It has become more common these days for organizations to give employees the opportunity to work remotely. This trend was accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced many organizations to allow remote work in order to comply with the recommendations set by authorities. Even after everyday life returned to normal, many companies chose to adopt a model that allows employees to work fully or partially away from the office. However, the attitude towards remote work is not entirely positive. It has brought about changes for organizations, especially for their leaders. There has been a debate about which leadership style is the best fit for the remote work model, and this thesis aims to investigate how leaders within the big banks in Sweden have been affected in their perceived ability to motivate employees during remote work. To accomplish this, the authors have applied a qualitative methodology, conducting interviews with two different groups: leaders and employees. The interview results have been analyzed and connected to the theoretical framework derived from research on remote leadership and employee motivation. The results show that an active and motivating leadership style, without being overly monitoring or passive, is preferred in a remote work setting for leaders' ability to motivate their followers in these companies. The thesis also reveals that respondents express a desire for the opportunity for remote work, even though they are somewhat negative towards working remotely.

Estimates of healthy years of life lost due to mental illness are increasing, calling greater attention to the provision of effective psychotherapy services. Hypothesized to be the key mechanism through which competencies are developed in trainee clinicians and subsequent client outcomes, clinical supervision is deserving of greater attention. Drawing on a sample of supervisors, trainees, and clients from a training clinic, the present study sought to clarify the relational factors that could facilitate the asserted supervisor-client outcome link and to better understand if, and how, clinical supervisors influence client outcomes. With the exception of supervisor openness to experience, supervisor factors did not predict meaningful variance in client outcomes. Trainee extraversion and openness to experience predicted significant variance in leader-member exchange and supervisory working alliance. Dispositional trainee factors (e.g., personality) appear to impact trainee perceptions of the supervisory relationship. Implications for training and development are discussed, in addition to directions for future research.

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between Arkansas County Extension County staff morale and their perceived relationship county staff had with their County Staff Chair. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (UAEX) can utilize the results from this research to identify individuals who have the capacity to build high-quality relationships with staff members, thereby promoting higher levels of morale within the organization. Administrators can use this study to identify current or future leaders within the organization by identifying those who can promote high-quality relationships with county-level staff. Results from this study may also be used to identify individuals needing training in developing high-quality relationships. It utilized surveys to collect data. Therefore, Qualtrics was used to distribute the Leader-Member Exchange-7 (LMX-7) and the Staff Morale Questionnaire (SMQ) electronically through the UAEX email distribution list of county employees. Participants were asked to provide a numeric response (1-5) for the seven statements relating to the Leader-member exchange (LMX) on the LMX-7. Each statement had a different 5-point scale, but 1 represented the lowest rated response, 3 represented the average or neutral response, and 5 represented the highest rated response. In addition, participants were asked to provide a numeric response (1-4) where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree for the 27 statements relating to the three constructs (Leadership Synergy, Cohesive Pride, and Personal Challenge) of the SMQ. Overall, UAEX county employees reported moderate to high morale, which was directly related to their perceived quality of relationship with their County Staff Chair. The implications of this study suggest that leader-member relationships can affect employee morale in all three constructs measured. The higher the quality of relationship employees perceive with their staff chair, the higher their morale will be. County staff had moderate to high level of morale in each of the three constructs as measured by the SMQ. County-level staff also felt united in striving to achieve the goals and mission of their county office and Extension as a whole.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this embedded sequential explanatory case study with a quantitative→qualitative two-strand design of inquiry was to explain how the quality of teacher-student relationships and the gap of cognitive styles between teachers and students impact student achievement. The population for the quantitative strand of research was comprised of 11 career and technical education (CTE) teachers and 210 CTE students, representing six disciplines within CTE. The study occurred in a suburban high school in western North Carolina. Leader-member Exchange (LMX) theory and Adaption-innovation theory guided the research. In the quantitative strand, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory was used to measure the cognitive style of teachers and students, a researcher developed survey was used to measure dyadic intensity, the Leader-Member Excellence—Shared-Leadership Exchange instrument was used to measure the perceived quality of dyadic relationships between teachers and students, and the North Carolina CTE end of course tests were used to measure student achievement in CTE classes. Additionally, demographic information was collected from teacher and student participants. In the qualitative strand, four teachers and eight students were interviewed. The purpose of the qualitative strand was to investigate how teachers and students describe their dyadic relationships. Data from both the quantitative and qualitative strands were mixed to allow for a stronger interpretation and explanation of the quantitative and qualitative results. Statistically significant relationships were identified among the various dimensions of teacher-student relationships. There was a weak, positive relationship between dyadic intensity and student GPA. A weak, positive relationship was found between dyadic intensity and teacher LMX. There was a weak, positive relationship between dyadic intensity and student LMX. There was a weak, positive relationship between student GPA and teacher LMX. A moderate, positive relationship was found between student GPA and student LMX. A moderate, positive relationship was found between student GPA and student achievement. Additionally, there was a moderate, positive relationship between teacher LMX and student LMX. A path analysis of quantitative data indicated that student GPA had a significant effect on teacher LMX. Teacher LMX and student GPA had a significant effect on student LMX. Lastly, student GPA had a significant effect on student achievement. Qualitative data validated the quantitative findings. Further, five themes surfaced from the qualitative data providing support for additional findings. The researcher recommended future investigation of the impacts of leader-member exchange and cognitive style on student achievement using alternative indicators of student achievement, an exploration of how involvement in a career and technical student organization (CTSO) interacts with teacher-student relationships and student achievement through the lens of leader-member exchange, and an examination of the impacts of leader-member exchange and cognitive style on student achievement outside of the context of CTE. The quality of teacher-student relationships from both the teacher's perspective and the student's perspective are affected by a student's grade point average. Student grade point average has a significant effect on student achievement. Much remains unknown about the antecedents of teacher-student relationships and how the relationships between teachers and students may interact with student achievement. / Ph. D.

Notre recherche a pour objectif général de proposer l’adaptation du concept de la relation d’échange superviseur-subordonné (leader-member exchange ou LMX) à la nouvelle réalité du travail à distance. Il s’agit d’étudier la relation d’échange qui se développe entre le superviseur et le subordonné travaillant à distance. Plus précisément, nous visons à définir et à développer une échelle de mesure valide et fiable du concept du LMX à distance. Jusqu’à présent, aucune définition de cette relation d’échange superviseur-subordonné n'a été proposée et aucune échelle de mesure n'a été développée. Dans l’étude que nous proposons, la notion de la distance n’est pas considérée comme un élément contextuel, mais plutôt un élément indissociable du concept lui-même, contrairement à certaines études qui ont examiné la distance comme modérateur de la relation entre le LMX et ses résultantes (Bligh et Riggio, 2012; Brunelle, 2013). À cet effet, cette étude constitue la première sur le sujet. Étant donné l'importance du LMX à distance pour les travailleurs à distance et dont le nombre atteindrait plus de 50 % d’ici 2020 (ITIF, CAS et CoreNet Global), il est primordial de comprendre et d'analyser la relation d’échange superviseur-subordonné à distance afin de mieux comprendre sa nature et son processus de développement, ce qui permettra aux parties de la dyade superviseur-subordonné de mieux s’adapter à cette nouvelle réalité de travail et de développer des relations d’échanges de qualité. Cette recherche aidera les superviseurs travaillant à distance à mieux gérer leur potentiel humain. Pour cerner ce sujet de recherche, nous avons fait une revue approfondie de la littérature traitant du LMX traditionnel et de la notion de distance, et ce, afin de pouvoir proposer une définition du concept du LMX à distance. En outre, nous avons fait appel aux recommandations de la littérature portant sur la psychométrie et nous avons réalisé une étude exploratoire de nature qualitative pour développer son échelle de mesure. Nous avons donc effectué des entrevues individuelles semi-dirigées auprès de trente professeurs d’une université canadienne. Ces entrevues ont été analysées avec