Patrick J Hughes Ph.D.

In the current world of organizations, it is no surprise that discrimination exists against women. Many organizations, however, exhibit structural discrimination and little is done to combat this. This is no more evident than within law enforcement organizations. This research focuses on the disparate treatment, as defined by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as the barrier keeping women becoming Sheriff. Current data show women make up less than one-half of one percent of all sheriffs nationwide. This research suggests women hold leadership competencies that the field of law enforcement is seeking. By more women becoming the top executive of these agencies, the discriminatory landscape within law enforcement agencies will begin to change.

Change in organizations can be frequent, but change is not always necessary. In pursuit of innovation, and at times their own agenda, leaders who exhibit a pseudotransformational leadership style can have a catastrophic effect on the workplace. Promoting change under the guise of innovation benefits self and not the organization and sponsors a workplace in turmoil. These leaders practice organizational laundering, which is proposed as an introductory term resulting from employing a combination of destructive and pseudotransformational leadership styles in an attempt to be innovative and make organizational change.

The literature on positive effective leadership is abundant, but little exists on the negative styles of leadership. The current research seeks to build upon the literature. The article is an exploratory case study investigating how leadership is perceived in a midsize organization and the observed organizational changes made by the perceived leadership style. Through a mixed method approach, the research utilized adopted leadership vignettes, structured open-ended questionnaires, and the literature of pseudo-transformational leadership. Introduced is the term “organizational laundering,” which results from employing a pseudo-transformational leadership style to attempt to be innovative and make organizational change. Examined in this research is the linkage the between pseudo-transformational leadership and organizational change. Lastly, the study identified organizational symptoms that are present within the pseudo-transformational leadership change process. Further research is recommended over various organizations to expand and validate the organizational symptoms.

Leadership education must evolve to keep pace with the growing recognition that effective leadership happens in a complex environment and is as much a systemic variable as a personal one. As part of a program review process, a graduate leadership program at a private Midwestern university conducted a qualitative review of 18 online graduate programs in leadership education. In the absence of a discipline or accrediting body to govern leadership degree programs, we utilized the integrating framework of complexity leadership theory (CLT), as well as two professional societies, to understand how the curricula and competencies of online graduate education align and diverge to meet the changing assumptions and challenges of leadership.

The recent talks surrounding the topic of police regionalization in Dauphin County has stirred discussions of both optimism and negativity. Historically, talks such as these surface between communities during times of financial uneasiness. Simply said, organizations, cultures, and policy reach a point of stagnation, thus ideas around change begin to stir. While these talks are certainly warranted, they do require vast amounts insight beyond mere finances. This is not an undertaking that simply requires management but leadership.

Given the recent changes in federal educational policy, specifically the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), more accountability is placed on college and university programs.  Graduates must be able to obtain gainful employment upon graduation.  This plays an interesting role with criminal justice degree programs.  The focus of this research is around students seeking employment in this field, who are often subject to a criminal background check, which if negative, is a disqualifier for employment.  Through a case study analysis of a small criminal justice program, it examines data of judiciary discipline of criminal justice students at that college.  The research further explores case law, Pennsylvania (law a model example) in support of such an admission criteria.  The argument is made such a policy would not be discriminatory, but rather more abiding to the new federal HEOA provided the standard is consistently applied.  This topic should be of interest to those overseeing higher education criminal justice programs and other higher education policy makers.

Often, leadership is studied or examined about those who were labeled by society as leaders.  However, there are times when leadership emerges and is it not until after close examination of the situation a leader is recognized.  This critical analysis explores the impact of Louis Armstrong as a leader.  Using a system theory framework, the life and decisions of Armstrong are examined.  The examination focuses on his background, the systems in which he operated, decisions impacted by those systems, and the followership and leadership.  It is suggested that through the systems approach lens Armstrong was in fact a great emergent leader of his time.

In many Canadian provinces and England regionalization of police services has been implemented and studied for decades.  Many in the United States resist such a change and the literature seems to be very limited. This research focuses particularly on the application of the definitional components of transformational leadership culture to the local police regionalization process in the state of Pennsylvania.  Data compiled by the Governor’s Center of for Local Government Services of Pennsylvania and their Regional Police Services in Pennsylvania: Manual for Local Government Officials are used here to present arguments for regionalization and formulated through a leadership perspective. The analysis and data exhibits an overabundance of small departments needing to regionalize and accomplishing it can be possible by applying the concepts of transformational leadership.

Many police organizations across the United States promote leadership training to those individuals that are first line supervisor positions. Many departments, however, do not have a true command structure in place. This in turn introduces the basic patrol officer to many leadership situations. Recent research has shown those not of rank do not receive leadership training. One specific issue is with increasing the patrol officers leadership abilities or behavior for situations that face often. Other research uncovers issues relating to the lack of leadership training for not only aspiring first line supervisors but basic patrol as well. First line supervisors have been traditionally viewed as managers rather than leaders. This meta-analysis offers insight to the improvement of police leadership training beginning with the basic police academy curriculum. By doing so, it may improve the overall organizational leadership, but also aid in succession planning as well.

Many police organizations across the United States use traditional written assessments to promote individuals to first line supervisor positions. Written assessments are cost effective. Recent research has shown assessments have shown problems with validity. One specific issue is with attempting to predict a candidate’s leadership abilities or behavior. Other research uncovers issues relating to the lack of leadership training for aspiring first line supervisors. First line supervisors have been traditionally viewed as managers rather than leaders. The process has deterred many from applying for promotion within the ranks. This meta-analysis offers insight to the improvement of police promotional process may improve the selection of the right candidate and overall organizational leadership, but also aid in succession planning as well.

Much of recent research on leadership education focuses on the application of a particular assignment or project to develop an individual's leadership. Other research has examined leadership development from different educational levels such as graduate, undergraduate, and even K-12. The following paper is an idea brief surrounding a newly created and recently implemented, organizational leadership graduate degree program. This brief further discusses and explores the creation and ongoing development of the graduate program in leadership education as a whole through the pedagogical lens of Cultural-Historical Activity theory. The paper also describes the use of embedded assessments within the core classes that potentially provide the student with the knowledge and skills to successfully complete their applied research capstone project.

In the current world of organizations, it is no surprise that discrimination exists against women. Many organizations, however, exhibit structural discrimination and little is done to combat this. This is no more evident than within law enforcement organizations. This research focuses on the disparate treatment, as defined by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as the barrier keeping women becoming Sheriff. Current data show women make up less than one-half of one percent of all sheriffs nationwide. This research suggests women hold leadership competencies that the field of law enforcement is seeking. By more women becoming the top executive of these agencies, the discriminatory landscape within law enforcement agencies will begin to change.