The aims of this thesis are: • To explore what constitutes effective crisis leadership in the context of a multi-agency strategic incident response • To consider what positive and negative factors might influence the effectiveness of leaders operating in this context • To review how the organisational culture of participating agencies might affect multi-agency response • To assess possible implications for the training of multi-agency strategic leaders • To add to the understanding of cognitive processes taking place in those tasked with strategic crisis management It was found that the human factors affecting effective strategic crisis leadership fell into two categories: those which were directly attributable to the individual leader, and those which were not. In order to assist with individual leader effectiveness, a model of Interwoven Leadership is proposed, intertwining key task skills, interpersonal skills, stakeholder awareness and personal attributes. It is argued that the synergy of the leader/chair and the team is fundamental. Significant factors impacting on effectiveness which were not attributable to the individual included having the right people with the right decision-making remit appointed to the Strategic Co-ordinating Group (the SCG - formed by relevant agency representation when a major incident takes place); familiarity between SCG members; individual and organisational commitment to incident and exercise attendance and training; and adaption to inter-organisational cultural difference. It was found that there is no centralised consistent training available for the SCG co-ordinators who chair the SCG, and for SCG members. Individuals who do attend the available training are not formally assessed for competence. Important lessons identified after major exercises are not centrally gathered and disseminated as a matter of course, which means that an extremely valuable repository of data is not optimised.

This thesis is concerned with how customers seek value in public health and fitness clubs. Although the study of value takes many discursive avenues, value as practices are investigated in the present research. To establish the value seeking practices of public health and fitness club customers, data was collected via an ethnographic study. This involved the researcher attempting to view the practices of the public health and fitness club customers through their lens. Therefore, the researcher immersed himself in the study context for a period of five months as a participant observer. In addition, twenty in depth interviews with public health and fitness club customers where conducted. This combination of methods provided rich and detailed data for analysis. The data was viewed from an interpretive perspective and was subsequently coded using open, axial, and selective coding principles. The findings led to the identification of three key themes: practices concerning customers joining and committing to the health club, practices relating to the facilitation of customers performances within the health club, and the customers own visible performance practices. Within each broad theme, many sub-practices are identified and explained. The empirical data suggests that customers seek particular practices that give them value however these do not always match the provider’s requirements. It is further suggested that disjuncture’s between the customers and the providers practice could be viewed as the customer proposing practice for service development. Overall, the thesis extends existing research by providing new insights into customer’s value seeking practices in public sector health and fitness clubs and proposes a new model of value practice as a means of service development.

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<p> Transformational leadership style is widely believed to be the most effective leadership style. Using this style tends to bring about positive outcomes, increased job satisfaction, and decreased staff turnover. Intent to turnover of staff may not be solely dependent on leadership styles as other factors may also influence one&rsquo;s decision to leave a job or workplace. A significant concern of companies despite their locality, number of employees or type of business is turnover intention. High nursing turnover is a continuous and an increasing problem in the Emergency Department (ED). The purpose of the quantitative non-experimental study is to explore and describe the factors that influence ED nurse retention and their intention to leave (ITL). Therefore, it is important to identify key factors that influence ED nurse retention and ITL. The sample consisted of 100 Emergency Department Registered Nurses. Results of the T-test for research question one indicated no statistical significance between transformational leadership and turnover intention scores; Nurse Managers who exhibit characteristics of a strong transformational leader retain more ED Nurses than those Nurse Managers who do not exhibit characteristics of a transformational leader. Results of the T-test for research question two indicated no statistical difference in Nurse Managers who practice nursing engagement strategies (nursing management, professional practice, physician collaboration, staffing resources, and shift work) with ED Nurses would have equal or similar Turnover intention scores than those who do not practice nursing engagement strategies. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that nursing engagement strategies are key factors in retaining nurses in the ED. Therefore, in developing strategies for retention, it is critically important for nurse managers to focus on the influencing factors of engagement: nursing management, professional practice, collaboration with physicians, staffing resources and shift work.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this thematic, mixed-methods case study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary female chief executive officers (CEOs) use to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through meaning-making domains: character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration. Additionally, it was the purpose of this study to determine the degree of importance to which followers perceived behaviors within the meaning-making domains.</p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> The exploratory mixed-methods case study was selected to gather insight into the behaviors of four female chief executive officers through interviews. Twelve of their employees were asked to complete an online survey. The results of both the qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys were then compared for triangulation.</p><p> <b>Findings:</b> The qualitative findings of this research suggest that exemplary female CEOs demonstrate behaviors from each of meaning-making domains (character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration), with character and vision as most significant to meaning making. Followers concurred with their quantitative input, finding the domains of character and relationships to be the most significant in creating meaning within the organization.</p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The study&rsquo;s findings support the need for CEOs to integrate behaviors from each of the meaning-making domains (character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration) in order to create meaning for themselves and their followers. CEOs wishing to develop behaviors across these domains should make decisions based on a moral compass, invest in strategic planning, as well set aside time for reflection and self-development.</p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> There is a need for further exploration in this area of study. Replication studies could identify differing populations, exemplary male CEOs, or look at other geographical locations. For a deeper look into this topic, a pure qualitative design approach is suggested. The 21 emerging themes also need a deeper understanding and each could contribute to its own study. Finally, it is highly advisable that studies be conducted in order to add to the body of knowledge on meaning-making leadership.</p>

<p> The globalization of the business community has intensified the competitive business environment. Corporations now face not only national but also international competition. As corporations strive to both survive and grow, they continuously seek new avenues for both top line revenue growth and expense control. Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is a significant component of corporate costs, often cited as being the second largest cost after payrolls. As a result of these competitive pressures and the desire to control real estate costs, Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) emerged as a recognized management discipline in the 1980s and 1990s. With the relatively recent advent of CRE as a separate management discipline, a wide variety of theories and models have been advanced that seek to explain the practice of CREM leadership, strategy, and performance management (PM). The purpose of this study was to further the development of the CREM discipline by identifying contemporary challenges that CRE leaders face. The study also examined the leadership practices and strategies they use to respond to these challenges, and the methods they use to measure the overall success of their strategies and leadership practices. Recommendations they would make to other CRE leaders to help them achieve success in their organizations conclude the study. The study was conducted as a qualitative phenomenological study. Data was collected from 14 senior CRE leaders by means of semi-structured telephone interviews. Subsequent analysis of the interview data resulted in 49 themes being identified of which 24 were considered major themes. The findings of the study are intended to guide the further development of the practice of CREM.</p>

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<p> The evolution of workplace coaching has been primarily driven by coach practitioners as empirical literature did not noticeably emerge until the 1990s. As a result, coaching in business has relied on a variety of theories about how people learn rather than grounding the practice in social science research. This research study used the Delphi method to reach expert agreement on the guiding principles of coaching and the planning, implementation, and evaluation of manger-as-coach programs in business.</p><p> Expert participants in this study were solicited through LinkedIn coaching-related groups and from the International Coaching Federation&rsquo;s open, online credential holder&rsquo;s directory. Twenty-four expert panelists responded to all three survey rounds. Of the twenty-four respondents, 29% were male and 71% were female. In addition, the average number of total years coaching experience among experts was 18 and the median number of years coaching was 20.</p>