Digital Commons Network^™

Disruptive Transformations In Health Care: Technological Innovation And The Acute Care General Hospital, D. Pulane Lucas

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in medical technology have altered the need for certain types of surgery to be performed in traditional inpatient hospital settings. Less invasive surgical procedures allow a growing number of medical treatments to take place on an outpatient basis. Hospitals face growing competition from ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The competitive threats posed by ASCs are important, given that inpatient surgery has been the cornerstone of hospital services for over a century. Additional research is needed to understand how surgical volume shifts between and within acute care general hospitals (ACGHs) and ASCs. This study investigates how medical technology within the hospital …

Actualizing Organizational Core Values: Putting Theory Into Practice, George J. Byrtek, Mark Dickerson

Faculty Publications - George Fox Digital

The literature on organizational culture and leading by shared values suggests a prescriptive model for use by leaders in actualizing stated organizational core values. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, this study sought to examine the efficacy of this theoretical model in representing actual efforts by practitioners to embed diversity as a new organizational core value. Leadership actions to embed and actualize diversity as an institutional core value at two private universities were examined and compared. Findings suggest the theoretical model inadequately addresses the critical role of contextual assessment and under represents the dynamic cyclical nature of value embedding and …

The Moderating Effects Of Environmental Dynamism On The Relationship Between Dynamic Capabilities Strategy And New Venture Performance In An Emerging Market, Ilan Alon, Hao Jiao, Koo Chun Kwong, Yu Cui

Faculty Publications

Building from resource-based view, this study developed a model of the dynamic capabilities strategy in an emerging market, especially with a particular focus on the new ventures. We generated hypotheses based on this framework, linking them with new venture performance, with the moderation role of environmental dynamism. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of new ventures in the context of China's Yangtze River Delta Region. Empirical results showed that environmental sensing capability and changing and renewal capability had significant impacts on new venture performance. Additionally, environmental sensing capability, and changing and renewal capability both had a stronger impact on …

Lean Principles:: Can Proven Manufacturing Techniques Benefit An Information Technology Organization?, Erik D. Kim

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The benefits of Lean Principles have been reaped in manufacturing for many years and have been seen recently in other verticals. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature exposed that within the information technology field, Lean Principles remains relatively unknown or used. As corporate senior management seek to save costs, information technology needs to provide clear and concise guidance on how to maximize production efficiencies while minimizing costs. If a company cannot leverage information technology properly, staffing and budget cuts are likely. This paper discusses the potential benefits for information technology organizations to utilize Lean Principles. A case study revealed …

Leadership For Change: Insights Gleaned From One District’S Implementation Of An Educational Innovation, Crystal V. Shelby-Caffey Ph.D., Ronald A. Caffey Ph.D.

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The research reported here is extracted from a larger study aimed at describing the challenges and barriers to implementing the two way immersion (TWI) program at Stark Elementary School (a pseudonym). While Stark’s TWI program is used as the backdrop for the current discussion the perspective taken here is to examine the actions (and lack of action in some instances) of Stark’s administrators and describe how those actions impacted other stakeholders and led to challenges during the implementation process. The findings illuminate the need for leaders to gain support for proposed changes while maintaining dialogue with stakeholders and developing other …

Reforming Legal Education To Prepare Law Students Optimally For Real-World Practice, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

This article synthesizes major points in the October 2012 symposium of the University of Missouri School of Law Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, entitled "Overcoming Barriers in Preparing Law Students for Real-World Practice." There is a growing consensus that American law schools need to do a better job of preparing students to practice law. Teaching students to think like a lawyer is still necessary but it is not sufficient for students to act like a lawyer soon after they graduate.

Climatequal® And Thinklets: Using Climatequal® With Group Support Systems To Facilitate Discussion And Set Priorities For Organizational Change At Criss Library, Audrey Defrank, Nora Hillyer

Criss Library Faculty Publications

Objective – This article discusses a series of actions taken by the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to implement organizational change, using the ClimateQUAL® survey and facilitated discussions with ThinkTank™ group decision software. The library had experienced significant changes over a five-year period, with a renovation of the facility and three reorganizations resulting in a 50% staff turnover. Recognizing the strain that years of construction and personnel changes had placed on the organization, there was a desire to uncover the mood of the employees and reveal the issues behind low morale, uneasiness, and fear.

