To a large extent, management is perceived as a Western notion and is based on Western assumptions and norms. Most of our understanding of management came from the American experience. The problem lies in the assumption by these writers and researchers that what they think is true in the West, it is true for all cultures. This is a problem in cross-cultural management theory and practice. This study was an attempt to challenge the imperialism in cross-cultural management. It attempted to voice the Singaporean Chinese managers' conception of Chinese management through a Singaporean Chinese researcher using an interpretive approach. The specific purposes were to (1) discover Chinese managers' perception and definition of management; and (2) describe the way they manage. This study followed an interpretive paradigm of research and analysis which allows representation of the perspective of the participants. It aimed to reveal and reflect the world as it is. Metaphor was used as a means to understand how Chinese managers in Singapore perceived Chinese management and how they manage. Six interviewees from Singapore local Chinese organizations were selected for the study. Indepth interview was used as the research method. The research findings were presented through six stories and five scenes. Six stories (Chapter Four) were presented how they felt about Chinese management, their organizations and their managerial work. The five scenes (Chapter Five) were the interpretation and analysis of the "stories". Scene 1 focused on the Chinese managers' perception of the characteristics of Chinese management. Scene 2 contrasted the differences between Western management and Chinese management. Scene 3 highlighted the dilemma of the old and young generations and the dilemma in integrating Western and Chinese management. Scene 4 presented four metaphors and a meta-metaphor that capture the conceptions of Chinese management. Scene 5 presented five metaphors that describe the work of Chinese managers. The research findings were discussed in relation to the literature. Implications for Singaporean Chinese managers, management educators, organizational theorists, cross-cultural studies and future research were presented.

Family-owned businesses are associated with a low rate of survival. Statistically, less than three in ten will survive the first 50 years. The literature acknowledges that the issue of succession is critical for organizational development and continuity. Effective (successful) successors are defined in the literature as those persons who have the title and power of office and, in the long term, demonstrate the ability to create a positive trend of growth and profits for the business. The research consists primarily of quantitative analysis. The bulk of the research is predicated on 254 respondents, of which 181 are classified as effective successors and 73 as ineffective successors. Additionally, four in-depth interviews with successors were conducted and analyzed to verify the quantitative dimension and to lend breadth to the constraints of a survey questionnaire. The purpose of the research is to identify factors common to effective successors and ineffective successors. The data gathered centered on two topics: successor demographics, and successor attitudes relating to their families, themselves, and their businesses. The data show some interesting and clear differences between effective and ineffective successors. This information should be of interest to family-owned businesses, family therapists, business consultants, and academicians. The research is driven by six hypotheses. The results show three of the hypotheses to be consistent with the literature, while the remaining three uncover new information. The three hypotheses which coincide with contemporary researchers replicated that most successors: worked elsewhere before joining the family firm; willingly came into the business; and had positive outlooks on the businesses. The remaining three hypotheses uncover what appear to be new data about successors: that most successors are first exposed to the family business between 10 and 11 years of age; that there is a level of competition residing in the successor and aimed at the predecessor; and that 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-generation successors generally work around 60 hours per week in order to get the job done. The study concludes by offering specific recommendations for further research. These recommendations were generated by the research findings, which present some new implications for research, theory, and practice.

This dissertation examined the critical role of human and social capital in the evolution of the NCAA Division I men’s collegiate basketball product over time. Specifically, it sought to understand the characteristics of coaching networks that were consistently successful in perpetuating leader development over time, thereby theoretically replicating positive performance outcomes over long time spans. Interviews, content analyses and a literature search were performed to evaluate factors such as the processes of identification and selection of assistant coaches, the learning systems associated with their leader development, the strategies for their career advancement and growth, and the support structures of ongoing mentorship and professional networks that are important subsequent to their external promotion. Mixed methods were employed in the study. First, a quantitative analysis was performed in the early phases of the research project to identify the relevant coaching networks to be evaluated as well as to assess statistical relationships between five measures of coaching networks and success outcomes. This analysis was followed subsequently by qualitative ethnographic methods in relation to the selected coaching networks. The final output was the development of a conceptual model to be utilized for future research. Apart from some limited exploration by members of the popular press, there are no empirical studies known by this author that have examined characteristics of successful coaching networks and development systems.

