Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Obstacles To Economic Growth And Business Attraction In Georgia, Vanessa Cox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in the study was that Georgia's economic development leadership faced obstacles that challenged the state's growth in attracting new business and developing existing business. The purpose of this case study was to explore the obstacles encountered by a specific agency to attract businesses to generate economic growth. Accessing obstacles that hinder leaders to promote the state of Georgia growth is pertinent, including exploring where the system may be constrained. The theory of constraints guided this study to investigate what obstacles state leaders face in economic development. An embedded case study was conducted using purposeful sampling to select …

A Critical Perspective Of Transformational Leadership And Safety Management Practices, Larry D. Frazier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A troubling trend has developed in the increasing number of commuter rail accidents

causing injuries, fatalities, and safety concerns. The specific problem addressed in this study is that current leadership practices have not achieved success reducing safety violations and rail accidents. The purpose of this qualitative cross-sectional study was to explore the potential influence of perceived leadership styles of 16 frontline rail supervisors and 4 managers on safety management practices within a metro rail system. The conceptual framework was based on Bass's transformational leadership theory and Reason's human error model. The key research question dealt with how leadership style might …

Leaders' Endorsement Of Idiosyncratic Workplace Fun, Organizational Playfulness Climate, And Organizational Creativity, Krasimir Karamfilov

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emotionally disconnected employees, about 70% in the U.S., do not experience positive affect at work, are disengaged, and not creative. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to investigate the effects of leaders' endorsement of idiosyncratic workplace fun (independent variable) and organizational playfulness climate (independent variable) on organizational creativity (dependent variable). Complexity-based theoretical perspectives on organizational creativity framed this quantitative study. Data were collected via three survey instruments at two data points from 7 project teams, divided into two experimental groups, at 6 companies in northwestern United States. One group received an intervention for 1 month. Pearson's correlation analysis …

Compliance Strategies To Reduce The Risks Of Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing, Cassandra Nottage

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective compliance programs expose banking and trust companies to increased risk of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF). Using risk management theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore compliance strategies that Bahamian bank and trust company managers use to reduce ML/TF risks. Study participants comprised 7 senior risk and compliance managers experienced in risk strategy development and implementation. Semistructured interview data were triangulated with data collected from internal policy and procedural documents, publicly available papers of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), and the Central …

Conflict, Knowledge, And Collective Bargaining In Public Education, Tre'shawn Hall-Baker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Negative conflict in public school districts during collective bargaining impedes efforts towards creativity and student success. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of conflict for participants in collective bargaining in California public school districts. Complexity theory and social construction theory were used as the conceptual framework for the research, and ideas related to conflict, social interactions, knowledge management, and collective bargaining were examined to gain an understanding as they related to the central phenomenon. The specific research questions pondered in this study related to how conflict was experienced in California public schools during collective bargaining, …

Strategies For Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises In Geoeconomic Crisis, Hicham Jaroudi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon are at risk of failure because of the geoeconomic crisis. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that successful leaders of SMEs use to sustain their businesses during tenuous economic conditions. The target population for the research comprised 6 business leaders of SMEs in Beirut, Lebanon: 3 in the civil security field and 3 in the facilities management field. Kotter's change model theory provided the conceptual framework for this research. Data were gathered from company documents and interviews with SMEs leaders in Beirut. Data were analyzed using Yin's data …

Exploring Strategies For Early Identification Of Risks In Information Technology Projects, Nina Michele Mack-Cain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Project managers must ensure risk management and business justification for their projects. Approximately, 53% of IT projects failed due to project managers not identifying risks early in the projects' lifecycle. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies IT project managers utilize to identify risks early in the project's lifecycle. The study population consisted of 5 lead IT project managers from a telecom company located in the Midwest region of the United States who had managed IT projects. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was the general systems theory. The data collection process involved semistructured interviews, …

Manufacturing Managers' Leadership Efficacy In The Context Of Reduced Union Influence, James Richard Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore whether manufacturing managers had the skills needed to lead union members whose unions have less influence than in the past. Leaders of manufacturing firms can strengthen the relationship between manufacturing managers and union members through positive and effective leadership. Providing union members with leadership can improve cooperation, reduce problem-solving time, and increase productivity through efficiency. The conceptual framework for this study was transformational leadership theory. Data collection involved conducting 20 semi structured interviews with participants affiliated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the Toledo, Ohio, area. The participants (9 manufacturing …

