Trust is in decline within organizations resulting from poor management and ethical indifference. Failing to address trust perceptions has led to stress between management and employees. Researchers have studied organizational trust as a constant quality within groups but have neglected the uniquely individual constructs of trust that inhibit trust-building efforts. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate how personal constructs of trust may affect outcomes at the organizational level among workers and managers in hierarchal structured organizations. The topics of the research questions addressed the extent which cultural values and the relative trust situation affected individuals' perceptions of the state of trust in organizations. The recruitment strategy included 92 managers and workers over the age of 18 from the Survey Monkey Audience participation pool. The theoretical framework was Glidden's structuration and Bandera's social cognitive theories. The data analysis strategy involved implementing Pedhazur and Schmelkin's procedures for multiple regressions along with effect coding. The study included a survey instrument composed of Hofstede's Values Survey Module 2013 and Chathoth's Trust and Employee Satisfaction Survey. The results indicated an association between social-cultural values and trust. The results from Chathoth's Trust and Employee Satisfaction Survey indicated that the variables of integrity, commitment, and dependability all had a significant statistical association with the demographic role in the organization and with Hofstede's quality of individualism. To enact positive social change, organizational leaders would benefit from evaluating the managerial and worker relationships indicated in the study and incorporate them into trust-building programs.

The failure rate of mergers is high, with the greatest effects being felt by the employees. Company mergers result in managers burdened with extra responsibilities that often result in poor people integration management of employees. A gap in literature exists regarding people integration resources available to managers during mergers. The purpose of this phenomenological, descriptive study was to explore resources managers perceive to have available to assist with managing employees through a merger. Greenleaf's servant leadership and Herzberg's 2 factor theories were used as the study's conceptual foundation. The research questions explored managers' perceptions of the range of resources available to assist with managing employees during a merger. The snowball sampling method was used to select a sample of 14 participants for individual semi structured interviews. The target population was managers who directly managed employees during a merger while working for a North American company. The qualitative data were collected, coded, and then analyzed for themes. The key findings were that while managers perceived they were not provided resources, managers' personal experiences along with resources such as human resource personnel and other managers' expertise were used as great resources. Open communication and information exchange were critical between the manager and the employees during the merger. Managers should focus on their soft skills when they engage with the employees. Implications for positive social change include employee satisfaction and engagement, employee retention, customer satisfaction, along with business growth and development in the global market.

Managers struggle with how to motivate the Millennial generation employee. Research that explores which leadership styles are effective with Millennial generation employees is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore what leadership styles are effective with Millennial employees, which led to a key research question: Which leadership styles facilitate employee motivation for the Millennial generation? The theoretical framework was based on the social learning, transformational leadership, and servant leadership theories, which were used to identify effective leadership styles. In the theoretical framework, different motivation theories were presented to establish the context in which motivation was discussed. This quantitative study used a survey administered online to collect data using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Ethical Leadership at Work Questionnaire, and SL-7 instruments. The participant pool consisted of randomly selected Millennial generation employees (N = 158) who worked in an office setting. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for stochasticity. The Kendall's coefficients of concordance and Spearman's correlation were conducted to perform the analysis. The results of this study indicated that all 3 leadership styles effectively motivate Millennial employees, and that the servant leadership style is most effective. This study may contribute to a positive change in leadership practices. Employee job satisfaction may increase as these leadership behaviors are adopted. This in turn may have a positive social impact on the individuals, as well as in the surrounding communities of the individuals who work for leaders who practice any 3 of these leadership styles.

Research has shown that emotional intelligence is becoming an essential area of study to determine a person's potential for overall success as well as success in the workplace. Although noncognitive skills are not always a factor that leaders use in determining workplace efficiency, these skills may impact productivity. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the impact of noncognitive skills and the perception administrators and employees have regarding skills that are critical to their jobs and work performance. The conceptual framework used for this study was the emotional intelligence theory authored by Daniel Goleman in 1995, which studied personality qualities. The population consisted of 5 managerial staff members and 20 employees within the public university sector. The selection criteria consisted of managers, faculty and staff members. All participants with at least 1 year of experience were eligible to participate in the study. The data collection process included an open-ended online questionnaire for the managerial staff and a short online survey for employees. The focus of this study comprised 6 skills: communication, self-confidence, teamwork, work ethics, problem-solving ability, and leadership. Several patterns and themes emerged relating to the effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and productivity. The findings from this study could be vital for understanding the current and future impact of noncognitive skills in the work environment and could positively impact social change. Organizational leaders could use the results to develop strategies that would enhance their decision-making process and develop tools to promote employee productivity.

An employee's contributions toward the success of organizational results and objectives are essential to how virtual sales leaders implement strategies to improve productivity. In 2014, 21% of virtual leaders received formal training to manage remote employees, and 17% of remote employees received formal training on how to work productively. The purpose of this single qualitative case study was to explore strategies virtual sales leaders used to improve remote sales employees' productivity. The population included 6 virtual sales leaders in 1 staffing organization located in Michigan. The conceptual framework for this study included the job demands-resources model. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, direct observation, organizational document review, and reflective journaling using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data analyzed in this research study: high level of communication, including virtual meetings for improved relationship development; adapting to change and work environment, including introduction of change before implementing; and measurement of employee performance, which could include monitoring activity reports and metric tracking tools. Findings included developing consistent team and individual meetings to communicate metrics and goals, implementing varied communication tools to encourage self-management, involving employees in decision making before changes were executed, and developing attainable employee goals to promote a productive work environment. Contributions to social change include the opportunity to develop an employable and specialized workforce who contribute to the local economy as well as expand community development and higher income for families.

