<p> This dissertation explores contemporary church planting experiences across select locational contexts. In the 21st century, there has been an intentional focus and renewed vigor among several Christian Protestant denominations, church planting networks, and church planting churches to effectively influence the start and growth of new churches. These church planting entities are attempting to address changing spiritual, geographical, sociological, and cultural realities in the United States through the entrepreneurial endeavor of founding new churches. This strategy of outreach is increasing in use because new churches tend to be pioneering, adaptable, and able to meet the needs of different populations. However, the available evidence and information about church planting is less than comprehensive. This qualitative research study was conducted to add insights to the entrepreneurship, leadership, and organizational change literature by exploring church planting across select locational contexts. This study utilized 11 church planting expert interviews and two mini-case studies of extant churches in order to examine five factors that are considered key in church planting: the overarching church planting perspective, church plant support systems, leadership approaches, organizational change, and successful outcomes. A key goal of the study was to identify and acknowledge diverse perspectives and realities in the church planting experience. The findings revealed a need for a universal definition of church planting and a more comprehensive and holistic approach to church plant support systems, leadership development, and the management of change. Further studies could include a more extended, multi-year longitudinal study that evaluates the organizational change approaches of diverse church plants, and use of experimental research design studies to assess collaboration across churches and church planting entities.</p>

<p> This study sought to determine the impact of perceived career motivation on workplace engagement for new managers. By using the Career Orientation Inventory (Schein, 1990b) in determining an individual&rsquo;s career anchor and the Utrecht Work Engagement Survey (Schaufeli &amp; Bakker, 2003), the study investigates the impact and influence of career motivation on engagement. An explanatory sequential approach was taken using mixed methods and two survey instruments. Quantitative analysis using multiple regression was used to assess the impact of the career anchor differential between desired and perceived use of the career anchor on the work engagement level. Grounded theory then further explored through semi-structured interviews to understand the research question of whether the new manager has a higher workplace engagement level if he/she is placed in a job that matches his or her career anchor. The quantitative analysis estimated approximately 25% of a new manager&rsquo;s engagement could be determined by perceived inclusion of the career anchor in the current work. The qualitative interviews supported the element of the new manager&rsquo;s need for control of the career anchor at work and also developed into a two-part New Manager Engagement framework of Influencing Factors. Finally, this study designated a definition and direction for Career Engagement, building on both previous frameworks and the proposed New Manager Engagement framework. </p>

<p> Employee job satisfaction and reasons for employee turnover have been studied for years; however, they continue to be critical issues for organizations. Various researchers have found that the turnover rate of knowledge workers appears relatively high compared to that of workers in the past. Studies have further indicated that a constructive approach to conflict is essential to increased employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity. The specific business problem was the low job satisfaction and retention levels of employees because of organizational climate preference for a particular conflict management style among peers. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental correlational study was to examine whether a relationship exists between job satisfaction and intent to leave based on organizational conflict management style practiced among peers at a South Central Texas management consulting organization. Data was gathered from 109 knowledge workers who were selected through convenience sampling. The predictor variable of job satisfaction was measured with the Abridged Job Descriptive Index and Abridged Job in General (AJDI/AJIG) survey. The criterion variable was intent to leave, which was measured using the Staying or Leaving Index (SLI). The moderating variables of organizational conflict management styles: (a) avoiding; (b) obliging; (c) dominating; (d) integrating; and (e) compromising were measured with the Organizational Conflict Climate Assessment Instrument (OCCAI). The survey incorporated information regarding demographical information including age, gender, race, level of education, length of time with current organization, and length of time in the career field was also used. Hierarchical multiple regression results suggested that organizational climate preference for avoiding, integrating, and compromising conflict management styles did not significantly moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave the organization. Organizational climate preference for obliging and dominating styles did significantly moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave the organization. While the dominating, integrating, and compromising styles were consistent with the literature, the avoiding style was mixed, and the obliging style was not consistent. Further research in this area is necessary, using different moderators to further analyze this phenomenon in different states, cultures, and countries to determine whether the same or similar findings will be discovered.</p>

<p> The present mixed-methods study examined how 19 experienced change leaders cope with ambiguity during transformational organizational change and whether mindfulness helps them do that. Study findings indicated that practitioners react in varying ways to ambiguity and employees generally react negatively. Change leaders rely on personal coping and project initiation strategies, ongoing guidance and support, agile and action-oriented approaches, courageous and bold leadership, and trust in their process to manage ambiguity for themselves. To help others deal with ambiguity, change leaders repeatedly articulate the change vision and direction and demonstrate confident, strong change leadership. Mindfulness appears to enhance leaders&rsquo; abilities to interact with others, maintain perspective, and attune with others&rsquo; emotional states. Mindful change leaders appear to more frequently practice self-awareness and self-care, seek professional advice and assistance, and exercise an agile, action-oriented approach to leading change as ambiguity coping mechanisms.</p>

This dissertation seeks to understand how formative experiences during organizational socialization exert a longstanding influence on individuals’ performance. Although there is evidence that conditions experienced early in a career or in the initial period of organizational tenure can leave a lasting imprint on individuals’ work-related cognition and behavior, little is known about the performance implications that result from such imprints. Moreover, despite increasing interest in imprinting processes at the individual level, much research in this area has been narrow in scope, focusing mostly on the imprinted influence of early mentors and coworkers, and giving little attention to other factors that contribute to the formation of imprints. To address these gaps, I develop theory about the lasting performance implications of two key features of the context in which socialization takes place: (1) the intra-organizational resource environment upon a newcomer’s entry; and (2) the initial structural position that a newcomer occupies within the network of work relationships in the organization. My core proposition is that imprints created by these conditions enhance or hinder subsequent performance depending on the extent of fit between the imprint and current conditions. This proposition has novel implications for the determinants of individual attainment in organizations; for the paradoxical relationship between initial resource conditions and subsequent performance; and for the nature of network structures that produce individual advantage. Unique longitudinal data and qualitative interviews in two professional service firms provide evidence for this framework.

<p> The world is undergoing a key demographic shift and a restructuring of its population due to the increase in the relative size of the aging population. Based on the latest world census data, the number of people aged 65 or older is expected to increase from an estimated 416 million in the year 2000 to 853 million in the year 2025. The US Census Bureau estimated that in 2050 the number of Americans aged 65 and older would reach 88.5 million, more than double the projected population of 40.2 million in 2010. The state of California has 3.5 million people over the age of 65, the largest older adult population in the United States. This research assessed the functions and effects of the organizational culture of the Area Agencies on Aging in California as the lead agencies mandated to deliver services to older adults. The study presented measurements and comparisons of the cultural traits of each agency and the impact of these traits on performance across the state of California. The organizational culture traits that were scrutinized included involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission. The outcomes revealed that Area Agencies on Aging in California were high-performance organizations. The data showed that the strongest trait was involvement, which was manifested a high level of employee investment in their work. The weakest trait was adaptability, which was manifested by inflexible or not easily changed behavior.</p>

<p> Leadership is an important aspect of individual and organizational success. In short, leadership matters, however, the organizational environment encountered by leaders is undergoing dynamic changes. New leaders will require skills that allow them to deal with the issues of increased diversity, heterogeneous work teams, high levels of ambiguity, and the need for more personalized approaches. The skills that modern leaders require may be exactly those related to emotional intelligence (EI). The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental, research study was to examine the relationship between the EI and leadership practices in a sample of 302 organizational leaders. The independent variable is EI while the dependent variable is leadership practices as defined by Kouzes and Posner. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis are conducted to address the research questions and hypotheses. This study provides support for the existence of a relationship between a leader&rsquo;s ability to understand and manage emotions and the leader&rsquo;s ability to engage in effective leadership practices. This relationship exists after controlling for the effect of the leader&rsquo;s age, gender, personality, and years of leadership experience.</p>

<p> Workplace bullying has been linked to many unfavorable outcomes that can be very costly to organizations. One way to minimize the impact of this negative behavior is through perceived organizational support (POS). Thus, researchers have called for more studies examining the joint effects of workplace bullying and POS on various outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether POS would moderate the relationship between workplace bullying and outcomes that are related to work behaviors and motivations, namely, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and work engagement. A total of 224 individuals working in a variety of industries participated in an online survey. The study examined the direct effects of workplace bullying on OCB-I (behaviors directed towards individuals), OCB-O (behaviors directed towards the organization), and work engagement as well as the moderating effects of POS on such relationships. In support of the hypotheses, results showed that workplace bullying was negatively related to all three outcomes. However, POS moderated only the relationship between workplace bullying and OCB-I. The effects of workplace bullying on OCB-I were more negative when POS was low, but there was no relationship between the two when POS was high. In other words, high POS nullified the negative impact of workplace bullying on OCB-I. These findings suggest that in order to foster positive work behaviors, organizations should create a supportive work environment through the implementation of anti-bullying policies and training programs.</p>

<p> Organizational leaders worldwide have been plagued with consistently low and declining levels of employee engagement despite ongoing efforts to implement initiatives to retain talent through increased engagement. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs held by 14 leaders in Arizona and the role their values might play on their receptivity to and experiences with employee engagement. Data obtained from semi-structured interviews and previously completed Core Values Index (CVI) assessments revealed insights that may offer new approaches leaders might consider with regard to engagement initiatives. Results showed six major themes emerged including communication; culture; feeling valued; personal values, such as work ethic, honesty, integrity, or trust; professional development; and empowerment. An individual&rsquo;s position within the organization did not appear to influence his or her engagement preferences. Rather, participants ranked the six themes in different priority orders based on their core values, indicating they may prefer different approaches to engagement by their leaders. Notably, participants appeared to engage others according to the methods they, themselves, preferred rather than adapting to the methods that might work best for the employee. Based on these and other findings, recommendations for C-suite and other leaders include: increased, consistent communication with employees regarding strategy, initiatives, successes, challenges, and recognition; embracing and modeling of engagement practices by leaders at every level; integration of engagement practices throughout the talent management cycle; and updating policies and procedures to ensure accountability and recognition around engagement initiatives.</p>

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