<p>How master of business administration (MBA) graduates influence themselves to achieve their objectives in their careers can be linked to how well they identified with academics throughout their education. It is important that scholars understand this relationship between academic and career performance. The ability to self-regulate, self-motivate, and set goals, among other traits of self-leadership and academic identification, has been proven to increase personal and professional outcomes. Current research suggests that the two constructs, identification with academics and self-leadership, share similar qualities. This quantitative study used multiple linear regression to test the relationship between identification with academics and self-leadership while exploring the control variables age, gender, race, instructional modality, and years since graduation. To represent the population under study, the random sample consisted of MBA graduates who were employed. This population proceeded to take the School Perception Questionnaire, the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire and answer questions regarding specific demographic information needed for the control variables. Detailed analyses were implemented on the collected data. It was determined from these analyses that MBA graduates? perception of identification with academics while attending their MBA program had a relationship to their perception of self-leadership in their current careers. Additionally, it was determined that gender had a controlling relationship between the two constructs. The multiple regression coefficient data showed that identification with academics was statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level and gender was statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level.

<p> This study investigated the construct of the learning organization in the restaurant industry. Descriptive accounts of learning were gleaned from face-to-face interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis, and data from the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) from 52 participants employed in three US non-national chain restaurants in the Suburban Maryland / Washington D.C. area. This multiple-site case study extends the conversation of the learning organization by focusing on an industry that was not previously explored and offers new insight by providing a qualitative picture of how learning occurs in restaurants. </p><p> Five overall themes emerged from the data. Participants cobble together learning experiences from pre-shift meetings, formal training, learning from mistakes, and being thrown into the fire. Participants learn from customers through conversation and through trial and error as they adapt their service behaviors. Managers at each restaurant served as a learning champion by promoting dialog and prompting questions often in conjunction with food and beverage tastings. Informal and incidental learning was ever-present as participants naturally shared bits of knowledge through everyday interactions. Learning also took place off-the-clock as participants discussed their personal learning pursuits, such as accessing mobile apps or websites related to food and beverage, going to wineries, breweries, and specialty food markets, as well as reading cookbooks and magazines. Lastly, job rotation is a frequent learning practice during new hire training to expose individuals to the various roles within the restaurant. Cooks often rotate through different stations as they acquire and build up their technical skills. </p><p> In consideration of the evidence gathered, three conclusions are offered: (1) collaborative, informal learning practices are well pronounced learning strategies in restaurants; (2) leaders encouraging the development of new products (e.g., beverage / food) facilitate learning and experimentation in restaurants; and (3) a climate of consistent learning practices and procedures exist in restaurants. Overall, Watkins and Marsick&rsquo;s (1993; 2003) learning organization model did not fully depict the learning culture in restaurants. Future learning organization research is needed to better capture the unique workplace realities of high employee turnover, tip-based compensation, and more narrowly defined jobs (e.g., bartender, cook, server) that comprise the occupational culture of restaurant workers.</p>

Enterprise education is a mandatory part of the national curriculum, and all secondary schools in England must provide some kind of enterprise education for pupils. This ranges from work experience and enterprise programmes delivered by voluntary organisations, to economic literacy classes. The aims and objectives of these programmes are many and varied, making the task of evaluating them fraught with difficulties. Indeed, many evaluation studies of enterprise initiatives in general, have been criticised for a lack of scientific rigour. If there is inadequate empirical evidence about the efficacy of these programmes, then how do schools decide which ones to choose? How do programme providers develop their content and reach intended target populations? Worse, how do policy makers make decisions based on the varied and often contradictory aims and objectives of enterprise initiatives, about the design and development their policies? The aim of this research is to try and help to answer some of these questions by developing a methodology for evaluation studies that could be widely used on enterprise education programmes. By using the same methodology, comparisons can be made between different programmes, and take into account the differential impacts on different populations. Specifically, the main objective was to develop a robust programme evaluation tool, which could be widely used to evaluate enterprise education programmes targeted at young people in schools. This research involved the design and piloting of an attitude scale to measure enterprise potential in young people still at school. The development of the scale involved following accepted procedures for scale development, including reliability and validity testing. Two pilot studies are reported in this thesis, along with a longitudinal evaluation of a year-long Young Enterprise Company Programme. By using the attitude scale it was possible to design a methodology using pre-and posttesting, with control groups. Scores on the attitude scale were then compared using a series of statistical tests. This approach was thus able to overcome many of the criticisms frequently made of evaluations of enterprise initiatives. The scale enables researchers to take into account other moderating factors, which may influence attitudes towards enterprise. For policy makers the scale can provide evidence of the efficacy of different types of enterprise education programmes for different target groups, thus helping to identify how best to target resources and investment. The attitude scale can also highlight the potential impact of contextual and demographic factors such as type of school, ethnic background, and a family background of business ownership.

