Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Psychology, Industrial|Psychology, Personality|Sociology, Organizational'

Workplace bullying is a global problem that leaves workers emotionally harmed and organizations financially strapped; yet in many cases, business leaders fail to adequately address the problem. The purpose of this research was to determine if the top leader had a direct impact on the presence of bullying within the workplace. Based on personality trait theory as a theoretical foundation, the key issue this study explored was the relationship between the presence of workplace bullying and observed narcissistic behaviors exhibited by the top leader. Participants consisted of 84 human resources professionals reporting directly to the CEO/president of companies located in the United States. Observer-rated assessments were used to measure the leader's observed narcissistic behaviors along with the prevalence of bullying within the workplace. Logistic regression and Pearson correlation were used to analyze assessment data. Results revealed a strong and positive relationship between top leaders' observed narcissistic behaviors and the presence of bullying within the organization. These results suggest the top leader may not only directly impact the presence of workplace bullying, but may actually create the problem. This study contributes to social change by providing support for the need to use personality assessments when hiring or promoting top leaders. By identifying those who contribute to the sustainability of bullying, these individuals can be excluded from the selection process and workplace bullying will therefore be minimized, improving the well-being of employees and the financial performance of organizations, world-wide.

This study examined the propensity to engage in Organizational Retaliation Behaviors (ORBs) when perceiving organizational injustices in a group context. Situational scenarios were developed that incorporated distributive, procedural, and interactional justice and were administered to 211 individuals, along with a measure of the propensity to engage in ORBs directed towards group members and group leaders distinctly. Moreover, an individual's degree of narcissism was also assessed to explore its relationship to one's propensity to engage in ORBs. Analysis of Variance revealed a strong relationship between the condition exemplifying injustice and ORBs, in addition to a higher tendency of expressing ORBs towards group members when compared to group leaders. Furthermore, narcissism did not significantly impact the degree to which individuals expressed their propensity to engage in ORBs.

The combination of globalization, technological advancements, governmental regulations, changing customer tastes and trends combined with a host of other influences constantly force organizations to change, or respond to changes in the business environment. Businesses need their employees to be flexible and ready for change; however, the literature is rife with the assertion that more than 70% of organizational change initiatives fail. These failures cost organizations billions of dollars each year and have been blamed in part on employees' unreadiness for change, and their subsequent resistance to it. Businesses have a continued interest in understanding how to achieve higher rates of success with change initiatives; therefore, this research examined whether or not employees' personality traits predicted their readiness for organizational change. It also examined whether or not employees' level of education interacted with their personality traits to moderate the effects of personality traits on variances in readiness for change. Results indicated that personality traits predicted employees' readiness for change; however, increasing education did not interact with personality traits to modify the effects of personality on employee readiness for change.

Expatriation is becoming an attractive career path for many people due to the global economic movement. People experience career transitions due to change of organization, locations, responsibilities, reporting structures, and work groups. Expatriates in particular experience more extreme changes because of challenges they encounter from language differences, geographical distance across countries, culture, habit, and life style. These changes influence people's perspective in seeing things, including their self-identity. The aim of this research was to explore the evolvement of expatriates' self-identity.

A qualitative research design using reflexive narrative inquiry was employed. Seven current and former expatriates from Australia, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States participated in this study. Through an interview process, these individuals reflected upon and shared their international experience retrospectively. Using expatriates' own narrative, an individual identity transformation story was constructed in order to answer the research question of this study: How does international experience influence a person's self-identity?

Participants noticed significant and previously unknown changes in their behavior and outlook from their assignments. These varied based upon their motives for accepting the assignment, social interaction, work requirements, and personal attitudes. The study reveals that international assignments help expatriates discover the identity that they may not have recognized previously, and affirms and transitions their already known identity to a different level through new learning and relationships from their experiences. Expatriates' enjoyment of their experience is highly influenced by their social interaction and dialogue with others. One of the drawbacks from expatriation, especially for those who are on long-term international assignments and deep immersion in the local culture, is the losing of their definition of home.

As a result of this study, recommendations include an opportunity for organizations to conduct a fit-gap analysis with employees. Results can provide information on employees' level of readiness to take on an international role, and for organizations to better support employees' preparation needs. Onsite coaching and support groups for expatriates can be beneficial to alleviate the stress that occurred during their on-boarding. In addition, expatriates are encouraged to establish their social network in the host country.

This study examined the relationship of sales employees' emotional intelligence (EI) to their organizational justice (OJ) perceptions, and examined if sales employees' job satisfaction (JS) moderated the strength of the relationship between their EI and OJ perceptions. Three assessments were administered electronically and completed by 135 participants. The Job In General (JIG) assessment measured overall JS of employees. The assessment used to measure employee EI was the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0). The assessment used to measure employee justice perceptions was the Perceived Overall Justice scale. Hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis (MRA) was used to identify any relationships. No statistically significant finding between EI, JS, and OJ were found when using hierarchical moderated MRA. Because of the violations of assumptions for MRA, it was determined that follow-up non-parametric testing was required. Non-parametric testing found a significant relationship between employees' EI and their OJ perceptions. The non-parametric testing confirmed previous findings of significant relationship between EI and OJ. Recommendations for future research include examining individual facets of EI and OJ, using different assessment to measure EI and OJ, and using a controlled environment to recruit participants.

