<p> Our world continues to be impacted by large-scale disaster events. These severe disaster events create impacts that are shared across local, regional, and national boundaries. As a result, individuals, communities, and organizations are increasingly confronted with disasters that challenge their social, economic, and operational stability. To be resilient, individuals and communities rely on resources and services provided by organizations to enable each to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters. If organizations are not prepared to respond to disasters, individuals and communities, in turn, will also not be prepared to respond to disaster events, as a consequence. Similar to the concept of civil defense prominent during the Cold War era, civil security is now required in the present day, pointing to the need for individuals, communities, and organizations to better prepare our nation by enhancing resilience. Resilient organizations also provide a competitive advantage over organizations that do not implement measures to become more resilient, yet many organizations do not know their resilience posture, and, in turn, struggle to prioritize resilience or allocate resources to enhance their resilience. To help enable organizations to invest in their resilience, it is important for organizations to discover and understand their organizational resilience score. </p><p> This research extends prior research that developed a methodology and survey tool for measuring and benchmarking organizational resilience. Subsequent research utilized the methodology and survey tool on organizations in New Zealand, whereas this research study utilized the methodology and survey tool to study organizational resilience within the state of New Jersey as part of a comparative study. The results obtained from previous research were compared against organizational resilience data captured on New Jersey based organizations. Survey data created from this research provide valuable information on organizational resilience strengths and weaknesses that can enable New Jersey based organizations to learn their organizational resilience posture and begin to develop a business case for additional investment in organizational resilience. </p>

<p> National security depends on having skilled professionals leading their organizations through the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of an emergent situation. The Certified Protection Professional (CPP) credential is the current yardstick that attempts to codify and measure the knowledge and competencies required for security leadership. Does the attainment of this industry credential provide adequate proof (or evidence) of proficiency of the required security leadership knowledge and competencies? During an adverse situation, it is too late to learn that the security leader does not possess the knowledge and competencies required for success. </p><p> This mixed-methods research explored the required knowledge and competency expectations of security leadership and the claims made by the leading security industry credential. The research included an extensive literature review, an evaluative study of recent security leader job descriptions, and the development and validation of a novel survey instrument designed to capture the perceptions of security leaders regarding the knowledge and competencies required for success. The survey instrument also identified the type of proof (or evidence) preferred to adequately demonstrate proficiency of the knowledge and competencies. </p><p> This research validated the CPP knowledge requirements and identified 19 key competencies necessary for security leadership. The results indicated that security leaders agree that proof of proficiency is required, and that they would prefer a certification assessment scheme with a higher level of job fidelity than the current multiple-choice test format within the CPP framework. The survey instrument provided quantitative information in support of the findings. Opportunities for improvement to security industry policy and practice are suggested along with recommendations for future research agendas.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose</b>: The purpose of this mixed method phenomenological study was to explore and understand the leadership preferences of millennial employees in the public sector. Leadership preferences were generally defined as the traits and behaviors supervisors possess that millennials favor in the workplace. The study was designed to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and needs current public sector millennial employees have about their supervisor or leader. </p><p> <b>Methodology</b>: The subjects in this study were 50 millennial employees in the human resources department of a public-sector agency in Los Angeles County, California. Subjects responded to two research instruments: (1) a 7-item survey, the LMX7 Questionnaire, utilized to examine the quality of exchange between a leader and subordinate; and (2) a 20-item survey, Kelley&rsquo;s Followership Questionnaire, utilized to measure independent critical thinking and active engagement. Eight employees were selected and responded to an interview that utilized 11 semi-structured questions to assess subjects&rsquo; individual experiences of public sector millennial employees. </p><p> <b>Findings</b>: Examination of quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents indicated that, despite their apparent similarities, millennial employees in the public sector are unique. Second, an examination of the same data indicated that, while the benefits and stability of the public sector initially attracted millennials, the opportunity to work in an innovative department with a supervisor who acted as a change agent and listened to their ideas while providing feedback was important to them. </p><p> <b>Conclusions and Recommendations</b>: If the public sector is to attract, motivate, and retain millennials, leaders must adopt a positive and open attitude toward this generational group while ensuring an innovative and engaging environment. Millennials, accused of being disloyal to organizations, were more likely to remain in their public- sector positions if they felt valued. This study could be replicated longitudinally to explore the attitudes and beliefs of millennials as they age or enter another life or career stage to determine if changes could be attributed to age or life or career stage rather than tied to their specific generation.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to generate a theory about the implications of leadership development and organizational culture on employee engagement. The focus is on the experience and perceptions of participants of a leadership development program within a public-sector organization with a strategic imperative focused on cultural transformation. The researcher investigated the outcomes of the leadership development program, and examined cultural aspects of the organization, each from the view of employee participants. Much leadership development research to date is based on private sector organizations. There are studies that are an examination of quantitative organizational results such as productivity and personal results such as promotion and incentive pay rates. The researcher placed emphasis on the lived experience of employees and sought insight to the differentiators that result in higher levels of organizational buy-in and commitment exemplified by engaged employees. The research included interviews with individuals that participated in the subject organization&rsquo;s leadership development program. The research findings led to the generation of a new theory of employee engagement applicable to the field of human resource management. Understanding the differentiators within an organization such as leadership strategies and organizational cultural objectives that lead to increased levels of employee engagement is instructive for organizations. The results are applicable to organizations in the public-sector, or in the private-sector, when the organization adopts an intentional leadership development approach based on leadership strategies and makes organizational culture a strategic imperative.</p><p>

