The possibility of realizing savings to modernize and recapitalize the US Navy is of great importance to the Department of the Navy (DON). Sea Enterprise is the vehicle for this effort. The DON operates in an increasingly smaller, dangerous, and rapidly changing world. Hence, the Navy and Marine Corps are attempting to change, adapt and transform to meet new threats to the United States in the twenty-first century. This thesis examines the Sea Enterprise Program from its inception in June 2002 to May 2005. A number of common business, public service, and management concepts are extracted and used to analyze the effort as a whole. The goals and objectives, structures, responsibilities, processes, and results to date of Sea Enterprise are documented and recommendations are provided that may aid the acceleration of the effort. The results of this thesis reveal some identifiable challenges and issues that have inhibited the DON's ability to realize the vision of Sea Power 21, and thus realize savings. Cultural resistance to change, onerous bureaucratic frameworks, lack of accountability, and disincentives to save are a few examples of barriers the Navy must overcome. To realize savings, recapitalize the fleet, and meet the twenty-first century threat (principally, the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)), the Navy must address and surmount such barriers.

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this thematic, mixed-methods case study was to identify and describe the behaviors used by exemplary chief executive officers of engineering technology organizations to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through the five variables of character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom. Additionally, followers were surveyed to determine the degree to which they perceive the behaviors related to character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom help to create personal and organizational meaning.</p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> Exemplary chief executive officers of engineering technology organizations were interviewed to determine their perception of which behaviors they utilize to employ character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom to bring meaning to their lives, their followers, and the organization. Followers completed electronic surveys delivered to them by email.</p><p> <b>Findings:</b> There has been significant research done on leadership skills, traits, and behaviors, as well as on meaning; however, there is a gap in the literature describing the behaviors used by exemplary chief executive officers of engineering technology organizations when employing the five variables to bring meaning to themselves, their followers, and the organization. The review of literature revealed the importance of character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom as leadership skills and in building personal and organizational meaning. The study revealed that exemplary leaders create meaning for themselves, their organizations, and their followers through behaviors that exhibit positive character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom. Of these five variables, relationships, vision, and character were the most-cited behaviors in creating meaning.</p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research is advised by replicating the study in other engineering technology organizations. Further research is advised by researching female chief executive officers in engineering technology organizations.</p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> By identifying and describing the behaviors associated with character, inspiration, relationships, vision, and wisdom by exemplary chief executive officers of engineering technology organizations, researchers can provide information to leaders, trainers, and organizations so that best practices may be developed to benefit all leaders, their followers, and the organizations in which they work.</p>

<p> The purpose of writing <i>The Role of Resistance to Change in Church Sustainability</i> in Harlem, New York is to determine the role that resistance to change plays in ensuring that a church continues to survive in the face of the gentrification of the Harlem community. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p>This qualitative case study was used to examine the Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation process used by airports for selecting concessions business operators, including retail and duty-free gift shops, restaurants, newsstands, and public parking. The case consisted of 42 purposefully selected RFPs from 35 airports representing 92% of all U.S. commercial airline passenger traffic compared against guidelines found in Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 54. A problem occurs when evaluation outcomes are challenged because of perceptions of bias, and formal protests and legal claims create delays that disproportionately affect small and minority-owned businesses. The purpose of this study was to compare RFP documents for congruence and influences of concessionaire evaluation ratings. Qualitative data analysis, qualitative content analysis, and interpretive coding were used to explain socioeconomic factors inferred from the documents. Gaps existed in available literature for the effect of airport size, governance type, and evaluator motivation on the RFP process. Study findings showed weighted evaluation criteria inconsistencies with the guidelines, evidence of innate governance system influences, government-operated airport RFP preference of revenue generation measures and socioeconomic attachments, independent authority operated preferences for command and control measures, and potential for the use of standardized core evaluation criteria. By challenging the premise of a bias-free government procurement process, positive social change was achievable through this study?s reinforcement of federally qualified small and minority business expansion initiatives promoting open participation and fair competition in concessions opportunities at U.S. commercial passenger airports.

<p> Algorithms, scripts for sequences of mathematical calculations or procedural steps, are powerful. Even though algorithms often outperform human judgment, people appear resistant to allowing a numerical formula to make decisions for them (Dawes, 1979). Nevertheless, people are increasingly dependent on algorithms to inform their decisions on a day-to-day basis. In eight experiments, I tested whether aversion to algorithms is as straightforward a story as past work suggests. The results shed light on the important questions of when people rely on algorithmic advice over advice from people and have implications for the use of algorithms within organizations.</p>

<p> Research has clearly defined the issue of nursing student incivility, with evidence that uncivil encounters are on the rise and occurring on a routine basis. The rise in incivility among nursing students is causing great concern for nurse educators and administrators alike. For this reason, it is necessary to determine the reason why the issue persists, despite efforts to manage it. This mixed-methods convergent parallel design study examines the relationship between the coping responses and perceptions about nursing student incivility among nurse educators in the southern region of the United States. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus &amp; Folkman, 1984) forms the foundation of the study, which seeks to determine whether there is a correlation between the appraisals of stressful situations, like incivility, and the activation of coping responses. The model posits that individuals conduct a primary appraisal of the threat associated with a stressful encounter. If the encounter is deemed to be threatening, a secondary appraisal takes place to determine which coping response would best alleviate the stress. When no coping response is activated, no action is taken. Nurses are known to use negative coping responses like conflict avoidance when faced with stressful encounters; therefore, the chosen coping responses of nurse educators could be propagating the issue of nursing student incivility.</p>

