Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring How Women On Corporate Boards Cope With Gender Bias, Sharon Roberts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gender bias may cause organizations to lose the values that women bring to the workplace in leadership positions and may thwart women from reaching their personal goals. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive multiple case study was to explore gender bias and its influence on women on corporate boards, their roles, appointment, and the need to develop coping strategies to deal with gender bias to execute their roles. The conceptual lens used was Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory to explain the basis for intergroup discrimination, and Eagly and Karau's role congruity theory of prejudice to explain the exclusion of …

Leadership Communications Strategies For Enhancing Virtual Team Performance, Rachel Oludolapo Agbi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The fast-growing trend of using virtual teams comes with challenges including the lack of knowledge by some virtual team leaders for managing virtual teams. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the communication strategies that leaders use to manage virtual teams in real time to enhance team performance. The sample was composed of 4 successful virtual team leaders of a multinational accounting firm whose headquarters is in the northeastern region of the United States of America. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Tuckman's small group developmental model. Data consisted of semistructured interviews and the review …

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 …

Organizing To Support Wounded, Ill, And Injured Marine Veterans, Thomas Allan Gorry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan fade from headline news, the effect remains a national concern for the 2.6 million post-9/11 veterans. Their hardships form the basis for this qualitative case study, which analyzed the organizational change effort at the Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR). This organization, specifically formed by the U.S. Marine Corps, instituted the necessary programs to meet the needs of Marine wounded warriors. However, the needs of these warriors are different now, and the WWR must adapt to remain relevant. The transformative change model presented by Anderson and Anderson formed the conceptual framework for this …

Sustainable Leadership In Arts Education Using Alternative Resources In Pennsylvania Title I Schools, Stacy M. Potter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Budgetary constraints have led many educational leaders to limit arts education programming to students across the state of Pennsylvania. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to investigate how educational leaders sustain access to arts education programs using alternative budgetary resources for K-12 students in Pennsylvania Title I schools. This multiple case study provided analysis within and across Pennsylvania Title I schools to help fill a gap in the educational leadership literature regarding alternative budgeting strategies to meet programming needs. The conceptual framework integrated transformational leadership, principles of creativity, and budgetary strategies. Key research questions explored sustainability frameworks and the …

Strategies Small Business Leaders Use To Increase Employee Engagement, Akeia Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When organizational leaders create cultures that foster employee engagement, the leaders experience multiple benefits such as enhanced organizational performance, increased profitability, and improved retention rates. Although small business leaders must create and sustain atmospheres that nurture employee engagement to experience maximized success, 85% of organizational leaders struggle with executing strategies that increase engagement. The purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to explore strategies that small business leaders use to increase employee engagement. Servant leadership theory was the conceptual framework chosen for this study. The population included 3 small business leaders of a coffee shop located in Birmingham, AL. …

Private Sector Defense Contractor Management Strategies For Contract Fulfillment, Rachel Stallworth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Private sector U.S. defense contractors failing to meet contract objectives experience lower profitability, pay costly penalties, and risk survivability. Using the theory of contracts, the purpose of this multiple case study was to the explore strategies that some leaders of U.S. defense contracting businesses use to meet all the contract terms with the U.S. Department of Defense. Data were collected from 5 leaders of private sector defense contracting companies in northwest Florida through face-to-face, semistructured interviews and through a review of operations manuals, quality assurance policy manuals, and archived U.S. Department of Defense contracts. During data analysis using Yin's 5-step …

Leader Self-Perceptions Of Ethics In And Out Of The Workplace And Personal Trustworthiness, Marcia W. Vanderwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ethical breaches in many organizations can be traced to failures in ethical leadership, which undermine trust. If a leader's ethical behavior in their private life and settings is perceived as influencing workplace ethics, it may in turn affect organizational trust levels and the development of trust. A quantitative study based on the social learning and moral theory was conducted to determine whether a difference exists between a leader's self-perceptions of their ethical behaviors inside and outside of the workplace, and whether it affects their perceived personal trustworthiness. Participants' (N = 94) scores on work and nonwork versions of the ethical …

