Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Leadership and organizational management'

A nation-wide study of the leadership requirements for combined emergency management and fire departments from medium-sized municipalities was conducted. It has been widely recognized by the emergency management community and the federal government that emergency management should be professionalized. The first step in professionalization is standardization. The study disclosed that there was an extremely high variability in the training, education and experience requirements for each of the leadership ranks. Not only was there high variability in the requirements for holding each of the ranks, the ranks themselves varied greatly from department to department. The single rank present in all departments was that of chief, and even for that rank, 30% were appointees with no concrete position requirements. Furthermore, the actual requirements for each of the leadership ranks was compared to recommendations from three professional organizations, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association. Not only did the actual requirements for each rank vary greatly from the recommendations from each organization, the recommendations between the organizations varied greatly. It is quite clear that even the professional organizations have not come to a consensus of opinion or agreement on requirements, nor are they even close to doing so. Two departmental models were also examined, and once again there was a high variability of requirements for each leadership rank. Although standardization is the first step in professionalization, there has been little movement in that direction. Emergency management has a long way to go if it is to be professionalized, and the safety of the public and nation stand in the balance.

This mixed-methods case study examined the impact of leadership on practices to organizational agility. Leaders and employees from three organizations (two universities, one financial institution) participated in surveys and interviews to generate data related to the organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles exhibited, the degree of agility in the organization, and the impact of organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles on organizational agility. Study findings suggested that leadership varies based on industry- and organization-specific demands, organizational agility can exist across industries and organization types, and that adopting a long-term focus and practicing agile leadership behaviors throughout the organization may promote higher organizational agility. Organizations are encouraged to promote agile leadership through their hiring, learning and development, and performance review processes. Future research should utilize larger samples, improved data collection instruments, and focus on examining the critical few agile leadership behaviors that may most strongly predict organizational agility.

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 and Organ's OCB theory. A random sample of 180 employees, who had worked with MNCs in Ghana for at least 5 years, were surveyed on transformational leadership using a 40-item transformational leadership scale and OCB using a 24-item OCB scale. A correlation coefficient test and a regression analysis revealed statistically no significant correlational relationship between transformational leadership and OCB, and statistically no significant multiple regression relation between the4 dimensions of transformational leadership and OCB. The implication for social change includes importance to theory, business managers, and the society, that there is no relationship between transformational leadership and OCB of employees in MNCs in Ghana. Apprising individuals of this lack of relationship would inspire future researchers to search for other types of ethical leadership or non-financial incentives that could influence positive behavior of employees to enhance the organization's productivity, and produce ethical citizens for society.

Nonprofit leaders face challenges retaining volunteers to support their organizations' human resources. The shortage of volunteers threatens nonprofit sustainability with increasing personnel cost for maintaining quality services. Grounded by Burns's transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies nonprofit leaders from southeastern Michigan used to improve volunteer retention. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 3 nonprofit leaders and a review of organizational documents such as volunteer implementation plans, strategic plans, and volunteer committee notes. Data were analyzed using a methodological triangulation process of sorting comments, which involved a chronological review of the interview transcripts and a descriptive coding for emerging themes. Three distinct themes emerged from the data analysis: collaborative relationships improved volunteer retention, team motivations improved volunteer retention, and strategic communication improved volunteer retention. The findings from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing nonprofit leaders with a better understanding of the need to improve volunteer retention and leadership strategies as methods to continue building viable communities for those in need. Furthermore, the implications for positive social change could include the improvement of other nonprofit organizations and the well-being of the volunteers in the organization.

By 2030, almost every entry level role in the United States will be filled by a member of Generation Z (born after 1995). Researchers have noted an unclear understanding of the Generation Z perspective on leadership; despite Generation Z’s increasing presence in the workforce. This knowledge gap is detrimental to organizational viability and can negatively impact organizational performance and strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify the leadership preferences of Generation Z based on their lived experience in the workplace; and discuss to what extent Generation Z prefers a transactional or transformational leadership style. A theoretical frame that links generational identity (generational cohort theory) to leadership theory supports the exploration of these preferences phenomenologically and establishes the significance of generational leadership preferences on organizational performance. Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted and analyzed using a modified version of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). IPA revealed six (6) emergent themes in the phenomenon under investigation (specifically Generation Z’s workplace experiences); the themes were described and their implications interpreted. The findings were validated using a relatively novel tool for phenomenology: freelisting (a cultural domain analysis tool). The findings describe Generation Z’s ideal leader and their introspective thoughts on their workplace identity and experiences. It was concluded that Generation Z tends to prefer transformational leadership more than transactional leadership, supported and predicted by the literature. Understanding Generation Z’s leadership preferences will provide insight on better methods for organizations to recruit, train, and develop employees. Such insights will also be beneficial to future Generation Z research.

The study of leadership in wide range of organizational settings has demonstrated the advantage the Full Range Leadership (FRL) of transformational leadership approach over other leadership styles in predicting organizational performance and other outcomes. Research has found that leadership is one of the most significant contributors to organizational performance. However, very little research has been completed on the link between FRL and organizational performance at American Muslim Organizations (AMOs). This lack of empirical research, the increase use of FRL in assessing pastoral leadership (Rowold, 2008), and its positive and strong association with effective organizations as shown in literature were the primary motivators for this study. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X), a proven leadership assessment test, was administered to 320 congregants at 12 AMOs in the greater Dallas area, TX, USA to determine preferred leadership styles and whether there is a significant correlation relationship between senior leadership styles and organization performance. Created and updated by Bass and Avolio (2004), the questionnaire measure three objective indicators of organizational performance: congregants’ satisfaction with leadership, motivation toward extra effort, and perceived leadership effectiveness. Results of descriptive analysis showed that senior leaders at AMOs scored relatively high in the average of all responses and in six of the nine leadership factors, suggesting that Full Range Transformational Leadership Model (FRLM) was the style practiced by senior leaders at targeted organizations.

The results of multiple regression analysis of aggregated leadership factors scores revealed that blended specific elements of the (FRLM) led to higher satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort and perceived leadership effectiveness among congregants.

Multiple regression analysis for separate leadership factors scores revealed the following findings: (1) Contingent Reward leadership style (CR), which requires performance measurements to reward achievement beyond meeting standards, is inextricably linked with the Transformational leadership style. (2) FRLM consisted of nine hierarchal factors on a continuum basis and strongly proffered as the most effective leadership approach at the studied context. (3) Idealized influence, attribute and behavior, did not reach significance, suggesting that AMOs are shifting from religious leadership to secular one. (4) Intellectual stimulation did not reach significance either, suggesting that leadership at AMOs does not empower followers nor facilitate creativity and independent thinking among them.

Factor analysis findings (PCA) suggested that the nine factors of FRLM can be represented by three main factors to explain 75.4 of the variability in the original data. The findings of this study provided strong support for FRLM to work well with the senior leadership at AMOs. Discussion of the implications and recommendations was provided.

Intercollegiate athletics have received considerable attention by scholars in higher education. Despite this wide treatment by scholars, there is little examination of the athletics director. Most of the published research on athletics directors disproportionately focuses on the responsibilities of the athletics director, the pressures of the leadership position, the characteristics and behaviors of these leaders, and the organizational culture of athletics departments. The purpose of this study was to investigate and gain insight into the environmental forces that disrupted and influenced athletics director leadership. This study explored how the participants understood, acknowledged, and reacted to forces that unavoidably influenced their choices. Particular attention was placed on comprehending how these individuals led change in their organizations while at the same time balanced the intersecting demands on their positions.

Qualitative research methods were used to explore the forces that influenced athletics directors at large, public and private research universities that were part of the NCAA and sponsor Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) or Division I-AAA (no football) athletics. A grounded theory methodological approach was used in the design and execution of this study. Using this method built theories through systematic stages of data analysis and conceptual development. The development of these concepts became the building blocks of theory,which explained the participants’ experiences as athletics directors. These findings offer insight into the forces that influenced athletics directors as they led change in their organizations.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-92).
The current environment demands a better quality of leadership in organizations. In order to improve leadership capabilities, companies can create leadership development programs. However, not all companies embrace leadership development programs. Those who do usually have several types of programs and treat these programs as part of their strategic plan to address challenges that companies are likely to face in the future. Reviewing the leadership research, I find there is a positive relationship between leadership development programs and organizational performance. Reviewing the leadership program research, I find that most leadership development programs were created in response to significant challenges organizations were facing. I present the MIT Sloan Fellows program, as an alternative program that some companies and individuals are choosing for leadership development. The program uses the Four Capabilities Model as a leadership theory, focusing on the tasks and capabilities needed of leaders. I administered two surveys to the Sloan Fellows Class 2011. Surveys results suggest some of the benefits the program provides to individuals and organizations. Among these findings, my evidence shows that a higher percentage of "leader companies" have leadership development programs, in contrast to "follower companies" that usually do not have leadership development programs.
by Jose A. Sanhueza.
S.M.

