Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, ED Physical Activities and Educational Services

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among investment in workplace learning, organizational perspective on human resource development (HRD), organizational outcomes of workplace learning, and organizational performance using the 2005 and 2007 Human Capital Corporate Panel (HCCP) surveys in Korean companies. The conceptual model proposed that investment in workplace learning was assumed to influence organizational outcomes of workplace learning, which affect in turn organizational financial performance. In addition, organizational perspective on HRD was expected to moderate between investment in workplace learning and organizational outcomes of workplace learning. The current study utilized nationally-representative datasets from the 2005 and 2007 HCCP surveys in South Korea to examine these relationships specified in the model at organizational level. In addition, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed a significantly positive relationship between investment in workplace learning and organizational outcomes of workplace learning. The current research also found a significantly positive relationship between organizational outcomes of workplace learning and organizational performance. In addition, the mediating effects of organizational outcomes of workplace learning were identified between investment in workplace learning and organizational performance. However, the moderating effect of organizational perspective on HRD did not exist in the relationship between investment in workplace learning and organizational outcomes of workplace learning. Moreover, this study compared two groups, manufacturing industry and non-manufacturing industry, to determine whether the conceptual model proposed in this study was the same for both the manufacturing industry and the non-manufacturing industry, using multiple-group SEM models. The results showed that there was a statistical difference in terms of the fit in the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Prof. Ronald Jacobs (Advisor); Prof. Joshua Hawley (Committee Member); Prof. Richard Lomax (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Vocational Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2007, Organizational Behavior

Although there is substantial research on mindfulness and experiential learning there has been no effort to study how the two constructs relate to one another. This study explores the relationship between mindfulness and experiential learning to develop a construct called mindful experiential learning. It details two types of mindfulness research streams and administers the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS) to measure the two approaches respectively as they relate to experiential learning measured by the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and adaptability of learning style as measured by Adaptive Styles Inventory (ASI). An integration of the two mindfulness streams was hypothesized to load into three factors and resulted in four factors of novelty seeking, novelty producing, engaging, and attention/awareness. An integrated definition of mindfulness is proposed and a scale is suggested. As it relates to experiential learning, the thesis aimed to clarify whether or not mindful experiential learning is a metacognitive or sensory/contextual process. Data revealed positive correlations between mindfulness as measured by the LMS and concrete experience on the LSI and negative correlations between the LMS and reflective observation on the LSI. There were no significant relationships found between learning styles and mindfulness as measured by the MAAS, and no relationships found between the ASI and either mindfulness scale. The data suggests that a mindful experiential learning is a sensory/contextual process. Mindful experiential learning involves the concrete experience of knowledge acquisition in order to seek and produce novelty that allows one to learn in a way that best fits the context of the learning environment. From this starting point, the learner may navigate a range of experiential learning styles to improvise with the demands of the environment. Mindful experiential learning is proposed as an engaged process (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Kolb (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the interactions between two knowledge leadership behaviors as identified by Lakshman & Rai (2019) and four organizational cultural elements as identified as knowledge management enablers by Lee & Choi (2003), within the unique environment of a small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME). Knowledge management is a key driver in the financial success and long-term sustainability of a small business. The goal of this study was to understand if there is a relationship between the leadership behaviors and the knowledge management enablers to provide SME leaders with important evidence to support their efforts to adopt knowledge management practices within their company. Methodology This was a quantitative exploratory multi-variant study using a survey instrument that reused a combination of questions from two previous questionnaires. The questions were tested for content validity by a team of three experts and through the use of a pilot study to test for understandability and ease of use. The instrument was also tested for reliability using Cronbach's alpha. The reliability coefficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.84 confirming the internal consistency of the survey instrument. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression with two independent variables and four dependent variables. The independent variables were the two leadership behaviors – role modeling (RM) and creating a climate that supports learning (CC). The four dependent variables were the organizational cultural traits known as knowledge management enablers – employee trust (T), collaboration (C), organizational learning (L), and IT support (IT). Findings The results of the analysis indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between the leadership behavior of creating a climate that supports learning (CC) and employee trust (T), collaboration (C), organizational learning (L), and IT support (IT). There is also a statistically signi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Yi Yang (Committee Chair); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member); Dawn Snyder (Committee Member) Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Instructional Design

