Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Black Business Owners Overcoming Barriers In Texas, Henry Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black entrepreneurs in the state of Texas reported that they did not achieve the same level of success as nonminority enterprises. Many Black entrepreneurs have obtained education from top tier institutions and have the managerial experiences, skills, and working knowledge that facilitate business success, but they are not able to sustain business growth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black Texan entrepreneurs. This research was established using the conceptual framework of human capital. The overarching research question concerned the lived experiences of Black Texas entrepreneurs who were not as successful in business as …

Effect Of Early Exposure To Technology On Student Satisfaction With Online Education, Mohamed Boudalia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. student enrollment in online classes in the higher education sector has grown rapidly since 2001. Researchers have found that student satisfaction often leads to higher student retention, yet more research was needed to understand reasons for student satisfaction with online education. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine the relationship between students' early exposure to technology (i.e., before college) and their satisfaction with online education in college. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology were the theoretical framework. A convenience sample of 103 participants from the population of online students at colleges and universities in …

Ensuring Quality Consumer Service Encounters, Katina Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counterproductive employee behaviors are inevitable, unpredictable, and widespread in the U.S. retail industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore U.S. midlevel retail leadership strategies used to prevent and correct employee behaviors that sabotage quality service encounters. Gilbert's behavior engineering model, which links employee behaviors to performance, was the framework used in this study. The data-collection process comprised 7 semistructured interviews with midlevel retail leaders, online company documentation, and researcher observations and assisted in achieving methodological triangulation. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses, while Moustakas' modified van Kaam method was used to guide the data …

Productivity And Employee Behavior Change Strategies In Two Nigerian Manufacturing Organizations, Marvel Saturday Ogah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some Nigerian manufacturing organizations suffer significant losses yearly due to a lack of employee commitment and engagement. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain understanding of the strategies that leaders in the manufacturing industries in Lagos need to know in order to change employee behavior to achieve increased organizational productivity levels. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the path-goal theory of leadership. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample consisting of 24 managerial and non-managerial staff members of 2 manufacturing organizations in Nigeria who have had experience in, and training, and …

The Effects Of Behavioral Determinants And Sociodemographic Factors On Homeowners' Intent To Conserve Energy, Sallieu M. Jalloh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Greenhouse gas emissions are caused, in part, by human activities. However, consumers may assume that the burden of environmental problems, such as carbon emissions reduction through sustainable energy practices, should be borne by the entire society. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to test whether behavioral determinants and demographic factors could influence homeowners' intent to conserve energy. Empirical data were collected from 436 sampled homeowners in the Northeast region of the United States using an online survey questionnaire. The survey instrument was adapted from Ajzen's theory of planned behavior instrument. Variables aligned with the theory of planned behavior, alongside …

Relationships Between Transformational Leadership And Organizational Citizenship Behavior In Ghanaian Organizations, Adjoa Randy-Cofie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The recent global financial crisis prompted organizations to search for effective ways to minimize loss of revenue due to settlement of organizational scandals. Transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) are known to affect employees and subsequently organizational productivity. However, little is known about the relationship between transformational leadership and the OCB of employees of multinational corporations (MNCs) in Ghana. The purpose of this quantitative study was to bridge the gap in knowledge by examining the relationships between transformational leadership and the OCB of employees of MNCs in Ghana. The theoretical frameworks for this study were Bass' transformational leadership theory …

Increasing Employee Retention Within The Georgia Division Of Family And Children Services, Santoria Lushell Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Walden University

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by

Santoria Lushell Williams

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects,

and that any and all revisions required by

the review committee have been made.

Review Committee

Dr. Hilda Shepeard, Committee Chairperson,

Public Policy and Administration Faculty

Dr. Clarence Williamson, Committee Member,

Public Policy and Administration Faculty

Dr. Anne Hacker, University Reviewer,

Public Policy and Administration Faculty

Chief Academic Officer

Eric Riedel, Ph.D.

