Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Organizational change. Organizational sociology. Organizational learning'

In both academic and management literature it has been often stated that 70% of change efforts are not successful (Kotter, 1995; Smith, 2002). And while this failure rate may not be empirically tested, it points to a reality that most change efforts are not only difficult, but they are often unsuccessful (Hughes, 2011). When an organization undergoes a major organizational change process, the expected impacts include increased employee stress and overall productivity dips in the midst of the change (Dahl, 2011; Elrod II & Tippett, 2002). Measuring the impacts of change on employees and on organizational effectiveness during the change can add value and help increase the chances for change initiative success by allowing necessary adjustments and identifying and leveraging additional business improvement predictors along the way.

In this dissertation, I answer the question “What is the impact of going through a major organizational change on business outcomes and employee and organizational health?” My results suggest that an organization can transform the expected negative effects of a major change effort to positive effects by focusing on three things: 1) Improving employee mental health; 2) Increasing positive practices, including leadership’s impact on the organization; and 3) Improving employee involvement, communication, and teamwork. Finally, the results also show that improved employee mental health and improved positive practices are significantly related to improved business outcomes. Organizational change outcomes can be successfully informed by linking business outcomes with change impact measures.

Leaders are frequently required to lead change due to mergers, expansions into new markets, and new initiatives to enter global markets compounding the need for change leadership. Frequent change is more the rule rather than the exception. Change is more needed today yet a poor result from leading change can adversely impact a leader's influence. How does a leader know when to lead a change initiative or when to take the easier route and simply stay with the status quo?

An in depth study of what appeared to be a very risky and highly successful organizational change initiative was thought to possibly shed light on answering these difficult leadership questions. This inductive qualitative case study discovered a university that achieved a successful, sustainable organizational change. The leader overcame the organizational change odds of one-third to two-thirds of the outcomes are often unsuccessful (Beer & Nohria; Bibler; as cited in Gilley, Dixon, & Gilley, 2008). "The rate of failure to deliver sustainable change at times reaches 80–90%" (Cope as cited in Gilley, Dixon, & Gilley, 2008, p. 153).

The leader in the private university organization in the Midwest that led the successful organizational change was inspired by his personal vision. He did not lead change using a theoretical framework. He was successful in persuading the board to authorize implementation of his vision. The president established goals to lead the way for workers to help achieve the organizational change. He effectively communicated his vision and goals and met resistance due to the status quo. The president overcame the challenges of status quo, and the successful organizational change resulted in an effervescent campus environment with record breaking-fundraising. Regardless of the type or size of the major change, organizations that seek to make change may glean insights from this study of how leaders of one organization approached significant change.

We are emerging from a decade plagued with headlines of crises that tell the narrative of the cost of organizational culture. Evolving before our eyes, the world is acutely focused on the actions of individual leaders and the organizational cultures that have cultivated low-trust and high-fear environments, dysfunctional and failing organizational cultures. Drawing from research in organizational theory, moral philosophy, psychology and sociology, the study focuses on organizational cultures, the role of leadership in enabling healthy cultures. This exploratory, qualitative study utilizing the grounded theory approach addressed the question of how organizations are establishing and reinforcing acceptable ethical leadership behaviors and principles and the factors critical in the role of leadership as an enabler of ethical cultures. The research explores how these leadership behaviors are manifested, and what is the impact and potential consequences these leadership behaviors have on creating healthy organizational cultures. The framework for this exploratory study was to research the questions and assess the phenomena from multiple perspectives. A process of data triangulation was performed, including an evaluation of multiple forms of primary and secondary sources. An analysis of the convergence and disparities of the data patterns resulted in the emergence of the key factors informing the grounded theory. The study points to the importance of leaders as visible and reflective models of organizational culture, especially at the middle layer of the organization. The study points to some emergent themes and effective practices that organizations can utilize to build and frame their ethical leadership development programs and initiatives. These themes include that rules and policies alone, do not provide a sustainable framework for mitigating leadership behavior. Other themes include social learning tools as channels for reinforcement and peer support of ethical decision making practices, evaluation of multiple perspectives of a situation, framing guidance with a tone set through the middle layer of an organization, and implementing diverse activities with a cadence of frequent contact over time. Implications and recommendations for leadership development in the areas of organizational development and business ethics are outlined. Suggestions for future study include organizational reputation management, phenomena of sensationalism and global transparency.

This study examined the relationships between affective commitment to change (desire), normative commitment to change (obligation), and continuance commitment to change (cost), as predictors of behavioral support for change. Affective commitment to change and normative commitment to change both demonstrated curvilinear relationships with behavioral support. Continuance commitment to change did not. This study also used residualized relative importance analyses, techniques for a full decomposition of the variance in nonlinear regression models. The nonlinear models accounted for more of a change in variance than did the linear regression models. The discussion section includes a scatterplot diagram intended to bridge the gap between scholars and practitioners in that the figure illustrates a range of resistant to commitment behaviors that cause organizational change initiatives to fail. The conclusion provides recommendations for researchers regarding the inclusion of a nonlinear frame when designing organizational change studies, and recommendations for practitioners regarding the damage that compliance is responsible for in organizational change initiatives.

Keywords: commitment to change, resistance to change, organizational change

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the process of learning and organization development and change (ODC) in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar as impacted by a certificate program in organizational development. Decades of military rule, civil war, and limited access to high-quality health and education services led to the creation of over 200,000 community-based organizations and enterprises in Myanmar. One initiative to support development and change in these organizations was the Payap University-International Rescue Committee Certificate Program in Organizational Development that was offered to members of over 100 organizations in Southeast Myanmar and along the Thai-Myanmar border from 2014-2017.

One exemplary organization that had four members participate in the certificate program was selected for this study, and data were collected over a four-week period through interviews, observations, documents, and a focus group. The primary research question framing this study addressed how the process of learning and ODC occurred in this organization as impacted by the certificate program.

The following three categories emerged from the data analysis: learning from the certificate program, the process of learning and change, and evidence for change. These findings led to an understanding of the essence of the process of learning and change, first through the diffusion of learning in the organization as a driver of development and change, and then through an open-systems change model including its inputs, changes processes, and outputs. In addition to the certificate program as an input to development and change processes, this study showed the importance of political and economic changes, culture, and organization characteristics as antecedents to change. This research highlighted the centrality of social learning through role modeling in the diffusion of learning and demonstrated the importance of buy-in from the organization’s members as well as their perceived alignment of the change efforts with the needs or the organization.

This phenomenological study examined how 10 leaders from one government agency described their experience in an action learning process that focused on the open-ended question and no group dialogue and how this experience resulted in transformational leadership behaviors. This study used Mezirow's (1991) transformative learning theory, transformational leadership theories (Bass, 1985; Kets de Vries, 1994; Sashkin, 1988; Yukl, 2010; Burns, 1978; Kouzes & Posner, 1987; Tichy & Devanna, 1986), and a modified action learning process modeled after Marquardt's (2004) framework as the context for the study. A phenomenological approach of interviews (Moustakas, 1994) was used to understand the participants' experience. The interviews were coded and analyzed using Atlas.ti analytic software. Two coresearchers coded and confirmed the findings.

The action learning process of open-ended questions and no group dialogue allowed each participant to present challenges and to hear different perspectives in the form of questions. The study revealed 12 findings in three broad areas. The action learning process findings revealed that organizational, individual, and program context created the conditions and influenced the degree to which participants experienced transformative learning; The learning findings revealed that all participants learned from the different perspectives; however, not all participants experienced transformative learning. The leadership findings indicated that participants who experienced all or some of the elements of transformative learning developed transformational leadership behaviors.

This study contributes to both theory and practice. First, it identifies the role of open-ended questions accompanied by limited dialogue in creating the conditions for self-awareness and transformative learning. Second, the study provides practical information on how to foster transformational leadership development and create interacting networks within an organization as a way to address leadership challenges through diverse perspectives. Third, this study highlights the use of peer-to-peer learning in fostering learning and leadership. Finally, it provides the basis for developing a framework of questions that address key transformative learning elements and transformational leadership behaviors.

Most companies lack the ability to implement organizational change; over 70% of Organization Change Initiatives (OCIs) fail. This inability has negative economic and survival implications for companies. OCIs must be effective and rapid to match the high pace of change in the business environment. Transformational leadership (TL) has been linked to successful OCIs through its positive influence on employee commitment and reduced resistance to change, yet little research has been done to identify its association with OCI implementation speed. This study tested TL and change theory and their association with change implementation. It sought to determine if a relationship exists between TL behavior and OCI implementation time. Archival survey and change data from 98 domestic and international manufacturing plants were used to examine relationships between employees' perceptions of leadership communication and trustworthiness and the speed of change. Hierarchical linear regression was used to determine if these behaviors could predict the change speed of an OCI. The study confirmed the association between effective leadership communication and employee trust in leadership, but it found no significant relationship between TL behavior and the speed of change. This finding is inconsistent with the majority of TL literature; however, companies may still benefit from exploring the potential of the study's theoretical concepts to help them improve the speed of organizational change. The limitations of the study were also noted as a potential contributor to the lack of significant findings, and recommendations are offered to reduce validity risk for similar studies in the future.

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 outside researcher in the PAR process, as well as the value of partnering with a cultural guide. This study also provides a look at how to use PAR to build capacity within organizations. Finally, there is a review of the project itself, its successes, and its lessons learned.

Ensuring all residents in Southern California have access to healthy food is one of many examples of an issue too complex and challenging for any one organization to change on its own. More and more, organizations work in collaboration and designate individuals to manage these collaborative change initiatives. This research uncovers the specific influence managers of collaborative change initiatives have in shaping positive outcomes for the collaborations they serve. Based on interviewing 11 managers and funders from six leading collaborative change initiatives, there are two contextual ways in which managers influence collaboration: their position itself carries influence and their ability to navigate the collaborative context they operate in. The main findings of this research share five key ways in which managers influence the collaborations they serve: their own personal characteristics and skills, the relationships they cultivate, the membership they support and empower, the processes they manage, and the culture they shape.

Organizational agility represents a new field of organizational study that is not well examined. In the past organizations had an unmatched competitive advantage due to low competition and higher barriers to entry into their markets. As a result, many organizations dominated their industries. However, in the era of globalization, individuals with an internet connection and the right skills can start new organizations that can compete on a global level. Consequently, organizations now are facing more competition that they experienced in the past. Another reason for increase competition is new technology. Technology is improving increasingly faster than any time in history. Therefore, organizations that are not agile could not survive in the current environment.

Agile entities realize that they have to become flexible and nimble to withstand competition. Accordingly, the researcher in this study proposes an organizational agility model and this proposed model is the focus of the study. The proposed model significant arises from the fact that currently there are limited numbers of models that help organizations in becoming agile entities. The characteristics in this study were based on Worley and Lawler (2010) “Agility and Organization Design: A Diagnostic Framework”. The study conducted a survey utilizing an instrument developed by Dr. Worley and Dr. Lawler that contains 15 agility characteristics. The survey uses all 15 characteristics to determine if the organization is agile. In addition, the study utilizes three of the 15 agility characteristics to determent if a relationship occurs between the study variables.

This quantitative study examined the relationship between change capability, learning capability, shared leadership and organizational agility. Moreover, understanding these relationships could assist scholars and practitioners in producing change programs that emphasize certain behaviors that make an organization agile. The study surveyed 116 participants and found that focusing on change capability, learning capability and shared leadership could contribute in creating agile organizations. Consequently, after evaluating the study results, a new agility model emerged. This model shows that organizations can achieve agility by developing change capability, learning capability, shared leadership, shared purpose and flexible resources. Ultimately, achieving agility could help organizations compete and endure now and the future.

The world has become considerably smaller through the effects of technology, media, science, transportation, the Internet, and the spread of global commerce. There has been a great deal of discussion about how to manage knowledge and foster individual, group, and organizational learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices and behaviors that led to the formation of communities of practice (CoPs) in a multinational corporation, their impact on distributed global offices, and their influence on a learning and development culture. The study addressed the following question: What impact do CoPs have on a multinational corporation's learning and development culture? Using a mixed methods research design, the study found that CoPs socialized learning throughout distributed offices, they contributed to localized learning-focused identity, and shifted the corporation's learning and development culture towards a blend of clan and adhocractic cultures.

This qualitative ethnographic study addresses the phenomenon of rapid social media expansion, which creates organizational challenges. Ongoing development of advanced technology products means that effective organizations must be more adaptive and receptive to new approaches and changes in their environment. In a hyper connected society, one where workers are linked through social media—at work, home, vacation, in a restaurant, or anywhere else—organizations need to unify their communication systems to leverage the potential that enhanced and collaborative communication can yield (Meister & Willyerd, 2010).

The research undertaken is directed at obtaining data on levels of social media penetration into organizational learning to analyze how social media use correlates with performance. In addition to identifying types of social media tools being utilized by organizations with formal learning structures, the research focuses on showing the importance of planning and goal-directed structuring in successful leveraging of social media tools in organizational learning. This provides a basis for recommendations for future research on social media use in this area to permit development of techniques for measuring the impact of the technology on learning and learner productivity and refinement of best practices for adoption and implementation of specific social media tools.