This case study used a qualitative analysis methodology to investigate the implementation of the communications component of the National Incident Management System, Incident Command System (NIMS/ICS), as a structured framework for information dissemination and feedback. The study used in-depth interviews with government employees in leadership positions and evaluated crisis communications for different stakeholder groups.
Building on the Complexity Leadership Evolution and Review (CLEAR) series, this integrative review examines 520 peer-reviewed manuscripts published between 2012 and 2021, analyzed using NVivo content analysis and AI-assisted thematic exploration. Findings reveal theoretical convergence around enabling and adaptive leadership functions, an expanding research footprint in health care, education, and crisis contexts, and five meta-themes: adaptive space, behavioral complexity, identity and sensemaking, relational leadership, and complexity in digital and crisis environments. The fourth decade solidifies a central proposition: adaptive capacity is not the trait of a single actor but the emergent intelligence of systems capable of learning and self-organization.
This multimethod qualitative study examines how rural school administrators in East Texas navigate paradoxical sustainability challenges, including isolation and scarce resources. Through interviews with 10 administrators, it finds these hurdles coexist with unique strengths like profound community support. Effective leadership is place-conscious and relationship-dependent, relying on communication and collaboration to leverage community ties against constraints. The study concludes that sustainability requires leveraging these inherent rural strengths and recommends targeted professional development for such paradoxical contexts.
The adoption and enforcement of zoning as an instrument of land-use governance are pertinent to the design of sustainable and smart urban centers in the Philippines. This study investigates the interlinkage of zoning implementation, land use governance, and the making of Philippine cities of the future. The research examines how zoning implementation and monitoring strategies can improve land-use governance for sustainable, smart city development in the Philippine context. Complex land use governance issues require embracing zoning interventions, globally positioned technologies, and data-focused urban decision-making. This study formulates an effective and flexible zoning and monitoring management system based on an analysis of best practices and an assessment of improvement opportunities in Philippine cities.
This study applies a Reflective Surveillance Governance (RSG) framework to evaluate Washington, D.C.’s body-worn camera program across 2015–2025. Through qualitative documentary analysis of 17 governance documents spanning procurement contracts, policies, and oversight records, the research assesses institutional capacity for transparency, accountability, and spatial equity between Wards 7–8 and Wards 2–3. Findings reveal a composite Low Assessment / Low Monitoring / Low Adaptation profile, documenting a persistent binding–non-binding paradox in which equity principles are advocated in oversight forums but systematically absent from enforceable instruments. The study contributes a transferable framework for evaluating municipal surveillance governance.
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into enterprise environments is fundamentally reshaping organizational strategy, operations, and value creation. This study investigates the multidimensional impact of AI adoption on business performance, with particular emphasis on supply chain optimization, data-driven decision-making, customer engagement, and workplace ethics. Drawing on a quantitative research design, the study employs survey data and multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between AI implementation and key organizational outcomes, including operational efficiency, revenue growth, competitive positioning, and long-term sustainability. The findings reveal that AI-enabled systems—particularly machine learning–driven analytics—significantly enhance process efficiency, improve predictive risk management, and accelerate digital transformation initiatives across industries. Moreover, organizations leveraging AI demonstrate stronger responsiveness to market dynamics and increased capacity for personalized customer engagement. However, the study also identifies critical challenges associated with AI deployment, including algorithmic bias, data privacy risks, and the limited explainability of complex models, which may undermine trust and regulatory compliance. To address these concerns, the study highlights the central role of robust AI governance frameworks, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and ethical oversight as foundational elements of responsible innovation. The results further suggest that organizations investing in human capital development and AI literacy are better positioned to translate technological capabilities into sustainable competitive advantage. This research contributes to the applied AI literature by providing empirical evidence on the performance and ethical implications of AI adoption while offering a governance-oriented framework to guide practitioners and policymakers in balancing innovation with responsible AI deployment.
This qualitative and exploratory study examines the extent to which contemporary U.S. immigration policies align with the Constitution’s allocation of authority, enforcement duties, and original intent regarding sovereignty and citizenship. Drawing on an interdisciplinary literature review spanning law, public administration, ethics, public health, and governance, the analysis evaluates immigration policy through the lens of leadership accountability and institutional integrity. Using grounded theory methods, the study contrasts statutory mandates with recent executive enforcement practices, identifying patterns of role ambiguity, discretionary overreach, and weakened accountability mechanisms. Findings suggest that sustained non-enforcement and administrative substitution for legislative authority undermine governance effectiveness, erode public trust, and mirror leadership failures commonly observed in complex organizations when policies are applied inconsistently. The study contributes to management and governance scholarship by framing immigration policy as a case of constitutional leadership breakdown and offering transferable lessons for ethical decision-making, rule adherence, and accountability in public, nonprofit, and organizational contexts.
While virtual teams have been in existence for many years, the pandemic led to the emergence of virtual teams with no established shared communication and social relationship building norms for a virtual work environment (Lao et al., 2021). The purpose of this systematic literature review is to assess how virtual leadership practices were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors propose the LEAD conceptual framework aligns the virtual leadership competencies with the key themes of pandemic informed effective virtual leadership practices, which include 1) Leverage technology, 2) Establish virtual presence, 3) Amplify employee engagement, and 4) Develop trust virtually.
In the fall of 2024, fourteen-year-old Colt Gray walked into Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia with an AR-15-style rifle and killed four people and injured nine others. In an interview following the shooting, his mother, Marcee Gray, said, “It’s not his fault.”1 If it’s not his fault, then whose fault is it? Should the parents be liable for the intentional torts and crimes of their children? Should they be liable, either criminally or civilly, for failing to properly supervise their child? Is the school liable for negligence for failure to protect its students? What about his classmates? Should we hold the classmates liable for failure to report his behavior? This article will explore those questions.
Between the Mediterranean coast and European borders, clandestine supply chains orchestrate the movement of thousands of migrants using remarkably structured logistics. Lacking formal hierarchies or standardized protocols, smuggling networks rely on migration hubs and continuously adjust routes and resources to respond to unforeseen circumstances. Their modularity and rapid adaptability reflect principles comparable to modern supply chain management (SCM), particularly in planning, resilience, and flexibility. Beyond political and security considerations, examining these flows demonstrates that operational efficiency can emerge from unethical practices grounded in experience, tacit knowledge, and social networks. While the objectives of commercial supply chains and smuggling networks differ, the insights gained are applicable to managing flows, coordinating stakeholders, and handling disruptions. The article also addresses the ethical tensions inherent in irregular migration, revealing a logistical order established through human exploitation. It provides a distinctive analytical framework for exploring the modularity, resilience, and agility of logistical systems, offering a refined understanding of flow management in complex and uncertain environments. The goal is not to transpose the dark aspects of SCM to the business world but to examine its mechanisms and challenges from a societal perspective.
School leaders must routinely navigate complex, emotionally charged decisions in environments marked by uncertainty, political pressure, and competing community expectations. Budgeting—particularly when aimed at fairness and responsiveness to student need—places superintendents at the center of ethical, relational, and organizational tensions. This article examines simulation-based learning as a research-aligned modality for strengthening leadership judgment in these contexts. Drawing on the SchoolSims simulation Navigating the Politics of Equity-Based Budgeting, this analysis integrates experiential learning, sensemaking theory, social learning, naturalistic decision-making, and emerging neuroscience related to trust, emotional regulation, and cognitive transfer. The findings show that simulations offer safe practice for difficult choices, expand “experience portfolios,” build team-based judgment, and support pipeline coherence across preparation, induction, and in-service leadership roles. Simulation-based practice emerges as an essential tool for preparing leaders to navigate fairness, ethics, and high-stakes decision-making with clarity, confidence, and integrity. NOTE: The Copeland Simulation is a proprietary SchoolSims learning experience.
This paper positions project management as the core architecture of ethical governance in the twenty-first century—where legitimacy depends not on ideology, but on disciplined structure. Through the case of the Legal International Medical Marijuana Initiative (LIMMI) linking Libya, Jamaica, and California, it reframes project management as a cognitive scaffold for rebuilding sovereignty in post-conflict and post-colonial systems. Drawing from Larson and Gray’s project life-cycle model and UNESCO’s AI in Education frameworks, the study demonstrates how trauma-informed leadership and AI-supported compliance architecture can restore institutional trust, transparency, and operational coherence. By integrating cognitive literacy with ethical project discipline, LIMMI functions as a living prototype for cross-border legitimacy and sustainable recovery. The argument concludes that project management, when embedded with ethical intelligence and supported by AI verification, constitutes the scaffolding of sovereignty— transforming chaos into structure, and policy into lived stability.
Outsider CEOs lacking experience of the industry and of locals’ tacit know-how, phronesis, and premises of decisions learned on-the-job, abound. Research has noted subordinates' trust required for sharing these intangible resources with CEOs, but rarely studied outsider CEOs’ dilemma concerning authority-endangering trust-creating vulnerable involvement in deliberations with insiders to achieve such sharing. An ethnography of Israeli inter-kibbutz cooperatives found a few high-moral humble, servant, self-determination motivated outsider CEOs who had the psychological safety necessary to expose knowledge gaps by vulnerable involvement in deliberations; they built high mutual trust with employees, shared their exclusive intangible resources, and successfully transformed inter-kibbutz cooperatives.
This paper examines the growing interest in the Co-CEO model, in which two leaders share the top executive role. Drawing on four seminal studies, the analysis identifies the attributes, benefits, challenges, and effectiveness of this shared leadership approach. Findings suggest that Co-CEOs often hold complementary skills, strengthen decision-making, and support corporate social responsibility. Using quantitative, mixed-method, and qualitative inquiries, the studies explore the model’s prevalence, dynamics, and outcomes. Key themes include role clarity, collaboration, and organizational sustainability. The paper highlights the need for further research to understand how Co-CEOs navigate the complexity of modern business environments.
Emerging scholarship on leadership has led to further inspection of internal workplace trust and morale as critical to organizational success. Particularly in public service professions, where mission-centered work offers high communitarian benefits but low pecuniary rewards, feelings of institutional trust and morale are of the utmost importance (Keim & Lamont, 2024). One emerging leadership theory, the phased model of “peopled leadership” developed by Mayers, Anderson, and Williams (2023) delineates the contours and contents of management strategies needed to foster improved trust and morale within organizations. While the model is focused on primary educational institutions, the theory itself is interdisciplinary. This article advocates for the value of “peopled leadership” for public service professions and engages with the relevant literature to advance the argument that this emergent leadership theory may be highly useful in public management settings.
This article presents a critical literature review examining the influence of strategic leadership on the organizational growth of megachurches in the United States. Strategic leadership is a pivotal force in the success and expansion of organizations; yet, a significant research gap exists regarding its specific application within the unique context of large religious nonprofits. This study synthesizes and analyzes existing scholarly works to explore the nuanced relationship between key strategic leadership practices— strategic vision, objective setting, strategy crafting, implementation, and performance evaluation—and the multifaceted growth of megachurch organizations. Adopting a qualitative approach guided by a hermeneutic research philosophy, this review employs a thematic analysis of academic literature to identify core themes, theoretical underpinnings, and emerging patterns. The findings reveal that megachurch growth is a complex phenomenon that extends beyond numerical increases to encompass spiritual maturity, service expansion, and community impact. The leader’s vision profoundly shapes the adoption of business principles within a spiritual framework and the effective management of unique resources. The study concludes that strategic leadership is a critical determinant of megachurch vitality and sustainability, offering practical insights for leaders and identifying key areas for future scholarly inquiry.
This study introduces a public leadership competency framework designed to support the development of senior federal leaders in the United States, including career members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and political appointees. It addresses a key need in federal leadership development, integrating values-driven competencies that emphasize public identity and democratic responsiveness. Using a conceptual research design, the study synthesizes Public Service Motivation (PSM) Theory and Public Value Theory to build a four-domain leadership framework. The approach prioritizes a theoretically grounded foundation informed by an extensive literature review and scholar-practitioner insights. The proposed framework highlights competencies related to public service motivation, political astuteness, democratic accountability, and public value orientation. It complements existing models—such as the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs)—by offering an additional perspective focused on the civic dimensions of public service leadership. The framework can inform the design of onboarding programs, SES Candidate Development curricula, and leadership development interventions aimed at cultivating leaders prepared to navigate complex public environments.
This paper presents a structured and interdisciplinary empowerment model inspired by Yency Milano’s book Awaken Success. The framework integrates emotional intelligence, identity clarity, purpose activation, disciplined habit formation, and strategic social contribution. Rooted in psychological theory and supported by qualitative data from over 40 empowerment seminars conducted across Latin America and the United States, this model promotes self-leadership, accountability, and purpose-driven action. It applies to leadership development, coaching, education, and community-based mentoring. The manuscript highlights the model’s theoretical foundation, practical methodology, and impact outcomes, offering a replicable path for ethical leadership and personal transformation in underserved communities.
This article concludes with three specific reforms for preventing abuse of process and strengthening protections for pro se litigants. This article presents a critical reflection on the author’s experience navigating a civil lawsuit based on fabricated claims of property damage. Drawing on legal documents, procedural records, and personal narrative, the article examines systemic vulnerabilities in civil litigation that allow baseless lawsuits to proceed — particularly when unethical counsel is involved. The case is explored through the lens of legal ethics, power asymmetries, and the resilience of self-representation, offering insights for legal reform and professional accountability.
