Business Commons^™

Young Professionals And Philanthropy, Patricia Neilson

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

Seven teams of young professionals presented what they learned from their projects with 7 organizations from the nonprofit and donor sector over the past year. Their experiences and insights address two related questions:

• What is the role of philanthropy in retaining young professionals in the Boston region?

• How can young professionals leverage their leadership skills, and their organization’s resources, to create successful partnerships in philanthropy to serve the Boston region?

Research Project / Management As A Liberal Art / The Virtue Of Profit, C. William Pollard, Peter F. Drucker

C. William Pollard Papers

In this memo sent to his grandson, Pollard provides a summary of the concept of "Management as a Liberal Art" in addition to a letter from Peter Drucker and several documents with Drucker quotations. The latter are taking from the following sources:

Drucker, P. (1942) The Freedom of Industrial Man. Virginia Quarterly Review 18 (4),481-499. The citation comes from pp. 482-483.

Drucker, P.F. (1988). Teaching the Work of Management. New Management 6 (2), 2-5. The citation comes from p. 5. Drucker, P.F. (1989). The New Realities: In government and politics, in economics and business, in society and worldview. New York: …

Faith In The Workplace, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

Speaking at the Samaritan Interfaith Focus on Faith Breakfast (Cress Creek Country Club - Naperville, IL), Pollard addresses the question of faith in the workplace. In particular, he posits that servant leadership is the primary means by which one actualizes religious faith in everyday life.

Senior Team Attributes And Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role Of Transformational Leadership, Justin J. P. Jansen, Gerard George, Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch, Henk W. Volberda

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Organizations capable of pursuing exploration and exploitation simultaneously have been suggested to obtain superior performance. Combining both types of activities and achieving organizational ambidexterity, however, leads to the presence of multiple and often conflicting goals, and poses considerable challenges to senior teams in ambidextrous organizations. This study explores the role of senior team attributes and leadership behaviour in reconciling conflicting interests among senior team members and achieving organizational ambidexterity. Findings indicate that a senior team shared vision and contingency rewards are associated with a firm's ability to combine high levels of exploratory and exploitative innovations. In addition, our study shows …

What Is Your Business? (Chicago), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this speech at the 2008 Chicago Executive Forum Breakfast (Naperville, IL), Pollard posits that Christian businesses (i.e., corporations in which, among other things, managers see themselves as servant leaders) should understand profit as a means for the development of human character.

The Virtue Of Profit (Washington, D.C.), C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

Speaking at the 2008 PathNorth June Gathering (Washington, D.C.), Pollard contends that profit can be considered virtuous when it allows servant leaders to invest in employees, thereby contributing to the moral and spiritual formation of human beings.

Notes From A Herman Miller Company Board Meeting, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

These handwritten notes -- mainly including material concerning the topic of responsible leadership -- provide Pollard's perspective on a 2008 Herman Miller Company board meeting.

Project Manager Personality As A Factor For Success, John D. Bedingfield

Theses and Dissertations

Much has been written regarding project success, and one of the factors contributing to project success is the role of the project manager. Furthermore, project success can be enhanced by selecting the best project manager, and by assigning project managers whose attributes best align with project type. We investigated the role of the project manager's personality on project success using the "Big Five" personality model. We surveyed United States Department of Defense project managers to determine specific "Big Five" personality traits which were more likely to positively predict project manager success. The findings indicate conscientiousness and openness to experience were …

What Is Leadership? (Chapter Two Of Leadership Alive: Changing Leadership Practices Within The Emerging 21st Century Culture), Christopher P. Meade

Faculty Publications - College of Business

Excerpt: "This newly emerging culture is upon us. This change in Western culture requires a new breed of leader to emerge. There are many usable definitions concerning leadership. Leadership may appear in many forms, come from many theories, and be derived from many sources, but all are likely to guide through actions, influence, or service. 80 The new emerging leader of the 21st century will understand the relationship between the four principle leadership models: (1) Servant Leadership, (2) Situational Leadership, (3) Leadership and the New Science, and ( 4) Christian Leadership.

In Chapter Three, I will introduce and explore the …

Reflections For The Herman Miller Board, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In this speech -- delivered at a Herman Miller Board Meeting in Buffalo Grove, IL -- Pollard reflects on what he has learned as a board member, noting in particular how the company was founded on a holistic view of the human person and the idea that the business leader is only a steward of God's property.