Methods – …

Best Practices In Integrating Acquisitions, Suzanne Dickinson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined six people-integration best practices during mergers and acquisitions (M&As): cultural due diligence, cultural integration, integration planning, integration managers and teams, communication practices, and leadership support. Interviews were conducted with 12 individuals who played key roles in M&As. The study findings supported the use of all the best practices with the exception of cultural due diligence and integration managers. Recommendations of this study are to perform cultural exploration, implement the best practices validated by the study, and hold leaders accountable for supporting the M&A effort. Recommendations for research include examining the impact of external factors on M&A success …

Community Opinion And Satisfaction With The Leadership At An Urban Community Educational Learning Center During An Organizational Transformational Process: A Frontline Perspective From Community Stakeholders, Joseph Lee Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined selected community stakeholders' perception of the current leadership at their local community educational learning center during an organizational transformation and cultural change process. The transition from a community college to an educational learning center, mandated in 2006 by the Accredition Commission and agreed on by the Chancellor's office, was facilitated by a community college of another district. This process appeared to produce mixed reactions from various educational learning center constituency groups. During the transformational process, opinions how the institutional leadership addressed the task of developing a trusting and meaningful relationship with community stakeholders surfaced. Based on the …

Emotional Reactions To Organizational Change, Lorianne D. Mitchell

ETSU Faculty Works

Abstract is available to download.

Collaboration: Seeking An Organizational Model To Maximize Inter-Congregational Cooperation Within The North American Division Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Paul Campoli

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem. Current organizational structure within the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church appears to be relatively inefficient and allow for little or no collaborative efforts among Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) congregations within any given local ministry area. This situation encumbers the ministry effectiveness of local SDA churches. The redundancy present in the current organizational system, with large and often overlapping local conferences, results in substantial waste and inefficiency. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an alternative organizational model could foster greater levels of cooperation among neighboring SDA churches, and if such a change would correspond …

Founder Succession In Small Businesses, Mike Parkhurst

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first is to replicate and expand on previous studies by Rubenson and Gupta (1992, 1996) who introduced a contingency model for the initial succession of an organization. The second purpose is to verify that their model is applicable to organizations that are substantially smaller than the original 54 Fortune 1000 companies that were studied. The researcher used a qualitative research methodology to answer the following research questions. 1. Is the Contingency Model of the Initial Succession proposed by Rubenson and Gupta (1996) transferable to organizations of smaller size and lower revenues? 2. …

Change From The Inside Out In Tanzania: Investigating Change In A Nonprofit Organization In Bagamoyo, Tanzania, Through Participatory Action Research, Katherine N. Balk

Theses and Dissertations

All over the globe, nonprofit organizations aim to strengthen communities while struggling with the restraints of limited resources. This research study involved Participatory Action Research (PAR) to examine how to build internal capacity in one such organization in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. This study was a partnership between me (the academic researcher) and organizational members and stakeholders of the Baobab Home. Through interviews and meetings, the project focus involved creating written contracts. Over the course of five meetings, contracts were researched, policies and procedures were discussed, and formal contracts were created in Swahili. Findings include a discussion of the role of the …

A Descriptive Study Of The Key Leadership Characteristics Of Mid-Level Managers In The Business Divisions At A Federally Funded Research And Development Center (Ffrdc), Kevin Michael Caporicci

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership sets the tone and determines and shapes the organization. The more proficient individuals are in leadership and management skills, the more the organizations will thrive. Technical challenges have and will always be barriers, but competent leadership will always resolve those barriers. There are leaders of organizations who revel in success and those that perish in futility. What is the difference? Is it the organizational structure? Could it be luck? Throughout history there are individuals who have been praised for their leadership abilities. What can we learn from them? The purpose of this study was to determine the key leadership …

Positive Deviance During Organization Change: Researcher's Social Construction Of Expanded University Goals, Claire Euline Sutherland

Theses and Dissertations

Many universities have expanded from teaching only to include research goals, requiring shifts in organization behavior. An exploratory case study method was used to examine these dynamics among positive deviant researchers at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), the single case examined, from a social construction perspective. As a participant observer in the organization, the researcher engaged in marginality and its associated risks in studying UTech's transition from low to higher research outputs to answer the research questions - significant norms influencing positive deviancy patterns of the researchers and, their perceptions and experiences during transition. A qualitative case report and …

The Utility Of Diversity Training In The New Millennium: Does It Impact A Leader's Ability To Manage Differences And Create An Inclusive Work Environment?, Lisa Chanel Woodson

