Training and Development Commons^™

Strategic Judgment In Leadership Decision-Making: Evaluating Ai In Organizational Contexts, Cate Wengelnik

Southwestern Business Administration Journal

This paper presents a classroom-based approach for teaching strategic judgment in leadership decision-making through the evaluation workplace communication and incorporates the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As AI tools become more common in organizational settings, leaders and employees must be prepared to assess outputs that may appear professional while containing inaccurate, unsupported or potentially risky information. This paper describes an instructional case in which students examine an AI-generated response to an employee inquiry about workplace accommodations and Human Resources related matters. Students (1) evaluate the message for clarity, tone and apparent usefulness, then (2) analyze the organizational risks created when …

Teaching Communication And Teamwork Under Pressure: An Experiential Activity Using Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes, Bryan L. Rogers, Cody Logan Chullen, Brian Waterwall

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an experiential classroom activity designed to help students develop communication and teamwork skills under conditions of time pressure and information asymmetry.

Methods/Design: This paper presents a teaching activity rather than an empirical study; no research design, sample, instruments, or analytic procedures are reported. The paper describes and contextualizes an experiential learning activity using the cooperative video game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Drawing on research in experiential learning, cooperative learning, and simulation-based instruction, the paper outlines learning objectives, materials, implementation procedures, observer roles, and structured debriefing strategies suitable for undergraduate and …

Professionalism And Performance Expectations In The Modern Aviation Industry, Anayah Smith, Spencer Baldock Spencer Baldock

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

The aviation industry operates as a highly regulated, safety-critical environment in which professionalism and consistent performance are essential to maintaining operational safety and reliability. However, emerging shifts in workforce composition, communication styles, and technology integration have created misalignment between traditional professional standards and evolving employee expectations. Established aviation cultures emphasize structured procedures, formal feedback mechanisms, and communication hierarchy, while newer entrants, shaped by digital communication norms and contemporary academic environments, often expect continuous feedback, collaborative leadership, and adaptive performance evaluation. Prior research on crew resource management, human error frameworks, and generational work values highlights how inconsistencies in communication, feedback expectations, …

Repairing Workplace Trust: A Process-Based Classroom Exercise For Management Education, Luke A. Langlinais Ph.D.

Posters

Trust is essential in every workplace, but conflicts, mistakes, and broken promises are inevitable. This project develops an experiential classroom exercise in which students diagnose workplace trust violations, examine the perspectives and emotions of both parties, and practice selecting and communicating evidence-based reparative actions. The exercise translates organizational behavior research into a practical learning experience that develops not only managerial competence but also the character, empathy, and relational wisdom needed to build healthy organizations and promote human flourishing.

I gratefully acknowledge peer review feedback on this project, and I am accountable for writing of this product without generative AI and …

The Strategic Role Of Frontline Sales Personnel In Semiconductor Manufacturing Markets, Daisuke Yahiro

Jesselton Journal of Educators and Scholars

This study examines the strategic role of frontline sales personnel within semiconductor manufacturing environments characterized by technological volatility, operational interdependence, and evolving customer demands. Drawing upon emergent strategy, strategy-as-practice, and organizational sensemaking perspectives, the study explores how frontline personnel contribute to organizational responsiveness and strategy formation beyond conventional execution-oriented roles. A qualitative interpretive research design grounded in pragmatism and symbolic interactionism was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews involving 12 participants engaged in semiconductor manufacturing sales, customer coordination, and managerial activities in Japan. The findings reveal that frontline personnel function as strategically embedded organizational actors who contribute to operational …

The Character Fractal: A Theory Of Virtue Replication In Organizations, Kevin Davis, Scott Kozlak, Matthew M. Orlowsky, David Levy

