Digital Commons Network^™

Outcomes Of The Student Mentoring And Research Training (Smart) Program, Nazmul Islam, Amy A. Weimer

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Engaging undergraduate students in research not only improves discipline-specific knowledge and skillsets, but also exposes them to increased research-related career paths, and motivates their pursuit of graduate study. With an interest in increasing these outcomes among students, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) developed the Student Mentoring and Research Training (SMART) program. The primary objective of the program was to provide an increasing number of undergraduate student (UG) research opportunities by building triadic teams comprised of (1) a faculty mentor, (2) a graduate student assistant, and (3) at least three undergraduate students. By utilizing graduate student mentors, in …

Finding A Fulcrum: Positioning Ourselves To Leverage Change, Laurie L. Grupp, Deandra Little

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Educational developers are called to serve as thought leaders, change agents, and advocates while also working to fulfill the teaching and learning mission of their centers. Research on change leadership informs our understanding of the work, yet may not go far enough to describe the complex roles, responsibilities, and positions of educational developers. In this study, we analyze survey and interview data to explore the meta-competencies that guide the work of developers as they navigate a shifting landscape and serve as “levers” for change.

Women Ascending To Leadership Positions In Rural Nonprofit Organizations, Jose Carbajal, Kristin Bailey-Wallace, Bonita B. Sharma, Tiffany Bice-Wigington, Wilma Cordova, Shanta Scott, Aparecida De Fatima Cordeiro Dutra

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study investigates women’s experiences as they ascended to leadership roles in nonprofit organizations in rural communities, primarily in East Texas. The aim of this study is to understand the lived experiences of women in top management as they ascend into leadership positions, as the characteristics and experiences of effective leaders in rural nonprofits may differ from those of urban nonprofit agencies. There is limited research regarding women’s leadership experiences in rural nonprofit organizations. Using a phenomenological inquiry approach, we interviewed 32 women currently serving in leadership roles in rural nonprofit organizations. The research question guiding this phenomenological study was: …

Strategies For Preventing Financial Fraud In Church Organizations In Ghana, Albert Rockson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial fraud in church organizations is increasing rapidly, which can affect the reputation, donation appeal, future funding, and ability of church organizations to meet their planned organizational goals. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies for preventing financial fraud in church organizations. The conceptual framework for the study was Cressey’s fraud triangle theory. Twenty participants who utilize strategies for preventing financial fraud in their organizations were purposively selected from 5 church organizations in Ghana. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of organizational financial policy documents. Interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed with Saldaña’s …

Strategies Retail Managers Use To Reduce Employee Turnover, Sharon Belinda Love

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retailers lost 5.1 million employees in 2016, which resulted in a loss of profitability. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies retail managers used to reduce turnover at one retail company in the southeastern United States. The conceptual framework for the study was transformational leadership. The target population consisted of 6 store managers who reduced employee turnover in the retail industry. Data collection methods included face-€to-€face, semistructured interviews and a review of the company documents. Yin's 5-step analysis was used to analyze data. Three themes emerged from data analysis: supportive management leadership style, competitive compensations, and …

Frontline Managers' Perceptions And Lived Experiences In The Execution Of Diversity Management Programs, James O. Rodgers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For over 30 years, organizations have engaged in programs to address the growing presence of diverse populations in their ranks, and researchers have attempted to identify and quantify a link between diversity and enterprise performance. The problem was a lack of understanding of how organizations benefit from increased diversity and the role of frontline managers in that process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address the research question aimed at the perceptions and lived experiences of frontline managers and to gain insights about how they are navigating the challenges of increased diversity to enhance their ability to produce …

Involving Patient/Family Advisors And Advisory Councils With Patient And Family Engagement, Cortney D. Forward

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care consumers are under-represented in literature when defining patient and family engagement. The proportion of people living longer is rapidly growing. Future research is needed to evaluate which strategies of patient and family engagement are most useful in real-world health care settings for patient and families. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of patient/family advisors working within patient family advisory councils at an academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. The conceptual framework is based on Greenleaf's servant leadership and Bass's transformational leadership. The research questions examined how patient/family advisors describe patient and …

Strategies To Improve Employee Ethical Conduct In Health Care Organizations, Shannon La'vone Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational leaders face challenges related to implementing ethical standards, which influence performance, organization sustainability, and culture. The purpose of this single case study was to explore ethics strategies that health care business leaders used to improve employees' ethical conduct. Data were collected through face-to-face, semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of 7 business leaders of a health care organization located in central Georgia and a review of organization documents. The conceptual framework was Brady's Janus-headed model of ethical theory. Using a priori coding during the data analysis process provided 3 thematic categories: policy strategies for the improvement of employee ethical …

