Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Leadership Studies

Student conduct professionals find themselves balancing legal mandates, the needs of the community, and the needs of the student in decision-making. Theories such as the ethic of justice and the ethic of care can bring clarity to the decision-making process. This study examined several variables to predict the moral orientation of student conduct professionals including years of experience, current position, type of institution, educational background, gender, and age. Moral orientation was measured using the Moral Orientation Scale (MOS) developed by Yacker and Weinberg (1990). This study collected demographic information to predict how the moral orientation of student conduct professionals. The population for this study was drawn from the membership of the Association for Student Conduct Administrators (ASCA). Very little research exists on the decision making of student conduct professionals and the results of this study provides more insight into the profession. The findings of this study indicated the gender of student conduct professionals was a statistically significant predictor of the moral orientation of student conduct professionals. In addition this study found there to be significant differences in the age and years of experience among men and women within the profession of student conduct. These findings will assist student conduct professionals in providing rationale to their decision-making, will inform hiring practices and will guide the importance of training and professional development on topics of justice and care. In addition, this study provides insight into gender differences in the profession, which offers opportunities for future research.

Committee: Patrick Pauken J.D., Ph.D. (Advisor); Lara Lengel Ph.D. (Other); Chrisopher Giordano Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Judith May Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Gender; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2013, Organizational Behavior

I propose that current organization theories tend to cast organizations, especially companies, as entities that only pursue their own interests. Thus, existing research on why firms go “beyond compliance” in adopting socially or environmentally beneficial policies or practices depict them as responding to a perceived opportunity to either make gains in financial performance and legitimacy or avoid potential losses in these. I, however, argue that, in some cases, firms may do so because they view benefitting an external constituency as a desirable end in itself. I call this organizational benevolence and suggest that it is likely to be visible in the early adoption of social innovations by companies. I present the results of qualitative and quantitative research on U.S. companies' adoption of fair trade, a social innovation, which I conducted to inquire into the possible presence of organizational benevolence and to identify its characteristics. In the qualitative study, I found that some interviewees' accounts of the adoption of fair trade-certified coffee describe a commitment to furthering the well-being of coffee farmers strong enough to take precedence over many other concerns. This commitment was characterized as rooted in organizational identity, reflected in close, long-term relationships with coffee growers, and leading to a willingness to prioritize their material benefits over the firms'. Using two vignette-based decision-making experiments, I tested hypotheses which address the effects of institutional, organizational, situational and individual factors on the decision to have one's firm adopt fair trade-certified coffee or seafood. I find that, in addition to the extent of current diffusion, decision makers' interactions with potential beneficiaries and personal characteristics, such as moral identity, can have positive effects on adoption. I conclude that the organizational commitment to secondary stakeholders' welfare must be fairly strong and salient (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Cooperrider PhD (Committee Chair); Ronald Fry PhD (Committee Member); Chris Laszlo PhD (Committee Member); Jagdip Singh PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2024, Management

There is a growing body of literature highlighting the significance of adopting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, which contribute positively to an enterprise's value. The influence of stakeholder theory has prompted global organizations to increasingly embrace ESG principles, garnering heightened attention in recent years, a shift from the past. However, there is a paucity of literature on empirical studies investigating the impact of organizational behaviors on the decision-making process of adopting ESG principles. This dissertation employs a sequential mixed-method research design to explore the effects of leadership styles on the perceived importance of ESG factors in organizations. Initially, an exploratory qualitative inquiry, involving semi-structured interviews with thirty respondents, examines the factors influencing the decision to adopt and implement social-related issues in organizations. Subsequently, an archival study delves into the mechanisms through which ESG indirectly influences firm profitability via employee satisfaction. The research also investigates the direct effects of authentic and ethical leadership on perceptions of ESG. Informed in general by the upper echelons theory and the stakeholder theory of the firm, the study considers leadership authority as a factor driving the embrace and implementation of ESG principles. Leaders exert influence in allocating organizational resources to achieve desired outcomes. Additionally, other factors such as costs, regulation, and reputation play a role in the decision to adopt ESG-related policies. The second phase of the dissertation explores the direct and indirect effects of positive performance indicators of environmental, social, and governance aspects on corporate financial performance (CFP) through employee satisfaction (ES) among S&P 500 companies from 2015 to 2019. The findings indicate a significant positive impact of employee satisfaction on corporate financial perf (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Timothy Fogarty, Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Olubunmi Faleye, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Yunmei Wang, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Philip Cola, Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Management

