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

The evolution of technology in the 21st century has led to a greater understanding of the benefits and the challenges of expanding work relationships across geographical boundaries. This expansion has contributed to the development of a global society with over three million employee teleworkers (Global Workplace Analytics and the Telework Research Network, 2013). In spite of the advances in connecting across the globe technologically, the importance of successfully working together in a virtual work environment is grounded in relationships that foster individual growth and group cohesion. The human elements of connectivity are primary to the success of organizations as well as fulfillment of the individual. This study explores the importance of relationship within the world of virtual work and investigates the various aspects of virtual work environments to understand overall virtuality. The Relational Health Indices (RHI) were used as a foundation to build the means for measuring relationship quality among teammates. These were then explored as a means to provide insight into the importance of relationship within the world of virtual work. The primary research question for this study was: "What is the nature and influence of relationship on success in a virtual work environment?" Success is defined here as perceived team goal achievement, job satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction. The research design consists of a mixed-methods, descriptive, and correlational study looking at the nature and influence of relationship on success in a virtual work environment based on a hierarchical multiple regression analysis of data collected from an online survey. A content analysis of participant responses to open-ended survey questions was employed. Major findings include: the development of a tool to measure relationship quality teammates; the factors that influence perceived success; demographic differences in relationship quality; difference in importance of relations (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Ron Rabin PhD (Other) Subjects: Business Community; Management; Occupational Psychology

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

Because of the gatekeeping practices of the Hollywood film industry, and the high cost of both filmmaking and distribution in general, Afro-American filmmakers have struggled to produce films with “global reach.” This study visits the possibility of Afro-American filmmakers using alternative technologies and infrastructures to produce high-quality films, thereby bypassing the high cost and exclusionary practices of Hollywood studios. Using new 21st-century digital technology, this study involved the creation of a small geographically dispersed virtual film production team. The study's foundational framework was a constructivist qualitative research paradigm, using Action Research, and supported by 24 months of triangulated data from field notes and a Likert-type end-of-study survey, both of which were then addressed in an end-of- research online group discussion using the Zoom platform. The research question was, What are the most effective leadership and team-building practices/processes for creating a virtual geographically dispersed Afro-American film production team, with the intent of producing digital films, using new digital technology, social media, and the default global infrastructure of the Internet? The major conclusion of the study was that it is possible for a small virtual team to produce broadcast quality digital film using only consumer-level computers and cameras, audio and lighting equipment, and readily available software. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Christine Acham PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; Black History; Black Studies; Cinematography; Communication; Film Studies; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Motion Pictures; Multimedia Communications; Systems Design; Technology; Web Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Leadership and Change

Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) enable organizations to become more flexible, and to adapt and react to turbulent, complex and dynamic environments. These teams span boundaries such as space, time, and geography, working collaboratively to achieve a shared purpose. Due to their reliance on technology for communication, knowledge sharing, and project management, structural and nonstructural components of their design must exist to enable these teams to exist and flourish at the edge of innovation. The human experience of working in virtual teams remains insufficiently observed, yet crucial to their sustainability. This dissertation study employed an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to provide insights into the experience of working as a member or leader on a GVT. In phase one, a theoretical framework was developed to identify themes and sub-themes that emerged from 21 interviews with GVT practitioners from seven nations and multiple time zones across many sectors. The data revealed that experiences of working on a GVT are best expressed by four major themes: team design (both structural and nonstructural) components, cross-cultural communication, human dynamics, and technology. One meta-theme emerged, adaptability, which is well supported by the chosen guiding theoretical framework, adaptive structuration theory (AST), as well as extant research. The results of phase one informed development of a survey instrument; a pilot test of this instrument showed promise for future validation of a scale that accurately depicts the experiences of working on a GVT. The current findings support practical applications toward better understanding team functioning, essential human needs, and best practices for team awareness and functioning. 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: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Aqeel Tirmizi PhD (Committee Member); Muriel Scott PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2019, Instructional Technology (Education)

The purpose of this study was to understand how pre-service teachers interact in collaborative spaces as well as to describe their perception of the challenges and the benefits they associate with collaborative learning and technology. The different methods of collaborative learning and technology utilized in the pre-service teachers' programs impact pre-service teacher's collaboration skills, networking, critical thinking, and academic success. A qualitative case study research methodology was utilized; observations, indepth interviews, and document analysis of course materials were used to collect data from the pre-service teachers. In this study, a total of 20 pre-service teachers participated. Each participant was from a different major in the teacher education program at a large Midwestern university. The pre-service teachers had some experience in face-to-face collaboration, yet limited experience in online collaboration. Findings from this study showed that the pre-service teachers were active participants and interacted in dynamic ways. In addition, collaborative technology such as Google Docs and GroupMe text messaging application enhanced their interaction and collaboration. Although the pre-service teachers had a positive perception of collaborative learning and technology, they faced challenges due to limited experience with online collaborative learning and technology. The pre-service teachers noted challenges in establishing online collaboration norms and interactions. In addition, unfamiliarity with using Google Docs hindered their communication and interaction. Thus, teacher training and education programs can enhance pre-service teachers' online collaboration by utilizing online collaborative learning methods and technology in the curricula and courses. Implications and future studies of pre-service teachers' collaborative learning and technology were provided as well as suggested solutions for the challenges the pre-service teachers faced in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Greg Kessler (Committee Chair); Jesse Strycker (Committee Member); Min Lun Wu (Committee Member); Danielle Dani (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Technology; Instructional Design; Social Studies Education

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2018, Business Administration

This study extended Gehrke Walter's (2004) research to explore the relationship between trust and perceived team effectiveness, thus identifying factors that might support or damage the development of trust in virtual teams operating within the public sector. For the purposes of this study, the public sector is defined as the part of the economy concerned with providing basic government services. This study utilized a correlational mixed methodology based on a modified version of the virtual team trust instrument (Sarker, Valacich, & Sarker, 2003) and an instrument developed by Lurey and Raisinghani (2001) to measure team effectiveness. To enhance the study, open-ended survey items developed by Walters (2004) were also used to gather much-needed qualitative data to ascertain which factors foster or damage virtual team trust. The results of this study will assist researchers, managers, and team members in understanding the relationship between trust and perceived team effectiveness in virtual teams operating within the public sector—an under-represented area in the study of virtual teams. The results of the study showed a strong relationship between trust and perceived team effectiveness. However, unlike previous studies, one of the subscales of trust was not shown to have a stronger relationship to perceived team effectiveness compared with the others. Recommendations for increasing trust in virtual teams include a re-emphasis on open and honest communication, recurring face-to-face meetings, and demonstrated work performance from the participants. Finally, recommendations for future research related to trust and virtual team effectiveness are presented.

Committee: Andy Igonor (Committee Chair); Eboni Hill (Committee Member); Tim Reymann (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Management; Organizational Behavior; Public Administration

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Leadership Studies

Research on employee engagement has found that it can both positively and negatively affect organizational performance, including recruitment, retention, customer service, and profitability. Hence, businesses are investigating how to increase engagement and in turn their bottom line. Several studies have concluded that effective organizational communication practices can enhance employee engagement. However, the way that information is distributed within organizations is now becoming increasingly complex with globalization. This has led to the increase use of information communication technologies (ICTs) to communicate since leaders and employees are not often in the same location. While ICTs are more efficient and cost effective, they can lead to miscommunication and lack of engagement when used to communicate important information. Based on the link between leadership communication and engagement and the increased use of ICTs in organizations, this quantitative study attempted to measure employee engagement and what, if any, relationship exists frequency of communication, richness of communication channels, quality of leader-member exchange relationship, and perceived satisfaction with organizational communication. In order to examine the relationship between these variables, 265 full-time employees completed a survey made of four instruments— Dennis Communication Climate Inventory (1974), Leader-Member Exchange-7 (1984), Communication Channel Instrument (1999), and the Schaufeli and Bakker's (2003) Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The results of this study revealed that perceived organizational communication satisfaction has the most significant relationship with employee engagement, followed by the quality of leader-member exchange relationship. However, the frequency of lean, moderate, and rich communication channels did not have a significant impact on employee engagement. This includes ICTs categorized within these three channels. The frequent use (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chris Willis (Advisor); Raymond Schuck (Committee Member); Matthew Lavery (Committee Member); Judy Jackson May (Committee Member); Elizabeth Williams (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Organizational Behavior

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2015, Communication

By the nature of their geographic dispersion, multinational corporations (MNCs) and the teams that comprise them must rely on virtual communication to some extent. The present study extends knowledge on virtual MNC teams, specifically in the areas of building collective organizational identities, enactment of locally motivated strategies, media channel preferences, and optimizing Intranets to their full potential. It analyzes the case of a geographically dispersed, functionally diverse, and culturally diverse virtual team that is part of a multinational corporation headquartered in the United States. Through content analysis of preliminary and follow-up survey data, this study contributes findings with practical implications for managers, website designers, internal marketers and consultants whose work relates to virtual MNC teams.

Committee: Teresa Thompson PhD (Advisor); Jeffrey Griffin PhD (Committee Member); Anna Langhorne PhD, JD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Cultural Resources Management; Information Technology; Organizational Behavior; Technical Communication; Web Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2009, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering

Real-world scenarios are complex dynamic systems that are often overloaded with information. Effective performance of these dynamic systems depends on the objects in such systems and the relationship among them. The control of many of these systems is semi-automated. Human operators constantly monitor and control these systems, assess the situation and often make decisions under time pressure. However, this supervisory control paradigm in a dual-task environment can be a very challenging task. Existing interface design methodologies and techniques have not delved deeply enough into defining information displays for complex, dynamic, time-critical, dual-task environments with capabilities for rapid task change awareness and task resumption while continuously maintaining situation awareness. This research focuses on designing user displays with advanced cueing techniques to support performance in complex dynamic dual-task environments. A primary question addressed in this study is whether visualization methods such as status-at-a-glance displays, interruption recovery tools, and course of action planning tools would assist in maintaining situation awareness, resuming tasks quickly, and effectively perform decision making tasks. The research examines interface design methods to support supervisory awareness in primary and secondary task situations, rapid assimilation when switching to a secondary task, rapid re-assessment upon return to the primary task or secondary task, a course of action solution explorer for successful mission planning/re-planning, and notification systems such as alerts to inform operators about interrupting tasks. This research provides a means to realize an “at-a-glance” decision making environment. The methodology adopted in this research effort used a three-stage process. In stage one, the effect of interruptions on trust and coordination among team members was studied. For stages two and three, the operator tasks and the interface protocol (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Raymond Hill PhD (Advisor); Raymond Hill PhD (Committee Chair); Frank Ciarallo PhD (Committee Member); Yan Liu PhD (Committee Member); Sundaram Narayanan PhD, P.E. (Committee Member); Edward Pohl PhD (Committee Member); Dan Voss PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Engineering; Industrial Engineering; Information Systems; Systems Design

MFA, Kent State University, 2013, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

Collaboration is a key factor to fostering innovation, and in the creative economy innovation is indispensable to success. Advances in technology are evolving the ways in which designers, as well as people in every profession, collaborate. The growth of social networking, instant messaging, web conferencing, online project management, and even distance learning are clear indicators of this evolution. Currently within the design profession, twenty-five percent of people are self-employed working as a freelancer or an independent contractor. This figure is approximately five times the proportion for all professional and related occupations and is likely to grow in coming years.3 As larger companies continue to downsize from top-heavy, centralized approaches to leaner, more nimble organization structures, centralized in-house design functions are likely to be outsourced or downsized along with them. With companies downsizing and the need for creative collaboration increasing, it is necessary to develop better leadership of decentralized creative work. Looking at the human component, this thesis will define best practices for design leaders to use when overseeing creative teams that are geographically dispersed.

Committee: Ken Visocky O'Grady M.F.A. (Advisor); Sanda Katila M.F.A. (Committee Member); David Middleton M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Management