The purpose of this study was to examine the attributional association between servant leadership and global leadership. The research employed a correlational, hypothetical-deductive, cross-sectional quantitative research strategy with two established instruments to measure servant leadership and global leadership attributes. The sample included 413 leaders and executives of organizations in northeast Indiana in the United States. The study found a close association between servant leadership and global leadership and between individual leadership attributes of both constructs. The strength of the correlative relationship between the two leadership constructs was found to be dependent on a leader's leadership position and gender. Post hoc analysis revealed differences in servant leadership by a leader's gender and the type and size of organization. Differences in global leadership were found between leaders when moderated by size of organization and number of countries the organization does business with, but not the proportion of products or services sold to foreign countries.

Toxic leadership costs organizations millions at a time in lost employees, lost customers, lost productivity, and even lost health. The literature shows toxic leadership extends beyond just leaders into an interconnected ?toxic triangle? of destructive leaders, conducive environments, and susceptible followers. This study explored, ?Can a free, online mindfulness-based stress reduction course reduce the negative impact of toxic leadership on the organization?? Ten volunteers self-identified as currently working under a toxic leader. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to measure resistance, compliance, and core self-evaluation along with interviews and journals. The results indicated mindfulness did reduce the negative impact: conducive environments were less conducive and susceptible followers were less susceptible. Additionally, mindfulness had influence on the entire toxic triangle and resulted in unique Toxic Triangle Influence Maps for each situation. Finally, family systems theory was found to be particularly useful for understanding leadership in a toxic triangle.

The high employee turnover rate in the U.S. restaurant industry constitutes a major expense for restaurants. The research problem for this study was to determine if restaurant employees' perceptions of their supervisor's servant leadership practices were associated with the employees' organizational commitment and perceived organizational support, which have been shown to reduce turnover. Greenleaf's servant leadership theory provided the theoretical framework. The research question for this study was whether restaurant employees' perceptions of their supervisor's servant leadership practices were associated with the employees' organizational commitment and perceived organizational support, thereby potentially reducing employees' turnover rate. A purposive sample of 88 nonsupervisory employees of several South Florida casual dining restaurants completed a demographic questionnaire, short forms of the Servant Leadership Scale and Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, and the Organizational Commitment Scale. Correlation analysis was used to determine any significant (p < 0.5) relationships between the independent and dependent variables. The study correlation results suggested that instituting a servant leadership approach may enable casual dining restaurants to raise their nonsupervisory employees' organizational commitment and perceived perception of organizational support, thereby possibly retaining them longer. The findings have implications for social change because they may motivate casual dining restaurants to institute servant leadership, thereby potentially increasing the well-being and job satisfaction of their employees and the service experience of their customers.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82).
by David M. Tonaszuck.
S.M.

Multinational corporate leaders acknowledge that a lack of business direction by senior leadership results in a 68% failure in the execution of organizational strategies. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore what best practice solutions automotive manufacturing senior leaders created to help front-line managers execute organizational strategies. The population consisted of 20 automotive manufacturing senior leaders located in Michigan with significant years of automotive experience and at least a year of experience employed as an automotive manufacturing senior leader. Vroom's expectancy theory served as the conceptual framework for the study describing the enhancement of employee performance related to their skills, knowledge, abilities, and workplace expectations. Data were collected through semistructured interviews using open-ended questions. Methodological triangulation and a modified van Kaam data analysis approach were used with field notes and interview data to guide the coding process, theoretical saturation, and trustworthiness of interpretations. Five themes emerged that senior leaders identified important for creating best practice solutions: benchmarking, training, communication strategies, organizational change, and integrity. These findings may influence positive social change by offering management strategies, objectives, and actions that help to promote the development of employees and collaboration between individuals, government institutions, local businesses, and communities.

Communication is usually seen as a tool for success with organizational change. What makes communication so important is that it lays the foundation for the understanding and perception of the organization and the process of change. This study is about communication between the manager and the employee at times of change. The purpose of this study is not primarily to streamline communication in organizational change, but first and foremost to understand how communication works, what perceptions and reactions create communication between both the manager and the employee. The most important lessons come from six people: three managers and three employees' experiences and perceptions of communication in organizational change in a public organization.  In this study, I explore how managers and employees perceive organizational change, what roles they have in change itself, how their communication works. Here I also discuss what it means to lead change for a manager and to follow the leader for an employee. The results of this study show that there are uncertainties in communication and the desire to improve it. Thanks to this study, it is possible to understand how a lack of communication affects the employee in organizational change, while good communication creates the conditions for successful organizational change.

Implementing effective leadership strategies in management of information systems (MIS) can positively influence overall organizational performance. This study was an exploration of the general problem of failure to lead effectively in the current knowledge-based economy and the resulting deleterious effects on organizational performance and threats to continuing organizational viability. The specific problem was the lack of understanding regarding the interaction of leadership processes with MIS functions and the impact on organizational success. Managers' and employees' lived experiences of leadership in small- to medium-sized enterprises were explored, as well as how those experiences influenced the organization's adaptive responses regarding technology and performance in the knowledge-based economy. The complexity theory of leadership was applied as the theoretical foundation for this study. A phenomenological methodology was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through open coding to identify emergent themes from the data. The themes were leaders motivate employees' positive work-related behaviors, effective communication skills ensure accessibility and efficiency of the organizational information system, and leadership practices influence business productivity. This study contributes to social change by providing insights for managers and employees regarding effective strategies for working as teams and networks via the use of nontraditional leadership theory, which promotes company sustainability by demonstrating the benefits of responding to the changing economy.

This dissertation investigated approaches which key informants and practitioners have used to successfully align leadership development and strategy management. The subjects interviewed in this study were familiar with organizations that made significant investments in leadership development programs and overcame the challenges associated with aligning leadership development with strategy management. The study explored how the participants described their approaches to aligning leadership development with strategy management via semi-standardized interviews from a targeted population of key informants and practitioners with significant experience as business executives, consultants, and academic leaders focused on the processes of leadership development and strategy management in organizations. Six key findings emerged from this study regarding the alignment of leadership development with strategy management: 1) leadership development in organizations should be differentiated to fit varying roles, yet integrated throughout the organization through similar and shared competencies, 2) leadership development competencies should be connected to and leveraged within the organization’s strategy management processes, 3) organizations should have a formal approach that aligns leadership development, not only with the company’s current strategic management objectives, but also with where the company was headed, 4) leadership development competencies should be aligned with the beliefs and behaviors of senior executives, 5) leadership development competencies should be linked to the organization’s key results through a strategic framework, 6) developing leadership competencies that lead to specific results was an ongoing process best achieved through action-learning. Regardless of the business sector or size of the organization, the findings of this study indicated that a successful approach to facilitating the alignment of leadership development with strategy management was an approach that incorporates leadership, culture, teamwork, and alignment: the components of organizational capital.

Healthcare as an industry included over 14 million workers in the United States and accounted for more than 15 percent of total Gross Domestic Product in 2008. Healthcare, particularly hospitals, played a significant role in shaping the culture, economy and quality of life throughout the United States beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing to the present. For this reason, it was important to understand the nature of hospitals as healthcare organizations and the nature of leadership within these organizations. Metaphors were identified as a viable way to capture the structure and functioning of hospitals through their evolution as organizations over the past century and were used to evaluate the effectiveness of hospital leadership in responding to environmental, financial and societal changes. Based on this assessment, the role of metaphors as a leadership tool was examined and as well as the potential role of metaphors in promoting organizations development.

