(PDF) THE LEADERSHIP PRACTICES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WORKING IN THE DEFENSE INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY IN A DEPLOYED STATUS: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

This quantitative research study was designed to explore the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women who are defense international contractors in a deployed status in Iraq. The purpose of the research was to better understand how the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has propelled them to lower, middle, and senior levels of management. The leadership behaviors that African American women needed to cultivate to progress to senior management positions were explored. The knowledge gained from the study resulted in a benchmark tool and road map for the African American women to reach the upper levels of management in the defense international contractor industry. The focus was on 3 dimensions of leadership at the following levels of management: lower, middle, and senior levels of management. The Leadership Practices Inventory survey was distributed to African American women and Caucasian men working in the international defense contracting industry in Iraq to gather perspectives on lower, middle, and senior management diversification in terms of management. The expected response rate for the survey was approximately 40% due to the mission and job requirements of the participants.

THE LEADERSHIP PRACTICES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WORKING IN THE DEFENSE INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY IN A DEPLOYED STATUS: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY by Donna J. Broussard THOMAS DRIVER, PhD, Faculty Mentor and Chair JANET SALMONS, PhD, Committee Member MANDA ROSSER, PhD, Committee Member William A. Reed, PhD, Acting Dean, School of Business and Technology A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Capella University October 2010 UMI Number: 3427235 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3427235 Copyright 2010 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 © Donna J. Broussard, 2010 Abstract This quantitative research study was designed to explore the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women who are defense international contractors in a deployed status in Iraq. The purpose of the research was to better understand how the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has propelled them to lower, middle, and senior levels of management. The leadership behaviors that African American women needed to cultivate to progress to senior management positions were explored. The knowledge gained from the study resulted in a benchmark tool and road map for the African American women to reach the upper levels of management in the defense international contractor industry. The focus was on 3 dimensions of leadership at the following levels of management: lower, middle, and senior levels of management. The Leadership Practices Inventory survey was distributed to African American women and Caucasian men working in the international defense contracting industry in Iraq to gather perspectives on lower, middle, and senior management diversification in terms of management. The expected response rate for the survey was approximately 40% due to the mission and job requirements of the participants. Dedication To my two supportive children, Arelia and Benjamin—you have to know where you came from in order to know where you are going, please do not forget that. You have made my life complete and given me purpose. Remember this always: People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Thank you to my friends and colleagues from BAE Systems and the Department of the Navy for being supportive and encouraging me to accomplish this monumental task. Most important are those who participated in the study; without your assistance, I would have not been able to complete this study. You have contributed to a study that is foundational and will continue to add to the body of knowledge for years to come. For all of you, you have contributed to my learning process: Thank you. Some experiences have been positive, and some not so positive. This dissertation has been a tremendous learning tool for me. I have learned that the world is not as cut-and-dry as one would like it to be; there are many challenges that we encounter in order to get through life. Sometimes, when things seem like they are at the darkest, you have to ―keep it moving.‖ Most importantly, I have learned life is what happens when you are busy living and not making plans to live. iii Acknowledgments A special thank-you goes to those who supported me in my mission to pursue a doctoral degree and provided me moral support and with encouragement to stay focused as I journeyed through this rigorous process. I want to especially thank my committee members, Dr. Thomas Driver, Dr. Manda Rosser, and Dr. Janet Salmons. Dr. Driver, faculty mentor and chair of my committee, who has devoted a great deal of time assisting me through the dissertation process, has offered valuable suggestions, guidance, and support. I thank Dr. Driver for his willingness to give advice, counsel, and assistance in refining the final draft of my dissertation. Dr. Salmons, thank you for being the focus in the group. I did not quite understand what you were driving at until it was time to begin gathering data. Dr. Rosser, thank you for being a fresh perspective to the study and making sure I did not lose track of my goal. I would also like to thank Dr. Ruby Braye for keeping me focused when I got off track. You are an excellent sounding board and you made me think. The fact that the adult American Negro women emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance. —Maya Angelou (1969) iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv List of Tables viii List of Figures ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction to the Problem 1 Background of the Study 4 Statement of the Problem 5 Purpose of the Study 6 Rationale 7 Research Questions and Hypotheses 8 Significance of the Study 10 Definition of Terms 10 Assumptions and Limitations 15 Nature of the Study 16 Organization of the Remainder of the Study 18 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 19 Theory of Exemplary Leadership 19 Overview of the Federal Workforce 26 Defense Industry 28 Types of Companies 37 v Private Military Contractors: Background 39 Historically Male-Dominated Defense Contracting Positions 45 Women in Governmental Positions 53 Women in International Defense Contracting 56 African American Women in International Defense Contracting 58 Summary 66 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 70 Research Design 70 Research Questions 71 Research Hypotheses 72 Sample 73 Instrumentation 74 Data Collection 75 Data Analysis 77 Validity and Reliability in Quantitative Research 78 Validity 79 Reliability 80 Ethical Considerations 84 Expected Findings 85 Summary 85 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS 86 Population 86 vi The Survey Instruments 88 Data Collection 90 Survey Analysis 91 Hypothesis Analysis 105 Hypothesis Test Results 109 Summary 113 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS 116 Discussion 117 Implications 123 Limitations 124 Recommendations for Future Research 125 Conclusion 127 REFERENCES 130 APPENDIX A. SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS 144 APPENDIX B. DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY 145 vii List of Tables Table 1. DoD Contractor Personnel in the USCENTCOM AOR 4 Table 2. The Top 20 Worldwide Defense Contractors, 2010 38 Table 3. Median Weekly Earnings (Annual Average) and Gender Wage Gap for 61 Table 4. A Graphical Representation of the Instrumentation Matrix 75 Table 5. Contractor Response Rate 87 Table 6. Cronbach‘s a Results for LPI 90 Table 7. Participant Gender 92 Table 8. Respondent Ethnicity 94 Table 9. Descriptive Statistics for Highest Level of Education 95 Table 10. Descriptive Statistics for Age 96 Table 11. Descriptive Statistics for Years Employed 98 Table 12. Descriptive Statistics for Professional Title 99 Table 13. Descriptive Statistics for Years with Present Organization 101 Table 14. Descriptive Statistics for Leadership Experience 102 Table 14. Descriptive Statistics for Financial Responsibility 104 Table 16. Cronbach‘s Alpha Result for LPI (overall, men and women) 108 Table 17. Cronbach‘s Alpha Result for LPI (Traits) 109 Table 18. One-Way Analysis of Variance Results for Composite 110 Table 19. One-Way Analysis of Variance for Challenge 111 Table 20. One-Way Analysis of Variance for Enable 113 viii List of Figures Figure 1. A visual framework of the practice of exemplary leadership 17 Figure 2. Branches of federal government employment. 27 Figure 3. Participation rates of women in the defense industry over the last 69 years. 57 Figure 4. A visual framework of the practice of exemplary leadership. 71 Figure 5. Contractor response rate 87 Figure 6. Survey participants 93 Figure 7. Descriptive statistics for ethnicity 94 Figure 8. Descriptive statistics for highest level of education 96 Figure 9. Descriptive statistics for age 97 Figure 10. Descriptive statistics for years employed 99 Figure 11. Descriptive statistics for professional title 100 Figure 12. Descriptive statistics for years with present organization 101 Figure 13. Descriptive statistics for leadership experience 103 Figure 14. Descriptive statistics for financial responsibility 105 ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Introduction to the Problem Historically, the defense international contracting industry has been primarily dominated by men. In 2010, women are gaining entry into the defense international contracting industry. African American civilian women, in particular, were not afforded the opportunity to advance beyond lower and middle levels to senior levels of management in a hazardous duty deployed area until approximately 6 years ago when Operation Iraqi Freedom began (French, 2008). Despite a number of changes in policies and societal attitudes, and studies about African American women‘s issues in specific industries, African American women still remain underrepresented in the scholarly literature and in studies that have been conducted over the years (Catalyst, 2006). Definition and Activity of the Contractor on the Battlefield There has been some misunderstanding about whether contractors are part of the military. Contractors are not part of the military because they are not Department of Defense (DoD) civilians. Contractors are private citizens who work on a military contract performing jobs that are not traditionally part of a military career path. Contractors are affiliated with the military, but work for private companies and do not 1 meet certain criteria that members of the military do. For example, contractors do not carry weapons; if they are detained by the host nation, the U.S. State Department officials have to intervene, and if there are personnel issues the contractors do not follow the same chain of command as military personnel (French, 2008). Contractors are in Iraq for a limited amount of time to perform a service and once the contract has ended the contractor‘s services are no longer needed. According to Orszag (2007), contractors have a substantial role in supporting the United States‘ military reconstruction and diplomatic operations in Iraq. DoD officials have awarded contracts totaling $76 billion for contractor support in the theater of operations (Congressional Budget Office, 2010). The use of contractors in modern military operations is usually broken up into three categories: (a) nonlethal service providers, (b) private military companies, and (c) private security companies (Brooks & Shevlin, 2005). Nonlethal service providers include those contractors providing logistical support, such as laundry service, dining facility service, construction, and even unexploded ordnance disposal (French, 2008). The work accomplished by private military companies is usually done at the strategic level and includes functions such as police training and civil military relations. Private security companies provide security for people, buildings, supply routes, and so forth; these are the contract companies that have received the most negative press in the Iraq theater of operation. In a reviewing the three groups, it was shown that employees of private security companies are the true battlefield contractors, conducting operations outside the wire— an area where there is a military base that provides force protection and life-support 2 sustenance for soldiers. The problem in locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan, however, is that there is no wire. The tactics and techniques of the enemy, such as improvised explosive devices, mortars, car bombs, and suicide bombers, are indiscriminate in nature. The attacks are aimed at both military and civilian targets and both men and women. Moreover, the enemy attacks can occur anywhere, including the heavily guarded Red Zone (formally the Green Zone) in Iraq or a downtown market. Thus, every contractor in Iraq can potentially become a battlefield contractor, thereby increasing the military commander‘s force protection requirements. Private military contractors (nonmilitary) are valuable resources who have proven to be critical assets to military operations. It would be an understatement to say the United States military services are stretched thin around the world. There are 1.5 million U.S. servicemen and servicewomen serving in 40 countries and territories across the globe, with over 10% of these forces in Iraq alone (International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2007). Despite this, the military officials complete their missions and honor their obligations under the adage of do more with less. Because military department personnel cannot permanently increase the end strengths without congressional approval, they have been forced to find additional forces elsewhere. As a result, they have increasingly turned to corporate America for help. DoD officials, in conjunction with officials at other federal agency, alleviate personnel shortages by using contractor personnel. 3 Background of the Study Existing studies on the practice of exemplary leadership behaviors, yet women remain underrepresented in senior management positions (Burke, 2004). Statistics from the International Labor Office (ILO) officials ―showed that women were markedly underrepresented in management compared to their overall share of employment‖ (Robinson, 2004, p. 37). Historically, women have not worked in lower, middle, or senior levels of management within the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status within a war zone. Until recently, women in management level positions in a war zone were rare. There are 95,461 contractors in Iraq alone. Of these contractors, approximately 24,719 are American contractors (Congressional Budget Office, 2010). Table 1 shows a demographic breakdown of defense international contractors in theater in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2010. Table 1 DoD Contractor Personnel in the USCENTCOM AOR Total Contractors Iraq Only Afghanistan Only U.S. Citizens Third Country Nationals Local/Host Country Nationals 95,461 24,719 53,549 17,193 112,092 16,081 17,512 78,499 42,782 12,621 24,046 6,115 250,335 53,421 95,107 101,807 Other USCENTCOM Locations USCENTCOM AOR Note. Data does not include other U.S. government agencies/departments nor does it give a demographic breakdown of U.S. contractors working in the area. 4 The purpose of the research was to determine to what degree African American women who practice exemplary leadership are given opportunities in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed status at lower, middle, and senior levels of management Statement of the Problem Advancement in the defense international contracting industry can be challenging for African American women. In the defense contracting industry in Iraq, African American women account for less than 4% of the lower, middle, and senior levels of management in the industry (U.S. Department of Labor, 2007c). Upward mobility to senior management positions for African American women professionals has been a relatively slow process (Cook & Glass, 2008; Wyche, 2008); this includes the defense international contracting industry. Many defense international contractors have employed African American women at entry level and mid-level management positions or have filled a double ethnic minority position (ethnic minority and women). However, progression to the executive level has been an anomaly for African American women. Specifically in the defense international contracting industry, African American women at senior levels of management are rare because the placement of African American women in lower, middle, and senior levels of management does not conform to a man‘s standard of thinking, nor is it something that is acceptable by traditional corporate standards (Catalyst, 2004). In addition, there is limited research concerning the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women at the lower, middle, and senior levels of 5 management among defense international contractors in Iraq. Moreover, the upward mobility and opportunities for African American women who display high potential in these levels of management has been difficult because of perceptions about their ability to adapt to different leadership challenges in a male-dominated industry in a deployed status. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the research was to better understand how the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has propelled them to lower, middle, and senior levels of management. It is important to examine the leadership traits that are present in successful leaders in order to understand African American women‘s strengths in the five behaviors that have been determined to be essential for exemplary leaders: (a) modeling the way, (b) inspiring a shared vision, (c) challenging the process, (d) enabling others to act, and (e) encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The traits are important in determining how high-potential African American women working in the defense international contracting industry will compare with their peers. In addition, the purpose of the study was to understand how the findings compare to existing findings concerning the practice of exemplary leadership in other organizations that have used the LPI study. Using a quantitative methodology, the purpose of the study was also to assess the degree to which African American women who are private defense international contractors in a deployed status at lower, middle, and upper levels of management 6 practice exemplary leadership behavior. The exemplary leadership behaviors that African American women needed to cultivate in order to progress to senior management positions were also explored in the study. This knowledge should result in a benchmark tool and road map for African American women to reach the upper levels of management and assist in identifying those leadership behaviors that are desired in the defense international contracting industry. In order to accomplish this, the data were compared to that of Caucasian men. There are different definitions of leadership; some researchers define leadership as management, some as supervisory, and others as a sphere of influence. In the study, the LPI was used to assess the impact of each of the five leadership practices on the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women working in the defense international contracting industry. Self-perception leadership at the lower, middle, and senior levels of management was the focus of the study. Rationale African American women are not classified as just African American or just women; they are both (Hooks, 1981; Pompper, 2004). African American women represent a segment of America that serves dual functions; provider and caregiver. They joined the workforce because there was no other option due to their economic situation. They often have had to provide for families, as there was no man present to assist with running the household. Consequently, African American women have become a group of professional leaders with a unique perspective that is different from Caucasian women 7 (Brinson, 2006; Cotter, Hermsen, & Vanneman, 2004; Holvino, 2008; Leiber & Mack, 2003; Moore, Betters-Reed, & Hunt, 2008). Few researchers have addressed the career development of women of color, and a particular scarcity of empirical studies exists on an African American woman‘s experience in corporate America, particularly in the international defense contracting industry (Jeffcoat, 2008; Korn/Ferry International, 1998). Existing information on the status of African American professionals in international defense contracting was contained primarily in articles and editorials in business publications and magazines rather than in empirical literature because there are not enough African American women working in the defense international contracting industry to be adequately studied. Research Questions and Hypotheses Research Questions The research questions and hypotheses for the study were selected based upon the practices for exemplary leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). They are as follows: Research Question 1: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practice exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men? Research Question 2: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management challenge the process of practicing exemplary leadership in defense international contracting industry? 8 Research Question 3: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment in defense international contracting industry? Hypotheses The following hypotheses where derived from the research questions: H1O: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. H1a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. H2O: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry who challenge the process. H2a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry who challenge the process. H3O: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry who enables others to act to in order create a productive work environment. 9 H3a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry who enable others to act to in order create a productive work environment. Significance of the Study The significance of the study was to provide empirical research to understand to what degree African American women working in the defense international contracting industry practice exemplary leadership behaviors identified by Kouzes and Posner (2007). Until these exemplary leadership behaviors can be identified, the defense international contracting industry officials are missing the depth of what African American women have to offer professionally. Until this value is recognized, the upper levels of leadership are doing a disservice to their potential ability to gain more diversity in a difficult battlefield environment such as Iraq or Afghanistan. In addition, African American women with leadership potential feel they do not have a professional development network or possess the skill sets to be competitive in the business sector (Ely & Rhode, 2008). This perception extends to the defense international contracting industry in Iraq, where there are a limited number of African American women in lower, middle, and senior management positions. Definition of Terms The following terms were used in the study: African American. This term is typically used to describe members of an ethnic group. The increasing popularity of the term African American attests to the strengthened 10 cultural awareness of people who trace their heritage and identity to Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Included among those considered African American are immigrants from the West Indies (McKinnon, 2000), although they do not view their culture and experience as similar to American-born Blacks (McKinnon, 2000). Challenging the Process. Challenging the Process, as envisioned by Kouzes and Posner (2007), includes searching for opportunities, experimenting, taking risks, and confronting and changing the status quo. Leaders search for opportunities for themselves and others to exceed previous levels of performance. Leaders regularly raise the standard. However, leaders also realize that the standard, while challenging, must be achievable. This awareness of the human need for challenge and sensitivity to the human need to succeed at that challenge are among the critical balancing skills of any leader (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Civilians. A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces. The term is also often used colloquially to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or occupation, especially by law enforcement agencies, which often use rank structures similar to those of military units (Pictet, 1958; 1960b). Defense contractor. A defense contractor is any person who enters into a contract with the federal government of the United States for the production of material or for the performance of services for national defense (Singer, 2005). Defense international contracting industry. Within the defense international contracting industry, companies who logistically support the international community, 11 war zone, or a hostile environment enter into a contract with the federal government of the United States for the production of material or for the performance of services for national defense. Department of Defense. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military (U.S. Department of Defense, 2005). The organization and functions of the DoD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code. Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation. The Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFAR) is the DoD version of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (see definition) (Ries, 2007). Department of Defense Instruction. The core document for the DoD is Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 3020.41, Contractor Personnel Authorized to Accompany the U.S. Armed Forces. An area of concern within the DoDI is in paragraph 6.3.3, Contractor Direction and Discipline. While the document indicates that the link between the military commander and the contractor is through the U.S. government contracting officer, it also indicates that in emergency situations the military commander can ―direct contingency contracting personnel‖ (U. S. Department of Defense, 2005). Enabling others to act. Enabling others to act involves fostering collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and mutual trust, as well as strengthening others by sharing power and information (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Any leadership practice that fosters self-determination, self-confidence, and self-awareness greatly enhances the 12 possibility of success and producing extraordinary results (Conger, 1998; Kouzes & Posner, 2007). As leaders foster collaboration and strengthen others, the followers‘ assessments of the leaders‘ personal credibility, upward influence, and workgroup impact the followers‘ own levels of job satisfaction and commitment (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Encouraging the heart. Having a positive outlook and self-confidence (Seligman, 1990), recognizing contributions, and celebrating accomplishments (Kouzes & Posner, 2007) encourages the heart. Researchers have shown that people repeat the behaviors that are rewarded and avoid those that are punished (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Leaders reinforce their positive outlook by applauding key values, having public ceremonies, being personally involved, and creating social support rituals. The chance that people will actually achieve levels of performance is heightened when leaders encourage from the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Federal Acquisition Regulation. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the principal set of rules in the FAR System. This system consists of sets of regulations issued by agencies of the federal government of the United States to govern what is called the "acquisition process," which is the process through which the government purchases ("acquires") goods and services. That process consists of three phases: (a) need recognition and acquisition planning, (b) contract formation, and (c) contract administration. The FAR System regulates the activities of government personnel in carrying out that process (U.S. General Services Administration, 2008). 13 General Accountability Office. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the audit, evaluation, and investigative department of the United States Congress (U. S. General Accountability Office, 2009). Inspiring a shared vision. ―Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue‖ (Kouzes & Posner, 2003, p. 15). Once a leader has a vision, he or she must enlist others in that vision. Leaders must have a deep knowledge of the values, hopes, and dreams of the group they lead in order for their vision to embrace and inspire others to act (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent (Northouse, 2009). This includes qualities of intelligence, alertness, insight, responsibility, initiative, persistence, self-confidence, and sociability as contributors to the leadership process (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000; Northouse, 2009; Stodgill, 1974). Leadership Practices Inventory. The LPI, developed by Kouzes and Posner (2007), indicates five shared practices of exemplary leaders and supports the concept that leadership is everyone‘s business. The inventory consists of 30 statements that describe various leadership behaviors to determine the respondent‘s engagement in each behavior (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). From more than 3,000 cases and 10,000 surveys, Kouzes and Posner (2007) indicated that leadership was an observable, learnable set of practices. The LPI was designed for LPI-self-scoring or LPI-observer-scoring. 14 Modeling the way. ―If people don‘t believe in the messenger, they won‘t believe the message‖ (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 1). Earned leadership will be given a great deal more respect than commanded leadership. Modeling the way begins with leaders being clear in their guiding leadership and ethical principles, as well as understanding that leaders bring shared values to life in a variety of settings (Heifetz, 1994; Northouse, 2009). Assumptions and Limitations Assumptions The study was based on four main assumptions. The first assumption was that a sufficient number of lower, middle, and senior managers from the defense international contracting industry targeted would participate in the study. The second assumption was that the participants of the study would understand and truthfully answer the questions on the LPI survey. The third assumption was that the construct of leadership can be measured using an ability measurement, such as the LPI. The fourth assumption was that, in order to reduce the potential for bias, the researcher would actively seek a sample population to include a broad range of ages and geographic areas within Iraq. Limitations Four main limitations of the study were known. The first limitation was that only one measure of leadership, the LPI, was used, despite the many available leadershipcompetency survey tools. The second limitation was that the study was based upon voluntary participation, which could have skewed the results, as participants might not 15 complete the survey. Individuals selected to participate who chose not to take part in the research might have ineffective leadership styles, which would provide evidence to further support or refute the hypotheses. The third limitation was that generalization of the results may be limited because of the focus on the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed status. The fourth limitation was there would not be enough respondents to formulate a sample that was statistically significant. Nature of the Study The study used a quantitative research methodology. Quantitative research is an excellent way to obtain vast amounts of information from specific populations, using standardized measures that fit diverse opinions and experiences into predetermined response categories; it removes the individual, the particular, and the subjective (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2006). The goal of survey researchers was to collect information about variables. Summaries, comparisons, and generalizations were made easily and precisely from the quantitative data obtained (Gall et al., 2006). In the quantitative study, the survey instruments used were the LPI and a demographic survey. The LPI was used to assess the self-perceived leadership practices of chief upper management and the observations of leadership practices by potential managers. The LPI by Kouzes and Posner (2007) is a highly trusted research instrument used by many organizations, businesses, and educational institutions worldwide. According to Kouzes and Posner (2007), the LPI is a 360-degree leadership assessment that looks at leadership as a measurable set of behaviors. There are five leadership practices measured in the LPI: (a) modeling the way, (b) inspiring a shared vision, (c) 16 challenging the process, (d) enabling others to act, and (e) encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Researchers have substantiated the reliability and validity of the LPI instrument (Kouzes & Posner, 2007; Zagorsek, Stough, & Jaklic, 2006). As of May 2008, there were more than 350 doctoral dissertations and academic research studies based on the LPI and the five-practice leadership model (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Topic Variables Instrument 1. Modeling the way 2. Inspiring a Shared Vision Exemplary Leadership Theory 3. Challenging the Process LPI 4. Enabling Others to Act 5. Encouraging the Heart Figure 1. A visual framework of the practice of exemplary leadership Note. Adapted from The Leadership Challenge (4th ed.) (p. 26), by J. M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner, 2007, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Copyright 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For the purpose of the research study, the self-scoring part of the inventory was used. The instrument (a) provides valid and reliable feedback about individual use of leadership practices, (b) identifies personal leadership strengths and opportunities for 17 improvement, (c) provides specific suggestions on how to improve in each of the five leadership practices, (d) assists with the development of action plans for continuing personal leadership development, and (e) fosters a process for discussing individual feedback with others (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The demographic survey was used to provide a demographic description of international defense contractors working in Iraq today. The purpose was to gather information to establish a foundation and a cross section of leaders who participated in the study. Chapter 2 includes a description of the research methodology used to determine if a statistically significant difference existed between the participants‘ self-perceptions of leadership practices of African American and Caucasian women‘s perceptions. Chapter 2 also provides additional information on the selection of the assessment tool and the documentation of validity and reliability. Organization of the Remainder of the Study Chapter 2 provides a review of the literature, an overview of the practice of exemplary leadership theory and existing research on the topic; the defense industry, both national and international; defense contracting; women in international contracting; and African American women in international defense contracting. Chapter 3 gives a detailed overview of the research design, instrument, sample, population, data collection, and the data analysis of the study. Chapter 4 presents the research findings. Chapter 5 is a discussion of the summary, conclusions, and recommendations for future study. 18 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW The purpose of this chapter is to review the literature regarding the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women who are defense international contractors at the middle and upper levels of management. This chapter will include a foundational analysis from the literature on the theory of exemplary leadership as described by Kouzes and Posner (2007), defense contracting, defense contractors, women leaders as defense contractors, and African American women in defense contracting. Theory of Exemplary Leadership ―Without leadership, nothing works.‖ —Kouzes & Posner (2007, p. 37) Kouzes and Posner (2007) advocated the theory of exemplary leadership, which states that people will follow a person who inspires them, who has vision and passion, and gets things done through enthusiasm and energy. Kouzes and Posner (2007) are the authors of The Leadership Challenge, and created the leadership model the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. This model was the theoretical framework for the study. There have been numerous quantitative and qualitative studies conducted using the LPI Study (Kouzes & Posner, 2007) to add to the body of knowledge since Kouzes and Posner started building the theoretical model in 1983 (Amram, 2009). Kouzes and Posner (2007) wanted to know what people did when at their personal best in leading others. They started with the assumption that they did not have to interview and survey 19 star performers in excellent companies to discover best practices. They assumed that by asking ordinary people to describe extraordinary experiences they would find patterns of success. By 1987, Kouzes and Posner had performed more than 550 of these surveys, each requiring one to two hours of reflection and expression (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). At the same time, a shorter, 2-page form was completed by another group of 80 managers, and the researchers conducted an additional 42 in-depth interviews. In the initial study, conducted in 1987, the cases of middle- and senior-level managers in private and public sector organizations were examined. Since that time the research was expanded and thousands of additional cases were collected. This expanded coverage included community leaders, student leaders, church leaders, government leaders, and hundreds of others in non-managerial positions (Kouzes & Ponser, 2007). Kouzes and Ponser‘s (2007) participants each had at least one leadership story to tell—stories that seldom sounded like textbook management. They were not logical cases of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Instead, they were tales of dynamic change and bold action. In one case, for example, manufacturing productivity was improved more than 400% in one year. In another, quality improvements moved products from last to first on a customer's vendor list in three months. In another example, a company grew five-fold in sales and 750% in profits over 6 years. In the not-for-profit and public sectors, a school system was discovered in which student performance in the lowest percentile moved to performance in the 68th percentile 20 in 2 years and leaders of another organization fought for and won the passage of legislation to protect abused and battered children (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). From an analysis of the personal-best cases, Kouzes and Posner (2007) developed a model of leadership that consisted of what Kouzes and Posner (2007) called, The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: (a) modeling the way, (b) inspiring a shared vision, (c) challenging the process, (d) enabling others to act, and (e) encouraging the heart. The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership resulted from an intensive research project to determine the leadership competencies that are essential to getting extraordinary things done in organizations. Kouzes and Posner (2007) collected thousands of personal best stories—the experiences people recalled when asked to think of a peak leadership experience. Kouzes and Posner (2007) continued to add to the foundational body of knowledge by taking their original studies and expounding upon them. Since the original study was conducted, leaders in the private, public, and governmental sectors have been examined. It was found that the original theory of exemplary leadership still holds true today. Over time, Kouzes and Posner (2007) conducted studies of the government sector, and their research continues to be valid and add to the body of knowledge. In addition, other researchers have used Kouzes and Posner‘s work to continue to add to the body of knowledge by conducting studies in the public, private, and governmental sectors to determine how leadership in the private and public sector differ. Researchers have explored the governmental, public, and private sectors to determine what leadership traits are desirable for each sector (Cavins, 2005). For example, Posner and Schmidt (1996) 21 conducted a study entitled ―The values of business and federal government executives: More different than alike,‖ and the results of the survey revealed that in both business and government, executives differed in the importance they attached to a variety of organizational goals, stakeholders, and personal traits. Posner and Schmidt (1996) also differed in their outlook on future trends and how they handled trade-offs between work and personal demands. While there were broad areas of disagreement, also noted were some areas of specific agreement on executives‘ values across the public and private sector. Implications for organizations and future research are suggested (Posner & Schmidt, 1996). Despite differences in individuals‘ stories, their personal-best leadership experiences revealed similar patterns of behavior. The Leadership Practices Inventory study (Kouzes & Posner, 2007) established that when leaders are at their personal best, they are: 1. Modeling the way: Leaders establish principles concerning the way people (constituents, peers, colleagues, and customers alike) should be treated and the way goals should be pursued. They create standards of excellence and then set an example for others to follow (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Because the prospect of complex change can overwhelm people and stifle action, they set interim goals so that people can achieve small wins as they work toward larger objectives. They unravel bureaucracy when it impedes action, they put up signposts when people are unsure of where to go or how to get there, and they create opportunities for victory. 2. Inspiring a shared vision: Leaders passionately believe that they can make a difference. They envision the future, creating an ideal and unique image of what the organization can become. Through their magnetism and quiet persuasion, leaders enlist others in their dreams. They breathe life into their visions and get people to see exciting possibilities for the future (Kouzes & Ponser, 2007). 22 3. Challenging the process: Leaders search for opportunities to change the status quo. They look for innovative ways to improve the organization (Kouzes & Ponser, 2007). In doing so, they experiment and take risks. And because leaders know that risk taking involves mistakes and failures, they accept the inevitable disappointments as learning opportunities. 4. Enabling others to act: Leaders foster collaboration and build spirited teams. They actively involve others. Leaders understand that mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary efforts; they strive to create an atmosphere of trust and human dignity (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). They strengthen others, making each person feel capable and powerful. 5. Encouraging the heart: Accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations is hard work. To keep hope and determination alive, leaders recognize contributions that individuals make. In every winning team, the members need to share in the rewards of their efforts, so leaders celebrate accomplishments (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). They make people feel like heroes. In 20 years, The Leadership Challenge has been translated into 12 languages (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The LPI is one of the most widely used leadership assessment instruments in the world. As Kouzes and Posner (2007) have continued to expand their research and writing, their leadership guides and teaching tools have been noticed by a wide audience and have received consistent praise. The LPI has been used successfully by businesses, schools, and nonprofit organizations, and has been verified and validated by more than 100 independent researchers (Kouzes & Posner, 2009). Specifically, more than 350 doctoral dissertations and academic research projects have been based on The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model (Kouzes & Ponsner, 2009). Researchers have used Kouzes and Posner‘s LPI to study topics such as job satisfaction, productivity, and organizational commitment as a result of leadership (N. Brown, 2006; Clarkson, 2009; Cunningham, 2006; Hymes, 2008; Manlove, 2004). 23 In a mixed methodology study conducted by Cunningham (2006), Cunningham sought to determine if 360-degree performance feedback had a positive impact on leadership development amongst United States Air Force personnel. In addition, Cunningham (2006) sought to determine if negative or positive feedback had an effect on participants‘ attitudes toward the 360-degree feedback process. Cunningham (2006) involved 15 active duty United States Air Force enlisted personnel stationed at an American military base in Europe. Participants were administered the self-assessment version of Kouzes and Posner's LPI (LPI-self), a 360-degree performance feedback tool. Subsequently, these participants selected peers, subordinates, and supervisors to evaluate core participants using the observers‘ similar version of the feedback tool (LPI-observer). The core participants were then interviewed between 28 to 35 days after receiving their 360-degree feedback scores. The qualitative research showed 360-degree performance feedback positively impacted the leadership development of the core participants by promoting self-awareness, improving confidence, and promoting team development, and was a good learning experience. All participants recommended the United States Air Force officials adopt this form of feedback. In the second part of the study, a quantitative analysis using the LPI assessment scores and the number of positive and negative comments gathered from interviews showed that despite receiving lower ratings from their subordinates, peers, and supervisors, the core participants favored the feedback regardless of the ratings they received (Cunningham, 2006). In another mixed method study conducted by N. Brown (2006), employees‘ perceptions of their supervisors‘ leadership behaviors and organizational culture, and the 24 relationship between leadership behaviors and organizational culture in the geographically separated units, viewed through an organizational-environment framework were examined. To accomplish the purpose, data were collected through survey instruments sent to all nonsupervisory federal (air force) employees. The instrument measured employees‘ perceptions of their supervisors‘ leadership behaviors through the LPI-observer. Organizational culture was measured by the OCTAPACE Profile, which measured organizational ethos/culture. Gender and tenure were the controlling variables in the research study. A mixed-method exploratory approach research design was incorporated to help understand, explain, and validate findings. Key findings indicated that the majority of employees were positive about their supervisor's leadership behavior, but employees saw a need to increase the awareness of enlisting others in a collective vision by appealing to a shared goal. N. Brown (2006) concluded with recommendations to increase supervisors‘ awareness of leadership behavior and organizational culture in the workplace. Kouzes and Ponser‘s LPI study has been used in the defense industry to study gender equality within the aerospace and defense industry (Gandhi, 2009). The study was qualitative and was used to understand what it is like to be a woman senior executive leader in the male-dominated aerospace and defense industry. The study was used to help to develop an understanding of the lived experiences of women executives, to learn how they achieved this level of senior leadership, and to understand what it is like for them to be a small ethnic minority at the senior executive level. The LPI assessment across a broader population of executives was used. Each participant completed an LPI 25 assessment and answered demographic questions. The standard deviation and range for the four women executives were higher on the practice of ―encouraging the heart,‖ and the standard deviation and range were remarkably higher in the category of ―challenging the process‖ (Gandhi, 2009, p. 68).‖ Overview of the Federal Workforce The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is considered the human resources office, also known as the human capital manager, of the federal government, and its mission is ―to build a high-quality and diverse federal workforce based on merit system principles‖ (Office of Personnel Management, 2009, p. 5). OPM leaders are responsible for implementing, overseeing, and enforcing civil service laws and regulations. The OPM staff is also responsible for ensuring the implementation of the provisions of the merit system principles that require fair and equitable treatment and equal opportunity, and prohibit discrimination in all aspects of federal employment (Office of Personnel Management, 2009). According to the last Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fiscal year 2009 (FY09) annual report on the federal workforce published by officials of the Department of Labor in 2009, the federal government officials employed approximately 2.9 million civilian workers (U.S. Department of Labor, 2009). Of the three branches of government—legislative, judicial, and executive—the executive branch had the largest array of responsibilities, employing over 98% of all federal civilian employees, excluding the postal service workforce (see Figure 2). 26 Legislative 29,933 1.09% Judicial 33,754 1.23% Executive 2,685,291 97.68% Figure 2. Branches of federal government employment. Adapted from United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, FY 2009, Annual Report on the Federal Workforce, by the Department of Labor (DOL), 2009. Retrieved on 20 July from http://www.opm.gov/feddata/html/2009/May/charts.asp. The federal government is used as a role model for employing ethnic minorities, and is the largest single employer in the nation. Ethnic minority employees in the federal workforce increased from 545,753 (32.4%) in 2007 to 567,583 (32.6%) in 2008 and 590,286 (32.8%) in 2009 (Office of Personnel Management, 2009). The civilian labor force leaders led the nation in the employment of women, as opposed to the federal government. Women represented 1,246,840 (43.06%) of the federal workforce in FY09, and African American women represented 299,127 [10.46%] (Office of Personnel Management, 2009). 