<p> Research on the relationship between policing and homeland security has focused on issues associated with the gathering of information related to potential acts of terror such as crime mapping and environmental design such as CompStat, intelligence-gathering activities and methodologies, and effective reporting methods. However, there seems to be insufficient research focusing on methodologies and systems leading to the &ldquo;natural&rdquo; sharing of information that can be converted into actionable intelligence between law enforcement and faith-based organizations such as the Muslim-American community. This research considers an organized cultural competency program of sharing and community-building between local police and a specific faith-based community, in which the emphasis is on an overall cultural shift where all members of the agency and community have the opportunity to interact outside of their regular duty-related interactions; such as, patrol functions, responding to emergencies, and the enforcement of ordinances and laws. By implementing a long-term, interactive program facilitated by a cultural competency committee, based on feasible activities, it would appear that closer, personal relationships develop where police and community members get to &ldquo;know each other,&rdquo; rather than attempting to reactively &ldquo;deal&rdquo; with each other when placed in an incident or unexpected interaction. By implementing a program that has all members of law enforcement and congregants taking part, and evaluating the interaction on a regular basis, community leaders and their constituents become more trustful and informed when an incident does occur. </p><p> In this study, the Executive Community Outreach Program (ECOP) is implemented with the South Brunswick Police Department and Islamic Society of Central Jersey under the guidance of a representative Cultural Competency Committee. An effective program serves to develop effective relationships that lead to greater information-sharing and the identification of potential threats and vulnerabilities, as well as a stronger and closer community. Based on the research, an organized process by which local law enforcement and the Muslim community may develop effective relationships in order to share information would seem to be a prudent course of inquiry</p>

<p> The release of a toxic chemical into the drinking water near Charleston, West Virginia, early in 2014 brought national attention to yet another toxic chemical incident. When local and state officials announced their ignorance of the potential health hazards associated with the particular chemical, it raised questions about the functionality of the Kanawha Putnam Emergency Planning Committee, a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) created as a result of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). Local officials&rsquo; lack of awareness was particularly curious, because that very same county was the site of the Union Carbide chemical leak that stimulated Congress to create and pass the EPCRA. In the post-9/11 homeland security environment, knowing of the existence of a hazard plan &ndash; particularly in a community where an incident has occurred &ndash; would seem to be of paramount concern. In addition, considering the community right-to-know provisions of the EPCRA, what are the policies for the release of the sensitive information to the public in a post-9/11 world? </p><p> A review of the literature produced no current research on LEPCs related to either functionality or to release of hazardous chemical information to the community. The most recent survey was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2008. Peer-reviewed scholarly research has not been published since 2001. It was determined that a survey instrument was necessary to determine the impact of the events of 9/11 on the functionality of LEPCs, and on their policies governing the release of hazardous chemical information to the public. </p><p> An instrument was developed using a combination of questions derived from the review of literature about prior inquiries into LEPCs or release of information in the wake of 9/11, standard research methodology and questions were adapted from the 1999 and 2008 National LEPC surveys. The instrument&rsquo;s content was validated by a jury of experts, revised, and pretested with 26 LEPC leaders from two states. The data was analyzed for internal correlation (consistency) using Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha;. The Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha; was recorded as .834, indicating strong reliability for the 17 scaled items of the 29 total questions. </p><p> Preliminary data from the pretest suggested that the events of 9/11 did not have a statistically significant impact on the functionality of LEPCs, but did result in major measurable changes in the policies related to the release of sensitive hazardous chemical information to the public. Further validation and refinement of the instrument is necessary before wider usage. The information gathered is valuable, however, as it can guide policymakers concerning the efficacy of current legislation, regulations, and policy. It can also inform them if legislation, regulations, and/or policy require modification to ensure the intent of the original legislation (EPCRA) is being met.</p>

<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>

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007.

<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>

This study was designed to examine the unanticipated changes that occur for single organizations that participate in Interorganizational Relationships (IORs). Its purpose was to discover the unanticipated effects that organizations participating on one IOR known as the Neighborhood Center Association (NCA) experienced. It was focused to examine effects at an organizational level and to take into consideration NCA development over time. Through the use of participant observation, in-depth interviewing and document analysis methods it was intended to provide an insider's viewpoint of the case. This combination of purpose and focus was shown to be unique and lacking in the general literature on IORs. The NCA was a partnership of neighborhood centers which delivered human services to their neighborhood residents. All centers were located in the same small city and shared four common funders. The author was involved as a consultant to the partnership for several years. The NCA was seen to proceed through a series of developmental stages over its lifespan from 1980-89. Those stages of increasing then decreasing intensity were named as Networking, Coordination, Collaboration and Decline (Loughran, 1982). The results of the study identified five general areas of unanticipated changes that occurred for neighborhood centers participating in the NCA. (1) The NCA tended to impair the ability of neighborhood centers to adapt to their changing environment and eventually facilitated the forced consolidation of centers by their funders. (2) The existence of the NCA acted to unify neighborhood center funders together which in turn affected both neighborhood centers and the NCA in many ways. (3) The NCA served to intensify relationships between neighborhood centers and their directors which led to unexpected complications in those relationships. (4) The NCA required commitments of its members and thus tended to reduce their autonomy. (5) Consultants (including the author) were involved in nearly all key NCA development issues and thus strongly influenced that development and the subsequent effects on neighborhood centers.