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Organizational ethics has long been treated as an individual problem requiring individual solutions: the right traits, the right training, the right people in the right roles. This paper argues that framing is fundamentally insufficient. While character and virtue ultimately reside in persons, character development within organizations emerges through recursive ethical interactions shaped by incentives, narratives, feedback loops, and habituation structures cultivated by systems leaders. It replicates, or fails to, across every scale of human interaction, from the unobserved micro-decision of a single employee to the macro-level architecture of executive leadership. Drawing on Mandelbrot's fractal geometry, Lorenz's chaos theory, Kauffman's complexity …

Overcoming Adversity With Resilience: A Phenomenological Examination Of African American Women Leaders Facing Microaggressions In Corporate Spaces, Dionne Trenise Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African American women leaders in Fortune 500 companies experience persistent challenges of subtle yet pervasive systems of discrimination in the form of microaggressions that cause negative impacts to their psychological well-being, workplace performance, and career advancement. These women exhibit incredible resilience that enable them to thrive at work, mitigate mental health challenges, and navigate their careers successfully. However, unlike people who fall into either a racial minority group or a gender minority group, African American women experience compounded effects of microaggressions due to the intersection of their race and gender. As a result of microaggressions, these women experience impacts to …

Neurodiversity In The Workplace: Organizational Approaches To Supporting Neurodiverse Employees, Madison Vasquez

M.S. in Leadership

Despite growing conversation around neurodiversity in the workplace, many organizations lack clear understanding and structured strategies to support neurodivergent employees. This study examines existing research on how organizations can more effectively support neurodiverse employees across the employee lifecycle. Using a qualitative literature review, this study addresses the research question by examining literature on neurodiversity within workplace contexts. This includes investigating common representations of neurodiversity and reviewing the strengths and challenges of neurodiverse individuals, including those who have autism, ADHD, and other forms of neurodivergence. The study also reviews workplace barriers, support strategies, and organizational outcomes identified across the literature. Key …

Exploring The Transformative Effects Of Executive Coaching On Leaders: A Qualitative Study, Dwayne Norman

Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation examines the transformative effects of executive coaching on leaders’ development, personal growth, decision-making, and overall effectiveness across varied organizational contexts. Grounded in authentic leadership theory and employing a generic qualitative inquiry design, the study investigated how leaders who completed executive coaching describe changes in their behavior and mindset. Eleven experienced leaders participated in semi-structured interviews selected through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis, guided by the cyclical and inductive coding methods of Saldana (2021), generated 187 initial codes, which were distilled into 72 final codes. These final codes were then further refined into twelve categories and four overarching themes: …

Generations At Work: Examining Differences In The Nonprofit Sector, Cory J. Bergeron

Dissertations

This non-experimental quantitative dissertation examined generational differences among non-management employees in the United States nonprofit sector, where multiple generational cohorts work side by side. The problem addressed is that nonprofit leaders’ limited understanding of how distinct generational experiences shape employees’ work-related attitudes and preferences can contribute to conflict, reduced engagement, and costly turnover in already resource-constrained organizations. Grounded in Mannheim’s generational theory and Becker’s human capital theory, the study conceptualized generational cohorts as groups whose shared formative experiences influence what they value in their work context and how those values translate into human capital that affects organizational outcomes.

Using a …

The Influence Of Continuous Improvement Initiatives On Employee Performance: The Mediating Role Of Organizational Culture. An Applied Study On Sharjah Police Science Academy, Fakhri Abdul Kareem Bani Doumii

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

This research aims to investigate the effects of the Continuous Improvement (CI) Initiatives on the employees’ performance within the framework of Police Higher Education institution with special reference to the Sharjah Police Science Academy. It examines organizational culture as a mediating variable, through which the connection between CI Initiatives and improved performance results is explained. This research assesses the impact of each dimension of CI initiatives which includes employee involvement, process management, customer focus, leadership commitment, and training on employee performance indices which includes task performance, contextual performance, adaptive performance and counterproductive work behaviour. Using the PLS-SEM analysis, the study …

Design Thinking For Corporate Social Responsibility Program Proposal Creation, Michelle "Mindy" D. Danovaro