A survey of Certified Professionals in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) in the Northeastern United States was used to assess the prevalence of the two most common metaphors cited in the literature for healthcare organizations, mechanistic and complex adaptive system. A unique aspect of this survey was the use of paired statements reflecting characteristics of the two most common metaphors to evaluate their use in healthcare organizations. Surprisingly, the metaphors frequently cited in the literature were identified infrequently and no metaphors were identified consistently across hospitals in the region.

This qualitative study examined the use of transformational leadership among producers in one production company in the entertainment industry. A sample of 16 producers who led shows at the organization from 2012 to 2016 completed an interview about their self-described and ideal leadership styles, their current and desired use of transformational leadership, and attitudes and openness to executive coaching. Producers’ self-described current leadership style is empowering, and they want to become more results-oriented and highly respected in the future. Participants reported they are and want to continue to be transformational. Almost all participants expressed interest in coaching. Although additional research is needed to extend and confirm the present study findings, the study organization may wish to offer its leaders development opportunities and consider training team members to promote consistent values. Specifically, executive coaching and training in transformational leadership may be beneficial and of interest to the participants in this study.

Leaders in some narcotics treatment programs struggle with change development and implementation. The objective of this single-case study was to explore strategies used by leaders in a narcotics treatment program to develop and implement organizational change initiatives successfully. Participants included 4 leaders who had developed and implemented successful change initiatives repeatedly for more than 10 years in a narcotics treatment program in the southeastern United States. Bertalanffy's general systems theory was the basis for the conceptual framework. Data collection included semistructured interviews of leaders of a narcotics treatment program and collection of archival data, such as reports relating to strategic planning, core value analysis, and risk assessments. Data analysis, using qualitative analysis software revealed 3 themes: communication, education through research, and resistance. The identified themes aligned with the conceptual framework, as the themes work together as a unit. Recommendations for action include further research for the application of social media in the treatment of patients. Leaders of narcotics treatment programs may use the findings to improve the success of social change development and implementation. Successful social change within these programs could result in the betterment of community relations and an increase in productive members of society who contribute to the economic health of the community.

Organizations face challenges related to swiftly and successfully adapting their products and services to meet the changing demands of the external environment to achieve long-term success. These challenges have prompted the study of organization agility, an organizational capability defined as the ability to swiftly and successfully change in order to achieve long-term financial success (Worley, Williams, & Lawler, 2014). Researchers have theorized that the behaviors and attributes of organization leaders impact organization agility (Worley et al., 2014; Holbeche, 2015). The purpose of this study was to conduct an inferential quantitative research study to determine if leadership behaviors predict organization agility.

The research sample included 126 U.S.-based business units within 47 organizations with greater than 1,000 employees. Organization agility was measured using the Agility Survey (short-form) developed by Worley, Williams, and Lawler (2014) to generate a Total Agility Score. The leadership behaviors and attributes of the business unit leaders were measured using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X; Avolio & Bass, 2004). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis determined an alternative five-construct model of leadership behaviors and attributes for this data set. Simultaneous linear regression determined that the leadership behaviors found to predict higher levels of organization agility included (a) exploratory behaviors that support a culture of discovering new ways to solve problems and conduct business, (b) latitude behaviors that provide employees with a high degree of freedom and responsibility in achieving work results and resolving issues, (c) visionary behaviors that create a clear organization purpose and mission that define the “why” of the organization’s existence, and (d) reflective behaviors that cause leaders to challenge their own assumptions and create mechanisms for the organization to do so as well. Simultaneous linear regression analysis also determined that leadership behaviors related to power and structure predict lower levels of organization agility.

In addition to the original research question, results were reported comparing the Total Agility Score for organization groups divided by type of organization, size of organization, and year founded; and for business unit groups divided by business unit leader gender and size of business unit. Inspection of these results’ means indicated that the Total Agility Score for for-profit organizations (M = 3.97) was significantly higher than the Total Agility Score for nonprofits/government agencies ( M = 3.67), a difference of .30 on a 5-point Likert scale ( p = .009) and with a larger than typical effect size (d = .77). Inspection of the results also indicated that the Total Agility Score for organizations with 1,000 to 6,000 employees (M = 3.99) was significantly higher than the Total Agility Score for organizations with greater than 6,000 employees (M = 3.83; p = .038) with an effect size between smaller than typical or medium ( d = .37).

This research study contributes to the body of knowledge of organization agility by informing scholars, practitioners, and organization leaders as to the leadership behaviors and attributes that predict both higher and lower levels of organization agility. Several additional research studies are suggested that would enhance knowledge related to the conceptual frameworks and theories of organization agility and leadership.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This mini-thesis examines the relationships between results-based leadership and the success of organisations through the maintenance of high levels of energy. In Chapter 1 the concept of energy is introduced by focusing on the relationship between globalisation, through increased competition and concurrent adaptation, and the need for high energy levels in organisations. Chapter 2 has a twofold focus. Firstly, a model for the creation of energised organisations is developed through examining the interrelationships between people, energy and systems, developing an understanding of the requirements of energy, describing systems as open entities, investigating the impact and efficiency of systems and discussing the need for organisational energy. The second part of the chapter investigates the relationship between energy levels and organisational success. Section " emphasises the conceptual development of leadership. Chapter 3 focuses on the conceptual history of leadership, some popular myths around the concept, and four theoretical approaches that are critical to modern-day understanding of leadership. It argues that leadership determines, or strongly influences, the strategy, direction and success of organisations, institutions and companies. The process of leadership is affected by three distinct variables: leaders themselves, the employees reporting to them, and the situation. The interaction between these variables determines the leadership behaviour and the reactions of subordinates through commitment, job satisfaction and performance. In this, leadership becomes a function of these three variables. The debate in Chapter 4 concentrates, firstly, on the dichotomous relationship between leaders and managers. Leaders have a role to play in the charting of the longer-term horizon of the organisation in which they set vision, mission and direction through effective communication and subtle motivation. Managers have a shorter-term horizon in which they define the vision, mission, goals and values of leadership into shorterterm strategy and implementation interventions. They draw the road map that follows the compass direction of leadership. Secondly, Chapter 4 argues that transformational leadership is paradoxical in nature. Transformational leaders have to build organisations that embrace paradox, i.e. organisations that manage the uncertainty of change in their environments. Their role is one of being change agents. The argument, thirdly, claims that leadership is results-based. Here the argument is for a framework of leadership that is output-driven, i.e. that has a goal orientation towards organisational output and success. Chapter 5 focuses on the conclusions of the research project.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie minitesis ondersoek die verband tussen uitsetgedrewe leierskap en organisatoriese sukses deur die handhawing van hoë energievlakke. In Hoofstuk 1 word die konsep van energie ingelei deur 'n fokus op die verband tussen globalisering, as gevolg van toenemende kompetisie en konkurrente aanpassings, en die noodsaaklikheid van hoë energievlakke in organisasies. Hoofstuk 2 het 'n tweeledige fokus. Eerstens word 'n energiemodel ontwikkel deur die ontleding van die verband tussen mense, energie en stelsels, die ontwikkeling van 'n begrip vir die vereistes van energie, die beskrywing van stelsels as oop entiteite, 'n ondersoek van die impak en effektiwiteit van stelsels, en die verduideliking van die noodsaaklikheid van energie. Die tweede deel van die hoofstuk ondersoek die verband tussen energievlakke en organisatoriese sukses. Afdeling II beklemtoon die konsepsuele ontwikkeling van leierskap. Hoofstuk 3 fokus op die konsepsuele geskiedenis van leierskap, 'n aantal mites rondom leierskap en vier teoretiese benaderinge wat kritiek vir die hedendaagse begrip van leierskap is. Daar word aangevoer dat leierskap die strategie, rigting en sukses van organisasies bepaal of sterk beïnvloed. Die leierskapproses word deur drie aspekte geaffekteer: leiers self, die werknemers wat aan hulle rapporteer, en die situasie waarbinne dit plaasvind. Die interaksie tussen hierdie aspekte bepaal die gedrag van leiers en die reaksie van werknemers deur toegewydheid, werkstevredenheid en prestasie. Hierdeur word leierskap 'n funksie van die drie aspekte. Die debat in Hoofstuk 4 konsentreer, eerstens, op die tweedelige verhouding tussen leiers en bestuurders. Leiers speel 'n rol in die kartering van die langtermynhorison van die organisasie deur die bepaling van visie, missie en rigting deur effektiewe kommunikasie en subtiele motivering. Bestuurders het 'n kortertermynhorison waarbinne hulle die visie, missie, doelstellinge en waardes in strategie en implementering omskep. Hulle teken die kaart wat die kompasrigting van leierskap navolg. In Hoofstuk 4 word tweedens aangevoer dat transformasieleierskap paradoksaal van aard is. Transformasieleiers moet organisasies bou wat paradokse aanvaar, d.i. organisasies wat die onsekerheid van omgewingsverandering kan bestuur. Hulle moet ook die rol van transformasieagente speel. Derdens word aangevoer dat leierskap uitsetgedrewe is. Hier word geargumenteer vir 'n leierskapraamwerk wat uitsetgedrewe is, wat doelmatig op organisatoriese uitset en sukses gemik is. Hoofstuk 5 fokus op die samevatting van die bevindinge van die navorsingsprojek.

Recent correlation studies in leadership literature have shown that organizational as well as individual outcomes often can be explained by examining leader behaviors and associating those behaviors with those outcomes (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006; Dannhauser & Boshoff, 2006; Cerit, 2010; Drury, 2004; Hayden, 2011; Laub, 1999; Liden, Wayne, Zhao & Henderson, 2008; Rauch, 2007; Scuderi, 2010; Washington, 2007). Drury (2004) documented that servant leadership can be measured in an organization, and noted a statistically significant relationship between the perception of servant leadership and job satisfaction as well as a statistically significant but inverse relationship between perceptions of supervisors' servant leadership and organizational commitment among employees in an academic environment. The primary focus of this study is volunteer board members' perceptions of pastors' servant leadership and volunteer church board members' reported organizational commitment in high-performing Nazarene churches. Using the 28-item Servant Leadership Scale (SLS) created by Liden et al. (2008) to examine perception of servant leadership among Nazarene pastors, together with the Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993) commitment scales to measure organizational commitment of volunteer board members, this study found a statistically significant correlation between these variables. This study also measured pastor self-perception of servant leadership using the SLS self-report by Liden, et al. (2008) and the results indicated that while pastors saw themselves as servant leaders, no significant correlation could be found between the pastor's self-perception of servant leadership and volunteer board members' reported organizational commitment. To further investigate these findings, a summary discussion of interviews conducted with a random sample of pastors complete this mixed-methods study.

The quantitative, descriptive study examined workplace communication breakdowns by evaluating generational perceptions of supervisor leadership, communication and employee performance. Participants included members of the Baby Boomer generation, Generation X, and Millenials. Respondents completed an online survey that contained the Supervisor Leadership Communication Inventory. Additionally, respondents answered an open-ended question that asked about a supervisor’s role in facilitating intergenerational communication. Data analysis indicated no significant differences among generational perceptions of supervisor leadership, communication or employee performance. Themes that emerged from responses to the open-ended question aligned with SLCI themes, including leadership, communication and teamwork. Limitations to the study included a lack of participation by members of the Silent Generation, possible misinterpretation of the survey questions and limiting the participants to only those who were employed full-time. Respondents indicated effective leadership was based upon treating employees as individuals and not based upon generational cohort. Recommendations included further research to determine the occurrence of workplace communication breakdowns based upon generational differences.

Keywords: generation, communication, leadership, teamwork.

The purpose of this study was to illuminate leaders' lived experience of authentic leadership moments—those moments when leaders respond with increased authenticity, despite the challenges they face. The literature on authenticity, transformative learning, leadership, and Buddhism provided useful insights into this phenomenon.

Using a mindful inquiry method focusing on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and Buddhism (Bentz & Shapiro, 1998), 10 participants were interviewed about their experience of authentic leadership moments. Five phenomenological themes were identified: (a) abiding in ambiguity, (b) listening to the body, (c) opening to possibilities, (d) communicating with honesty and vulnerability, and (e) acting with integrity and courage. Descriptions of participants' inauthentic moments helped enhance the understanding of these themes and clarified the experience of authentic moments. Prior to the moment itself, leaders faced situational and personal challenges, acknowledged their fear and hesitation, made a commitment or decision to work with the challenge(s), and prepared for the moment in a variety of ways. The analysis also showed that after the moment, leaders experienced a positive impact on their self-esteem, their relationships, and the organizations they served.

Organizations are focused on growth, and one important means to enhance growth is inorganic growth through merger & acquisition (M&A). As an important component of inorganic growth, the literature spends significant time focused on human factors as a critical component supporting accomplishment of stated goals and objectives of the M&A. Yet, the literature is less robust when looking at the role of leadership as one of the major aspects of human factors to consider in M&As for both the acquirer and the target organization. While the literature recognizes the importance of leadership as a component of successful M&As, it is largely focused anecdotal aspects of leadership and little or no focus on empirical studies of leadership in M&As. For these organizations engaged in M&A activities, understanding the role of organizational leadership capability as a predictor in M&A success can be a key differentiator. M&As generate a large amount of risk and this requires assessing and understanding variables that impact M&A success in order to reduce the risk of the M&A decision and enhance chances for successful integration at the conclusion of the M&A deal. Within this dissertation, organizational leadership capability as determined by 360-degree leadership assessment instruments are leveraged across a wide range of M&As and industry sectors to identify organizational leadership capability areas and competencies that might be predictors of M&A success. Identifying organizational leadership capability profiles through these combinations of leadership areas and competencies can aid M&A decision making and reduce inherent risk in those decisions.

Increasing complexity, flatter organizational structures and rapidly changing environments require coordination and collaboration with individuals and teams across organizations. As teams navigate these complex organizational dynamics, spanning boundaries between groups is increasingly relevant for knowledge work. The extant literature has directed little attention towards examining how boundary spanning is carried out in complex, multi-organizational settings in which organization, sector and expertise boundaries are crossed during the life cycle of the collaboration. This dissertation develops a deeper understanding of the practices boundary spanners use in facilitating collaboration across diverse actors in multi-organizational work. I introduce and illustrate the phenomenon of facilitative boundary leadership -- defined as fostering teaming across organizational and sectoral boundaries for mutual benefit throughout the lifecycle of a temporary collaboration. Facilitative boundary leadership includes four components: 1) aligning objectives, which brings together diverse actors for exploratory dialogue and enables all parties to have mutual benefit; 2) curating interactions across boundaries, which promotes understanding and eases tensions; 3) establishing a collaborative structure, which provides ground rules and roles for interactions and work throughout the collaboration lifecycle; and 4) maintaining a neutral stance, which builds trust and allows the boundary spanner to move across levels and boundaries. This dissertation draws on an in-depth field study at a multilateral development organization implementing processes to enhance collaboration with external partners. I show that facilitative boundary leadership provided the relational and structural support for diverse actors from different organizations to collaborate and innovate in complex environments, despite numerous differences among actors. This research contributes to the literatures on boundary spanning, cross-sector collaboration and leadership. In addition, it offers practical implications for understanding and improving the effectiveness of collaboration in complex, multi-organizational contexts.
Organizational Behavior

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study seeks to demonstrate the impact of late 20th century leadership literature, which is taken as the accepted embodiment of leadership thinking. Leadership thinking influences both the academic study and resultant practice of leadership. A paradigmatic approach was employed to contrast that the demands of a post-industrial, globalised society would be of a different order to those of the 20th century industrial society. The study seeks to challenge the intellectual climate of the business leadership discipline at the level of the normative, which in turn would present a challenge to the conventional strategic focus and approach of business leadership. A challenge to the normative requires that a certain philosophical perspective be introduced in the crossing of the boundary lines between various disciplines. As business is part of the social sciences, the critical intellectual challenges to modern knowledge were explored, which provided a foundation for the challenge. This required that new scientific theory, both in the pure and the natural sciences as well as certain postmodern authors representing the humanities be reviewed. A refocusing on what has been taken for granted, what has been neglected, regions of resistance, the forgotten, the irrational, the repressed, the borderline, the classical, the sacred, the marginal and the excluded signifies .. The question is asked if we are able to recognise the ways in which our lives and livelihood have been influenced by outmoded structures? Due cognisance is not taken of the unsettling shifts of mindset that will be required to exercise leadership in the post-industrial paradigm. The concept of paradigms is central to this study where it operates' as the methodology device, given that the nature of the research is exploratory, open-ended and hermeneutic compared to the mensural convention that most business research follows. The study explores the paradigm dependency of leadership, as a sociological frame of reference, where leadership is viewed as a patterned social action and a political/structural action, so that leadership is analysed as a socially constructed reality. A key distinction of this study is the major temporal transformation from the industrial to the post-industrial paradigm, where post-industrial is of a magnitude far greater than information technology advances. The current populist interpretation is e-commerce, the Internet and genetic engineering. The notion of the 'Limits of the Model', representing the breakdown of the industrial paradigm, occurs when the paradigm is being pushed too far. The significance of this breakdown for leadership, is that leadership vision and purpose must take its cue from an external frame of reference, which is categorised as a paradigm of the 'sociological' region, The crisis of leadership is bound to their sociological understanding situated within a network of culturally shared knowledge, beliefs, ideals and taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of industrial life. Three distinct crises of leadership are identified and they combine to form a major existential crisis which embodies the struggle of the individual to find purpose and meaning in working life. The study provides a different concept and criteria for vision which requires that corporate vision would have to travel beyond the rational dimension that dominates leadership thinking today and enter into the realm of the metaphysic. Corporate vision would become a 'force-field', defined by organisation culture, In order to escape from the cultural obsolescence that surrounds most organisations today, leadership has to become a process that entails the capacity to create a new story about what is to be struggled against and dreamed about. The leaders' stories would become a reconceptualisation of the purpose of life which the post-industrial paradigm will demand. Vision and purpose would be grounded in legitimacy, sustainability and ethics, creating a question mark around the organisation's current fitness for purpose. The constructs of a "'quantum worldview provide a challenge to every boundary that leadership has tended to operate by and with. These constructs promote disorder, relationship as the basis of all definition, information as the primal creative force (and not capital and labour) and sustainability based on meeting future generations' needs. Leadership becomes a set of principles governed by a hierarchy of imagination, ideas leadership. Leadership as stewardship on a more evolved plane of value promotes an ecologicalliteracy, based on the notion of the living planet. The living planet operates as a platform of supposition which dictates that ethics will become the enabling dependency for leadership in the 21st century. This reconceptualisation of leadership is one that highlights a communal relationship, based on mutual purpose which requires true community, or a second-order level of communalism. Most business initiative today is focussed on pseudo or chaos stages of community, which does not support an ethical dimension in either purpose, strategy or operation. Ecology as an eco-philosophy goes hand in hand with the idea of spirit as an animating principle. The potential contribution of Africa with its rich cultural heritage of community through the ages, as well as the Platonic archetype of Philosopher-Ruler to enable the magnitude of the shift to be addressed is the hermeneutic yield of the study. The ecology metaphor of the postindustrial paradigm is a fertile source of potential and possible hypotheses that can be explored in the identification and reformulation of the sociological paradigm necessary to move leadership research forward. The result is a much broader, more societal 'picture' of 21st century business leadership, where globalisation is recast in a set of global ethics and global accountability, which business and its leadership has to come to terms with. The 'recasting' of business leadership promotes a different ontology where an overarching communitarian approach, will become the 'ground' for leadership and business models, strategies and evaluation for the foreseeable future.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie wil die impak demonstreer van die leierskapsliteratuur van die laat 20ste eeu, wat beskou word as die aanvaarde beliggaming van leierskapsdenke. Leierskapsdenke beïnvloed beide die akademiese studie en gevolglike praktyk van leierskap. 'n Paradigmatiese benadering is gevolg om die kontras aan te dui tussen die vereistes van onderskeidelik 'n post-industriële wêreldgemeenskap en 20ste eeuse industriële samelewing. Die studie wil 'n uitdaging rig tot die intellektuele klimaat van die besigheidsleierskapsdissipline op die normatiewe vlak, wat op sy beurt 'n uitdaging bied aan die konvensionele strategiese fokus en benadering van besigheidsleierskap. 'n Uitdaging aan die normatiewe vereis dat 'n sekere filosofiese perspektief bygevoeg word waar die grense tussen verskillende dissiplines oorgesteek word. Aangesien besigheid deel is van die sosiale wetenskappe is die kritieke intellektuele uitdagings aan moderne kennis ondersoek, wat 'n grondslag vir die uitdaging voorsien het. Dit vereis dat nuwe wetenskaplike teorie ondersoek word in beide die suiwer en die natuurwetenskappe, sowel as sekere postmoderne outeurs wat die menswetenskappe verteenwoordig. Dit is van belang dat daar weer gefokus word op wat as vanselfsprekend aanvaar is, wat verwaarloos is, waarteen daar weerstand was, wat vergeet is; die irrasionele, die onderdrukte, die grensgevalle, die klassieke, die heilige, die marginale en wat uitgesluit was. Die vraag word gevra of ons in staat is om die wyses te herken waarop ons lewens en lewensonderhoud beïnvloed is deur verouderde strukture? Daar word nie genoeg kennis geneem van die verwarrende veranderinge in denkwyse wat vereis word om leierskap in die post-industriële paradigma uit te oefen nie. Die konsep van paradigmas is sentraal tot hierdie studie waar dit opereer as die metodologiese ontwerp, aangesien die aard van die navorsing ondersoekend, oop en hermeneuties is - vergeleke met die metingskonvensie wat deur die meeste besigheidsnavorsing gevolg word. Die studie ondersoek die paradigma-afhanklikheid van leierskap as 'n sosiologiese verwysingsraamwerk, waar leierskap beskou word as 'n sosiale aksiepatroon en 'n politieke/strukturele aksie, sodat leierskap ontleed word as 'n sosiaal gekonstrueerde realiteit. 'n Belangrike onderskeidende kenmerk van hierdie studie is die groot wêreldtransformasie van die industriële na die post-industriële paradigma, waar post-industrieel van 'n baie groter omvang is as bloot vordering in die inligtingstegnologie. Die huidige populistiese interpretasie is e-handel, die Internet en genetiese manipulasie. Die idee dat die "Beperkinge van die Model" die ineenstorting van die industriële paradigma verteenwoordig, kom voor wanneer die paradigma te ver gevoer word. Die betekenis van hierdie ineenstoring vir leierskap is dat leierskapsvisie en --doel gebaseer word op 'n eksterne verwysingsraamwerk, wat gekategoriseer word as 'n paradigma van sosiologiese aard. Die krisis van leierskap is verbind aan hulle sosiologiese begrip gesitueer binne 'n netwerk van kultureel gedeelde kennis, oortuigings, ideale en aannames wat as vanselfsprekend aanvaar word oor die aard van die industriële lewe. Drie duidelike krisisareas van leierskap word geïdentifiseer en hulle vorm saam 'n belangrike eksistensiële krisis wat die beliggaming vorm van die individu se stryd om 'n doel en betekenis te vind in sy werksiewe. Die studie voorsien 'n ander begrip van en maatstaf vir visie, wat vereis dat korporatiewe visie verby die rasionele dimensie moet beweeg wat leierskapsdenke vandag oorheers, en die gebied van die metafisiese moet betree. Korporatiewe visie sal 'n "kragveld" word wat deur organisasiekultuur gedefinieer word. Om te ontsnap uit die kulturele veroudering wat vandag in die meeste organisasies bestaan, moet leierskap 'n proses word wat die kapasiteit behels om 'n nuwe storie te skep ten opsigte van waarteen daar gestry en waaroor daar gedroom moet word. Die leiers se stories sal 'n nuwe konseptualisering word van die doel van die lewe soos vereis deur die post-industriële paradigma. Visie en doelwit salop die grondslag rus van egtheid, volhoubaarheid en etiek, wat 'n vraagteken plaas om die organisasie se huidige geskiktheid vir die doel. Die konstrukte van 'n kwantumwêreldbeskouing voorsien 'n uitdaging aan elke grens waardeur en waarvolgens leierskap geneig was om te opereer. Hierdie konstrukte moedig wanorde aan; asook verhouding as die grondslag van alle definisie, inligting as die vernaamste skeppingskrag (en nie kapitaal en arbeid nie) en volhoubaarheid gebaseer op die voldoening aan die behoeftes van toekomstige generasies. Leierskap word 'n stel beginsels beheers deur 'n hiërargie van verbeelding, idees en kreatiwiteit, waar die vrystelling van die menslike gees die sentrale taak van leierskap word. Leierskap as 'n rentmeesterskap op 'n meer ontwikkelde vlak van waardes moedig 'n ekologiese geletterdheid aan, gebaseer op die idee van die lewende planeet. Die lewende planeet opereer as 'n platform van veronderstelling wat voorskryf dat leierskap in die 21ste eeu daarvan afhanklik sal wees vir sy bestaan. Hierdie nuwe konseptualisering van leierskap is een wat die fokus plaas op 'n gemeenskapsverhouding gebaseer op 'n onderlinge doel, wat werklike gemeenskap vereis, of 'n vlak van gemeenskaplikheid van die tweede orde. Die meeste besigheidsinisiatief vandag fokus op pseudo- of chaos-stadiums van gemeenskaplikheid, wat nie ondersteuning bied vir 'n etiese dimensie in doel, strategie of bedryf nie. Ekologie as 'n eko-filosofie hang saam met die gedagte van geesteskrag as 'n lewewekkende beginsel. Die potensiële bydrae van Afrika met sy ryk kulturele erfenis van gemeenskap deur die eeue, sowel as die Platoniese argetipe van die Filosoof-Heerser wat dit moontlik maak om 'n verandering van hierdie omvang aan te spreek, is die hermeneutiese veld van die studie. Die ekologie-metafoor van die post-industriële paradigma is 'n vrugbare oorsprong vir potensiële en moontlike hipoteses wat ondersoek kan word in die identifikasie en herformulering van die sosiologiese paradigma wat nodig is vir vordering in die navorsing oor leierskap. Die gevolg is 'n baie breër, meer gemeenskapsgerigte "prentjie" van 21ste eeuse besigheidsleierskap, waar die uitbreiding tot wêreldomvang omvorm word tot 'n wêreldetiek en wêreldtoerekenbaarheid waarmee besigheid en besigheidsleierskap tot 'n vergelyk moet kom. Die "omvorming" van besigheidsleierskap moedig 'n ander ontologie aan, waar 'n oorkoepelende gemeenskapsbenadering die grondslag sal vorm vir modelle, strategieë en die evaluering van leierskap en besigheid in die voorsienbare toekoms.