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged student success and the ability of colleges to deliver the education students need for the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation case study was to investigate how the organizational resiliency of a Midwest community college impacted student success during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the contributions of static and dynamic resiliency characteristics and dimensions. Exploration and analysis of the resilient characteristics and dimensions of student success focus on the key factors of instructional modality, instructor-student engagement, and socioeconomic influences. Conclusions are based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the college's senior leaders triangulated with information from public documents and a student survey. The researcher concludes that the college's static resiliency components of solid planning and infrastructural preparation for probable events, a longstanding collaborative commitment to achieving key elements of student success, and effective internal communication processes produced the robust capacity for flexibility and innovation that distinguishes dynamic resiliency. Innovations that accelerated decision processes, faculty and staff encouraged to experiment based on regular feedback, and energetic action on non-academic stresses had positive effects on student success during the COVID-19 pandemic. One result was that for the fiscal year 2021-2022, the college awarded the highest number of degrees in its history to all students and to African American males, with 99 percent of students rating the quality of their education as good to excellent.

Committee: Charles Fenner (Committee Chair); John Nadalin (Committee Member); Gary White (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

Training and development are crucial to employee retention. Frequent turnover in an organization can cause a lack of continuity of care for patients, procedures, and processes needed for the safety of the patients and the organization. The purpose of this study is to gain insight and understanding of how employee development and training will improve industry knowledge for employees and, in turn, increases employee satisfaction which will lead to employee longevity.

Committee: Meredith Wronowski Ph.D (Advisor); Karen Cashman MS (Committee Member); Brent Konodritz Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Education; Educational Leadership; Health Care; Health Care Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Educational Studies

The pursuit of knowledge through research is among the purposes of doctoral education. This pursuit takes place in the form of research and socialization among peers and faculty members. This qualitative research study was built on grounded theory and used semi-structured interviews with 12 doctoral business students at a top research university in the United States. The purpose was to explore the information behaviors this group of students exhibited and their use of digital learning to engage in scholarship. While information behavior is a common topic of investigation in library science, this study sought to look at the entire doctoral experience in the context of organizational learning. Furthermore, as this work focuses on academics in a college of business, it was desirable to frame it in a way that those individuals would understand in addition to academics in education and library science. Findings from the study identified major themes of conducting research, navigating doctoral education, and faculty and peer relationships. Within those, a variety of technologies and interactions with information were prevalent.

Committee: Ana-Paula Correia (Advisor); Scott Sweetland (Committee Member); Amanda Folk (Committee Member); Colette Dollarhide (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Education; Educational Technology; Library Science

Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Weatherhead School of Management

We explore the effect of leadership styles on organizational innovation, focusing on the lived experience of leaders and investigating the impact of organizational leadership, learning and innovation on financial performance. In the first part, we interview seventeen leaders to explore their experience of using strategic conversations to yield innovative outcomes. Although these organizational leaders uniformly espoused emergent conversation, whereby they prefer to collaborate with their teams in an experiential learning process, their conversations were primarily leader-driven directed discussions with specific outcomes in mind. Moreover, they emphasized the critical role of multiple strategic conversations distributed over time, with varied participants and purposes. In the second part, we use a global sample of public companies to examine the relationships among transformational and transactional leadership, exploration and exploitation and performance. We found that balancing transformational and transactional leadership drives innovative learning more effectively than engaging in any single style separately. Additionally, “where” ideas are sourced and “how” they are shared fully mediates the relationship between leadership and performance, suggesting a strong correlation between idea sharing effectiveness and earnings growth. Leaders must balance innovative idea sourcing (exploration and exploitation) with entrepreneurial idea sharing to unleash their organization's collective learning to drive successful performance.

Committee: Nick Berente, Ph.D. (Advisor); Richard Boland, Ph.D. (Advisor); David A. Kolb, Ph.D. (Advisor); Kale Lyytinen, Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2019, Business Administration

The purpose of this research was to explore why some agents can experience thriving in a call center. The intended outcome was to determine what could be gleaned and used for the development of interventions that organizations could implement to improve the conditions for thriving to be experienced. Existing research indicated that for thriving to be experienced, vitality and learning had to occur in concert (Porath et al., 2012). The high call volumes, compounded by continuous multi-tasking and emotional labor can be exhausting work (Molino et al., 2016; U.S. Contact Center, 2016; Valle & Ruz, 2015; Zhan, Wang, & Shi, 2016). This high emotional labor was observed as one of the leading causes of burnout, resulting high rates of turnover (Abid et al., 2015, 2016; Molino et al., 2016). Call center agents are required to perform the functions of active listening, demonstrating empathy, typing/documenting, navigating systems, formulating responses, de-escalating emotionally-charged customers, and moving the calls forward quickly and repetitively (Jacobs & Roodt, 2011; Molino et al., 2016; U. S. Contact Center, 2016). How the study participants felt, learned, and managed the demands of the job and still experienced levels of thriving in the emotionally-charged venue of the call center environment were explored. The results of the qualitative research revealed two over-arching attributes among the study participants that seemed to have caused their ability to experience thriving – transformational learning and heedful relating. Breaking these two elements down into chunks, five critical elements that contributed to thriving at work in the call center were observed and translated into actionable interventions for future use in call center organizations. The five elements of focus were (a) sense-making; (b) heedful relationships; (c) managing the emotions of self and others; (d) learning styles; and (e) organizational culture.

Committee: Timothy Reymann Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Tami Moser Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michelle Geiman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Business Administration

Despite significant interest on the topic of learning from failure in the management literature, we have little insight into how firms learn from failures to enhance subsequent innovation outcomes. This thesis takes a step forward in this direction by emphasizing the causally ambiguous nature of innovation, and the crucial role played by failures in helping to resolve this ambiguity. I argue that failures represent failed hypotheses, thus influencing the organization to reconsider its existing beliefs and seek out alternate theoretical explanations. In this way, failures can generate rich new insights into processes of innovation that bring about novel outcomes. In this thesis, I use three different contexts to examine how firms learn from failures. By using three different contexts, I am able to shed light on different mechanisms that help firms learn from failures in their pursuit of discovering novel innovation. In the first essay, I examine how firms learn from their own failures to enhance the novelty of subsequent innovation. In the second essay, I examine how litigation directed against a firm accused of patent infringement—a failure on this firm's part–offers it a unique opportunity to learn vicariously from unintended knowledge spillovers during litigation. Finally, I use the context of alliances to examine how firms learn from their R&D alliance partners' prior experience with failures to enhance their new product development capability. I test hypotheses for these studies using a unique database that captures drug development project characteristics, patent litigation and R&D alliance information pertaining to the global pharmaceutical industry.

Committee: Mona Makhija PhD (Committee Chair); Oded Shenkar PhD (Committee Member); Michael Leiblein PhD (Committee Member); Benjamin Campbell PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

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

Learning through and from information technology/information systems (IT/IS) projects is key for organizations to execute on their strategic plans. Corporations utilize IT/IS projects to implement their strategic plans with the goal of increased revenue, enhanced competitive advantage, and increased operational efficiencies and to comply with governmental regulations. Projects and project teams can also serve as a medium to facilitate organizational learning. Learning is an essential characteristic of any project given project team members are tasked with developing new products and/or implementing new technical solutions to business problems. Studies have been performed to propose and test hypotheses related to frameworks for team learning in a variety of settings (e.g. construction, education, medical, manufacturing), but there are limited studies that present research on the antecedents for learning that occurs in the IT/IS project setting. Through this research, I seek to create the narrative of IT/IS projects as vehicles for learning within organizations. This study adopts a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach. In Study 1, I explored how project post-mortems contribute to organizational learning. My findings suggest that post-mortem practices can facilitate organizational learning, however, I found the lack of incentives to use the data, opportunities and weak mechanisms for sharing post-mortem knowledge are key barriers for using project- generated information for improved learning during post-mortems. In the second study, I sought to understand the antecedents to project team member learning during IT/IS projects. The results of the analysis show that risk management and project complexity have a direct positive impact on project team member learning, whereas the effect of innovativeness is fully mediated by autonomy. In the final study, I evaluated the effect of learning as part of an IT/IS project on the innovativeness of the organizati (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Chair); James Gaskin (Committee Member); Philip Cola (Committee Member); Mark Keil (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Systems; Information Technology; Management; Organizational Behavior

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

The purpose of this theoretical case study was to explore the lived experiences of members within an inter-professional team about how they learn and adapt while dedicating their lives toward the well-being of students residing in and attending a rehabilitation home school. Although there is broad literature that addresses legacy learning theories and frameworks, as well as complex-adaptive organizations, very little shows how the application of rhizome philosophy principles address learning and adapting within an organizational context. This study is a step toward addressing that gap. Using interviews, thematic analysis, and storyline networking, the study explored in depth the lived experiences of 16 administrative, therapy, and educational staff who worked at the school. By using organizational storytelling as a means to unearth and analyze the team members' 194 stories, a rich web of connection and awareness emerged. Their stories demonstrated new ways of being, learning, and adapting both within and outside the school, and revealed alignment with rhizome philosophy principles of connection, multiplicity, heterogeneity, a signifying rupture(s), and cartography, as well as alignment with legacy and traditional learning theories and frameworks, thereby offering a new lens of learning within organizations called, Rhizomatic Learning in Organizations (RLO). This study is an opportunity to expand and enhance ways of considering learning and adapting within organizations by introducing and supporting rhizomatic behaviors and principles within collectives as they work together. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohiolink ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Laura Morgan Roberts Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mary Ann Reilly Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Theory; Organization Theory

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2017, Management

Why do individuals perform knowledge work on behalf of organizations in both non-paid (i.e., volunteer) and paid work contexts? And, what spurs an individual's organizational engagement and commitment during this lived experience of performing knowledge work on an organizations' behalf? In this mixed methods study, we sought to explore the potency of learning—specifically, informal learning—on satisfaction, work engagement, employability, and organizational commitment in both paid and non-paid (i.e., volunteer) work environments. Informal learning is rapidly emerging as the preferred learning mode in the workplace, especially in learning-oriented organizations and knowledge-based firms as a potent countermeasure to the ever-shortening shelf life of workers' employability both within and outside the firm. Yet, institutional ambivalence towards the recognition of informal learning and the implementation of systems and structures to facilitate its use are pervasive. This ambivalence is due to the current inability to measure, quantify, or otherwise account for informal learning to meet employer needs, as well as the current inability to assess the efficacy of informal learning, as well as translating informal learning experiences into perceptions of realized value both within and outside the firm. In our first qualitative study (phase #1), we used grounded theory to explicate context-specific, situational factors which contribute to volunteer commitment. In our second quantitative study (phase #2), we used existing survey data from the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to further quantify how and/or to what extent two of these factors, learning and career orientation, contributed (or failed to contribute) to volunteer commitment. We found that an individual's learning orientation is positively related to volunteering satisfaction and future volunteering intent, whereas an individual's career orientation is (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Salipante Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David Aron M.D. (Committee Member); Denise Douglas Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kalle Lyytinen Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ellen Van Oosten Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Administration; Business Education; Education; Management; Statistics

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Education : Educational Foundations

A consortium of 10 school districts piloted the implementation of Local Professional Development Committees created by a state policy giving local districts control over the re-licensure of educators. These committees were charged with both accountability for re-licensure of educators in a given district and with monitoring educators' continued professional growth in relation to local plans for continuous improvement. The 10-district consortium organized to support each other in the creation of district policies translating state policy to local contexts, and to examine the application of principles of quality professional development to the creation of these local policies. The research set out to look at professional learning in this context of local policy development around the professional development principles. Little change in attitudes regarding the principles, expressed on a pre- and post-assessment were detected in the 16 months from the beginning to the end of the pilot. However, local policy documents produced by the pilot committees showed notable variation in the extent to which the individual districts' documents incorporated the professional development principles. These differences corresponded to variations in certain elements of the committees' processes and contexts. Two committees, whose processes had been closely observed over the course of the pilot, produced local policy documents at opposite ends of the continuum for the extent to which they embraced the professional development principles. The two committees also exemplified committee processes and contexts that were at opposite ends of the continuum. This finding was corroborated by differences in the two committees on 14 indicators of organizational learning. A final analysis of all 10 committees and their school districts according to 13 facilitators of organizational learning, again, found a pattern of variance that was similar to that shown by the local policy documents. The study con (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Mary Anne Pitman (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Teacher Training

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2004, Organizational Behavior

This qualitative study of organizational learning and transfer of learning in the context of planned organizational change reveals concrete ways that learning occurs and both affects and is affected by the knowledge transfer process. Rigorous application of grounded theory methodology produced a model of learning wherein a) willingness to adapt is antecedent to learning at the organizational level, b) mental maps are influenced by both intrapersonal and interpersonal processes, and c) emotion is as central as cognition relative to the construction of both willingness and mental maps. This interactive, iterative process of assessing, believing in, choosing, and owning the change is called locker room learning to situate its development and enactment in the everydayness of job performance rather than the classroom. Locker room learning emphasizes the social nature of learning while recognizing the technical needs of the change. This case study looked at the process innovation and strategic change of replacing mass production with lean production at a single plant that is part of a global manufacturing firm, primarily through multilevel, multifunction interviews. The knowledge or learning that was developed in this change had the potential to be used in other functions and sites, both within the firm and with supply chain partners. What is most interesting is the relationship discovered between LRL and knowledge management, specifically the knowledge transfer. This relationship is based on the social bonding that developed during the knowledge creation process. The emotional component of the experience of learning creates a bond-ary that both aides and hinders knowledge transfer. This organizational analysis of knowledge transfer of new, novel organizational learning has theoretical, practical and epistemological implications.

Committee: Diana Bilimoria (Advisor) Subjects:

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Leadership and Change

Implicit in leadership behavior is the ability to work with others, to be in relationship, and to collaborate. Contemporary theories about leadership have shifted from a focus on the individual “leader” toward the collective act of “leadership.” A concrete understanding of collaborative leadership remains somewhat underdeveloped in the literature and theoretically. This dissertation is a case study of organization's efforts to change from autocratic organizational leadership to a more collaborative working environment. Taking the form of a literary portrait, the study analyzes an example of action learning about collaborative leadership. The portrait will be of the agency's change, with special attention given to the issues facing the leadership team as it wrestles to change from top-down to collaborative leadership practice. The primary research question is: In today's shifting landscape, what practices and conditions will optimize the development of a collaborative working environment? Findings were that the development of a collaborative working environment can be optimized through the careful cultivation of the ten themes that emerged from the study: (1) on-going learning and continuous development, (2) flexibility, (3) trust, (4) respect/esteem/ positive regard, (5) willingness/commitment, (6) facilitative process (establishment of norms, ground rules/agreements, inclusivity, process capability/tacit knowledge of functional group process), (7) realistic optimism/positive personality/resilience/solution/strength/future focus, (8) communication skills, (9) social intelligence (ability to transcend the ego and to self-organize and motivate) and (10) an appropriate level of technical competence. The electronic version of this dissertation is available at the Ohiolink ETD Center http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Paul Pedersen PhD (Committee Member); Joyce Fletcher PhD (Other) Subjects: Behaviorial Sciences; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Psychology; Sociology

Master of Labor and Human Resources, The Ohio State University, 2013, Labor and Human Resources

Informal learning is a voluntary, unplanned, yet conscious act of engaging in learning and development that may include methods such as searching the Internet or asking co-workers questions. Antecedents of informal learning have received some focus from researchers interested in discovering implications for theory and practice; however, no extensive studies looking at two variables relevant to current-issue HR management practices – Core Self-Evaluations (CSE), a construct of one's self worth and perception of self-control, and time-based Work-Family Conflict (WFC), a type of inter-role conflict – have been examined in respect to their effect on informal learning. A survey was collected from 225 casual chain restaurant managers and analysis found significant direct effects of both Core Self-Evaluations and time-based Work Interference with Family (WIF) as well as the WIF's moderation of CSE on informal learning. Theoretical and practical implications are covered, including recommendations for HR and general management practice as well as future research of this emerging area.

Committee: Raymond Noe PhD (Advisor); Jill Ellingson PhD (Committee Member); Howard Klein PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Administration; Psychology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

This phenomenological study delves into the lived experiences of individuals addressing the importance of utilizing employees' knowledge and voices to better drive organizational change. Specifically, this study focuses on the training and development program and process in a financial services organization, Financial Institution [psudonym], one of today's leading financial services providers globally. The study will use a descriptive phenomenological approach to examine how voice amplification through training opportunities impacts employee satisfaction in a corporate organization, specifically related to training and learning interactions. The researcher used the emerging design and constructivist approach to capture participants' experiences and stories on training and onboarding at their workplace. The Feedback Forum assessment tool enabled the improvement of the training program and training effectiveness with a consensus on the future of training and learning opportunities and addressed learning gaps and the needs of the employees. The researcher focuses on the employees and capture their experiences on how training and development related to their overall satisfaction at their workplace and proficiency in their role. The proposed solution for these issues is a more seamless and intentional training program driven by trainee and marketer feedback. Through qualitative analysis of participants' narratives, the study can shift the structures of organizations and make the organization as a whole and leaders think more intentionally about what they are implementing.

Committee: Meredith Wronowski Ph.D., NBCT (Advisor); Deanna Wagner Ed.D. (Committee Member); Susan Davies Ed.D. (Committee Member); Meredith Wronowski Ph.D., NBCT (Committee Chair) Subjects: Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Education (EdD), Wright State University, 2024, Leadership Studies

Researchers (Stanny & Bryan, 2021; Tinto, 2012) have claimed without empirical evidence that academic program assessment is important to student success. This study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify the relationships between academic program assessment practices and institutional performance based on responses from faculty at U.S.-located four-year institutions of higher education. The theoretical foundations of best practices in program assessment, organizational learning, faculty motivation, and institutional performance were examined and included as the primary variables. Assessment practices in higher education are best summarized by the assessment loop: articulating the intended learning outcomes; selecting appropriate assessment measures; developing curriculum and learning activities; and closing the loop. In the final model, 23.6% of the variance in institutional performance was explained by the other variables, providing empirical support that implementing assessment best practices does contribute to institutional performance. An update to the established assessment loop was proposed to better extricate what “closing the assessment loop” entails based on organizational learning (Dixon, 1994).

Committee: Yoko Miura Ed.D. (Advisor); Aaron Skira Ed.D. (Committee Member); Marty Sexton Ph.D., RN, FNAP (Committee Member); Brian Boyd Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Doctor of Organization Development & Change (D.O.D.C.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Organization Development

This grounded theory research explores how individuals nominated by followers and peers as demonstrating exemplary leadership during adversity, specifically the COVID19 pandemic, experienced their leadership as a process. Of particular interest was understanding enabling and inhibiting factors and supports that would be helpful in future adversity contexts. The ability to adapt, grow and thrive in difficult circumstances has been discussed in prior literature including Post Traumatic Growth, Crucible Moments, and Growth Mindset. However, there is a paucity of research that looks at leaders specifically and what combinations of factors are enabling and inhibiting. Additionally, there is a lack of research regarding how leadership manifests as a process. A total of 17 interviews were conducted across industries ranging from hospitals to manufacturing to media to professional services. The narratives from these interviews were analyzed to develop a theoretical framework of exemplary leadership in adversity which shows the importance of three elements coming together to enable this experience in the form of an interdependent and regenerative system. These elements are Pre-adversity Preparedness, Disruptive Change Process and Post Adversity Growth, Learning and Adaption. An emergent model is presented as a Regenerative System of leadership defined by the concept of “Taking Care” of both business concerns and people concerns. The system existed as both restorative and regenerative in that it produced outcomes that exceeded conditions prior to the crisis and was described as transformative. Enabling subthemes of the system included previous experiences of the leader, pre-existing trusting relationships, adaptive human-centric and business-focused leader behaviors, leader-endorsed experimentation, defining moments of service, purpose, and change, leader supports, and personal and organizational growth, learning, and adaptation. These sub-themes demonstrated interdepend (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Deborah O Neil Ph.D (Committee Chair); Jacob Shila Ph.D (Other); David Jamieson Ph.D (Committee Member); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2023, Business Administration

This study will evaluate the organizational effectiveness of an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) recommender system at a higher education institution. It will determine the positive or negative net benefits (i.e., organizational effectiveness) of utilizing the D&M ISSM. Identifying the value and efficacy of information systems (IS) management actions and investments requires evaluating their success or effectiveness. A system's effectiveness is evaluated from the organizational perspective based on the degree to which it meets the goals of the organization. Although the pandemic has negatively impacted numerous lives and business activities, more leaders considered it an opportunity because it offered new opportunities for business innovation and entrepreneurship, despite it being viewed as the most significant crisis in the modern world. Considering the significant changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it, it is no longer simply considered an option to adopt and use AI/ML systems, but rather an obligation. There is a lack of understanding of the factors contributing to the success of recommendation systems, therefore, these systems are rarely used to their full potential. An analysis of the relationship between information quality, system quality, use/intention to use, and user satisfaction in recommender systems was conducted using a mixed-method approach based on the DeLone and McLean IS success model. Students enrolled in a two-year college who used a portal as part of their academic journey were the target population of this study, and a total of 8,559 participants were contacted to participate, and 305 of them completed the survey. The results of this study indicate that quality factors relate closely to the success of the recommender system as measured by organizational effectiveness. The results indicate that there are statistically significant relationships between the independent variables, Information Qu (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brock Schroeder (Committee Chair); Tim Reymann (Committee Member); Rachel Tate (Committee Member) Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Computer Science; Higher Education; Information Systems; Information Technology; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior