Organization Development Commons^™

Organizational Change: The Experiences Of Practitioners Transitioning To A Fee-For-Service Model, Anthony Zazzarino, Zakia Clay, Ann Reilly

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Many human service agencies are in the midst of a transition for a fee-for-service model. Through the midst of the transition, organizations must shift the culture of their agency and adapt to the new service delivery approach. Some organizational changes can create feelings of insecurity among staff, fewer resources, and greater potential for employee burnout. Though there is some research that provides valuable information, it often fails to highlight the individual experiences of the worker. This phenomenological study begins to explore the experiences and perceptions of practitioners working in supported housing agencies during the transition to a fee-for-service approach. The …

Hsu Communicative Practices: Administration Must Include The Student Voice, Q Medina

Communication Senior Capstones

This paper examines the impact of communication practices of university administration (openness and inclusion) on the student body’s sense of satisfaction, value, and connectedness by focusing on a selected collection of past moments of communication from administration to students. A total of five current instances where official emails were sent out addressing a handful of the biggest impactful events at the university and the following reactions from the overall student body was used as the qualitative data to analyze the effectiveness of such communication choices. Results of the observations confirmed that the current practices of the university administration were no …

Using Input From Landlords Participating In The Dothan Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher Program (Hcvp) To Streamline Operations And Increase Retention, Michael C. Threatt

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) is a public-private partnership between a landlord, voucher holder, and a Public Housing Authority (PHA). However, this public-private partnership appears to be a two-sided partnership instead of a three-way partnership as the HCVP was designed. Over 110,000 landlords have withdrawn from the HCVP since 2009, which has negatively affected housing choices for voucher holders. This phenomenon of landlords leaving the HCVP is a catastrophe problem for the rental housing crisis that is a part of the larger affordable housing crisis. The perception of institutional bureaucracy for landlords is their reality, and the unintended consequence …

Saving A Seat For A Sister: A Grounded Theory Approach Exploring The Journey Of Women Reaching Top Policing Executive Positions, Nicola D. Smith-Kea

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The world of women in law enforcement is a thought-provoking one that has received increasing attention both in academia as well as in practice over the past few decades. Even more intriguing, and despite advances in the profession, is the low number of women in executive leadership positions in law enforcement. There is a vast underrepresentation of women in top executive leadership positions across the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the complex journey of women to top executive policing leadership positions. Embracing a positive psychology approach, …

Intercultural Competence Among Early Childhood Educators, Sara M. Fanous, Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosley, Laura Herold, Donia Timby, Shelley Mcnally, Brande Flack

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The purpose of this study was to assess and develop intercultural competence among early childhood educators. Intercultural competence is an integral part of creating a welcoming environment for all students in a classroom. It is not only the acknowledgment of individual differences but the acceptance and celebration of what makes each person an individual and member of a cultural group. This project assessed the intercultural competence of 24 early childhood educators and staff at a child development center in the mid-south. Participants completed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as pre- and post-assessments. In between assessments, our team conducted a cultural …

Awareness, Empathy, And Intention: Creating Constructive + Responsive Structures Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Safa Arshadullah

Scripps Senior Theses

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are three concepts widely understood as integral to positive organizational development. In a capitalist world, these notions are purposefully ignored or superficially discussed for financial and social gain. Prioritizing empathy, compassion, equity, and inclusion as worthwhile endeavours resist those tokenizing and disingenuous systems. This thesis explores the current perfunctory treatment of DE&I in organizations and examines how to incorporate intentional and human-centered values into organizational culture through intersectional thinking, applied empathy, and organizational storytelling. Recognizing lived experiences and personal narratives as equally valuable to quantitative data, this study entrusts both the individual and the organization …

Leading In Leaderless Teams: Exploring The Effect Of A Skills Mindset On Shared Leadership And Implicit Mental Models, Hayley Giffin

CMC Senior Theses

Employees, students, and individuals are currently expected to perform leadership behaviors more than ever, even when their formal roles do not indicate a leadership position. In this climate, developing transferable leadership skills has become a critical capability. This study explores the effect of maintaining a skills mindset on the display of shared leadership behaviors in leaderless teams. I hypothesize that a skills mindset will lead to more shared leadership behaviors than a roles mindset, that this effect will be explained by increased leadership self-efficacy (LSE) and increased leader identity (LI), and that this effect will be stronger for participants with …

Harm Reduction Through Effective Volunteer Training, Rebecca Hohman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Through a combination of business education and social work competencies, an in-depth analysis of volunteer training was created from existing data and applied to qualitative survey data of nonprofit leaders in the local city of Akron, Ohio. The overall aim of the project was to base volunteer training on evidence, as evidence-based practice is a hallmark of social work practice. In doing so, the training would also aim to build connections among volunteers and between volunteers and the organization to retain the volunteers who were trained and increase the efficiency of the training. Thus, the project sought to reduce two …

Holistic Student Development In Higher Education: Perspectives And Practices Of Holistic Student Development At A Public California University, Francisca Ann Crutchfield

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Within traditional American public colleges and universities, there is an emphasis on academic student success within the structures and values of educational programs, and the lack of a holistic approach to higher education may be negatively impacting college student development and well-being. By balancing academic knowledge with other areas of knowledge, including a heightened sense of community and mental and emotional well-being, higher education can cultivate students who apply their skills with reduced stress, a sense of belonging, and freedom of expression. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to identify characteristics, educational priorities, and programming approaches of university student service programs …

Purposeful Investment In Others: The Power Of A Character Of Service, Kayla M. Logan

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

Organizations that are intentional about investing in their employees’ development tend to experience an increased positive relationship between leaders and employees, which can help in preventing employee burnout, increase employee satisfaction, support employee learning, increase retention, and overall productivity (Baruch-Feldman, Brondolo, Ben-Dayan, & Schwartz, 2002; Luthans, 2002; Macik-frey, Quick, & Cooper, 2009, Luthans & Avolio, 2003). However, due to cost, time, and scheduling, organizations are often required to make difficult decisions regarding who receives these critical investments (Crane & Hartwell, 2018; Grove & Furnham, 2016, Sherman & Freas, 2004). Some research supports using leaders to invest in employee development (Bucic, …

Rising Above The Adobe Ceiling: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Mentoring And Social Capital Influences Among California Latina Nonprofit Leaders, Belinda Hernandez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Empirical research studies that focus on the experiences of Latinas in executive leadership are limited. In its entirety, workforce research has overlooked how social and cultural experiences influence this group’s leadership development. This gap in research has failed to uplift the Latina executive voice and their achievements. Addressing this gap has the potential to influence distinctive workforce practices and future scholarship. Utilizing an asset-based perspective, this study presents counter narratives that intentionally focus on exploring Latina leaders’ voices. The importance of intersectional experience and social identities illustrate non-monolithic, yet aligned, experiences among study participants.

This foundational dissertation explored mentoring phenomena …

Career Funneling, Perceptions Of Success, And Their Impact On College Students At Scripps, Pitzer, And Claremont Mckenna Colleges, Carina A. Schick

Scripps Senior Theses

The U.S. News top college ranking lists have created a narrowing definition of collegiate and career success. Students are told an elite education is the ticket to a successful life, one filled with a high achieving career, meaning, and happiness. Through peer, familial, and media interfaces students are inundated with societal definitions of success such as fame, wealth, and status. Socialization primes adolescents to work towards these goals. This idealized type of success is only accessible to a select few, leading to dissatisfaction and creating pressures on students to work towards their college admission at early ages. This thesis examines …

Designing Leadership: Using Design Thinking To Create, Practices, And Implement A Formal Leadership Development Program, Jon Samuel Wedding

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine what happens when design thinking is used to create a leadership development program, increase leadership competencies, and participants perceptions of design thinking. This study uses action research to examine the experiences and design thinking to create a leadership program in a formal hierarchical. This study collected data during a two-cycle action research process. The findings from this study revealed that design thinking can be used to create a formal leadership development program. The ability to use design thinking’s human centered design can also help increase the leadership competencies of trust and collaborations. …

On Fire Or Burned-Out?: The Role Of Self-Monitoring On Burnout In The Workplace, Elizabeth Marie Ellis

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Workplace burnout (i.e., exhaustion, disengagement, lack of professional efficacy) produces turnover which, in turn, increases costs (personnel recruitment, selection, training) for businesses (Maslach et al., 2001). Job demands predict workplace exhaustion whereas job resources predict workplace cynicism (Demerouti et al., 2001). Burnout is also related to individual differences in personality (Alessandri et al., 2018). In the present study, we explore the potential mediating effect of demands and resources on the connection between self-monitoring (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010; Wilmot et al., 2015) and burnout. Self-monitoring can be conceptualized as either a single, dichotomous variable (Snyder, 1974) or two, continuous variables: protective …

Special Issue On Multi-Criteria Decision Making (Mcdm) And Neutrosophic Tools, Florentin Smarandache, Mohamed Abdel-Basset

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In the rising trends of information technology, the concepts of uncertainty have started gaining greater importance with time in solving operational research problems in supply chain model, project management, transportation problem, or inventory control problems. Moreover, day-by-day competition is becoming tougher in imprecise environments. For instance, customer demand is often being affected by several varying factors like production price, income level, and the like. In these cases, the demand either remains unfulfilled or is difficult to obtain with certainty in the real-world market. Fuzzy sets are not always able to directly depict such uncertainties because they exhibit numeric only membership …

Open University Of Nepal Initiative Lessons Learned From Designing An Institution Of Higher Learning, Pramod Dhakal, Drona P. Rasali, Ambika P. Adhikari, Raju Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

A group of Nepali diaspora members, represented by the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), started a campaign in 2009 to establish the Open University of Nepal (OUN) in partnership with the government of Nepal. Their motivation was to develop a quality university for the masses by mobilizing local, diaspora, and international collaborators for producing and disseminating knowledge in the public domain. The university was subsequently established in 2017 but it drifted away from many of the original objectives. Most critically, it embraced distance education as its central function while setting aside the aspiration of producing and sharing knowledge under the public …

Manager Development In Younger, Growing Organizations, Christine Parcells

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored manager development needs in younger, growing organizations related to challenges with uncertainty, ambiguity, and a rapid pace of change. This research examined two companies: one that had not gone through IPO or acquisition and one that was acquired twice. The primary themes in the findings included adaptive behaviors and communication capabilities, the impact and influence of a company's culture and a changing organization structure on development, as well the need for building relationships and networks to help managers cope with the challenges of a growing organization. By implementing manager development programs early, companies can build inclusion, foster …

Managing The Affective Responses Of Employees During Organizational Change In Higher Education, Brad Kennington

Theses and Dissertations

Higher education is facing a period of continual change driven by numerous external and internal forces. Consequently, higher education leaders are faced with the frequent and daunting task of planning and managing organizational change in higher education institutions, which are both complex and dynamic in nature. Adding difficulty to this task is the fact that employees often react to change with emotional responses that are both challenging to understand and complicated and to manage. Managing affective dimensions of change can be overwhelming to leaders, which can lead to failed organizational change efforts. This study explored and answered (a) how a …

Talent Investment And Nonprofit Pay: A Study In The Arts Community, Sally E. Loftis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore employee perceptions of pay as part of a talent investment strategy at Penland School of Craft, the largest non-academic craft school in the United States. The study outlines action research completed when funds from a transformational endowment gift were used for employee needs. Study data reflected that structural and pay changes increased employee engagement. Study findings also informed recommendations for a nonprofit strategy to pay living wages connected to costs of living and a pay raise framework that supports different levels of employee development.

Career Trajectory And Leadership: The Role Of Personal Adversity, Kristina E. Kovacs

Theses and Dissertations

Adversity is part of life and certainly contributes to human development. This study seeks to explore the impact of personal adversity on career trajectory and leadership. A qualitative study based on 12 interviews with a narrative approach is presented. Key themes were identified among high-level executives around career evolution, perception of leadership, and how those experiences impacted their way of leading. The study concludes with a brief discussion of limitations and the findings that raise questions for additional research and provide some support for leadership and career development, counseling, and training.