Abstract The relationship between individual and organizational performance is a key challenge for leaders in modern organizations, especially with the current disruption in technology and innovation. This thesis is a literature review and compilation of the relevant empirical evidence on various processes of industrial groups and organizational characteristics such as the changing nature of work, leadership, and company culture in detail. I investigate the complex challenges that millennials and organizations are facing in the current VUCA work environment as well as their potential responses to these changes. I map out the evolution of the concept of work and compare changes in the workplace environment of the past, present, and future. Additionally, this thesis reviews the literature on organizational culture models, cultural fit and clash. I explore the intertwined differences and commonalities between management and leadership and also consider a gradual shift to a model of managerial-leadership in 21st century organizations. Furthermore, the research closely examines cultural change management through the lens of mergers and acquisitions. It also discusses next steps, like job redesign, team reorganization, and cultural reconciliation, to increase job satisfaction, employee motivation, and performance in future-ready organizations.

Innovative and enduring solutions to the myriad of complex social and environmental challenges facing the world today require the shared resources and combined talents of government, nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Interactions between these sectors are called cross sector partnerships (CSPs). As an example of CSPs, nonprofit patient advocacy organizations (PAOs) are increasingly entering relationships and collaborations with for-profit pharmaceutical companies (FPPCs). Using a phenomenological approach, this study sought to contribute to the body of knowledge on PAO/FPPC partnerships, as well as the broader CSP phenomenon, by exploring how leaders in the field of PAO/FPPC alliances experience collaboration with one another. Three research questions were used as the basis of semi-structured interviews with 11 patient advocacy leaders. Five of the participants were nonprofit leaders (NPLs) and six were for-profit leaders (FPLs). Results from this study include several important new contributions that add to the body of knowledge related to PAO/FPPC cross sector alliances. First, the data describe disparities in decision-making authority between the NPLs and FPLs and the data illustrate the complex, variable and challenging decision-making context that exists in PAO/FPPC partnerships. Second, these results confirm that strategic analysis skills, marketing skills and facilitation skills are important leadership competencies that impact productive PAO/FPPC partnerships. Finally, this research describes similarities and differences in leadership competencies that are important to NPLs and FPLs. This study is significant because an increased understanding of collaborations between patient advocacy organizations and drug development companies may allow for more positive and beneficial future collaborations. In addition, this research provides insight into the general phenomena of cross sector alliances, which may prove beneficial to a wide range of social challenges.

The fast-growing trend of using virtual teams comes with challenges including the lack of knowledge by some virtual team leaders for managing virtual teams. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the communication strategies that leaders use to manage virtual teams in real time to enhance team performance. The sample was composed of 4 successful virtual team leaders of a multinational accounting firm whose headquarters is in the northeastern region of the United States of America. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Tuckman’s small group developmental model. Data consisted of semistructured interviews and the review of archival company documents. The interview protocol, interview transcription, member checking, and methodological triangulation allowed for data reliability and validity. Five themes emerged regarding completion of the 4 stages (comprehension, synthesizing, theorizing, and recontextualizing) of data analysis: time synchronization, face-to-face interaction, continuous training, communication tools and frequency, and leadership training and development. The findings of this study could contribute to social change enhancing communication strategies used in virtual teams, which could result in higher employee satisfaction, which in turn could benefit the organizations and virtual employees, their families, and communities.

Considering the growing virtual workforce, it is important for people-managers to understand whether traditional management techniques produce increased engagement and greater productivity with a virtual population. Guided by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr., and Leonard Schlesinger's conceptual Service Profit Chain framework, this study focused on addressing the gap in contemporary literature related to management techniques that influence virtual employee engagement. Much of the current research provides a foundation for managing and engaging traditional office-based employees. To better understand which experientially-based management techniques influenced traditional employee engagement for a group of virtual employees, a qualitative descriptive phenomenological methodology was used to collect and analyze data to identify differences between traditional and virtual employee management techniques. Semi structured interviews with a criterion-based sample group of 13 study participants were conducted. Input from participants were analyzed using a thematic inductive approach to understand and categorize the experiential interactions between managers and their virtual employees, discover how those experiences were defined and whether those categorized experiences influenced engagement. The results of this study illustrated how increased communication, autonomy, development, clarity, and succinct goals can be employed as effective people-management strategies for this increasingly more diverse and growing population. The social implication of this research produced insight about how these experiences created a more engaged, better work/life-balanced, happier, and mentally healthier virtual workforce.

The administration's healthcare reform act of 2010 brings changes that are targeted to increase the quality of care, cut rising healthcare costs, and improve the health of the population, but the principle objectives of the law can only be met with the active involvement of physicians. However, leading in multidisciplinary healthcare organizations is difficult and physicians prepared for leadership are in short supply. Addressing this shortage first requires an understanding of the leadership practices of physicians in order to develop an effective leadership development program. To this end, the primary purpose of this study is to explore the practices of physician leaders.

This study used the qualitative phenomenological method to examine the experiences of physicians in their lives as leaders. The theoretical framework used to guide the research was the five practices of exemplary leaders (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Interviews were conducted with 8 participants and the data were coded and analyzed using HyperRESEARCH, a qualitative coding software package. The validity and reliability of the study were enhanced by presenting an in-depth, vivid analysis of the data, by conducting a peer review and by clarifying the researcher's bias at the outset of the study. The study found that all 5 of the practices in Kouzes and Posner's (2012) theoretical framework were present in physician leaders to varying degrees. Overall, the expressions which represented the practices of "enable others to act," "inspire a shared vision," and "challenge the process," were counted more often than "model the way" and "encourage the heart."

The study recommends that instructional designers develop a systematic curriculum with advanced leadership concepts. Additional recommendations include executive coaching and change leadership training. Recommendations for future research include increasing the number of participants, replicating the study using a different theoretical framework, including more physicians from small practices, expanding the study to collect demographics of the participants, and using a quantitative method or mixed method to enhance the transferability of the study results.

