Performance Management Commons^™

Exploring The Perceptions Of Leaders In Investor-Owned Utilities In California On Managing Organizational Change Initiatives, Maria Liza Legaspi

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study employing in-depth interviews was to identify the strategies and practices executive leaders and midlevel managers of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) perceive are effective in creating employee acceptance and support of organizational change and to identify the supports and barriers executive leaders and midlevel managers perceive as affecting employee acceptance or resistance to organizational change in IOUs.

Methodology: A qualitative research design enabled the capture of deeper thoughts and insights of executive leaders and midlevel managers of 4 IOUs in California. The study delved into the strategies and practices used by IOUs that are perceived …

Unretentive Incentives, Rebekah Paradis

Student Scholar Showcase

In the workplace, managers often offer monetary rewards or incentives as instantaneous motivators in hopes that it will alter employee behavior. Unfortunately, although these rewards have been proven to yield desired outcomes, their impacts are short lived as managers create an environment based on extrinsic motivation. When an employee works solely to receive a paycheck it is already challenging to keep them, as other companies can offer them comparable, if not better, salaries. It is even harder to retain an employee who is accustomed to receiving an incentive with a particular behavior when the reward is no longer an option, …

Innovative And Introverted: How Introverts Function In The Creative Workplace, Rose Needle

Senior Theses

Open office plans have become the dominant style for creative workplaces, designed to encourage constant collaboration and proximity. Little research assesses the validity of that conventional practice, or the impact of open environments on creativity, productivity or employee satisfaction for introverts, who require time alone for highest functioning. Though the “Extrovert Ideal” permeates these industries, nearly 50% of the general population is introverted—and introverted traits correlate positively with creativity. This thesis includes a survey of 143 people working in creative industries, assessing perceptions of productivity and satisfaction along with personality type. A majority of respondents yearned for solitude to complete …

A Systematic Evaluation Process: Soliciting Client Participation And Working In A Cross‐Cultural Context, D'Jeane T. Peters, Lisa A. Giacumo

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A systematic evaluation process helps performance improvement practitioners organize their work with clients to deliver valued results. Further, we implemented a strategic partnership approach to solicit client participation to conduct a feasible systemic training evaluation project. In this article, we share our experience and recommendations for performance improvement practitioners who work in cross‐cultural evaluation‐project contexts.

Virtual Proximity To Promote Expatriate Cultural Adjustment, Innovation, And The Reduction Of Stress Levels, Tom Coughlan, David J. Fogarty, Sara R. Fogarty

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Given the dramatic increase in the number of expatriates living and working abroad, there is a need to advance the research into how to make sure these employees achieve success on their assignments. Often, these expatriates assume managerial roles and are intended to be the gatekeepers of information. Typically, this information is necessary for the success of their colleagues, in both their home country and their host country. The expatriate’s role is to facilitate the integration of organizational knowledge from both their home and host countries, as well as key sources in their host country’s local environment. However, historically, there …

A Structural Equation Model Of Leader–Member Exchange, Employee–Supervisor Relationship, Performance Appraisal, And Career Development, William Joseph Henkel, Al C. Endres

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Some employees perceive that supervisors do not accurately reflect employees’ performance or effectively differentiate among employees’ performances during performance appraisals (PAs). Other employees believe the performance feedback they receive is not valuable for supporting their career development (CD). Leader–member exchange (LMX) and the distributive and interactional justice dimensions of organizational justice theories comprised the theoretical frameworks in this study for examining the significance of the relationships among LMX and employee–supervisor relationships (ESRs) and those relationships’ potential influence on employees’ CD through the PA process. Participants consisted of 44 defense contractor employees in the United States. Results from partial least squares …

The Power Of Happiness, Sarah R. Romney

Marriott Student Review

This article synthesizes research and psychological principles to explain the impact that one’s attitude can have oneself and others. A positive attitude is contagious and can help one perform better, be more motivated, and earn a higher wage. It can also increase team performance and help others be happy to receive the same benefits. By focusing on their expressions and attitude, people can greatly impact the organizations they are a part of.

What’S Broken? Not The Mold, Susan Vroman

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Changing workforce demographics indicate that flexible work arrangements (FWA) are appreciated and valued by employees, yet employers still resist their support. While not explicit in their rationale, managerial mindsets may hold that deviations from historical ideal worker frameworks detract from performance potential. As this continues, mothers are especially stigmatized for using FWA as it differs from traditional, male hegemonic behaviors. Overlaying the case of a rising executive with a study of historical management theory, it may take until Generation Y is fully entrenched in leadership for a différance to break the mold in FWA acceptance.

