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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Review Of The Department Of The Army's Decentralized Cost Benefit Analysis Process, Gerard M. Acosta Jan 2011

A Review Of The Department Of The Army's Decentralized Cost Benefit Analysis Process, Gerard M. Acosta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

From 1996 to 2006, the number of Department of Defense (DoD) contract transactions increased, leading to over expenditures and the need for agencies to determine benefit estimation to improve risk management of a project. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply a total quality management theory to explore if a standardized versus decentralized benefits framework within the cost benefit analysis process could improve the Department of the Army acquisition selection process. The two central research questions addressed (a) the differences between successful and failed acquisition systems cost benefit analysis, and (b) whether a standardized or decentralized cost …


Knowledge Sharing And Competitiveness Of Professional Service Firms: A Case Study, Albert P. Cruz Jan 2011

Knowledge Sharing And Competitiveness Of Professional Service Firms: A Case Study, Albert P. Cruz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is that little action is taken to create the social aspects and social value of knowledge-sharing culture within organizations. There is a need for increased understanding of the behavioral side of knowledge management. The purpose of this study was to focus on knowledge sharing from a behavioral perspective. Knowledge management is defined as the accumulation, protection, and leverage of knowledge. This research study investigated the relationship between knowledge sharing and competitiveness and approached the field of knowledge management from the organizational, cultural, and behavioral perspectives. The research questions examined how knowledge workers described the …


The Relationship Among Emotional Intelligence And Leadership Styles Of Law Enforcement Executives, Gregory, Jr. Campbell Jan 2011

The Relationship Among Emotional Intelligence And Leadership Styles Of Law Enforcement Executives, Gregory, Jr. Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Policing in the 21st century is becoming more complex and dynamic as law enforcement executives deal with operational, political, and economic challenges. Organizational theory and research indicate positive relationships among emotional intelligence (EI), leadership effectiveness, leadership styles, and employee outcomes. But these relationships have not been investigated in law enforcement organizations. The purpose of this quantitative study was to fill this knowledge gap by exploring the above relationships in a sample of law enforcement executives. Situational leadership theory, full range leadership model, and trait EI theory comprised the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected from 139 law enforcement …


Information Withholding And The Management Of Productivity In Teams, Dolores Drumheller Jan 2011

Information Withholding And The Management Of Productivity In Teams, Dolores Drumheller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The importance of good communications between team members has been well documented. Yet previous studies on communications between team members have neglected to focus on reasons for information withholding between people working on teams. The purpose of this case study of 16 engineers and 6 educators was to understand why team members withhold information when working together. A convenience sample was selected from a software engineering organization. Collective intelligence theory in a modern communications environment was used as the theoretical foundation. This theory posits that the synergy of full group collaboration results in enhanced performance and the spread of new …


Data-Driven Decision Making As A Tool To Improve Software Development Productivity, Mary Erin Brown Jan 2011

Data-Driven Decision Making As A Tool To Improve Software Development Productivity, Mary Erin Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The worldwide software project failure rate, based on a survey of information technology software manager's view of user satisfaction, product quality, and staff productivity, is estimated to be between 24% and 36% and software project success has not kept pace with the advances in hardware. The problem addressed by this study was the limited information about software managers' experiences with data-driven decision making (DDD) in agile software organizations as a tool to improve software development productivity. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how agile software managers view DDD as a tool to improve software development productivity and …


Relative Pricing Of Publicly Traded U.S. Electric Utility Companies, Nicholas Stephen Jewczyn Jan 2011

Relative Pricing Of Publicly Traded U.S. Electric Utility Companies, Nicholas Stephen Jewczyn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the financial turmoil of 2008, U.S. firms reported debt-ratios that differed from the debt-ratios calculated from balance sheets. The problem is that investors bought common stock expecting initial investment return and lost money when companies delisted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine sample securities pricing with the application of synthetic assets and debt accrued. Addressed in the research questions was whether those securities were (a) underpriced compared with return-on-assets (ROA), (b) overpriced compared with ROA, (c) a debt-ratio higher than 60% and also overpriced, (d) underpriced with a synthetic asset added, or (e) related by relative …


Exploration Of The Project Management Practitioner's Emotional Intelligence Competencies, Linda A. Hooper Jan 2011

Exploration Of The Project Management Practitioner's Emotional Intelligence Competencies, Linda A. Hooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The success rate of information technology projects is on a downward trend, with reported losses in the billions of dollars. Recent studies indicate a 50--56% project success rate based on quality, budget, and on-time criteria. Building upon the conceptual framework of the emotional intelligence and knowledge management theories, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how project management practitioners apply self- and cultural-awareness competencies to affect project outcomes. Using a purposeful sampling method, 24 experienced U.S.-based project management practitioners participated in a web-based questionnaire. Following Giorgi's data reduction process resulted in numeric data coding. Thematic analysis revealed themes …


A Business Case For Return On Investment: Understanding Organizational Change, Rya S. Henderson-Carter Jan 2011

A Business Case For Return On Investment: Understanding Organizational Change, Rya S. Henderson-Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2010, 2,000 U. S. leaders spent {dollar}150 billion on return on investment (ROI) training, yet questions still exist on how to measure the benefits of organizational change. The purpose of this embedded single-case study was to explore how business leaders could use ROI to characterize the benefit of intervention strategies for organizational change. Stakeholder theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A purposive sample of 20 civilian personnel managers located at a medical facility for veterans in central Texas participated in semistructured interviews. The 5 primary themes that emerged using thematic analysis …


The Potential Role Of Business Intelligence In Church Organizations, Charmaine Felder Jan 2011

The Potential Role Of Business Intelligence In Church Organizations, Charmaine Felder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business intelligence (BI) involves transforming data into actionable information to make better business decisions that may help improve operations. Although businesses have experienced success with BI, how leaders of church organizations might be able to exploit the advantages of BI in church organizations remains largely unexplored. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of pastoral leaders concerning the potential usefulness of BI in church organizations. Conceptual support for the study was based on the premise that churches may also benefit from BI that helps improve decision making and organizational performance. Three research questions were used to …


Navy Downsizing And Its Effect On Active Enlisted Navy Personnel, Eden Velasco Castro Jan 2011

Navy Downsizing And Its Effect On Active Enlisted Navy Personnel, Eden Velasco Castro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The overall scope of naval missions has remained largely unchanged despite the loss of more than 8,000 naval personnel each year since 2002. The downsized naval workforce experienced an overload in work assignments and an increase of health-related issues resulting in lowered morale, motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity. Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs links personal satisfaction to work productivity, which is critical for naval personnel to protect national security, provide humanitarian services, and respond to international crises effectively. This phenomenological study included semi-structured interviews with military and civilian leaders at naval bases located in San Diego and El Centro, …


How Leaders Think: Measuring Cognitive Complexity In Leading Organizational Change, Iva Vurdelja Jan 2011

How Leaders Think: Measuring Cognitive Complexity In Leading Organizational Change, Iva Vurdelja

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The ability to lead complex organizational change is considered the most difficult leadership responsibility. Habitual linear thinking based on sequential procedural decision making is insufficient when responding to ambiguous and unpredictable challenges and interpreting systemic variables in the context of unforeseen problems, risks, and invisible interrelationships. The purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to expand our understanding of the structure of the thinking employed by executive leaders as initiators and enablers of complex, large-scale organizational change. The researcher integrated knowledge of adult cognitive development and organizational leadership to examine the higher forms of reasoning abilities required for dealing …