Training and Development Commons^™

Beating The Employment Challenges: How Unemployed Youths Generate Income For Their Households, Gai Chol Paul

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Youth unemployment remains a global threat to the achievement of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. It impedes the fight to end poverty in all its forms, limits opportunities to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and undermines a country’s ability to reduce inequalities. In Sub-Saharan African nations, the unemployment rate is particularly high because the environment is prone to volatility caused by poor governance, chronic conflicts, and corruption. Unemployed graduates who lack effective strategies risk failing to generate income for themselves and their families. Thus, my purpose in this qualitative multiple case study, which was grounded in achievement motivation …

Talent Management And The Impact Of Dark Triad Personalities In The Workplace, Joseph A. Rosendale, Eliot Mastrovich, Leann Wilkie

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

This study examines links between the Dark Triad of personality types (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) and workplace behaviors. The research objective seeks to confirm the relationship between the Dark Triad and several negative behaviors while investigating positive externalities that have not been previously explored. A literature review covers the background of the Dark Triad, instruments that have been used to measure it, and ongoing research streams in the field. The Short Dark Triad (SD3) survey was administered to 142 working professionals and data collected were quantitatively examined using a variety of statistical tools in SPSS. Corresponding results provide additional evidence …

Perceptions Of Employability Skills Of Undergraduate Business Students In A Developing Country: An Exploratory Study, Wise Mainga, Reuben M. Daniel, Luis Alamil

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of different employability skills for business graduates seeking initial employment.

Method: Semi-structured survey questionnaires were administered to human resources representatives from industry, business lecturers, and graduating business students to determine gaps in perceptions between the three stakeholder groups.

Results: There was some alignment and moderate discrepancies in perceptions of the relative importance of different employability skills between the three stakeholder groups. There were statistically significant differences in perceived importance of communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills between graduating students and employers. There is evidence that employers were satisfied with …

Leadership Development: A Senior Leader Case Study, Jason M. Newcomer

Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award

Brig Gen Thomas Sharpy, former director of the Air Force General Officer Management Office, identified the need for an internal assessment of the US Air Force’s leadership development process, also known as the developmental team (DT), to determine its effectiveness in creating excellent leaders to meet current and future needs. DTs are part of the Air Force’s overarching force-development program, a requirement-driven initiative to train and educate the service’s active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel through a purposeful, career-long process of personal and professional development.

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 …

Employee Perceptions Of Well-Being Programs, Alice V. Edwards, Susan Marcus

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Measuring the effectiveness of well-being programs in the workplace is important for optimizing the return on investment and selection of programs that meet organizational objectives. A pilot study was performed to assess employee well-being using the Happiness Mini-Survey and a one-sample pre–post study design intended to quickly allow employees to subjectively rate their well-being before and after participating in various classes as part of a well-being program. The findings demonstrated statistical significance in employee subjective ratings; they reported feeling better emotionally, physically, and mentally after participating in the classes. The employees’ self-rating for stress level also had statistically significant improvement …

Strategies To Retain Millennial Employees At Full-Service Restaurants, Candace A. Ruiz, Anne Davis

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Some supervisors lack effective strategies to retain millennial-generation employees. The purpose of this multicase study was to explore effective strategies to retain culinary-educated millennial employees in a full-service restaurant. Nine millennials and three supervisors from three full-service restaurants in Denver, Colorado, consented to semistructured interviews concerning retention strategies. Herzberg’s two-factor theory served to guide the scope and the data analysis for the multicase study. Ten subcategories emerged from the three themes that aligned with Herzberg’s motivation factors, hygiene factors, and millennial values and attitudes. The 10 subcategories were developed suggesting effective strategies differ by supervisor. Among the 10 subcategories, the …

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 …

Effective Employee Engagement In The Workplace, Schrita Osborne, Mohamad S. Hammoud

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

Disengaged employees typically cost U.S. corporations $350 billion annually. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that some communication business leaders use to engage their employees. The target population consisted of four communication business leaders in Jackson, Mississippi, who possessed at least 1 year of successful employee engagement experience. The self-determination theory served as the study’s conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and the participating company’s archived documents were gathered. Patterns were identified through a rigorous process of data familiarization, data coding, and theme development and revision. Interpretations from the data were subjected to member-checking to ensure …

Patient Safety Culture And High Reliability Organizations, Jared D. Padgett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A 1999 evaluation of case studies performed by staff from the Institute of Medicine found that between 40,000 and 98,000 patients died from preventable errors, while 43,598 individuals died in car accidents that year. A 2011 report increased that estimate nearly 10 times. Widespread preventable patient harm still occurs despite an increase in healthcare regulations. High-reliability organization theory has contributed to improved safety and may potentially reverse this trend. This explorative single case study explored how the perceptions and experiences of nursing and respiratory staff affected the successful transition of a healthcare organization into a reliability-seeking organization. Fourteen participants from …