The Influence Of Proactivity On Creative Behavior, Organizational Commitment, And Job Performance: Evidence From A Korean Multinational, Baek-Kyoo (Brian) Joo, Robert H. Bennett Iii

Journal of International & Interdisciplinary Business Research (2014-2019)

Proactivity has emerged as an extremely important behavior in organizations, and has been shown to correlate with very positive organizational and individual outcomes. Proactive personality has been identified as a stable personality attribute that is predictive of several positive work behaviors outcomes. Utilizing a large sample from a well-known and successful Korean multinational employer, this study investigated the influences of proactive personality on three key outcomes in the workplace, namely the level of employee creativity, level of organizational commitment, and in-role job performance. The study also examined whether the contextual factors of quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) and the level …

Picking Up The Pieces: Managing People During And After A Reorganization, Catherine B. Soehner

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Libraries need to change rapidly in response to advances in technology, expectations of users, funding, and other pressures from both inside and outside the library. Often library administration/management reorganizes personnel, duties, and departments to accomplish new goals and to shift focus of library services. Both during and after a reorganization, employees respond to the changes in a wide variety of ways, ranging from acceptance and positivity to anger and resistance. Fortunately, administrators and managers have a variety of tools available to help employees deal with change and to move them toward success. There are many books and articles on the …

An Exploration Of Barriers To Integration Of Strategic Human Resource Development In The United States Fire Service: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Chief Officers' Perceptions, Jon D. Musgrave

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Trends in the current human resource development (HRD) literature emphasize the role that integration of strategic human resource development (SHRD) practices has on organizational effectiveness (Garavan, 1991; Garavan, 2007; Gilley & Gilley, 2003; Gilley & Maycunich, 2000; Ruona & Gilley, 2009; Wright, 2007). The United States Fire Service currently views human resource development as a management practice to be utilized by the chief officer to address vocational or technical skills (Stowell, 2004). This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) qualitative study explored the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of chief officers in the United States Fire Service to further understanding of barriers to …

A Cross-Cultural Examination Of The Effect Of Employer Support On Employee Productivity, Shawn Tuman, Haley Lipton

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this creative, collaborative, capstone project is to conduct a cross-cultural examination of the effect of employer support on employee productivity by compiling, examining, and synthesizing conclusions from existing research. In a world of growing globalization and technological innovation, the speed of productivity is often the cornerstone that differentiates successful businesses from unsuccessful businesses, providing a competitive advantage to the quick while the others fall behind. Often this increased level of efficiency comes at a cost beyond the price of the product and the salary of employees, a deeper, psychological cost. By reviewing research focused in the United …

Exploring Churn And Alignment Between Retention And Occupational Culture As Perceived By Professional Truck Drivers, Catherine M. Cole

Dissertations

Despite advances in logistics software and increased driver pay, the trucking industry continues a historic wave of human capital risks in the form of driver turnover and driver shortages. Previous efforts to understand the phenomenon of driver turnover rely heavily on supply chain, transportation, and logistics based disciplines. The current study provides a human capital ontology towards understanding professional truck driver perceptions. Within the interpretive framework of pragmatism, the study applied a simultaneous ethnographic and phenomenological research design to explore the phenomenon of churn and professional truck driver perceptions of environmental alignment between trucking industry retention strategies and the occupational …

Surprisingly Open Or Openly Surprised? That Is The Question; Using Surprise Experiences To Increase Openness To Experience And Tolerance Of Ambiguity, Anneke Veenendaal-De Kort

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Using Surprise Experiences to Increase Openness to Experience and Tolerance of Ambiguity

In the fast-changing world in which we are currently living, we constantly come across situations and problems that we have not encountered before. An open mind and the ability to tolerate ambiguity are important skills in uncertain times. People who embrace the unpredictable can develop their resilience and flexibility. Surprisologists Luna and Renninger (2015) have discovered that a great way of dipping into unpredictability is through surprise. For my Master’s Project, I designed experiences that transform people’s openness and tolerance for ambiguity through surprise. This paper begins with …

Positive Organizational Leadership: Some Recent Findings In Positive Organizational Scholarship, Lawrence Chan

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

The study of positivity is multifaceted, with roots across psychology, philosophy, and more recently organizational behavior (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; 2014). This review article highlights the framework from which the study of positivity originates, and then explores positive behaviors in the workplace that have correlated to increases in fulfillment, productivity, engagement, and leadership capacity (Cameron & Dutton, 2003). This essay reveals core components of positive organizational scholarship (POS), notably the interaction of positivity within job demands and job resources, positive employee engagement, and positive deviance, and uncovers some recent findings of these POS components in empirical research and application within human resource …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Leadership Style And Lean Expressed Through Respect, Proactivity, And Innovative Work Behavior, Reiner Martens

