<p> Nursing leadership has important implications for the direction of professional nursing and transforming the future of healthcare. Nursing leadership is essential in healthcare organizations and nursing education and is vital to improving healthcare for better patient outcomes and strengthening nursing education. Current nursing leaders&rsquo; behavior may influence the entrance of staff nurses to take leadership positions. This qualitative study explored the behaviors of nursing leaders that affect a staff nurse decision to pursue professional development, academic growth, and organizational commitment. Kouzes and Posner&rsquo;s model of transformational leadership provided the framework for this study. With institutional review board approvals and participant consent, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 17 staff nurses at an acute care facility in the southern United States. Interview transcripts were reviewed and coded for emerging themes. Content analysis revealed the following themes: encouragement, support, fairness, communication, positive attitude, leading by example, and good work relationships as positive attributes of nurse leaders that influence a nurse&rsquo;s decision to pursue professional development, academic growth, and organizational commitment. Less favorable indicators were stress, favoritism, work-life balance, and negative attitudes as hindrances to the nurses&rsquo; pursuit of professional development, academic growth, and organizational commitment. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the successful prevention and mitigation of workplace violence (WPV) against nurses in the Emergency Department (ED), and to learn what multidisciplinary hospital leaders are doing to accelerate progress. Specifically, the research considers the strategies, policies and actions hospital leaders are using to prevent and mitigate WPV; the positive progress or outcomes that have been realized thus far; what these leaders have learned in the process, and what they aspire to achieve in the future. In the process of exploring why and how positive progress accelerated, it was found that hospital leaders experienced positive progress in WPV prevention and mitigation when their hospitals provided a WPV program utilizing these exemplary strategies: (a) collaborative multidisciplinary partnerships, (b) fully engaged executive support, and (c) operationalized data. It was interesting to note that as multidisciplinary partners and fully engaged executives collaborated, and supported their teams in the process of establishing these WPV initiatives, a culture of respect was catalyzed and WPV initiatives gained momentum. The details of this research highlight that operationalized data&mdash;WPV data put to use in a centralized, customized, evidence-based approach&mdash;appears to have functioned as a key accelerant of positive progress in WPV prevention and mitigation for these hospital leaders. </p><p>

<p> There is convincing evidence that effective leadership is a major contributing factor to small business growth and success. However, attention to leadership focused on founding CEOs abounds at the expense of exploring the distribution of leadership across an organization. This study explored the hybridity of focused and distributed leadership enactment in a fast-growing small business situated in South Africa. The first objective was to form a holistic view of how the members of the organization lead, incorporating leadership focused on key individual leaders and that which is shared and distributed amongst and between others. The second objective was to contextualize leadership hybridity to the South African culture and demands of fast business growth. The third objective was to explore how leaders transform as they navigate the terrains of focused and distributed leadership. The overarching goal was to propose a holistic leadership hybridity framework that appreciates these complexities. A qualitative single case study research design guided the study. The case study database was created from in-depth interviews with leaders and followers, focus group interviews, participant observations of organizational activities, and the review of two documents. Themes emerged to suggest that there is harmonious leadership hybridity that occurs through both the behaviors of critical individual leaders at the top (notably, the CEO) and those emerging from outside of formal structures through distributed leadership across multiple leadership actors and factors. The South African culture of ubuntu seems to support post-heroic leadership but does not exclude acknowledging that growing a business involves a collection of heroic acts. And lastly, leaders and followers who performed leadership within hybridity (i.e., those that can fluidly move between being a leader or a follower) benefited from enhanced self-regulation, amongst other psychosocial benefits. The insight gained from this study could inform leadership development initiatives that are more effective in growing leaders and small businesses in Southern Africa.</p><p>

<p> Foreign direct investment is an important part of the U.S. economy, and foreign companies employ 6.8 million Americans. Therefore, it is critical for American managers to possess effective cross-cultural leadership and followership skills. However, it is widely recognized that leadership theories are too leader-centric, and cross-cultural followership research remain scarce. </p><p> This phenomenological study aimed to contribute to cross-cultural followership research. It investigated the lived experiences of American managers (as followers) as they worked with their Korean leaders to co-construct leadership and its outcomes in the context of U.S. affiliates of South Korean companies. It explored how the American managers&rsquo; national culture and followership schema impacted their work relationship with Korean leaders. The study also explored the following behaviors that they used in this context. Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, and Carsten (2014) constructionist framework of followership that emphasized the dynamic interactions between leaders and followers was used as the framework of inquiry. </p><p> Using modified Seidman&rsquo;s (2013) in-depth interview method, eight upper-level American managers who worked for South Korean companies in the U.S. were interviewed. The data were analyzed using the four-step interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method suggested by Smith and Osborn (2008), and the emergent themes were identified. From emergent themes, 26 recurrent themes and eight superordinate themes were identified. Collectively, the emergent themes produced five significant conclusions. </p><p> The conclusions of this study indicate that American managers: (1) found themselves in a perplexing environment of an American workplace with &ldquo;Korean&rdquo; flavor, (2) strived to be a change agent in Korean companies, (3) found Korean leaders to be less collaborative and praiseful compared to American leaders, (4) yearned to be more trusted and empowered in Korean companies, and (5) sought creative ways to achieve the organizational goals in Korean companies no matter what, up to a point. This study contributed to the theory by enhancing Uhl-Bien et al.&rsquo;s (2014) constructionist framework of followership and providing evidence of what happens when proactive followers work in an authoritarian business environment.</p><p>