Education Policy Adoption In A Child Welfare Agency: Frontline Perspectives On Leadership, Jennifer Lea Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study focused on a policy that promotes educational stability for foster children in a southern state in the US. At the time of this study, this policy had not been fully adopted across the state which resulted in foster children not routinely receiving the interventions necessary for improving academic outcomes. Using the diffusion of innovation theory as a framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how local-level leaders impacted the successful adoption of education policy in one county office of a statewide child welfare agency. Data were collected from a sample of 5 case managers …

Nonprofit Leaders' Strategies For Succession Planning, Regenia R. Boykins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many nonprofit organizations lack systematic approaches to succession planning. The absence of a strategic succession plan can limit leaders' abilities to maintain organizational sustainability and fulfill the organization's mission. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders used to develop succession plans. The conceptual framework for the study was the knowledge transfer theory. Participants included 3 nonprofit leaders from an educational organization in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of internal organizational documents and publicly available data. Using an inductive content analysis, 3 themes emerged: boards of directors were critical …

Exploring Leader Development Experiences To Inform Department Of Defense Leader Development Policy, Glenn J. Butler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although there are several robust leader development programs in the U.S. Army, no standardized access to leader development is provided to all service members at the start of their career. Forty-four percent of the Department of Defense (DoD) active duty personnel are 25 years of age or less. Despite this known experience gap, there is a shortfall in policy that ensures standardized access to leader development during this foundational period. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of service members who participated in the United States Army Pacific's Regional Leader Development Program-Pacific (RLDP-P) to inform DoD …

Management Strategies To Address The Substance-Impaired Healthcare Professional In The Workplace, Anna Marie Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare professionals who practice while impaired by alcohol or drugs endanger the well-being of patients. In the workplace, the substance-impaired healthcare professional poses challenges for healthcare leaders who are responsible for the provision of safe patient care and safe work environments. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore management strategies used by some healthcare organizational leaders to address the substance-impaired healthcare professional in the workplace. The conceptual framework for this study drew upon the legal and ethical concepts of due diligence. Data collection consisted of surveys of 40 managers and supervisors, and 3 senior leaders, semi structured …

Strategies To Improve Employee Engagement In The Hospitality Industry, Carolyn Yvette Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 50% of the workforce in the United States is disengaged, costing U.S. organizations almost $355 billion annually. Engaged employees improve customer satisfaction, perform effectively, and are committed to organizational goals. Guided by Kahn's personal engagement theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies business leaders in the hospitality industry used to improve employee engagement for increased productivity. A purposive sample of 1 business leader each from 6 organizations in South Korea shared their experiences with the phenomenon of employee engagement. Data were collected through face-to-face semi structured interviews and by reviewing company position descriptions …

Framing Female Leadership In A Television Drama, Shanoiya S. Clark

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stereotypes play a vital role in the perception of gender roles in American society. This concept is illustrated through low representation of female leadership in the U.S. Women are overrepresented in roles that are communal, which causes backlash when they display agentic traits (Arnold & Loughlin, 2019). Olivia Pope, the main character in the television series Scandal, was a leader who displayed an agentic leadership style and was revered for doing so. Agentic leadership traits are competitiveness, independence, and assertiveness (Arnold & Loughlin, 2019). This study analyzes how Olivia Pope was framed and the potential impact of those frames. …

From Women-Staffed To Women-Led: Gender And Leadership In Academic Libraries, 1974-2018., Marta Bladek

Publications and Research

This article reviews post-1974 scholarly literature on women’s leadership in academic libraries, with the emphasis on the United States. The purpose of this synthesis is to highlight research areas and themes that have significantly expanded the profession’s knowledge about gender and its impact at the top administrative level. The article starts with a brief overview of theories of gender and leadership before tracing scholarship on the gendered career patterns singled out in Schiller’s work (1974). The article then focuses on additional issues related to gender and library administration, including leadership styles, perceptions of differences between male and female leaders, and …

Cultural-Centric Globalization Strategies For Increasing Companies’ Profitability, Yao Kossi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Contemporary business leaders require suitable leadership strategies, skills, capabilities, and competencies to lead individuals with culturally diverse backgrounds effectively. Local retail business executives have experienced complex leadership challenges leading international and intercultural teams when expanding business operations into global markets. The objective of this multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies local retail business leaders used to lead a global workforce. The target population included 3 local retail business leaders from Minnesota who had 6 to 8 years of global leadership experience. The composite conceptual framework that grounded this study was leadership and transformational leadership. Data were collected from …

