Leadership Studies Commons^™

Authenticity: Theoretical Considerations, Instrument Development, And Implications For Leaders, Lyn Taylor Peyton Roberts Phd

Dissertations

The adage, "To thine own self be true," captures the essence of authenticity and is age-old. Yet the issue of being true to the self remains highly relevant today, particularly for organizational leaders who operate within complex, globalized, and competitive environments that regularly challenge their personal authenticity. For those interested in assessing and developing authenticity in the workplace, additional research on the topic is needed. In response, this study strengthens existing theoretical work on authenticity by offering an alternative approach to the concept, and creates a corresponding measure suitable for evaluating authenticity within the context of leadership. The work began …

Wheel Of Innovation : How Leaders' Attitudes And Behaviors Drive Disruptive Technology In The U.S. Navy, Eddy Wayne Witzel

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose

Innovative solutions in national defense are needed to respond to national security threats in our uncertain environment. Leader attitudes and behaviors have a substantial impact on innovation. Unfortunately we did not completely understand the effect of leader attitudes and behaviors on innovation and the team dynamics that lead to innovation, especially in the military. The purpose of this study was to determine how leadership attitudes and behaviors contribute to product innovation within the U.S. Navy and how leadership emerges within this complex adaptive system of innovation.

Method

The research was a qualitative design based on a multiple …

A Quantitative Case Study Of Transformational Leadership Characteristics Of Valley View University In Ghana, Isaac Boateng

Dissertations

Problem. Finding transformational leaders for private higher education institutions in Ghanais a major problem facing the governing boards of such institutions. There is tremendous growth at Valley View University. Finding transformational leaders could help support the growth of Valley View University (VVU). The task of university leaders has become very complex, ranging from communication, interaction, collaboration, shared leadership, policy interpretation, meeting the needs of foundations, boards, parents, students, alumni, faculty, staff, accreditation boards and the government. Therefore, finding transformational leaders for Valley View University to meet the above leadership challenges is a major problem.

Purpose. The purpose of this study …

The Relationship Between Perceived Servant Leadership Constructs And Collective Self-Esteem, Leann D. Howell

Dissertations

Following Greenleaf’s (1977) seminal work in servant leadership, much has been written on the definition of servant leadership, but very little written on what it does. At the center of this research is a focus on how followers perceive servant leadership constructs/attributes, and the relationship between that perception and collective selfesteem as it relates to organizational membership. The central question guiding this research is: “Is there a relationship between perceived servant leadership constructs and collective self-esteem?” Followers’ perceptions of servant leadership constructs as defined by Patterson (2003) were investigated utilizing the Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument (SLAI) developed by Dennis (2004). …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Relationship Between Employee Perceptions Of An Organizational Leader's Commitment To Safety And Actual Injury Rates In A University Setting, David E. Oliver

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between employee perceptions of their supervisor’s commitment to safety (safety climate) and the actual rate of occupational injuries among the same employees. The study also aimed to examine the relationship between the employee perceptions of their supervisor’s leadership practices and the supervisor’s safety climate rating. In addition, this study examined the potential influence of employee demographic factors on their responses to survey questions. This research study sought to answer three primary questions: (1) Does a significant correlation exist between employee perceptions of his supervisor’s commitment to the health and safety …

Exploring The Impact On Students Of Western Universities On Foreign Soil: A Case Study Of Qatar, Richard Bakken Phd

Dissertations

The development of branch campuses in higher education is not a new phenomenon. Over the past decades, however, branch campuses have expanded throughout the world as Western universities have begun to deliver their programs and course offerings in countries that expect the West to provide educational (and, by implication, economic) success. Middle Eastern countries in particular have rapidly expanded the number of Western-style branch campuses for native students in their countries. This qualitative research study focused on one specific Middle Eastern country, Qatar, and explored how native students respond to attending a Western university that has been transplanted from the …

A Comparison Of Predictors Of Student Grades In Online And Face-To-Face Community College Courses, Pamela Kay Wright Edd

Dissertations

There is an increased demand for online course offerings in community colleges while there is also an increased demand for college accountability. Many analyses examine persistence and completion rates as indicators of student success. This analysis focuses on grade outcomes. Although this traditional view of success is somewhat narrow, it will provide a starting point for an examination of online student success. This study examines to what extent the academic success of online and face-to-face course takers can be explained by student demographics, financial aid status, educational goals, and select high school performance measures. It, then, explores similarities and differences …

Cultivating Compassion In Undergraduate College Students: Rhetoric Or Reality?, Michael Lovette-Colyer Phd