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study used action research to explore how the use of design thinking engaged employees in the creation of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program proposal in a small- to medium-enterprises (SME) in the Sacramento region of California. The purpose of the study was to assess whether employee participation in a design thinking exercise could improve employee perception of engagement, inclusion, and reciprocity during the CSR program proposal creation. The study was grounded in social exchange theory, stakeholder theory, and design thinking methodologies. The iterative research process followed action research cycles (i.e., plan, act, observe, and reflect) integrated with …

Enhancing Military Health System Organizational Efficiency And Quality Of Care Through A Social-Ecological Framework, Eric L. Peipelman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Timely and fair adjudication of incivility-related actions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Military Health System (MHS) is increasingly crucial for maintaining accountability, mission readiness, and quality of care. Ongoing delays in resolving workplace complaints and inefficiencies in resource-heavy adjudications highlight the need to shift from reactive complaint handling toward proactive civility promotion and transparent decision-making. This Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) introduces the Peipelman Civility Discussion and Assessment Toolkit (PCDAT)—a comprehensive, evidence-based framework designed to improve civility, optimize resources, and enhance communication, even in the MHS. Based on the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) and adapted from the Workplace Power and …

A Systematic Review Of Corporate Ethics Program Training Strategies To Improve Ethical Workplace Cultures, Robin Raye Altice

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The demand for corporations to practice more ethically responsible conduct and decision making is growing with every news report of another corporate scandal, lawsuit, fine, or high-visibility C-suite firing. To develop an ethical workplace culture, organizations should implement a comprehensive ethics program that fosters and encourages ethical decision making, especially among current and future leaders. However, there is little research and few guidelines for how ethics program administrators should design corporate ethics training to effectively practice and master the skill of ethical decision-making in efforts to continually grow a more ethical work environment. This study aims to identify corporate ethics …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Beyond Compliance: Investigating The Motivational Power Of Equality, Diversity And Inclusion (Edi) In European Hospitality, Alessandro Ferrazza Dr

ICHRIE Research Reports

The base concept of this study is to explore the interrelationship between Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) practices, employee motivation and performance within the European Hospitality Industry. The research aims to identify the barriers and facilitators that shape motivational synergies stimulating performance outcomes, particularly for underrepresented employee groups. The researcher employed a mixed-methods approach underpinned by a pragmatic interpretivist framework. The findings revealed that there is wide use of discriminatory practices, limited career progression and poor work-life balance which act as significant demotivators (Siu et al., 1997). The study also reconceptualises EDI not merely as a compliance requirement, but as …

Human Resources: Knowledge Transfer And Ramp-Up Curves In Onboarding, Sela Reid

Research Awards

This paper defines and discusses the importance of knowledge transfer, onboarding content, mentorships, internships, on-the-job training (OJT), job satisfaction, high employee retention and low employee turnover, and job rotation. A new employee’s first few days at a new job can be frightening, embarrassing, and overwhelming. If a new employee is given a bad impression of the company within their first week, the new hire is left rethinking their job decision; and the company’s reputation is at stake for not fostering a welcoming organizational culture. New employees do not need to feel lost, unprepared, apprehensive, or lonely during their first few …

Fostering Innovation At Work: Leadership Strategies For Motivating Innovative Work Behavior Across Generations Within The Christian Higher Education Environment, Sarah Clark

Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) Capstone Abstracts

Project Type

Organizational Consulting Project, Organizational Design or Change, Seminar or Workshop

Project Overview

This capstone project involved the design, facilitation, and evaluation of a strategic leadership workshop developed for mid to senior-level enrollment leaders at Southeastern University. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Innovative Work Behavior (IWB), and Transformational Leadership, the workshop offered a diagnostic and developmental experience designed to motivate innovation across generational teams within a Christian higher education setting. The workshop was structured to transition from research-based theory to data-informed strategy, helping leaders translate organizational insights into actionable plans.

