A recurrent justification for knowledge management initiatives in the U.S. federal government workplace is the assertion that knowledge sharing groups, such as communities of practice, positively impact their members and benefit the organization by fostering a work environment that results in innovation. However, limited quantitative research existed to support the claims. The purpose of this research was to discover evidence for and explain the relationships between two of the dimensions of communities of practice (i.e., participation and connectivity) and a climate of innovation (e.g., vision, participative safety, task orientation, and support for innovation). This study provided empirical support for the relationship between participation and climate of innovation, as well as the relationship between connectivity and climate of innovation. Given the current economic and security challenges such as the global recession, homeland protection, and industry bailouts, the need for innovative products and services is paramount. Incorporating the results of this study and placing an emphasis on building or solidifying relationships, members of knowledge sharing groups within and across the federal government environment may better develop and implement strategies to address the current stresses and work toward stabilizing the worldwide situation. Perceptions were collected from 384 community of practice members within the U.S. federal government environment about participation, connectivity, and the community's climate of innovation. Items from three existing instruments, Communities Assessment Tool (Verburg & Andriessen, 2006), Sense of Community Index (Chipeur & Pretty, 1999; Peterson, Speer, & Hughey, 2006), and Team Climate Inventory (Kivimäki & Ellovainio, 1999), were consolidated into one online questionnaire. Once the data were collected from the respondents, they were checked for completeness, reorganized and relabeled as necessary, and then transported to SAS JMP, version 7. The reliabilities in this study were comparable to previously published reliabilities. Demographic data indicated that the respondents tended to see themselves as experts, were active within their community, and relied on virtual contact with community members, although they had the opportunity to meet face-to-face in the past. After a review of the correlations, a parsimonious model containing four variables (i.e., climate of innovation, perceived benefits of participation, nature of participation, and connectivity) was generated. In response to the research questions, multiple regression was conducted. The results showed that participation variables accounted for 22% to 26% of the variance in climate of innovation, with support for innovation being the best explained and vision following close behind with the second largest percentage of its variance explained. The connectivity variables explained 18% to 29% of the additional variance, with participative safety responsible for the largest percentages of the variance and vision having the second largest percentage. Together, the four participation variables explained about one quarter of the variance in each of the climate of innovation criteria. Adding the four connectivity variables explained more than an additional quarter of the variance for vision and participatory safety. Given the results, two themes emerged: The first was the importance of connectivity within communities of practice and in relation to a community's climate of innovation. The second was the refinement of the contemporary definition of participation within communities of practice. The findings signify that social approaches to knowledge management, such as communities of practice, may contribute to a climate conducive to innovation. Suggestions for future research and implications for practitioners are discussed. / Ph. D.

With rapid changes in the business environment, more acute competition and increasingly demanding clients, organisations in the construction industry have identified innovation as a means of achieving competitive advantage. Innovation provides an important avenue for firms to improve performance while differentiating their products and services. Research has identified a number of factors as influencing innovation in construction organisations. Primarily these include internal factors such as organisational climate, innovation championing, leadership and exogenous influences such as clients, regulations, technology and the economy. The role of senior management in promoting innovation is widely recognised in literature. However, in the construction and project based environment, very few studies have focused on middle management and how their day to day leadership activities impact on innovation and project performance. The purpose of this study was to improve middle management leadership behaviour in order to facilitate innovation and improve project performance in construction professional services firms. Through a combination of qualitative case study, questionnaire surveys and qualitative interviews, the research identified how the leadership behaviour exhibited by middle managers in the work place could enhance innovation and project performance. The study was undertaken in five phases to reflect the five key objectives for the research. The first phase comprised a review of the literature on innovation to identify key internal and external factors influencing innovation and ultimately, project performance. The second phase involved a case study of three different innovative projects to examine the role of middle managers in facilitating the innovations studied. Phase three of the study investigated the relationships among transformational leadership, innovation championing and organisational climate for innovation while examining how they combine to promote innovation and enhance project performance. Phase four involved qualitative validation of the relationship among the constructs examined in phase three and preparation of leadership development resource for middle managers which was subsequently trialed in phase five. Key findings from the study suggest that transformational leadership behaviour exhibited by middle managers influences innovation by developing an environment conducive to innovation which in turn fosters innovation championing behaviour and ultimately, enhances project performance. The study contributes to knowledge and adds to the understanding of the role of middle managers in facilitating innovation and improving project performance. It demonstrates that the bypass effect of transformational leadership is applicable in the project based environment since transformational leadership of middle managers directly influenced project performance, circumventing project managers. In addition, the cascading effect of transformational leadership was confirmed, as championing behaviour and climate for innovation mediated the relationship between transformational leadership of middle managers and project performance. Furthermore, it revealed that the individual dimensions of transformational leadership influenced innovation and project performance differently. The study found that individualised support was the most influential dimension impacting on innovation championing behaviour, climate for innovation and project performance. Articulating vision and fostering the acceptance of group goals both influenced climate for innovation and project performance. High performance expectation, modelling behaviour and intellectual stimulation influenced innovation championing and project performance. Beyond these the study has highlighted the particular actions which constituted each dimension of transformational leadership and how they influenced the performance of project team members. Through this study transformational leadership development resource has been developed to help middle managers cultivate the expected leadership behaviour that could facilitate innovation and improve project performance. The study also identified how transformational leadership behaviour can be engrained in the day to day working practices of middle managers. The study presents a more positive view of middle managerial role in improving organisational performance contrary to previous negative reporting on this constituency and identifies the need for greater recognition for their role. The study recommends that construction professional services firms should support middle managers to develop transformational leadership behaviour and create the kind of environment where innovation becomes a part of the normal daily work practices. In addition the study opens a new avenue for the study of transformational leadership by using both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the impact of the individual dimensions. It recommends that future research adopts the same approach in different contexts to further test the suggested relationships. The study concludes with recommendations for policy makers to give greater attention to incorporating transformational leadership behaviour into the essential set of behavioural competencies managers in the construction industry need to develop beyond their technical skills.

