Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Operant behavior – Case studies'

The purpose of this multiple case study described and compared practices utilized to implement the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) approach at 3 purposely selected Central California elementary school sites. More specifically, this study described and compared: (a) school practices for defining and teaching school rules/expectations; (b) the reward systems being used; (c) systems for documenting and reporting office-managed student behavior violations; (d) systems for collecting and summarizing discipline referrals; (e) the priority given to improving behavior-support systems in school site plans; (f) school budget allocations for SWPBS; and (g) district support, financial and otherwise, for SWPBS at these schools.

This study did not attempt to prove a causal relationship between SWPBS and improved student achievement; rather, it focused on describing and comparing specific practices that these 3 schools were utilizing in relation to the SWPBS approach. The intention was thus to learn more about specific practices that might be replicated in other schools.

This research was qualitative in nature and utilized a multiple case-study methodology. Interviews, observations, and artifact reviews were conducted at 3 Central California elementary schools, all purposely selected because they had each implemented the SWPBS Framework for more than 1 year, had subsequently decreased negative student behavior, and had increased student achievement. 3 types of data were collected in order to understand each school‘s SWPBS practices and the level of support for the program. School principals, campus supervisors, and classroom teachers were interviewed; classroom and playground observations were conducted; and reports were reviewed by the researcher and the principal. The 3 types of data were triangulated for each school and compared.

The findings led to the conclusions that SWPBS is a systems approach that uses interventions to help students succeed in school. Furthermore, it has to have consistent, committed leadership in order to be successful. It has to be built on the foundation of implementing clear and precise rules that are embedded in all areas of the school. Lastly, SWPBS can be implemented without the district‘s assistance; however it is difficult to sustain unless the district fully supports the approach.

Increasing complexity and rapid change associated with globalization and the knowledge economy have diminished the relevance of traditional linear models of leadership. Researchers have begun to view leadership not in terms of individuals and hierarchal exchanges but as a collective influence process among members of a group to achieve shared objectives that focus on enabling learning and adaptation in organizations rather than predicting outcomes and controlling behaviors. Complexity theory and its central phenomenon, emergence, are particularly well-suited to study both new leadership approaches and how to manage social systems at a time when prediction and control are elusive.

At the same time, institutions of higher education have come to play an increasingly important role in knowledge-based economies and as important actors in economic and human development. Leadership research and practice in higher education have not kept up with this trend, and require a new approach in order to meet the demands of a highly dynamic and disruptive environment. Generative leadership, which focuses on constructing the rules, conditions and constraints for interaction, collaboration and experimentation throughout organizations, fostering innovation and adaptation, and may be particularly well-suited for the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge in higher education. In this context, a qualitative, multiple case study design was used to explore how generative leadership might foster emergence in four initiatives designed to increase the ability to create, disseminate and apply knowledge in an institution of higher education.

Two major findings resulted from this study. The first relates to the increased incorporation of generative leadership, emergence, and complexity theory into the existing research and practice on teams. The second major finding relates to the role that the study’s results, along with the notions of generative leadership and emergence, can inform higher education pedagogy for continued transition into the knowledge age and beyond. The researcher hopes that this study, its results and findings promote a continued shift towards complexity- and emergence-based thinking to solve some of our most pressing knowledge challenges as we continue to move through a time of change and disruption. Ultimately the results and findings of this study could promote additional research on generative leadership, emergence and knowledge capacity in higher education for the benefit of local, regional and global social and economic ecosystems.

Declines in federal spending from continuing resolutions and sequestration events during the 2011 – 2014 time frame reduced and delayed government purchases of products and services from small business owners operating in the federal sector. These actions affected the survivability of many federal sector small businesses, yet some leaders thrived and grew their firm’s revenues while others struggled or failed while operating under the same economic conditions. Exploring the successful actions that enabled leadership effectiveness during this time frame and under these business conditions was the dominant activity in this study. Examples of success practices included the use of rolling forecasts for financial planning because leaders must adjust monthly to unpredictable revenue streams resulting from federal budget uncertainty. Leaders must acquire and operate government-approved business management systems, follow un-optimized business processes codified throughout federal regulations, and invest in employees’ education and experience so each meets minimum eligibility requirements for working on contracts. Leaders must also manage the real risk of the federal government terminating their contracts without explanation for its own convenience, and losing competitively awarded contracts in instances in which the government decides to insource that work from the contractor for its own benefit. The successful practices of federal sector small business leaders identified in this study are nuanced from commercial sector practices. This new research may facilitate the refining of operating models applicable for both the federal and commercial business sectors, with such understanding benefiting and enabling greater business success among struggling federal sector small business owners and leaders.

The study explored whether the U.S. Marine Corps’ Basic Officer Course (BOC) creates a Marine Corps cultural identity within officers and how the acculturation process functions. The Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Communities of Practice (CoP) serve as the theoretical foundation for this study because identity is an integral aspect of both SIT and CoP. The researcher used a constructivist approach to identify and interpret the value-laden meanings and influencers of a Marine Corps cultural identity expressed by the participants. Since the study explored the perspectives of the participant group, the researcher determined a case study was the most fitting form of qualitative research. The research revealed that change, culture, adherence to behavioral norms, continual development, and cultural identity were themes expressed by every participant. Participant input showed the influence that cultural lore (Marine Corps history) has on the acculturation process. The study also refined the conceptual framework used for this research, which resulted in the researcher developing the Manufactured Culture Model (MCM). Recommendations for further study include: 1) the influence of gender on the acculturation process, 2) exploring any influences the Marine Corps’ acculturation process has (if any) on individuals that fail during the screening process, and 3) examine the dynamics of interactions among the Marine Corps’ culture and a Marine’s culture of origin.

There is convincing evidence that effective leadership is a major contributing factor to small business growth and success. However, attention to leadership focused on founding CEOs abounds at the expense of exploring the distribution of leadership across an organization. This study explored the hybridity of focused and distributed leadership enactment in a fast-growing small business situated in South Africa. The first objective was to form a holistic view of how the members of the organization lead, incorporating leadership focused on key individual leaders and that which is shared and distributed amongst and between others. The second objective was to contextualize leadership hybridity to the South African culture and demands of fast business growth. The third objective was to explore how leaders transform as they navigate the terrains of focused and distributed leadership. The overarching goal was to propose a holistic leadership hybridity framework that appreciates these complexities. A qualitative single case study research design guided the study. The case study database was created from in-depth interviews with leaders and followers, focus group interviews, participant observations of organizational activities, and the review of two documents. Themes emerged to suggest that there is harmonious leadership hybridity that occurs through both the behaviors of critical individual leaders at the top (notably, the CEO) and those emerging from outside of formal structures through distributed leadership across multiple leadership actors and factors. The South African culture of ubuntu seems to support post-heroic leadership but does not exclude acknowledging that growing a business involves a collection of heroic acts. And lastly, leaders and followers who performed leadership within hybridity (i.e., those that can fluidly move between being a leader or a follower) benefited from enhanced self-regulation, amongst other psychosocial benefits. The insight gained from this study could inform leadership development initiatives that are more effective in growing leaders and small businesses in Southern Africa.

Problem. As demonstrated by strategic miscalculations since World War II, national security and military strategy development often do not integrate understanding of a range of possible future conditions in the national security environment. Scholarly research lacks examination of the role foreseeing plays in strategy development in the national security, or military, context. Foreseeing as a cognitive process, to include its application in sectors other than the national security establishment, is a much-discussed but not empirically researched topic within the strategy and management fields.

Research question. This study addressed one primary research question: How does the process of foreseeing possible future conditions inform development of national security strategy?

Method. This research was a case study of foreseeing, viewed as it occurred within the organizational strategy development process initiated by the commanding officer of a large U.S. military organization and key senior members of his staff. The researcher conducted interviews of the commander and his staff, observed a strategy review session, and reviewed working documents and published strategy documents produced by the organization.

Conclusions. The study resulted in three conclusions. The first and most fundamental conclusion was that foreseeing was observed in this case of strategy development through eight properties that describe the foreseeing process, and they were dynamically interrelated to generate enactive inputs to strategic decision making. Next, the data clearly illustrated that foreseeing was shaped by several factors, including individual characteristics of the participants, external environmental conditions, and internal aspects of the organization that impacted the organization’s strategic resource allocation decisions. Finally, foreseeing and sensemaking, as described by Dr. Karl Weick and his colleagues over several years, are inextricably linked as distinct but complementary processes; foreseeing is sensemaking forward.

In an era of continuing economic uncertainty public sector organizations face unprecedented challenges in resourcing increasingly complex missions. To meet these challenges public sector managers must look for innovative ways to resource essential missions and define public sector outcomes. The use of collaboration to create public value represents one way to provide effective and efficient service in this environment.

This study informs the subject of collaboration as a mechanism for creating public value by considering these concepts as a practical matter against actual events or programs involving the California Highway Patrol, a large State police agency with multiple missions and complex inter-agency relationships. The results of the study demonstrate a correlation between the strength of the collaborative effort and the results obtained, as well as the effect of circumstances on results. In identifying a common formula for evaluating these concepts, other public programs can be evaluated based on these contexts.

The purpose of this qualitative explanatory single case study was to understand why Knights of Columbus (KofC) volunteers in Ontario, Canada demonstrate motivation, organizational commitment, and engagement. The scope of the study was guided by two main research questions: “Why do KofC members volunteer?” and “How do KofC members combine elements of motivation, organizational commitment, and engagement in their volunteer activity?” The triangulation of participant interviews, observations from KofC general meetings, and online archived documents supported the study’s qualitative methodology that required rich, descriptive data. For feasibility, the population of this study was comprised of KofC volunteers within three councils in Ontario, Canada and 17 KofC members were selected purposively based on age and experience criteria for face-to-face interviews. Transcribed interview data, observational field notes and archival documents were analyzed and coded using NVivo 11 to uncover three emerging themes: living one’s faith, loyalty, and flexibility. The findings indicated that KofC members have alignment between personal and organizational values, intend to follow Biblical scripture to live their faith in the public square, and feel obligated to help others in need. Fraternity and unity were welcomed benefits that KofC members enjoyed while volunteering. KofC provides volunteers with role and task variety, which allows volunteers to choose the activities that suit their interest, skill set, and time commitment. By gaining insights from these themes, organizational leaders can improve their communication to potential and existing volunteers, foster stronger relationships among volunteers, and develop programs that engage volunteers through catered recruitment and retention strategies.

Does our status impact the way we interpret change? This study proposes that one's level of power within their workplace, as granted by their role within the organization, shapes the way in which people interpret adjustments to the norms of that organization. Drawing on qualitative focus groups with forty-four members of Oregon's construction trades, this study examines the relationship between participants' position within the industry’s structure and their opinions about the changing jobsite norms brought on by recent waves of diversification in the workforce. Findings suggest that within Oregon’s construction trades, hierarchical distribution of power via industry position serves to stratify and reorganize the attitudes and responses of participants. This is done through situating knowledge; different positions hold differential understandings of which issues generate harassment, present barriers to progress, and serve as potential solutions to the issue. Results show that participants who occupy positions of power within the trades tend to frame harassment as an interpersonal problem, which can be solved by interpersonal solutions. Thus, participants in positions of power saw change as an incremental process that was constantly happening. Conversely, participants who were not in positions of power within the trades tended to frame harassment as an institutional problem that required industry-wide changes to be fully addressed. As a result, participants with less power in the trades framed change as generational for the industry; something that could only be achieved after the current workforce. Ultimately, this study highlights the tension between interpersonal and institutional strategies for organizational change.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s personality and its influence on North Korea’s negotiating behavior regarding the nuclear issue. Through the theory of social identity shaping and personality disorder, this study has generated a hypothesis by the operationalization of the theoretical framework. By using these analytical methods the following conclusions have been drawn:

Kim Jong-Il had experienced a sense of loss and damaged self-esteem in his childhood. He had tried to compensate for these feelings through the film industry (which served as an ideological tool) in order to regain his father’s affection, and he succeeded in becoming recognized for his political ability. However, he overcompensated for these feelings of low self-esteem by removing his potential political enemies. The experiences made him acquire an idiosyncratic character and personality disorder. This study has found that North Korea’s nuclear negotiations with the United States since 1993 have reflected Kim Jong-Il’s personality.

The model of the study can be used as a basis for further academic studies in the practical exploration of the correlations between a country’s foreign policy and its leader’s personality.