Matching Items (18)
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- All Subjects: Leadership
- Creators: Department of Management and Entrepreneurship
- Creators: Wiezel, Avi
- Creators: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics
Description
Over the course of 2020, individuals and organizations were thrown various unprecedented obstacles that necessitated flexibility, empathy, and understanding. Many organizations were forced to reevaluate their financial status, their purpose, and how they could provide for their employees. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that most companies had to introduce a ‘work from home’ policy, drastically decreasing the face-to-face contact that employees had with each other and leadership. The virus, coupled with the social and political unrest in the U.S. in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 presidential election, inspired many companies to reframe their organization and redefine their goals.<br/> The B2B (business-to-business) Marketing Agency, The Mx Group, is preparing for a change in leadership, with the current Chief Executive Officer and Founder stepping down, being replaced by the President of the company. The company plans to execute the transition in the spring of 2022, allowing them the rest of 2021 to plan for the change, catering to employees’ individual and the company’s collective needs. It was also prompted by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic to reevaluate the values that it upholds as an organization, coinciding with the change in leadership. Leaders of the company are actively encouraging employees to engage with these values by recognizing when a colleague performs in alignment with a value.<br/> In reframing their organization, The Mx Group has a significant opportunity to uniquely position itself in the industry. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal (2017) introduced four frames: human resources, symbolic, structural, and political, as a way to guide a transformative application of leadership and management in business. Analyzed from these perspectives, The Mx Group can utilize contemporary ideas to efficiently and effectively seize its opportunity of embedding new values and a change in leadership.
ContributorsLanghorn, Chloe Nicole (Author) / deLusé, Stephanie (Thesis director) / Fishburne, Kate (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Using experience, observations, data, current research, and writings in the field of volunteer management, it was determined there was a need to study the effects of leadership/management practices on the productivity outcomes of a volunteer construction workforce. A simple wood bench that would be tiled and painted was designed to test the areas of Time, Waste, Quality, Safety, and Satisfaction of different volunteer groups. The challenge was bolstered by giving the teams no power tools and limited available resources. A simple design of experiment model was used to test highs and lows in the three management techniques of Instruction, Help, and Encouragement. Each scenario was tested multiple times. Data was collected, normalized and analyzed using statistical analysis software. A few significant findings were discovered. The first; the research showed that there was no significant correlation between the management practices of the leader and the satisfaction of the volunteers. The second; the research also showed when further analyzed into specific realistic scenarios that the organizations would be better to focus on high amounts of Help and Encouragement in order to maximize the productivity of their volunteer construction workforce. This is significant as it allows NPO's and governments to focus their attention where best suited to produce results. The results were shared and the study was further validated as "significant" by conducting interviews with experts in the construction nonprofit sector.
ContributorsPrigge, Diedrich (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The aim of this thesis is to explain the dichotomy between public perception of leadership and quantifiable measurement of leadership based on Information Measurement Theory, a method of utilizing deductive logic, and to identify and interpret the causes of such discrepancies as seen in the case of Steve Jobs. The general public perceives Steve Jobs to be an effective leader because he was visionary, entrepreneurial, charismatic and highly successful. However, these perceptions are not true indicators of leadership but rather qualitative interpretations of leadership without tangible evidence in support of this idea. An analysis of words found in multiple appearances of online articles relating to Steve Jobs and leadership revealed a variety of common factors associated with Steve Jobs' leadership, supporting a primarily positive viewpoint by the public. The thesis then identified how a new methodology of measuring leadership effectiveness based on quantitative data, known as the New Leadership Model, concludes Steve Jobs does not meet the criteria necessary to be considered a Best Value Leader, one who uses alignment rather than management, direction and control to achieve maximum efficiency within an organization. The discrepancies between public perception of Steve Jobs as a leader and the results of the New Leadership Model evaluation show significant variance. Potential rationale for these variances is offered in the thesis. In conclusion, the thesis argues that public perception will often differ from quantifiable measurement of leadership based on the interpretation of leadership by various groups and by the methods each group uses to identify characteristics of effective leadership.
ContributorsRoderique, Kelsey Boyd (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Although the number of women earning college degrees and entering the workforce is increasing, a gender gap persists at top leadership positions. Women are faced with numerous challenges throughout the talent pipeline, challenges that often drive women out of the workforce. This paper looks at the power of mentoring and how women, particularly young women, have the potential to overcome these challenges through a successful mentoring relationship. We use examples of successful mentoring programs at the corporate and university level to support the development of a mentoring program at the high school level. Our paper presents the research and development process behind the Young Women in Leadership (YWiL) Workshop, a half-day event that focused on bringing awareness to the importance of mentoring and leadership at the high school level while providing young women with the confidence and knowledge to begin to establish their own mentoring relationships.
ContributorsRust, Brenna (Co-author) / Myers, Sheridan (Co-author) / Desch, Tim (Thesis director) / Kalika, Dale (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The intent of this thesis was to explore current literature to further understand the work environments of medical fields and the obstacles that are unique to women pursuing medical careers. It is acknowledged that a significant glass ceiling exists for women in medical fields, specifically areas such as academia and surgery. Thus, the research is focused on determining explanations for a lack of women in said medical specialties, as well as understanding the source of the obstacles women face in medicine. This study was designed to obtain a general background from a literature review and then, to compare and supplement the findings with in-depth interviews of females in a variety of medical careers. From the literature review and the interviews, it was confirmed that the largest area of inequality women in medical fields faced was struggling to balance work and personal life, specifically motherhood. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from the literature review and interviews provided a framework for suggesting possible solutions to help women successfully balance a professional medical career and a personal life.
ContributorsHaugen, Kelsey Blair (Author) / Fonow, Mary Margaret (Thesis director) / Scheiner, Georganne (Committee member) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This study aims to evaluate and explore whether a positive correlation exists between female leadership and corporate social responsibility, as well as its subsequent reasoning, while specifically focusing on female leaders within the upper management (i.e. board of directors and CEOs) of S&P 500 firms. Since several studies identify a positive relationship between female leadership and corporate social responsibility, our case study of IBM and PepsiCo aims to provide a real-life framework to these theoretical models. Ultimately, our case study does align with the findings of those models, yet also provides a unique perspective as to the reasoning for the difference in CSR outcomes, citing business strategy as opposed to altruism and other-orientation. Due to our limited sample size, our findings do not empirically support this notion, but instead offers a potential area for further research.
ContributorsMehta, Pashmi (Co-author) / Westbrook, Ciara (Co-author) / Shropshire, Christine (Thesis director) / Funk, Kendall (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Leadership, as a field of study, has suffered under the dialectic between an ephemerality which keeps the true nature of leadership difficult to quantify and an ardent desire to have leadership fully understood so that societal institutions may improve. It is the primary focus of this research to view leadership as the collection of skills that an individual develops over time which allows them to demonstrate leadership ability regardless of their actual position within an organization. Through a review of the leadership skills literature, a potentially unifying framework for understanding and measuring leadership skills was extrapolated: Mumford, Campion, and Morgeson’s Leadership Skills STRATAPLEX (2007). In order to determine the ability of the framework to serve as a unified model between the divergent characteristics of the public and private sectors, a limited replication study was performed on a targeted sample of Human Resources (HR) leaders in the public and private sectors. The study consisted of a twenty-three-question survey which captured the HR leaders’ years of experience, sector type (sector of employment), and their self-rated measurement of the twenty-one leadership skills needed to perform in their position. Through the limited replication study, it was found that there existed no statistically significant difference between the sector type and any of the twenty-one leadership skills within this replication study. Although it should be noted that some of the leadership skills did approach statistical significance, a more robust replication of the STRATAPLEX for the explicit purpose of determining a relationship between sector type and the twenty-one leadership skills would prove useful in determining the veracity of these results. The results of this study serve to doubly inform leadership researchers of the possibility of creating a unified leadership skills framework as well as demonstrating to organizational leaders the value in producing leadership training which models this framework as its foundation for all leadership positions.
