<p>This dissertation examines offers a corrective to the world polity theory of globalization, which posits increasing convergence on a single global cultural frame. In contrast, I suggest that national culture limits the adoption of "world culture" by actors and institutions. Instead of adopting world cultural models wholesale, they are adapted through a process I call translated global diffusion. In order to assess my theory, I follow the creation and development of organizations founded by Australia, Canada, and the United States to foster scientific development within their borders. All three national organizations were initiated around 1915, part of an international wave of state science that prima facie appears to support the world polity thesis. </p><p> Through a comparative historical analysis that combines archival material and secondary histories from each case, I demonstrate that concerns tied to national identity mediate the incorporation of models sanctioned as part of a "world cultural canopy" of institutional scripts. More specifically, federal legislatures circumscribe new organizations to fit preexisting ideas of proper government. Secondly, the scientists effectively running state science organizations negotiate often conflicting nationalistic and professional impulses. Finally, the national news media report about science in a selective and nationally filtered way. The result is a kind of particular universality, science layered with national import only fully visible from within the nation-state.</p> / Dissertation

<p>The Chinese automobile industry has been experiencing some profound changes during the market transition and globalization. Regarding to the ownership structure and technological upgrading strategies of the domestic assemblers, there have emerged four major developmental models. Transitional theoretical perspectives have limitations in face of these differing models. In this study, a perspective of social construction is proposed to resolve this research question. This dissertation explores four representative cases including FAW, SAIC Group, Chery and Geely. The major argument is that the local political structure, developmental ideas and agencies as necessary components of local social construction have resulted in the divergent paths among these Chinese car makers.</p> / Dissertation

<p>The value of task-related conflict to team effectiveness continues to generate controversy in organizational studies. I argue that this debate reflects as much differences in the conceptualization of conflict by scholars from separate traditions as it does variation in empirical settings and methods. The model proposed in this research is a more general framework for the study of team conflict that clarifies, accommodates, and reconciles to a large degree the divergent findings of prior research. It suggests that recent pessimism about the value of team conflict is overstated, and it offers a number of promising paths through which task-related conflict may improve team performance and satisfaction. Chapter 1 reviews the history of this debate and introduces the model of team conflict. Chapter 2 documents a test of the model's propositions in a correlational study of 223 MBA teams conducting a decision-making exercise. Chapter 3 features an experimental test of the model with a forecasting task completed by 60 3-person groups. And Chapter 4 revisits the conflict over conflict in light of the studies presented herein.</p> / Dissertation

<p>Among the most significant changes to the agricultural sector in the twentieth century include a sharp decline in employment and the numbers of farms, a decline in the proportion of total value that accrues to agricultural producers, and an increase in farm level and regional specialization. Within the U.S., substantial differences in the characteristics of agricultural producers and the spatial distribution of production persist amid industry change. These changes coincided with changes in global markets, domestic consumption, consolidation and concentration within the processing and retailing sectors, and government policy. The causality that lies behind these developments is the key puzzle that this study addresses. </p><p>This study advances an institutional explanation of industry formation across locations within the U.S. Differences in industry constitution at the local level produce different impacts of and responses to global markets, reflected by economic changes and policy developments, as actors work to secure stability and advantage in markets (Fligstein 2001). This study uses the global value chains' definition of the industry, which incorporates the network of actors arrayed along a process of production, to capture the set of actors with the capacity to affect industry operation (Gereffi 1994). An assessment of the relative importance of local economic characteristics, global markets, organization and coordination within industries, and government policies to where production locates in the primary objective of the study.</p><p>The pork and non-cigar tobacco industries across several states within the United States from 1959 through 2005 allow for a contrast along the key changes identified above. Within case comparison is used to construct causal narratives of industry change at the state level. Panel and pooled time series analysis assess the relative importance the factors to agricultural change.</p><p>Local economic characteristics largely fade from significance with the inclusion of the theoretical perspectives. Total and net trade in agricultural and manufactured products is generally significant across industries for production, although this is not the case for specific tobacco types. The proportion of farms composed of small farms is significant for production and for farm structure in both industries. The presence of manufacture is significant for hog production and could not be assessed for tobacco. While federal policies are broadly significant for the tobacco industry, identified state policies exhibit few consistent effects for hog production. Importantly, farm structure measures were only available for Census years, which reduces sample size. Second, many of the measures are industry-specific, which reduces comparability.</p> / Dissertation

