As the nation’s healthcare system moves through the 21st century, unprecedented changes are occurring on both a local and global stage. Healthcare organizations are faced with creating and implementing leadership strategies to enhance the overall patient experience. When coupled with the need to ensure increased nurse job satisfaction, improved cost-effectiveness and healthy organizational cultures with fiscally sound budgets, improvement work has led efforts to ensure effective leadership techniques are used across an agency. This task may be viewed as commonplace for some organizations, while others may perceive this process as a complete paradigm shift from historical practices related to leadership style, behaviors and performance. A successful transition during this time of unprecedented change may depend on an organization’s ability to accept and implement the tenets of transformational leadership. Empirical research illustrates that transformational leadership empowers staff, increases job satisfaction and facilitates cost-effectiveness while constructing an environment conducive to the development of a supportive organizational culture. In an effort to ascertain the current state of leadership at a southeastern Veterans Affair Medical Center, this research study explored the self-reporting leadership practices of all supervisory staff employed at the facility. As a means of measurement, the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) was coupled by demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher. Both measurement tools were used to collect the data.

In this thesis, I discuss how office design such as desk layouts interacts with organizational culture. Several questions motivate my study: 1) how office layout affects human interaction and work relationships; 2) how the physical setting affects the psychological and communicative aspects of work; 3) does the layout express or define culture. Physical design is bound together with organizational culture in an extricable and reciprocal relationship. The layout of the office fosters and encourages the cultural behavior of workers within the organization by the physical proximity of employees, while the organizational culture largely dominates the design and layout of the office. This interconnection ultimately affects how employees interact and communicate with one another. I explore the relationship between design and culture in steps, by explaining the progression and formation of culture, by showing that culture legitimizes layout and design, and by exploring how the culture and design foster and support organizational members’ behaviors. Office design and purpose have evolved over time because the nature of the members tasks and responsibilities are fluid and ever-changing; thus, the demand for interaction and communication changes, as well.

In today’s information age, technological advances in virtually every industry allow organizations, both big and small, to create and store more data than ever before. Though data are highly abundant, they are still often underutilized resources with regard to improving organizational performance. The popularity and intrigue around big data specifically has opened up new opportunities to study how organizations embrace evidence and use it to improve their business. Generally, the focus of big data has mainly been on specific technologies, techniques, or its use in everyday life; however, what has been critically missing from the conversation is the consideration of culture and climate to support effective data use in organizations. Currently, many organizations want to develop a data-embracing climate or create changes to make their existing climates more data-informed. The purpose of this project was to develop a scale to assess the current state of data usage in organizations, which can be used to help organizations measure how well they manage, share, and use data to make informed decisions. I defined the phenomena of a data-embracing climate based on reviewing a broad range of business, computer science, and industrial-organizational psychology literature. Using this definition, I developed a scale to measure this newly defined construct by first conducting an exploratory factor analysis, then an item retranslation task, and finally a confirmatory factor analysis. This research provides support for the reliability and validity of the Albrecht Data-Embracing Climate Scale (ADEC); however, the future of this new area of research could benefit by replicating the results of this study and gaining support for the new construct. Implications for science and practice are discussed. I sought to make a valuable contribution to the field of I-O psychology and to make a useful instrument for researchers and practitioners in multiple and diverse fields. I hope others will benefit from this scale to measure how organizations use evidence from data to make informed decisions and gain a competitive advantage beyond intuition alone. Do not cite without express permission from the author.

Conflict resolution research has resided at both the individual and group level for the many years. However, recent findings have provided evidence for the existence of conflict resolution strategies at the cultural level. As these recent findings indicate, the existence of such resolution styles at that macro level can have great implications on organizational outcomes. Therefore, the first goal of this study was to examine if these conflict resolution cultures would predict outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological withdrawal behavior. Similarly, research on P-O fit has also provided some very interesting insights into employee behavior and attitudes. Given the idiosyncratic nature of conflict resolution and the recent findings mentioned in the previous paragraph, the second goal of this study was to examine if perceptions of congruence between an individual’s resolution style and the organization’s resolution style would affect job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological withdrawal behavior. Finally, it was determined that perceptions of resolution (i.e. was the conflict constructively resolved) would be an appropriate and rather informative mediating variable for the relationships proposed above. Data was collected using a web-based survey software, which garnered 212 participants for the analysis. Evidence was found to support a majority of the proposed hypotheses. All three-conflict resolution cultures (collaborative, dominant, and avoidant) predicted the outcome variables in the directions consistent with both logic and the literature. Similarly, perceptions of resolution did mediate six of the nine proposed relationships between the resolution cultures and the outcome variables. Two of these mediation analyses were not conducted due to an insignificant initial bivariate correlation. Support was also found for all three proposed direct effects between perceptions of congruence and the proposed outcome variables. Finally, perceptions of resolution mediated the relationship between perceptions of congruence and all three-outcome variables. Again, the directions of these findings were consistent with both logic and the literature. Both the theoretical and practical implications, as well as the limitations with this study will be discussed.

El objetivo que se logró en la presente investigación consistió en determinar la relación que existe entre cultura organizacional y calidad de servicio en el sector de transporte marítimo en la empresa Maersk Line Perú, en el distrito de Lima, en el año 2018. El tipo de investigación fue de enfoque cuantitativo y a un nivel correlacional; cuyo diseño fue descriptivo -correlacional no experimental, y transeccional. La técnica utilizada fue la encuesta, y el instrumento de recolección de datos fue el cuestionario estructurado, la población muestral censal estuvo conformada por 50 trabajadores y se realizó la operacionalización de variables y se consignaron los aspectos éticos de la investigación. Los resultados son: el 50% de encuestados optaron por la posición neutral en la variable cultura organizacional, el 52% decidieron por la posición neutral en la cultura burocrática, el 54% decidieron por la posición neutral en la cultura de clan, el 54% opinaron positivamente por la cultura emprendedora, el 56% afirmaron optar por posición neutral en la cultura de mercado, el 54% opinaron por la posición neutral en la calidad del servicio, el 68% decidieron por el nivel neutral referente a la capacidad del personal, el 62% indicaron por la posición neutral referente a la cortesía y amabilidad, el 66% adoptaron la posición neutral en relación a la credibilidad. Conclusión: Queda determinada la relación que existe entre cultura organizacional y calidad de servicio en el sector transporte marítimo en la empresa Maersk Line Perú, en el distrito de Lima, en el año 2018. Dado que el valor de Chi Cuadrado=118,965 con un grado de libertad gl. =4 y un p=0,001; porque se ha verificado que existe evidencia suficiente para concluir que existe relación significativa entre las variables cultura organizacional y calidad de servicio en la empresa Maersk Line Perú (Chi cuadrado, ***p = 0,001). También según la prueba de correlación de Spearman = 0.300 (***p = 0,034), se concluye que existe correlación directa y significativa entre las variables. / The objective that was achieved in the following investigation consisted in determine the relationship that exists between organizational culture and quality of service in the maritime transport sector in the company Maersk Line Peru, in the district of Lima, in 2018. The type of research was of quantitative approach and correlational level; whose design was descriptive-correlational, not experimental, and transversal. The technique used was the survey, and the data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire, the census sample population consisted of 50 workers; the variables were operationalized and the ethical aspects of the research were consigned. Results: 50% of respondents opted for the neutral position in the organizational culture variable, 52% decided for the neutral position in the bureaucratic culture, 54% decided for the neutral position in the clan culture, 54% thought positively for the entrepreneurial culture, 56% said they opted for a neutral position in the market culture, 54% said they had a neutral position on the quality of service, 68% decided on the neutral level regarding staff capacity, 62% % indicated by the neutral position regarding the courtesy and kindness, 66% adopted the neutral position in relation to the credibility. Conclusion: It is determinate that there is a relationship between organizational culture and quality of service in the maritime transport sector in Maersk Line Peru, in the district of Lima, in 2018. Since the value of Chi-squared test = 18,965 with a degree of freedom gl. = 4 and one p = 0.001; because it has been verified there is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant relationship between the variables organizational culture and quality of service in Maersk Line Peru, 2018. (Chi-squared, *** p = 0.001). Also, according to the Spearman correlation test = 0.300 (*** p = 0.034), it is concluded that there is a direct and significant correlation between the variables. / Tesis

The top leader of an organization influences the organizational culture, and the organizational culture influences the leader. Strategic thinking on the part of the leader is a result of organizational culture and/or will impact organizational culture. This qualitative study is a comparative multiple-case study that examines the relationship between leaders and organizational culture and what the leader’s strategic decision-making and organizational changes indicate about the relationship between leadership and organizational culture. The organizational context of private schools is used to better understand the dynamics between leadership and organizational culture. This study uses an interview protocol with CEOs of private schools, a macroculture in the United States, to solicit the leaders’ perspectives on their school’s organizational culture and their perspectives on the specific strategic decisions made by those leaders in the context of that organizational culture. This study focuses on six different schools in Virginia, all approved through accrediting procedures by the Virginia Council for Private Education -- a shared organizational context. Individual focal points for data collection and analysis include individual school websites, published school documents, and required accreditation documents as well as structured interviews with the CEOs of each school. This study examines the cycle of influence that the leader has on the organization through strategic thinking and the influence that the organizational culture has on the leader. Three findings expressed how the leader influences the organizational culture. There were also three findings on how the organizational culture influences the leaders. Two additional findings are on what change indicates about the relationship between the leader and the organizational culture. These findings reveal that a focus on relationships in the school, a willingness to target specific growth for the individual school, and goals that were expressed spiritually as well as academically are key to the leaders. The study also found that the school cultures identified strongly and positively with that of being a family, spiritual focus operationally distinguishes the school cultures, and spiritual identity is also expressed as the relationship the school has to church. Two findings were identified relating to strategic decisions and change; these findings were that evidence of change should be visible and explicit within the organization and organizational change relates directly to focus for growth from the leader. These findings from this study support the conclusions that 1) Christian school leaders have a direct influence on the values and direction of the school’s organizational culture; 2) the Christian school’s organizational identity has a direct influence on the focus of the leader, and 3) changes targeted in Christian schools reflect the focus of the leader on growth. Findings from this research suggest that organizational culture is highly contextualized and as a result strategic thinking and decision-making on the part of the leader are also highly contextualized. Contextualization increases as the leader seeks to grow the organization or to change the organization. Understanding contextualization that exists, and how organizational culture changes as strategic decisions are made by the leader, has implications for further research in effective leadership, effective change, strategic thinking, and growing effective organizational cultures including private and public institutions of higher education and public and private corporate institution.

During the delivery of healthcare services, hospital employees use enormous amounts of water, energy, and nonbiodegradable carcinogenic plastics. In the U.S., hospital staff generate an average of over 7,000 tons of waste per day at an average cost of $0.28 per pound for the disposal of regulated medical trash, which if efficiently managed or reduced, could result in substantial cost savings. Using the organizational learning and the transaction cost economics theories as the conceptual frameworks, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders used to minimize their waste management operational costs. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 4 managers at a healthcare system in the Midwestern United States and reviewing financial documents as well as the participants' hospital website. Based on the thematic analysis, 4 primary themes emerged: (a) engaged leadership, (b) incorporate sustainability into the mission, vision, and values of the organization, (c) create an organizational culture of sustainability, and (d) innovation. Because society's health is largely dependent on the environment around them, these findings could assist hospital leaders in the implementation of cost-effective waste management strategies and contribute to positive social change.

Currently there is a high rate of registered nurse (RN) turnover due in part to bullying and harassment among peers; which fosters lower quality nursing care, jeopardizes patient safety, and increases healthcare costs. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to examine the relationship between inpatient nurses' individual self-esteem and reported bullying and harassment with their intent to leave their job. Two theories were used to provide structure to this work: cognitive experimental self theory and oppressed group theory. Data were collected using the Negative Acts Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Turnover Intentions Measure. All RNs in a Midwestern state were emailed an invitation link to the instruments housed on SurveyMonkey. Only those respondents who claimed to be inpatient RNs were included in the study (n = 770). The three research questions asked about bullying and harassment among inpatient RNs, about the self-esteem of RNs who experienced bullying and harassment and those who have not, and if those RNs who experienced bullying and harassments intended to leave their jobs. With a 2.1% response rate, results indicated that there was a relationship among RNs and bullying and harassment, the self-esteem of RNs who did not experience bullying and harassment was higher than those who did experience bullying and harassment, and there was a positive relationship between RNs experiencing bullying and harassment and their intent to leave their jobs. This research suggests that if bullying and harassment patterns among RNs are identified sooner, RN turnover can be reduced, patient care quality and safety can be improved, and U.S. healthcare costs can decrease.

The purpose of this case study was to explore the effects of downsizing on organizational culture based on the perceptions of contractors who work for an independent distributor in a large metropolitan city in the southern United States. Organizational culture is important to a company's overall success. Organizational culture theory was the basis for the conceptual framework of this study. Using a purposeful sampling approach and methodological triangulation of sources, 3 newspaper delivery contractors who experienced downsizing described their lived experiences. Participants completed the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and a qualitative questionnaire. The OCAI survey results were scored and depicted graphically using organizational culture profiles. Qualitative data were analyzed and coded, revealing 14 themes that described the pre and postdownsizing culture types, the preferred culture type, and the effects of downsizing on organizational culture. The findings of this study revealed that downsizing can affect organizational culture in both positive and negative ways and that contractors' experiences differed from those of employees. The results of this study may influence positive social change by highlighting the need for leaders to assess the organizational culture before, during, and after a downsizing event to ensure that a preferred culture is created or preserved to minimize the negative effects of downsizing. A preferred culture could promote a more effective working environment, benefiting the company, its workers, and by extension the industry and society.

Translating research to practice takes 10-20 years or more and evidence-based practice (EBP) integration remains at 10%-20%, despite recommendations requiring EBP-guided decisions. EBP integration has been associated with up to 30% decreases in healthcare system spending, improved quality outcomes, and increased staff satisfaction. Nurse leaders are accountable for EBP enculturation, yet rate quality and safety as the highest priority and EBP as the lowest. This knowledge gap perpetuates low EBP integration rates and hinders EBP enculturation. Asking whether EBP facilitative interventions for nurse leaders increase scores on organizational culture and readiness, beliefs, and EBP use scales addressed the knowledge gap via this quality improvement, pre/posttest pilot project. Multiple frameworks guided the project: the nursing process, Lewin's change management model, the Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP model, and the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership-® model. A comprehensive literature search validated the design using EBP facilitators: educational interventions, transformational leadership, strategic planning, and a systems perspective. Pre/posttest data garnered from 14 non-direct care nurse leaders on the Organizational Culture and Readiness for System-Wide Integration of EBP Scale, the EBP Beliefs Scale, and the EBP Implementation Scale was analyzed using 2-sample t tests. Individual questions on the scales revealed statistically significant differences correlating to the facilitative interventions, yet overall aggregate scores did not change significantly. The limited findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge, while positive social implications include resolving public health and safety issues, reversing fiscal irresponsibility, and overcoming resistance to change.