A Critical Assessment Of Professional Skills And Knowledge In Supplier Diversity: A Delphi Study, Mia Cole

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Today, many US corporations have made great strides to embrace supplier diversity as a social consideration, and most importantly, as a strategic business enabler. From the earlier years of mandating minority inclusion to the realization that diversifying the supply chain creates value by capitalizing on the diverse background and experiences of minority businesses, supplier diversity has emerged as a major business initiative. It is one of the initiatives that contribute to the welfare of the country by building minority communities and strengthening our society. By developing business coalitions and partnerships with minority suppliers there is tremendous opportunity to impact the …

Dimensions Of Mentoring Relationships In The Workplace: A Holistic Perspective, Miriam Grace-Rowland

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This was an exploratory study to understand the lived experience of those involved in mentoring relationships within a formal mentoring program in a corporate context. The researcher looked for rich detail about the nature of the relationship from the perspective of the mentor and mentee. To achieve a holistic perspective, the experience of organizational managers was deliberately included in the research. Exploration of this triadic relationship of mentor, mentee, and organizational manager has been neglected in the empirical literature. An exploration of where meaning intersected and diverged among the triad relationship members gave depth to the dimensional frame. Findings suggested …

Mentoring Women Of Color For Leadership: Do Barriers Exist?, Sandra Yvonne Jeffcoat

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The number of women in the workforce is increasing, but they continue to hold few corporate leadership positions. Women are running into the glass ceiling, a ceiling that is thicker for Women of Color. The under-representation of women and minorities in leadership positions and the recognition of the business value of Diversity in this global economy have driven organizations to launch diversity programs and use mentoring as support for aspiring women leaders. Ragins and Cotton's 1991 research found that there were barriers for women who were looking to use mentoring as a tool for leadership development, but her participants were …

Poetic Leadership, A Territory Of Aesthetic Consciousness And Change, R. Amrit Kasten-Daryanani

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Poetic leadership is a new theoretical construct that views leadership as an activity that unites a lyrical intellect with keenly felt emotion for the purpose of producing changes in the consciousness of self and others. This change begins within the interiority of self, moving surely to broader realms of one's surroundings and society, provoking movement that impacts the developing potential of the individual and the cultural milieu in which they exist. Emotion is the primary trace into consciousness used in this dissertation, which serves to unite experiences of the heart with experiences of the mind. The unification of these disparate …

Fostering Sustainability In Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Transformative Leadership And Change Strategies, Kim H. Mcnamara

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As evidence of the earth’s limited capacity to sustain human life mounts, institutions of higher education are being looked to for leadership in the effort to educate students about environmental concerns and support the development of sustainable innovations. Colleges and universities are responding to this call for leadership by starting and/or expanding environmental research programs, integrating sustainability issues throughout the curriculum, adopting sustainable operations, and building green facilities. Reflecting upon the sustainability efforts of these institutions, this research study explores the following questions: What factors are essential for initiating and leading a successful change effort to foster sustainability in higher …

On Being A Nonprofit Executive Director, Janet Elizabeth Rechtman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In describing the course of change in a dynamic field such as the nonprofit sector, neo-institutional theorists argue that isomorphic forces such as replication of best practices tend to increase the homogeneity of actors. This interplay of structure and agency creates what is known as the structuration of an institutional field. These theorists have little to say about the people who influence and are influenced by these dynamics. This study explores this personal experience at the micro level of the nonprofit field executive leadership. It focuses on their challenges related to the isomorphic pressures resulting from: (1) socio-economic roles, (2) …

Small School Leadership: A Q Method Study Of Elements Of Leadership Specific To A Small School Setting, Charis Eirene Sharp

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Smaller schools have become an extremely popular school reform model. Research that connects them to student achievement is being used to support and create autonomous small schools as well as schools-within-schools. While it would seem to be a logical application, the schools-within-schools model is not performing at the levels expected as indicated by the small schools research. Research on these two different school settings needs to be separated, examined, and applied independently. Areas lacking research include questions about which aspects of schools support the functioning of the school, such as leadership. This study used Q-methodology to study leadership in a …

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

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

NASA is an organization known for pushing the envelope of engineering and scientific achievement. It can be argued that engineers working for NASA are intrinsically highly motivated due to the nature of the work and the mission of NASA. This study explores how supervisor behaviors, both intrinsic and extrinsic and demographic factors influence motivation of NASA Goddard engineers in their current environment. Recent Congressional and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policies, such as full cost accounting, levy strict oversight of project spending. As a result of these policies, NASA engineers must now focus their attention on getting assigned work …