<p> Women make up half of the workforce in America. Despite this, in traditional organizations, leadership roles are overwhelmingly held by men. Of the small number of African American women employed in the workforce, 30% hold professional or management positions and women in general are more educated, qualified and transformational than their male counterparts. Despite this, African American female leaders experience organizational barriers, social labeling, and biases driven by their intersectionality that hinders their career opportunities. Black feminist research suggests that social norms place women in subordinate roles in comparison to men in society. African American women face such social barriers at a higher level given additional societal hardships driven by racism. Literature on African American female leadership outlines the barriers, but there is a limited amount of literature that seeks to appreciate Black female leadership as it relates to their style characteristics, expertise, and experience within their organizations regarding their leadership styles and the resilience required to maintain success in their positions. In order to add to the body of research in this area, this study explored the leadership characteristics, barriers, success strategies and resilience of African American female leaders through the lenses of these women. This study assessed leadership and resilience in African American females who hold higher level positions of leadership in traditionally White, male dominated industries. The purpose of the research was to identify those factors that increase achievement, advancement and success in high ranking positions despite the documented adversities associated with African American women, who hold leadership positions. The goal was to provide a guide for women who aspire towards entering particular fields and holding similar leadership positions and to provide an outline of their success in order to offer a blueprint for organizational strategies to promote diversity and advancement for women. </p>

<p> The objectives of this explorative case study investigated a multistakeholder conflict in Tanzania Africa, using stakeholder theory as the theoretical foundation. While stakeholder theory has evolved and gained prominence as a method for reviewing conflict resolution processes it was important to conceptualize any discrepancies that could establish a framework for resolving conflicts in practice and in strategy. The research design analyzed five factors of framing, reframing, managing, power and trust with four different stakeholders involved in higher education loan conflicts. The results of the study showed distinct differences compared to previous research findings focused on multistakeholder conflicts. One primary distinction was characterization of the conflicts followed other studies however the lack of motivation to change was complex. There was a strong risk aversion which blocked a link for long-term solutions. Though like other studies competitive, collaboration and coalition for managing the conflicts were identified, risk aversion precipitated an unpredictable mixture of these management processes. Furthermore power imbalances and trust were identified as important aspects of multistakeholder conflicts; however this study linked the impact of results when risk aversion is included in the conflict. Finally, like other studies barriers to a strong conflict resolution process were related to normative values. However, this study enhanced the impact of a lack of societal values for motivating stakeholders to include normative values. It is recommended that further research be conducted to explore the implications of the multistakeholder conflict resolution model. </p>

<p>Organized religion plays a significant, even defining role for millions of people worldwide. Recently however, churchgoers, pastors, and denominational hierarchies are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with clergy leadership effectiveness and pastors are experiencing higher than expected levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Leadership effectiveness is often reported as one of the least satisfying aspects of working in faith-based settings and religious congregations. Clergy and congregational leaders need a leadership paradigm that provides a framework for leading in highly relational contexts such as religious organizations that also addresses the leaders need to maintain emotional health and psychological well-being. The present study utilized a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between self-differentiation and leadership effectiveness among 97 pastors in leadership positions from a variety of Christian religious denominations. Participants completed the Differentiation of Self and Role for Clergy and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Results of this study suggest that pastors performing in leadership roles have higher levels of self-differentiation than pastors performing in non-leadership roles and that self-differentiation was moderately and positively correlated with the transformational leadership components of intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. For the qualitative portion of the study, fourteen pastors participated in telephone interviews about their experiences of self-differentiation in leadership roles. Utilizing thematic analysis, nine distinct themes emerged and identified as precipitating event, &ldquo;aha&rdquo; moment, self-regulating, systemic awareness, self-in-role, take a stand, use of self-in-system, lead through connection and inclusion, and followers first. Qualitative results suggest that higher self-differentiation is related to pastors&rsquo; use of self-regulation of emotion, experiential learning, awareness of social context, and willingness to accept risk in exchange for progress. Higher levels of self-differentiation may contribute to the leaders ability to develop and maintain emotional connections with followers during times of conflict or disagreement. </p>

