In the Middle East real estate industry, 46% of projects fail in terms of strategic dimensions. Based on the dynamic capabilities approach and contingency approach, the purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to identify the successful strategies project leaders used to improve the alignment of projects with business strategy. Data were collected from 7 Skype semistructured interviews with real estate construction project leaders from 3 real estate organizations ranked among the top 10 in the Middle East. Public organizational documents were used for methodological triangulation. A thematic coding approach was adopted following a nonlinear sequential process that involved four stages: (a) reading and preparing the collected data, (b) coding, (c) abstracting the codes into conceptual categories, and (d) identifying the themes' relationships and patterns and creating a thematic map. The 4 themes identified were the (a) flow of strategy, (b) governance of projects during the development phase, (c) governance of projects during the delivery phase, and (d) measurement of project performance and strategic success. The results confirmed the idiosyncratic nature of the selected contexts and the need to increase some dynamic capabilities' dimensions. The contribution of this study to positive social change includes improved community lifestyle and environmental quality.

There has been a shortage of registered nurses in the United States for more than a decade, and an aging population is increasing this problem. This study was prompted by the number of associate degree nursing graduates at a Midwestern community college failing the NCLEX-RN licensure exam, which is required for employment. The purpose of this study was to explore associate degree graduate nurses' views of the effectiveness of classroom and clinical training on NCLEX -RN exam performance. Guided by the conceptual framework of Bigg's students' approaches to learning, which maintains deep learning is associated with achievement of learning outcomes, this qualitative case study investigated ways to improve success on the licensure exam. The central research questions examined the perceptions of what nursing school experiences contributed to NCLEX-RN success or failure. Semistructured interviews with 5 recent graduates who have been successful and 5 who failed the exam were conducted to gather the data. Triangulation and member checking were used to improve the quality of the data. The student perceptions were coded to identify emerging themes. The following themes that impact NCLEX performance were identified: extreme anxiety, fear of failure, faculty student relationships, and approach to learning. The findings revealed the need for additional faculty training in curriculum and instruction, reducing stress and building self-confidence. Based upon these findings, faculty were encouraged to participate in a 3-day professional development activity designed to improve their skills in preparing students to take the nursing examination. Possible social changes can benefit healthcare institutions, nursing graduates, and community by expanding the nursing workforce.

Because sales are the primary revenue generators for insurance companies, reducing attrition of sales agents is essential to organizational success. The purpose of this single descriptive case study was to explore strategies that 6 Nebraskan sales leaders within the insurance industry used to reduce attrition. Participants had experience in sales leadership and the attrition of sales personnel and were able to provide insight into the unique perspectives on attrition in the insurance industry. Participants met the following criteria: (a) manage an insurance sales office or organization or (b) held an insurance sales leadership position for at least 1 year and (c) are actively employed in the insurance industry. Data were collected from interviews with sales leaders, focus groups with sales representatives, and documentation from organizational websites for data triangulation. The expectancy theory framework guided the data analysis process. The data analysis process involved using thematic analysis which allowed coding data that related to the expectancy theory and research question. Data analysis also included the uncovering of repetitive themes and patterns and synthesizing results. Five themes emerged from data analysis: (a) leadership's responsibility for motivating sales personnel, (b) organizational commitment to creating a culture of engagement, (c) the use of compensation and rewards as sales motivators, (d) the necessity for training and development, and (e) a need to improve the selection process for new candidates. Organizational leaders may apply findings in other, similar settings to strategize community growth initiatives encouraging young people entering the workforce to stimulate local economies. Other possible benefits include reduced customer issues and claims.