Past research has highlighted the negative effects of abusive supervision on employees’ performance. This study seeks to investigate how immediate manager’s abusive behavior affects employee performance. Specifically, drawing upon social exchange theory, conservation of resources theory and LMX theory, this research develops a theoretical model that illustrates how abusive supervision negatively affects employees’ innovative behavior, through climate for innovation in an organization and LMX quality. For these relationships, we propose dyad tenure, gender dissimilarity, perceived organizational support, coworker support and locus of control as first stage moderators and psychological empowerment and psychological security as second stage moderators.To test the proposed model, data was collected from fulltime US employees who have regular interactions with their immediate manager. A two-time survey was distributed to participants through Prolific platform. The hypotheses that were tested include the negative relationship between abusive supervision and employee innovative behavior, the mediating role of Leader-Member exchange (LMX) quality and climate for innovation, and the direct effect of abusive supervision on the mediating variables and moderating effect of psychological security were supported. Possible implications, future research and practical contributions are discussed.

Social service organizations have changed dramatically during the last decade in an effort to increase effectiveness and control. This has placed new demands on those in leadership roles, and the need for knowledge of how to lead these transformed organizations has increased. Transformational leadership is a leadership model based on vision and empowerment, one suggested to increase both employee effectiveness and well-being, but the usefulness of this model in the public sector has been questioned. The general aim of this thesis is therefore to increase our understanding of the transformational leadership process in the context of social service organizations by investigating factors that explain when and why transformational leadership emerges and is effective. Questionnaire data from social service employees as well as interview data from managers were used in three empirical studies. Results from Studies 1 & 2 show that transformational leadership is positively associated with employee outcomes including commitment, role clarity, and well-being. Factors that might influence the effectiveness of transformational leadership were addressed in Study 1. It was found that leader continuity enhanced the effect of transformational leadership on role clarity and commitment, indicating that it takes time before transformational leaders actually have an effect on employees. Furthermore, co-worker support enhanced the effect on commitment, reflecting the role of followers in the transformational leadership process. The way in which transformational leaders influence employees was examined in Study 2, and climate for innovation mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and well-being both cross-sectionally and one year later. Finally, organizational factors that may hinder the emergence of transformational leadership were addressed in Study 3, and newly recruited managers were interviewed during their first year of leadership. Eight hindering factors in the organization to exhibit transformational leadership were identified, including the organizational structure, ongoing change, and the leaders’ working conditions. In all, this thesis has demonstrated the usefulness of transformational leadership in social services in terms of being associated with employee positive attitudes and well-being, and has also identified factors that may both help and hinder the transformational leadership process in this context.

Financial markets play a vital role in the allocation of the world’s resources. Yet financial markets are also prone to booms and busts as financial intermediaries imperfectly respond to the world around them. This thesis examines the role of financial markets in the context of climate change. It examines how financial markets are slowly, though imperfectly, moving towards addressing one of the greatest economic and scientific challenges of our century. I examine in-depth a number of areas where financial markets are operating effectively to address the challenges of climate change. I also identify those areas where market failures signal the need for further government intervention. This thesis proceeds in four substantive chapters. My approach is empirical and employs both quantitative and qualitative techniques. I first address financial market theory on the role of information in efficient market operation (Chapter 3). I then examine behaviourally how financial markets are integrating new climate-related information in investment decisions (Chapter 4). This thesis then examines the two financial markets in depth. The first is an empirical examination of how carbon markets have influenced publicly listed markets in energy stocks within Europe (Chapter 5). The second is an empirical examination of direct investment (venture capital and private equity) in clean technologies in Europe and North America (Chapter 6). Four findings emerge from this thesis: Firstly, financial market reform must begin with greater information disclosure to the market on the physical and carbon-related risks facing corporations and the community. Secondly, large asset owners (such as pension funds) should demand greater integration of long-term systemic risk considerations in their asset allocation decisions if they are to adequately respond to climate change. Thirdly, market structure appears to materially influence the operation of a carbon price signal within an energy market. This indicates further empirical research is needed by governments to examine whether carbon markets achieve their intended aims. Fourthly, the flow of direct investment (private equity) in emerging clean technologies is highly contingent on geography. The size and direction of capital flows is influenced by regulation, capital market structures, and physical environmental variables. Government must bear this in mind when formulating appropriate technology and industry policy to spur clean technology investment.