<p> This study investigated the construct of the learning organization, providing a qualitative analysis of how learning occurs in financial organizations through the lens of Marquardt&rsquo;s (2011) Systems Learning Organization Model. Data were gathered through five methods: the Learning Organization Profile survey, with 63 participants; document review; observation; focus groups with 10 participants; and one-on-one interviews with 10 participants. </p><p> Five conclusions were drawn based on the evidence gathered. (1) In a highly regulated financial institution, employees engaged in learning activities beyond the compliance and job-required training. (2) Organizational learning capability was increased through implementation of cross-functional programs and encouragement of informal dialogue across departments and multiple levels of management. (3) The leadership encouraged employees to create partnerships within and outside of the organization. (4) The financial organization was driven to innovate by reviewing customer/employee feedback, by monitoring trends outside the organization, and by examining changes mandated by new laws. (5) The organization used adaptive computer algorithms to enhance learning and on-the-job performance. Future research is needed to continue explore learning organizations and ways to modify existing learning organization models to capture the complexities of today&rsquo;s business environment.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative study on fun in the workplace explored the phenomenon from a new vantage point, the individual&rsquo;s experience of a management-sponsored fun event across a time horizon. The research in the field has sought understanding of fun by identifying different ways employees have fun at work, categorizing the sources of fun at work, and progressing toward a more unified definition of what fun in the workplace encompasses. This study accepted the existing research linking fun in the workplace to improved engagement, improved retention rates, applicant attraction, and many other beneficial organizational outcomes. Notwithstanding all these benefits, the qualitative research has issued warnings about management-sponsored fun in the workplace, proposing that it can foster cynicism and negativity at the same time it is creating more positive outcomes. This study aimed to add to the body of research by exploring the individual experience of fun in the workplace across a time horizon. To do this, this study gathered descriptions from employees about their thoughts and feelings before, during, and after the experience of a management-sponsored fun event. The data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews of 28 individuals at four different mid-sized companies. Through a thematic analysis of these data four findings are presented: participants experience an anticipatory period before fun events; they articulate the importance of breaking with the mundane and deeper connections with coworkers; they perceive a manifestation of organization values at these events; and they exhibit very minimal evidence of cynicism or negativity related to these events. Implications for organizations and future researchers are proposed.</p><p>

<p> This research builds upon arguments for the use of the psychological theory of adult vertical development to transform traditional organizational practices of leadership development, and build leaders needed for the future. The purpose of this study is to understand the current state of vertical development theories in organizational leadership development practices. Specifically, the research considers what strategies and practices are being used, and what challenges practitioners have faced in implementation. It was found that an organization&rsquo;s success in implementing vertical development largely depended on three factors: 1) overall leadership development strategy, 2) ability to overcome new variations of organizational challenges that have long impeded leadership development, and 3) degree to which vertical development theories are used in practice. The details of this research illustrate that accelerating leadership capacity of an organization through the implementation of vertical development requires significant organizational commitment and change, and likely a new perspective on organizational change itself.</p><p>

<p>Toxic leadership costs organizations millions at a time in lost employees, lost customers, lost productivity, and even lost health. The literature shows toxic leadership extends beyond just leaders into an interconnected ?toxic triangle? of destructive leaders, conducive environments, and susceptible followers. This study explored, ?Can a free, online mindfulness-based stress reduction course reduce the negative impact of toxic leadership on the organization?? Ten volunteers self-identified as currently working under a toxic leader. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to measure resistance, compliance, and core self-evaluation along with interviews and journals. The results indicated mindfulness did reduce the negative impact: conducive environments were less conducive and susceptible followers were less susceptible. Additionally, mindfulness had influence on the entire toxic triangle and resulted in unique Toxic Triangle Influence Maps for each situation. Finally, family systems theory was found to be particularly useful for understanding leadership in a toxic triangle.

<p>High tech companies face continual pressures to innovate, differentiate, and be first to market. Open innovation allows organizations to focus on their core competencies while developing strategic alliances that create win-win relationships and competitive advantages for all parties involved. However, open innovation introduces certain risks and challenges and a consistent framework for open innovation is lacking. This study developed a high-level framework for planning and executing open innovation within the high tech industry. A convenience sample of nine managers experienced in the high tech industry experience and open innovation were interviewed about their perspectives, experiences, and approaches related to open innovation. Results confirmed the lack of open innovation roadmaps or playbooks in use, due to the inherent uncertainty and complexity of open innovation. Diligent vetting of partnerships is critical for success in open innovation, as incompatible partner characteristics can undermine the success of such initiatives.

<p> Through social network measures, this study investigates Shared Leadership and other structures of team leadership as they relate to team performance and team work engagement. A sample of 59 interdisciplinary teams, composed of students at a Midwestern university, were studied during a semester long course that engages students in complex applied projects. Students were rated on their team performance at the end of the semester, and were also asked to rate their individual work engagement and social network interactions within their team. Regression analyses revealed that social network density, but not decentralization, was a consistent positive predictor of team performance and team work engagement. Additionally, network measures and team leadership structures, would relate differentially to either team outcome depending on the type of network content (i.e. instrumental or socio-emotional). Results of moderator analyses reveal that surface (i.e. gender) and deep-level (i.e. academic major) diversity moderate the relationship between instrumental decentralization and team performance. Moreover, deep-level diversity moderates the relationship between teams engaged in instrumental Shared Leadership and team performance. A discussion of the results and implications for research and practice are provided.</p><p>