Previously, a worker one set of skills for an occupational lifetime. In today's environment, the need for constant skill changes have created difficulties for individuals who must unlearn, store and use knowledge in new processes to update the old. Today's workers must keep pace with changes to maintain competency. The amount of wasted time, additional energy and resources required continues to increase when actions are not updated through unlearning. Confusion regarding unlearning remains a persistent problem because a clear definition does not exist. This study: 1) investigated and collected descriptive unlearning characteristics; 2) proposed a theory to define unlearning. Study results: Ninety-three interviews with 31 participants were conducted. The participants' responses were categorized into unlearning experiences and perceptions. One Hundred-Seven participant quotations referred to Experimentation in unlearning of their Windows-based system or application. Experimentation was divided into Subcategories: 1) Unstructured Experimentation, 2) Structured Experimentation, and, 3) Resource-Based Experimentation. Employee perceptions were identified as category with subcategories of Incompetence and Competence. The third category, factors, suggests participant unlearn with, availability of support, time constraints and opportunities for experimentation. This definition was proposed: Unlearning is the process of using experimentation and available resources to promote the disuse of previous actions. Additionally, to propose a new theory of the unlearning process, the force-field theory was used as a basis for this new unlearning theory. From the study results, organizations can develop effective employees to maintain a competitive advantage.

Innovation is essential for organizational survival and effectiveness and often requires a balance between managing existing competencies, skills, and resources, and pursuing newer and radical aspirations. Organizational leaders play an important role in fostering innovation in the workplace and striking a unique equilibrium between these competing priorities to maximize individual creativity and organizational innovation outcomes. By employing path analyses, this study examined the relationship between two leadership styles—transformational leadership (TFL) and leader-member exchange (LMX) and two forms of organizational innovation (exploration and exploitation). The study also investigated the role that individual and organizational variables played in explaining the leadership-innovation relationship.

Results suggested positive but non-significant relationships between leadership styles and organizational innovation due to the high correlations and overlap between the two leadership styles. Follower autonomy was positively and significantly related to exploration innovation. When analyzed separately, positive and significant associations were found for both leadership styles and organizational innovation. Results of this study suggest the equal importance of transformational and relational styles of leadership towards fostering both forms of organizational innovation. In particular, organizational support for innovation was found to mediate the leadership-innovation relationship, suggesting the importance of social mechanisms in translating the effects of leadership into innovation outcomes for the organization.

Most companies lack the ability to implement organizational change; over 70% of Organization Change Initiatives (OCIs) fail. This inability has negative economic and survival implications for companies. OCIs must be effective and rapid to match the high pace of change in the business environment. Transformational leadership (TL) has been linked to successful OCIs through its positive influence on employee commitment and reduced resistance to change, yet little research has been done to identify its association with OCI implementation speed. This study tested TL and change theory and their association with change implementation. It sought to determine if a relationship exists between TL behavior and OCI implementation time. Archival survey and change data from 98 domestic and international manufacturing plants were used to examine relationships between employees' perceptions of leadership communication and trustworthiness and the speed of change. Hierarchical linear regression was used to determine if these behaviors could predict the change speed of an OCI. The study confirmed the association between effective leadership communication and employee trust in leadership, but it found no significant relationship between TL behavior and the speed of change. This finding is inconsistent with the majority of TL literature; however, companies may still benefit from exploring the potential of the study's theoretical concepts to help them improve the speed of organizational change. The limitations of the study were also noted as a potential contributor to the lack of significant findings, and recommendations are offered to reduce validity risk for similar studies in the future.

The unemployment rate for people with developmental disabilities is almost 7 times higher than the current national unemployment statistics. Research indicates that the majority of those with developmental disabilities do wish to work and moreover, have many skills and talents that organizations can benefit from. This paper aims to use common industrial and organizational psychological measures in a unique population--developmentally disabled adults. Specifically, the present study examines the job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intentions of adults with developmental disabilities from the Harbor Regional Center and Regional Center of Orange in Southern California. This is the first research h that examines affective feelings about employment in the developmentally disabled population in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Results from the study show that adults with developmental disabilities had higher than expected job satisfaction and affective commitment towards their job. They also had lower turnover intentions than expected.

This study investigated whether pet-friendly workplace policies, specifically dog-friendly policies, serve as a buffer against stress, as well as impact perceived organizational support (POS). Using a mediational questionnaire design, this study examined whether the availability of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to employee occupational stress levels and employee POS, with POS mediating the relationship between a pet-friendly policy and stress. One-hundred eighty-eight full-time employees recruited via crowdsourced and snowball sampling methods completed an online survey, including several measures of workplace attitudes. Results supported all hypotheses, revealing that the presence of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to lower stress, and POS fully mediated this relationship. Significant interactions were also found, indicating that this effect was stronger for dog owners than for employees without dogs. Ultimately, these findings provide support for the affordance of a pet-friendly policy in organizations, when appropriate.

The Matrix Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Inventory (M-PULSE ™) is a self-report, actuarial instrument used to predict job performance and liability risk, as well as assist law enforcement agencies in selecting qualified candidates. This study examined whether there is a statistically significant difference between two clusters of candidates' Empirical Scales scores as they relate to applicants' mean scale score differences on the M-Pulse™ liability scales. This study was conducted in an effort to confirm predictive and ecological validity and used archived data from a proprietary database retained by MHS, Inc. This data consisted of 1,000 randomly selected individuals from a normalized database of 5,000 individuals who had previously completed the M-PULSE ™ and were subsequently hired by a law enforcement agency. A series of independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare each of the M-Pulse ™ liability scales scores of law enforcement applicants in each cluster. Post hoc Bonferroni correction resulted in &agr; ≤ .003. Statistically significant differences were found in Potential for Resignation when comparing scores for Cluster 1 (M = 49.49, SD = 9.85) and Cluster 2 (M = 51.85, SD = 10.97); t(998) = -3.545, p < .003; d = .226 and in Potential for Termination: Cluster 1 (M = 49.05, SD = 9.48) and Cluster 2 ( M = 52.14, SD = 10.57); t(998) = -4.833, p < .003; d = .308. This study suggests the M-PULSE ™ can tease out candidates who show a propensity to prematurely resign or be terminated. Predicting foreseeable liability risks helps law enforcement agencies manage ecological issues that affect officers.

Employees' retaliatory behaviors in relation to perceptions of injustice have recently become a subject of interest. Findings have established that perceptions of injustice increase ones' propensity to engage in retaliation. The present study extends prior work by examining identity threat as a mediator and organizational retaliatory behaviors (ORBs) towards three distinct targets (i.e., organization, leader, and work group members). In contrast to previous studies, data are to be analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as it allows greater insight and can determine whether retaliation is greater for certain targets over others. Responses collected from 220 individuals are used. Results from the present study may demonstrate that certain parties in an organization (i.e., group members) have a higher likelihood of being targets of retaliatory behaviors in comparison to others (i.e., the organization and group leader). Moreover, insight into the underlying mechanisms driving retaliation after experiencing injustice may be afforded.

As organizations become increasingly complex, research into the sources and effects of employee stress is increasingly warranted. The present study examined the relationship between personal life stress, work stress, and job performance. In addition, the role of conscientiousness as a possible moderating variable was analyzed. Several studies regarding the relationship between stress and work performance were reviewed. In the present study, participants completed measures of life stress, job stress, and personality. Supervisors rated the job performance of participants. A significant relationship was found between personal life stress and job stress such that each type of stress was higher when the other was present. Neither personal life stress nor job stress were related to job performance. Conscientiousness was not found to moderate the stress-job performance relationships. Implications of the study and future directions are explored.

The relationship between income and happiness is often found to be positive, though modest. Materialistic (or extrinsic) values are associated with decreased happiness for many people. Researchers have not clearly identified how these values impact happiness or other measures of well-being. Further, materialistic and extrinsic values have been found to decrease with age. However, researchers have not explored how these values change over time. In the U.S., the primary pathway for meeting financial and extrinsic goals is through paid employment. Therefore, the response to unemployment may reveal ways that extrinsic values impact happiness, as well as how extrinsic values may shift through life experiences. Using in-depth interviews, this research examined how an adult age population in a diverse, metropolitan area experience unemployment and whether participants' reported shifts in values and goals during a period of unemployment. Participants were currently unemployed, had been unemployed at least 6 months, had been in the workforce at least 5 years, continuously worked during the 5 years before layoff, and were planning to return to work. Interviews included questions about values and goals included in the brief Aspiration Index. The interviews were processed using a multiple case study approach, where thematic analysis was used to identify major themes as well as themes that are less common but reveal further information about values and development. Participants ranged in age from 28 to 64 years old. Time unemployed ranged from 10 months to 5 years of unemployment. Participants each had completed some college courses, and three had master's degrees. Participants did identify changes in values measured by the Aspiration Index. There were 72 possible instances of change, and participants stated their values had changed in 33 instances. Participants believed those values may change back in only 8 instances, indicating that participants experienced shifts in values, which they perceived likely to be permanent changes. The change process involved shifting behaviors due to situational constraints, and identifying advantages to the new behaviors. Previous goal attainment reduced some participants' interest in extrinsic goals.

The present research study examined the strength and direction of the correlations between three leadership styles (transformational, transactional, & servant) and satisfaction with leadership and motivation as outcomes of leadership style. A web-based survey was used to collect data from 181 professional Latino employees in the U.S. The Leadership Style Survey was combined from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), which measured transformational, transactional, and servant leadership styles, as well as satisfaction with leadership and motivation. Data was collected about Latino employees' perceptions of their supervisors' leadership styles, and satisfaction with leadership and motivation. Results from one-sample t-tests indicated Latino employees' responses to the leadership, satisfaction, and motivation scales were significantly lower than the norm. All Pearson correlations indicated there were strong positive relationships between each of the leadership styles and satisfaction with leadership and motivation. More importantly, Fisher r-to- Z transformations demonstrated that correlations found on the Latino sample were significantly higher than the correlational norms. The findings suggest Latinos are less motivated and less satisfied with their current leaders, however characteristics of transformational, transactional, and servant leadership are highly important to Latino employees and are highly correlated to their motivation and satisfaction with leadership. Cultural values may have a strong impact on Latino professional employees' evaluation of their supervisors. The results also highlight that the responses from the Latino sample are significantly higher in terms of the relationship between servant, transformational, and transactional leadership and satisfaction with leadership and motivation.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has experienced decreased return on investment caused by hiring too many air traffic controller specialists (ATCSs) who performed poorly in field training, thus failing to become certified professional controllers (CPCs). Based on Schmidt and Hunter's theory of job performance and biodata theory, this quantitative, archival study examined whether factors of cognitive ability and biodata could predict job performance status of 2 generations of ATCSs, poststrike (PS) and next generation (NG) controllers. For each generation of controllers, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine if any of the independent variables—transmuted composite (TMC) score for PS controllers, Air Traffic and Selection and Training (AT-SAT) test score for NG controllers, average of high school arithmetic/math letter grade, overall high school average letter grade, self-estimation of time to become fully effective in the ATCS role, self-estimation of percentile ranking in the FAA program relative to the class, size of neighborhood raised, or socioeconomic status—are significant predictors of job performance status for controllers as measured by whether they pass the field OJT (i.e., certified or still in training, or failed certification or left training). The regression results for the PS and NG controllers were found to be statistically significant (χ² (23) = 68.377, p < .001) and (χ ² (17) = 99.496, p < .001), respectively. Findings that overall high school grade point average and socioeconomic status significantly predicted ATCS job performance for both PS and NG controllers could influence the FAA's use of revised biodata to better predict ATCS job performance. Further research should include studies of socioeconomic status, gender, and race to address new evidence that the AT-SAT has adverse impact.

