Researchers suggest that individuals in Corporate America have stereotypes about the ways in which men and women lead. They also have found that a leader's style and gender can impact employees' job satisfaction, performance, and engagement. However, researchers have provided little empirical evidence about the specific relationship of leadership style and gender on employee motivation. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effects of leadership style, as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and a leader's gender on employee motivation, as measured by the Work Preference Inventory (WPI). Because it was assumed that small organizations would elicit higher participation, individuals employed at organizations with fewer than 100 employees were surveyed. After being asked about the gender and specific characteristics of their leaders, participants were asked about their level of motivation via the WPI. A 2x3 ANOVA was performed to determine the main effects of a leader's gender and leadership style on level of employee motivation. Findings revealed that although gender and leadership style do not significantly impact motivation, laissez-faire leadership style is more likely to positively influence motivation when compared to transformational or transactional leadership style. Though statistically insignificant, these findings contribute to the understanding of the relationship of gender, leadership, and employee motivation, an ongoing topic of concern. Social implications of this study include dispelling some of the gender stereotypes distributed by Corporate America. Essentially, effective leadership is not about which gender leads best, but more about deploying leadership skills that will contribute to employee success.

Nonprofit agencies are instrumental in U.S. society and local communities. While there is significant outreach targeted for wealthy and middle-class Caucasian families, there is a lack of targeted effort for African Americans. The purpose of this case study was to explore the strategies development directors use to engage and retain African American donors. The focus of the research questions was what factors lead to successful engagement campaigns for African Americans. The qualitative case study was suitable for gathering data from multiple sources of information, including an interview questionnaire and existing literature. A purposeful sampling strategy was appropriate for choosing 5 development directors from 5 nonprofit organizations for the open-ended interviews. Transcribed data were analyzed by comparing responses that led to theme creation. Source triangulation utilized for trustworthiness and response interpretation revealed community development, fostering relationships and intentional engagement are themes that attract African Americans. Results of the study showed development directors who utilize community based and family oriented themes and targeted social media campaigns reach more African American patrons. The social implications outlined in this study are intended to assist nonprofit leaders create a stable donor base so they can positively impact the local community. By addressing engagement strategies with a significant portion of the community, nonprofit leaders can attract and retain this largely untapped market for continued sustainability.

Arrogance in the workplace is a growing area of interest within industrial-organizational psychology. Arrogant employees tend to lack positive interpersonal work relationships, act superior yet have a lower level of cognitive abilities, and have poorer job performance than their less arrogant counterparts, leading to challenging work relationships and overall impact on an organization's ability to meet its objectives. The present study examined professional arrogance measured by the Workplace Arrogance Scale (WARS), a 26 question survey, in relation to the objective outcome measure of a Financial Investment Advisor's (FIA) ranking on the firm's leader board based on total assets under management plus revenue. A total of 37 participants who have been in the profession for more than 2 years completed the survey. This study employed a quantitative, correlational research design. The research questions were assessed using linear regression and moderation analyses. Analysis of the data showed no significant predictive relationship between results of the WARS and performance. Gender and professional experience did not moderate the relationship between an FIA's arrogance and their performance. While these findings did not support the hypothesis of a connection between a FIA's assessed arrogance and measured performance, arrogance remains an important construct requiring further study. As workplace arrogance is better understood, it can be screened for by human resources within hiring processes and can be addressed directly by leadership through training and development. Decreased arrogance is likely to lead to more respectful client relationships, leading to customer loyalty and increased revenues for the client, FIA and the financial firm that he/she serves.

A gap exists in the literature on the actual experiences of older workers with information and communication technology adoption in technology-infused workplaces. To inform organizations on how to more effectively support this employee group's adoption of technology, the purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was designed to gain a deeper understanding of the daily experiences of older workers when adopting and adapting to information and communication technologies in a technology-infused workplace. This study is framed by, first, the selection-optimization-compensation framework for successful aging and, second, the age-inclusive training design framework. Semistructured interviews with 8 participants, observational field notes, and archival data provided data regarding specific technology experiences among older workers in the workplace. Identifiable themes emerged through thematic analysis of the textual data and cross-case synthesis analysis. A total of 8 categories that enclose a total of 18 themes were identified. The categories are (a) selection of resources, (b) optimization of resources, (c) compensation of resources, (d) performance limitations, (e) assessing training needs, (f) establishing/ sustaining performance, (g) age-inclusive training needs, and (h) older workers as organizational assets. Findings enhanced social change efforts by providing insight on the daily experiences that the older worker faced which may contribute to limited productivity in the workplace. Organizational leaders and human resource managers may use results of this study to implement provisions that improve help organizational profitability, team cohesiveness, and workplace satisfaction.

Organizations responding to humanitarian crises often have different organizational cultures and observational lenses, presenting barriers to collaborative efforts at the outset of a crisis. The inherently chaotic nature of these crises exacerbates this problem, slowing the speed of response and the degree of efficacy of the response effort. Researchers have examined these organizational differences but have not defined barriers to mutuality and possible ways to overcome those barriers presenting a gap in knowledge. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap by offering areas to focus on to improve cultural awareness between disparate organizations. The central research question investigated the extent to which intrinsic value descriptions of organizational cultures provide opportunities to mitigate barriers between the military and humanitarian aid workers. A qualitative study using narrative ethnography was applied in answering this question. Two Participants were recruited from the military and two from civilian aid organizations based upon their experience and insight and their commensurate ability to relate the need for mutual understanding between their organizations. Data were collected through descriptive interviews of the participants' lived experiences in crisis response. The data were coded using existing theory on cultural dimensions from Project GLOBE and then analyzed using relational theory. The results confirmed a need for more effective coordination and unity of effort, which may be achieved through cultural understanding and which can result in a more efficient crisis response. These findings may ease the suffering encountered in humanitarian crises by improving the collaborative education of both military and civilian responders to these crises.

An action-orientation within the workplace is often sought out by organizations as a source for competitive advantage. Organizational leaders are increasingly reliant on independently driven employees that will take action without being instructed to do so. Toward this effort, proactive personality has become increasingly popular within the literature as a personality trait associated with an employee's propensity to take charge of situations and demonstrate initiative to make a positive impact. In identifying potential variables that will moderate the effects of proactive personality, a highly relevant construct is empowerment. Proactive personality is thought of as a trait, whereas empowerment can be thought of as the contextual counterpart. In this study, I research both psychological empowerment as an employee interpretation of organizational conditions, such as feelings of self-efficacy, control, and flexibility for action (Arnold, Arad, Rhoades, & Drasgow, 2000) and structural empowerment as the influence of situational workplace context (Kanter, 1977). Despite the theoretical overlap between proactive personality and empowerment, very little has been done to integrate or investigate these variables together to evaluate their relative influences on important outcomes. Given that limited concentration has been focused on boundary conditions of proactive personality, employee political skill is hypothesized as a moderator that will encourage the attainment of important organizational outcomes (i.e., job task performance, job satisfaction) and minimize negative outcomes (i.e., occupational stress and strain) from proactive personality and empowerment. This study is a more complete investigation of proactive personality that not only provides a meaningful theoretical examination, but also informs applied practice. Despite a number of theoretical links between proactive personality and empowerment, the two constructs have been investigated in isolation from one another. Therefore, the relationship between empowerment and political skill is largely unknown. It is unclear whether empowerment and political skill are both necessary to realize optimal results or whether being high on both leads to exponentially better outcomes. This study included 252 nurses from union organizations in Oregon, Florida, and Missouri that registered and were invited to participate (53%). They were surveyed across two points in time, 176 participated at Time 1 and Time 2 and 76 participated in only Time 1. Results did not show support for my hypotheses that improvements would be observed for those high on any two research variables: proactive personality, empowerment, and political skill. However, results consistently support a compensatory model. In general, task performance, perceived effectiveness, and satisfaction with quality of care improved when nurses were high on either proactive personality or empowerment (either structural or psychological). Those high on either proactive personality or political skill had higher levels of task performance and satisfaction with quality of care. Similarly, those high on either structural empowerment or political skill had higher levels of task performance and satisfaction with quality of care. Only when a nurse was low on both variables in the model did they show reduced benefits. Several clear practical solutions are readily apparent based on study results. Given that empowerment can be manipulated within an organizational culture and proactive personality can be integrated with selection systems, the results are important for organizational leaders and organizational development consultants. Similarly, this research adds greatly to the literature on political skill, an area that is relatively new. By examining the moderating influence of political skill, this adds to the theoretical advancement of the three constructs while also informing practitioners regarding potential selection, training, and organizational design. Political skill has been seen as an attribute with the capacity to change over time with training, experience, and mentoring (Ferris, Perrewé, Anthony, & Gilmore, 2000). Therefore, the practical implications for organizations are clearly evident. Further, given that both proactive personality and empowerment have received limited evaluation into their boundary conditions, an evaluation of potential moderators helps advance into the understanding of the processes related to action within the workplace.

A field study was conducted to find whether open office architecture is related to employees' perceptions of their jobs and their work groups, and to their behavior in and around their work stations. Fifty-two employees in the administrative division of a large manufacturing operation volunteered to participate by answering a questionnaire and allowing their work stations to be analyzed for levels of visual access and visual exposure, the two independent variables. Access and exposure, at first theorized to be independent and interacting functions, were found to be too highly correlated in this open off ice setting to test as originally planned. The design was modified by combining the measures of access and exposure, thereby creating a new independent variable called visual information. Under the modified design, results supported a prediction that less visual information would correlate with more positive responses to survey items about employees' job characteristics, and a prediction that less visual information would correlate with higher rates of work station occupancy. But there was no support for a prediction that more visual information would correlate with more positive responses to survey items about employees' work groups, nor was there support for a prediction that more visual information would correlate with fewer numbers of personal items displayed at employees' work stations. Suggestions were made for more appropriate tests of the original design in order to determine whether visual access and visual exposure operate as independent and interacting dynamics.

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