Digital Commons Network^™

Change Leadership In Organizations: The Case Of Singapore's Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay, Benjamin Loh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The essay is based on a survey of organizational change management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore which was conducted by the authors between 1999 - 2001 in collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI). The study was aimed at examining the adaptability and change readiness of Singapore’s SMEs and their owners vis-à-vis the rapidly changing external business environment, as exemplified by the process of economic globalization, intense competition, technology development and the Asian crisis. A total of 101 companies responded to the survey which revealed some surprising facts about the adaptability and …

The Effects Of Administrative Factors On Police Officer Job Performance, Irick Anthony Geary Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The topic of police management and its effect on officer arrest rates is an important issue that has not received the level of attention it deserves. There is an abundance of available training and a push for better trained police executives. In the present study the relationship between police administrative factors and officer arrest rates are addressed using data from a national probability sample of police departments.

The study uses ordinary least squares regression to analyze the independent relationship between police administrative factors, as measured by the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, and officer arrest rates, as measured by …

Das Wirtschaftsimperium Der Ethnisch Chinesischen Unternehmer In Südostasien Zwischen Kontinuität Und Wandel (In German), Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit den wenig erforschten, komplexen Wechselwirkungen zwischen der rapide voranschreitenden globalen Marktvergesellschaftung einerseits sowie den Marktkulturen in Südostasien, in denen ethnischchinesische Unternehmer, Geschäftsleute und Händler mit ihren Familienkonglomeraten und Handelsnetzwerken eine prominente Rolle spielen. Ausgehend von der Asienkrise 1997-99, die eine deutliche Zäsur für ethnisch-chinesisches Wirtschaftshandeln in der Region darstellt, werden die Auswirkungen der rapiden Wandlungsprozesse auf das ethnisch-chinesische Unternehmertum in der Region und deren sozio-ökonomische Beziehungsnetzwerke skizziert sowie unternehmerische Anpassungsstrategien aufgezeigt. Der Beitrag schliesst mit einer kurzen Prognose über die Zukunft des chinesischen Kapitalismus in Asien.

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction Of Repatriated Managers, Michael A. Duoto Edd

Dissertations

Turnover due to repatriation is an increasingly costly occurrence for multinational corporations. Understanding why repatriates decide to leave their companies upon being called back from abroad may help to devise ways in which organizations can mitigate such turnover and reduce cost in hiring and training new personnel. To that end, this study examines the impact of training and orientation programs on the job satisfaction of repatriated managers. In general the study looks at whether or not training, orientation, and family support programs have an impact on the job satisfaction of repatriated managers. The study puts forward the hypothesis that training …

Perception And Reality: An Empirical Assessment Of Navy Leadership Styles And Business Process Reengineering Outcomes, Andre D. Murphy Edd

Dissertations

Seeking to improve mission readiness and organizational effectiveness while reducing expenditures, the Department of the Navy (DoN) eliminated and reconstructed many of its business practices. Reconstruction of the military's business practices was accomplished through business process reengineering (BPR). Business process reengineering is a change strategy that provides organizations the opportunity to do “more with less.” Although doing more with less is not a new concept in military settings, the organizational change construct of business process reengineering is new. Most organizations in the private sector that attempt reengineering do not attain their intended results; the literature reveals that 50–70% of organizations …

Organizational Climate And Commitment: A Case Study Of An Urban Nonprofit Organization, William Sawyer Grant

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This qualitative study investigates the relationship between the two constructs: Organizational Climate and Organizational Commitment.

Litwin and Stringer (1968) suggested that a molar model is needed to explain employee behavior and motivation. Climate was proposed as this molar construct. Research concerning Organizational Climate resulted in multiple definitions and little consensus concerning the number and use of multiple dimensions of this construct. The almost exclusive use of survey methods coupled with methodological confusion with Organizational Culture created difficulty with the use of this important construct.

Organizational Commitment research resulted in a number of competing definitions. Research by Meyer and Allen (1997) …

Space And Organizations: The Ecology Of Rural Ngos In San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Patricia Marie Campion

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The field of organizational ecology has been reduced to studies of population dynamics. Ecology, however, is a much broader field, that includes relational, spatial, and temporal dimensions. It allows us to combine existing theories of organizations to study their distribution across space. I combine insights from the new institutionalism, population ecology, and resource-dependence theory, to investigate the factors that influence the location of NGO activities in the state of San Luis Potosí­, Mexico. I conducted interviews and participant observation in 51 rural NGOs. The uneven distribution of NGOs in the state is not the result of their strategy to reach …

Visionary Leadership: The Importance In The Public Sector From The Perspective Of City Managers, Nancy L. Quarles

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to apply Sashkin’s Visionary Leadership model to City Managers, with an emphasis on how the city manager puts the vision into action in local government. There is much talk that government leaders need to have a vision so that their organization will work more efficiently and effectively. More government agencies should seek to instill visionary leadership, much as a growing number of businesses have done. The City Manager must cope with sweeping changes in city government that have resulted from rapid growth, elected officials’ expectations, new technology, unions, citizen demands, and the need …

Value For Diversity: An Investigation Of Diversity Climate, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, And Intent To Leave, Quionna Caldwell

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research examined the relationships of diversity climate via organizational fairness and organizational inclusion (Mor Barak et al., 1998) and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. Further, personal value for diversity was investigated as a moderator of those relationships. The participants included 202 African American women affiliated with a national sorority. The mean age and years of experience was 29.62 and 4.33, respectively. Data were collected electronically using an Internet site hosting the survey questions. The present study provides evidence that diversity climate positively affects job satisfaction and affective commitment, and negatively affects intent to leave. In addition, …

Constraints, Compromises And Choice: Comparing Three Qualitative Research Studies, Julia Connell, Colin Lynch, Peter Waring

The Qualitative Report

Although a number of texts explore social research strategies and methods, most are limited to a basic discussion of such methods and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Few if any, evaluate and compare methods in the context of actual research experiences. This paper endeavours to bridge that gap by reporting the experiences of three researchers working on three separate qualitative studies. All three studies were concerned with investigating the social milieu within organizations. While the research questions were different in each case, all the researchers shared a common goal - to develop explanations for complex social phenomena manifest both internally …

Building A Typology Of Self-Renewal: Reflection Upon-Life Story Research, Izhar Oplatka

The Qualitative Report

The current paper provides a researcher's account of the life-story method used in a study which aimed to identify patterns of the self-renewal process among women school principals in mid-career. The subjects of this study were 25 elementary school women principals aged between 43 and 52 in Israel. The paper outlines the practical aspects of the life-story method and contributes to our understanding of the consecutive pragmatic ways to implement a life-story method aimed to explore and develop a typology of a yet unknown phenomenon. Further, the ethical implications of doing life-story interview are discussed and presented.

Modeling And Analysis Of Social Networks, Robert S. Renfro Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops new methods for the modeling and analysis of social networks. Social networks describe the complex relationships of individuals and groups in multiple overlapping contexts. Influence in a social network impacts behavior and decision making in every setting in which individuals participate. This study defines a methodology for modeling and analyzing this complex behavior using a Flow-Model representation. Multiple objectives in an influencing effort targeted at a social network are modeled using Goal Programming. Value Focused Thinking is applied to model influence and predict decisions based on the reaction of the psychological state of individuals to environmental stimuli. …

Do Teacher Opinion Leaders Impact Other Teachers, Annette Eyman

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were identified opinion leaders among teachers and how those opinion leaders may have influenced teachers’ acceptance levels of the standards and assessment implementation for the language arts curriculum. Three phases of research were conducted. Twenty-four secondary language arts teachers and 109 elementary classroom teachers in the Papillion-LaVista School District were first surveyed to determine their level of acceptance of the standards and assessments for language arts. Each of the respondents was then asked to identify the opinion leaders, or those they turn to and trust regarding the standards and assessment …

A Passion For Ideas: How Innovators Create The New And Shape Our World, Heinrich V. Pierer, Bolko V. Oetinger

Purdue University Press Books

Business and industry leaders are eager to find ways to spark the creative instinct in their work forces. This newly translated work examines the multi-layered environment of innovation by melding the thoughts of business management pundits like Peter Senge with the views of artist, politicians, and other non-traditional thinkers like Tao Ho, Peter Greenaway, and Wolfgang Rihm.

