Ashford University's Research Fellow Grants (UFP)

The Dynamic Nature of Emotional Intelligence: A Case Study of Middle-Level Managers

Abstract:  This study investigated how emotional intelligence was learned and applied among middle-level managers through the implementation, documentation and integration of an emotional intelligence training intervention for middle-level managers. The study further investigated how middle-level managers integrated what they learned in the workshop through the use of their strategic action plan. The study also explored how middle-level managers described emotional intelligence before and after the emotional intelligence workshop. The researcher explored middle-level manager’s actions through the use of the mindfulness theory, conducted face-to-face interviews, and analyzed archival documents, observation notes, and perceptions of emotional intelligence.

This study’s findings revealed that middle-level managers integrated what they learned in the emotional intelligence workshop in different ways. Middle-level managers perceived emotional intelligence differently after they completed the emotional intelligence workshop. Two themes in particular were critical to understanding how middle-level managers implemented emotional intelligence: the need for time to implement what was learned and the use of a strategic action plan to learn how they implemented what was learned. Middle-level managers described how important time was to implement what they learned during the workshops. Additionally, their use of a strategic action plan helped to reinforce what was learned in the workshop. Finally, middle-level managers described how emotional intelligence was integrated in their personal lives.

Link to Research:

http://marps.library.nova.edu.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/pdf/11718.pdf

Reference: Davis, A. (2016). The Dynamic Nature of Emotional Intelligence: A Case Study of Middle-Level Managers (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from MARPS, Practicums, and Applied Dissertations.

Author Bio: Dr. Adrianna Davis has over 8 years of Leadership Development Consultant experience and serving in progressive levels of leadership at various education institutions. She has had the great privilege to consult with Adventist Health Systems to develop leadership and innovation courses for two Master degree programs. Recently, she was invited to lead a round table discussion on curriculum development and design thinking at the All Means All conference. She was once a panelist for the first intercultural dialogue between Nova Southeastern University and Lebanese American University. There she led several discussions on cultural diversity and cultural awareness. Her tenure as a Leadership Development Consultant, afforded her an opportunity to lead and train adult learners in various roles to include new Senior Management & Executive leaders.

The Road to Biculturalism within United States Businesses

Abstract:

This study aims to explore how U.S. immigrant employees view their journey to biculturalism through employment. The literature does acknowledge that some immigrants may be innately resistant to biculturalism due to strongly being culturally independent; therefore, this research also investigates how being culturally independent within the U.S. workforce affects such individuals’ employment experiences and satisfaction. Study’s results provide researchers and organizational leaders preliminary insight in facilitating biculturalism within the workplace through diversity initiatives.

Keywords: Biculturalism, multiculturalism, acculturation, assimilation, social integration, cultural identity, cross-cultural identity, cultural adaptation.


Link to Research:


http://www.jaabc.com/jaabcv22n1preview.html


Reference:


Zelihic, M., Makowski, C. (2016) The Road to Biculturalism within United States Businesses, "The Economics, Finance, IT, Management, MIS & International Business Research Conference, London," The Journal of American Business Review, Cambridge. (July 2016).http://www.jaabc.com/london.htmlAuthor Bio:

Dr. Maja Zelihic is a Program Chair for the Masters of Organizational Management, in the Forbes School of Business at Ashford University. She has a Ph. D in General Business with an emphasis in Organizational Management. In addition to being a Program Chair in the MAOM program, Dr. Zelihic is a Chair of Professional Development and Scholarship committee at Ashford University, which is a committee that recommends professional development content and provides recommendations concerning faculty research. She is a Program Chair; Innovation Track at ABSEL (Association for Business Simulation & Experiential Learning).

Dr. Zelihic is the recipient of Western International University Excellence Award for Contributions to Faculty Peer Development, two-time University of Phoenix Faculty Scholarship award, recognized as one of the top 10 Forbes School of Business faculty members in 2013, recipient of the University Fellows grants award in 2014(as part of a team of four), and again the recipient of the University Fellows Grant award in 2016 as the principal investigator.

In 2016 Dr. Zelihic was honored to be the recipient of both the 2016 Excellence in Scholarship Award (nominated by her peers) and Forbes School of Business President's Award for the Excellence in Scholarship.

Dr. Zelihic has published more than 20 articles in various refereed journals, such as the Springer’s Quality and Quantity Journal, Life Science Journal, Journal of American Business Review, Journal of Strategic and International Studies, Global Business, and International Management International Journal. Dr. Zelihic is an editorial advisory board member of The Journal of Global Business Management and a peer reviewer at the University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute and Journal for Excellence in Business Education.

To name just a few of her international presentation endeavors, Dr. Zelihic presented at the International Symposium of the New Technologies in Sports, delivering a lecture on sports management in April, 2011 in Sarajevo, Bosnia; 2015 IX International GUIDE Conference -Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2015Multidisciplinary Academic Conference, Orlando, Florida; and she is a three-time attendee and presenter at the Finance, Economics, MIS, & Global Business Research Conference, Miami, Florida. Furthermore, in 2016 Dr. Zelihic presented at the XI International GUIDE Conference and IX International EdTech IKASNABAR Congress in Madrid, Spain.

In July 2016, Dr. Zelihic presented as the key speaker at the Economics, Finance, MIS & International Business Research Conference in London presenting her research on Biculturalism in the US workforce.

In October 2016, Dr. Zelihic was a part of an educational team with Astria Learning assisting with University of Zambia’s transition to an online program. She conducted training and lectures on online platform and education. In March 2017, Dr. Zelihic presented in Lusaka, Zambia at the UNZA’s Executive Leadership Seminar in collaboration with Astria Learning on Leading Change, Why People Resist topic.

Road to Biculturism in American Businesses from Murad Abel

Acoustic Events Semantic Detection, Classification, and Annotation for Persistent Surveillance Applications

Acoustic Events Semantic Detection, Classification, and Annotation for Persistent Surveillance Applications

 Abstract:

Understanding of group activity based on analysis of spatiotemporally correlated acoustic sound events has received a minimum attention in the literature and hence is not well understood. Identification of group sub-activities such as: Human-Vehicle Interactions (HVI), Human-Object Interactions (HOI), and Human-Human Interactions (HHI) can significantly improve Situational Awareness (SA) in Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS). 

In this paper, salient sound events associated with group activities are preliminary identified and applied for training a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) whose features are employed as feature vectors for training of algorithms for acoustic sound recognition. In this paper, discrimination of salient sounds associated with the HVI, HHI, and HOI events is achieved via a Correlation Based Template Matching (CMTM) classifier. To interlinked salient events representing an ontology-based hypothesis, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is employed to recognize spatiotemporally correlated events. Once such a connection is established, then, the system generates an annotation of each perceived sound event. This paper discusses the technical aspects of this approach and presents the experimental results for several outdoor group activities monitored by an array of acoustic sensors.

 Author Bio:

 Dr. Amjad Alkilani is a program chair for the Forbes School of Business & Technology™ at Ashford University. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer & Information Systems Engineering from Tennessee State University; M.S. in Software Engineering from California State University-Fullerton, and B.S. in Computer Science from Mutah University. Before he joined Ashford University he worked as an assistant professor with University of Central Missouri, and before that he was a teaching assistant at Tennessee State University. In addition to his teaching experience he held several positions with different software companies and government agencies: Sr. Software Engineer with State of Tennessee, PM & Sr. Technical Trainer with CBM Integrated Software – Irvine CA, Software Developer with Los Angeles County, and Software Analyst/Developer with A-Z Group Inc. in Irvine CA.

Dr. Alkilani is a recognized expert in enterprise software development related subjects, and his research focus is on solving real-life problems through intelligent systems methodologies.

 Link to Research:

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1884359

 Reference:

 Alkilani, A., and Shirkhodaie, A., “Acoustic Events Semantic Detection, Classification, and Annotation for Persistent Surveillance Applications”, SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, April 2014.

 Linked-In Address:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjad-alkilani-phd-17b8a3119/

Military Women and Their Use of Voice in the Workplace

Dr. Arlene McConville

Title: Military Women and Their Use of Voice in the Workplace

Abstract: 
Based on the work of Albert O. Hirschman (1970), this paper centers on the assumption that the use of voice in the workplace is a basic function in which employees attempt to change and improve the current functioning of their organization. However, studies show that not everyone is empowered to use voice in the workplace. Tenure is found to influence employees’ decision to use voice (Ashford & Black, 1996; Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, & Tucker, 2007). Organizations can benefit from the diversity of ideas, and women bring with them new and different sets of ideas. Therefore, it is important to understand the circumstances in which women are empowered to use their voice in the workplace. As the military aims to be more inclusive of women, understanding the relationship between tenure and voice may be a way for the organizations to hear more from their women employees. The results of this study show that military women with less tenure are more empowered to use their voice than those with much longer tenure.

Link to Research: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318970060_Military_Women_and_Their_Use_of_Voice_in_the_Workplace

Reference: McConville, A. (2017, June). Military Women and Their Use of Voice in the Workplace. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Leadership Association, Rhinebeck, NY. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31762.96967

Author Bio: Dr. Arlene McConville is a retired military veteran and an associate professor at Ashford University. She began teaching in higher education after serving twenty years in the U.S. Coast Guard. Dr. McConville earned a Master of Business Administration in Management from Hawaii Pacific University and a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University. Her research interests are in leadership, motivation, and the military.

The Relationships between Locus of Control, Technology Usage, and Grades among Graduate Students.

Dr. Safavi

The Relationships between Locus of Control, Technology Usage, and Grades among Graduate Students.

Abstract:

Using Rotter‘s (1966) survey, this study determined the level of student personality factor Locus of Control (LOC) and examined whether or not it played a role in student adaptation and usage of technology. In this study, a course website technology was utilized for graduate students in face-to-face classrooms in a university. The student participants had successfully completed the course Economics for Decision Making during the period fall semester of 2013 to fall semester of 2015. The researcher examined the number of times a student used the website by looking at the Learning Management System (LMS) data that showed the frequency of students logging into the course website and then correlated that data to student LOC. The study confirmed that students with internal LOC level used the course website more often than the students with external LOC level; however, the study rejected the assumption that student personality factor Locus of Control had a significant impact on the student final grade.

Link to Research:

Click Here

Reference:

Safavi, N., (2016) The Relationships Between Locus of Control, Technology Usage, and Grades Among Graduate Students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (Accession Order No. AAT 10196437)

Author Bio:

Nazila Safavi is a telecommunications consultant and instructor of Information Technology, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering courses and subjects. Nazila Safavi has earned her PhD in the field of Information Technology Management. Her undergraduate studies in Computer Science were conducted at the Oxford Brooks University, Oxford, England. She has earned her MS in Telecommunications at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. Nazila is currently serving as a program chair for the TECH program Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and as an assistant professor at the Forbes School of Business & Technology at Ashford University. Safavi has served as an adjunct faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Irvine Extended School as well as National University and University of La Verne, where she has also been a member of advisory committee and program and course developer. Safavi is a recognized expert in Information Technology, Computer Science and Engineering related subjects. Her work has been published in the academic and practitioner journals. She has published a few scholarly articles. Her work is presented in several academic seminars and conferences. In addition, Safavi has wide-ranging practical experience. She has served to some of the world's leading Wireless and Telecommunication firms. Safavi specializes in the construction of Code Division Multiple Access as well as other Wireless Communication areas. Safavi received a scholarship from Oxford Brooks University in 1992. This award is usually given to the person that is most likely to establish a new area of research. Safavi successfully conducts a series of online seminars, has earned a number of awards, including the one she is most proud of: The best teacher award.

Linked-In Address:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazila-safavi-267ba65/

Arrogance at the Top

Abstract: In the recent past, there has been a plethora of media reports citing corporate scandals.   Mr. John Rigas, the founder of Adelphia Communications, the fifth largest cable operator in the United States, is one of the many corporate officers removed by Federal Authorities in handcuffs. The elderly Mr. Rigas, along with his sons, and other top leadership at Adelphia were indicted. This paper will center on the application of business ethics and inappropriate decisions that Mr. Rigas may have made when he was at the helm of Adelphia Communications. This paper will also demonstrate examples of business practices that may not be illegal; however, they allow serious ethical concerns to remain when inaccurate financial reporting is not questioned in public companies. Ethics is "the study of the general nature of morals and specific moral choices an individual makes in relating members of a profession..." not only when making professional decisions but personal choices as well (Dictionary, 2011, p. 385). Researchers tie the concept of business ethics with a concept of constant struggle and pursuit of moral behavior which sometimes appears to be in a direct conflict with both business and human nature (Weaver, 2011).   Sometimes it is hard to make the right choice, especially when pleasure is involved in choosing a behavior that seems to be good for us, but it may not be the right thing to do as it is described by the deontology theory "the good is defined independently of the right" meaning not everything that is good is right or vice-verse.

Link to Research: http://www.jaabc.com/brcv18n2preview.html

Reference: Murphy, R. & Zelihic, M. (2011) Arrogance at the Top. Business Review, Cambridge. Retrieved from http://www.jaabc.com/brcv18n2preview.html

Author Bio: Dr. Maja Zelihic is a Program Chair for the Masters of Organizational Management, in the Forbes School of Business at Ashford University. She has a Ph.D in General Business with an emphasis in Organizational Management. In addition to being a Program Chair in the MAOM program, Dr. Zelihic is a Chair of Professional Development and Scholarship committee at Ashford University, which is a committee that recommends professional development content and provides recommendations concerning faculty research. She is a Program Chair; Innovation Track at ABSEL (Association for Business Simulation & Experiential Learning).

Dr. Zelihic is the recipient of Western International University Excellence Award for Contributions to Faculty Peer Development, two-time recipient of the University of Phoenix Faculty Scholarship award, was recognized as one of the top 10 Forbes School of Business faculty members in 2013, recipient of the University Fellows grants award in 2014(as part of a team of four), and again the recipient of the University Fellows Grant award in 2016 as the principal investigator.

In 2016 Dr. Zelihic was honored to be the recipient of both The 2016 Excellence in Scholarship Award (nominated by her peers) and Forbes School of Business President's Award for the Excellence in Scholarship.

To name just a few of her international presentation endeavors, Dr. Zelihic presented at the International Symposium of the New Technologies in Sports, delivering a lecture on sports management in April, 2011 in Sarajevo, Bosnia; 2015 IX International GUIDE Conference -Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2015 Multidisciplinary Academic Conference, Orlando, Florida; and she is a three time attendee and presenter at the Finance, Economics, MIS, & Global Business Research Conference, Miami, Florida. This year Dr. Zelihic is going to be presenting at the XI International GUIDE Conference and IX International EdTech IKASNABAR Congress in Madrid, Spain.

Dr. Zelihic was the key speaker at the Economics, Finance, MIS & International Business Research Conference, London presenting her research on Biculturalism in the US workforce.

Linked-In Address (Optional):

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-maja-zelihic-90905a35