Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
10-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Kristine Quade
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Jason Ward
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Twyla Williams
Abstract
Retail managers face constant customer demands, unpredictable staffing, and high-pressure performance expectations, yet little research has examined how these leaders sustain effectiveness under such conditions. This qualitative descriptive study explored how big-box retail managers in the United States described their development and use of hardiness across the constructs of control, commitment, and challenge to lead in a complex retail environment, an area not previously examined in the literature. Hardiness theory served as the theoretical framework for the study. Data were collected through 12 semistructured interviews with retail managers and an online questionnaire completed by 45 qualifying respondents. Interview data were analyzed using a six-phase reflexive thematic analysis process, and with 1,015 initial codes were developed into 14 final themes. Findings included four themes addressing how managers described their ability to influence outcomes, four themes addressing how managers described their ability to engage others, and three themes addressing how managers described their ability to view challenges as growth opportunities. Findings indicated that control, commitment, and challenge were expressed through specific, repeatable daily behaviors rather than fixed personality traits, and that sustained hardiness without adequate boundaries or organizational support was associated with personal costs, including emotional exhaustion and unhealthy coping. This study extended hardiness theory into a retail leadership context and suggested that organizations may benefit from recognizing, developing, and supporting the hardiness-related behaviors already present among their leaders to promote positive social change within the retail workforce.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Alvarez, Cari, "The Role of Hardiness on Leadership in Big-Box Retail Managers" (2026). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1057.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/1057