Zen And The Art Of Stacks Maintenance: Rethinking An Ancient Practice, Margo Smith, Melissa Laning

The Southeastern Librarian

The University of Louisville Libraries’ 2000-2001 Strategic Plan includes specific objectives related to improving the delivery of materials to users. This broad objective covers many strategies ranging from increasing electronic access, improving web page design, using vendor-supplied cataloging records and reallocating funds to high demand subject areas. Undergraduate user demand for monographs remains high. Therefore, reducing the number of days required to shelve new acquisitions and to re-shelve circulated items is an important objective for the library. Leo Egghe notes that, “Shelving and keeping library shelves in order is very important and is basic for the use of a library.” …

The Southeastern Librarian V. 49, No. 3 & 4 (Fall/Winter 2001) Complete Issue

The Southeastern Librarian

Complete issue of The Southeastern Librarian, volume 49, No. 3 & 4 (Fall/Winter 2001).

The Boundary-Spanning Role Of A Cooperative Support Organization: Managing The Paradox Of Stability And Change In Non-Traditional Organizations, Lynn M. Harter, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This project provides an interpretation of how one cooperative support organization, the Nebraska Cooperative Council, discursively functions to help its constituent cooperatives consolidate resources in order to better intersect with organizations in a larger bureaucratic system. In analyzing qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, surveys, and organizational documents, we found the paradox of stability and change a revealing prism through which to make sense of participants’ experiences. We work toward locating and describing how the Council, through its boundary-spanning activities, helps cooperatives manage the paradox of stability and change while protecting their core participatory ideologies. By providing networks of learning, …

Recent Dissertations On Service And Service-Learning Topics: Volume Ii, Robert D. Shumer, Ann Treacy

Bibliographies

This is the second edition of the Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse review of dissertations on service, service-learning, and related topics. In the first edition we identified approximately 110 studies, limiting the search to studies conducted from 1990 to the present. In this volume we provide information and abstracts on more than 200 studies- and expand the time they were produced to periods prior to 1990. Some date as early as the 1970s.

The goals for doing this literature review are many. First, we want to continue to dispel the notion (as mentioned in the first version) that …

Nurses, Pharmacists, And Information Technology In Public Healthcare, Larry Allen Malato

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to explore the healthcare professional’s experience during the implementation of information technology. The focus is on the implementation of a computerized medication ordering, dispensing, and tracking system in acute care departments of a 600- bed public hospital. Spradley’s qualitative, ethnographic research methods were used to discover the personal meaning of the implementation. How do pharmacists and nurses feel about the implementation of an advanced technology system? Are there any barriers to implementation? Findings suggest a resistance to implementation by professionals in the disciplines of Pharmacy and Nursing. Resistance is based on their perceptions of …

Leadership In The Continuous Improvement Process, Jim L. Kline

Theses and Graduate Projects

Companies are formed for many reasons, but without profitability, they will not survive. Therefore, it remains the focus of the company's employees to maintain profitability. New ideas and improvements must be implemented continuously for the company to maintain and increase their profitability.

The employees responsible for continuously implementing these new ideas and improvements will significantly contribute to the success of the company and its profitability. The key to their success is the use of positive leadership and a continuous improvement process. This study presents two theories that support this claim: Masaaki lmai's continuous improvement process, and James MacGregor Burns' theory …

Alternative Corporate Governance Systems In Japanese Firms: Implications For A Shift To Stockholder-Centered Corporate Governance, Toru Yoshikawa, Phillip H. Phan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In Asia, the recent catastrophic decline in regional stock markets, continuing currency crisis and failures of major financial institutions and industrial corporations have increased domestic and international interest in corporate governance. Nowhere is this greater than in Japan where financial institution reform has catapulted this to the fore. Agency theory and institutional theory, together with comparative case examples, are used in a study to derive some propositions on the dynamics of changing corporate governance systems in Japanese firms. The study argues for the co-existence of stakeholder and shareholder-centered corporate governance systems in Japan. This argument has an important implication for …

Intercultural Interaction Of Russian-American Space Crews, Suzan Kiesel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

NASA has recently directed the United States into the largest global partnership in U.S. history — the development of an International Space Station. In order to collaborate successfully in this unique setting, participants must develop a strong sense of teamwork, camaraderie, and partnership. Previous research indicates a variety of factors, such as differences in cultural background and environmental factors, that may affect the ability to develop these successful relationships. This study analyzes cultural variance and disclosure dynamics between Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts.

Trends. Basque Frustration: The Tool Of Suicide As Homicide, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the lack of significant suicidal behavior on the part of the Basque separatist organizations, and the impact of that lack.

