Tag Archives | Sharon Norris

Norris, Sharon E.”Learning and Knowledge Creation under Perpetual Construction: A Complex Responsive Approach to Applied Business Research.” In Handbook of Research on Scholarly Publishing and Research Methods, edited by  Victor C. X. Wang, 205-203. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2015. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-7409-7

Organizations are changing places where learning and knowledge creation is under perpetual construction. In order to keep pace with these changes, applied business research courses for graduate business students need to go beyond the ideology that business decision making is a tidy and rational process. To portray business decision making as a strictly goal-oriented and rational process overlooks the reality of the complexity of contemporary organizations, and this perspective may result in rigid thinking and single-loop learning. The purpose of this chapter is to present a complex responsive approach to applied business research that encourages flexible thinking and double-loop learning. The most comprehensive applied research studies in the future will be those where researchers become immersed in the research process and engage with participants in the process of learning and knowledge creation. Through this process, researchers help unleash the creative potential of the organization and gain a valuable learning experience.

Norris, Sharon E.”Transformative Curriculum Design and Program Development: Creating Effective Adult Learning by Leveraging Psychological Capital and Self-Directedness through the Exercise of Human Agency.” In Andragogical and Pedagogical Methods for Curriculum and Program Development, edited by  Victor C. X. Wang and Valerie C. Bryan, 118-141. Hershey, PA:IGI Global, 2014. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-5872-1.ch007

The objective of this chapter is to introduce improvisational self-directed learning as a transformative approach to developing effective adult learning. Improvisational self-directed learning is a method that encourages individuals to leverage their psychological capital and self-directedness through the exercise of human agency. It is common practice to focus on content-related learning objectives while designing educational curriculum and programs. Less routine is a simultaneous focus on the psychological state, human agency, and self-directedness of those involved in the entire process. The type of transformative learning communities necessary for effective 21st century adult education require ongoing faculty and student development. This chapter provides a theoretical framework based on human agency, psychological capital, improvisational behavior, and adult learning. The use of improvisation is presented as a technique for leveraging psychological capital, human agency, and self-directedness to create thriving 21st century learning communities.

Porter, Tracy H., and Sharon E. Norris. “Workplace Spirituality.” In Integrity in Organizations, edited by Wolfgang Amann and Agata Stachowicz-Stanusch, 429-438. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

The business environment has undergone dramatic changes for the past several decades, and these paradigmatic adjustments have brought about new expectations about work and the work environment. It has been argued that downsizing, reengineering, and layoffs of the past few decades have turned many American workplaces into environments in which workers have been demoralized and taken for granted (Brandt, 1996). Individuals have witnessed the work environment become increasingly impersonal and, in some cases, insecure environments (Fry & Cohen, 2009). The push for higher economic returns, productivity, and profitability has crippled and eventually bankrupted once-prominent organizations. The wide road of traditional management has led many organizations and their leaders to perdition.

Recognizing the downward spiral, humanistic managers have traversed the competitive environment by taking a road less-traveled. They are committed to creating workplaces in which making a difference and operating with integrity are balanced with enhancing productivity and making a profit. In humanistic environments, both human capital and financial capital are recognized as assets to be protected, wisely invested, and deployed with integrity. Designing the workplace so that people experience purpose and meaning in work, connectedness through positive relationships, and alignment of personal and organizational values, has been identified as one of the most important managerial tasks of the twenty-first century (Nichols, 1994; Milliman, Czaplewski, & Ferguson, 2003).

Humanistic managers create environments in which spiritual-based values guide decision making, and employees are consistently provided with opportunities to perform at their best (Milliman, Ferguson, Trickett, & Condemi, 1999).