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Organizational Culture Influence on the Dimensions of Organizational Learning at the University of The Bahamas

Organizational Culture Influence on the Dimensions of Organizational Learning at the University of The Bahamas

Jason Keith Nathaniel Styles | 2022

Abstract

Globally, higher education institutions (HEIs) face increasing pressure to learn, change, and adapt to survive and thrive in an increasingly complex and turbulent in today’s environment (Alsabbagh & Khalil, 2017; Coman & Bonciu, 2016; Tierney, 1988, 2008). Furthermore, HEIs are the catalyst to create new knowledge that contributes to economic and social growth by setting the framework for technology transfer, shifting demographics, globalization, and the recruitment of diverse students (Habtoor et al., 2019, 2020; Sayed & Edgar, 2019; Voolaid & Ehrlich, 2017). To effectively reduce the stress and strain produced in colleges and universities by the changing environment, HEIs must better understand the internal organizational culture (OC) to facilitate the progression of organizational learning. Important to realize, HEIs have been linked with economic prosperity and development of developing countries; the Bahamas needs to focus on the University of The Bahamas’ OC to determine the present and desired state of OC to bring about continuous improvements strategic redirection for organizational success. As a result, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact OC types—clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy—can have on the dimensions of learning at the University of The Bahamas, the oldest HEI in the Bahamas. This cross-sectional quantitative study used the Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory and the Dimension of Learning Questionnaire. The surveys were completed by 154 participants in this study: 15.0% (n = 70) were staff, 13.1% (n = 61) were faculty members, and 17.9% (n = 10) were administration. Additionally, the study examined the control variable of gender. This research indicates that hierarchy and market partially significantly predict individual learning, and adhocracy, clan, hierarchy, and market significantly predict organizational learning.

The Effect of Moral Development and Moral Identity on Integrity

The Effect of Moral Development and Moral Identity on Integrity

Tom Clark | 2022

Abstract

This study assessed two personal level concepts—moral development and moral identity—to provide greater insight into how they influence moral integrity, with the ultimate goal of illuminating organizational effectiveness in teaching integrity and developing honesty and integrity in emerging leaders. In the end, the study addressed one of the most pressing leadership issues today: individual character development. The study followed a cross-sectional, quantitative, survey-based approach using a combined, three-part instrument to gather data from college-level participants enrolled in an established leader development program. This approach provided relative ease and efficiency in collecting data from numerous participants to test the hypotheses expeditiously and avoid biases. The combined instrument included the Defining Issues Test-2, which measures moral development; the Moral Identity Measure, which measures moral identity; and the Integrity Scale, which measures integrity. The findings supported the research hypotheses, indicating that a leader’s moral development and moral identity have a positive effect on the moral integrity that the leader exhibits. The paper concludes by recommending practical steps to enhance moral development and internalized moral identity—the strongest predictor of integrity based on the findings—and how integrity is taught and developed as a character virtue in leadership development programs.

Leadership Standards of Excellence: A Qualitative Case Study of One High-Performing, High-Poverty Philadelphia High School

Leadership Standards of Excellence: A Qualitative Case Study of One High-Performing, High-Poverty Philadelphia High School

Priscilla J. DuBose | 2022

Abstract

Julia R. Masterman has been one of the best-performing public secondary schools in Philadelphia and across the nation. Its high performance has exceeded expectations despite the challenges faced by the school, especially the location. The school is in a high-poverty neighborhood. This research, therefore, examined the impact of leadership on the school’s performance. The literature review section shows the direct correlation between leadership and achieving the set goals and objectives. Some of the most used leadership theories in high schools and the education sector, in general, include authentic leadership theory and the theory of academic performance. The qualitative study collected data using semi structured interview questions. Twelve participants answered six questions each. These participants were from the leader and nonleader levels: six from each group. After analyzing the data using NVivo software and the thematic data analysis method, 25 codes were identified, which were incorporated within 14 themes. These 14 themes concentrated on various issues, including the importance of prioritizing the process, supporting the teachers, collaborating and communicating effectively with the community and parents, and optimizing the school’s resources. All these were made possible by the leadership of Julia R. Masterman. The research is, however, not foolproof, as exhibited by the identified limitations. These limitations are a guiding factor to the recommendations given for future research.

When the Goal is Perfection: Exploring Leadership Styles and Perfectionism

When the Goal is Perfection: Exploring Leadership Styles and Perfectionism

Kristen Marie Estorge | 2022

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationship between leadership styles and perfectionism among coaches, gym owners, and judging officials at public and private gymnastics clubs throughout the Southeast region of the United States. The participants were considered leaders according to standards implied by Gandolfi and Stone (2016). The Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Form 5XShort (Bass & Avolio, 1995) and the Multi-Dimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) were administered to 31 male and female individuals active in the gymnastics community in the southeastern United States. Gender, organizational tenure, organizational type (public or private), organizational profit orientation, for-profit and nonprofit organizational status, and organizational status/role were also obtained. Positive significant relationships (p < .05) were found between transactional leaders and other-oriented perfectionism and the transactional leadership subscales of contingent reward and management by exception (active). Moreover, negative significant relationships (p < .05) were also found between the leader’s identification with self-oriented perfectionism and one of the subscales of passive–avoidant leadership, namely laissez-faire. In conclusion, transactional leaders (Bass & Avolio, 1995) are more likely to possess other-oriented perfectionism (Hewitt & Flett, 1991), whereas self-oriented perfectionists are less likely to perform as transactional (laissez-faire) leaders in their gymnastics role.

The Amplification of Organizational Virtuousness Through Community at Work: Impact on Energy and Identity

The Amplification of Organizational Virtuousness Through Community at Work: Impact on Energy and Identity

Perry E. Geue | 2022

Abstract

The intent of this study was to investigate how virtuousness in the workplace is amplified to characterize the organization as a whole as evidenced by its effect on the energy and identity of employees. Cameron, Mora, Leutscher, and Calarco’s (2011) positive practices, comprised of six dimensions (respect, care, support, inspiration, meaning, and forgiveness), were used to measure organizational virtuousness, while energy and identity were measured, respectively, by work engagement and organizational identification. The mechanism for amplification explored in the study was a form of social capital comprised of high-quality connections between employees or the formation of a community at work. Thus, in this nonexperimental, cross-sectional, quantitative study, the mediation by community at work of the positive relationship between organizational virtuousness and the outcomes of work engagement and organizational identification was investigated by administering a questionnaire survey at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Controlled for in the study were gender, age, job tenure, autonomy, and positive work-related identity. Baron and Kenny’s (1986) method was used to test for mediation. Results showed no mediation by community at work of the relationship between organizational virtuousness (or its subdimensions) and work engagement, while the relationship between organizational virtuousness (and its subdimensions) and organizational identification, though not significant, showed inconsistent (Kenny, 2018; MacKinnon, Fairchild, & Fritz, 2007) or indirect (Hair et al., 2021; Zhao, Lynch, & Chen, 2010) mediation by community at work (except for meaning). Interestingly, both the meaning dimension of organizational virtuousness, and the control variables of autonomy and positive work-related identity, were positively related to both of the outcomes—work engagement and organizational identification. The findings suggest that the formation of high-quality connections in the workplace facilitate the amplification of organizational virtuousness and its effect on employee identity within the organization, while employees’ experience of autonomy and meaning at work have a positive effect on both their energy and identity, but though related to positive relationships in the workplace, these relationships are not instrumental for this effect.

Examining Agape and its Leadership Implications: A Sociorhetorical Analysis of 1 Corinthians 13 and Philemon

Examining Agape and its Leadership Implications: A Sociorhetorical Analysis of 1 Corinthians 13 and Philemon

Trevon Gross | 2022

Abstract

This study examined the agape construct explained in 1 Corinthians 13 and demonstrated in the Book of Philemon. The project reviewed the research history of love across various disciplines and how the concept of love, altruism, and charity function within the ethical, spiritual, servant, and responsible leadership theories. The research used the exegetical tools of the historical–critical method and sociorhetorical analysis. The data were interpreted to identify traits of agape found in 1 Corinthians 13 and exemplified in the Book of Philemon. Further, the biblical concept of agape critiqued the use of love within the emerging leadership theories. The study results yielded eight themes and 15 traits of agape. When applied to the Letter to Philemon, Paul’s interaction with Onesimus and Philemon aligns with many of the traits and themes elucidated in 1 Corinthians 13, which suggests Paul lived the agape lifestyle that he taught to others. Agape overrode the societal titles and hierarchy to create a new familial relationship and a new social structure—the beloved community. The four research questions were answered by this study and future possibilities for research are proposed.

Unexpected Virtual Leadership: U.S. Federal Government Internet Technology and Cybersecurity Leaders

Unexpected Virtual Leadership: U.S. Federal Government Internet Technology and Cybersecurity Leaders’ Perspectives of Trust, Communication, and Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Amy S. Hamilton | 2022

Abstract

In March 2020, a significant portion of the workforce in the United States transitioned from physical to virtual work environments practically overnight. Leaders were forced to change how they communicated with their teams as meeting around conference room tables was no longer an option. No longer able to account for a member physically being present in the office as working, leaders had to reassess their trust in staff to carry out work. Despite the change in the work environment, work deliverables that were defined in physical space still needed to be delivered in virtual space and performance still needed to be measured. This phenomenological study explored how leaders adapted their communication, maintained and developed trust, and drove performance during the pandemic in a virtual environment. This research found four main themes: pandemic, geography/time, mission, and leadership/management. This study provides insight into the stress and chaotic experience of information technology and cybersecurity leaders in the U.S. Government during the pandemic.

