College of Doctoral Studies
Center for Leadership Studies & Organizational Research
Research through the lens of business and organization
About the center
The Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research (CLSOR) regards the spectrum of business and organization as all-encompassing, where the potentials of scholar-practitioner engagement intersect with industry dynamics to uncover the possibilities that emerge when research is applied.
Research Chair
Dr. Rodney Luster has been with the University since 2012. Rodney Luster is the Senior Director of Research Strategy, Innovation and Development for the Research Center Enterprise (RSE) within the College of Doctoral Studies
Assoc Research Chair
Dr. McCaslin has provided leadership within the University of Phoenix network since the inception of the Research and Scholarship Enterprise 9RSE) first began in 2013, having started the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research (CLSOR), and then promoted to the role of Dean of the RSE for several years. He now serves dual roles within the university and is now the Associate Chair for CLSOR.
Contact Dr. McCaslin-mlmccasl@email.phoenix.edu
To be recognized through the pursuits and outcomes of scholarly research in leadership and organization as the most trusted provider of career-relevant research concerning the practitioner doctorate degree in higher education for advancing the professional life of working adults.
Scholarly leadership is defined as a transformative relationship among experienced and aspiring Scholar/Practitioner/Leaders who intend, through the production and application of research, to advance their professional life and the community of scholarship.
- We believe that planning, preparing, and producing effective and efficient research studies are demonstrations of scholarly leadership.
- We believe in modeling the way towards creating and disseminating educational and leadership research for the purposes of professional development.
- We exist to inspire, support, and guide the professional development of University of Phoenix faculty through scholarly leadership.
- Potentiating the development of research and its dissemination with University of Phoenix faculty.
- Professional development through scholarly leadership.
The Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research [CLSOR] welcomes all interested parties to join our center via the following registration form.
Affiliating with CLSOR offers tremendous benefits for those interested in learning more about the research we engage in, as well as opportunities for collaboration on research endeavors [projects], publishing potentials, conferences, quarterly meeting invites to see what the center is offering, and simply being able to become part of a community of researchers.
We welcome your interest in the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research led by Dr. Rodney Luster [Chair] and Dr. Mark McCaslin [Associate Chair]. Registering for the center means you will receive updates related to the CLSOR regarding upcoming conference events, workshops you might be interested in, and ways you might wish to engage the center further. Please fill out this form in its entirety. Below is also contact information for CLSOR leaders, which you may contact anytime.
Being engaged with a center like CLSOR can also be career-impacting! We offer opportunities for faculty, staff, and alumni to publish, engage in experiments, drive impactful research, publish in the Phoenix Scholar periodical, maintain a blog, build conference acumen by attending our annual Research Summit as either presenters or guests, get involved in planning a national conference, develop and publish whitepapers around thought-leadership, conduct workshops, attend workshops on everything from new survey technology to rigorous research methodologies, just to name a few things.
For students especially, you can engage the center for a variety of research-related content, volunteer to be an assistant researcher, publish in the Phoenix Scholar periodical during special issues focused on students, or get involved with our annual conference, and become a student presenter at the annual "Research Summit." For alumni, we also invite you to stay on and continue the journey by becoming a Fellow in Residence [You can use that title as a CV builder], engage in our publishing projects, join us as we apply for international conferences, and more! Much awaits!
Your Center contacts:
Dr. Rodney Luster- Chair for the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research-contact info- rodney.luster@phoenix.edu
Dr. Mark McCaslin-Associate Chair for the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research-mlmccasl@email.phoenix.edu
The following are open writing/publishing projects for 2024.
Rolling Call for Phoenix Scholar Periodical
Phoenix Scholar-The Phoenix Scholar has a new editor, Dr. Juana Lang. We are happy to see Dr. Lang putting together the upcoming issue of the Phoenix Scholar and are excited to have her help us grow the periodical. Should you have an interest in publishing in the Scholar, you can check with Dr. Lang (email contact) on the upcoming issues ahead of time to get an idea of the content of all forthcoming calls for articles. You can also find out more here on the Phoenix Scholar page under Current Calls.
Call for Principle Research Investigators
The following solicitation for researchers is open for 2024. What this means? CLSOR is looking for a lead researcher and rsearch associates to publish based on conducted research. The following projects have a description but require research studies to advance outcomes on these topicas which can then seek publication at various journals and /or presentations.
Research Project # 1
Leadership and the "black box" of fear that psychological phenomenology inherent in every leader
Brief abstract-Emotional regulation as part of a leader’s professional demeanor has perhaps mostly been an assumed facet within the annals of leadership literature. Yet little has been attributed to the role that fear might play in a leader’s emotional reactivity and decision-making abilities. The influence of a strong dynamic state like "fear" as psychological phenomenology inherent in leaders has not been the concentric focus of most research endeavors examining leadership. But with the rise of precarious VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) events in society, as well as social and political unrest globally, the impact of “wrong-move” decisions in a highly transparent digital era can be catastrophic. More than ever, leaders are faced with various fear-invoking stimuli and an ever-increasing example inventory of leadership gone wrong. In this, there is an imperative need to examine the modulating role that fear may play in every leader’s life making this a worthy endeavor if we are to logically understand the role of leadership comprehensively. To leave out such an important emotional factor is to remove the “human element” of the role. Fear presented herein is conceived of as a frequently “felt” and impactful workplace emotion, especially in times of crisis. In this examination of leaders and the “black box” of fear, researchers examine the "affective-bound judgments" that all human beings make in the presence of fear-inducing stimuli, and address the questions of how the emotional state of fear might influence leaders' depth of processing, and whether fear facilitates the use of intuitive or rational decision-making efforts in this group. Through the lenses of Affective Events Theory (AET), Appraisal Tendency Theory (ATT), and Authentic-Resilient Leadership (ARLT) (as a newly proposed theory), this research seeks to open the first gate of a research inquiry into deepening our understanding of the role that fear plays in every leader’s life.
Note to researcers interested-A prelim paper has been written around this topic. However, we would like to have a team conduct actual research on this topic and analyze results. The basis of those results and this prelim paper may be used, revised to develop a new iteration for publication.
Potential journals-Journal of Leadership Studies, Emerald publications, IGI Global, APA.
Please contact Dr. Rodney Luster for details.
Research Project # 2
Zombie Leadership: How the Big 3 Zombie Practices Compromise Organizations and what to do about them through serotinous leadership
Brief abstract-Much can be said about the last 10 years of leadership and the scope of leadership practices that have been tested against the harshest of conditions such as those of pernicious disasters, drastic political extremes, intensified social issues and more set against the dystopian backdrop of a monolithic pandemic; this VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) carousel of events left an indelible mark on leadership and the practices of leaders around the world. But was it enough to change the direction of antiquated principles of leadership and organizational dynamics? This contribution to the text Leadership, People, and Organizations extends the work of John Quiggins's seminal work on Zombie Economics and that of researchers, Haslam et al., (2024) and their work on Zombie Leadership by focusing on the aspects of organizational dynamics and Zombie "Principles" that continue to sustain and walk among us. In this, we also inspect Zombie "Organizational Dynamics" and the three most compromising aspects of zombie leadership, and organizational dynamics still visible in everything from HR (Human Resource) practices to popular media today. To this end, our research looks at what we call the "Big 3 Zombie Practices" which includes: 1. Principled habituation practices, 2. Bounded fear-failure aversion tendencies, and 3. Self-referential ego valuations. This work seeks to reconceptualize the reasons zombie dynamics still exist amongst leaders and organizations and the counter to challenging such mal-adaptive practices in leadership through the potential of "serotinous" leadership as an emerging form of leadership, at the forefront of the next generation of leaders that will succeed in the most gravitas-centered era of change.
Potential journals-Journal of Leadership Studies, Emerald publications, IGI Global, APA.
Please contact Dr. Rodney Luster for details.
White papers
The University, in coordination with the Career Institute, seeks and CLSOR, seek authors for the following professional whitepaper topics.
White papers may be used for publication here on the research hub, through our media team's interest, or for the Career Institute. Faculty may also use white paper publications as enhanced research to gain scholarship credits towards fullfilling faculty scholarship requirements. For Alumni and others, white paper publication offers the chance to begin or cintinue publishing or add to a CV.
We look for white papers that use at least one statistical outcome from the annual Career Index Report, and cite the report somewhere in their paper. Authors are free to use a stat as an impetus for writing towards something they are also interested in within their field. If you choose a topic that doesn't involve the Career Index, we will review papers that are otherwise academically focused. This could be related to teaching, classroom methods and more. White papers are typically 4-5 pages in length minus the reference page. If you are interested, please look at the following link as a basis for how white papers are typically written. You may also reach out to Dr. Rodney Luster at rodney.luster@phoenix.edu [subject line-Whitepaper interests].
Academic Blogging
We are always looking for solid evidenced-based blogs and blogging offers the chance to get your name out, stamp current research and tease it out earlier through a blog, develop a network of followers, or siply write on topics within your chosen field. If you are interested, please reach out to Dr. Rodney Luster at rodney.luster@phoenix.edu [subject line-Interests in Blogging].
External Opportunities
Joining a center may help you link to other calls you may not be aware of whether you want to publish or present. You can join our center here at CLSOR by easily signng up.
Below are some commonly open calls for publishing.
American Psychological Association-Here you can search from an array of open calls- link
IGI Global Publishers-IGI is a medium size publishing house that is always looking for relevant articles and research. You can search and review their open calls-link
Psychology of Leaders and Leadership Journal is a scholarly publication sponsored by the Society of Psychologists in Leadership (SPL). It explores how those in leadership positions can use the science of psychology to help themselves and their organizations perform more effectively Link
CLSOR provides a lens through which leadership and organization may be examined from all vantage points, utilizing the conduits of research and reporting out through major conferences, publications and innovative projects.
From the International Leadership Association (ILA) and the Qualitative Report (TQR) to the American Psychological Association (APA), CLSOR members can be found at these and many other top tiered conferences working together with other researchers to bring to the table the latest in research concerning the wide prospects of topical matter within the field of leadership and organizational research. We welcome you to the many possibilities the center can offer.
Fellows in Residence
The Fellows in Residence role has been designed to usher in the potential of like-minded researchers who desire to become part of the research enterprise. The Research Centers implemented the voluntary role in 2020 and has since grown the cadre of fellows who work within each center. We continue to invite those interested in becoming fellows to reach out for more information. An elite group of researchers, the fellows are important constituents of the centers, often taking part in research endeavors from publishing to presenting and helping with our large-scale conference. For those interested in becoming a Fellow in Residence, please reach out to Dr. Mark McCaslin, Associate Chair for CLSOR for more information. Below is our current assembly of fellows.
