The cross-case analysis described in this study examined the patterns of practice that support the beginning teacher in the elementary school environment of a large suburban school district. Bronfenbrenner’s (1976) systemic model of the educational environment as a series of nested, interacting sub-systems was used as a compass for this study. Data were collected beginning in the exo-system and continued through the meso-system and micro-system of the educational environment. Interviews with central office staff at the exo-system level, with the school administrator at the meso-system level, and with beginning elementary teachers at the micro-system were the primary means of data collection. Interview data were collected from three beginning teachers in the elementary school with the largest number of beginning teachers in the district, the principal of the school, and central office personnel. Evolving display matrices were the primary strategy for data analysis. Themes were identified at each level of the educational environment. Findings reveal consistent themes within the levels of the elementary school environment. / Ed. D.

The overall research objective is motivated by two simultaneous developments. On the one hand, due to globalization and fast changing markets, organizations face increasing pressure to stay competitive and to survive in these fast changing environments. To innovate, organizations rely on recruiting and developing their workforce. As the individual is the source of innovation, an ever increasing emphasis is placed upon individual innovativeness and in particular in the investigation of sources of individual innovativeness. Leaders are essential in the promotion of employees´ innovativeness and leadership is proposed as one of the most influential predictors of individual innovativeness. In the view of innovation pressure and demographic changes, it is important for organizations to shed light on their young professionals, especially on their young professionals’ innovativeness, as they are the future workforce. This is especially important for leaders who aim to support the innovativeness of their young professionals. Nevertheless, the importance of young professionals’ innovativeness in the retail industry is still underestimated. Hence, organizations and especially leaders may benefit greatly from being aware of their young professionals’ innovativeness as one possibility to face the challenges of innovation pressure.

Student behavior and classroom management are consistently identified as top reasons teachers leave the profession. A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted in a suburban school district in north Texas to identify how teachers perceive the deficits in their classroom management knowledge and to provide school leaders with data to guide plans for professional learning about effective classroom management strategies. Findings are based on both teachers' and principals' perceptions of supports that are needed or provided. Nine teachers (three elementary, three middle, and three high school) and six administrators (two elementary, two middle, and two high school) were interviewed using semi-structured interview protocols. Data were analyzed using seven a priori codes from which themes were developed. The findings showed that teachers generally do not feel well-prepared to address student behavior and classroom management. Emerged themes from both teacher and principal interviews identified deficits in professional learning received from their teacher preparation program, campus leaders, and district leaders. The top reasons why teachers struggled with student behavior and classroom management were: (a) application of learning, (b) deficits in support, (c) deficits in training, (d) physical and emotional toll, and (e) student deficits in social skill development. To help teachers feel better prepared to address student behavior and classroom management, they need: (a) to spend time with a first-and second-year teacher cohort, (b) be part of a campus with a growth mindset culture, (c) increased campus administrator support, (d) increased coaching support, (d) increased district administrator support, (e) revamped teacher preparation programs with relevant learning, and (f) differentiated, targeted professional learning.

Yes / This study aims to identify how environmental, technological, and social factors influence the adoption of Industry 4.0 in the context of digital manufacturing. The Industry 4.0 era has brought a breakthrough in advanced technologies in fields such as nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, fifth-generation wireless technology, fully autonomous vehicles, 3D printing and so on. In this study, we attempted to identify the socioenvironmental and technological factors that influence the adoption of artificial intelligence embedded technology by digital manufacturing and production organizations. In doing so, the extended technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework is used to explore the applicability of Industry 4.0. A conceptual model was proposed that used an integrated technology acceptance model (TAM)-TOE model and was tested using survey-based data collected from 340 employees of small, medium and large organizations. The results highlight that all the relationships, except organizational readiness, organizational compatibility and partner support on perceived ease of use, were found to be significant in the context of digital manufacturing and production organizations. The results further indicated that leadership support acts as a countable factor to moderate such an adoption.

