Senior officials in the public service in Barbados, who are charged with the responsibility of leading and managing government ministries and departments, play a critical role in fostering reform initiatives. Few empirical studies have examined specific leadership behaviors in the context of managing change in Barbados. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the specific leadership behaviors of senior officials in public service and to explore the use of transformative leadership by public sector administrators to effect reform initiatives. With Bass and Avolio's full-range leadership theory (FRLT) as the theoretical framework, the research question for this study was used to examine how public sector leaders in Barbados applied transformational leadership to transform the public sector. Fourteen permanent secretaries were initially sampled using the multifactor leadership questionnaire; criterion sampling was then used to identify 7 of these leaders for interviews. The data were analyzed by the researcher for the identification of themes. The results revealed 4 main findings that highlighted the importance of leadership in the reform process and in the specific leadership behaviors used by transformational public servants. Mentorship, team building, and the use of individualized approaches were being used by these leaders to manage change and reduce resistance. In conclusion, while the leaders used the full-range of leadership behaviors in the FRLT, transformational leadership practices were highly effective in managing change. The findings may help public leaders design processes to encourage change in the Barbados public sector.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

In our increasingly competitive world, it is critical that college graduates enter the workplace with the appropriate skills to not only survive but also grow their career. Current college graduates have not consistently acquired the skills needed for success in the workplace to learn and thrive continuously in our rapidly changing world. The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Science must identify the specific strategies that develop best the needed skills for the success of the graduate and society The purpose of the study was to identify a land grant college of agriculture and life sciences' (LGCALS) current programmatic and classroom strategies for developing students' ability to learn and thrive continuously in our rapidly changing world and a (1) explore programmatic strategies for developing students' ability to continuously learn and thrive; (2) explore innovative instructors classroom strategies for developing students' ability to learn and thrive continuously; (3) describe graduates perceptions of career readiness as measured through the bases of competence inventory, and finally; (4) compare programmatic strategies, classroom strategies and graduates' perceptions for career readiness. A mixed methods convergent parallel design guided the research. Qualitative interviews were employed for exploring experiences using an interpretive, constructivist, and naturalistic approach for research objectives 1 and 2. A cross sectional survey design and questionnaire, Making the Match, was used to conduct the quantitative research for objective 3. The mixed methods portion of the convergent parallel design was used to frame and explore research objective 4. Findings of the study detail need for curriculum improvement in problem solving, learning, time management, creativity and change, and personal strengths. / Ph. D.

Wertewandel ist ein bestimmender Faktor unserer Generation. Er durchdringt alle Bereiche des sozialen Miteinanders und macht auch vor den Subsystemen unserer Gesellschaft nicht halt. Der Wertewandel in den funktionellen Subsystemen der Wirtschaft ging dabei stets mit dem Begriff der Organisationsentwicklung einher. Diese ist jedoch nur in der Lage Teilaspekte des Wandels abzudecken, für eine ganzheitliche Betrachtung mangelte es bisher an einer theoretischen Unterstützung. Dieser Beitrag rückt daher das systemische Change Management in das Zentrum der Betrachtung. Neben seiner integrativen Ausrichtung zeichnet es sich vor allem durch eine normative Fundierung aus. Es soll anhand eines konkreten Beispiels aufzeigt werden, wie das systemische Change Management strukturiert ist und welche Wirkungsmechanismen es in einem organisationalen Wandlungsprozess entwickeln kann.

Martin Ivarsson, manager and part owner at Landeryd’s Mechanical Workshop (LMW), Landeryd, Sweden, initiated this project. This because of a new released ISO 9001 version that LMW has to implement before the 15th of September 2018 to remain certified. Since LMW is ISO 9001:2008 certified the project members only needed to identify the differences among the 2015 and 2008 version to see what LMW has to do to get certified. There are approximately 1.1 million ISO 9001 certificates issued worldwide. An ISO 9001 certification increase organizations ability to satisfy customer needs and customers can rely on that the products and services provided are of consistently good quality. ISO 9001 can also work as a tool to streamline the organization’s processes and make them more efficient. Since the ISO 9001 is reviewed every five year it helps organizations to keep current in an ever- changing world. Landeryd’s Mechanical Workshop has been ISO 9001 certified since 2002 and the “ISO- think” is deeply rooted within the company. LMW is a small owner-controlled company with only 18 employees. ISO 9001:2015 is applicable on different kinds of organizations in various scales. Comparing to previous versions of ISO 9001 the new version is more adaptable. This makes it more beneficial for the organizations but harder for the auditors that certifies. One major conclusion is that LMW will have more freedom of document handling with the new ISO version. This report highlights LMW’s status today in accordance to the new ISO 9001 version, and estimates how much effort that is needed for a successful revision. Readers of this report will benefit from the results, since much is applicable on all types of organizations or companies.

