Organization Development Commons^™

From Adapting To Adoption: Social Media Use By Small-To-Medium Sized Nonprofit Organizations, Ming Xie

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This exploratory research focuses on small-to-medium-sized nonprofit organizations’ social media use. In-depth interviews with nonprofit leaders helped to understand their perceptions of social media in order to explain why nonprofit organizations and their leaders decide to adopt and use social media, the strategies developed for doing so, and the barriers encountered in the adoption/utilization processes. It finds that most of the leaders of small-to-medium sized organizations see social media as a supplementary way for organizational activities, with limited visions of how to use social media to engage with the constituencies and to advance their organizational goals.

Design For Living Complexities, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers in Critical, Creative and Reflective Practice

Lectures from a 12-session course that addresses the intersection of design with critical thinking. Design in this course means intentionality in construction, which involves a range of materials, a sequence of steps, and principles that inform the choice of materials and the steps. Design also always involves putting people, as well as materials, into place. This happens by working with the known properties of people, as well as the known properties of material, and trying out new arrangements to work around their constraints (at least temporarily). Critical thinking, as I define it, involves understanding ideas and practices better when we …

Leadership Trust: A Phenomenological Study Of How Major Superiors Of Catholic Women Religious Institutes Build Trust With Professed Members, Mary Amanda Nwagbo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore how major superiors of Catholic women religious institutes build trust with professed members, using the 5 domains of competence, consistency, candor, concern, and connection.

Methodology: The study used a qualitative phenomenological research design to explore the lived experiences and behaviors of leaders with reputations of trusting relationships with their members. The study sample included 10 major superiors of Catholic women religious institutes in Southern California who exhibit trusting relationships with their members. Data were collected using interviews, observations, and artifacts and analyzed with the assistance of NVivo software, revealing …

An Indentured Servant: The Impact Of Green Card Waiting Time On The Life Of Highly Skilled Indian Immigrants In The United States Of America, Pooja B. Vijayakumar, Christopher J. L. Cunningham

Industrial and Organizational Psychology Translational Research and Working Papers

Highlighting the archaic immigration system in the United States of America (US), the present study demonstrates for the first time the impact of green card waiting time on the work and family life of Indian immigrants living in the US. Our present findings show that 93.4% of our participants are very concerned about the estimated green card waiting time in the US. We find 70% of the total participants are seriously thinking at the present time about emigrating to a more visa-friendly country. Also, 30% of the participants have already applied for permanent residency in a visa friendly country and …

One Step At A Time: Does Gradualism Build Coordination?, Maoliang Ye, Jie Zheng, Plamen Nikolov, Sam Asher

Economics Faculty Scholarship

This study investigates a potential mechanism to promote coordination. With theoretical guidance using a belief-based learning model, we conduct a multi-period, binary-choice, and weakest-link laboratory coordination experiment to study the effect of gradualism – increasing the required levels (stakes) of contributions slowly over time rather than requiring a high level of contribution immediately – on group coordination performance. We randomly assign subjects to three treatments: starting and continuing at a high stake, starting at a low stake but jumping to a high stake after a few periods, and starting at a low stake while gradually increasing the stakes over time …

Factors And Considerations For Change At James Madison University, Robert P. Zaepfel Jr.

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The objective of this qualitative case study was to develop a thematic change model and taxonomy of change factors specifically designed for higher education practitioners at James Madison University (JMU). This research will provide resources to guide future institutional change at JMU while focusing on the practical nature of applying resources and techniques to facilitate organizational change. This study will bridge the gap between academic research and practitioner application by creating a cyclical theoretical framework grounding the exploration of complex higher education change dynamics at JMU. Individual interviews focused on recent change events were conducted with participants identified through the …

The Impact Of Stress On Resilience: Examining The Moderated Effects Of A Savoring Intervention, Hannah L. Newman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Resilience is characterized by the ability to bounce back from stress (Bonanno, 2004; Ong et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2008). Research suggests resilience is a personal resource that helps individuals effectively cope with stress and provides protection from negative outcomes (Loh, Schutte, & Thorsteinsson, 2013). Exposure to stress is a prerequisite to building resilience across many different contexts (Graber et al., 2015; Hennessey & Levine, 1979; Rutter, 2006). Interestingly, a high accumulation of stress detracts from an individual’s abilities to build resilience (Ong et al., 2006; Tuguade & Frederickson, 2007). However, it is unknown what types of interventions explicitly …

The Perceived Relationship Of Student Engagement: An Analysis Of Underrepresented Student Achievement At A Predominantly White Land Grant Institution, Antomia Farrell

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of centuries, agriculture has carried a negative connotation for those who identify as an underrepresented minority. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), Office of Diversity (OOD) has worked strategically over the course of the last twenty years, in enhancing recruitment and retention mechanisms to increase the enrollment of underrepresented minority (URM) students and to change the face of agriculture within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine the student engagement and academic achievement of underrepresented students who are juniors and seniors at the University of …

Let Me Upgrade You: Common Measures In Public Health Accreditation Action Plans, Gurleen K. Roberts

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand the success rates for health departments pursuing and achieving accreditation in version 1.0 and 1.5 of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards and measures. During the accreditation process, health departments that present performance gaps are asked to complete an Action Plan to specify how they plan to improve to meet the desired conformity. This study will highlight specific measures that are often included in Action Plans so that health departments pursuing accreditation can be better prepared to address these common pitfalls.

Methods: This study is a non-experimental, secondary …

Exploring The Impact Of Diversity Training On The Development And Application Of Cultural Competence Skills In Higher Education Professionals, Kendra Cabler

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the terms diversity and inclusion have become major buzzwords across industries and fields of study. Within the field of education broadly, and higher education in particular, a shifting student demographic can be seen across the country. Issues of equity and inclusion have become central complexities for present day educational strategists, and organizations committed to cultivating a culture of inclusion must do so with intentionality. In the context of higher education, this often requires the intentional development of professionals within a particular college or university. There has been a great deal of research concerning the development of cultural …

Service Provider Promising Practice - Arc Of Westchester: Annual Employer Appreciation Breakfast, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

The Arc of Westchester was established in in New York State in 1949 as a day school for children with developmental disabilities. It has since grown to over 800 hundred employees serving over 2000 individuals throughout Westchester county supporting children, teens, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization’s vision is a world where the population that they serve enjoy fulfilled lives and an inspired future while the mission focuses on strengthening families and encouraging personal choices, abilities and interests. The programs focus on the individual, helping them discover their interests, develop their talents and prepare for meaningful careers. …

Global Aviation System: Towards Sustainable Development, Marina P. Bonser Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Aviation around the world has integrated into a global system. As the integration process continues, more aspects and levels of it need to be lead towards the sustainable development of the whole system via advancing strategic management, global communication proficiency, and technological expertise. It becomes essential to enrich global language (English) proficiency with cross-cultural communication competence not only for communication in the air but also for airport security, passenger and cargo services, aircraft and equipage engineering, building, and maintenance. Nowadays lower levels of management need more advanced strategic thinking and problem solving skills, and higher levels of management need global …

Airport Policing In Pakistan: Structure, Training, And Issue, Muhammad Israr, Muhammad Abrar

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Airports are strategically and economically important installations of any country. Airports are the gateway of any country and any incidents at these gateways may harm the very aspects of a country in the comity of nations. What are the types of unlawful interferences that are faced by the aviation industry? The establishment as well as preparedness of the airport security force in Pakistan is described in the detail. The airports security is of prime importance in Pakistan because of the wave of terrorism and security situations all around the country. Airport Security Force (ASF) established in 1976, due to the …

An Intersectional Perspective On Diversity In Environmental Regulatory Agencies: A Case Study Of Women Of Color And Their Liminal Position Of Identity In South Florida, Leah A. Ramnath

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Diversity statistics from environmental agencies nationwide reveal overall growth and improvement in gender and racial composition of employees. However, although women occupied over half of leadership and staff positions, most were white women. The Regulatory and Economic Resources office, an environmental regulatory agency in south Florida, is exceptional as a majority of their employees are women of color. Although there has been continuous development of diversity initiatives by environmental agencies nationwide, perspectives of how women of color are experiencing the environmental workplace are underrepresented when reporting diversity data.

My study aims to understand the complex role of diversity in environmental …

Evaluating The Impact Of A Work Identity Based Onboarding Intervention On Young Professionals’ Work Efficacy, Samuel Liberant

Theses and Dissertations

By virtue of their age and relative inexperience, young employees tend to lack the professional competencies their organizations need such as communication skills, suitable workplace conduct. These deficits can significantly affect how these employees select, engage, and perform in the workplace. This action research study examined the effects of a work identity intervention in a sample of young professionals. Twelve full-time working adults aged 24-30 were recruited to participate in the intervention designed to deepen their understanding of their work identity, defined as who a person is at work and how he or she is defined within the context of …

Amplifying 'Whispered Interventions' Into Loud And Forceful Cries, Joelina Robinson Machera

Theses and Dissertations

An equitable educational environment includes the voices of the individuals and the power of their stories. For marginalized people, particularly women of color, surviving school means existing in oppressive environments which require the stealing of knowledge while struggling to obtain an education (Collins, 2002). It is imperative that institutions acknowledge the specific complexities women of color face in the academy (Crenshaw, 2017). This study is designed to make meaning of the journey of Black women doctoral students using counterstories and composite stories to capture and learn from their lived experiences. Through the (re)covery and (re)telling of the stories of Black …

The Use Of Personality Testing In Personnel Selection, Riya Kumar

CMC Senior Theses

Research has shown that more than 45% of American companies are opting to integrate personality tests in their recruitment processes. Given this surge in personality testing, this thesis examines whether personality testing is a valid predictor of job-fit and performance in the context of personnel selection. A large proportion of this paper is focused upon the Big-Five factor model, its limitations, and derivative tests of the model. The impact of technology upon personality testing is also discussed as an emerging field. By tracing and examining the history of personality testing to current day, I have found that personality tests are …

Head Above The Parapet: How Minority Subordinates Influence Group Outcomes And The Consequences They Face, Burak Oc, Michael R. Bashshur, Celia Moore

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The vast majority of research on power, social, and minority influence treats those who are recipients of powerholders’ decisions (i.e., subordinates) as an undifferentiated group, overlooking how recipients may respond in unique ways to the decisions that affect them. In this paper we examine the role of minority subordinates in shaping how powerholders allocate resources. We also explore how psychological distance between the minority subordinate and powerholder moderates this relationship, as well as the individual consequences minority subordinates face for articulating their unique opinions. In three experimental studies, we show that even as a lone voice, the feedback of a …

The Trust Decoder™: An Examination Of An Individual's Developmental Readiness To Trust In The Workplace, Molly Breysse Cox

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research explores an individual's self-perception of their own ability, motivation, and propensity to trust others for the purpose of validating a new construct: developmental readiness to trust others in the workplace. This construct expands research on developmental readiness to change and to lead by building a scale to measure an individual's motivation and ability to trust others in the workplace. A previously validated scale developed by Frazier, Johnson, and Fainshmidt 2013 measuring propensity to trust was included the scale building process. All items measuring motivation to trust were newly developed for this study, items measuring trust ability were adapted …

United I Stand: An Investigation Of Power Distance Value And Endorsement Of The Great Man Theory Through American Social Identities, Jeffrey M. Girton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Four decades of research on power distance have been applied to cross-cultural leadership studies on an inter-national level. A quantitative investigation was conducted to analyze a uniquely American narrative of power distance, which was developed through a post-structural epistemology. Using ANTi-History theory, endorsement of the Great Man Theory was argued to be a leadership ethos that is related to American power distance value. The GLOBE project’s Power Distance Subscale, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s Achievement Versus Ascription Scale, and an author-developed scale for self-reported endorsement of the Great Man Theory was deployed to investigate culturally contingent leadership ethos on an intra-national level …

Building Young People’S Capacity For Critical And Transcendent Engagement: Examining The Institution, The Community, And The Individual As Protagonists Of A School Setting, Livia Dittmer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As a powerful socializing force in Western society, schools have significant influence on young people’s development into adulthood. As powerful agents of societal maintenance and change, adolescents have significant influence on communities and institutions such as schools. In this embedded case study, I use structuration theory, German Critical Psychology, and systems thinking to examine the dynamic relationship between institutional structures and student agency in a school setting. I specifically examine the influence of this relationship on young people’s capacity for critical and transcendent engagement, constructs described further in this work. In the setting of Nancy Campbell Academy (NCA), an international …

Leadership Skills, Promoting Flow And Generating Profit: A Study Of Millennial Managers Through Gamification, Junior Badibanga

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An increased number or organizations are shifting away from traditional hierarchical, command and control business strategies which focus solely on generating profit to focusing on both people and profit. In this study, Csíkszentmihályi’s flow state (1975/2000) is considered to correspond with the people side of the social enterprise model, where organizations focus on both people and profit. Csíkszentmihályi (1990) describes the flow experience as a mental state which occurs when a person is motivated and fully immersed in an activity, resulting in feelings of energized focus and profound enjoyment. The current study analyzed secondary data from 1,184 millennial managers that …

Organizational Politics: Harmful Or Helpful?, Laura Porter Soares

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Politics play a role in almost every organization – churches, schools, sports teams, and even volunteer organizations. However, the place where politics can directly impact people on a daily basis is the workplace.

