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BACKGROUND Nurse retention is a significant issue worldwide, with many nurses planning to leave the profession. Therefore, it is crucial that healthcare organisations and senior leaders identify effective strategies for retaining their employees, who are their most valuable assets. AIM To explore strategies to reduce the voluntary turnover of front-line nurses from the perspective of senior healthcare leaders. METHOD This study used a case study design and a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six senior leaders in one US hospital and documents from the organisation's website were reviewed to gain information on the retention strategies used. FINDINGS Three themes were identified from the data: job satisfaction, financial compensation and effective communication. Retention strategies used by the senior leaders included a points competition to support recognition of nurses' work, a stoplight strategy and reports, sign-on bonuses, preceptor incentives, tuition reimbursements, staff shout-out boards and stay interviews. CONCLUSION Effective communication, respect, competitive financial compensation, benefits and proper recognition are among the main strategies that senior leaders can use to retain nurses. Shared governance is also important in empowering nurses and subsequently improving retention.

Only a small number of U.S. businesses have adopted the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that executive business leaders use to implement the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The study population consisted of six business executives and two organizations in the U.S. state of Texas, all with experience in implementing the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The theory of high performance work systems provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were gathered from interviews and record reviews that were conducted within the organizations. Inductive analysis was used to identify words, phrases, ideas, and actions that were consistent among participants and organizations as well as patterns and themes. Triangulation of sources between the interview and record review data was used for consistency. Three main themes emerged from data analysis: organizations embedded the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence into native work models; they also used robust strategy deployment systems with accountability for action plans to spread the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence; and, rather than specifically create goals to align with the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, they identified actions to reach organizational strategic goals that were molded using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence as a business model.

Disengaged employees typically cost U.S. corporations $350 billion annually. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that some communication business leaders use to engage their employees. The target population consisted of four communication business leaders in Jackson, Mississippi, who possessed at least 1 year of successful employee engagement experience. The self-determination theory served as the study’s conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and the participating company’s archived documents were gathered. Patterns were identified through a rigorous process of data familiarization, data coding, and theme development and revision. Interpretations from the data were subjected to member-checking to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data collected, prominent themes emerged from thematically analyzing the data: rewards and recognition, empowering employees, and building a bond between leaders and employees.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon are at risk of failure because of the geo-economic crisis. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies successful leaders of SMEs use to sustain their businesses during tenuous economic conditions. The target population for the research comprised six business leaders of SMEs in Beirut, Lebanon. Data were gathered from company documents and interviews and analysed using Yin's data analysis method. Four themes emerged: Leaders of SMEs embedded change management in their organisations, increased awareness in their organisations, created solid organisational and financial structures, and created and targeted niche markets.

In the early 1990s, U.S military leaders began to copy commercial enterprises by assembling integrated product teams (IPTs) to adapt and implement commercial cost reduction programs (CCRPs) for military organizations. However, no evidence existed in literature that military IPT performance related to CCRP success. A non-experimental quantitative correlational study was conducted to find whether or not a relationship existed between military IPT performance and CCRP success. A questionnaire distribution yielded 80 acceptable responses, and Spearman’s rank order correlation and ordinal regression were employed for correlation and predictor significance analyses, respectively. The Spearman correlation coefficient analysis results revealed a strong positive relationship between the IPT Performance and CCRP Success, rs = .70, p < .01. The correlation coefficients between each of the six variables of IPT Performance and CCRP Success were IPT Communication rs = .64, p < .01, IPT Coordination rs = .57, p < .01, IPT Balance of Member Contributions rs = .51, p < .01, IPT Mutual Support rs = .65, p < .01, IPT Effort rs = .36, p < .01, and IPT Cohesion rs =.67, p < .01. Ordinal regression analysis yielded three significant predictors, IPT Coordination (Estimate = .23), IPT Effort (Estimate = -.40), and IPT Cohesion (Estimate = .24). Military managers should first assess whether or not their organizational systems are conducive to hosting IPTs and whether or not their organizations contain the necessary resources for hosting IPTs. Future researchers should employ a larger sample and a qualitative study to observe team interactions for identifying characteristics of teams and team members. Keywords: commercial cost reduction programs, integrated product teams, military, team performance, program success, integrated product and process development.

Foresight involves future-oriented awareness and planning, enabling businesses to respond quickly and effectively to future market threats and opportunities. However, knowledge about corporate foresight practices and outcomes is limited. Corporations interested in implementing foresight are unable to identify best practices or anticipate results from foresight activities. Therefore, this qualitative, multiple holistic case study was a foundational investigation of foresight phenomenon within contemporary American corporations. A convenience sample of 14 foresight practitioners represented American corporations or American divisions of European corporations actively using foresight. Interview queries aligned with the guiding research questions explored corporate foresight methods and outcomes. Interview data were coded and synthesized for thematic report of common and unique responses; this documented practices used in and outcomes derived from corporate foresight. Foresight practitioners revealed specific actions taken by corporations in response to foresight outcomes. Actions included organizational changes, introduction of new products or product variations, new research and development projects, and inclusion of foresight project outputs such as reports, presentations, recommendations, in departmental plans. The findings suggested standardization of terminology for professional discourse, education, and practice, would benefit practitioners and corporations. Four tenets emerging from the themes were short-termism, corporate culture, implementation, and feedback loop; these tenets should guide future use of foresight in the context of for-profit corporations.