Theses and Dissertations

Although diversity training is an $8 billion industry, questions surrounding its utility and impact remain. To address the issue of diversity training effectiveness, the research project goes beyond reviewing workforce diversity as a measurement, and investigates whether diversity training impacts a leader's ability to manage differences and create an inclusive work environment. Data were collected from 44 individuals in leadership roles across multiple organizations in the United States. All participants completed a condensed Diversity Relationship Indicator TM assessment, as well as a 6 question interview protocol to gauge their experience with diversity training. The results of the research reflected the …

Identifying The Impact Of Leadership Practices On Organizational Agility, Alethea G. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods case study examined the impact of leadership on practices to organizational agility. Leaders and employees from three organizations (two universities, one financial institution) participated in surveys and interviews to generate data related to the organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles exhibited, the degree of agility in the organization, and the impact of organizational and personal leadership orientations and styles on organizational agility. Study findings suggested that leadership varies based on industry- and organization-specific demands, organizational agility can exist across industries and organization types, and that adopting a long-term focus and practicing agile leadership behaviors throughout the organization …

Change And Discomfort In Academia: How Far Should We Stretch In Our Readiness For Change?, Laurie A. Branch

Student Scholarship

Employee attitudes and their effect on successful implementation of organizational changes continue to engross researchers and practitioners alike. In this study, we investigated the significance and nature of discomfort as it affects readiness for change in business school settings. This choice of context is deliberate. There is a strong push for change in business schools to align with market needs and there are high levels of individual and collective efficacy. Our findings indicate discomfort as a mediator explains significantly more variation in readiness than is explained by perceived collective efficacy. Surprisingly, we found that some forms of discomfort such as …

Change And Discomfort In Academia: How Far Should We Stretch In Our Readiness For Change?, Laurie A. Branch

Student Scholarship

Employee attitudes and their effect on successful implementation of organizational changes continue to engross researchers and practitioners alike. In this study, we investigated the significance and nature of discomfort as it affects readiness for change in business school settings. This choice of context is deliberate. There is a strong push for change in business schools to align with market needs and there are high levels of individual and collective efficacy. Our findings indicate discomfort as a mediator explains significantly more variation in readiness than is explained by perceived collective efficacy. Surprisingly, we found that some forms of discomfort such as …

Measuring Normlessness In The Workplace: A Study Of Organizational Anomie In The Academic Setting, Tayo Glenn Switzer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation explores leadership and change by examining normlessness in the workplace through a multi-layered study of anomie theory, anomie research in the workplace, and organizational and business management theory. The research validates a quantitative survey designed to measure the level of normlessness experienced by workgroups within an organizational context. The survey reflects a set of six normative aspects that when disrupted produce organizational anomie—a state of normlessness that leads to an increase in worker resistance and a reduction in worker consent. The audience studied in this dissertation is associate professors at a large Midwestern research university. Data were gathered …

Towards A Comprehensive Model Of Sotl At A German University, Thanh-Thu Phan Tan

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is the underpinning element of the project “teach4TU” at the Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and coordinated by the Center of Excellence in Lower Saxon Higher Education (CELSHE). “teach4TU” aims at the university-wide enhancement of the quality of academic teaching and learning by offering multi-level trainings as well as funding innovative teaching projects. Central elements of “teach4TU” are traditional seminars, peer observation, peer and individual consultation, and team teaching. They all lead to a broad exchange on pedagogical topics, foster teaching collaborations, and set …

Re-Theorizing The “Structure–Agency” Relationship: Figurational Theory, Organizational Change And The Gaelic Athletic Association, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

Articles

This article illustrates how the figurational sociology associated with Norbert Elias provides an alternative theoretical framework for explaining the relationship between, ‘individualorganization- society’ and organizational change, and in so doing transverses what is conceived as a false dichotomy between structure and agency. Through an historical case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, the ‘individual-organization-society’ relationship is conceptualized as overlapping figurations and organizational change is explained as figurational dynamics—the shifting social interdependencies between the individuals and groups comprising an organization, between that organization and other organizations, between social groups on a higher level of integration and competition. In tandem …

Storytelling In Appreciative Inquiry, Joel Jeppson Richards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination of the role of story and storytelling within Appreciative Inquiry, a method of organizational change that orients around a consensus model building on individual and collective strengths instead of focusing on overcoming problems. Interviews with 12 Appreciative Inquiry practitioners were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed using a process of iterative coding consistent with a General Inductive method of qualitative research. Once consensus with a secondary coder was achieved, 6 themes emerged. The 6 emergent themes outlined general roles that story and storytelling plays in the Appreciative Inquiry process: relationship building, coauthoring a future, reframing narrative, narrative …

