Digital Commons Network^™

Strategies Used By Small Traditional Retail Business Owners For Sustainability, Linda Ogbah Faas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses fail at an alarming rate, negatively affecting job creation because small business owners create a major portion of jobs in the United States. In March of 2020, 274,000 businesses failed in the United States, resulting in 76,000 lost jobs. Owners of small traditional retail stores are significantly challenged to avoid financial failure. Grounded in Schumpeter’s entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies owners of small traditional retail stores used to survive beyond the first 5 years of operations. Participants included five owners of small traditional retail stores in Missouri whose businesses survived …

Trauma-Informed Behavioral Health Leadership And Employee Engagement At A Child Advocacy Center, Andrew Krantz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee engagement is essential for an organization to meet its mission and vision. When employees are not engaged, there are higher levels of turnover, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout. Furthermore, when employees are not engaged, there is a decrease in the quality of patient care. Behavioral health leaders can positively impact employee engagement by engaging in trauma-informed behavioral health leadership. This qualitative case study reviews the impact of trauma-informed behavioral health leadership on employee engagement at a large Child Advocacy Center in the northeastern United States who was struggling with low levels of employee engagement and high levels of turnover …

Small And Medium-Sized Enterprise Beauty Salon Employer Strategies Used To Improve Employee Retention, Angela Lynette Loyd

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retention strategies are important to beauty salon leaders as they directly affect retaining a reliable workforce. Grounded in self-determination theory, the purpose of this generic qualitative case study was to explore retention strategies used by some SME beauty salon leaders in the United States to improve employee retention. The participants were five SME beauty salon leaders who retained at least two employees for 2 consecutive years. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and company documents. The four themes from the thematic analysis were leadership, psychological needs satisfaction, motivation, and engagement. A key recommendation is to have SME beauty salon leaders …

High School Administrators’ Perspectives Of Leadership Practices Influencing Teacher Leadership And Culture, Andrea H. Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a southeastern state in the United States, a gap in practice exists regarding the consistent implementation of instructional leadership practices to promote teacher leadership and culture in schools. The purpose of this study was to explore administrators’ perspectives of their implementation of instructional leadership practices to influence teacher leadership and culture. The conceptual framework for this qualitative approach was Bass and Avolio’s transformational leadership theory. The research question focused on high school administrators’ perceptions of the instructional leadership practices they are using to influence teacher leadership and school culture. Purposive sampling was used, and six high school administrators participated …

Leadership Strategies For Sustaining Membership In Southern Baptist Churches, George L. Blount Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Church membership is declining, and the number of Americans identifying as having no religious affiliation is increasing. Church members can provide for a community’s spiritual and financial needs and promote the growth of evangelical believers and biblical stewardship. However, some pastors, ministerial staff, and ministry leaders lack effective leadership strategies to sustain membership. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies Southern Baptist church leaders from three churches in Pennsylvania use to sustain membership. Participants were three church leaders who sustained church membership for 3 years or longer. Data were …

Building And Sustaining Trust During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons In P-12 Educational Leadership, C. Fred Engelhardt Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Trust has been called the “lubricant for social and interpersonal interactions” and “vital for individuals working together to create effective systems.” Organizations were challenged with considering how to adapt and innovate practices during COVID-19 in order to achieve their purpose and mission, continue their effectiveness towards that end, all while being cognizant of the health and safety of their members. Educational institutions were concurrently required to adopt remote instructional practices, adhere to strict safety and health measures, consider the effects of social-emotional health, while encouraging the ongoing learning of students. Courageous building principals and district leaders encouraged new practices, supported …

Changing Adult Behaviors: Examining The Factors Of Change That Facilitate The Mtss Implementation Framework In A Small Rural School District, Briana Whitaker

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This mixed methods study sought to identify the incorporation of support for implementing evidence-based instructional practices within an MTSS framework among teachers and the impact on student growth outcomes in three K-2 schools. The study also determined teacher perceptions regarding how support in adult behavior change, which is the theoretical framework of the study, impacted a shift in their instructional practices utilizing a qualitative survey, one-on-one interviews, and two independent samples t tests. Participants in the study expressed that school climate, principal instructional leadership, purposeful PLCs, and their attitudes about new behaviors best supported them in adopting innovative instructional reading …

Leaning In, Or Lack Thereof: Uncovering The Impacts Of Intersectional Discrimination On Asian American Women, Nishka Khoobchandani

CMC Senior Theses

Women in the workplace are told to lean into their strengths and self-advocate in order to get promoted but this does not take into account the systemic barriers that prevent them from wanting to in the first place. Compared to women of other ethnicities, Asian American women have the lowest ratio of representation at the executive versus non-executive level. Yet, there is a lack of research on how two marginalized identities – as a woman and as an Asian American individual – synergistically interact and explain the intersectional discrimination only experienced by Asian American women, potentially interacting with cultural variables …

Examining How The Cultural Differences Between Countries Influence Individual’S Perceptions Of A Successful Leader, Karen Almachi

CMC Senior Theses

This literature review examines the influence of culture on an individual’s perception of a leader. Research on cultural influences and perceptions is taken to establish an interconnection between the two. The research is analyzed through the lens of two theoretical frameworks: the implicit leadership theory and the cultural dimensions theory. The frameworks are used to operationalize cultural differences and perceptions. The research establishes six dimensions that describe cultural differences between countries. To put into perspective, two culturally different countries are examined for their perception of leadership: the United States and Ecuador. The United States has a low power distance, individualistic, …

The Emergence Of Discursive Leadership In Online Commmunities, Chad Diaz Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this Dissertation is to provide a detailed rationale for the way in which I address the following research questions in my dissertation: “What characteristics of user discourse lead to the emergence of leadership in online communities?” To this end, I provide a literature review of studies on online communities, examine past definitions, and propose an integrated definition of online communities. Focusing on the specific domain of leadership in online communities, I conduct a literature review of early and seminal articles published in this domain with the objective of identifying the foundational theoretical frameworks and the factors that …

Gratitude At Work, Ginger H. Williams

Library Faculty Publications

Guest columnist Ginger H. Williams is a new dean at Fort Hays State University, a regional comprehensive university in western Kansas. Ginger reflects on aspects of her work she is grateful for, such as a challenging renovation project and other new-to-her duties that help expand her skills. She also considers the many people whose support she relies upon. Readers are encouraged to consider what they are grateful for in their own professional lives and to find ways to express gratitude in a professional setting.

Development Of A Leadership Mindset Scale, Nathan M. Kangas, V. Krishna Kumar, Betsy J. Moore, Christopher A. Flickinger, Jennifer L. Barnett

Psychology Student Work

The purpose of the study was to construct a Leadership Mindset Scale (LMS) and to assess its reliability and construct validity. Participants were 100 employees in a variety of leadership and non-leadership positions at various organizations in three states. An item and factor analysis on the 13 LMS items led to a scale with 11 items (Cronbach α = .80). A Principal Axis Factor analysis with Promax rotation suggested three factors: Leadership Mindset Teachability (LMS-T), a belief in leadership teachability; Leadership Mindset Improvability (LMS-I), a belief in leadership improvability over time; and Leadership Mindset Predictability (LMS-P), a belief that leadership …

"We Collect Tons Of Data... We Report What We Think Our Community Cares The Most About... We Learn So Much From It:" School Librarians' Evidence Collection And Sharing Practices, Jennifer Moore, Maria Cahill, Jeffrey Discala, Wanyi Wang

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Evidence-based practice (EBP) offers school librarians a systematic process for developing, assessing, and revising their school library programs. Two of the seven steps in this process involve collecting and sharing meaningful evidence with appropriate stakeholders, often for advocacy purposes, strategically selecting communication channels and methods aligned with target audiences. Through a survey collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, 161 school librarians in Kentucky, Virginia, and Texas shared their experiences with evidence-based practice. The study reported here focuses on school librarians’ evidence collection and sharing practices. Findings indicate school librarians collect easily obtainable data and share evidence of practice widely; however, …

Rebranding The Battle Against Clinician Burnout, Taylor Albitar

DSW Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project is to take a deep dive into the issue of burnout among marginalized healthcare providers. This paper will dissect key points in history that target wellness and define terms that are relevant to understanding the effects of burnout on a person’s work-life balance. It will be divided into several sections, including an overview of the problem and contributing factors, a thorough review of relevant literature, a conceptual idea that will explore both the problem at hand and theories that can help with its effects, and finally a practice application that will serve as the …

Strategies To Improve Nonprofit Governance To Increase Donations, Charmaine Nicola Williams Tate

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe leaders of nonprofit organizations rely on donors to achieve the organization’s mission, and governance practices are a key contributor to donor confidence and positive donor behavior. Some nonprofit leaders lack effective strategies to improve governance processes and encourage donor confidence to increase donations. Grounded in resource dependence theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that nonprofit leaders use to improve governance processes and encourage donor confidence to increase levels of donations. The participants comprised four senior executive members of a donor-amalgamation nonprofit organization in the Midwestern United States. Data were collected from semistructured …

Give And You May Receive: Examining Transparent Leadership Through The Lens Of Leader-Follower Relationships, Edward J. Piecek

Theses and Dissertations

Transparency is a term often used to describe a solution to many organizational problems and a fundamental quality that employees seek from their leaders, yet its definition and application to leadership theory remain unclear. This study adopted a grounded theory approach to examining transparent leadership, using semi-structured interviews to explore transparent leader behaviors across multiple contexts. The sample included 25 mid-level leaders working for six non-profit healthcare organizations in the western US. Based on analysis of interview responses, the results revealed a dynamic, reciprocal transparent leader-follower relationship distinct from existing leadership theories. As the first known empirical study of transparent …

Effective Leadership Styles To Ensure Organizational Success, Nicholas Collishaw

M.S. in Leadership

A look into the different leadership styles that can ensure organizational success within the law enforcement field. Each generation that comprises of the law enforcement field have different preferred leadership styles and traits that keep an organization running effectively. Finally, an analysis of the different theories revolving around leadership and the benefits of each theory if implemented effectively.

Leadership In Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Holding Space For Psychological Safety And Peak Performance, Xin H. Ong

Theses : Honours

This practice as research presents a case study of leadership in interdisciplinary settings, considering choreographic collaboration within technology, visual art, music and dance, alongside models used in teaching dance. I define leadership as influencing others to act towards a shared intention by holding space for psychological safety and peak performance. I synthesise leadership models relevant to my practice in a figurative ‘tree of transformation’, illustrating how Jim Collins’ Level 5 leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf’s servant leadership and C. Otto Scharmer’s Theory U model branch out from transformational leadership.

Within peak performance, Anders K. Ericsson’s concept of deliberate practice and …

The Impact Of Racism: Experience Of Black Women Leaders In The Public Sector, Maisha Inaya Giles

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Despite the Civil Right Act and a myriad of DEI initiatives that claim to create an anti-discrimination and antiracism environment, Black women leaders still experience racism, discrimination, and disrespect in the workplace. Black women are less likely to be promoted than their White counterparts, and over 25% of Black women reported that their social identities led to a missed advancement opportunity (McKinsey & Lean In, 2022). Society is in the midst of a unique time in history where government institutions, willingly or forced, are having difficult conversations regarding institutional racism. The national movement that declares racism as a public health …

Developing Consensus On The Use Of Emotional Intelligence Training In Small Utility Companies, Nathaniel E. Holloway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Park and Shaw shared the impact on organizations from unmotivated and unsatisfied employees link to higher turnover ratios. The use of emotional intelligence in manager training lowered employee turnover by 13%. The problem address in this Delphi study was that small utility companies do not have an emotional intelligence plan in place for managerial training. Goleman and Mayer’s framework was used as the theorical lens for examining response of participants to the Delphi study. A panel of experts submitted data in the form of responses to three rounds of questions regarding the use of emotional intelligence training in small businesses. …

Call Center Managers’ Strategies To Address Employee Turnover, Kimberly Dickens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover is a threat to call center sustainability. Call center leaders who lack strategies to reduce employee turnover have an increased risk of business failure. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies call center leaders use to reduce employee turnover in insurance call centers. The three participants were call center leaders from three different call centers in Raleigh, North Carolina, who implemented strategies to reduce employee turnover. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of public documents from participants’ company websites and analyzed using thematic analysis. Two themes emerged: …

Strategies To Improve Employee Motivation In Addiction Treatment, Dawn Marie Belamarich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Addiction treatment leaders are experiencing challenges in motivating qualified and committed professionals within their businesses. Without strategies to motivate and retain employees, addiction treatment businesses will fail, and patient outcomes can suffer. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies addiction treatment leaders used to improve employee motivation. The participants were 10 addiction treatment leaders with demonstrated experience in utilizing leadership strategies to improve employee motivation. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, a review of the literature on employee motivation in addiction treatment organizations, and a review of organizational archival …

Nine Black Women Leaders In The Academy: Promoters Of Constructive Disruption And Institutional Change, Natalie A. Johnson-Leslie, Kimberley M. Davis, Audrey D. Bowser, Hewlett Steve Leslie

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This chapter explores nine Black women's formal and informal ways of leadership in the academy. Constructive disruptions by these nine Black women were based on their strong principles, values, and purpose as leaders. In addition, they initiated, managed, and overcame disruptions, including institutional oppression. Using the lens of intersectionality, critical race theory (CRT), and system justification theory, the researchers ground the documented constructive disruptions of instructional change of these nine Black women leaders. Document analysis of public records was used to determine the themes and tenets of these nine Black women's ways of leadership. Results showed that Black women are …

Strategies To Improve Nonprofit Governance To Increase Donations, Charmaine Nicola Williams Tate

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe leaders of nonprofit organizations rely on donors to achieve the organization’s mission, and governance practices are a key contributor to donor confidence and positive donor behavior. Some nonprofit leaders lack effective strategies to improve governance processes and encourage donor confidence to increase donations. Grounded in resource dependence theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that nonprofit leaders use to improve governance processes and encourage donor confidence to increase levels of donations. The participants comprised four senior executive members of a donor-amalgamation nonprofit organization in the Midwestern United States. Data were collected from semistructured …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Community Based-Organizations: A Case Study Of Jewish Organizations, Orit Zigmanlador

Theses and Dissertations

When COVID-19 started to spread in March 2020, no one could anticipate the impact it would have on the world. Social behavior is one key aspect that has changed dramatically as a result of the pandemic. Through restrictions that imposed social distancing, masks, and quarantines, feelings of loneliness, depression, and isolation increased. At the same time, there was also evidence of prosocial behavior, with the emergence of people helping those in need. As the pandemic turns endemic with restrictions lifting, the longstanding impact of the pandemic on people’s behavior is still unclear. One way to explore this phenomenon is through …

African American Coaches In Athletics: A Study Of Enabling And Inhibiting Factors Impacting Leadership Success, Lamar Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research focused on identifying and addressing the enabling and inhibiting factors that have influenced the careers of African American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I head basketball coaches. The researcher used a phenomenological approach to discover and understand the lived experiences of African American NCAA Division I men's head basketball coaches that are considered to be successful leaders in their field in order to gain their perspective and personal insight into barriers and potential solutions to those barriers in this particular field. Active and systemic discrimination, along with institutionalized racism and bias, are essential factors in this …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Post George Floyd And Covid-19: Reflections From Global Business Leaders On A Changing Paradigm, Charles Edward Bray Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This global study of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), encompassing the lenses of sixteen corporate executives with multi-country influence, examines efforts to address marginalization in the workplace based on identity characteristics such as race, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or ability. Othering is a global phenomenon. Corporations were awakened to the magnitude of othering, shocked into reality by the murder of George Floyd and other acts of political and social violence, including femicide, globally. The COVID-19 global pandemic further exposed the impact of marginalization seen through wide health disparities across communities. The Russian invasion of Ukraine further augmented the corporate …

Women Of Color In Higher Education Institutions: Strategies To Attain Administrative Leadership Positions, Oghenemano O. Evero

Theses and Dissertations

Race and gender continue to be contributing factors to the disparity and lack of representation that exists among higher-education leaders. This study examines the lived experience of women of color to identify the strategies they utilized to attain administrative leadership roles at a Higher Education Institution (HEI). Participants included women of color leaders with at least 5 years of experience in higher education and in a leadership role. Participants also had advanced degrees. Using a narrative inquiry design, the study involved semi structured interviews to gather data from the sample population. The seven (7) women of color HEIs administrative leaders …

An Examination Of Leading Through Change Using Snyder’S Hope Theory And Lewin’S 3-Step Model, Scott E. Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

Never has the world experienced such rapid change, and the environment in which organizations operate necessitates increased change capability and organizational agility (Argyris, 1991). Strebel (1996) found success rates for change initiatives in Fortune 1000 companies ranged from a low of 20% to a high of 50%. Later studies would substantiate Strebel’s (1996) findings, claiming that, on average, failure rates of transformational change initiatives approach 70% (Beer & Nohria, 2000; Sirkin et al., 2005). Suppose this is so, and companies wish to thrive in such a dynamic environment. A fundamental understanding of why change efforts fail and how to drive …

Trends And Challenges In Developing Emerging Leaders For Ambiguous Working Environments: A Qualitative Research Study, Alanna Brahms

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study examined trends and challenges faced by leadership development practitioners in developing emerging leaders for ambiguous working environments, particularly considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-five participants were interviewed using 16 questions related to competencies, changes in the leadership landscape, and best practices and challenges in developing emerging leaders for present-day working environments. The study found that leaders in hybrid and ambiguous working environments face increased demands, necessitating flexibility, and agility. The results emphasized the importance of a growth mindset and a desire to lead as foundational traits for emerging leaders. Strong communication and interpersonal skills …