New technologies are continuously emerging, and as technology advances new applications are explored. One such application is in leadership development, an extension of leader development with a key differentiation being an inclusion of the collective as a dimension. Currently, organizations as well as their environment are increasing in complexity, emphasizing a requirement for better equipped leaders able to collectively face the consequential challenges incurred. Virtual reality is an emerging technology that has existed for some time, allowing both the hardware and software to become refined. This thesis explores the potential of this technology, i.e. virtual reality in a leadership development context, mapping out current uses and identifying potential areas for application. Furthermore, the thesis explores how virtual reality could be applied to enhance leadership development in organizations and what enablers and barriers this would entail. This was done by conducting a literature review and by gathering qualitative data, interviewing 6 researchers in the field and 5 practitioners from companies related to virtual reality and leadership development regarding their views and uses of this technology. The data was then utilized in two frameworks, the Dialogue map, categorizing methods of leadership development into 5 distinct categories, and the Multi-level perspective, defining three levels of a socio-technical system and the interactions between them. The findings of the thesis suggest that the technology indeed has potential in a leadership development context, with education and developmental relationships being the two most apparent areas of application of the technology. Furthermore, implementation of virtual reality in an organization should not replace existing leadership development methods such as instructor-led sessions or e-learning, but instead exist as a complement. Lastly, factors such as culture, demographics and the specific leadership development application should be considered. / Genom uppkomsten av ny teknologi uppstår även nya möjligheter för appliceringar av den. En sådan applicering är inom ledarskapsutveckling, vilket är en utökning av ledarutveckling som även inkluderar en kollektiv dimension. I nuläget genomgår både organisationer och det yttre landskapet en ökning i komplexitet, vilket har belyst ett ökat behov på mer kompetenta ledare som kollektivt kan hantera utmaningarna till följd av den ökade komplexiteten. Virtuell verklighet är en framväxande teknologi som har utvecklats både inom hårdvaran och mjukvaran den senaste tiden. Denna uppsats utforskar potentialen av denna teknologi inom ledarskapsutveckling genom att kartlägga nuvarande användningsområden och identifiera framtida områden lämpade för applicering av teknologin. Vidare utforskar studien hur virtuell verklighet kan appliceras i en organisation genom att se på vilka möjliggörare och barriärer detta skulle medföra. Detta gjordes genom utförandet av en litteraturanalys, samt genom att intervjua 6 forskare inom fältet och 5 utövare från företag relaterade till virtuell verklighet och ledarskapsutveckling angående deras uppfattning och användning av teknologin. Empirin var sedan utnyttjad inom två ramverk, nämligen Dialogue map för att kategorisera ledarskapsutveckling i 5 kategorier av processer, samt Multi-level perspective som definierar tre nivåer av ett socio-tekniska system, och beskriver interaktionen mellan nivåerna. Resultatet från uppsatsen föreslår att teknologin besitter potential inom ledarskapsutveckling, med kategorierna “education” och “developmental relationships” som de mest uppenbara appliceringarna av teknologin. Vidare borde inte implementeringen av virtuell verklighet ersätta nuvarande metoder för ledarskapsutveckling såsom lärarledda sessioner och e-lärande, utan komplettera dessa. Slutligen bör faktorer som kultur, demografi och specifik tillämpning övervägas.

Golembiewski, Billingsly, and Yeager (1976) conceptualized three distinct types of change that might result from development interventions, called alpha, beta, and gamma change. Recent research has found that beta and gamma change do occur as hypothesized, but the phenomena are somewhat infrequent and the precise conditions under which they occur have not been established. This study used confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory to identify gamma and beta change on a multidimensional, multisource managerial performance appraisal instrument and to examine relations among the change types, training program content, and raters' implicit theories of performance. Results suggested that coverage in training was a necessary but not sufficient condition for beta and gamma change to occur. Further, although gamma change was detected only in the trainee group, beta change was detected in self-ratings from trainees and in ratings collected from their superiors. Because trainees' superiors were involved in post-training follow-up, this finding was interpreted as a possible diffusion of treatments effect (Campbell & Stanley, 1963). Contrary to expectations, there were no interpretable relations between raters' implicit theories of performance and either of the change types. Perhaps relatedly, more implicit theory change was detected among individuals providing observer ratings than in the trainees themselves. The implications of these findings for future research on plural change were discussed. / Ph. D.

Abstract Background: The workplace has grown increasingly complex during recent years, posing new challenges for competitors on the market. To ensure that organizations thrive, companies are focusing and spending more time and energy on building and sustaining a healthy organizational culture. Yet, it remains equally important for employees to be autonomous and to practice self-leadership. This study delves deeper into the relationship between organizational culture and self-leadership, exploring how organizations can bolster the self-leadership development of employees through organizational culture.    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to extant research regarding organizational culture and self-leadership development. The study seeks to explore how organizational culture can facilitate self-leadership development among employees.   Method: For this study, a qualitative research design was employed. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews involving ten participants belonging to different organizations and industries. An inductive research approach guided the analysis, which involved thematic analysis of the collected empirical data.   Conclusion: Organizational cultures were found to play a role in the emergence and development of self-leadership among employees. Supportive leadership that promoted freedom were related to increased loyalty and adoption of responsibility among subordinates. Aligning the goals of individuals and organizations was difficult but could potentially lead to exponential payoff, with more competent, self-driven workers and an organization that respected their autonomy and character.

This thesis examines the effects of the UGL course (Development of Group and Leader), a popular leadership training program in Sweden. The study analyzes differences in leadership styles, particularly transformational and destructive leadership, between leaders who have completed the UGL course and those who have not. Using a quantitative method, participants self-evaluate their leadership behaviors with the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ). The results indicate that UGL participants report an increase in transformational leadership and a decrease in destructive leadership, although these changes were not statistically significant. The study highlights how self-awareness, a major component of UGL, can influence leadership quality. It also points to the need for further research with larger and more diverse sample groups to validate the results and establish statistical significance.

From this investigation it can justly be asked what a leader is and why not all people are leaders. It is clearly evident that some people possess more innate leadership potential than others. It has subsequently been proved that leadership and leadership training is of great value to mankind. In this regard one can refer to Plato, Erasmus and Cawood who, despite living in different eras, all recognized the same crisis in leadership. Each concluded that the leadership crisis of his time could be bridged only by training. Great responsibility, therefore, lies upon the school as primary training centre, and especially the principal. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Teacher Education)

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Leadership development is an essential and valuable tool for capacitating police leaders in the South African Police Service to deal with the diverse challenges that they face in the policing environment. There seem to be a need for leadership development processes that can stimulate change, and for perspective transformation to enable police leaders to find alternative ways of dealing with the challenges experienced in their working environment. This thesis explored transformative learning as a tool to enhance the leadership development processes of police leaders. The essential elements of transformative learning are: centrality of experience; critical thinking; rational discourse; and policy praxis. Theory development were chosen as best to carefully construct the foundational argument through non-empirical literary-based sources, in which the literature itself became the database towards theoretical formulation in this non-empirical study. The alignment and integration of the elements of transformative learning were explored as a strategy to capacitate police leaders to: reflect on past experiences; think critically about ways of dealing with policing challenges based on experiences; discuss these challenges with other police leaders; and act on reflections made during leadership development processes. The study is limited to the analysis of the status of leadership development in the South African Police Service, which was the context of this study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Leierskapsontwikkeling is ‘n essensiële en waardevolle hulpmiddel om leiers in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens te bemagtig om die uiteenlopende uitdagings waarmee hulle te kampe het, beter te hanteer. Dit blyk egter dat daar ‘n behoefte is vir leierskapsontwikkelingprosesse wat intrinsieke verandering en ‘n paradigmaskuif vir polisieleiers te weeg kan bring en wat hulle in staat kan stel om die uitdagings binne hul beroepsveld meer doeltreffend te hanteer. Hierdie tesis ondersoek transformatiewe leerteorie as ‘n instrument om leierskapsontwikkeling van polisieleiers te bevorder. Die hoofelemente van transformatiewe leerteorie is: sentralisering van ondervinding; kritiese denke; rasionele diskoers en beleidsvorming. Teorie-ontwikkeling as navorsingsmetodologie was selekteer as die mees geskikste metodologie om die argument deur nie-empiriese literêre bronne te konstrueer, waarvolgens die gekose literatuur die databasis van die teoretiese formulasie rondom die argument gevorm het in hierdie nie-empiriese studie. Groepering en integrasie van bogenoemde elemente was ondersoek as ‘n strategie om polisieleiers te bemagtig om te reflekteer oor vorige ondervindinge; kritiese denkwyses oor hantering van uitdagings in beroepsveld met inagneming van vorige ondervindinge toe te pas; diskoers oor uitdagings met ander polisieleiers te hê en om aktief te reageer op refleksies tydens leierskapsontwikkelingsprosesse. Die studie is beperk tot die analise van die status van leierskap in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens as konteks waarbinne hierdie studie onderneem is.

What usually goes unaddressed in the consultancy literature is an exploration of how consultants make sense of their contributions in particular when they come to work in politically laden contexts. Resulting conflictual debates with clients and colleagues severely influence how their advice is responded to. Against this background, consultants’ ability to determine and predict future outcomes of their work is hardly problematized. Additionally, consultants are mutually dependent on both colleagues and clients. This dependency underpins power differentials and the struggle which arises when these are contested can often take violent forms, such as misrecognition, humiliation or public shaming. The central argument put forward in this thesis is that tolerating (the potential for) misrecognition and/or for violence when goals are not met or when power fluctuates is an important, yet rarely mentioned, aspect for being recognized as a consultant. These aspects deserve as much attention as the often ideal-typical forms management consulting is said to take in the mainstream management literature because they speak to the irremediably incomplete and rather probabilistic nature of consultants’ advice, and the multiplicity of (often not anticipated or undesired) meanings their work evokes. In order to make sense of the flux and flow of organizational activity, the plethora of responses such activity calls out and its attendant ambiguities are considered and critically reflected upon. The theory of complex responsive processes of relating (Stacey, 2007, 2010; Griffin, 2002; Shaw, 2002), theories of recognition, (Honneth, 1994, 2008; Kearney, 2003; Ricoeur, 2005), Hegelian dialectics and neo-pragmatist thought (Bernstein, 1983, 1991) are provided as non-orthodox views on human organizing. A perspective is proffered which pays attention to the inchoate, ambivalent and indeterminate dimensions of organizing as a way to make sense of how these simultaneously and paradoxically order, regularize, and normalize human activity. Particular attention will be paid to negotiations which take place in microinteractions to exemplify that it is not pre-planned human cooperation but the intermingling of intentions of people who are mutually dependent on one another which paradoxically gives rise to regular population-wide patterns and spontaneous change. To make sense of what these insights mean for a practising consultant a view is offered where our reflections (thought) on our interactions (practice) at once form and are being formed by one another. An attempt is made to move beyond the practice/theory dualism by taking a pragmatist view which claims that thought and action only ever arise together, thus rendering an understanding of consultative intervention in which thought comes before action idealized and rather dubious. It will be argued that the most important contribution consultants can make is to try to stay radically open, and to try to keep on exploring as long as possible the multiplicity of narratives which constitute the differing perspectives of organizational reality.

Administrative assistants (AAs) provide critical office support for modern businesses, yet many do not participate in the continuing education and training (CE&T) required for rapidly changing technologies and new office procedures. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative correlational study was to investigate whether a significant predictive relationship exists between AAs' general self-efficacy (GSE), locus of control (LOC), and their participation in CE&T activities. The primary research question examined whether a significant predictive relationship existed among these variables, factoring in generation cohort and education level. Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Rotter's LOC theory provided the theoretical foundations. Volunteer AAs (n = 125) from the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) answered online survey questions from the New General Self-efficacy Scale, the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External scale, and the Adult Training and Education Survey. Data analysis was descriptive and inferential, included regression and correlational analysis, and revealed no significant relationship between AAs' GSE, LOC, and their participation in CE&T activities even when examining generation cohort and education level variables. Future researchers may conduct a similar study with a larger heterogeneous sample or a descriptive qualitative design that improves the understanding of the AA perspective. Because no significant relationships were identified within this IAAP branch, the findings in this study were unique and contradicted prior comparable research. Positive social change is maintained for those who participate with IAAP by successfully instilling virtues of lifelong learning of the administrative membership.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the perceptions of senior administrative and middle manager community college leaders regarding current succession planning and management practices occurring within their institutions. Three research questions guided this study: (1) Is the four succession planning and management components structurally related, (2) Is there a difference in how senior administrative and middle manager leaders evaluate succession planning and management components, and (3) Is there a difference between size and location of institution in regards to status of succession planning and management components? A suitable succession planning and management instrument was not found; therefore, the Wright-Coward Succession Planning and Management Survey (WCSPMS) instrument was developed. An exploratory factor analysis was used to address research question one and test the structural relationship of the common succession planning and management components of the survey. A second statistical procedure, multivariate analysis of variance, was used to analyze differences between the four dependent measures of succession planning and management and leadership level, and institutional factors. Findings from this study suggested (1) items on the WCSPMS instrument are correlated and three relatively independent succession planning and management factors are associated with the 20 underlying items, and (2) there is a statistical significant difference between leadership level in regards to perceptions of succession planning and management practices. Furthermore, this study indicated there is much work to be done by community college leaders in the area of succession planning and management. / text

The retirement of community college administrators has led to the creation of leadership development institutes. Yet, few studies exist to understand their comprehensive design, practices, and effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of, and a framework for, creating and evaluating effective leadership development institutes. The framework was applied to the El Paso Community College’s Leadership Development Academy (EPCC-LDA) to examine how its program aligned with the framework; assess the EPCC-LDA’s success in meeting its own specified goals of creating more skilled leaders; and understand better how EPCC-LDA decisions, practices, program components and forms of evaluation have led to successful outcomes. The research design followed a descriptive, case study format utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. This study had several major findings. First, El Paso Community College demonstrated how an effective leadership development institute can be created by focusing its design and implementation on processes, core values, and human interaction. Second, the study’s analytic framework was validated through a triangulation of data: research recommendations; EPCC-LDA coordinating committee interviews; and program participant evaluations. Third, El Paso Community College was accomplishing and surpassing its mission of improving employee leadership skills. This study concluded with recommendations for the refinement of its analytic framework, for EPCC-LDA programmatic considerations, and for future studies. By instituting responsive and focused programming that continually meets the needs of the institution, the participants, and leadership in general, leadership development institutes can serve as one effective resource for increasing the flow into the community college leadership pipeline, increasing the skills of those within the pipeline, and improving the pipeline’s outflow of diverse leaders. / text