<p>This capstone project lays the groundwork for launching a non-profit soccer club in East Los Angeles focused on using soccer as the motivation to develop student athletes academically and as leaders in their school, home, and community. There is a need for sport opportunities in underserved neighborhoods, many benefits that being a part of a sports team can have, and sports development programs currently operating that are doing it well. Elite youth soccer in the United States is available only to those with money and parental support. East Los Angeles is barren of any such opportunity with poor local fields, gang violence, single-family homes, less than ten percent of residents with a bachelors degree, and roughly one-third below the poverty line. This club will work to overcome these obstacles by providing opportunity for elite soccer, mentoring, and tutoring in a safe, fun, and respectful environment.

<p>The workplace is in a transition with age demographics (Mann, 2006). The baby boomers, once a large and dominating force in the workplace are now in their initial years of a decade?s move into retirement. And with such a large demographic change, there is a vacuum that is created and then filled. Many industry analysts have deemed this transition as the "Great shift change." In the workplace, vacancies are being created en mass at the managerial and executive levels. Due to the recession of 2008-2012, the baby boomers remained in the marketplace for an extended period of time, some say to rebound with their depleted retirements. As the economy made its way back to normalcy, an intersection of market forces hit. This collision of market forces is the emergence of an economy out of recession and an age demographic beginning an advanced pace of retirements that analysts say will last up to 20 years. Due to a high turnover of the baby boomer generation with the Millennial generation in the market, succession planning is key to maintain productivity and smooth the transition in demographics while providing services to increasing student populations. This dissertation will utilize case studies to analyze this market event and see how private higher education institutions located in Los Angeles, California are handling succession planning in an aggressive employment demographic change.

<p> Too many outsourcing models fail to deliver expected results in Integrated Facility Management (IFM) models. IFM is a type of outsourcing model that transfers in-house work to an outside company that performs it onsite as if it were part of the client&rsquo;s organization. This process requires collaboration, coordination, and communication, merging 2 corporate cultures into 1 cohesive business model. Managing the change process related to an IFM outsourcing arrangement is crucial because changing an organizational culture can heighten risk and potentially produce unsatisfactory results. Creating, changing, and managing an IFM outsourcing model require acceptance, coordination, and a clear understanding of expectations from both the client and the service provider. People in general are apprehensive about change, especially when they don&rsquo;t understand it. IFM, being a complex process, requires the proper training and education in order to avoid resistance that creates leadership challenges. According to the literature, effective leadership was the solution to mitigate the resistance to change associated with outsourcing but little research exists to explain the phenomenon experienced by leaders during the initial transition (first-generation) to an IFM model. This descriptive, qualitative study was conducted in order to determine what strategies and practices leaders employ during a first-generation IFM outsourcing initiative. Additionally, challenges associated with implementation, measurement of success, and recommendations from leaders of IFM outsourcing was explored. Fourteen IFM leaders were interviewed and asked 10 questions. These interview questions yielded results such as leadership, communication, and clarity in scope of work as some of the dominant themes. These themes were then used to develop recommendations for further research and recommendations for future leaders of change.</p>

<p> Absence of management transition planning in Nigerian family enterprises undermines economic growth and job creation. Family businesses contribute significantly to the economic development in Europe and North America. This Mixed methods study involving sequential explanatory design investigated and explored the connection between culture and management transition planning in Nigeria. The specific problem investigated was the incessant collapse of family businesses after the death of founders. Management transition planning and its relationship with national culture of Nigeria, from the perspectives of nonfamily managers, is the main objective of this research. A survey involving a self-developed 40-item Likert-type scale was used for collection of data for the quantitative segment of the study. One hundred managers from 10 family businesses located in Lagos and Ogun states of Nigeria participated in the survey. During data analysis, SPSS 21.0 aided the computation of Spearman&rsquo;s Rank Order correlation coefficient, which revealed that cultural beliefs and values, extended family system, tradition/legacy, and lifestyles of the family business owners had negative relationship with management transition planning. The quantitative findings indicated statistically significant correlation between culture and attitudes of family business owners toward management transition planning and allowed rejection of the four null hypotheses. Five top managers of the family businesses participated in the qualitative segment by responding to semi-structured interview questions. NVivo 10 software assisted the analysis of the qualitative data. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative results. Administrators, bankers, family business entrepreneurs, and academics would obtain valuable information from the outcomes of this study.</p>