Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
7-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Linda Wilson-Jones
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Simone Elias
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Billie McConnell
Abstract
This dissertation explored for-profit business leaders’ experiences with technology and conflict resolution. With the rise of technology in communications in the workplace and the risk of miscommunications leading to negative impacts on organizational and individual performance, understanding leader experiences is vital to organizational success. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand for-profit business leaders’ (1) perceptions of technology and conflict resolution in the virtual workplace and (2) perceptions of their leadership styles and the impact on conflict resolution in the virtual workplace. Prior literature regarding the impact of technology on communications revealed mixed results with some studies indicating that higher levels of social cues improved communications and other studies suggesting that higher levels of social cues were detrimental. A qualitative research study was performed by conducting one-on-one semistructured interviews with 10 for-profit business leaders who were identified using a purposeful selection process. Interviews were transcribed and a values coding process was used to look for themes across the interviews. The research revealed leader preferences to use on-camera technology tools to communicate with employees when resolving conflict in order to obtain verbal and nonverbal inputs. Additionally, the leaders self-identified as using a collaborative leadership style and actively listening to engage their employees and create a safe and open environment for conflict resolution.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Latten, Sherry Hamilton, "For-Profit Business Leaders’ Perceptions of Technology and Conflict Resolution in the Workplace" (2022). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 493.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/493
Included in
Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Organizational Communication Commons