Graduation Year
2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
D.B.A.
Degree Granting Department
Business Administration
Major Professor
Lisa Milici Gaynor, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
John Townsend, DBA
Committee Member
Richard Will. Ph.D.
Committee Member
Robert Hammond, DBA
Keywords
Assessment, Accession Management, Selection
Abstract
This research documents the assessment and selection process used by the U.S. Military’s Special Forces for over 70 years using Grounded Theory Methodology. Three independent studies were used to document the Special Forces process of selection. Through comparative reanalysis of each study’s data a model emerged explaining the Special Forces phenomena of assessment and selection.
Analysis was conducted in three phases using open, axial, and selective coding which allowed for the identification of a smaller set of themes which categorized the process of selection. The final step involved the development of two analytical matrices explaining the central theme of selection consistent across all three independent studies. The contribution to knowledge consists of a single unifying model that was subsequently developed and has potential to be replicated elsewhere.
Scholar Commons Citation
Lavender, Darryl J., "An Emergent Theory of Executive Leadership Selection: Leveraging Grounded Theory to Study the U.S. Military's Special Forces Assessment and Selection Process" (2019). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/7839