Dissertations

While American colleges and universities are unparalleled in their ability to produce disciplinary-based knowledge through research and scholarship, their ability to encourage students to use the information and methods about which they are learning to create positive social change has lagged. Aware of the magnitude of today's global issues and dissatisfied with the current disparity between the world's reality and university curricula, scholars have begun to re-imagine the role of higher education in forming the leaders who will face our most pressing problems. Founded to provide education integrated with the formation of values, a significant number of Catholic colleges and …

Coaching Teachers On Instruction: Developing Instructional Leadership Capacity Within A Principal Preparation Program, John J. Franey Phd

Dissertations

Over the last several decades, the role of the school site principal has shifted from a focus on school management to one on school leadership. Integral to this new focus is the ability of the principal to be an instructional leader, tasked with improving the instructional practices of teachers. Many principal preparation programs have adopted new methods to support aspiring school leaders including the development of effective coaching skills. This qualitative study examined one principal preparation program designed with this goal in mind. The primary research questions that guided this study were: (a) How does the coaching program support the …

Gambling In San Diego County: A Case Study, Michael Kelley Phd

Dissertations

Legal gambling operations in the United States are based on public policy decisions. Although research has shown that gambling intensity levels are related to a number of individual disorders and impose significant economic costs on society, the data is incomplete. For example, while research indicates that certain demographic categories and proximity to places of gambling are predictors of high gambling rates, there is little information on the impact of economic conditions on gambling intensity, as well as the prevalence of such behavior in specific locations. With multiple gambling venues, a growing population of the demographic groups associated with higher gambling …

Accounting For The Attrition Of African American Males In An Academic Support Setting, Ronald R. Lancia Phd

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses a continuing crisis in our nation's education system. Historically African American students have underperformed academically. This achievement gap is particularly pronounced for African American males. AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), an academic support program for underachieving students, most recently created the African American Male Initiative (AAMI). The AAMI was designed specifically to respond to the needs of black males. Despite its efforts, the AAMI has had a difficult time attracting and retaining black male participants. The purpose of this study was to better understand why African American high school males are not choosing to participate in the …

Leadership For Innovation In The Memories Business: A Mixed Methods Study Of A Hospitality And Tourism Marketplace, Lori J. Sipe Phd

Dissertations

In the past 35 years, substantial research has been conducted examining innovation in the business environment. Despite the vast quantity of innovation studies, a large percentage of the contributions are focused on product innovation outputs in manufacturing, while innovation theory in the services industry is still struggling to emerge. The hospitality and tourism industry is one of the largest service industries in the world. In this industry context, innovation is less about producing new things and more about delivering unique experiences to create lasting memories. The purpose of this study was to extend the work already done regarding innovation in …

Exploring The Paradoxical Role And Experience Of Fallback In Developmental Theory, Valerie Townsend Livesay Phd

Dissertations

Constructive-development and stage development theory, which posits that individuals move through different stages or action logics throughout life, has been the foundation for several models of human transformation. The literature on the leading stage theories indicates that research has focused on exploring stages and their behavioral correlates, but little work has been done on how individuals move between stages. Stage theory has primarily been conceived of as a linear and unidirectional transition from one stage to the next, which encompasses earlier stages, however emerging research has revealed that stage transition may be more fluid and bi-directional than originally thought and …

Performance Assessment For Quality Teaching: Three Critical Variables For Measuring And Improving Teaching And Learning, Kathleen L. Gallagher Phd

Dissertations

While outstanding teachers are any school system's most important investment, assessing the quality of instructional practice has proven to be an ongoing challenge for the profession. Despite assertions that effective teachers are the single most important school-related factor responsible for increased learning, no teacher's employment is dependent on their performance in the classroom or the quality of instruction that they provide. This problem has fueled a growing mistrust in school districts nationwide, specifically in the area of teacher evaluation. One possible explanation is that the profession lacks the scaled level of expertise needed to evaluate instruction consistently and in a …

Data-Driven Decision Making: Teachers' Use Of Data In The Classroom, Tammy Wu Moriarty Phd

Dissertations

Data-driven decision making has become an important educational issue in the United States, primarily because of federal and state emphasis on school accountability and achievement. Data use has been highlighted as a key factor in monitoring student progress and informing decision making at various levels of the education system. Federal and state policies require educators to use data to inform decision making and the assumption is that educators already know how to analyze, interpret, and use data to make informed decisions. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of classroom teachers' engagement in data-driven decision making …

Work/Life Boundary Management In An Integrative Environment: A Study Of Residence Life Professionals Who Live At Their Place Of Work, Pressley Robinson Rankin Iv Phd

Dissertations

How individuals manage work/life boundaries when they live at the place they work, as opposed to working from home, is a gap in both work/life literature and in higher education literature. An obvious example from higher education is the resident life professional that lives in the residential facility that she or he oversees. Living in a residential facility creates challenges to boundary creation. The job requirements; pressures from students and staff; supervisor expectations, both spoken and unspoken; and the physical location of their home within the building creates a highly boundary integrative environment making the establishment of boundaries difficult. The …

Narratives Of The Leadership Development Of Adults Who Served As Summer Camp Staff In The Mennonite Setting : A Multiple Case Study, Jason Harrison

Dissertations

Problem. Leaders today need a new set of knowledge and skills to be effective in collaborative environments. The focus of this study was to investigate how collaborative environments can contribute to leadership development. The purpose of this study was to describe how the collaborative environment of summer camp helped shape emerging adults as leaders. The summer camp setting is inherently collaborative and, therefore, can inform and develop leaders for future collaborative settings. The research question in focus for this study was, How do adults who served at a summer camp as emerging adults describe the experiences that helped shape them …

A Descriptive Study Of The Leadership Role Of Community Health Ambassadors On Diabetes-Related Health Behaviors, Barbara Pullen-Smith

Dissertations

Diabetes is a chronic disease that bears a disproportionate burden among African American populations. The lack of access to affordable, culturally appropriate health care is a key barrier to effective diabetes prevention or disease management for racial/ethnic minority populations. Living in public housing communities, with concentrated poverty, exacerbates the burden of diabetes and reduces access to screening and early detection services to prevent the onset of diabetes. The purpose of the study was to describe the leadership role of lay health advisors, known as Community Health Ambassadors (CHAs), on diabetes-related health behaviors of African Americans living in a public housing …

The Impact Of Group Personality Characteristics On Group Decision-Making, Kevin Shawn Bottomley

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) how group information sharing impact group decision effectiveness, (2) how group personality composition impact group information sharing, and (3) how group personality composition impact group decision effectiveness. The data collected was FIRO-B® scores on the expressed scale, group information sharing data as measured by the Process and Issues Questionnaire (PIQ), and group decision effectiveness data as measured by the PIQ. Correlation analysis were performed to analyze the group psychological characteristics (H₂, H₃, & H₄,) based on an index created for each group where the data …

Virtual Teamwork In A Business School Master's Program: Do Team Charters Have An Impact?, Samuel Kyungjin Chung Phd

Dissertations

A virtual team is an organizationally and/or geographically distributed group whose members use synchronous and asynchronous technologies to work collaboratively. A team charter is a document that describes how group members intend to behave and interact while working collaboratively. Team charters have been used to facilitate virtual teamwork. This study, which took place in a graduate-level business program at a private university in California, was designed to fill the gap in the literature about team charter usage by virtual teams consisting of business students. The students were required to create a team charter in the first semester of the program …

Actions, Practices, And Workplace Conditions That Characterize High-Engagement Workgroups In A Hospital Environment, Barbette Weimer-Elder

Dissertations

In the United States a large number of people are not engaged at work. The lack of engagement affects the service outcomes as well as financial bottom line of organizations. The cost of actively disengaged employees in the U.S. is about $300 billion a year. Research cites the importance of examining business units that scored high on employee engagement to learn about actions and practices that drive business outcomes.

Between 2005-2010 The Community Hospital (TCH), part of a Healthcare Corporation in Valley Town, USA (pseudonym), assessed employee engagement using Gallup’s Q12 survey. Some groups scored in the top quartile and …

An Evaluation Of Performance As It Relates To The Adventist Community Services Nonprofit Leadership Certification Program In The United States, Sung Kun Kwon

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to understand the effectiveness of the Nonprofit Leadership Certification Program (NLCP) by examining the relationship between an individual’s completion of the program and their individual performance growth in attitude, knowledge, and skills. Since the program represents a major financial investment on the part of the Adventist Community Services (ACS) organization, ACS leaders need to know if the time, resources, and effort that have been poured into this leadership program are actually improving the participants’ performance in skills and knowledge, and if they have effectively contributed to changes in leadership attitude.

Method

This study …

The Relationship Of Servant Leadership Attributes To Sales Performance Of Salespersons In The Healthcare Industry In 2011, William R. Auxier

Dissertations

Problem. Servant leadership scholars have claimed that servant-led business organizations are more financially viable, but these claims are based on anecdotal evidence. This quantitative study examines the relationship of servant leadership to revenue generation in business organizations by analyzing the predictability of servant leadership attributes on sales performance. This was accomplished by studying salespersons in the healthcare industry.

Method. One hundred ninety-four study participants completed questionnaires providing quantitative measurements of the seven factors of servant leadership: (a) developing and empowering others, (b) humility, (c) authentic leadership, (d) open participatory leadership, (e) inspiring leadership, (f) visionary leadership, and (g) courageous leadership, …

A Value-Added Study Of A Federal Grant Program In Mathematics For Military Dependent Students, Jay C. Marquand Phd

Dissertations

Closing the achievement gap in public education means all students are expected to be learning at grade level. In response to federal mandates requiring schools to attain specific student achievement benchmarks, many schools are placing greater resources into support programs designed to increase student achievement. Military dependent students experience unique challenges including, ongoing parent absences, extended parental deployments, and frequent moving and relocation. In California Unified School District (CUSD) where 37% of the student population is military connected, these challenges can place military dependent students at risk of failing socially, emotionally and academically. As a result, CUSD implemented an individualized, …

The Motivation Beliefs Inventory: Measuring Motivation Beliefs Using Four Motivation Theories, David C. Facer Jr. Phd

Dissertations

Among organizational consultants, human resources practitioners, and organizational leaders, there has been a resurgence of interest in the subject of employee motivation, in part due to the best-selling book, Drive (Pink, 2009). In this book, the author challenged readers to question their beliefs about what motivates employees; this challenge was based on research that questions the validity of widely used management approaches to employee motivation, particularly those based on reinforcement theory. Answering this challenge was difficult, however, given the lack of instruments designed to measure motivation beliefs at all, much less beliefs from a range of prevalent theories. Using principal …

Toward An Integrated Self: Making Meaning Of The Multiple Identities Of Gay Men In College, Daniel Weston Tillapaugh Phd

Dissertations

Since the mid-twentieth century, a shift in demographics of those attending higher education institutions has resulted in increased attention to underrepresented students and their development, specifically their social identities, including race (Cross, 1991), gender (Gilligan, 1982), and sexual orientation (Cass, 1979; D'Augelli, 1994; Fassinger, 1998). However, many theories have compartmentalized aspects of one's overall identity with little understanding of how one's social identity may influence the development of other identities. In the past decade, the concept of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1995), which explores the interplay between one's multiple identities and the larger systems of power and privilege within society, has been …

Graduate Student Experiences: The Impact Of A Mixed-Cohort Format, Kacy Kilner Hayes Phd

Dissertations

Student cohorts have been regaining popularity among graduate programs over the past few decades because they offer numerous advantages for students and can be molded to fit programmatic needs. The format of these cohorts range from open to closed according to the inclusion or exclusion of additional students during the life of the program. Although a number of graduate level programs employ a mixture of closed- and open-cohort formats, there has been a lack of empirical research examining the benefits or consequences of mixing cohort formats within a single academic program. To address this lack of inquiry, this study utilized …

Investigating The Impact Of A Mentor Text Inquiry Approach To Narrative Writing Instruction On Attitude, Self-Efficacy, And Writing Processes Of Fourth Grade Students In An Urban Elementary School, Christine Marie Kealoha Kane Edd

Dissertations

Writing in its many forms, is the signature means of communication in the 21st century. Writing is also arguably the most complex and difficult challenge facing all students in school. The purpose of this study was to monitor the narrative writing performance of urban students who received explicit writing instruction using a mentor text inquiry approach. A mentor text is a published piece of writing whose ideas, structure,or written craft can be used to inspire a student to write something original. It is a piece of quality literature text that students can use as an exemplar text to model their …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Writing Instruction In An Ungraded Informal Learning Environment, Samuel Patterson Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate and describe the teaching of writing in an informal setting through the voices of teachers and students. The intent of this study was to describe the roles of teachers and students in this learning environment and specifically to describe the role of writing response groups in this environment. Research in both writing instruction and informal education suggests that writing instruction is a good contextual match to camp-style informal education. Both informal education and writer's workshop-style writing instruction put the individual and their choices at the center of the experience. VI This …

Preparing Global Leaders: A Theoretical Model For Understanding The Development Of Intercultural Competency, Cynthia Ann Martinez Phd

Dissertations

As globalization increases, organizations are seeking individuals that have developed intercultural competency (ICC) and are prepared to lead for the 21st century. Although there are competing definitions among scholars as to what characteristics (ability, attitude, awareness, behaviors, knowledge, skills, or values) make up ICC (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008; Bennett & Bennett, 2004), a considerable body of research has found that studying abroad is one of the best ways for undergraduate students to develop at least one characteristic of ICC (Chieffo & Griffths, 2004; Deardorff, 2006; Sheridan, 2005). The question remains, however, whether or not study abroad programs can contribute …