Faw, Robert (2025) Adapting leadership styles in changing environments. PhD thesis, Liberty University, USA.
Abstract
The inability of some leaders to adapt their leadership styles in changing environments is the problem addressed in this study. Questions and findings about the challenges, reasons, and practices of leaders adapting leadership styles in dynamic settings are described to understand this phenomenon. After developing a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide the research, conducting an extensive literature review to contextualize existing research, and creating wide-ranging coded themes from interviews with 25 leaders in a construction management company that were triangulated with 25 survey responses by team members reporting to these leaders, the study identified six key themes relating to the barriers, communication, empowerment, drive, style, and performance standards of adaptive leadership. A flexible, single-case study design explored this issue thoroughly. Key results of the study included findings that many participants are driven to compete and win in the marketplace, the emergence of leading by example as a shared leadership practice by most participants, and structured accountability as a strategic practice for leaders adopting adaptive leadership. The study contributes to the practical and theoretical understanding of adaptive leadership in complex environments and relates and integrates its business functions, Christian worldview, and a faith-driven approach that enhances conventional leadership norms.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Bell, R Mark |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adaptive leadership; empowerment; leadership styles; changing environments |
| Index terms: | conceptual framework, leadership style, literature review, survey, empowerment, norms, emergence, accountability, interview, case study |
| Subjects: | management, systems engineering, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, sociology, leadership, liability law, theoretical framing |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Legal Issues, Human Resources, Research Practice, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 CEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here