Month: March 2018

Learning activity 10.3-Unit 10

Unit 10 Learning Activities

How can I know that I can trust what I am reading?

Evaluation of the articles based on peer-review, the credentials of the author, academic honors, holding positions of influence, association with major discoveries and longevity in the field are important factors in establishing an authorial reputation. Are the findings presented consistent with what other researchers would conclude (Locke, et al., 2010, p. 12)?. This question brings lots of attention to too many things considered when reading articles. The competency of the article has a vested contribution to the reader trust.

How do I know the research has been performed competently?

First, A rigorous research design shows all elements of the study fit together logically and coherently. Understanding how to critique the study is significant, and the findings presented should be consistent with what other researchers would conclude.

Second, Method of collection informs the consumer and conveys the details of data analysis process.

Finally, Does the sample truly represent the population?. Goldacre (2011) considered author’s authority and validity of data being collected it’s a sign of competency. Also, the results answered the research questions. Thus, research allows for replication.

How do I know the research is reported honestly?

Validating findings ensure accuracy and credibility. When authors include the limitations, weakness and strength, a suggestion for using research results to further research. Any errors occurred and reported during the study, which most of the researchers include these issues to explain their results. (Goldacre, 2011) Advised, ” to lift up the lid, fingering around at the mechanics, and peer in.”

How do I know the findings presented are consistent with what other researchers would conclude?

Comparing the findings with other replicated study, explained the quality of the results and how it’s logically well-supported.  Many researchers include what was done in previous studies, and what they are going to do to answer their research questions.

Question 

Do you consider an error in inputting data in the research as weakness especially if its mentioned in the limitation section?And why?

Reference

Goldacre, B. (2011). Battling bad science. TEDGlobal 2011. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_battling_bad_science

Plano-Clark, V., & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumers guide. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Learning activity 10.2-Unit 10

Unit 10 Learning Activities

Why you think evidence-based decision making is important for the Transformational Servant leader.

Evidence-based decision-making it’s a strategy offered by transformational servant leader. It’s evidence-based, not assumption-based. Northouse (2013) Stated, “transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people” (p.185). Also, it’s a process that often incorporates charismatic and visionary leadership. Greenleaf (1970) proposed, “Servant leaders have the natural feeling that ones want to serve, to serve first” (as cited in Northhouse, 2013, p.220).

Spears (2002) identified ten characteristics of servant leaders, listening and understanding is a strategy that SL uses to communicate with followers, and Northhouse (2013) suggested, transformational leadership and servant leadership as a process that occurs between followers and leaders (as cited in Northhouse, 2013, p. 221).
In the transformational leadership theory, Bass (1985) noted that “increases followers awareness of problems and encourages followers to view old and familiar issues from a new perspective” (as cited in Washington, Sutton, & Sauser, 2014).

Northhouse (2013) acknowledged, “One of the transformational leadership behavior, is to stimulate followers to be creative and innovative and to challenge their own believes and values. So, it supports followers to try a new approach and develop an innovative way of dealing with organizational issues” (p.193). On the other hand, servant leaders help followers grow and succeed through mentoring and providing support, Therefore, empowering the followers and make them own their decision and be self- sufficient.
Leaders need to understand and adapt to the needs and motives of followers, Which explained their concern about how the leaders able to inspire followers to accomplish great things. It seems they assess follower’s motives and satisfy their needs, thus, requires having evidence-based decision-making strategy (Northhouse, 2013). Servant leadership is a ” transformational approach to create a more caring and just society” (Beck, 2014, p.307))

Schaubroeck, Lam, and Peng (2011) argued that trust in the leader is critical to linking leader behaviors and team performance and that transformational leadership and servant leadership represent general tendencies of leaders to engage in behaviors that inspire their followers’ trust. Washington, Sutton, and Sauser (2014) noted, servant leadership theory shares much in common with other modern theories of leadership, especially transformational leadership theory.

Coetzer, Bussin, and Geldenhuys (2017) insured “On an individual level servant leadership positively influenced work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, creativity and innovation, organizational commitment, trust, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, person-job fit or person-organizational fit, leader-member exchange, and work-life balance.” Hanse, Harlin, Jarebrant, Ulin, and Winkel, (2016) concluded, Servant leaders want to develop a sustainable organization and bring out the best among followers rather than their own self-interest. Coetzer, Bussin, and Geldenhuys ( 2017) stated, “Servant leadership proposes a more meaningful way of leadership to ensure sustainable results for individuals, organizations, and societies”(p.1).

Conceptual-based concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. Decision makers cannot assume that followers will be committed to a decision without being part of the process. Evidence-based decision -making helps TSL make well-informed decisions by having the best available evidence and managed outcome.

The transformational servant leader can articulate a compelling vision and galvanize collective action, communicate messages in meaningful ways, and operate in an innovative, inclusive, intellectually stimulating manner. Such actions change cultures and have the potential to lead to the development of contexts conducive to organizational change. Compiling vision and ability to conceptualize a higher vision, is a role of transformational servant leaders.

Reference

Coetzer, M. F., Bussin, M., & Geldenhuys, M. (2017). The functions of a servant leader. Administrative Sciences, 7(5),1-32. Retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/1/5

Curtis D. Beck (2014). Antecedents of Servant Leadership: A Mixed Method Study. Journal Of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 21(3), 299-314. org/10.1177/1548051814529993

Hanse, J. J., Harlin, U., Jarebrant, C., Ulin, K., & Winkel, J. (2016). The impact of servant leadership dimensions on leader-member exchange among healthcare professionals. Journal Of Nursing Management, 24(2), 228-234. doi:10.1111/jonm.12304

Malingumu, W., Stouten, J., Euwema, M., & Babyegeya, E. (2016). Servant Leadership, Organisational Citizenship Behavior and Creativity: The Mediating Role of Team-Member Exchange. Psychologica Belgica, 56(4), 342-356. doi:10.5334/pb.326.

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership : theory and practice. Thousand Oaks : SAGE

Schaubroeck, J., Lam, S. K., & Peng, A. C. (2011). Cognition-Based and Affect-Based Trust as Mediators of Leader Behavior Influences on Team Performance. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 863-871.

Washington, R. R., Sutton, C. D., & Sauser, J. I. (2014). How Distinct is Servant Leadership Theory? Empirical Comparisons with Competing Theories. Journal Of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 11(1), 11-25.

 

Learning activity 9.3-Unit 9

Unit 9 Learning Activities

 

The most important thing for me about the conclusions section of a high-quality research report is . . .

 

Interpreting and evaluating the results that answered research question are essential regarding conclusion section. However, the elements of conclusion section presented as follows

The summary of the significant results, Plano-Clerk & Creswell (2015) stated, “when reading a conclusion section, a good first step is to look for statements where the researchers summarize the major findings of the study. Theses summary statement provides a recap of the key results that the researcher found in response to each of research questions” (p.467).As a reader, I benefit reading conclusion first before results, so I have a focus on what to conclude then I learn about how they presented their results and samples, etc….  The summary of the results includes the interpretation of the results in relation to the extensive literature and personal reflection about the results in addition to bringing in prior literature (Plano-Clerk & Creswell, 2015, p.468). Also, the summary of findings is explicitly related to previous research as they compare to, contrast, or extend the prior study.

The implications for practice, that the researchers elicit in their conclusion for audiences based on the results obtained in the study, and how it provides the audiences with the possible outline of practices or expectations. “The researchers often elaborate on the implications of their study for audiences upon completion, the researchers are in a position to reflect and remark on how the different audiences may benefit from the use of results” (Plano-Clerk & Creswell, 2015, p.468).

Thoughtful critique of the study’s limitation is the study limitations focused on shortcomings in the extent of the reasons that researchers chose to use specific research approach at the beginning of their research study.

 Future research suggestion, it’s also another type of interpretation based on the results and limitations that have to consider when conducting further research. It gives directions to researchers for strategies could be used to further the research.

Question

I found one of the reviews included conflict of interest at the end, which it was no conflict of interest. However my question

Is it possible to have a conflict of interest after the completion of the study achieved? And how is it important to include it at the end of the of a research report?

Reference

Plano-Clark, V., & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

 

Learning activity 9.2-Unit 9

Unit 9 Learning Activities

Coetzer, M. F., Bussin, M., & Geldenhuys, M. (2017). The functions of a servant leader. Administrative Sciences, 7(5),1-32. Retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/1/5

 

• Are the major results identified and summarized?

The summary of the key results was organized logically by theme which in regards answer their research questions.  They didn’t introduce new results. The results highlighted the eight-servant leadership characteristics, competencies, the outcomes related to individual, team, and organization. Coetzer, Bussin, & Geldenhuys, (2017) stated, “The results were used to identify four general functions of a servant leader clustered into strategic servant leadership and operational servant leadership. The summary of results stated as following “On an individual level servant leadership positively influenced work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, creativity and innovation, organizational commitment, trust, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, person-job fit or person-organizational fit, leader-member exchange, and work-life balance.” In addition, ” servant leadership was negatively related to burnout and turnover intention. On a team or group level, group organizational citizenship behavior, group identification, service culture or climate, and the procedural justice climate positively influenced by servant leadership.” Finally, “on an organizational level, servant leadership was positively related to customer service and sales performance.”  (Coetzer, et al., 2017, p.19). Each function supported by competencies and characteristics of a servant leader as defined in current literature” (p.19). A discussion relating the results to literature noted in the study.

Rate 3

• Are the results related to the literature?

Coetzer et al., (2017) acknowledged “The purpose of this study was to discover the characteristics, competencies, measures, and outcomes of servant leadership using a systematic literature review.” The results thoughtfully examined in relation to previous literature, and they were all based on quantitative, qualitative, and literature.  Personal reflection as excerpted; “this study made a theoretical and practical contribution to the body of knowledge related to servant leadership ( Coetzer et al.,2017, p.19).

Rate 3

• Are appropriate implications of the results for practice identified and justified?

Suggestion for practice that stems from the study, and the specific audiences that might benefit from the knowing the results of the study are noted. “The results of this study provide managers and practitioners with a possible outline to develop servant leaders within organizations” (Coetzer et al.,2017, p.19). They also indicated the importance of implication of this study also could be used to design curriculums for servant leadership development programmes and to cultivate a servant leadership culture within an organization. In return, management and other stakeholders could expect favorable individual, team, or organizational outcomes that servant leadership produces (Coetzer et al.,2017, p.19).

Rate 3

• Is there a thoughtful critique of the study’s limitations?

Thoughtful critique of the study’s limitations provided. Coetzer et al., (2017) mentioned, “Normally a systematic literature review is done by at least two researchers, especially the evaluation of the quality of articles. In this study, only one researcher evaluated the quality of studies.” Also, “the study excluded studies done before the year 2000 and after 2015 as well as research done in the quaternary sector,” and “it excluded grey literature, books, book reviews, magazine articles, conference presentations, and white papers” (p.19).

Rate 3

• Are suitable suggestions for future research provided?

Suggestion for future research that built from the study’s results and limitation are advanced. Coetzer et al., (2017) proposed “future study might be to design a leadership development programme based on functions and performance areas mentioned in this study and to test its effectiveness to enhance servant leadership attributes. Experimental type studies might be valuable in this regard.” Also, “The functions and performance areas of a servant leader may also help to create serving organizations, organizations that leave behind legacies in individuals and the community throughout its existence. Action research and case studies might validate this possibility” (p.19).

Rate 3

• Is the interpretation consistent with the study?

The researchers draw conclusions that logical extension of the results to address the study’s purpose and research questions

Rate 3

• Is the back mater appropriate for the study report?

Information included in the list of references, supplementary material, author contributions, and conflict of interest, and appendices. They all complete, and relevant to the study.

Rate 3

Quality rating: High quality

0=Poor

1= Fair

2= Good

3= Excellent

Overall quality

0-10= Low quality

11-16=Average quality

17-21= High quality

Total score=21

My overall assessment is 20

Resources

Plano-Clark, V., & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.