Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Recent Legislation To Promote Wind Energy In Nebraska, Ryan Lemke

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Nebraska is currently ranked 4th in the nation for wind energy potential, but ranks low in actual wind power production. The lack of wind energy production could be the result of Nebraska’s unique public power districts that have eminent domain of distribution and retail sales of electricity in the State. Public Power districts are prohibited from receiving benefits of state and federal tax incentives for the development of wind farms, however some Nebraska power districts still pursue wind energy as a renewable source of energy.

Recent legislation changes, including the passing of laws LB629 and LB1048, have provided the State …

Information Quality On The World Wide Web: A User Perspective, Jaikrit Kandari

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Information Quality has emerged as an important measure for the success of Information Systems. At the same time the World Wide Web has established itself as the key infrastructure for information administration, exchange, and publication. Users are getting information from the web at the click of a button however they must filter sub-standard information before they can use quality content. Researchers have aimed to address this problem by suggesting various information quality frameworks. Research till date has seen twenty important Information Quality (IQ) frameworks emerge. These models though varied in their approach and application share a number of characteristics regarding …

Coaching Efficacy With Academic Leaders: A Phenomenological Investigation, Deanna Lee Vansickel-Peterson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this psychological phenomenological research was to understand the efficacy of life coaching from the perspective of academic leaders. To date, not one investigation or attempt has been made towards the above stated purpose. This study includes a theoretical overview and a review of the coaching literature from Socrates (469-399 BC) to current day Humanistic theory presented in part by Roger (1902-1987).

This process included data collection from five academic leaders who have been coached for at least two years. Levels of analysis of 365 statements, quote and/or comments produced finding of efficacy in life coaching with academic …

Financial Literacy Explicated: The Case For A Clearer Definition In An Increasingly Complex Economy, David L. Remund

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study explicates the concept of financial literacy, which has blossomed in use this century. Scholars, policy officials, financial experts, and consumer advocates have used the phrase loosely to describe the knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation necessary to effectively manage money. As a result, financial literacy has varying conceptual definitions in existing research as well as diverse operational definitions and values. This study dissects the differing financial literacy definitions and measures, urging researchers toward common ground. A clearer definition should improve future research, in turn helping consumers better understand and adapt to changing life events and an increasingly complex economy.

Antecedents Of Servant Leadership: A Mixed Methods Study, Curtis D. Beck

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the antecedents of servant leadership. The sequential explanatory research design consisted of two distinct phases: quantitative followed by qualitative.

The Phase One quantitative survey collected data from 499 leaders and 630 raters from community leadership programs in the United States using the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006).

During Phase Two, selected leaders from phase one (N = 12) were interviewed to explain those results in more depth. The data were coded and analyzed for possible themes. Triangulation was used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data to validate …

Determining The Relationship And Influence Organizational Culture Has On Organizational Trust, Mindy S. Genetzky-Haugen

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The present research examines the influence of organizational culture on organizational trust. Leaders in the present and future will try to create a culture of trust, but leaders who do not examine and understand their current culture will not be successful in changing their organizational culture. The study shows constructive behavioral norms are both predictors and influencers of trust. The results suggest that companies that want to create a culture of trust need to instill into their culture achievement, self-actualizing, humanistic-encouraging and affiliative behavioral norms. Leadership needs to make sure avoidance behaviors are reduced in order to create and instill …

Leadership And Innovation Program, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

No abstract provided.

Testing The Impact Of Global Mindset On Positive Organizational Outcomes: A Multi-Level Analysis, Joana S. Story

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This multi-level study examined the relationship between leaders’ global mindset with followers’ rating of trust in leader, quality of the leader-member relationship (LMX), and organizational commitment. Complexity of global role and leader distance were also examined as moderating variables. Data were collected from 78 leader participants and 240 raters from one Fortune 100 multinational organization. A multilevel data analysis was conducted using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. No significant relationships were found between global mindset and ratings of follower trust in leader and quality of the leader-member-relationship. A significant negative relationship was found between global mindset of leaders and follower organizational commitment. …

Economic Outlook 2010: Innovation, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

This article discusses the importance of innovation to individuals and the overall economy.

An Entrepreneurial Approach To Career Development, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

This article explains how people can use an entrepreneurial approach to career development in and effort to advance their careers and employment opportunities.

Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.

Reflecting On Experience For Leadership Development, Adrian Chan

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study proposes that being reflective or ruminative about one's leadership experience can have differential effects on one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and psychological capital. Specifically, through the aid of an event history calendar, conscript military trainees of high and low military experience from a SE Asian military organization were randomly assigned to recall and reflect or ruminate on his past leadership experience. Results show that type of reflection interacts with level of military leadership experience to differentially affect one's leadership efficacy, implicit leadership theories and leadership self-awareness. Reflection triggers produced significantly higher levels of implicit leadership theories under …

An Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Psychological Capital On Performance, Engagement, And The Contagion Effect, Timothy Daniel Hodges

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Psychological Capital, or PsyCap, is a core construct consisting of the positive psychological resources of efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. Previous research has consistently linked PsyCap to workplace outcomes including employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Further research has explored the ways in which PsyCap can be developed through relatively brief workplace interventions. The present study focuses on PsyCap development and the relationship to employee engagement and performance. In an experimental design with random assignment of subjects to control group (n = 52 managers and 152 associates) and treatment group (n = 58 managers and 239 employees), a field sample of …