DISSERTATION APPROVED BY // F (//ç/tg Date Ph.D., J Breen, Ph.D., Committee Member Moss Breen, Ph.D., Director Gail M. Jensen, Ph.D., Dean THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP STYLE ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN A HIGHER EDUCATION SETTING: AN EXPLANATORY CASE STUDY ___________________________________ By LORCHINENG LO ___________________________________ A DISSERTATION Submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the Creighton University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Interdisciplinary Leadership _________________________________ Omaha, NE November 6, 2018 iii Abstract Colleges and universities have experienced a decline in enrollments and growing financial instability, creating an uncertain environment throughout the higher education sector. Uncertainty can potentially decrease employee engagement. Disengaged employees typically cost U.S. corporations $350 billion annually (Osborne & Hammoud, 2017). This explanatory case study examined how leadership practices at a Midwest online university were able to increase employee engagement for two consecutive years, during a time of uncertainty and upheaval. The purposeful sample consisted of twenty faculty and staff members who were currently employed at a Midwest online university. Triangulation was achieved through secondary data, interviews, member checking, and observations. This study will add to the leadership and employee engagement literature. The findings of this study are important to higher education leaders who seek to improve employee engagement through utilizing effective leadership practices within their college or university. Five overall university themes and three departmental themes from five departments emerged from the study. The employee engagement themes that emerged from the study were presented from both a university and departmental perspective. A leadership model was created from themes that emerged from study. The leadership model developed from this study will provide a basic foundation of the type of leadership that is needed for a university as a whole and at the departmental level to help strengthen employee engagement in online universities. iv Dedication My doctoral study is dedicated to my family. First and foremost, to my grandmother Chertong Lo, who dedicated her entire life to ensuring that her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren prioritized the value of an education. Ever since I was a child, I always understood your dream of raising a doctoral student in our family. You were my motivation in completing my doctoral program. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement throughout my doctoral journey. I love your grandmother Chertong Lo. To my lovely mother Nou Lo, thank you for your continued words of encouragement throughout my doctoral journey. You have always and still continue to challenge me to become the best version of myself. I am thankful to have you as my mother because you taught me the importance of determination and hard work. I learned these skills in life by watching you provide for the family when we were younger. You never quit, instead you worked harder for the family and continue to do so today. I would have never made it through this journey without the lessons that you embedded into me as a child. Thank you for your love and support throughout my doctoral journey. I love you mother Nou Lo. To my father and mother in-law, Neng Thong Yang and Xia Xiong Yang, thank you for always encouraging me to obtain a higher level of education. You truly understand the impact of obtaining the highest level of education. Thank you for your support throughout my doctoral journey. I am honored and proud to have you both as my parents. v To my uncle Doua, Hue, and Kao, thank you all for your continued encouragement. My doctoral journey required a lot of support. Whenever I spoke with you all, I felt your compassion through your words of encouragement. Your words are what motivated me to persevere throughout my doctoral journey. I am thankful to have your support and fatherly presence in my life. To my siblings, Lorfarthee Lo, Lorshire Lo, Lorzone Lo, and Emily Lo, thank you all for your love and support throughout this process. There is no way that I make it through this journey without your love. Thank you for continuously challenging me through sports, education, and life. You all continue to push me to do my best. I love each and everyone one of you. To my best friend and brother, Whougie Lo, thank you for your continued words of encouragement. You have always been there for me since my childhood days. I am grateful for your friendship, as your words of encouragement have always motivated me to achieve greater heights. I dedicate this doctoral journey to you my brother, best friend, and life mentor. To my dog, Einstein Lo, thank you for your unconditional love that you provided me throughout the past four years. I would not have the energy to push forward if it was not for your healing sessions. I love you Einstein Lo. To my wonderful wife, best friend, and life partner, Carol Yang Lo, thank you for your endless support throughout my doctoral journey. You were the one who experienced the highs and lows of my journey. I thank you for your patience for withstanding me as a person throughout this process. You are truly my better half and for vi this, I dedicate my doctoral journey to you. I love you with all of my heart, thank you my love Carol Yang Lo! To my future children, I am excited now to finally have the chance to focus on building a life for us. Please know that your father went through this process so that we all could live and create a better life together on this Earth. If you’re reading this, remember never to quit, always believe in yourself, and follow your passion and dreams in life. I will always love and support you all. Thank you for being my wonderful children. Finally, I would like to specially dedicate my doctoral study to my late father, Lormong Lo. You were the one who instilled the importance and value of an education into my mind at an early age. You graduated from Creighton University in 1983, during the year that I was born. When you left this Earth, I knew that you wanted me to continue to strive towards furthering my education. I thank you for your continued guidance and support. This doctoral journey at Creighton University has allowed me to become even closer to you, by experiencing the Creighton University values and education journey. I am so happy to have gone through this journey with you. Please know that this doctoral study is dedicated to you with all of my heart, soul, and love. Thank you for being my father. I love you father Lormong Lo. vii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Stephen Linenberger for your mentorship and continued support throughout my dissertation journey. You were the one who consistently challenged and developed me to become more knowledgeable about the research process. When I think about the dissertation journey from when we first began to where it ended, I am truly grateful for your leadership. You always provided feedback and took time out of your day to guide me throughout my doctoral journey. I am proud to have had you as my chair throughout this journey. Thank you, Dr. Stephen Linenberger, for serving as my dissertation chair, mentor, and friend. I would also like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Jennifer Moss- Breen. First and foremost, thank you for being my second committee member, program director, and faculty advisor. You have provided me with much needed guidance throughout my doctoral journey. Being a higher education administrator, I understand the time and commitment that it takes to meet with students while completing your actual job responsibilities. As the program director, faculty advisor, and second committee member you always made time to meet with me. I am truly grateful and appreciative of the guidance and feedback that you provided me throughout my doctoral journey. Thank you, Dr. Jennifer Moss-Breen, for serving as second committee member, faculty advisor, program director, mentor, and friend. Thank you to all the faculty and staff at Creighton University. You all have been played an important role in my development. From the day I was accepted into the program, to the holiday cards that you send every year, to the writing workshops, and viii throughout each course registration to graduation, you have always been there to guide me throughout my educational journey. I am truly grateful to have such a wonderful and supporting group of people in my life. Thank you all for your gracious and caring support throughout my doctoral journey. Finally, I would like to take this time to thank my colleagues within higher education in supporting me throughout this process. Dr. Donna Ehrlich, Dr. Charles Cookson, Dr. Niccole Kopit, Dr. Susan Walker, Dr. Cheryl Hayek, Pao Yang, Kena Wolf, and Shane Smeed, thank you for providing me with your recommendation to become a student at Creighton University. I would not have been able to complete my doctorate journey without your recommendation and support. I appreciate you all for opening the doors to my higher education journey. When I began my higher education journey eight years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be a doctoral student and higher education administrator. I am fortunate to have had an opportunity to learn through your leadership. Thank you for believing in