Browsing by Author "Hardy, Christopher R."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Characterizing the Construct of Organizational Unity of Effort In the Interagency National Security Policy Process
    Severance, Paul Michael (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-25)
    The sea state changes that have occurred in the global security arena since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union dramatically transformed the U.S. interagency national security process. More recently, the tragic events of 9-11 have further refocused national security endeavors inward to homeland security imperatives while Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have revalidated the need effective interagency coordination. This research represents a "first cut" at characterizing the construct of unity of effort in the interagency national security process by identifying attributes of this organizational virtue. The intent was to examine the dimensionality of the construct and thus facilitate theory building by consolidating extant knowledge and identifying key success factors as well as elements threatening operational success. This study focused on the interagency national security policy process and was intended to accommodate a wider understanding of unity of effort as it applies to that area of endeavor. Multiple interviews, focus groups, and surveys from 448 military and civilian adult respondents were used in the analysis. Content analysis, analysis of variance, and principle component analysis were the primary analytic methods used. The most conceptually sound factor structure for organizational unity of effort consisted of four factors: (a) Organizational Context and Interpersonal Dynamics, (b) Leadership and Decision Making Structure, (c) Strategic Orientation, and (d) Organizational Infrastructure and Resources. The detailed examination of this construct produced clearly acceptable internal reliability coefficients on all scales and relatively strong evidence of construct validity in the related factor analyses. Separate internal factor structures were investigated for two test groups drawn from the sample population. Although there was not perfect fidelity in the two derived factor structures, sufficient internal structures emerged that strongly validated the underlying factor structure for organizational unity of effort. This factor structure remained relatively stable when examined for selected demographic sub-groups drawn from the larger sample. The clear relationships of this factor construct revealed strong empirical support for a theoretical basis for the construct of organizational unity of effort. Moreover, the results of this study offer the potential for development of a simple and valid conceptualization of organizational unity of effort. It is hoped that this research serves to advance a conceptual framework that helps the interagency national security community evaluate unity of effort in the national security policy process and create new or reconfigure existing organizational entities in response to threats to U.S. national security.
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    A Comparative Study of Employee Commitment: Core and Contract Employees in a Federal Agency
    DeLoria, Julie Elizabeth (Virginia Tech, 2001-10-04)
    This study examined commitment levels of two groups of employees: core government employees and contract employees who directly supported the Federal Government. The sample included 85 government employees and 131 contract employees. The research identified each group's level of commitment to various work entities. These included: immediate government office, government organization, employer, and occupation. The focus was on affective commitment, i.e., an employee's emotional attachment to, and desire to maintain membership with, a work entity. A measure was also taken for socialization-related learning. The purpose was to determine if there were: (1) differing levels of affective commitment among the immediate government office, government organization, the employer, and the occupation within each group, (2) differences in work entity affective commitment levels between the two groups, (3) differences in levels of socialization-related learning between the two groups (4) relationships between socialization-related learning levels and work entity affective commitment levels for each group, (5) differences in work entity affective commitment levels in relation to certain demographic variables, and (6) relationships between certain demographic variables and work entity affective commitment levels for each group. Findings indicated that both groups of employees did vary in commitment levels to various work entities. Government employees displayed the most commitment to the occupation and least to the immediate office. Contract employees also displayed the most commitment to the occupation but the least to the government organization. Between the two groups, commitment level to the employer differed significantly with contractors displaying a higher level to the employing firm than government employees recorded to the Federal Service. Work entity had a significant effect and a significant employee group-by-work entity interaction was found. Differences in socialization-related learning levels and a relationship between socialization-related learning and work entity affective commitment levels were found for both groups. Several relationships between demographic variables and work entity affective commitment levels were also found for both groups. Formal and informal interventions and work delegation strategies are recommended for organizations involved in employment relationships involving core and contract employees. Areas for future research are also presented.
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    An examination of the dimensionalities and common constructs of selected adult cognitive learning style instruments
    Hardy, Christopher R. (Virginia Tech, 1995-04-05)
    Though a widespread advocacy exists for the use of learning style instruments in adult education, accurate measurement and interpretation using existing instrumentation have proven problematic. Additionally, relatively little attempt has been made to empirically reconcile the different theoretical and conceptual frameworks underlying these instruments. The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensionality, reliability, and construct validity of a cognitive learning style semantic differential instrument, the Cognitive Preference Pattern Indicator (CPPI), and at the same time to examine three instruments commonly used with adults for assessing cognitive learning style, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Success Style Profile (SSP), and the Gregorc Style Delineator, with respect to factor structure and shared learning style constructs. Over 1900 protocols from 1411 adults were used in the analyses. The examination of the CPPI produced clearly acceptable internal reliability coefficients on all scales and relatively strong evidence of construct validity in the internal and comparative factor analyses. Separate internal factor structures were examined for each instrument. Though not all of the other instruments' internal structures completely supported their respective theoretical bases, enough internal structures emerged for an analysis of common constructs. A combined factor analysis of the four instruments yielded a robust three factor solution which was consistent with an information processing model framework for clearly describing individual differences in regard to cognitive learning styles. The clear relationships of this model revealed strong empirical support to the theoretical bases of the CPPI and offered the adult education community a simple, valid, and profound conceptualization of cognitive learning styles.
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    Stages of Concern of Defense Systems Management College Faculty about Technology-Based Education and Training
    Alfieri, Paul Allen III (Virginia Tech, 1998-05-22)
    The Defense Systems Management College (DSMC) is beginning a major transition from its traditional classroom training methods to technology-based education and training. Conventional classroom courses will be rewritten and restructured to a computer-based format and be delivered on-line. According to the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, the faculty will experience concerns during the process of adopting this innovation. Identification of these concerns can assist in selecting appropriate interventions to minimize problems and to ease the adoption process. This study had two purposes. The first was to identify the Stages of Concern of the DSMC faculty toward the use of technology-based education and training by measuring faculty responses to the Stages of Concern (SoC) Questionnaire. The second was to determine appropriate interventions to assist the faculty through the change process. The study accomplished both purposes. All teaching faculty (N=135) received the questionnaire about their concerns and issues with this innovation, and 126 responses were returned (93% response rate). A total of eighty-one respondents (64%) reported no experience with technology-based courses, and the composite faculty SoC profile correspondingly reflected the "nonuser" category. No significant differences in Stages of Concern were found between groups of faculty when divided by common demographic criteria such as years of teaching experience, civilian or military status, and experience with educational technology. Quantitative methods of analysis included SoC profile comparison, High Stage Score and Second High Stage Score analysis, analysis-of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Qualitative methods were also used to analyze responses to an open-ended question on the survey instrument. Results reflected a general lack of knowledge and awareness about the innovation from the faculty and strong personal concerns about what impact it will have on them. The faculty clearly displayed a negative attitude toward this innovation and seemed unconvinced that it was the optimal solution. Written responses to the open-ended question provided key insight into faculty attitudes. The majority of concerns identified were educational issues, particularly dealing with the effectiveness of a computer-based format when teaching highly-interactive management courses. Based on these results, recommended intervention strategies for DSMC were generated. These strategies focus on the need for better information dissemination about educational technology and for a realistic implementation plan. More importantly, interventions were recommended to provide incentives for faculty to increase proficiency with educational technology and the use of technology in their courses.
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    Structural Health Monitoring Using Multiple Piezoelectric Sensors and Actuators
    Kabeya, Kazuhisa III (Virginia Tech, 1998-04-30)
    A piezoelectric impedance-based structural health monitoring technique was developed at the Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. It has been successfully implemented on several complex structures to detect incipient-type damage such as small cracks or loose connections. However, there are still some problems to be solved before full scale development and commercialization can take place. These include: i) the damage assessment is influenced by ambient temperature change; ii) the sensing area is small; and iii) the ability to identify the damage location is poor. The objective of this research is to solve these problems in order to apply the impedance-based structural health monitoring technique to real structures. First, an empirical compensation technique to minimize the temperature effect on the damage assessment has been developed. The compensation technique utilizes the fact that the temperature change causes vertical and horizontal shifts of the signature pattern in the impedance versus frequency plot, while damage causes somewhat irregular changes. Second, a new impedance-based technique that uses multiple piezoelectric sensor-actuators has been developed which extends the sensing area. The new technique relies on the measurement of electrical transfer admittance, which gives us mutual information between multiple piezoelectric sensor-actuators. We found that this technique increases the sensing region by at least an order of magnitude. Third, a time domain technique to identify the damage location has been proposed. This technique also uses multiple piezoelectric sensors and actuators. The basic idea utilizes the pulse-echo method often used in ultrasonic testing, together with wavelet decomposition to extract traveling pulses from a noisy signal. The results for a one-dimensional structure show that we can determine the damage location to within a spatial resolution determined by the temporal resolution of the data acquisition. The validity of all these techniques has been verified by proof-of-concept experiments. These techniques help bring conventional impedance-based structural health monitoring closer to full scale development and commercialization.