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Leadership Studies

The expectation of healthcare professionals is to provide quality, patient-centered care to all patients. Miscommunication between the healthcare team resulted in segmented care and medical errors. As disconnects were discovered, healthcare professionals began promoting a team-based approach to care. The team-based approach helped eliminate barriers that inhibited effective communication and quality care to patients, providing a more cohesive patient care experience. Implementing team-based, patient-centered care in professional practice requires training to be introduced at the educational level of healthcare programs. A teaching strategy called interprofessional education (IPE) was developed to help teach students from different healthcare professions to learn with, from, and about each other's professions. Over time, healthcare education program accreditors were able to integrate IPE recommendations into their learning standards. However, not all healthcare professions chose to include IPE in their educational accreditation standards which left the decision to use IPE in some healthcare programs up to the program director. One healthcare profession in particular, radiography, has not yet mandated IPE into its educational accreditation standards. This study explored if radiography program directors' self-reported attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of IPE were associated with their self-reported level of use of IPE in their programs. The author created a survey to collect data from radiography program directors accredited by JRCERT (N = 262). Analysis of the data revealed a positive association between program directors' attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of IPE and their decision to use IPE in their radiography programs. Investigating the relationship between program directors' attitudes, iv knowledge, and perceptions of IPE and their level of use of IPE contributed to an understanding of how educational leaders' make decisions that impact their progra (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Judith May Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Margaret Brooks Ph.D. (Other); Dawn LaBarbera Ph.D. (Committee Member); Patrick Pauken Ph.D., J.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Health Care; Medical Imaging; Radiology

Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Weatherhead School of Management

This research explores the factors which influence and enhance ethical decision-making. Themes of managerial education, a liberal arts training, religiosity, personal value-guided behavior, and mindfulness are explored. This integrative paper reports two mixed method studies following an exploratory sequential design. The first qualitative study consisted of 30 qualitative semi-structure interviews of executives both at the C-level as well as at the middle manager level about their experiences in the corporate setting of ethical dilemmas which they faced. The second quantitative study involved a survey of 316 respondents composing of college students, entrepreneurs, and executives. Both studies provided insights about ethical decision-making at the workplace specifically the positive effects of personal value-guided behavior and religiosity. The relationship between mindfulness and ethical decision-making could not be demonstrated. As business ethics involves its own set of morals and values (e.g., profit-maximization vs ethics-maximization) that are becoming central in a workplaces and corporations, ethical business leaders stand to benefit from exploring multiple ways of neutralizing ethical misconduct including relying on personal values and religiosity.

Committee: James Gaskin Ph.D. (Advisor); Corinne Coen Ph.D. (Advisor); Peter Whitehouse M.D, Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Education; Ethics; Philosophy; Religion

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Higher Education

Higher education and beer have long been associated. However, those associations have not always been positive or productive. With the Creation of Innovation Brew Works, the site for this qualitative case study, California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) has established the first fully operational on-campus brewery and brewpub in higher education. Utilizing Kolb's Theory on Experiential Learning as the theoretical framework, this dissertation provides insight into what can be broadly learned from the country's first university owned brewery and brewpub. Rooted in illustrating this novel student amenity and its experiential learning opportunities, this dissertation also provides an example of the decision making process in higher education. Findings, which helped in the creation and the continued operation of Innovation Brew Works include: the Cal Poly Pomona environment; administrative control and oversight; establishing Innovation Brew Works' identity; and focusing on the university's mission. With an emphasis on learn by doing, Cal Poly Pomona's Innovation Brew Works, highlights a campus amenity that provides academic, social, and financial incentives.