Building Workforce Capability In Nonprofit Organizations, Catherine Byrnes Smoyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of nonprofit organizations in the United States must build workforce capabilities to meet increasing demands for services. This single-case study explored strategies nonprofit leaders used to build workforce capability to address increasing service demands. The conceptual lens for this study was the full-range leadership theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 3 senior executives of a single nonprofit organization located in the midwestern region of the United States. Information from internal and external documents and publicly available documents also provided data. Information and data sources included internal organizational and workforce performance data, strategy plans …

Leadership, Vision, & Reflection: Applying Ignatian Concepts To Develop Transformational Leaders With A Select Application To Sustainability, David W. Arnesen

Journal of Management for Global Sustainability

Jesuit business schools have an obligation to develop ethical transformational leaders who seek a just and humane world. Whether it is addressing the needs of social justice or leading change to advance sustainability, these institutions have a unique ability to apply Ignatian concepts in developing responsible leaders. This article examines these concepts, including the insight of reflection, the gift from empowering others, the strength from building trust, and the rewards of silent servant leadership to help others rise. In examining the “modeling” of successful leaders, we will look at how the transparency of leadership is essential to lead change in …

Courage And Co-Creation: Cultural Transformation In An Academic Library, Catherine Clark, Carolyn Hofmeester, Jane Pritchard

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

University libraries are transforming to be vibrant and distinctive online and physical spaces that, at their heart, continue to foster the connection of people to ideas. Rapid and continuously changing expectations of clients in the range of services that are delivered by libraries, combined with increasingly demanding resourcing environments are challenges for all library leaders. A library staff culture that is energised, focused and resilient is essential to ensure that service expectations are met or exceeded and that the library retains its valued position in the university. The University Librarian at Curtin University in Australia has initiated and led a …

An Examination Of Perceived Leadership Behaviors And Employee Engagement In The Us Federal Government: An Exploratory Study, Jason Barker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Leadership can exist in any organization or entity. It has been studied extensively and examined comprehensively. There have been various theories of what type of leadership is ideal or suitable for a group or organization. From transformational to transactional leadership, leadership styles exist that can contribute to organizations and the style they employ. Employee engagement can be based on either or both transformational and transactional leadership factors. Transformational leadership behaviors generally show an increase in employee engagement. Employee engagement has an association with job satisfaction and leadership perception. Leadership styles will be defined, in addition to factors in the employee’ …

Transforming Nursing Preceptors By Developing Emotional Intelligence, Michael Francis

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Changing the process of professionally developing nursing preceptors to meet the growing and changing needs of the nursing profession is critical. This evidence-based project leveraged an advanced preceptor education program for inclusion of basic emotional intelligence tenets and transitioning them into preceptor self-awareness, leadership recognition, and return on human capital investment. A large integrated healthcare system in Northern California identified a strategic need for preceptor development and within the system two acute care hospitals and one home health/hospice agency were selected to participate. The intervention included the development of a six-hour curriculum delivered through an interactive and innovative in-person learning …

Teamstepps: A Foundation For Shared Governance In A High-Risk Obstetrical/Neonatal Service Line, Genevieve Wright

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Problem: Declining registered nurse (RN) engagement in the maternal child health (MCH) department, despite improvements in RN staffing, some reductions in nurse-patient ratios, the addition of support staff resources, and a focus on quality and safety.

Context: The project setting is an MCH department of a 184-bed community hospital, part of a large national organization, serving a diverse population in Northern California. The initial stakeholders included RNs, managers, and assistant managers; the team was later expanded as the project developed (see Appendix A).

Intervention: The original aim of this project was to improve nurse engagement among frontline nurses through …

No More “Magic Aprons”: Longitudinal Assessment And Continuous Improvement Of Customer Service At The University Of North Dakota Libraries, Karlene T. Clark, Stephanie R. Walker

Librarian Publications

The University of North Dakota (UND) Libraries have developed a multi-award winning Customer Service Program (CSP) involving longitudinal assessment and continuous improvement. The CSP consists of iterative training modules; constant reinforcement of Customer Service Principles with multiple communication strategies and tools, and incentives that boost morale and foster not only compliance, but initiative-taking and innovation. The CSP became a widely adopted part of campus-wide assessment, beyond the libraries. Subsequent presentations at conferences led to multiple requests and implementation at other libraries.