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

This dissertation is based on the idea that a leadership style is necessary to implement a lean culture within an organization. This research study employed a systematic literature review, from which a lean leadership model was developed. Based on the two principles of a lean organizational culture, 1. respect for people and 2. continuous improvement, three measurable variables were identified, respect, proactivity, and innovative work behavior. These three variables were connected to the lean leadership model. Leadership styles based on the full range model of leadership were used as independent variable(s). The overarching results of this study were: (1) transformational …

Middle Managers Working Beyond Senior Management’S Expectations: A Phenomenological Study Of The Managed Healthcare Industry In Southern California, Gerald Dugas

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how middle managers and senior managers working in the managed healthcare industry in southern California perceive what factors motivated middle managers to work beyond senior management’s expectations.

Methodology. A qualitative phenomenology study was chosen because it allowed the researcher to acquire a firm understanding of the nature of everyday lived experiences. This methodology was used to capture the meaning of experiences that motivated middle managers to work beyond expectations. The researcher conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experience of the participants. Participants …

Identification Of Individuals For Directorship Roles: Evaluation Of A University’S Succession Management, Nana Yaw Oppong, Nancy Oduro-Asabere

The Qualitative Report

Identification of potential individuals for leadership roles is a critical aspect of a succession management programme, as other aspects of the programme depend on an effective identification. This study evaluates how the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana identifies potential non-academic senior members for directorship roles. We collected qualitative data through in-depth interviewing of nine directors at the university. We analysed the data using constant comparison analysis by developing three themes, under each of which we presented similar categories of data. We found that the criteria for identification of potential directors include seniority; both internal and external sources; and …

Work Ethic, Turnover, And Performance: An Examination Of Predictive Validity For Entry-Level Employees, Christina Banister

Dissertations

Work ethic is continually cited as a top factor in hiring new employees (Flynn, 1994; Shimko, 1990; VanNess, Melinsky, Buff, & Seifert, 2010). Research on the relationship between work ethic and job performance has typically shown positive results in a variety of contexts (Meriac & Gorman, 2017; Miller et al., 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine dimensions of work ethic and its relationship with turnover and contextual performance in an often-neglected segment of the workforce: entry-level employees. Data were collected from a large fast food franchise, including work ethic, turnover data, and supervisor-rated job performance. In Study …

Recipe For Success: Behavioral Ingredients For Superior Performing Leaders, Linda M. Pittenger

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The aviation and aerospace business is a complex adaptive system that includes emerging technologies, competitors, government policies, cost demands, globalization, and talent constraints. To effectively lead in the chaos of constant demands and disruptive and unpredictable external environments, having deep and broad functional expertise is not enough. Superior performing leaders require further broadening and deepening of selected behavioral competencies in order to succeed (Smith, 2000). Particular to aviation and aerospace, understanding the types of leaders needed to be successful is especially important since baby boomer employees will soon retire and the middle managers that will likely replace them lack the …

Ten Elements Of Organizational Transformation: Strategies For Moving Towards Integrated Employment, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, John Butterworth, Jonathan Lucus, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This session will share ten key organizational characteristics necessary to strengthen competitive integrated employment outcomes. Get a first-hand look at the RRTC’s Organizational Transformation Toolkit and explore our Provider Employment Leadership Network, a yearlong facilitated Community of Practice of provider leaders in employment. In conjunction with The Arc of the United States, this PowerPoint offers ten essential elements necessary for successful organizational transformation, along with strategies for implementing each element.

A Mixed-Methods Study: Self-Efficacy And Barriers To Participation In Workplace Wellness Programs, Massiel Perez-Calhoon

Dissertations

America needs a healthy workforce to sustain the country. The scourge of obesity continues to plague Americans despite government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and wellness programs in the workplace to combat this epidemic. However, despite initiatives to make America healthy, barriers continued to impede the nation’s health. Lack of awareness and sensitivity to what motivates individual participants versus group participants built formidable barriers to accessing all workplace employees equitably. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the intent of this study was to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and the impact on participation and engagement when …

A Case Study Exploration Of Strategies To Improve First-Line Supervisor Problem-Solving Abilities In The Retail Supermarket Industry, John E. Jarvis, Irene A. Williams

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

First-line supervisors in U.S. retail organizations are unable to resolve nearly 34% of typical daily customer problems for their organizations. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore the strategies retail supermarket managers have used to improve first-line supervisor problem solving abilities within a retail supermarket company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with four retail store manager participants with a successful record of improving first-line supervisor problem solving abilities. Based on inductive data analysis and methodological triangulation of the data collected, four themes emerged after the data analysis: (a) the importance of communicating expectations …

An Examination Of Lmx And Procedural Justice On Performance Appraisal Satisfaction Within The Context Of A Distributed Workplace Arrangement, Debra A. Herd

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Trends in the current literature emphasize the role of organizational context in employee performance appraisal processes (e.g., Levy & Williams, 2004; Pichler et al., 2015). Social context is a type of organizational context. Using hierarchical regression techniques and data from 138 U.S.-based employees, the study examined the social context of distributed workplace arrangements and the related implications of media richness and communication frequency in relation to leader–member exchange (LMX), procedural justice, and performance appraisal satisfaction. Research has revealed that manager–employee relationships and procedural justice perspectives positively influence performance appraisal satisfaction. However, researchers have yet to explore the impact distributed workplace …

Identifying Opportunities To Inform And Inspire: Tribal Casino Employee Perceptions Of Tribal Self Sufficiency And Philanthropy, Sandra Sun-Ah Ponting Dr, Jess Ponting, Katherine Spilde

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

While the business case for employee engagement and satisfaction is well documented in the service profit chain and the cost savings of employee retention are easily quantified, the means to achieving these related goals in the casino industry is not well known. The pathway to employee engagement and satisfaction is even less well known in the tribal government gaming industry. This paper finds that employees in casinos that are owned by tribal governments in the United States find particular pride in sharing the tribal government’s self-sufficiency, community engagement, and philanthropic activities with casino guests, who often wonder “where the money …

Reflecting On Performance Feedback: The Effect Of Counterfactual Thinking On Subsequent Leader Performance, Kelly R. Hall

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Performance feedback is an integral aspect of facilitating employee learning. Despite its importance, research suggests that when that feedback conveys a performance discrepancy, subsequent performance does not improve. Researchers have advanced reflection as a strategy for increasing feedback effectiveness and have established its value for learning and performance improvement. However, these studies have not accounted for the effects of specific types of reflection on performance. To this point, the current research examines the role of one form of reflection, counterfactual thinking, for learning after performance discrepancies. I explored boundary conditions that might influence self-focused upward counterfactual thinking—a form of reflection …

Optimizing Workforce Performance: Perceived Differences Of Army Officer Critical Thinking Talent Across Level Of Education, Richard B. Ayers

Dissertations

The U.S. Army’s operating environment continues to become increasingly complex and unpredictable, where U.S. technological advantage continues to erode. The complexities stem from the Army’s doctrinal assumption that the future operating environment is unknown and constantly changing (Department of the Army [DA], 2014a). Diminishing technological advantage results in more reliance on soldiers’ cognitive capability, and less on high technology weapons systems (McMaster, 2015).

A review of military literature shows extensive research on the importance of Army leaders to be talented critical thinkers (Fischer, Spiker, & Riedel, 2008, 2009; Gerras, 2008; Thomas & Gentzler, 2013). Human capital literature reveals many college …

Management And Telework, Arlene J. Nicholas

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

This chapter discusses telework as a desirable option for workers and a valuable tool for employers to attract and retain employees. Telework's many benefits are appealing to technologically competent and confident workers. Managers may be concerned with employee accessibility, productivity and possible loss of management roles (Arnold, 2006). When Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer banned working from home, it was described as a step backward that countered studies of increased productivity, retention and job satisfaction that could demoralize the workers (Cohan, 2013; Gaudreau, 2013). An overview of benefits, incentives, organizational examples as well as possible deterrents and management resistance are identified.

Understanding Millennial, Generation X, And Baby Boomer Preferred Leadership Characteristics: Informing Today’S Leaders And Followers, Lee-Volker Cox

Dissertations

Purpose. This quantitative study’s purpose was to describe and determine the degree of difference and importance of leadership characteristics as perceived by Baby Boom, Generation X, and Millennial generational cohort followers in STEM-related U.S.-based or headquartered aerospace and computer organizations as measured by the Multigenerational Leadership Characteristics Questionnaire (MLCQ).

Methodology. This was a cross-sectional, nonexperimental, comparative and correlational quantitative, ex post facto study. A web-based MLCQ was developed after conducting an academic literature review. Participants used a 6-point Likert scale identifying the importance of 30 characteristics with 2 aggregation questions identifying the most and least important characteristics; 408 members of …

Digital Engagement: Personality Is The Context Of The Text, Diane C. Spencer-Scarr

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper examines digital-technology as a tool and an environment with the individuals’ personality at the intersection of the two: Its impact on social memory and the unbound document. With the ubiquitous embedding of digital networked technology in society and the emergence of the unbounded document, humans increasingly obtain information by grasping snippets of decontextualized text sourced through non-human entities from globally dispersed databases that have stripped out context. Then in a Kafkian way humans’ have to build from the middle to make sense of the information snippets. The paper explores how the inherent nature of the individual can be …