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A field study of leadership evaluation and promotion practices in technology organizations
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A field study of leadership evaluation and promotion practices in technology organizations
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A FIELD STUDY OF LEADERSHIP EVALUATION AND PROMOTION PRACTICES IN TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS by Tram Nguyen A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December 2020 Copyright 2020 Tram Nguyen ii Dedication I dedicate the energy, the passion, and the drive to complete this program and dissertation to my late, beloved husband. May he rest in peace in the arms of God with all our dearly departed family members. I dedicate my strength and persistence to my foundation/my world/my babies - Isa Thanh Minh “Em5” and Maryam Hoang Minh “Em6.” You are True Love and Happiness, especially through the stress, the loss, the “happy’s” and the “sad’s.” I initially wanted this doctorate to give my dad the ability to call one of his kids a “doctor.” Dad has always been my hero of persistence, determination, and creativity; it was the least I could do. I dedicate this achievement to my parents for their unconditional love; for planting and nurturing the seed of Faith that has carried me through the most challenging times. Through this last year, my parents, my siblings, especially my sister, Thuy, and brother, Hoang, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my nieces, especially Thuy Anh, and nephews, the Iqbal family; and families in Faith have held me up when my legs gave out. Thank you to all of those who have stood by me in spirit, in prayers, in faith, in support, and in love. This achievement is definitely a Blessing from Heaven above. iii Acknowledgements With the highest respect of gratitude and love, thank you to my parents, sister and brother, aunts and uncles who have given me the time and energy to dedicate to writing. A great appreciation to my friend who sheltered me, provided me with a space and place to think, to write, to vent, and to cry. Thank you to all my friends and faith community for being my cheerleaders, supporters, fans; for your generous gifts, prayers, and continual offering to help. Thank you to all members of Cohort X for the laughter, the empathy, sharing the struggle and excitement of every class and immersion. By far, the best group of peers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Thank you to the USC Rossier staff for putting together the program, for your support every step, and for your dedication. Great appreciation and respect for my dissertation committee members, Dr. Combs and Dr. Lynch for throwing me challenging, thought-provoking questions that have prepped me for success. And finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts, sleepless nights, and energy of my magnificent chair, Dr. Yates. You started with me on this journey, tamed my biases, listened to me when my job took a turn, picked me up when life took away my other half. You walked step- by-step with me in the wee hours of the morning for every rushed edit and you assured me I would make it through despite all the surprises and pain life threw at me in these past years. I thank you for being my committee chair, my supporter, my coach, and my person. iv Table of Contents Dedication …………………………………………………………………………………. ii Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………... iii List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………… vi Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………. viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM OF PRACTICE…………….. 1 Background of the Problem………………………………………………………... 2 Importance of the Evaluation…………………………………………………….… 4 Context of the Field of Practice……………………………………………………. 6 Global Goal and Current Performance…………………………………………….. 7 Stakeholder Group of Focus and Stakeholder Goal……………………………….. 7 Purpose of the Project and Research Questions…………………………………… 9 Methodological Framework……………………………………………………….. 9 Definitions…………………………………………………………………………. 10 Organization of the Study………………………………………………………… 11 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE …….…………………………….. 12 Historical and Current State of Organizational Promotion Systems………………. 12 Clarity and Standardization of Organizational Promotion Systems……………….. 14 Organizational Leadership Needs………………………………………………….. 16 Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Context…………………………….…………….. 17 Knowledge and Skills……………………………………………………………………… 20 Motivation…………………………………………………………………………………. 28 Organization………………………………………………………………………………... 34 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY………………………………………………….. 40 Participating Stakeholders…………………………………………………………. 40 v Data Collection and Instrumentation ……………………………………………… 42 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………. 55 Credibility and Trustworthiness……………………………………………………. 56 Validity and Reliability…………………………………………………………….. 57 Ethics………………………………………………………………………………. 58 Limitations and Delimitations………………………………………………………60 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS & FINDINGS…………………………………………….. 61 Participating Stakeholders…………………………………………………………. 62 Determination of Assets and Needs……………………………………………….. 63 Results and Findings for Knowledge Influences…………………………………... 65 Results and Findings for Motivation Causes…………………………………….… 89 Results and Findings for Organization Causes………………………………….…. 119 Summary of Validated Influences…………………………………………………. 133 CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS AND EVALUATION……………………… 137 Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences……………………… 137 Knowledge Recommendations…………………………………………..… 138 Motivation Recommendations……………………………………………... 142 Organization Recommendations………………………………..………….. 150 Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan …………………………….…….. 157 Implementation and Evaluation Framework …………………………….…….. 157 Organizational Purpose Need and Expectations………………..…………………. 157 Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators…………………..……………………….. 158 Level 3: Behavior………………………..…………………………………………. 160 Level 2: Learning……………………………………………………………...…… 165 Level 1: Reaction…………………………………………………………...……… 169 Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 172 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach…………………………………….… 172 Limitations and Delimitations…………………………………………..…………. 174 Future Research………………………………………………………….………… 175 vi Conclusion…………………………………………….…………………………… 178 References…………………………………………………………………….……………. 181 Appendix A: Survey Protocol…………………………………………………………..… 200 Appendix B: Interview Protocol…………………………………………………………… 209 Appendix C: Level 1: Reaction. Engagement evaluation tool……………………………... 216 Appendix D: Level 1: Reaction. Relevance and customer satisfaction evaluation tool…… 217 Appendix E: Level 2: Learning. Declarative knowledge assessment…………………..…. 219 Appendix F: Level 2: Learning. Procedural knowledge evaluation……………………..… 220 Appendix G: Level 2: Learning. Confidence evaluation……………………………….….. 222 Appendix H: 360-degree evaluation……………………………………….……………… 223 Appendix I: Workshop Customer Satisfaction and Relevancy Scores…….……………… 226 vii List of Tables Table 1: Organizational Mission and Stakeholder Performance Goals……………………. 8 Table 2: Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal…………………………………………………... 26 Table 3: Summary of Assumed Motivation Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal………………………………………………..… 33 Table 4: Summary of Assumed Organization Influences on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal………………………………………………….. 38 Table 5: Alignment of KMO Influences and Data Collection Methods……..…………….. 47 Table 6: Interview Results for Factual Knowledge of Rate of Successful Promotions…… 66 Table 7: Survey Results for Factual Knowledge of Successful Promotion…….…………. 67 Table 8: Survey Results for Factual Knowledge of Core Leadership Question………..…. 69 Table 9: Survey Results for Conceptual Knowledge of Leadership….……………………. 71 Table 10: Survey Results for Managers’ Understanding of Learning and Motivation Principles……………………………………………………………. 73 Table 11: Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge Evaluating Job Description………... 75 Table 12: Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge of Designing Development Plans….. 77 Table 13: Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge of Setting Performance Goals…...… 80 Table 14: Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Impacts on Team Performance……………………………………………………………….. 82 Table 15: Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Leaders’ Coaching Actions…. 84 Table 16: Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Leadership Approach…….…. 87 Table 17: Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Developing High Team Productivity…………………………………………………………. 90 Table 18: Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Management vs. Leadership.. 92 Table 19: Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Effective Leadership Rubric..95 Table 20: Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Creating a Learning Organization…………………………………………………………………..…. 97 Table 21: Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Articulating the Organization Promotion Process………………………………………….………..……… 100 Table 22: Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Cultivating a viii Growth Mindset………………………………………………………...…….….. 103 Table 23: Survey Results for Mood Motivation Influence of Creating a Learning Culture and Continuous Learning Environment……………………………….… 106 Table 24: Survey Results for Mood Motivation Influence of Fostering Collaboration to Promote Learning……………………………………………………………..… 109 Table 25: Survey Results for Interest Motivation Influence of Reaching Achievement Goals………………………………………………………...…… 112 Table 26: Survey Results for Goal Orientation Motivation Influence of Cultivating a Learning Culture within the Team……………………………………………… 114 Table 27: Survey Results for Attribution Motivation Influence of Taking Responsibility for Successes and Failures…………………………………….… 117 Table 28: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Dedicated time for Organizational Development………………………………………………….… 120 Table 29: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Leadership Development Training Tools………………………………………………………………..… 122 Table 30: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Survey Results for Organization Influence of Metrics for Leadership Development…………………………..…. 124 Table 31: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Leadership Promotion Processes……………………………………………………………. 125 Table 32: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Accountability and Continuous Improvement……………………………………………………………………. 128 Table 33: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing…………………………………………………………..…. 130 Table 34: Survey Results for Organization Influence of Recognition of Team Development………………………………………………………..……. 132 Table 35: Knowledge Assets of Needs as Determined by the Data……………………….. 134 Table 36: Motivation Assets of Needs as Determined by the Data……………...………… 135 Table 37: Organization Assets of Needs as Determined by the Data…………………….... 136 Table 38: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations……………………. 138 Table 39: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations……………………. 143 Table 40: Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations…………..……… 151 ix Table 41: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes………… 159 Table 42: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation…………...… 161 Table 43: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors………………………………… 162 Table 44: Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program……..…………….. 168 Table 45: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program……….……………………. 169 x Abstract The purpose of this field research study was to evaluate the promotion practices in technology (hardware, software, semiconductor, and medical devices) companies. The framework used to guide this study was the Clark and Estes (2008) knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences (KMO) gap analyses. The research questions that outline the study involve the perceptions of senior management as to their success of promoting individuals to people-managing positions; the KMO factors that influence senior management achievement of making a successful promotion; and the KMO recommendations for senior management to optimize promotional practices. A convergent mixed-method approach was conducted to compare the findings and results of surveys (34 respondents) and individual interviews (22 participants). Data analysis for surveys assessed the total number of correct responses to each KMO item. Interview analysis was performed using a priori coding based on the KMO framework. Results and findings were organized as needs and assets for each KMO influence. The study found that the majority of influences in each KMO category were needs within the participating organizations. Gaps within knowledge, motivation, and organizational factors may cause confusion and ambiguity among organizational promotion processes that can impact the achievement of the stakeholders’ and the organization’s mission. Research-based recommendations may improve opportunities to accomplish performance goals. 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM OF PRACTICE Richard is an exceptional software programmer who works at a large technology company in Silicon Valley, California. As an expert technical individual contributor, he is now offered an opportunity to be promoted to lead a team of other software programmers. Richard accepts the opportunity, but sixty days into the new role he is miserable. His manager sees Richard’s performance taking a major dive. Everyday Richard’s direct reports have a new complaint about their new boss and Richard has never been more stressed out. The new team, with its new leader, seems to be heading toward failure. The above story is not uncommon, especially in the 21st century where technology companies of all sizes are multiplying at lightning speed. This field research addresses the problem of organizational promotion systems that fail to address the difficulties in transitioning from an individual contributor role to a people-managing role. Especially when it comes to the technology industry, organizations often promote individuals for their technical performance, making the assumption that engineers who excel in their technical roles will also excel at managing other engineers (Hysong, 2006; Biddle & Roberts, 1994). In a study about the motives for career transitions, Johnson and Sargeant (1998) stated that “individuals with a background in engineering are significantly less likely to be able to progress their career to senior management level” due to the gap between technical expertise and business acumen (p. 41). Promotions “serve the critical role of ensuring the optimal allocation and utilization of human resources” (Kaplan & Ferris, 2001, p. 1204). O’Connell (2014) referred to recent leadership studies (Ames & Kushell, 2006; Parrish, 2015; Civiello & Welker, 2009) and stated that “integrated, simplified frameworks...are sorely needed in the face of greater challenges and complexities (p. 184). In a study by Kellerman (2012), “77% of Americans polled consider the 2 lack of good leadership to have reached crisis proportions” (p. 1). Thus, this research study explores and evaluates the practices of organizational promotion systems within the technology industry. Background of the Problem A plethora of leadership skills books, articles, blogs, and journals have been published about the qualities and traits required to be a good leader. Some research has been published about how to be a first-time people-manager. Few writings have been published specifically about the struggle of technically skilled individuals becoming a manager of a team. Katz’s (1955) three-skilled leadership approach is often republished and referenced to explain that effective leadership relies on technical skills dealing with things; human skills dealing with people, and “conceptual skills (involving) the ability to work with ideas” (p. 45, Northouse, 2016). A successful management promotion, especially in the technology field, includes using one's technical prowess to prove credible knowledge of the subject. Engineers, technicians, and scientists are initially hired into a position for their technical capabilities and talents. Biddle and Roberts (1994) reference a technical management study by Lea (1991) when they emphasize “the discontinuity associated with the switch from scientific to the managerial track...shift from dealing with things to dealing with people...the worker may feel ill-prepared” (p. 83, Biddle & Roberts, 1994). Technically skilled individuals generally have academic and training backgrounds in specific fields of technology, medicine, the sciences, engineering, and research. Oftentimes, organizational promotion evaluations overlook a technical manager’s leadership and entrepreneurial skills. It is assumed that an individual’s success in the current technical position equates to success in a managerial position. The main two reasons for promotion are that the 3 individual is successful in the current role or has tenure in the company (Gallup, 2015). Although technical skills is one, significant area of leadership talent, a leader’s conceptual ability to connect the environment, the interpersonal relationships, and the business acumen together is critical to being an effective leader (O’Connell, 2014; Ferris, Buckley, & Allen, 1992; Katz, 1955). To assess how one transitions from a technical position to a managerial position, one must look at how a company’s promotion system defines qualities and traits of a team manager. The definition of a successful manager promotion stems from evaluating a candidate’s behavior and ability to achieve and exceed a challenging job assignment (de Pater et al., 2009). Evidence of a successful promotion includes observations and results that indicate the manager’s ability to understand that every decision makes a business impact; drive a team toward a common mission; builds a satisfied and engaged team; communicate well to all levels of the organization (Northouse, 2016; Farr & Brazil, 2009). Managerial “incompetence has become a serious problem in organizations today…roots in the way upward mobility decisions are made” (Ferris, Buckley, & Allen, 1992, p. 47). Organizations make the assumptions that first-time managers have a clear idea of their new management responsibilities; have the ability to transition from a singular-focus to an organizational focus; and that new managers fully comprehend their own career interests (Austin et al., 2013). Rohman, Onyeagoro, and Bush (2018) state that “promotions are highly personal” (p. 2), relationship-driven and are tied to the company values. In their promotion systems study, Ferris, Buckley, and Allen (1992) analyze corporate promotion systems that included environmental, organizational, and job factors. Evaluating company promotion practices may be highly valuable to achieve organizational goals of growth and lowering costs because they affect the management potential and skills of leaders. 4 From the employees’ perspective, advancement through upward mobility in their organizations defines career success (Biddle & Roberts, 1994; Ferris, Buckley, & Allen, 1992). When it comes to the definition of “leader development,” people-managers in the 21st century lack “theory, agreed upon constructs, and effective processes…(they) are faced with a complexity of approaches and models to choose from, and no real starting point” (p. 184, O’Connell, 2014). “Transition to a new role is a psychological process that requires time and involves learning new behaviors” (Plakhotnik et al., 2011, p. 27). However, organizations often need to make quick decisions. Budgetary and financial considerations often are top priorities instead of corporate values and organizational design. Promotions sometimes irrationally occur when trying to retain talent, so a higher title or salary is offered. Sometimes promotions happen when vacant positions are taking too long to fill, so an impulsive, or sometimes, irrational decision is made to fill the void with an unprepared or unskilled employee. Another reason to promote is an individual’s technical skills are assumed to be equivalent to interpersonal skills (Hysong, 2006). Without a systematic, comprehensive, and solid promotions process, companies can suffer from unrealized talent, resentful employees (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2019) and negative impacts to the bottom line. This study examines these promotional practices in US technology companies. Importance of the Evaluation Poorly managed promotional processes impact the organization’s workforce, both managers and those being managed, and negatively affect the company’s bottom line. The promotional process involves organizational standards and the dedicated focus of leaders who are already in place (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018). If the current organizational leaders 5 are poor managers, the system is likely to produce a cascade of similarly disengaged and unskilled managers. If the Peter Principle holds to be a true statement within an organization, then the incompetence can lead to “detrimental effects to productivity and subsequently impacts upon revenue” (Fetta et al., 2011, p. 2898). On an individual, humanistic level, those who work for bad leaders, especially for years on end, can suffer from stress or psychological disorders (Erickson et al., 2015). If an organization is overwrought by poor leadership, motivation levels can rapidly decrease, leading to disengagement of the workforce (Gallup, 2015). Few companies have a comprehensive promotion practice that includes succession planning, organizational culture and structure, talent development, employee motivation, and leadership support system. In a 2018 survey of 400,000 U.S. workers, it was found that when promotions are managed effectively, employees are more likely to put extra effort into work and are loyal to the company (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush). Since promotions are so personally and relationship-driven, it is crucial for company leaders to be fully aware and involved in the process (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2019). Most of the employee engagement is directly impacted by managers (Gallup, 2015). In a leadership study by Erickson et al. (2007), it was found that, ironically, 44.8% of bad leaders are promoted to lead a team. In Gallup’s 2015 State of the American Manager report, it was found that when organizations promote managers who lack talent, negative results can ensue, including negative impacts to employees’ health. Disengaged workers are likely to be frustrated, stressed, and unproductive. Organizations can suffer at the bottom line due to delayed, missed, or lack of productivity. Gallup’s 2015 State of the American Manager report stated that disengaged managers cost the U.S. economy almost four billion dollars annually. Gallup (2015) research states that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work. Disengaged employees are often the ones who are unproductive or leave the 6 company. As for leadership talent, the Gallup (2015) report concluded that only 10% of the U.S. employee workforce possess the natural talent to manage a team of people. Schyns and Schilling (2013) reference a 2006 research by Tepper et al. that US companies risk the cost of billions of dollars annually due to attrition, rehiring, and retraining managers or replacements for positions. Overall, Tepper suggests, the organization and the individuals suffer from what is defined as bad leadership. Context of the Field of Practice This research focuses on for-profit companies in the technology industry, which includes hardware, software, semiconductor, and medical devices (“Radford Turnover & Hiring,” 2019). For this study, the sample population is focused on technology leaders in the United States. The mission of corporate technology companies is to scale and grow the business. The field of practice revolves around organizations’ promotional systems where employees follow an upward career path, commonly communicated through a human resources department. Manager is defined as someone who leads a team of people toward a common goal (Gallup, 2015). The study looks at the organizational promotion practices that impact an individual’s leadership capabilities. The research focuses on individuals who are technically educated, trained, and experienced and their journey to becoming a people-manager within an organization. The organization’s processes and leaders have direct impact on the success or failure of these promoted managers (Ferris, Buckley, & Allen, 1992). The purpose of an organization’s promotion system is to “actively select the talents for the organizations and effectively enhance organizational efficacy and competitiveness” (Lai, H., 2012, p. 232). Promotion leads to the growth of leaders of the company. Leadership has a great impact on culture. Loyal employees are five times as likely to believe leaders act with integrity 7 (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2019). “89% of technology companies say the CEO is their most effective driver of culture” (“When it Comes to Creating,” 2017, p. 2). Global Goal and Current Performance There are essentially two main functions of a for-profit company, to make money by growing the business and not to incur an excess of expenses. Market Business News (2018) defines a for-profit company as one that is established for the goal of making a profit. Market data reveals that in the third quarter of 2019, the technology sector has grown more than eight percent year on year (“Technology Sector Growth,” 2019). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019) shows that the professional, scientific, and technical services industry has grown from approximately 10,101,000 employees in 2016 to 10,588,000 employees in 2018 (“BLS Data Viewer,” 2019). The other objective of companies is cost saving. O’Connell and Kung (2007) report that a major company expense that often is overlooked is losing employees, or turnover. As “the economy grows and more jobs are created, voluntary turnover also increases” (O’Connell & Kung, 2007, p.14). The cost of employee turnover is expensive due to staffing, training, vacancy, and loss of productivity. LinkedIn’s 2017 survey data of over 10,000 members reported that the primary reason why professionals leave their jobs is because of lack of opportunities for advancement; followed by dissatisfaction with leadership (“These 3 Industries,” 2018). Stakeholder Group of Focus and Stakeholder Goal The stakeholders for this field study include employees, the human resources department, and senior leadership members in the technology industry. In Table 1 below, there are three stakeholders. The first is the senior management team which include those in decision-making positions, who have the authority to promote individuals to people-managing roles. Their 8 primary goal is to promote and develop skilled, talented, and prepared leaders of tomorrow to drive a team toward a common goal. The second stakeholder group is the employee workforce. Every member of the employee workforce joins the company with a goal to excel in his career path and grow leadership skills through professional development opportunities. The third of the stakeholders is the human resource department. Its primary goal is to create and communicate clear and robust promotion practices and career paths throughout all levels of the company. For this study, the stakeholder group of focus is positioned as “Senior Management.” The senior management team, which includes all the executives, has the responsibility to support the company’s objectives. The organizations’ primary goal is to maximize operational excellence to increase the health of the organization’s culture and grow revenue. The stakeholders’ objective is to promote managers who can lead a team toward a common goal (Gallup, 2015). Table 1. Organizational Mission and Stakeholder Performance Goals Organizational Mission To scale and grow the business. Organizational Performance Goal To compete in the market through increased revenue growth and operational excellence. Senior Management Goal Employees Goal Human Resources Goal To promote and develop skilled, talented, and prepared leaders of tomorrow to drive a team toward a common goal. To excel in a career path by grown and developing professional leadership skills. To create and communicate clear and robust promotion practices and career paths to meet the organization’s primary objective. 9 Purpose of the Project and Research Questions The purpose of this field research study is to explore and evaluate promotional systems in technology companies to make recommendations for possible improvements in organizational promotion practices. The evaluation will begin by generating a list of possible knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences and then by examining these systematically. While a complete analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholder to be focused on in this evaluation is the senior management of technology companies. The study examines the current hiring practices of organizational senior managers, defined as those who have the authority to hire and promote people-managers. One of their primary responsibilities is to develop future leaders in the organization to increase operational excellence and positively impact the organization’s bottom line. The research questions that address the stakeholder’s knowledge, motivation, organizational influences and guide this study are as follows: 1. What are the perceptions of senior management as to their success of promoting individuals to people-managing positions? 2. What are the knowledge, motivations, and organizational factors that influence senior management achievement of making a successful promotion? 3. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational recommendations for senior management to optimize promotional practices? Methodological Framework A qualitative method data gathering, and analysis will be conducted to evaluate the promotional practices of technology companies. This problem-solving process is based on (a) understanding stakeholder goals with regard to the organizational goal, and (b) identifying 10 assumed performance influences in the areas of knowledge, motivation and organization (KMO) based on general theory, context-specific literature and an existing understanding of the organization (Clark & Estes, 2008). This field research incorporates Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis, a systematic, analytical method that helps to clarify organizational goals and identify the KMO influences. The method will be adapted to the evaluation model and implemented as the conceptual framework. The methodological framework is a case study using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Assumed influences knowledge, motivation and organizational influences on stakeholder and organizational goal achievement will be generated based on personal knowledge and related literature. These influences will be assessed by using surveys, interviews, literature review and content analysis. Research-based solutions will be recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner. Definitions For the purposes of this study, the following definitions apply. ● Bottom line: The bottom line refers to a company's earnings, profit, net income, or earnings per share (EPS). The reference to bottom line describes the relative location of the net income figure on a company's income statement (Tuovila, 2019). ● Senior managers/leaders: Employees who have authority to make division/department/group decisions; whose responsibilities ultimately lead a team of individuals toward a common goal (Northouse, 2016). ● People-managers: Those who are in positions to directly lead or supervise a team of individuals, as opposed to those who lead projects or programs. 11 ● Senior Management: A group of senior directors in executive positions who are responsible for making decision that impact external and internal stakeholders. ● Technology industry: Companies that provide services or sell products that include hardware, software, semiconductor, or medical devices (“Radford Turnover & Hiring,” 2019). Organization of the Study Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provides the reader with the key concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion about corporate, technology companies. The organization’s mission, goals, and stakeholders as well as the review of the evaluation framework was provided. Chapter Two provides a review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Topics of the common struggles of technically savvy individuals becoming a people-manager, common promotion practices and gaps, and leadership traits associated with strong and poor leadership performance will be addressed. Chapter Three details the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences to be examined as well as methodology when it comes to the choice of participants, data collection and analysis. In Chapter Four, the data and results are described and analyzed. Chapter Five provides recommendations for practice, based on data and literature as well as recommendations for an implementation and evaluation plan. 12 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE This literature review is presented in three parts. The first part focuses on the historical and current state of organizational promotion systems, with emphasis on career mobility in the technology industry. The second part describes the literature as it relates to the clarity and standardization of organizational promotion systems. The last section explores organizational leadership needs. Historical and Current State of Organizational Promotion Systems Various factors within the literature inform the general components and factors of promotional practices within organizations. General theoretical approaches included examining the problems of organizational promotion systems leading to the need for good leadership is presented. The historical context of organizational promotion systems in which the problem of practice is situated provides an understanding for the use of Ferris, Buckley, and Allen’s (1992) model of promotional systems. This model of organizational promotional system is one of the very few that exist as a formal guide to allocating all factors that play into a wholesome promotional system. The authors sent questionnaires to corporate managers across 347 U.S. companies. The responses concluded in a model that begins with environmental, organizational, and job factors feeding into the makeup of a promotional system’s characteristics, which include promotion evaluation criteria and politics. The promotion system characteristics then become a framework, which includes grievances, employee competence, and behaviors to result in organizational performance (Ferris, Buckley, & Allen, 1992). Research shows that in technology companies it is an assumption that individuals (i.e. engineers) who excel in a given position will also excel at supervising individuals (Hysong, 13 2006; Slusher et al., 1972). It is hypothesized that technical skill adds value over managerial skill to predict managerial performance. In their study of 43 engineering managers, Slusher, van Dyke, and Rose (1972) found that adoption of the managerial role is negatively correlated with technical competence. The disconnect between technical skills and leadership skills may be rooted at the academic level. Farr and Brazil (2009) contend that the three seminal papers - the Grinter Report, the Green Report, and the Educating the Engineer of 2020 - in the field of engineering education still remain the framework for education and accreditation. The problem with these 50-year old reports is that they focus only on the basic sciences, specifically the six engineering disciplines (Farr & Brazil, 2009). They disregard the very necessary preparation for graduate students to enter the global marketplace with leadership and managerial skills in addition to technical mastery (Farr & Brazil, 2009; Katz et al., 1995; Hysong, 2006) The scarce literature on the promotional practices within the technology industry demonstrates the dire need for leadership development studies (Hysong, 2006) in 21st century technology companies. The transition from a technical expert to a people-managing role is a common occurrence, however, the literature explains that most technology industries discount the difficult journey to transfer technical skills to managing skills (Slusher et al., 1972; Hysong, 2006). Kaplan and Ferris (2001), in an in-depth study of employees’ perception of fairness of the promotion system, confirm that organizational culture, environmental and employee characteristics all have strong degrees of influence. The degree to which employees see their early career jobs as important has significant influence on subsequent promotion (Katz, Tushman, Allen, 1995). When taking into account the technical training, education, and skills of employees, some organizations offer a dual career track (Hysong, 2006). Such decisions to 14 promote to management or technical ladders were influenced by both structural and informal mechanisms (Katz, Tushman, Allen, 1995). “Despite various existing perspectives, there is no empirical test directly linking technical skill to managerial performance” (Hysong, 2006, p. 276). There is no guarantee that technically skilled individuals will excel in a leadership position managing other technical individuals (Hysong, 2006; Farr & Brazil, 2009). Extant literature about employee mobility only results in a lacuna of unified conceptual understanding of the topic, that is so crucial to the study of organizational management (Mawdsley & Somaya, 2016). General, abstract factors, such as the global marketplace, and specific influencers, like the potential incumbents’ motivations and skills, all play important roles in the selection process (Slusher, A., van Dyke, J. & Rose, G., 1972). There are a variety of promotion practices that have been adopted by technology organizations that range from internal administration of self-assessments to having a dual ladder promotion system for individuals. In organizational promotion systems, it is necessary to understand the knowledge, motivation and organizational and leadership influences that impact the organization’s promotion process (Forbes, 1987; Nedelko et al., 2015; Tharenou, 1997). Clarity and Standardization of Organizational Promotion Systems Among the abundance of business leadership articles and books about succession planning and career development, Rohman, Onyeagoro, and Bush (2018) write specifically about how job promotions are highly personal and subjective. Sometimes the decision to promote technically skilled individuals is based on retention, pay, and recognition (Panos & Gray, 2012), giving little consideration to the actual competencies and technical skills required to achieve the organization’s goals. Gallup (2015) found that managers were mostly promoted based on tenure and on their expertise in a previous role. Considerations based on previous experience do not 15 take into account the technical and managerial requirements of the future role. And still, there are companies who frequently promote individuals by “knee-jerk” decisions (Hullinger, 2015) that take nothing into consideration other than personal impulses. Oftentimes, the problems during the promotion process include misalignment, lack of clarity, and lack of clear communication of the organization's expectations of the managerial role (Panos & Gray, 2012). In a study within the research, development, and engineering setting, Katz, Tushman, and Allen (1995) state that “informal communication and socialization processes” are strong determinants of promotion paths (p. 848), which does not provide a clear picture of upward mobility within the organization. Furthermore, the research (Katz, Tushman, & Allen 1995) explains that many technically-skilled employees haphazardly define their career path within the organization by work experiences, interpersonal interactions, and current tasks and activities (Weick, 1979; Schein, 2017; Menon et al., 2010; Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2010; Louis, 1980; Morrison, 1993; George & Jones, 1997). With the reality that most technically-skilled individuals begin their work experience with little to no people-managing knowledge, it is up to the organization to select, train and grow its leaders (Heffner et al., 2011; Farr & Brazil, 2009; O’Connell, 2014). Hence, having a clear, standardized and established organizational promotion system is key to successful organizational leadership. According to Slusher, van Dyke, and Rose (1972) firms should consider managerial training when promoting a technically skilled individual to a supervisory role. The authors contend that companies should include in the promotion process the consideration of the incumbent’s potential success given a balance of technical expertise and leadership talent (1972). Various companies have sundry methods of promotion practices. 16 Some companies follow strict promotion policies that include a Competency Based Posting System (CBPS) that is also used in the hiring process. Such established promotion processes involve active participation from the hiring managers, knowing the competencies and skills needed for respective positions, along with the human resources professionals who align interview panels and core competencies of each open role (Panaro, 2008). Farr and Brazil (2009) advise the use of 360-degree assessment tools to measure self-awareness along with external leadership institutes to train and coach upcoming senior management and executives. A few researchers find that, specifically for the technology industry, presenting potential leaders with challenging projects is the best way to determine their readiness to lead a team (Farr & Brazil, 2009; de Pater et al., 2009). Organizational Leadership Needs Today’s organizations are in desperate need of good leadership as the consequences of bad leadership can be detrimental to the company. Seventy-seven percent of polled Americans consider the lack of good leadership to have reached crisis proportions (Kellerman, 2012). Kellerman (2012) states that in the recent three decades there has been a growth in followership while leaders itself has been in decline; that the term leadership has become a ubiquitous catch- all for all resources that claim to teach anyone how to be a capable leader. Due to these reasons, Kellerman’s (2012) research has led to a conclusion that confidence in America’s leaders have drastically declined. Gallup’s most recent (2015) management research reports that only ten percent of managers have the true talents it takes to be strong and capable leaders. However, the survival of any organization is highly dependent on the innate leadership talents of its people-managers to achieve a common goal. Supervisors play a key role in strengthening the organizational 17 identification (Berger, 2014). Among the responsibilities of leaders are the abilities to communicate effectively and develop a high-performing team. Senior managers who are responsible for promoting individuals have a responsibility to be role models and must understand the requirements to be a good leader (Farr & Brazil, 2009; Northouse, 2016). The qualities and influence of leaders, front-line supervisors, and organizational culture are crucial to strategic employee communication (Grace et al., 2006; Schein, 2017). When communication is clear and accurate, organizational policies and processes can be smoothly integrated into successful workmanship. The best way to elevate individual and organizational performance is to build a strong foundation of capable and communicative leaders and supervisors (Berger, 2014). An organization’s leaders directly affect the health of the company (Naseer et al, 2016; Erickson et al., 2007). Disengaged managers cost the U.S. economy almost four million dollars annually (Gallup, 2015). Negative effects to the organization under bad leadership includes human resource loss, the creation of bad organizational culture, and performance loss among the highest factors. On a personal level, employees feel a range of negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and frustration, when working for disengaged or arrogant leaders (Erickson, Shaw, & Agabe, 2007; Forgas & George, 2001; Brief et al., 1995). On the other hand, when an organization is led by capable and skilled leaders, teams progress and companies move forward (Grace et al., 2006; Forgas & George, 2001). Moreover, companies that hire talented managers see a 48% increase in profitability (Gallup, 2015). Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Context A conceptual framework is a key part of the research design. It is a documented graphic or narrative that depicts the theories and ideas that have led the research. The framework guides 18 the researcher to connect the beliefs, assumptions, and key factors of the research (Maxwell, 2013). Merriam and Tisdell (2016) refer to Schultz (1988) in explaining that a conceptual framework guides “the research process in terms of the identification of relevant concepts/constructs, definition of key variables, specific questions to be investigated, selection of a research design, choice of a sample and sampling procedures, data collection strategies . . . data analysis techniques, and interpretation of findings” (p. 34). While the potential influencers above are listed independently of each other, it is recognized that they do not remain in isolation from each other. The rest of this section demonstrates the way the influencers interact with each other to answer the research questions of how promotional practices strongly affect the leadership models in organizations. Figure 1. Conceptual framework of organizational promotion system field study. In the figure above, the largest blue circle shows the organizational context made up of cultural settings and models. In addition, two other stakeholder groups, human resources 19 department and employees, are included as they are part of the organization and influence stakeholder decision-making. The cultural settings of the organization include resources (human capital, tools, etc.), processes, policies, and company procedures. Cultural models include the behaviors and actions taken for continuous improvement, accountability, and recognition throughout the organization. To strategically develop next steps, the stakeholder groups must understand the organization’s processes, policies and concepts of workplace climate and environment of training transfer (Martin, 2010). Figure 1 shows within the organizational context is a smaller yellow circle explaining the stakeholders’ knowledge and motivation within the organization. The stakeholder of focus for this field study are the senior managers who have the authority and experience to promote people-managers. Clark and Estes (2008) explain that in order for an organization to transform, knowledge, motivations, and organization gap analyses must be conducted. In Krathwohl’s (2002) revision of Bloom’s taxonomy, Krathwohl analyzes four different types of knowledge – factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. The knowledge of standardized promotional practices is factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. A knowledge gap analysis would reveal the degree to which the stakeholder understands the qualities and traits required promote people-managers; the company’s current promotional practices; and how each of the stakeholder’s own leadership traits affect the employees. Employees are more likely to be motivated and proud to work for a company that has a supportive environment and learning culture (Anderman & Anderman, 2006). In the figure above, the stakeholders’ motivations include values, self-efficacy, attribution, mood, and goal orientation. The assumed motivational influences are that promoted managers feel that they 20 positively affect the company’s growth and that the stakeholders are dedicated to the goal of promoting skilled leaders based upon their understanding of exceptional leadership qualities. At the bottom of the figure is a green box with the stakeholder goal to promote and develop skilled, talented, and prepared leaders of tomorrow to drive a team toward common goals. The diagram shows that the stakeholders’ knowledge and motivations must operate within the organizational context in order to reach the goal. Knowledge and Skills Organizational change effectiveness begins with the transformation and transference of knowledge. For instance, in order to change an organization’s promotion process, one must understand the types of knowledge that is currently in place and where the knowledge gaps lie (Clark & Estes, 2008). Mayer (2011) explains several knowledge types that are involved in instructional objectives – factual, conceptual, procedural, and belief-based (i.e. metacognitive). In the following sections, the researcher explains each knowledge type and the applications to the stakeholder goals. Declarative factual knowledge influences. Krathwohl (2002) defines factual knowledge as the “basic elements that students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it” (p. 214). In the context of this field study, to be successful stakeholders need to know the definition of leadership development and the organizational promotional process. The senior managers must know the organization’s goals. They must be able to articulate how well they perform as a leader relative to the company’s objectives. Stakeholders must be able to assess their knowledge gaps by regularly evaluating their performance goals in relation to the organization’s mission (Clark & Estes, 2008). 21 Factual knowledge influence 1: Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Senior managers should know that a successful promotion process begins even before considering candidate interviews. Rohman, Onyeagoro, and Bush (2018) explain that the promotion process must include a prerequisite step of clarifying aspirations of each team member. This is the responsibility of the stakeholder to be intimately familiar with each of the team members personal and professional goals. When assessing highly skilled technical individuals, such as scientists, role and function consideration must be considered. Moher et al. (2018) provide six principles for assessing scientists which include recognition, transparency, and contributions to the greater whole. Factual knowledge influence 2: Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. Drucker (2004) provides a list of eight questions and practices that effective leaders ask including “what needs to be done,” “what is right for the enterprise,” and taking action steps (p. 59). The five practices of The Leadership Challenge model are: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2017). Senior leaders have the dual responsibility to role model effective leadership as well as instill in others the traits and qualities that make a good leader. Conceptual knowledge influences. Conceptual knowledge involves the understanding of how objects are interrelated to each other or how they relate within a larger object (Krathwohl, 2002). This type of knowledge includes principles, theories, models, and categorization. Senior managers must understand the concept of great leadership if they want to promote future leaders of the organization. Organizational promotion process is largely influenced by the organizational 22 culture; hence, managers should understand the principles of learning and motivation as it relates to organizational practices. Conceptual knowledge influence 1: Managers need to understand the concept of effective and successful leadership. Kouzes and Posner (2017) have used their five practices of good leadership for decades. Northouse (2016) explains that leadership is a process, involves influence, occurs in groups, and includes attention to common goals. Similarly, Gallup (2015) explains that a talented manager is one who leads a group toward a common objective. McGowan and Miller (2001) provide a set of three leadership principles that include understanding, promoting, and customizing leadership development. Conceptual knowledge influence 2: Managers need to understand the principles of learning and motivation in regard to the organizational influence in the promotion process. Within the interaction of leadership development and organizational promotion process, the stakeholders should understand how people learn. When an individual contributor transitions to a different role, there is certainly a learning curve to be dealt with. According to an article on social cognitive theory, Denler et al. (2006) explain that human beings learn through observations, which infers that the stakeholders themselves are role models to those whom they consider promoting. Stakeholders also hold a significant role as teachers, which means that they must understand the information processing model (IPM). IPM involves the understanding of inputs in sensory, working, and long-term memory (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013). To understand the principle of motivation in regards to organizational influence in the promotion process, stakeholders must understand sociocultural theory, which states that the group activities in which a team partakes have significant effects on how individuals understand the culture and environment surrounding them (Scott & Palincsar, 2006). 23 Procedural knowledge influences. Procedural knowledge is defined as the ability to carry out a process step-by-step (Mayer, 2011). It includes methods of inquiry, ability to perform techniques and algorithms (Krathwohl, 2002). In this evaluation study, the researcher seeks to assess the procedural knowledge of the senior managers in relation to their ability to promote and lead. As senior leaders, the stakeholders should be able to understand the criteria and methods for leadership development, including how to guide through coaching. They should demonstrate their ability to evaluate a manager-level job description and match the fit to the organization’s mission. Procedural knowledge influence 1: Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. According to Mindtools.com (2019), a good job description is not a one-time use document. A well-written job description can help develop roles and careers for team members as it connects to the organization’s goals (“How to use,” 2019). Rohman, Onyeagoro, and Bush (2018) state that it is necessary to even go beyond the job description and make sure that the skills, knowledge, and experience of the individual inspires others and benefits the entire team. Procedural knowledge influence 2: Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. In this 21st century, where “agile” methods of working are popular in the technology industry, the use of sociocultural dynamic assessment makes sense (Scott & Palincsar, 2006). The dynamic assessment can help stakeholders measure the potential of people-managers by designing professional development training plans and resources to align to the organization’s goals. Smith and Ragan (2004) emphasize the importance of adjusting instructional design to the audience; understanding that each person is at a different level. One resource to use is the framework of assessing stable and 24 changing differences and similarities (Smith & Ragan, 2004) of the learning audience. In the role of people who transfer knowledge, the stakeholders must incorporate understanding of each team member’s motivation into designing individual development plans (Tully, 2006). Procedural knowledge influence 3: Managers need to know how to guide team members as they set learning and performance goals. Two practices of Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) The Leadership Challenge Model call for leaders to enable others to act by listening closely and encourage the heart by rewarding achievements. As mentors, it is important for stakeholders to understand different networks - operational, personal, and strategic - to know the degree of depth of guidance (Ibarra, 2015). Senior managers must also know how to guide new leaders in the degree of technical, human, and conceptual skills needed as individuals climb the career ladder (Northouse, 2016). They need to know that setting learning and performance goals must include the application of self-regulation skills (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). Metacognitive knowledge influences. The fourth knowledge type is metacognitive knowledge or general cognition and awareness of one’s own cognition (Krathwohl, 2002). Metacognitive knowledge requires the stakeholders to reflect on their abilities and effectiveness in the leadership development process, for themselves and for the people who are being promoted. Self-awareness allows the senior managers to adjust the way they think and operate (Krathwohl, 2002). For an objective to be met, change must occur in the knowledge type (Mayer, 2011). Metacognitive knowledge influence 1: Managers need to know how to reflect on team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. Success for managers would be to work with each team member to monitor progress toward a goal. This partnership also fulfills the goal of the employee who has a vision of his career path. Successful 25 learners are those who can monitor and control their own behaviors by setting goals and developing action plans (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). Stakeholders must also understand that reflection encapsulates the idea that one’s own thoughts and self-beliefs affect learning (Denler et al., 2009). Stakeholders must display and teach this skill of reflection to develop future leaders. Metacognitive knowledge influence 2: Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. In diagnosing performance gaps, leaders should listen actively and clarify points during conversations with each team member (Clark & Estes, 2008). When leaders are managing a team, they should be guiding each team member by listening to the thoughts that lead to members’ values. Little et al. (2016) states that leaders have a crucial function to actively and deeply understand employee emotion. Stakeholders can then use these values in discussions of self-efficacy methods where employees reflect on past experiences and their unique backgrounds as that impact their assumptions and behaviors (Bandura, 1997). As stakeholders reflect on their own thinking approaches, they must also understand how their team members learn through metacognition in their field performance. Employees have the control component for the job that they were hired to do; their ability to strategize on the various ways to carry out a task deserves reflection on the way they think (Baker, 2006). Metacognitive knowledge influence 3: Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. Reflection is a systematic process that results in deeper understanding of the current activity (Rodgers, 2002). In reflecting their leadership approach and style, senior leaders can learn how to improve on their efficacy in being a coach and teacher. Metacognition means 26 that stakeholders should be able to evaluate progress and adjust as necessary for improvement (Baker, 2006). Leader self-examination involves self-awareness, motives, and understanding one’s values (Burke, 2014). By assessing one’s approaches, the stakeholder can evaluate his impact as a role model to the team members. Self-examination requires stakeholders to understand their degree of control, tolerance, and disposition. If the goal is to develop future leaders, stakeholders must be able to give some control over to the learner and tolerate ambiguity (Burke, 2014). Table 2 shows the stakeholder’s knowledge influences and the related literature. Table 2 Summary of Assumed Knowledge Influences on Stakeholders’ Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal Assumed Knowledge Influences Research Literature Declarative Factual (terms, facts, concepts) Stakeholders (i.e. senior managers) know... Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018; Moher et al., 2018. Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. Drucker, 2004; Northouse, 2016; Gallup, 2015; Kouzes & Posner, 2017. Declarative Conceptual (categories, process models, principles, relationships) Managers need to understand the concept of effective and successful leadership. Northouse, 2016; McGowan & Miller, 2001. Managers need to understand principles of learning and motivation in regard to the Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2009; Schraw & McCrudden, 2006; Scott & Palincsar, 2006. 27 organizational influence in the promotion process. Procedural Stakeholders need to know how to… Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018; “How to use,” 2019. Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. Scott & Palincsar, 2006; Smith & Ragan, 2004; Schraw & Lehman, 2009; Tully, 2006. Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and performance goals. Northouse, 2016; Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Ibarra, 2015. Metacognitive Stakeholders need to know how to reflect on... Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Denler et al., 2009; Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. Baker, 2006; Bandura, 1997; Clark & Estes, 2008. Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches of being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. Baker, 2006; Burke, 2014; Little et al., 2016; Rodgers, 2002. 28 Motivation General theory. While knowledge is made up of facts from experience and observations, motivation is what provokes human beings to take action, keep moving, and “tells us how much effort to spend on work tasks” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 80). Clark and Estes (2008) explain that there are three motivational indexes that are involved in the work environment - active choice, persistence, and mental effort. When people lack direction or energy, they may be unmotivated to act. Stakeholder/topic-specific factors. As an example, Mayer (2011) defines mental effort as seeking new knowledge to solve novel problems. For the stakeholders of this study, the researcher seeks to evaluate their motivation to promote someone to a people-managing position. If, for instance, senior managers are promoting based on tenure or high technical skills, they may find that eventually the individuals who were promoted lack interpersonal skills to connect with their team members (Gallup, 2015). If these stakeholders try to use the same familiar strategy to promote people-managers and are not succeeding, they are not using mental effort; they are not seeking out new knowledge. Unmotivated senior managers may overlook organizational best practices of how to promote an effective people-manager. Contrary to the unmotivated, senior managers who are eager to promote may be doing it through biased means. The research seeks to assess the confidence and priorities that motivate senior managers to make the decisions that shape future organizational leadership. This section of the study evaluates the underlying psychological constructs that drive the stakeholders’ choices and decision-making. Value. Stakeholders must value promoting and developing high performing teams. This includes valuing the training and development steps involved in growing the team members’ 29 knowledge, skills, and capabilities. Expectancy-value narrows down to two motivational questions of the potential to perform a task or project and the desire to perform it (Eccles, 2006). The senior leaders of this study must believe that they can grow future leaders and have the desire to do what it takes to develop a high performing team. Gallup (2015) defines leaders as those who move a group to take action toward the same goal. Similarly, Gray (2014) defines leaders as those who rally the crowd toward a vision, while managers are those who maximize the productivity of others. Stakeholders must value the significance of differences and similarities between leaders and managers; especially because in the general career path, managers grow to become organization leaders. Leaders’ values include exhibiting idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Sosik & Jung, 2018). Stakeholders should value the traits and behaviors of transformational leadership to be aware of their own actions as well as look for leadership qualities in others. Ethical values, which are mostly personal to each person, serve as important antecedents to leadership styles (Groves, 2011). Stakeholders should be aware of their own personal values and be motivated to use these values as part of their roles as leaders. Self-efficacy. In understanding self-efficacy, stakeholders must comprehend that there is no universal best practice that works perfectly for each person. “Multidomain measures reveal the patterning and degree of generality of people’s sense of personal efficacy” (Bandura, 2006, p. 307). Self-efficacy is the basis for self-regulation discipline, which is something that the stakeholders must attend to when they face change management and action planning (Pajares, 2006). Senior managers’ self-regulatory actions are seen through their confidence to train their high performing team members technical, human, and conceptual skills as they relate to the business (Northouse, 2016). Stakeholders must understand that their behaviors, their degree of 30 confidence, and the way they deal with problems and solutions affect the way their team perceives cultural norms. Mood. Mood and emotions are personal and temperamental, but all human beings experience it. Mood, whether positive or negative, affects the workforce. In an organization-wide study, Bono et al. (2007), found a direct correlation between supervisor mood and stress level, job satisfaction, and emotions of employees. Thus, stakeholders must be consciously aware of their moods and the effects on team members’ perception of the working culture and environment. In demonstrating good leadership practices, senior managers should have clear comprehension of how to influence others and thus, motivating a high-performing team. A high- performing team stays ahead of the curve, at the peak of performance, by applying a growth mindset in their work. A growth mindset is intelligence that is malleable and can develop with practice and effort; directly impacting personality, ability, and personal relationships (DeBacker et al., 2018). Senge (1991) offers a new definition of leaders to include those who can build an adaptive learning organization where employees continually expand their capabilities to shape their futures. It is within the ability of leaders to exhibit the type of charisma that creates a positive environment that influences and moves a team to action (Fineman, 2003). Savani et al. (2011) go on further to study the effects of “emotional residue” which refers to the moods, feelings, and emotional energy that is left in a physical space even when there is no one in the room. The “emotional residue” has the power to affect new bodies that enter the space resulting in the absorption of whatever mood was previously present in the room. Mood congruent influence is directly correlated to learning, memory, judgement, and interactive behaviors (Forgas & George, 2001). As visible leaders, stakeholders should understand that their 31 responsibility to create and develop high-performing teams invariably requires setting a positive emotional environment. Attribution. Anderman and Anderman (2010) base their research on Weiner’s (1984) attribution theory which explains that all learners are affected by environment, external factors, and personal factors. In addition, the attribution theory is defined by a solid understanding of the working environment and why things happen the way they do. If, for instance, employees are motivated if they perceive abilities to be within or out of their own control. Weiner’s attribution model (Anderman & Anderman, 2010) shows that loci can be seen as internal or external (i.e. pride); stability is considered to be an ability or a temporary condition (i.e. hope); and controllability is the extent to which it is under the control of the individual (i.e. shame, guilt, gratitude, pity). With a supportive environment and learning culture, the motivation for employees to stay and work for a company they are proud of can be heightened. Lord and Kanfer (2002) explain that the ability to socialize in a safe group setting at work is pivotal to creating a productive work environment. When employees hear and see that their colleagues are leaving the company or when they see their peers stressed after obtaining a promotion, feelings of discouragement or resentment can ensue (Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018). Anderman and Anderman (2010) state that “whatever learners perceive as being the cause of the event will affect their future motivation” (p. 2). In other words, if employees attribute poor promotion decisions to poor organizational leadership, their motivation to work hard or stay with the company can likely be affected. In a research experiment performed by Goette (2012) and colleagues, the researchers found that its in-group communication increases when cooperation, versus punishments, is promoted. 32 Goal Orientation and Interests. Yough and Anderman (2006) explain that goal orientation theory deals with two types of goals, mastery and performance goals. Within each of these types is the approach method and the avoidance method. Learners who look to gain mastery have an intrinsic motivation to learn. Their approach is to gain expertise and full knowledge of a task. They avoid misunderstanding the task as that leads to the opposite of mastery. Learners who are motivated by performance goals depend on competition with others, for instance in benchmarking or comparing with peer performance (Anderman, 2015). They avoid being incompetent. Rewards and punishment are also forms of motivation for performance-goal-learners. Stakeholders can enhance their ability to transfer knowledge if they understand the goal- oriented interests of their team members. Learners are motivated by topics that are relevant to their interests and learning goals (Schraw & Lehman, 2009). Achievement goals are an essential component of learner motivation and influence how a person perceives success and competence (DeBacker et al., 2018). One strategy for leaders to positively influence team members’ learning motivation is feedback specificity regarding performance goals (Shute, 2008). Table 3 shows the stakeholder’s influences and the related literature. 33 Table 3 Summary of Assumed Motivation of Stakeholders’ Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal Assumed Motivation Influences Research Literature Value Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members and connect this activity with higher team productivity. Eccles, 2006; Pintrich, 2003. Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leader traits required for people-managing roles. Sosik & Jung, 2018; Gray, 2014; Gallup, 2015. Self-Efficacy Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through application of the rubric (of effective leadership). Bandura, 2006; Pajares, 2006; Groves, 2011. Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. Pajares, 2006; Northouse, 2016. Managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018; Gallup, 2015; Groves, 2005. Mood Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets with their teams. Clark & Estes, 2008; DeBacker et al., 2018; Bono et al., 2007. Managers need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and Senge, 1991; Forgas & George, 2001. 34 improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Managers need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. Scott & Palincsar, 2006; Schyns & Schilling, 2013; Solas, 2016; Erickson et al., 2015; Fineman, 2003. Attribution Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. Anderman & Anderman, 2010; Lord & Kanfer, 2002; Rohman, Onyeagoro, & Bush, 2018. Interest and Goal Orientation Managers need to be interested in their team members’ professional development. Schraw & Lehman, 2009; Yough & Anderman, 2006. Managers need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. Anderman, 2015; DeBacker et al., 2018; Shute, 2008. Organization Clark and Estes’ (2008) framework analyzes an organization’s performance and organizational goals. The concept looks at the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that may be causing systematic needs for change. Specifically, Clark and Estes (2008) point out that “organizational culture inevitably filters and affects all attempts to improve performance, and successful performance improvement will depend on taking the specific organizational culture into account” (p.103). Schneider, Brief, and Guzzo (1996) explain that organizational culture is the “feel of an organization” and is inferred by the members of the organization (p. 8). Organizational culture involves the beliefs and values of the members and resides deep in the psychology of the organization’s members (Schneider et al., 1996). Clark and Estes (2008) further explain that the culture includes three different areas to consider: the work 35 environment, the culture of groups of people, and the culture of individuals based on their experiences and backgrounds. Resources. Without proper guidance and training, new and tenured people-managers often lose focus on their roles as leaders (Heffner et al., 2011). Instead of making a team and the organization more effective, untrained leaders end up focusing on tasks. Farr and Brazil (2009) claim that for engineers in the technology industry, it is even more crucial to take the time to develop interpersonal and leadership skills on top of the technical skills for which the engineers were initially hired. Organizational development and action planning are necessary to meet organizational goals (Drucker, 2004). Hence, stakeholders should be allotted the time necessary for organizational development and designing a team with necessary roles and responsibilities. Understanding the resource needs for knowledge transfer is essential in developing people-managers. Thus, stakeholders should have a basic understanding of intangible training requirements (i.e. training objectives, facilitation skills, knowledge of subject area, etc.) and tangible training tools (i.e. hardware, software, equipment, etc.). Aguinis and Kraiger (2009) conducted a literature research study concluding that training benefits individuals, team, organization, and society. Effective training can result in positive behavioral change and innovation. For instance, learners gain new technical knowledge that improve their job performance by using a more effective tool or process to complete a project. Through tacit knowledge and on-the-job training, learners can discover alternative ways to solve problems (Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009). Equipment to perform a job should be a primary priority for organizations in safety and corporate efficiency. Uniforms for laboratories, manufacturing plants, and in the field are simple resources that organizations must pay attention to (Wagner et al., 2007). Gaining access to the 36 right tools, including hardware and software, to perform a job should not be an afterthought. Organizations must understand the consequences, especially safety concerns, of employees not having the tools when they begin a job. Policies and procedures. Organizations have a responsibility to make clear to the workforce the overall objective and measurable goals. There are six types of support that organizations must realize in order to achieve improvement in efficiency and quality - have a clear vision; align processes with organizational goals; communicate constantly and candidly; have top management involved in the improvement process; provide adequate knowledge, motivation, and skills; understand that not all change processes are equal (Clark & Estes, 2008). Organizations must clearly communicate policies, processes, and procedures to promote leadership that fit the organization’s mission, vision, and objectives. Clark and Estes (2008) state that goals for every individual, team, and division should be presented up front. The stakeholder’s role as leaders of the organization is to communicate and enable the goals to be achieved. It is the organization’s responsibility to provide clear and effective communication about performance goals at the organization level, teams, and the individual levels. To achieve performance goals, it would serve the stakeholders well to understand how to motivate and transfer knowledge to their teams. First, setting goals to affect performance requires commitment and attainability (Locke & Latham, 1990). For motivation, Pintrich (2003) offers suggestions on the criteria to measure motivational generalizations by using design principles that reflect how learners absorb information. Organizational promotion systems must provide policies and procedures that ensure qualified individuals. Leadership development is largely based on the organizational systems that are in place to assess manager potential. The problem with managerial competence “may well be 37 the result of inappropriate procedures for making promotion decisions” (Ferris, 1992, p. 65). There are several concerns with improper, inaccurate, or poor procedures. Poor promotion practices that lead to “bad leadership” may result in a highly stressed workforce, negative feelings of subordinates, and lowered productivity (Erickson et al., 2007). Cultural settings and models. Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) explain that culture is made up of models and settings. Cultural models are the mental schema of how the world works. They are generally the habitual, invisible values and beliefs within an organization. Cultural models can be the habits and assumptions held by the organization’s members. Erez and Gati (2004) make a reference to Schein (1992) when defining culture to be “what a group learns over a period of time as that group solves its problems of survival in an external environment and its problems of internal integration” (p. 585). Cultural settings support the cultural models and are “homely and familiar” (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001, p. 47). The cultural settings are tangible, visible signs of the company’s models and culture. According to Clark and Estes (2008), one of the six types of support necessary for organizational change is the cultural setting of having “a clear vision, goals and ways to measure progress” (p. 117). Reward systems is a cultural setting. In Steven Kerr’s (1995) seminal article about “fouled up” reward systems, the author talks about how organizations give rewards for one type of behavior while hoping for the ideal behavior to occur somewhere and somehow. Table 4 shows the stakeholder’s influences and the related literature. 38 Table 4 Summary of Assumed Organization on Stakeholder’s Ability to Achieve the Performance Goal Assumed Organization Influences Research Literature Resources (time; finances; people) Stakeholders needs resources to… Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. Drucker, 2004; Heffner et al., 2011; Farr & Brazil, 2011. Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009; Wagner et al., 2007. Policies, Processes, & Procedures Stakeholders needs to have policies, processes, and procedures that align with ... Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities (e.g. team goals as well as individual contributions). Clark and Estes, 2008; Pintrich, 2003. Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. Locke & Latham, 1990; Erickson et al., 2007; Ferris, 1992. Culture Stakeholders need to be part of a culture that aligns with ... Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001; Goette et al., 2012; Senge, 1991; Shaw et al., 2011; Miao et al., 2016; Yang & Zhai, 2017; Erickson et al., 2007. Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. Locke & Latham, 2006; Locke & Latham, 1990; Roberts, 2010; Markova & Ford, 2011. 39 In summary, using Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis model, this paper evaluates organizational promotion systems of people-managers in the technology industry. The knowledge influences in this study involve the factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge types (Baker, 2006). In order to assess the gaps in the organization’s promotional practices, the stakeholder group of focus, senior managers, must understand its roles and responsibilities in developing leadership skills when considering the promotion of individuals. The motivational influences revolve around understanding employee motivations (Mayer, 2001). Motivation for new people managers also come from a supportive and positive environment (Martin, 2010; Lord & Kanger, 2002) which involves peers, managers, and culture. Buchanan, et al. (2005) discuss the factors that affect organizational change sustainability - “shared beliefs, perceptions, norms, values, priorities” (p. 201). The knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences along with the research questions will be used as the foundation for data collection in Chapter Three. 40 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY This field study evaluates organizational promotion systems with a sampling of participating technology companies in the United States. The research design is based on the responses of senior managers in the field, assessing their knowledge, motivation, and the organizational influences that impact the promotion process. Drawing from Clark and Estes’ (2008) KMO gap analysis model, this section provides the research questions, mixed-methods data collection approach, trustworthiness, credibility, reliability, and validity for this innovation model. The questions that guide this study are as follows: 1. What are the perceptions of senior managers as to their success of promoting individuals to people-managing positions? 2. What are the knowledge, motivations, and organizational factors that influence senior management achievement of making a successful promotion? 3. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational recommendations for senior management to optimize promotional practices? Participating Stakeholders The stakeholder group of focus was the senior managers of technology companies. The first criterion is that the stakeholders should have held or currently hold a leadership position (i.e. director position, executive, chief executives) in a technology company. The problem of practice being researched in this field study is within the confines of the respective organization to each 41 participant. The assumption is that company employees would be most knowledgeable of company practices as well as understand the effects of organizational culture. The second criterion is that stakeholders should have the authority to promote employees to a higher job level that involves managing a team. This study proposes to improve the current company promotional practices. Those who have experience in promoting others would have the best knowledge of how organization’s promotion practices work and what organizational influences affect decisions. Survey Sampling Criteria Criterion 1. Participants should have held or currently hold positions as full-time employees of a technology company to understand organizational cultural influences and practices. Criterion 2. Participants have experience as organizational senior managers who have the authority to promote employees to understand implementation of promotional practices. Survey Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale The survey sampling strategy involves a questionnaire that is administered through online social media with a target sample of the public online user database of LinkedIn. A link is posted on a networking site asking for participants who meet the criteria to complete the survey. The post also asks participants to forward the link to those who fit the participant criteria; hence expanding the potential survey participants and enhancing quantitative results. As in convergent mixed methods, quantitative data collection occurs simultaneously with qualitative data collection. The survey link was posted on a social-networking site (Linkedin.com) at the beginning of the data collection process. 42 Interview Sampling Criteria Criterion 1. Senior managers in technology companies who have the authority and experience to promote team managers. Criterion 2. Senior managers who are familiar with the promotional process of their organizations. Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale The sampling strategy for the qualitative field study starts with a purposeful selection of a few participants followed by a snowball method. Purposeful method allows the researcher to select those participants who fit the criteria to gather information from the most information-rich individuals (Christensen, 2014). The snowball sampling in interviews asks the initial participants to provide names of associates who fit the criteria. Introductions and connections by affiliation allows the researcher to reach out to more purposeful participants than a random selection. Focus groups, documentation and artifacts, and observations research methods were considered, however were too time-consuming. The researcher has no access to internal files, records, or facilities of technology companies; therefore, conducting research on-premise were not feasible. Data Collection and Instrumentation This chapter presents the research design and methods for data collection and analysis. This field research study examines companies within the technology industry and will employ convergent mixed methods model (Creswell, 2014; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Data will be collected as a one-phase design. A quantitative instrument will be administered along with 43 qualitative interviews. In the convergent mixed methods research design, the researcher aims to compare the exploratory results of both methods, merge the results, then compare them during interpretation. The questions used for this study were created and designed from the literature research and were not psychometrically validated. The questions used in the quantitative and qualitative data gathering methods are not exhaustive of all promotion factors in every nor all technology companies. The purpose of designing the convergent mixed methods model this way is to allow for variance among participants as the target population is very large; hence, the results are not generalizable. The hopeful outcome is that the survey and interview participants’ responses will provide a clue to researchers and readers as to how some technology companies evaluate promotions of technically skilled individuals to a people-manager. The reasons for conducting interviews include developing detailed descriptions and describing a process (Weiss, 1994) to address both the first and second research questions. The researcher aims to address stakeholder knowledge through inquiries of describing organizations’ promotional processes. Interview items that ask for detailed descriptions look for stakeholder motivations. “Bridging intersubjectivities” refers to obtaining quotations from respondents to empathize with their experience as if the reader was present in the situation (Weiss, 1994, p. 9). Interviewing stakeholders address the organizational context in the third research question and their level of support in the promotional practice process. Finally, because the research method is a mixed method approach, interviews are the chosen method to identify variables and frame hypotheses for subsequent qualitative research (Weiss, 1994). 44 Surveys Survey instrument. The survey instrument included two items about the demographics of the participants and 18 sets of knowledge, motivations, and organizational context (KMO) items addressing stakeholders’ views around their respective organizational promotion practices. The demographics questions qualify the stakeholders to those who have had experience in promoting individual contributors to people-managers in technology companies. The knowledge items were included to gather an understanding of what the stakeholders know about promotional practices within their current organizations or best practices from other sources. The motivation items focused on the reasons behind why stakeholders feel they should promote an employee to a people-manager role. The organizational context questions helped the researcher understand the interaction between stakeholder knowledge and motivation to organizational context. All survey questions addressed each of the research questions listed above. The survey instrument for this study has not been tested for validity and reliability; the survey has not been assessed for psychometric soundness. Survey procedures. As this was a convergent mixed methods research approach, the survey was administered in parallel with the qualitative method. The intention of the approach was to compare the data collected from the surveys with that of the interviews with the assumption that there will be differences between the final results of the surveys and interviews (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The survey consisted of 18 sets of questions and was created on a web-based software called Qualtrics. Instructions and introductions were posted at the beginning of the survey indicating the participants’ criteria and that survey participation was voluntary. Within the 45 posting location, LinkedIn.com, a request was made for connections to forward the survey link to those who fit the criteria of survey respondents and would be willing to participate. The snowballing method maximized the quantity of survey respondents. A survey close date was indicated to collect all data from both quantitative and qualitative procedures in a timely manner for analysis. The survey was made available via a digital link that was available online for any device. The link was posted on a social media website and emailed to the researcher’s personal and professional contacts. The stakeholders held senior manager position levels, therefore using a professional social media website was chosen as a distribution channel to obtain the highest quantity of participants. Sending emails to personal and professional contacts who fit the target stakeholder demographics helped with rapport (Patton, 2002) as the survey link was sent with a personal message. The survey was written in English only for ease of data analysis. Interviews Interview protocol. The interview portion of the data collection method was semi- structured as the questions were flexible and guided by a list of issues (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) in respective organizations’ promotional practices. The questions asked during interviews include experience, value, knowledge, and demographic questions (Patton, 2002). Knowledge and experience questions addressed the detailed descriptions of promotional processes that were observed by the subjects. Seeking factual information about the processes and the experience of the subjects addressed knowledge and organizational context. For example, if the subject stated that she is not aware of any formal process, it can be assumed that the third research question is addressed by the organizational culture of communication to employees. 46 The researcher intended to use the demographic background questions to qualify the subjects as having the credibility to speak to the subject matter as a stakeholder. Value questions sought to understand the motivation of the stakeholders through their interpretations, opinions, and judgement (Patton, 2002). Interview procedures. The researcher’s relationship with the subjects was professional as most of the participants were former work colleagues. Each participant received a request via email with an introduction of the researcher and the purpose of the study. In-person, one-on-one interviews were requested, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most interviews were conducted virtually. After participant’s acceptance, date, time, and location of interviews were scheduled. The researcher emailed a document with disclaimer, expectations, and interview questions to each participant at least one week before the interview. The stakeholder interviews were conducted semi-formally in a casual and neutral environment (i.e. café) during non-busy times (i.e. early morning or late afternoon). The neutrality of the setting was chosen so that subjects could feel comfortable to share information about their organization (Patton, 2002). Before the official interview began, the researcher stated the purpose of the research and informed the subject of voluntary and confidential participation (Weiss, 1994). Each of the interviews were conducted individually and independent of each other and all in English. Data was captured via notes and transcripts on a legal notepad and audio-recording upon agreement and permission by the subjects. Alignment of KMO Influences and Data Collection Methods and Instruments Table 5 shows each KMO influence and the method and measure of the influence. By examining the rows, the alignment of the influences and methods are demonstrated. 47 Table 5 Alignment of KMO Influences and Data Collection Methods Assumed Knowledge Influences Survey Interview Declarative Factual (terms, facts, concepts): Stakeholders (i.e. senior managers) know... Managers know their rate of successful promotions What percentage of promotions have you given that you would consider successful? Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Multiple Choice (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer. * What is the key indicator of a successful promotion (after the new manager is placed in the promoted role)? a. Increased revenue; decreased operational expenses. b. Satisfaction of organization’s executive team. c. Filled a position gap in the organization structure. d. A high-performing team. * e. The person who is promoted is satisfied. Tell me how you measure or qualify a successful promotion. Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. MC Question. Choose the correct answer. What is the most important question leaders ask themselves? a. How can I get the most time out of my team? b. How can I satisfy the customers? c. What is right for the enterprise? * d. How can I be more accessible to the team? e. What are the problems? Main Q: Name someone whom you would consider an effective leader. Probing Q: Explain why you believe this. Declarative Conceptual (categories, process models, principles, relationships) Managers need to understand the concept of leadership. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer.*. What is leadership? a. A process of influence that involves groups and leads to common goals. * b. A group of people who make decisions in the best interest of the company. c. Different styles of the way managers lead a group of people. What does the term “effective leadership” mean to you? What is successful leadership? 48 d. A group of people with the highest skills, talent, and knowledge about the company. Managers need to understand the important things they must do in order to influence the organization’s promotion process. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer(s). What is/are the important thing(s) managers should do to influence the organization’s promotion process? a. Model the way of leadership. b. Manage activities in which his/her workgroup participates. c. Select team members based on cultural background. d. a and b.* e. a, b, and c. As a manager, what do you do to influence the organization’s promotion process? Procedural: Stakeholders need to know how to… Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct answer. The first step to evaluating a candidate for promotion is to... a. consider the internal candidate’s unique talents. b. understand how to develop employees’ careers and roles that align with organizational goals. * c. have a planning discussion with HR. d. ask peers and other leaders for their thoughts of the candidate. Describe the steps you take to evaluate a job description when you promote someone to a people-managing role. Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer. As a leader, what is your first step for designing a development plan for team members? a. Ask each team member about his/her unique learning style. b. Understand similarities and differences in learner characteristics of the team members. * c. Reflect on your own method of knowledge absorption. d. a and b. e. a, b, and c. Main Q: Describe the steps you take when creating development plans for your team members. Probing Q: How do you ensure that the plan will be implemented? Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. As a leader, you guide your team members in setting performance goals by: a. having frequent meetings with each team member. b. influencing team members to exceed performance goals. Main Q: Describe the process you take to guide your team members to set learning goals. Probing Q: What about setting their performance goals? 49 performance goals. c. sharing a clear understanding of the degree of technical, interpersonal, and strategic skills necessary for each role. * d. sharing a clear understanding of the company’s mission and vision. Metacognitive: Stakeholders need to know how to reflect on... Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer to the question. What most impacts team members’ performance and progress in development planning? a. Each team member’s technical skills and education. b. Each team member’s self-beliefs thoughts. * c. Manager approval and bureaucracy. d. Organizational budget and resource constraints. e. Business acumen and knowledge about the company. Main Q: How often do you reflect on your team’s development plan progress? Probing Q: How do you go about making adjustments to the development plans when necessary? Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. To maximize team members’ performance in the field, leaders should coach by: a. Modeling the way to perform a task. b. Send the employees to various trainings. c. Listen to team members’ thoughts that relate to their values. * d. Sharing personal work experience that relate to the respective field work. Tell me about a time when you coached a team member to reflect on his/her own performance. Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. When reflecting on one’s own leadership approach, a leader should focus on: a. past experience and expertise. b. degree of control, tolerance of ambiguity, and disposition. * c. team dynamics and function. d. cultural background, past experience, and training. Main Q: Describe how you reflect on your own leadership capabilities and skills. Probing Q: Describe a time when you reflected on your leadership approach and realized that you had to make adjustments. 50 Assumed Motivation Influences Survey Interview Value: Stakeholder needs to value… Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members; and connect this activity with higher team productivity. As a leader, please rank the following in order of your value: ___ Meeting the company bottom line. (3) ___ Customer satisfaction. (4) ___ Training and developing a high-performing team. (2) ___ Confidence in your own abilities to develop a team. (1) Main Q: I am going to read you a list of concerns that may impact a high- performing team. After hearing the list, please tell me which are most important in your approach to leading a high- performing team. ● Meeting the company’s bottom line. ● Customer satisfaction. ● Training and developing a high- performing team. ● Confidence in your own abilities to develop a team. Probing Q: Why would you say (responses from Main Q) are most important? Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leadership traits required for people- managing roles. (Check all that apply.) As a leader, I... ___ have a vision that I communicate to my team. * ___ am highly skilled in my technical field. ___ can lead a team to complete a project. ___ lead my team toward a common goal. * ___ exceed my performance goals. Describe a time when you promoted someone to a people-manager role. What qualities did you value in that person? Self-Efficacy: Stakeholder needs to have confidence that For each of the following questions, please use the 1-10 rating scale below to rate your confidence in performing the following right now: 51 Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through application of the rubric (of effective leadership). a. Train team members to clearly understand the difference between the definition of a manager and leader. b. Train team members on technical skills. c. Train team members on human (interpersonal) skills. d. Train team members on conceptual (strategic, business) skills. Main Q: a) Tell me about a time when you felt confident in training a new leader on a skill. b) Now tell me about a time when you had low confidence in training a new leader. Probing Q: What impacts your confidence? Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. e. Articulate the need and benefits of a learning culture within the organization. Would you consider your organization to be a “learning organization?” If so, what was your role in creating the learning organization? Managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. f. Articulate the entire organizational promotion process. Another question about the promotion process: You can choose the earlier story or another time when you promoted someone. What role(s) did you play in each stage of the process? Mood: Stakeholders need to feel positive about… Using the scale below, rate your agreement with the following: Scale: 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree I enjoy... Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets within their teams. a. cultivating a growth mindset within the team. How do you feel about cultivating a growth mindset within the team? 52 They need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. b. Creating a learning culture as a strategy to realize organizational goals. c. Creating an environment of continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. How do you feel about creating an environment of continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals? They need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. d. Fostering a collaborative environment among team members to promote learning. How do you feel about fostering collaboration among team members? Interest and Goal Orientation Managers need to be interested in what motivates their team members to reach their achievement goals. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = completely), how interested are you in understanding what motivates your team to reach their achievement goals? Describe a conversation you have had with a team member about what motivates him/her to reach achievement goals. They need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = completely), rate the importance of cultivating a learning culture within your team. How do you ensure that you are cultivating a learning culture within the team? Attribution Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. Use the 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = always) rating scale below to rate the degree to which you take responsibility for your team’s: a. Successes: b. Failures: Describe a time when you took responsibility for your team’s success. How about a time of failure? 53 Assumed Organization Influences Survey Interview Resources (time; finances; people): Stakeholder needs resources to … Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. a. As a manager, I have enough time to dedicate to organizational development to meet corporate goals. Describe the organizational policy around providing time for organizational development. Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. b. I have all the tools (equipment, skills, people, etc.) necessary to train my team members on leadership development. What kind of tools are provided to leaders for leadership training development? Policies, Processes, & Procedures: Stakeholder needs to have policies that align with ... Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities (e.g., team goals as well as a. As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure my leadership responsibilities. b. As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure my ability to train and develop my team. Tell me about the metrics used by the organization to measure leadership capabilities and responsibilities. 54 individual contributions). Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. c. The organization provides me with sufficient policies, processes, and procedures to promote and develop future leaders. What kind of standardized policies, processes, and procedures are used to evaluate promotional fit with the organization’s mission and goals? Culture: Stakeholder need to be part of a culture that aligns with ... Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. a. The organization promotes a culture of accountability. b. The organization promotes a culture of continuous improvement. Describe the organizational culture around accountability. What about continuous improvement? Stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. c. The organization values collaboration. d. The organization promotes knowledge sharing. How does the organization exhibit a collaborative culture? How does the organization promote knowledge sharing? Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. e. The organization’s leadership recognizes efforts of learning, training, and development. Describe a time when the organization recognized a people-manager for his/her efforts in developing his/her team. 55 Data Analysis The survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Frequencies among knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences (KMO) was analyzed. The knowledge and skills influences were categorized into the four knowledge types: declarative factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge types. In the survey responses, item assessments were analyzed by the number of correct answers based on the research. Motivation influences were examined according to value, self-efficacy, mood, interests and goal orientation, and attribution. Finally, organizational influences were analyzed through the categories of resources, policies and procedures, cultural setting, and cultural models. Motivation and organizational items on the assessment were analyzed based on the degree of agreement using rating scales, including a 1 to 10 rating and a Likert scale. For interviews, a priori coding of transcripts was used based on codes generated from the KMO conceptual framework (Clark & Estes, 2008). The first step in the data analysis process was to review the audio recordings, and transcripts, then compare them with the researcher’s written notes taken during the interview. During this review process, data from the transcripts were coded using symbols that represent the categories of knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational influences. “By establishing basic descriptive categories early on for coding, the researcher will have easy access to information in the analysis and interpretation stage” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 79). Coding the KMO categories allowed the researcher to capture relevant information for analysis in Chapter Four of this field study. The process of coding the data resulted in the discovery of patterns and relationships that were translated into themes. The themes are presented in the findings section, Chapter Five, of this research. 56 Credibility and Trustworthiness According to O’Leary (2004) credibility refers to the research being believable and convincing. Maxwell (2013) leans on trustworthiness and authenticity to help define the validity of a qualitative study. One strategy to gain credibility for this study is the cross-validation and triangulation (Patton, 2002) of different subjects in diverse organizations, years of experience, and levels of management positions. By using both quantitative and qualitative methods of research, the researcher employed triangulation techniques to check if various methods led to a single conclusion (Maxwell, 2013). This “strategy reduces the risk of chance associations and of systematic biases” (Maxwell, 2013, p. 128). The second strategy was to use a neutral setting to conduct interviews. Krueger (2009) and Patton (2002) stated that it is prudent to choose a setting that would increase honesty and reduce the risk of systemic biases(i.e. within the company setting of which they are being interviewed about). A third strategy used in this study was the semi-structure of the interview questions. Although the order of the questions was flexible, keeping the same questions with each interview helped ensure that the researcher conducted a more systematic and comprehensive qualitative study. Another strategy was using a method, such as social media, to reach a large population of potential participants. By using social media to the public mass as a method of research, the conclusion infers a claim about a typical behavior or thought process of stakeholders in the technology industry (Maxwell, 2013). Respondent validity, or member checks, is another strategy used in this field research study (Maxwell, 2013). Collecting data from selected 57 respondents who met the criteria of being a technology senior manager with promoting experience was a method of respondent validity. Trustworthiness of the researcher is crucial in any setting involving human subjects. A major part of qualitative interviewing is to build a partnership between interviewer and respondent. Before the official interview begins, the researcher states the purpose of the research and inform the subject of voluntary and confidential participation (Weiss, 1994). The researcher also asks permission to use an audio recording device during the interview. The researcher intends to create a collaborative environment in which the respondents feel respected and safe to share honest experiences and stories. Validity and Reliability The quantitative component of this research method represents external validity through a sampling of a large population of leaders in diverse organizations with different experience levels (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The survey distribution method is via an online survey link that will be posted on social media. The researcher requests contacts to re-post the link on their respective social media websites. In the survey, the researcher includes an introduction that states the anonymity of the results. The researcher checks response rates weekly and re-post until the anticipated fifty responses are reached. At the beginning of the survey, there is a consent form to read and sign indicating that the participant is informed and is voluntarily willing to participate. The survey items directly address the research questions of the study. The survey items are distinguished to measure knowledge, motivation, and organizational elements in relation to the promotion of an individual to a people- manager role. As inherent in using surveys as a data collection method, there are a few biases to consider. One is response bias where there are nonrespondents to any or a few of the survey 58 questions. Another is the sampling population of those within the researcher’s social media network, where the majority come from the same company. A third bias in using survey instruments if the response rate. Since this research study uses a link posted on social media without a target number of participants, there is no minimum or maximum response criteria. The biases inherent in surveys are addressed by wave analysis where the researcher analyzes response patterns on a weekly basis to determine average response changes (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Within the survey are introductory demographics questions which ask what type of technology company the participants work in, management level or title, location of the organization, and the size of the organization. The survey also contains two open-ended items at the end of the survey to validate respondents’ understanding and interpretation of the instrument’s questions. The survey link is posted with reminders and an end-date upon which the survey is closed. Ethics It is important to address ethics in this field research as participants from the target populations are all human subjects. The study involves human subjects who reserve the right of confidentiality. This study has been submitted to the University of Southern California’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). It is appropriate here to make known the relationship of the researcher and the participants. Initial distribution of the survey instrument is through the researcher’s own social media network (LinkedIn connections) which involves individuals who are acquainted with the researcher. The researcher posts the survey link asking for the acquaintances to send the link to their respective networks. In the quantitative portion of the study, the researcher interviews acquaintances, most of whom are former work colleagues. The initial participants are then asked, 59 using the snowball method, to refer other participants to be a part of the study. Participants are informed that the responses from surveys and interviews are confidential. Participant identities are protected; raw content or identifying information are known only to the researcher and will not be shared with anyone. Glesne (2011) identifies that the American Anthropological Association (AAA) includes in its code of ethics that obligations of openness and informed consent are the researcher’s responsibilities to human participants. Informed consent makes stakeholders aware that participation in the study is voluntary, all conversations are kept completely confidential, and participants have the right to withdraw from the research at any point without any penalty or consequence. For the survey instrument, informed consent is in the form of a check box at the beginning of the survey. Checking the box indicates that the participant is a voluntary and willing survey participant. Interview participants are provided with a written and verbal form of informed consent. Participants in the interview portion of the study were asked to sign a document of informed consent to be audio recorded. They are also informed that the recordings would solely be used for the research study and all contents would be confidential. In addition, Krueger and Casey (2009) state that a successful interview should include questions that are clearly understood and where the environment is conducive to an honest answer. Prefatory statements and transitions (Patton, 2002) were used at the beginning and throughout the interviews for clear understanding of the purpose of each question and overall objective of the study. All interviews were held in a private setting where participants are invited to be candid and honest with their answers. No tangible incentives are provided to the participants as not to sway their decision to participate in the study. 60 Limitations and Delimitations This field study evaluates the relationship of leadership development in organizational promotional processes of technology companies. The limitations and delimitations of this study have to do with the sample population and distribution. The survey was distributed to a single social networking site to which the researcher sent a link to those within a network. The expectation was a snowball method where social network members connected to the researcher would forward the link to their networks to obtain a higher response rate. Hence, those who do not have computer access or are not registered on the social networking site nor link cannot access the survey. Those who are not within a network will not be able to access the survey. Due to the nature of a public online site, there is no maximum capacity of the number of respondents to the survey. The only definitive criterion was the final due date for the responses to be returned. Further, surveys and interviews were used for data collection, which is self-reported data and can contain several sources of bias, such as selective memory, telescoping, attribution, and exaggeration (McGregor, 2017). For interviews, the researcher chose each member of the sample population through professional connections within a personal network. Most subjects had worked with the researcher. The number of people selected for the sample population was limited to the researcher’s personal connection to acquaintances. With the snowball method, the initial interview participants referred their connections. The limitation to the snowball method is the referrals’ networks are limited by the number of connections they have. 61 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS The assumed influences of senior technology managers in the promotion process were delineated based on the KMO gap analysis (Clark & Estes, 2008). Knowledge influences were based on declarative factual knowledge, the basic elements to perform a job (Krathwohl, 2002) conceptual knowledge of the understanding effective leadership (Northouse, 2016; Kouzes and Posner, 2017); procedural knowledge, which are influences that measure the ability to carry out a promotional process step-by-step (Mayer, 2011); metacognitive knowledge influences are those that require self-reflection and awareness of one’s cognition (Krathwohl, 2002). Motivation influences are based on mental effort, desire, and persistence (Clark & Estes, 2008) to carry out a specific task, job, or action. Motivation influences include items that involve stakeholders’ value of performing a task, self-efficacy in making decisions and taking action (Badura, 2006), mood and personal emotions (Bono et al., 2007), attribution of the work environment (Anderman & Anderman, 2010; Weiner, 1984), mastery and performance goals orientation (Yough & Anderman, 2006; Anderman, 2015; Schraw & Lehman, 2009; DeBacker et al., 2018). Organizational influences were delineated based on the corporate culture and its support of a learning environment (Schein, 2017; Clark & Estes, 2008; Schneider et al., 1996). Organizational barriers and challenges may stem from resources such as human capital, training, facilities, or equipment (Heffner et al., 2011; Farr & Brazil, 2009; Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009); policies and procedures may also contribute to organizational influences (Clark & Estes, 2008; Ferris, 1992). The results of this research study are categorized similarly to knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to validate the assumed influences. The researcher chose to use a survey to reach the most widespread and diverse target population 62 of senior technology managers who have promotion experience. LinkedIn.com was the website chosen for the application of posting the twenty-question survey link because its audience is professional, and the site is capable of filtering for the target population. The mixed-method approach involved individual interviews following the survey distribution. The researcher used a professional network connection with the 22 participants to schedule one-on-one interviews. Interviews with senior managers allowed for an in-depth understanding of experiences and responses to survey questions. Interviews go beyond a statistically significant response to multiple-choice questions, as participants can elaborate on their responses with examples and even ideas of how to improve the application of process steps in the future. Participants are also able to share specific promotion methods that worked well, how the methods were applied, and where the methods did not fit situations. The findings of the interviews, along with the survey results, informed the recommendations for improving the organizational promotion process described in Chapter Five. Recommendations are based on the data collection of the small sampling population for this field study; they are suggestions for improvement of organizational promotion systems, and likely to positively impact the achievement of stakeholders' goals. Participating Stakeholders The stakeholders for this research survey are senior managers of technology companies (i.e. medical devices, semiconductors, hardware, and software organizations) who have experience promoting team managers (versus project or program managers). The stakeholders for this study have years of experience leading a team in a people-managing capacity. They have first-hand experience being individual contributors, first-time managers, and now senior managers who have the authority to promote people-managers. Senior managers include 63 directors to executives, presidents, and chief executive officers. They all come from different companies within the technology industry. The 34 survey participants have one to fifty years of experience as senior managers; the number of people-managers they have promoted range from one to fifty. All 22 interview participants come from the technology fields of software, hardware, medical devices, or semiconductor. Interview participants range from two years of experience as senior managers to thirty years of experience. The interview participants included senior directors, vice presidents, and chief executive officers. Determination of Assets and Needs The purpose of conducting a mixed-method research study with surveys and interviews is to confirm the understanding and needs of organizations in regard to the promotion process. By conducting both surveys and interviews, the researcher can compare and possibly confirm quantitative and qualitative data. If responses to survey questions were significantly higher than the established respective thresholds, then the influence would be determined as an asset. Similarly, if there is high agreement among interview participants’ responses for an assumed influence, the influence is established as an asset. In comparing survey items to interview question items, the researcher looks for agreement amongst responses in both methods. If survey responses are like interview responses, it is likely that the respective influence is an asset. If the responses to the survey questions greatly differ from that of the interview participants’ responses, the researcher would look deeper into the interview transcripts to search for reasons for differences. The distribution of an online survey and the conduct of personal interviews were the primary methods of data collection for this research study. As discussed in Chapter Three, both 64 surveys and interviews covered all KMO influences. Triangulation of data involved comparing survey results with interview responses and comparing all responses to research data. A saturation point in conducting qualitative interviews is reached when the researcher notices redundancies in responses and no new insights have been revealed (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Saturation for interviews stopped after all questions were asked and answered as all interview participants willingly responded to all 29 questions. Saturation during qualitative data analyses was reached when general themes and tentative findings became repetitive. However, interview findings in this research study include responses from all 22 participants. The cut score, or threshold, used for survey results in factual knowledge influences was determined to be 90 percent as 34 out of more than 500 participants is an extremely small number. For the sample population to represent the larger target population, a higher threshold score is required (Zieky & Perie, 2004). The purpose of knowledge influence items was to ascertain stakeholders’ factual understanding of a successful promotion system, which includes the ability to discern effective leadership skills. Hence, for a knowledge influence to be determined as an asset in the survey, respondents had to have an average score of 90 percent or more. The knowledge influence threshold for the qualitative interviews was established at eighty percent given consideration of the diversity of technology organizations (i.e. size, specific industry, specific market, start-up versus established) and the breadth of stakeholders’ experiences (i.e. number of years as a senior manager, current position in the company, type of company). An influence would be determined as an asset, therefore, if 19 of the participants’ responses agreed. The threshold of motivation influences for survey items was established at 80 percent, taking into consideration the divergent backgrounds and experiences of individuals’ motivations. 65 It is also purported that motivation does not impact the organization as much as knowledge, skills, and resources do. For example, a senior manager may have the desire to promote an individual to a people-manager position, however, without the knowledge of promotion steps, the senior manager will likely be unable to execute the promotion. Similarly, if the organization does not provide a promotion process, a senior manager with high motivation will likely struggle with action steps. The threshold of motivation influences for the interview participants is similarly established at 80 percent taking into consideration that all 22 participants have senior manager titles and experience. Therefore, at least 17 participants' responses would have to agree for a motivation influence to be determined as an asset. Organizational influences are the foundation of an organizational promotion system. They can be supporters or barriers to career mobility as company policies dictate rules and regulations while organizational culture strongly influences organizational processes (Erez & Gati, 2004; Schein, 2017; Martin, 2010). Therefore, the threshold for organizational influences was established at 90 percent for both survey items and interview responses. With the qualitative interviews, an organizational influence was determined to be an asset if at least 19 respondents were in agreement. Results and Findings for Knowledge Influences Knowledge influences for this research study are reported using the categories of declarative factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Survey results and interview findings are reported based on the knowledge categories and assumed causes for each respective category. The thresholds for survey and interview results are 90 percent for each. 66 Factual Knowledge Influence 1a. Managers need to know their rate of successful promotions. Survey results. There were no survey items for this influence. Interview findings. Participants were asked to estimate the percentage of successful promotions they had given in their experiences as senior managers. Of the 22 interview participants, 7 stated that their rate of successful promotions is 90% or higher indicating that this influence is a need. Participant 2 said “I would say 100%...that's not too outrageous, but I was always very careful with that.” Participant 16 said that all his promotions were successful, “pretty much getting good success rate, good retention rate...No one leaves me.” Participant 21 asserted that “I would say probably 85% very successful but 10% with leave.” The percentage of participants who had successful promotions is 32%, indicating that this influence is a need as seen in Table 6. Table 6 Interview Results for Factual Knowledge of Rate of Successful Promotions #1a What percentage of promotions have you given that you would consider successful? Participant # % of successful promotions (n = 22) 1 85% 2* 100% 3* 90% 4 45% 5 85% 6 65% 7 80% 8 80% 9* 90% 10 80% 11 80% 67 12 80% 13 75% 14* 100% 15* 90% 16* 100% 17 70% 18* 100% 19 10% 20 70% 21 85% 22 50% Summary. The assumed influence that managers need to know their percentage of successful promotions was confirmed as a need by the interview findings. The interview results did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Influence 1b. Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Survey results. Senior managers from various US technology companies were asked to choose the key indicator of a successful promotion. The accuracy in identifying the key indicator was determined by selecting the correct answer in a single multiple-choice item. Senior managers failed to meet the 90% threshold for the correct answer. The survey score for this item was 85% making this influence a need as seen in Table 7. Table 7 Survey Results for Factual Knowledge of Successful Promotion #1b Factual Knowledge Item (n = 34) % Count What is the key indicator of a successful promotion (after the new manager is placed in the promoted role)? a) Increased revenue; decreased operational expenses 3 1 b) Satisfaction of the organization’s executive team. 3 1 68 c) Filled a position gap in the organization structure. 6 2 d) A higher performing team. * 85 29 e) The person who is promoted is satisfied. 3 1 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to tell how they measured or qualified a successful promotion. Of the 22 interview participants, five stated that a key indicator of a successful promotion involves a higher performing team; indicating that this influence is a need. To qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must agree that successful promotions involve seeing the team perform at a higher degree. Participant 3 uses two metrics that include “the deliverable for the functional area...and the development of their respective team.” Participant 15 believes that the successful promotion of a people-manager is seeing “a leadership capability of mentoring...helping the ones who need the help to rise up.” Participant 17 measures a successful promotion by “how well did their new team respond to them (and) how well did the performance of the team improve.” Participant 21 asserted that a key indicator of successful promotions is that the incumbents “can actually harvest more managers and more leaders under them...a success factor (is) you can get more people promoted under you.” Participant 22 stated that a successful promotion involves a leader who “prioritize(s) what their direct report needs to do versus what they’re needing.” Summary. The assumed influence that managers know the definition of a successful promotion was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results did not meet the 90 percent threshold, nor did the interview findings meet the 90 percent cut score. 69 Factual Knowledge 2 Influence 2. Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to select the main question that is core to all leadership decisions. The correct answer was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as the score for the correct answer was 29%. Therefore, as shown in Table 8, this influence is determined in the survey as a need. Table 8 Survey Results for Factual Knowledge of Core Leadership Question #2 Factual Knowledge Item (n = 34) % Count What is the most important question leaders ask themselves? a) How can I get the most time out of my team? 9 3 b) How can I satisfy the customers? 9 3 c) What is right for the enterprise? * 29 10 d) How can I be more accessible to the team? 15 5 e) What are the problems? 38 13 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to think of someone they considered to be an effective leader and explain why. Of the 22 interview participants, 9 stated that effective leadership centers around making decisions based on what is best for the enterprise. To qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must agree that successful promotions involve 70 seeing the team perform at a higher degree. Participant 1 stated that “effective leadership aligns to [the company goals] and drives towards that outcome.” Participant 2 believes that an effective leader is “strategically oriented, they could always tie the actions of the department to the organizational strategy and organizational success.” Participant 5 asserted that effective leaders are “driven by your success as much as the company’s success.” Participant 6 stated that an effective leader is able “to see the pitfalls and issues ahead of time...manage certain issues to achieve these company objectives.” Participant 9 said that an effective leader is able to see both the breadth, the company’s needs, and the depth, the team’s needs, and “they make quicker decisions, but they are informed by the breadth and the forward-looking stuff.” Participant 11 asserted that to effective leaders, the organization’s “mission, vision is pretty clear… (they are) participating in their (leadership) circle and their team.” Participant 16 stated that “effective leadership is obviously meeting goals for the company.” Summary. The assumed influence that senior managers need to know the core decision- making characteristics of effective leadership is centered around the best for the enterprise was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results did not meet the 90 percent threshold, nor did the interview findings meet the 90 percent cut score. Conceptual Knowledge 1 Influence 1. Managers need to understand the concept of leadership. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to select a single correct answer to a question about the concept of leadership. Accuracy in identifying conceptual understanding was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ correct response exceeded the 90% threshold with a score of 91%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as shown in Table 9. 71 Table 9 Survey Results for Conceptual Knowledge of Leadership #3 Conceptual Knowledge Item (n = 33) % Count What is leadership? a) A process of influence that involves groups and leads to common goals. * 91 30 b) A group of people who make decisions in the best interest of the shareholders. 3 1 c) Different styles of the way managers run meetings. 0 0 d) A group of people who are technically competent. 6 2 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked what the terms effective and successful leadership means to them. Of the 22 interview participants, 7 understood that the concept of leadership is primarily a process of influencing groups to a common goal. To qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must have an agreement for the definition of leadership; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 3 understands that an effective leader “creates a vision of what the end state looks like and rallies the team around that vision.” Participant 5 stated that “effective leadership is someone who can organize, corral, and give direction to the people around them, cross-functionally to achieve the goals.” Participant 7 said that when he was learning to be an effective leader, he observed someone who “imagined the future, had a vision…led me to engage the team...inspire the team.” Participant 8 asserted that with an effective leader “people feel that their manager is someone they can trust…[leadership] is a component of achieving the business outcome.” Participant 12 stated that an effective leader “knows where you want to go...properly articulate the vision...who is married to an outcome.” 72 Participant 21 experienced effective leadership as people following because they trust a leader who focuses on “how much revenue you bring in as a team...for the company's direction...They got to have fun with their people.” Most of the other respondents talked about leadership as “proactively have their own vision;” inspiring others, and gaining trust from the team, but they did not mention leading the team to a common goal. Summary. The assumed influence that managers understand that leadership is about influencing a group to lead toward a common goal was confirmed as an asset in the survey results, as respondents scored an average of 91percent, surpassing the 90 percent threshold. However, in the interview findings, 7 of 22 respondents, 32 percent, stated that they understood the concept of leadership, which did not meet the 90 percent cut score. This knowledge influence that managers understand the concept of leadership is considered an asset because of the significantly high score from the surveys. Most of the interview responses eluded to the understanding of influencing as a leadership capability. Although interview responses varied by definition of a common goal (i.e. “my goal,” the team’s goal, and the individual’s goal), there was some form of conceptual understanding that a team should strive toward a goal. This influence is determined as an asset because most respondents, both in surveys and in interviews, understood that the concept of leadership involves a process of influence toward some sort of goal. Conceptual Knowledge Influence 2. Managers need to understand the principles of learning and motivation in regard to the organizational influence in the promotion process. 73 Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their understanding of learning and motivation principles as part of the promotion process. The accuracy in identifying conceptual understanding was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 42%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need. See Table 10. Table 10 Survey Results for Managers’ Understanding of Learning and Motivation Principles #4 Conceptual Knowledge Item (n = 33) % Count What is/are the important thing(s) managers should do to influence the organization’s promotion process? a) Model the way of leadership. 30 10 b) Manage activities in which his/her workgroup participates. 6 2 c) Select team members based on cultural background. 6 2 d) a and b.* 42 14 e) a, b, and c. 15 5 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked what they did to influence the organization’s promotion process. Of the 22 interview participants, 3 understood that influencing the organization’s promotion process involves modeling the way of leading and managing the group’s participation in work activities. In order to qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must agree on the most important ways leaders can influence the promotion process; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 1 understands that influencing the promotion process involves being “a mirror to highlight what [future leaders] are good at,” coaching, providing options and “industry expertise; brainstorming really guiding them.” Participants 3 and 5 are 74 “very keen to provide opportunities for people within the organization in terms of growth opportunities” and “teams are involved in cross-functional activities.” Eight respondents referred to the company’s human resources process for promotions, including fair compensation, formal career paths, and performance reviews. Three participants responded that they influence the promotion process by working directly with the individual to be promoted. Five respondents believed that it was most important to advertise the strengths of the candidate to other leaders in other functional organizations. Summary. The assumed influence that senior managers understand that influencing the promotion process involves modeling the way of leadership and managing activities in which the team members participate, was confirmed as a need in both the survey and interview findings. Surveys scored an average of 42 percent, which does not meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, 3 of the 22 participants asserted that leadership modeling and managing team activities were necessary to influence the promotion process. Procedural Knowledge 1 Influence 1. Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their knowledge in evaluating job descriptions to align with the organization’s mission. The accuracy in identifying procedural understanding was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 42%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as shown in Table 11. 75 Table 11 Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge Evaluating Job Descriptions #5 Procedural Knowledge Item (n = 33) % Count The first step to evaluating a candidate for promotion is to... a) evaluate the candidate’s unique talents. 33 11 b) understand how to develop employees’ careers and roles that align with organizational goals. * 42 14 c) have a planning discussion with HR. 0 0 d) ask peers and other leaders for their thoughts of the candidate. 24 8 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe the steps they took to evaluate a job description when promoting someone to a people-managing role. Of the 22 interview participants, seven understood that the promotion process involves evaluating the job description to align with the organization’s mission, indicating that this influence is a need. Participant 2 asserted that the leader who is promoting is “aware of the organizational strategy and tactics that are going to be used and how people will have to grow and advance in that role in order to stay successful.” Participant 3 is “a big believer in creating the structure and of the organization and the requirements of the roles within that structure.” Participant 5 stated that when evaluating a job description, senior managers should “ understand how much the company’s tactical strategy is involved and what it means...make sure that it includes management of people and what success feels like.” Participant 6 stated that “you have to look at the needs of the company first actually, as the role that's perhaps an extension.” Participant 11 said that evaluating the job description means to assure that the candidate has “different skills, technical skills, and people skills and organizational skills” based on company needs. Participant 12 asserted that “the job 76 description starts with context in terms... of the organization...and the factors that would make someone successful in this role.” Participant 19 evaluates a job description beginning with “the needs of the organization...then [evaluate] the intangibles that you cannot see.” Other interview responses to evaluating a job description during promotions included four participants stating that the organization “does not use a job description” when promoting people managers. Participant 4 shared a promotion that was based on the candidate presenting innovative ideas of the role that was not included in the job description at all. Participant 15 stated that the senior manager and the candidates “come together and write [the job description] together.” Instead of using a job description, Participant 16 promotes employees because he “like(s) taking guys that have that drive.” Participant 20 said, “I don't even think our job descriptions really captured what the job was right.” Summary. The assumed influence that managers know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting was confirmed as a need in the survey results, as respondents scored an average of 42 %, failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, seven of 22 respondents, 32%, stated that they evaluated job descriptions in alignment with the organization’s mission, which did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Thus, this influence is identified as a need. Procedural Knowledge 2 Influence 2. Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their knowledge in creating development plans for each team member. The accuracy in identifying procedural understanding 77 was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 25%. Therefore, as shown in Table 12, this influence is determined in the survey as a need. Table 12 Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge of Designing Development Plans #6 Procedural Knowledge Item (n = 32) % Count As a leader, what is your first step for designing development plans for team members? a) Ask each team member about his/her unique learning style. 13 4 b) Understand similarities and differences in learner characteristics of each team member. * 25 8 c) Reflect on your own method of knowledge absorption. 3 1 d) a and b. 16 5 e) a, b, and c. 44 14 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe the steps they took when creating development plans. A follow-up question asked of the senior managers was how they ensured that the plan was implemented. Of the 22 interview participants, 6 senior managers created development plans for team members with the first step of understanding the similarities and differences in learner characteristics. In order to qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must understand the similarities and differences in learner characteristics within the team; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 1 responded with “first thing would be trying to understand where the team member wants to go. And part of our job as leaders is to coach.” Participant 3 said, “So first of all, I asked them to look at themselves and identify where they 78 believe they have gaps.” Participant 6 said that he first needs “to understand what are the strengths and areas of development for each individual” then “let them work on those things and try to help that person be more effective.” Participant 7 believed that the key component in creating development plans is “working closely with the individual... to understand the individual’s need to have his or her own ambitions and the plan.” Participant 9 shared his journey where he “would meet [the team members] where they are...sense of how they need to be or carry themselves to handle the challenges, psychologically, emotionally, mentally and physically. So that's more inside-focused on the people process.” Participant 13 conducts quarterly one-on-one meetings with team members and asks them, “what's behind that?... I want to know what is going on for you. What do you need help with? How can I help?... So, a lot of these one-on-ones leaders have are about you.” Four respondents stated that the first step to creating development plans is to have team members come up with their own. Participant 19 said that the development plan “is based on the employee. He or she owns a development plan.” Eight participants responded with statements about the organization’s responsibility to provide a formal human resources process to dictate the development planning process. Participants 2 and 4 talked about official company processes for development planning. Participant 2 shared that “We had a number of programs available to us in all the companies I worked in to develop a person's interpersonal and teaming skills, communication skills presentation skills and managerial skills.” Three respondents asserted that outsourced training courses should be assigned. Participants 7 and 17 said that identifying necessary training courses to fill team members’ gaps is primary in development planning, then provide “time to take the training that's required to develop in the areas that were identified.” Two respondents said that development plans are for “problem employees.” Participant 22 79 responded with “I've only, unfortunately, done development plans in like more pips [performance improvement plans] performance.” Summary. The assumed influence that managers need to know the steps in creating and implementing a development plan was confirmed as a need in the survey results, as respondents scored an average of 25 percent, failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, 6 of 22 respondents, 27 percent, created and implemented development plans by first understanding the different learner characteristics. The 27 percent score from the interviews did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Procedural Knowledge 3 Influence 3. Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and performance goals. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their knowledge of guiding team members to set learning and performance goals. The accuracy in identifying procedural understanding was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 56%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 13. 80 Table 13 Survey Results for Procedural Knowledge of Setting Performance Goals #7 Procedural Knowledge Item (n = 32) % Count As a leader, you guide your team members in setting performance goals by: a) having frequent meetings with each team member. 9 3 b) influencing team members to exceed performance goals. 6 2 c) sharing a clear understanding of the degree of technical, interpersonal, and strategic skills necessary for each role. * 56 18 d) sharing the company’s mission and vision. 28 9 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe the process they took to guide their teams to set learning and performance goals. Of the 22 interview participants, 3 guided their teams to set learning and performance goals by first, sharing a clear understanding of the technical, interpersonal, and strategic skills necessary for each role. In order to qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must have an agreement for the process of setting learning and performance goals; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 1 stated that setting learning and performance goals begins with “really trying to understand the skills that we need for that organization to be successful...So it's really first understanding what skills you need to develop to take on and be very successful in this role.” Participant 9 held coaching sessions with individual team members to help them think through “how is your inside landscape affecting what you are doing or what you aspire to do? And then how is the external world.” Participant 12 asserted that “skills and capabilities (are) typically part of the [learning] plan and depending on what the person is looking at...they could be technical skills, can be more process-based, be more strategic, or based on data and analytics.” 81 Other responses varied in reason and ownership of creating learning and performance goals. Seven participants responded that setting learning and performance goals is the responsibility of the larger organization. Participant 3 asserted that “we define learning goals on an annual basis. We have a formal process within the organization to do that.” Participant 6 said that the “company sets your budget and goals, KPIs (key performance indicators). Within that KPI for the individual in addition to meeting the company's results, which are directives.” Participant 2 provided an example of regular staff meetings, where “say, these changes are coming to our projects, our organization or clients that we work with and support the kinds of technologies we're using, and so we need to add these to our learning goals.” Participant 16 considered learning goals when the employees are “in the position that they are in to actually execute against what they're supposed to be doing, and they need tools to do that.” Participant 11 said he did not have meetings about learning goals; “the reason I don't have a whole lot of discussions that are about learning... is because I like to have performance-related conversations.” Summary. The assumed influence that managers share a clear understanding of the degree of technical, interpersonal, and strategic skills of each role to guide the team in setting learning and performance goals was confirmed as a need in the survey results, as the average score did not meet the 90 percent threshold. The interview research study found that 2 of 22 senior managers started the process of setting learning and performance goals by sharing clear understandings of the skill requirements for each role, which did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Therefore, this assumed procedural knowledge influence is determined as a need. 82 Metacognitive Knowledge 1 Influence 1. Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their ability to reflect on their team’s progress and make necessary adjustments. The accuracy in identifying this metacognitive knowledge influence was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 63%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 14. Table 14 Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Impacts on Team Performance #8 Metacognitive Knowledge Item (n = 32) % Count What most impacts team members’ performance and progress in development planning? a) Each team member’s technical skills and education. 19 6 b) Each team member’s self-beliefs thoughts. * 63 20 c) Manager approval and bureaucracy. 0 0 d) Organizational budget and resource constraints. 9 3 e) Business acumen and knowledge about the company. 9 3 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked about the frequency of reflection on the team’s development plan progress and how they went about making adjustments when necessary. Of the 22 interview participants, 6 practiced reflections of their team’s progress by understanding the impact of each team member’s self-belief. To qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must have an agreement for the impact of team member’s self-beliefs 83 thoughts; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 1 asserted “we're usually talking about individuals, but we first understand what the team needs, and I usually talk with my managers, try to understand [their needs].” Participant 2 meets with team members and has “a conversation about what's not working for you” and coaches them to the next step. When needing to make adjustments to development plans, Participant 3 stated “I will have a conversation with the individual and understand why the adjustment is needed and what type of adjustment is needed and then discuss it with them.” Participant 7 concerned herself with the team’s “wellbeing physically, emotionally work-wise all together then discusses” with each team member possible opportunities and barriers. Participant 9 stated that the bi-weekly one-on-one meetings are about “evaluating how [the team members] are doing with the barriers; what are the opportunities, how things have changed, and then work through that.” Participant 13 looks at her team members and assesses “how people show up, how people engage,” making sure “you’re connecting with folks on it.” Eight interview participants responded that the corporation sets the stage for reflection. Participant 5 stated that “what we do is reflected in sales. Sales numbers and sales get put on sales leadership. Participant 8 takes a practical, outcome-based approach based on company goals to make adjustments to development plans. When asked about reflecting on team progress and adjusting, three participants talked about assigning training courses based on the available budget. Participant 22 reflects on the team’s progress “on-the-fly.” Summary. The assumed influence that senior managers understand that progress in development planning is most impacted by team members’ self-beliefs was confirmed as a need in the survey results, as respondents scored an average of 63%, failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, six of 22 respondents, 27%, asserted that they practiced 84 reflecting on the team’s development by understanding the impact of self-belief. Therefore, this metacognitive knowledge influence is determined to be a need. Metacognitive Knowledge 2 Influence 2. Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their knowledge in guiding team members in self-reflection to impact performance. The accuracy in identifying this metacognitive knowledge influence was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 36%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 15. Table 15 Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Leaders’ Coaching Actions #9 Metacognitive Knowledge Item (n = 33) % Count To maximize team members’ performance in the field, leaders should coach by: a) Modeling the way to perform a task. 45 15 b) Send the employees to various training. 0 0 c) Listen to team members’ thoughts that relate to their values. * 36 12 d) Sharing personal work and life experiences. 18 6 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe a time when they coached a team member to reflect on performance. Of the 22 interview participants, 13 guided their team members by listening and relating to values. To qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must have an agreement for the leaders’ coaching responsibilities to maximize team 85 performance; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 2 described a time when “I sat down with this person. I had a conversation about what the experience had been,” listened to the person, and found out that he was being bullied. Participant 3 described a team member with whom “I actually offered to coach them and so once every other week, we would sit down for an hour.” Participant 5 saw the team as a family and said that she would “spend time with [team members] ...almost every day, and say what's going on? How are you doing?” Participant 6 talked about understanding various personalities and spending time with each team member “as a manager, the most important thing is you need to gain the trust.” Participant 7 asserted that every team member has his and her own thoughts, “my goal is actually not to tell them it’s to listen.” Participant 8 described a company-provided reflection assessment tool that he disregarded. He sat down with his team member, emphasizing a private conversation, and “asked them to describe what happened and whether they were happy.” Participant 9 described a series of one- on-one coaching sessions that he had with his team member to help the person come to an understanding of self-values, blind spots, the root cause of problems, and potential solutions. Participant 12 believed it was important for him to spend time with team members, coaching them to “pause and reflect (asking themselves) what I learned from that? So just asking that question very open.” Participant 13 described eliciting potential people-managers’ values by asking “Do we think that you can lead others to get this done? You have to decide if this is the right path for you.” Participant 14 talked about “building up the relationship so my employees would feel comfortable coming to me.” Participant 15 stated, “oftentimes, you have to just let them talk it through and just be like a therapist.” Participant 17 described a time when he listened to a team manager talk through a problem and “behind all the black and white of this problem was the human element of empathizing with [her].” Participant 19 emphasized listening for the 86 individual’s goals, vision, aspirations, what drives him or her. Four interview participants described a company process that formalized reflection on performance. Participant 1 meets with his team managers when “I see an area where they're not executing. They're not delivering, or they miss a target.” Participants 10, 11, 18 referred to the companies’ performance appraisal process. Participants 12 and 22 talked about their own self- reflection when they met with team members. Participant 21 met with team members and fit them into one of four personality categories, “amiable, analytic, driver, or expressive.” Summary. The assumed influence that managers coached team members on performance by listening and relating to values was determined as a need in the survey results, as respondents had an average score of 36% , failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, 13 of 22 respondents, 59%, described their abilities to listen and relate to team members’ values, which did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Therefore, this metacognitive knowledge influence is confirmed as a need. Metacognitive Knowledge 3 Influence 3. Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their ability to be role models in team development. The accuracy in identifying this metacognitive knowledge influence was determined by a single multiple-choice item. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 90% threshold, as they scored 18%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 16. 87 Table 16 Survey Results for Metacognitive Knowledge of Leadership Approach #10 Metacognitive Knowledge Item (n = 33) % Count When reflecting on one’s own leadership approach, a leader should focus on: a) past experience and expertise. 6 2 b) degree of control, tolerance of ambiguity, and disposition. * 18 6 c) team dynamics and function. 70 23 d) cultural background, past experience, and training. 6 2 * The correct answer to the multiple-choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe how they reflected on their own leadership capabilities and skills. A follow-up question was to describe a time when the reflection led to adjusting one’s own leadership approach. Of the 22 interview participants, seven knew that reflecting on one’s own leadership approach involves a focus on the degree of control, tolerance of ambiguity, and disposition. In order to qualify as an asset, at least 19 participants’ responses must have an agreement about the focus of reflection on one’s own leadership approach; hence, this influence is a need. Participant 1 described his transitions from small companies to large companies as a self-reflection where he “had to slow down and [had] to lower my expectation...it's just acceptance and you know, changing my expectations.” Participant 2 asserted “I had plenty of opportunities to reflect on my leadership skills because I listened to my employees. I got feedback.” Participant 3 uses every interaction, every meeting, every one-on- one, and town halls to reflect on his own leadership skills, “I reflect on [my leadership] and I actually solicit feedback from my staff.” Participant 5 solicits feedback from opinionated team members, then asks herself, “okay, am I doing targeted service to my (team)?” Participant 6 88 reflected on his own leadership skills to assess how well he communicated and listened to his people-managers. He regularly asked himself “how I motivate or inspire my team to be the best they can and that's I reflect on the spot regularly.” Participant 12 learned from experience and shared a time when he “really kind of needed to take a step back and reset our goals and that just came from some direct feedback from the team.” Seven participants gauged the effectiveness of their leadership by the responses of the team. Participant 4 said “I mean as a manager of my team, I could look at my current team” and share their success with the executive team. Participant 7 “imagine(s) the future. I ask myself if I inspired the team to make it happen...And that's my own reflection to really think about, okay, how do I be partnered with them. Kind of talking to my kids.” Participant 17 gauged his leadership skills by “how many of these people that I have managed, and lead continue to come to me for advice.” Nine participants depended on books, observing role models, reading articles, and leadership assessments. Participant 11 often went “back (to) one of the best tools that I've ever run across any kind of leader, the LP I from leadership challenge, which is a leadership practices inventory.” Participant 8 said, “so for me, that's come up through, you know, reading books on the subjects, observing mentors or role models who you think demonstrate leadership qualities that resonate with you.” 89 Summary. The assumed influence that managers know that being role models in developing the team involves reflection on one’s own leadership approach, was confirmed as a need in the survey results, as respondents scored an average of 18%, failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. In the interview findings, 7 of 22 respondents, 32%, described how they reflected on their own leadership approach by focusing on their degree of control, ambiguity, and disposition, which did not meet the 90 percent cut score. Therefore, this metacognitive knowledge influence is determined as a need. Results and Findings for Motivation Causes Motivation influences for this research study are reported using the categories of value (Eccles, 2006), self-efficacy (Bandura, 2006), mood (Bono et al., 2007), interest and goal orientation (Yough and Anderman, 2006), and attribution (Anderman and Anderman, 2010). Survey results and interview findings are reported based on the motivation categories and assumed causes for each respective category. The thresholds for survey and interview results are 80 percent for each. Value Influence 1. Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members and connect this activity with higher team productivity. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their value in developing higher team productivity. The accuracy in determining this motivation influence was determined by four rank choice options of most value to least value. None of the response categories met the 80% threshold for motivation influences. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 17. 90 Table 17 Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Developing High Team Productivity As a leader, please rank the following (by dragging each sentence up or down) in order of what you value most (1) to what you value least (4) (n = 32): #11 Number of respondents Rank position Meeting the company bottom line. Customer satisfaction Confidence in your own abilities to develop a team Training and developing a high performing team 1 2 13 6* 11 2 4 9 5 14* 3 10* 7 10 5 4 16 3* 11 2 Percentage of correct responses 31% 1% 19% 44% * The correct answer to the rank choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to select the most important factor of leading a high-performing team among a provided list of four factors. A follow-up question was to explain why they selected one or two factors they did. Of the 22 interview participants, five stated that the most important factor in leading a high-performing team is the confidence that the leader has in his or her own abilities to develop the team; indicating that this influence is a need. To qualify as an asset, at least eighty percent, or 17 participants’ responses must agree that confidence in one’s own leadership abilities is most important to develop a productive team. Participant 4 asserted “having confidence shows an effective leader.” Participant 6 said “Confidence and developing the team are the skills that set the foundation that you need to develop yourself…(then) you basically have a team effort to get to the results.” Participant 12 91 stated “I would say, confidence, my ability...I can let people know what’s important and what the priorities are.” Participant 13 said “because to me confidence comes with not that everything is guaranteed. But, you know, you can get there.” Participant 21 asserted “You can't do customer satisfaction and you can't do it without” confidence in the senior manager’s abilities and training the team. Two participants held that a leader’s confidence is not a consideration or deemed it insignificant. Participant 16 stated “And then confidence in my own ability to develop a team, I'm fully confident. I have done this for 30 years. So, it's like, it's not a big deal for me to kind of reflect on that.” Seven participants said that meeting the bottom line is the most important activity in developing higher team productivity. Participant 1 said that “At the end of the day, it's...the company's bottom line, because everything else comes from that, like customer satisfaction, will come from...your bottom line.” Participant 22 asserted that “if we're meeting the company's bottom line. Like, if I can drive my team to work really hard to show the right numbers, then we're good.” Six participants said that customer satisfaction is the most important. Participant 8 asserted that “customer satisfaction will drive product success which will drive the company's bottom line success.” Participant 11 stated, “[when] leading the team, I want everyone on the team to have the customer consulting mindset.” Six senior managers said that training and developing a high-performing team is most important. Participant 3 believed that training and development are most important, asserting that with “fully developed and trained teams, all of the other aspects happen automatically if you've got a very well-trained team.” Participant 7 said “I will say training or developing a high performing team. The reason why I picked that is if you have a valuable trained team, the rest will follow.” 92 Summary. The assumed value motivation influence that senior managers need to value the actions necessary to develop higher team productivity was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results did not meet the 80 percent threshold, nor did the interview findings meet the 80 percent cut score. Influence 2. Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leader traits required for people-managing roles. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their values in the differences of manager and leadership traits required of people-managers. This survey question was written as a multiple response question (i.e. “check all that apply”). Three respondents, 9%, selected the correct responses, which does not meet the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 18. Table 18 Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Management vs. Leadership #12: For this question, please check all that apply. As a leader, I… (n = 32) a) have a vision that I communicate to my team. b) am highly skilled in my technical field. c) can lead a team to complete a project. d) lead my team toward a common goal. e) exceed my performance goals. Responses Number of respondents a only 3 a, b, c, d 6 a, b, c, d, e 8 a, c 1 a, c, d 4 a, c, d, e 4 a, d * 3 93 a, b, d 2 b, c, d, e 1 c only 1 d only 1 * The correct answer to the rank choice question. Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe a time when they promoted someone to a people-manager role. The emphasis of the question was to describe the qualities the senior managers valued in the incumbent. Of the 22 interview participants, four participants stated that they promoted people who could lead and influence a team. Participant 1 asserted that a person would be promoted “if we see those qualities of being able to influence teams...to reach the outcomes.” Participant 2 promoted those who “had the people skills, the communication skills, the thinking skills; that you always wanted to see and someone who would lead other people.” Participant 4 promoted someone who could “lead, not manage the team...motivate and energize the team to rally behind you...influence others.” Participant 7 described a time when she promoted someone who had “the ability to imagine the future for themselves and for the team…(had) the ability to engage, inspire their own team...to make things happen.” Other interview participants described various qualities and characteristics to promote someone. Participants 3 and 8 said that promotion depended on the person’s technical capabilities and personality types. Participant 6 stated that he would promote someone who “leads the team with the same philosophy” as him. Participant 11 stated two criteria for promotion. The first was the incumbent’s “individual intuitive role they will already be perceived as team leaders of some sort” and “The second major factor is they actually wanted to be a people manager.” Participant 13 described a time when she promoted someone because of her “confidence in the person being able to turn around from being up here (individual contributor) 94 to being a leader of that team.” Participant 18 said that he promoted people who were “performing well in their current role...work well with others to prioritize and communicate effectively.” Participant 22 said “I value the excitement and energy and creative thought.” The rest of the participants mentioned emotional intelligence or inherent, “DNA” leadership qualities as factors for promotion. Summary. The assumed value motivation influence that senior managers need to value the significance of manager versus leadership traits required for people-managing roles was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey score was 9% while the interview results had a total of 4 correct responses; neither scores met the 80 percent threshold. Self-Efficacy Influence 1. Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through the application of the rubric. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their confidence levels in four skills of managers and leaders. The accuracy in determining this motivation influence was determined by a 1 to 10 scale, where 1 means no confidence at all and 10 means most certain confidence. For this item, the senior managers’ responses did not meet the 80% threshold for any of the four questions. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 19. 95 Table 19 Survey Results for Value Motivation Influence of Effective Leadership Rubric #14 For each of the following questions, please drag the marker on the rating scales below to rate your confidence in performing the following: Score (1 = No confidence; 10 = Most certain confidence) a) Train team members to clearly understand the difference between the definition of a manager and leader. (n = 31) b) Train team members on technical skills. (n = 31) c) Train team members on human (interpersonal) skills. (n = 31) d) Train team members on conceptual (strategic, business) skills. (n = 31) Percentage of responses to respective score 1 3% 0% 0% 0% 2 0% 3% 3% 3% 3 3% 10% 0% 0% 4 3% 6% 6% 3% 5 10% 10% 16% 10% 6 0% 6% 10% 10% 7 10% 19% 6% 10% 8 29% 26% 23% 16% 9 19% 10% 13% 23% 10 23% 10% 23% 23% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 71% 46% 59% 62% Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe a time when they felt high and low confidence in training a new leader on people-managing skills. A follow-up question was to describe what impacts their confidence. Of the 22 interview participants, five expressed that their self-confidence and being role models in creating a vision, interpersonal skills, technical skills are part of effective leadership. Participant 2 responded that two things impacted confidence; “first is confidence in yourself that you've had the experience that you can prepare a person for that role... you have to see some confidence on the part of the learner; that they think they're 96 ready for this and they're motivated to do this.” Participant 10 said that she would feel low confidence in “something that I just have no expertise in or haven't done. I think that would affect my confidence because I like to speak from experience.” Participant 12 talked about his self-confidence in training new managers; “I’d like to have some mastery of the subject matter.” Participant 17 shared an example about his ability to coach a direct report to be able to effectively manage a team by being “cognizant of what he wants out of the team.” He said that his confidence was dependent on “how many times have I done this and over a long enough period of time.” Participant 21 stated that “the biggest thing is led by example...The ability to communicate well. And execute.” Four participants talked about delegation and attitude are qualities most needed by new people-managers. Participant 1 asserted that he needs to train people-managers on “yeah, it's delegation and trust are the two biggest things that we tend to spend a lot of time on. New managers suck at both of those things.” When asked to describe a time when he had low confidence in training a new people-manager, he stated “(when) trying to adjust attitude is the hardest thing.” Participant 22 shared a story where she could not train someone because he “was really not very self-reflective and I was kind of telling him not to be such a jerk.” Participants 5, 8, 11, 12, and 18 asserted that if the individual had participated in formal leadership training classes, that would make them confident in promoting the individual. Participant 8 asserted that he felt highly confident to promote someone if “you introduce them to someone else who is really good at that skill; it could be that you send them to a seminar. It could be that you recommend a book you've read that had a strong section on that skill.” Four participants asserted that they felt high confidence when the person they were training “had motivation” and “was ready.” 97 Summary. The assumed self-efficacy motivation influence that senior managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skills are sufficient to train others was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results do not meet the 80 percent threshold. The interview findings resulted in 5 of 22 participants who had confidence in training people-managers, which does not meet the 80 percent cut score. Influence 2. Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their confidence in creating a learning culture within their organization. The survey question was a 10-point scale with 1 meaning no confidence and 10 meaning most certain confidence. There were 31 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores (scores 8, 9, and 10) that met and surpassed the 80% threshold added up to 74%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 20. Table 20 Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Creating a Learning Organization #15 For the following questions, please drag the marker on the rating scales below to rate your confidence in performing the following: Score (1 = No confidence; 10 = Most certain confidence) e) Articulate the need and benefits of a learning culture within the organization. (n = 31) Percentage of responses to respective score 1 0% 2 0% 3 0% 4 0% 98 5 6% 6 0% 7 16% 8 26% 9 19% 10 29% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 74% Interview findings. The participants were asked if they considered their organization to be a “learning organization” and if so, what were their roles in creating the learning culture. Participants were asked to describe a time when they felt low and high confidence in training a new leader on people-managing skills. A follow-up question was to describe what impacts their confidence. Of the 22 interview participants, 8 expressed that they were confident in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. Participant 1 is part of a learning organization where he asserted “it's really (about) setting that culture of not accepting status quo instead… (we are) a team of change agency.” Participant 3 said that he helped create the learning organization from the start; “first was recognizing learning as a centerpiece for employee success and growth.” Participant 7 created a learning culture by “allow(ing) people time to breathe, to learn.” She encouraged a peer-learning program which “can really help promote learning and feel like we are not alone.” Participant 9 says that his organization is a learning organization and “I intervene in my organization to point out, for example, that that's not what I want to see in you guys. I'm fixing the curriculum every time.” Participant 11 expressed confidence in “building training and development team building of whatever solution set...around a business problem.” In regard to creating a learning organization, Participant 13 stated “I do is set up the work that they need to get done in a relatively codependent environment.” Participant 19 asserted that his 99 company is a learning organization, where learning is to “Work smart, not work hard. You simplify things. You create opportunity for more (learning). And you incorporate more hands-on scenarios.” Participant 21 affirmed that his organization is a learning organization. He believed “If you can't grow, you can't know, and you can’t show...you’re never learning.” Four participants responded directly with “No” as the answer to the question about their company being a learning organization. Participant 8 said that his company was not a learning organization; “We're currently a habit organization.” Two participants said they had no role in creating nor leading the learning culture because the organization already had a formal structure in place. Participant 18 hired a learning and development manager. Participant 20 asserted that his company was not a learning organization because “islands work within islands’ cultures” where engineers did not encourage a learning culture. Three respondents stated that their organizations had self-learning and peer-learning as informal learning structures. Summary. The assumed self-efficacy motivation influence that senior managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results did not meet the 80 percent threshold, nor did the interview findings meet the 80 percent cut score. Influence 3. Managers need to have the confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their confidence in articulating the entire organization’s promotion process. The survey question was a 10-point scale with 1 meaning no confidence and 10 meaning most certain confidence. There were 30 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores that met and surpassed the 80% threshold added up to 50%. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 21. 100 Table 21 Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Articulating the Organization Promotion Process #16 For the following questions, please drag the marker on the rating scales below to rate your confidence in performing the following: Score (1 = No confidence; 10 = Most certain confidence) f) Articulate the entire organizational promotion process. (n = 30) Percentage of responses to respective score 1 0% 2 0% 3 10% 4 7% 5 7% 6 17% 7 7% 8 10% 9 23% 10 17% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 50% Interview findings. The participants were asked about the roles that they played in each stage of the organization’s promotion process. Of the 22 participants, 16 were confident in their ability to take action in the stages of the promotion process. Participant 1 stated “in the beginning, you’re being an evangelist. And so that is making sure that you're creating awareness around what that person is contributing and how those contributions are really reflecting their potential.” Participant 3 described the stages of interviewing, meeting with the candidate; with each stage of the promotion process he helped “to facilitate the mechanics...within the approval structure of the organization. Participant 5 worked with her candidates, “we laid out a plan... so 101 every touch point that we have, it's been in your development plan.” Participant 7 works with her candidates to “support them to evaluate the opportunities...support them through the application process to go” and check on them after they have been promoted. Participant 8 provided various examples of promotions process stages that he was involved in. As a first step “you need to make sure that the job description is updated and correct...you need to work with HR” then follow with team feedback and interview processes. Participant 10 stated, “So I always made sure that I did my homework” to ensure the person had the required knowledge and skills, talk to others who interfaced with the person, and assessed the person. Participant 11 asserted that “95% of the work comes before you ever start doing paperwork” which included stakeholders’ informal approval. Participant 12 stated, “We did the goal setting at the beginning” followed by informal meetings and dialogue with the candidate; put the candidate in test positions, build a case, then advocate to upper management. Participant 13 described her roles starting at rating the employee, “assess on promotability,” present to the peer group, advocate, and “prioritize criticality of the role.” Participant 14 said she “created this promotion path to help with the development as well and to create those opportunities” for promotion. Participant 15 participated in the “360 feedback...collecting the right data to ensure that they are ready for this promotion and then tracking their performance against the deliverables of the role.” Participant 16 looks at the overall performance, then meets with the managers to get feedback from various perspectives for reasons to promote the person. Participant 18 starts by “building a case, documenting, and then socializing and having discussions with the leadership team. Participant 20 described each step from developing the person, socializing, competency review with leadership, to approval. Participant 21 described her part in each stage starting with developing the employee to “getting them set up on his new metrics.” 102 Participant 2 described the organization’s promotion process “there was a major frustration in that meeting by all concerned. That there was too much variability in the description of the role and the description of the person's qualifications that made them qualified for that particular role.” Participant 4 described her role in the promotion process as “stepping back and let(ting) [the candidate] make decisions.” Participant 19 made recommendations and provided input. Participant 21 said “I played the role of mentoring, the goals.” Participant 9 said “there are too many stages...I decided I wanted to promote a person I told my boss, ‘I want to promote him.’” Two participants described the formal organization processes addressed the promotion steps. Participant 6 stated “There's always basically some kind of a documentation that supports that promotion...for a manager to promote somebody or we need another peer or someone else...to concur with that. Participant 17 articulates “why we need this (person),” then makes sure that the HR team is aware, “then aligning them to like their compensation.” Summary. The assumed self-efficacy motivation influence that senior managers need to have confidence in articulating and acting in each stage of the promotion process was confirmed as a need by both the survey results and interview findings. The survey results did not meet the 80 percent threshold, as the total score was 50%. The interview findings scored 72%, which does not meet the 80 percent cut score. 103 Mood Influence 1. Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets with their teams. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their agreement with cultivating a growth mindset within the team. The survey question was a 5-point scale with a score of 1 meaning strongly disagree and a score of 5 meaning strongly agree. There were 31 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of “agree” and “strongly agree”) totaled 97%, surpassing the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 22. Table 22 Survey Results for Self-Efficacy Motivation Influence of Cultivating a Growth Mindset #17 Using the scale below, rate your agreement with the following: I enjoy... Percentage of responses to respective score Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Cultivating a growth mindset within the team. 1 - Strongly Disagree 0% 2 - Disagree 0% 3 - No opinion 3% 4 - Agree 29% 5 - Strongly Agree 68% Interview findings. The participants were asked about their feelings of cultivating a growth mindset within the team. Of the 22 senior managers who were interviewed, 11 asserted that they had positive feelings about cultivating a growth mindset. Participant 1 asserted “that's, by definition, what my team does...stagnation isn't acceptable.” Participant 3 said “I think it's a very, very important” because “a growth mindset enables you to drive and look at things 104 differently and challenge the status quo.” Participants 4, 7, 8 and 21 stated that a growth mindset is very important, especially for process improvement and innovation. Participant 6 asserted that in addition to revenue and performance, “growth is actually an individual learning.” Participant 9 stated “I'm personally super motivated, so I feel very excited about creating a growth mindset within the team.” Participant 10 asserted “It's important that, as a leader, I demonstrate that I have a growth mindset for myself and that I also talk to the team members.” Participant 18 said “I feel excited about it...So the nice thing about the team is they're hungry for achievement.” Participant 22 said “Very strongly. That is huge. I think I really don't know where to start with people who don't want to grow.” Four participants had varying definitions of growth mindset. Participant 5 responded “love it...when people understand that you're behind them and you're trying to help them achieve their career goals.” In response to cultivating a growth mindset, Participant 12 talked about “encouraging people to share openly.” Participant 14 said “I’ve been leading a team with a lot of working moms...They have a different program. It's a different stage of life.” Participant 19 said that the best way to have a growth mindset is “reading to find out how a lot of people are doing things and make it successful.” Participant 16 played a passive role in cultivating a growth mindset and said “I pretty much, I open doors. I’m not a blocker at all.” The rest of the participants did not feel positive about cultivating a growth mindset because it was not a shared value of the entire company. Participant 2 said “I think you need to have at least 30% of your people who are willing to advance...it’s an organizational requirement.” Participant 11 stated regarding cultivating a growth mindset, “I've never seen it.” Participant 13 said “I feel bad. I think it's necessary...it's not easy for a lot of organizations to do.” Participant 15 shared “I think we should always have a growth mindset, you know, we should always be learning, but you 105 realize, sometimes in leadership, that there are people meant for certain roles that they are really good at that role. And that's what they need to do.” Participant 17 said “I’m a very big proponent of it,” but saw “people wanting to do it and feeling frustrated that they don’t have time...nor articulate up to leadership teams.” Participant 20 stated “I'm probably a little more pessimistic, a little more prone to see the implosion than the growth.” Summary. The assumed influence that senior managers need to feel positive about cultivating a growth mindset within the team was confirmed as an asset by the survey results, with a total score of 97%, surpassing the 80 percent threshold. The interview findings scored 50%, which indicates a need for the influence. Due to the fact that the survey results concluded a high score of 97 and given that the interview participants who responded positively were enthusiastic and confident in their explanation of the benefits of cultivating a growth mindset, this influence is determined to be an asset. Influence 2. Managers need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their agreement with creating a learning culture as a strategy to realize organizational goals and creating an environment of continuous improvement. The survey question was a 5-point scale with a score of 1 meaning strongly disagree and a score of 5 meaning strongly agree. There were 31 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of “agree” and “strongly agree”) totaled 91% and 88% respectively, surpassing the 80% threshold for both survey items. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 23. 106 Table 23 Survey Results for Mood Motivation Influence of Creating a Learning Culture and Continuous Learning Environment #18 Using the scale below, rate your agreement with the following: I enjoy... Creating a learning culture as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Creating an environment of continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 3% 0% 2 - Disagree 3% 3% 3 - No opinion 3% 10% 4 - Agree 39% 23% 5 - Strongly Agree 52% 65% Interview findings. The participants were asked about their feelings around creating an environment of learning and continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Of the 22 interviewed senior managers, 13 felt positive about creating an environment of learning and continuous improvement. Participant 1 asserted “my organizations tend to be transformational… [continuous improvement] is central to our job.” Participants 3, 4, 9, 14, and 22 said that continuous improvement is “absolutely...very important,” “mandatory” and they felt “very excited” Regarding creating an environment of continuous learning, Participant 3 stated “the implementation of continuous improvement and more formally a quality management system addresses the goal aspects of the business. I think it’s very necessary.” Participant 15 said “that's our that's our ethos, for sure. Yeah, continuous improvement always.” Participant 8 stated “I think it's critically important that organizations develop the habit and almost a pride and being 107 focused on continuous improvement and growth and solution orientation.” Participant 10 felt that continuous improvement is an important skillset, including “learning how to take care of customers continuous improvement.” Participant 11 described continuous learning and improvement as when “you're really changing the way you do business for the better.” Participant 16 believes in personal, technical, and professional continuous improvement. As a leader he stated, “obviously I do my best to instill ways to do [support continuous improvement] by having one-on-ones to be somewhat of a leader and talk to your folks.” Participant 18 asserted “so I think that's core to what we did right. So, it's through our continuous improvement that we're able to grow.” Participant 22 said “I feel really strongly in small stage startups. It's really hard to do...but I think it’s a really important thing.” Seven participants believed that a continuous learning and improvement environment depended on a formal organizational structure. Participant 2 quantifies continuous learning and improvement, stating “You can't improve anything continuously or otherwise, unless you actually have a baseline and measure against that.” Participant 5 said “it’s built into the organization.” Participant 6 described his experience with the continuous improvement process with the Six Sigma companies he had worked with. Participant 7 described “learning continuous improvement is like process improvement” measuring against a benchmark.” Participant 17 believes that continuous improvement is important but “everyday is ‘how do we articulate up’” as “there tends to be these large sweeping things that we do to accomplish [the company] goals.” Participant 19 said “we incentivize people in terms of monetary and career development and let people know they are valuable.” Participant 20 described “I think that semiconductors is one of those kinds of industries that is built around painful continuous improvement 10% at a time across gazillions of steps.” Participant 12 said “Honestly, I haven't stayed with enough 108 companies long enough to see it happen.” Participant 13 described continuous improvement as “you can look at having someone come in and totally disrupt you and blow you out of the water. So, you have to have a little bit of, you know, kind of like paranoia.” Summary. The assumed influence that senior managers need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy was confirmed as an asset by the survey results with a score of 91%, surpassing the 80 percent threshold. Interview findings resulted in a 59% score, not meeting the 80 percent cut score for interview results. This influence is considered a need as the influence is about an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. The comments from interview participants indicated that the larger company culture strongly impacts the ability of a team to practice continuous improvement and learning. It would be a direct contradiction for a team to maintain an environment of continuous improvement and learning to realize organizational goals if the organization at large does not value continuous improvement and learning. Therefore, this influence is confirmed as a need. Influence 3. Managers need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their agreement with creating a learning culture as a strategy to realize organizational goals and creating an environment of continuous improvement. The survey question was a 5-point scale with a score of 1 meaning strongly disagree and a score of 5 meaning strongly agree. There were 31 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of “agree” and “strongly agree”) totaled 97%, surpassing the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 24. 109 Table 24 Survey Results for Mood Motivation Influence of Fostering Collaboration to Promote Learning #19 Using the scale below, rate your agreement with the following: I enjoy... Fostering a collaborative environment among team members to promote learning. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 3% 2 - Disagree 0% 3 - No opinion 0% 4 - Agree 17% 5 - Strongly Agree 80% Interview findings. The participants were asked about their feelings of fostering collaboration among the team. Of the 21 interview participants, all 21 felt positive about fostering a collaborative environment to promote learning. Participant 1 gave an example “And so me as a leader I have to set the tone for synchronous communication.” Participant 2 stated that the benefit of fostering collaboration was that it “becomes a resource and people start talking to each other and problems get solved faster.” Participant 3 gave an example of his role as a leader, “I drive for very open and safe environments to be able to question and challenge.” Participant 4 asserted that “in order to improve processes, we must have collaboration.” Participant 5 fosters collaboration through weekly roundtable meetings and taking the team “out to celebrate our successes of the quarter.” Participant 6 asserted “that collaboration teamwork is important as well with organizations to structure; to get people to work better together.” Participant 7 stated “I believe the world needs more efforts to gather the collective intelligence. Participant 9 described 110 that team collaboration is “about wanting to solve cool problems and learning about what neat things your teammates are doing.” Participant 9 said “I'm like very anal about fostering collaboration among team members.” Participant 10 believed that it was her job, saying “so that is my role to foster venues and situations where team members get together and collaborate.” Participant 11 fosters collaboration by first sharing the team goals as a leader, then making sure “that people have shared goals with me, then working together.” Participant 12 fosters collaboration by “being authentic,” setting up formal and informal weekly calls and “a little time outside of work to go out.” Participant 13 stated that in collaboration, “You want to bring people along in that journey and make them feel and see that they are owning and contributing to the outcome.” Participant 14 fosters collaboration by “sharing the projects on play (and) priorities from the leadership by sharing as much information as possible and inviting people to talk about how they see this thing to be done right.” Participant 15 asserts that the team needs “to take a step back and look at how do we collaborate. What are interdependencies and how do we become successful together.” Participant 16 asserted that team members should tell everyone “what you're doing so we can share information we can collaborate better.” Participant 18 fosters collaboration as he stated so we bring the relevant individuals into our conversations, we asked for ideas. We are very transparent and open in our communication and feedback.” Participant 19 stated “so teamwork makes the dream work and collaboration is key to getting any project or any effort done in the right way, on time. Participant 20 created a collaborative cross-functional process that was adopted across the entire company where “everyone’s using the same words to me the same thing.” Participant 21 asserted that fostering collaboration “is a good thing to do...there’s only successful teams when collaborating is a part of the team.” Participant 22 stated that collaboration is when everyone “Feel(s) like they're part of a team in a super tight way.” 111 Summary. The assumed mood motivation influence that senior managers need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among the team to promote learning was confirmed as an asset by both the survey results and the interview findings. The score for the survey results was 97% and the score for the interviews was 100%, both surpassing the 80 percent threshold for this motivation influence. Goal Orientation and Interests Influence 1. Managers need to be interested in what motivates their team members to reach their achievement goals. Survey results. Senior managers were asked about their interest in understanding what motivates the team to reach achievement goals. The survey question was a 10-point scale with a score of 1 meaning not at all interested and a score of 10 meaning completely interested. There were 29 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of scores 8, 9, and 10) totaled 83%, surpassing the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 25. 112 Table 25 Survey Results for Interest Motivation Influence of Reaching Achievement Goals #20 On a scale of 1-10, please rate: Score (1 = not at all; 10 = completely) Your interest in understanding what motivates your team members to reach their achievement goals. (n = 29) 1 0% 2 3% 3 0% 4 3% 5 0% 6 0% 7 10% 8 21% 9 24% 10 38% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 83% Interview findings. The participants were asked to describe a conversation they had with a team member about their motivation to reach achievement goals. Of the 22 participants 13 were senior managers who had interest in what motivates their team members. Participant 2 described a case where he motivated an international person who “didn’t have a future outlook” by “charg(ing) that person with an innovation role.” Participant 3 has conversations with his direct reports to ask “what are their aspirations...in short term and long term.” Participant 5 created a “contest that we would have internally...a sports theme contest” to find out what people’s motivations were. In addition to financial motivation, Participant 6 defined motivation to be “how do you feel about your peers in your culture and all the non-monetary side of 113 motivation.” Participant 7 has conversations with the team members “to really support our dialogue and support them to discover who they are, what they want.” Participant 9 stated “my stand was more about asking them questions for them to arrive at their own truth.” Participant 10 said that motivation is “like the SMART goals that you've set for him and her with the focus here is on motivation and goal setting.” Participants 11 and 14 said that motivation is a constant conversation; is “baked into pretty much every conversation” with team members. Participant 15 has conversations with her direct reports and stated, “I think really understanding what both their personal and their professional goals are really helps you shape where they want to grow.” As a senior manager, Participant 16 stated “I always try to switch it on them and say, ‘what is the thing that's stopping you from reaching this level?’” Participant 18 said “I will ask all my employees what motivates them, what gets them excited to come to work each day.” Participant 22 asks her team members “where do you want to go...in like three to five years?” Three participants believed that external factors such as age and pay were motivators. Participant 1 believes that it depends on age. The older and “the more senior you get...we don’t talk about growth. We just expect to be doing that on our own.” Participant 20 said “I’ve had the same conversation forever...People are showing up to work because they want to get paid.” Participant 21 said “a lot of times it’s money...in terms of how much money.” When Participant 8 met with team members about motivation, he stated, “so usually these conversations again occur in the kind of in the needs improvement category. Two participants put team members through a test to find their motivations. Participant 12 put his team members into a test project “seeing them struggle a little bit” then asking the person if she was excited to do the work. Participant 13 stated that people have an idea “they believe that it is the right thing and they're going to be a bull in a China store about it...and you kind of have to turn them down a little bit.” 114 Participant 19 stated that motivation is when “you've set a goal. Then have to evaluate the pros and cons…then look for the right mentor.” Summary. The assumed interest motivation influence that senior managers need to be interested in the team’s motivation to reach achievement goals was determined to be an asset in the survey findings, as the score was 83%, surpassing the 80 percent threshold. The interview results score was 59%, not meeting the 80 percent threshold. This motivation influence is determined to be a need because it converges to team members reaching their achievement goals, which are a part of the organization’s goals. Senior managers in the interviews asserted that investing in the motivations of each team member help build the team trust and move the team forward Influence 2. Managers need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate the importance of cultivating a learning culture within the team. The survey question was a 10-point scale with a score of 1 meaning not at all important and a score of 10 meaning completely important. There were 29 respondents to this survey question. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of scores 8, 9, and 10) totaled 83%, surpassing the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 26. Table 26 Survey Results for Goal Orientation Motivation Influence of Cultivating a Learning Culture within the Team #21 On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = completely), please rate: Score (1 = not at all; 10 = completely) the importance of cultivating a learning culture within your team. (n = 29) 115 1 0% 2 3% 3 3% 4 0% 5 0% 6 7% 7 3% 8 28% 9 14% 10 41% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 83% Interview findings. The participants were asked how they ensured that they were cultivating a learning culture within the team. Of the 17 interviewed participants who responded to this influence, 13 expressed that they felt it was very important to ensure that a learning culture was cultivated within the team. Participant 1 set the tone by asking questions of the team, “try to be inquisitive, try to establish that status quo is not acceptable.” Participant 2 developed the learning culture based on what already existed. He stated, “it was always part of our regular staff meetings and employee evaluation conversations.” Participant 3 gave an example “from a strategic planning perspective, learning from things that have worked and not worked strategically in the past.” Participant 7 encourages her team to get different perspectives from those outside of the organization. Participant 8 stated “so the first thing there is to be willing to admit your own ignorance for mistakes.” Participant 9 asserted that cultivating a learning culture begins with himself as the senior manager. He stated “I am a role model. I try to model the way.” Participant 16 believes that he is part of the culture as much as the employees; “they're constantly trying to learn and do new things.” In every conversation with his direct reports, 116 Participant 18 ensures they “feel that they are being challenged each day, make sure that they are progressing in their role.” Participant 19 stated he and the team, “we bounce ideas, brainstorm, troubleshoot, come up with various ways to look and think through issues.” Four participants use formal organizational metrics to ensure a learning culture. Participant 5 asserted “I can see if they're hitting their quarterly goals.” Participant 11 has “specific conversations around goals and projects.” Participant 6 described cultivating a learning culture by employees doing “some professional development once or twice a year.” Participant 15 asserted that “it comes back to the way that we discuss our OKRs (objective key results).” Participants 12 and 22 shared that they honestly believe that they “have not done a great job” of ensuring learning cultures within their teams. Participant 4 felt that she is critical of herself and “need(s) to communicate, explain the benefits to the company.” Summary. The assumed goal orientation motivation influence that senior managers need to have a goal to cultivate a learning culture within the team was determined to be an asset in the survey findings with a score of 83%, surpassing the 80 percent threshold. The interview findings resulted in a 76% score, failing to meet the 80 percent threshold. This motivation influence is determined to be an asset as the interview participants all agreed that having a learning culture is important within a team. The few who responded negatively also agreed that a learning culture is important but did not act in their past experiences Attribution Influence 1. Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate the degree to which they take responsibility for successes and failures. The survey question was a 10-point scale with a score 117 of 1 meaning they take no responsibility at all and a score of 10 meaning they take complete responsibility. There were 31 respondents to these survey questions. The sum of scores of agreements (combined responses of scores 8, 9, and 10) totaled 42% for taking responsibility for successes, not meeting the 80% cut score: and 81% for taking responsibility for failures, surpassing the 80% threshold. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as an asset as seen in Table 27. Table 27 Survey Results for Attribution Motivation Influence of Taking Responsibility for Successes and Failures #22 Use the 1-10 rating scale below to rate the degree to which you take responsibility for your team’s (1 = not at all; 10 = always) Successes (n = 31) Failures (n = 31) 1 0% 0% 2 3% 0% 3 0% 6% 4 3% 0% 5 23% 3% 6 10% 0% 7 13% 10% 8 23% 23% 9 6% 13% 10 13% 45% Combined total % of 8, 9, 10 scores 42% 81% Interview findings. The participants were asked to describe a time when they took responsibility for the team’s success or failure. Of the 21 participants interviewed for this question, 19 took responsibility for the team’s successes and failures. Participant 3 asserted 118 “everyday... I hold myself accountable.” During failures, Participant 3 stated his role in “taking responsibility and saying, ‘yep, that was a mess.’” When taking responsibility for successes, Participants 6, 7, 18, and 21 talk to board members and high-level executives to notify about the team’s success. Participant 14 takes responsibility for her team’s success by coming to work every day and being proud of what and how the team is doing, supporting the team. Participant 22 described a time when her team’s success earned a published piece in Bloomberg print. She called the company executives which resulted in a celebration of success. With successes, Participants 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, and 16 view themselves “as a supporting body;” the “team is successful in their own right.” Participants 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, and 21 “always take responsibility for the team’s failures.” In failures, Participants 6, 7, 11, and 15 stated that it is important to “recognize what doesn’t work” and “learn from it.” Participant 12 stated “I'm accountable for the teams...I want to highlight that when the team fails because I failed the team.” Participant 9 stated that he “just hesitate(s) to take responsibility for the team’s success” and “So I don't take responsibility for failure.” Participant 19 described a time when he had to “let the slackers...kind of catch up...quickly understand where the weakness lies.” Summary. The assumed attribution motivation influence that senior managers need to take responsibility for their team’s successes or failures was determined to be an asset in both the survey and interview findings. The survey findings for the item about taking responsibility for successes scored a 42%, which is lower than the 80 percent threshold. However, upon deeper investigation in the interviews, senior managers believed it was important to give the teams credit instead of highlighting the leader’s position. They did not want to “be arrogant” by taking 119 the “spotlight.” The survey item about failures resulted in a score of 81%, surpassing the cut score. Interview results had a score of 90%, surpassing the cut score of 80 percent. Results and Findings for Organization Causes Organization influences for this research study are reported using the categories of resources (Heffner et al., 2011; Farr & Brazil, 2011; Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009; Wagner et al., 2007), policies, processes, and procedures (Clark & Estes, 2008; Pintrich, 2003); culture (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001; Goette et al., 2012; Locke & Latham, 2006). Survey results and interview findings are reported based on the organization categories and assumed influences for each respective category. The thresholds for survey and interview results are 90 percent for each. Resources Influence 1. Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with the statement that the organization provides adequate time for leaders to focus on organizational development. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 58%, which does not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 28. 120 Table 28 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Dedicated time for Organizational Development #23 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. As a manager, I have enough time to dedicate to organizational development to meet corporate goals. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 10% 2 - Disagree 10% 3 - No opinion 21% 4 - Agree 55% 5 - Strongly Agree 3% Interview findings. Participants were asked to describe their respective organization’s policy around providing time for organizational development. Of the 22 interviewed participants, 5 responded that the organization supports achievement of corporate goals by providing time for organizational development. Participant 1 asserted “This is something we actively encourage. We even provide a pool of money and time to be able to go do these things.” Participant 4’s company has a “learning university with regulations and training courses...we work together with the leaders.” Participant 5’s company had an environment where “everybody was expected to have development time, everybody was expected to work on the plan.” Participant 13 said “it’s part of that trust and empowerment” based on the team’s expectations and goals. Participant 19 talked about his company providing “internal training to develop skill sets in various areas.” Participants 2, 10, 20, and 22 said “it was mostly an afterthought,” “it was a very minimal focus area.” Participant 8 said “the organizational policy is typically, provide time when the manager makes enough noise that it's important or sneaks it in under the radar.” Participant 20 said “development was always something you were going to do in the extra time.” Participants 3, 121 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 stated “there is no policy,” “we don’t have specific policies around that...we have...development activities at a group level.” Participant 17 said “it’s been very fractured to say the least.” Some participants understood that organizational development meant individual professional development. Participant 6 responded that the Human Resources department handled things like higher education, education sponsorship, and sponsoring tuition. Participants 7 and 14 said “at times, we said everybody needs to do at least 40 hours of some sort of learning,” “40 hours of training and development.” Participant 21 said “they will send people to different courses in different classes” to obtain specific engineering certifications. Summary. The assumed resource organization influence that managers need time to dedicate to organizational design and development was determined to be a need by both the survey and interview findings. The survey results scored 58%, not meeting the 90 percent cut score. The interview results scored 28%, failing to meet the 90 percent interview cut score. Influence 2. Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with the statement that the organization provides the necessary tools for leadership training. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 44%, which does not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 29. 122 Table 29 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Leadership Development Training Tools #24 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. I have all the tools (equipment, skills, people, etc.) necessary to train my team members on leadership development. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 15% 2 - Disagree 22% 3 - No opinion 19% 4 - Agree 37% 5 - Strongly Agree 7% Interview findings. Interview participants were asked to describe the kind of tools provided to leaders for leadership training development. Of the 22 senior managers who were interviewed, 10 affirmed that the organization actively supported leadership training and development. Participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 15, and 19 shared that their organizations provide internal and external training opportunities to employees. Participant 1 said that “there’s a lot of artifacts and trainings that our organizational development or HR organization has put forward to help new leaders, new managers.” Participant 2 said, regarding the organization providing tools, “that’s a huge list...peers, mentoring peers, leadership training...fancy programs.” Participant 3 said that “the organization has both leadership and management level formal training programs facilitated by external parties.” Some companies had longer term programs dedicated to leadership training. Participant 7 talked about a dedicated leadership program that took place over several months. Participant 13 talked about dedicated days, where employees “detach” from emails, laptops, and devices. She talked about leadership resident programs that had year-round 123 cohorts. Participant 9 described his company’s “corporate learning center,” mentors, and outside courses. Participants 5, 6, and 21 defined leadership training to be higher education, “yeah, they could get their Masters and PhD and we’d pay for it.” Participant 21 talked about employees obtaining certifications for engineers. Participants 8, 12, and 17 explained that their companies only provided training through third-party sources. Participant 8 said “sometimes there are some very generic training courses that the company purchases through...national vendors.” Participant 12 described the self-service online courses that were offered on a quarterly basis. Participant 17 said “the main thing that we’ve been given is just budget.” Five participants said their companies did not provide leadership training and development tools. Participant 10 talked about other companies she had worked for that offered leadership training programs, but the one she currently works at did not. Participant 22 said that her company did not provide leadership tools. Participant 14’s organization hired life coaches for those who needed it. Participant 16 said “you're thrown in the water and you're pretty much expected to perform at that level all the time without any training.” Participant 20 said that his company provided tools, but not the necessary tools. Summary. The assumed resource organization influence that managers need tools for leadership training development was confirmed as a need. The survey results score was 44%, which does not meet the 90 percent threshold. The interview findings resulted in a 45% score, which does not meet the 90 percent cut score. Policies, Processes, & Procedures Influence 1. Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities. 124 Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with two statements. The first was about having a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria to measure leadership responsibilities. The second statement is about having a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure the ability to train and develop the team. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 57% and 50%, respectively, which do not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 30. 125 Table 30 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Metrics for Leadership Development #25 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure my leadership responsibilities. As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization's criteria used to measure my ability to train and develop my team. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 4% 4% 2 - Disagree 18% 31% 3 - No opinion 21% 15% 4 - Agree 36% 35% 5 - Strongly Agree 21% 15% Interview findings. Senior managers were asked to explain the organizational metrics used to measure leadership capabilities and responsibilities. Of the 20 interviewed participants, 7 affirmed that their respective company had metrics in place to measure leadership capabilities and responsibilities. Participants 1, 2, 9, and 13 talked about formal leadership assessments provided by the organization. Participant 1 described his company’s “manager effectiveness surveys.” Participant 7 said that her company had an annual “voice of the workforce survey” that had a category for “manager effectiveness.” Participant 9 explained that his company has “standard competencies defined at different levels of the organization and the instrument we use largely is 360s.” Participant 13 talked about the company’s “employee feedback survey, they break it down by the group.” Participants 3, 4, 11, 12, 16, and 19 asserted that leadership skills were measured by meeting company goals and objectives. Participant 3 explained that leadership skills and responsibilities were measured by “the demonstration of fulfilling your own objectives.” 126 Participant 5 asserted that “that was part of the core content...it flowed from the top down leaders.” Participants 8, 10, 14, 18, 20, 21, and 22 said that their companies did not use any metrics to measure leadership capabilities. Participant 8 said “I have not been part of an organization that had established metrics for leadership capabilities.” Participant 17 said that his company has “this kind of Excel matrix that was put together.” Summary. The assumed policies, processes, and procedures organization influence that managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties is confirmed as a need from the survey and interview results. The affirmative survey scores are 57% and 50%, respectively. Neither score met the 90 percent threshold for survey results. Interview findings resulted in a score of 35%, which does not meet the 90 percent threshold for interview results. Influence 2. Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with the statement that the organization provides sufficient policies, processes, and procedures to promote future leaders. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 43%, which does not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 31. Table 31 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Leadership Promotion Processes #26 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. The organization provides me with sufficient policies, processes, and procedures to promote and develop future leaders. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 127 1 - Strongly Disagree 25% 2 - Disagree 21% 3 - No opinion 11% 4 - Agree 32% 5 - Strongly Agree 11% Interview findings. Participants were asked to explain the kind of standardized policies, processes, and procedures that are used to evaluate promotional fit with the organization’s mission and goals. Of the 20 interviewed senior managers, 8 affirmed that their organizations have policies in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization's mission and goals. Participant 2 stated that senior managers “set personal and organizational goals each year that were evaluated four times during the year.” Participant 3 said “the organization has a formal promotion process with certain metrics that are measured in terms of fits to the job description in terms of tenure within the organization training level.” Participant 5 described her company as “an organization that truly believed that we were the best of the best” with regimented and structured processes for promotion. Participant 10’s organization had promotion policies around the number of months and performance appraisals someone had before being promoted. Participant 15’s organization uses the “9-block exercise” for promotional fit. Participant 16’s organization has processes built into the development tool they use called “Betterworks” as well as assessing personal development. Participant 19’s organization uses a 360-management tool. Participant 20 said that the promotion process for directors or above “forced everybody to talk about...the mission, vision, strategy lingo of the company.” Participants 1, 4, 8, and 18 asserted that their companies have informal or subjective to align promotional fit. Participant 1 stated “it is a bit subjective...once you have the role clearly articulated and defined.” Participant 4 said “I don’t measure by organizational policies. I 128 measure by my observation.” Participant 12 explained that the organization did not use corporate mission and goals to align promotional fit, but rather the organization used the five corporate values. Participants 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 21, and 22 said that their organizations do not have any systems in place to align promotional fit to corporate mission and goals. Summary. The assumed policies, processes, & procedures organization influence that managers need to have standardized policies, procedures, and processes in place to align promotional fit to the organization’s mission and goals was confirmed as a need. Survey scores totaled 43%, failing to meet the 90 percent threshold. Interview findings resulted in a score of 40%, failing to meet the 90 percent cut score. Culture Influence 2. Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with two statements: one about the organization’s promotion of a culture of accountability and the other about the promotion of a culture of continuous improvement. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 53% and 55%, respectively, which do not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 32. 129 Table 32 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Accountability and Continuous Improvement #27 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. The organization promotes a culture of accountability. The organization promotes a culture of continuous improvement. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 7% 10% 2 - Disagree 11% 10% 3 - No opinion 39% 24% 4 - Agree 29% 38% 5 - Strongly Agree 14% 17% Interview findings. Senior managers were asked to describe the organizational culture around accountability and continuous improvement. Of the 20 participants who were interviewed, 12 affirmed that their respective organizations have a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Participants 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 16, 21, and 22 said that their organizations used formalized metrics to foster a culture of accountability. Participant 3 said “So we have measurable performance.” Participant 16’s organization “(does) a bunch of RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed) ...to make clear distinctions of who owns certain things.” Participant 5 asserted “If you were to lead a team, you are accountable and responsible for that team and other actions.” Participant 21 said “accountability is huge.” Participant 7 said that the organization’s philosophy was “be accountable for what you do and become for your team and be proud of what you do and be proud of your team.” The culture at Participant 9’s organization was “if you're not accountable, you're useless.” Participant 11 said “the accountability from top to bottom is pretty standard as part of the culture.” Participant 19 asserted that his organization 130 ingrains five values into work where “there’s always ownership of a task.” Participant 20 stated that the culture of accountability was so heavy in his organization that “somebody will be taken to account for all of those shortcomings and they will be talked about a lot.” Participants 1, 14, 15 explained the difficulty of creating a culture of accountability. Participant 1 stated “our company actually struggles with this.” Participant 15 said that her organization tried to use RACI, but never held anyone accountable to them. Participants 2, 10, 13, 18 said that the accountability culture varies among the organizations. Participant 13 stated “that’s situational. It’s different by different leaders.” Summary. The assumed culture organization influence that managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement is determined to be a need by both the survey and interview findings. The survey results scored 53% and 55% respectively to each survey item; neither score meets the 90 percent cut score. The interview results scored 60%, which fails to meet the 90 percent cut score. Influence 2. Stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with two statements; one was about the organization’s value of collaboration and the other was about the promotion of knowledge sharing. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 75% and 57%, respectively, which do not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 33. 131 Table 33 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing #28 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. The organization values collaboration. The organization promotes knowledge sharing. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 10% 4% 2 - Disagree 0% 7% 3 - No opinion 14% 32% 4 - Agree 41% 46% 5 - Strongly Agree 34% 11% Interview findings. Senior managers who were interviewed were asked to explain how the organization exhibits a collaborative culture and promotes knowledge sharing. Of the 19 interview participants, 15 affirmed that their respective organizations value collaboration and promote knowledge sharing. The organizations of Participants 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 21 utilized online applications and systems or in-person special events and activities to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing. Participant 1’s organization hosts “all kinds of forums” for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Participant 2’s organization has staff meetings that “allows people to feel like they can share openly” with “regular evaluations management or leadership does with staff.” Participant 3’s organization promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing with “design reviews, “lunchtime meetings” and “comments on a wiki system.” Participant 5 stated that her organization’s culture was one where “everyone knew what everyone else did...so if I needed to know who was involved (in a particular project), pick up the phone and ask.” Participant 9’s organization said, “things are so complex that it cannot happen with one person, so people have to collaborate.” Participants 14, 18, 19, shared that cross-functional collaboration 132 is strong in their organizational cultures. Participant 14 asserted that “stakeholders from different organizations is a great example of cross-functional collaboration.” Participant 8 asserted that collaboration and knowledge sharing tools “are just challenging to select and implement and adopt.” Participant 10 said that team cultures around collaboration and knowledge sharing varied within the organization; “some parts had a very collaborative culture and others did not.” Participant 20 stated “there’s even been a really raging internal debate about the level of collaboration...we kept everything secret.” Regarding collaboration and knowledge sharing, Participant 22 said “that’s another thing that (we) do really poorly.” Summary. The assumed culture organization influence that stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing is confirmed as a need in both the survey findings and interview results. The two survey items for the influence scored below the 90 percent threshold, 75% and 57% respectively. The interviews resulted in a score of 80%, which does not meet the 90 percent cut score. Influence 3. Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. Survey results. Senior managers were asked to rate their agreement with a statement about the organization’s recognition of learning, training, and development efforts. The survey item was based on a 5-point scale, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree. The affirmative survey results (sum percentages of “agreement” and “strongly agreement” scores) totaled 41%, which does not meet the 90% cut score. Therefore, this influence is determined in the survey as a need as seen in Table 34. 133 Table 34 Survey Results for Organization Influence of Recognition of Team Development #29 Using the scale below, please rate your agreement with the following sentences. The organization’s leadership recognizes efforts of learning, training, and development. Score: 1-5 scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Percentage of responses to respective score 1 - Strongly Disagree 11% 2 - Disagree 19% 3 - No opinion 30% 4 - Agree 19% 5 - Strongly Agree 22% Interview findings. Senior managers were asked to describe a time when the organization recognized a people-manager for efforts in developing the team. Of the 19 senior managers who were interviewed, 11 affirmed that their respective organizations recognized managers for developing the team. Senior managers stated positively that their organizations had some sort of recognition program. Participant 1’s company organized a manager ratings system where the most highly-rated managers were rewarded. Participant 3 stated “we have a formal process…(a) best manager awards globally.” Participants 4 and 5’s companies had a recognition, awards event each quarter. Participant 10 described a time where a manager was recognized at a staff meeting for “developing that team to get something done that most of the other people who tried could not get that done.” Participant 15 explained that recognition from leadership to recognize team development is “something very new for the company” that they are just starting. Participant 21 asserted that if managers are not recognized for team development “you will lose your team quickly.” 134 Participant 8 said “I have not seen it often at all.” Participants 9 and 22 said “I don’t remember a time...it’s always on results, not on developing a team.” Participant 11 asserted “boy, I’m having trouble thinking about that.” Participants 14 and 20 said that if recognition for developing a team happens, it happens in small teams. She said, “the team development component...it’s never a big thing.” Participant 18 said “we do really good at recognizing project success, but I don’t equate that to team development.” Summary. The assumed culture organization influence that managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts in developing their team was confirmed as a need in both the survey and interview results. The survey score totaled 41%, which does not meet the 90 percent cut score. The interview results score is 58%, which does not meet the 90 percent threshold for interview findings. Summary of Validated Influences Tables 35, 36, and 37 show the knowledge, motivation and organization influences for this study and the determination as an asset or a need. 135 Knowledge Table 35 Knowledge Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data Assumed Knowledge Influence Asset or Need Factual Managers know their rate of successful promotions Need Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Need Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. Need Conceptual Managers need to understand the concept of leadership. Asset Managers need to understand the important things they must do in order to influence the organization’s promotion process. Need Procedural Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. Need Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. Need Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and performance goals. Need Metacognitive Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. Need Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. Need Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. Need 136 Motivation Table 36 Motivation Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data Assumed Motivation Influence Asset or Need Value Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members; and connect this activity with higher team productivity. Need Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leadership traits required for people-managing roles. Need Self-Efficacy Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through application of the rubric (of effective leadership). Need Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. Need Managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. Need Mood Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets within their teams. Asset They need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. Need They need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. Asset Goal Orientation Managers need to be interested in what motivates their team members’ to reach their achievement goals. Need They need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. Asset Attribution Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. Asset 137 Organization Table 37 Organization Assets or Needs as Determined by the Data Assumed Organization Influence Asset or Need Resources Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. Need Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. Need Policies, Processes, & Procedures Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities (e.g., team goals as well as individual contributions). Need Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. Need Culture Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. Need Stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. Need Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. Need Chapter Four of this study presents the data and findings from survey results and interview responses from participating technology senior managers. Chapter Five presents the recommendations and solutions for the influences based on empirical evidence. 138 CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS AND EVALUATION For this field study, the assumed knowledge, motivation, and organization influences were validated in Chapter Four. Assumed influences were organized into the respective KMO categories (i.e. factual, conceptual, procedural, metacognitive; value, self-efficacy, mood; resources, culture). In Chapter Five, the recommendations are also organized by the categories of validated KMO influences. The New World Kirkpatrick model has been selected and integrated into the recommendations and evaluations of their results. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section is comprised of the KMO recommendations, including respective influence, principle, and recommendations tables, followed by a description of the research that supports each recommendation. The second section covers the implementation and evaluation plans that are designed to meet the organizations’ purpose, goals, and expectations. The implementation plan follows the four levels of the new world Kirkpatrick model, beginning with Level 4, results, and leading indicators, and ending with Level 1, reaction. Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences The assumed knowledge influences of this field study include the stakeholders’ understanding of the organization’s promotion process, the connection between the promotion process and evaluation of the job description, and the link between the promotion process and one’s own leadership knowledge and capabilities. Each of the KMO tables includes summaries of the influences with the highest priorities. Again, recommendations are not generalizable to every nor all technology organizations. The recommendations presented in this chapter draw on the responses from the data collection state, which comprises a very small sampling population. Influences were prioritized with the most weight given to the impact of the influence to the 139 organization’s current and future success. The impact of modeling positive leadership behavior is significant to the organization because future leaders will make decisions that impact the business and hence, greatly affect the organization’s bottom line. Knowledge Recommendations Table 38 shows the assumed knowledge influences that are determined to be needs. One assumed knowledge influence is selected per category (factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive) in Table 38 are also considered the knowledge influences of highest priority. Following Table 37 are the detailed, context-specific recommendations for each influence. Table 38 Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations Assumed Knowledge Influence Principle and Citation Context-Specific Recommendation Managers need to understand the principles of learning and motivation in regard to the organizational influence in the promotion process. (Declarative) Behavior that is reinforced is strengthened (Daly, 2009). Provide information on the promotion process and explain how managers’ reinforcement plays a major role in the process (Clark and Estes, 2008). 140 Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. (Procedural) Information learned meaningfully and connected with prior knowledge is stored more quickly and remembered more accurately because it is elaborated with prior learning (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). To develop mastery, individuals must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). Provide training of how to evaluate a job description that begins with informing managers of the organization’s mission. Provide managers with a job aid as a take-away from training on evaluating a job description so they can practice integrating skills. Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches of being role models in developing team members. (Metacognitive) Metacognition guides the learner’s cognitive processing of the material to be learned (Mayer, 2011). Theory is related to practice by the process of critical thought and self-examination (Barley, 2012) Provide training to stakeholders on self- reflection strategies, including goal setting, monitoring self-progress, and making adjustments to achieve the goal of effective leadership role- modeling. Provide job aid with questions to ask oneself when reflecting on progress. Increasing senior managers’ understanding of learning and motivation principles in regard to organizational influence in the promotion process. The results and findings of this study indicated that senior managers may need more in- depth declarative knowledge about the learning and motivations regarding the organizational influence in the promotion process. A recommendation rooted in behavioral theory of learning has been selected to likely close this declarative knowledge gap. Daly (2009) found that behavior that is reinforced is strengthened while behavior that is punished is weakened. This would suggest that providing learners with training on the organization’s promotion process and explaining how managers’ reinforcement may likely play a major role would support their 141 learning. The recommendation then is to provide information on the promotion practice and the role of the manager within the process. Table 5 illustrates the alignment between the assumed influence, the relative learning principles, and the recommendation to the stakeholder. Clark and Estes (2008) explain that effective training begins with clear objectives that link to performance and business goals. This principle directly correlates with the organizational mission of competing in the market and meeting the bottom line. Ferris et al. (1992) found that there was a significant correlation between organizational factors (centralization, strategy, formalization, and size) in the promotion process and organizational performance. The surrounding environment affects behaviors; therefore, creating an organizational environment that fosters desirable behavior of managers is conducive to effective training (Daly, 2006; Tuckman, 2009). A training that includes understanding the organizational influences, practicing, and providing feedback, and reinforcing appropriate manager behavior within the promotion process help close this knowledge gap. Evaluating a job description to align with the organization’s mission throughout the promotion process. The results and findings of this study indicated that senior managers may need procedural knowledge about how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission. Recommendations rooted in information process theory of learning may likely close this procedural knowledge gap. To develop mastery, individuals must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). This would suggest that providing learners with training on how to evaluate a job description aligned with the mission fulfills the organization’s learning needs. The 142 recommendations, then, are to provide training on how to evaluate a job description that aligns with the organization’s mission and giving learners a job aid as reference to the evaluation process. Krathwohl and Anderson (2000) expand on Bloom’s Taxonomy by explaining that checking and critiquing are a part of the evaluation stage. As stakeholders evaluate the alignment of a job description with the organization’s mission, they must test for internal inconsistencies in the process and judge the criteria of promotion based on organization’s standards (Krathwohl and Anderson, 2000). Training should focus on the exact steps and criteria to be cognizant of when connecting the content of a job description to the organization’s mission (Clark & Estes, 2008). Practicing various scenarios and providing feedback to learners can help explain what and how to evaluate. Information learned meaningfully and connected with prior knowledge is stored more quickly and remembered more accurately because it is elaborated with prior learning (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). At the conclusion of the training, providing a job aid as reference can be useful as a memory trigger of what was learned during the training, especially because the act of evaluating job descriptions is not a regular work activity. Self-regulation strategies to role-modeling effective leadership behaviors and skills to develop the team. The results and findings of this study indicated that participating senior managers do not use any self-reflection approaches to be effective role models in developing their teams. Recommendations rooted in self-regulation and metacognition theories of learning have been selected as probable solutions to close this metacognitive knowledge gap. Metacognition guides the learner’s cognitive processing of the material to be learned (Mayer, 2011). Reflective practice sites that theory is related to practice by the process of critical thought and self- 143 examination (Barley, 2012). This would suggest that providing learners with training on self- regulation strategies, including goal setting, monitoring progress, and making necessary adjustments can help stakeholders achieve their goal of developing the team by being good role models. The recommendations then are to provide training on self-regulation strategies to achieve the goal followed by providing a job aid to enhance the practice of regularly asking self- regulating questions. Training stakeholders on self-regulation strategies directly impacts regular job performance. Effective training ensures that “the knowledge and skills learned in training...transfer to the job” (Clark & Estes, 2008, p. 74). The recommendation to teach stakeholders how to set attainable and challenging goals and reflect on their own progress can be practiced immediately in the work setting. Setting close, concrete, and challenging goals allows the learner to experience success at the task (Pajares, 2006). When collaborating on development plan construction with team members, stakeholders and reports can take advantage of goal setting and progress-monitoring strategies. Metacognitive strategies also include providing immediate feedback for simple tasks and delayed feedback for complex tasks and balance comments about strengths and challenges (Borgogni et al., 2011). Training allows for practice and feedback of the behaviors and skills that are appropriate to role-model when developing the teams. Motivation Recommendations The assumed motivation influences of this research address the stakeholders’ confidence and interests in performing activities and tasks to reach the performance goals. Learning motivation principles include value, self-efficacy, mood, attribution, and goal and interest motivation theories. The influences listed in Table 39 have been validated as needs and highest- 144 priority assets through the data gathering process. Influences were prioritized with the most weight given to the impact of the influence to the organization’s achievement of its performance goals. Pintrich’s (2003) motivational generalizations and design principles guide the discussion of stakeholders’ motivation influences. Recommendations for each high-impact influence include interviews and surveys of stakeholders. Interviews with stakeholders’ team members are also recommended to gain varied perspectives of the cultural working environment. Recommendations for the assets are made to provide organizations with information on how to maintain the asset as it has been proven to work successfully in various companies. Table 39 Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations Assumed Motivation Influence* Need and Asset Principle and Citation Context-Specific Recommendation Senior managers need to value the activity of learning and development and connect this activity with high team productivity. (Value) Need Rationales that include a discussion of the importance and utility value of the work or learning can help learners develop positive values (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 2001; Pintrich, 2003). The organization’s executive leadership and HR should provide rationales to senior managers when it sets a performance goal of senior managers’ involvement in designing training for their people-managers. Senior managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. (Self-Efficacy) Need Provide instructional support (scaffolding) early on, build in multiple opportunities for practice and gradually remove supports (Pajares, 2006). The organization should provide instructional support on the company’s promotion process early and build in opportunities to learn and practice. Senior managers need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a Need Affective states can have a critical influence on organizational behavior with potential implications for work motivation, creativity, job satisfaction, organizational The organization’s leadership team should make efforts to create a positive work environment as a strategy for reaching organizational goals. 145 strategy to realize organizational goals. (Mood) judgments, performance appraisal judgments, selection interviews, etc. (Forgas & George, 2001) Senior managers need to take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. (Attribution) Asset Learning and motivation are enhanced when individuals attribute success or failures to effort rather than ability (Anderman & Anderman, 2009). The leadership team should use a framework to recognize the efforts of team successes and failures. Senior managers need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture throughout the entire team. (Goal Orientation) Asset Use task, reward, and evaluation structures that promote mastery, learning, effort, progress, and self-improvement standards and less reliance on social comparison or norm-reference standards (Pintrich, 2003). Create a community of learners where everyone supports everyone else’s attempts to learn (Yough & Anderman, 2006). The organization’s leadership team and learning organization should invest time and effort creating a reward- based evaluation learning system to promote mastery, learning, and self- improvement. The organization’s leadership team should invest time and resources building and encouraging a social learning community among the workforce. Provide rationales about the importance and utility value of learning and development throughout the training design process. Many of the research participants for this study likely do not value or they consider the value of learning and development as part of high-performing team productivity, to be very low. A recommendation rooted in expectancy-value theory has been selected to most probably close this motivation gap. Rationales that include a discussion of the importance and utility value of the work or learning can help learners develop positive values (Eccles, 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 2001; Pintrich, 2003). This would suggest that providing learners with rationales about the importance and utility value of the training topic would develop positive values toward learning 146 and development. The recommendation is for the organization’s executive leadership and HR to provide rationales to senior managers as it sets a performance goal of having senior managers be involved in designing training for their people-managers. The goal is for senior managers to value learning and development by being involved in the training process for their people- managers. Senior managers’ involvement in the training process may strengthen value motivation for both senior managers and their people-managers. Clark and Estes (2008) explain that in analyzing knowledge and motivation gaps, there is a need to provide reasons and values for performance goals. When creating training materials, the link between training objectives and business goals should always be kept front and center throughout the training design and implementation process. In addition, Pintrich (2003) shares that to strengthen the expectancy-value of a task, materials and activities should be relevant and useful to the learners, connected to their interests, and based on real-world tasks. From a theoretical perspective, then, it would appear that intentional training design, where each step of the process involves rationales of importance, values, and relevancy of the training topic, would strengthen the value of the training. If the organization’s goal is for senior managers to value learning and development as part of high-performing team productivity, the organization should consider providing rationales during the training design and implementation process. Provide early instruction and practice opportunities in the company’s promotion process. From the data analyses, research participants may have little or no confidence to articulate nor participate in the stages of the organization’s promotion process. A recommendation rooted in self-efficacy theory has been suggested to close this motivation gap. Pajares (2006) explains that providing instructional support (scaffolding) early on, building in multiple opportunities for practice, and gradually removing supports will help build confidence 147 in performing a task. This may suggest that providing learners with early instruction (i.e. training) on exactly what the company’s promotion process entails (Clark & Estes, 2008) will positively impact confidence. The recommendation for this influence is for the organization to provide instructional support on the company’s promotion process early on and build in opportunities to learn and practice. Pajares (2006) explains that to increase self-efficacy, it should be made clear that the respective individuals have the capability of performing and accomplishing a particular task. If the goal is for senior managers to have confidence in their roles in the organization’s promotion process, they should be encouraged and supported by their functional managers (i.e. the company’s leadership team). The leadership team should express full confidence in the senior managers’ capabilities to participate at every stage of the promotion process. The organization should begin by providing the knowledge of the exact steps of the company’s promotion process (Clark & Estes, 2008). Social interaction, cooperative learning, cognitive apprenticeships such as reciprocal teaching, and personalization methods promote knowledge transfer (Rueda, 2011). In addition to providing instructional support, the organization should include learning opportunities that allow senior leaders to practice and gain feedback from experienced managers and peers. Shadowing managers who have experience in promoting people-managers can help model the correct way to follow the process (Pajares, 2006). As the senior managers gain practice, their functional managers should provide feedback on thought process, behaviors, and actions through the promotion process (Borgogni et al., 2011). Promote a positive learning environment tied to organizational goals. Approximately 70% of senior managers are somewhat or completely negative about creating an environment of continuous learning as a strategy to realize organizational goals. A 148 recommendation rooted in emotion theory has been selected to likely close this motivation gap. Affective states can have a critical influence on organizational behavior with potential implications for work motivation, creativity, job satisfaction, organizational judgments, performance appraisal judgments, and selection interviews (Forgas & George, 2001). Inversely, the effort-reward model points out that the lack of reciprocity between effort and reward will lead to stress and possibly even serious health issues for employees (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). This may suggest that providing a positive environment conducive to promoting continuous improvement and learning strongly influences the work motivation, creativity, and judgments of senior managers. The recommendation for this influence is for the organization’s leadership team to create a positive work environment as a strategy for reaching organizational goals. A positive work environment can be seen by happy and healthy employees (Forgas & George, 2001), low attrition, high retention, progressively higher employee engagement scores (Gallup, 2015), that all lead to high customer satisfaction and increasing revenue (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). During the organizational strategic planning phases, the leadership team should consider efforts to create and foster a positive company culture, such as providing rewards, incentives, and recognition to employees. In a study of the connection between mood and job satisfaction, Brief, Butcher, and Roberson (1995) found that positive mood-inducing events, including giving cookies and small gifts, increased job satisfaction. Aesthetic design, including decorations and music, and enthusiastic attitudes of team members can positively influence the work environment (Clark & Estes, 2008). In addition, asking people what modified policies may increase their enjoyment can be considered when creating a positive atmosphere. The organization’s leadership team and Human Resources department should gather feedback from senior managers as to what motivates 149 a positive learning environment for each of their teams (Pajares, 2006; Borgogni et al., 2011). The organization’s leadership should take the feedback and work with senior managers to ensure that efforts are made to promote a positive working environment around continuous learning as a strategy to reach organizational goals. Use a framework to report out team successes and failures, focusing on effort. All senior managers of this research study responded that they take personal responsibility for the team’s failures. Approximately 90% of senior managers interviewed reported taking no responsibility for the team’s successes as they reported that the credit completely belongs to the team. A recommendation rooted in attribution theory has been selected to likely close this motivation gap. Learning and motivation are enhanced when individuals attribute successes or failures to effort rather than ability (Anderman & Anderman, 2009). This would suggest that in order to enhance motivation and learning, successes and failures should be attributed to effort. The recommendation for this influence is for the leadership team to use a framework purposefully to recognize the efforts in team successes and failures. Senior managers can take the framework and use it in their respective staff meetings to recognize efforts in successes and failures. According to Weiner’s attribution model, whatever an individual perceives to be the cause of an event will affect future motivations and engagement (Anderman & Anderman, 2009). It is assumed that to reach the performance goal of developing leaders to drive the success of the business, the organization’s leadership should ensure that team efforts and strategies are recognized in every success; and highlight failures that provoke a valuable learning experience. For example, quarterly leadership meetings should include a framework that reviews the efforts of each team that resulted in successes or failures. A review of events can result in improvement 150 plans that focus on efforts, as opposed to ability, as efforts are internal and controllable (Anderman & Anderman, 2009); hence efforts can be changed to plan for subsequent events. Motivation and learning are positively impacted when feedback that stresses the nature of learning, including the importance of effort, strategies, and potential self-control of learning are provided (Pintrich, 2003; Anderman & Anderman, 2009). Senior managers can use the framework in their respective staff meetings to stress and rationalize the importance of effort in every success and failure. In reviewing failures, the emphasis can be on the learning aspect (a post-mortem evaluation) of each significant event to improve efforts for future cases. Invest time and effort into a reward-based evaluation learning system and workplace learning community. Approximately 59% of senior managers interviewed stated that the organization puts systems in place to achieve goals, but managers do not solicit their team members to learn what motivates them to reach their goals. A recommendation rooted in interest and goal-orientation theories have been selected to likely close this motivation gap. Using task, reward, and evaluation structures that promote mastery, learning, effort, progress, and self-improvement standards can increase learning motivation (Pintrich, 2003). Another method to increase motivation is to create a community of learners where everyone supports everyone else’s attempts to learn (Yough & Anderman, 2006). This would suggest that providing reward and evaluation structures along with having a learning community can strongly impact the cultivation of an organization’s learning culture. The recommendation is for the organization’s leadership team and learning organization to invest time and effort in creating a reward-based evaluation learning system to promote mastery, learning, and self-improvement for the workforce. The 151 organization’s leadership team should invest time and effort building and encouraging a social learning community among the workforce. Clark and Estes (2008) emphasize that a primary motivational goal is to support employees’ confidence in achieving their performance goals. In regard to the goal of cultivating a continuous learning culture, supporting employees’ learning can include implementing a learning system that allows for professional development training(s) to enhance work skills. Rewards can be embedded into the system, as appropriate, to incentivize learning for each employee or team. Curricula in the learning system should focus on mastery, individual improvement, learning, and progress to promote positive motivation (Yough & Anderman, 2006). The leadership team should work with senior managers and the learning organization as subject matter experts to design curricula relative to work and performance goals. “Team members must also believe in their colleagues and in collaboration” (Clark & Estes, 2008). A workplace learning community can enhance motivation by encouraging experience and knowledge sharing. The leadership team and learning organization should consider investing in and promoting internal social networking systems to enhance learning motivation. Organization Recommendations The assumed organization influences of this research study address the cultural models and settings that impact the organization’s ability to achieve its mission and performance goals. The influences were prioritized based on Clark and Estes’ (2008) framework of the six types of support for the most successful change programs, beginning with a clear vision and goals. The first influence that has been determined to be an organizational gap is the time dedicated to organizational design and development to meet the corporate goals. The second gap deals with the standardized policies and procedures that promote leadership fit to the corporate mission and 152 goals. The third organizational gap addresses a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Sirkin et al. (2005) explain that change must include the commitment to change from top management. Prioritized influences addressed in Table 40 recognize the need for the organization’s leadership team to provide the resources necessary to create a culture of learning, growth, and development. Organizational development research of change management, cultural dynamics, organizational models, settings, structure, and practices is used as a framework to guide the discussion of stakeholders’ organizational influences (Schein, 2017; Rueda, 2011; Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). Recommendations for each organizational influence are based on the resource needs of the senior managers. Surveys and interviews with senior managers also contributed to the recommendations made to the organization’s leadership team. Table 40 Summary of Organization Influences and Recommendations Assumed Organization Influence* Principle and Citation Context-Specific Recommendation Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. Effective change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources (equipment, personnel, time, etc.) needed to do their job, and that if there are resource shortages, then resources are aligned with organizational priorities (Clark and Estes, 2008). Organizational effectiveness increases when staff’s resource needs are being met; correlates with increased student learning outcomes (Waters, Marzano & McNulty, 2003). The leadership team should implement a company-wide “development season" exposition program that lasts over several weeks and seeks to communicate the importance of aligning organizational development initiatives to corporate goals across all departments and teams. Standardized policies, processes, and procedures Effective organizations ensure that organizational messages, rewards, policies, Company leadership, HR, and senior 153 need to be in place to promote people-manager roles that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. and procedures that govern the work of the organization are aligned with or are supportive of organizational goals and values (Clark and Estes, 2008). managers should ensure that the promotional process and criteria include emphasis on the company and organization’s mission and goals. Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. People are more productive when goal setting and benchmarking are essential to evaluating progress and driving organizational performance in accountability (Dowd, 2005; Levy & Ronco, 2012; Bogue & Hall, 2003; Marsch, 2012). Company leadership and HR should ensure (with the use of software tools; documents, templates) that development plan and performance review discussions include documentation of employees’ progressive SMART goals and progress towards achieving those goals. Implement a company-wide “development season” exposition program to dedicate time to organizational development and design. Forty-four percent of senior managers who responded to the survey agreed that they had the tools for leadership training development for their team members. The lack of resources dedicated to the development of individuals and teams results in a stagnant, reactive workforce that does not innovate. A recommendation rooted in accountability and organizational change theories has been selected to most probably close this organizational gap. Organizational effectiveness increases when staff’s resource needs are being met (Waters, Marzano & McNulty, 2003). Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that effective change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources, including the time, needed to perform the job. If there are resource shortages, then resources are aligned with organizational policies and corporate goals. This suggests that senior managers need the resources necessary to dedicate time and effort to organizational development and design to meet company goals. The recommendation is for the organization’s leadership 154 team to implement a company-wide “development season" exposition program that lasts over several weeks. The program seeks to communicate the importance of aligning organizational development initiatives to corporate goals across all departments and teams. For example, the program kick-off can include a presentation from leadership as to the importance of organizational development to realize corporate goals; information sessions on what learning and development resources are available in each department; and what tools will be used to track development for individuals and teams. Reichard and Johnson (2011) state that self-development is an important organizational strategy for both individuals and the company. For individuals, learning, training, and development enhance the ability to solve problems quickly and generate creative ideas. For the organization, a culture of leadership development supports adaptability and growth; can develop a competitive edge; enables organizations to keep up with the dynamics of a changing environment; and is a cost-effective way of developing human resources (Riechard & Johnson, 2011; Pfeffer, 1994; Phillips, 1993; Antonacopoulou, 2000; Temporal, 1984). In the case of senior managers who agree that development planning is a critical activity to reach organizational goals, dedicating time and resources to organizational development is necessary to achieve the company mission. Providing the time and resources to create a development program that includes company-wide announcements and events sets an observable cultural setting of support for the initiative. Cultural settings greatly influence the cultural models. Setting events, activities, and announcements for a development season exposition can foster a cultural model of the organization’s value in individuals' professional and personal growth. Given the criticality of organizational development to achieve organizational goals (Riechard & Johnson, 2011) and the impact of cultural settings (Gallimore & Goldberg, 2001), the literature supports the necessity to 155 provide the time and resources to promote a development plan program as a strategy to achieve corporate goals. Ensure that promotional procedures, policies, and criteria emphasize organizational mission and goals. Sixty percent of senior managers stated that there are unclear or no standard company procedures nor criteria to align promotional fit to the organization’s mission and goals. Most senior managers believe that promotions are subjective and based on relationships. The lack of standardized process and criteria for promotion results in a misaligned management level where the different departments operate in silos without cross-functional communication. A recommendation rooted in social cognitive theory has been selected to likely close this organizational gap. Clark and Estes (2008) indicate that organizational effectiveness is increased when companies ensure that organizational messages, rewards, policies and procedures that govern the work of the organization are aligned with, or are supportive of, organizational goals and values (Clark and Estes, 2008). This suggests that corporate goals and values should be embedded in policies and procedures. The recommendation is for the company’s leadership and human resources teams to establish standard procedures and criteria around promotional fit as the role aligns to organizational mission and goals. For example, all job descriptions for management-level positions can begin with a section of the company's mission, followed by responsibilities of the role and how each line item in the job description aligns to the corporate goals. Lai (2012) points to human capital theory to explain that investing in core manpower influences the organization’s promotion and managerial systems, which in turn impacts organizational effectiveness and competitiveness. This emphasizes the importance of having a 156 formal system around promotional practices to achieve organizational goals. The use of subjective and inappropriate promotion criteria can have serious negative implications for organizations (Allen 1997). Accountability is increased when individual roles and expectations are aligned with organizational goals and mission (Elmore, 2002). The organization’s leadership is responsible for building a strong managerial level that can lead teams toward a common goal. Leadership is accountable to its stakeholders and workforce to clearly communicate how people- managers are selected and developed in alignment with the company mission and goals (Lewis, 2011; Denning, 2005). Thus, establishing a standard promotion process that is communicated across the entire organization makes it clear to senior managers and high potential employees the career paths and respective job requirements of every role. Furthermore, tying each role and job description to the corporate mission and goals allows for every senior manager, regardless of function or department, to understand the criteria for job promotion. Provide tools to document progression of performance and development planning. Approximately 60% of senior managers indicated that their respective organizations do foster a strong culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Interview participants commented that the larger organization measures accountability by clearly communicating the revenue targets for the quarter and for the year. Senior managers create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement by learning from performance failures and making better decisions in the future. A recommendation rooted in accountability theory has been selected to further support the culture of accountability and continuous improvement. People are more productive when goal setting and benchmarking are integrated into evaluation processes, which drives organizational performance through accountability (Dowd, 2005; Levy & Ronco, 2012; Bogue & Hall, 2003; Marsch, 2012). This suggests that senior managers should use goals 157 to evaluate individuals’ progress toward achieving organizational performance goals. The recommendations are for corporate leadership to use a SMART goals framework (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) and provide tools (software and templates) to track employees’ progressive learning development and performance goals (Rubin, 2002). In a 2010-2011 learning experiment with a management class at the University of West Florida, students were given several templates to create and track SMART goals for a team project (Lawlor & Hornyak, 2012). By using the templates, students were motivated to start the project earlier. The results were that the students enjoyed the project and complained less when they could track, revise, and continuously update their progress. Furthermore, positive outcomes included a more equitable peer evaluation and more professional presentations. Goal-oriented learners are more motivated to participate when they see the relevance of information, a request, or task (the “why”) to their own circumstances (Knowles, 1980). In the previous example, the students were accountable to create projects and learning goals together as a team. The research authors provided the learning objectives of the SMART goal experiment. Learning, motivation, and performance will be enhanced if participants have clear, current, and challenging goals (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). Literature suggests that the more involved learners are in establishing and continuously improving their goals, the more engaged they are to perform the required activities (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). By providing the tools and templates to track and continuously improve individuals’ learning and performance goals, the organization can ensure that the corporate goals are achieved. 158 Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan Implementation and Evaluation Framework The recommendations of this study are implemented and evaluated using the framework of the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick’s, 2016). The Kirkpatrick model is a training evaluation method broken out into four levels. The first level measures the initial participant reaction post-meeting. The second level measures the amount of learning that was absorbed. The third level observes the new behaviors that have been adopted and applied in the actual work environment. The fourth level analyzes the business impact because of training. The New World Kirkpatrick Model begins at level four with the results. Progress is measured by leading indicators, which are short-term observations that demonstrate that critical behaviors are moving in the desired direction toward achieving performance goals. Therefore, the implementation plan for this study begins with the organization’s performance goal in mind. Organizational Purpose, Need, and Expectations The mission of technology companies in this field study is to scale and grow the business. The performance goal is to compete in the market through increased revenue, innovation, and operational excellence. The stakeholder group of focus is the senior manager level, defined as those who have the authority and experience to promote people-managers. The stakeholder goal is to promote skilled, talented, and prepared leaders-of-tomorrow to drive a team toward a common goal. The research indicates that high-performing teams make it possible for projects to be completed and progress to be made. For organizations to be successful, therefore, strong people-managers should be able to develop and guide high-performing teams. An inference of this study is to achieve the organization’s goal of competing in the market, it is recommended that the organization may benefit from having high-performing teams 159 in each functional area with a competent and influential leader. Therefore, the suggestion is that during the promotion process, senior managers should understand the qualities, skills, knowledge, motivations, and organizational influences to assess when placing someone in a team leader role. The hopeful expectations of implementing the recommendations of this study are that senior managers feel more confident in participating in the entire promotion process in order to find the right people-manager for the position; understand that investing time and energy at the beginning of the promotion process saves more time and can likely help the company progress, and embrace the stages of promotion that fit best with the organization’s mission and culture in order to select the people-managers who will drive success and develop high-performing teams. Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators In order to direct training efforts toward the organization’s mission and achieve the performance goals, the leading indicators look at external and internal outcomes. External outcomes involve outside parties, such as the market, suppliers, or customers. Internal outcomes include those factors in which the organization, its teams, and departments, or individuals are responsible. The list of leading indicators has a balance of qualitative and quantitative measurements. The stakeholder has the responsibility to meet the goal of the organization and the stakeholder’s goal. Table 41 describes the external outcomes that include increased customer satisfaction and decreased operational expenses. The observable performance indicators are project-based customer satisfaction scores and quarterly operational expenses. 160 Table 41 Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes Outcome Metric(s) Method(s) External Outcomes 1. Increased market position in comparison to similar competitors 1. Market rating compared to similar companies 1. Organization will track and compare historical and current standings in market data (by industry, customer-based, company size, and competitive products/services) 2. Increased customer satisfaction 2a. Number of new contracts signed by current customers annually 2b. Number of new customers 2c. Customer satisfaction rating 2a. Organization will track and compare number of new contracts year-over-year (YOY)(starting with previous 3 years). 2b. Organization will track and compare number of new customers YOY (starting with previous 5 years). 2c. Organization will use and assess project-based, quarterly customer scorecards to compare satisfaction ratings. Internal Outcomes 1. Decreased voluntary employee turnover Voluntary employee turnover rates (biannually) HR will collect and report employee turnover biannually; compare same time frame annually 2. Increased employee retention Employee retention rates HR will collect and report employee retention rates annually. 3. Decreased organizational cost for training Profit and loss (P&L) statements for training per functional group Finance will track and report training costs by function in monthly P&L statements (compare annually in same time frame). 4. Increased employee engagement and satisfaction Employee engagement and satisfaction scores by function HR will administer, collect, analyze, and report employee 161 engagement and satisfaction scores by function biannually 5. Increased innovation (products, goods, services) 1a. Number of annual published patents 1b. Number of new product introductions (NPIs) 1a. Organization will track historical (3-5 years) and current patent data to compare year-over- year (YOY). 1b. Organization will track historical (3-5 years) and current NPI data to compare YOY. 6. Decreased operational expenses Operational expenses decrease Organization will collect, compare, and analyze operational expenses (human capital, external services, parts, hardware, software, tooling) data quarterly. Level 3: Behavior Critical behaviors. Critical behaviors are the observable actions performed by the intended audience and tie directly to the desired outcomes that lead toward the organization’s goals (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). They are measured by frequency, accuracy and quality. In order to achieve the performance goals, senior managers must exhibit critical behaviors of aligning job descriptions to organizational mission and goals; they must coach and mentor future people-managers; they must constantly develop a culture of continuous improvement and learning; they must follow a standardized organizational promotion process. Table 42 shows the four critical behaviors of the stakeholder of focus, the metrics and methods for each critical behavior and the timing. 162 Table 42 Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation Critical Behavior Metric(s) Method(s) Timing 1. Senior managers align all people- managers’ (within their team) job descriptions to organizational mission and goals Completed job descriptions reviewed by HR and at least one peer Job descriptions submitted into the company's Human Resources Information System (HRIS) with signatures of HR and at least one reviewer Per each people- manager position within the team; start with current openings 2. Senior managers prepare future people-managers by mentoring and coaching Completed succession plan reviewed by HR and at least one member of leadership team Succession plans submitted into the company’s HRIS with signatures of HR and at least one reviewer Annually 3. Senior managers develop a culture of continuous improvement and growth mindset. Completed learning and development paths for each job level within the team Learning paths submitted to company’s HRIS per respective job level and learning management system (LMS) Review, update and modify biannually 4. Senior managers promote people- managers following standard organizational process Milestone checklist of each stage of promotion process Submit status of promotion at each stage into the company’s HRIS Per each people- manager promotion Required drivers. To ensure that critical behaviors are achievable, senior managers should have the appropriate knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences in place (Clark & Estes, 2008). There are four types of required drivers to support critical behaviors - reinforcing, encouraging, rewarding, and monitoring (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Human resource information systems (HRIS) should be in place with respective templates and frameworks to guide promotions that tie directly to the organization’s mission and goals. A culture of continuous improvement and growth mindset should be supported by an organization 163 that provides the necessary time and resources for leadership development (Pintrich, 2003; Yough & Anderman, 2006). Leadership should present rewards and recognition to encourage the development and achievement of new leaders (Forgas & George, 2001; Pintrich, 2003). The human resources department should ensure that the HRIS and learning management system (LMS) contain accurate information to track learning and career paths and the promotion process. Table 43 lists the required drivers to support critical behaviors and the timing in which each method should be enacted. Table 43 Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors Method(s) Timing Critical Behaviors Supported 1, 2, 3 Etc. Reinforcing HR sets auto-reminder within HRIS for outstanding tasks during each stage of the promotion process For every promotion 4 Organization allocates time and budget for leadership training Quarterly 2, 3 Leadership team conducts leadership training program Biannually 2, 3, 4 Encouraging Senior manager and team conduct staff meeting to announce promotions Within 24 hours of announcing promotion to incumbent 2, 4 Leadership sends company-wide email announcement of promotions Within 48 hours of announcing promotion to team at staff meeting 2, 4 Rewarding Leadership rewards senior managers with additional budget in the following year based on 360 assessment. Biennially 1, 2, 3 164 Leadership implements an award program for senior managers, rewarding those who score highest (employee evaluations and votes) in the five leadership practices - model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart. Annually 1, 2, 3 Monitoring Leadership (with support of HR and IT) creates a 4-5 week “development season” that includes objectives and key results (OKRs) tracked on a dashboard, self-monitoring and reflection, and weekly check-ins on action plan and learning progress Annually 2, 3 HR uses LMS tracks learning path progress for each new people-manager Monthly 2, 3 Organizational support. The organization should ensure that the succession of leaders is part of the strategy to achieve organizational mission and goals. The organization should hold itself accountable to follow-through on its values and standard promotion process. For instance, if the organization states that one of its values is to grow leaders but considers people-manager a task-oriented role, then developing leaders is not part of the organization’s strategy. On the other hand, if the organization truly values a culture of strong leaders, then time and effort such as biannual leadership training conducted by executive team members to newly promoted individuals should be part of organizational strategy. Leadership should put in place an intended focus on learning and development, as in a “development season.” The initiative would take place over a course of at least four to five weeks of the year where senior managers promote 165 professional and personal development. People-managers should focus their one-on-one and staff meetings on the learning goals of each team member. Dashboards, which should be self- monitored throughout the year, can be used to monitor the progress of learning action plans and development OKRs. A system should be provided where employees can write their questions and reflections in a safe place. The system can also allow for senior managers to coach, mentor, and provide advice for any questions or concerns of a team member. The organization should provide the necessary resources (i.e. budget, hardware, software, equipment, and facilities) to ensure that dependable tracking systems and dashboards supplement biannual performance reviews and the promotion process. Senior managers should have a close relationship with the leadership team as well as their direct reports. Leaders should share a clear vision and goals without frequent changes. Senior managers should be role models to their direct reports, especially future people-managers. In order for managers at all levels to ensure that leadership skills are being demonstrated appropriately, part of the performance review criteria should measure the leadership abilities of every people-manager through a biennial 360-degree review (Kouzes & Pozner, 2012). The review requires an evaluation from upper management, peers, direct reports, and sometimes, indirect reports. Leadership should review 360-degree reports biannually to ensure that senior managers are working effectively with their respective teams to achieve the company’s mission and goals while maintaining a healthy working culture. If adjustments should be made, human resources should document all executive decisions and suggestions; human resources should be a partner with leadership and senior managers to ensure that strategic goals are met. To reward senior managers for their extraordinary leadership skills, two recommendations are offered. For senior managers who obtain progressively high scores on their 166 360-degree review, leadership can offer an increased budget for the leader and respective team for the following year. Another recommendation is a rewards program based on employees’ evaluation, feedback, and votes. With the assistance of human resources and technology teams, leadership would have a system where employees can anonymously submit positive evaluation of senior managers based on their leadership capabilities - model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart (Kouzes & Pozner, 2015). All employees are then given a chance to vote on the senior manager who best demonstrates all five leadership practices. At an annual all-company event, the executive team recognizes and rewards the senior manager and the respective team (i.e. trophy, prize, increased budget for development the following year). Level 2: Learning Learning goals. The goals in the previous section will be achieved through a workshop training of the organizational promotion process. Once the senior managers complete the learning program, they should be able to: 1. Apply steps to promote people-manager within the team. (P) 2. Describe the criteria for promoting people-managers in the organization. (D-F) 3. Apply steps to align job descriptions to organizational mission and goals. (P) 4. Set goals to prepare future people-managers/successors. (M) 5. Explain the importance of mentoring and coaching of potential people-managers. (D-C) 6. Apply steps to collect 360 feedback for each considered people-manager. (P) 7. Generate a (succession) plan to prepare future people-manager(s). (M) 8. Explain the importance of leadership traits of people-managers. (D-C) 9. Value a culture of continuous improvement and growth mindset. (V) 167 10. Be confident that they can promote an effective and successful people-manager. (S-E) (D-F = Declarative Factual; D-C = Declarative Conceptual; P = Procedural; M = Motivational; V = Value; S-E = Self-Efficacy) Program. The learning program is a series of classes and workshops focusing on the organization’s promotion process, 360 reviews of potential people-managers, succession planning, leadership, and organizational culture. The learning goals listed above will be addressed by various techniques. The promotion process workshop will accomplish learning goals one through five in a ninety-minute, live instructor-led session. The 360-feedback review and succession plan in learning goals six and seven will be introduced while the practice of applying the skills will occur in follow-on web-based training classes after the workshop. Learning goals eight and nine will be addressed in that the topics require separate workshops to learn the knowledge and skills to understand, develop, and nurture leadership and organizational culture. The last learning goal listed above is to be determined when senior managers complete the entire series of learning programs. It is recommended to clearly explain (i.e. in the organization’s learning management system, human resources system, learning portals) that the organization’s promotion process workshop is a prerequisite to programs in 360 feedback and succession planning. All the learning goals should be completed before a senior manager promotes a people-manager. Workshop facilitator(s) ideally include the division leader as well as human resource representative who has in-depth knowledge about the organizational promotion process. The organizational promotion process should begin with the corporate mission and goals, subsequently connecting every phase to the overall objectives. Throughout the ninety minutes, the importance of solid leadership assessment should be a frequent focus in promoting people- 168 managers. The workshop should include realistic and relevant scenarios where senior managers can explain when and how to prepare future people-managers; define what makes a person “promotable;” and explain how the senior manager would improve the team culture to value continuous learning and growth mindset. The session should include activities that provide opportunities to evaluate job descriptions, assess 360-feedback on a hypothetical candidate, and apply decisions and practice of experiencing each step of the organizational promotion process. The topic of promoting people-managers should be a part of a leadership development series program for all levels of people-management, from first-time people-managers to executive leadership. The program should consistently be evaluated and updated by human resources and leadership to include new processes and learning improvement methods. Job aids detailing the promotion process and leadership skills of people-managers should be provided at the end of the workshop to every participant. A web-based video summary of the organizational promotion process steps should be available on the company’s LMS to provide an overview and review of the promotion process. Evaluation of the components of learning. Activities are interwoven throughout the facilitator-led, ninety-minute workshop to promote knowledge transfer. The learning components of the organizational promotion process workshop involve activities related to declarative knowledge, procedural skills, attitude, confidence, and commitment. Table 44 describes each learning activity and the timing of which the activity should take place in relation to the workshop. 169 Table 44 Evaluation of the Components of Learning for the Program Method(s) or Activity(ies) Timing Declarative Knowledge “I know it.” Knowledge checks using multiple choice During Pre-test/Post-test Before and after workshop completion Break out into pairs or teams of three to discuss and teach-back each stage of the promotion process During and after the workshop (explaining to respective team at upcoming staff meeting) Procedural Skills “I can do it right now.” Scenarios where senior managers can evaluate candidate qualities and qualifications to a hypothetical people-manager job description During Scenarios where senior managers can analyze a 360- review of a hypothetical people-manager During Attitude “I believe this is worthwhile.” Discussions of rationale and value Before and during; after workshop (with peers in informal settings) Discussions of concerns Before and during; after workshop (with HR when conducting promotion process) Observe a peer who is currently involved in the organizational promotion process After workshop (find a peer who is currently promoting) Confidence “I think I can do it on the job.” Mentorship, coaching, peer, or HR check-ins After workshop with potential promotion candidate(s) (i.e. at 1-on-1 weekly meetings with candidate(s) Questionnaire using scale about confidence in performing each of the promotion process steps Immediately after workshop (same day) Commitment “I will do it on the job.” 170 Individual action plans of how to promote people- managers, including how to prepare future people- managers After workshop, within 30-days (submit to HRIS) Attendance of supplemental leadership development workshops Before and after workshop Level 1: Reaction Reaction evaluates the degree to which participants found the workshop to be engaging, favorable, and relevant. Formative and summative methods to measure reactions of the workshop are listed in Table 45 along with the timing for each tool. Table 45 Components to Measure Reactions to the Program Method(s) or Tool(s) Timing Engagement Attendance Beginning of workshop Attendees ask meaningful questions During Completion of practice scenarios During Participation in group discussions During Relevance Pulse-check via survey, pop-up questions/quiz, and/or discussion During Anonymous survey At the end of the workshop Customer Satisfaction Anonymous survey After completion of the workshop 171 Evaluation Tools Immediately following the program implementation. Level 1 evaluations include recommended tools to assess participants’ Level 1 engagement, perceived relevance of the topics covered, and customer satisfaction. Engagement can be measured by attendance gathered during an intermission of the workshop. Participants’ satisfaction and perceived relevance of the topics covered can be measured by providing an anonymous paper survey, or survey link for virtual workshops, at the end of the workshop. The method by which attendance can be measured is dependent on the format of the training workshop (i.e. virtual training, in-person training, or hybrid). For in-person workshop training, a paper attendance sheet should be distributed during an intermission. See Appendix C for an attendance sheet template. Gathering attendance information in the middle of a training helps to ensure that participants have stayed for the majority of the workshop rather than just signing in to get credit only. For virtual training, the facilitator should check with the system administrator about how the learning management system tracks who attends the workshop for the entirety of its duration. The relevancy and customer satisfaction survey should be distributed 20 minutes before the end of the workshop before the facilitator makes closing remarks. See Appendix D for the relevancy and customer satisfaction survey. Level 2 learning evaluation uses knowledge assessments before and after the workshop, hypothetical scenarios during the workshop to practice what has been learned, and a questionnaire distributed at the completion of the workshop. The recommended instrument to measure declarative knowledge (Appendix E) is an identical pre and post online assessment sent to participants eight business days before the workshop (including reminders to complete the assessment before the day of the workshop) and again provided to participants at the completion 172 of the workshop. The assessment helps participants understand how much new information they have learned through their participation in the workshop as they can compare their previous assessment responses to their current answers. Hypothetical scenarios of potential candidates to promote can be used in group activities during the workshop to measure procedural knowledge. To measure the participants’ confidence in applying the newly learned skills, it is recommended that a questionnaire be sent at the workshop’s completion to all who attended. Hypothetical scenarios and the participant confidence questionnaire can be found in Appendix F and Appendix G, respectively. Delayed for a period after the program implementation. Evaluations should be distributed 90 days after participants have completed the workshop to measure the depth of learning and effectiveness of the training. For the organization promotion process workshop, a brief 360-degree questionnaire should be distributed. Workshop participants will be asked questions for self-evaluation, aligning learning objectives (Level 2) to behaviors (Level 3) and organization results (Level 4). Responses from questionnaires sent to the human resources team (i.e. human resources business partners) and participants’ direct reports (at least one team member) address behavior change (Level 3) and organizational goals (Level 4). See Appendix H for the questionnaire. Data Analysis and Reporting. Immediate and delayed evaluation data analyses and reporting show the impact the organization promotion process workshop has had on the participants’ behaviors; as a result, reports may show the impact of leadership promotions on the overall organization. The results indicate whether participants gained knowledge by reporting improvement of knowledge assessment scores and self-evaluation of learning. Reports consist of bar and pie charts and graphs to display significant findings (Appendix I). The organization, 173 including the leadership team and potential senior managers, can see the satisfaction, perception of relevance, and engagement scores from participants to determine the value and effectiveness of the workshop. Summary The knowledge, motivation, and organizational (KMO) recommendations of this study are expected to augment the likelihood of the senior managers meeting their goal of promoting strong future leaders. Senior managers who are themselves, well-prepared leaders, become role models in the way they behave, communicate, and act. The KMO recommendations are intended to bolster a culture of continuous learning, proactive and innovative thinking, empathy, and teamwork. The stakeholders of focus are the senior managers; however, leadership development involves all organizational groups and departments. The New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) provides a framework in which researchers and data analysts can connect the learning plan to the organizational goals. The model begins with the results in mind. For most corporate businesses, the bottom line is always at the front of the mind. Using the New World framework to assess the leadership training workshops assures that learning objectives of every training are tied to the organization’s mission and stakeholder’s goals. The return on expectation for each training is demonstrated by participants’ engagement, satisfaction, and perception of relevance. Deeper learning can be seen through changed behaviors that, when applied well, can positively impact the teams and organization. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach The Clark and Estes (2008) KMO model addresses the major, conceptual gaps of issues facing all organizations in various industries (non-profit, private, public) and of all sizes (start- 174 ups, mid-size, large enterprises). The gap analysis works well as each component of KMO influences are supported by research, such as the study of management training by Morrow et al. (1997) of eleven corporate-wide programs that were assumed to satisfy a return on investment. Clark and Estes (2008) also provide practical applications to close the gaps, defining the criteria for use of information, training, education, and job aids. The major strength of the KMO approach is that it employs the well-grounded scientific method stage of the root-cause analysis. Daniel Sims (2011), a manufacturing engineer, expresses the importance of root-cause analysis as it assesses the true problem in a “streamlined and efficient manner” (p. 40, Sims, 2011). The corporate world of technology depends on, sometimes potentially volatile, external factors (such as market trends, business journal headlines, social media headlines). The current trend of a problem-solving framework involves rapid, iterative quick steps that emphasize collaboration and innovation. It can become a challenge to use a research-backed approach as evidence for success. For instance, many interviewed stakeholders stated that they tie proof of success to the company’s bottom line, which generally happens at a quarterly business review. There is rarely time nor budget for proof of concept, let alone a root cause analysis. Agile and SCRUM models are the most popular problem-solving methods today that stem from the software industry. In these models, there is some sort of prototype that is developed at each stage to demonstrate milestones of success. The strength of iterative models is that a minimum viable product is created at incremental intervals. The abilities to hypothesize and test are lower risk; providing the ability to course-correct quickly. The weakness of rapid, iterative processes is the little time that is spent, if at all, in the root-cause analysis, which begins with assessing the real problem statement. Misidentification of the problem is the most common, and sometimes most costly, mistake in problem-solving methodology (Sims, 2011). 175 Limitations and Delimitations The limitations of this field study include the breadth of technology companies and the combining of leadership levels. Technology companies for this study included software and hardware, semiconductor, and medical devices. The sample size of the study’s participants is considerably a small number of the target population. Thus, the results, findings and recommendations for this study are not necessarily generalizable (Merriam, 2009). However, “it is the reader, not the researcher, who determines what can apply to his or her context” (p. 51, Merriam, 2009). First-time managers are different from executive-level promotions. The study could have been improved by focusing on a single segment of the technology industry or focusing on one or a couple of leadership levels. The study could have also expanded to include observations and artifacts to support all major levels of promotions. If the researcher was able to gather company-specific artifacts on targeted role or level promotion, additional recommendations could have been made to strengthen promotion systems overall. When gathering data from interviews, the researcher found that promotion system documentation and artifacts are intellectual property to organizations, hence could not be shared. Delimitations of this study include the decision to focus on the technology industry, in which the researcher has the most experience and expertise. Organizational promotion systems exist in all industries of all sizes; examining the promotion system can and should be a strategy for every organization to consider and practice. It ties directly into development planning and continuous growth. 