<p> The purpose of this correlational, quantitative research study was to determine if a relationship existed between employee perceived levels of servant leadership in healthcare leaders and employee satisfaction in New York City public hospital emergency rooms. The effect of servant leadership on improving employee satisfaction in New York City public hospital emergency rooms (ER) was unknown. The theoretical foundation of the study, servant leadership, supported the premise that employee perceptions of servant leadership characteristics influenced employee job satisfaction within public hospital settings in New York City. One hundred and seventeen employees completed the Organizational Leadership Assessment and the Minnesota Survey Questionnaire, and the data were analyzed through the utility of SPSS v. 19. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between servant leadership and employee general job satisfaction (<i>r</i> = .191; <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). The findings of this research study are important with regard to the following areas: (a) providing information to healthcare administrators regarding the usefulness of servant leadership in the improvement of employee and patient satisfaction, (b) creating a positive working environment for employees, (c) creating satisfied employees and patients, and (d) improving organizational performance.. The study adds to the research in the area of servant leadership and its potential to impact healthcare organizations and people. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> servant leadership, employee satisfaction, patient satisfaction.</p>

<p> As the workplace has diversified with the inclusion of women and minorities holding positions throughout all levels of the organization hierarchy, the question remains if gendered racism exists in the 2014 workplace for women managers with minority group background. Gendered racism, described by Philomena Essed in her 1991 book, <i>Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory,</i> is a unique female experience due to their race and being a woman. Visible at this intersection of race and sex, women of color may experience the sexist and racist stereotypes dually assigned to women and minorities. This research provides a qualitative view of the experiences of gendered racism using Moustakas' transcendental phenomenology method. Data were collected from eight women who self-identified as Hispanic (<i> n</i>=2) and Black (<i>n</i>=6). All the women with the exception of one were college graduates, managers in an organization of 50 or more employees, between the ages of 35 to 62 years old. The study findings validated the experiences of gender racism in the workplace through the lived experiences of women interviewed. The women revealed their experiences with gendered racism, which affected their workplace interactions with others, manifest psychological stressors, and tainted the vision of themselves. Additionally, all of the women developed coping skills to combat gendered racism, which allowed them to pivot their careers to higher levels in their organizations. The emerging themes revealed from the study's participants experiences of gendered racism are psychological effects, feeling discounted, acceptance or justification, disrespect, and self-confidence. This research provides a phenomenological description of the lived experiences of the gendered racism and the impact of these experiences in the workplace as reveal by women of color.</p>

<p> This mixed-methods study examined the impact of forming a family council on family owners' knowledge, commitment, and stewardship within a single family business. Data were gathered from six of the eight owners using survey and dialogue methods. The study provided evidence that family council interventions can indeed provide opportunities for family members to address unresolved family tensions and empower owners to work together productively. The intervention (a) helped members establish a strong foundation for future operation of the family council, (b) engendered greater family member engagement and stewardship, (c) created conditions for acknowledging and discussing family strengths and tensions, and (d) motivated members to take initiative moving forward. Longitudinal mixed-methods research using larger samples of multiple companies and larger ownership groups with varied levels of participation are recommended to extend these findings.</p>

<p> This quantitative study was an exploration of police officers&rsquo; in Puerto Rico level of trust, perception of leadership style, and perceived leadership effectiveness in two different contexts, normal contexts and life-threatening contexts. Data were collected through a web-based system, SurveyMonkey&reg;, where police officers from Puerto Rico completed an online survey. The survey instrument included the Leadership Style Survey by Dr. Peter Northouse, the Global Trust Scale by Dr. Jason Colquitt, and the Perception of Leadership Effectiveness Scale published in Psych Articles. The sample included 128 sworn, active duty police officers from Puerto Rico. The findings of this study revealed that demographics such as age, sex, and years on the force were not related to trust in the supervisor by the police officers. The study findings further revealed that police supervisors in Puerto Rico demonstrated an authoritarian leadership style in both normal contexts and life-threatening contexts. Multiple regression analysis showed that high levels of authoritarian leadership styles are related to high levels of trust. Although the study findings revealed that, overall, leaders&rsquo; skills were rated on the subscale as moderately bad, authoritarian leaders were also perceived as effective leaders in both normal contexts and life threatening contexts.</p>

<p> This multi-case study examined interorganizational relations of co-coordinated volunteer program partnerships between select U.S. National Park Service (NPS) sites and their nonprofit partners. National parks face ongoing funding challenges, resulting in staff reductions and the inability to address many park and visitor needs. Cutbacks and more park visitors translate to greater need for volunteers. Many national parks have nonprofit partners that traditionally focused on fundraising. In 14 cases, these nonprofits expanded their activity to include co-coordination of volunteer programming with NPS partners.</p><p> Six partnerships were selected for in-depth study based on a quantitative survey. The study's research questions focus on how the partners collaborate, structures of their co-managed volunteer programs, the programs' adherence to research-based tenets of volunteer program management and interorganizational collaboration, and similarities and differences among the cases. In each case, the partnerships resulted in substantial growth of volunteer programming. </p><p> As predicted by Interorganizational Relations and New Institutionalism theories as well as research on volunteer programs managed by a single organization, the volunteer program partnerships have many similar structures, face comparable challenges, and employ many of the same strategies to address challenges. However, the partnerships developed additional practices related to their volunteer programs being co-managed, including staff co-location, daily partner communication, creating a shared volunteer program mission, use of technology for communication, longevity of key staff, and innovative ways to multiply the number of their volunteer coordination positions. The partnerships employ a combination of ad hoc, decentralized, and centralized structures for their volunteer programs as well as a combination of universal, contingent, and configurational practices for volunteer program management. The largest volunteer partnerships also use more agreements, structures, and strategies.</p><p> Despite partially adhering to New Institutional theories that suggest structures within organizational fields become more similar over time, these volunteer programs also remain distinctive based on the partners' responses to unique features, challenges, and opportunities at their parks as well as due to different management practices. The most impactful programs take greater advantage of features of their locations, surrounding populations, and available staff. Finally, 'love' for certain parks emerged as a factor that both helps ameliorate conflict among partners and serves as the primary motivator for many volunteers. Overall, these partnerships resulted in expanded volunteer programs, enhanced partner relationships, and greater ability to adapt to changing conditions and opportunities.</p>

<p> Despite increased awareness of the link between teamwork and medical errors, and increased development of interventions aimed at improving team performance, the incidence of preventable errors in hospitals, and in the surgical environment particularly, remains high. Absent from interdisciplinary team development efforts is empirical evidence informed by the voices of surgical team members specific to their day- to- day experiences of teamwork. For this reason, a case study of interdisciplinary teamwork among Orthopedic Surgery team members was conducted from June to December 2013 to: (a) discover how teamwork behaviors are enacted in the surgical environment to affect the incidence of preventable surgical errors; and (b) understand the experience of teamwork from the perspective of surgical team members.</p><p> The case study data included 37 one-on-one interviews with Orthopedic Surgery team members (including two supervisors), and observations by the researcher guided by the Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) instrument. This study finds that while mindfulness is a prerequisite to safety behaviors that are found in the surgical setting, there is a dynamic interplay between processes of collective mindfulness and traditional teamwork behaviors wherein one continuously informs, shapes, and reinforces the other. Noting contributions of the this study to practice, the opportunity exists to expand the present inquiry beyond Orthopedic Surgery to include other surgical specialties as well as non-surgical practices within the hospital and clinic environments.</p>

<p> The percentage of failure in traditional project management is high, as nearly 70% of projects fail (The Standish Group, 2009). Unsuccessful projects impact businesses, customers, and society in sizable ways. </p><p> Project success and failure research fit into two categories: (a) project management methodological issues and (b) leadership and organizational behavior issues. Most research focuses on the former. This research addressed the later, specifically examining Information Technology (IT) project workers who reside in the United States. </p><p> The central research question was, What is the optimal organizational culture for IT project teams such that success factors are enhanced and failure factors are lessened? A mixed-methods study was designed and implemented. For Phase One, an internet survey was conducted using Cameron and Quinn's (2006) Competing Values Framework (Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI)) and compared to a measure of IT Project Success. For Phase Two, qualitative interviews were carried out using Schein's (2004) Three Levels Model of organizational culture, and then a Thematic Analysis was completed to obtain an optimal culture model. </p><p> One hundred forty-one participants completed Phase One. Results showed no significant correlation between the four culture types (Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy) and IT project success. For Phase Two, 15 participants of varying job roles and demographics completed interviews. Applying Thematic Analysis techniques, 175 codes related to leadership and organizational behavior issues were determined, which produced twenty-six themes. </p><p> The findings from Phase Two produced a set of interrelated organizational culture factors that IT project workers believed were optimal for project success. The framework was termed Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM and comprised four dimensions: (a) organizational behavior/leadership, (b) processes, (c) support, and (d) technology. The results suggest that if managers and consultants implemented this model, or applicable factors, that their IT projects would likely have greater success, or lower degrees of failure. </p><p> Suggestions for future research is to continue to study leadership and organizational behavior issues of project teams. Additional research is needed on the Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM framework to determine whether differing demographics of IT workers and company (or project) types impact the results.</p>

<p> The administration's healthcare reform act of 2010 brings changes that are targeted to increase the quality of care, cut rising healthcare costs, and improve the health of the population, but the principle objectives of the law can only be met with the active involvement of physicians. However, leading in multidisciplinary healthcare organizations is difficult and physicians prepared for leadership are in short supply. Addressing this shortage first requires an understanding of the leadership practices of physicians in order to develop an effective leadership development program. To this end, the primary purpose of this study is to explore the practices of physician leaders. </p><p> This study used the qualitative phenomenological method to examine the experiences of physicians in their lives as leaders. The theoretical framework used to guide the research was the five practices of exemplary leaders (Kouzes &amp; Posner, 2012). Interviews were conducted with 8 participants and the data were coded and analyzed using HyperRESEARCH, a qualitative coding software package. The validity and reliability of the study were enhanced by presenting an in-depth, vivid analysis of the data, by conducting a peer review and by clarifying the researcher's bias at the outset of the study. The study found that all 5 of the practices in Kouzes and Posner's (2012) theoretical framework were present in physician leaders to varying degrees. Overall, the expressions which represented the practices of "enable others to act," "inspire a shared vision," and "challenge the process," were counted more often than "model the way" and "encourage the heart." </p><p> The study recommends that instructional designers develop a systematic curriculum with advanced leadership concepts. Additional recommendations include executive coaching and change leadership training. Recommendations for future research include increasing the number of participants, replicating the study using a different theoretical framework, including more physicians from small practices, expanding the study to collect demographics of the participants, and using a quantitative method or mixed method to enhance the transferability of the study results.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating influences of core self-evaluation, emotional intelligence, and extraversion on the career success of master's level business graduates. Much was known about the relationship between this study's three dispositional variables and career success, but far less was known about how these items interact with one another to influence extrinsic and intrinsic career success. Our research involved the collection of data from master's level business alumni from a large Southeastern university who graduated between 2000 and 2012. Established measures were used as gathering instruments for the three dispositional variables, the CSES for core self-evaluation, the WEIP-S for emotional intelligence, and the IPIP proxy of the NEO-PI-R for extraversion. In total, 4,790 alumni were surveyed and 534 alumni successfully completed the survey. The survey results found partial support for 2 of the 4 hypotheses. We found a moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between core self-evaluation and extrinsic career success. We also found that extraversion moderated the relationship between core self-evaluation and participant's response to the question `time spent happy at work'. The data also produced a strong, positive relationship between core self-evaluation and intrinsic career success, and a modest relationship between intrinsic career success and both emotional intelligence and extraversion. This study concluded that personality does matter when it comes to career success of master's level business graduates. These results have implications for business schools administrators that aim to improve the career success of their master's level business graduates. By understanding the core self-evaluation traits and emotional intelligence abilities of applicants and students, business school leaders can seek to understand how these items are associated with higher performance in terms of job placement and career success. This knowledge could be incorporated into a more sophisticated approach to attracting student talent, developing student talent through curricula advances, and connecting student talent to hiring organizations. In doing so, business schools can advance their mission of providing not only knowledge and skill development to their students, but also more long term career success and improved results for the organizations that hire their graduate talent.</p>

<p> Historically, leadership research has concentrated on the charismatic and sometimes mythical qualities of a single, heroic leader. In a knowledge-oriented economy, theories of individual leaders are incomplete because they fail to capture the social nature of complex organizations. A distributed perspective of leadership frames leadership in terms of dynamic patterns of social interaction between people and aspects of their situation and considers the context or structure as important as the human agency. </p><p> This qualitative single case study, which involved a self-managed team of professionals in a mid-sized global financial services company, explored leadership as a social process in response to goals of organizational effectiveness and corporate organizational change over time. Specifically, this study described how leadership actions were enacted within the context of emerging social structuring, which enhances the understanding of leadership theory and moves us closer to being able to practically utilize a distributed perspective of leadership. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and document review. </p><p> The findings of strategic alignment with organizational goals and the utilization of advanced technology emerged as external conditions for leadership practice. The nature of interactions within the team was influenced by a combination of five distinct but interdependent elements: shared interest, routines, participation norms, language, and authority structures. The study shows the fluid nature of distributed leadership and the reciprocal dynamics of interactions that coevolve and change over time to best fit with specific circumstances. </p><p> The findings support three conclusions: (1) the role of context as an essential aspect of leadership practice; (2) the relational dynamics of social structuring and the influence of three fundamental elements of social interaction&mdash;meaning, power, and norms&mdash;on leadership action; and (3) the strengthening and sustaining ability of the norm of reciprocity on the dynamic interaction among team members. This study is important because it will help organizations better understand, identify, and apply the principles of a distributed perspective of leadership to future situations and will increase the credibility and viability of collective leadership theories.</p>