Committee: Debra Brace (Committee Chair); Ben Dewald (Committee Member); Penny Poplin-Gosetti (Committee Member); Marijo Tamburrino (Committee Member) Subjects: Ethics; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Bioethics

Recent evidence suggests that trust in the dental profession is declining and that the profession suffers for public confidence in comparison to other healthcare professions (Kelly, 2017; Norman, 2016). To sustain a successful practice, dentists must garner patient trust by delivering care with technical prowess, and show compassion at the chairside while always acting in the best interests of their patients. Naturally, dental educators and supervising clinical faculty serve as principal role models for their students, bearing hefty responsibility for producing competent, ethical dental graduates. This thesis argues that the integration of team-based learning (TBL) into dental ethics curricula is a useful method for teaching both a knowledge of ethics, and the practical application of clinical ethics—key steps toward becoming sound, ethical decision-makers and improving patient trust. Application exercises encountered in TBL can help actuate a deeper understanding and appreciation for a patient's values and interests. Axiomatically, this ethical underpinning strengthens the provider-patient relationship. When patients trust their individual provider, a general outgrowth of confidence obtains and restores public trust in the dental profession. TBL is an evidence-based, learner-centered pedagogical method currently underutilized in dental education. TBL allows students to engage with a fundamental core of ethical principles and apply what they have learned when making treatment decisions that will withstand ethical scrutiny. This thesis describes the author's design and utilization of TBL as a strategy to teach ethics and its decision-making derivatives. Likewise, it endeavors to extrapolate lessons learned from the results. This study includes a review of data collected as a part of a course in the current dental school curriculum and has been approved for exempt status under an institutional IRB.

Committee: Ashley Fernandes MD, PhD (Advisor); Courtney Thiele JD, MA (Committee Member); Matthew Messina DDS (Committee Member) Subjects: Dentistry; Ethics

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies, Xavier University, 2018, Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of institutional mission on the ways in which undergraduate college students make ethical decisions by comparing decisions made by unmatriculated first year students and graduating seniors. Analysis focused on whether unmatriculated first year students and graduating seniors employed different ethical decision-making philosophies, and whether the Jesuit identity of the study institution was reflected in the ethical decision-making of these students. The study sought to identify the approach to ethical decision-making employed by students at a Jesuit institution of higher education, determine whether first year and senior students differed in their approach, and explore the extent to which Jesuit identity was reflected in their rationales. The study used a framework of six ethical principles: utilitarianism, categorical imperative, justice as fairness, pragmatism, altruism, and virtue ethics; and six Jesuit values: reflection, discernment, solidarity and kinship, service rooted in justice and love, Cura Personalis, and Magis. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to address the four research questions guiding the study. Qualitative data was analyzed through theoretical coding and quantitative data was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results from both analyses were first interpreted separately, then compared to better understand the influence of institutional mission on ethical decision-making. These analyses revealed that there was some variation in how ethical principles and Jesuit values were applied by both study populations, but not much systematic differentiation between first year students and seniors in their ethical decision making, or in the Jesuit values reflected in their decisions. Limitations and opportunities for further research aimed at clarifying the results of this exploratory study, as well as implications for student affairs professionals in the higher education community ar (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gail F. Latta Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Paul Fiorelli J.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ethics; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, Management

Research highlights “moral stress” exercising powerful influence on individual's well-being and his or her turnover intentions beyond the effects of general stress. Recently there have been calls for theoretical and empirical research into “the largely unexplored” moral aspects of stress also in organizations. As a result, scholars have proposed the construct of moral stress and explored its discriminant validity amongst job stressors, validated a moral stress scale, and tested its predictive validity on individual worker's fatigue, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Despite these significant results these studies fail to explain the “what” or “how” behind moral stress, and proclaim “other types of positions and environments need to be tested” in understanding the role of moral stress in organizational settings. In particular, individual level antecedents of moral stress have not been theorized and analyzed among executives. In response to this void this mixed method sequence of studies investigates the role and impact of moral stress in individual executive ethical decision-making processes, and its antecedents. Due to lack of explicit theory and earlier empirical research on the topic the first study qualitatively explores how moral stress manifests in manager's experience and how it influences senior manager's behaviors who are involved in high-pressure, group decision-making processes where the manager experiences conflict between his or her personal values and guiding values of the organizational setting. I draw upon semi-structured interviews with 30 senior executives and find that among morally aware executives moral dissonance and moral stress act as motivating mechanisms to engage in an ethical decision-making process. This is, however, moderated by overall decision-making process quality, the relational climate of the setting, and manager's job embeddedness. The second study investigates the specific impact of role identity saliency (total and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Chair); Brad Owens (Committee Member); Shannon French (Committee Member); James Gaskin (Committee Member) Subjects: Ethics; Management; Sustainability

