<p> This study examined a feature of organizations that, prior to this work had not been identified or defined: Organizational Bias. If an organization can learn, have an identity and memory, then an organization can hold bias. Organizational bias occurs when an organization&rsquo;s culture, as defined and reproduced within its interactions with agents and actors, prevents actors from becoming agents by denying them the power required to change the organizational structure. This exclusionary aspect of bias creates a significant obstacle for educational institutions, many of whom define their missions as serving all students and providing a place that builds, supports, and serves community. Organizational ethnography was used as the methodology to examine organizational bias. Data were collected in a committee space designed to be inclusive of community members and other actor voices as they evaluated new high school course proposals. Data were comprised of the following: observations of all meetings, documents, such as correspondence between members and documents produced as a result of or that informed the committee&rsquo;s work, and interviews with members. The data were analyzed using a combination of interactional analysis and axial coding. Findings illustrated that patterns of exclusion initiated through the institutional structure of talk constituted and reconstituted organizational bias. This structure created relevant opportunities for resource use (e.g., credit information), which agents were able to perform, but from which actors were excluded, that afforded them the agency to reconstitute the practical and tacit knowing of the organization, which then reproduced the initial structure. Implications for this work include a clearer understanding of how educational organizations hold bias, what patterns of interaction to examine, and how to interrupt the reconstitution of those practices to be more inclusive of actors in an effort to work more closely toward the defined mission.</p><p>

<p> The concept of shepherding others goes back thousands of years, yet the shepherding metaphor received limited review in academic circles. A study transpired in order to better understand what shepherding entails. It was not known how self-declared leaders from the ecclesiastic, business, and education fields, perceived, described, and practiced shepherd leadership in the greater New York metropolitan area. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how 30 self-declared leaders from the ecclesiastic, business, and education fields, perceived, described, and practiced shepherd leadership. The researcher conducted a qualitative case study involving 30 experienced leaders from three Abrahamic faiths (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) and three fields (ecclesiastic, business, education). All 30 participants completed the Shepherd Leader Inventory and the Brodie Ranking of Shepherd Leadership Skills. Combining 13 open-ended interviews with the two surveys enabled the researcher to triangulate the data. When participants were asked to describe practices unique to shepherding, the leaders in the study mentioned that the shepherd leader cares about others, behaves in a professional manner, builds up others, thinks through actions, builds relationships, shares authority, develops others, shows flexibility, and provides guidance. The researcher discovered that shepherding consists of similar constructs as several positive leadership models. Shepherding proceeds from Theory Z where the leader maintains authority in times of crisis and shares authority in times of ease. </p><p> <i>Keywords</i>: Leadership, Shepherd leadership, Shepherding, Servant leadership, Spiritual leadership, Positive leadership, Transformational leadership, Leader-member exchange, Agapao love, Ecclesiastic, Business, Education, Leadership theory, Spirituality</p>

<p> Authentic leadership emphasizes the role of ethics and trust a leader displays and which can be a natural and inherent part of a leader&rsquo;s behavior (Robbins &amp; Judge, 2010). Leaders who are authentic know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and behave in a way that reinforces those values and beliefs openly and candidly (2010). Authenticity is inward-focused and reflects on the behaviors that a leader believes are virtuous and true, from which they project a self-perception that is consistent with their self-concept (Sosik &amp; Cameron, 2010).</p><p> Studies within the spectrum of sports have identified that leadership among coaches is a contributor to individual and team performance (Kent &amp; Chelladurai, 2001). In the field of amateur wrestling, coaches can be highly influential in improving their followers&rsquo; self-efficacy, which may lead to improved performance and completion of objectives (Rutkowska &amp; Gierczuk, 2012). In leadership literature, however, a substantial gap exists regarding the importance of authentic leadership in sports. </p><p> This study was executed to identify which qualities, if any, were displayed by amateur wrestling coaches that are consistent with authentic leadership. The study revealed that four constructs &ndash; self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective &ndash; were each rated highly both by the coaches themselves and other raters. What was also revealed was that authentic leadership had a relationship with success as reported by assistant wrestling coaches. The study also showed that head wrestling coaches had similar views of their own authentic leadership as that reported by assistant coaches and wrestlers.</p><p> There was not enough evidence to support a relationship with success as reported by the head coaches and their wrestlers.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative exploratory single case study was to explore how professional development in blended learning influences teachers&rsquo; self-efficacy in a Title I school district in the southwestern U.S. The importance of this study was to understand how teachers&rsquo; self-efficacy may or may not be enhanced through professional development experience with blended learning approaches. Teachers&rsquo; perceptions of their experience integrating technology after receiving professional development was significant since blended learning is transforming education. The theoretical foundation used for this study was Bandura&rsquo;s social cognitive theory. Purposive expert sampling was used to identify the 32 participants for this study. The data was collected through a questionnaire, interviews, and a focus group, put through a member checking process, then coded and thematically analyzed to answer the research questions. All questions posed in the questionnaire, interviews, and focus group were interlaced in a way that they answered more than one research question, and the data was analyzed from each and then all together. The findings of this study indicated that teacher efficacy increased as a result of professional development experience and the main factors that contributed to this are: teachers&rsquo; sense of self-efficacy related to modeling and collaborative learning, mastery of blended learning skills and strategies through clear communication and positive feedback, and mastery in blended learning to teach self-regulatory strategies to enhance personalized learning. This study extended Bandura&rsquo;s social cognitive theory by seeking to understand teachers&rsquo; perspectives of how professional development in blended learning influences their self-efficacy. </p><p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> Community colleges across the United States are implementing systemic reforms in response to calls for increased student success. Guided pathways is a framework for holistic redesign that coordinates institutional improvements in multiple areas to increase impact. Since California community colleges are in the early stages of adopting guided pathways, research on the decision-making processes of college leadership in applying this framework is limited. The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe the role of strategic governance in the implementation of guided pathways at scale at California community colleges.</p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> This phenomenological qualitative study used a multiple-case embedded case study methodology to collect data aligned with the four imperatives of strategic governance theory. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 campus leaders involved in guided pathways implementation at three community colleges in Southern California. Archival records and documentation were used to triangulate the data.</p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Colleges balance the imperatives of involvement, efficiency, environment, and leadership across the domains of strategic planning and governance when implementing guided pathways. Inclusiveness, intentional alignment, interdependent leadership, and internal/external synergy emerged as essential elements of strategic governance during pathways efforts.</p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Community colleges leverage inclusive and credible strategic planning and governance systems to create a stable foundation for institutional redesign. A networked system that interfaces informal elements with formal structures promotes and accelerates efficiency, while a proactive, reflective, student-centered approach to managing environmental demands helps maintain focus. Interdependent leadership mechanisms that are culturally compatible and responsive to institutional needs facilitate efficiency and involvement in implementation. The guided pathways framework provides colleges with a systemic model for developing overall institutional effectiveness. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Community college leaders should deliberately increase engagement in decision-making processes and strengthen the integrity of strategic planning and governance systems. Leaders should define the parameters of pathways teams, establish logical connections between informal and formal structures, and encourage mutual reliance in pathways leadership. Leaders should cultivate a systems mindset and use embedded reflective practices to guide implementation.</p><p>

<p> This research study utilized the gap analysis framework developed by Clark and Estes (2008) as foundational scaffolding to understand how a highly successful pre-IPO technology company is addressing the development of its next generation of executive leaders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, motivation, and organizational assets and barriers influencing the ability of direct reports to the executive leadership team to develop the critical leadership competencies needed to advance into executive leadership positions, or to assume more complex leadership roles as the organization continues to grow in size and scale. The design of this study drew from four principle data sources to understand and evaluate the current practices of leadership development; they included literature review, surveys, individual interviews and document analysis. The literature review identified fourteen requisite knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. Through analysis of survey, interview, and historical document data, eight influences were validated of the fourteen initially identified. Key points from the eight influences recognized the need for a shared understanding of the leadership competencies needed by future leaders, that leadership development tools and infrastructure are in place to the development process, and that current executive leadership fosters an organization culture where developing future leaders is as high a priority as building valued products or revenue generation. The Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick New World Model (2016) was utilized in the development of recommendations and evaluation mechanisms. This model facilitates the development of a holistic approach in selecting recommendations to close the validated influence gaps and evaluation strategies to monitor and measure impact. While the results and recommendations from this study provide one unique company an approach to developing its next generation of leaders, selected recommendations may transfer to other organizations.</p><p>

<p> Attrition, especially premature turnover, is a problem faced by many organizations. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is a major investigative directorate within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This directorate was formed in 2003 as the result of the merger of the legacy investigative divisions of the U.S. Immigration and U.S. Customs Services. Premature attrition appears to be an ongoing concern within HSI, which potentially threatens the mandate of the agency to enforce numerous federal laws. Researchers have asserted that transformational leadership, especially in the wake of major organizational change, can increase employee commitment and reduce attrition; however, there is little or no literature related to the relationship between leadership style and premature attrition from HSI, or in federal law enforcement generally. The researcher used a quantitative study and a slightly modified version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire-5X Short to survey a convenience sample of HSI special agents in the South Florida area to assess the impact of leadership style and historical or anticipated premature attrition. The resultant data was subjected to a logistic regression analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The analysis revealed that leadership style was not a statistically significant factor in identifying past or anticipated attrition; however, the small sample size and the possibility of confounding factors, such as physical, psychosocial, or financial, were important limitations of the study. This study, while yielding unexpected findings, provided one of the first known examinations of the connection between leadership style and premature attrition in federal law enforcement, and serves as a starting point for additional future inquiry.</p><p>

<p> This study uses mixed methods research to explore the phenomenon of partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs) and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) focused on improving college access for diverse populations. Using available quantitative data, interviews and documentary evidence collected from nonprofit, four-year, private and public HEIs in Pennsylvania, this research seeks to understand whether relationships between HEIs and NPOs are a common feature of the college access landscape; how institutions understand relationships with college access nonprofits; how they use relationships to achieve particular goals including and in addition to improving college access for diverse populations; and what motivates institutions to engage in and sustain relationships. This research also considers whether there are relationships between institutional characteristics and undergraduate student diversity. Drawing from theoretical literature on the antecedents to partnership formation developed within the field of business and from organizational learning theory, this study finds that there is little agreement on what constitutes a relationship between HEIs and NPOs and a &ldquo;college access nonprofit&rdquo;; that HEIs rarely articulate specific, measurable goals for the enrollment of diverse populations; that relationships are used to improve direct and indirect access to students, to build trust in HEIs, to fill perceived deficits for students and families, and to address demographic pressures. Furthermore, the study finds that relationships&rsquo; effectiveness is rarely measured and that ties between entities are rarely severed, except in the case of extreme failure to meet expectations. The findings of this study suggest that what HEIs refer to relationships are instead &ldquo;less formal dyadic linkages.&rdquo; HEIs forms ties to NPOs primarily in the pursuit of enhanced institutional legitimacy with respect to the recruitment of diverse students, which is perceived to enhance institutions&rsquo; ability to recruit these students with greater efficiency. Relationships are also perceived to have potential to contribute to HEI&rsquo;s ability to develop a pipeline of students. In addition, this study finds that the exploitation aspect of organizational learning helps explain relationship formation between HEIs and NPOs.</p>

Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2005.