ContributorsAppelhans, Noah Michael (Author) / Knott, Eric (Thesis director) / Macafee, Lisa (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper focuses on the various types of Theories and Models that are designed to help managers and leaders influence others. Specifically, for this paper I will be exploring these Theories and Models to determine the most promising method of influence. Then I will conduct an experiment to measure the effectiveness of a methods ability to influence within Phi Kappa Theta. I will then compare the increase or decrease of service hours to the Inter Fraternal Council (IFC) at Arizona State University to judge our performance and determine whether the chosen method is effective or not.
ContributorsPetersen, Charles Casper (Author) / Baer, Michael (Thesis director) / Wynn, Bridgette (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Dysfunctional organizations and toxic leader behavior has been increasingly examined over the past few years. Scholars, consultants and the media have analyzed and considered a variety of causes underlying destructive company practices and the bad behavior of bosses. Much is at stake as both individual and company is at risk along with shareholders. In this study I identify some dysfunctions in organizations, dimensions of destructive leaders and the impact in the workplace and the community. Moreover, I provide ideas for preventative measures and how dysfunctional practices can be identified and dealt with. I begin with a brief background introduction to the subject matter and proceed with an examination of some signs and behaviors displayed in the dysfunctional workplace. How does departmental, divisional and companywide dysfunction impact employee levels of trust, emotional intelligence and performance? What is the cost of company dysfunction on leaders? Following an exhaustive examination of relevant research, I have decided to focus on two specific sources due to their impact on corporate, consulting and academic communities. I utilize Babiak and Hare's, Snakes in Suits and Stanford Professor Robert Sutton's book, The No Asshole Rule. Building upon these works and the composite of research reviewed by these key scholars I move forward to a real- world case of a dysfunctional organizational and toxic CEO via an examination of Uber Technologies Inc. I will be revealing dimensions of both Uber's wide-reaching dysfunction and the workings of a CEO who has been identified as a psychopath. I provide ideas for identifying the dysfunctional organization (with Uber as a prototype) and look at possible means of generating solutions and actions for combatting excessively negative and destructive organizational and leader behavior. Finally, I am concerned with takeaways and pragmatic implications offered by my research.
ContributorsMolina, Alissa Ruth (Author) / Goldman, Alan (Thesis director) / Trujillo, Rhett (Committee member) / Dean, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Many companies recognize the need of soft skill improvement and utilize leadership development programs. As the program states, the company uses the curriculum to focus on developing and cultivating leadership skills for their employees. While perfecting the aptitudes, it is vital that these curriculums focus primarily on developing soft skills rather than hard skills. Not stating that hard skills are not significant; just that leaders require to apply soft skills abundantly in their day to day duties. Within this thesis, the discussion is on the gap of soft skills and why the need to improve and narrow the breach is imperative in today's workforce. About 67% of HR managers will hire a candidate with strong soft skills, even if their hard skills are lacking; since HR managers value and recognize the proficiency gap of soft skills in the workforce today. Because of the necessity for soft skills, it is vital for employers to identify how to assess for soft skills. In order to do so, the companies should focus on the competencies that are required for the needed position. For the competencies that are utilized in leadership positions, soft skills are emphasized and assesses for more. Salt River Project is utilized, in the thesis, as a company example on assessing competencies that are desired when hiring for leadership positions, varying from a supervisor level position to a director level position. Due to the findings stated in the thesis, soft skills are weighed heavily and are recognized as required skills for most leadership positions. Therefore, soft skills are paramount in leadership development programs.
ContributorsRodriquez, Alisa (Author) / Macafee, Lisa (Thesis director) / Knott, Eric (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05