Virtual Worker Perceptions Of Retention In The Financial Services Industry, Shelly Zaldivar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the need for cost-efficient, talented teams continues to grow, leaders often consider the use of globally dispersed teams, also defined as virtual teams. Despite the apparent benefits, the unique needs of virtual team members are often overlooked in general leadership, change management, and retention discussions. Leaders need to understand contributing factors to the attrition of virtual workers. The foundation for this research included theories of employee retention and change management. The research question for this qualitative phenomenological study focused on the lived experiences of current or former virtual financial services workers regarding job retention. Participants were chosen using purposeful …

Funding Allocations Strategies For Improving Nonprofit Organizations' Effectiveness And Sustainability, Jaime L. Friedel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizational leaders (NOLs) face laws that require increased transparency and more oversight on funding allocations. Grounded by a conceptual framework of Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory, Burns's transformational leadership theory, and Greenleaf's servant leadership theory, this multiple case study was developed to explore the leadership strategies of NOLs who implemented requirements of New York's Non-Profit Revitalization Act to increase funding allocations to support fulfillment of the organizational mission and achieve sustainability. The study population comprised NOLs from the Northeastern United States, who implemented requirements of the Non-Profit Revitalization Act requirements. Face-to-face semistructured interviews with 5 NOLs, a review …

Priests' Perceptions Of The Leadership Styles Of U.S. Catholic Bishops, Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Catholic bishops have used their authority to address the child sexual abuse scandal, but it has been problematic that no one has yet evaluated their exercised leadership styles. In this phenomenological study, I explored U.S Catholic priests' perceptions of the bishops' leadership styles related to how they handled the child sexual abuse scandal. Knowing the bishops' leadership styles was paramount to fill the research gap. The theoretical frameworks underpinning this study were transformational leadership, transactional leadership, charismatic leadership, and servant leadership. Data collected through interviews with 11 Catholic priests revealed their perceptions of how the behavioral characteristics …

Strategies To Implement Succession Planning In A Nonprofit, Talecia Y. Parks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Surveys of nonprofit organizations conducted between 2004 and 2014 showed that 74% of the 6,923 leaders surveyed did not have a succession plan. In this qualitative single case study, the human capital theory was used as a guide to explore strategies used to implement a succession plan by 3 nonprofit leaders in a single nonprofit organization in a large metropolitan city in Southeastern Georgia. The participants were selected based on their implementation of succession plan strategies and geographical location. Semistructured interviews and document review were used to collect the data, which were analyzed using Yin's 5-step approach. Three themes emerged: …

Leadership Strategies For Retaining Mariners Aboard State Maritime Academy Training Ships, Augusta D. Roth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The shortage of qualified merchant marines in the United States requires State Maritime Academy (SMA) leaders to develop competitive retention strategies to retain merchant mariners aboard training vessels. The purpose of this single case study was to identify retention strategies that U.S. SMA leaders used to retain mariners aboard training ships. The conceptual framework of this study was Vroom's expectancy theory. The study participants consisted of 5 SMA leaders overseeing the mariners aboard a training vessel. Semistructured interviews and review of SMA documents pertaining to employment strategies provided the study data. The data analysis included collecting and coding data, and …

Perceptions Of Principal Leadership Skills In High-Achieving Elementary Schools, Sonya Lasyon Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was the inability of certain schools in a rural school district in Florida to achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) in comparison to a neighboring school district where students consistently made AYP. Research has shown a positive relationship between student achievement and principal leadership skills. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns in elementary teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership skills related to student achievement and elementary principals' perceptions of their own leadership practices and compare those perceptions. The conceptual framework for this qualitative case study design was instructional leadership. Twelve teachers of …

Ensuring Quality Consumer Service Encounters, Katina Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counterproductive employee behaviors are inevitable, unpredictable, and widespread in the U.S. retail industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore U.S. midlevel retail leadership strategies used to prevent and correct employee behaviors that sabotage quality service encounters. Gilbert's behavior engineering model, which links employee behaviors to performance, was the framework used in this study. The data-collection process comprised 7 semistructured interviews with midlevel retail leaders, online company documentation, and researcher observations and assisted in achieving methodological triangulation. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses, while Moustakas' modified van Kaam method was used to guide the data …

Exploring The Cultural Intelligence Of Nurse Leaders, Valerie D. Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Today, nurses represent many cultures and ethnic backgrounds. In their leadership style, nurse leaders must learn to embrace cultural intelligence or cultural quotient (CQ), that is, an extension of emotional intelligence that affords them the ability to manage a culturally diverse workforce. Historically, CQ has been relevant to business, locally and globally. But it is also important to explore the CQ of nurse leaders. Scholarly studies show that leaders with CQ are responsible for developing innovative employee behaviors, forward-thinking ideas, and creativeness in the workplace. CQ has a theoretical foundation in the 2003 research of Early and Ang who focused …

Factors Influencing Emergency Registered Nurse Satisfaction And Engagement, Catherine Larock-Mcmahon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee satisfaction and engagement have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. Dissatisfaction and disengagement lead to an increased intent to leave a job, poor patient outcomes, and decreased productivity. The retention and recruitment of qualified staff becomes an urgent priority to ensure safe and prudent patient care. The purpose of the qualitative research study was to better understand the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and reasons for emergency department registered nurses (ED RN) satisfaction and engagement in the workplace focusing on Herzberg's, Vroom's, Yetton's, Maslow's, Benner's, and Kahn's motivation and engagement theoretical frameworks. The qualitative case research study focused on satisfaction and …

Experiences Of Correctional Principals Of Teacher Attrition In Juvenile Correctional Facilities, Sherese Moton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention of teachers in correctional organizations is an ongoing challenge. A correctional education setting is a nontraditional unstable academic setting where teacher turnover is one third within the first 5 years. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of leaders in correctional organizations who are challenged with finding ways to reduce teacher turnover in a juvenile correctional facility. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Using purposive sampling, 6 former juvenile correctional principals participated in the study. Data were collected through systematic open-ended semistructured interviews with 4 occurring via …

An Exploration Of The Causes Of Success And Failure Of Managed Change, Michael Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Change management (CM) and organizational development are mature industries with decades of research and development. Yet, failure rates stated for organizational change initiatives remain high at 70%. This failure rate suggests that 30% of change initiatives were successful, but no reports of these successes were found in the literature. The overarching question considered the experiences of change leaders of successful CM initiatives. The conceptual framework for this research consisted of change models defined by Burke, Kotter, Schein, and others. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the strategies used by successful change leaders. 10 phone interviews with senior …

Leadership Skills To Sustain High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures, Zoaib Z. Rangwala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High-tech (HT) innovation-oriented entrepreneurs start 35% more ventures and create 10% more jobs in the first 5 years of operation than the rest of the private sector and drive significant economic growth across all industries; however, more than 50% of the entrepreneurial HT ventures fail during the first 5 years of operations. Guided by the conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore skills used by successful entrepreneurial leaders to sustain their HT ventures in Silicon Valley, California. Data collection was from 8 participants in semistructured 1-on-1 interviews and 3 participants in a …

Leadership, Organizational Turnarounds, And Gil Hodges's 1969 New York Mets, John Rebecchi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The impact of the 2008 global financial crisis, shifting market demands, and prolonged underperformance has forced organizations to devise and implement turnaround strategies or risk business failure. Researchers have pointed to the importance of leadership in the turnaround process, yet there are a limited number of research studies identifying characteristics of successful turnaround leaders. Using the full range leadership model, the purpose of this nonexperimental, ex post facto study was to examine the leadership style of Gil Hodges, manager during the 1969 New York Mets successful turnaround season and explore the organization's culture and climate. Data were collected using the …

Educators' Perceptions Of A School-Based Antibullying Program In An Elementary School, Jacquelyn Andrea Sims-Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying is a problem experienced in schools across the country including in the ABC Elementary School in Georgia, where the No Place for Hate antibullying program is in place to address this problem. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand educators' perspectives on their experiences implementing the program. Bandura's social learning theory was used as the conceptual foundation for this study. A content analysis research method based on that of Yin and employing NVivo software was used to analyze interviews. The participants were asked to comment on three main areas: (a) bullying, (b) useful components of the …

A Study Of Groupthink In Project Teams, John Reaves

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project teams advance a common goal by working together on projects that require a diverse set of skills and are difficult for 1 person to complete. In this study, there was an exploration of the antecedents to groupthink in project teams from the perspectives of project managers. Many companies use project managers to complete critical objectives; avoiding groupthink is crucial to their success. The purpose of this research was to understand why project teams are susceptible to groupthink and what precautions managers can take to avoid it. The conceptual framework utilized in this study was Janis' concept of groupthink, which …

Understanding Students' Perceptions Of Cultural Diversity, Catherine Moss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diversity is a positive aspect of a student's educational experience. Current literature supports the value of diversity, confirming that skills are developed within a diverse learning environment that prepares students to thrive in a competitive global economy. The leadership at University X (UX) had implemented various initiatives to improve diversity, yet the problem addressed in this study was that students perceived differently, citing that diversity growth lacked progress. The goal of this single case study was to bring forth change with a specific intervention created to elevate diversity and a positive campus climate. Maslow's hierarchy of needs was used to …

Leadership Strategies To Reduce Employee Turnover In Luxury Hotels In China, Iwan R. Dietschi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some midlevel managers in the China's luxury hotel industry lack leadership strategies for engaging employees to reduce employee turnover. Employee turnover rates in China's hotel industry have reached the 30% mark, affecting hotels' bottom lines. This high employee turnover rate is impacting the hotels' performance, and negatively affecting the industry's profitability. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore employee engagement strategies luxury hotel industry midlevel managers apply to reduce turnover. The conceptual framework for this study was the three levels of leadership model created by Scouller. The participants in this study were 5 midlevel department managers …

A Critical Perspective Of Transformational Leadership And Safety Management Practices, Larry D. Frazier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A troubling trend has developed in the increasing number of commuter rail accidents

causing injuries, fatalities, and safety concerns. The specific problem addressed in this study is that current leadership practices have not achieved success reducing safety violations and rail accidents. The purpose of this qualitative cross-sectional study was to explore the potential influence of perceived leadership styles of 16 frontline rail supervisors and 4 managers on safety management practices within a metro rail system. The conceptual framework was based on Bass's transformational leadership theory and Reason's human error model. The key research question dealt with how leadership style might …

Instructional Data Teams And Data Literacy: Leaders Supporting The Work Of School Instructional Teams, Vicki Sherril Begin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A multiple case study was designed to examine the components of data literacy used by formal and informal leaders to support the work of Data Teams. Nine formal leaders and ten informal leaders constituted the participants. One overarching central question and seven subquestions guided the research. The answer to the central question, How do leaders’ influence the Data Team?, was informed by the seven subquestions: (1) How do leaders initiate discussions about data that create a catalyst for meaningful action?, (2) How do leaders determine the data used to support the work of the Data Team?, (3) How do leaders …

Change In The Organization Socialization Of The United States Border Patrol's Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy: A Supervisor's Perspective, Vic M. Manjarrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the role of a changed organizational socialization process on supervisory adaptation. The research study is motivated by the central question: how do supervisors adapt in their role as supervisors when the initial organizational socialization process has changed. Literature on socialization in policing has focused almost exclusively on long-term job satisfaction, while literature on police supervisory adaptation centers on leadership approaches. Previous research on police socialization clearly indicates the process is a series of stages filled with "rite of passages". There is no distinction between the socialization of a non-supervisor officer versus a supervisory officer. The literature is …

Perception Of Supervisory Styles And Satisfaction, Stephanie M. Schaaf

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Supervision is a dynamic and challenging leadership process that remains an essential element within the field of speech-language pathology. This study utilized a descriptive research design in attempt to amass quantifiable information that can be used to statistically analyze elements within the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Agreement of perceived supervisory styles and satisfaction between supervisor-supervisee dyads (n=74) were examined. External and personal characteristics including age, clinical setting, experience, and previous training were also examined in relation to supervisee satisfaction and agreement of supervisory styles within dyads. Data was collected through completion of a demographic questionnaire as well as the Supervisory Style Inventory …