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<p> The purpose of this study was to look at the role of Conscious Evolution as a catalyst for community building. The work of the researcher was to take an in depth look at Conscious Evolution in relation to the success and growth of a service oriented nonprofit organization that works in the area of integrated health care. The scientific and theological perspectives of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 20^th Century Jesuit priest and paleontologist, provided the theoretical framework that guided the study. His understanding of Conscious Evolution, simply described, is the emergence of humans&rsquo; ability to reflect on existence through means of discernment.</p><p> Teilhard&rsquo;s framework fit with the methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology that was used to inform this study. The phenomenon of Conscious Evolution was examined with ten participants from a community center that works with integrative health and wellness. Each participant took part in three extensive interviews that inquired about experiences prior to involvement with the organization, since they became involved, and what their involvement means for them. Four themes arose (community, spirituality, service, and belonging) that affirmed the research questions and promote an opportunity for further study of Conscious Evolution as catalyst for community building.</p><p>

<p> This study examined the nature and impact of supervisor support on employee job satisfaction among fundraising staff within higher education. Sixteen fundraisers working in higher education institutions were interviewed about supervisor support for fundraiser task needs and personal needs, participant job satisfaction and supervisor impact on it, and participant intention to stay in their jobs and the field. Participants reported satisfaction with their supervisors&rsquo; task-related and personal support, high job satisfaction, and strong intentions to stay in their jobs and the field. Key mechanisms of supervisor support included aiding employee growth and development; accelerating and facilitating task completion; being caring, accessible, and communicative; and empowering employees. Doing meaningful work and attaining career achievement and growth also enhanced their job satisfaction. Factors increasing their stay intentions included their sense of achievement at work, rewards, and positive relationships. Suggestions for practice and continued research are offered.</p><p>

<p>Purpose: The purpose of this study was to discover and describe how exemplary leaders establish common ground and produce breakthrough results in the mental health field by utilizing the 6 domains of conflict transformation: collaboration, communication, problem solving, process, emotional intelligence, and ethics. Methodology: This thematic, phenomenological study was accomplished through examination of the lived experiences of exemplary leaders with firsthand experience transforming conflict and finding common ground. The target population for this study included executive-level leaders of nonprofit organizations, governmental institutions, state and national associations, and private businesses serving adults and children with mental illness, developmental or behavioral disabilities, and/or substance use disorders in the United States. Exemplary leaders were selected through criterion sampling to comprise the sample. In-depth, one-to-one interviews were conducted as the primary method for data collection. Findings: The findings from this study illustrate that exemplary leaders in the mental health field use key aspects of the 6 domains of conflict transformation as a set of intersecting behaviors that facilitate transforming conflict and finding common ground. Conclusions: It is concluded that leaders in the mental health field must have command of key aspects of the 6 domains of conflict transformation in order to achieve breakthrough results toward parity in the mental health field. Recommendations: Further research is advised: A replication of this study, a multiple-case study, and a mixed-method study are recommended to deepen understanding of finding common ground. Phenomenological studies exploring the unexpected findings in this research are also recommended. Developing the findings in this study will be useful for shaping policy, practice, and professional development in order to impact transformational change in the mental health field.

<p> This mixed methods research was designed to explore the factors that most impact the job satisfaction of contemporary Administrative and Executive Assistants in the United States. As part of a convergent parallel analysis, quantitative survey data and qualitative interviews were collected to correlate cognitive and affective results for an in-depth analysis. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to examine 20 different factors of job satisfaction. Three sets of data were collected: current levels of job satisfaction for each factor, self-ranked lists of the factors indicating which factors are most-to-least important to respondents, and frequency with which factors were discussed by participants in the interviews. Anecdotal information from the interviews provided context to the data sets. The most impactful factors for this employee group were intrinsic factors, identified to be: <i>Co-Workers, Ability Utilization, Achievement</i>, and <i> Responsibility</i>. It was also reported that <i>Responsibility </i> acts as an antecedent factor to both <i>Ability Utilization </i> and <i>Achievement</i>. The least impactful factor was an extrinsic one: <i>Working Conditions</i>, while other factors that were identified to be low-impact require more research to validate. Three actionable recommendations were proposed for organizations as they seek to hire and retain administrative talent, and several related research topics were proposed.</p><p>

<p> Organizational success and outcomes rely on good teamwork. The study question asked if teams can be more successful with a greater number of socially skilled team members? Evolving research indicates composing teams based on intrinsic social skills, such as personality, values, and psychological roles may generate greater team outcomes than teams based solely on vocational roles, competencies, and cognitive ability. When teams are first formed, people connect instinctively and warm to other team members using their social skills. Only later do people appraise others for competencies and skills. This study examined whether the number of strong emotive connectors (SEC) can increase team outcomes. The study hypothesis tested whether teams with a greater number of high SECs, a socioemotional role construct, would increase their team task-completion rates (TTCR). Regression analysis showed the low and high SEC with an adjusted <i> R</i>² = .52 correlation were both predictive of the TTCR. Additional analysis using 2 one-way ANOVAs for high and low SECs showed between-team (groups) and within teams (groups) results were statistically significant at the <i>p</i> = .00 level. The study found teams having 2 of 5 high SECs made a difference in team performance. Additional high SECs had no impact on team performance. An interesting study result found 2 of 5 low SECs had an adverse impact on team performance. Additional low SECs did not harm team performance. Ensuring at least 2 of 5 high SECs on teams can lessen gaps, diminish conflicts, and elevate team outcomes.</p><p>

