented simultaneously throughout a small community hospital. There was a significant increase in nurses’ perception of empowerment (p<.001), EBP beliefs (p<.001), and use of EBP (p<.001) after the implementation of an EBP bundle.

Community College Executive Leaders And Emotional Intelligence: A Phenomenological Study Exploring How Community College Executive Leaders Utilize Emotional Intelligence (Ei) To Lead Their Organizations, Seblewongel Ayalew

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological research aimed to identify and describe the lived practices of California community college executive leaders who lead their institutions using Emotional Intelligence (EI) through the lens of Goleman’s four EI domains.

Methodology: This study used phenomenological research that identified and explained California community college executive leaders’ lived practices associated with the leaders using EI in the workplace to determine their EI skills and emotional awareness. The community college executive leaders participated in interviews in formal and informal settings to identify and describe their lived experiences.

Findings: Examination of the qualitative data from 15 community college executive leaders …

Pre-Transplant Evaluation Period Efficiency Through The Use Of An Electronic Scheduling Template, Christy Dawn Byrd

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Candidacy for transplant evaluation is a complex and lengthy evaluation process. Delays in National Organ Registry have significant unfavorable impacts on patient outcomes as 22 people a day die awaiting a lifesaving treatment. Operational efficiencies can improve the pre-transplant evaluation period and significantly improve patient outcomes.

PICOT: In an outpatient transplant clinic (P), will leveraging an evidence-based scheduling template (I) compared to the current practice of first available appointment (C) reduce the evaluation period by 66% from a 3–4-week evaluation to a 1-week evaluation resulting in expedited listing on the National Organ Registry (O), when applied over …

Improving Pediatric Medical Nurses’ Confidence In Caring For Pediatric Mental Health Patients: A Pilot Project Large Academic Pediatric Health System In The Pacific Northwest, Lauren Kalember

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Problem Description

Pediatric mental and behavioral health care needs continue to increase across the nation. Approximately ten percent of pediatric hospitalizations are for a primary mental or behavioral health condition (Canvara & Johnson, 2020). With the increase in hospitalizations for mental health (MH) needs, pediatric psychiatric units are at capacity, and MH patients are admitted to pediatric general medical/surgical units for care. Most of the nurses that work on these units have not received pediatric mental health education outside of nursing school curricula and report a lack of confidence in their ability to care for pediatric MH patients. With the …

The Role That Exercise Play On Your Hormones, Leadership Effectiveness & Job Engagement, Julia Shaw

Honors Projects in Management

This research project aimed to find a connection between exercise, hormone levels, and job outcomes. It is largely known that many successful people workout, but there is limited research that connects working out to leadership effectiveness and job engagement. Therefore, a survey was distributed to Bryant University students asking them to self-report using hormone dimensions, and job outcome Likert scales. The OLS regression did not result in significant p-values however, using a means comparison there were interesting revelations in the data. Those who exercised with others had increased levels of serotonin and leadership effectiveness. Those that exercised before work had …

The Southern Baptist Convention’S Perception Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Compared To African American Pastors’ And Leaders’ Lived Experiences, Jeffrey J. Wallace

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The study of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is complex and multilayered. Similarly, the study of DEI within an ecclesiastical and ecumenical Christian movement like the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has its challenges. Challenges and tensions surrounding the SBC, relating to women's leadership issues, the infiltration of partisanship and politics in the pulpits, racial injustice flashpoint moments, and the lack of ethnic diversity in a crucial leadership position have impacted the overall lived experience of African American pastors and leaders. This phenomenological study explored the Southern Baptist Convention's perception of diversity, equity, and inclusion compared to African American pastors’ and …

Tearing Down And Building Up In The Contemporary Workplace: How Reflective Writing Inspires Workplace Learning And Well-Being, Gina R. Pell

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Continuous learning is critical for workers and organizations, but traditional learning strategies may be less effective as constantly changing business demands and individual needs among diverse and geographically dispersed workers may create barriers to performance and sustainability. Although alternative learning approaches such as experiential and double-loop learning may introduce risks by uncovering new challenges, they may also benefit workers and organizations when designed to bolster empathy and encourage a better understanding of pressures and stress. Reflective writing is an adaptable alternative learning approach that can be paired with existing workplace learning strategies or tailored to specific needs and learning outcomes. …

Elevating Followers: Confirmatory Factor Analysis On The Revised Kelley Followership Questionnaire, Sherrie A. Lynn

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Every person is a follower, and followers and leaders are both equally important to the leadership process, yet followership literature pales in comparison to leadership literature. One problem was that followership did not have a valid and reliable selfassessment. The purpose of this study was to advance the theory of followership by conducting confirmatory factor analysis on the revised Kelley Followership Questionnaire (KFQ-R; Ligon, 2016) with data collected from employees at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The KFQ-R and three additional instruments to assess convergent validity were administered in December 2022. Data analysis included seven iterations of factor analysis conducted …

A Quantitative Study Of Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, And Organizational Commitment Within Christian Higher Education, Daniel E. Mcdonald

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Organizational commitment is an important component within Christian higher education, impacted by the words and actions of authentic leaders and followers. In a time when more people left their jobs or looked for new employment than ever before, it was necessary to identify contributing factors that built and detracted from organizational commitment within this context. In this study, the researcher explored the relationships between organizational commitment and authentic leadership and authentic followership from the perspective of followers within five institutions in the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The findings provided important context for current levels of connection between …

Managing For Agility In Constant Change: Hr Strategies For Teaching Center Leaders, Carolyn Hoessler, Donna E. Ellis, Bob Bayles

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) exist in dynamic contexts and need to be agile, with skilled, adaptable teams to prepare for and respond to changes. In this article, we provide CTL leaders with relevant and eminently practical strategies from the human resources (HR) literature, offering guidance in the four areas of organizational structure, direction-setting, capacity-building, and accountability. For each area, we address pivotal challenges with practical approaches grounded in existing research and theory to provide options for CTL leaders in their quest to have well-functioning, agile units. Examples focus on helping existing centers to adapt and refocus, as needed, …

Can Restorative Justice Transform School Culture In California? Qualitative Research Shines A Little Light, Mary L. Frampton

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Athletic Participation On Academic Achievement For Private High School Students, Jeff Johnson

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Education's role in society is crucial for the sustainability of civilization (Ball, 2021). Education consists of people training people for the future and the betterment of humanity. Governments often prioritize education reform, and decision-makers and school leaders constantly look at ways to improve student gains (Ball, 2021). Further, improving the education system is an ongoing process that is an absolute necessity, and the intent behind this research was to contribute to that endeavor and promote progress.

The relationship between athletics and academic performance has been studied broadly in literature. However, there is a literary void and lack of delineated exploration …

Student Inclusion In The Least Restrictive Environment, Jennifer Grossman

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This school improvement project explores student inclusion in the general education environment. Inclusion is an important topic in schools and is important to discuss. Inclusion is defined and explained. This school improvement project will explore the problem, leadership assistance, differentiated instruction, and implementation of inclusion in the least restrictive environment. Inclusion is imperative to student success in the inclusive environment. An analysis of inclusion suggests students with varying abilities be included in as much of the general education environment in order to succeed in social and academic domains. Results of inclusion in the general education environment indicate that students with …

Cultivating Sense: Cultural Change In The Prosecutor’S Office, Shih-Chun Steven Chien

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Prosecutors exercise broad discretion. They are widely viewed as the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system. To date, studies on prosecutors in different jurisdictions have largely focused on how to conceptualize, manage, and eventually control the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Scholars have recently turned their attention to the importance of internal organizational management and leadership’s role in changing office culture as a means to regulate prosecutorial discretion. But we have limited empirical evidence as to how changes occur within a prosecutor’s office and what precise role organizational leaders play during this process.

