This research examined leadership in difficult situations using phenomenological and critical incident analyses of 14 interviews with respected leaders. Leadership in difficult situations was examined as a personal experience consistent with the perspective of counselling psychology. The phenomenological analysis has produced four voices. The first voice captures the participants' description of leadership as a paradox of personal and situational dynamics. The second voice forms an uncommon elucidation of the lived experience of leadership in difficult situations. The participants are seen to be striving in a resilient manner characterized by a sense of acceptance and authenticity. The third and fourth voices describe the means by which the participants are effective in difficult situations. The third voice captures the intra-personal process of resonance, personal and social awareness, personal supports, mastery of the issues, and the capacity to generate remarkable outcomes. The fourth phenomenological voice captures the participant's active engagement in connecting with people, shaping the work context and leading collaboration to develop a successful process. Five categories have been produced by the Critical Incident Technique, which examined what helps and what hinders in the experience of leadership through difficult situations. The five categories are: being experienced, principled and self-aware; having personal supports and influences; being interested and skilled in connecting with people; being both energetic and able to withdraw appropriately; finally, actively cultivating their perspective or vision. These five categories indicate the capacity of the participants for diverse means of participation in difficult situations. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research and practice.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-177). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Disruptions can cause projects to fail. Within the project management literature, approaches to managing disruptions consist of uncertainty, risk, opportunity, change, and crisis management. These approaches focus on developing strategies to manage perceived threats and also work towards predicting risk, therefore, reducing vulnerability. This vulnerability-reduction only focus is limiting because it takes the focus away from the development of a general capacity for readiness and for responding to uncertain situations. A resiliency approach enables a simultaneous focus on vulnerability reduction, readiness and response and thus ensures recovery. Given the context and discipline specific nature of the resilience concept, and the little or no attention in projects, this thesis conceptualises resilience in projects. This conceptualisation is to enable the identification of factors to consider and indicators to ensure overall project recovery, through the identification of dimensions and antecedents of resilience respectively. The aim of this study therefore, is to develop a framework to conceptualise resilience in projects. To achieve this aim, three case studies, namely; building, civil engineering and engineering construction projects were investigated. Within each case study, the critical incident technique was employed to identify disruptions and their management through direct observations of human activities, narration of critical incidents and review of documents on disruption. Following this, a comparative analysis and synthesis of the case studies was carried out and findings revealed definition, dimensions, antecedents and consequences of resilience in projects. Specifically, resilience in projects is defined as; the capability of a project to respond to, prepare for and reduce the impact of disruption caused by the drifting environment and project complexity. The dimensions of resilience are; proactivity, coping ability, flexibility and persistence. Proactivity can be defined as an anticipatory capability that the project takes to influence their endeavours whilst coping ability can be defined as the capability to manage and deal with stress caused by disruptions within the projects. Furthermore, flexibility can be defined as the capability of a project to manage disruption by allowing change but ultimately making sure that the aim is maintained and persistence is the capability to continue despite difficult situations. Several antecedents of these dimensions of resilience are identified. For proactivity these include contract, training, monitoring, contingency and experience. For coping ability these include the contract, training, contingency and experience. For flexibility these include open-mindedness, planning, continual monitoring and continual identification of ideas and for persistence these include continual monitoring, planning and negotiation. Also, the consequence of resilience in projects is recovery through response, readiness and vulnerability reduction. This conceptualisation of resilience is then synthesised into a validated framework for resilience in projects. Theoretically, this research provides definition, dimensions, antecedents and consequence for resilience in projects and a theoretical starting point for the concept of resilience in projects. The significance of this research to practice is the identification and development of a more holistic perspective of managing disruptions in projects through the identified dimensions, antecedents and consequences. These dimensions, antecedents and consequences provide clarity for the roles of project managers and team members in managing disruptions and thus, expand the eleventh knowledge area; project risk management, of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK). In addition, the dimensions, antecedents and consequences of resilience in projects contribute to the curriculum development in project management and thus, provide factors and indicators that project managers require in managing disruptions.