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Management

Fraud thrives in the financial marketplace despite the best efforts of the accounting community. Literature suggests both models and solutions to address the problem, yet a paucity of knowledge remains regarding how sympathy influences fraud. Although many of the largest frauds come from the professional investing community, little research exists on the pathways to fraud within it. I respond to calls for action from auditing and accounting literature, COSO, and practitioners in examining a powerful path to fraud inside the professional trading community, aggravated unintentionally by those who regulate them. I discover an environment where fraud is so pervasive, fraud can become the norm. While interviewing 31 professional investors and regulators, a passionate group of “ethical” fraudsters emerges. These fraudsters rationalize fraud as an ethical act, useful for protecting members of the public, given sympathetic circumstances. Following this line of reasoning, and aligned with literature from accounting, economics, and psychology, I operationalize an experiment. This experiment studies how the threat of detection, monetary rewards, and organizational culture interact to drive fraud when a sympathetic client exists. The data suggest the generalized existence of such “Robin Hood” fraudsters, given the opportunity to commit fraud to help their clients. Additionally, the data confirms the combinatory impact of the Fraud Triangle. Multiple factors need be present for fraud to emerge. Finally, while those in small firms act fraudulently due to the combination of money and a low chance of detection, those in large firms act due to money and a performance driven culture. In the qualitative study, traders expressed the belief that even when caught, the amount they will have to repay is relatively low. Additionally, regulators expressed the opinion that the amount requiring repayment will be high. Combining the results of the experiment with these assertions, I desig (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Timothy Fogarty (Committee Chair); Michael Akers (Committee Member); Don Giacomino (Committee Member); Tony Lingham (Committee Member) Subjects: Accounting

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2015, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

Mental health clinicians are bound by professional ethics codes that are intended to ensure beneficence toward clients. When clinicians reside in rural areas, ethical dilemmas result from the distinct nature of rural life and clinical practice. Despite extant literature on the ethical dilemmas of rural practice, little research has examined the effect of ethical dilemmas on the social-emotional functioning of clinicians. In response to this need, the study investigated the relationships of frequency of and discomfort from ethical dilemmas on clinician social-emotional functioning. Participants were rural and small town clinicians (N = 60) between ages 24-65 and primarily Caucasian (83.3%), from 19 states of the U.S., and one from Costa Rica. They responded to an online survey. Answer formats ranged from a Likert scale to open-ended statements to multiple choice options. Survey questions addressed demographic information; frequency and discomfort related to ethical dilemma types; decision-making strategies used; confidence in and stress relief from use of decision-making strategies; and frequency of service denial due to payment problems. The Friedman Well-Being Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were also included. Hypotheses predicted that frequency of encounters with ethical dilemmas and increased discomfort from ethical dilemmas would relate to lower well-being and higher burnout. Research questions were aimed at understanding the types and frequency of ethical dilemmas experienced by rural and small-town clinicians and decision-making strategies used. Differences between well-being and burnout scores of the study participants and participants of the normative studies for these measures were studied. Results indicated that frequency of and discomfort level from ethical dilemmas predicted the burnout dimension of Emotional Exhaustion. Dual role and clinician visibility dilemmas were most common. Most participants used a case-by-case, multiple-strategy approach fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gargi Roysircar-Sodowsky PhD (Committee Chair); Gina Pasquale PsyD (Committee Member); Daniel Lafleur PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Education and Human Services

There is little evidence of the effectiveness of ethics education in improving ethical outcomes in psychology graduate students. Most ethics education is conducted using remedial approaches that emphasize rules, laws, and codes. Positive ethics is as an approach to ethics instruction that uses ethical acculturation to improve ethical decision making processes and increase desired ethical outcomes. This study asked 201 doctoral psychology students to describe their ethics courses according to theoretical positive ethics factors and respond to hypothetical ethical situations. Data were analyzed to identify positive ethics factors and their relationship to ethical decision making. Analysis of the Ethics Course Experience Questionnaire revealed five positive ethics factors that may influence the ethics learning process. Positive ethics education was found to statistically significantly increase students' resolve to follow through on the action they deemed ethical. Specific positive ethics factors and participant demographics influenced ethical sensitivity, reasoning, and resoluteness responses.