The steady increase in project failure rates is leaving businesses searching for better integration techniques to virtualize their project environments. Through virtualization, organizations may have positive impacts on communities across geographical boundaries and resource constraints. The focus of this phenomenological study was to explore, via the experiences of successful project management practitioners, best practice strategies for integrating virtual project teams through data analysis. The conceptual framework included von Bertalanffy's general systems theory, decomposition model of business process and project management frameworks, and the recomposition approach. Twenty-two senior project managers with more than 5 years of experience managing virtual project environments participated in semistructured telephone interviews. The van Kaam process employing normalization and bracketing approaches in data analysis resulted in the emergence of 10 thematic categories. The 10 themes culminated in the identification of strategies for implementing best practices relevant to the integration of successful virtual project teams. The major themes pertained to 3 broad areas: (a) structure that accommodates skills and technology for virtual team success, (b) governance leading to efficient virtual project team management, and (c) collaboration practices across diverse environments. Findings may help leaders improve project management leadership practices involved in adopting a virtual project management framework for business infrastructure. Suggestions for future research include additional attention to virtualization problems with respect to the transferability of the systems theory models.

Ineffective leadership and disengaged nurses reduce the quality of care and patient satisfaction in healthcare organizations. Healthcare leaders can benefit from understanding the factors that improve leadership ability and nurse engagement to improve healthcare outcomes. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between the demonstration of authentic leadership characteristics and nurse engagement. The study's population comprised acute care registered nurses in a rural hospital in central Washington State. Authentic leadership theory and engagement theory constituted the theoretical framework. Independent variables were the 4 constructs of authentic leadership theory, self-awareness, balanced information processing, relational transparency, and internalized moral perspective; the dependent variable was nurse engagement. Three hundred sixty-nine registered nurses received 2 pen and paper, Likert-type scale surveys, the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, and Utrecht Worker Engagement Scale- 9 item, to complete for data collection. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. There was no relationship between the 4 constructs of authentic leadership and nurse engagement. The coefficient of determination demonstrated only 11% variation in nurse engagement related to the independent variables. Healthcare leaders face significant challenges. With a better understanding of the factors that lead to higher nurse engagement, leaders can increase both nurse and patient satisfaction, leading to better healthcare outcomes.

Businesses with failed quality initiatives lose revenue, experience high expenses, and have fewer market opportunities. Researchers attribute failed quality initiatives to human and social factors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of employees in companies that received an Arkansas Governor's Quality Award between 2010 and 2015. No one knows how employees' experiences contribute to successful quality initiatives, or how their stories about their experiences influence quality management and continuous improvement. The conceptual framework consisted of Weick's theory of sense-making and Deming's system of profound knowledge. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with 11 participants across 8 organizations. Participants checked the member experience summary created from verbatim interview transcriptions analyzed per van Manen's whole-part-whole model. The analysis of the transcripts showed that participants' most meaningful experiences were those with people, followed by materials, feelings, time, and space. The study findings also showed that people transferred proven problem-solving methods from the workplace to their home and out into the community. The results of this study could contribute to positive social change by helping managers increase the potential for a successful quality initiative when they consider people's needs and contributions before adopting a set of quality management tools and practices.

Lack of effective selection and training of employees for positioning within a business can have extensive financial repercussions. Fostering mentoring relationships between leaders and employees increases competitive advantage and institutional financial growth. However, there is limited research that supports the role of mentoring leadership styles for improving organizational productivity. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by business managers to select and individually train employees for opportunities within the organization to achieve job-person fit. The sample included 5 business managers employed within a medium-sized organization in a consultation firm in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Strategic human resource management theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection used semistructured interviews and employee performance evaluations. Yin's 5 steps for qualitative data analysis provided the process for organizing the data and conducting the data analysis. Four themes emerged from the data analysis including job-person fit, organizational culture, employee relationships, and performance management. Potential contributions to positive social change include increasing employee retention rates, which could benefit local business economies due to the retained employees'sustained local buying power and contributions to their communities' charities.

Implementing public sector reform in Nigeria is complex. Although government effectiveness is important for citizens' welfare, little evidence links management practices for effective public service delivery for low-income populations in developing countries. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to explore views of public agency managers in Nigeria on putting progressive interventions into practice to improve public services and change social outcomes for this population. The conceptual framework of the proposed study was path dependency, defined as increasing returns, positive feedback, or self-reinforcing processes, which are significant in understanding the challenges of formal and intentional reform programs. Seven agency managers recruited from the Nigerian public sector completed semistructured interviews to give their perspectives to address the following research question: "What are the views of public agency managers in Nigeria, assigned agents of NPM reform, on implementing path-breaking interventions within their agencies to improve services and change social outcomes for the low-income population?" I used NvIVO software to develop the splitting up of common codes, phrases, and words in the responses of the participants. Fifteen themes were presented, including the categories of corruption, nepotism, marginalization, and poor service delivery to low-income populations in Nigeria. Social change for the low-income population in Nigeria can only be realized when local NPM managers themselves can have a voice in Nigeria's national conversation on implementing effective interventions to improve services and change social outcomes.