Faculty Dissertations, publications, and Pope Grant recipients. archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/156 2026-04-07T04:33:43Z 2026-04-07T04:33:43Z Fletcher, Shannon Thornton, Kristen R. V. archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/75344 2025-12-16T10:22:13Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Functional Workplace Play: The Types of Play Employees Engage in at Work Fletcher, Shannon; Thornton, Kristen R. V. Workplace play has been positively associated with job satisfaction, engagement, and learning (Petelczyc et al., 2018; Savage et al., 2017) as well as reduced employee burnout and stress (DesCamp & Thomas, 1990). Despite the benefits, there is little consensus about what types of play employees engage in (Petelczyc, et al., 2018) within the actual workplace and their functions. The current study utilizes a qualitative, inductive approach to examine play by asking employees to share real-life stories about workplace play. Five types of play emerged from the data, which include Celebration that recognizes accomplishments; Construction that enhances productivity; Cheerful Disposition that fosters a positive work environment; Connection that builds relationships; and Conflict Navigation that addresses difficult situations. The five types can be grouped into three complementary functions to drive productivity, foster relationships, and manage conflict.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Thornton, Kristen R. V. Fletcher, Shannon archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/65222 2025-03-14T17:28:23Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Remotely Different: Two Soft Skills to Effectively Navigate Conflict in Today’s Workplace Thornton, Kristen R. V.; Fletcher, Shannon Over one-third of employees encounter workplace conflict on a daily basis (Moody, 2022), but most are not equipped with the skills to navigate these challenges effectively, ultimately costing both them and their organization valuable time and resources. While there are many dual concern models that examine conflict management styles (e.g., Blake & Mouton, 1964; Rahim, 1983; Thomas, 1992), they do not offer strategies about how to navigate conflict well or when to approach potential difficulties. The current study explores two emergent behaviors – Engage the Mess and Suppress the Noise – by asking business professionals to tell real-life stories about these behaviors at work. Engage the Mess is an effective means to constructively engage conflict through respectfully working toward an outcome. Suppress the Noise actively avoids the aspects of conflict that disrupt resolution and confuse a situation to intentionally focus on solving the problem. The results of the current study suggest that rather than pitting employees against each other to determine whether self or other’s needs are more important, conflict resolution should focus on working together. We, therefore, propose a revision to Desivilya and Eizen’s (2005) framework in two distinct ways. First, we retain the two original destructive styles (Avoidance and Dominating), we but add a third style of Defensive. Second, we replace the two constructive styles with Engage the Mess and Suppress the Noise. To improve workplace conflict, employees should practice applying these constructive behaviors to achieve more effective outcomes.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Fletcher, Shannon Thornton, Kristen R. V. archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/65223 2024-11-17T10:15:57Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Soft Skills On Demand: How Higher Education Can Prepare Students To Succeed In The Marketplace Fletcher, Shannon; Thornton, Kristen R. V. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business organizations have quickly adapted so that employees can work remotely, which has in turn accelerated the value employers place on particular soft skills employees exhibit – namely Agency, Adaptability, and Curiosity. This study explores how these three soft skills show up in the workplace so that instructors within higher education can implement teaching methodologies for students to foster these skills before they enter the workforce. Additionally, we provide examples of effective teaching methodologies including role modeling, team charters, student accountability, team projects, student feedback, and instructor reinforcement.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Chambers, Jeremy archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/55298 2021-01-14T23:14:32Z 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z

Jesus in an Ethnically Rich Environment: A Multi-Cultural Study in the Requirements for Effective, Consistent Gospel Communication in Southeast Renton, Washington Chambers, Jeremy This project arose from the desire to minister in the dominantly multicultural community of Renton, Washington. The project utilized interviews to reveal common factors that would enable gospel communication across several cultures: Filipino, Caucasian, African American, and Chinese. The scale used to develop the common factors included disquieting experiences, amorphous cultural zones, conception of “beyondness,” phenomenological triggers, soteriological metaphors, second faith, thickness of the cultural border, and the Hofstede cultural typology.; A variety of techniques were used to conceptualize the research such as cultural analysis, sociological and psychological approaches, and human resource theory in order to drive a multi-disciplinary understanding of the topic. Additionally, Meyer’s Culture Map provided a business perspective on communicating, evaluating, persuading, leading, deciding, trusting, disagreeing and scheduling. The combination of the data gathered from the interview transcripts and the models allowed for a variety of conclusions, including that multicultural gospel communication is possible so long as the gospel communicator remains sensitive to differences among people. The project also yielded a set of eight best practices for effective multicultural gospel communication. A project submitted to the Doctor of Ministry committee in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Ministry.

2019-05-01T00:00:00Z