This Article constructs a new paradigm for the …

Increasing Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Fields Of Nutrition And Obesity: A Roadmap To Equity In Academia, Samantha L. Martin, Michelle I. Cardel, Tiffany L. Carson, James O. Hill, Takara Stanley, Steven Grinspoon, Felicia Steger, Loneke T. Blackman Carr, Maxine Ashby-Thompson, Delisha Stewart, Jamy Ard, Raziel Rojas-Rodriguez, Mabel Toribio, Gabrielle Page-Wilson, Ursula White, Glenn Rowe, Marine Saint-Cyr, Rita Brookheart, Lauren Adele Fowler, Gwen Twillman, Felicia Price, April Stull, Sonia Vega-Lopez, Tony Comuzzie, Catherine M. Kotz, Francoise Knox Kazimierczuk, Monica L. Baskin, Robert Newton, Andrew Greenberg, Camile E. Powe, Dympna Gallagher, David H. Burk, Elissa S. Epel, Paul S. Maclean

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Research shows that a diverse faculty improves academic, clinical, and research outcomes in higher education. Despite that, persons in minority groups, usually categorized by race or ethnicity, are underrepresented in academia (URiA). The Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (NORCs), supported by the NIDDK, hosted workshops on five separate days in September and October 2020. NORCs convened these workshops to identify barriers and facilitators for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and provide specific recommendations to improve DEI within obesity and nutrition for individuals from URiA groups. Recognized experts on DEI presented each day, after which the NORCs conducted breakout sessions with key …

A Process For Converting An In-Person Training To Increase Church Capacity To Implement Physical Activity And Healthy Eating Practices And Policies To An Online Format, Sara Wilcox Phd, Ruth P. Saunders Ph.D., Jessica Stucker, Andrew T. Kaczynski Ph.D., Kelsey R. Day, Deborah Kinnard, Lindsay Decker, John A. Bernhart Ph.D., Mph, Ches

Faculty Publications

The implementation of evidence-based public health programs into practice is critical for improving health, but trainings for organizational change agents are often not scalable. To describe the process of converting a training that targets faith-based organizational capacity development from an in-person to an online format. We engaged in an iterative process to convert the training delivery mode from in-person to online that included assessing stakeholder support, consulting the literature on best practices, seeking a design team, consolidating content, designing engaging lessons, and building an online site. Feedback from end-users and other audiences was incorporated throughout. Pilot participants with characteristics like …

The Impact Of Universal Learning Strategies On Teacher Burnout In A Project-Based-Learning Secondary School, Benjamin Tuthill

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the question: how do universal learning strategies impact teacher burnout at a project-based-learning secondary school? Interventions against teacher burnout frequently emphasize psychological strategies such as mindfulness exercises and cognitive-behavioral therapy despite inconsistent evidence that these practices have a significant impact on measurable burnout. This study presents an alternative and explores the impact of pedagogical practice on teacher burnout. Recent studies suggest that decreased workload and increased teacher/student autonomy lead to decreased levels of burnout; as a result, this study measures the impact of universal learning, a low-workload, high-autonomy pedagogy most prominently studied in the work of political …

Women In Higher Education: A Brief Report On Stress During Covid-19, Dimple S. Johnson, Aaron D. Johnson, Kristen B. Crossney, Emily Devereaux

Public Policy & Administration Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions have evolved into a more stressful environment. Women have been experiencing higher levels of stress than their male counterparts. With higher education adopting to the onset of the pandemic, this brief report studied women’s perceived stress in relation to perceived organizational and supervisory support, and age during times of crisis. In an era of social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns, the findings suggest that women’s perceived stress is negatively related to age, perceived organizational support, and perceived supervisory support. Society as we once knew it pre-pandemic will never be the same. Higher education is inevitably going to have …

Implementing A Teamstepps® Approach With An Interdisciplinary Team To Increase Successful Post-Surgical Discharge Efficiencies, Ann Marie Moynihan Msn, Aprn, Nea-Bc, Onc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Communication breakdowns contribute to discharge delays in the acute care settings. TeamSTEPPS® is and evidence-based program that seeks to optimize patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork.

Objectives: The primary aim of this Quality Improvement (QI) project was to increase by 5% the number of patients discharged by noon. The secondary aims of this project were to improve the interdisciplinary team's communication and to improve workforce efficiencies and use of staff time.

Methods: A pre and post intervention design was used to collect and analyse the rate of successful discharges by noon, in addition to evaluating the interdisciplinary team’s …

How An Antiracist Demonstration Project Can Inform A Program Training, Hasina Chimeka-Tisdale, Madeleine Will, Maranda C. Ward

GW Research Showcase 2021-2026

No abstract provided.