Walden University

2018

In Fulton County, Georgia, the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) child-welfare workers …

Patient Satisfaction Management In Office Visits And Telehealth In Health Care Technology, Todd Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Telehealth and remote medical treatments have begun to be more commonly used in healthcare systems. Researchers have theorized that providers' abilities to treat patients are not directly tied to the proximity of the patient to the doctor, but by the identification and treatment of the patient's symptoms. Although the treatment and cure rates are being established within individual health systems and professional medical associations, empirical research is lacking regarding patient satisfaction with this remote treatment situation. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address this gap by examining satisfaction ratings of patients between virtual provider visits and face-to-face provider …

Factors That Encourage Unethical Practices By Organizational Leaders In Nigeria, Ebenezer Bankole Odole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underlying concern for this research was the increasing numbers of reported culpability of organizational leaders' involvement in unethical practices, and the lack of previous literature on organizational factors that encourage unethical practices by organizational leaders in Nigeria. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the factors that encourage unethical practices by organizational leaders in Nigeria despite having ethical leadership skills and knowledge. This study was grounded in the framework of moral development theory by Lawrence Kohlberg, also known as the cognitive developmental theory of moralization. Data were gathered from document reviews from public library …

Strategies Hospitality Leaders Use To Reduce Employee Turnover, Borislav Perev

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover is a global problem with adverse effects on financial performance and sustainability of organizations. In the hospitality industry, employee turnover levels increased to 58.8%, and the associated cost of turnover may be more than 100% of an employee's yearly wage, with a total loss of over $25 billion a year. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by hospitality leaders in the southeastern United States to reduce employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory. Purposeful selection of participants included leaders with experience in developing and implementing strategies for reducing employee …

Share Retention, Underwriter Reputation, And Initial Public Offering Underpricing, Marcia Yvonne Reid-Grant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Initial public offering (IPO) underpricing is a costly practice that decreases the IPO proceeds accruing to the issuing firms and can derail a firm's growth objectives. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine the relationship between share retention, underwriter reputation, and IPO underpricing among a population of IPOs issued in Jamaica. The efficient market hypothesis served as the theoretical framework for this study. Archived data for 52 IPOs issued in Jamaica from 1986 to 2018 were collected and Spearman's correlation matrix and heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors regression analysis were applied. The outcomes of this study indicated no significant relationship …

Leadership Satisfaction And Turnover Intention Among Public Sector Employees, Marcia Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The changing demographics of the federal workforce require managers to understand generational differences in experiences, values, and leadership preferences that can negatively impact an agency's ability to fulfill its mission. There is a gap in the literature regarding generational cohort perceptions of employee satisfaction with leadership and turnover intention in the Small Business Administration (SBA). The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine the generational perceptions of SBA employees regarding leadership satisfaction and intent to leave the organization within the next year. Strauss and Howe's generational theory served as the theoretical framework. This non-experimental quantitative study used the …

A Grounded Theory Of Millennials Job-Hopping, Deborah L. Rivers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporations are finding it challenging to attract and retain the top talented Millennials. Their frequent job-hopping is costing the U.S. economy $30.5 billion annually despite corporations' best efforts to retain them. The central research question concerns the decision-making process that Millennials use to decide whether to job-hop or stay with an organization. The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a theory that explains the Millennials' process for deciding whether to job-hop or stay with an organization. The conceptual framework for this grounded theory research is generational theory, Herzberg's hygiene and motivational factors, and psychological contract theory. The data …

The Relationship Between Georgia Public School Educational Funding Sources And Academic Achievement, Rosalind Ray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, state educational finance systems are required to ensure that every student obtains an adequate and equitable education. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the financial management aspect of public funding and the consequences of Georgia's reliance on local property tax revenue for financing its public school districts and attaining student academic achievement outcomes. The research questions examined whether there was a difference in student academic achievement levels of economically disadvantaged (ED) students based on the total 8th grade student population, annual property valuations, and median home sale prices during the 2006-2014 school terms. …

Priests' Perceptions Of The Leadership Styles Of U.S. Catholic Bishops, Aloysius Okey Ndeanaefo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Catholic bishops have used their authority to address the child sexual abuse scandal, but it has been problematic that no one has yet evaluated their exercised leadership styles. In this phenomenological study, I explored U.S Catholic priests' perceptions of the bishops' leadership styles related to how they handled the child sexual abuse scandal. Knowing the bishops' leadership styles was paramount to fill the research gap. The theoretical frameworks underpinning this study were transformational leadership, transactional leadership, charismatic leadership, and servant leadership. Data collected through interviews with 11 Catholic priests revealed their perceptions of how the behavioral characteristics …

Analytic Extensions To The Data Model For Management Analytics And Decision Support In The Big Data Environment, Nsikak Etim Akpakpan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

From 2006 to 2016, an estimated average of 50% of big data analytics and decision support projects failed to deliver acceptable and actionable outputs to business users. The resulting management inefficiency came with high cost, and wasted investments estimated at $2.7 trillion in 2016 for companies in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to examine the data model of a typical data analytics project in a big data environment for opportunities to improve the information created for management problem-solving. The research questions focused on finding artifacts within enterprise data to model key business scenarios for …

How Naturalized African-Americans Experience Racial Microaggressions In U.S. Federal Agencies, Casimir Yem Bilong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Civil Rights Act was enacted more than 5 decades ago, and its provisions forbade discrimination on the basis of race in hiring, promoting, and firing. Yet some researchers argue that racial discrimination issues are still prevalent in the United States. They contend that modern racial discrimination is more covert and takes the form of racial microaggressions, which are subtle conscious or unconscious insults and derogatory attitudes directed towards minorities. Researchers have not fully addressed the prevalence of racial microaggressions in U.S. workplaces, however. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of naturalized African-Americans …

Medical Identity Theft And Palm Vein Authentication: The Healthcare Manager's Perspective, Cruz Cerda Iii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that cyber actors will likely increase cyber intrusions against healthcare systems and their concomitant medical devices because of the mandatory transition from paper to electronic health records, lax cyber security standards, and a higher financial payout for medical records in the deep web. The problem addressed in this quantitative correlational study was uncertainty surrounding the benefits of palm vein authentication adoption relative to the growing crime of medical identity theft. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to understand healthcare managers' and doctors' perceptions of the effectiveness of palm vein authentication technology. The …

Community Public-Private Partnership Leadership Synergy In Tanzania, Hawa Yatera Mshana

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the public-private partnership (PPP) concept in health and social health has been politically accepted as the best pathway to improving health outcomes in many developing nations, implementation lacks leadership synergy. Lack of awareness and engagement of community leaders about PPP interventions and their benefits affect accountability and ownership of health and social care interventions. The purpose of this study was to better understand factors that could promote partnership leadership synergy to enhance ownership and accountability for community health and social welfare initiatives in Tanzania. A qualitative empirical case study design was used; diffusion of innovation and the public-private integrated …

Industrial Voluntary Consensus Standards – A Process Under Threat, Joel Blumenthal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The world relies heavily on industrial voluntary consensus standards to serve public interests through the development of uniform and harmonized social and economic procedures. The research problem focused on generating suggestions for improving collaborative practices between U.S.-based accredited and unaccredited standards development organizations that create voluntary consensus standards. The research centered on assessing the level of consensus among experts regarding what actions may be conducive to improving collaborative practices through the lenses of stakeholder and institutional theory. This modified 3-round qualitative Delphi study began with open-ended questions in Round 1 and progressed towards consensus in Rounds 2 and 3 using …

Career Challenges Faced By Professional Black Women In Sweden, Herta Boakye-Yiadom Dahl

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academically and professionally qualified Black women who immigrated to Sweden from the United States and the continent of Africa encounter barriers that may hinder their career opportunities. The unstable labor market position of foreigners required efforts by the Swedish government to address the problem. Little is known about the unique and specific challenges that qualified Black immigrant women experience when integrating into the Swedish labor market with foreign qualifications and professional experience. Guided by Durkheim's social integration theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to evaluate the lived experiences of Black immigrant women as they integrated into the Swedish …

Effect Of Administrative Practices On Law Enforcement Officers' Emotional Intelligence Performance, Iberkis Faltas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Between 2001 and 2017, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) received 295,616 allegations of police misconduct involving New York Police Department (NYPD) officers' use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and offensive language (FADO). The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of administrative disciplinary actions on officers' emotional intelligence and performance in relation to citizen complaints of police misconduct. The central research question addressed how administrative practices influence law enforcement officers' behavior in relation to emotional intelligence-based performance. The theoretical construct for this study is based on the emotional intelligence theories of Bar-On, Goleman, and Mayer, DiPaolo …

Traits And Management Strategies Attributed To The Success Of Virtual-Team Leaders, Roderick A. Haley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

The rapid advances in technology and the globalization of the economy have led corporate leaders to invest heavily in virtual teams to increase their global coverage. The problem in this phenomenological study was that many organizational leaders do not understand the extent to which they need to manage virtual teams differently from traditional, face-to-face teams. This is significant, because due to geographical differences and possibly cultural differences, virtual teams require various modes of communication. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of effective virtual-team leaders and the operational strategies employed to lead them. …

The Impact Of Mentoring On Social Excluded Adults In A Small Midwest City, Rose A. Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empirical data have indicated that a considerable amount of the world's population, 45.3 million in the United States, live in deplorable conditions, some of which are created by social exclusion. Social exclusion is a disenfranchisement experienced by individuals and families living in poverty conditions created by circumstances such as lack of education, lack of economic sustenance, unemployment, poor health, and other social ills. Mentoring is a multidimensional skills-development opportunity for disadvantaged youth, aspiring new professionals, employed individuals being promoted, and instructor-student relationships. There is the possibility that mentoring could be useful for other societal groups as well, particularly social excluded …

Managerial Strategies Small Businesses Use To Prevent Cybercrime, Doreen Lynn Maahs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Estimated worldwide losses due to cybercrime are approximately $375-575 billion annually, affecting governments, business organizations, economies, and society. With globalization on the rise, even small businesses conduct transactions worldwide through the use of information technology (IT), leaving these small businesses vulnerable to the intrusion of their networks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the managerial strategies of small manufacturing business owners to protect their financial assets, data, and intellectual property from cybercrime. The conceptual framework was systems thinking and action theory. Participants included 4 small manufacturing business owners in the midwestern region of the United States. …

Effective Management Communication Strategies, Dr. Cad W. Shannon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Managing employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization, but 85% of managers struggle with engaging employees. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore effective communication strategies within an organization and determine how managers used these strategies to increase employee engagement, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected from organizational documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 6 managers of a corporation located in the midwestern United States. All participants were working full-time for at least 3 years, had a managerial title, and were responsible for departmental communication. Moustakas's modified van Kaam method was used for data …

A Case Study On Learning Transfer In A Social Service Organization, Cynthia A. Barnes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Support from managers, training specialists, and human resource development specialists is needed if social service employees are to transfer learning to their organizations. There is a gap in the literature about managers, training specialists, and HRD specialists familiarizing employees with learning transfer expectations. This study addressed the way social service employees transferred what was learned after attending normal training classes. The research questions focused on learning transfer expectations for the employees, conditions that addressed during the learning transfer, processes that are in place where there was not a learning transfer initiative, and the way learning was used by employee. The …

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 …

Strategies To Combat Tenant Fraud In The Rental Housing Market, Dr. Gwendolyn B. Dawson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many business executives lack strategies to detect and eliminate tenant fraud in subsidized rental housing. The purpose of this multicase study was to explore strategies some business executives used to detect and eliminate tenant fraud in subsidized rental housing. The conceptual framework used to guide this study was the theory of planned behavior. Data were gathered using semistructured interviews with 6 purposively selected business executives of public housing authorities, supplemented with a review of policies and procedures that business executives used. Yin's 5-step analysis, which entails examining, categorizing, tabulating, creating a data display, and testing the data, guided the process …

Exploring Ethnic Diversity On Managerial Choices In Nigeria., Henry Odiri Imoni

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Nigeria, most citizens between the ages of 20-60 believe that ethnicity is the leading cause of discrimination. The central problem addressed in this study was how ethnic diversity influenced managerial choices in Nigeria. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the role of ethnicity in managerial choices in a Nigerian federal traffic management agency to gain an understanding of how ethnicity influenced managers' recruitment, placement, and promotion of employees. Complexity theory and a consideration of African management practices constituted the conceptual framework. Participants were 11 managers who were recruited from a Nigerian government agency using a …