Committee: Elizabeth Welfel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Michael Horvath Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kathryn MacCluskie Ed.D. (Committee Member); Julia Phillips Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sarah Toman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Education; Ethics; Higher Education; Psychology

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 2012, Psychology

Several types of leadership have been identified in the leadership literature. Two types considered to be effective in organizations are transformational leadership and servant leadership. The main purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of type of leadership (transformational vs. servant) on perceptions of followers' decision making in moral and risky situations. Results showed that followers were perceived to make moral decisions, regardless of type of leader. Results also showed that, overall, type of leader affected perceptions of followers' risky decision making, such that followers of transformational leaders made more risky decisions than followers of servant leaders. This study expanded the leadership literature by focusing on contextual testing within leadership and showing that not all popular leadership types may be effective in all situations. Findings of this study also further clarified the similarities and differences between transformational and servant leadership. Overall, findings suggested that both types of leaders seem to be effective in moral situations, but that transformational leaders seem to be more effective in risky situations.

Committee: Dalia L. Diab Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Morell E. Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mark S. Nagy Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2012, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology PhD

There were four purposes for this study. One purpose was to develop a direct assessment of individuals' ethical schemas for how to operate within work settings. I proposed structural assessment using Pathfinder as a means of measuring the structural network of ethical knowledge. I expected structural assessment to be a better means of assessing moral development within organizations than the Defining Issues Test (Rest, 1979). A second purpose was to examine the extent to which implicit aspects of the ethical decision-making process have differential effects on behavioral criteria than explicit aspects of ethical decision-making. A third purpose of this study was to examine the impact that contextual factors (i.e., ethical work climates) have on ethical decision-making and behavior. Thus, I investigated the unique and interactive effects of ethical work climates and ethical decision-making on behavioral criteria. Finally, a fourth purpose of this study was to merge the ethical behavior and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) literatures to increase our understanding about theory and variables in both literatures. There were two data collections. In the first sample, I used college undergraduates to develop measures. In the second sample, I conducted formal tests of hypotheses. I recruited individuals who participated in Amazon's MechanicalTurk program, which reflected a diverse set of individuals with a wealth of work experience. In addition, I used full-time employees who were enrolled in an MBA program to increase sample size. I used hierarchical regression to test hypotheses. Results showed that using structural assessment and Pathfinder to measure ethical schemas accounted for unique variance in CWBs, controlling for the DIT, and that implicit processes exhibited a greater impact on CWBs than explicit processes. The implications for theory development, training, selection and organizational cultures are discussed.

Committee: Debra Steele-Johnson PhD (Committee Chair); Nathan Bowling PhD (Committee Member); Melissa Gruys PhD (Committee Member); David LaHuis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Ethics; Organizational Behavior; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2003, Educational Research and Evaluation (Education)

This study investigates if differences exist in students' and instructors' ethical ideologies and ethical decision-making. Ethics comprises only a small portion of the athletic training curriculum, which is a competency-based model. Ethical decision-making, however, is vital to practice effectively across clinical settings, and an individual's ethical ideology may affect athletic training practitioners' ethical decision-making abilities. The Ethics Position (EPQ) and Dilemmas in Athletic Training Questionnaires (DAT-Q) assessed respondents' ethical ideologies and ethical decision-making. Respondents (N = 598) included 373 females (62.4%) and 225 males (37.6%), ranging in age from 18 to 63 years (M = 23.5, SD = 6.3). Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed both the EPQ and DAT-Q to possess reasonable construct validity. Internal consistency of the EPQ's idealism and relativism subscales and the DAT-Q scale were .79, .72 and .82, respectively. Overall, respondents reported higher idealism (M = 37.56, SD = 4.91) than relativism scores (M = 31.70, SD = 4.80). The mean DAT-Q score for all respondents was (M = 80.76, SD = 7.88). The research design incorporated three separate 2 (gender) x 3 (educational status) factorial ANOVAs utilizing idealism, relativism and DAT-Q scores as dependent measures. The main effect for gender illustrated that males reported significantly higher relativism scores, F (1, 592) = 9.183, p < .05, η² = .015, than females. The main effect for educational status revealed significant differences between students' and instructors' idealism, F (2, 592) = 3.99, p < .05, η² = .013, relativism, F (2, 592) = 15.53, p < .001, η² = .050, and DAT-Q scores, F (2, 592) = 8.06, p < .001, η² = .027. Post–hoc analysis using Tukey's HSD indicated instructors possessed lower idealism and relativism scores and higher DAT-Q scores than students. Findings do not support changes in athletic training educational practices to address gender sp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ralph Martin (Advisor) Subjects: Health Sciences, Education