Project Themes

Core themes included intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, …

Creating A Regenerative Organizational Culture, Sukanya Nagfernandes, Jennifer Mowery

Beyond the Project Horizon: Journal of the Center for Project Management Innovation

Abstract

The review article aims to explore the concept of creating a regenerative organizational culture through the application of transformational practices. The study investigates the potential benefits of integrating regenerative practices within an organization's cultural framework to foster adaptability, innovation, and sustainability. By examining the literature on regenerative culture and digital transformation, this study provides an overview of the key components and strategies necessary for building a regenerative organizational culture in the digital era and proposes an innovative approach to predicting regenerative cultural practices required within stages of a project’s life cycle.

Organizational culture works as a lifeline. It is …

Hospital Organizations’ Obligation To Promote Spiritual Well-Being Among Nurses: Development Of A Normative Ethical Argument, Michael Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents an innovative strategy to promote the support of nurses' spirituality within hospital organizations. By focusing on the spiritual well-being of nurses by hospital organizations, with a natural extension into nursing schools, the approach aims to enhance nurse’s ability to protect their own spirituality, provide comprehensive spiritual care to patients, and increase nurse moral resilience. By investing in nurses' spirituality and spiritual growth, hospitals can potentially increase job satisfaction among nursing staff, improve patient care outcomes, and create a more holistic healing environment for both nurses and patients. As the nursing shortage continues and the number of nurses …

Bridging The Gap: Management Vs. Leadership And The Path To Mastering Both, Wesley A. Key

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Management and leadership, though often conflated, represent distinct but complementary skills that are critical for organizational success. This thesis aims to explore the fundamental differences between management and leadership, highlighting how these roles interact and the necessity for individuals to master both to excel in today’s dynamic business environment. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from psychology, organizational behavior, and case studies, this research synthesizes academic literature to address key questions: What core competencies distinguish leaders from managers? How do these competencies align or conflict with one another in real-world settings? And what practical steps can individuals take to develop proficiency in …

A Qualitative Study Exploring Senior Leaders’ Experiences And Perceptions In Addressing Workplace Sexual Harassment In The U.S. Federal Government: A Systems Perspective, Karen Jane Dean

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual harassment (SH) is a prevalent, costly, and often unreported problem in the U.S. Federal Government. Despite decades of research from multiple perspectives and recommendations to address SH, the problem persists and remains complex. While some researchers and U.S. Government agencies have called upon leaders to commit to eliminating workplace SH, others have suggested using an integrated conflict management system (ICMS) to manage the complexity, nuances, and conflicts. Even though there is a call for leadership to address SH, there is limited documentation in the literature about leaders’ experiences and perceptions in addressing the problem. Therefore, this qualitative study was …

Unleashing Excellence: Strengthening It Leaders Through Executive Coaching, Tonya S. Rivers

Dissertations

This paper explores the impact of executive coaching on Information Technology (IT) leaders. Many organizations across different industries lack strong leadership, as exposed by COVID-19. Companies aim to keep exceptional leaders and establish upbeat workplaces to achieve success. Although previous research has examined leadership effectiveness, it is still unclear how best to manage employees' perceptions of effective leadership. The goal of this research is to provide new insights into what can improve perceptions of leadership effectiveness. I explored the role executive leadership coaching has on managers working in the Information Technology (IT) field. Current literature often mentions the need for …

A Relational Approach To Workplace Leadership, Nathaniel J. Hunt

M.S. in Leadership

This research project examines relational leadership as an ethical and strategic foundation for fostering effective workplaces. Motivated by the growing importance of human connection in leadership, the study integrates philosophical insights, particularly Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics of the face of the Other, with empirical evidence on workplace relationship-building. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining a structured survey of 32 professionals with thematic analysis of qualitative responses. Results confirmed that strategies such as encouraging knowledge-sharing and cultivating positive relational climates significantly enhance employee well-being, psychological safety, and organizational performance. Knowledge-sharing emerged as the most effective strategy, while relationship-building was found to be …