Literature on organizational politics has historically focused on a negative view of politics. More recently, however, researchers have discovered that workplace politics is not inherently negative and can even include positive traits. This shift primarily began with the work of Gotsis and Kortezi in 2010 and 2011. As researchers sought to expand the perspective, they argued that organizational politics has the potential to be positive, as well. …

Root Cause Analysis To Improve Incident Reporting In An Ambulatory Care Setting, Lisa Ann Duncan

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Problem: The subject organization (SO) is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with an internally developed incident reporting system. The SO wanted to improve patient and employee safety using data from incident reports, but the incident reporting system did not give enough information to recognize patterns and develop countermeasures.

Context: Supervisors welcomed the opportunity to learn more about incident report follow-up and conducting root cause analysis (RCA). Members of the Safety Committee were eager for data to use to develop countermeasures to improve patient and employee safety. Decreases in employee injuries can save the SO from increases in the …

Frontline Focus: A Nurse Manager's Employee Engagement Toolkit, Christen Straw

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Average hospital turnover rates in the US reached 18.2% in 2017. Turnover rates for registered nurses (RNs) were also at an all-time high of 16.8%. RN turnover can cost up to $61,100 per nurse resulting in the average hospital loss of $5.7 million per year (NSI, 2018). Employee engagement and job satisfaction levels are predictors of nursing turnover and patient outcomes and should be a top priority for nurse leaders. A disengaged workforce not only affects team morale and organizational spending, but it also impacts the quality of patient care. Multiple studies suggest that employee engagement is the number …

A Discourse Analysis Of Diversity And Inclusion Terminology In The High-Tech Industry, Michelle Nader

Master's Theses

The field of Diversity and Inclusion is a growing interest within the High-Tech industry, particularly within the San Francisco Bay Area of California. To combat misconceptions of Diversity and Inclusion, this thesis aims to define and analyze the language used at 20 companies in the High-Tech sector. The trends, nuances, and practices of how companies use language in their programming and data dictates the direction of the company. This thesis investigates the underlying complexities of where Diversity and Inclusion is within the industry today and goals for the future. Findings from this research suggest that companies can strengthen their Diversity …

The Spirit Is Willing, But The Flesh Is Weak: Contemporary Pan-Africanism And The Challenges To A United States Of Africa, Adesola Adeyemo

Master's Theses

Establishing a ‘United States of Africa’ to the average individual is deemed as a mythical idea in contemporary Africa, irrespective of the popularity of this idea several years ago. Today, the idea is idealized as overambitious – considering the balkanized state of the continent post-colonialization. Because of this, attempts made since then have favored enforcing regional integration over continental integration. Undeniably, this idea would not have come into being if it wasn’t for the concept of Pan-Africanism - which has for long guided the political and socio-economic policies created on the continent. The goal of this research is …

Conflict Management And Team Building As Competencies For Nurse Managers To Improve Retention, Jeanette Black

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Abstract

Aim(s): To critically review and summarize evidence related to coaching and training nurse managers in conflict management and team building skills and to determine the relationship of these skills to retention.

Background: Retention of nurse managers is a significant challenge to healthcare organizations.

Evaluation: The databases searched were CINAHL, PubMed, evidence-based journals, JANE, Cochrane, SCOPUS and Joanna Briggs. The keywords searched were conflict management, team building, nurse manager retention, retention, teamwork, healthy work environment, conflict management theory, organizational culture, coaching nurse managers, and nursing. Articles with the strongest evidence were critically appraised using the Johns Hopkins Research and …

Wellness And Prevention Program Sustainability Design For Clark University Athletics Department, Emily Corbett

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this work is to design a wellness based prevention program that is tailored to fit the campus community within Clark University, Worcester, MA, called the Peer Athletes Advocating for Wellness (PAAW) initiative. This paper first presents the current research on wellness related issues within a college campus, specifically surrounding sexual violence. It then outlines the current sexual violence prevention programming that takes place yearly for incoming first year students at Clark University, as well as a one-time initiative during which student athletes participated in the sexual violence prevention programming. There is a review of the current most …

Sport At The Service Of Human Development: Distinctly Jesuit Athletics, Matthew L. Davidson Ph.D., Robert W. Davis Jr., Ed.D.

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article describes the underlying theory and practice of a Distinctly Jesuit Approach to Athletics, which was represented at the 2016 Vatican Conference, Sport at the Service of Humanity. The approach has been developed and implemented in a collaboration between the Institute for Excellence & Ethics (IEE) and the athletics departments at Le Moyne College and The University of Scranton. The article recounts the context that was the foundation for the work, the process for developing this distinct type of Athletics Department, and the early results of the ongoing work. The steps included here represent a rigorous and replicable …