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A Socio-Rhetorical Study of Romans 12:1-21: An Exploration of Chaleff

Abstract

This dissertation involves expanding the limited literature of personalism within organizational leadership, specifically theistic personalism and its relationship to the organizational leadership theory of followership. Researchers of theistic personalism have proposed human beings possess personhood because of the existence of the Supreme Personal being, God. Ira Chaleff (2009) proposed the existence of courageous followers possessing five dynamics that included responsibility, service, challenge, participative transformation, and moral action. I investigated the relationship theistic personalism had with followers who practiced the dynamics of personal responsibility. As those of theistic personalism and followership have expressed human ontology and experiences respectively, this dissertation conducted a sociorhetorical analysis of a New Testament sample of Romans 12:1-21 to understand ways self-perceptions influenced responsibility. Analysis indicated followers actualized behaviors of reciprocity for in-group members and actualized behaviors based on interrelatedness for hostile persons. The practices of personhood and responsibility included dedication, mental renewal, humility, truth, and love influenced individual follower responsibility. The followership styles of partner and implementer influenced follower responsibility in presence of challenge. The themes of acceptance, compassion, and participation entailed themes of personhood and a Supreme Personal God. I recommend organizational leaders communicated value and dignity of followers with consistency to develop space for followers to conduct the reported follower practices.

Creating an Instrument to Measure Holistic Ethical Leadership

Abstract

This dissertation aimed to develop a scientifically validated instrument to measure the holistic ethical leadership. There is a lack of a statistically validated instrument to measure the concept of holistic ethical leadership as a single construct (Johnson, 2018; Scouller, 2014). This study operationalized the concept of holistic ethical leadership and provided an accurate and valid instrument for measuring the construct. The holistic ethical leadership model in the current study comprises the holistic leadership (Best, 2011; Dhiman, 2017; Kiruhi, 2013; Winston & Patterson, 2006) and the ethical leadership concepts (M. E. Brown, Treviño, & Harrison, 2005; Ciulla, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014; Johnson, 2018; Treviño, Hartman, & Brown, 2000). The steps that were taken to develop the holistic ethical leadership instrument follows DeVellis’ (2017) eight steps for scale development. During the literature review, 224 items characterizing the holistic ethical leadership traits emerged. After a panel of subject matter experts reviews, the items were reduced to 81, and an online survey with a 7-point semantic differential scale testing employees’ perception of leader’s holistic ethical leadership traits was created and administered through SurveyMonkey™ to a wide variety of 628 participants from 13 regions of the world who work in 10 organizations under the umbrella of Campus Crusade for Christ International across the globe. DeVellis suggested a minimum of 300 samples for scale development works, and the 628 sample size is far greater than the requirement. Factor analysis (principal component analysis) was performed, and a seven-factor model was observed, accounting for almost 69% of the variance. However, factor optimization resulted in a final five-factor instrument that accounted for 70% of the variance. The five factors were labeled holistic service, ethical influence, integrated competence, financial stewardship, and healthy life. The five factors had high reliability. The final 23-item, five-factor instrument is labelled the Holistic Ethical Leadership Questionnaire (HELQ) with an average Cronbach’s alpha of .87 for each factor. The HELQ provides scholars and practitioners with a brand new, valid, and reliable instrument for future research and application related to the holistic ethical leadership.

The Nature of Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Environments: Reconceptualizing Human and Machine Collaboration

Abstract

An exploration regarding the nature of leadership in organizations that have implemented artificial intelligence technologies in an effort to improve organizational performance is presented with specific discussions about the role, process of development, identification of desired and undesired organizational attributes, and resulting leadership changes necessary for the effective application of artificial intelligence technology. This qualitative phenomenological study uses organizational leadership and artificial intelligence as the conceptual frameworks for guiding research. The critical incident technique (CIT) serves as the method for collecting observations of behavior and discovering practical solutions to complex organizational problems. Research findings may offer leaders information they can use to more effectively lead their organization’s efforts in artificial intelligence environments. Implications for further research regarding the dynamic of leadership, artificial intelligence technology, and the future of organizational leadership development are noted.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, business, organizational leadership

Enhancing Performance: A Model for Collective Efficacy

Abstract

Collective efficacy serves as an important determinant of performance. This study, a sociorhetorical criticism inner texture analysis of Joshua 3 and 4, attempted to determine the significance and implications of the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River. Given the importance of collective efficacy beliefs to effective organizational performance, the current study asked, Does the collective efficacy evident in the Israelites crossing the Jordan support or negate the contemporary understanding of the concept of collective efficacy? By examining the collective efficacy of the Israelites, this study contributed to the contemporary understanding of the concept of collective efficacy. The study identified important principles that help increase the understanding of collective efficacy construct at the group, organizational, and national level. Based on these principles, a model of collective efficacy was presented.

Make Me Stay: A Multiple Case Study on Church Engagement Among Young Adults in the United States

Abstract

A growing concern in American churches is the attrition of young adults. Included in this concern is the lack of engagement of those who continue to attend. Previous research on Seventh-day Adventist youth revealed a number of themes on factors that contribute to the retention of youth in the denomination. Related peer-reviewed, research-based studies are dated over a decade ago; new information is needed to continue the conversation. This study explored the current factors influencing church engagement among young adults in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Phenomenological methods were employed in this multiple case study involving three Seventh-day Adventist Churches in the eastern, southern, and southwestern United States. Twenty-three in-depth, open-ended interviews of young adults age 22-35 were coded to ascertain specific factors influencing church engagement. The findings indicated that factors influencing church engagement are multidimensional. The results were combined into four larger themes, and a new definition of engagement, namely church engagement was introduced. Given the findings, engagement is the personal investment of a person’s preferred self into a desirable task. In the case of desirability for young adults engaged in church, it is influenced by relationships, affirmation, opportunities for service, and a sense of spiritual responsibility. Based on the findings and to examine factors in varying contexts, further study is recommended to address three areas: cross-religious, cross-cultural, and countercultural study. Findings will contribute to a greater understanding of young adults and their participation in religious-based and other nonprofit organizations.

The Values Communicated by Crisis Leaders After Crises: Coding American Presidential Crisis Documents for Values to Refine the Discourse of Renewal Theory

Abstract The purpose of this study was to refine the discourse of renewal (DOR) theory as described by Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger (2015) by identifying the specific values 10 top-rated presidents in crisis leadership communicated after national crises to make the theory more value-focused and helpful as a guideline for future presidents and crisis leaders. The DOR theory’s ethical communication component emphasizes the importance of using values in crisis communications, but it does not adequately specify specific values crisis leaders should communicate after crises begin. Furthermore, scholars have not sufficiently studied the specific values communicated by the top-rated presidents in crisis leadership in the wake of crises. With this in mind, this study sought answers to two research questions. First, what values did the 10 top-rated American presidents in crisis leadership communicate after national crises occurred? Second, did practical themes emerge from an examination of the crisis communications of the 10 top-rated American presidents in crisis leadership that might assist future presidents or organizational leaders more effectively communicate their values in the wake of crises to help foster renewal? This study used a qualitative research design and methods to address the research questions by collecting and analyzing data from a purposeful sample of presidential crisis documents from 10 top-rated American presidents in crisis leadership, according to C-SPAN’s (2017) Presidential Historians Survey. Saldaña’s (2013) coding methods (i.e., values coding) and Dedoose, a qualitative data analysis program, were used in the first cycle of coding to analyze the presidential crisis documents for values as described by Rokeach (1973), Schwartz (1994), and other scholars (DiMaggio, 2015; Durant, 2006; Erisen & Villalobos, 2014; Kinnier, Dannenbaum, Lee, Aasen, & Kernes, 2004; Steele & Redding, 1962; Ulmer & Sellnow, 2002). In the second cycle, focused coding helped refine and further categorize the identified values for themes. As a result of the coding process, 15 primary values communicated by the 10 top-rated American presidents after crises appeared, and five practical themes that may help future crisis leaders foster renewal emerged.

Dyadic Influence Processes in Cultural Context: An Examination of Emotional Contagion Susceptibility in American and Indian IT Workers

Abstract

Few trends have received as much publicity or attention in managerial circles as the topic of managing diversity (Prasad & Mills, 1997). As the modern workplace becomes increasingly culturally dimensional, managers are faced with “innumerable tensions, conflicts, and contradictions” that management literature “tends to ignore or gloss over” (Prasad & Mills, 1997, p. 5). As previous research has demonstrated, these cultural contradictions and tensions can have significant work outcomes, impacting decision making, productivity, morale, and group cohesion (Barsade, 2001). As such, this research effort is intended to help address what Prasad and Mills (1997) referred to as a “significantly under researched and undertheorized phenomenon” by examining one of the many complexities that underlie workplace diversity—the relationship between dyadic influence and cultural disparity (p. 5). Using a previously validated psychometric instrument, this study quantitatively examined emotional contagion susceptibility across individualist and collectivist cultures, specifically Indian and American IT and software industry professionals. Testing the hypothesis that Indian IT workers will report statistically higher levels of emotional contagion susceptibility than American IT workers, this study administered the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) to 82 Indian IT workers and 88 American IT workers. Bivariate profiling methods, to include an independent samples t test were conducted. Research results indicated the test was highly significant thereby rejecting the null hypothesis and supporting the premise that Indian IT workers on average reported higher levels of emotional contagion susceptibility than American IT workers as measured by the ECS. These findings present a range of implications for both the theory and praxis of cross-cultural management and contemporary organizational behavior, not only addressing critical gaps in the literature but offering empirical evidence to inform management approaches and globally literate managers as well as contributing to constructive influence dynamics and organizational function in a culturally evolving workplace.

Management Best Practices for Business as Mission Organizations: A Case Study of GAJ Marketing in the Philippines

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate the operations of a Business as Mission, or BAM, organization to develop a list of best management practices promoting employee engagement for BAM practitioners. The study that was conducted centered on GAJ Marketing, a BAM organization in the Philippines, whose leaders are known to display great care and concern for their employees and staff. Interviews were conducted with the leadership, employees, and subcontractors of GAJ Marketing. A focus group session was also held with a group of subcontractors. A Tagalog/English interpreter was hired to facilitate the interviews, during which suggestions for interpreter-facilitated interviews provided by Williamson et al. (2011) were utilized. The process of epoche, phenomenological reduction and imaginative variation as discussed by Moustakas (1994), was used during the data-gathering portion of the study. During data analysis, the first coding cycle and second coding cycle involved identification of common themes within the dataset; Atlas.ti was then used to facilitate the remainder of the data analysis process. The result of the analysis process is a list of best management practices promoting employee engagement for BAM organizations.

Authentic Leaders, Employee Innovation, and Employee Creativity in Telecommunication Cooperatives

Abstract

This study examined authentic leadership and its relationships with employee innovation and employee creativity within nonprofit telecommunication cooperatives. The goal of the study was to determine if authentic leadership positively influenced follower innovation and creativity. The participants included 80 nonmanagerial employees within two telecommunication cooperatives. A correlational research design was used to test for a positive relationship between authentic leadership, employee innovation, and employee creativity. The results showed that there was not a positive relationship between authentic leaders and employee innovation within nonprofit telecommunication cooperatives. Similarly, the results showed that there was not a positive relationship between authentic leaders and employee creativity within nonprofit telecommunication cooperatives. Implications of these findings are discussed, as well as strengths and weaknesses of the study. Future directions for studying authentic leadership, employee innovation, and employee creativity are suggested.

Servant Leadership: The Effects on Work-Family Conflict and Work-Family Positive Spillover

Abstract

The research study examined the effect of servant leadership on work-family conflict and work-family positive spillover in the United States. The research study utilized previously tested scales including the Essential Servant Leadership Behaviors (ESLB) (Winston & Fields, 2015), Work-Family Conflict subscales:Time-Based Conflict (TBC), Strain-Based Conflict (SBC), Behavior-Based Conflict (BBC), (Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams, 2000), and Work-Family Positive Spillover Scale subcategories: Affective Positive Spillover (APS), Behavior-Based Positive Spillover (BBPS), and Value-Based Positive Spillover (VBPS) (Hanson, Hammer, & Colton, 2006) to examine the effect of servant leadership on conflict and positive spillover from the work to the family domain while controlling for age, gender, number of dependents, and years of work experience. The population sample was randomly selected and queried via Facebook and emails and included 121 male and female participants from a cross-sectional sample of the general population. The research results concluded that essential servant leadership behaviors demonstrated a significant effect on strain and behavior-based conflict as well as behavior-based positive spillover (BBPS), and value-based positive spillover (VBPS). Conversely, the research results failed to find significant correlation between essential servant leadership behaviors and time-based conflict or affective positive spillover.