<p> Leaders play a crucial role in mitigating organizational trauma. Perverse and toxic leaders can disrupt the operating system, including initiating such rupturing events as closing programs or budget cuts. Other times, the disruptions are external and caused by socio-political changes, competitions, and lack of public acceptance. Behavioral health organizations by the nature of their work and the position they occupy in society are at risk of receiving the traumatizing events that change the culture and the operating systems. Leaders are responsible for managing the culture of an organization and mitigating the traumatic events that can result in mediocre services and organizational peril. Transformational leaders possess a great deal of emotional intelligence and believe in their abilities to lead in difficult times. They acknowledge the trauma or traumatizing events, and labor in transforming culture as leaders, employees, and the organization transcends through the events. A Delphi study allowed 18 experts in behavioral health organizations, to share their personal and professional experiences and to arrive at a consensus about leadership roles relating to the phenomenon of organizational trauma. Consequently, the role of leaders in preventing, mitigating, and healing organizational trauma was recognized as an essential role. Last, the experts agreed that transformational leadership styles, as well as emotional intelligence, are necessary interpersonal and professional skills to consider in training and development programs for leaders. The findings were congruent with the knowledge found in the literature review which indicates a need for ongoing study and research. </p><p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 106 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> This qualitative study uses phenomenology as its method of inquiry to examine increased intuitive capabilities experienced by firefighters during emergency incidents. Firefighters provide immediate crisis intervention and are often faced with exposure to traumatic incidents that demand rapid and spontaneous decisions. The emphasis of this investigation is placed on the phenomenological implications of unconscious motivations that target spontaneous tactical and strategic split-second decisions. Intuition is the basis from which implicit decision-making practices emerge during emergency-scene management. Increased intuitive awareness simultaneously arises from, and is a reaction to, the activation of rapid decision making when exposed to crisis situations. Through the oral documentation of the lived experiences of on-scene firefighter managers (battalion chiefs and captains), this investigation expands the literature concerning the activation of intuition.</p><p> Attempts to define intuition during critical incidents can often lead to a generalization that overlooks the importance of cultural implications of the diverse firefighter population. The findings in this study recognize commonly held interpersonal, group organizational, and sociocultural personality identities of the 21st-century American firefighter. Thematic constructs of firefighter personality formulations expand the multiple dimensions of explicit and implicit characteristics of firefighters&rsquo; occupational subjective and collective personality preferences that correlate with specific inherent tendencies toward intuitive decisions.</p>

<p> This research explored the topic of team building for a multicultural team and investigated the impact on group cohesion. The participants were members of a work group, each of a different nationality. Review of existing literature revealed a list of team building elements most suited for the multicultural context. A team building program incorporating those elements and customized for the participant group was designed and implemented. Pre and post survey data showed no significant difference in group cohesion, although there was a slight increase in the score for task cohesion. Qualitative interview data, however, suggested a positive impact on group cohesion, with the impact perceived to be greater on task cohesion than social cohesion. Elements of the team building program that were found to be the most impactful were: it provided an opportunity to generate a deeper awareness of others, it provided an opportunity to generate deeper self-awareness, it provided a platform for team collaboration, and it contained fun and interesting activities.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D. in Management)--Vanderbilt University, May 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in Organizational Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-166).

<p> One of the major initiatives found in the Improving America&rsquo;s Schools Act of 1995 was a focus on school safety and security relative to the perceived negative impact of violence generated from guns and illicit drugs. This tougher stand manifested itself in the federal requirement that states adopt laws requiring the expulsion of students for drug violations unless special circumstances were determined to exist. If special circumstances existed then another disciplinary action may be administered. Special circumstances are not defined in the federal law and have not been defined in the subsequent Virginia law. The lack of clarity in the federal and state laws, and their application by school boards has yielded nearly 25 years of widely varying sanctions by local divisions for student drug offenses.</p><p> This mixed methods research study analyzed the relationship between the individual school board member&rsquo;s level of attributional complexity (AC) measured by the Fletcher et al. AC scale and their decision-making in assigning a disciplinary sanction in student drug violations. This research study also analyzed school board members&rsquo; level of AC in decision-making with the accumulated hours of training provide through the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA), years of experience as a school board member, level of confidence in the decision made, and a school board that delegates to the superintendent authority to conduct a preliminary hearing compared to a board that does not delegate the hearing. Individual follow-up interviews extended exploration into other possible factors that influenced decision-making in student drug cases.</p><p> The explanatory design methodology provided a structure for identifying trends in judicial decision-making by school board members to aide in explaining how each independent variable may affect the individual participant level of AC. This mixed methods study has a strong quantitative orientation with the final report having two distinct consecutively developed sections. The second qualitative section is built on further explaining the emerging trends in school board decision-making. The survey asked participants if they were willing to participate in a follow-up interview. From this pool of volunteer participants, a purposeful selection was conducted of varying demographic elements to ensure coverage of varying levels of AC, large and small school divisions, gender, age, training and board experience.</p><p> The statistical analysis of the quantitative questions suggests that there are no statistical significant differences between the individual level of AC of a school board member and any of the aforementioned factors. The qualitative phase of the study suggests that decision-making is contextual to the individual school board. This context consists of a combination of factors with the dominate theme including the recommendation of the superintendent, and the board&rsquo;s interpretation of appropriate sanctions grounded by a strict or flexible application of code and policy. Secondary decision-making factors which emerged were: 1. student accountability through assignment of discipline; 2. the need to maintain a safe drug-free environment for all students; 3. the need to continue the drug-violating student&rsquo;s educational development; and, 4. the need for drug dependency assessment and intervention.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the experience of employee wellbeing and compassion fatigue (CF) in the animal care industry. According to Figley and Roop (2006) in <i>Compassion Fatigue in the Animal-Care Community,</i> compassion fatigue is found at every level among the caregivers in animal-related fields. Utilizing hermeneutic phenomenology, this study explored the experience of employee wellbeing (EW) and compassion fatigue via interviews with 11 participants who are paid, full-time employees from a diverse array of animal shelters. Data analysis followed van Manen&rsquo;s (1990) description of the <i>inventive thoughtful</i> attitude, which takes place through an ongoing process of writing and reflecting throughout and after data collection to capture participant narratives. </p><p> The interpretation of the findings and incorporation of relevant literature led to the development of six key conclusions: 1. <u>Personal History: </u> Participants&rsquo; prior life experiences and personal histories are relevant to, and may have implications for, the experience of compassion fatigue. 2. <u>Social Construct:</u> Participant understanding of compassion fatigue is socially constructed, developed through comparisons to, interactions with and support from others. 3. <u>Dirty Work:</u> The perception of animal caregiving as a form of &ldquo;dirty work&rdquo; has consequences for the experience of employee wellbeing and compassion fatigue. 4. <u>Three-Tier Approach:</u> Participants use two frequently promoted strategies to combat compassion fatigue: self-care and compassion satisfaction, but they also engage in proactive behaviors, implying a three-tier approach to coping with and combatting CF and improving employee wellbeing. 5. <u>Levels of Responsibility:</u> Participants believe the responsibility to develop and employ appropriate solutions to address issues of compassion fatigue and employee wellbeing exists on three different levels: individual, organizational, and societal. 6. <u>Primary Outcomes: </u> Two primary outcomes are evident from the experience of compassion fatigue&mdash;if caregivers are unable to combat the syndrome, they may reach a breaking point and burn out of the field; alternatively they may overcome CF, continue in their work and thrive. </p><p> Implications for research, theory and practice are presented. A better understanding of CF will allow for more effective planning, preparation and intervention at each level of responsibility. The contributions of this study offer constructive ideas for both individuals and organizations to incorporate into their efforts to reduce CF, improve EW, and hopefully avoid burnout and turnover.</p>

<p> The focus of the qualitative case study was to understand how innovative work behavior was affected by leaders&rsquo; relationship with their employees to enhance job commitment in the grocery retail industry. Specifically, the research involved exploring how the leader and employee relationship can affect employee engagement as a mediator for innovative work behavior. Innovative work behavior is when an employee is generating and implementing useful ideas. The general business problem was that organizations in the grocery retail industry lack innovative work behaviors to meet the market demand for innovation and remain competitive. The study involved triangulating three data sources: open-ended, semistructured interview questions used with one-on-one interviews; a focus group; and public documents from the participating organization headquartered in the western United States. The central research question was as follows: How do grocery retail industry knowledge workers&rsquo; relationships with their leaders affect their commitment and ability to generate and implement ideas? Triangulating the data sources helped to better describe the dominant themes that answered the overarching central research question and indicated leadership style is a significant antecedent to employee engagement that can promote the generation and implementation of useful ideas leading to continuous innovation. High-quality leader-member exchanges that promote mutual respect and trust can stimulate employee engagement that may help the employee generate useful ideas and ways to implement these ideas. The unexpected findings were the trends and preferences revealed within generational groupings from all 11 study participants. Understanding the unique generational differences provides insight into leadership practices to promote innovative work behavior. The needs and wants expressed by the millennial participants indicated their leaders should be more of a coach and mentor. The Generation X and baby boomer participants were seeking more autonomy and resources to explore ideas. Future researchers could consider exploring a deeper understanding of the multigenerational knowledge workers&rsquo; needs and wants to help leaders stimulate employee engagement and increase innovative work behavior.</p><p>

<p> A compelling dynamic work-life balance is necessary in order to create successful women in leadership roles. Women leaders face unlimited demands predominantly in the areas of family and the career. These competing interests have posed many challenges, sacrifices, and problems for career success. The literature mentions the dynamics of the work (career/ambition) and environment have resulted in a large amount of pressure and instability for women in leadership roles who try to balance work and lifestyle (family, health, leisure, pleasure, and spiritual development). The lack of work-life balance may cause high levels of anxiety, conflict at home, and make it difficult to achieve and develop their full potential. As a result, women leaders can experience job burnout, and stress. This presentation is part of a larger study on Work-Life Balance, career success, and; women in leadership roles.</p><p>