<p> Diffusion of innovation across cultures is a broad field of study, especially when considering the adaptation of organizational development (OD) innovations into multicultural environments. Although OD interventions are often adapted to fit unique circumstances of each organization&rsquo;s culture, this study explored whether there were specific adaptations that occur when OD interventions are applied to Indian organizations by Indian practitioners. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how appreciative inquiry (AI) as an OD intervention was received and adapted by OD practitioners in India with particular focus on for-profit organizations.</p><p> A thematic analysis of 17 implementations shared by Indian practitioners was conducted to examine the fidelity and extensiveness of AI adaptation. Toward this end, the study was tailored to ensure the intervention was localized and situated more specifically in the organizational and leadership contexts. Results revealed that AI, when applied to India-based for-profit organizations, exhibited a level of adaptation that could be applied on a global scale. It is anticipated that understanding the factors that drive AI adaptation in India will assist scholars and practitioners to establish guidelines for successfully transferring organizational innovations.</p>

<p> The academic and corporate pursuit of many programs is to understand the implications of leadership styles on organizations. Countless research hours have been spent examining the leadership construct in the hope of developing programs that impact performance. Furthermore, there has been a recent surge in the study of Psychological Capital and the potential implications for human performance and development.</p><p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the intersection of leadership styles, Psychological Capital, and productivity.</p><p> The study examined two research questions. The first research question examined what correlation exists between the styles of leadership as measured by the MLQ 5X, and psychological capital attributes (hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism) as measured by the PCQ of the field sales associates. The second research question strived to understand if there was a correlation between productivity, as measured by the average sales per person, and either psychological capital of the field associates, the styles of leadership, or both.</p><p> The leadership styles were measured using the MLQ 5X to determine if the leaders were transformational, transactional, or passive/avoidant. The MLQ 5X also measured the subscores of transformational leadership to see what relationship, if any, exists between the subscore and sales productivity. A total of 59 leaders in 28 districts completed the MLQ 5X.</p><p> The Psychological Capital of the sales team was measured using the PCQ to determine the overall PCQ score, as well as the subscores of hope, optimism, resiliency, and self-efficacy. A total of 151 sales associates in 28 districts completed the PCQ assessment.</p><p> The results of the study found that there was a positive correlation between leaders that coach and develop their sales team and teams that have higher sales. The research found that leaders that were more transformational and generate satisfaction had higher sales performance. The analysis also indicated that leaders that were transformational had sales teams with higher self-efficacy. There was not a correlation between Psychological Capital and sales performance.</p>

<p> Credit unions, the cooperatives started by the people to serve the people, have experienced tremendous growth, success, and challenge since their inception in the mid-19^th century. While the overall number of members and assets are growing, the physical number of credit unions is decreasing due to mergers or insolvency, keeping market share stagnant for the past 20 years. As with all organizations, succession planning is essential to ensure a future. Considering a conceptual foundation including stakeholder theory and succession planning, the purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand how succession planning is utilized by CEOs of credit unions today, what impedes credit unions from succession planning and leadership development, as well as what tools or resources are needed within the industry to either build or enhance the succession planning efforts. </p><p> Based on in-depth interviews with eight current CEO&rsquo;s, findings revealed that succession planning is happening more frequently in large credit unions than previous research noted. CEOs are committed to their stakeholders and to the industry and are driving this process in their credit unions, they believe developing leaders is their main role, and they see succession planning as a competitive advantage because of the results it generates. To make the process successful, the CEOs are utilizing consultants, incorporating a variety of activities, focusing on innovation and technology, and challenging the talent management status quo. The CEOs did not believe suggested impediments from previous research were accurate. Rather, they believed that intrinsic factors got in the way including excuses, basic human nature and egos. To truly revolutionize the industry and gain market share, the CEOs shared that many strategies including hiring practices must change. </p><p> It is recommended that credit union leaders and directors become knowledgeable on succession planning and its benefits, connect strategic planning with talent management, and remove intrinsic obstacles to most effectively give back to their stakeholders. Additional research on smaller credit unions and their succession planning efforts, recruiting and hiring tactics for credit union CEOs, and the prioritization of succession planning, strategic planning, and financial results is needed.</p>

<p> Employee work performance is critical to organizational success. Identifying employee attributes that correlate to high work performance is therefore of strategic interest to organizational leaders, as individuals with those traits can be targeted during the hiring process. While extant literature has indicated a positive relationship between work performance and individual differences including cognitive ability, working memory, and personality, no single study has examined the predictive effects of each of these differences simultaneously. Moreover, some preliminary research suggests that the sixth personality factor specified in the HEXACO model, Honesty-Humility (H-Factor), may also predict work performance; further research is warranted to investigate this relationship. Finally, self-efficacy has been shown to moderately predict performance and to mediate individual differences on performance. The present quantitative correlational study thus sought to establish the unique effects of working memory, cognitive ability, and H Factor on performance via self-efficacy using four established scales, one researcher-developed self-report measure tested for validity during Phase 1, and a supervisor assessment of employee job performance. The sample size was 197 participants who were employed at nine U.S. distribution plants owned by a large food distribution company. Analyses conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) provided support for the predicted relationships between the study variables. Cognitive ability directly predicted performance while working memory and H Factor predicted performance via self-efficacy. The study&rsquo;s conclusions suggest that recruiters should consider applicants&rsquo; cognitive skills, personality&mdash;including the H-Factor&mdash;and self-efficacy during the hiring process.</p>