The purpose of this research study was to analyze the leadership styles of owners of small land surveying businesses in the states of Tennessee and Virginia to determine what leadership style was currently being employed by the majority of those owners. The participants in this study were chosen from members of the Virginia Association of Surveyors and the Tennessee Association of Professional Surveyors. The respondents to the questionnaire were licensed land surveyors who owned small firms of fewer than 101 employees. In addition, a corollary purpose was to flesh out the skeletal literature available on small business leadership styles and their effect on small business success. The owners of the small surveying businesses were asked to reply to a series of questions on demographic data and Likert-type scale questions designed to examine the respondents' leadership styles as Participatory, Situational, or Autocratic in a both external and internal environments. The results of the questionnaire produced nominal data, which were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software to compute the frequency and significance. Additionally, a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis K Independent Samples procedure and one-way Chi -Square tests were used to analyze the statistical relationships and differences in the respondents' answers. The results of this study suggested that the majority of the respondents used a participatory style of leadership when confronted with internal environment decisions and an autocratic leadership style in the external environment. The overall conclusion drawn from this study was that the owners of small land surveying firms who responded to the questionnaire were predominantly situational because they adjusted their leadership styles to meet the needs and demands of their changing situations.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka och vidareutveckla kunskap om implementering av kvalitetsledningssystem i den offentliga sektorn. Ledningssystem för systematiskt kvalitetsarbete är sedan 2011 lagstyrt i vissa delar av offentlig sektor (SOSFS 2011:9). Andra delar av offentlig sektor har frivilligt valt att införa olika former av ledningssystem för kvalitet, medan andra organisationer inte har något uttalat kvalitetsledningssystem. Studien riktade sig mot att skapa mer kunskap om dessa varierande förutsättningar i offentlig sektor. En kvalitativ design med en praktiknära och undersökande ansats användes i denna studie. Femton individuella intervjuer och en gruppintervju med tre informanter genomfördes. Informanterna kom från offentliga organisationer på både kommunal och regional nivå. Resultatet från intervjuerna gav en ytterst diversifierad bild av kvalitetsledningssystem i offentlig sektor. Kvalitetsledningssystem definieras och används på varierande sätt. Informanterna uttryckte ett gemensamt behov av en förstående och tydlig ledning, utrymme i tid att arbeta med kvalitetsfrågor samt ett systematiskt arbetssätt. Några av de mest uttalade behoven som identifierats i studien är en tydligare nationell styrning gällande SOSFS 2011:9 samt utveckling av modeller och manualer som förenklar det praktiska arbetet med lagstiftad kvalitetsledning. Studien tydliggör också ett behov av ytterligare forskning för att bland annat överbrygga klyftan mellan nationell lagstiftning och det vardagliga arbetet inom kommuner och regioner. Studien har identifierat ett antal områden och kärnvärden som tillsammans bildar en modell för hur kvalitetsledning inom offentlig sektor skulle kunna stödjas. / Since 2011, quality management systems have been governed by law in certain parts of the public sector (SOSFS 2011: 9). Other parts of the public sector have voluntarily chosen to introduce various quality management systems, while other organisations do not have any identified quality management systems. The study aimed to create more knowledge about these varying conditions in the public sector. A qualitative design, close to practice with an investigative approach was used in this study. Fifteen individual interviews and a group interview with three informants were conducted. The informants were all working in public organisations at both municipal and regional levels. The results from the interviews provided a diversified image of quality management systems in the public sector. Quality management systems are defined and used in several ways. The informants expressed a common need for an understanding, transparent and straight forward management approach, time to work with quality issues and systematic work methods. Some of the most pronounced needs identified in the study are more explicit national governance regarding SOSFS 2011:9 and the need of developing models and manuals that simplify the practical work with legislated quality management. The study also clarifies the need for further research to bridge the gap between national legislation and the everyday work within municipalities and regions. Several supportive core values were identified in this study related to the field of quality management. The authors used the core values to create a model that might be useful to improve quality management in the public sector in the future. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

The abuse of power, dominance of certain shared perspectives, and reduction of personal values into so-called organizational core values are problems that plague traditional organizational direction setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how power intersects with the knowledge formation process, shared perspectives, and participatory processes within organizational direction setting. The study used an ethnographic case study approach to focus on a church that went through a yearlong direction setting process. The church had lost its senior pastor and wanted to determine its direction before hiring a new pastor. The researcher was a participant in that process. His field notes and other documentation provided one source of data. The researcher also interviewed 20 people who participated in the process. In terms of the intersection of power and knowledge formation, the study revealed that the discursive practices of the facilitator along with the voices of those in privileged groups, the outspoken, and those who had engendered trust in others carried considerable weight during the process. At the intersection of power with shared perspectives, there were two major perspectives representing subgroup cultures: a traditional perspective that resisted change and a progressive perspective that wanted change. The progressives dominated the church’s privileged groups and exerted extensive influence on the direction setting process. The organizational symbols of church staff and worship music style served to galvanize some people in the battle over which perspective would prevail. Transparency functioned as a bridge that brought some on either side of the conflict closer together. The research revealed two major types of power related to the intersection of power with participatory processes: the power of pain and intimidation. Both minimized the participation of some women, youth, and traditionalists. All three intersections featured deployments of power that influenced the construction of directional knowledge. This knowledge helped to inform the rules of “appropriate” conduct within the organization’s emerging truth regime. The study revealed that, in this case, robust directional knowledge would have accommodated personal, subgroup, and widely shared values in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The researcher concluded with a discussion of implications for organizational leaders.

The abuse of power, dominance of certain shared perspectives, and reduction of personal values into so-called organizational core values are problems that plague traditional organizational direction setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how power intersects with the knowledge formation process, shared perspectives, and participatory processes within organizational direction setting. The study used an ethnographic case study approach to focus on a church that went through a yearlong direction setting process. The church had lost its senior pastor and wanted to determine its direction before hiring a new pastor. The researcher was a participant in that process. His field notes and other documentation provided one source of data. The researcher also interviewed 20 people who participated in the process. In terms of the intersection of power and knowledge formation, the study revealed that the discursive practices of the facilitator along with the voices of those in privileged groups, the outspoken, and those who had engendered trust in others carried considerable weight during the process. At the intersection of power with shared perspectives, there were two major perspectives representing subgroup cultures: a traditional perspective that resisted change and a progressive perspective that wanted change. The progressives dominated the church’s privileged groups and exerted extensive influence on the direction setting process. The organizational symbols of church staff and worship music style served to galvanize some people in the battle over which perspective would prevail. Transparency functioned as a bridge that brought some on either side of the conflict closer together. The research revealed two major types of power related to the intersection of power with participatory processes: the power of pain and intimidation. Both minimized the participation of some women, youth, and traditionalists. All three intersections featured deployments of power that influenced the construction of directional knowledge. This knowledge helped to inform the rules of “appropriate” conduct within the organization’s emerging truth regime. The study revealed that, in this case, robust directional knowledge would have accommodated personal, subgroup, and widely shared values in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The researcher concluded with a discussion of implications for organizational leaders.

The abuse of power, dominance of certain shared perspectives, and reduction of personal values into so-called organizational core values are problems that plague traditional organizational direction setting. The purpose of this study was to explore how power intersects with the knowledge formation process, shared perspectives, and participatory processes within organizational direction setting. The study used an ethnographic case study approach to focus on a church that went through a yearlong direction setting process. The church had lost its senior pastor and wanted to determine its direction before hiring a new pastor. The researcher was a participant in that process. His field notes and other documentation provided one source of data. The researcher also interviewed 20 people who participated in the process. In terms of the intersection of power and knowledge formation, the study revealed that the discursive practices of the facilitator along with the voices of those in privileged groups, the outspoken, and those who had engendered trust in others carried considerable weight during the process. At the intersection of power with shared perspectives, there were two major perspectives representing subgroup cultures: a traditional perspective that resisted change and a progressive perspective that wanted change. The progressives dominated the church’s privileged groups and exerted extensive influence on the direction setting process. The organizational symbols of church staff and worship music style served to galvanize some people in the battle over which perspective would prevail. Transparency functioned as a bridge that brought some on either side of the conflict closer together. The research revealed two major types of power related to the intersection of power with participatory processes: the power of pain and intimidation. Both minimized the participation of some women, youth, and traditionalists. All three intersections featured deployments of power that influenced the construction of directional knowledge. This knowledge helped to inform the rules of “appropriate” conduct within the organization’s emerging truth regime. The study revealed that, in this case, robust directional knowledge would have accommodated personal, subgroup, and widely shared values in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The researcher concluded with a discussion of implications for organizational leaders. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate