<p>Internal quality auditing (IQA) in the aerospace defense industry is not optional. Under Part 46 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) all businesses providing product and services to the U.S. government are required to comply with their contract's quality requirements. The amount of compliance audits organizations receive are directly proportional to the number of government related contracts they possess. Therefore, most organizations are forced to focus IQAs on compliance to survive. The release of AS9100 international aerospace standards in 1999 was pivotal in eliminating these multiple audit requirements that plague the industry. However, the focus on IQA for compliance has remained rooted within the IQA system. Audit experts claim that recent updates included on AS9100 Rev C would change IQA's focus from auditing for compliance to auditing for effectiveness and performance. </p>

<p> This mixed-methods case study examined the impact of leadership on practices to organizational agility. Leaders and employees from three organizations (two universities, one financial institution) participated in surveys and interviews to generate data related to the organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles exhibited, the degree of agility in the organization, and the impact of organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles on organizational agility. Study findings suggested that leadership varies based on industry- and organization-specific demands, organizational agility can exist across industries and organization types, and that adopting a long-term focus and practicing agile leadership behaviors throughout the organization may promote higher organizational agility. Organizations are encouraged to promote agile leadership through their hiring, learning and development, and performance review processes. Future research should utilize larger samples, improved data collection instruments, and focus on examining the critical few agile leadership behaviors that may most strongly predict organizational agility.</p>

<p> Seeking and finding highly effective principals to lead our schools is one of the highest priority tasks for a school head. Research has documented the importance of the principal for improved student achievement. Waters, Marzano, and McNulty (2004) reviewed the literature over the past 35 years and identified 21 specific leadership responsibilities that have a statistically significant, positive correlation to student achievement. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to deepen our understanding of the ways that international school heads identify high-potential principal candidates. </p><p> The survey, Dimensions of Quality Leadership Candidate Identification (DQLCI), was distributed to a random sampling of the complete population of international school heads of full member schools in all regional associations. From a population of 732 international school heads, an average of 184 valid responses (25%) for the four questions was received. However, two regions received a higher percentage response rate thus improving the external validity of the results for the two regions: East Asia Regional Council of Schools (44%) and the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (56%). </p><p> Specifically, the study examined four areas that heads attribute to identifying each of the 21 responsibilities upon screening principal candidates: the principal candidate quality, the value that heads attribute to each of the 21 responsibilities upon screening principal candidates, the perceived ease of identifying each of the 21 responsibilities in principal candidates being screened, and the best method of identifying each of the 21 responsibilities when screening principal candidates. </p><p> The results indicated that international school heads felt that the quality of candidates was just a little better than average with qualitative data highlighting the shallow pool of quality candidates. Heads perceive the 21 responsibilities to have high value in the candidate screening process. Five themes emerged from a factor analysis or data reduction process. Heads value the following factors (in descending order of importance): (1) Ideals and Beliefs about the School's Learning Culture; (2) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; (3) Personal Communication and Relationships; (4) Managerial Leadership; and (5) Principal as Change Agent. These themes provide a clear topical framework for principal preparation programs and for the design of effective principal recruitment tools. </p><p> In response to the third question, the heads became more uncertain about their ability to identify the 21 responsibilities. Heads deemed interview, then reference checks, the two best methods to identify the 21 responsibilities in candidates; however, qualitative data points to the need for multiple measures to triangulate the data and build a better profile of a potential candidate. </p><p> Recruiting high-quality leadership is difficult in the best of conditions but the nature of international school leadership recruitment is complex. It is important for an international school head to be proactive and able to develop systematic and intentional hiring practices.</p>