The Organizational Structures Of Instructional Design Teams In Higher Education: A Multiple Case Study, Jason Drysdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated how organizational structures influence leadership over online learning initiatives for dedicated instructional designers in higher education. A qualitative research method was used for within-case analyses for 3 individual universities and a comparative case analysis of all 3 studied institutions. Purposive sampling was used to identify each university that participated and operated within 1 of 3 organizational structure profiles. Data were collected through document analysis and semistructured interviews with participants in 3 key roles at each institution: dedicated instructional designer, online faculty member, and online learning administrator. The organizational structure that most positively influenced the ability for dedicated …

How Leadership Improves Intercultural Negotiation, Xinrui Wang

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

With the gradual deepening of economic integration, trade cooperation around the world has become more extensive, and the influence of cultural differences in international trade cooperation has become increasingly obvious. It is becoming important to recognize cultural differences, recognize cultural conflicts arising from different cultural backgrounds, and strengthen intercultural coordination and management of collaborators from different cultural backgrounds. This can facilitate the smooth development of intercultural negotiations despite being a challenging task.

This paper uses the case study method to study the Rumaila oilfield project of Jichai and BP, and it uses intercultural leadership theory to analyze and summarize the …

The Effects Of Collegiate Mentoring: An Empirical Review, Rebecca Cohen

Senior Capstone Projects

The effects of mentorship have dominated discussions of strategic leadership development in the hospitality industry. At first glance, it may seem difficult to form a lasting and beneficial mentoring relationship due to the challenges inherent in creating a natural and organic rapport between two individuals. The purpose of the following review is to showcase the comparison between existing literature in regard to the effects of the mentor-mentee relationship in the collegiate setting. Through the analysis of the existing literature, three cumulative themes became apparent: career development, psychosocial support, and role modeling. The mentor-mentee relationship, which is usually positive, can become …

Exploring Principals' Perceptions About Efficacy In Arizona Urban Schools Designated For The School Improvement Process, Charlotte Patterson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Studies have determined a positive relationship exists between the self-efficacy of students and academic achievement, and teacher efficacy and student achievement. For over a decade schools have been publicly targeted for school improvement in a process with implications for efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine if principals’ perceptions about efficacy impacted their practices leading school improvement. Principals’ responses to two research questions led this study:

1. How do principals describe their perceptions about the efficacy of their school community relative to the school improvement status, label, or rating for their school?

2. How do principals describe …

Mechanism For Leadership Development And Effectiveness: The Relationship Between Followership, Leadership, And Psychological Capital, Saurabh Gupta

Dissertations

Research supports the strategic role of a leader in improving individual and organizational performance (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). Developing leadership and enhancing leadership effectiveness remains at the forefront of organizational strategic plans (Day et al., 2009; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013). However, a majority of leadership development efforts fail in their purpose, which causes a leadership crisis in many organizations (Fernández-Aráoz, Roscoe, & Aramaki, 2017; Gurdjian, Halbeisen, & Lane, 2014; Kaiser & Curphy, 2013; Madanchian, Hussein, Noordin, & Taherdoost, 2017; Pfeffer, 2015; Wakefield, Abbatiello, Agarwal, Pastakia, & van Berkel, 2016). Neglecting the role of followership and using …

Sport At The Service Of Human Development: Distinctly Jesuit Athletics, Matthew L. Davidson Ph.D., Robert W. Davis Jr., Ed.D.

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article describes the underlying theory and practice of a Distinctly Jesuit Approach to Athletics, which was represented at the 2016 Vatican Conference, Sport at the Service of Humanity. The approach has been developed and implemented in a collaboration between the Institute for Excellence & Ethics (IEE) and the athletics departments at Le Moyne College and The University of Scranton. The article recounts the context that was the foundation for the work, the process for developing this distinct type of Athletics Department, and the early results of the ongoing work. The steps included here represent a rigorous and replicable …

Understanding The Transition: Principals' Perception Of Coaching And Mentoring During Their First-Year, Dionel Clinton Waters

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The limited amount of literature surrounding first-year principal support has typically focused on either preparing principals to become instructional leaders or emphasizing their managerial responsibilities (Bodger, 2011). This qualitative study examines eight first-year principals' perceptions of the coaching and/or mentoring support they received during their transition into the principalship. Using the first three stages of organizational socialization (Wardlow, 2008) as an analytical framework, findings indicate that the first-year principal participants considered coaching and mentoring as two distinct approaches of leadership assistance as they transitioned into their new role. Implications for further research could include examining the perceived impact of coaching …