Increasing and maintaining customer loyalty has been shown to enhance service firm profitability. This research focuses on the antecedents of customer loyalty in a large national North American banking organisation, in particular the relationship between employee loyalty and customer loyalty, and further within the organisation, the antecedents of the employee loyalty-customer loyalty relationship. Thus the current research investigates the chain of events from managerial actions to customer loyalty with the aim of identifying relevant managerial practices and their influences within the organisation that lead to customer loyalty. The research provides tangible evidence supporting the importance of providing organisational resources to increase employee loyalty as a means of increasing customer loyalty in service organisations. To achieve this goal, the study suggests that a comprehensive set of managerial practices will enhance an organisation's service climate, foster positive employee attitudes and behaviours in relation to service provision, that impact on employee loyalty, service quality, and ultimately customer loyalty. These practices include support provided by senior leadership, the provision of resources that facilitate effective work practices, a positive management orientation on customers, and the use of employee evaluation and remuneration based on service-oriented behaviours and attitudes. By instituting these managerial practices, management can increase employee perceptions of self-efficacy, employees' beliefs in the abilities to perform well in their jobs, increase employee satisfaction, which in turn drive employee loyalty. These managerial practices also enhance the favourable nature of the organisation's service climate so that customer perceptions of service quality are likely to be more positive. Overall the study provides evidence to support the existence of a chain of events from managerial actions to employee and customer loyalty intentions. Evidence also exists to support the relationship between employee loyalty and customer loyalty, so that higher levels of loyalty within service a service organisation can potentially lead to higher levels of customer loyalty. The implications of the research are that management within service organisations can impact customer loyalty by focussing directly on service delivery issues and by providing a favourable service climate. Managers can also influence employee beliefs about their abilities to do their jobs and the level of satisfaction employees have within those organisational roles. The study also suggests that a service organisation's service climate is an important mechanism by which management can communicate to both employees and customers that a customer orientation is a primary managerial imperative. Finally, the study provides valuable insight into the processes by which employees perceive managerial orientation and support, and how those perceptions influence customer perceptions of service quality and impact on their loyalty intentions towards service organisations.

The overall research objective is motivated by two simultaneous developments. On the one hand, due to globalization and fast changing markets, organizations face increasing pressure to stay competitive and to survive in these fast changing environments. To innovate, organizations rely on recruiting and developing their workforce. As the individual is the source of innovation, an ever increasing emphasis is placed upon individual innovativeness and in particular in the investigation of sources of individual innovativeness. Leaders are essential in the promotion of employees´ innovativeness and leadership is proposed as one of the most influential predictors of individual innovativeness. In the view of innovation pressure and demographic changes, it is important for organizations to shed light on their young professionals, especially on their young professionals’ innovativeness, as they are the future workforce. This is especially important for leaders who aim to support the innovativeness of their young professionals. Nevertheless, the importance of young professionals’ innovativeness in the retail industry is still underestimated. Hence, organizations and especially leaders may benefit greatly from being aware of their young professionals’ innovativeness as one possibility to face the challenges of innovation pressure.:I Part I: Introduction 1 Motivation and relevance 2 Overall resource-based perspective 3 Research gaps and questions 4 Overall structure of the dissertation II Part II: Foundations 1 Structure of part II 2 Individual innovativeness 3 Leadership supporting individual innovativeness 4 Summary of part II III Part III: Empirical studies 1 & 2 1 Structure of part III 2 Overall research context 3 Overall research design 4 Study 1: Individual innovativeness of yps 5 Study 2: Leadership supporting yps’ innovativeness IV Part IV: Discussion 1 Structure of part IV 2 Discussion of study 1: Individual innovativeness of yps 3 Discussion of study 2: Leadership supporting yps’ 4 Summary of overall empirical findings V Part V: Conclusion 1 Summary of parts 2 Implications for management 3 Limitations and avenues for further research 4 Conclusion References Annexes Annex A: Related to Part II: Individual innovativeness Annex B: Related to Part II: Leadership supporting individual innovativeness Annex C: Related to Part III: Empirical study 1&2