<p> Within the past few decades, university-industry research centers have been developed in large numbers and emphasized as a valuable policy tool for innovation. Yet little is known about the heterogeneity of organizational structure within these centers, which has implications regarding policy for and management of these centers. This dissertation focuses on organizational structure heterogeneity and how it varies with characteristics of the research and development (R&amp;D) performed in university-industry research centers using a framework based on prior research in organization theory, economics of innovation studies, and strategic and knowledge management. This is addressed through 10 case studies of National Science Foundation (NSF) university-industry research centers in two research fields which are expected to vary along the examined characteristics of the research &ndash; seven centers in nanotechnology and three centers in information, communications, and computing (ICC).</p><p> Prior research has demonstrated that radical R&amp;D - that is R&amp;D that is divergent from existing practice - requires organizational forms with greater hierarchy and with more codified rules and procedures (e.g., for data use, knowledge dissemination) to ensure coordination and control among diverse actors (e.g., scientists and engineers with different backgrounds and training) when compared to incremental R&amp;D, or R&amp;D that is reliant on existing practice. The predominance of cooperative research centers engage in R&amp;D aimed at radical scientific and technical innovation and bring together diverse actors from industry, academia, and government labs for coordinated problem solving. However, there is still much to learn about organizational heterogeneity in organizations engaged in radical R&amp;D. Therefore the purposive sample of university-industry research centers addressed in this dissertation help to further theoretical understanding of organizational diversity across R&amp;D organizations. For R&amp;D management practice and policy, the dissertation findings support that university-industry research centers can or should use differing organizational structures depending on the characteristics of the R&amp;D conducted by the center. </p><p> Specifically, the findings of this dissertation arrive at four organizational structure approaches for R&amp;D managers working in university-industry cooperative research centers. </p><p> 1. Centers are more likely to be organized with an increased number of hierarchical levels, or increased vertical differentiation, and increased codification of rules and procedures, or increased formalization, when conducting research that cannot be readily replicated without prior hands-on experience, or R&amp;D characterized as having high tacitness, and when conducting research that does not draw on a commonly agreed core of knowledge and prior research, or R&amp;D characterized as having low cumulativeness. </p><p> 2. Centers are more likely to be organized with increased vertical differentiation, increased formalization, and increased concentration of decision-making, i.e., centralization, when engaging in R&amp;D projects that are planned to be dependent on the inputs or outputs of other R&amp;D projects conducted simultaneously, or R&amp;D characterized as having high interdependence. </p><p> 3. Centers are more likely to be organized with increased structural complexity &ndash; i.e., a combination of increased number of hierarchical levels, increased role specialization of center participants, or increased number and/or distance of separate locations - when conducting R&amp;D designed to involve researchers from a number of different research fields, or R&amp;D characterized as having high R&amp;D complexity. </p><p> 4. Centers are more likely to be organized with increased vertical differentiation and increased centralization when conducting research that is intended to be restricted from unauthorized use, or R&amp;D characterized as having high appropriability. With high appropriability, centers are also more likely to experience goal conflicts among the center actors (e.g., industry and faculty researchers). </p><p> Because in management science, practice and theory are closely linked, some of these recommendations also suggest theoretical propositions to address in future research on cooperative research centers and comparable R&amp;D organizations.</p>

<p> This exploratory dissertation examines governmental influences during the ongoing emergence of NewSpace, which is a community of private, entrepreneurial organizations pursuing space-related business opportunities outside of the traditional NASA-Military-Industrial complex model. </p><p> While recent research has provided significant insights into how organizations, populations and communities emerge, our understanding of the influence of government in this process has been minimal. Since government is the single most important actor in the modern economy, correcting this oversight is crucial to any modeling of community emergence. As emerging communities are lacking in traditional quantitative data, and the goals of this research are exploratory rather than theory testing, an inductive, qualitative methodology is utilized. The first step towards understanding governmental influence during the emergence of a new community is documenting exactly what the government does in this environment. Chapter IV uses grounded theory methodology to produce a Taxonomy of Governmental Roles in the Emergence of High-Technology Communities. The question of whether government facilitates the creation of new industries - or whether entrepreneurs manipulate government - is of critical importance to researchers of entrepreneurship and policy. Chapter V uses historical analysis to consider the causal role of government in the establishment of the environment in which this new community of organizations is emerging. Institutional legitimacy is crucial to the survival of entrepreneurial firms as well as to new populations and communities. Chapter VI considers the government's key role as legitimizer, and proposes a theoretical model for the process of legitimacy transfer from governmental agencies to entrepreneurial firms, populations and communities. </p><p> This dissertation makes contributions to the literatures of organizational evolution, community emergence, institutional theory, entrepreneurship and policy. It offers researchers a framework to better model governmental influence. It also provides entrepreneurs with a holistic view of governmental influence on their environments and offers governmental actors a fuller understanding of the impact that their legislation and enforcement activities have on new organizations and industries.</p>

<p> As noted by research journalists, &lsquo;t Hart, Stern &amp; Sundelius (1997), foreign policy decisions &ldquo;&hellip;are shaped in relatively small groups and informal face-to-face interaction&rdquo; (p 4). This study explores the influence of small groups on the effectiveness of decision-making techniques and examines how to counter the new forms of groupthink such as an inner-circle of influence. </p><p> This project utilizes an experimental design study to test the relative efficiency of two decision-making models in a pre-scripted scenario in countering this new inner-circle form of groupthink. Using a cross-over research design, participants responded to each scenario with random assignment into one of two decision-making models: the Delphi model and an iterative feedback technique referred to in this paper as the Continuous Group Problem Solving (CGPS) model. After completing two decision-making scenarios, participants identified the most effective decision-making model overall and potential for this method to counter dominance by an inner-circle of influence. </p><p> The results from this study are significant since the findings reconceptualize the term groupthink as a simpler term implying inner-circle influence that preempts thorough decision-making. The findings also provide insight for future application in countering the deleterious control of an &ldquo;inner-circle.&rdquo; These exploratory research results are ripe for replication in large corporate or Government organizations, The desire to have a voice in the decision process and to overcome inner-circle influence will be of value to those conducting future research.</p>

<p> Military organizations are often called upon to assist with emergency management missions, so it is critical that they have appropriately established and well understood organizational perceptual factors. Military organizations are often unique within a nation, which increases the challenge for scholars to effectively analyze how organizational factors are influenced by the dynamics of national use of military forces for emergency management missions. There are several disparate theories of government organization, but the most recent and relevant is Keith James' organizational science of disaster and terrorism prevention and response theory. James' theory identified several important organizational factors specific to emergency management organizations. These factors include organizational structure and networks, processes, teams, leadership, and technology. James' organizational factors guided the development of this qualitative comparative case study's interview protocol with 24 members from the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of the United States National Guard and Israeli Homefront Command. Results revealed why two nations use their military forces for disaster response as well as provided a description of how each organization is used within their respective nation. The data affirmed aspects of James' theory, including relevant structural, networking, and procedural factors and identified the other organizational factors within James' theory as possible areas for future research. Finally, based upon interview participant perceptions, recommendations were made to the leadership of the Homefront Command and National Guard regarding areas of potential organizational emphasis to include internal messaging, additional doctrine, and clarified organizational structures for disaster response.</p>

<p>This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological design to examine the experiences of former Accomopharm (a pseudonym) executive managers that implemented innovative management to achieve sustainable profitability. Understanding innovation in the field of organizational management as it pertained to recognizing opportunities for innovation through managerial change was foundational to this research. The study examined participants&rsquo; perspectives on organizational innovation as revealed by an analysis of organizational vision, participative safety, task orientation, and support for innovation. The factors were found to provide significant predictions of perceived team effectiveness that determined the extent to which management teams were able to think of new ways and methods for developing and implementing innovative products, managerial methods, and services. The researcher analyzed data obtained from personal interviews conducted telephonically with 10 former executive managers with Accomopharm that volunteered for the interviews. The participants spoke openly and explicitly regarding their experiences with innovative management and in implementing managerial change in achieving sustained organizational profitability. Additional insights into organizational change advanced by an enhanced knowledge of innovation may provide leadership with better strategies that will improve the rates of successful change initiatives. </p>

<p> The nursing workforce shortage is not a new phenomenon but dates as far back as World War II. It is believed that the hospital nursing shortage poses a serious threat to the health and welfare of this nation. Therefore, the debate over nursing workforce shortages has been contentious and unresolved about appropriate solutions to address the shortage. Because nurses comprise the major and largest component of all health care employees and serve on the front line of patient care, a hospital's ability to attract and retain registered nurses must be met with competent, adequate and satisfied nursing staff. The nursing workforce shortage has received attention from hospital leaders and public policy makers alike in their approach to resolve this imminent national shortage of hospital nurses. Some researchers postulate there is no shortage of nurses in the United States but in response to poor working conditions, these same licensed registered nurses are consciously choosing not to work in the hospital industry due to deteriorating working conditions. To solve this problem in hospitals, the very same management and leadership practices that created this fictional crisis are the ones that can improve registered nurses' work conditions and enhance the attractiveness of nursing as a profession. The purpose of this study was to empirically describe the impact leadership practices of nurse managers and the nurse practice environment have on job satisfaction of registered nurses in two urban teaching hospitals. A cross-sectional quantitative research design using survey data was implemented to assess leadership practices of nurse managers, presence of the nurse practice environment, and job satisfaction of registered nurses. Results of this study reveal that nurse managers with exemplary leadership practices and favorable nurse practice environments have subordinate registered nurse staff with greater job satisfaction. Findings from this study might assist healthcare leaders to better understand the organizational characteristics associated with how to best organize nurse practice environments and the leadership practices of the nurse manager in better shaping the hospital environment to enhance the quality of nurses' work lives.</p>

<p> Despite the popularity and financial benefits Six Sigma programs produce, Six Sigma has its weaknesses. Critics of Six Sigma recommend inclusion of systems thinking, a method that examines an organization as a system and views its processes holistically with Six Sigma. The purpose of this quantitative study is to compare organizations that use Six Sigma only and organizations that use an integrated approach. The research questions explore to what extent organizations that implement an integrated quality improvement method differ in the success and duration of their Six Sigma programs compared to those that implement Six Sigma as a standalone method. In addition, the study investigates factors that contribute to the success of integrating Six Sigma and system thinking, as well as differences in leadership support for an integrated model compared to those that use Six Sigma only. Conceptually, this study is framed within the theories of Six Sigma and systems thinking. The data was collected through an electronic survey of 289 participated from professional associations, whose membership include practitioners of Six Sigma and systems thinking. A descriptive analysis was conducted including frequency distribution and cross tabulation analysis. The results of this study suggest there is no statistically significant difference in the Six Sigma program success between those organizations that use Six Sigma only compared to those that use an integrated approach; they both report success. However, there is evidence of organizations that use the integrated approach of systems thinking tend to use feedback loops more frequently, have a more holistic view of quality management, and examine their organization's interdependencies more than organizations that use Six Sigma only. There is evidence that as the duration of the organization's use of Six Sigma matures so does the respondents' support for factors of systems thinking concept. Evidence also supports that an integrated approach contributes to the success of Six Sigma programs. No empirical research on an integrated approach to quality management was available. This study contributes to providing an explorative foundation for further research as well as creating a survey questionnaire previously not available to explore the integrated approach with Six Sigma programs.</p>