27 Defense Industry Another sector of the government is the defense department, and it is the second largest employer in the nation with over 900,000 civilian employees (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009). The defense industry, also called the military industry, comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military equipment and facilities. It includes defense contractors—business organizations or individuals who provide products or services to a defense department of a government and the arms industry, which produces guns, ammunition, missiles, military aircraft, and their associated consumables and systems. The defense industry can include additional resources such as private military contractors—private companies that provide logistics, manpower, and other expenditures for a military force and European defense procurement, which is more or less analogous to the U.S. military-industrial complex. The defense industry also operates nationally and internationally. It is closely intertwined with military operations. On a national level, the defense industry focuses on homeland security and national infrastructure. National Defense Industry The national defense industry officially came into existence as a result of the National Defense Act of 1916, which provided for an expanded army during peace and wartime, fourfold expansion of the National Guard, the creation of an officers' and enlisted reserve corps, plus the creation of a reserve officers' training corps in colleges and universities. The president was also given authority, in case of war or national emergency, to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of the emergency. 28 Prior to the National Defense Act, all defense oversight was the responsibility of the officials of the United States Department of War, also called the war office, the cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the U.S. Army. It was also responsible for naval affairs until the establishment of the Navy Department in 1798 and for land-based air forces until the creation of the Department of the Air Force in 1947. The Department of War existed from 1789 until September 18, 1947, when it was renamed the Department of the Army and became part of the new, joint National Military Establishment (NME). Shortly after, in 1949, the NME was renamed the Department of Defense, which the Department of the Army is part of today (Matthews, 2006). The DoD is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military. The organization and functions of the DoD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code. The DoD is the major tenant of the Pentagon building near Washington, DC, and has three major components—the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. Among the many DoD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency (Candreva & Brook, 2008). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College. 29 During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the officials in the Army, the Navy, and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to the members of Congress on December 19, 1945, President Harry Truman proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months (Corke, 2008). The DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service at the same time (it had been part of the Department of War as the United States Army Air Force), and made part of the DoD. The DoD was created in order to reduce inter-service rivalry, which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II (Corke, 2008). On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the National Military Establishment to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation NME (the obvious pronunciation being "enemy") and was renamed the Department of Defense on August 10, 1949; in addition, the secretary of defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the 30 military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the NME/DoD, the Armed Forces of the United States were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard remained in the department of the treasury, ready to be shifted to the Department of the Navy during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars) (Best, 2001). The DoD includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as noncombat agencies such as the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and Home Land Security. The DoD's annual budget was roughly $663.8 billion in 2010 (Office of Budget and Management, 2009). This figure does not include tens of billions of dollars more in supplemental expenditures allotted by members of Congress throughout the year, particularly for the war in Iraq. It also does not include expenditures by the Department of Energy on nuclear weapons design and testing. Civilian control over matters other than operations is exercised through the three service departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force. The leader of each department is a service secretary, who is below cabinet rank (Best, 2001). In wartime, the DoD has authority over the coast guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation and earlier under the Department of the Treasury. According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States. During times of declared 31 war (or by Congressional direction), the Coast Guard officials operate as a part of the Navy; the service has not been under the auspices of the Navy since World War II, but members have served in undeclared wars and conflicts since then while the service remained in its peacetime department. On an international scale, the DoD officials play a significant role in supporting the war effort and enhancing the organizational structure. Research Conducted on the National Defense Industry There have been a number of studies conducted on DoD employees and military personnel that have added to Kouzes and Posner‘s (2007) theory of exemplary leadership that make the original study valid today. Researchers have looked at the defense contracting industry from many perspectives; however, the inclusion of women and African American women leaders in a war zone working in a nonmilitary capacity has yet to be explored. For instance, Moniz (2008) looked at the relationship between successful mentoring relationships and exemplary leadership practices among women protégés within the United States Navy. Moniz (2008) cited the direct impact upon the organization using Kouzes and Posner‘s LP and sought to examine whether the improvement of overall organizational performance is directly related to the performance of individuals within the organization. With an organizational objective of ensuring success through leadership development, a well-established mentoring process is one intervention designed to meet the overall organizational objective. The employment of both formal and informal practices in various settings has predictable advantages and disadvantages based upon the type of organization and the objectives of the program. A successful mentoring program 32 needs to consider these advantages and disadvantages in deciding the most effective and efficient methods to utilize in achieving the objectives of the organization. The examination of mentoring relationships with regard to gender is a critical factor in determining whether these relationships were successful. The mentoring survey and the LPI were administered to 250 women within the United States Navy (Moniz, 2008). Moniz (2008) found that one particularly significant stage of human performance improvement is the assessment of the gap between the actual and desired performance of individuals within an organization. Employing appropriate leadership traits and providing productive mentoring relationships to women in the United States Navy would greatly increase the likelihood of organizational improvement through improved performance of this often overlooked source of human capital. The self-reported successful mentoring situations/traits were related to exemplary leadership practice and advancement within the United States Navy in anticipation of being able to employ the LPI as an instrument to guide the development of future leader/mentors. The relationship that exists between exemplary leadership practices and participation in successful mentoring relationships showed a potential return on investment through the incorporation of mentoring as a substantial driver in the development of women within organizations (Moniz, 2008). In another study, Roberts (2008) explored the Army‘s officials‘ ability to attract, retain, reward, and develop a civilian workforce based on the current needs, given the operational tempo of all branches of the service. Roberts (2008) focused on the difficult issues that the leadership of the Department of the Army confronted: attracting, retaining, 33 rewarding, and developing a civilian workforce that is able to exceed mission demands with shrinking resources. This case study was established with the primary source of information being the National Defense Act, GAO reports, papers, and speeches presented by high-ranking government officials, academia, and private sector experts. A review of literature from the government and private sector provided a database that displayed knowledge concerning a civilian workforce that could be developed, acquired, and sustained. In addition, the framework of a case study provided a flexible design that unfolded as the research proceeded. The survey included such topics as tenure, roles, certification, values, education, culture, teaming, and implementation factors with other topics that are relevant to a civilian workforce. Women in the Military Versus Women Working in the National Defense Industry The purpose of the study was to add another spectrum to the body of knowledge: that of the African American woman working as a private defense contractor who is in a deployed status in a war zone. Although there has been extensive research conducted on women in the military and women working for the government sector, there is limited research on civilian women working for private defense contractors in a deployed status. There has been even less research conducted on African American women working in the same roles. Defense contractors may serve some of the same functions as women in the military; however, women working in defense contracting and women in the military are not in the same role. There is a distinct difference between women in the military and defense contractors for four main reasons. 34 1. Women in the defense contracting industry are not allowed to bear arms without getting special permissions from their company and the theater of operations in which they reside. 2. Women are not part of the same hierarchy as the military. If private contractors have any issues, they have to go through their corporate chain. 3. If detained by the Iraqi police, private contractors are subject to Iraqi law and if the host country decides not to turn them over to the U.S. government the U.S. State Department has to intervene. 4. At any time private contractors can terminate their contract without having to get special permission from the DoD. (Rush, 2009, pp. 50-60). Although they may be in nontraditional working conditions, contractors are very similar to expatriates working abroad. They are private citizens working for a DoD contract and do not fall under the same guidelines as a military member or a DoD worker when it comes to rule of law in Iraq if detained in the city by the civil authorities. International Defense Industry Industry Makeup The aerospace and defense industry (international defense industry) is composed of companies involved in the manufacture of products for the purpose of defense. This includes the companies that manufacture and distribute the parts and components of military ships, such as nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers, and aircraft, such as bombers or fighter jets. The production of aircraft or ships for commercial use is included in our transport manufacturing industry. Weaponry, such as missiles or ammunition, and other defense-related technological devices, such as radar, sonar, or satellites, is also a part of this industry. Spacecraft, such as space shuttles, rockets, or 35 space stations round out the industry. Many leaders of developed countries, or coalitions of countries such as the European Union, fill their demand for these products via their own domestic industry (Moniz, 2008). Most of the demand is derived from a federal defense department or government-run space programs, such as NASA in the U.S. or ESA in Europe (Johnson, 2006). History Parallel to the history of mankind is the history of the development of warfare. Humans have been involved in constant development of weaponry and war craft, both for the desire to conquer and the necessity to defend. Many developments, such as aircraft or watercraft, were not originally developed for this purpose, but the possible military applications were evident. The resulting investment by governing and/or private bodies, especially in times of war, has allowed the technology involved in the industry to develop at a more rapid pace than might normally occur, leading to the large corporations of today that respond to the demand for sophisticated military devices. Industry Leaders There are many companies that specialize in supplying different products, but the company leaders who succeed in obtaining government contracts earn profits for the company. In the United States, Boeing is the primary military aircraft and space shuttle contractor. The European Union counterpart is Airbus, a division of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), which also manufactures products such as satellites and space rockets. In the United Kingdom, BAE Systems is the leading 36 defense contractor. Lockheed Martin is a world leader in information systems as well as space systems and aircraft. The U.S.-based Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are also top defense contractors (Madslien, 2009). Three features differentiate the international defense industry from most other industries. First and foremost is its sheer size. Over a trillion dollars is now spent each year by the world's countries on national defense, with the U.S. defense budget constituting roughly 45% of that figure. While much of it is used to finance standing military forces, a substantial amount is spent on technology and hardware, particularly in the aerospace sector. Second, while the defense industry is highly globalized, arms trade that crosses borders can be controversial for political reasons, if not illegal outright. Finally, the defense industry involves a unique blend of governmental and economic forces. Both private companies and public institutions shape supply and demand in this dynamic market (French, 2008). Types of Companies As of early 2008, at least 190,000 private personnel were working on U.S.-funded projects in the Iraq battle theater (Congressional Budget Office [CBO] survey. For each uniformed member of the U.S. military in the region, there was also a contract employee—a ratio of 1:1 (Grier, 2008). The use of contracting companies in military operations is broken into three categories: (a) nonlethal service providers, (b) private military companies, and (c) private security companies (Brooks & Shevlin, 2005). Nonlethal service providers include those contractors providing logistical support such as laundry service, mess hall service, construction, and even unexploded ordnance disposal 37 (French, 2008). The work accomplished by private military companies is usually done at the strategic level and includes functions such as police training and civil military relations. Private security companies are used to provide security for people, buildings, supply routes, and so forth. These are the contract companies that have been in the news most in Iraq (French, 2008). Defense contractors do not generally provide direct support of military operations. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention (Schumitz, 2007) defense contractors engaged in direct support of military operations may be legitimate targets of military attack. Although many contractors are aware of the threat, they still take the risk of working in combat and hazardous duty areas providing support to military operations. Table 2 shows the top 20 world contractors in 2010, many of which are instrumental in support of the war efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan (Washington Technology, 2010). In addition, they have been instrumental in supporting operations during peacetime. Table 2 The Top 20 Worldwide Defense Contractors, 2010 Rank Company 1 Lockheed Martin Corp. 2 Northrop Grumman Corp. 3 Boeing Co. 4 Raytheon Co. 5 Science Applications International Corp. 6 General Dynamics Corp. Country/ Location United States United States United States United States United States United 2009 Rank 1 2010 Revenue (US$) 16,700,588,328 2010 arms sales (US$) 11,903,592,828 % total sales 71 3 11,145,533,497 9,324,359,858 84 2 10,462,626,196 8,188,884,907 78 5 6,727,232,555 6,186,922,361 92 7 5,474,482,583 4,107,508,779 75 4 5,431,882,984 4,729,812,847 87 38 7 KBR Inc. 8 L-3 Communications Corp. States United States United States 6 4,545,440,824 4,545,379,747 100 8 4,176,624,682 3,656,361,430 88 Table 2. The Top 20 Worldwide Defense Contractors, 2010 (continued) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Booz Allen Hamilton United States Computer Sciences Corp. United States Dell Computer Corp. United States Hewlett-Packard Co. United States Harris Corp. United States ITT Corp. United States BAE Systems Inc. United Kingdom CACI International Inc. United States IBM Corp. United States Deloitte LLP United States Verizon Communications Inc. United States 10 3,352,844,339 545,907 .02 9 3,293,278,386 2,220,715,093 67 15 2,700,000,000 987,081,575 37 12 2,564,014,201 1,589,210,748 62 13 2,165,268,040 1,589,210,748 73 11 2,074,983,916 1,893,914,126 91 14 1,956,884,247 1,659,034,948 85 20 1,911,928,093 1,690,002,735 88 18 1,774,623,164 451,876,826 25 51 1,730,165,554 332,382,326 19 16 1,721,565,974 1,721,565,974 100 Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. 19 1,634,268,549 1,004,600,232 61 United States Note. 2010 Washington Technology 100 Government Contractors. Washington Technology. Retrieved from http://washingtontechnology.com/GIG/washingtontechnology/TopLists/Top-100-Lists/2010.aspx Private Military Contractors: Background The use of contractors in both Iraq and Afghanistan is not a new concept. The U.S. government officials and the DoD officials have employed contractor personnel during wartime for many years. Private contractors were used in both the war for American independence and the civil war. More recently, during World War II and the 39 Vietnam war the ratio of contractors to soldiers was 1:6. This fell to 1:50 during Operation Desert Storm (Peters, 1996; Schumitz, 2007). As has been demonstrated, there is a 1:1 ratio of contractors to U.S. soldiers in Iraq. In another example, in 1998 when other participating countries sent military officers as verification monitors to Kosovo, the U.S. contracted with DynCorp, a Virginia-based contractor, to fulfill the U.S. obligation (Adams, 1999; Serafino & Weiss, 2005). The United States is not the only country in which officials use contractors to augment military forces. History shows examples of countries augmenting their military forces with private contractors in order accomplish military objectives. For instance, the Italians used private armies, called condottieri, during the Italian Renaissance, and Hannibal, the Carthage commander, led a group of private forces during the Punic Wars (Rosen, 2005). Although they did not use the term contractor, these private forces were still paid for a certain task and were not part of the regular army, which equates to U.S. private contractors of today. These private forces, however, performed functions that more closely mirrored combat soldiers and would more appropriately be termed mercenaries. Most of the private forces historically used by the United States performed logistical-type functions and, for the most part, were not on the battlefield. This largely stemmed from the AntiPinkerton Act of 1892 (Ries, 2007). The act stated that, ―An individual employed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or similar organization, may not be employed by the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia.‖ Although the original intent of the law was to prevent the government from hiring private 40 companies to break up labor protests and strikes, the consequence was an aversion of the U.S. government to enter into contracts with any company for security services. In turn, the law was incorporated into the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which contains the set of rules U.S. government contracting officers are required to use when formulating and administering contracts. The FAR clause further clarified the intent of the U.S. Code: This prohibition applies only to contracts with organizations that offer quasi-military armed forces for hire, or with their employees, regardless of the contract‘s character (U.S. General Services Administration, 2008). This clarification shifted the intent away from using private companies to break up labor disputes and strikes and focused the prohibition more on military-type operations and functions (French, 2008). It may appear that some contracts for services in Iraq are in violation of the AntiPinkerton Act. In fact, in 2006 a contractor protested the issuance of two U.S. government requests for proposal on these grounds (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2006). The protestor argued that the solicitations, which required security services and cargo transportation, would result in contract awards to quasi-military armed forces for hire. GAO officials denied the protests on the basis that contracts for guard or security services do not violate the Anti-Pinkerton Act as these services are not considered quasi-military (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2006). Just as important, the GAO decision also addressed the complex issue of inherently governmental functions. In general, the U.S. government is prohibited from entering into contracts for services that are deemed to be inherently governmental 41 functions (U.S. General Services Administration, 2008). The GAO officials determined that guard and security services performed in Iraq are similar (albeit more dangerous) to services normally provided by the private sector within the United States, such as bank guards and ―armed escort for high value cargo‖ (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2006). Therefore, security services are not inherently governmental functions and can be outsourced to contractors. In recent years, DoD officials‘ use of contractors has increased dramatically. A survey conducted by the United States central command estimated by the end of 2006, the contractors in Iraq alone numbered almost 100,000 (Lindemann, 2007). To put this into perspective, there are approximately 155,000 U.S. servicemen and women in Iraq (International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2007). Moreover, it is estimated that there are currently over 100 different contract companies operating in Iraq in 2010 (McDonald, 2007). Contractor employees providing services in Iraq outnumbered the number of personnel provided by all the U.S. coalition partners combined (Lindemann, 2007). The increased use of contractors can be explained with the elementary economic concept of supply and demand (Avant, 2006b). Following the end of the cold war, the military began a massive personnel drawdown, decreasing the supply of military forces. Then, with 9/11 and the continuing operations in Iraq, the demand for military forces dramatically increased. Due to the military‘s inability to quickly recruit, train, and deploy new forces, the demand gap has been filled with private contractors (Avant, 2006a). 42 Members of the US Congressional Committee and the U.S. Senate would state that the increased use of contractors by the military is escalating uncontrollably (Schumitz, 2007). United States Senator Carl Levin asked, ―How is it in our nation‘s interest to have civilian contractors, rather than military personnel, performing vital national security functions… in a war zone (Avant, 2006b, p. 5)?‖ This was not a new view. In 1997, Herbert Howe, a Georgetown University professor specializing in the privatization of military operations, remarked, ―I think the major worry that everyone has about this sort of thing is, will these forces become a force unto themselves, kind of rogue elephants‖ (Cowan & Adams, 2008, p. 15). With no immediate end in sight for either Operations Iraqi or Enduring Freedom, it is clear that the DoD officials‘ use of contractors will remain high for some time to come. Contractors deploying with the force, as the DoD officials refer to them, are an asset to any operation because they provide services that military forces either cannot provide or could only provide at the expense of combat forces. United States Army Field Manual 3-100.21 indicates: ―When military force caps are imposed on an operation, contractor support can give the commander the flexibility of increasing his combat power by substituting combat units for military support units‖ (French, 2008). Significant use of contractors can also present challenges for the commander. For instance, contractor personnel in Iraq now represent over 100,000 additional individuals who require force protection. Contractors are in harm‘s way just as the military forces are. In the first 4 years of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 917 private military contractors were killed, and more than 12,000 were injured (Elsea, Schwartz, & Nakamura, 2008). In the first 3 months of 43 2007, 146 contractors were killed compared to 244 U.S. military personnel (Elsea et al., 2008). Additionally, another challenge for commanders when contractors accompany the forces deals with public perception. Every contractor action while under contract with the U.S. government is perceived as a U.S. military action and the U.S. military as a whole is held accountable, whether responsible or not. In 2004, U.S. senators John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, and Charles Schumer sent a letter to secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld (Rosen, 2005). In the letter the senators voiced concerns over the actions of some private contractors during the Abu Ghraib incident in Iraq: ―In light of the recent revelations of abuses of detainees in Iraq, it is important that U.S. actions, whether by military personnel or contractors, have respect for the law‖ (Rosen, 2005, p. 2). The increased use of contractors on the new, ambiguous, battlefield has created a need for additional guidance on how and when contractors deploying with the force can be employed. However, there is concern that the increased use of contractor personnel in military operations is proceeding faster than regulations can be written (Gropman, 2008). The fact that the regulations that do exist sometimes contradict each other is concerning. The core document of the DoD is DoDI 3020.41, Contractor Personnel Authorized to Accompany the U.S. Armed Forces. An area of concern in this DoDI is paragraph 6.3.3, ―Contractor Direction and Discipline.‖ While the document acknowledges the link between the military commander and the contractor is through the U.S. government contracting officer, it also states that in emergency situations the 44 military commander can ―direct contingency contracting personnel‖ (U.S. Department of Defense, 2005). Conversely, in a recent update to the DFARS (DoD version of the FAR), the members of the DFAR Committee refused to incorporate this DoDI language, thereby keeping all control with the government contracting officer (Ries, 2007). Even within the DoD there is disagreement over how contractors can be managed. Another important aspect of this instruction is paragraph 4.4.1, which states that with the geographic combatant commander‘s approval contractors deploying with the U.S. armed forces may carry a weapon for individual self-defense (U. S. Department of Defense, 2005). The authority only applies during contingency operations. Contractors carrying weapons can only further complicate an already complex military operation. Historically Male-Dominated Defense Contracting Positions Historically, according to Perito (2008), defense contracting has been dominated by White, male, old-boy networks that make it very difficult for African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans to participate fairly in these opportunities, or even obtain information about them. Ethnic minorities have been excluded from both public and private construction contracts in general, and from federal defense contracts in particular. The defense international contracting field was an exclusive field, and gaining entry into it was very difficult until the adoption of the 1207 Program (Perito, 2008). Since its adoption, the defense department's 1207 Program has helped improve opportunities for ethnic minority contractors. Since the program was first enacted in 1986, racial and ethnic discrimination has continued to be a substantial obstacle to ethnic minority participation in federal contracts. 45 In some cases, overt discrimination prevents ethnic minority-owned businesses from obtaining needed loans and bonds. Prime contractors, unions, and suppliers of goods and materials have consistently preferred to do business with White contractors rather than firms employing ethnic minorities (D. A. Brown, 2004). Stereotypes This section will be used to discuss stereotypes of women in general within organizations. According to Catalyst (2005), ―Gender-based stereotyping can be especially damaging‖ (p. 6) and may limit the ability of women to excel and advance within organizational settings. Stereotypes have negatively affected women‘s career advancement because women are portrayed as lacking the positive leadership qualities most often associated with men. Stereotypes depict men as better leaders than women because stereotypes often portray women as lacking the qualities commonly related to effective leadership (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Parker, 2005, 2008). Tomkiewicz, Frankel, Adeyemi-Bello, and Sagan (2004) posited that when an individual addresses leadership, ―the implication is that one is speaking of men. For a variety of reasons, which may be summarized under the heading of negative stereotypes, women have been delegated a subordinate role in business organizations‖ (p. 59). Stereotypical views of effective leadership remain a man‘s point of view: Most leadership theories are by men, about men, and for men (Bartram, 2005; Eagly & Carli, 2007a, 2007b; Stelter, 2002; Yoosuf, 2005;), despite the more feminine traits integrated into transformational, facilitative, and servant leadership styles (Altintas & Altintas, 2008; van Engen, van der Leeden, & Willemsen, 2001). 46 McCauley and van Velsor (2004) stated that, ―Men and women are stereotyped differently, with men seen as more competent, active, potent, emotionally stable, independent, and rational than women‖ (p. 279). Often, feminine leadership styles are characterized as emotional and are linked to negative stereotypes of women leaders (Catalyst, 2004). Feeney and Lewis (2004) stated that women should embrace their feminine qualities and act on their feminine urges because such qualities make women unique and successful leaders. The members of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission (FGCC) referred to research on the topic and indicated that organizational beliefs and attitudes contribute to the barriers women face in management. Other researchers illustrated that organizational structures, compensation, and type of work area also related to ―gender stratification across firms‖ (Department of Labor, 1995, p. 8; Powell & Graves, 2003; Schopp, 2008). Reports issued by the Department of Labor (2005) have shown that stereotypical perception (prejudice) against ethnic minorities is the number one barrier to advancement to senior level positions. Preconceptions about women and their personalities, abilities, and responsibilities may be the greatest obstacles for moving ahead in the business world (Tharenou, 1999; A. P. Thomas, 2004). Negative, race-based stereotypes also contribute to the underrepresentation of African American women in leadership positions. CarrRuffino (2004) indicated the following: Stereotyping is a conventional or standardized image. Stereotyping is an attempt to rob individuals of the perception others have of them as members of the human race. The reasons this exists are usually based on economics, social exclusion, and fear. Stereotypes, even positive ones, serve to divide, not unite, people; they concentrate on exclusion rather than inclusion. (p. 58) 47 Stereotypes and paradigms underlie the perception of African American women. African American women have progressed from domestic work to service, clerical, and industrial work, and since 1970, have performed the same work as Euro-American women; however, differences exist (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Moore, et al., 2008; Parker, 2005, 2008). Research conducted by experts at government agencies and private corporations consistently indicated that African American women lagged behind nonminority women in executive positions (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2005a). African American Women Experts at the following agencies: Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau (Eggerling-Boeck, 2004, p. 312) reported that of the 360 million people in the United States, African Americans make up 13%. During the 10year period 1990 to 2000, ―the African-American population increased from 29.98 million to 34.64 million, a rate of 15.6%, while the population as a whole increased 13.2%‖ (Eggerling-Boeck, 2004, p. 312). According to the experts at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, African American women in the workplace totaled 8.8 million, or 6% of the labor force, in 2004 (Department of Labor, 2004). Of that number, those in management, professional, and related jobs totaled less than 2.5 million, or 5% of all people employed in the areas (Hayes, 2006). ―African American women represented just 1.1% of corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies, which amounts to 106 out of 10,092 positions‖ (Hayes, 2006, p. 147). 48 By 2012, approximately 10 million African American women will be in the workplace, representing 6.4% of the labor pool (Department of Labor, 2005). Increasing African American women‘s representation in management is therefore important. Goodman, Fields, and Blum (2003) and Clarke (as cited in Porter, 2002) have observed that the perception persists that the majority of corporate workplaces are not fair environments for African American women. In a 2004 quantitative study by Catalyst (2004), 963 African American women in Fortune 1000 companies reported that the barriers they faced in career advancement included negative race-based stereotypes, frequent questioning of their credibility and authority, and lack of institutional support. African American women experienced ―double outsider‖ status (Catalyst, 2004, p. 1). The following was noted: African American women reported exclusion from informal networks and conflicted relationships with White women. Despite corporate America‘s apparent embrace of diversity, many study respondents found diversity programs to be ineffective, with 37% viewing their opportunities for advancement to senior management positions declining over time. (as cited in Hayes, 2006, p. 148) African American women have long contended with racist, sexist, and perception barriers. P. T. Taylor (2004) reported, ―African-American women‘s direct and assertive leadership style is misinterpreted as confrontational. They said they are often seen as incompetent, and each work assignment feels like ‗a test,‘ yet they get little support and no forgiveness for failure‖ (p. 40). Researchers have indicated mentoring and networking as methods for women to break the barriers in management. According to Catalyst (2004), ―Women of color increasingly understand the importance of networks and have developed relationships with mentors in great numbers‖ 49 (p. 12) in order to achieve senior leadership positions. Caucasian women emphasized that they wanted to mentor women of color but were afraid of offending or being rejected and were unaware of the benefits of ―White privilege‖ (Moore, et al., 2008; P. T. Taylor, 2004, p. 34). Byrd (2009) and T. C. King and Ferguson (2001) defined African American professional women as those who define themselves as ongoing participants in the paid or unpaid labor force (e.g. political action, community service), who internalize a view of themselves as having a professional identity, and who are developing or have developed expertise through training, education, or experience for the purpose of maintaining a career over the course of the life span. (p. 141) The definition applies specifically to African American women due to professional selfesteem, commitment to work, and a desire to advance to executive-level leadership positions. African American Women and their Caucasian Counterparts Researchers have examined race in combination with gender and pointed to the unique situation of African American women (Moore et al., 2008; Cotter et al., 2004; Leiber & Mack, 2003). Brinson (2006) examined the challenges and obstacles faced by African American women in identifying career opportunities that aligned with their abilities, interests, and self-fulfilling purpose. Elliott and Smith (2004) conducted a study to examine differential access to workplace power among women and racial ethnic minorities relative to Caucasian men. Findings indicated that African American women experienced inequality at senior levels based on discrimination more than any other group. African American women dealt with negative perceptions based on gender and 50 ethnic stereotypes (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Moore, et. al, 2008; McGlowan-Fellows & Thomas, 2004). Researchers concluded that differences are evident between African American and Caucasian women (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Henry-Brown & Campbell-Lewis, 2005; McGlowan-Fellows & Thomas, 2004; Smith-Hunter & Boyd, 2004). African American women also face subtle discriminatory barriers. Bell and Nkomo (2001) interviewed African American women who believed they were judged according to inequitable standards when compared with Caucasian colleagues. Research indicated that African American women were misunderstood and mistreated for a complex array of reasons, most often related to myths and stereotypes (Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003). Catalyst (2004) suggested that a gap remains between African American women and Caucasian women, even in comparable positions. For example, African American women executives earn less than Caucasian women executives, even though they have the second highest incidence of college degrees, 40% after Caucasian men. Buchanan and Ormerod (as cited in Bell, 2004) indicated that the continued slow movement of African American women into management and executive positions suggested that the convergence of race and gender might impose a stronger effect on personal and social interactions that affect advancement opportunities. In addition, African American women in managerial and executive positions have expressed the detrimental reality of differential treatment and advancement due to race and gender convergence (Bell, 2004). When trying to move up the corporate ladder, African American women face a barrier known as dualism, or double jeopardy. According to Anderson (2001), African 51 American women are in continuous battle to be valued as leaders due to gender and race issues. The perceptions of others determine the value of their leadership: ―These external perceptions and the tenets of traditional leadership serve as the backdrop by which Black women‘s leadership is compared and valued‖ (Anderson, 2001, p. 7). Henry-Brown and Campbell-Lewis (2005) remarked that African American women are more disadvantaged than Caucasian women because they face racial discrimination in addition to gender discrimination. The dual ethnic minority status of African American women is construed as a condition that provides a decided competitive advantage in hiring and professional advancement. Black, Ferdman, and Yoder, and Aniakudo commented that African American women give divergent accounts of their experiences of being Black and a woman and how their work experiences, work relationships, and advancement are affected (as cited in Combs, 2003). African American women argue that being Black and a woman has a negative impact on career advancement (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Brinson, 2006; Parker, 2005). Maume (2004) indicated that an African American woman has an estimated 3% chance of holding a managerial job in her career, compared to the typical Caucasian woman‘s access rate of 9.49%. Maume‘s (2004) findings showed that while tenure with a company was a determinant for Caucasian men, tenure did not affect the probabilities of either Caucasian women or ethnic minorities of either sex influencing their rise into upper management. Based on the random-effects model of managerial attainment, the barriers to promotion affect African American women more than they do Caucasian 52 women. Several researchers (Brinson, 2006; Catalyst, 2004; Elliott & Smith, 2004; Riley, 2006) concluded, based on research findings, that African American women encounter more impediments to career advancement than advantages in the workplace (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Brinson, 2006; Parker, 2005). The intersection of race and gender often results in workplace prejudices that stem from racial and gender biases permeating the everyday experiences of African American women as they perform their jobs and seek career advancement in organizations (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Parker, 2005). Hite (2005) addressed the underrepresented aspect of the literature on gender and work, specifically how African American and Caucasian managers perceived the influence of racism in the workplace. Hite (2005) concluded the following: Compared to Caucasian women, more Blacks respondents perceived racism in the workplace, were supportive of affirmative roles, and saw racial as well as gender disparities in work effort required for success. In contrast, many Caucasian participants did not perceive workplace racism, saw little need for affirmative action initiatives, and seemed to hold an illusion of equity regarding work effort. (p. 211) Women in Governmental Positions In fiscal year 2007, Senior Executive Service (SES) positions within the government numbered 6,349. Women accounted for 1,806 (28.4%) of the positions, and African American woman totaled 221 (3.5%) of the positions (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2007). A gap exists in the representation of African American women in the federal workforce and African American women in SES positions noticeably (Office of Personnel Management, 2009). 53 The OPM demographic data provided a profile of the federal government SES. The SES consists overwhelmingly of Caucasian men, and rapidly aging (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2003). Since 1990, the proportion of women participating in the U.S. workforce has increased noticeably (Office of Personnel Management, 2005). Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, published by the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2005), included data on women workers from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The data book, issued monthly to approximately 60,000 households, includes demographic information about the labor force of women. Data on women‘s earnings by race, education, occupation, and industry also are presented (Department of Labor, 2005b). The CPS revealed that 35% of Caucasian women versus 26% of African American women worked in managerial or professional specialty occupations in 2004. African American women have higher earnings parity with African American men than Caucasian women with Caucasian men. The CPS also noted that African American women earned 91% of African American men‘s earnings while Caucasian women earned 78% of Caucasian men‘s earnings. Disproportionately, women continue to occupy lower level positions in hierarchy of public organization and bureaucracies (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2003). There has been a lack of research on African American women in the federal government (Llorens, Wenger, & Kellough, 2008; Riccucci, 2009; Moore et al., 2008). Little (1994) wrote How Women Executives Succeed: Lessons and Experiences from the Federal Government. The basis for the book was from a study of 78 federal senior executive women who focused on ―what has made the difference for them in their career 54 progress‖ (p. 20). According to Little (1994), the research was ―the first systematically researched and documented study of women who [had] progressed to senior and executive management in the federal government‖ (Preface section). Of the 78 women who responded to the survey, only 5 were African American. Of the 287 women senior executive respondents in a study by Mashayekh (1995), only 20 were African American. Mashayekh‘s (1995) ―survey instrument was designed based on the theories of bureaucratic behavior and issues associated with women in top level management‖ (p. 91). Lewis (2006) and Williams (2005) conducted studies of 20 and 25 women, respectively, who held senior executive positions in the U.S. federal government. The purpose of the studies was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of women to determine the factors women believed inhibited and enhanced their progression into the senior executive ranks. Williams (2005) and Lewis (2006) did not identify the number of African American women who participated in the studies. A number of articles included discussion about the obstacles women have encountered in rising to senior executive levels, both in the private industry and the public sector, but no information was available that directly related to African American women‘s opportunities for selection to senior executive positions within the federal government. Research studies conducted by Mashayekh (1995), Williams (2005), and Lewis (2006) illustrated disparities in the research on African American women related to the FGCC findings (Department of Labor, 1995) and added to the existing body of literature. In addition, Mashayekh (1995) helped to ―determine if strategies, executive behaviors, and personal experiences of the senior executive women can be formulated and used as a 55 model for career progress as well as the development of women to the senior executive ranks‖ (p. 177). The data were expected to strengthen organizational executive development programs for ethnic minorities. Women in International Defense Contracting Women and ethnic minorities are no longer just employees in the workforce; their accomplishments and contributions to the economy have been significant, considering women‘s position 60 years ago. In the 2010 environment, women have exchanged traditional homemaker apparel for business attire and have broadened social contacts from that of just traditional roles to business partners, associates, and colleagues (Cowan, 2005; Morgan, 1998). Even despite their growing responsibilities and advancement in the armed forces, women make up less than 6% of the upper levels of management in the nation's top defense companies (Department of Labor, 2007a). Opportunities for women in the defense international contracting field are plentiful because it is not a traditional field toward which women would gravitate. According to company annual reports, fewer than 3% women are at the vice president level of management or higher; outside of dayto-day management just over 3% women serve on boards of directors (Roos & Gatta, 2008). Despite advances, women still face major hurdles. Women filling entry-level positions are often fielded into lower-paying jobs with limited advancement possibilities. On average, women executives earn about 34% less than men executives, according to the Department of Labor (1992a, 1992b) experts. By failing to promote women and ethnic minorities into executive positions, many corporate management teams are 56 insulating themselves from people of different backgrounds and cultures: people who might be able to bring with them new insights and approaches. In addition, not only do fewer women work in the defense industries, but women's salaries in defense corporations lag behind men's, even more so than in the economy as a whole. It is believed by some that men still dominate the industry, but the numbers are changing in women's favor. National defense and women haven't always been words that could easily be paired, but as more women assume leadership roles in the military and in the defense contracting industry, it is apparent that a shift is occurring in the boardroom as well as the battlefield (Long, 2005). While on the surface the increasing number of women involved with national defense may appear to be about equal rights between the genders, a less obvious theory points to companies starting to realize that women have certain innate personality and leadership traits that can be advantageous in business. Women have played an important role in defense contracting over the years (Long, 2005). Figure 3 shows women‘s participation rates in the defense industry over the last 69 years. Figure 3. Participation rates of women in the defense industry over the last 69 years. Adapted from ―Defense Industry is not the Battlefield it once was for Women,‖ by J. Long, 2005, San Diego Business Journal, 1–4. Copyright 2005 by San Diego Business Journal. Women continue to take on a greater role in U.S. enterprises, be it in government agencies, military organizations, academic institutions, or private companies. Over the 57 last 5 years, women working in defense contracting have increased, but there are still hurdles they must navigate in order to advance into mid- to senior-levels of management. African American women working in the international defense contracting industry are beginning to consider employment in the industry and are finding that obtaining mid- to senior-level management positions is a difficult challenge. African American Women in International Defense Contracting There remains a disparity in the number of African American women working in the mid- to senior-levels of the defense contracting industry for the federal government when compared to the number of African American women in the defense international contracting and federal workforce. Researchers have emphasized that the perception persists that the majority of corporate workplaces are not fair places for African American women to work (Clark, 2006; Goodman et al., 2003; Johnson, 2006; Kim, 2009; Maume, 2004; Porter, 2002; Riley, 2006; Williams, 2005). According to research by Catalyst (2004), ―African-American women are the most likely of all women-of-color groups studied to see their opportunities to advance to senior positions declining over time, in spite of the existence of diversity policies and practices‖ (p. 15). The Department of Labor (2005) officials indicated that ―Caucasian women were more likely than African American women to work in managerial or professional specialty occupations (about 35% compared with 26%, respectively)‖ (p. 10). African American women are one of the most underrepresented and understudied groups in corporate America (Catalyst, 2004; van Wart, 2003), the civil servant sector, and in the defense international contracting industry. In the defense international 58 contracting industry, the percentage of women at senior levels of management is low; for African American women, that number is extremely low (Department of Labor, 2007b). Ethnic minorities have been consistently underutilized in government contracting. In 1996, the Urban Institute released a report documenting ethnic minority firms received only 57 cents in government contracts for every dollar they should have received based upon their eligibility in comparison to men and Caucasian owned firms. For specific racial groups and women, the disparities were even greater. African American–owned firms received only 49 cents on the dollar; Latino-owned firms, 44 cents; Asian American–owned firms, 39 cents; Native American–owned firms, 18 cents. However, of those companies operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, the percentage of African American women managers at the mid- to senior-level of management is less than 1.7% (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2007). The fact that the defense international contracting industry is a male-dominated sector is one of the barriers that must be considered as a factor in the low numbers of African American women at the executive and senior levels of management in defense international contracting. Barriers, in terms of professional advancement in a corporate environment, have been used as explanations of women‘s positions in the corporate arena (Cowan, 2005; Domhoff & Dye, 1987). Some have posited that many barriers have to do with upper management‘s inability to understand how to mentor and groom African American women to take the next step in career advancement (Domhoff & Dye, 1987; Wilson, 2004). When considering the promotion of African American women into leadership positions, the 59 issue sometimes involves the background an individual comes from and trying to understand them on a personal level instead of racial stereotypes. Women have experienced employment hardships. Statistical data compiled by experts at the National Partnership for Women and Families (1999) stated that women in the workplace ―earn 72 cents for every dollar earned by men‖ (p. 2). Furthermore, women of color fare even worse: African American women earn 64 cents and Hispanic women only 55 cents for every dollar earned by Caucasian men (Murphy & Graff, 2005). To compound the inequity, college-educated women of color earn less than Caucasian men who have only a high school education (Gates, 2004). During 2009, the gender wage gap narrowed only slightly. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research compilation of current population survey labor force statistics (2009), Black and Hispanic workers of both sexes earn considerably less than White males, yet the wage gap is particularly marked for women of color (except for Asian American women). African American women on average only earn 68.9% for every dollar earned by a Caucasian male per week, and Hispanic/ Latina women earn only 60.2 cents. Workers with Asian backgrounds have the highest median weekly earnings, primarily because of historically higher rates of educational attainment for both genders; relative to Asian American men, Asian American women earn only 81.2% (See Table 3). 60 Table 3 Median Weekly Earnings (Annual Average) and Gender Wage Gap for Full-Time Workers, 16 Years and Older, by Race/Ethnic Background, 2009 Race/Ethnic Background* All Races/Ethnicities Female ($) Male ($) 657 819 Female Earnings as % of White Male Earnings 80.2% White 669 845 79.2% African American 582 621 68.9% Hispanic or Latina/o 509 569 60.2% Asian American 779 952 92.2% Note. *These categories are not exclusive because workers who identified themselves as Hispanic/ Latina/o are classified by both ethnicity and race and may be of any race. Source: Institute for Women's Policy Research compilation of Current Population Survey Labor Force Statistics, 2009 (http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpswktab2.htm The number of women in middle management was 43% in 1995, which indicates that the number of women in management is adequate (Department of Labor, 1996). For example, statistics indicate that in 1999, women accounted for 46.5% of the total labor force. Of the 67 million in the U.S. workforce in 2007, 81.3% were Caucasian, 94.1% were African American, 12.6% were Hispanic, and 4.5% were Asian/other. Research indicated that by 2010, women will make up 58% of the U.S. workforce (Department of Labor, 2007a). In 2010, women constitute nearly half of the U.S. labor force and occupy a significant and growing portion of entry- and mid-level managerial positions. In 1972 women held 17% of entry level and mid-level managerial positions, and this increased to 61 56.7% in 2007 (Department of Labor, 2007b) yet African American women still continue to lag behind in middle to upper levels in management. These statistics are supported by women‘s individual assessments of their lives. Public opinion surveys confirmed that regardless of race, class, or political party, women consistently identify unfair pay as one of their top job concerns (Lake & Conway, 2005; National Partnership for Women and Families, 1999). In addition to challenges with pay, women also face perception issues in the workplace that hinder them from getting into the senior levels of management. In a workshop on stereotypes in the workplace, Hankins (2000) discovered that women were perceived as ―weaker, poor leaders, indecisive, non-technical, nonconfrontational, use sex to get what they want, are non-competitive, can‘t take criticism, are intellectually inferior, and emotionally less stable‖ (p. 69). In comparison, men were labeled as ―strong, breadwinner, competent, career-oriented, intelligent, emotionally stable, technically oriented, assertive, good leaders, and decisive‖ (p. 70). In addition to gender stereotypes, African American women have to deal with racial stereotypes that prevent them from gaining entry into the mid to senior levels of management. According to Hankins (2000), ―Stereotypes about women cut across racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, and other human differences‖ (p. 71) and are prevalent in society. Preconceived stereotypes about women in the business world exist even before these women are hired. Due in part to the image of male superiority in America, Hankins (2000) stated, ―It is easy to grow up with the idea that women are not as competent as men‖ (p. 71) and are not suitable to head an organization. 62 In additional to issues with pay, another setback for African American women is the negative image of them often held by employers due in part to the welfare-to-work initiatives of the past decade. According to National Partnership for Women and Families (1999), since the 1996 welfare law was passed, increasing numbers of public assistance recipients, who were disproportionately women, had to work to receive benefits. Therefore, the stigma of the welfare mother, as portrayed by the media, has stigmatized African American women in the corporate world. Welfare recipients who work should receive the same basic workplace protections that federal law provides for other workers (National Partnership for Women and Families, 1999). Even though it is considered commendable that these women have traded free assistance for a working career, it has been further reported that these women still face barriers of race discrimination or sexual harassment that prevent them from succeeding. Many of these women also face the additional barriers of limited access to quality education and training programs, lack of transportation, and affordable child care (National Partnership for Women and Families, 1999). Hankins (2000) examined the effects of perception and image on African American women, and noted that ―African American women face a unique problem of ethnic double consciousness‖ (p. 87). This is partly due to ―beliefs that this group is advantaged because it has two chances to advance (one for being African American and one for being a woman)‖ (Hankins, 2000, p. 87). Many African American women leaders have shattered the stereotypes and succeeded; however, the trip to the top did not come without challenges, struggles, and sacrifices. African American women leaders 63 have found that the network is limited and the perceptions have been the biggest obstacle they have to overcome. African American Women’s Leadership Styles African American women often move outside their organizations for career advancement. Although African American women and Caucasian women follow different paths to management or executive positions, they continue to face the familiar challenges of breaking into management, conforming to corporate life, overcoming barriers, and creating modifications in the workplace (Alexander, 2004; Putnam, 2003). To comprehend the leadership styles of African American women, an understanding of the history of African American women is important. Bass (1990), citing Liebow, Cunningham, and Gump, came to the following conclusions: African Americans are not members of a different society than other Americans. Rather, they form an American subculture that is tied to the majority culture‘s institutions without clear boundaries to mark off their society from the larger Caucasian society, and the subculture is sensitive to the norms and values of the majority culture. (p. 738) From a study of African American women executives, Parker (2005) classified ―interactive leadership as the approach because it forms the basis of their overall approach to communicating leadership‖ (p. 73). K. Thomas, Bieraa, and Landau (2004) contended that the career development of men and women, particularly women of color, differs with little institutional rationale for the differences. The federal government officials are taking proactive steps to include more women of color in the executive ranks (Office of Personnel Management, 2005). 64 Federal government officials have identified effective leadership as having the ability to transform human capital management into effective performance of organizational goals and objectives (Clarke, Bailey, & Burr 2008). According to van Engen et al. (2001), transformational leadership styles can be construed as feminine leadership styles because of the emphasis on the manager‘s sensitivity to employees‘ needs. Authors cited by van Engen et al. (2001) explicitly referred to transformational leadership as a ―feminine‖ leadership style (p. 583). Society often views women in senior executive positions as transformational leaders because of social perceptions about women‘s leadership traits (Catalyst, 2005). Opposing Viewpoints Different views exist on the representation of African American women in the workforce and executive leadership positions. Tomkiewicz, Bass, Adeyemi-Bello, and Vaicys (2001) suggested that ―If African Americans perceive themselves as being less qualified to be managers than other racial groups, such perceptions may influence their behavior in both seeking managerial jobs and their performance in such jobs‖ (p. 27). Kallen (2006) maintained that the barriers to women and ethnic minorities‘ advancement are a myth. Kallen (2006) stated that ―The barriers that women face are a figment of feminist imaginations‖ (p. 4). Kallen (2006) contended that women would not be taken seriously for their qualifications if they were given preferential treatment based exclusively on their gender after using barriers and discrimination. Despite the opposing views of researchers (Kallen, 2006; Tomkiewicz et al., 2001), literature indicates that 65 barriers exist in the federal government and private sector for women and ethnic minorities. Summary In the 21st century, it is extremely important for managers to learn how to manage diversity. The common concern for African American women employees is the inability to move to upper levels of leadership because of gender, race and ethnicity, or stereotyping. Due to these factors, many are not paid salaries equivalent to Caucasian men and are not considered for promotions. African American women feel excluded from the organization, and they are less likely to work at full potential. As a result, individual productivity may decrease, and the organization runs the risk of losing a valuable skill set. For decades, the most important qualities that determined whether an individual was qualified for a position were race and gender. The data presented in this paper suggest that African American women continue to face issues concerning gaining employment in the defense international contracting industry and progressing to the upper levels of senior and executive management. Gender is still considered in determining the salary an employee receives. Race and ethnicity also play a major part in determining income, hiring, and promotions. The average mid- and senior-level managers have predominately been Caucasian men. Caucasian men in 2010 possess the qualities that people have been accustomed to and have typically associated with 66 employment. As a result, Caucasian men are given preferential treatment in many aspects of employment and continue to hold the majority of management positions. Looking beyond a person‘s gender, race and ethnicity, and making decisions solely based on qualifications, such as education and skills, would be in the best interest of an organization (Catalyst, 2006; Reynolds-Dobbs, Thomas, & Harrison, 2008). The reality remains that misconceptions and stereotyping are involved in elevating individuals to higher levels of leadership. In a diverse environment with a racial and ethnic mix of individuals at the upper level of leadership, employees will feel represented and leaders will focus on overcoming conflicts that stem from diversity to become leaders who are more effective. In conclusion, individuals have similarities and differences; the best approach is to work with both to make a difference (Carr-Ruffino, 2002, 2004). As women have entered the workforce in greater numbers, they have experienced negative societal perceptions associated with their presence (Porterfield & Kleiner, 2005). A review of the literature revealed a number of studies about women in the SES; however, no written profile exists that focuses exclusively on how African American women can progress through the senior executive ranks (Porter, 2002). An understanding of the barriers that contribute to the underrepresentation of African American women at the senior level of the federal government is important. Porterfield and Kleiner (2005) supported the FGCC (Department of Labor, 1995) findings, which indicated that the major barriers to the achievement of senior management positions by women were due to the following: (a) clustering of women in traditionally female positions; (b) resistance to place women in the line positions that feed into the senior management positions; (c) 67 lack of mentoring and lack of access to assignments and job rotation that provide visibility; (d) exclusion from informal communications networks; (e) prevalence of bias, insensitivity, and incidents of sexual harassment; and (f) lower compensation levels which act to disqualify high-potential women as executive search firm candidates when corporations are looking outside for senior managers. (Department of Labor, 1995, p. 22) The majority of researchers included a focus on women collectively, yet distinct differences exist between Caucasian and African American women. A gap exists in the literature related specifically to African American women. Heldrich (as cited in Combs, 2003), from the Center for Workplace Development, noted that African Americans have a very different experience in the workplace when compared to other racial or ethnic minority groups. Of all the ethnic minority groups, African Americans are the most likely to feel and be unfairly treated in terms of career advancement and the target of discrimination at work. Several researchers reflected dissimilarity in treatment, such as status and career advancement, of African American women in organizations as compared to Caucasian men (Combs, 2003; E. B. King, 2006). African Americans are held to higher standards because of the color of their skins (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Reynolds-Dobbs et al., 2008). African American women face dualism, which hinders their abilities to move up the corporate ladder. Anderson (2001) stated that, ―The perception of women, generally held by men, has taken shape in the form of stereotypes that have limited women‘s employment opportunities‖ (p. 28). Women have, in general, made some progress since 1994 into senior executive leadership positions, but many women have encountered difficulties being promoted in culturally defined professions that are usually held by men (Burke, 2004). 68 69 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY The quantitative research study was designed to examine the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women who work in the defense industry as defense international contractors deployed in Iraq at middle and upper levels of management. This chapter includes a discussion of the methodology, hypothesis, the population and sample, instrument, data collection, data analysis, expected findings, validity and reliability, and ethical considerations of the study. Research Design The research was completed using a quantitative research method. The LPI survey instrument, developed by Kouzes and Posner (2007), was used for data collection. Participants were invited using e-mail and had online access to the instrument. The process was consistent with quantitative research as detailed by Creswell (2009). The LPI indicated five shared practices of exemplary leaders and supported the concept that leadership is everyone‘s business. The inventory consists of 30 statements that describe various leadership behaviors to determine the participant‘s actual engagement in each behavior (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). From more than 3,000 cases and 10,000 surveys, Kouzes and Posner (2007) indicated that leadership was an observable, learnable set of practices. The LPI was designed for LPI-self-scoring or LPI-observerscoring. 70 Variables Topic Instrument 1. Modeling the way 2. Inspiring a Shared Vision Exemplary Leadership Theory 3. Challenging the Process LPI 4. Enabling Others to Act 5. Encouraging the Heart Figure 4. A visual framework of the practice of exemplary leadership. Note. Adapted from The Leadership Challenge (4th ed.) (p. 26), by J. M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner, 2007, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Copyright 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For the purpose of the research study, the self-scoring part of the inventory was used. The instrument (a) provides valid and reliable feedback about individual use of leadership practices, (b) identifies personal leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement, (c) provides specific suggestions on how to improve in each of the five leadership practices, (d) assists with the development of action plans for continuing personal leadership development, and (e) fosters a process for discussing individual feedback with others (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Research Questions The research questions and hypotheses for the study were selected based upon the practices for exemplary leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2007): 71 Research Question 1: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practice exemplary leadership as compared to Caucasian men? Research Question 2: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management challenge the process of practicing exemplary leadership in defense international contracting industry? Research Question 3: To what extent do African American women in middle and upper levels of management enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment in defense international contracting industry? Research Hypotheses The following hypotheses where derived from the research questions: H10: There is no difference in African American women in executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. H1a: There is a difference in African American women in executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. H20: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who challenges the process compared to Caucasian men. 72 H2a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industries who challenge the process compared to Caucasian men. H30: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who enables others to act in order to create a productive work environment compared to Caucasian men. H3a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry, who enables others to act in order to create a productive work environment compared to Caucasian men. Sample The population for the study was lower, middle, and senior level African American women managers and Caucasian men managers employed in the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status in Iraq. The number of employees who report to the middle and senior level managers was not a consideration because the specified number of employees was not a factor in the research. Given that the population of African American women working at the lower and middle to senior management level among defense international contractors working in a deployed status on United States military installations in Iraq represents a small number, the sample represented all was of available women in the industry of a deployed status during the study period. The women were invited to participate in the research. The 73 population of U.S. lower and middle to senior managers is currently estimated to be 14.01% of the total defense contractor population (approximately 4,416 U.S. defense contractors in lower, middle to senior management). African American women represent less than 3% (approximately 115 African American women) of the total population in lower and senior to middle management; as such the sample was equal to the African American women population (Avant, 2006b; Congressional Budget Office, 2009). The optimal response rate was expected to be 40% (approximately 40 to 50 African American women and 50 to 60 Caucasian Men) of the population in order to get a significant sample for the contractors working in Iraq. Demographic data was collected to better understand the sample. Caucasian men working in the lower, middle, and senior management levels were invited to participate in the survey. The group of men were used as the independent variable because traditionally they are in the positions of leadership in the target environment. The study was designed to determine if they possess the leadership traits similar to those that Kouzes and Posner (2007) described in their LPI study. Instrumentation The LPI assessment developed by Kouzes and Posner (2007) was used in the research. The LPI was a tool used to assess self and observer perceptions of five leadership practices: (a) modeling the way, (b) inspiring a shared vision, (c) challenging the process, (d) enabling others to act, and (e) encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The LPI is a tool that is used to assess leadership as a measurable, learnable, and teachable set of behaviors. The demographic data for the sample were collected to better 74 understand leaders‘ pertinent information including age, education, years employed with present organization, years employed, leadership experience, financial responsibility, and number of people supervised in the organizational section. Table 4 shows the instrumentation matrix. Table 4 A Graphical Representation of the Instrumentation Matrix Survey Topics Survey Questions 1. Modeling the way Questions: 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26 2. Inspiring a Shared Vision Questions: 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27 3. Challenging the Process Questions: 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28 4. Enabling Others to Act Questions: 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29 5. Encouraging the Heart Questions: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 Note. Adapted from The Leadership Challenge (4th ed.) (p. TK), by J. M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner, 2007, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Copyright 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Data Collection Approximately 150 African American women and 150 Caucasian men who are in lower and middle to senior manager positions in the defense international contracting industry in Iraq were invited to participate in the research using e-mails. The response rate was expected to be 40% of who were invited to participate. This was because of 75 mission requirements, the Operational Tempo, the rotation rate of those managers entering and leaving country and participant reluctance to do the survey. The e-mail inviting participation in the research contained a link to the survey. When participants opened the link, they were shown the informed consent. Upon acceptance of the invitation and review of the informed consent to participate, they were asked to acknowledge that they were participating with informed consent by electronically signing a consent form. The consent form outlined the following: confidentiality, anonymity of responses, and the amount of time it takes to complete the survey. The survey took less than 20 minutes to complete, no data were shared that could reveal participant identity. All documents will be maintained for 7 years and destroyed at the end of that period. When participants elected to voluntarily participate, they acknowledged having read and understood the informed consent. The informed consent was attached to the letter of invitation, which detailed their rights as research participants. Upon completing the consent form, members of the sample were provided access to the LPI and demographic survey. The instrument was hosted on Survey Monkey™ for 8 weeks. At the end of the collection period, the data were available to the researcher in an Excel® spreadsheet, which was imported as a delimited file into PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010). The letter of invitation introduced the researcher and detailed the nature of the research, how the data was to be gathered, provisions for confidentiality and privacy, how the findings would be used, an option to opt out of the research at any time, contact 76 information for the advisor, and the availability of the finding upon completion of the research. Data Analysis Data were collected, analyzed, and presented in a way that allowed the response to the research questions and the hypotheses regarding African American women and Caucasian men and the level of practice of exemplary leadership. The analytical process used for the quantitative research has been outlined by Creswell (2009) in an eight step process, where each step of the process is instrumental in good research: (a) formulate a research problem/objective, (b) review the literature, (c) develop the research purpose/research question(s) and hypotheses, (d) select a research design/method, (e) collect data, (f) analyze the data, (g) interpret/validate the data, and (h) communicate the findings. Once the data from the survey were collected, the data were analyzed using statistical tests to determine the difference between participant responses. The F test is the most basic of the statistical tests that is used to measure group differences—this test was used to analyze the differences between the five participant practices of exemplary leadership (Mertler & Vannatta, 2005). The F test was used to assess the differences based on gender. The ANOVA was used to determine the differences in the practice of exemplary leadership between the middle and senior level leaders (Mertler & Vannatta, 2005). 77 Validity and Reliability in Quantitative Research ―Reliability and validity are tools of an essentially positivist epistemology.‖ —Watling, as cited in Winter, 2000, p. 7 Creswell (2005) posited that validity and reliability are two factors that a researcher should be concerned about while designing a study, analyzing results, and judging the quality of the study because a well-designed study accounts for the elements of reliability and reliability. To further support this statement, Joppe (2004) defined reliability as: The extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation of the total population under study is referred to as reliability and if the results of a study can be reproduced under a similar methodology, then the research instrument is considered to be reliable. (p. 1) The traditional criteria for validity is rooted in a positivist tradition, and to an extent, positivism has been defined by a systematic theory of validity. Within the positivist terminology, validity was inherent among empirical conceptions and was the result and culmination of other empirical conceptions: universal laws, evidence, objectivity, truth, actuality, deduction, reason, fact, and mathematical data, to name just a few (Creswell, 2009). In addition, Joppe (2004) provided the following explanation of what validity is in quantitative research: Validity determines whether the research truly measures that which it was intended to measure or how truthful the research results are. In other words, does the research instrument allow you to hit "the bull‘s eye" of your research object? Researchers generally determine validity by asking a series of questions, and will often look for the answers in the research of others. (p. 1) 78 Also, Strauss and Smith (2009) noted that Wainer and Braun (1988) described the validity in quantitative research as construct validity. The construct is the initial concept, notion, question, or hypothesis that is used to determine which data are to be gathered and how it is gathered. Strauss and Smith (2009) also asserted that quantitative researchers actively cause or affect the interplay between construct and data in order to validate their investigation, usually by the application of a test or other process. In this sense, the involvement of the researchers in the research process would greatly reduce the validity of a test. Validity Validity refers to the extent to which an instrument measures what a researcher wishes to measure. ―Good survey questions must also be valid, meaning that they should measure the concepts they are intended to measure‖ (Bowen, Krosnick, & Weisberg, 1996, p. 94; Fink, 2006; Juniper, 2009). Blumberg, Cooper, and Schindler (2008) defined validity as the ―differences found with a measurement tool to reflect true differences among respondents drawn from a population‖ (p. 775). In addition, Blumberg et al. (2008) referred to validity as the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure. The LPI has been found to be a valid instrument for use in measuring the practice of exemplary leadership. In existing research, the instrument has been used to measure exemplary leadership among ministers, educational institutions, and private businesses. A recent analysis of the LPI by Kouzes and Posner (2007) was based on data gathered from a sample population of more than 36,000 participants (5,298 self, 30,913 observers). 79 The original project (1988) involved the collection of over 1,100 surveys asking leaders to describe an experience in which they achieved something extraordinary in their organizations. The idea was to find when these individuals, according to their own perceptions, set a standard of excellence or ―personal best‖ (Kouzes & Posner, 2007) while leading. Kouzes and Posner (2007) discovered a fundamental pattern of leadership behavior that emerged when people were accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations. Kouzes and Posner (2007) indicated that individuals who completed the LPI-self found the instrument to correspond with their beliefs and ideas about exemplary leadership practices. Several analyses have been conducted which indicate that five distinct factors correspond ―more among themselves than they do with the other factors‖ (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 14). Reliability Reliability is used to address the accuracy of the measuring instrument or procedure. Reliability must be considered when the researcher is experimenting, testing, or measuring any procedure that will yield the same results on repeated trials. A reliable survey results in consistent information obtained by making sure that the definitions and models selected are grounded in theory or experience (Fink, 2006). Reliability was important for the research to ensure accurate data collection regarding the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women leaders at the lower, middle, and senior levels of management in the international defense contracting industry. Blumberg et al. (2008) highlighted the importance of a number of actions that must be taken regarding reliability. The questions must be free from random or unstable 80 data (Blumberg et al., 2008). To further support this statement, Kouzes and Posner (2007) developed the LPI, which has been used in thousands of studies and to draw conclusions used in the data to form sound conclusions about what works and what does not work in terms of leadership behavior. Kouzes and Posner (2007) went on to explain that the researcher must choose a method that is most precise and accurate to produce reliable results by focusing attention on one of three possible perspectives—stability, equivalence, and internal consistency (Cooper & Schindler, 2006; Fink, 2006). Fink (2006) noted that a well-designed, easy-to-use survey contributes to reliability and validity in the data collected. Regardless of the data collection method used, it is commonly agreed that simple is better. In addition, embodied in this citation is the idea of replicability or repeatability of results or observations. Kirk and Miller (as cited in Bornstein & Lamb, 2005) identified three types of reliability referred to in quantitative research, which relate to: (a) the degree to which a measurement, given repeatedly, remains the same; (b) the stability of a measurement over time; and (c) the similarity of measurements within a given time period (pp. 41–42). According to Golafshani (2003), Charles adhered to the notions that the consistency with which questionnaire (test) items are answered or individual‘s scores remain relatively the same can be determined through the test-retest method at two different times. The attribute of the instrument is referred to as stability. If dealing with a stable measure, then the results should be similar. A high degree of stability indicates a high degree of reliability, which means the results are repeatable. Joppe (2004) detected a problem with the test-retest method that can make the instrument, to a certain degree, 81 unreliable. Joppe (2004) explained that the test-retest method may sensitize the participant to the subject matter, and hence influence the responses given. It cannot be reliably determined that there was no change in extraneous influences such as an attitude change that has occurred. This could lead to a difference in the responses provided. Similarly, Yang, Watkins and Marsick (2004) and Crocker and Algina (1986) noted that when a respondent answers a set of test items, the score obtained represents only a limited sample of behavior. As a result, the scores may change due to some characteristic of the participant, which may lead to errors of measurement. These kinds of errors will reduce the accuracy and consistency of the instrument and the test scores. Hence, it is the researcher‘s responsibility to assure high consistency and accuracy of the tests and scores. Kane (2008) wrote that ―Test developers have a responsibility of demonstrating the reliability of scores from their tests (pg. 77).‖ Reliability refers to the extent to which an instrument consistently yields the same results. According to Kouzes and Posner (2008), LPI has strong internal reliability as the scale is "generally above .80" (p. C-1). From administration to administration, the LPI shows "significant test-retest reliability (or consistency) at levels greater than .90 correlation" (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. C-1). Test-retest reliabilities have been reported by Kouzes and Posner at 0.93 and above (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). Because Kouzes and Posner (2008) believed that leadership can be learned, they also believed that test-retest reliability is subject to change as leaders attend workshops or receive training in between administration of tests. Cronbach's alpha, or the degree to which the questions in the study reflect the same underlying construct (Cooper & Schindler, 2006), ranges between 82 0.81 and 0.91 (Kouzes & Posner, 2008) and reliabilities for LPI-self range between 0.71 and 0.85. The LPI has both face and predictive validity as it serves to relate leadership practices to certain behavior and can be used to predict levels of leadership effectiveness (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. 7). Kouzes and Posner (2008) contended that coefficients higher than 0.60 indicate that an instrument is reliable. The LPI-self has reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) ranging from 0.75 for ―enabling others to act‖ to 0.87 for ―inspiring a shared vision‖ and ―encouraging the heart.‖ Various researchers have used the LPI, yielding similar reliability coefficients (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). Kouzes and Posner (2008) further asserted that LPI scores have remained consistent across various demographic factors such as race, nationality, gender, and marital status. The LPI scores have been constant across various professions including business, church, health care, and public and higher education (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). Additionally, the LPI has an internal reliability, according to the association of the items in the scale that is reported as strong. All leadership practices have internal reliability statistically measured scores that are above .85. Validity of the LPI scores have been correlated with the leadership skills needs of businesses other measures, such as financial, productivity and employee satisfaction. In one study, the LPI scores were used to explain over 55% (p < .0001) of the variance in work group effectiveness as conceptualized along six dimensions (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). In another study, the same (p < .0001) was used to predict performance level of managers (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). A letter was received from Kouzes Posner International, granting permission the utilization of the LPI in the study. The definitions of reliability and validity in 83 quantitative research show two strands. With regards to reliability, the result should be replicable. With regards to validity, the means of measurement should be accurate and actually measure what they are intended to measure. Ethical Considerations Human participant research requires IRB compliance. The intent was to insure that rules governing the conduct of such research are clearly understood and complied with. Human participants surveyed during research are to be informed and protected to minimize risk and harm. The Belmont Report (National Institutes of Health, 1979) serves as the hallmark for human subject research. The authors of the report identified three basic principles that were ―particularly relevant to the ethics of research involving human subjects: the principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice‖ (National Institutes of Health, 1979, p. 4). Understanding the ethical principles of research is important because it helps to ensure the protection of human participants. Researchers have not always practiced ethical behavior which has resulted in studies being invalidated and criticized due to ethics violations. No names were associated with any of the data collected or any aspect of the study. The ethics requirements detailed by the IRB and shared with the individuals who choose to participate in the research had full compliance. There were no exceptions to this at any time which ensured participant protection. 84 Expected Findings Given the five practices of exemplary leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2007), it was expected that the findings would reveal African American women who have been successful in leading organizations would also have exceptionally high scores in the following areas: modeling the way, inspiring others to act, and challenging (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Statistically, the findings would be used to provide evidence of the high level of practice of exemplary leadership among a group of women that has not historically been afforded opportunities to lead in this domain by showing how closely their mean scores were compared to other managers. It was also expected that the scores were high for the African American women at middle and senior levels. A copy of the research was made available to participants upon request. Summary Chapter 3 provided an overview of the research method, instrument, population and sample, data collection, data analysis, expected findings, validity and reliability, and ethical considerations of this quantitative study. Chapter 4 will present the research findings. 85 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS The purpose of the research was to understand how the practice of exemplary leadership by African American women who are in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has moved them into various levels of management. It is important to examine the leadership traits that are present in successful leaders in order to understand where African American women are strong or have a high level of competence among five behaviors that have been determined to be essential for exemplary leaders: (a) modeling the way, (b) inspiring a shared vision, (c) challenging the process, (d) enabling others to act, and (e) encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). These traits are important in determining how high potential African American women working in the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status will fair with their peers. Population Participants were located on multiple installations in central Iraq where there exists one of the highest concentrations of contractors. The cover letter sent to the participants summarized the purpose for conducting the study, confidentiality, and how the study would be used. There were 250 individuals (125 Caucasian men and 125 African American women) invited to take the survey given the small number of managers the population equated to the sample (see Table 5). Figure 5 shows a graphic 86 representation of the response rate as compared to the overall available population. In total, there were 109 participants (see Figure 5). The number of African American women responding to the invitation totaled 48. The number of Caucasian men totaled 61. Table 5 Contractor Response Rate Contractor Response Rate Total Population/Invitations 250 Total Responses to the LPI and Demographic Surveys 109 Total Response Rates to the LPI and the Demographic surveys Total Responses to the LPI and Demographi c Surveys n=109 (44%) Total Population/ Invitations 250 Figure 5. Contractor response rate 87 44% The Survey Instruments The survey instruments used in the study were the demographic and the LPI study developed by Kouzes and Ponser (2007). Each of the participants provided demographic and LPI feedback; there was no need to conduct a pilot study because the instrument had been proven statistically significant. Exemplary leadership behaviors and practices of the participants in the study were measured using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a survey tool created by Kouzes and Posner (2007). In the development of the LPI, Kouzes and Posner (1988) studied the practices common to personal-best leadership experiences and dubbed such experiences the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: (a) model the way, the extent the leader consistently practices his or her espoused values; (b) inspire a shared vision, the degree the leader describes an exciting view of the future; (c) challenge the process, the extent the leader questions assumptions, experiments, and takes risks; (d) enable others to act, the amount of cooperative and participative decision making used by the leader; and (e) encourage the heart, the degree the leader uses feedback, publicly recognizes individual contributions and celebrates team achievement. The actions that make up the five practices have been translated into behavioral statements so that individuals may assess their skills and use the feedback to improve their leadership abilities (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The LPI consists of 30 statements made up of six items to measure each of the five scales and address the essential behaviors found when people report being at their ―personal best‖ as leaders. The LPI identifies (a) an understanding of the behaviors and actions of exemplary leadership; (b) strengths of 88 leaders; (c) areas for improvement in leadership; and (d) actions that will lead to better leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership are crucial in any industry; however, in the defense international contracting industry leadership is even more critical. Contractors provide many of the support services to deployed service members. Service members have to keep mission focused and any failure in the system could lead to mission failure or even worse, mass casualties on the battlefield. For the first time during combat or stability operations, in 2010, the United States is relying heavily on private firms to supply a wide variety of security and support services (Schwartz, 2010). Therefore, strong leadership is a necessity to insure soldiers stay mission focused and be able to support the security and support functions to sustain the troops on the battlefield. Certain leadership traits are important in austere environments to maintain continuity and control of a situation. According to Kouzes and Posner (2007), the LPI scale has good internal consistency, with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .80. All of the LPI practice constructs have an internal validity above .80. The test/retest reliability of the LPI is over .90 for each of the leadership practice constructs. The face validity of the instrument was established through the research process in identifying the constructs to be measured. The instrument developers matched the practices with behaviors that reflect the practices to develop the instrument. Factor analysis was utilized to validate the statements associated with the leadership practices. In the current study, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was .9838. 89 Table 6 Cronbach’s α Results for LPI Cronbach's α Results for LPI Gender Overall LPI Self Report Male LPI Self Report Female LPI Self Report α 0.9838 0.9834 0.9884 Upon completion of the LPI, the participants were asked to complete a demographic survey to provide a greater level of detail for analysis. The survey consisted of nine questions were used to determine gender, ethnicity, age range, educational level, tenure in management and in the current leadership role. The survey also contained a question about the level of financial responsibility in the organization. The LPI and demographic surveys were administered to the population identified as part of the study in spring 2010. The results of the demographic survey provided a description of international defense contractors working in a deployed status in Iraq in 2010. The goal of the study was to add to the existing body of knowledge regarding women in leadership roles in defense international contracting in austere environments. Data Collection The majority of the responses for the study were collected in an online survey. The initial announcement was sent to participants who had access to military email in Iraq. Announcements were also posted physically on message boards throughout military bases in areas that contractors frequented over a two month period. The entire data 90 collection process took over four months; the first response was received in January 2010 and the last in March 2010. Survey Analysis All statistical analyses were performed using PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010) and statistical formulations calculations found in Microsoft Excel®. Demographic data were tested using frequencies and descriptive statistics. Independent F tests and ANOVA were used to test null hypotheses one through three. The inferential statistics included a oneway ANOVA with the null hypotheses to determine if there was any statistical difference between the self-perceptions of leadership practices by the African American women and the counter parts. The one-tailed hypotheses were in the null form and analyzed at the .05 level of significance. Alpha is the probability of making a Type I error (rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true). If the value is small, the sample size should be large enough and the decision rule is selected so that alpha is 0.05 or sometimes 0.01. There is insufficient discussion of when it is appropriate to change the alpha level from 0.05 to a slightly larger value or to a slightly smaller value. If the consequences of a Type I error are not important, then a larger value for alpha should be chosen to save money or to optimize some of the other aspects of the research design (such as lowering beta, the probability of a Type II error). If a Type I error is serious, or there is a very large sample size, then a smaller value for alpha is considered. The completed survey instruments were recorded into the LPI scoring software provided with the LPI facilitator‘s guide (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). LPI self-assessment 91 survey reports from the LPI assessment software provided summary scores for LPI selfassessment for the participants. Analysis of the scores proceeded according to the five practices using the research statistical methods in PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010). Tables and figures were created using PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010). The next section includes a discussion on the findings, which are in a structure related to the research questions and hypotheses. Demographic Profile Results Prior to conducting any type of study, it is important to understand the demographics of the population and sample associated with the research. The demographics were collected using nine questions, rendering the background of the participants being studied. The demographic data provided information regarding gender, ethnicity, education, age, years in the present organization, leadership experience, and financial responsibility. The first demographic variable evaluated was gender; Table 7 summarizes the gender of the respondents. Table 7 Participant Gender Descriptive Statistics for Gender Gender Men Women N= 109 Frequency Percent 61 56.0% 48 109 44.0% 100% 92 Women represented only 44% of the sample (see Table 7), while more than half (56%) of the participants were men. Of the 250 potential participants in the population, 109 responded (see Figure 6). Total Response Rates to the LPI and the Demographic surveys for both men and women n= 109 (44%) Total Women Responses to the LPI and Demographic Surveys n=48 (24%) Total Men Responses to the LPI and Demographic Surveys n=61 (20%) Total Population/ Invitations 250 Figure 6. Survey participants. Ethnicity The second demographic variable evaluated was ethnicity. Table 7 shows the ethnicity of the respondents. Table 8 93 Respondent Ethnicity Descriptive Statistics for Ethnicity Ethnicity African American women Caucasian men Overall Frequency Percent African American women 48 44.0% 0 0.0% 48 44.0% Caucasian male 0 0.0% 61 56.0% 61 56.0% Other 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% Total: N=109 48 44% 61 56% 109 100% n= 48 (44%) n= 61 (56%) Frequency Percent Frequency Percent African American women Caucasian men Figure 7. Descriptive statistics for ethnicity Utilizing descriptive statistics for this population, the sample was divided into 56% (n = 61) Caucasian men and 44% (n = 48) African American women (see Table 8 and Figure 7). Education The education levels of the participants are shown in Table 9. For purposes of the study, the data were grouped into six categories: high school, some college, associate‘s degree, bachelor‘s degree, master‘s degree, and doctorate. Table 9 94 Descriptive Statistics for Highest Level of Education Education African American women Frequency Percent Caucasian men Overall Frequency Percent Frequency Percent High school Some College Associates degree Bachelor‘s degree Master‘s degree Doctorate 2 8 9 19 9 1 1.8% 7.3% 8.3% 17.4% 8.3% 0.9% 2 14 5 26 12 2 1.8% 12.8% 4.6% 23.9% 11.0% 1.8% 4 22 14 45 21 3 3.7% 20.2% 12.8% 41.3% 19.3% 2.8% N = 109 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% Of the participants, 3.7% (n = 4) had high school educations, 20.2% (n = 22) of participants had some college, 12.8% (n = 14) had an Associate‘s degree, 41.3% (n = 45) had bachelor‘s degrees, while 21.1 % (n = 24) held a master‘s degree or higher (see Table 9). A more detailed analysis of the data showed the percentage of Caucasian men‘s level of education were higher in the following areas: some college 12.8% (n = 14), bachelor‘s degrees 23.9% (n = 26), master‘s degrees 11% (n = 12) and doctorate degrees 1.8% (n = 2) degrees (see Table 9). The percentage of African American women who had Associate‘s 8.3% (n = 9) degrees was higher than Caucasian men (see Figure 8). The percentage of those who had a high school degree for both categories was (1.8%); showing there was no difference. 95 50 45 45 40 35 30 26 22 25 14 15 8 10 5 21 19 20 2 2 4 African American women 14 Caucasian men 12 9 9 Overall 5 3 1 2 0 Figure 8. Descriptive statistics for highest level of education Age The age groups of the participants are shown in Table 10. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into five categories: 30 years and under, 31- 40 years, 4160 years, 51 – 55 years, and 55 – 65 years. Table 10 Descriptive Statistics for Age African American women Age 30 and under 31-40 41-50 51-55 55-65 N = 109 Caucasian men Overall Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 7 22 15 3 1 6.4% 20.2% 13.8% 2.8% 0.9% 5 17 18 13 8 4.6% 15.6% 16.5% 11.9% 7.3% 12 39 33 16 9 11.0% 35.8% 30.3% 14.7% 8.3% 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% 96 Overall, most of the participants, 35.8% (n = 39), were between 31 to 40 years of age. Approximately 11.9% (n = 11) were in the 20 to 30 year old range. The most senior bracket of 55 to 65 year olds made up about 8.3% (n = 9) of the total sample. African American women under 40 accounted for 26.6% of the sample (see Table 10) and Caucasian men under 40 years old accounted for 20.2% of the sample (see Table 10). There was a higher frequency of Caucasian men over 40 years old (35.7%) compared to African American women in the sample [17.5%] (see Table 10). The majority of the African American women were in the 31 to 40 age range (20.2%) and the majority of Caucasian men were in 41 to 50 years of age range 16.5% (see Figure 9). 45 39 40 33 35 30 25 20 17 15 10 African American women 22 Caucasian men 18 16 15 12 7 Overall 13 8 9 5 3 5 1 0 30 and under 31-40 41-50 51-55 Figure 9. Descriptive statistics for age 97 55-65 Years Employed Number of years employed for the participants is shown in Table 11. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into four categories: 0–11 years, 12–19 years, 20–27 years, and over 28 years. Table 11 Descriptive Statistics for Years Employed African American women Years employed Caucasian men Frequency Percent Frequency Percent > 28 years 11 18 13 6 10.1% 16.5% 11.9% 5.5% 8 13 16 24 7.3% 11.9% 14.7% 22.0% 19 31 29 30 17.4% 28.4% 26.6% 27.5% N = 109 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% 0-11 years 12-19 years 20-27 years Frequency Percent Overall The number of years worked in any industry ranged from 5 to 28 years, with the average being 27 years (See Table 11). African American women who participated in the survey had an average of 12 years, whereas Caucasian men have an average age of 15 years (see Table 11). In addition, the number of African American women who had been employed 0 to 19 years on average was 26.6% (n = 29), whereas Caucasian men with 0 to 19 years of employment totaled 19.2% (n = 21). The number of African American women who had been employed between 20 and 28 years was 17.4% (n = 19), whereas Caucasian men with 20 to greater than 28 years of employment was 36.7% [n = 40] (see Figure 10). 98 35 31 30 29 30 24 25 19 20 15 18 13 11 African American women 16 Caucasian men 13 Overall 8 10 6 5 0 0-11 years 12-19 years 20-27 years > 28 years Figure 10. Descriptive statistics for years employed Professional Title The professional titles of the participants are shown in Table 12. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into six categories: vice president, program director, in country manager, upper level management, lower management, middle management, country manager, and individual contributor. Table 12 Descriptive Statistics for Professional title African American women Professional Title: Caucasian men Frequency Percent Vice President Program Director In Country Manager Upper Level Management Lower Management Middle Management Country Manager Individual Contributor 1 0 3 3 13 17 0 12 0.9% 0.0% 2.8% 2.8% 11.9% 15.6% 0.0% 11.0% 1 3 5 4 15 10 5 22 0.9% 2.8% 4.6% 3.7% 13.8% 9.2% 4.6% 20.2% 2 3 8 7 28 27 5 34 1.8% 2.8% 7.3% 6.4% 25.7% 24.8% 4.6% 31.2% N = 109 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% 99 Frequency Percent Overall Frequency Percent Table 12 is a composite of each group that participated in the study. In the overall descriptive statistics of professional titles the majority of the participants were from the lower, middle and individual contributor categories (see Table 12). African American women have a higher frequency of working at the middle levels of management 15.6% [n = 17] (see Table 12). Caucasian men have higher frequencies at the program director, incountry manager, upper level, lower level, country manager, and individual contributor positions 59.6% [n = 55] (see Figure11). 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 34 28 27 22 15 13 112 0 33 3 5 8 34 7 17 12 10 55 0 African American women Caucasion men Overall Figure 11. Descriptive statistics for professional title Years with Present Organization The number of years participants have worked at their present organizations are shown in Table 13. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into four categories: 0-7, 8-19, 20-27, and over 28 years. 100 Table 13 Descriptive Statistics for Years with Present Organization Years employed with present organization 0 - 7 years 8 - 19 years 20 - 27 years > 28 years N = 109 African American Women Caucasian Men Overall Frequenc Percen Frequency Percent Frequency Percent y t 46 42.2% 52 47.7% 98 89.9% 2 1.8% 5 4.6% 7 6.4% 0 0.0% 4 3.7% 4 3.7% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% The data from Table 13 shows the number of years worked for the organization of the participants in the study. Overall, approximately 89.9% of the participants (n = 98) had 0 to 7 years of service working for the organization, and the average number of years of employment was approximately 13 (see Table 13). African American women have a lower frequency of working for an organization from 0 to 7 years and Caucasian men have a higher frequency of working for the organization in all categories (see Figure 12). 120 98 100 80 African American women 60 46 52 Caucasian men Overall 40 20 7 2 5 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 - 7 years 8 - 19 years 20 - 27 years > 28 years Figure 12. Descriptive statistics for years with present organization 101 Leadership The leadership experiences of the participants are shown in Table 14. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into five categories: 0–10 year, 11–20 years, 21–30 years, 31–40 years, and over 40 years. Table 14 Descriptive Statistics for Leadership Experience Leadership Experiences African American women Leadership Experience Caucasian men Overall Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 40 + 29 13 6 0 0 26.6% 11.9% 5.5% 0.0% 0.0% 25 13 18 3 2 22.9% 11.9% 16.5% 2.8% 1.8% 51 27 24 4 3 46.8% 24.8% 22.0% 3.7% 2.8% N = 109 48 44.0% 61 56.0% 109 100.0% 0 - 10 11 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 The population surveyed had an average of 11 years of leadership experience in their current organization (See Table 14). African American women had a higher frequency of leadership experience in the 0 to 10 year category with 26.5% (n = 29). Caucasian men had a higher frequency in the 21 to 40 plus category [21.1%] ( n = 23) and in the 11 to 20 year category the frequency was the same for both groups (see Figure14). This indicated that Caucasian men have more years of leadership experience than African American women in their current organization. 102 60 51 50 40 30 African Amercian women 29 27 25 Caucasian men 24 Overall 18 20 13 13 10 6 0 3 4 0 2 3 0 0 - 10 11 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 40 + Figure 13. Descriptive statistics for leadership experience Financial Responsibility Frequency The financial responsibilities of the participants are shown in Table 15. For the purposes of the study, the data were grouped into five categories: $0-$250,000, $250,001$500,000, $500,001-$750,000, $750,001-$1, 000, 000, $1,000,001-$2 million, $ 2 million–$10 million, $ 10million-$50 million, and more than $50 million. 103 Table 15 Descriptive Statistics for Financial Responsibility African American women Financial Responsibility Caucasian men Overall Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent $0-$250,000 28 25.7% 25 22.9% 56 51.4% $250,001-$500,000 5 4.6% 0 0.0% 5 4.6% $500,001-$750,000 1 0.9% 0 0.0% 1 0.9% $750,001-$1, 000, 000 2 1.8% 5 4.6% 7 6.4% $1,000,001-2 million 4 3.7% 4 3.7% 8 7.3% $ 2 million – $10 million 5 4.6% 10 9.2% 15 13.8% $ 10million- $50 million 2 1.8% 6 5.5% 8 7.3% > $50 million 1 0.9% 8 7.3% 9 8.3% N = 109 48 44% 58 53% 109 100% For the purposes of the study, financial responsibility was defined as the total value of equipment and financial liability that the participant is accountable for overseeing. The average financial responsibility was $500,000.00 (see Table 15). African American women had a higher frequency in the $0.00-$250,000.00 (25.7%) [n = 28], $150,001–$500, 000 (4.6%) [n = 5], and the $500,500–$750,000 (0.9 %) [n = 1] ranges. Caucasian men have a higher frequency from $750,001–$1 million (4.6%) [n = 5], $2 million-$10 million (9.2%) [n = 10], $10 million to $50 million (5.5 %) [n = 6] and over $50 million (7.3%) [n = 8]. For both groups in the category of $1,000,001-$2 million (3.7%) [n = 4], there was no difference (see Figure 14). 104 60 56 50 40 30 28 25 20 10 5 5 0 101 2 5 7 8 44 15 10 5 African American women 6 89 8 2 1 Caucasian men Overall 0 Figure 14. Descriptive statistics for financial responsibility Hypothesis Analysis Results of the Study The research hypotheses were: H1O: There is no difference in African American women in executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. H1a: There is a difference in African American women in executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. 105 H2O: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry, who challenge the process compared to Caucasian men. H2a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industries who challenge the process compared to Caucasian men. H3O: There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment compared to Caucasian men. H3a: There is a difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment compared to Caucasian men. To test hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, the researcher used the one way ANOVA and Ftest. This was done to see if there was a difference between African American women and Caucasian men in the middle and upper levels of management who practice exemplary leadership skills, challenge the process, and enable others to act; and middle and upper levels of African American women who practice exemplary leadership, enable others to act and challenge the process as outlined by Kouzes and Posner (2007). Each of the five leadership practice has six associated behavioral statements. Overall, scores on the LPI can range from 6 to 60, allowing 10 points per question, with 106 six questions per practice (60 points maximum for each practice and 300 points total for the instrument scores). Percentile rankings compiled for the LPI were used to provide a baseline of comparison. The instrument developers consider scores falling below the 30th percentile to indicate a low propensity to perform a particular practice while a score above the 70th percentile would indicate a high disposition toward exhibiting the practice. Scores in between the 30th and 70th percentile are considered moderate. The results of the study are presented in four parts. First, the data collection and response rate of the sample are discussed. Second, in the descriptive statistics section, the frequencies of the demographics were presented for research participants. The third section discusses the internal consistency, reliability and scale statistics. LPI Statistics This section outlines the data analysis procedures that were used to test the research hypotheses. All leadership practice raw data were entered into Microsoft Excel™l and uploaded into the PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010) system for scoring and analysis. Each of the LPI dimensions were scored by summing all the items linked to each given dimension. Descriptive statistics were computed for the LPI dimensions. The descriptive statistics include means, standard deviations, minimum values, and maximum values. The mean provides a measure of central tendency, which is most appropriate for scaled variables; the minimum, maximum, and standard deviation provide a measure of variability of dispersion for the data. 107 The participants were ranked into three groups based on their total LPI scores. Prior to conducting the descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, items on the LPI were checked for inferential consistency by computing Cronbach‘s alpha, which is a measure of internal reliability of scaled instruments. The results of the data in Table 16 show the internal reliability for the LPI was very high (α = 0.9838), which leads to intercorrelation between the variables that formed the LPI. Cronbach‘s alpha (reliability coefficient) is used to measure the internal consistency of participants‘ responses. Since an α = 1.0 indicates perfect internal reliability or consistency in the responses and an α = 0.0 indicates a total lack of internal reliability or consistency, the participants‘ responses in the study indicated a high level of reliability. Table 16 Cronbach’s Alpha Result for LPI (overall, men and women) α Gender Overall LPI Self Report 0.9838 Male LPI Self Report 0.9834 Female LPI Self Report 0.9884 108 Table 17. Cronbach’s Alpha Result for LPI (Traits) Cronbach's Alpha broken down by Trait Trait Composite Model Inspire Challenge Encourage Enable α 0.9027 0.9061 0.9100 0.9084 0.9828 0.9027 Hypothesis Test Results The results of the research questions are presented in this section. Explanation and interpretation of the results is made with references to the items on the LPI-Self report in Tables 18 to 20. Hypothesis Question 1 This section examines Hypothesis 1, which stated that there is no difference between the extent to which African American women in middle and upper levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practice exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men. A one-way analysis of variance between the groups of the sample explored the overall leadership behavior scores as measured by the LPI. Participants were divided into two groups (Group 1: African American women and Group 2: Caucasian men). The two groups were part of the original design of the study. Table 18 shows that was no statistically significant difference at the p < .05 level in the overall LPI scores for the two groups [F (1, 106) = 3.303, p = .072]. A statistically 109 significant difference was not identified in the self-perceptions of those individuals regarding the composite leadership traits. Based on the statistical test, the data supported a failure to reject the null for the overall practice of exemplary leadership (composite) process; there was no difference in African American women and Caucasian men. Table 18 One-Way Analysis of Variance Results for Composite Total LPI Source Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig Between Groups 17.033 1 17.033 3.303 .072 Within Groups 541.386 105 5.156 Total 558.419 106 Based on Total LPI Scores; p-0.05. Hypothesis Question 2 Hypothesis 2 was that there is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who challenge the process. Data analysis involved a one way ANOVA. The data in Table 19 shows that there was no statistically significant difference at the p < .05 level based on the overall LPI scores for the two groups [F (1, 106) = 3.038., p = .084]. Based on the statistical test, the data supported a failure to reject the null for the challenge the process leadership traits; there was no difference in African American women and Caucasian men. 110 Table 19 One-Way Analysis of Variance for Challenge Source Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 21.162 1 21.162 3.038 .084 Within Groups 731.507 105 6.967 Total 752.669 106 Based on Challenge Scores; p, 0.05 Hypothesis Question 3 Hypothesis 3 is there is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry who enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment. The data from Table 20 shows a statistically significant difference at the p < .05 level in the overall LPI scores for the two groups [F (1, 106) = 4.061., p = .046]. A statistically significant difference was identified in the test of variance regarding the enable leadership traits. Based on the statistical test, the data supported a rejection of the null hypothesis for the enable others to act leadership traits; there was a difference in African American women and Caucasian men. African American women tended to score higher in enable the process. Results of the of the survey indicated that the African American women participants answered ―very frequently‖ to enabling others to act, fostering collaboration by promoting cooperative goals, building mutual trust by empowering others, and building trust by enabling others with significant task, projects, and assignments. 111 Kouzes & Posner (2008) pointed out that leaders who strive to strengthen others know the importance of how imperative it is to make people feel good about their jobs. People generally quit their managers not their jobs, (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). When leaders strengthen others, it significantly increases people‘s belief in their own abilities. Leaders become more powerful when they give their power away (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. 285). In analyzing Enabling others to act, collaboration and communication were the key leadership factors that all of the study participants use and value as an integral part of their leadership styles. This quantitative analysis clearly shows that the study participants‟ leadership style preferences are a combination of factors that fosters collaboration, cooperation, and trust. Campbell (2010) suggested that the important essential to women‘s leadership effectiveness is through networking, proactive action and self-development. Most research points out that most women tend to lead through cooperative, nurturing and a sense of society. In the area of cooperative extension, it seems that administration is looking to employ individuals that have a balanced form of leadership. It is important to emphasize that although consistent likenesses and differences in leadership practices are evident in this study, the individuals all noted that is it more than one way to effectively lead, and often it is necessary to change your leadership style preference, in certain situations, in order to effectively lead. African American women in the study seem to create and promote an atmosphere where the followers are treated as partners not controlled. Most women can be described as ―functional, cooperative, team player, participatory and empowerment‖ as examples of 112 their leadership style. The women in this study were adamant about education, networking, and enhancing their assertiveness with their subordinates. Table 20 One-Way Analysis of Variance for Enable Sum of Squares 23.009 Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 23.009 4.061 .046 Within Groups 594.858 105 5.665 Total 617.867 106 Source Between Groups Based on Enable Scores; p, 0.05 Summary Chapter 4 presented the findings of the data collected, the results of the statistical test, and an analysis of the data with respect to the research questions and hypotheses. The population was N = 250. Of that population, 109 individuals participated, with a 44% response rate. The participants consisted of 61 Caucasian men and 48 African American women from various base camps in Iraq concentrating primarily on central Iraq were the largest number of contractors resided. The participating African American women and Caucasian men showed a similar perception to one another‘s abilities in the leadership practices in all five leadership styles and were at the high end of the LPI rating scale. When compared with the Kouzes and Posner (2007) database of the several thousand people who had taken the same version of the LPI, the African American women‘s self- 113 scores were in the moderate to high percentile, and Caucasian men‘s scores were in the lower percentile. A database was developed from the study participants‘ numerical responses. The numerical data were then coded, scored, and analyzed using the PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010) program. Research Questions 1 through 3 were analyzed using descriptive statistics, which provided summary statistics for the study. The one-way ANOVA were executed with the null hypotheses to determine that there were no significant differences between the composite and the challenge self-perceptions of leadership practices by the African American women and the Caucasian men on any of the five practices measured in the LPI. However, in the Enable there was a statistical difference in the findings. As discussed in the findings section, the ANOVA for the overall perception (composite) and the Challenge the Process traits showed no statistically significant difference. Therefore, the null hypothesis was not rejected. The Enable Others to Act null hypothesis was rejected. The demographic data gathered for the study were analyzed using PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010) software program. First, there were more men than women. Second, relative to men versus women, there was a larger Caucasian presence than African American presence. In addition, Caucasian men tended to be more highly educated than the women. They held more bachelor‘s, master‘s and doctorate degrees than African American women. The men showed a larger percentage in the 45 to 65 than the African American women. More of the Caucasian men were employed from 20 to greater than 28 years. In the professional titles category, the Caucasian men tended to have a greater 114 frequency of titles of increasing responsibility than the African American women. In the 0 to 7 years employed with the present organization, it was a fairly even distribution in terms of frequency between Caucasian men and African American women. In the leadership category Caucasian men had 11 to 40 plus frequencies than African American women. Caucasian men had a greater level of financial responsibility than African American women. Chapter 5 contains further analysis of the findings and inferences from the findings. The chapter includes a discussion of the importance of the findings with leadership implications. The chapter also includes recommendations for future research related to the study. 115 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS Chapter 4 provided the results of the statistical procedures and an analysis of the data with respect to the research questions and hypotheses. The inferential statistics of the one-way ANOVA for both the African American women and Caucasian men showed no statistically significant difference in the following areas: composite score and challenge the process. However, in the category of enabling others the data supported a rejection of the null for the enable others to act leadership trait. Chapter 5 presents an examination of the findings of the study. The first section presents a discussion of the study based on the demographics. The second section explores the results of the study, focusing on the implications and recommendations for future research. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the study‘s limitations, summary, and concluding comments. The purpose of study was to examine the practice of exemplary leadership relative to the five leadership practices of exemplary leaders. Leadership skills and behaviors were assessed using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). Kouzes and Posner (2007) identified 30 leadership statements on the Leadership Practices Inventory which represent the current leadership paradigm for effective leaders. Many researchers (Amram, 2009; N. Brown, 2006; Clarkson, 2009; Cunningham, 2006; Gandhi, 2009; Hymes, 2008; Manlove, 2004; Moniz, 2008; Roberts, 2008; Zagorsek et al., 2006) have identified similar components of leadership to that of 116 Kouzes and Posner (2007) in their research, and there are many connections that exist between and among definitions. In the study, the exemplary leadership practices African American women working in the defense international contracting industry were examined relative to the LPI. The survey questions were categorized into the five practices of exemplary leadership that included Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart. Discussion The purpose of the research was to better understand how the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has moved them into lower, middle, and senior levels of management. A quantitative research method was chosen for the study because it provided a standardized objective means of collecting data from a diverse group of participants using research survey instruments that were already validated. Through the use of this research method, the perceptions of the participants were identified and compared to address the research questions. Data were examined for Hypotheses 1 through 3 using the PASW® 18 (Norusis, 2010) statistical software program and a one-way ANOVA. Summary statistics indicating the mean, standard deviation, and range were presented in tables. The demographics were collected by asking nine questions of participants. The demographic survey instrument consisted of nine survey questions used to assess sex, race, age, education, professional title, year with the present organization, years employed, 117 leadership experience, and financial responsibility. Overall, there were more Caucasian men (61) who participated in the study than African American women (48). This could be a result of the unique environment and the low number of African American women in the overall sample population. There were also some other significant findings within the demographic data. The Caucasian men on average had more education than the African American women. The outcome of the data also showed that African American women were under the age of 40 (n = 27) whereas Caucasian men were over the age of 40 (n = 58). From the results, it could be stated that the majority of African American women in this unique sample population appeared to be at the early stages of their careers; whereas, Caucasian men were at the latter stages of their careers and perhaps starting a second career. Finally, Caucasian men held higher positions, more years in the workforce, leadership experience, and greater financial responsibility. After analysis of the demographic data, based on research by Kouzes and Posner (2007), LPI scores have been found to be unrelated with various demographic characteristics (e.g., age, years of experience, education level, and financial responsibility). Overall, the study showed similar findings with a few exceptions. Analytical Breakdown of the Questions LPI Questions by Category Thirty leadership items of the Leadership Practices Inventory were reviewed. With the exception of 1 item, all of the other 29 items were found to differ significantly from the highest score of 10 on the Leadership Practices Inventory. From the results, it can be inferred that Caucasian men and African American women do not feel that the 29 118 behaviors described are as essential to the overall practice of exemplary leadership as one particular item. The one exception was Item 14. The item was, ―I treat others with dignity and respect.‖ All of the participants rated Item 14 with a score of 8.36. Thus, it can be inferred that participants consider this behavior as essential. The item with the lowest mean score was Item 17, with a mean score of 6.04. Item 17 was, ―I show others how their long-term interests can be realized by enlisting a common vision.‖ While this may be an essential leadership quality, it was not as important to participants as many of the other leadership behaviors. Enable Others to Act In the category of enable others to act, the six leadership items of the Leadership Practices Inventory were reviewed. With the exception of one item, all of the other five items were found to differ significantly from the highest score of 10 on the Leadership Practices Inventory. It can be inferred that Caucasian men and African American women do not feel that each of the five behaviors described are as essential to the overall practice of enable others to act as one particular item. The one exception was Item 4. Item 4 was, ―I seek out challenging opportunities that will influence how our work gets gone.‖ All of the participants rated this with a score of 8.08. Thus, it can be inferred that this behavior is essential to the participants. Item 29 had the lowest mean score of 6.87. Item 29 was, ―I ensure that people grow in their jobs by learning new skills and developing themselves.‖ While this may be an essential leadership quality, it was not as important to participants as many of the enable others to act behaviors. 119 Challenge the Process In the category of challenge the process the six leadership items of the Leadership Practices Inventory were reviewed. With the exception of one item, all of the other five items were found to differ significantly from the highest score of 10 on the Leadership Practices Inventory. It can be inferred that Caucasian men and African American women do not feel that each of the five behaviors described are as essential to the overall practice of challenge the process as one particular item. Item 3 was the exception. Item 3 was, ―I seek out challenging opportunities that test my own skill and abilities.‖ All of the participants rated this with a score of 7.40. Thus, it can be inferred that this behavior is essential to the participants. The item with the lowest mean score of 6.20 was 28 stated: ―I experiment and take risks, even when there a chance of failure.‖ While this may be an essential leadership quality, it was not as important to participants as many of the challenge the process behaviors. Each of the 30 items was condensed into the five practices of exemplary leadership: Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart. Only the practice of Enabling Others to Act yielded statistically significant differences between responses from Caucasian men and African American women. Only one category of the leadership constructs had responses that were statistically significant between Caucasian men and African American women, African American women participants had higher means for all five of the leadership practices. 120 Also, in studies conducted by Amram (2009), N. Brown (2006), Clarkson (2009), Cunningham (2006), Gandhi (2009), Hymes (2008), Manlove (2004), Moniz (2008), Roberts (2008), and Zagorsek et al. (2006), it was found that there were no gender differences in leadership behaviors. Additionally, according Kouzes and Posner (2007), the leadership practices have not been significantly different for males and females. Hypotheses The statistical data was analyzed in terms of the following hypotheses: H10 was, ―There is no difference in African American women in executive levels of management in the defense international contracting industry practicing exemplary leadership compared to Caucasian men.‖ The results of the study were used to support the decision accept the null hypothesis based on the statistical data for the overall practice of exemplary leadership (composite) leadership traits; there was no difference in African American women and Caucasian men. For the study, LPI scores for Caucasian men were compared to scores of African American women participants. The LPI scores of African American women working in the defense international contracting industry were reported as higher than their male counterparts, although gender made no difference in the outcome variables. The two groups did not differ on composite scores, revealing no systematic difference between the leadership practices of both groups based on ethnic background. This inferred that there is no difference in overall composite leadership styles that move Caucasian men into positions of more power and responsibility. 121 H20 was, ―There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry, who challenge the process‖ compared to Caucasian men. The results of the study were used to support the decision to fail to reject the null hypothesis because based upon the statistical data for challenge the process leadership traits; there was no difference in African American women and Caucasian men. The implications could be drawn that the industry supports the management style of leaders who challenge the process. This could be an industry specific trait. For the study, LPI scores for Caucasian men were compared to African American women participants. The LPI scores of African American women working in the defense international contracting industry were reported as lower than their male counterparts, although gender made no difference in the outcome variables. The two groups did not differ on challenge the process, revealing no systematic difference between the leadership practices of both groups based upon ethnic background. This would infer that it is not a difference in challenge the process leadership styles that propels Caucasian men into positions of more power and responsibility. H30 was, ―There is no difference in African American women in middle and upper executive levels of management in defense international contracting industry who enable others to act in order to create a productive work environment compared to Caucasian men.‖ The results of the study were used to support the decision to reject the null hypotheses based upon the statistical test for the enable others to act leadership traits because there was a difference in African American women and Caucasian men. 122 The LPI scores were analyzed by looking at gender and ethnic differences in respondents in relation to enabling others to act. The fact that there was a significant difference between African American women and Caucasian men reveals an area that requires more research. The results of the study showed that African American women had a higher perception of enabling others to act than Caucasian men participants in the study. These results can be used to encourage future research in larger populations to better understand if the perception is real. Implications One overarching implication from the study was that the results raised additional questions regarding leadership in the arena of defense contracting rather than providing simple solutions. Complexity continues to characterize the concept of leadership regardless of the industry. According to Kouzes and Posner (2008), in terms of enabling others to act, leaders foster collaboration and build spirited teams. They actively involve others. Leaders understand that mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary efforts; they strive to create an atmosphere of trust and human dignity (Kouzes & Posner, 2008). They strengthen others, making each person feel capable and powerful. While the difference in gender in terms of enabling others to act is an unexpected result, it may be a result of how women lead versus men. The implication is important because it adds additional depth to the topic, and produces additional questions for further study. The implication in the study was that African American women are focused on enabling other members of the team to act for the benefit of the team in a successful manner. Although African American women show greater levels of enabling others to 123 act, it does not appear to be rewarded in the defense contracting industry. It is unclear why this would occur and raises questions for future research. Another implication is relative to demographic information. Caucasian men in the study had more education than African American women. For African American women, the researcher believes that the best way to be competitive is to have equal education to be considered for leadership positions. This may be due to the uniqueness of the industry because fewer women are considered for the defense contractor positions in a deployed status. Future researchers could explore this aspect to add to the depth of knowledge. Limitations The first limitation involved the population selected and responses received in the study. The type of statistical analysis was determined by the size of the population and was sufficient for the study. However, a larger sample size would likely strengthen the findings because it adds to the reliability and validity of the data. The next implication was that the race component of the study, though adequate for the study, consisted of two races, African American women and Caucasian men, of which Caucasian men were the majority. The sample of African American women was smaller and proved to be a challenge because it was assumed that there would be more participants willing to be involved in the study. In reality, many of the African American women invited to participate in the study declined or did not respond. This was more apparent when a participant indicated the number of individuals in a specific racial group made it difficult to obtain the optimal number for the study. 124 The study was limited to the defense international contracting industry in central Iraq in a deployed status, which could be construed as insufficient to support generalizations. However, given the fact that the population is not fixed; because the participants are in an area for a limited amount time data cannot be gathered over a prolonged period due to the nature of the environment. It is unique in that every defense contractor does not work in a warzone and in the future the study can to be expanded to Afghanistan. Most defense contractors are there for a contract period and it is not consistent with a contractor in the United States or working abroad in a non-hostile environment. Battlefield contactors are in an area for a short period of time to do perform a service and move to the next endeavor. The study is a solid data-based body of knowledge to look at concerning variables and facets related to the leadership practices of African American women‘s practices for exemplary leadership in a deployed status. Those African American women aspiring to become senior level managers will be able to make their own comparisons from the study, to the current managers in senior management, in order to determine, where they are in their own professional pursuits. In addition, the study may be used to assist those women who are seeking information on what areas they should focus or increase awareness to be successful in their pursuits towards senior level management roles with in the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status. Recommendations for Future Research The study has created an awareness of the need for further investigation of leadership best practices. There are numerous recommendations on leadership practices 125 and the study provided valuable insights into the leadership practices of African American Women working in the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status. The first recommendation for future is the research should be expanded to all ethnic groups in the defense international contracting industry. The study was used to focus solely on African American women and Caucasian men. Future research would add more depth and breadth to the body of knowledge by including other ethnic groups. The second recommendation for future research is the research should be expanded to all contractors serving in a deployed status in many countries. The study was limited in part to those contractors serving in a deployed status in Iraq. Expanding the study to other countries may show more variety in terms of responses than were found in the responses from those serving in Iraq. The third recommendation for future is the research should include the LPI observer survey instrument. In the study, the only survey instrument used was the LPI self-perception tool. Solely using this tool resulted in the data collected being based only on self-perception. Adding the additional observer tool would allow all future researchers to gather both as well as others‘ perception of participants. The fourth recommendation for future research is the research should also be conducted in the United States to see if there is a comparison between those contractors working abroad and those working in the United States. The study was used to focus on contractors abroad in Iraq. Future research including the United States may show a difference in how those within the country and those outside the country achieve success. 126 The fifth recommendation for future research could include military comparisons between men and women in deployed status as well. An examination of the findings of the study using the demographics, and implications and recommendations, adds much to the depth of research that can continue relative to the topic. The sixth recommendation for future research is the research can involve other aspects such as deployed versus non-deployed comparisons. Evaluating all these factors, also provided information on limitations and how those limitations can be minimized. The study can be used to stimulate more in-depth research into the various aspects of the topic. Finally, future researchers might consider the addition of another survey instrument such as the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) or the Emotional Intelligence (EI) survey. This may strengthen the knowledgebase associated with the leadership practices of African American women who hold senior leadership roles in the defense contracting industry. Conclusion The population for the study was African American women and Caucasian men working in defense international contracting industry in deployed status. The purpose of the study was to explore the practice of exemplary leadership of African American women working in the private defense international contracting industry. The study involved the usage of the demographic survey and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) self-survey instrument. The study was quantitative in nature and data analysis 127 involved the usage of a frequencies, one-way ANOVA, and the F-test to determine whether the there was a failure to reject or to reject the null hypothesis. The objective of the study was to better understand how the practice of exemplary leadership among African American women in the private defense international contracting industry in a deployed area has propelled them to lower, middle, and senior levels of management. The study indicated that there is evidence to further explore enabling others to act in terms of gender. The study indicated that there is evidence that enabling others to act did not yield the expected results as it applies to the leadership traits studies as indicated by the data in chapter 4 among the African American women working in the defense international contracting industry in a deployed status. Kouzes and Posner (2007) suggested that enabling others to act should be a rewarded behavior of a leader. According to previous studies conducted by by Amram (2009), N. Brown (2006), Clarkson (2009), Cunningham (2006), Gandhi (2009), Hymes (2008), Manlove (2004), Moniz (2008), Roberts (2008), and Zagorsek et al. (2006), there were no gender differences in leadership behaviors. The findings in the study can be used to suggest that successful leaders regardless of gender or race are in alignment with previous studies as outlined in chapter 2. The demographic data in the study indicated that many of African American women were not at the same level in terms of education, leadership and title held in the organization as were those levels in the Caucasian men. Furthermore, it was also evident that the African American women in the study were at the beginning of their careers and did not have the same level of education. 128 The study differed from other research because the focus of the study was based on how African American woman practice exemplary leadership that might be critical to an African American women‘s accession to the executive leadership ranks in the private defense international contracting industry. Recommendations provided could help African American women and other women of color aspiring to advance to the senior management positions in the defense contracting industry to achieve their goals. The data from the study may provide a foundation for researchers conducting studies in the area. 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Analysis of the reliability of the leadership practices inventory in the item response theory framework. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 14(2), 180–191. 143 APPENDIX A. SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS DIRECTIONS FOR SURVEY COMPLETION Once again I thank you for your participation in this research study. This page will provide you with the necessary information you will need to complete the two surveys.       The surveys can be filled out in any order. You as the participant can determine which you would like to do first. The key is completing all three. Please read the ―Informed Consent Form for Participants to Sign‖, digitally sign, and date it. Please answer the Demographic Survey by filling out the appropriate blanks – one per question. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) survey has explicit instructions located within the first few pages about how it should be filled out. Please follow those instructions and complete the survey. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) has explicit instructions located on the website provided in this packet. Please follow those instructions and complete the survey. Upon completion of the two surveys digitally sign the ―Informed Consent Form for Participants to Sign‖ and hit the send button. The LPI survey completed online will automatically be routed to me. If you have any questions, please contact me on 540-284-1316. Thank you again for your participation! 144 APPENDIX B. DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY 1. Please indicate your age in years by marking an ―X‖ in the appropriate blank. 20-25 ___ 26-30 ___ 31-35 ___ 36-40 ___ 41-45 ___ 2. 46-50 ___ 51-55 ___ 56-60 ___ 61-65 ___ 66 - + ___ Please indicate your sex by marking an ―X‖ in the appropriate blank. Male ___ 3. Female ___ Please indicate your race by marking an ―X‖ in the appropriate blank. Asian American Indian or Alaskan Native Black or African American Hispanic or Latino Multiracial Caucasian 4. Please indicate your educational level by marking an ―X in the appropriate blank for the level of education that you have completed. High school Associates degree Bachelor‘s degree Master‘s degree Doctorate 5. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Professional Title: ______ CEO ______ Board of Directors Member ______ Lower Management ______ Country Manager 6. ____4-7 years ____20-23 years ____8-11 years ____24-27 years ____12-15 years ____ > 28 years ____4-7 years ____20-23 years ____8-11 years ____24-27 years ____12-15 years ____ > 28 years Please indicate your leadership experience level by marking an ―X‖ in the appropriate blank, based upon the accumulative number of years you have supervised one or more people in a workplace setting. <1 1–5 6 – 10 11 – 15 16 – 20 9. ______ Vice President ______ Upper Level Management Indicate the number of years you have been employed: ___ 0-3 years ____18-19 years 8. _____ President _____Program Director _____ Middle Management _____ Individual Contributor Indicate the number of years you have been employed with your present organization: ___ 0-3 years ____18-19 years 7. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 21 – 25 26 – 30 31 – 35 36 – 40 40 – + ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Indicate the financial responsibility you have in your organization: ____$0-$250,000 ____$500,001-$750,000 ____ $1,000,001-2 million ____ 10million-50 million ____250,001-$500,000 ____$750,001-$1, 000, 000 ____ 2 million – 10 million ____> 50 million 145

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