Leadership Strategies For Managing Change In The Nigerian Banking Industry, Jude Ememe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Nigerian banking system is experiencing changes brought about by globalization. Operating in a changing business environment requires that bank leaders evolve strategies to manage and adapt to change. There are direct and indirect costs associated when banks are unable to adapt to change such as bank closures, and loss of economic and business opportunities. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Nigerian bank leaders regarding strategies they used to manage change in the banking industry. The conceptual framework was based on transformational leadership theory and change management theory. Data were collected from document …

Small Farm Management Of Information Communication Technology, E-Commerce, And Organization Performance, Shenique Carmichael

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small farm farmers in the United States are reluctant to use information communication technology (ICT) and e-commerce, yet little is known about their decision-making rationale. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore U.S. small farm farmers' decision making, specifically, regarding use or non-use of e-commerce, in managing farm operations by using the Miles and Snow's typology of strategic management. The purposive sample consisted of 30 small farm farming operations in Kansas and Missouri with revenue less than $250,000 per annum. Data analysis was 3-tiered and involved use of horizontalization, thematic clustering, and synthesis. Using the Van …

The Effects Of Management On Commitment In The Retail Industry, Terrance D. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of employee commitment costs retail organizations billions of dollars annually in the form of decreased effectiveness, profits, and retention rates. The purpose of this case study was to identify effective strategies used by retail store managers that lead to employee commitment to increase business performance. The study population was 8,230 retail store managers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. The conceptual framework for this study was the Meyer and Allen 3-component model of commitment. Participants were purposefully selected for their knowledge, experience and success in implementing effective retention strategies. Data were collected via face-to-face semistructured interviews, indirect participant observations, …

Matching Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies To Organizational Goals, Jason P. Vitelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many Fortune 500 organizations have policies about corporate social responsibility (CSR), but the leaders struggle to implement CSR policies that match corporate stated goals and objectives. The purpose of this case study was to explore whether leaders' CSR strategies matched the goals and objectives of the company. Twenty individuals located in New York, NY, United States, with various management-level positions, and who had experiences with CSR in a Fortune 500 organization with a CSR policy, participated in the current study. The conceptual framework was corporate social responsibility stakeholder theory. Data collection consisted of a semistructured interview with the leaders about …

Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Financial Performance, Christopher Lim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumers are demanding that corporations become more socially responsible. Executives are challenged to maximize shareholders' returns with achieving a favorable corporate citizen status. The research problem was a gap in knowledge and understanding of the impact of corporate social responsibility on financial performance. This study used multiple linear regression to assess the relationship between key indicators of corporate social responsibility and financial performance from 372 corporations in the S&P500 in 2014. The theoretical foundation was Freeman's stakeholder theory. Environment, community, human rights, diversity, employee relations, product quality, and corporate governance were measures of social performance. Return on assets was used …

Strategies To Reduce Cost Overruns And Schedule Delays In Construction Projects, Ali Al-Keim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior managers fail to control time and costs of construction projects despite available advanced project management tools. Based on project management theory, the objective of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies senior managers use to reduce cost overruns and schedule delays in construction projects. Primary data were obtained from semistructured interviews with 3 senior managers from different construction project management companies who have successfully managed construction projects in Qatar. Data analysis process included a modified Van Kaam method. The transcribed interviews were interpreted and coded to generate themes and were validated through member checking and archival documents. …

Effective Stakeholder Management Strategies For Information Technology Projects, Andrew Stephen Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information Technology (IT) projects have become critical to business strategy. However, one major issue is that, historically, IT projects have high failure rates, with scholars asserting that ineffective stakeholder management strategies were a major factor for project failure. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies IT executives use for managing IT project stakeholders by exploring the experiences of 2 CIOs and 4 IT directors in two multinational companies, based in Switzerland. Stakeholder theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and company documentation, and analyzed using Yin's 5-step data analysis …