Faculty Members’ Perceptions Of Community College Centers For Teaching And Learning: A Qualitative Study, Sandra Ann Frey

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore faculty members’ perceptions of community college Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs); whose main purpose is to promote, facilitate, and honor excellence in teaching and learning through the support of full-time and adjunct faculty, at all career stages. A generic qualitative study with a grounded theory approach was conducted to understand faculty members’ perceptions and to develop recommendations for community college CTL directors, administrators, and faculty. Focus group interviews were conducted with groups of faculty at each of three Midwestern U.S. community colleges. Faculty were placed in one of three groups; frequent …

Planning For Emotional Labor And Secondary Traumatic Stress In Child Welfare Organizations, James C. Caringi, Hal A. Lawson, Mary Devlin

Journal of Family Strengths

This analysis provides an emergent framework that emphasizes a neglected component of both direct practice with families and organizational development. Human emotions, both beneficial (positive emotional labor) and harmful (negative emotional labor), have received short shrift in leadership development, supervision, direct practice preparation and supports, and workforce stabilization, and professionalization.

Significantly, a key indicator of negative emotional labor—secondary traumatic stress (STS)—often has been ignored and neglected, despite the fact that it may be endemic in the workforce. STS typically results from traumatic events in practice, but it also stems from workplace violence. Often undetected and untreated, STS is at least …

Moving Forward With Founders: Strategies For Change In Volunteer Organizations, Paula Rgers Huff, Sue Pleskac

Journal of Extension

Founder's Syndrome can create barriers to change in Extension programs. As a result, Extension staff have experienced challenges in effecting organizational change where Founders are present. 4-H Youth Development staff in Wisconsin applied a variety of strategies to move forward with 4-H programming, despite the influence of the Founders. Staff development has focused on three strategies with regard to Founders: Staff Awareness and Understanding, Training and Support, and Teaching Tools. A comprehensive educational approach that includes multiple strategies is likely to yield the most benefit to Extension staff dealing with Founder's Syndrome in volunteer organizations.

Organisational Culture In Public Institutions And Its Effect Over The Implementation Of Total Quality Management Process – Kosovo Case, Ilir Rexhepi, Ermira Qosja

UBT International Conference

Total Quality management (TQM) is a philosophy management method, the importance of which continuously has been growing after '90. There is relatively short time since Kosovo Public Institutions are practically doing their activity as a part of an independent Country, and as such day by day they are facing with different management challenges which continuously are becoming more rough and tough towards the EU integration process. Total Quality Management within Public Institutions, is leaded by the phase of establishment and implementation of Quality management Systems based on ISO 9001. In this process, through an deep empiric study in three Kosovo …

Individual Resistance To Change, Jeffrey C. Sandusky

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines individual resistance to change and concludes that it is a constantly evolving process with many contributing factors. Defining resistance to change is a challenge within its own right. To account for the actions involved in change resistance is an even more complex undertaking. In this research, resistance to change is examined and explained using the influences of goals, participation, leadership effectiveness, and communication. These factors are expressed as the composition of what makes an individual resist or accept a change. Each of the four elements of resistance to change are examined independently and then synthesized into a …

Dead Weight Or Change Catalysts? Long-Term Employees And Their Impact On Organizational Change Efforts, Sara M. Frasch

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

In today's world, organizational change is inevitable for organizations and for the employees who support and labor for that organization (Goodstein & Burke, 2005; Leana & Barry, 2000). How employees perceive initiated changes will impact if and when they adopt the change, and how they participate in the change. The role of long-tenured employees in organizational change efforts has not been studied sufficiently. The assumption that long-tenured employees resist change and have lower productivity (Auer, Berg & Coulibaly, 2004) is juxtaposed against the assertion in the literature that it is these long-term employees who move into change because they feel …

Co-Creating With Companies: A Design Led Process Of Learning, Alessandro Deserti, Francesca Rizzo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design emerged and spread at the beginning of the industrial era in a strongly industrial and product-oriented environment. Therefore it developed and consolidated around the notion of industrial product. Today, different voices are calling for a new role for design as a driver of innovation. Especially the notion of co-design, intended as the process of involving customers and end users in developing new products and services has been largely discussed as a source of competitive advantage and as a key element of innovation for companies. Co-design can help companies in generating new and alternative solutions that can satisfy the market …