<p> 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&rsquo;s emotional intelligence (EI) and project success (Hay Group, McClelland Center for Research and Innovation &amp; 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&rsquo;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.</p>

<p> 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. </p>

<p> There is a perceived impending shortage of skilled talent for the corporate world, as well as the US federal and state governments (Herman, 2004). This issue is much fodder for discussion of how to retain employees, how to develop loyalty and the birth of catch phrases such as "global employer of choice." The concept of engaging employees for greater firm performance; and for finding ways to continuously engage employees with the idea of becoming an employer of choice may be one of those areas that scholars, consultants and practitioners have the right idea, but translation to an executable plan is difficult. </p><p> This phenomenological study contributes to the literature on organizational commitment, and employee identity networks through the lived experiences of the participants. This study focuses on why people stay through the conceptual framework of Allen and Meyers' (1991) work organizational commitment and their affective commitment prong. Participants were interviewed twice and the interview data was analyzed utilizing Moustaka's (1998) empirical psychological phenomenological method (EPPM). </p><p> Given the turnover of employees with short tenure, one question is whether organizations are providing the right elements to foster organizational commitment, job embeddedness or engagement. More specifically, what keeps employees at companies? This study takes a comparative look at the lived experience of a diverse sample of employees who have stayed with the company between 5-7 years. The study looks at the perspectives of African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Hispanic Americans, who participated in an employee identity network and the perspectives of White American males who did not participate in an employee identity network. </p><p> Findings revealed five themes that contributed to the development of affective commitment. The study has concluded that actions taken by both the company and the participant around a critical event were paramount in why people stayed and that employee identity networks provide much of the antecedents to affective commitment and ultimately to the decision to stay despite a difficult critical career event.</p>

<p> This exploratory case study used a qualitative research method and explored how Project Management Offices (PMOs) and associated governance groups, such as project management, program management, portfolio management, and risk management, play an important role and are viewed as a positive contributing factor in the successful management of projects. The study also explored the perceived reduction of operational risk that would help prevent the likelihood of financial market collapse reoccurrences, and the perceived importance and impact of operational management structures of financial institutions in contributing to the prevention of another banking collapse. The following themes emerged in the study: Operational risk, regulatory groups, characteristics of PMO structures, optimal PMO structures, PMO effectiveness, and maturity levels of PMOs. A postulation to integrate PMO structures and associated governance groups in the accords (frameworks) of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) was proposed to help financial institutions reduce operational risks that affect consumers of financial services. A non-traditional survey-based case study was conducted with eight project management professionals with financial industry experience in the United States. The case study helped reveal that financial collapses were significantly related to the lack of PMO structures and integration of those structures into regulatory frameworks as mandates. This case study further found that to reduce the likelihood of another financial collapse, a change needs to be made to organizational structures by (a) implementing well-run PMOs and associated governance groups, and (b) integrating those structures into regulatory frameworks.</p>

<p> This Delphi Study was designed to explore job-knowledge and practitioner expertise needed by bachelor-level graduates in meeting employer expectations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) health care industry. An initial supposition was that bachelor-level graduates were not meeting employer expectations because of insufficient jobknowledge, creating a need to align preparation of undergraduate business school graduates with workplace demands in management and finance. Process steps, based on Total Quality Management (TQM) Quality Function Deployment (QFD) House of Quality Principles, involved translating employer job-knowledge requirements into academic knowledge components useful to business school curriculum decision-makers. Combined levels of triangulation were employed to study expectations of UAE employers. Purposive sampling was applied to identify the participants. Data collection methods included 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews and two Responsive e-Delphi rounds. Data analysis involved translating employer job-knowledge requirements into academic knowledge components that contribute to curriculum development to improve learning process quality within UAE undergraduate schools of business. Findings indicated a need to provide students the opportunity to gain understanding and experience in applying theory to solve business problems within a work environment. Specific, accurate academic knowledge specifications embedded in the curriculum during curriculum design are recommended. Findings of this research may be useful to curriculum developers, curriculum revisers, and classroom instructors within UAE schools of business.</p>

<p> The specific problem of the study was poor leadership and management skills contribute to small business failure and closure. Most women start a business without previous opportunities to gain leadership and management skills. This quantitative correlational study was an examination of woman-owned and &ndash;led small service-sector businesses in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to determine if there was a relationship between leadership styles, as defined by full-range leadership theory (FRLT), and organizational success. The <i>MLQ 5x-Short</i> survey was used to measure leadership based on perceptions of owner/leaders and employees. Spearman rank correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationship between leadership and organizational success, measured in three areas of outcome of leadership behaviors. Multiple regression analysis and factor analysis were performed to determine whether the FRLT leadership behaviors, collectively, predicted better organizational success than any single leadership behavior. Rejection of the null hypotheses demonstrated the relationship between robust leadership and organizational success, which indicated the significant power of a female owner/leader&rsquo;s combined leadership behaviors to predict organizational success. The study has implications for female business owners interested in adopting leadership behaviors to improve organizational success. Recommendations are provided for business leaders to improve follower development by understanding leadership behaviors and styles that enhance or disrupt business performance. The study has implications for future leadership research. Regression analysis exposed unidentified variables that were not accounted for by FRLT factors. Recommendations are offered to advance leadership research through contributions to a more comprehensive leadership model.</p>

<p> Transformational leadership (TL) has been found popular in many industries in the United States and abroad for the perceived transformational leaders' effectiveness in improving occupational safety. There is a lack of empirical evidence to confirm these claims for safe occupational driving. This phenomenological study attempted to fill this knowledge gap in the electric utility industry where employees must drive in all weather conditions to restore power to customers. The conceptual framework for the study was based on leadership and motivation theories of Burns and Maslow. The research questions explored the influence of (a) TL on safe driving performance improvement in organizations and (b) emotional intelligence (EI) on leaders' efficiency to improve safe driving performance in organizations. These questions were addressed using a 14-item in-depth, open-ended interview questionnaire by a convenience sample of 18 management and 12 union-represented personnel drawn from 5 U.S. electric utility companies using the snowball method. Data were analyzed using NVivo 10 software and were interpreted using the methodological framework of Leedy and Ormrod, and Maxwell. The findings suggested that (a) TL influenced safe driving performance through these leaders' idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation; and (b) EI ineffectively and unreliably influenced safe driving improvement, but it improved organizational trust through the leaders' empathy and drivers' empowerment. Individualized consideration, while acknowledged as desirable, was least important and was widely lacking. The implications for positive social change include promoting TL style in other industries, raising employees' commitment and contribution to safe driving performance improvement, and improving organizational trust as well as public safety.</p>

<p> Some leadership styles can produce job dissatisfaction, resulting in labor turnover and financial loss to organizations. Despite these known consequences, there is a lack of research on the perceptions of leadership styles on job satisfaction for hourly wageworkers. This phenomenological study was used to understand the experiences of non-management employees on how management leadership styles affected their job satisfaction. Bass's leadership theory, Herzberg's dual factor theory, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs guided this study. The primary research questions were used to explore themes in leadership styles affecting selected North Carolina employees in the workplace. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 25 hourly wageworkers who completed at least one annual performance discussion with their first-line supervisor. Utilizing Moustakas' modified van Kaam method of data analysis, 4 primary themes emerged: (a) perceptions of 3 leadership styles, (b) insights on job satisfaction, (c) observations of leader behaviors, and (d) leadership agility. The 4 primary themes and 18 subthemes indicated that participants perceived more positive experiences with transformational leaders than they did with transactional or laissez-faire leaders. The findings are important for first-line supervisors in the fields of business, finance, and education to develop strategies that may maximize positive experiences with leadership styles that will create and improve overall job satisfaction. Social change implications, given the findings, include supervisors' increased awareness of how the 3 leadership styles could provide more favorable experiences for hourly wageworkers.</p>

<p> This quantitative correlational research explored the potential association between the levels of organizational trust and the software testing estimation. This was conducted by exploring the relationships between organizational trust, tester&rsquo;s expertise, organizational technology used, and the number of hours, number of testers, and time-coding estimated by the software testers. The research conducted on a software testing department of a health insurance organization, employed the use of the Organizational Trust Inventory- Short Form (OTI-SF) developed by Philip Bromiley and Larry Cummings and revealed a strong relationship between organizational trust and software testing estimation. The research reviews historical theories of organizational trust and include a deep discussion about software testing practices and software testing estimation. By examining the significant impact of organizational trust on project estimating and time-coding in this research, software testing leaders can benefit from this research to improve project planning and managing process by improving the levels of trust within their organizations.</p>

<p>This study examined executives&rsquo; subjective experiences playing golf to identify what they have learned about being leaders from playing the game. Twenty executives were interviewed. Participants reported that golf strongly enhanced their leadership. They reported developing approaches, attitudes, and skills that enhanced their ability to manage themselves, manage others, and react to changing conditions. Participants noted that golf had transformative aspects and that it could be adapted for leader development, team building, and relationship building purposes. Based on these results, it can be concluded that golf is an effective tool for leader development. Leaders are advised to begin playing golf as a means for cultivating their own leadership abilities, and organizations are advised to support their efforts in doing so. Organization development professionals and the golf industry are advised to design innovative offerings using golf as a leader development tool. Additional studies are recommended to confirm these findings. </p>