Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Leading'

Compressor blades often have a small 'spike' in the surface pressure distribution at the leading edge. This may result from blade erosion, manufacture defects or compromises made in the original design process. In this thesis it is shown that these spikes will increase the loss generated by a blade only when they become large enough to initiate boundary layer transition at the leading edge through a separation bubble; this process increases profile loss by about 30%. A criterion is presented, based on the spike diffusion, which can be used to determine whether leading edge transition will occur or not; this criterion is simple and quick to determine and has to potential to be used on a production line to reject those leading edges that would otherwise be detrimental. The spikes are also shown to have a significant effect on the flow close to the endwalls. If they cause leading edge transition in this region then they will cause a growth in the size of the three-dimensional separations that exist in the corner between the blades' suction surfaces and the endwalls. On the low speed stator tested this process increased hub loss by around 100%. Thus to prevent spikes becoming large a new method for producing a 'spikeless' leading edge has been developed; this leading edge can be attached easily to the thickness distribution of any blade and was found to be sharp, that is with very high curvature at the leading edge point. This spikeless leading edge was also found to be the best when the effects of real manufacture deviations, measured off of a production line, were considered. Asymmetry was found to be detrimental and bluntness was only beneficial when unrealistically large deviations were considered. The best leading edge geometry is therefore sharp and symmetric.

Prelude A short piece to prepare the way (Sadie and Tyrrell, 2001) Education for sustainability and educational leadership are the two faces to my research. Although there are differences between the concepts of environmental education and education for sustainability they are often confused. Environmental education deals with awareness raising and encouraging behaviour change to support environmental management and conservation. On the other hand, education for sustainability recognises the transformative role of education, while implicitly referring to intergenerational equity, ecological sustainability and the fair distribution of resources. The confusion is evident at the school level. Leadership is also a term fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. While there are many definitions of leadership, two common perspectives which have persisted over time are definitions of leadership as a matter of influence and of leadership as a skill. In educational terms sustainable leadership represents a shift to capture and merge contemporary leadership theory with the international pressure for sustainability through education. There is a dearth of information available to describe education for sustainability despite recognition by both Australian and Western Australian governments of its importance in this, the early years of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The aims of this qualitative research are to capture leaders’ understanding of how education for sustainability is conceptualised, incorporated across the curriculum and led in Western Australian government secondary schools. In addition this study seeks to determine how education for sustainability becomes embedded and sustained in these schools. The research re-conceptualises leading for sustainability. Four key concepts are identified as essential for embedding education for sustainability into Western Australian government secondary schools. These key concepts are: understanding sustainability; imagining the future; building relationships; and taking action. Combined, they enhance the meagre knowledge base about leading for sustainability in Western Australian secondary schools and provide a springboard for further research in the fields of sustainability and educational leadership.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
Self-leadership has been highly researched in recent years. Nevertheless, researchers have been studying this process under the umbrella of an organizational perspective. Therefore, exploring a holistic perspective of self-leadership is relevant. By considering leaders’ interviews, this research aimed to understand which factors were relevant for leaders to lead themselves in such way that allow efficient performance in all aspects of their lives. It was found that self-leadership is a process that can be translated in the capability that leaders have in handling and ensuring four balances: change and routine; self and others; non-work and work; and, mind and body. Main implications of these findings are presented and discussed.

An airfoil is placed in a high Reynolds number but subsonic fluid flow and is subject to very slow perturbations of its angle of attack compared to the time scale of the flow. Asymptotic solutions for the Navier-Stokes equations are obtained for the boundary layer and interaction region flow structure on the airfoil. The viscous-inviscid interaction between the boundary layer and external inviscid flow is on a time scale sufficiently large such that the induced pressure gradient from the displacement of the boundary layer from the surface is negligible. Numerical solutions are found for the solvability condition from the method of matched asymptotic expansions, which ensures flow structure consistency. A short bubble of reversed recirculating flow forms on the surface of the airfoil. As time progresses, the angle of attack approaches a critical angle for a skin friction singularity and nonlinear breakdown. Discontinuous skin friction solutions are obtained for a second interactive stage equation. An eruption process from the bubble thickens the boundary layer and terminates the second interactive stage, resulting in a vortex, or eddy, spanning the boundary layer. The ejection of the vortex from the surface is the process of leading edge stall.

Prelude A short piece to prepare the way (Sadie and Tyrrell, 2001) Education for sustainability and educational leadership are the two faces to my research. Although there are differences between the concepts of environmental education and education for sustainability they are often confused. Environmental education deals with awareness raising and encouraging behaviour change to support environmental management and conservation. On the other hand, education for sustainability recognises the transformative role of education, while implicitly referring to intergenerational equity, ecological sustainability and the fair distribution of resources. The confusion is evident at the school level. Leadership is also a term fraught with confusion and misinterpretation. While there are many definitions of leadership, two common perspectives which have persisted over time are definitions of leadership as a matter of influence and of leadership as a skill. In educational terms sustainable leadership represents a shift to capture and merge contemporary leadership theory with the international pressure for sustainability through education. There is a dearth of information available to describe education for sustainability despite recognition by both Australian and Western Australian governments of its importance in this, the early years of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The aims of this qualitative research are to capture leaders' understanding of how education for sustainability is conceptualised, incorporated across the curriculum and led in Western Australian government secondary schools. In addition this study seeks to determine how education for sustainability becomes embedded and sustained in these schools. The research re-conceptualises leading for sustainability. Four key concepts are identified as essential for embedding education for sustainability into Western Australian government secondary schools. These key concepts are: understanding sustainability; imagining the future; building relationships; and taking action. Combined, they enhance the meagre knowledge base about leading for sustainability in Western Australian secondary schools and provide a springboard for further research in the fields of sustainability and educational leadership.

While much is known about what contributes to teacher attrition, there is less research on those who leave teaching positions to work as a union representative. The purpose of this study was to explore how three teacher union representatives frame their experiences with mobility, leadership, and advocacy in education. The research question was: How do former teachers enter and perform the role of teacher union representative? The sub-level questions were: a) How do they story their transition from teaching students to representing teachers? b) How do they frame the responsibility of teacher unions and teacher union representatives to advocate? Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, examined for story elements and plot, and interpreted using a framework on working conditions (House, 1981). The major theme was that educators left their positions as teachers in response to emotional, instrumental, informational and appraisal factors, namely discrepancies between what they wanted and what was provided as part of their working conditions. The findings are: 1) Working conditions pushed educators to pursue union leadership, 2) Professional responsibilities of a Union Representative varied 3) Issues for which Union Representatives advocated involved the improvement of working conditions. The findings are discussed, as are implications for revising the theoretical framework for use in future studies with regard to the fluidity of the advocacy process, and the long-term sustainability of American Educational Unions. Recommended are longitudinal studies to determine how teacher union representatives’ frame their narratives of working conditions and advocacy in response to changes in legislation, including union decertification, over time. Keywords: advocacy, union representation, working conditions, administrators, teacher’s rights, framing and professional mobility.

