Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of Louisville, 2007. / Title and description from thesis home page (viewed May 14, 2007). Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Vita. "May 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).

Title from title page of source document. Dissertation no. 3316. Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-183).

<p> Achievement motivation has been identified as an important element of organization behavior due to the impact it can have on an individual&rsquo;s performance, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. At the same time, work-life balance has become increasingly valuable to employees. There is much literature supporting the positive impacts of achievement motivation, job satisfaction and work-life balance. In addition, theories exist which detail the relationships between the studied variables, but little research has been completed studying the results in corporate and retail settings. </p><p> This study evaluated the relationship between an individual&rsquo;s achievement motivation and job satisfaction, the relationship between an individual&rsquo;s achievement motivation and work-life balance, and the relationship between an individual&rsquo;s job satisfaction and work-life balance.</p><p> A quantitative study was conducted using three survey instruments. The Achievement Motivation Inventory (AMI) instrument will measure achievement motivation in this study via a modified short version featuring 30 questions. The 18 question Job in General (JIG) scale will be utilized to measure job satisfaction in this study. The 5 question Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFC) will be the instrument used to measure work-life balance in this study. A non-random, as a convenience sample was used to select participants for this study. The population consisted of salaried store management employees who work in multiple store locations for a large corporation who were willing to voluntarily participate in the study.</p><p> Research question one tested achievement motivation and job satisfaction via the Achievement Motivation Inventory and Job in General scale. The analysis indicated that there is a weak positive linear relationship between the two studied variables. This relationship between a salaried retail manager&rsquo;s level of achievement motivation and their level of job satisfaction was found to be a statistically significant relationship. This was the only research question to feature a relationship between the studied variables that was statistically significant.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / This study selects two segments of American society, church and labor, within which to examine official pronouncements of specific agencies for the purpose of setting forth the image of labor organization contained therein. The study seeks to contribute to the understanding of the nature of labor organization by examining the image of organized labor held by national levels of church and labor organizations, and to test the hypothesis that the disparaties in image between church and labor groups has led to ambiguity in the church-labor relationship and to confusion with respect to church strategy concerning labor organization. The source material for this study is made up of the official pronouncements of the selected groups consisting of the national agencies of the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Within each group the study is confined to the highest level of national organization and the verbalizations which issue from that source. The method used in handling the data represents a median between statistical procedures of content analysis and purely qualitative procedures. The investigation is set forth in the form of a preliminary historical survey of labor organization in America and is followed by an analysis of the pronouncements of the agencies selected for study. The images of labor organization which emerge from this study can be summarized as follows: 1) The A. F. of L. sees itself during this period as the defender of the kind of labor organization that protects the basic economic welfare of the workingman by preserving his "freedom" to bargain collectively with the employer without government intervention. Laissez-faire collective bargaining is looked upon as the crucial means by which greater material prosperity can be won and is often identified with the essence of "freedom" itself. 2) The C. I. 0. image of itself relates labor organization more positively to government and shows less tendency to worry about government intervention. C. I. O. pronouncements emphasize collective bargaining as an obligation as well as a right and see it as a contribution to industrial democracy and democracy in general. 3) The image of labor organization revealed in the major Protestant agency during the period under study reveals an increasing tendency to see labor organizations as "big labor" and coordinate in power with management. 4) The image of labor organization revealed in the pronouncements of the National Catholic Welfare Conference displays a more frankly sympathetic acceptance of labor organizations as they are, with some concrete suggestions as to how they might be improved in line with Catholic social policy. Church policy shows a tendency to react to past forms of labor organization rather than to witness to present forms of labor organization. D1e Industry Council Plan promoted by the Roman Catholic church gives a frame of reference and a goal for Catholic policy not apparent in Protestant statements. The social justice ideals of earlier Protestant efforts served to relate the Protestant churches meaningfully to the emerging "labor movementn in the struggle for "rights," but at the same time unwittingly encouraged a materialism within labor organization. The pronouncements of the National Council during the ten year period following the close of World War II fail to disclose either a comparable crusade for the goals of organized labor or a comprehensive framework for the understanding of the nature and role of labor organization. It would seem that both the idea of "community" and the Protestant idea of the "calling" might serve as possible starting points for the development of a meaningful Protestant witness to organized labor.

<p> <b>Purpose</b>: The purpose of this mixed method phenomenological study was to explore and understand the leadership preferences of millennial employees in the public sector. Leadership preferences were generally defined as the traits and behaviors supervisors possess that millennials favor in the workplace. The study was designed to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and needs current public sector millennial employees have about their supervisor or leader. </p><p> <b>Methodology</b>: The subjects in this study were 50 millennial employees in the human resources department of a public-sector agency in Los Angeles County, California. Subjects responded to two research instruments: (1) a 7-item survey, the LMX7 Questionnaire, utilized to examine the quality of exchange between a leader and subordinate; and (2) a 20-item survey, Kelley&rsquo;s Followership Questionnaire, utilized to measure independent critical thinking and active engagement. Eight employees were selected and responded to an interview that utilized 11 semi-structured questions to assess subjects&rsquo; individual experiences of public sector millennial employees. </p><p> <b>Findings</b>: Examination of quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents indicated that, despite their apparent similarities, millennial employees in the public sector are unique. Second, an examination of the same data indicated that, while the benefits and stability of the public sector initially attracted millennials, the opportunity to work in an innovative department with a supervisor who acted as a change agent and listened to their ideas while providing feedback was important to them. </p><p> <b>Conclusions and Recommendations</b>: If the public sector is to attract, motivate, and retain millennials, leaders must adopt a positive and open attitude toward this generational group while ensuring an innovative and engaging environment. Millennials, accused of being disloyal to organizations, were more likely to remain in their public- sector positions if they felt valued. This study could be replicated longitudinally to explore the attitudes and beliefs of millennials as they age or enter another life or career stage to determine if changes could be attributed to age or life or career stage rather than tied to their specific generation.</p><p>

<p>Toxic leadership costs organizations millions at a time in lost employees, lost customers, lost productivity, and even lost health. The literature shows toxic leadership extends beyond just leaders into an interconnected ?toxic triangle? of destructive leaders, conducive environments, and susceptible followers. This study explored, ?Can a free, online mindfulness-based stress reduction course reduce the negative impact of toxic leadership on the organization?? Ten volunteers self-identified as currently working under a toxic leader. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to measure resistance, compliance, and core self-evaluation along with interviews and journals. The results indicated mindfulness did reduce the negative impact: conducive environments were less conducive and susceptible followers were less susceptible. Additionally, mindfulness had influence on the entire toxic triangle and resulted in unique Toxic Triangle Influence Maps for each situation. Finally, family systems theory was found to be particularly useful for understanding leadership in a toxic triangle.

In order to test the theory of the firm and alternative theories of firm behaviour, primary data was collected from 310 managers of UK-based firms. This primary data was then combined with secondary data collated from the Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME) database and the FTSEISS Corporate Governance Index. This data was then used to construct a number of binary probit models to test the validity of competing theories of the firm. Finally, the data was used to test an original hypothesis, that the level of corporate governance within a firm's management structure is the factor that determines if the managers of the firm will aim for a maximum level of profits. The hypothesis offered here is that it is not, as previously suggested, the percentage of shares held by any one individual, the overall ownership structure, the size of the firm or indeed any firm, market or industry-specific variable that determines if a firm will aim to maximize profits. The relevant factor that determines if a firm will aim to maximize profits is the level of corporate governance within the firm's management structure. Regardless of any other variable, a firm with a high degree of corporate governance is more likely to aim to profit maximize than a firm with a low level of corporate governance.

<p>Across industries and organizations, some managers hold dual roles that require them to meet various demands between internal and external work settings. Further, while these demands may be understood as interrelated and complementary, they can be simultaneously experienced as mutually exclusive, creating paradoxical tensions. This study applied a grounded theory (GT) method to better understand how district managers (DMs) navigated the `corporate/field paradox? in their dual role. Specifically, the DMs were corporate employees who worked remotely in the field to support their respective regional stores, to essentially help their company succeed in the retail industry. Based on a social constructivist approach, 17 DMs? perspectives were gathered through an online questionnaire, and intensive interviews, to generate a theory that reflects how this social process is experienced and understood. Both individual and organizational facets were considered in the dual role navigation of the corporate/field paradox. The following theoretical elements were identified: context (personal and organizational), interpersonal dynamics (relationships, influencing effectiveness, communications), intrapersonal dynamics (cognition, emotions, challenges/rewards), overall impacts (personal and organizational), and adapting. Overall, the generated `Corporate/Field Paradox Theory? from this study proposes an interactive systems approach to better understanding how DMs navigate between all of these interrelated elements. For future research and practice, this theory offers a more holistic and nonlinear interpretation of how paradoxes might be experienced.

<p> By 2030, almost every entry level role in the United States will be filled by a member of Generation Z (born after 1995). Researchers have noted an unclear understanding of the Generation Z perspective on leadership; despite Generation Z&rsquo;s increasing presence in the workforce. This knowledge gap is detrimental to organizational viability and can negatively impact organizational performance and strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify the leadership preferences of Generation Z based on their lived experience in the workplace; and discuss to what extent Generation Z prefers a transactional or transformational leadership style. A theoretical frame that links generational identity (generational cohort theory) to leadership theory supports the exploration of these preferences phenomenologically and establishes the significance of generational leadership preferences on organizational performance. Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted and analyzed using a modified version of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). IPA revealed six (6) emergent themes in the phenomenon under investigation (specifically Generation Z&rsquo;s workplace experiences); the themes were described and their implications interpreted. The findings were validated using a relatively novel tool for phenomenology: freelisting (a cultural domain analysis tool). The findings describe Generation Z&rsquo;s ideal leader and their introspective thoughts on their workplace identity and experiences. It was concluded that Generation Z tends to prefer transformational leadership more than transactional leadership, supported and predicted by the literature. Understanding Generation Z&rsquo;s leadership preferences will provide insight on better methods for organizations to recruit, train, and develop employees. Such insights will also be beneficial to future Generation Z research.</p><p>