What Our Faces And Words Convey: An Ai Assisted Behavioral Approach To Emotional Intelligence Development In An Undergraduate Teams Course, Ryan Will, Brent Goertzen, Magdalene Moy

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This poster explores the development of emotional intelligence in leadership and team dynamics, addressing limitations of traditional methods that rely on perceptual measures which serve as proxies for leader or follower behaviors (Banks et al., 2023). Participants analyze verbal and nonverbal communication patterns from team meetings throughout a semester-long project using content analysis and emotion-detection AI (Imentiv.ai), which leverages the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Rosenberg & Ekman, 2020). The intervention involves video recording three team meetings at key stages (early, mid-point, and end) to capture communication changes over the team lifecycle. Individualized feedback, combining verbal and nonverbal analysis, is …

Exploring Leadership In Physical Therapy: How Clarity, Connection, And Communication Influence Team Engagement, Burnout, And Achieving Organizational Objectives, Jason Collin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify and describe how highly effective PT leaders use the three competencies of HPTs (clarity, connection, and communication) to increase engagement, prevent burnout, and achieve organizational objectives. The second purpose of this study was to determine the degree of importance that highly effective PT leaders perceive the three HPTE core competencies impact their leadership for creating HPTs.

Methodology: The mixed methods study identified and described eight PT leaders’ perceptions of how they use clarity, connection, and communication to build and sustain HPTs. PT leaders were selected through purposive and snowball …

Organizational Readiness As A Predictor Of Successful Trauma-Informed Change Within Child Welfare Agencies, Jennette Allen-Mccombs

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

The literature is replete with calls to reform the child welfare system (Dettlaff et al., 2020; Lindell et al., 2020; McTavish et al., 2018). Five child welfare organizations in one northeastern state in the U.S. participated in a pilot program to implement trauma-informed organizational change (TOC). This study explored the extent to which child welfare agencies demonstrated readiness to adopt change. The researcher used a directed content analysis approach to analyze previously collected staff meeting minutes, consultant notes, and other TOC-related documents collected during implementation. Findings support Armenakis et al.'s (2000) organizational readiness for change theory, which suggests that increased …

Uncovering New Perspectives On Job Performance In Diverse Work Settings: A Job Demand-Resource Theoretical Approach, Myesha P. Holmes

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The aim of this study was to integrate the agility literature within the theoretical framework of the Job Demand-Resource (JD-R) Theory to examine and validate whether employee agility (job resources) and work overload (job demands) influence the relationship between subjective wellbeing, work engagement, and job performance among remote, hybrid, and onsite workers. Data was collected through a Qualtrics Online panel, utilizing five standardized and validated scales, from a sample of 504 full-time employed respondents across the United States. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results indicated a significant relationship between employee …

The Leadership Identity Presented On Linkedin, Carl L. Tolbert

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

LinkedIn has evolved in a way similar to other social media platforms but is unique in that it focuses on professional networking and careers. Many professionals seek to showcase their leadership skills and philosophies as part of a publicly showcased online persona. This paper aimed to examine the posts specific to leadership and thematically investigate presentation strategies, motivation, and purposes behind the posts. The paper begins with a historical review from the inception of LinkedIn through pivotal milestones in the history of the company. Key concepts from the literature are then reviewed specific to social media use and motivations behind …

Beyond Technical Skills: The Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Project Management In Turkey, Dilsa Dogan

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This study was conducted to examine the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on project management in Turkey. It analyzed the impact of EI on communication skills and project outcomes. The analysis included project managers, team members, stakeholders, and faculty members from various sectors, reflecting their perspectives on EI.

The results demonstrated that EI plays a significant role in project management in Turkey, positively influencing communication skills and project outcomes. Additionally, the study statistically supported the effects of EI on project success criteria, including scope, time, cost, and quality.

The study emphasized that on-the-job training and mentoring programs are effective methods …