The foundation for the NRC study of leadership during the financial crisis began several years ago. Below is a summary of the events leading to the study.

2007

·         Dr. Richard S. Schuttler began work on the Laws of Communication: The intersection where leadership meets employee performance. The book's content focused on a stoplight metaphor to categorize organizational communication into red, yellow, and green performance zones.

2008

·        In collaboration with Schuttler, Dr. Ruby A. Rouse developed the Supervisor Communication Inventory (SCI).

·        Two tests of the SCI were conducted. The first study used a statewide sample of senior healthcare leaders in Indiana; the second examined interacting employees and supervisors at a large California hospital.

·         Two independent subject matter expert panels analyzed the validity of the SCI. Results indicated the instrument measured two constructs: supervisor leadership and communication. As a result, the instrument was renamed the Supervisor Leadership and Communication Inventory (SLCI).

·        Rouse and Schuttler submitted a faculty research proposal to the University of Phoenix’s National Research Center (NRC), suggesting the SLCI should be used to evaluate leadership during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

2009

·        Schuttler’s book, the Laws of Communication, was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

·        Rouse and Schuttler received a NRC faculty research grant for 2009.

·         In June 2009, data collection for the study began.

·         In alignment with the University of Phoenix’s School of Advanced Studies, Rouse and Schuttler develop a Scholar-Practitioner-Leader (SPL) website to allow interested researchers to participate ethnographically in a doctoral research process.