le logiciel qualitatif spécialisé Nvivo et ont permis de présenter une première échelle de mesure du LMX à distance composée de sept dimensions et de 27 indicateurs. En somme, nous avons tenu à acquérir une meilleure compréhension de ce phénomène qui est très répandu dans les organisations modernes et à offrir une plateforme théorique et pratique que les chercheurs pourront utiliser pour enrichir leurs connaissances sur le concept du LMX à distance. Enfin, notre étude permettra aux superviseurs et aux subordonnés de comprendre l'importance de développer et de maintenir des relations de qualité conduisant à des résultats organisationnels et personnels positifs. / In this research, we define the concept of distance leader-member exchange (distance LMX) and present a valid and reliable scale to measure it. We argue that the notion of distance is not a contextual element but is instead an integral component of the concept, unlike studies that have examined only the impact of distance in LMX relationships (Bligh and Riggio, 2012; Brunelle, 2013). Therefore we believe that our study is original and groundbreaking in the human resource management field. This measurement tool will allow the dyad parties to better adapt to this new working reality and will motivate them to collaborate and develop high-quality relationships. Our study thus offers an interesting contribution to help companies manage their employees and improve performance in cases of remote working. A review of the literature regarding traditional LMX and distance concepts was carried out to provide an accurate definition of the concept of distance LMX. We relied on the psychometric literature to build a measurement scale for this concept. This scale is the result of a qualitative exploratory study conducted among thirty Canadian university professors. For the data analysis we used Nvivo software to analyze the interviews. We present an initial measurement scale for distance LMX composed of 7 dimensions and 27 indicators. To summarize, we propose an approach to better understand the increasingly widespread remote-working phenomenon, and provide a theoretical and practical platform to help researchers better grasp this concept. Our study will surely help supervisors and subordinates understand the importance of developing and maintaining good relationships that will generate positive organizational and personal results.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Chihyung Ok / Employee engagement has received a great deal of attention in the last decade in the popular business press and among consulting firms and the practitioner community. They claim employee engagement is a new human resource practice that business organizations can use in order to cope with the uncertainty of turbulent industry conditions. However, in the academic community, the concept remains new, and therefore, the concept requires rigorous seminal studies to validate it. Given that practical interest in work engagement has outstripped the currently available research evidence, fundamental questions, like how it can be increased and how and why it benefits individuals and organizations, still require answers. Therefore, this study empirically tested relationships among antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the hotel setting. In particular, this study provided theory-based empirical evidence regarding whether employee evaluations of self (i.e., core self-evaluations) and perceptions of organizational environment (i.e., psychological climate) affect employee engagement. This study also investigated how employee engagement directly and indirectly leads to intrinsic rewards, job satisfaction, personal attachment to an organization (i.e., organizational commitment), and the leader-member exchange relationship (LMX). In accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study, 11 hypotheses were proposed based on several theories: Kahn's three psychological conditions theory, job demands-resources model, social exchange theory, and conservation of resources theory. To test the hypotheses, data were collected from 394 hotel employees and managers in the United States. The proposed relationships were examined using hierarchical multiple regression and structural equation modeling. Results of hypothesis testing showed that core self-evaluations and three components of psychological climate (managerial support for service, interdepartmental service, and team communication) positively influence employee engagement. The results also revealed that employee engagement is positively associated with all the outcome variables. This study further demonstrated that LMX mediates the relationships of employee engagement with job satisfaction and organizational commitment; job satisfaction mediates the relationships between employee engagement and organizational commitment and between LMX and organizational commitment. Given that employee engagement is an important current issue for hospitality companies, the findings should provide the hotel industry with a more complete picture of how employee engagement is associated with its antecedents and outcomes. A discussion of managerial implications is included along with theoretical implications of the findings, an evaluation of research limitations, and directions for future research.

Dans nos travaux de recherche, l’éthique rejoint intrinsèquement la compétence. Nous définissons un cadre d’étude, à savoir le LMX, précisant la raison pour laquelle le salarié doit optimiser sa relation d’emploi avec son supérieur hiérarchique. Nous opérons plusieurs analyses empiriques, exploratoires et confirmatoires, pour valider deux variables latentes et tester notre modèle de recherche. La compétence éthique, comportant 12 items, est proposée par Nillès (2004) suite à une validation qualitative. L’échelle de mesure des comportements innovateurs au travail de 10 items, construite par De Jong et Den Hartog (2010), ne dispose d’aucune version française validée empiriquement. La fiabilité et le fit de ces deux échelles de mesure sont acceptés sans épuration. Le modèle est ensuite testé avec les quatre variables latentes qui sont la compétence éthique (Nillès, 2004), la confiance des salariés (Benraïs et Meyssonnier, 2005), la citoyenneté organisationnelle (Paillé, 2006 ; Podsakoff et Mackenzie,1994) et les comportement innovateurs au travail (De jong et Den Hartog, 2010). L’épuration du modèle de mesure a entraîné la suppression de 10 items et l’analyse factorielle exploratoire par ACP a révélé une structure à 8 composantes avec un échantillon N=251. L’analyse factorielle confirmatoire a démontré un fit acceptable du modèle structurel. Enfin, les résultats obtenus lors du test des hypothèses de recherche ont permis la validation de trois hypothèses sur quatre. La compétence éthique du dirigeant exerce un effet sur l’innovation au travail, par le biais de la confiance des salariés et de la citoyenneté organisationnelle / In our research works, the ethics joins intrinsically the skill. We define a frame of study, namely the social exchange with the underlying theme which is the LMX, specifying the reason why the employee must optimize his relation of employment with his manager. We operate several empirical, exploratory and confirmatory analyses, to accept two latent variables and test our model of research. The ethical skill, containing 12 items, is proposed by Nillès (2004) after a qualitative validation. The scale of measure of the innovative behavior at work with 10 items, built by Jong and Den Hartog (2010), doesn’t exist in French version validated empirically. We propose a translation and we analyze the psychometric quality of this translated scale of measure. The reliability and the fit of these two scales of measure are validated without purge. Then, the model is tested with the contribution of four variables which are the ethical skill (Nillès, 2004), the trust of the employees (Benraïs and Meyssonnier, 2005), the organizational citizenship (Mulched, 2006; Podsakoff and Mackenzie, 1994) and innovative behavior at work (De Jong and Den Hartog, 2010). The purge of the model of measure led to delete 10 items and the exploratory factorial analysis by ACP revealed a structure in 8 components with a sample N=251. The factorial confirmatory analysis demonstrated a good fit of the structural model. Finally, the results obtained during the test of the hypotheses of research allowed the validation of three hypotheses on four. The ethical skillof the leader exercises an effect on the innovation at work, by the trust of the employees and of the organizational citizenship

The ability to improve employee engagement in small businesses is critical, not only to workers but also to midlevel managers who want to retain productive employees in the workplace. Supervisors who lack efficient managerial practices also risk decreases in productivity, profitability, and sustainability. The conceptual framework for this qualitative, exploratory single-case study was Kahn's theory of personal engagement and disengagement. The population consisted of 2 midlevel managers from a single, small, franchise company in metropolitan Alabama, both of whom used engagement practices, and managed at least 5 subordinates in the company. Data collected, analyzed, and triangulated were from semistructured interviews, direct observations, and a review of company documents. Coded interview responses aligned with the research question, conceptual framework, and emergent themes resulted in identifying successful engagement strategies that midlevel leaders to use. Two critical themes that emerged were management and communication. Supportive management behaviors and leader-member exchange yielded positive employee engagement and increased job performance and productivity. These results could be used to help midlevel managers develop strategies that improve employee enagagement and job performance. Social change implications included leaders developing new strategies that encourage positive relationships among top-level and midlevel leaders, lower level employees, and customers.