Published Works

Published Works and Public Scholarship

Scholarship Across Organizations, Economics, Work, and Human Systems

The published work of Shawn A. McCastle, Ph.D., spans management, organizational behavior, industrial-organizational psychology, economics, financial engineering, artificial intelligence, human capital, psychological contract breach, workplace loss, non-bereavement grief, leadership, marketing, and enterprise transformation.

This body of work includes books, doctoral and graduate research, scholarly manuscripts, technical reports, conceptual frameworks, executive research reports, professional essays, presentations, and public scholarship.

The publications are organized below by type and intellectual contribution. Publication on ResearchGate, LinkedIn, Medium, or another public platform does not, by itself, indicate peer review. Each work is identified according to the form in which it was published or publicly distributed.

Books and Book Chapters

McCastle, S. A. (2008). Day 5: Hebrews 7:8. In G. A. Witherspoon (Ed.), Imagine: 40 days of prayer. Miracle Place Church.

McCastle, S. A. (2022). The vaxxed: Culture war in the workplace. McCastle Press.

McCastle, S. A. (2023). Pathways to success: Mastering online learning at the University of the People. McCastle Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369754398_Pathways_to_Success_-_Mastering_Online_Learning_at_the_University_of_the_People

Contribution

These works reflect three distinct stages in Dr. McCastle’s intellectual development: theological reflection, organizational analysis of workplace conflict during the COVID-19 period, and applied educational guidance for students participating in online higher education.

Pathways to Success was published by McCastle Press as a first-edition electronic book and carries ISBN 979-8-9856957-4-8.

Doctoral Dissertation and Graduate Research

McCastle, S. A. (2014). Deploying executive coaching to facilitate positive change for metropolitan areas experiencing degradation [Master’s project, University of Phoenix].

McCastle, S. A. (2021). The robots are here 1.0: Value chain efficiency for human resources [Master of Business Administration capstone project, University of the People]. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11974.14405

McCastle, S. A. (2022). The coadunate existence of psychological contract breach, non-death loss, and non-bereavement grief: Interview of the experiences of District of Columbia special police officers [Doctoral dissertation, LIGS University]. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16028.36488

Contribution

The 2014 master’s project examined executive coaching as an instrument of metropolitan and organizational change.

The 2021 MBA capstone investigated how human-resource systems could prepare for robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence through value-chain analysis.

The 2022 doctoral dissertation established the foundation for Dr. McCastle’s continuing scholarship on psychological contract breach, non-death loss, non-bereavement grief, workplace identity, organizational trust, and the economic consequences of organizational disruption.

Foundational Research on Psychological Contracts, Workplace Loss, and Grief

McCastle, S. A., & Gumel, B. I. (2022). The dark side of psychological contracts. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17679.66725

McCastle, S. A. (2022). Psychological contract breach and non-death loss. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2023). The complaint-mourning misattribution: When confusing complaints with mourning hurts. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35840.30724

McCastle, S. A. (2023). Grief and loss in the workplace: Navigating the “move on” and “move forward” debate for non-bereavement grief. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32744.96001

McCastle, S. A. (2023). Understanding and addressing submerged and unsubmerged losses: A theoretical framework and a new approach to understanding loss. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.22791.68001

McCastle, S. A. (2023). Understanding submerged and unsubmerged loss: Impacts on individuals, communities, and society. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29714.73922

McCastle, S. A. (2024). Understanding organizational responses to grief: The six organizational focuses of loss and grief. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2024). The 13 dimensions of grief: Exploring the depths of non-death loss. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2024). Broken promises: The hidden cracks shattering workplace trust [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). The colors of lies at work: Deception, psychological contract breach, loss, and grief in organizational life [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). The workplace is full of grief we refuse to name [Opinion essay]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

This research stream develops a more precise language for losses that occur without death and for grief that appears outside conventional bereavement.

The work examines how employees respond when they lose trust, identity, status, role continuity, professional expectation, organizational belonging, or a future they believed the employment relationship would provide.

It also distinguishes complaints from mourning, visible losses from submerged losses, and ordinary dissatisfaction from the deeper consequences of psychological contract breach.

Breach Economics and Human-Capital Risk

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Breach economics: The McCastle organizational loss, labor repricing, and human-capital risk architecture [Executive research report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Ghost jobs, hiring intent distortion, and the 2026 labor-market signal gap [Research report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Long-term incentive plans under pressure: A psychohydrodynamic view of executive pay, market risk, and human consequence [Research report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

Breach Economics extends psychological contract scholarship into economics, finance, labor-market analysis, and enterprise risk.

The framework examines how broken, withdrawn, distorted, or contradicted organizational expectations alter the creation, valuation, allocation, and transfer of human-capital costs.

This research treats organizational breach not only as a relational or psychological event, but also as an economically identifiable shock capable of affecting labor behavior, productivity, retention, organizational health, risk exposure, and enterprise value.

The labor-market signal research extends this inquiry to ghost jobs, low-intent vacancies, stale postings, and distorted signals between employers and job seekers.

Enterprise Engineering, Leadership, and Organizational Assessment

McCastle, S. A. (2026). The CAVS model: A performance translation framework for leadership and organizational assessment [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Psychohydronomic financial engineering working paper: Foundational architecture for research, modeling, and doctrinal development [Working paper]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Fracture, drift, and belief collapse: A psychohydronomic study of non-stationarity and regime change in the 2008 to 2009 U.S. financial crisis [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

These publications support Dr. McCastle’s broader work in Quantitative Enterprise Engineering and enterprise-level diagnosis.

The CAVS Model—Capability, Adaptation, Value, and Stewardship—examines whether knowledge, skills, abilities, and other individual attributes are translated into competent, adaptive, valuable, and responsible performance.

Psychohydronomic Financial Engineering interprets financial and organizational systems as pressure-responsive value-flow systems. It connects market movement, institutional belief, uncertainty, human response, and financial consequences.

Together, these works advance an integrated approach to analyzing leadership, human capital, organizational systems, and financial risk.

Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Human Resources

McCastle, S. A. (2021). Human resources value chain efficiency: Mitigating disruption from artificial intelligence. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29279.74402

McCastle, S. A. (2021). The robots are here 1.0: Value chain efficiency for human resources. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11974.14405

Contribution

These publications examine artificial intelligence and automation as organizational and workforce transformations rather than as isolated technological developments.

The work considers human-resource readiness, value-chain efficiency, role redesign, employee displacement, organizational competitiveness, and the need to create productive relationships between human workers and intelligent systems.

This research became an early foundation for Dr. McCastle’s later position that AI adoption is enterprise redesign.

Internet of Things, Construction, and Digital Enterprise Systems

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Internet of Things in construction: A white paper for graduate and doctoral advancement [White paper]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). The jobsite has started speaking: Why construction IoT must become governance before it becomes automation [Opinion paper]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Stop calling it “just devices”: Construction’s IoT future will be won or lost in management, trust, and response [Opinion essay]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). Construction’s IoT winners will not sell devices: They will own the operating system of the jobsite [Executive opinion paper]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2026). The as-built is dead: The living asset record will decide construction’s next strategic winners [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

This body of work treats construction IoT as a connected enterprise-intelligence architecture rather than a collection of sensors and devices.

The publications examine governance, decision authority, worker trust, cybersecurity, digital twins, evidence continuity, organizational response, and the conversion of field-level signals into strategic and operational value.

The DEAR Model, Dignity, and Human Regard

McCastle, S. A. (2023). Hello D.E.A.R.: A scientific essay. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24464.48644

McCastle, S. A. (2024). Empowering the future: How DEAR principles transform modern workplaces [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The DEAR model: A unified field theory of human regard—Quantifying the physics of human worth [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

The DEAR Model organizes dignity, empathy, attitude, and respect into a framework for examining human regard in workplaces, institutions, policies, leadership decisions, and relationships.

The model developed from Dr. McCastle’s work on psychological contract breach, non-death loss, workplace grief, and organizational dignity.