The Effects Of Reengineering On Hospital Performance Indicators, Linda Rutgers Albery

Dissertations

Reengineering was a management tactic designed to reduce costs and increase efficiencies in the work place. Although many hospitals reported reengineering efforts were a priority during the latter part of the 1990s, little research has been done to determine the effects of reengineering on cost and quality performance indicators.

This research studied a large regional medical center located in southwest Michigan, which implemented patient-focused care redesign. Within this medical center, ten separate and distinct patient care departments were studied over a 5-year period. These departments included critical care, medical, surgical, obstetric and pediatric areas. During the first year o f …

Blinded By Vision, Craig A. Dowd

Theses and Graduate Projects

Conventional wisdom states vision is a requirement of husiness leadership, but the husiness community suffers from confusion and inconsistent application of the concept. A critical analysis of the concept reveals its popularity is based on rhetoric rather than a clear conceptualization of the term. (The term's literal meaning is the "experience of seeing God".) Without an academically useful definition, "vision" collapses under the weight of disparate and conflicting ideas. This thesis proposes that the problems with "vision" may be resolved by discarding the term completely and then separating the structure and function of leadership from the behavior of leaders and …

The Dynamic Tensions Of Service Learning In Higher Education: A Philosophical Perspective, Adrianna Kezar, Robert A. Rhoads

Higher Education

Senior faculty in a peace and justice program at a small liberal arts college reject the efforts of a student affairs professional to help the faculty connect their teaching to practice through service activities in the local community. One faculty member openly wonders how "out-of-class" activities such as community service have anything to do with interdisciplinary theories of social justice. A director of an office of community service is upset because the provost has decided to develop a Center for Community Service Learning. The director sees this as an attempt to usurp the good work of student affairs and feels …

Factors Affecting Exchange Relationships Among Subordinates And Supervisors: A Study Of Military Officers, Laurie K. Richter

Theses and Dissertations

This research examined the effect of organizational structure on the relationships between subordinates and their supervisors using measures of leader-member exchange (LMX), mentoring effectiveness, perceived organizational support (POS), perceived opportunities for promotion, job satisfaction, affective commitment, and intent to remain. The sample obtained included 147 subordinate Air Force traditional Civil Engineer officers, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers, Bioenvironmental Engineer officers, and 27 squadron commanders at 19 Air Force bases. The methods of multiple analysis of variance and structural equation modeling were used to evaluate five research questions and nineteen hypotheses. Overall, no differences were found between the types of subordinate …

Telling Transitions At The Table: Re-Served Seats Of Higher Learning?, Dorothy Lander

The Qualitative Report

This paper traces the transitions of first year students and other adults of the university as they partake in an intergenerational shared inquiry at a common table. My transformative research invites students, faculty, and staff to attend to (eat) and transform (digest) the moral and political encounters in successive becomings from their speaking positions at a common table. This dialogical partaking of words disrupts the market discourse of student as consumer and re-stories the university as a service organization where all organizational actors are consuming and being consumed. Eating together and telling transitions dissolve boundaries between service and knowledge, between …

An Exploratory Study Of Patient Satisfaction And Servant Leadership, Carol L. Watson Saunders

Theses and Graduate Projects

Servant Leadership is a theory of leadership in which the Servant Leader is motivated primarily by an intuitive desire to serve his/her followers. The leadership aspect is secondary. In this study, the concept of Servant Leadership was applied to the physician-patient relationship in a healthcare setting. The purpose of the research was to determine the satisfaction level of patients with their physicians. Questionnaires were mailed to one hundred randomly selected patients at a large mid-western outpatient clinic. Following are several of the questions included in the questionnaire. On the average, how long do you have to wait to see your …

Investigating The Interplay Between Structure And Information And Communications Technology In The Real Estate Industry, Kevin Crowston, Steve Sawyer, Rolf Wigand

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reshaping many industries, often by reshaping how information is shared. Information intensive industries, by their nature, show the greatest impacts due to ICTs that enable information sharing and the bypassing of traditional information intermediaries. However, while the effects and uses of ICT are often associated with organizations (and industries), their use occurs at the individual level. In other words, it is changes to individual work related to the use of ICTs that reshape both organization and industry structures, and vice versa. To explore the relationships between individual uses of ICT and changes to organization …