xiii, 177 p. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Marketing Planning is the most prescribed tool for "doing" marketing. The marketing plan's implementation schedule provides a roadmap for accomplishing a firm's stated marketing objectives. For over three decades researchers have investigated planning's link to firm performance. The consensus has been that they do improve performance although there is little empirical evidence to suggest how implementation of those plans is related. Environmental turbulence, new information and failed implementation cause firms to act outside of the planning framework. Improvisation is the contemporaneous creation and execution of an action. The extent to which firms act improvisationally has been studied, but to date there has been no empirical investigation that exposes the different types of post plan improvisations of strategic marketing plans that exist. This dissertation attempts to identify the different types of post plan improvisations (PPI) used in marketing. Using the Critical Incident Technique, 384 incidents of PPI were gathered from marketing planners and then used to create categories and systematically classify each incident. Four primary categories of causes of deviations, six categories of deviations and four categories of outcomes emerged from the data. The results provide a foundation for a theoretical model of the types of post plan improvisations in practice. This will allow further research into contextual differences that could help managers decide when to improvise and when to follow their plan. Further, by exposing the useful application of the CIT method in a new field, additional researchers might begin to use the technique to update and more deeply understand other marketing phenomenon. / Adviser: David M. Boush

The questions addressed in this study arose from an earlier project which attempted to provide videoconferencing opportunities for Second Language (SL) teachers to engaging in bilingual “virtual exchanges” for their students (hereafter referred to as “eTandem videoconferencing”). This investigation was initially motivated by the interest on discovering why these teachers and their students did not take the opportunity to participate in the synchronous part of the exchanges. This qualitative study reports on the developmental paths experienced by twenty SL teachers from the US, the UK, Switzerland and Spain and their pupils in the process. It particularly aims to discover what teachers' roles emerge in the process. The research also focuses on how these teachers’ practices are consistent with a more social constructivist approach to Computer Assisted Language Learning. The investigation builds on Hartnell-Young’s theoretical model (2003) of teachers’ roles where computers are used. Data collection involves an initial survey, observation of teachers and students before, during and after the exchanges and video-stimulated recall interviews with the teachers. The research centres on critical incidents experienced by these teachers. Hugues' model (2009) of the expanded critical incident approach provides the methodological framework. In line with her model, the study has created a multifaceted word picture of these teachers, further characterised by a condensed set of critical findings. The teachers’ accounts reveal several incidents that inhibited or supported the teachers’ development in terms of how they planned the learning environment regarding the physical space, the virtual setting and the social environment and in terms of how they mediated the implementation of the exchanges towards a more interactive approach. In doing so, this investigation adds to the knowledge base available to educators and researchers by offering greater understanding about these SL teachers’ particular experiences.

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This research examined leadership in difficult situations using phenomenological and critical incident analyses of 14 interviews with respected leaders. Leadership in difficult situations was examined as a personal experience consistent with the perspective of counselling psychology. The phenomenological analysis has produced four voices. The first voice captures the participants' description of leadership as a paradox of personal and situational dynamics. The second voice forms an uncommon elucidation of the lived experience of leadership in difficult situations. The participants are seen to be striving in a resilient manner characterized by a sense of acceptance and authenticity. The third and fourth voices describe the means by which the participants are effective in difficult situations. The third voice captures the intra-personal process of resonance, personal and social awareness, personal supports, mastery of the issues, and the capacity to generate remarkable outcomes. The fourth phenomenological voice captures the participant's active engagement in connecting with people, shaping the work context and leading collaboration to develop a successful process. Five categories have been produced by the Critical Incident Technique, which examined what helps and what hinders in the experience of leadership through difficult situations. The five categories are: being experienced, principled and self-aware; having personal supports and influences; being interested and skilled in connecting with people; being both energetic and able to withdraw appropriately; finally, actively cultivating their perspective or vision. These five categories indicate the capacity of the participants for diverse means of participation in difficult situations. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research and practice. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The intent of this study was twofold. It was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an experiential program which' purportedly enhanced self esteem in gay men. In addition, it aimed to discover what events and human experiences facilitate self esteem. The eight gay male participants who volunteered for the self esteem program were also employed to obtain data which was used to discover factors which facilitate self esteem. Flanagan's (1954) critical incidents technique was used to discover what facilitates and hinders self esteem in everyday life. A category system of factors facilitating self esteem was induced from critical incidents data obtained in a preliminary interview and from a journal of significant events which participants submitted throughout their involvement in the program. The program evaluation was based on three sources of information. The participants were compared with a control group of eight gay males on Rosenberg's (1965) Scale of Self Esteem both before and after their involvement in the program. They were also subjects in preliminary and summary, open-ended, interviews which were designed to assess changes in self esteem and to discern the degree to which initially stated goals and expectations were fulfilled by their participation in the program. In addition, critical incidents questions in the summary interview assessed how, and the degree to which, the program incorporated the factors which facilitate self esteem in everyday life. The names given to the eighteen categories of behaviours, events and/or experiences which were found to facilitate self esteem in everyday life are as follows: appreciation, affiliation, recognition, acceptance, honesty, self acceptance, self support, forgiveness, contributing, performance, confidence, accomplishment, sense of progress, overcoming, self care, belonging, social comparison, and independence. Given the exploratory and descriptive nature of this study, these factors constitute an initial model of what facilitates self esteem that needs to be tested using appropriate methods of verification. Interview data indicated that the experiential program facilitated the self esteem of seven of the program's eight participants. One participant reported that self esteem remained unchanged from the preliminary interview. Participants described six primary types of change: increased self confidence; increased self acceptance; improved capacity to engage in, strengthen and maintain satisfying interpersonal relationships; increased self knowledge; improved self discipline; and resolutions to existential questions. In addition, summary interview data revealed that participants were able to specify experiences, activities and events occurring within the context of the program which were representative of every facilitative category. Moreover, the relative absence of reported hindering incidents indicates that the hindering effect of the program on self esteem is negligible. Quantitative results did not corroborate the qualitative evidence for increased self esteem. An analysis of covariance applied to self esteem scores did not produce a significant difference between the participants and a control group. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The present study investigated what helped and what hindered multicultural supervision. The participants consisted of 19 females, and 6 males, including Asian-Canadians, Indo- Canadians, First Nations, Latin-Canadian and Afro-Canadian. They were individually interviewed, following an expanded version of Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique. There were 340 relevant meaning units related to positive incidents and 386 meaning units related to negative incidents. Forty-two meaning units were associated with coping efforts, and 87 meaning units were on recommendations. Categories extracted from these meaning units were grouped as follows: (a) 20 positive categories, (b) 15 negative categories, (c) 15 coping categories, and (d) 33 recommendations. The reliability of classifying meaning units according to these categories was satisfactory, based on inter-judge agreement (80% and higher). The validity of content analysis was established by (a) confirmation by participants, (b) crossvalidation by other participants, (c) cross-validation by an independent judge, and (d) cross-validation by other researchers. The most frequently cited positive categories were subsumed under five key areas: (a) personal attributes of the supervisor, (b) supervision competencies, (c) mentoring, (d) relationship, and (e) multicultural supervision competencies. The most frequently reported negative categories were associated with the following five areas: (a) personal difficulties as a visible minority, (b) negative personal attributes of the supervisor, (c) lack of a safe and trusting relationship, (d) lack of multicultural supervision competencies, and (e) lack of supervision competencies. The coping efforts employed were grouped into four areas: (a) help seeking, (b) existential coping, (c) active coping, and (d) emotional coping. Finally, recommendations were also grouped into four broad areas: (a) needs to improve the quality of supervision, (b) needs to improve multicultural supervision competencies, (c) needs for educational institutions to make changes, and (d) needs for minority students to make changes. The study provided a comprehensive picture of what works and what does not work in multicultural supervision. The results support a mentoring model, which posits that supervision is effective to the extent that the supervisor takes on the role of a mentor. The practical implications of the study include the need for cross-cultural supervision competencies and mentoring graduate students. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate