Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2018, Educational Leadership

Contending with powerful economic, political, cultural, and financial pressures, American higher education faces an adaptive challenge of grand proportion. According to adaptive leadership theory (e.g., Heifetz, 1994), an adaptive challenge is one in which the problem is not clear-cut; instead, it is a complex web of interdependent challenges. The solution is also not clear-cut; the human system must resolve the challenge by generating a wholly original adaptation. Corporatization--which refers to the ways higher education is becoming more corporate-like and includes managerialism, privatization, and academic capitalism--has dominated higher education's response to the adaptive challenge. Yet, is corporatization the best possible adaptation? Great benefit could result from higher education leaders collectively examining this question. Adaptive leadership theory and the closely-related complexity leadership theory (e.g., Lichtenstein, 2014) would suggest a nontraditional approach to this examination. In these theories, leaders come from anywhere in an organization and do not plan or direct organizational change. Instead, leaders create conditions that enable the emergence of innovative new order, and three conditions are critical: engagement with the adaptive challenge, divergent thinking, and interaction among individuals. Higher education leaders might use the literature on corporatization to help foster these conditions, but the literature is limited: It describes causes, effects, and views of corporatization but is dominated by conceptual not empirical works and by faculty voices to the near exclusion of others. Therefore, the purposes of this study were two: increase knowledge about views of corporatization held by members of higher education and produce findings leaders could use to foster the three primary conditions for adaptation and emergence. The study used a qualitative approach to the research question: How do higher education leaders think about corpora (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carolyn Ridenour Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Molly Schaller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Treavor Bogard Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jill Lindsey Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Leadership Studies

Researchers have identified an academic insufficiency in investigating leadership during in-extremis situations both by emphasis and through difficulty in researching real-time events. These situations can and do commonly occur in settings involving the military and domestic safety forces such as police, fire, and emergency medical teams (EMS). This research has defined in-extremis circumstances as when the participants, whether civilians caught up in the circumstances, first responders to emergency incidents, or military personnel involved in combat situations are vulnerable to incurring significant injuries up to and including death. In plainer words, when people's lives are on the line and the decisions and actions performed during the event could greatly impact the outcome. This research utilized a mixed-methods design gathering online quantitative data from 401 fire officers (grouped into Exemplars and General Fire Officers) and qualitative data from a Delphi panel of Exemplars only. A purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate how career fire officers who were identified by their fire departments as exemplars in field command reported they make critical decisions during in-extremis moments and to explore whether there are commonalities in their leadership approaches. This was attained through a Delphi panel composed of 14 Exemplar fire officers. Three rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted that attempted to reach consensus among the Delphi panel members. In addition, the Rational-Experiential Inventory-40 (REI-40) was offered online to 17 career fire department officers to help evaluate their tendencies towards rational/analytical and experiential/intuitive thinking. Results from the online REI-40 survey and findings from the Delphi interviews revealed that the Exemplars rely upon their experience and intuition to a greater extent and rely less upon written procedures than did their General Fire Officer counterparts. The Delphi p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shirley Green Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sara Worley Ph.D. (Other); Judith Jackson May Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Educational Leadership; Management; Occupational Safety; Operations Research; Organization Theory

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action research was to explore how complexity is engaged and experienced in complex regulatory systems, and to understand how cannabis might be regulated in ways that lead to socially equitable conditions. This was accomplished by studying the lived experiences of governmental leaders charged with the responsibility of establishing regulatory frameworks for legalized cannabis where none previously existed. Using the learning history methodology, the study deeply explores the ways that complex systems coexist by capturing the lived experiences of research participants and enhance theoretical understanding of complex regulatory systems. Data collection occurred through reflective interviews, followed by distillation and thematic analysis. This resulted in the creation of a data table and a learning history artifact that were validated by distribution to research participants and used as both an actionable tool for participants and an analytical tool to distill and categorize research findings. The data table and the artifact established three main findings: complexity is both a property and characteristic of systems; complexity is not a behavior, characteristic or action of “leadership” or “leaders” in complex regulatory systems; and the interplay between social justice and social equity is complex and often oversimplified. Rather than directing, participants brought about change by building interactive trust through dialogue and relationship-building in interactive spaces across and between macro, meso, and micro systems levels. Complexity arose from these participatory human relationships when both the properties and characteristics of these systems were engaged, but the theoretical construct of complexity does not explain the presence of agency within this dynamic. By recognizing agency across all systems, structural barriers may be reduced, resulting in regulatory frameworks that may lead to more socially equitable con (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Chair); Harriet Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Dennis Tourish PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Epistemology; Philosophy; Public Administration; Public Policy; Social Research

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2017, Leadership and Change

This qualitative study is an in-depth exploration of the experiences of 20 executive-level leaders from American corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and universities. At the heart of this investigation are stories that reveal the challenge of leading change in complex systems from the leader perspective, creating an opportunity to explore sense-making and sense-giving as guided by individual values and organizational contexts. Complexity Science, the framework for this research, is the study of relationships within and among systems. The aim of approaching this research from a complexity perspective is to gain a more realistic view of the issues and challenges that leaders face during change, and how they make meaning and respond in today's richly interconnected and largely unpredictable information age. Results highlight the critical role an individual's beliefs and values—as shaped by experience and guided by context—have on leadership and the organization's approach to change implementation. This study identifies three leadership conceptual categories: (1) traditional (linear and hierarchical in nature); (2) complexity (non-linear, suited to densely interconnected and rapid-paced environments), and (3) complexity-plus (including change goals beyond the organization and its members). Though traditional and complexity styles are largely known in the literature, the complexity-plus style is a newly identified category. Drawing from Uhl-Bien, Marion, and McKelvey's (2007) Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) model, which delineates three leadership functions: (1) administrative (results orientation); (2) adaptive (learning orientation); and (3) enabling (support orientation), the key conclusions of this investigation are integrated with the CLT model to create the Leadership Values Framework. The results of this research contribute to our understanding of the influence of a leader's values, enhancing our ability as academics and practitioners to bette (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alan Guskin Ph.D (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D (Committee Member); Merryn Rutledge Ed.D (Committee Member); Peter Martin Dickens Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Organizational Behavior; Social Psychology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2014, Leadership and Change

The purpose of this study is to explore the way(s) in which the disproportionate return of ex-prisoners to socially and economically disadvantaged communities impact(s) specific community structural factors identified in the study. After three decades of withstanding the enduring effects of the mass incarceration, communities stand at the edge of a new era. Economic realities, and the failure of policies designed to deter crime through imprisonment are rapidly ushering in an era of mass prisoner reentry. The complexity of the challenges surrounding the successful integration of offenders to communities requires a new leadership paradigm for justice leaders. This study posits that communities are complex adaptive systems and examines the applicability of complexity leadership theory to the interactive impact of prisoner reentry. Existing academic literature is replete with research examining the ability of community institutions to ease the transition of citizens returning home from prison and contributing to their ability to achieve success within the community. Additional studies have identified the negative effects of mass incarceration on elements or structural factors often define the viability of a community. These include, but are not necessarily limited to: employment, crime, poverty, and family relationships. This study builds upon previous academic research in the area of prisoner reentry. It steps in a new direction that focuses on the impact the concentrated return of ex-prisoners exerts on elements that contribute to the collective efficacy of neighborhoods. In order to effectively examine the interactive or reciprocating impact of prisoner reentry, a mixed methodological approach using both qualitative and quantitative research, situated in a case study, is employed. The research design incorporates the constructed realities of those experiencing the interactive impact of reentry and provides a statistical analysis of the attitudes of a broad representa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Edward Rhine PhD (Committee Member); Morris Jenkins PhD (Other) Subjects: Criminology; Families and Family Life; Public Administration; Public Policy; Rehabilitation; Social Research; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2008, Organizational Behavior

This study explores the relationship between self-integration, self-complexity, and integrative learning. Drawing from constructivist adult ego development theorists (Kegan, 1994; Loevinger, 1976; 1988; Lahey et al. 1988; Perry, 1999; Piaget, 1962; Rogers, 1951) the definition of self-integration emphasizes a person's transformation in epistemology and meaning making, underlying both psycho-social and cognitive maturation. Building on post-conventional constructivist adult ego development theory (Cook-Greuter, 1999; Johnson, 2000; Kegan, 1994; Lahey, 1986) this is one of the first empirical explorations of self-integration, operationally defined as two variables, capturing a conventional and a post-conventional component. Important work in this area has been theoretical. Self-integration is operationalized as (1) self-ideal congruence, as measured by Higgins (1985; 1987 ;) and as defined in intentional change theory (Boyatzis and Akrivou, 2006), and (2) self-integrating process, as captured by a newly developed direct response measure based on post-conventional constructivist theory. Self-complexity is operationally defined as the numbers of self-aspects that a person utilizes to represent his/her self internally (Linville, 1987). Integrative learning is measured as adaptive flexibility, the ability for systematic variability in a person's response to different environmental needs (Kolb, 1984). Based on quantitative research methods, overall findings from data collected from 198 adults in management and professional roles confirmed the hypotheses that self complexity is positively related to both measures of integration (self-ideal congruence and self-integrating process), and integrative learning is positively related to the second measure of integration. Age, a control, is positively related to the second measure of integration. Findings support operationalization of self-integration as two distinct variables, being – to my knowledge – the first empirical testing (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David A. Kolb Professor (Committee Co-Chair); Richard E. Boyatzis Professor (Committee Co-Chair); David A. Kolb Professor (Committee Co-Chair); Lee A. Thompson PhD (Committee Member); Smith L. Melvin Phd (Committee Member) Subjects: Organizational Behavior

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Leadership and Change

In a time of increasing complexity, many organizations invest in leadership development programs to prepare those who will assume the role of leader. Although many studies have evaluated programs' impact, the questions remain: does development happen in leadership development program? If so, what kind of development? And what is the participant's experience of personal or organizational impact? The purpose of this sequential mixed methodology study is to address these three questions utilizing an online follow-through platform as a lens on 248 participants in the Center for Creative Leadership's Leadership Development Program (LDP) who reported completing their LDP goals. Those who completed their development goals in the twelve weeks following the LDP face-to-face classroom phase were asked "What was the personal or organizational impact of completing this goal?" From thematic analysis of the participant's experience of impact, a taxonomy of 82 content codes emerged; these were then clustered into eight domains of increasing interpersonal space. The codes and domains were utilized to generate frequency counts, revealing first-person accounts of impact that extended beyond the individual into interpersonal, team, and organizational domains; the reports of impact included both interior (subjective worldview and shared culture) and exterior (observable behavior, performance, structure, systems, and processes) realms highlighting the impact on individuals and collectives. Codes surfaced evidence of both horizontal and vertical development, with seven emergent hypotheses being investigated for their role in predicting inclusion in the vertical development codes.This research integrates the literature in various domains to discuss findings: leader development, leadership development, leadership development program design, postclassroom development, adult development, horizontal development, vertical development, integral theory, hierarchical complexity, and online follow (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mitchell Kusy PhD (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Russ Volckmann PhD (Committee Member); Ron Cacioppe PhD (Other) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Management; Personal Relationships; Psychology; Social Psychology; Technology