Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Strengths In Action: Implementing A Learning Organization Model In A Human Service Setting, Barbara Ann Whitbeck

Dissertations and Theses

Although learning organization theory evolved in corporate settings, literature suggests that the theory has much to offer human service organizations. This dissertation examines the implementation of a modified learning organization model in three small field offices of a publicly-funded vocational rehabilitation organization in the Pacific Northwest, at a time when the organization was negotiating financial cutbacks and organizational changes. The model - known as Strengths in Action - was based on Senge's five learning organization disciplines, and informed by organizational culture theory. In each participating office, all staff worked together to set a goal, make a plan, and achieve the …

From Academics To Change Agents In A Gender Equity Initiative, Sonia M. Galtz, Patty Sotirin

Organization Management Journal

Firsthand experience offers a valuable perspective on the lived complications of change initiatives. We describe how we suddenly found ourselves in charge of a university-wide gender equity initiative. Despite our experience with campus issues of gender bias and larger discussions about implicit bias, we were unprepared for the personal, community, and institutional implications of taking on such a widespread and very visible initiative. We reflect on the complexities of our struggles to reframe our own assumptions, to engage with the campus community, to respond to multiform resistances, and to ensure institutional accountability. Our reflections have implications both for equity initiatives …

A Correlational Analysis Of Empowerment And Experience With Resistance To Change, Rita Elizabeth Burgess

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite more than 60 years of research about the nature of change, resistance to change remains a problem across industries. Health care leaders have limited knowledge of how health care managers' perceptions of empowerment, years of experience, and resistance to change (RTC) relate. The purpose for this nonexperimental correlational study was to examine the relationship between empowerment, years of experience, and RTC among managers via an online survey. The theoretical framework incorporated Kanter's structural empowerment theory and Kotter's change theory. The sample included 245 out of 1,181 health care managers from Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals in the New York metropolitan …

The Influence Of The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People During A Merger Of A Fire Department And Emergency Medical Services In A Midwestern State : A Single Case Study From 2007 To 2013, Lisa Barnes Greco

Dissertations

Problem. Organizational mergers are difficult and often chaotic at best, fraught with unknowns that can derail the best of plans. In this study, two cultures, fire suppression and emergency medical services, were brought together in order to create a stronger fire department by consolidating resources and knowledge and to appease an ever-tightening municipal budget. How to save the best practices from each side and create a new culture was the conundrum the leadership team faced.

The purpose of this study was to understand how Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People influenced the change dynamics experienced during the …