The present study investigated the employment experiences of adults with mild developmental disabilities. The study's sample consisted of 45 participants with developmental disabilities who were over the age of 18. Participants were recruited from two Regional Centers in Southern California and either phone interviews or in-person interviews were conducted.

A structured interview protocol examined each participant's current work experience, along with several items exploring facilitators and obstacles to employment. Data from this qualitative investigation were organized into categories using inductive content analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed for quantitative items. Overall, it was discovered that: participants found money as the most rewarding aspect of employment, relied on outside support in obtaining and maintaining employment and found few obstacles of which to overcome, worked with others with developmental disabilities, and utilized workplace supports in entry level positions making an average wage of $8.92 a hour during a 20.72 hour work week.

Previous scholars have found that organizational members use various tactics to encourage their peer coworkers to voluntarily exit their organizations. These tactics are known as peer-influence exit tactics. What has been missing from the literature is clarity about the factors that influence organizational members' use of peer-influence exit tactics. This dissertation explored the construct of peer-influenced exit to develop greater clarity about the motives for encouraging peer coworkers to leave, the characteristics of the peer-influence exit tactic source and receiver, and the organizational influences on peer-influenced exit. Study 1 used an open-ended survey design to explore the motives, process, and means through which peer-influenced exit occurs and the success of using peer-influence exit tactics. Results indicated that organizational members use eight peer-influence exit tactics and have four overarching motives for using them. Organizational members also reported that they consciously planned their tactics and the tactics were used with some success. Study 2 used an experimental design to explore how certain tactic source and receiver characteristics and organizational characteristics affect the use of peer-influence exit tactics. Results of an exploratory factor analysis revealed that organizational members use affirmation, unprofessional, depersonalization, and professional peer-influence exit tactics. Results of the experiment indicated that organizational members use affirmation, unprofessional, depersonalization tactics more frequently with low performing peer coworkers than with high performing peer coworkers. No differences emerged regarding the use of peer-influence exit tactics based on the cohesiveness of the organizational culture. The results also revealed relationships between competitiveness, agreeableness, and self-esteem of the source and peer-influence exit tactics. Study 3 incorporated a correlational design in which working adults were surveyed about their personal experiences with peer-influenced exit. Results revealed that personal gain, altruistic, organizational enhancement, and climate improvement motives predicted the use of peer-influence exit tactics, as did the competitiveness, agreeableness, and self-esteem of the source, perceived similarity, work performance, liking, and organizational influence of the target, and the organizational climate, supervisor complicity, and coworker regard. The results provide greater insight into the antecedents and outcomes of organizational exit that are valuable for both organizational communication scholars and organizational practitioners.

Job performance aids (JPAs) have been studied for many decades in a variety of disciplines and for many different types of tasks, yet this is the first known research experiment using JPAs in a quality assurance (QA) context. The objective of this thesis was to assess whether a JPA has an effect on the performance of a QA observer performing the concurrent dual verification technique for a basic assembly task. The JPA used in this study was a simple checklist, and the design borrows heavily from prior research on task analysis and other human factors principles. The assembly task and QA construct of concurrent dual verification are consistent with those of a high consequence manufacturing environment. Results showed that the JPA had only a limited effect on QA performance in the context of this experiment. However, there were three important and unexpected findings that may draw interest from a variety of practitioners. First, a novel testing methodology sensitive enough to measure the effects of a JPA on performance was created. Second, the discovery that there are different probabilities of detection for different types of error in a QA context may be the most far-reaching results. Third, these results highlight the limitations of concurrent dual verification as a control against defects. It is hoped that both the methodology and results of this study are an effective baseline from which to launch future research activities.

Organizational leaders are increasingly implementing distance training for employees (McGuire & Gubbins, 2010) and it is not clear if employees perceive this training delivery approach to be an effective means of acquiring new skills. No current qualitative studies address the perceptions and experiences of employees in a distance training format. As a result of ten individual interviews seven themes and 17 sub-themes emerged during data analysis. The themes and sub themes represent the experiences of employees attending distance training including: (a) use of distance training, (b) benefits of training, (c) perceptions of training, (d) expectations of training, (e) training delivery format, (f) training techniques, and (g) technology. This qualitative case study confirmed there are a variety of perceptions among employees attending training in a distance training format. While this study contributes to the body of knowledge by increasing awareness of the common themes experienced by employees attending distance training more research is needed to further address the themes that emerged.

The purpose of this quantitative, survey-based study was to investigate the relationship between anger and hatred in an effort to learn more about how to understand and curb the problem of workplace violence. In particular, perfectionism was examined as a possible mediator of the relationship between anger and hatred. The study was conducted on a sample of 1,192 people. The statistical techniques of correlation, partial correlation, linear regression, and principal components analysis (PCA) were used to examine the relationship between variables in the study. The following conclusions were reached: (a) The correlation between hatred and anger was significant (p < .001) but weak (R = .298), and these values changed slightly (R=.221) when controlling for the influence of perfectionism; (b) PCA revealed hatred and anger to be highly distinct from each other; (c) PCA revealed that the sub-scales of anger and hatred were sensitive to differences in how anger and hatred are felt and expressed; (d) the relationship between anger and motivation was not significant (p = < .001); (e) the relationship between hatred and motivation was not significant (p = < .001); (f) anger and hatred were not multicollinear in their association with motivation; and (f) for younger subjects, anger was a weaker predictor of hatred, while for older subjects anger was a stronger predictor of hatred. Based on these findings, the main conclusion of the study is that existing theories that associate anger and hatred might require revision based on further analysis of the differences between anger and hatred

This research explored the challenges that New Hampshire manufacturers faced in introducing and sustaining improvement initiatives and the social dimension of this issue.

Using an ethnographic methodology, participant-observation was employed to examine the culture of a New Hampshire manufacturer. Through active participation in work groups, regular assignments, and meetings, an understanding of the impact the culture had on the implementation of a set of improvement techniques known as lean manufacturing was gained. Observations illuminated the leadership roles that both management and workers play. Nine themes described the lived experience and the social forces that guided that experience. These themes were: subgroups, lack of overall teamwork, dominant clique, lack of management interaction, focus on the past, workers social lives, individual cooperation, pride in workmanship, lack of process ownership. The effect of these nine themes on the lean initiatives was explored. Finally, the study extrapolated the findings to provide recommendations on successful practices in sustaining lean improvements.

This qualitative grounded theory study sought to identify what motivates women to stay in or return to science, technology, engineering, and math professions (STEM) long-term, leading to a motivation model. Twenty women, each having a minimum of 10 years of experience in STEM professions, participated in the study. Four of the 20 participants had a career path where they left the STEM workplace for more than 26 weeks and then returned. The results of this study suggested that there may be five themes related to motivating factors for women who stay in STEM professions long term: a) interest in STEM is the constant as individual needs and priorities change, b) direct manager influence on development is critical c) performance-based workplace policies and culture are continuously sought, d) moving towards a no-bias workplace remains important, and e) the career growth path at life's crossroads remains a challenge. While this study's results suggested that some bias does still exist in the STEM workplace, as previously documented. The results suggested that an equitable workplace does not yet exist regarding career growth opportunities. As career growth is one of the motivating factors for women in STEM and environments for career growth opportunities vary in the workplace, this study's results also suggested that career growth opportunities continue to be a barrier for women in STEM.

I have designed and implemented a new online communication training tool (XHTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, MySQL) that potentially maximizes a job candidate's ability to obtain job offers. All demographic statistics show people with disabilities as the largest minority group currently unemployed in the United States. Those who seek work have a higher chance of being unemployed, find a low-level job, or find part-time employment. With communication training, job candidates gain the ability to market their skills to potential employers and increase the likelihood of obtaining a job offer. I researched into ADA law that provided guidelines when developing the system and discuss a job candidate's rights in each step of the interview process. Using a Model-View-Controller (MVC) based framework, I have built a system that adapts to a user's disability, and presents them with a tailored list of interview questions and answers. For this paper, mobility and visual disabilities were focused on. The database contains legal interview questions, illegal questions under ADA law, and gray area questions (questions that may seem illegal but really not). This allows us to challenge the communication skills and knowledge of the user and encourage them to learn how to improve. PHP modules were built to be flexible and independent from each other. Different modules can be loaded and unloaded in the Controllers thereby allowing flexibility in the system. Having independent modules also reduces the time to debug code. Participants are given multiple choice answers to each interview question in a 10-question training session and rated based on their performance. Answers are assigned points (from 1 to 4) and are calculated at the end of a training session. A group of California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) students were given a 2-part survey before and after communication training and provided promising results on the effectiveness of the system. Overall, attitudes of participants showed the entire group agreed that communication is a key aspect in a job interview and that communication training would help them obtain more job offers. Participants that completed part-2 of the survey indicated that communication training through the system has overall helped their abilities. Long-term usage of the system could potentially show an increase in job interview performance (i.e., job interviews vs. job offers) and therefore, increasing the employment rate for people with disabilities.