Follower Experience During Toxic Reorganization

Follower Experience During Toxic Reorganization

Dwayn Hanford | 2022

Abstract

This phenomenological qualitative research study centered on the lived experiences of followers during a toxic reorganization with the aim of determining follower importance, emotions, and overall potential damage to the organization a toxic leader can bring. The understanding of these lived experiences highlights new variables in the leader-follower phenomenon. This research also adds to the understanding of the impact of a toxic leader’s influence on the organizational restructure from the follower’s perspective. The researcher sought to answer three research questions: (a) In a toxic leader environment, what relevance and value do followers perceive their input contributes to the organizational restructure, creation of new processes, and organizational focus? (b) What impact or difference do long-term legacy followers and short-term temporary followers have on follower satisfaction with the redesigned organizational effectiveness? (c) How do toxic leadership actions during a reorganization, perceived by followers, contribute to follower assessment of the final organizational structure and effectiveness? The theoretical concepts of situational leadership theory, transactional and transformational leadership theory, toxic leadership, and followership, reorganization and change, groupthink, the Abilene Paradox, and organizational climate and culture were used as a baseline for this study. The participants’ responses to open-ended interview questions indicated that a leader identified as toxic conducted reorganizational practices in a manner that would serve his own purpose with little regard to follower concerns. The responses of temporary and legacy employees regarding their leader noted similar observations similar regardless of employee status. In addition, the reorganization degraded the final organizational structure and effectiveness. The findings have value for any leader who seeks to understand follower concerns during a reorganization under a toxic leader. The results of this study are also intended to provide additional insights into the followership phenomenon: if leaders can only lead because followers give them authority, why do followers provide power to a toxic leader?

Solidarity as an Antecedent of Consensus Decision-Making: A Mixed-Mode Study

Solidarity as an Antecedent of Consensus Decision-Making: A Mixed-Mode Study

Susan K. Hares | 2022

Abstract

Research by Koster and Sanders (2006) into alternatives to Organizational Citizen Behavior (OCB) found solidarity was a possible alternate concept to OCB. This longitudinal mixed-mode study examined whether solidarity and conflict were antecedents to effective team consensus decision-making in the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), a virtual top management team (TMT) of the IETF. The IETF is a standards development organization (SDO) that has developed Internet technology standards since 1987. This research examined the IESG consensus decision-making in the 28 years of consensus decision-making from 1989 to 2016 from five different viewpoints (three different types of historical data and two surveys). Historiometric best practices guided the collection and IPA analysis of the historical data and the open-ended questions from the surveys. IPA analysis examined 3,458 group consensus decisions for group behaviors, with over 39.186 individual behavioral patterns consisting of 1 or more of the behaviors studied. The researcher surveyed all IESG members in 2013 and 2017. Every step of the five-strand methodology used triangulation (data triangulation, data collection, method triangulation in the analysis process [within-method and between-method], and theory triangulation). This web of triangulation used a majority strategy to resolve differences. This research concluded that solidarity was an antecedent to effective team consensus decision-making. Increases in solidarity behaviors in the TMT might increase the effectiveness of consensus decisions in team consensus decision-making. This research examined conflict based on the Jehn’s (1999) Intragroup Conflict Scale, concluding that conflict (task and relationship) correlated to effective consensus decision-making. However, the exact nature between conflict and effective consensus decision-making was complex. Relationship conflict was minimized in the publicly available IETF historical records, slightly dampened in the survey, and expressed in-depth in a set of open-ended questions on conflict. Future researchers may continue to examine the interplay of solidarity and conflict in the IESG and other TMTs in other organizations.

Examining the Relationship Between Strengths Development and Implicit Leadership

Examining the Relationship Between Strengths Development and Implicit Leadership

Shelley Renee Harrell | 2022

Abstract

This study expanded on the current theoretical understanding of implicit leadership theories and the theory of strengths development. This study combined the implicit leadership theory of Offermann and Coats (2018), which includes nine factors associated with good leaders (dedication, creativity, charisma, well-groomed, sensitivity, tyranny, masculinity, strength, and intelligence), with the theory of employee strengths development, which groups 34 talent themes grouped into four domains (executing, influencing, relationship-building, and strategic thinking; Rath, 2008). Four major hypotheses were tested to assess the nature of the relationship between the two theories. In addition, employees’ gender, educational level, and length of tenure at university were used as control variables. The relationship of the four StrengthsFinder domains with the nine implicit leadership theory factors were investigated in a sample of employees of a West Coast university in the United States. There were 159 (n = 159) valid responses. The results revealed that dedication was significantly larger for employees in the executing strengths domain compared to the other three domains. Creativity was not found to be significantly different when compared across the four strengths domain. Charisma was negatively related to the strategic and executing domains.