Jerry Herman is celebrated for his ability to showcase strong leading female roles in his canon of work that spans some fifty years. In writing such strong female characters, he must produce strong male counterparts to these women who can communicate on their level and not become overpowered by the women s presence. I was cast in the musical revue, It s Today: An Evening of Jerry Herman, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Earl D. Weaver. My portion of the revue explored Herman s leading male roles of Cornelius from Hello, Dolly!; Mack from Mack and Mabel; Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky from The Grand Tour; and Albin from La Cage aux Folles, My analysis of these specific leading male roles uncovers how their relationships with their leading ladies defines their character in each of the musicals for which they were written. It also helped me define multiple characters in the course of a revue with no plot or storyline. Though all these male characters provided me with challenges, my greatest task was defining Albin in La Cage aux Folles. He provides a unique perspective in that he exemplifies a combination of both male/female characteristics. He is a man who regularly portrays a woman onstage in a drag club as well as assuming a female role in a homosexual relationship. He serves as the  leading lady for La Cage aux Folles though his character is considered a  leading man role. He is the consummate representation of all Jerry Herman leading roles, and embodies many of the themes Herman utilizes in all his work.
M.F.A.
Department of Theatre
Arts and Humanities
Theatre MFA

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-79).
The phenomenal success of big technology companies founded with a strong emphasis on data, has epitomized the rise of the new "digital economy." Large traditional organizations, that were not long ago "on top of the world" are now at a crossroads. Their business models seem threatened by newcomers as they face pressure to "transform" and "modernize." Publicity has reinforced the perception that data can now be exploited and turned into a source of competitive advantage. In this context, data analytics presumably offers a vehicle to hasten this transformation. Who are the individuals leading these transformation efforts? Where do they come from? What are their challenges and perspectives? This thesis attempted to answer these questions and by doing so, uncover the "faces behind the leadership titles." Interviews of 33 individuals leading data analytics in large traditional organizations and under different capacities, (i.e., at the C-Suite, at the senior leadership level and in middle management) had a few elements in common: They articulated the difficulty of change, and the significant challenges in balancing strategic design with political savviness and cultural awareness. At their core, these are true leadership stories. Change management processes and the "Three Perspectives on Organizations" framework offer mechanisms to better understand the root causes for inhibitors of transformation and provide a path to guide data analytics initiatives. Whether data analytics proves to be a "passing fad" or not, by now, it has served as a catalyst for large traditional organizations to embark on transformation initiatives and reexamine ways to remain relevant. Leadership stories will most certainly abound as these organizations attempt to find ways to survive and prosper in what is now the "digital age."
by Javier Mauricio Canon Moreno.
M.B.A.

As the amount of data generated increases, so does the amount of data processing. However for some applications, a decision can be made using partial results obtained mid-computation. This research presents three MSB-first computation circuits which allow for early computation termination: an accumulator, a comparator and an arithmetic processing element. The circuits are constructed based on a novel carry propagation shift-register design. Results for various size inputs show a decrease in the number of clock cycles necessary to make a decision compared to existing techniques. In addition, the number of bits used in the computation is reduced, thereby decreasing the number of bits fetched from memory.

This thesis examines the ways to support employees in an outsourcing project in order to achieve a satisfying situation for both the company and its staff. Outsourcing is commonly understood as shifting of certain operational activities previously accomplished using internal staff and resources to an internal or external third party. This kind of radical change induces often major impact on the company’s staff. Thus, the purpose of this work is to elucidate employees’ perspective and thus to enable managers to adapt their approach accordingly. At the beginning, the thesis offers a model for an outsourcing project taking into account the perspective of the employees. Based on this model, relevant aspects to successfully conduct an outsourcing initiative are considered. Furthermore, this work includes recommendations on how to adjust the highly acknowledged change management model by Kotter (1995) specifically to outsourcing initiatives in order to approach the desired win-win situation. Finally, the thesis provides a set of specific and prioritised measures that would help to lead employees through outsourcing and a transfer to an adjusted process model aimed for practitioners as well as for scholars. Since perceptions and behaviour of the affected employees are highly dependent on their individual attitude and circumstances, the underlying philosophical approach in this research is an interpretivist perspective. Based on the findings from the literature on outsourcing and change management from various domains, semi-structured interviews based on a interpretivist view and an abductive approach were developed. The study was conducted with fourteen respondents from six different industry sectors and different hierarchy levels such as operators, administrators and middle mangers with various organisational functions. The following three headlines, or major codes, highlight and summarise the findings of the study: credibility of managers, communication concept and individual support of the affected employees. Within these three major codes, the thesis highlights twelve main codes and 39 sub-codes relevant for the support of the employees during outsourcing and gives an indication about their importance. The study identified that about a fifth of the aspects underlined in the literature play a minor role in case of outsourcing or are even critical, as for instance to celebrate achieved milestones. On the other hand, several additional elements could be identified that are not mentioned or are not prioritised in the existing body of research, but have strong contribution for successful outsourcing. Those are for instance a mentoring program during the transition phase, the impact of age and job tenure or detailed aspects of the required individual support.

Middle leaders in schools are important. Alongside holding formal positions of responsibility, they remain active as class teachers, leading the learning of students and staff. Situated as the conduit between classroom teaching and educational leading, some research studies reveal connections between middle leaders and distributed leadership. In addition, commentators suggest that middle leaders have the potential to act as change agents leading school improvement. How middle leaders enact this critical role is the subject of this study. Through examining their leadership practices and patterns of behaviour this research explored how middle leaders approached leading from the middle. Framed by a case study methodological approach, this research employed semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of two middle leaders in a secondary school. Examining data describing the actions, interactions, and viewpoints of middle leaders highlighted what enabled and constrained the enactment of their roles. A conceptual framework was proposed to support the examination of the interrelationships of leading from the middle. With a focus on middle leading practice, this framework was further informed by patterns of behaviour described within a discrete dimension of distributed leadership, concertive action. The research findings suggest that quality relationships as well as context specific professional development are key factors in leading from the middle. Further, the findings of this study suggest that the multi-faceted nature of leading from the middle can be conceptualised using the metaphor of what I define as kaleidoscope leading.
Thesis (Masters)
Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)
School Educ & Professional St
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

In studying leading as a way of changing meaning, this research documents a journey of inner exploration amongst five self-nominated leaders in education. In contrast to change limited by outer dimensional structure, changing meaning in an inner dimension was seen as the necessary complement in creating real difference in educators and in educating. Over a period of almost a year, the leaders participated in an online project, travelling together through email dialogue focused around leading, changing and meaning. In this, they experimented with a changing way of researching, developing a personalised space of changing in which they could truth-test their thoughts and feelings about the multiple facets of leading and meaning. Such a space - interstitial to their outer working and inner personal lives, but deeply connective of both - was found useful in supporting coherent change processes in the participant leaders. (Please note that frontispiece and endpiece illustrations have been not been included as they are subject to copyright.)