The purpose of this research was to explore the subjective lived experiences of women leaders to understand how they experience courage. Women remain disproportionately represented in leadership roles within most areas of organizations and society. Researchers indicate that women ideally rise to successful leadership roles once they have served, or possess the potential to serve, in leadership. Additionally, previous narrative research suggests a rather significant interrelationship between women who have more frequently advanced past barriers into leadership roles and their remarkable attribute of courage. A heuristic phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyze the described lived experiences of eight courageous women leaders. The themes from the study reveal that women who experience courageous leadership (a) inhabit their authentic voices; (b) experience moral courage; and (c) experience vulnerability. Additional insights provided by the co-researchers in this study revealed some individual distinctions necessary for strong, courageous leadership; these included a strong sense of personal agency, an inner need to express autonomous identity and convictions, and the ability to build connections to followers for collaborative results. Unanimously, the women in this study reported that their experiences with courageous leadership had transformative effects on themselves and within their environment. Further research related to specific evidenced-based coaching interventions are recommended to explore how women grow toward courageous leadership. These outcomes related to authentic, morally courageous, and yet vulnerable leadership may help to establish a new paradigm for how power and leadership can be experienced in a new century for both courageous men and women.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine women's career journeys and how these journeys vary by generational cohort. Sixteen women wage-earners were interviewed to examine women's career journeys and how these journeys vary by generation. Specifically, the internal and external barriers to and facilitators of women's career advancement, success and fulfillment were examined. The women reported five influencers on their career choices: mentors or role models, work-life balance considerations, passions and interests, financial needs, and hostile work environments. The process of career planning and exploration the women described was consistent across the generations and included a period of exploration, failure of their initial plans leading to continued exploration or limbo, and their avocations and careers ultimately seeming to unfold naturally.

Community college student support services are an important aspect of success among community college students. Theoretical and empirical models of organizational politics and withdrawal guided the expectation that community college employees who perceive their organizations as political may withdrawal from their organization, diminishing the services delivered to students at the institution. A multisite cross-sectional survey design was utilized to gather quantitative data via Survey Monkey from national professional organizations. Two-hundred seventeen usable surveys from community college administrators (executive, mid-level managers, and administrators) were gathered. Data were analyzed via correlation and regression models to examine if political skill reduced or moderated the relationship between perception of organizational politics and work withdrawal behaviors. Employee political skill was a partial antidote, reducing the effect of organizational politics on withdrawal behaviors, but there was not a significant interaction moderating effect. Recommendations include political skill training for community college administrators as part of their professional development program, as well as including graduate education components and new employee orientation programs. Such training could lead to positive social change in community college settings by increasing levels of service and job satisfaction and reducing attrition among community college administrators, leading to higher levels of community college student satisfaction and graduation rates.

Human service workers have a history of working with our neediest populations, and their work often entails long hours, challenging situations, and limited resources. When the focus of the work is on human strengths and positive approaches, more positive results emerge. In order to determine the process of how human services workers maintain a positive perspective in their work, 15 human service workers from a diverse spectrum were interviewed. A narrative analysis was applied to elicit the participants' insights, revealing common themes and strategies. The findings indicated that having a fundamental belief in human potential, seeing the client's positive attributes, and having inherent capacities of caring were fundamental. Participants believed their work was meaningful and made a difference, and that they were a part of something bigger. They felt empathy and compassion toward clients, and generally believed that their temperament and upbringing also influenced their capacity to maintain a positive perspective. Aside from their beliefs, workers depended on receiving support from like-minded people, colleagues, and others in their environment. They utilized self-care, self-monitoring techniques, and demonstrated self-awareness and a mature capacity to adapt to the unexpected. They were able to apply their learning from past experiences in support of the services they offer to others.

The success rate of information technology projects is on a downward trend, with reported losses in the billions of dollars. Recent studies indicate a 50–56% project success rate based on quality, budget, and on-time criteria. Building upon the conceptual framework of the emotional intelligence and knowledge management theories, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how project management practitioners apply self- and cultural-awareness competencies to affect project outcomes. Using a purposeful sampling method, 24 experienced U.S.-based project management practitioners participated in a web-based questionnaire. Following Giorgi’s data reduction process resulted in numeric data coding. Thematic analysis revealed themes of (a) awareness and redirection of negative emotions, (b) cultural intelligence, and (c) balanced diverse teamwork. The findings from this research study support increasing awareness, training, and application of emotional and cultural intelligence competencies within the multidimensional knowledge-centric global business environment. Increased awareness and ability to use emotional and cultural competencies can lead to enhanced business outcomes. Improved people-based business practices may increase the economic stability for the organization, employees, and specifically the project management practitioner as a knowledge manager. Implications of social change from this study include increasing success of knowledge-based information technology solutions, expanding employment opportunities, and supporting socially-responsible integrated change.

Emerging research has shown that, in the last twenty years, dramatic corporate and workforce changes have taken place in terms of when and where work is performed. Telework has emerged as a popular mode of work design, characteristic of a modernizing workforce. As a flexible work arrangement, telework options have been linked with improved work-life balance, feelings of autonomy, and intrinsic satisfaction for employees. However, concerns for employees' lack of presence and distance from the office and how individuals remain connected to the organization and its members continue to surface. More particularly, increasing time being physically away from the organization can impact employees' feelings of becoming invisible, isolated, and less able to identify with the organization. This is noteworthy because a sense of connectedness and feelings of belonging at work have been linked to engagement, productivity, and performance. To date, however, no studies have focused on what happens to individuals' sense of belonging when they engage in high-intensity telework, consistently working from home more than sixty percent of the time. The purpose of this phenomenological study, then, was to describe and understand the essence of the high-intensity teleworkers' experience of organizational belonging. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten individuals who were employed in full-time roles across different organizations, who worked from home at least three days a week, and had been doing so for at least six months. The findings reveal especially unique and important perspectives on the employee-supervisor relationship, how high-intensity teleworkers engage from a distance, and how a sense of belonging is realized. Notions of identity fulfillment surface as central to how organizational belonging is experienced by high-intensity teleworkers. An identity-based definition of organizational belonging is also offered. Recommendations for further research and practical suggestions for organizations employing high-intensity teleworkers are highlighted.

The onset or inception of organizational decline has been largely bypassed in management research over the past two decades, even though understanding this fundamental typology is key to mitigating organizational failure, while also providing important insight regarding how managers respond to phenomena that they may neither expect or understand. Understanding how managers observe, decide, and act in times of uncertainty, and how organizational culture and other factors may shape that environment, are important for scholars and practitioners alike to understand. This dissertation argues that corporate decline has largely been misunderstood from the perspective of onset or initiation; that the manager's decision-making process in times of decline must be considered in relation to the actual causes and factors associated with decline, and that the fundamental definition of organizational decline must be revised in light of advances in our understanding in management over the past three decades. This qualitative empirical descriptive study reviews literature regarding organizational decline with emphasis on the onset of decline, presents an equation for understanding a firm's propensity for decline, provides a revised definition of organizational decline, and examines the decision-making process of management when faced with decline based on symbolic interactionism theory.

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive correlational research study using the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) survey instrument was to examine to what extent a relationship exists between a project leader’s emotional intelligence (EI) and project success (Hay Group, McClelland Center for Research and Innovation & Wolff, 2006). Literature reviewed found a gap existed regarding relationships between emotional intelligence of a project leader and project success. The survey sample consisted of project managers, project leaders, or other project management designation. The survey sample contained 60 respondents self-identified within the project management profession and others providing multi-rater reviews of survey participants. The study, using the ECI, Spearman’s correlation, chi-square statistical analysis, and other descriptive statistics was to examine relationships between the independent and dependent variables. Results suggested no correlation between emotional intelligence of project leaders and project success but do suggest emotional intelligence is a factor to consider within project leadership.

High staff turnover in private group homes decreases organizational stability. There are a large number of developmentally disabled individuals in group homes of the high risk disaster city of New Orleans, indicating the need for stability from high staff turnover indicated by job satisfaction. The problem investigated in this study was the recognized difficulty in maintaining job satisfaction in order to retain staff in group homes of the high risk disaster city of New Orleans. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors contribute to job satisfaction. The variables examined were hours worked per week, years of service, salary, and employee benefits. A quantitative research study was employed to determine what factors significantly contributed to job satisfaction using a multiple regression methodology. The population in this study included direct service workers compiled of caregivers, nurses, and managers within three organizations facilitating group homes in the New Orleans area. From this population of employees the sample size resulted in 163 direct service workers. Questionnaires were used to collect data using Spector’s (1985) Job Satisfaction Survey as the instrument. A multiple regression design was used to analyze the factors influencing job satisfaction. Findings in the study determined that employee benefits significantly contributed to job satisfaction wherein hours worked per week, years of service, and salaries were not significant predictors of job satisfaction. Statistically significant results for benefits received resulted in t = 2.99 and p = .003. The results of the study provided insight into high risk disaster area group homes wherein managing staff turnover is specifically difficult.

This study explored authentic leadership behaviors to determine if the behaviors would relate to follower satisfaction with supervisor, overall job satisfaction and the intent to quit and in age groups of 20-24, 25-34 and 35 and over and predict the same relationships in age groups of 20-24 and 25-34. The intent was to determine if authentic leaders could positively affect the intent to quit in younger workers that in turn may attenuate turnover. This non-experimental quantitative study significantly supported the relationship to and the prediction between authentic leadership behaviors, follower satisfaction with supervisor, overall job satisfaction and a lower intent to quit. Age groups did not significantly moderate the relationships. This study demonstrated that authentic leaders significantly related to and predicted follower satisfaction with supervisor, overall job satisfaction and the intent to quit with all age groups, suggesting that authentic leaders may attenuate turnover, including younger workers.

Workplace bullying has affected almost half (47%) of American working adults corresponding to approximately 71.5 million workers who either experienced bullying directly or witnessed it. This resulted in an alarming turnover of 21 to 28 million workers. This qualitative historical study explored, identified, and documented through historical records and documents, the patterns and trends of workplace bullying in organizations, characteristics and types of bullies, and types of mistreatment workplace bullies direct toward intended targets over the past 30 years. The data analysis yielded eight major themes of bullying styles and traits. These consisted of the four bully styles reinforced from the literature review of the snake, gatekeeper, screamer, and nitpicker. Additionally, the three new bully styles of the tyrant, joker, and discriminator, and one outlier bully style of the reverse bully. Themes of leadership skills associated with reducing or eliminating workplace bullying were also identified and analyzed. These themes coincided with the successful leadership traits and attributes of ethical leadership, social responsibility, and encouraging the heart, which led to the development of the GUARDIAN model. The GUARDIAN model presented recommendations to leaders of organization that would limit or prevent workplace bullying, which would provide significant financial savings for organizations because of less human resource issues.

Researchers have found that minorities suffering from traumatic stress report increased levels of stress in the absence of supportive and committed work environments; however, a paucity of empirical research exists for First Nations Peoples (FNP). The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to examine the nature of the relationship between FNP's associated symptoms of historical loss, assessed by the Historical Loss and Associated Symptoms Scale, and organizational commitment, as measured by the Three Component Employee Commitment Survey. A total of 118 residential school survivors completed surveys. Correlation analysis was used to determine the significance of historical loss in relation to organizational commitment among survivors. Results showed an inverse relationship between affective commitment and associated symptoms of historical loss and between continuance commitment and associated symptoms. No statistically significant correlation was found between normative commitment and historical loss or associated symptoms. Findings can help inform targeted engagement, recruitment, and retention initiatives designed to accommodate FNP perspectives and experiences into organizational culture and systems. Implications for positive social change include better understanding of factors impacting career progression among FNP, such as organizational commitment. Results may also inform culturally safe interventions that help FNP to be successful.

We are facing an unprecedented level of interconnectedness that has engendered a level of complexity that defies our historical reasoning capacity. Building off of the literature on sensemaking, this action research study proposed and investigated a new concept in leadership to respond to the growing complexity: sensecrafting. Sensecrafting refers to deliberate, collective sensemaking, while sensemaking refers to "how [people] construct what they construct, why, and with what effects . . . " (Weick, 1995, p. 4). The study answered the research question: How can individuals develop their capacity for sensecrafting in order to cultivate a more generative relationship with the organizations to which they belong? Employing Herda's hermeneutic participatory research, the study consisted of three, 1-hour conversations with six research participants which were recorded via Skype and transcribed. The purpose of the study was to see how participants employed nine traits of sensecrafting (learning, tolerating ambiguity, discernment, openness, framing, mindfulness, envisioning, action and reflection) in the workplace. Additionally, the study investigated how participants worked with stories to create a generative working environment. In the study, participants worked with a set of 18 cards that presented techniques for enhancing their sensecrafting skills. A thematic analysis of the study found that participants made frequent use of the sensecrafting traits at a personal level, and less frequent use of the traits at a collective level. The findings suggest that participants' possessed a high degree of potential to further develop their skills. Participants' exhibition of the sensecrafting traits generated value both for the individuals in the study and for their organizations. Benefits that accrued to individuals included improved relationships with key personnel and insights into how to cope with changes in the workplace. Implications from the study included the observation that a useful way to work with the sensecrafting traits would be through an instrument that measures participants on each of the dimensions of sensecrafting and that provides feedback to individuals about how they can capitalize on strengths and develop areas of opportunity.

This study represented an initial effort to systematically examine the effects of the perception of servant-leadership attributes in union leaders on the commitment and participation levels of union members. Using Barbuto and Wheeler's (2006) Servant Leadership Questionnaire, and Gordon, Philpot, Burt, Thompson and Spiller's (1980) Commitment to the Union Scale, 535 members of a U.S.-based, national healthcare union rated their union leaders on servant-leadership attributes, and answered a series of questions designed to assess their level of union commitment. Additionally, demographic and participation information was collected. A combination of descriptive statistics, and Baron and Kenny's (1986) mediation methodology was used to determine the relationship between servant-leadership attributes, union commitment attributes, and an overall participation score. Demographic information was used to determine generalizability. The results of this study indicate that each attribute of servant-leadership showed a relationship with overall union member participation and with each attribute of union commitment. The only instance in which an attribute of union commitment consistently mediated the relationship between servant-leadership and overall union member participation was union loyalty. While the respondents in this study reported lower scores on those attributes of servant-leadership and union commitment that emphasize the personal over the collective, this does not negate the statistical significance of the impact on servant-leadership on union commitment. The results of this study confirms that, in the case of the sponsoring organization, servant-leadership is a viable leadership paradigm with the potential to increase both commitment to the union-as-organization, as well as increasing overall union member participation.

This study posits a new research model for Armenian American leadership. The study aims to fill the void in Armenian American leadership literature, while adding to the leadership studies of other ethnic and racial groups in the United States of America. Furthermore, this study aims at discovering the unique characteristics of Armenian American Leadership in relation to cultural acculturation and more specifically how Anglo-cultural influences in leadership may or may not enable a better understanding of diversity within the Armenian American community, along with the role of trend development.

This study examines similarities and differences of leadership styles by analyzing the data both from elected officials and none elected leaders of major Armenian organization in Glendale (who are not elected by registered voters of City of Glendale, but by members of their organization). Furthermore, the study examines the relationship between leadership style, and acculturation in Glendale among Armenian American elected leaders, and non-elected leaders. Specifically, the study aims to determine specific and unique leadership behaviors among respondents reflecting perceived leadership styles, and their commitment to a cause. Additionally, this study seeks leader identification of individual acculturation level as means of examining associations between acculturation, and leadership styles.

Correlational analyses were performed to compare the study's findings based on samples drawn from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Acculturation Rating Scale for Armenian Americans (ARSAA) developed by using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA-II), whereas, past similar scales have never used literature and data to justify the revision and adaptation of the scale from "Mexican" to "Armenian" but this study does.

The study aims to increase understanding of Glendale's Armenian American residents, and community leaders in terms of leadership perception, style, and relationship to the future and growth of the community. Additional exploration of the relationship between acculturation, and self-perceived leadership style, of Glendale's Armenian American elected leaders will add to the body of leadership literature pertaining to acculturation, as well as to Armenian American ethnic culture, self-identity, and overall influence within the culture. Lastly, the study will enable deeper understanding of history, dynamics, and characteristics of Armenian Americans in Glendale by penetrating the history of the community and leaders, all with an eye on present dynamics. It is anticipated that this study will lead to future studies of ethnic-specific leadership styles, especially those of the under-researched Armenian American community.