Leadership, Culture & Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable development in emerging economies that simultaneously preserves cultural identity can be realized by implementing a simple social business model, the profits of which fund sustainable tourism leadership venture. Social business models, rooted in the community, provide jobs and opportunities for local people. Profits typically provide funds for training and/or education that acquiesce to the global market in service-oriented, low pay and low social status situations. Endeavors that preserve local cultures are often found separately in sustainable tourism models. These models provide tourist experiences with face-to-face communication instead of voyeuristic photo-op excursions where tourists remain separated economically and culturally. Furthermore, as locals develop and coordinate these activities, their status changes from those who serve to those who lead. Although this is valuable for participant and tourist alike, funding of sustainable tourism can be problematic. However, by merging these models, not only is the community served, the profits provide reliable local income for leadership in the development of sustainable tourism. With the playing field leveled, locals gain pride and, in the process, preserve cultural identity. World peace is cultivated in the richness of meaningful moments in everyday life and the power of these exchanges. This paper will review social business, sustainable tourism models and the Lombok, Indonesia research journey that was the inspiration to merge these models into a sustainable venture

Cultural Transformation in Health Care

Describes the role of organizational culture in healthcare organizations. Recommends strategies for innovative approaches to improve the overall performance of the U.S. healthcare system

Faith-Based Social Entrepreneurship: The Integration of Faith and Business for Sustainable Social Impact

Faith-based nonprofit organizations face myriad challenges in securing a sufficient donation base within a restricted pool of donors. This funding challenge often limits their ability to conduct their mission. To offset this challenge and model self-sufficiency, many faith-based organizations are looking to evolve into hybrid platforms that operate as faith-based social entrepreneurial ventures and manage to a triple bottom line of social good, financial impact, and spiritual mission. Yet even with the best of intentions, successfully merging a for-profit business model into a preexisting nonprofit organization often fails, even before the faith-factor is in play. This study of social entrepreneurship in faith-based nonprofits is conducted to identify how and why successful integration of the hybrid business model for sustainable social impact occurs. Using a realist synthesis approach, a systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify the mechanisms that correlated to a positive integration of the disparate business models and the outcome of a sustainable organizational structure. Five organizational characteristics and five management practices were identified as key underlying mechanisms that led to the creation of a successful merged hybrid organization. The five characteristics were 1) Institutional Logic, 2) Motivations and Values, 3) Resources, 4) Decision-Making, and 5) Culture. The five practices were 1) Focus on Launch, 2) Cultivation of Staff and Board, 3) Timing of Culture Integration, 4) Addressing Unstable Structures, and 5) View on Generating Profit. These results, along with their implications for managers are presented and discussed within the context of the Business Model Canvas to offer a usable guide for practitioners seeking to successfully move their organizations from a traditional faith-based nonprofit to a hybrid faith-based social entrepreneurial venture

The Merit of Intensive Leadership Development Programs on Building-Level Administrators\u27 Sustainability

With recent research identifying the propensity and ability of principals to lead as a key culprit of school and district failure, it would seem that one of the most reasonable steps should be to better determine how effective specially designed leadership development programs in the area of educational leadership are at not only equipping principals and school-based leaders, but at creating a foundation and a prevailing culture for longevity or sustainability in those positions. If the development of principals and other school-based leaders is vital to the improvement of schools, the effectiveness of the measures implemented to bring about that improvement has to be examined. Whether those measures are designed with the purpose of increasing leadership capacity via the retention or sustainability of principals, which could result in a positive effect on the achievement of students or by reforming systems of recruitment and induction within the organization, a greater effort is needed to keep effective principals in those positions where increased student outcomes are manifested

Growing Sustainable Quality Dual Language Immersion Programs: The Impact of Key Leadership Preparation, Training, and Support

As principals take the lead on planning, implementing, and ensuring the sustainability of their dual language immersion (DLI) programs, there is extant literature on the appropriate actions for conducting such work. However, there is a lack of research on principal preparedness and training for those leading bilingual education programs, specifically DLI programs. This mixed methods study explored specific leadership behaviors and/or practices necessary for program preparation as well as the internal and/or external support and professional development that is paramount for principals to lead and maintain successful and sustainable DLI programs. Subsequently, the study was designed to help identify key factors (components) in supporting DLI program sustainability and provided guidance on how to address such factors. Three questions guided the inquiry of the study: (a) What specific leadership behaviors and/or practices should principals possess in sustaining DLI programs; (b) What internal and/or external support and training are needed for principals to sustain quality DLI programs; and (c) How do the internal and/or external support and training impact principals? As a result of this study, a professional growth plan has been produced as a means of building a principal’s capacity in leading a sustainable quality DLI program. A recommendation list of dispositional (task and relationship behaviors) best practices has been developed as a means of further strengthening a principal’s ability to lead and maintain sustainable immersion programs

Implementing state initiatives in a PK-1 primary school: a case study exploring instructional leadership

The purpose of this mixed methods case study is to explore the practices that a principal has used to address the individual needs of students through instructional and cultural changes, which resulted in increased student achievement. Using Lambert’s (1998) Leadership Capacity Survey, the espoused beliefs of the principal are correlated to the teachers’ ratings of the principal’s performance. The findings indicate an overall emergent theme that the principal uses broad-based leadership and skillful participation to establish reciprocal trust among the staff by creating teacher leaders. An additional theme of the community’s principal illuminates the work the principal’s efforts to establish broad-based parental and faculty participation in the change work established to create a child-centered environment aimed at high student achievement. Principals in the field can learn how this was accomplished through the examination of reflective practice, establishing a culture where innovation is the norm, and an inquiry-based use of information

Exploratory Study of Polyvagal Theory and Underlying Stress and Trauma That Influence Major Leadership Approaches

Leadership approaches have evolved to incorporate rational and non-rational processes. Traditional leadership research focused on internal and external organizational influences, but this paper underscores the need for adopting modern-day approaches for investigating leadership outcomes. Neuroscience can illuminate different cognitive effects that influence leadership. The research paper highlights the importance of attitudes towards leadership due to the complexity of modern organizational influences. The main forces highlighted are polyvagal theory, underlying stress, and trauma. A literature review provides a description of the fundamental neural and cognitive drivers of leadership. The paper also explains the findings of research studies demonstrating the correlation between neurocognitive processes and three leadership approaches: transactional, transformational and servant leadership. The discussion section elaborates these findings to determine whether insights can be applied in typical organizational settings. Lastly, the conclusion section summarizes the main deductions and explains limitations and recommendations for future exploratory investigations on rational and non-rational leadership choices. Overall, the paper attempts to justify why non-rational drivers carry equal weight as the rational influences

Environmental modelling of the Chief Information Officer

Since the introduction of the term in the 1980’s, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has been widely researched. Various perceptions and dimensions of the role have been explored and debated. However, the explosion in data proliferation (and the inevitable resulting information fuelled change) further complicates organisational expectations of the CIOs role. If organisations are to competitively exploit the digital trend, then those charged with recruiting and developing CIOs now need to be more effective in determining (and shaping) CIO traits and attributes, within the context of their own organisational circumstances and in line with stakeholder expectations. CIOs also need to determine their own suitability and progression within their chosen organisation if they are to remain motivated and effective. Before modelling the role of the future CIO, it is necessary to synthesise our current knowledge (and the lessons learnt) about the CIO. This paper, therefore, aims to identify and summate the spectrum of key researched ‘themes’ pertaining to the role of the CIO. Summating previous research, themes are modelled around four key CIO ‘dimensions’, namely (1) Impacting factors, (2) Controlling factors (3) Responses and (4) CIO ‘attributes’. Having modelled the CIOs current environment, and recognising the evolving IT enabled information landscape, the authors call for further research to inform the recruitment and development of the future CIO in terms of personal attributes and the measurable impact such attributes will have on their respective organisation

Embedding Internationalisation of Higher Education at the Teaching and Learning Level: Lessons from Lecturers’ Perspectives

Recognising the educational value of internationalisation in higher education institutions for both international and domestic students is of paramount importance. Despite the increasing presence of internationalisation strategies at national and institution levels, the resultant consequences for the teaching and learning environment are not being adequately explored. Research into lecturers’ engagement with the practicalities of internationalisation in the teaching and learning environment is underdeveloped. This study explores the key variables that affect the implementation gap between the theory and practice surrounding internationalisation of higher education from lecturers’ perspectives. It also examines the inherent lack of engagement between lecturers and the concept of Internationalisation of the Curriculum. Finally, it develops a Continuous Professional Learning model to enhance engagement and subsequently improve the implementation of Internationalisation of the Curriculum strategies in the classroom. Change theory is the theoretical perspective adopted in this study. This is a complementary theory to the philosophical standpoint which is pragmatism. Furthermore, the study employs an action research approach to address comprehensively the challenge of engaging lecturers with Internationalisation of the Curriculum, which is by definition a transformational change. Mixed methods are utilised at the various phases of the action research cycle to gain both a new understanding of the implementation gap and new knowledge of how to support lecturers to internationalise their curricula. The efficacy of an action research informed Community of Practice, as a means of Continuous Professional Learning for driving curriculum innovation such as Internationalisation of the Curriculum, is also investigated. The findings reveal that lecturers’ engagement with Internationalisation of the Curriculum and pedagogic change in general needs to be approached through the lens of lecturers’ perspectives and should be underpinned by Change theory. These considerations should also inform policy, practice and the associated implementation plan in order to ensure a successful and sustainable implementation of Internationalisation of the Curriculum at the teaching and learning level. The key theoretical/conceptual contribution of this study is, new knowledge and understanding of Internationalisation of the Curriculum, the inherent theory/practice implementation gap, and the associated Continuous Professional Learning required, from the lecturers’ perspectives in an Irish higher education, merger context. The key practical and methodological contribution is recommendations for a Continuous Professional Learning model to engage lecturers with the concept and practice of Internationalisation of the Curriculum. This will be achieved through re-contextualisation and adaption of an existing model. This will inform higher education policies and practice