<p> College student mental health is a significant issue for educational leaders, as mental health needs are increasing in prevalence and severity (ACHA, 2013; Gallagher, 2013). Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein, and Zivin (2009) note that mental health issues cause adverse occupational, academic and social outcomes, impacting student success, retention, and persistence (Belch, 2011; Cleary, Walter, &amp; Jackson, 2011). Anxiety and depression, which are more prevalent in women (ADAA, 2007; APA, 2013), are the most common mental health issues affecting college students (ACHA, 2013; Gallagher, 2013). </p><p> Coyne and Downey (1991) correlated social support with improved mental health outcomes. Baron (2010) indicated that involvement in student organizations may promote development and connection, thereby enhancing learning and retention (Chambliss &amp; Takacs, 2014). Female students may engage in campus life by joining sororities, which are prominent and influential on many campuses (Lien, 2002). The purpose of this research was to investigate sorority member mental health, specifically anxiety and depression. The relationships between anxiety, depression, and student characteristics were examined. </p><p> This correlational, ex-post facto study explored the presence and severity of anxiety and depression of women (N =72) who self-identified as living in sorority housing. Permission was obtained to review data from the 2013-2014 Healthy Minds Study (Eisenberg &amp; Lipson, 2014), including demographic information and results from the PHQ-9 (Kroenke, Spitzer, &amp; Williams, 2001) and the GAD-7 (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, &amp; L&ouml;we 2006). Data analyses produced frequencies, correlations, and t-tests. </p><p> Findings revealed the following: 20% of respondents reported anxiety, with 8% percent reporting severe anxiety; 15% of respondents reported depression, with 5% reporting major depression. Financial difficulty was correlated with depression (<i>r</i> =.27, <i>r²</i>=.07, <i> p</i>=.008) and a significant relationship existed between the presence of anxiety and depression (<i>r²</i>=.36, <i> r</i>2=.13, <i>p</i>=.004). No statistically significant difference existed in reported symptoms of anxiety and depression of women residing in sorority housing compared to those residing elsewhere. Information about mental health may assist sororities in providing support and resources to members. Educational leaders, mental health practitioners, faculty, and student affairs staff can also benefit from this information as they work to help address student mental health needs, student retention, persistence, and success. </p>

<p> The multi-vendor consulting model is a transorganizational development topic that has gained importance as more organizations strategically source professional services, such as management consulting. Multi-vendor consulting models often require competitors to collaborate on service delivery, fostering coopetitive relationships. This research study acknowledged the paradoxical nature of coopetition and aimed to understand more fully the frequency of coopetition in the management consulting industry, the perceived benefits and risks of coopetition, and the key factors that motivate management consulting leaders to collaborate with their competitors on client engagements. The study revealed that there is a deeper level of motivation for management consulting leaders who chose to collaborate with competitors: the fear of missing out on current and future opportunities and the desire to develop stronger relationships in both their vertical and horizontal networks.</p>

<p> Human trafficking and prostitution for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) happens every day, in every country. Women and female children are the predominate targets of this type of exploitation. This research looked at CSE women and how the Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS), a Seattle nonprofit, approaches their work with victims. The action research study question was: What creates successful collaboration and best practices sharing within a Seattle social services nonprofit organization serving the domestically prostituted and trafficked survivor community? Data were collected through an online research survey, consisting of 11 questions in total. Survey demographics included nine OPS board of directors and staff participants. The completed findings were shared with OPS in a feedback session during the spring of 2014, indicating a need for more robust organizational development practices and strategy beyond OPS's current framework, including standardization of communication and self-care practices, financial development, fundraising, and clearly defined roles.</p>