In an urban high school in California, students are generally unskilled in critical writing. The problem has been associated with instructional barriers encountered by teachers. In this qualitative case study, English Language teachers provided their perceptions of such barriers and shared perspectives for solutions based in professional development. Grounded in the theories of Halpern, Saiz and Rivas, Weigle, and Harris and Graham, the conceptual framework emphasized instructional models that develop metacognition in writing, which can increase students' critical thinking. Selection criteria required participants who were English Language Arts teachers of writing critical thinking. Data from 4 participant interviews were coded, labeled, and collapsed into themes on the teachers' perceived barriers towards teaching critical thinking. Interview data were triangulated using field notes that revealed that limited teacher pedagogy, lack of student application, and an overall scarcity of school support prevented educators from teaching critical thinking in writing. The findings indicated a lack of an understanding from students, teachers, and administration of the instructional elements needed to develop successful critical thinking in writing. This study promotes positive social change by illuminating the instructional barriers by these 4 high school English Language Arts teachers. In addition, a professional development program, informed by the findings of this inquiry, will present teachers and administrators with strategies to increase critical thinking and writing. These coaching and mentoring strategies comprise a sustainable systemic program that will improve student critical thinking and writing.

This study is a qualitative examination of second language (L2) learning processes by four advanced learners of Japanese in the community of a summer intensive full-immersion program in the United States. Using L2 socialization theory as a theoretical framework, this study conceives of L2 learning as a process of social participation in a community of practice and examines L2 learning processes by four learners, focusing on the dynamic interplay between the affordances of the social community and the agency of the individual learners. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) It investigates the ways in which the four learners exercise their agency to pursue their goals of learning Japanese and (b) it documents how the different ways in which the four learners exercise agency form different trajectories of learning and create different experiences of L2 socialization. This study has adopted an ethnographic case study approach to the investigation of research inquiries. Through the analyses of data obtained from multiple sources, including interviews with the four learners, observations of their engagement in the community of practice of the summer intensive full-immersion program, their audio-recorded conversations with other members of the community, and various artifacts, this study explores the role of L2 learner agency in the process of L2 socialization and describes in depth their experiences of learning Japanese from their emic perspectives. The case studies of the four learners have highlighted the different ways in which they engaged in the community of practice, understood their tasks of learning Japanese, interpreted the affordances of the social community, negotiated the meaning of their participations, defined and redefined their sense of self, and eventually achieved their L2 learning goals. The findings suggest that the richness and effectiveness of a social environment are not characterized by the physical and academic affordances of a social community alone; rather they are constructed in a dynamic relation between the affordance structure of a social community and the L2 learners' agency in the pursuit of the joint enterprise of making L2 learning happen. With regard to the role of L2 learner agency, the study has foregrounded the important role of the aspirations of the four L2 learners for personal transformation and negotiation of the meaning of self of the past, the present, and the future. The findings suggest that L2 learners' diverse and complex social and personal desires for learning an L2 may not be able to be explained using the notion of investment (Norton, 1995, 2000) alone. Since the SLA debate initiated by Firth and Wagner (1997, 2007), SLA research has begun to reconceptualize L2 learners as socially situated beings with diverse needs, wants, and identities. This study presents four portraits of L2 learners who engaged in the enterprise of learning Japanese, as a means of contributing to this reconceptualization, and explores for these four learners what it meant to learn Japanese in the summer of 2010.

Research on talent development has focused on K–12 and adult eminence. This investigation addressed the gap in knowledge regarding talent development between the ages of 18 and 27. The purpose was to explain how a group of emerging adults continued to develop their writing ability into talents valued by themselves and society. The key questions investigated the role of self-perception of high ability in writing in the process of talent development as a lived experience, and the relationship of high ability to adult identity formation. The study also investigated how changes in family relationships and the establishment of independence related to talent development in emerging adulthood. It was a multiple case study of 7 creative writers from top-20 MFA programs. The study results indicated a number of findings. Development of writing talent in emerging adulthood is related to achieving adult identity and independence. Self-perception of high ability was universal, as was creativity. Achievement represented the confluence of intention, intellect, volition, knowledge, and imagination expressed as original work. The psychological process of differentiation and integration was used in adapting to achieve individual goals. Achieving identity for these writers and poets meant finding their voices. Ability was a pervasive factor in achieving identity. Parents, teachers, and peers guided and believed in the subjects’ ability. Family support was generally unconditional. Family mental health issues did not prevent talent development and fathers had a strong impact on sons and daughters. Independence was related to identity and represented having established primacy of self-authority. Contrary to theory, participants benefited from continued institutional support.

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of video-mediated communication (VMC) to support couples separated during classic Satogaeri Bunben. Satogaeri Bunben refers to the Japanese tradition when a pregnant woman leaves her own home to return to her parents' home during the prenatal period, while her husband often stays behind in the couple's house. When a couple geographically live apart during Satogaeri Bunben, it may decrease father-infant attachment and the negatively impact the marital relationship. VMC was selected as the supportive intervention for couples choosing Satogaeri Bunben in this study because: 1) it provides additional visual cues, which are particularly important because Japanese communication is highly contextual and often more nonverbal than verbal, 2) the addition of visual cues allow husbands the opportunity to see their infant, because they cannot talk, and 3) Japan has one of the best broadband systems worldwide. The specific aims were to explore VMC during Satogaeri Bunben in relation to father-infant attachment and the marital relationship and to describe VMC experiences of Japanese couples separated during Satogaeri Bunben. A comparative case study design with a mixed methods approach to data collection and analysis was used. The specific mixed methods approach used was a [QUAL + quan] triangulation-convergence model. For the qualitative data, the primary source of data was the Participant Diary. The primary sources of quantitative data included three instruments: 1) Taiji Kanjyo Hyotei Syakudo (TKHS), 2) Intimate Bond Measure (IBM), and 3) Primary Communication Inventory (PCI). The PCI was translated into Japanese for this study using a committee approach. Four couples were participated in this study. Data collection for each couple took approximately two to three month to complete. Qualitative data analysis divided the couples in two groups: 1) the engaged group, who were very attentive each other's feelings and 2) the detached group, who were inattentive. The PCI scores further supported the existence of two groups. However, the TKHS and IBM scores were mixed. The limitations included a small sample size and lack of variability in sample characteristics, and short time frame. This study was also the first time to use a newly translated PCI in Japanese. This study successfully explored the use of VMC to support couples choosing Satogaeri Bunben focusing on decreasing the impact of the separation of the couple and later the separation of the husband from his new infant. The qualitative and quantitative findings provided a first glimpse into four couples' feelings and VMC experiences during Satogaeri Bunben, especially in relation to father-infant attachment and the marital relationship. The use of VMC provided ongoing virtual, rather than physical co-presence, which may help couple's communication and relationship during their separation, as they transitioned to parenthood.

The purpose of this dissertation research was to bring voice to university custodians as blue-collar workers by exploring the manner in which four custodians interact with students on a university campus. The following research questions framed this study: 1) In what ways do four campus custodians interact with students during their work day at a large public university? 2) In what ways do those custodians talk about students and their interactions with students? This study adopted a critical philosophical lens that acknowledged the historically-marginalized voice of custodians as campus blue-collar workers. Extant research on blue-collar worker identity theory and college student-staff interactions and mentoring literature, as well as the author's own blue-collar background, informed and framed the study. Qualitative data sources for this ethnographically-grounded case study were four campus custodians employed in three residence halls during the academic year at a large, public university in the Midwest. A moderate participant observation strategy melded with a semi-structured interview protocol were employed. Data were collected and transcribed during seventy-five hours of observations throughout a six-week time span. Mutual benefits to both college student success and custodial staff occupational esteem were identified in custodial staff-student interactions. More specifically, custodial staff participants were found to indirectly support college student success via formally acknowledged and performed cleaning and maintenance duties of observing, protecting, and promoting the health of college students. Additionally, custodial staff directly supported college student success via informally-performed actions of remembering, comforting, advising, exchanging and keeping gifts, and participating in events with students. Based on these findings, this study advises college and university decision-makers to consider custodians as important mentors for, and allies to, college student success. Suggestions for professional practice include 1) Acknowledging and leveraging custodians' unique assets and contributions, 2) Fostering relationships between students and custodians, 3) Increasing custodian's opportunities for professional development, 4) Considering custodians' potential to support student success in custodian hiring decisions, and 5) Training Custodial Staff in Basic Crisis Intervention. Future research should examine custodians as formal mentors, explore social justice concerns relative to blue-collar campus workers, and study the influence of custodian-student interactions on custodial staff job satisfaction and performance.

Service-learning is the combination of traditional teaching methods with field-based learning and critical reflection (Hurd, 2008) and is popular in first-year composition (Deans, 2001). However, academic research on service-learning in first-year composition is relatively scarce and the most frequently-cited scholarship is at least a decade old (Adler-Kassner, Crooks & Watters, 1997; Deans, 2001; Haussamen, 1997). This study seeks to contribute to the scholarship on service-learning in first-year composition by exploring how stakeholders, including the instructor, the students, and the community partner, perceive the project's purposes and outcomes. To complete the service-learning requirement for the course in this study, students conduct a bystander intervention workshop for a small group of their peers that focuses on cultural humility and sexual assault prevention. In preparation for the service-learning project, students attend a bystander intervention training conducted by the [Women's Advocacy Program], a center on campus that specializes in violence prevention, LGBTQA rights advocacy, and promoting cultural humility on campus and in the surrounding community. In order to explore participants' experiences with the project, data was gathered through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and relevant artifacts, such as student work and course materials. In total, the study includes twenty-one participants, including the instructor, the community partner, and 19 students. Of the 19 students enrolled in the course, this research focuses on the experiences of five key informants (Bogdan & Bilken, 1997), who are referred to as “focal students” throughout the study. The findings of this study have implications for first-year composition instructors who engage in service-learning. Echoing previous research, this study finds that the relationship between the community partner and the instructor is an important factor in service-learning. Specifically, in this study, the instructor and the community partner design, implement, and assess the service-learning project collaboratively and have adapted the project over five semesters to ensure that it meets both their needs. The instructor and the community partner cite their collaboration as one of the reasons the project is successful. This study also reflects previous findings that indicate service-learning is more successful when it is integrated into the course curriculum. Students in this study feel that the project seems somewhat “separate” from the course, and perceive this lack of integration between the project and the course as one of the project's biggest weakness. A key finding of this study is that stakeholders in a service-learning project may not need to recognize or understand one another's perspectives about the project's purposes or outcomes in order for the the project to be successful. Previous research has suggested that service-learning projects are more likely to be successful if stakeholders understand one another's expectations for the project (Bringle, Clayton, & Hatcher, 2012; Deans, 2001), but this study suggests that this understanding might not be as essential to a service-learning project's success as previously thought. This study finds that participants perceive the project's purposes differently and have varying expectations about its outcomes. They make different and occasionally contradicting claims about which aspects of the project are effective or ineffective and they often indicate that they don't fully understand one another's perspectives on the project. Participants perceptions of the project are consistently divergent with one exception: they believe the instructor should continue teaching the project in future courses because they believe that the project is beneficial to their community, which suggests that participants don't need to understand one another's perspectives in order for the project to be successful.

Part of the seemingly magical nature of study abroad programs is the imagined community of target language speakers that learners will be able to speak to and connect with, and whose culture they will be invited to join. Far too often, however, study abroad sojourners struggle to actually communicate in the second language (L2), therefore hindering their opportunities to connect with native speakers of the language. This phenomenon is especially salient in short-term study abroad programs where students may have little time for meaningful engagement in the complex activities of social, cultural, and linguistic acclimation. These difficulties are magnified when the increasingly popular short-term study abroad program is a "sheltered" or "island" program (Allen, 2010), in which students take classes designed by faculty at their home institution with peers with whom they share a first language. In response to this situation, this dissertation critically examines the willingness to communicate construct (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, & Noels, 1998) in the context of a short-term study abroad program in Valladolid, Spain with the goal of understanding why some students eagerly engage with the second language and culture, others do to a lesser degree, and some virtually not at all. This investigation employs a multiple case study approach utilizing ethnographic data collection methods and a sociocultural lens to analyze the construct of willingness to communicate. Data sources include interviews, journals, language contact reports, observations, proficiency assessments, and audio recordings from group activities designed to increase learners' willingness to communicate. Recursive, qualitative analysis of the experiences of three students suggests that experiences, goals, and motivations vary widely across students, and across time, even in just five weeks. Furthermore, analysis suggests that willingness to communicate in a study abroad context does not always align with previous research examining the construct in other settings. Pedagogical and implications for future study abroad program design to foster connections and communication in the target language are also explored.