<p> In 2012 about 30% of the American workers were engaged at work and 70% of workers were either not engaged or fully disengaged. There have been numerous studies on determining employment factors that create engagement and the organizational benefits received from a highly engaged workforce. It has been shown that companies with highly engaged employees experience many organizational benefits including higher employee productivity, lower attrition, better quality, and superior financial results. However, there has been little research conducted on creating a direct linkage between a specific engagement driver and a specific organizational benefit. The purpose of this study is to identify drivers of engagement that positively impact productivity in highly engaged teams at CHG Healthcare Services. CHG Healthcare Services is a healthcare staffing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2014, it was estimated that 93% of its 1750 employee were engaged. Quantitative data was collected through a written survey from a random sampling of 98 employees from highly engaged sales and business partner teams. 46 employees completed the survey that asked them to choose the top factors that most positively impacted their individual and team productivity from a list of 23 established engagement drivers. In addition, 9 qualitative focus groups were held with survey participants to gain qualitative understanding into why participant&rsquo;s felt the chosen engagement factors impacted productivity. The findings demonstrated that for employees with over 1 year of experience, 4 engagement drivers made the most meaningful impact on individual and team productivity. These results were similar across all demographic groups reviewed. The engagement drivers most impacting employee productivity were having access to work-life balance, having a positive relationship with their team and leader, having work that is meaningful, and having the authority and autonomy of make decisions affecting their work. The research also showed that one group, first year employees, provided a different set of results. The study demonstrated that first-year employees value employment factors that help support them during the time they are establishing effective relationships in a new environment and building necessary job skills to contribute to the team and company.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative, basic interpretive study (Merriam, 2009) was to improve understanding of the role of transactive memory systems (TMS) in board groups as a way of leveraging their knowledge in the context of the chief executive officer (CEO) succession planning process. Sixteen participants were recruited who had served on a board of a $500 million-plus public company and had been involved in a CEO succession planning process within 5 years of the study. Within the participant group, a subset of six had all worked together, over the same time period, on the same CEO succession planning process from beginning to end. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant follow-up.</p><p> The study findings confirmed a relationship between structures and processes of TMS and CEO succession planning in the context of board groups. The data supported the presence of some but not all of the characteristics of TMS presented in Ren and Argote's (2011) metaanalysis and categorization of antecedents, components, and consequences of TMS. Specifically, TMS antecedents present in board groups included team-level inputs of task interdependence, goal interdependence, team familiarity, shared experiences, and communication. Specific dimensions of TMS components present within board groups included team knowledge stock and knowledge of who knows what. Three TMS behavioral indicators were present: knowledge specialization, task credibility, and task coordination to support knowledge sharing and updating. Finally, key dimensions of TMS consequences included team performance behaviors of team learning, creativity, and reflexivity.</p><p> Five conclusions were drawn from the study. (1) The TMS dimension of reliance on others' specialization serves to meet the challenges of bounded rationality in board groups. (2) High familiarity can enhance trust, but if overemphasized negatively affects the reliability of specialized expertise. (3) Personal respect and trust in the expertise of others affects receptivity to defer to others' specialized expertise. (4) A director's publicly known resume is the primary determinant of specialization. (5) Board structures (the knowledge stock of the group) and processes (transactive processes of encoding, storing, and accessing knowledge) facilitate the continual refinement of member-expertise associations and conscious development of knowledge sharing. </p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative survey research study was to test the ability of the Full Range Leadership Theory to explain a relationship between Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles (independent variables) and Organizational Performance (dependent variable), when Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles were moderated by Employee Job Satisfaction (moderating variable) for 119 full-time employees in government agencies within the United States (U.S.). Leadership styles have been positively linked to employee job satisfaction and various organizational outcomes; however, most studies on leadership styles, employee job satisfaction, and organizational performance had been focused on the private sector, with little focus on the public sector. The present study focused on public sector (government) agencies. The sample was made up of full-time, non-supervisory U.S. government employees who worked in agencies within the U.S. Qualtrics, Inc. was hired to draw the sample and three survey questionnaire instruments were used to collect the data. A linear multiple regression model was applied to the study and the data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regression. Results of the study were statistically significant (<i>p</i> &lt; .05). Overall, the results lent support to theories that posit leadership styles and employee job satisfaction play a role in determining organizational performance. The results support arguments for adopting the transformational leadership style, and each of its dimensions, to reverse the decline of job satisfaction and enhance levels of organizational performance for U.S. government employees. Limitations of the study were discussed, as well as implications of the findings. Finally, recommendations for future research were offered.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to identify transformational leadership skills exhibited by executives in mid-size companies, working in the fields of Marketing, Sales, HR, and IT. Additionally, this study also tried to identify top domains and skills for each group, and analyze the similarities and differences between groups. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> The study was structured around three research questions. As this was a quantitative study, self-rating data on 10 domains and 80 skills were collected using the Transformational Leadership Skills inventory instrument. These data were then analyzed using multiple statistical methods. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Analysis of data produced multiple findings in relation to top, middle, and bottom tier skills and domains for each group, thereby supporting the hypothesis that the situational context of job function is material for transformational leadership. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> There were six conclusions that applied to all groups, thereby providing valuable insights in relation to similarities across job functions. Additionally, there were multiple differences found in the use of transformational leadership skills across Marketing, Sales, HR, and IT functions, leading to the creation of distinct transformational leadership skill portfolio for each group. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> There were six implications for actions that were developed from the conclusions, ranging from hiring, to talent development, to succession planning. Additionally, eight recommendations for future research were also presented, ranging from logical extensions of this study into different verticals, to complementary new studies that would expand the body of knowledge, to longitudinal cross-sectional study that can be developed over time.</p>

<p> Owners of family businesses in the private sector must be cognizant of nepotism to reduce skilled employee turnover. Guided by Herzberg two-factor theory as the conceptual framework, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies used by family owned and operated business leaders to minimize nepotistic practices that reduce skilled nonfamily employees&rsquo; voluntary turnover. The population for this study included 3 family owned and operated funeral establishments in the Midwest region of St. Louis, Missouri. These participants had sustained their family businesses longer than 5 years while minimizing skilled nonfamily employees&rsquo; voluntary turnover. Data were collected from semistructured face-to-face interviews, the review of proprietary documents, and public information. Data analysis included a 5-step process: compiling the data, disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data into themes, interpreting their meaning, and then reporting the themes. Member checking and methodological triangulation increased the trustworthiness of interpretations. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: work environment, effective communication, education and training, promotion opportunities, and policies and procedures. The implications for social change include (a) reducing nepotistic employment practices in family owned and operated businesses; (b) increasing economic growth potential while simultaneously benefiting employees, families, and communities; and (c) decreasing the unemployment rate. Family owned and operated business leaders can use the results of this study to implement change and to motivate and retain their skilled nonfamily employees.</p>

<p> The management consulting profession in the United States is one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in the world. Despite the industry&rsquo;s increasing popularity and growth, racial minorities remain disproportionately underrepresented in this industry.</p><p> This dissertation sought to shed light on the unique experiences of minorities in the management consulting industry by examining the experiences of Black management consultants and the relationships that exist between the centrality of race, authenticity at work, and the use of race-based impression management (RIM) strategies. This study also sought to contribute to theory by validating a conceptual model, which posits that the centrality of race moderates the relationship between RIM strategies and authenticity at work.</p><p> An online survey was developed using existing instruments designed to measure the centrality of race to one&rsquo;s identity, authenticity at work, and the use of RIM strategies. Quantitative data were gathered from management consultants who identified as Black and were currently or previously employed at a large multinational management consulting firm with 100,000 or more employees. Usable data were collected from 201 participants, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.</p><p> This study found that the RIM strategy social recategorization was significantly related to the ability to be authentic at work, and regardless of whether the centrality of race to one&rsquo;s identity was high or low, the relationship between social recategorization and participants&rsquo; ability to be authentic at work was negatively related. No significant relationship was found between RIM strategy of positive distinctiveness and the ability to be authentic at work, regardless of the degree of racial centrality. The conceptual model developed for this study could not be validated due to low levels of variance around the construct of racial centrality.</p><p> Findings from this study provide empirical insights into the experiences of Black management consultants and contribute to theory, practice, and research regarding the challenges associated with navigating cross-cultural interactions in the workplace.</p>

<p> Leadership encompasses all types of organizations including for profit, not-for-profit, government agencies, and the U. S. military. The U. S. Army requires its leaders to provide leadership at the direct, organizational and strategic level in a variety of situations from preparing to deploy to combat, actions in combat, redeployment and continuing the cycle for the next deployment. Senior U. S. Army leaders identified that leadership development is a priority for the future. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study, which included 15 voluntary participants, was to understand if the U. S. Army's organizational leadership development process based on the 2012 revisions in leadership doctrine be improved based on the opinions and experiences of prior military leaders, and the analysis of U. S. Army doctrine, regulations and prior leadership surveys. Thirteen themes emerged answering the 3 research questions that included 6 attributes, 4 competencies, and 3 improvements to training and education. The attributes included the combined experiences, lessons learned, and history to make decisions. Other attributes of importance were flexibility, critical thinking skills, ethical leadership, self-development, and becoming a mentor. Competencies were sense-making, understanding leadership doctrine and its implementation, ability to prioritize requirements at the organizational level, and enforcing counseling standards. Improvements were to identify problems and recommend change, talent management, and fostering organizational change. The U. S. Army leadership development is marginally sufficient for leadership development; however, necessary revisions and changes to processes be developed and implemented to strengthen the organizational leadership development outcomes for the U. S. Army.</p>

<p> Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has the potential to strengthen an organization in the long term by effectively leveraging the organization&rsquo;s human resources to achieve the organization&rsquo;s strategic goals. The problem this dissertation focuses upon is the extent to which SHRM has been implemented in oil and natural gas companies in Western Pennsylvania and whether the information needed to support SHRM is being communicated into and within these oil and natural gas companies. This included examining how HR leaders and staff are viewed in the company relative to its strategic efforts. Using Jacobson, Sowa, and Lambright&rsquo;s (2014) models of SHRM implementation, three cases were examined to identify the degree to which SHRM has been implemented in the organizations. In addition, the communication of SHRM information was explored with regards to what information has been communicated, how is this information communicated, and who communicates such information. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 participants from three companies, including seven HR managers and employees and three non-HR managers. The interviews led the researcher to conclude that there is further opportunity for the strategic use of the HR departments and HR functions in the sampled companies. Additionally, there was an apparent lack of communication between the HR departments and the rest of the organization regarding strategic HR issues. The organizations with more traditional models of HR, with limited SHRM, demonstrated a weak focus on communicating SHRM information, as well as minimal information processing capabilities to support SHRM implementation.</p>

<p> Does our status impact the way we interpret change? This study proposes that one's level of power within their workplace, as granted by their role within the organization, shapes the way in which people interpret adjustments to the norms of that organization. Drawing on qualitative focus groups with forty-four members of Oregon's construction trades, this study examines the relationship between participants' position within the industry&rsquo;s structure and their opinions about the changing jobsite norms brought on by recent waves of diversification in the workforce. Findings suggest that within Oregon&rsquo;s construction trades, hierarchical distribution of power via industry position serves to stratify and reorganize the attitudes and responses of participants. This is done through situating knowledge; different positions hold differential understandings of which issues generate harassment, present barriers to progress, and serve as potential solutions to the issue. Results show that participants who occupy positions of power within the trades tend to frame harassment as an interpersonal problem, which can be solved by interpersonal solutions. Thus, participants in positions of power saw change as an incremental process that was constantly happening. Conversely, participants who were not in positions of power within the trades tended to frame harassment as an institutional problem that required industry-wide changes to be fully addressed. As a result, participants with less power in the trades framed change as generational for the industry; something that could only be achieved after the current workforce. Ultimately, this study highlights the tension between interpersonal and institutional strategies for organizational change.</p>

<p> Trust is consistently identified as a key factor in the success of organizations. Despite its importance, public trust of U.S. institutions has fallen steadily over six decades. One exception is public trust of the U.S. military, which has increased. This qualitative Delphi study sought to answer the question: What are the perceived characteristics of the trust relationship between the U.S. military and the general public at the point interface where senior military leaders, their public affairs advisors, and national-security media representatives directly facilitate the relay of information between the military and the public? This study also sought to identify which, if any, of those perceived characteristics are unique in the literature, or if they are uniquely prioritized in the trust relationship between the U.S. military and the general public. The purpose of the study was to explore a favorable trust relationship in an effort to identify characteristics that might be beneficial to other leaders in their effort to establish, preserve, or strengthen public trust in their own institutions. The Delphi methodology was used to achieve consensus of opinion among three groups of subject matter experts who, in accordance with joint U.S. doctrine, act as a point of direct interface between the military and the public. Retired senior military officers, retired or former military public affairs officers (PAOs), and journalists who cover the national-security beat for national and international media organizations participated in the study. During three survey rounds, members of two independent groups identified, prioritized, and defined characteristics they perceived as contributing most to the favorable trust relationship between the U.S. military; anonymously reviewed input from other group members; and modified their own input. Overall consensus was reached among these two groups of subject-matter experts that prioritization of honesty, integrity, and credibility contributes most to a favorable trust relationship. Summative content analysis of the respective group&rsquo;s definitions of those terms revealed key themes of open communication and the critical importance of an organization&rsquo;s members doing and saying the right thing, regardless of consequences.</p>