Depth Science, Submergentism, and Human Adaptation

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The dark ecology of psychological contracts: Non-death grief, moral entropy, and the collapse of organizational trust [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The conservation of peace: Hydrodynamic laws of human adaptation in a fragmented world—A better today for a better tomorrow [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). Submergentism: The depth philosophy of loss, adaptation, and the conservation of human meaning [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The mathematics of motion: Hydrodynamic equations of loss, grief, and reconstitution in depth science. SSRN Electronic Journal.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). Healing as recalibrated flow: The hydrodynamic science of grief, loss, and reconstitution in depth science [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The descent toward depth: The origin and necessity of depth science and the hydrodynamic philosophy of living systems [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2025). The great stillness: Reclaiming motion in grief research through depth science and the hydrodynamic paradigm [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

Depth Science and Submergentism extend Dr. McCastle’s scholarship beyond static and stage-based accounts of loss.

These works describe grief, adaptation, meaning, pressure, movement, restoration, and reconstitution as dynamic processes. Hydrodynamic language and mathematical architecture are used to explain how individuals and systems respond when stability, identity, expectation, or meaning is displaced.

Marketing, Consumer Behavior, and Business Analysis

McCastle, S. A. (2023). The role of comparative pricing, consumer behavior, and communication in expanding market share. ResearchGate.

McCastle, S. A. (2024). The persistent manipulation of Black consumer behavior: From exploitation to marginalization [Technical report]. ResearchGate.

Contribution

These publications examine pricing, consumer perception, marketing communication, behavioral influence, market expansion, exploitation, and the historical use of consumer research in the economic marginalization of Black consumers.

Theory Development and Moral-Psychological Frameworks

McCastle, S. A. (2026). McCastle’s conscience capture theory: A theory of moral exploitation, virtue leverage, and forced moral equalization. ResearchGate.

Contribution

Conscience Capture Theory explains how harmful actors may use the harmed person’s morality, kindness, loyalty, forgiveness, or self-concept as leverage against accountability.

The theory extends Dr. McCastle’s work on organizational breach, dignity, moral pressure, power, and the psychological consequences of institutional relationships.

Research and Academic Presentations

McCastle, S. A. (2022). Operant conditioning [Presentation]. Gwinnett Technical College.

McCastle, S. A. (2023). The coadunate existence of psychological contract breach, non-death loss, and non-bereavement grief [Doctoral dissertation presentation]. ResearchGate.

Theological and Philosophical Work

McCastle, S. A. (2020). The postponed kingdom. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27912.49921

Contribution

This work examines theological expectation, postponement, interpretation, faith, and the relationship between spiritual belief and lived human experience.

Selected LinkedIn Articles and The Business Brain

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 14). Psychological contract breach and non-death loss in the workplace. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/psychological-contract-breach-non-death-loss-mccastle-mba-msiop

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 19). Mining business uncertainty for 2023. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mining-business-uncertainty-2023-shawn-mccastle-mba-msiop

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 23). Managing the consequences of employees quitting without notice. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/managing-consequences-employees-quitting-without-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 25). Creating a culture of collaboration and excellence: Insights from the employer-employee relationship—The 2022 Christmas edition. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/creating-culture-collaboration-excellence-insights-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 26). Turning around distressed businesses: The importance of sales planning and strategy, talent management, and procedural systems and reporting. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/turning-around-distressed-businesses-importance-sales-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2023, January 2). The robots are here 1.0: Reformulated and reloaded, with analysis and seven recommendations. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/robots-here-10-reformulated-reloaded-analysis-7-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2023, January 4). Executive coaching in industrial-organizational psychology: A multifaceted approach to solving business problems with six recommendations. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/executive-coaching-industrial-organizational-approach-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2023, January 15). The importance of considering multiple explanations for accurate business predictions, with eight recommendations and a focus on small businesses. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-considering-multiple-explanations-accurate-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2023, January 29). The deceptive nature of survivor-island-style workplace orientations: Risks and consequences. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deceptive-nature-survivor-island-style-workplace-shawn

McCastle, S. A. (2023, March 27). Introduction to submerged and unsubmerged loss. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/introduction-submerged-unsubmerged-loss-mccastle-phd-mba-msiop