<p> The multigenerational workforce offers a wide landscape of knowledge and successful practices that can propel organizational success. Currently, however, only 20% of organizations have a formal, strategic program in place for fostering intergenerational interaction. By overlooking intergenerational strategies, organizations are not experiencing the tangible results derived from harnessing the strengths offered by each generation and across the generational spectrum. This dissertation focuses on building what can be termed the interactional bandwidth of cross-generational relationships through the use of ontological principles and leadership development resources: the Gallup organization&rsquo;s Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Myers &amp; Briggs Foundation&rsquo;s Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Through addressing and understanding sources of motivation, values, communication preferences, and thought processes, individuals are able to form intricate connections with the potential to cultivate ontological security, transcendent self-actualization, meaningful work, ethics and accountability, emotional intelligence, and organizational prosperity. Facilitating intergenerational interaction offers organizations insight into better leveraging their workforce to deliver optimum results while benefiting the individuals that support them. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of the current research is to contribute to the VE community&rsquo;s understanding of how the dynamics of temporary teams may influence participant engagement, by answering the question, &ldquo;what factors impact individual team member engagement on a VE study team?&rdquo; In today&rsquo;s business environment, the traditional permanent work team is no longer a reality for many employees (Jacobssen &amp; Hallgren, 2016). Even those who do maintain membership in a permanent team are often tasked with serving on additional committees, task forces and decision-making teams to aid their organization in developing new products or navigating change. Value Engineering (VE) study teams present a unique scenario in which small, in-person teams of technical subject matter experts must solve complex problems in just a few days, having had no previous interaction. These teams can be classified as &ldquo;temporary.&rdquo; To understand what factors contribute to a participant&rsquo;s engagement during a VE study, ten, semi-structured interviews were conducted with VE study team members. Themes from the interview data aligned with the literature&rsquo;s framing of intellectual, social and affective engagement (Soane et al., 2012). Technical expertise, direct engagement by the facilitator, clear roles, prioritization of teambuilding, and viability of the project, were among the factors cited as impacting team member engagement. Recommendations were made related to prioritizing pre-study activities, creating a VE team member cadre for continued team member development, and setting the tone for engagement. These findings and recommendations may be applied to temporary team settings other than VE teams as well, in terms of the importance of context setting, early team member interaction, psychological membership and psychological safety for team success.</p><p>

<p> Research on ways to improve police effectiveness, as well as how to successfully implement new policing models, has been going on for a number of years, and has shown limited success at implementing new initiatives. The problem this study addressed is the poor understanding of the impact internal organizational barriers have on law enforcement agencies considering the implementation of change. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the influence of path dependence within the police culture of law enforcement agencies considering new policing initiatives. The population for this study was the 380 law enforcement organizations in the state of Florida. A semi-structured in-depth interview process was used to collect data from a nonrandom, purposive sample of executive law enforcement officers. Dedoose software was used to compile and analyze data. Data collection sought to gather information about the culture of the organization, how successful the organization has been at implementing change, and how the participants deal with change. Two primary themes emerged that related to all three research questions, (a) implementation strategy, and (b) organizational culture. Three major themes, (a) leadership, (b) organizational history, and (c) communication, and two minor themes, (a) resistance behavior, and (b) organizational buy-in emerged for research question 1. Two major themes emerged for research question 2, (a) lock-in, and (b) ingraining. For research question 3 there was one theme that emerged, (a) effective measurement tool. The results contributed to Sydow, Schreyogg, and Koch&rsquo;s (2009) path dependence theory, finding that identification and controlling of ingraining activities would improve change implementation in highly structured, ridged organizations. Recommendations for practice suggested law enforcement organizations should develop effective implementation management strategies that improve initiative success, develop leadership to improve understanding the barriers of change implementation, improve agency wide communication, address resistance behavior and ensure organizational buy-in, and specifically identify lock-in within the organization. Recommendations for future research included expanding the study to a larger population, conduct the study in an organizational setting other than law enforcement, and conduct a qualitative phenomenological study, to further explore major theme 2 findings for research question 1, organizational history.</p><p>

<p> This study explored experiences of women who left tech companies and started their own businesses or became self-employed. The study identified trends in their experiences working for tech companies, factors influencing the decision to leave, and factors influencing the decision to pursue entrepreneurship or self-employment. Fifteen women were interviewed. Working for tech companies, women enjoyed opportunities to advance but experienced limitations to that advancement. They liked their co-workers and felt proud of the work being done, but were impacted by poor leadership, being one of few women, and not having potential recognized. Women quit for primarily individual reasons. Organization dysfunction, unfair events, and the presence of better alternatives impacted the decision as well. Women chose entrepreneurship for primarily personal reasons including entrepreneurial drive and a desire for autonomy. Financial security was found to be an influence for many women in the decision to take the risk of pursuing their venture.</p><p>