Crisis represents an important contextual variable in the leader-follower relationship. Never is it as important as in times of “shock” when followers experience intense uncertainty and seek for sources of protection and guidance, that leaders are required to step in and find appropriate ways to alleviate fears, restore a sense normalcy, and maintain effective functioning. Over the years, studies from multiple disciplines have accumulated to a large body of literature on the topic of crisis leadership, informing the current understanding of how crises can be defined and the role of leadership in steering followers through them. However, despite a vast empirical base, important aspects in the analysis are missing, leaving the field to suffer from three fatal flaws. First, insights into the precise working of crisis leadership phenomena have remained restricted as the majority of existing studies limit their investigation to isolated and coarsely conceptualized crises. Second, past research efforts have focused on acute crisis management as the solitary leadership function, disregarding the potentially insightful study of crisis leadership across different stages of the crisis lifecycle. Third, a problematic imbalance is observable in the field that overemphasizes the analysis of particular leadership theories (i.e., charismatic-transformational leadership) to the neglect of testing the effectiveness of other leadership approaches as crisis responses. Altogether, there has been no effort to investigate crisis leadership in a systematic and integrative manner that acknowledges the breadth of what both the notions of crisis and crisis leadership encompass. This dissertation addresses these issues with the objective of gaining novel insights on the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different crisis contexts. Synthesizing the large and disparate body of literature of crisis leadership, the current work applies theories from the safety sciences, small group research, and the management field to widen the scope of previous analyses. Specifically, it develops a theoretical framework that integrates the insights gained from these domains by utilizing a tripartite crisis lifecycle approach, identifying the stages of pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis, as the basis for further study. Based on these stages, the notion of crisis is expanded by conceptualizing it in terms of (precursory) critical incidents, (acute) team crises, and (fully manifested) organizational crises. The framework broadens the research perspective by recognizing that prevention, intervention, and resolution of crisis are equally important functions of crisis leadership. Using this framework as a departure point for empirical investigation, relationship-based, motivation-based, and functionally-based leadership approaches are examined across the crisis stages in three empirical studies. Study 1 focuses on the pre-crisis stage and examines how relationship-oriented leadership forms support the preventive function of crisis leadership by promoting the reporting of critical incidents. Building on social exchange and social identity theory, this study disentangles how leader-member exchange (LMX) influences reporting of incidents in healthcare organizations through two different mechanisms. Using survey data of 15 hospitals in Germany (N = 436) and structural equation modelling, it reveals that LMX increases both reporting-specific trust and organizational identification of employees, which in turn positively affects reporting of incidents. Furthermore, top management support is found to moderate the link between LMX and reporting-specific trust, indicating a compensatory effect of LMX for followers who perceive management support to be low. In addition, codification of safety regulations is found to moderate the link between organizational identification and reporting of incidents, indicating that the institutionalization of safety norms through a strong follow-through of the organization facilitates reporting for highly-identified employees. The findings of Study 1 demonstrate that crisis leadership can be enacted at both the supervisory and top management level and illustrate that the resulting increase of followers’ crisis preventive behaviour can be motivated from different sources. Study 2 focuses on the crisis stage and examines how motivational leadership approaches aid the intervention function of crisis leadership by influencing follower performance in team crises. This study extends charismatic leadership research by identifying boundary conditions under which charismatic leadership in teams does not improve but can even hurt follower performance. Specifically, it proposes that while charismatic leadership generally leads to higher performance in team-based settings, the occurrence of a team crisis decreases performance. In addition, the follower attribute of self-direction is hypothesized to interact with charismatic leadership and team crisis such that charismatic leadership adversely impacts performance in a team crisis if followers’ self-direction is high rather than low. The theoretical propositions are tested in a laboratory setting that uses the cover story of a brainstorming competition (N = 88) intended to promote the sales of controversial consumer products, and experimentally manipulates team crisis in the form of value-based critical team events and leadership in the form of a rhetoric-based charismatic crisis intervention. The findings support the propositions of the three-way interaction. In sum, Study 2 provides first experimental evidence that charismatic leadership can have negative performance effects in specific types of team crises, if such leadership is enacted on highly self-directed followers. Study 3 focuses on the post-crisis stage and examines how functional leadership approaches assist the resolution function of crisis leadership in different types of organizational crisis. This study proposes that different crisis situations necessitate alternative leadership styles, which may additionally depend on follower characteristics. To this effect, it examines the interplay of (a) crisis types (sudden vs. gradual) with (b) leadership styles (pragmatic vs. charismatic), and (c) follower characteristics (pragmatism vs. idealism), hypothesizing favourable leader evaluations based on a principle of fit. The proposed relationships are tested in three experimental substudies (Ns = 62, 49, 204). Substudy 1 shows that pragmatic leadership is evaluated more favourably than charismatic leadership in gradual (vs. sudden) crises. Substudy 2 identifies the time horizon of crisis consequences as a further boundary condition and highlights that charismatic leadership can, conversely, be evaluated more favourably than pragmatic leadership if crisis consequences are perceived to manifest in the distant (vs. in the near) future. Substudy 3 replicates and extends the findings of Substudy 1 by providing evidence that the positive effects of pragmatic leadership are mediated by collective crisis efficacy and that this effect is enhanced for individuals high in pragmatism. The results of Study 3 indicate that both pragmatic and charismatic leadership represent a potentially effective approach to crisis leadership; however, their effectiveness depends on the specific crisis circumstances and the expectations that different types of followers have towards the ideal crisis leader. Combined, the findings of the three studies offer novel theoretical conclusions that are integrated in an overarching model of crisis leadership. This model advances four propositions concerning leadership in times of crisis related to (1) the formation of the leader-follower-relationship as a basis for crisis leaders’ social influence attempts, (2) the relevance of context factors found in the organizational environment, the individual follower, and the crisis itself, (3) the specific mechanisms that underlie the crisis leadership process, and (4) the different domains of organizational life that are affected by crisis leadership. The empirical studies contribute to research in unique ways. Study 1, in departure from research on organizations that have already achieved the goal of being “crisis-prepared” (i.e., high-reliability-organizations), extends the analysis to the healthcare sector by linking ideas and insights from the safety sciences with those from organizational behavior research. It tests a dual-process model of LMX that advances the social exchange and social identity literature and provides insights on how supervisory leadership interacts with higher level leadership functions in preventing crisis escalation. Study 2, in contrast to previous research on charismatic crisis leadership which has primarily found positive effects in large-scale crises, detects potentially negative effects at the team level. By applying a novel operationalization of crisis in the form of critical team events and considering the individual difference variable of self-direction, it adds to the event-based crisis literature and answers scholarly calls for a more follower-centric view of leadership. Study 3 takes up a new development in the leadership field by experimentally investigating pragmatic leadership approaches in a crisis context for the first time. It builds on a theoretically established, but as of yet empirically unexplored crisis typology in order to gain novel insights into the fit between crisis type, leadership style, and follower characteristics, and identifies boundary conditions in a moderated-mediation framework that simultaneously recognizes collective crisis efficacy as an important mechanism. Taken as a whole, the dissertation’s primary contribution is that it develops and empirically tests a theoretical framework that uniquely integrates multiple crisis conceptualizations situated at different stages of the crisis lifecycle with important, so far disregarded leadership approaches. In doing so, the current work informs the understanding of crisis leadership also from a practical point of view: The findings highlight the importance of leader adaptability and point out concrete ways of selecting and training leaders for assignment in crisis contexts. By virtue of a solid understanding of the nature of a crisis and its specific leadership requirements, crisis leaders can be better prepared to effectively engage their followers in different crisis situations with the aim of achieving desired outcomes despite difficult circumstances
Krisen stellen eine wichtige Kontextvariable in der Beziehung zwischen Führungskraft und Geführten dar. Nie ist es so wichtig wie in Zeiten eines „Schocks“, wenn Geführte intensive Unsicherheit erleben und nach Schutz und Orientierung suchen, dass Führungspersonen eingreifen und angemessene Wege finden müssen, um Ängste zu lindern, ein Gefühl der Normalität wiederherzustellen, und die effektive Bearbeitung von vorhandenen Aufgaben sicherzustellen. Im Laufe der Jahre haben Studien aus den verschiedensten Disziplinen eine umfassende Literatur zum Thema Krisenführung zusammengetragen, die zum heutigen Verständnis des Krisenbegriffs sowie der Rolle der Führung in Zeiten der Krise beitragen. Trotz einer großen empirischen Basis sind allerdings wichtige Aspekte in der Analyse bisher noch nicht berücksichtigt und das Feld leidet an drei erheblichen Schwächen. Erstens ist die Kenntnis zu den genauen Wirkmustern der Krisenführung bisher begrenzt, da die meisten der vorhandenen Untersuchungen ihre Analysen auf voneinander isolierte und grob konzeptualisierte Krisen beschränkt haben. Zweitens haben sich vergangene Untersuchungen auf das aktive Krisen-Management als die einzige Führungsaufgabe konzentriert, ohne die potenziell interessante Analyse der Krisenführung in den verschiedenen Phasen einer Krise im Rahmen ihres Lebenszyklus zu berücksichtigen. Drittens ist im Forschungsfeld ein problematisches Ungleichgewicht zu beobachten, das die Analyse von bestimmten Führungstheorien (insb. die charismatisch-transformationale Führungstheorie) überbetont – zu Ungunsten einer Prüfung der Wirksamkeit anderer Führungsstile als alternative Krisenreaktionen. Insgesamt gab es bisher noch keine systematische und integrative Untersuchung der Führung in Krisenzeiten, welche der Bandbreite dessen, was sowohl der Begriff der Krise als auch der der Krisenführung umfasst, gerecht werden würde. Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit diesen Problemen und hat als Ziel, neue Erkenntnisse zu der Wirksamkeit verschiedener Führungsstile in unterschiedlichen Krisenkontexten zu gewinnen. Die vorliegende Arbeit synthetisiert die umfangreiche und verstreute Literatur zum Thema Krisenführung und zieht Theorien aus den Sicherheitswissenschaften, der Kleingruppenforschung und dem Management-Bereich heran, um den Umfang der bisherigen Analysen zu erweitern. Insbesondere entwickelt die Arbeit ein theoretisches Rahmenmodell, das die aus diesen Bereichen gewonnenen Erkenntnisse integriert und einen dreigliedrigen Ansatz des Lebenszyklus von Krisen nutzt, um die Phasen vor der Krise, während der Krise und nach der Krise als Grundlage für weitere Forschungsbemühungen zu identifizieren. Basierend auf diesen Phasen wird der Begriff der Krise durch die Konzeptualisierung als kritische Ereignisse (Vorläufer einer Krise), Teamkrise (akuter Zustand einer Krise) und Organisationskrise (volle Manifestation einer Krise) ausgeweitet. Das Rahmenmodell erweitert die Forschungsperspektive durch die Erkenntnis, dass Prävention, Intervention, und Resolution der Krise gleichermaßen wichtige Funktionen der Krisenführung sind. Mit diesem Rahmenmodell als Ausgangspunkt für die empirische Untersuchung werden sodann beziehungsbasierte, motivationsbasierte, und funktionsbasierte Ansätze der Führung entlang den Krisenphasen in drei empirischen Studien untersucht. Studie 1 konzentriert sich auf die Phase vor dem Eintreten der Krise und untersucht, wie beziehungsorientierte Formen der Führung die präventive Funktion der Krisenführung durch die Förderung des Meldens von kritischen Ereignissen unterstützen. Basierend auf der sozialen Austausch- und sozialen Identitätstheorie zeigt diese Studie auf, wie Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) auf das Melden von kritischen Ereignissen im Gesundheitswesen über zwei verschiedene Mechanismen wirkt. Unter Nutzung von Fragebogendaten aus 15 Krankenhäusern in Deutschland (N = 436) und mittels Strukturgleichungsanalyse zeigt sich, dass LMX sowohl das den Meldestrukturen entgegengebrachte Vertrauen sowie die organisationale Identifikation der Mitarbeiter erhöht, was sich wiederum positiv auf das Melden von kritischen Ereignissen auswirkt. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Befunde, dass Unterstützung vonseiten des Top-Managements die Beziehung zwischen LMX und Vertrauen moderiert, was auf eine kompensatorische Wirkung von LMX für Geführte hinweist, die eine geringe Management-Unterstützung wahrnehmen. Außerdem wird aufgedeckt, dass die Verschriftlichung von Sicherheitsrichtlinien die Beziehung zwischen organisationaler Identifikation und dem Melden von kritischen Ereignissen moderiert, was vermuten lässt, das die Institutionalisierung von Sicherheitsnormen im Sinne einer hohen Implementierungstiefe organisationaler Maßnahmen das Meldeverhalten für hoch identifizierte Mitarbeiter verbessert. Die Ergebnisse von Studie 1 zeigen, dass Krisenführung sowohl auf der Vorgesetzten- als auch der Top-Management-Ebene stattfinden kann und veranschaulicht, dass die daraus resultierende Anregung der Krisenpräventionsbemühungen der Geführten aus verschiedenen Quellen motiviert sein kann. Studie 2 konzentriert sich auf die akute Krisenphase und untersucht, wie motivationale Führungsansätze die Interventionsfunktion der Krisenführung durch Beeinflussung der Geführtenleistung in Teamkrisen fördert. Diese Studie erweitert die Literatur zur charismatischen Führung und identifiziert Randbedingungen, unter denen charismatische Führung in Teams die Leistung von Geführten nicht verbessert, sondern sogar verschlechtern kann. Obwohl charismatische Führung in der Regel zu einer höheren Leistung in teambasierten Kontexten führt, nimmt die Studie an, dass das Auftreten einer Teamkrise die Leistung senkt. Darüber hinaus wird erwartet, dass ein Persönlichkeitsmerkmal der Geführten, die Selbstbestimmung, mit charismatischer Führung und der Teamkrise so interagiert, dass charismatische Führung sich negativ auf die Leistung während einer Teamkrise auswirkt wenn die Geführten eine hohe statt einer geringen Selbstbestimmung aufweisen. Die theoretischen Annahmen werden in einer Laborstudie getestet, die als Coverstory einen Brainstorming-Wettbewerb (N = 88) nutzt, bei dem der Verkauf von umstrittenen Verbraucherprodukten gefördert werden soll, und manipuliert experimentell die Teamkrise in Form eines wertebasierten kritischen Team-Ereignisses sowie Führung in der Form einer Rhetorik-basierten charismatischen Krisenintervention. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die theoretischen Annahmen einer Dreifach-Interaktion. In der Summe erbringt Studie 2 den ersten experimentellen Nachweis dazu, dass charismatische Führung negative Leistungsauswirkungen in bestimmten Arten von Teamkrisen haben kann, wenn die Führung auf hoch selbstbestimmte Geführte trifft. Studie 3 konzentriert sich auf die Phase nach dem Eintreten der Krise und untersucht, wie funktionale Führungsansätze die Krisenresolution in unterschiedlichen organisationalen Krisen unterstützen. Diese Studie nimmt an, dass unterschiedliche Krisensituationen alternative Führungsstile erfordern, was zusätzlich von den Eigenschaften der Geführten abhängt. Zu diesem Zweck untersucht sie das Zusammenspiel von (a) Krisentypen (plötzlich vs. graduell) mit (b) Führungsstilen (pragmatisch vs. charismatisch) und (c) Geführteneigenschaften (Pragmatismus vs. Idealismus) und stellt die Hypothese auf, dass Führungskräfte bei Passung dieser Faktoren vorteilhaft bewertet werden. Die theoretischen Annahmen werden in drei experimentellen Teilstudien getestet (Ns = 62, 49, 204). Teilstudie 1 zeigt, dass pragmatische Führung im Vergleich zu charismatischer Führung als effektiver in graduellen (vs. plötzlichen) Krisen evaluiert wird. Teilstudie 2 identifiziert den Zeithorizont von Krisenfolgen als weitere Randbedingung und hebt hervor, dass charismatische Führung umgekehrt besser als pragmatische Führung bewertet werden kann, wenn die Krisenfolgen als weit entfernt in der Zukunft (vs. nah in der Zukunft) wahrgenommen werden. Teilstudie 3 repliziert und erweitert die Befunde von Teilstudie 1 und erbringt den Nachweis, dass die positiven Effekte pragmatischer Führung durch kollektive, krisenbezogene Selbstwirksamkeit vermittelt wird und dass dieser Effekt für Personen mit hoher pragmatischer Grundausrichtung stärker ausfällt. Die Ergebnisse von Studie 3 zeigen, dass sowohl pragmatische als auch charismatische Führung einen potenziell wirksamen Ansatz der Krisenführung darstellen; allerdings hängt deren Wirksamkeit von den spezifischen Krisenbedingungen sowie den Erwartungen ab, die unterschiedliche Geführte von dem idealen Krisenführer haben. In der Gesamtheit lassen sich durch die Ergebnisse der drei Studien neue theoretische Schlussfolgerungen ziehen, die in einem übergreifenden Modell der Krisenführung integriert werden. Dieses Modell trifft vier Aussagen über das Führen in Krisenzeiten in Bezug auf (1) den Aufbau der Beziehung zwischen Führungskraft und Geführten als Grundlage für soziale Einflussversuche seitens des Krisenführers, (2) die Relevanz von Kontextfaktoren im organisationalen Umfeld, in der Person des Geführten, und der Krise selbst, (3) die spezifischen Mechanismen, die dem Prozess der Krisenführung zugrunde liegen, und (4) die verschiedenen Bereiche der organisationalen Lebenswelt, die von Krisenführung berührt werden. Die empirischen Studien liefern jeweils einen eigenen theoretischen Beitrag zur Forschung. Studie 1, in Ergänzung zu wissenschaftlichen Befunden zu Organisationen, die bereits das Ziel der „Krisenbereitschaft“ erreicht haben (i.e., High Reliability Organisationen), weitet die Analyse durch Verknüpfung von Erkenntnissen der Sicherheitswissenschaften mit denen der Organisationspsychologie auf den Gesundheitssektor aus. Die Studie testet ein duales Prozessmodell von LMX, das die Literatur der sozialen Austausch- und sozialen Identitäts-Theorie erweitert und Erkenntnisse dazu gewinnt, wie Führung des direkten Vorgesetzen mit übergeordneten Führungsfunktionen bei der Verhinderung einer Kriseneskalation interagiert. Studie 2 entdeckt entgegen bisheriger Forschung, die in erster Linie positive Effekte charismatischer Führung bei Großkrisen gefunden hat, potenziell negative Auswirkungen dieses Führungsstils auf Teamebene. Durch die Anwendung einer neuartigen Operationalisierung von Krisen in Form von kritischen Team-Ereignissen und unter Berücksichtigung der individuellen Variable der Selbstbestimmung, dockt sie an die ereignisbasierte Krisenliteratur an und erfüllt wissenschaftliche Forderungen nach einer stärkeren Betrachtung der Zusammenhänge aus der Geführtenperspektive. Studie 3 nimmt eine noch sehr junge Entwicklung in der Führungsforschung auf und untersucht mit einem experimentellen Ansatz erstmalig pragmatische Führungsansätze im Krisenkontext. Basierend auf einer theoretisch etablierten, aber empirisch bisher noch nicht untersuchten Krisentypologie, eröffnet die Studie neue Einblicke in die Passung zwischen Krisentyp, Führungsstil und Geführteneigenschaften, und identifiziert Randbedingungen in einem moderierten-Mediations-Modell, das darüber hinaus die kollektive, krisenbezogene Selbstwirksamkeit als wichtigen Mechanismus identifiziert. Als Ganzes genommen ist der wesentliche Forschungsbeitrag der Dissertation die Entwicklung und Testung eines theoretischen Rahmenmodells, das verschiedene Krisenkonzeptualisierungen in unterschiedlichen Phasen des Krisenlebenszyklus mit wichtigen, bisher vernachlässigten Führungsansätzen vereint. Dabei vertieft die vorliegende Arbeit das Verständnis der Krisenführung auch aus praktischer Sicht: Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Bedeutung der Anpassungsfähigkeit von Führungskräften in Zeiten der Krise und zeigen konkrete Möglichkeiten der Auswahl und Entwicklung von Führungskräften für deren Einsatz in Krisenkontexten auf. Durch das genaue Verständnis der Eigenschaften einer Krise und ihrer spezifischen Führungsanforderungen können Krisenführer besser darauf vorbereitet werden, auf effektive Art und Weise ihre Geführten in verschiedenen Krisensituationen zu motivieren, um gewünschte Ergebnisse trotz schwieriger Umstände zu erreichen

Gram-negative bacterial conjugation is a specialised replicative event that increases the population size of a plasmid during its horizontal transfer between organisms. Work reported in this thesis has focused on the genetic structure of the leading regions of enterobacterial plasmids. A leading region is the first segment of a plasmid to enter the recipient cell during conjugation. Some leading regions carry conserved loci. Examples are ssb encoding a single-stranded DNA binding protein; psiB which functions to inhibit induction of the bacterial SOS response; ardA which encodes antirestriction activity, and hok, a gene that contributes to plasmid maintenance. The objective of this work was to determine the distribution of these genes on enterobacterial plasmids and their arrangement relative to the origin of conjugative transfer (oriT). Sequences homologous to ardA were found on plasmid representatives of five (FV, B, I, K and N) out of 23 incompatibility groups tested. Mapping data shows that the ardA homologues are leading region genes, and subcloning experiments coupled with phenotypic assays provide evidence that the IncB and IncFV ardA homologues are functional antirestriction genes. Sequence data reveal that the ardA gene family has diverged by at least 60% at the nucleotide sequence level when compared to the prototype ardA gene of ColIb-F9. A non-homologous antirestriction gene, ardB, was only detected on IncN plasmids. Conserved ssb and psiB genes are known to be present on a number of enterobacterial plasmids representing nine different incompatibility groups (B, com9, I1, FI, FII, FIV, K and Y). It is reported that the leading region of an IncFV plasmid, F0lac, also carries conserved ssb-psiB genes. In common with previous findings, the genes are separated by a spacer of ~2.5kb, indicating their presence in a conserved module. Genes of the hok family of killer genes are found on the leading region of FI and FII plasmids. Southern hybridisation experiments revealed that IncI1 plasmids lack a member of the hok subfamily but contain a member of the pnd subfamily. Functional and hybridisation tests localised pnd to the trailing region, defined as the last segment of a plasmid to enter the recipient during conjugation. Hybridisation data also localised the pnd genes of B and K plasmids to be outside of the leading region. The finding that the killer genes are scattered is consistent with the concept that the ecological role of the hok gene family is in plasmid maintenance rather than in conjugation. The results show that while enterobacterial plasmid leading regions collectively contain some conserved genes, there is considerable heterogeneity in their combination and arrangement on different plasmids with respect to oriT. It is postulated that the difference reflects independent acquisition of modules during the evolution of the different plasmid types. An important finding is that leading region genes are each orientated such that the transcribed strand is the same as the transferred strand. This arrangement holds for plasmids ColIb (IncI1), F (IncFI), pKM101 (IncN) and F0lac (IncFV) and could be important for the expression of these genes. One possibility is that the genes are expressed from the incoming plasmid strand before it is converted into duplex DNA.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
In this research we conducted qualitative analysis to study the team dynamics of jazz combos in order to explore deeper the leadership behaviors in a creative environment where teaming occurs. We found evidence of a dual leader, one that shifts his/her role between ‘leader as leader’ and ‘leader as member’, embracing both leaderfulness and leaderlessness according to momentary needs, thus allowing for a delicate balance of freedom and control to enhance creativity and real time coordination. Additionally, we propose that the leader and team members have important roles in either enabling elasticity or preventing plasticity of a flexible structure that is ideal for innovation.

Within the last years organizations are enriched by a further age cohort that is entering the working environment. The demands and backgrounds of generation Y have changed many aspects within the organizational environment especially in terms of employee retention. Research has provided insights into the values, backgrounds and beliefs of this cohort. Yet, the importance of requirements towards the leadership dimension of generation Y in Austria is not quite clear. In order to sharpen the understanding of the leadership related perspective, a thorough literature review is provided. Afterwards a quantitative research study examined factors ascribed to generation Y employees. The analysis of the gathered data outlined that the expectations and disfavoured behavioural patterns for generation Y in Austria are in line with other sources of research. Furthermore, existing differences between disfavouring certain factors and factors of demotivation could be identified. Also in terms of expectations and motivations such differences could be observed. The strong demand and deprecation of certain behaviours revealed that it is crucial for business leaders to understand the requirements of the generation Y age cohort, in order to foster motivation and commitment.

Supportive clinical learning environments are dependent on effective interactions between staff and students (Henderson, Creedy, Boorman, Cooke & Walker., 2010a). Implicit in this description is the role of effective leaders who role-model change and promote positive work cultures. International reviews and research examining contemporary and historical influences on the nursing profession acknowledge the underdevelopment of leadership infrastructure within clinical learning settings. There are increasing calls for an agenda of change within the profession, yet little practical advice about ‘how’ to do this (Cummings et al., 2010; Davidson, Elliott & Daly, 2006; Heath, 2002; Senate Community Affairs Committee, 2002). The purpose of this study was to develop, apply and evaluate a leadership capacity building intervention on the clinical culture. This program of research commenced with a review of the literature via narrative synthesis around nursing and leadership, clinical learning and learning culture, and identified two broad themes: influence of leadership on organisational learning and development and; influence of leadership in undergraduate clinical education. Within these themes emerged factors/elements integral to effective leadership in contemporary clinical contexts including transformational principals, the role of the nurse unit/ward manager, collaboration and relationship building and role-modelling.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Griffith Health
Full Text

This thesis deals extensively with ‘the Art of Leading Oneself’. In the course of this paper, an understanding of the term ‘leading oneself’ is given. Furthermore a reflection upon the reasons why it is necessary in nowadays society and business world to lead oneself is provided. The core of the thesis constitutes a thorough discussion of possible elements of the art of leading oneself. In conclusion it is to be said, that on the basis of the knowledge of an individual’s frames of references, a framework of personal values and vision should be created. In a second dimension it is necessary to deeply reflect upon the inner Self and to gain insight about the authentic Self. Through the acknowledgement that an individual can learn from failures, the principles of the crucibles are described. In a third dimension, the bridge to ‘the Art of Leading Others’ is build and a rough overview of the necessities of sensegiving in the communication process is given. Concluded, it can be said, that it is of utmost importance to know and incorporate the authentic Self in every activity.
Diese Masterthesis behandelt und beschreibt im ausführlichen Maße ‚die Kunst sich selbst zu führen’. Innerhalb dieser Arbeit erarbeite ich ein Verständnis über das Konzept des ‚sich selbst Führens’. Des Weiteren wird über die Notwendigkeit der Selbstführung in der schnelllebigen Berufs- und Sozialwelt reflektiert. Der Kern der Arbeit konstituiert eine ausführliche Diskussion über mögliche Elemente des ‚sich selbst Führens’. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass auf Basis des Wissens über die individuellen Bezugssysteme ein persönliches Wertesystem und eine darauf aufbauende Vision erstellt werden soll. In einer zweiten Ebene ist es notwendig eine tiefe Reflektion über das Innere Selbst durchzuführen um Erkenntnis der tieferen Einsicht des authentischen Selbst zu erlangen. Durch die Anerkennung und Wertschätzung seiner persönlichen Misserfolge sollte das Verständnis geschaffen werden, aus Fehlern zu lernen. In einer dritten Dimension wird die Brücke zur ‚Kunst andere zu Führen’ erschaffen und ein grober Überblick über die Notwendigkeiten einer sinnstiftenden Kommunikation wird gegeben. Resümierend kann gesagt werden, dass es von äußerster Bedeutung ist, sich selbst zu kennen und sein authentisches Selbst in jeder alltäglichen Aktivitäten zu integrieren.

This research aims to understand, describe and analyze the hidden dimensions of leadership that can nourish leader-follower relationships. Additionally, by analyzing empirical illustrations combined with the theories presented in the literature, we have developed a framework for leading smoothly, which can provide insights into the leadership activities that leaders and executives can benefit from. Our findings on leading smoothly emerged during our analysis and interpretation of two case studies and our literature review, and led us to concentrate on emotional and communicational dimensions of leadership. Concerning crisis and turbulent times as one of the most challenging situations for performing leadership activities, we present two case studies related to leadership approaches during crises. One of the case studies is about the leadership of BP‟s former CEO Tony Hayward during the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, and the second case is about the leadership of the former CEO of Johnson & Johnson during the Tylenol crisis in 1982. While analyzing the cases, the emotional and communicational approaches of leaders are examined. Furthermore, these case studies facilitate the identification of the aspects that smooth leadership activities and their impacts on the leader follower relationships. Consequently, the study discusses the emotional and communicational dimensions of leadership and presents the framework for leading smoothly as a different perspective for embellishing the interaction between the leader and the follower, which can provide an understanding of the subtle ways of leading.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis and M.A. in National Security Affairs) Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2000.
Thesis advisors, Yost, David S. ; Minott, Rodney K. "December 2000." Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-183). Also available online.

There has been increasing interest in participatory approaches to health promotion. However, there is a lack of consensus on key definitions and limited evidence of the effectiveness of community development in contributing to health and wellbeing. This study evaluates from the perspective of user participants involved in community development projects in a deprived metropolitan area, the impact of that participation on overall health and wellbeing. The study highlights the impact of stress, depression, social isolation and the abrasive effects of multiple deprivation on the lives of the user participants. The main findings showed that a robust Community Development Strategy had been agreed by the partner agencies and this aligned with individual community development projects to address social cohesion and health inequality. The user participants self-reported being healthier and happier as a consequence of their participation. Participation had a positive psycho-social impact on service users increasing confidence, competence and self-esteem and created a wider social network and a greater social cohesion. For some participants, the additional support offered by involvement promoted better individual functioning. Others adopted a more activist role looking beyond individual needs, taking action to identify and address community needs. The study recommends action at a national level to promote a co-ordinated response to address the social determinants of health and at a local level for Local Strategic Partnerships to promote sustainable funded community development to address health inequalities and multiple deprivation focused on the wider determinants of health.

Today’s business world is facing a continual increase of globalization that opened the borders of nations. Organizations see in multicultural teams and cultural diversity a way to respond to this phenomenon. Cultural diversity in multicultural teams is a new challenge for leaders. Indeed, they need to develop new strategies and skills to include individuals coming from different cultures in order to ensure the proper functioning of the team and achieve effectiveness. The purpose of our thesis – labeled “Leading Cultural Diversity: Strategies and Skills” – is to find out, through interviews and conversations with actual leaders, which strategies and skills are necessary in global organizations. The findings might be applied in other fields where cultural diversity plays an important role.

The central focus of this study is an examination of aspects of Kinnock’s leadership between 1983 and 1992. The core problem of the dissertation is to investigate the ways in which Kinnock used his position as leader to weld his party together, isolate and limit the power of opponents who he saw as electoral liabilities, make backstage alliances, encourage a rapprochement between the moderate left and the right of the party and, using the resources he had, determine the direction he thought the party should take. Seeking to follow Peter Clarke’s methodological lead, the dissertation considers contingent explanations for why Kinnock may have acted ‘in the particular’. By concentrating on a micro-level analysis, the dissertation seeks to recapture the complex play of causation in specific instances, in order to understand what happened in particular, rather than in general. Clarke’s methodology is supplemented by Erving Goffman’s conceptual insights and dramaturgical approach, which provide a language to interrogate and explain how actions and words were seen and understood, and how they were meant to be seen and understood. Such an approach, utilising Peter Shore’s identification of the key areas on which a Labour leader had t manifest his authority - the extra-parliamentary movement, parliament and country - empowers the historian to offer a finer grain analysis of Kinnock’s leadership than any other study has previously attempted. While histories of the period are valuable in identifying the problems Kinnock faced, they seldom get to grips with an analysis, of how he solved them or why he succeeded or failed. For example, why was his oration at Bournemouth so powerful and what were the consequences? Why did Kinnock fail to win some important conference votes - OMOV, for instance, in 1984 - and how did he triumph on union balloting in 1986, when the odds were stacked against him? How can one understand and make sense of these events? Why did Kinnock seem untrustworthy? Why was there such biting tension between Kinnock and the media and what responsibility did the Labour leader and his office have in perpetuating this climate of distrust? If the Labour leader performed poorly in parliament, what were the reasons for that? What were the limitations on Kinnock’s leadership? The aim of the study is to examine aspects of Kinnock’s leadership in this period, not to argue what happened, but how it happened, why it was important and, in light of that understanding, to discuss some of the crucial effects and how they came about.

Leadership and communication are essential for winning wars. Email is a reality, and is good for some things; however, there is no substitute for F2F interaction when it comes to building relationships. Relationships are a reality in any organization, but they are more important in an organization like the Marines where lives are on the line. Senior leaders should establish mutually trusting relationships with junior leaders before deploying to a combat zone when it may be too late. Even in the best relationships, and under the influence of a great leader, conflict will occur. Some conflict is healthy, but too much can be detrimental to unity. Marine leaders would do well to implement a comprehensive conflict management strategy in order to maintain unit cohesion and create a safe environment for junior Marines to express their concerns and opinions. Servant-leadership is a comprehensive leadership model that encompasses all necessary attributes for fostering trusting relationships and managing conflict and, therefore, is the most appropriate model for the Marines. Empowering servant-leaders in the Marine Corps will help the Marines enhance their organizational culture and allow them to continue to focus on executing their primary mission protecting our nations interest at home and abroad.

This study examines the characteristics of officers applying to and being selected by lateral transfer boards using biannual redesignation data from November 2010 through November 2012. The lateral transfer board reviews approximately 500 applicants each year. The majority of the Restricted Line designators rely on lateral transfer boards as their primary means of accessing new officers, where the average applicant is an O-3, male, and is a surface warfare officer (1110). Although the applicants are moderately different at each board, the aggregate selection rate is 40 percent. A probit analysis suggests that officers who are most likely to be successful at redesignating are Hispanic and O-4, as well as Limited Duty Officers. The regression results indicate that there is no gender difference in selection but senior pay grades are selected at a higher rate, where Information Professional and Foreign Area Officer communities currently have the greatest demand for officers at the lateral transfer boards. Additionally, Surface Warfare provides the greatest supply of applicants on average, but holding all else equal, an officer is less likely to be selected if he or she applies as a surface warfare officer.

Purpose – The main goal of this thesis is to show – on one hand – the permanent influence of geopolitics on leadership of international companies, and – on the other – how companies influence geopolitics and geopolitical climate. Methodology – Due to the problem which I raise in my thesis, I will use systems view. Systems view is the most appropriate here, mainly because I try to find out the system analyzing real cases and life examples of how businesses are systematically influenced by geopolitical environment, as well as vice-versa – how businesses influence geopolitical environment in places where they do their business. Findings – The number of geopolitical issues that are needed to be taken into account by companies, doing their business globally, is very big and increase all the time. For that reason geopolitics – is a problem that can’t be simply avoided. The way international companies change geopolitical context to meet own interests is also rising all the time. These ways should be well known to lead big multinational company wisely. Research limitations – Though geopolitics is a wide study and can be applied to a large extent towards statecraft and political decision making itself, I focused in my work mainly on two-way linkage between geopolitics and business activity – international business activity in particular. Originality – though the problem raised in this thesis is obvious and observed in everyday business life, very few analytical researches have been done showing the importance of considering geopolitical environment for international companies. For that reason in my thesis I had to collect the real cases and problems, met by different companies to show the intelligible necessity for business leaders, and especially leaders of global companies in wise geopolitical maneuvering.

In the last twenty years, researchers could not fully reach an agreement of whether female and male leaders have similar or dissimilar leadership approaches. Nevertheless, there is a body of research driven with prophecies that women leaders have variant leadership styles.   This research is about women styles in leadership with focus on effective behaviours and qualities, as well as, the developed interpersonal skills adopted by a proportion of women leaders, which have positive impact on subordinates.    The study is conducted to generate my own understanding of some women perceptions of leading in a different way and the vindications of these perceptions. It is based on qualitative methods, deductive and inductive approaches are used for analysis.   Eight interviews was undertaken to complete the study. The interviewees were selected for the reason of being leaders who have experienced and practice leadership throughout their professions.   Last part of the thesis is not a summary of previous chapters but rather testing my fulfilment in answering the strategic main question. I will share my perception of women ways in leading. The reader would be introduced to the latest studies and horizons of the theme under study.

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In the post-9/11 world, the role of the fire service in the homeland security space is not clearly defined. The fire service has provided America’s emergency response since the days of Benjamin Franklin and the Union Fire Company. Neighborhood fire stations have expanded since those early days as the threats and hazards have evolved. Fire departments remain firmly entrenched in communities delivering traditional services, such as fire suppression, fire prevention, emergency medical services, rescue, and hazardous materials service that translate directly to some core capabilities in homeland security and preparedness. Homeland security preparedness reaches beyond emergency response and fire prevention for fire departments. Preparedness can be enhanced by fire department participation as whole community partners. This preparedness requires full engagement of leadership and implementation of effective management systems across all levels of the fire service. This research is conducted through a content analysis of homeland security literature and comparative analysis of existing preparedness strategies. The information is synthesized to produce recommendations for advancing the role of the fire service and local fire departments in homeland security and preparedness.

Leaders are frequently required to lead change due to mergers, expansions into new markets, and new initiatives to enter global markets compounding the need for change leadership. Frequent change is more the rule rather than the exception. Change is more needed today yet a poor result from leading change can adversely impact a leader's influence. How does a leader know when to lead a change initiative or when to take the easier route and simply stay with the status quo?

An in depth study of what appeared to be a very risky and highly successful organizational change initiative was thought to possibly shed light on answering these difficult leadership questions. This inductive qualitative case study discovered a university that achieved a successful, sustainable organizational change. The leader overcame the organizational change odds of one-third to two-thirds of the outcomes are often unsuccessful (Beer & Nohria; Bibler; as cited in Gilley, Dixon, & Gilley, 2008). "The rate of failure to deliver sustainable change at times reaches 80–90%" (Cope as cited in Gilley, Dixon, & Gilley, 2008, p. 153).

The leader in the private university organization in the Midwest that led the successful organizational change was inspired by his personal vision. He did not lead change using a theoretical framework. He was successful in persuading the board to authorize implementation of his vision. The president established goals to lead the way for workers to help achieve the organizational change. He effectively communicated his vision and goals and met resistance due to the status quo. The president overcame the challenges of status quo, and the successful organizational change resulted in an effervescent campus environment with record breaking-fundraising. Regardless of the type or size of the major change, organizations that seek to make change may glean insights from this study of how leaders of one organization approached significant change.

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary city managers practice to lead their organizations through conversation using Groysberg and Slind’s (2012b) 4 elements of conversation leadership (intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality).

Methodology: This qualitative research study was used to describe the behaviors of exemplary Southern California city managers. The counties included in the study were San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino. The researcher selected 10 exemplary city managers that met 4 of the 6 criterion identified as exemplary. The phenomenological research design was selected to explain how these city managers lead through conversation. Data collection included semistructured interviews, observation, and collection of pertinent artifacts. The researcher used the NVivo software to provide analysis of the data and show the emerging themes. The themes were then examined to identify behaviors that the exemplary city managers practice to lead through conversation.

Findings: Examination of qualitative data from the 10 city managers, collected through in-depth interviews, observational data, and review of artifacts produced 20 themes and 299 frequencies within the conversational leadership elements. Ten key findings supported the conversational leadership elements of intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality.

Conclusions: The study supported Groysberg and Slind’s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership and identified specific behaviors that exemplary city mangers practice to lead their organizations. The culmination of research identified four conclusions. City managers must (a) engage in conversations that promote trust and listening attentively to engage stakeholders in honest communication, (b) focus development strategies to cultivate a culture of open dialogue and a two-way exchange of information, (c) use strategies to gain active contributors to ensure a member’s commitment to organizational goals, (d) use conversation to create clarity of message, provide focus, and elicit feedback on goals and directions. Recommendations: Further research is needed on city managers practicing conversational leadership in different regions of the United States. Additionally, research is needed on for-profit, publicly traded companies and professional sports organizations and the use of conversational leadership.

Throughout the present dissertation, we have intended to present and understand better a particular form of prejudice, namely, infra-humanization. Indeed, before being able to act upon prejudice reduction, we need to understand it. Infra-humanization is the tendency to perceive members of outgroups as less human than members of the ingroup. Infra-humanization is a process that has been largely studied in the last few years, however, a number of questions remained unclear. Specifically, we concentrated our work on the search of potential variables and conditions that could influence the process.

Neural information processing by trains of action potentials is studied in the context of weakly electric fish electroreceptor neurons. A simple but accurate dynamical model for the firing activity of these neurons is presented and compared with experimental results. Dynamical analysis of the model reveals the mechanism by which it reproduces features present in experimental data, such as relative refractoriness and bursting behaviour. Approximations necessary for application of information theory to neural spike trains are presented and different measures are compared. Finally, the consequences of spike patterning caused by relative refractoriness and bursting on information transfer are investigated. It is found that relative refractoriness can increase information transfer while bursting provides a non-linear mechanism for encoding information that might be more efficient than firing of isolated spikes.

In this thesis, a new approach to an understanding of the harmonic language in Scriabin's final compositions is presented. The analytical methods used draw significantly upon previous work done by Varvara Dernova, as well as some of the concepts of Manfred Kelkel. The thesis presents a qualified vindication of the structural importance of the quartal spacing in Scriabin's harmonic language. (This characteristic feature of the composer's pitch organization tends to be regarded by most contemporary theorists as merely an idiomatic spacing that the composer favoured.)
The thesis proposes that a structural, ten-note, harmonic matrix (formed through the summation of the octatonic and whole-tone scales) is the key to an understanding of the harmonic language in Scriabin's final works. Graphic illustrations are an important feature of the various analyses presented; these depict both horizontal and vertical aspects of Scriabin' s musical language in his final works, specifically, selections from the piano compositions op.71-74. The analyses also present an evaluation of the importance of the octatonic scale, believed by George Perle, Jay Reise, and Claude Herndon, among other theorists, to be the structural matrix in the late Scriabin oeuvre.