<p> Leadership plays a significant role in the advancement of the church, the followers, and the community that the church serves. If the church fails to train leaders, growth within the church becomes hindered, and its mission becomes aborted. The problem researched in this study is the declining support church leaders are receiving from the community. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore church leadership effectiveness in meeting the expectations of followers, the local church community, and the church. The target population consisted of 3 nondenominational church leaders located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The conceptual framework for this study was leadership that captured the connection between effective leadership, organizational growth, financial stability, and success for the local church. Interviews were conducted, and the research questions revealed the best practices, procedures, and leadership behaviors used by the study church leaders for the success of the 3 local churches. Based on the methodological triangulation of the interview data, 10 themes emerged after the using NVivo 11 data analysis software: (a) people-centeredness, (b) communication between the leader and followers, (c) good morals, (d) prayer life that involves constantly talking with God, (e) strategic planning, (f) Christ-centeredness that causes the leader to acknowledge God at all times, (g) love, (h) integrity, (i) God, and (j) Biblical education. As a result of the findings from this study, the potential contributions to social change can include a blueprint for developing future church leaders, increased strategies for creating employment opportunities, and strengthening the family unit through leading people to follow the laws of God and man.</p><p>

<p> Leadership is a widely explored topic. Leadership within the nonprofit sector of the United States has become of interest. The problem is that nonprofit leadership garnered attention with increased reports of unethical acts by nonprofit leaders. This quantitative correlation study investigated the relationship between the leadership styles (authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire) and ethics positions (idealism and relativism) of senior nonprofits leaders within the United States whose organizations were listed in the GuideStar database. The GuideStar database is a database of 1.8 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Survey participants (n=111) responded to a 40-question web survey that consisted of questions from the Leadership Styles Questionnaire and the Ethics Position Questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data to investigate the hypothesized relationship between the research variables. The results of the study indicated a statistically significant relationship between the laissez-faire leadership style and both ethics positions. An implication of the findings suggested that a leader may hold a strong ethics position (rather it be relativism or idealism), but act as a neutral leader. Based on the findings a recommendation to nonprofit board of directors is to administer the Leadership Styles Questionnaire and the Ethics Position Questionnaire to assess if the leaders&rsquo; leadership style and ethics position are congruent with the need of the organization. The boards of directors may choose to engage laissez-faire leaders as they have strong ethics positions. This study is one of few that endorse the use of the laissez-faire leadership style.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study is to apply the qualitative research method of descriptive single-case study design to explore the phenomenon of fraud in companies in the state of Arkansas by conducting face-to-face interviews with mid-level officers, distributing questionnaires to upper-level officers, and reviewing company documentation in the retail, professional services, or manufacturing industries in Arkansas. The focus is to understand the phenomenon of fraud and company officers&rsquo; perceptions about tools for detecting and preventing fraud. Financial statement fraud tactics make up 9% of the fraud cases globally, which equates to a median loss of $1 million (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2014). The research method involves the triangulation of data from interviewing mid-level company officers, distributing questionnaires to upper-level company officers, and reviewing organizational policy and procedure documents. Interviews will consist of at least 20&ndash;35 participants in a mid-level officer position to ascertain their perceptions about the fraud triangle as a tool and the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence (BCPE) as a framework, a questionnaire will be distributed to upper-level officers to confirm/disconfirm themes, and company historical documents will be reviewed. Because officers are accountable for the accuracy of financial reporting and the ethical conduct of employees, establishing methods for detecting and preventing fraud averts fraudulent acts such as the embezzlement, false reporting, or bribery. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 2009.

<p> There is a lack of empirical research on leadership. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the three components of the theory of reasoned action (TRA): (a) behavioral intention, (b) integration attitude, and (c) subjective norms as they relate to the commitment of the corruption component of occupational fraud (OF). The rationale of this study was to evaluate whether the influences of executive management related to the intent to commit corruption. The three independent variables were behavioral intention, attitude, and subjective norms, and one dependent variable, corruption. The research questions examined the relationship between executive management&rsquo;s influences; behavioral intention, attitude, and subjective norms and the intention of committing corruption as well as the extent to which an executive manager&rsquo;s moral reasoning influences such an intention. The hypotheses in the study were not formulated to establish cause and effect relationships nor to assign groups. This quantitative, nonexperimental study was also intended to recognize patterns and trends from the data and statistics of the results. A Pearson Coefficient Correlation was utilized as an analysis tool to recognize statistically significant correlations. An online survey was administered in fall 2016 to 76 participants who are in the executive management role of finance and accounting departments from different U.S. organizations. All 76 participants were included in the TRA analysis. However, due to the additional reliability test administered by the University of Alabama Center for Ethical Study (UACSED), only 63 participants were selected in the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2) statistical analysis. TRA utilized a Pearson Coefficient Correlation analysis to determine if a relationship exists between the independent variables (behavioral intention, integration attitude, and subjective norms) and a single dependent variable (corruption). The Pearson Correlation results indicated a strong significant positive relationship for the following: (<i>r</i>76) = 0.795 for the relationship between executive management&rsquo;s attitude towards the intention of committing corruption, (<i>r</i>76) = 0.713 the relationship between executive management&rsquo;s subjective norms towards the intention of committing corruption, and (<i>r</i>76) = 0.874 for the relationship between executive management&rsquo;s intention of committing corruption. The DIT2 results also indicated strong moral reasoning, illustrating high moral judgment of executive management and low intention of committing corruption based on the Maintaining Norms Score of 34.76 and a Personal Interest score of 32.12. The findings from this study could be used as a theoretical foundation for further research and subsequently bridge the gap in OF literature.</p><p>

<p> In Nevada, 300 Big-box store employees had distinct opinions regarding hiring practices, compensation, and equal employment opportunities. This study focused on the examination of the role of business ethics, an integral part of the business environment, as it pertains to hiring practices, compensation, and equal employment opportunities. The study examined how people within an organization use and practice business ethics in hiring and promotion decisions through the use of a mixed methods study. The study was conducted using a survey defined through a 7 point Likert scale to understand the respondent&rsquo;s perceptions and experiences on ethical practices of the organization in hiring, compensation, and equal employment opportunities. Statistical analysis was used to analyze the data. The results demonstrate that there are distinct relationships between business ethics and business operations, suggesting that organizations should develop ethical practices and monitor ethical behavior to assure ethical practices, compensation, and equal employment opportunities. Furthermore, the results suggest that employee satisfaction is increased with improved business ethic practices. Therefore, it can be deduced that increased employee satisfaction can increase productivity, which can increase profit due to lower expenses incurred by the organization. This study may contribute to social change by demonstrating that business ethics is crucial and beneficial to the success of all organizations in a variety of ways, including employee morale.</p><p>

<p> Two experiments in this dissertation examine the effect of a leader&rsquo;s emotional intelligence and its interaction with other constructs on the subordinate&rsquo;s intention to whistleblow. Results from the primary experiment indicate that when the leader is not involved in the observed accounting fraud, the subordinate is more likely to whistleblow to the leader if the leader has high emotional intelligence or high group prototypicality. The relationship between leader emotional intelligence and subordinate whistleblowing intention is stronger when the leader has high group prototypicality and is mediated by the subordinate&rsquo;s perceived leader-member exchange, trust in the leader, and job satisfaction. These mediations are stronger as well when the leader has high group prototypicality. In addition to the primary experiment, a supplementary experiment where the leader is involved in the observed accounting fraud demonstrate that the subordinate is less likely to whistleblow on the leader to the anonymous whistleblowing hotline if the leader has high emotional intelligence. Moreover, the subordinate is more likely to whistleblow if the consequence of the action is framed as being positive to the company than being negative to the leader when the leader has high emotional intelligence. Findings of these two experiments have strong practical implications in terms of corporate governance, internal control, and human resource management.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--International Christian Graduate University, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [64]-72).

Thesis (M.A.)--International Christian Graduate University, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [64]-72).

Thesis (M.A.)--International Christian Graduate University, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [64]-72).