Poor executive leadership of organizations over the last 20 years has resulted in the destruction of stakeholder value, loss of jobs, and in some cases, risk to the entire enterprise. An executive search firm database, encompassing 16,000 leaders from 300 organizations, was analyzed to determine if the commonality and transferability of leadership competences could be used to improve executive assessment. Implicit leadership theory, where leaders are gauged by the individuals that surround them, served as the theoretical foundation. The study also relies on a leadership competency model used by the executive search firm that constructed the database and is based primarily on behavioral-event interviewing method of assessment. Inferential statistics were used to analysis the data with analysis of variance and Tukey post-hoc methods for testing mean differences, and with correlation and regression analysis to test for associations and explained variances. The executive roles were found to show a commonality of competency profiles and transferability across the disciplines studied, with the exception of the chief executive officer (CEO) role. These findings suggest that a new CEO should not be sourced directly from the other executive functions inside or outside the firm. The Outstanding leader database indicates a strong universality and interchangeability of leaders at this higher-ranking level, regardless of discipline and industry; the database is a source of new potential CEOs. Results Orientation is by far the strongest developed of the competencies for all leaders. Social change will result from better selection of top executive leaders with a positive impact for employees and all the stakeholders of the corporation or institution.

As online learning continues to grow and became an integral component of many higher education institutions (Allen & Seaman, 2017), the role of leadership in guiding those online learning initiatives differs from institution to institution. At small, private colleges and universities, where online learning is seeing greater enrollment and growth (Clinefelter & Magda, 2013), teaching and learning centers (TLC) often have involvement in guiding and shaping online learning initiatives. This study investigated the role of TLC leaders in leading online learning initiatives. The value of this study is an examination of leadership during a period of transformation and change that requires TLC leaders to manage administrative directives, work with a diverse faculty base, and balance these sometimes competing interests. This research study sought to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of TLC leaders in online learning leadership within small, private higher education institutions. Utilizing complexity leadership theory as a framework for exploring the various leadership functions of TLC leaders, the study employed a transcendental phenomenological methodology (Moustakas, 1994). Participants included seven TLC leaders or other TLC staff who were involved in online learning initiatives at their institutions. Data was collected through a series of three semi-structured interview sessions based on the qualitative interview design of Seidman (2005). Analysis of the data generated themes centered around the three leadership functions of complexity leadership theory: administrative, adaptive, and enabling leadership.

The external competitive environments and internal group dynamics of organizations are increasing in complexity resulting in new challenges for organizational leaders to improve performance in underperforming teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to address what factors led to high-innovation outcomes in complex adaptive systems using a framework constructed from elements of complexity leadership theory and group dynamics research. An in-depth interviewing approach was used to collect data on the lived experience and meaning the participants attributed to their experiences regarding improved team performance. A total of 21 participants were selected from multiple business settings where their team experienced adaptive tension and improved group cohesion. Their stories were reduced into themes using an inductive process and later analyzed through the lens of complexity leadership theory. The factors that emerged in this study, leveraging tension in the group dynamics enabled through objectivity, roles, alignment, capability, execution, purpose, and work ethic that led to mutual respect, directness, and reliance, offer leaders an effective method for achieving sustained team performance. These factors can be used by organizational leaders to improve team performance and consistency in team outcomes over traditional command and control approaches with a work exchange that benefits individual team members. The findings from this study contribute to social change by improving not only team performance, but also member satisfaction. When leadership is viewed from the perspective of the whole system instead of from the perspective of the individual, the relationships between people emerge as the primary enabling factor for high-innovation outcomes.