Toward quantifying metrics for rail-system resilience: Identification and analysis of performance weak-resilience-signals

This paper aims to enhance tangibility of the resilience engineering concept by facilitating understanding and operationalization of weak-resilience-signals (WRS) in the rail sector. Within complex socio-technical systems, accidents can be seen as unwanted outcomes emerging from uncontrolled sources of entropy (functional resonance). Various theoretical models exist to determine the variability of system interactions, the resilience state, and the organization’s intrinsic abilities to reorganize and manage their functioning and adaptive capacity to cope with unexpected and unforeseen disruptions. However, operationalizing and measuring concrete and reliable manifestations of resilience and assessing their impact at a system level, has proven to be a challenge. A multi-method, ethnographic observation and resilience questionnaire, was used to determine resilience baseline conditions at an operational rail traffic control post. This paper describes the development, implementation and initial validation of WRSs identified and modelled around a ‘performance system boundary’. In addition, a WRS analysis function is introduced to interpret underlying factors of the performance WRSs and serves as a method to reveal potential sources of future resonance that could comprise system resilience. Results indicate that performance WRSs can successfully be implemented to accentuate relative deviations from resilience baseline conditions. A WRS analysis function can help to interpret these divergences, and could be used to reveal (creeping) change processes and unnoticed initiating events that facilitate emergence that degrades rail-system resilience. Establishing relevant change signals in advance can contribute to anticipation and awareness, enhance organizational learning and stimulate resilient courses of action and adaptive behavior that ensures rail operation reliability

An Assessment of the Relationship Between the Hospital Chief Executive Officer’s Leadership Behaviors and Hospital Success

The health care delivery system in the United States has received increased attention over the last 2 decades. Concerns of access, choice, cost, and quality have been in the forefront. This study was conducted to assess the leadership behaviors of hospitals’ chief executive officers and how they impact the performance of hospitals. Two instruments were used to collect the data for the study: the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X; Avolio & Bass, 2004) and a demographics questionnaire. A correlational research design was used to measure the degree of association between variables related to hospital CEOs, the hospitals they represented and hospital success as measured by operating margin and center of excellence designation. Hospitals with an operating margin of 8% or greater were considered successful as were hospitals with 2 or more centers of excellence. In assessing CEO leadership, the research focused on 9 MLQ-5X behaviors: 5 transformational, 2 transactional, and 2 laissez-faire. In this study, 2 transformational leadership behaviors, Idealized influence (IIB) and Inspirational motivation (IM) were found to be positively associated with operating margin. Further, for-profit hospitals had higher margins than non-profit hospitals and larger hospitals had a greater chance of having 2 or more modalities of excellence. Finally, hospitals with female CEOs had larger operating margins than those with male CEOs

TENNESSEE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND TEACHERS’ JOB SATISFACTION

The attrition rate of teachers is alarming (Darling-Hammond, 2002; Keigher, 2010; Marvel, Lyter, Peltola, Strizek, & Morton, 2006). Factor of the attrition include teachers leaving the profession due to lack of job satisfaction or lack of administrative support (Angelle, 2002; Littrell, 1994; Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2005). Frameworked by Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959), this web-based, quantitative, descriptive study explored the connections between job satisfaction and perceived leadership behaviors. Participants included 302 teachers from public secondary schools in Central and East Tennessee. Instruments used were the Job Satisfaction Survey ([JSS], Spector, 1994), the Study of School Leadership School Staff Questionnaire ([SSLSSQ], Consortium for Policy Research in Education, 2005), and a researcher-created demographics questionnaire. The JSS measured overall job satisfaction and nine individual facets. The SSLSSQ measured five chosen leadership scales (organizational climate, efficacy, trust and support, professional learning community, and academic pressure). The demographics variables were gender, marital status, ethnicity, discipline area, age, school size, tenure status, and number of years under current principal. The study was web-based. Participants completed all three parts online. Analyses included descriptive statistics, ANOVAs, MANOVAs, and regression analysis. Six null hypotheses were tested and all rejected. Statistically significant differences existed between the overall satisfaction and the demographic variables of gender, marital status, tenure, and years under the current principal. Statistically significant differences existed among multiple pairings of each of the facets of the JSS and individual demographic variables. Statistically significant differences existed among multiple pairings of each of the leadership scales and individual demographic variables. A statistically significant relationship existed between overall job satisfaction and overall composite score of the leadership scales. Statistically significant relationships existed between the overall job satisfaction and several of the leadership scales. Statistically significant relationships existed among multiple pairings of facets of the JSS and leadership scales

The Relationship Between Leadership Practices and Organizational Commitment of Telecommunicators

The performance of 9-1-1 telecommunicators can mean the difference between life and death for the person on the other end of a phone. Effective leadership is critical to the success of the public safety answer point (PSAP) and the organizational commitment of the 9-1-1 telecommunicator. Bass and Riggio’s (2006) Full Range of Leadership Theory (FLRT) is the basis for the current study. The FRLT covers leadership styles from laissez-faire to transformational (Matikainen, 2019). The purpose of conducting the study was to identify and describe the 9-1-1 telecommunicator’s organizational commitment based on the PSAP leadership categories. The study made use of this non-experimental, quantitative, descriptive, correlational research to fulfill this purpose. Using an online survey, a total of 81 9-1-1 telecommunicators from northern Florida completed the survey instrument. Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles (independent variable) were measured using The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X-Short). Organizational commitment (dependent variable) was measured using the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). The results provide future researchers with replicable procedures with which to examine the FRLT. The data provided practitioners and PSAP administrators with actionable guidance on leadership behaviors that positively influence 9-1-1 telecommunicators’ organizational commitment in their communities and the field of emergency medical dispatch. The results of the study have implications for social change by providing data for PSAP administrators to improve leadership training and future leadership selection criteria. Putting the results into practice from the study provides an increase of effective leaders who proactively align the agency’s vision with societal expectations, thus improving the PSAP’s public perceptions and ability to save lives while maintaining the proper workforce

Principals\u27 Leadership and Teachers\u27 Motivation : A Study of the Relationship in the School Reform Era

This study investigated the relationship between principal leadership behaviors and the level of teacher motivation in a specific region of Virginia, within school divisions that have at least one elementary school designated as a focus school. This study will examine whether the relationship between leadership and motivation differs in elementary schools classified as focus, in-improvement and those with no designation as defined by the flexibility waiver received by Virginia Department of Education. Of particular interest are the specific principal behaviors within each leadership style that support increased levels of motivation in elementary teachers. This study was relevant because there were increased accountability measures pertaining to student achievement for public schools due to the federal mandates from No Child Left Behind Legislation (2002), and the revised ESEA waiver (2012). This study found that teachers’ perceptions of principals’ transformational behaviors were more correlated to the level of their motivation than the self-reported behaviors by principals. This study also found that the principals employed in focus schools were more likely to report increased transformational behaviors than their counterparts at in-improvement and no designation schools

Leadership Styles of Entrepreneurs in Small Land Surveying Businesses.

The purpose of this research study was to analyze the leadership styles of owners of small land surveying businesses in the states of Tennessee and Virginia to determine what leadership style was currently being employed by the majority of those owners. The participants in this study were chosen from members of the Virginia Association of Surveyors and the Tennessee Association of Professional Surveyors. The respondents to the questionnaire were licensed land surveyors who owned small firms of fewer than 101 employees. In addition, a corollary purpose was to flesh out the skeletal literature available on small business leadership styles and their effect on small business success. The owners of the small surveying businesses were asked to reply to a series of questions on demographic data and Likert-type scale questions designed to examine the respondents\u27 leadership styles as Participatory, Situational, or Autocratic in a both external and internal environments. The results of the questionnaire produced nominal data, which were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software to compute the frequency and significance. Additionally, a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis K Independent Samples procedure and one-way Chi -Square tests were used to analyze the statistical relationships and differences in the respondents\u27 answers. The results of this study suggested that the majority of the respondents used a participatory style of leadership when confronted with internal environment decisions and an autocratic leadership style in the external environment. The overall conclusion drawn from this study was that the owners of small land surveying firms who responded to the questionnaire were predominantly situational because they adjusted their leadership styles to meet the needs and demands of their changing situations

Evaluating the impact of operations management on service delivery at a local municipality.

In a larger context, local government municipalities might not only have authority and functionality but also the responsibility to carry out their duties in challenging circumstances. The study's main objective is to assess the operational management variables that affect local government service delivery. The goal of this study is to help local municipality in the Northern Cape management gain a clear understanding of the standard of operations management, the degree of service delivery, and the degree to which operations management factors affect delivery within the organisation. This study aims to assess the operations management factors that affect service delivery at the municipality using a quantitative research method approach and an online survey. Working definitions for both variables for operations management and service delivery were developed based on the literature. In that chapter, it was stated that operations management could be thought of as a process that converts various organisational inputs into outputs of the desired quality and quantity as determined by the organisation and its stakeholders. Additionally, service delivery was defined as a part of organisational performance that is pertinent to the public sector and relates to an organisation's capacity to carry out a process to provide services which the public can derive value from. Overall, the quality of service delivery was poor compared to a marginally higher standard of operations management. Finally, using correlational analysis and regression modeling, the impact of operations management on service delivery at municipality was discussed. The findings showed that the variables had significant positive correlations. Once more, it was discovered that operations management significantly affects the provision of services. The quantitative approach used in this study ensured that the findings were reliable and that they had been evaluated for statistical significance. However, it meant that the study was blind to the rationale behind survey respondents' opinions. Future research should use a qualitative approach or a mixed approach to investigate the qualitative factors that can influence the relationship between operations management and service delivery

ILR Research in Progress 2011-12

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.Research_in_Progress_2011_12.pdf: 46 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Can You Hear Me, Major Tom? Open Issues In Extra-Vehicular Activity Communications

High-reliability organizations (HRO) and organizations in isolated, confined environments (ICE) both operate under conditions where reliability is expected, but do not appear to have similar emphases placed on total reliability, based on a brief survey of the literature. A content analysis searched out a stronger relationship between HRO and ICE. Leadership and team size are hypothesized as differences between HRO and ICE, since the literature appears to show HRO as taking place in larger teams with more distinct hierarchies. This dissertation examined this postulation, based on two sub-hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 is that the error rate of a team\u27s actions is inversely related to the size of the team, based on the distinction between HRO and ICE. Hypothesis 2 is that transformational leaders in ICE reduce the number of human errors compared with transactional leaders, since Bass suggests transformational leaders better inspire their teams to improve. Two datasets were gathered to test these hypotheses. The first, in support of Hypothesis 1, was a meta-synthesis of team literature. The second, in support of Hypothesis 2, were new recordings of extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) from two crews at the University of North Dakota Inflatable Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat (ILMAH). The result for Hypothesis 1 is inconclusive, and the result for Hypothesis 2 was rejected