McCastle, S. A. (2024, August 27). Beautiful lies: Navigating the dangerous truths of workplace deception. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beautiful-lies-navigating-dangerous-truths-workplace-shawn-t0xkc

McCastle, S. A. (2025, October 3). The DEAR model: Dignity, empathy, attitude, respect. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dear-model-dignity-empathy-attitude-respect-shawn-xefef

McCastle, S. A. (2026, March 25). The workplace is the world’s largest school, and too many of its lessons are harmful. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/workplace-worlds-largest-school-too-many-its-lessons-shawn-b43ie

McCastle, S. A. (2026, March 28). You’re not burned out: You’re mourning what work took from you. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/youre-burned-out-mourning-what-work-took-from-you-shawn-nhbge

McCastle, S. A. (2026, May 8). The 2026 résumé is no longer a record of work: It is a proof system. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2026-r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9-longer-record-work-proof-system-shawn-birce

McCastle, S. A. (2026, June 5). The hidden grief of work: Why employees mourn jobs they still have. LinkedIn.

McCastle, S. A. (2026, July 11). Grief-adjusted productivity: What leaders miss when loss enters the workplace. LinkedIn.

McCastle, S. A. (2026, July 12). No degree can make you grief-proof. LinkedIn.

Contribution

The Business Brain and Dr. McCastle’s LinkedIn essays translate complex research into accessible analysis for executives, professionals, educators, and public audiences.

These articles address leadership, workplace trust, organizational grief, artificial intelligence, professional identity, hiring, management, career development, organizational power, and enterprise transformation.

Selected Medium Essays

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 21). Exerting positive influence in the workplace: The role of emotion reciprocity and negative reactivity. Medium. https://medium.com/@shawnmccastle/exerting-positive-influence-in-the-workplace-the-role-of-emotion-reciprocity-and-negative-e91f4fbe7c6d

McCastle, S. A. (2022, December 21). Attracting and retaining talent in 2023. Medium. https://medium.com/@shawnmccastle/attracting-and-retaining-talent-in-2023-54047353cc04

Primary Research Themes

Dr. McCastle’s published work can be understood through seven connected areas:

Enterprise Systems and Organizational Performance

Quantitative Enterprise Engineering, leadership assessment, governance, decision architecture, transformation, value creation, value leakage, and organizational risk.

Breach Economics and Human-Capital Risk

Organizational breach, labor repricing, broken expectations, productivity, retention, trust, institutional knowledge, restoration, and enterprise value.

Psychological Contracts and Workplace Trust

Unwritten obligations, perceived promises, fairness, employer-employee reciprocity, breach, violation, organizational commitment, and leadership credibility.

Workplace Loss and Non-Bereavement Grief

Non-death loss, submerged and unsubmerged loss, professional identity, organizational grief, mourning, restructuring trauma, and the human economics of change.

Artificial Intelligence and Technological Transformation

Human-resource value chains, robotics, automation, workforce readiness, AI governance, technology adoption, and enterprise redesign.

Financial Engineering and Economic Systems

Market pressure, regime change, financial risk, human consequences, labor signals, executive incentives, and pressure-responsive value systems.

Leadership, Dignity, and Human Regard

The DEAR Model, emotional reciprocity, ethical influence, organizational power, conscience capture, leadership judgment, and the treatment of people within institutional systems.

Research Profiles and Publication Platforms

Dr. McCastle’s research, professional essays, and public scholarship may be found through the following platforms:

ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shawn-Mccastle

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/smccastle

Medium
https://medium.com/@shawnmccastle

The Business Brain
Published through LinkedIn and related public-scholarship channels.

Citation and Classification Note

This bibliography follows APA 7th-edition conventions to the extent permitted by the publicly available publication records.

Books, dissertations, graduate projects, scholarly manuscripts, technical reports, presentations, working papers, and public-facing essays are classified separately so that readers can distinguish the nature and evidentiary status of each work.

Repository publication, DOI registration, or public availability does not necessarily indicate that a work has undergone external peer review. Where journal, conference, editorial, institutional, or peer-review information has not been independently verified, the work is identified by its documented publication form and hosting platform.