176 Future Research At the time of completion of this research study, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe, forcing leaders to rethink, rescope, and some have had to redesign their organizations. Future studies can include an investigation on the problems facing companies due to a global pandemic (i.e. risk management, organizational redesign, and restructuring, deciding to close the business, leadership change, business model change). Future studies evaluating organizational promotion systems can focus on a single or couple organization, gathering documents, artifacts, conducting observations and focus groups internally. If working with the internal stakeholders in a specific organization, it may be possible to pilot training recommendations in the organization’s learning forums. A future study can also include an evaluation of dual career path promotion systems to assess how the two paths impact the bottom line. Recommendations for data analyses for future studies may include the use of more than one online source for surveys. Surveys could include open text fields for respondents to add specific details to why they chose a certain answer. Other mixed method designs that could have worked with this field research study are the two-phase explanatory sequential design where the surveys would be designed and collected first, results analyzed, then the qualitative interview questions would be designed and interviews conducted and analyzed; and the three-phase exploratory sequential design where the interviews would be designed and conducted first, analyzed for testing feature, quantitative test design, ending with interpreting the results (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Another research study method is a longitudinal case study where there is a control group and a group that undergoes a change method. Recommendations for future research study are to 177 work within one organization to conduct an experiment with an intervention over a period of time (i.e. several years) to intimately understand the impact of the intervention. The organization would have to approve the time, financial investment, and effort it would take to test out hypothetical methodologies within the corporate setting. The experiment would require buy-in from leadership and be administered over several months or years to prove as an effective method. Recommendations for further evaluations would be to conduct 360 interviews with the senior managers’ managers and direct reports to investigate expressed leadership skills and shared opinions and perspectives. Implementation of the solutions may include a derivative of the study’s conceptual model, where the conceptual model serves as a cross section view of the stakeholder’s environment. The complete profile of the organization would follow a conceptual “hourglass model” (Figure 2) where the stakeholder, the senior manager, is in the center and has the primary responsibility to balance the hourglass by never letting the sand run out on either end. The evaluation of the promotion process would involve an investigation of the senior manager’s awareness of the surrounding environment, knowledge of how to balance all responsibilities from top and bottom, and practice or experience in doing so. 178 Figure 2. Stakeholder/Senior Manager Conceptual Hourglass Model Future research may consider using a tool such as a balanced scorecard (Kaplan & Norton, 1992; Harris III & Bensimon, 2007) to measure leaders’ traits and qualities in balance with the organization’s needs and goals. It may also be worth investigating organization promotion models from seminal research studies such as Ferris et al. (1992) and Katz (1955) and how they may be applied in today’s organizations. Further research collecting and comparing studies using Clark and Estes’ (2008) research backed KMO model may also contribute to a valuable organizational development business strategy, a strategy inclusive of an organization promotion system. Due to current events of the coronavirus and new working environments across the globe, it may likely be apropos to assess the mission and goals of organizations as they relate to the promotion of future senior managers; the topics of risk management, the ability to deal with ambiguity, the talent to be charismatic and clam in the face of uncertainty, and the skill to be sympathetic and empathetic to other people are in the forefront of leadership development currently. 179 Conclusion This field study’s problem of practice stemmed from the causes surrounding leadership and how one is promoted into a leadership (senior manager) position. The topic was spurred by the abundance of leadership articles, popular books and titles, and blogs populating all forms of media. The researcher is most acquainted with the technology market sector, as she lives and works in Silicon Valley, California. Working with brilliant engineers and scientists who have been formally, academically, and technically trained in prestigious learning institutions, the researcher found there to be a disconnect between the technical prowess from years of training to the workplace when career mobility was at stake. The Clark and Estes (2008) KMO framework provided a comprehensive gap analysis to evaluate the knowledge, motivations, and organization barriers surrounding organizational promotional systems, enabling, or hindering senior managers to be effective people-managers. The results of the surveys (with 34 respondents) and interviews (with 22 senior managers) found that there are mixed results in the knowledge of how to promote a people-manager, as most knowledge influences were determined to be needs. There exists a motivational desire to cultivate a learning culture and growth mindset in the organization. Very few organizations provide the resources, cultural settings, and models to foster a supportive learning environment of leadership development as a strategy to achieve the company’s goals and mission. The implication to the wider topic of organizational promotion systems is there is a significant need to create a solid foundation in corporate mission and organizational goals from which stem a learning environment to develop future leaders. Knowledge, motivation, or organizational context alone cannot complete a wholesome, successful career mobility path. The 180 three categories of influences must play closely together and tie into a central purpose for the organization. Recommendations from this study are rooted in the combination of KMO influences used together. Specific implementation plans are respective to every organization’s (tech and non-tech) objectives. 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Leader self-development: A contemporary context for leader development evaluation. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(4), 657-674. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.06.008 Otto, K. (2017). The impact of career ambition on psychologists' extrinsic and intrinsic career success. Career Development International, 22(1), 23-36. Retrieved from http://www.econis.eu/PPNSET?PPN=893317926 Panos, T., & Gray, M. (2012). Why do technical experts struggle in the transition to management. Paper presented at the Performance Training, Inc. Retrieved from www.ptionline.net 195 Parrish, Y. (2015). Evaluating the effects of a leadership development program on professional development of mid-level leaders at a nonprofit organization: An action research study Available from Social Science Premium Collection. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1672752522 Parthasarathy, R. (2009). Emotional intelligence and the quality manager: Beauty and the beast? Journal for Quality and Participation, 31(4), 31. 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H., Yeap, J., & Halim, H. A. (2017). The role of narcissism facets as predictors of facebook addiction among millennials. Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, 8(2), 1. doi:10.18843/ijcms/v8i2/01 Rigoni, B., & Nelson, B. (2015). Leadership mistake: Promoting based on tenure Roberts, K., & Biddle, J. (1994). The transition into management by scientists and engineers: A misallocation or efficient use of human resources? Human Resource Management, 33(4), 561-579. Sauermann, H., & Cohen, W. M. (2010). What makes them tick? employee motives and firm innovation. Management Science, 56(12), 2134-2153. doi:10.1287 Sayeed, O.B., & Yuvaraj, S. (2002). Occupational needs and managerial effectiveness: An empirical study. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 38(1), 22-40. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/27767822 Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. Schyns, B., & Schilling, J. (2013). How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 138-158. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.09.001 Shaffer, F. A. (2014). Ensuring a global workforce: A challenge and opportunity. Nursing Outlook, 62(1), 1-4. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2013.08.001 197 Shaw, J. B., Erickson, A., & Harvey, M. (2011). A method for measuring destructive leadership and identifying types of destructive leaders in organizations. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(4), 575-590. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.05.001 Siegall, M., & McDonald, T. (1996). Implementing a job change: The impact of employee focus of attention. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 11(4), 35-42. doi:10.1108/02683949610117607 Sirkin, H. L., Keenan, P., & Jackson, A. (2005, Oct). The hard side of change management. Harvard Business Review, 83, 108. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16250629 Slusher, A., Dyke, J., & Rose, G. (1972). Technical competence of group leaders, managerial role, and productivity in engineering design groups. Academy of Management journal, 15(2), 197-204. Retrieved from http://www.econis.eu/PPNSET?PPN=487503538 Solas, J. (2016). The banality of bad leadership and followership. Society and Business Review, 11(1), 12-23. doi:10.1108/SBR-09-2015-0049 Song, B., Qian, J., Wang, B., Yang, M., & Zhai, A. (2017). Are you hiding from your boss? leader's destructive personality and employee silence. (). Beijing, People's Republic of China: Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6421 Stafford, D., & Griffis, H. (2008). A review of millennial generation characteristics and military workforce implications. (). Virginia, United States: CNA Document Control. Retrieved from www.dtic.mil 198 Strickland, D. (2000). Emotional intelligence: The most potent factor in the success equation. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 30(3), 112-117. doi:10.1097/00005110- 200003000-00002 Tonidandel, S., Braddy, P. W., & Fleenor, J. W. (2012). Relative importance of managerial skills for predicting effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(6), 636-655. doi:10.1108/02683941211252464 Tung, R. L., & Verbeke, A. (2010). Beyond hofstede and GLOBE. Journal of International Business Studies, 41(8), 1259-1274. Retrieved from http://www.econis.eu/PPNSET?PPN=640498221 Tuovila, A., (2019). Bottom line. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bottomline.asp U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2019). Databases, tables & calculators by subject. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/data/ Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Thomas Shanks, S. J., & Meyer, M. J. (2011). Thinking ethically: A framework for moral decision making. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html Verbruggen, M., De Cooman, R., & Vansteenkiste, S. (2015). When and why are internal job transitions successful? transition challenges, hindrances, and resources influencing motivation and retention through basic needs satisfaction. Group & Organization Management, 40(6), 744-775. doi:10.1177/1059601115595935 199 Visser, H. (2003). Transformation of managerial skills of engineers Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10210/116 Wallis, J., & Gregory, R. (2009). Leadership, accountability and public value: Resolving a problem in “new governance”? International Journal of Public Administration, 32(3–4), 250–273. Weick, K. E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.) McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. Weinbaum, C., Girven, R. S., & Oberholtzer, J. (2016). The millennial generation : Implications for the intelligence and policy communities. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=4770625 Yough, M., & Anderman, E. (2006). Goal orientation theory. Retrieved from http://www. education.com/reference/article/goal-orientation-theory/. Zhou, Q., Hirst, G., & Shipton, H. (2012). Context matters. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(7), 894-909. Retrieved from http://www.econis.eu/PPNSET?PPN=72969562X 200 APPENDIX A Survey Items The purpose of this field research study is to explore and examine organizational promotion systems. This is a research project being conducted by a doctoral student in the Organizational Change Leadership doctoral program at the University of Southern California. You are invited to participate in this research project if you are a senior manager (defined as someone who has the experience and authority to promote individuals to team-manager positions) in the technology industry (hardware, software, semiconductor, medical devices). Your participation in this research study is voluntary. You may choose not to participate. If you decide to participate in this research survey, you may withdraw at any time. If you decide not to participate in this study or if you withdraw from participating at any time, you will not be penalized. The procedure involves filling an online survey that will take approximately 20 minutes. The survey questions will be about the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences of leaders in the promotional process. All information is confidential and stored in a password protected electronic format. The results of this study will be used for scholarly purposes only. The research has been reviewed according to the University of Southern California IRB (Institutional Review Board) procedures for research involving human subjects. ELECTRONIC CONSENT: Clicking on the “agree” button below indicates that: ● You have read the above information ● You voluntarily agree to participate ● You are at least 18 years of age 201 Assumed Knowledge Influences Survey Declarative Factual (terms, facts, concepts) Stakeholders (i.e. senior managers) know... Managers know their rate of successful promotions Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Multiple Choice (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer. * What is the key indicator of a successful promotion (after the new manager is placed in the promoted role)? a) Increased revenue; decreased operational expenses. b) Satisfaction of organization’s executive team. c) Filled a position gap in the organization structure. d) A higher performing team. * e) The person who is promoted is satisfied. Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. MC Question. Choose the correct answer. What is the most important question leaders ask themselves? a. How can I get the most time out of my team? b. How can I satisfy the customers? c. What is right for the enterprise? * d. How can I be more accessible to the team? e. What are the problems? Declarative Conceptual (categories, process models, principles, relationships) Managers need to understand the concept of leadership. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer.*. What is leadership? a. A process of influence that involves groups and leads to common goals. * 202 b. A group of people who make decisions in the best interest of the shareholders. c. Different styles of the way managers run meetings. d. A group of people who are technically competent. Managers need to understand the important things they must do in order to influence the organization’s promotion process. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer(s). What is/are the important thing(s) managers should do to influence the organization’s promotion process? a. Model the way of leadership. b. Manage activities in which his/her workgroup participates. c. Select team members based on cultural background. d. a and b.* e. a, b, and c. Procedural Stakeholders need to know how to… Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct answer. The first step to evaluating a candidate for promotion is to... a. evaluate the candidate’s unique talents. b. understand how to develop employees’ careers and roles that align with organizational goals. * c. have a planning discussion with HR. d. ask peers and other leaders for their thoughts of the candidate. Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer. As a leader, what is your first step for designing development plans for team members? a. Ask each team member about his/her unique learning style. b. Understand similarities and differences in learner characteristics of each team member. * c. Reflect on your own method of knowledge absorption. d. a and b. 203 e. a, b, and c. Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and performance goals. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. As a leader, you guide your team members in setting performance goals by: a. having frequent meetings with each team member. b. influencing team members to exceed performance goals. c. sharing a clear understanding of the degree of technical, interpersonal, and strategic skills necessary for each role. * d. sharing the company’s mission and vision. Metacognitive Stakeholders need to know how to reflect on... Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. (MC) Question. Choose the correct answer to the question. What most impacts team members’ performance and progress in development planning? a. Each team member’s technical skills and education. b. Each team member’s self-beliefs thoughts. * c. Manager approval and bureaucracy. d. Organizational budget and resource constraints. e. Business acumen and knowledge about the company. Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. To maximize team members’ performance in the field, leaders should coach by: a. Modeling the way to perform a task. b. Send the employees to various trainings. c. Listen to team members’ thoughts that relate to their values. * d. Sharing personal work and life experiences. 204 Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. (MC). Complete the following sentence by choosing the correct statement. When reflecting on one’s own leadership approach, a leader should focus on: a. past experience and expertise. b. degree of control, tolerance of ambiguity, and disposition. * c. team dynamics and function. d. cultural background, past experience, and training. Assumed Motivation Influences Survey Value Stakeholder needs to value… Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members; and connect this activity with higher team productivity. As a leader, please rank the following in order of your value: ___ Meeting the company bottom line. (3) ___ Customer satisfaction. (4) ___ Training and developing a high-performing team. (2) ___ Confidence in your own abilities to develop a team. (1) Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leadership traits required for people-managing roles. (Check all that apply.) As a leader, I... ___ have a vision that I communicate to my team. * ___ am highly skilled in my technical field. ___ can lead a team to complete a project. ___ lead my team toward a common goal. * ___ exceed my performance goals. 205 Self-Efficacy Stakeholder needs to have confidence that For each of the following questions, please use the 1-10 rating scale below to rate your confidence in performing the following right now: Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through application of the rubric (of effective leadership). a) Train team members to clearly understand the difference between the definition of a manager and leader. b) Train team members on technical skills. c) Train team members on human (interpersonal) skills. d) Train team members on conceptual (strategic, business) skills. Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. e) Articulate the need and benefits of a learning culture within the organization. Managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. f) Articulate the entire organizational promotion process. Mood Stakeholders need to feel positive about… Using the scale below, rate your agreement with the following: Scale: 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree I enjoy... Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets within their teams. a) cultivating a growth mindset within the team. 206 They need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. b) Creating a learning culture as a strategy to realize organizational goals. c) Creating an environment of continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. They need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. d) Fostering a collaborative environment among team members to promote learning. Interest and Goal Orientation Managers need to be interested in what motivates their team members to reach their achievement goals. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = completely), how interested are you in understanding what motivates your team to reach their achievement goals? They need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = completely), rate the importance of cultivating a learning culture within your team. Attribution Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. Use the 1-10 (1 = not at all; 10 = always) rating scale below to rate the degree to which you take responsibility for your team’s: a) Successes: b) Failures: Assumed Organization Influences Survey Resources (time; finances; people) Stakeholder needs resources to … Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 207 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. a) As a manager, I have enough time to dedicate to organizational development to meet corporate goals. Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. b) I have all the tools (equipment, skills, people, etc.) necessary to train my team members on leadership development. Policies, Processes, & Procedures Stakeholder needs to have policies that align with ... Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities (e.g., team goals as well as individual contributions). a) As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure my leadership responsibilities. b) As a leader, I have a clear understanding of the organization’s criteria used to measure my ability to train and develop my team. Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the organization’s mission and goals. c) The organization provides me with sufficient policies, processes, and procedures to promote and develop future leaders. 208 Culture Stakeholders need to be part of a culture that aligns with ... Please use the scale below to rate each of the following sentences. 1 - Strongly Disagree 2 - Disagree. 3 - No opinion 4 - Agree 5 - Strongly Agree Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. a) The organization promotes a culture of accountability. b) The organization promotes a culture of continuous improvement. Stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. c) The organization values collaboration. d) The organization promotes knowledge sharing. Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. e) The organization’s leadership recognizes efforts of learning, training, and development. 209 APPENDIX B Interview Protocol Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed as part of the above research project. The interview will take approximately 40 minutes. Your participation is completely voluntary. I do not anticipate that there are any risks associated with your participation, but you have the right to stop the interview or withdraw from the research at any time. This interview will be audio-recorded and transcribed. All personal identifying information of participants are kept confidential and only known to the researcher. Transcriptions will be destroyed immediately after the research is complete. Data analyses from these interviews are used for academic purposes only. 210 Assumed Knowledge Influences Interview Declarative Factual (terms, facts, concepts) Stakeholders (i.e. senior managers) know... Managers know their rate of successful promotions What percentage of promotions have you given that you would consider successful? Managers need to know the definition of a successful promotion. Tell me how you measure or qualify a successful promotion. Managers need to know the traits, qualities, and characteristics of effective leadership. Main Q: Think of someone whom you would consider an effective leader. Probing Q: Explain why you believe this. Declarative Conceptual (categories, process models, principles, relationships) Managers need to understand the concept of leadership. What does the term “effective leadership” mean to you? What is successful leadership? In your experience, what are the differences between managers and leaders? Managers need to understand the important things they must do in order to influence the organization’s promotion process. As a manager, what do you do to influence the organization’s promotion process? Procedural Stakeholders need to know how to… 211 Managers need to know how to evaluate a job description to align with the organization’s mission when promoting an individual. Describe the steps you take to evaluate a job description when you promote someone to a people-managing role. Managers need to know the steps in creating a development plan for each team member and implement the plans. Main Q: Describe the steps you take when creating development plans for your team members. Probing Q: How do you ensure that the plan will be implemented? Managers need to know how to guide team members (mentor, coach) as they set learning and performance goals. Main Q: Describe the process you take to guide your team members to set learning goals. Probing Q: What about setting their performance goals? Metacognitive Stakeholders need to know how to reflect on... Managers need to know how to reflect on their team members’ progress and to make adjustments as needed to development plans. Main Q: How often do you reflect on your team’s development plan progress? Probing Q: How do you go about making adjustments to the development plans when necessary? Managers need to know how to guide team members in reflecting on member performance in the field. Tell me about a time when you coached a team member to reflect on his/her own performance. Managers need to know how to reflect on their approaches to being role models in developing team members and make adjustments to improve efficacy. Main Q: Describe how you reflect on your own leadership capabilities and skills. Probing Q: Describe a time when you reflected on your leadership approach and realized that you had to make adjustments. 212 Assumed Motivation Influences Interview Value Stakeholder needs to value… Managers need to value the activity of training and developing team members; and connect this activity with higher team productivity. Main Q: I am going to read you a list of concerns that may impact a high-performing team. After hearing the list, please tell me which are most important in your approach to leading a high-performing team. ● Meeting the company’s bottom line. ● Customer satisfaction. ● Training and developing a high-performing team. ● Confidence in your own abilities to develop a team. Probing Q: Why would you say (responses from Main Q) are most important? Managers need to value the significance of manager versus leadership traits required for people- managing roles. Describe a time when you promoted someone to a people- manager role. What qualities did you value in that person? Self-Efficacy Stakeholder needs to have confidence that Managers need to have confidence that their knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to train others through application of the rubric (of effective leadership). Main Q: a) Tell me about a time when you felt confident in training a new leader on a skill. b) Now tell me about a time when you had low confidence in training a new leader. Probing Q: What impacts your confidence? Managers need to have confidence in their abilities to lead change in creating a learning organization. Would you consider your organization to be a “learning organization?” If so, what was your role in creating the learning organization? 213 Managers need to have confidence to take action on each stage of the promotion process. Another question about the promotion process: You can choose the earlier story or another time when you promoted someone. What role(s) did you play in each stage of the process? Mood Stakeholders need to feel positive about… Managers need to feel positive about cultivating growth mindsets within their teams. How do you feel about cultivating a growth mindset within the team? They need to feel positive about creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals. How do you feel about creating an environment of continuous improvement as a strategy to realize organizational goals? They need to feel positive about fostering collaboration among team members to promote learning by all. How do you feel about fostering collaboration among team members? Interest and Goal Orientation Managers need to be interested in what motivates their team members to reach their achievement goals. Describe a conversation you have had with a team member about what motivates him/her to reach achievement goals. They need to have a goal of cultivating a learning culture within the entire team. How do you ensure that you are cultivating a learning culture within the team? Attribution Describe a time when you took responsibility for your team’s success. 214 Managers take responsibility for their team members’ success or failure. How about a time of failure? Assumed Organization Influences Interview Resources (time; finances; people) Stakeholder needs resources to … Managers need time to dedicate to the organizational design and development in order to meet corporate goals. Describe the organizational policy around providing time for organizational development. Managers need tools for leadership training development for team members. What kind of tools are provided to leaders for leadership training development? Policies, Processes, & Procedures Stakeholder needs to have policies that align with ... Managers need to have metrics that reflect their supervisory duties, including training and development, and leadership responsibilities (e.g., team goals as well as individual contributions). Tell me about the metrics used by the organization to measure leadership capabilities and responsibilities. Managers need to have standardized policies, processes, and procedures in place to promote leadership that fit with the What kind of standardized policies, processes, and procedures are used to evaluate promotional fit with the organization’s mission and goals? 215 organization’s mission and goals. Culture Stakeholders need to be part of a culture that aligns with ... Managers need to be part of a culture that aligns with accountability and continuous improvement. Describe the organizational culture around accountability. What about continuous improvement? Stakeholders need to be a part of a culture that values collaboration and promotes knowledge sharing. How does the organization exhibit a collaborative culture? How does the organization promote knowledge sharing? Managers need recognition from leadership for their efforts to train and develop their team members. Describe a time when the organization recognized a people- manager for his/her efforts in developing his/her team. Demographic questions: 1) How many years have you been a senior manager (someone who has the authority and experience to promote a people-manager)? 2) Industry: ● HW ● SW ● Semi ● Medical Devices 216 Appendix C Level 1: Reaction. Engagement evaluation tool. Attendance sheet. Distribute at an intermission. Organization Promotion Process Workshop <Date> Employee ID (optional) Last Name First Name Signature 217 Appendix D Level 1: Reaction. Relevance and customer satisfaction evaluation tool. Relevance and customer satisfaction survey. Distribute 20 minutes before the end of the workshop. Organization Promotion Process Workshop Please rate your agreement to the following statements. I received helpful information about learning objectives prior to the program. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I received valuable information about the organization’s promotion process throughout the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I would recommend this workshop to my peers. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I am satisfied with the facilitation style of the instructor(s). Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I am satisfied with the topics covered. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I am satisfied with the duration of the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The workshop topics are relevant to my role as a senior manager. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree During the workshop we discussed how to apply the learning on the job. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 218 I am clear about what is expected of me when I get back to my job. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I understand how the steps of the promotion process help me do my job. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Additional comments: 219 Appendix E Level 2: Learning. Declarative knowledge assessment. Pre and post workshop evaluation tool. Please choose the best answer to the following questions/statements: 1. The promotion process begins: a. When there is a gap in the organizational structure b. When a people-manager abruptly leaves the company c. At least two years before any paperwork is signed d. The moment HR announces a people-manager job opening 2. The promotion process involves: a. The hiring manager b. Human resources c. The potential candidate’s peers d. All the above e. Only a and b 3. True/False. All managers are leaders. 4. True/False. The most important trait of a people-manager is the ability to get things done. 5. The definition of a leader is: a. Determined by the number of followers the leader has. b. Someone who inspires others toward the same goal. c. Always determined by the organization. d. Everyone is a leader. 220 Appendix F Level 2: Learning. Procedural knowledge evaluation. Activity during the workshop. Hypothetical profiles “promotable” candidates. In teams of two or three people, compare these 360-reviews of qualified candidates. You will have ten minutes to discuss with your team members why you have chosen to promote candidate A or B. Context: A senior engineering director position has just opened (the former incumbent gave three-weeks’ notice before leaving the company). The position involves 50% global travel to satellite offices and customer sites; is customer-facing with 30 direct reports (75% local direct reports and 25% international direct reports). Candidate A Profile: ● Is currently a director (2 years) in the company in the Service division ● Has been with the current company for a total of two years ● Current team consists of 10 direct reports ● Previous experience: VP title for five years in a small company, in another country, within the same industry ● Education: Bachelor of Science in Engineering (from an American Ivy League university) 360 Review for Candidate A based on the five leadership practices (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Scores range from 1-100% (1 = low level; 100 = high level). Model the Way Inspire a Shared Vision Challenge the Process Enable others to Act Encourage the Heart Direct supervisor 100% 95% 90% 70% 75% Direct report 1 70% 70% 40% 70% 70% 221 Direct report 2 80% 85% 25% 65% 65% Direct report 3 90% 85% 50% 60% 60% Peer 1 95% 70% 60% 70% 70% Peer 2 90% 80% 55% 50% 70% Candidate B Profile: ● Is currently a manager (3 years) in the company in an engineering division ● Has been with the current company for a total of five years ● Currently has two direct reports ● Previous experience: has been an individual contributor in a same-size company for seven years; same industry ● Education: Bachelor of Science in Engineering from international school; MBA from an American university 360 Review for Candidate B based on the five leadership practices (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Scores range from 1-100% (1 = low level; 100 = high level). Model the Way Inspire a Shared Vision Challenge the Process Enable others to Act Encourage the Heart Direct supervisor 70% 85% 100% 90% 95% Direct report 1 70% 70% 90% 80% 90% Direct report 2 60% 65% 75% 90% 85% Senior manage from different division 75% 85% 80% 95% 80% Peer 1 35% 60% 80% 90% 90% Peer 2 50% 60% 85% 80% 90% 222 Appendix G Level 2: Learning. Confidence evaluation. Questionnaire to be sent to participants after the completion of the workshop. Responses should be collected with a week of workshop completion. Please rate your level of confidence for each of the statements below (Scale: 1 - no confidence and 10 - Completely confident). I (can)…. Score Evaluate a job description as a strategy to determine promotional fit. Assess the leadership traits necessary to effectively perform the promoted role. Fairly and objectively assess potential candidates to be promoted. Create a succession plan for my own team/organization. Actively develop each of my team member’s talents to strengthen the overall team. Model the way in developing a culture of continuous learning. Am committed to applying what I learned when I submit a candidate for promotion. 223 Appendix H 360-degree evaluation. Distribute 90 days after workshop completion. This evaluation has three parts, one for the senior manager, one for a human resources representative, and one for a direct report. Questionnaire instructions for senior managers: The purpose of this reflective self-evaluation is to determine how valuable and effective the workshop training was to your role in promoting future leaders. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. Senior Manager/Workshop Participant I believe that the knowledge and skills learned from the Organization Promotion Process workshop has helped me develop a high-performing team. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I believe that the knowledge and skills from the Organization Promotion Process workshop has helped me develop a culture of continuous improvement and growth mindset within my team. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The knowledge and skills I learned from the Organization Promotion Process workshop has helped me develop at least one person to be promoted. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I have positively impacted the organization’s employee engagement perception. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The leadership knowledge and skills I gained from the workshop have positively affected my own leadership behavior. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 224 Human Resources (Business Partner; someone who works closely with the team) Questionnaire instructions for human resources: The purpose of this evaluation is to determine how valuable and effective the workshop training is to the organization promotion process by assessing the knowledge and skills gained by the workshop participants. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. The senior manager has actively participated in all phases of the organization promotion process. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has become more invested in the team’s ability to innovate since attending the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Since attending the Organizational Promotion Process workshop the senior manager has positively impacted at least one future leader. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has positively impacted employee engagement since attending the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has positively impacted employee retention. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has revised the succession plan in a way that aligns with the organization’s goals since attending the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The team’s culture has been positively impacted by the senior manager’s leadership qualities since the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 225 Direct Report Questionnaire instructions for employee(s): The purpose of this evaluation is to determine how valuable and effective the workshop training is to the organization promotion process. Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements. The senior manager has clearly communicated the organization promotion process to me. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has discussed innovation with me or the team since attending the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has motivated me to develop professionally. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The senior manager has mentored me to grow professionally. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I have a clear understanding of the organization’s goals. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree The team’s culture has been positively impacted by the senior manager’s leadership qualities since attending the workshop. Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 226 Appendix I Figure I1 Workshop Customer Satisfaction and Relevancy Scores Note. Figure I1 shows the average evaluation scores of participants’ satisfaction and perception of content relevance. Scores reflect each functional groups’ respective scores. Figure I2 Knowledge Improvement Pre and Post, participants scores Note. Figure I2 shows participants’ knowledge assessment score improvement from a single workshop. Relevance 96% (Avg. Score) Customer Satisfaction 90% (Avg. Score) 227 Figure I3 Knowledge Improvement Pre and Post, training effectiveness Note. Figure I3 shows an improvement of average participant knowledge assessment scores over five organization promotion process workshops. 228 Figure I4 Participants’ Level of Confidence Note. Figure I4 shows the confidence level scores provided by participants on evaluations distributed after the completion of the workshop. For each of the evaluation items, most participants scored 90% or 100% confidence in each of the areas measured. 229 Figure I5 360 Review of Effectiveness of Workshop Training Note. Each of the participants was asked to complete a 5-point scale self-evaluation of the effectiveness of knowledge and skills learned from the organization promotion process workshop. Human resources business partners (HRBP) and direct reports (Dir. Report) were asked to complete a 5-point scale evaluation of the effectiveness of the workshop by observed behaviors and actions of the senior managers in the time period following the training. Figure I6 Summary report of Workshop Training Effectiveness 230 Relevance 96% (Avg. Score) Customer Satisfaction 90% (Avg. Score) 231
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The purpose of this field research study was to evaluate the promotion practices in technology (hardware, software, semiconductor, and medical devices) companies. The framework used to guide this study was the Clark and Estes (2008) knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences (KMO) gap analyses. The research questions that outline the study involve the perceptions of senior management as to their success of promoting individuals to people-managing positions
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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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Creator
Nguyen, Tram Minh Bao
(author)
Core Title
A field study of leadership evaluation and promotion practices in technology organizations
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Publication Date
12/11/2020
Defense Date
12/07/2020
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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Tag
career mobility,leaders,leadership,Management,managers,OAI-PMH Harvest,promotion practices,promotion systems,succession plan,Technology
Language
English
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Electronically uploaded by the author
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Yates, Kenneth (
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tnguyen@moflo.com,trammngu@usc.edu
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Tags
career mobility
managers
promotion practices
promotion systems
succession plan