Employee retention is a critical issue for business leaders. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 4.5 million employee separations in 2014 because of resignations, layoffs, or terminations. Hospitality managers face some of the lowest employee retention rates of any industry, which leads to poor customer satisfaction and decreased profitability. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the perceptions of 3 hospitality managers from 3 different mid-sized hospitality organizations in Brevard County, Florida. The conceptual framework for this study was built upon motivation theory; existence, relatedness, and growth theory; and expectancy theory. The data were collected through document and artifact review, a reflective journal, and semistructured interviews. Member checking was completed to strengthen credibility and trustworthiness of the interpretation of the participants' responses. Four themes emerged from the data: the motivational outcome, leadership characteristics, most effective retention strategies, and the least effective strategies influencing employee retention. The findings from this study may educate inform hospitality managers on how to stabilize employment, improve retention, and increase customer satisfaction and profitability.

In the United States, the high turnover rate of registered nurses and indications of a future shortage of registered nurses is detrimental to healthcare organizations. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether, in hospitals, work engagement and job satisfaction predicted registered nurse turnover intention. The theoretical framework was Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action. Probability sampling was used to identify 155 participants, all full-time registered nurses with 2 or more years of employment in New York hospitals. Data, obtained from surveys, were analyzed via multiple linear regression. The results revealed that only job satisfaction predicted turnover intention among the nurses sampled, (F (5,154) = 12.008, p <.001. R2 = .287. The results indicated that low work engagement is not necessarily an indication of job dissatisfaction or of an individual's intention to leave a job. Leaders of healthcare organizations might lower nurse turnover intention by focusing on improving job satisfaction. Specifically, by addressing the issues identified from regular job satisfaction surveys, and by a greater emphasis on creating a satisfying workplace, overall job satisfaction might be increased. The potential increased stability of the registered nurse workforce and the potential cost savings resulting from lower turnover could contribute to positive social change by improving the delivery of health services and by enhancing the healthcare experiences of patients, their families, and the surrounding communities.

The loss of revenue, profits, brand, and corporate sustainability are possible for companies whose managers do not use strategies to motivate employee sales performance. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies managers use to motivate sales employees' performance. A purposeful sample of 3 managers from U.S. companies with sales employees shared their strategies to motivate sales employees' performance. Methodological triangulation was used to review and analyze information from semistructured interviews, journal notes, member checking data, and review and analysis of relevant company documents. Additionally, coding indicated 4 main themes supporting the benefits of strategies to motivate sales employees' performance: sales personnel with self-motivation exhibit enhanced sales results earlier than nonself-motivated personnel; setting mandatory guidelines, and continuous checking to observe results motivates performance; financial rewards enhance performance; and sales employees receive motivation from recognition of their peer sales group and the organization. The study findings may contribute to social change by increasing the awareness of sales managers to motivate their sales employees, who will add revenue and profits to the organization thereby maintaining jobs, creating more jobs, and providing additional disposable income for health and well-being.

The United States Catholic bishops have used their authority to address the child sexual abuse scandal, but it has been problematic that no one has yet evaluated their exercised leadership styles. In this phenomenological study, I explored U.S Catholic priests' perceptions of the bishops' leadership styles related to how they handled the child sexual abuse scandal. Knowing the bishops' leadership styles was paramount to fill the research gap. The theoretical frameworks underpinning this study were transformational leadership, transactional leadership, charismatic leadership, and servant leadership. Data collected through interviews with 11 Catholic priests revealed their perceptions of how the behavioral characteristics of each leadership style influenced the management of the child sexual abuse scandal. Collected data were deductively coded, then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. The research findings highlighted the bishops' predominant use of servant leadership style. The resulting themes were that (a) the bishops felt they were forced to listen, (b) they lacked the charisma to convince, (c) they were more interested in protecting the church, and (d) they paid remunerations to victims. The U.S Catholic bishops would benefit from this study as it reveals the remaining gaps in their predominant use of servant leadership style. The positive social change implications point to the bishops' using this study to facilitate more effective leadership styles when handling and preventing similar future crises while collaborating with the clergy, the religious, the faithful, and law enforcement officials in creating and sustaining awareness of child abuse prevention policy to avert future harms.

Approval Walden University College of Health Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral study by Brenda Gould-Johnson has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Eric Anderson, Committee Chairperson, Health Services Faculty Dr. Patti Urso, Committee Member, Health Services Faculty Dr. Jonas Nguh, University Reviewer, Health Services Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2015 Walden University College of Health Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral study by Brenda Gould-Johnson has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Eric Anderson, Committee Chairperson, Health Services Faculty Dr. Patti Urso, Committee Member, Health Services Faculty Dr. Jonas Nguh, University Reviewer, Health Services Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2015 Decreasing Attrition of Novice and Newly Hired Professional Nurses Through Preceptorship by Brenda Gould-Johnson MSN/ED, University of Phoenix, 2012 MPAH, Golden Gate University, 1990 BSN, Norfolk State University, 1986 Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice Walden University November 2015

The problem addressed in this study was how knowledge managers facilitated the process of knowledge creation. Researchers identified this area as important because it begins to fill the literature gap in the dynamics surrounding knowledge creation. Using 4 research questions developed from the theory of dynamic organizational knowledge creation, the study investigated how knowledge managers facilitated and supported knowledge creation, promoted knowledge formation, and accounted for knowledge gaps. The theory was selected to provide a framework and an analytical perspective on the process of knowledge creation. A qualitative research design was used to learn from a sample of 12 Chief Knowledge Managers their experiences orchestrating a knowledge management program. In-depth interviews were conducted with each participant, transcribed and imported to NVivo. Data were analyzed using the theory and findings were validated via member checking and triangulation. The results revealed that knowledge managers facilitated knowledge creation by building on social and cultural factors, providing leadership, and incentivizing knowledge sharing. Skills identified for facilitating knowledge creation were future envisioning, change management, interpersonal communication, and culture building. Future research would benefit from studies that focused on the outcomes of knowledge management efforts, the perceptions of organization members to determine if knowledge management efforts facilitated knowledge creation and if knowledge managers follow a specific cognitive learning theory. The social change implications from the present study include strengthening the potential for knowledge creation in organizations, prompting shifts in established paradigms, and fostering trust and expectation from collaboration.

Understanding strategies to prepare Millennials for leadership roles in commercial banks is critical to ensure organizational stability and success and to avoid knowledge gaps and leadership deficiencies created by large numbers of retiring Baby Boomers. Guided by learning network theory and generational theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that 3 bank managers in North Carolina and South Carolina used to prepare Millennials for leadership. These 3 bank managers had a minimum of 2 years of experience leading teams of employees which included Millennials. The study included semistructured interviews to elicit detailed narratives from the bank managers on their experiences in preparing Millennials for leadership roles. Additional data included a review of public and private documents containing developmental activities and leadership program details used with Millennials. All data were analyzed and coded to identify recurring themes. Methodological triangulation was used to identify 5 key strategies used by managers to help prepare Millennials for leadership including structured development processes, generational alignment and engagement, coaching and mentoring, leveraging technology, and communications. Bank managers could use these findings to implement successful strategies to help Millennials prepare for leadership roles. Doing so promotes positive social change by identifying these strategies for bank managers to prepare key talent for leadership roles within organizations.

Virtual team leaders in health care must have the right resources available to help them effectively perform their jobs. Better performance from the leader may lead to greater employee satisfaction. The problem addressed by this study was the impact of leadership style on employee satisfaction of virtual nurses. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to investigate the relationship between the leadership styles of virtual nursing environment leaders as perceived by virtual employee nurses and the nurses' satisfaction as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire-short form. Building on the theoretical foundation of Bass's 1990 work, this study examined the relationship between full range leadership and three measures linked to team success, work effort, perceived leader effectiveness, and employee satisfaction, for virtual teams. Populations came from national organizations that hire registered nurses to work remotely. The sampling strategy was a nonprobability convenience sample of 131 registered nurses. Data analysis included both descriptive and inferential statistics. Correlations were used to predict the relationship of the dependent and independent variables. There were strong positive correlations with transformational leadership and transactional leadership contingent reward with employee satisfaction, while passive/avoidant leadership correlations were negative with employee satisfaction. The potential significance of this study is a better understanding of how leadership in a virtual nursing environment can affect employee satisfaction, which can have a positive effect on job performance and employee retention, potentially leading to improved health care services and reduced health care costs.

Municipal leaders in the United States face difficult decisions when prioritizing nonmandated civic projects for funding, especially when operating budgets are restricted. This phenomenological study investigated municipal leaders' decision-making processes in a state in the southern United States, using a conceptual framework based on rational choice theory, bounded rationality, and group decision-making theory. It specifically explored personal and organizational decision-making processes related to the prioritization and funding of nonmandated civic projects via in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 15 municipal leaders. Thematic analysis identified expert opinions, the time and cost to complete a project, the perceived value relative to expense, and the availability of additional funding sources as themes important to understanding participants' decision-making processes. Organizational factors that were important in these decisions included the need for clearly defined responsibilities and consistency in funding decisions. No clearly defined organizational processes were in place in any of the participants' municipalities, and the participants noted that areas such as infrastructure improvements, traffic congestion, community involvement, and formal processes in their municipalities were in need of improvement. Positive social change can flow from greater governmental transparency through municipal decision makers' adoption of systematic decision-making systems and processes. Positive social change can also result from greater inclusiveness through increased public outreach efforts. Results add to the research base by contributing to a better theoretical understanding of organizational decision-making processes in the municipal context.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for approximately 50% of the world's gross domestic product. However, these economic agents suffer from inadequate access to liquid funds to finance their operations. The liquidity gap has led to early bankruptcy and liquidation, stagnant growth and development, and fewer employment opportunities. The problem under study was the effect of funding limitations on SMEs' business operations and growth. The purpose was to examine the impact of multilayered capital systems as alternative funding for SME growth. This study was informed by Gilbrat's law and the theory of financial exclusion. The research questions addressed the use of a multilayered capital market as a substitute for the conventional methods of funding for SMEs. A survey instrument was used to collect data using a stratified random sample of 54 small-scale business owners and finance professionals. These participants were identified from U.S. Census Bureau data between 2009 and 2014 across the information technology, service, and manufacturing sectors. Multiple regressions and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data. The results showed that age, credit score, average turnover, and total assets have significant impacts on obtaining funding, especially total assets. Moreover, results showed that growth rates correlated with funding from multilayered capital systems. This study contributes positively to social change by highlighting alternative means of funding SMEs, leading to reduced dependency on government, less crime through gainful employment, and improved corporate social responsibility due to better interactions among community members