<p> Problem: The problem this study investigated is the phenomenon of a small but growing group of activist political leaders who are redefining public sector governance by reshaping the organizations they lead, thereby improving the institutional environments of hitherto moribund public agencies. The study explored the unique dispositions, skills, values, and/or behaviors of this class of leaders in order to provide an understanding of their emergence in terms of their development, decision-making and other personal leadership characteristics that evolved into their 'activist' nature. The purpose of this research was to develop a grounded theory regarding how the leadership competencies/qualities exhibited by this new breed of public sector leaders support the achievement of &lsquo;above-the-norm&rsquo; organizational performance in the public sector, despite the constraints of weak governance institutions within their specified contexts. The study has its conceptual framework drawn from the notions of effective leadership from a personal leadership perspective, as described in the works of Greenstein (1979) and, Mumford (2006). </p><p> Method: The method of investigation adopted for this study was a &lsquo;grounded theory&rsquo; approach (Strauss &amp; Corbin, 1994, p. 273), a general methodology of qualitative research designed to build substantive theory based on the systematic collection and analysis of data. Data collection was primarily by open ended narrative interviews with a purposive sample of seven public sector leaders who had been (a) identified by perceived improvement in organizational performance during their tenure in public office (b) their leadership activism as demonstrated in their use of public office to effect social change within their leadership context (c) held public sector leadership role for a minimum of three years (d) in leadership at national and/or sub-national levels and (e) validated by a subject matter expert. In addition, four (4) key informants were interviewed &ndash; who is either a past/present associate/subordinate of five (5) of the leader(s) interviewed in the study. </p><p> Results: Three major themes emerged from my interviews with the leaders: (a) their managerial and personal approach; (b.) their cognitive disposition to achieving good governance outcomes; and (c.) their pragmatic leadership approach to resolving leadership challenges of weak institutional contexts. These leaders are able to deliver effective leadership despite weak institutional/governance frameworks, not by using a specific leadership technique; but rather by manifesting their own personal convictions for achieving results&mdash;convictions that emerges from a matured conceptualization of their self-integration process. </p><p> Conclusion: The study concludes that leaders&rsquo; personal characteristics, understanding of self-concepts, and a pragmatic approach empower them to successfully create a compelling personal vision that has a clear ethical framework. They combine these with the capacity to use their social and emotional competencies to achieve results. The study further claims that producing leaders who successfully lead public organizations effectively is the responsibility of many parts of the &ldquo;ecosystem&rdquo; of public leadership.</p><p>

<p> Networks are the connective tissue tying together individuals and organizations working toward shared aims. Increasingly, communities are adopting network-based strategies to collaboratively contend with society&rsquo;s most vexing challenges and create lasting community change. This often occurs when addressing problems that are more complex and entangled than any one individual or organization can tackle on their own, such as education reform, affordable housing, or income inequality. </p><p> Individuals who assume leadership roles within networks&mdash;the researcher refers to these people as <i>network leaders</i>&mdash;must identify effective strategies to activate network members and unlock agency within stakeholders to empower them to contribute to a shared mission. This study specifically focused on research subjects who were professionally engaged as network leaders, and sought to uncover characteristics that network leaders exhibit and strategies that network leaders employ when performing their unique role. </p><p> The findings of this Constructivist Grounded Theory study center around the primary research question: How do network leaders catalyze collective action? The theory of network leadership proposed herein is derived from data collected from 27 network leaders. The model creates a framework for understanding the phenomenon of network leadership. The <i>Phases and Critical Tasks </i> of network leadership are moderated by the <i>Network Leadership Core Engagement Process</i> and the <i>Network Culture</i>, which is in turn influenced by the <i>Characteristics of the Network Leader Profile</i> and collaboratively developed <i>Network Agreements </i>. The theoretical model is grounded in the data and designed to be an accessible framework for understanding how network leaders catalyze collective action.</p><p>

<p> This project presents a theory and an application for using the integrated systems of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma (SS) for the American Samoa Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ) Tropical Medical Center to improve results for the random survey and recertification process for Medicare and Medicaid. Identified aspects of the project include roles, responsibilities, and measurement requirements of the TQM framework, using the Juran Quality Trilogy, cost of quality, and investment training in SS. The basis of the research that forms the foundation of the project comes from a review of related literature. Methods are presented in order to clarify where improvement processes are required. This project provides the LBJ center with a proven approach that has found success for implementing TQM and an SS foundation to ensure efficient compliance with The Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other regulatory government agencies.</p>

<p> The Department of Defense, at the time of this study, had over 38 combat Forward Operating Bases (FOB) with both U.S. military and non-military personnel residing and engaged in the mission. Also in these FOBs, are local nationals of the countries, who are employed to perform certain duties in these FOBs after having had certain security and medical background checks. However, while on military mission in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries between 2009 and 2011, this researcher, observed and detected more than once, local nationals (LNs), Afghans, with certain infectious skin conditions working in the DIFACs (dining facilities) at major FOBs, serving food to soldiers inside the base. These LNs reside outside the FOB facility and gain entrance into the FOB daily, passing through already set security parameters put in place by the Department of Defense (DoD). There are Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) to prevent or mitigate Person-borne Improvised Explosive Device (PBIED), Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), and to also respond to, or recover from, Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, and Nuclear (CBRN) attacks on FOBs. Researcher is unaware of any TTP specific for HB-BA terrorist, capable of detecting, deterring or destroying a terrorist with bioagents breaching a combat post ECP; nor the training of soldiers of how to conduct a search on a bio-agent (BA) &ndash; or even what a bio-agent would look like if they found one. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there are current military counter bioterrorism measures in place to combat a human-borne with a bioagent (HB-BA) terrorist attempting to breach a combat FOB at the ECP, and how effective they are. </p><p> To accomplish this, a survey tool had to be developed and employed to determine the perceptions about the effectiveness of current ECP TTPs in detecting, deterring preventing, and mitigating a HBBA terrorist at the ECP, from military personnel. A survey tool (questionnaire) was developed, validated, and subjected to a reliability testing using Cronbach&rsquo;s Alpha on a mix-method cross sectional survey, a pretest. Results showed a Cronbach&rsquo;s Alpha of 0.82 and 0.89 for the survey&rsquo;s two constructs. Also, 92.3% of respondents had recently been in combat deployment. All of them claimed that bioterrorism is very possible, but 61.5% believe it is either very possible or possible for a terrorist with a bioagent (BA) to successfully breach a FOB ECP. Only 3.8% felt that it would be impossible to breach the FOB ECP with a bioagent. Similarly, only 28% of respondents surveyed believe that current ECP TTPs are effective against a BA, 48% believe that current CBRN TTPs are either not effective, or somewhat effective, against BA at the ECP. In conclusion, the preliminary study, indicated that combat FOBs are vulnerable to breach by human-borne with BA terrorist at the ECP, as there exists no currently effective ECP TTP that could detect, deter or destroy a terrorist with a biological agent at a combat FOB ECP.</p>

<p> In the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the role of the local police has undergone a continual expansion process that has become a vital component in safeguarding our national security. Despite numerous technological advancements in intelligence operations, the local police remains the only 24/7 emergency operations entity that is capable of gathering intelligence, investigating, mobilizing operations, and apprehending threats to our nation. With this expanded role in national security, police leadership and management is faced with increased levels of accountability, including the safeguarding of critical infrastructure in their respective jurisdictions, often without financial commitments and resources acquisitions. This qualitative study served to address the local police as a component of national security through five police chiefs&rsquo;/directors&rsquo; perceptions of their roles in safeguarding critical infrastructure, examining their perceptions as they pertain to their current delivery mission model, through interviews and the development of pervasive themes. Themes from the data were well-saturated, as well as overarching, and emerged as follows: (a) critical infrastructure (CI) identification, (b) policy and patrol practice, (c) police officer knowledge, (d) technology impacts on critical infrastructure, and (e) budget. Identification regarding the relationships between local police and civil/national security, leadership/management and policy were made that suggest changes and sweeping support for future frameworks. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research, along with recommendations for policy, practice and future research.</p>

<p> Durable power of attorney has been recognized as a powerful legal document that is used to financially exploit the elderly across the United States. The existing research indicated elder financial abuse undermines the economic security of the financially exploited older adult. </p><p> Despite the findings, however, a recent review of the existing literature showed a lack of research that computed how much elder financial abuse was attributed to durable power of attorney abuse. Studies, such as the one published by the MetLife Market Institute, reported that $2.9B was stolen from the elderly nationwide in 2010. If the durable power of attorney is used to financially exploit the elderly, then the question becomes: How much money is stolen from the elderly by the misuse of a durable power of attorney? The existing research that quantified elder financial abuse did not delineate and show how much was attributed to durable power of attorney abuse. That is the missing link. </p><p> Adult Protective Services is a nationwide government agency that receives and investigates reports of suspected elder abuse, physical and financial. The elder financial abuse cases include those in which a durable power of attorney was used to gain access to the older adults&rsquo; money. </p><p> This dissertation was the first attempt to calculate in dollars how much money was taken from older persons in Bergen County, New Jersey through the misuse of a durable power of attorney, with a sole focus on durable power of attorney abuse apart from the other ways in which senior citizens are financially exploited. This researcher examined an open-source document prepared by Bergen County Adult Protective Services and estimated in dollars how much money was taken from the elderly in Bergen County, New Jersey over a specific period of time. </p><p> This researcher examined civil security, the human security paradigm, and national security. The focus was on the economic component of the human security paradigm and through a narrow lens, the study results demonstrated that durable power of attorney abuse is a critical threat to the economic security of the nation&rsquo;s older population and poses a potential threat to our nation&rsquo;s security. </p><p> The most significant result was that the data compiled in this study seemed to indicate that between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, the majority of the elder financial abuse cases reported to and investigated by Bergen County Adult Protective Services were committed by a means other than the misuse of a durable power of attorney. When it was used, however, it resulted in the older persons having their monthly social security income stolen on a regular basis, or in other cases hundreds of thousands of dollars were taken over time.</p>