Publication Date
5-2015
Advisor(s) - Committee Chair
Randall Capps (Director), Antony Norman, and Monica Burke
Degree Program
Educational Leadership Doctoral Program
Degree Type
Doctor of Education
Abstract
The lack of success in nonprofit organizations often is due to challenges in management (Drucker, 2008). Faith-based organizations are not immune to these problems. The church struggles to live out its mission, often due to ineffective practices (Barna & Jackson, 2004). Chand (2011) asserted that it is the culture of an organization that builds or erodes its effectiveness. In the context of the church, servant leadership practices are considered to be a contributing factor to organizational effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine organizational culture and servant leadership as perceived by the leadership team of an African American church. Although past studies have investigated organizational culture and servant leadership, this study specifically centers on these two constructs in the context of the church. The initial quantitative phase measured the self-perceptions of a church leadership team on the constructs of servant leadership using Page and Wong’s (2003) Servant Leadership Profile – Revised (SLPR). These data were combined with data gathered in a second quantitative phase using Human Synergistics International’s Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI). The results indicated that the church in the study has a constructive culture, in which individuals are encouraged to interact with one another and approach tasks in ways that meet their needs for self-actualization. The survey data also revealed that the leadership team members in this study perceives themselves to be servant leaders, placing high value on empowering and developing others. In addition, this study helps to identify relationships between servant leadership perceptions and OCI cultural styles. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to the effective leadership practices of church leaders.
Disciplines
Educational Leadership | Organizational Behavior and Theory | Religion
Recommended Citation
Malone III, Walter, "The Assessment of Organizational Culture and Servant Leadership within an African American Church: A Descriptive Study of Behavioral Norms and Expectations" (2015). Dissertations. Paper 80.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/diss/80
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Religion Commons