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, Engineering and Management Program, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-91).
Every organization will face a crisis at some point in its history. How well an organization handles the preparation, response and recovery from a crisis is highly dependent on the strength of its leadership and overall design. This thesis develops a framework of five leadership and seven organizational elements necessary for the evaluation of an organization's response during a crisis. Utilizing this framework, interviews were conducted with senior leaders of businesses that successfully navigated tremendous crisis situations. As a result of these interviews, I determined the leadership elements of a strong foundation of support, realistic analysis and a propensity to act had the greatest impact on the success or failure of a leader during a crisis. The organizational elements of leadership support, a strong shared vision, and the ability to think systemically were also determined essential to the effective handling of a crisis. Organizations should dedicate time and resources to cultivate the robust development of these elements as part of their crisis preparation.
by Andy Rowe.
S.M. in Engineering and Management

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to identify transformational leadership skills exhibited by executives in mid-size companies, working in the fields of Marketing, Sales, HR, and IT. Additionally, this study also tried to identify top domains and skills for each group, and analyze the similarities and differences between groups.

Methodology: The study was structured around three research questions. As this was a quantitative study, self-rating data on 10 domains and 80 skills were collected using the Transformational Leadership Skills inventory instrument. These data were then analyzed using multiple statistical methods.

Findings: Analysis of data produced multiple findings in relation to top, middle, and bottom tier skills and domains for each group, thereby supporting the hypothesis that the situational context of job function is material for transformational leadership.

Conclusions: There were six conclusions that applied to all groups, thereby providing valuable insights in relation to similarities across job functions. Additionally, there were multiple differences found in the use of transformational leadership skills across Marketing, Sales, HR, and IT functions, leading to the creation of distinct transformational leadership skill portfolio for each group.

Recommendations: There were six implications for actions that were developed from the conclusions, ranging from hiring, to talent development, to succession planning. Additionally, eight recommendations for future research were also presented, ranging from logical extensions of this study into different verticals, to complementary new studies that would expand the body of knowledge, to longitudinal cross-sectional study that can be developed over time.

Leaders focus on the attainment of personal and organizational goals without consideration for the needs of stakeholders, especially those of followers. Ethical leadership (EL) studies' focus on leaders' perspectives represented a research gap that necessitated this study. Followers are the least researched among stakeholders; thus, this study explored EL from their viewpoints. Stakeholder theory, social learning theory, eudaimonia, and utilitarianism were the conceptual frameworks that guided this study. Twenty participants drawn from followers in a public organization in New Jersey were questioned about their experiences and expectations of EL using open-ended interview questions. Participants with shared experiences were selected based on convenience, snowball, and criterion sampling strategies. With the use of the transcendental phenomenological design, the data collected were analyzed with the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method and the two-cycle analysis. Knowledge, exemplarity, and democratic decision making were themes of EL that are relevant to followers. Other themes found in this study, including communication, stakeholders' wellbeing, impartiality, honesty, relationship building, responsibility, and humility, concur with extant literature and suggest consistency in the phenomenon. The potential social change implications of this study are an innovative and cooperative work environment, organizational success, and enhanced corporate social responsibility. Organizations and societies may benefit from the inculcation and development of EL in the family, society, tertiary institutions, and organizations through training, mentoring, and the development of an ethical culture.

Modern Leadership Compared to Historical Leadership Shown Biblically Forrest Jones This thesis is a comparison between modern leadership and historical leadership. Modern leadership has been differentiated from management since the early 1980’s. Historical leadership is shown by Jesus Christ through the Bible, used as a historical text. Historical leadership was found to have two separate tools used by Jesus Christ which would be useful additions to what leadership today is. The first tool is submission to authority. Most people in positions that would be considered leadership positions do not feel that they need to follow anyone else. Often times they act contrary to a way they have been directed to, because they feel their opinion is the only valid one. The second tool is servant leadership. In addition to believing their opinion is the only valid one, most leaders today consider their own needs before others and are not willing to serve those who they see as their followers. With the incorporation of submission businesses could function smoother, react quicker to challenges and less conflict would develop between leaders and their authority. With the incorporation of servant leadership, employee retention would increase, quality of work would increase and ultimately more goals would be reached. Current leadership is much more effective in many areas of business than management. The differentiation between the two areas since the early 1980’s has allowed many businesses to react quicker to a changing market place and ultimately become better businesses. Leadership in its current form is effective, but can we historically infer possible improvements through looking at the example of Jesus Christ historically shown in the Bible? The conclusion is significant in the business world, because it shows that through servant leadership and submission a high degree of ethics and commitment is shown. The net result of the ethics shown in this manner will increase trust both inside the business and to others who interact with them.

This study explores the importance of effective leadership on the success of mergers and acquisitions for the organization and employees of merged companies. More precisely, this study addresses how the nature and influence of leadership and leadership styles impact the integration of merging companies and their employees during the post-merger integration process. Qualitative data from 10 interviews was used to provide a deeper examination of the study participants about their beliefs, responses, opinions, and points of view. This study supports much of the current research in that leadership style does have an effect on both merger and employee satisfaction. This study found that leadership styles should be a key component for organizations to review and take under serious consideration, when preparing and planning for a merger.

Sickness absence not only causes significant costs for organizations but also leads to other negative consequences for individuals and societies. Previous research has shown that working with organizational values within Quality Management affects job satisfaction and results in increased profitability and customer satisfaction. There would, in addition, seem to be great gains if managers, by working with Quality Management, can manage to establish sustainable health among co-workers.   The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to examine how Quality Management could be practised in order to support sustainable health among co-workers and what it is within Quality Management that influences sustainable co-worker health. Accordingly, the purpose was also to contribute to the understanding of the relation between sustainable health and Quality Management. To fulfil this purpose, three research questions were asked. The results are described in three parts related to the three research questions and are the product of six case studies carried out in seven different organizations.   Interviews with managers and workshops with co-workers were carried out to investigate how Quality Management can be practised within organizations in order to promote sustainable co-worker health. These investigations took place in four organizations that had received awards. Three had been awarded for their excellence in leadership, work environment and co-workership, along with improved profitability; one for its successful implementation of quality programmes. The results are descriptions of methodologies, behaviours, values and organization structure used by the organizations to support sustainable health. These are exemplified with practical examples. The methodologies, behaviours, values, and organizational structure are considered possible for other organizations to adopt and all of them are already supported in the quality, management and leadership literature. Support from the health literature is also found for most of the behaviours, methodologies, values, and organizational structure.   Surveys and focus groups interviews were carried out in five different organizations in order to find out what is of most importance when practising Quality Management in order to influence sustainable co-worker health. The results pointed to ‘Leadership Commitment’ as the most central of the values for achieving sustainable health among the co-workers. Furthermore, the values ‘Continuous Improvements’, ‘Participation of Everybody’ and ‘Customer Orientation’ were found to be related to sustainable health among the co-workers. The values ‘Leadership Commitment’ and the value ‘Participation of Everybody’ were then further elaborated to find aspects of importance for sustainable co-worker health. From the value ‘Leadership Commitment’ four aspects were extracted. These were labelled ‘Empathy’, ‘Presence and Communication’, ‘Integrity’, and ‘Continuity’. The results showed relations between the value ‘Leadership Commitment’ within Quality Management and sustainable health among the co-workers. Thus it is essential for leaders to work in accordance with that value to achieve results in the work towards sustainable co-worker health. The results indicate that this requires management and leadership that are characterized by the aspects above. The leaders have to:   • Really understand the co-workers and their work situation. • Be present and available for co-workers and communicate with them. • Act as a role model, be fair and keep their promises. • Stay in their positions long enough to build up trust and confidence.   The value ‘Participation of Everybody’ has also been shown to be related to sustainable health among the co-workers. This indicates that it is important to work in accordance with that value in the struggle to achieve sustainable health among the co-workers. The results imply that this value is characterized by the aspects ‘Development’, ‘Influence’ and ‘Being informed’. This could be done by:   • Giving the co-workers opportunities to develop their skills and develop personally. • Letting the co-workers influence their work situation and taking suggestions and proposals from them seriously. • Having good communication within the whole organization.   To manage this; the managers have to delegate more and empower the co-workers.   These results were then further elaborated within another organization in order to develop a measurement approach that can clarify the extent to which the values, ‘Leadership Commitment’ and ‘Participation of Everybody’ permeate an organization. The developed measurement approach can be used to clarify the extent to which the organization is practising the health-promoting values within Quality Management and in what areas improvement is needed to increase co-worker health. The approach can also help the organization to detect those shortcomings within the management which are important for co-worker well-being. The developed measurement approach can be used to establish and enhance co-worker health by improving their well-being, satisfaction and motivation.