Exploring The Impact Of Shared Leadership Styles And Nonprofit Performance, Will Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empirical data have not adequately revealed current methods of nonprofit leadership in a way that reflects shared leadership in the nonprofit sector leaving nonprofit organizations (NPOs) at a disadvantage in relation to understanding and describing leadership effectiveness. Using a conceptual framework that incorporated organizational theory, shared leadership theory, path goal theory, transformational theory, leader member exchange, and fund development theory, this mini ethnographic study was conducted to explore the effect of leadership styles in shared leadership situations and the impact of matched and unmatched leadership styles on NPO funding performance. With the use of purposeful sampling to conduct the study, …

Racial Microaggressions, Faculty Motivation, And Job Satisfaction In Southeastern Universities, Saundra Elizabeth Carr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For racial minority faculty, racism is associated with adverse outcomes, including poor job satisfaction and less motivation, which may lead faculty to leave the teaching profession. It is unknown what relationships, if any, exist among perceived racial microaggression, job satisfaction, and employee motivation among African American (AA) faculty and other faculty of color in colleges and universities in the southeastern United States. Critical race theory provided a framework to investigate the relationship of perceived racial microaggressions toward AA faculty and other faculty of color with motivation and job satisfaction. This study involved a correlational design using multiple linear regressions to …

Amnesty As A Public Policy Tool For Countering Insurgence In Nigeria, Ayodeji A. Dada

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although research has been done on amnesty, little is known about amnesty as a public policy tool toward countering insurgence in Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of amnesty as a public policy tool. The research questions are: Is there a difference in people's view of amnesty that explain the relevance of infrastructural facilities to stimulate economic growth and development in Nigeria? And, are there specific citizen characteristics that explain the differences in the way citizens perceive amnesty as a public policy choice? The theoretical framework was based on Marx's ideology of conflict theory. This …

Strategic Leadership In Public Sector Administration In Nigeria, Joy Onyinye Eliogu-Anenih

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inefficiency in the public sector as a result of leadership ineptitude is said to have contributed significantly to the underdevelopment of Nigeria. This has led to the mismanagement of human and financial resources as well as contributed extensively to poor service delivery to the citizens. The research considered the critical role of public sector administration to the functionality of a society, noting that the major determinant for public sector success is leadership effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to identify how leadership ineffectiveness could be addressed in public sector administration in Nigeria and consider the implications of …

Human Capital Strategies Of Leaders In The Food Service Industry, Olivia Patrice Chanté Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High voluntary employee turnover in the food service industry often exceeds 60%. Some food service leaders lack strategies to motivate employees to stay with the organization. High voluntary employee turnover negatively affects organizational profitability due to increased employee replacement costs and reduced organizational productivity. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the human capital strategies successful food service leaders use to reduce voluntary employee turnover intentions. The target population consisted of 4 managers of 4 different casual dining restaurants in Winston-Salem, NC who successfully used human capital strategies to reduce voluntary employee turnover intentions. The conceptual frameworks …

Strategies To Sustain Positive Leader-Employee Relationships To Increase Productivity, Bont'e Twyman-Abrams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior executive leaders face ongoing challenges assessing whether their leadership teams have the competencies to respond to rapidly changing business conditions resulting from negative leader-employee interactions. The purpose of this qualitative single-unit case study was to explore strategies that team leaders at an online, for-profit high school education system located in Delaware, used to sustain positive leader-employee relationships to increase employee productivity. The population consisted of 5 current team leaders (faculty members and executives) at the study site who had experienced team member losses, yet had implemented effective strategies to sustain positive leader-employee relationships and increased employee productivity. The conceptual …

Strategies For Recruiting Cybersecurity Professionals In The Financial Service Industry, Iva Walters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The cybersecurity market is the fastest growing market in the United States; as such, leaders in financial institutions recognize their businesses are vulnerable, as money is accessible within computerized banking systems. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what strategies financial service leaders- use to recruit cybersecurity professionals. The conceptual framework for this study was the hierarchy of needs and stakeholder management theory. Data collection involved company archival documents and semistructured, open-ended interviews with 5 financial service leaders in the Midlands area of South Carolina who recruited skilled cybersecurity professionals to support long-term business sustainability. Coding, clustering, …

Role Of Middle Managers In Mitigating Employee Cyberloafing In The Workplace, Anizizo Aku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Companies in the United States are concerned about the indeterminate effectiveness of corporate cyberloafing mitigation efforts leading to the persistence of employee cyberloafing behavior. Although middle managers are the driving force behind the transformational influences that guide employee productivity and could proffer practical solutions, a lack of clarity surrounds the middle manager's role in the overall cyberloafing mitigation efforts within organizations. The central research question for this transcendental phenomenological research study explored the lived experiences of middle managers regarding their roles in mitigating employee cyberloafing at higher education institutions in Florida. This study used a social constructivist-interpretive framework that draws …

The Trilogy Of Science: Filling The Knowledge Management Gap With Knowledge Science And Theory, Anthony Shawn Bates

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The international knowledge management field has different ways of investigating, developing, believing, and studying knowledge management. Knowledge management (KM) is distinguished deductively by know-how, and its intangible nature establishes different approaches to KM concepts, practices, and developments. Exploratory research and theoretical principles have formed functional intelligences from 1896 to 2013, leading to a knowledge management knowledge science (KMKS) concept that derived a grounded theory of knowledge activity (KAT). This study addressed the impact of knowledge production problems on KM practice. The purpose of this qualitative meta-analysis study was to fit KM practice within the framework of knowledge science (KS) study. …

Strategic Alignment Of Information Technology Projects And Project Success, Joan Barnes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alignment of information technology (IT) projects remains a concern for business executives and negatively impacts IT investments through failed projects. Drawing from the theory of systems thinking and the concept of holism, the purpose of this correlational study was to provide executive leaders with information about influences associated with the independent variables of project alignment and performance outputs, and the dependent variable, project success rates. Accordingly, the research question addressed the relationship between the 2-predictor variables and the outcome variable. Data collection involved a nonprobability, purposive sample of 49 credentialed project managers from Arizona who completed an online survey. Results …

Leadership Style And Organizational Citizenship Behavior In Community-Based Mental Health Facilities, Paula Ann Lucey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A dramatic and historic evolution has occurred as mental health care has shifted from institutional-based care to community-based care. Framed by the social exchange theory, the purpose of this study was to identify the correlation of the leadership style of supervisors in residential care facilities with the organizational citizenship behavior of the residential care workers. The research questions focused on the correlation between the leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) with a secondary focus specifically on transformational leadership. Residential care workers in 3 states working in 65 facilities within a single organization completed 2 surveys: the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire …

Strategies For Managing The Shortages Of Registered Nurses, Jody-Kay Mcfarlane Peterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that healthcare facility leaders in Central Minnesota use to recruit and retain qualified nurses. Participants were 6 healthcare facility leaders including 2 nursing directors, 2 human resource personnel, 1 nurse supervisor/administrator, and 1 nurse recruiter who had the knowledge and experience in recruitment and retention of Registered Nurses (RNs) in healthcare facilities in Central Minnesota. The Herzberg 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using Morse's 4 steps data analysis process. The major themes were recruitment strategies and retention incentives. …

Effects Of Change Valence And Informational Assessments On Organizational Readiness For Change, James Edward Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nearly two-thirds of organizational change initiatives are unsuccessful due to a lack of high levels of change readiness prior to implementation of the change. A review of the literature supported the importance of establishing organizational readiness for change (ORC), but a gap remained in the empirical data and extant literature about whether presumed antecedents identified in ORC theory contribute to increased levels of ORC. The purpose of this study was to gather empirical data to address this question of whether change valence and informational assessment scores are associated with increased levels of organizational readiness for implementing change. The research design …

Virtual Team Success: The Impact Of Leadership Style And Project Management Experience, Albert Udom

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The ability of project managers to effectively lead virtual teams is an important factor in the teams' success. Since the 1990s, organizations' use of virtual teams to plan and execute projects has increased, yet virtual teams continue to have high failure rates. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether a relationship exists between leadership styles, years of project management experience, and success of virtual teams. I used the path-goal theory of leadership as the theoretical framework for this study. A nonpurposive random sample of 160 project managers in the San Francisco Bay Area who had obtained the …

Efficacy Of Social Media To Promote Green Technology Use, Ehi E. Aimiuwu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global warming has become a major threat to life, yet very little information systems

research has been conducted to help sustain the environment and many people do not

understand how social media can be used to combat global warming and climate change

to save the earth. The purpose of this single qualitative case study was to explore whether

social media can be used to increase the use of green technology, thereby reducing the

cost of environmental sustainment. According to the integrated sustainability framework,

which served as the conceptual framework for the study, firms should include green

practices in their business …