Leadership theories provide guidance, methods, and models for effective leaders. Many leadership theories, such as transactional, transformational, and servant leadership, identify a set of leadership traits or behaviors an effective leader possesses. Robert Greenleaf's (1970) servant leadership theory and characteristics have endured for decades. Greenleaf's servant leadership theory has resurfaced and grown in popularity as evidence by his work being widely cited in new publications, leadership journals, and articles on servant leadership (e.g., Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, and Peter Senge).

A number of authors have studied Eunice Kennedy Shriver and written about her leadership style, but no one to date has conducted an analysis to determine if her characteristics match those of a servant leader. This dissertation was a historical case study to recognize the leadership of Shriver and analyze the supposition that she was a servant leader. Shriver had the vision that became the Special Olympics movement that transformed the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families and communities worldwide. The fact that under the leadership of Shriver the Special Olympics achieved global success makes a study of her leadership style significant to the field of organizational leadership.

This qualitative case study sought to determine if leadership behaviors of the research subject, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, exemplified the 10 characteristics (behaviors) of servant leadership as defined by Robert Greenleaf (1970) and Larry Spears (1995, 1998b).

Servant leadership is the antithesis of leadership in much of corporate America. For decades, American managers of large corporations and the military have applied an autocratic (command and control) style of leadership. Servant leaders are selfless and seek to invest in the people they lead by genuinely caring about them and their success. They understand that success is realized through the efforts of their followers over selfinterest (Greenleaf, 1977).

Leadership can be a company's competitive advantage, and servant leadership can be the key element. Laub (1999) and Parolini (2004) found that organizations that fostered a servant leadership culture capitalized on the skills of both their employees and their leaders, which led to greater employee engagement and profitability (Block, 1993; Wheatley, 2005).

Historically, leadership research has concentrated on the charismatic and sometimes mythical qualities of a single, heroic leader. In a knowledge-oriented economy, theories of individual leaders are incomplete because they fail to capture the social nature of complex organizations. A distributed perspective of leadership frames leadership in terms of dynamic patterns of social interaction between people and aspects of their situation and considers the context or structure as important as the human agency.

This qualitative single case study, which involved a self-managed team of professionals in a mid-sized global financial services company, explored leadership as a social process in response to goals of organizational effectiveness and corporate organizational change over time. Specifically, this study described how leadership actions were enacted within the context of emerging social structuring, which enhances the understanding of leadership theory and moves us closer to being able to practically utilize a distributed perspective of leadership. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and document review.

The findings of strategic alignment with organizational goals and the utilization of advanced technology emerged as external conditions for leadership practice. The nature of interactions within the team was influenced by a combination of five distinct but interdependent elements: shared interest, routines, participation norms, language, and authority structures. The study shows the fluid nature of distributed leadership and the reciprocal dynamics of interactions that coevolve and change over time to best fit with specific circumstances.

The findings support three conclusions: (1) the role of context as an essential aspect of leadership practice; (2) the relational dynamics of social structuring and the influence of three fundamental elements of social interaction—meaning, power, and norms—on leadership action; and (3) the strengthening and sustaining ability of the norm of reciprocity on the dynamic interaction among team members. This study is important because it will help organizations better understand, identify, and apply the principles of a distributed perspective of leadership to future situations and will increase the credibility and viability of collective leadership theories.

Complexity leadership theory (CLT) (Uhl-Bien, Marion and McKelvey , 2007; Uhl-Bien & Marion, 2009) represents a 21st century transcend and include theory of leadership. This study examined how seven senior managers and leaders working in complex environments engaged in CLT at work, and whether action-logics (Torbert and Associates, 2004) made a difference in how they did so. Participants spanned three action-logics: expert, achiever, and individualist.

Data collection for this qualitative study was based on a moderately structured interview protocol developed around the seven primary theoretical components (called "CLT Areas") of the adaptive leadership function presented in Uhl-Bien and Marion, 2009. The interview protocol embodied a language translation from the more abstract academic language of CLT to the idiolect of participants. Individual interviews lasted about two hours. Each participant also completed an action-logic instrument (Leadership Development Profile).

The primary study finding is a novel methodology for determining the degree to which participants were engaging in CLT. Existing definitions of CLT Areas as shown in Uhl-Bien, Marion, and McKelvey (2007) and Uhl-Bien and Marion (2009) were expanded via the development of elements comprising each CLT Area. Further, metrics were developed for each element that generated numerical scoring from interview text, providing a means for quantitative analysis to compare differences among participants. Data for three of the seven CLT Areas were analyzed.

In addition to the primary methodology finding, data findings guided by the CLT Scoring Framework showed evidence that all participants were engaged in CLT, but in different ways. Moreover, patterns of scoring differences emerged across action-logics, suggesting that action-logics were impacting the way these leaders engaged in CLT.

This study represents an early step in the integration of two theories - complexity leadership and action-logic - both of which appear to be related to 21st century environments. The study concludes with a recommendation for how to further integrate these theories in a way that could lead to considerable expansions of both. Of particular interest is the potential to deepen understanding of the role systems thinking plays in regards to action-logics.

Organizational change initiatives are more likely to fail than to succeed, especially when the change challenges corporate culture and norms. Researchers have explored factors that contribute to change failure, to include the relationship between leadership behaviors and change success. Peer reviewed studies have yet to examine these variables in the context of Agile and DevOps implementations as the catalyst for change. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine the extent to which a relationship exists between transformational leadership behaviors of front-line managers, employee readiness for change, and employee organizational citizenship behavior during Agile and DevOps initiatives. The population included all IT professionals in the U.S. working full-time at companies with more than 500 employees whose work processes had been altered by Agile or DevOps implementations. A sample of 400 qualified panel participants provided data through an online SurveyGizmo survey. Quotas ensured that the survey sample represented the gender and ethnicity distribution among U.S. IT professionals according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data collected were analyzed for missing data, reliability, and normality. Pearson’s r calculations and linear regression analysis revealed that a moderate yet statistically significant correlation exists between the transformational leadership behaviors of respondents’ front-line managers and their own readiness for change and organizational citizenship behavior. The results could have been skewed by the higher than expected proportion of managers and executives who responded to the survey. Future researchers could extend the work started in this present study by adding quotas to ensure the survey responses align to average employee-manager ratios. This study could also be replicated with participants in a single company so that findings could be supported through qualitative methods such as interviews and panel discussions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of management in organizations and, specifically, look at the overlap between management and leadership with a particular focus on empowerment. With considerations of previous literature, current examples, and a case study interview, this literature seeks to solidify the importance of leadership by managers in the workplace. Furthermore, it seeks to highlight the role of empowerment, presented by the leader and experienced by followers, in creating a thriving workplace built on culture and trust. Lastly, the literature aims to better understand the motivations of the modern employee to provide potential areas of focus that can improve manager and employee relationships. This is an analysis of modern management looking at the effects of leadership, empowerment, and motivation in the workplace.

This study used grounded theory to analyze the influence of leadership behaviors on knowledge-sharing intentions. The main research question for this study was, how do leadership behaviors influence the intentions of organizational members to share knowledge? The data for this study were collected by interviewing four leaders and eight followers in the health care, information technology, and security industries. The findings of the study showed that empathy, empowerment, inclusiveness, and trustworthiness are the categories of behaviors that encourage knowledge sharing. Dishonesty, inconsideration, intimidation, and rigidity are the four major behavioral categories that discourage knowledge-sharing intentions. Each behavioral category had various subcategories of behaviors. Based on the findings of the study, it was theorized that the behaviors of the leaders create impressions on the followers, which in turn influence the intentions of the followers to share knowledge. The impressions of the followers mutually transferred between leadership behaviors and knowledge-sharing intentions. The study also showed some significant differences in the leadership behavioral expectations between leaders and followers. Based on the results of the study, 10 propositions were made about how leadership behaviors influence knowledge-sharing intentions of followers. These propositions were based on the behaviors of the leaders and the impressions created by leadership behaviors.