Browsing by Subject "Organizational Culture"
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Item Creating change in the SEIU and the AFL-CIO: The role of identity(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Peplow, Amber LeighThe SEIU and the AFL-CIO utilized similar rhetorical strategies in creating identification to further change within their organizations. Despite similar rhetorical strategies, the change efforts differ substantially in terms of success. This dissertation argues that the audience, culture and organizational structure influence the success of the change effort. The dissertation provides implications for rhetorical communication in labor unions.Item Crossing the Divide: A Case Study of Cross-Cultural Organizational Culture and Leadership Perceptions in a Faith-Based Non-Profit(2012-08-22) Muenich, Joelle 1987-For this qualitative research a single case study was conducted of a faith-based non-profit organization, Health Education and Literacy Providers (H.E.L.P.), which operates simultaneously in the United States and Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to explore the cross-cultural leadership phenomena occurring within H.E.L.P. and to provide evaluation services and research data to the American members of H.E.L.P. Participants included a sample of the American board members, Nigerian board members, and Nigerian employees. Three data collection methods were used to achieve triangulation including participant observations, interviews, and analysis of documents. The first research objective was to investigate the cross-cultural leadership context by analyzing the organizational culture of H.E.L.P. in Nigeria. Results revealed H.E.L.P. was designed by American board members to operate as a bureaucratic culture with an emphasis on a business-like structure, centralized authority, compartmentalization, and efficiency. The Nigerian board members and employees, however, expressed a desire for a supportive culture that focused on love and harmony uncovering a discrepancy between American and Nigerian preferences in organizational culture typology. The results from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study were referenced to provide a cultural explanation for variations in organizational culture preferences. According to GLOBE study findings, the United States ranked higher on performance orientation meaning Americans are more likely to value results above people, ambition, and competitiveness, and explains the American?s desire for a bureaucratic organizational culture. Nigeria ranked behind the United States as a lower performance oriented society meaning individuals place high value on relationships and harmony, explaining their desire for a supportive culture. The second and third research objectives were to determine how H.E.L.P.'s Nigerian members perceive effective leadership within their culture, and determine how the Nigerians? definition of effective leadership supports or refutes the literature on prevalent Westernized leadership theories. Results indicated the overarching leadership theme perceived to be effective by the Nigerian members of H.E.L.P. was love. Several aspects of a loving leader were evident in the data and divided into five categories each with one subcategory. These findings supported both Transformational and Authentic leadership theories.Item Identity Formation of Women in Leadership Positions in Corporate America: Three Journeys to Top Leadership Positions(2010-07-14) Knaben, AseThe purpose of this study was to understand and interpret the identity formation of women on their journeys to leadership positions in corporate America. The narratives of these women in leadership positions described their experiences of how they became who they are, their experiences of critical points, their achievements and their sacrifices in their lives on their journey to these positions. The dissertation design was an empirical, qualitative, interpretive study which simultaneously drew upon and developed the theoretical work of Erik H. Erikson regarding the concept of ego-identity. Women in this study were purposively selected based on criteria for this research. They were successful females in engineering management positions, which is a male-dominated field. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews. Three main themes about their self-knowledge emerged from the findings in the study as components in the women's identity formation. These components shaped and developed the women to become who they are today, starting as a process from early child hood and until today. The three main themes are as follows: relations between mothers and daughters, a delayed moratorium and inner strength. The women in this study are unanimous in regard to singling out the significance of their mothers. Their mothers have been instrumental to their futures in regard to education in a male-oriented area and in giving them a "sense of being all right." Furthermore, these women seemed to undergo a delayed moratorium state as adults. This finding was a departure from and an addition to Erik H. Erikson's concept of "moratorium", in that I found that these successful women were able to make-up for their inability to obtain a moratorium in young adulthood by fashioning it in mid-life. They described these experiences of getting closer to themselves and what life was really about. Finally, this study revealed that these women had an inner strength to go on when they faced obstacles and hurdles in their careers and their personal lives. This inner strength consisted of resilience and authenticity, an ability to stay true to themselves.Item LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEXT: A DESCRIPTIVE MIXED METHOD STUDY OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES DURING SIGNIFICANT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE(2010-07-14) Hasler, Michael G.This study explores the extent to which organizational culture and operational environment influence the leadership activities of an organization in the midst of significant organizational change and whether culture drives leadership development or vice versa. After exploring several different leadership theories, the study focuses on the concepts of transformational leadership as the theoretical foundations for the leadership component of the research. Likewise, the study builds on organizational theory and sociological foundations to focus on the work of Schein and Hatch for organizational culture, and Schneider for key concepts used in the development of person-organization fit. The research in this study concentrated on the manufacturing organization of a large, well-known company based in the US. This organization is in the midst of considerable organizational change in response to upheavals in its markets, its technology, and its manufacturing strategy. Research was conducted through collection of data from public sources, review of internal organization documents, a survey of perceptions of the organizational culture held by the staff, and detailed interviews with a cross section of the professional and managerial staff involved in the leadership development process. The results of the research and analysis showed that despite strong efforts by executive leadership and developing leadership at all levels to create a more compassionate organizational culture, the crisis facing the organization caused even the most committed and well-meaning individuals to revert to a cultural norm of a driven, results-oriented organizational culture. The interviews and survey data led to conclusions that culture change is a long term effort; that it requires executive leadership commitment, vision, and constant communication to reinforce the vision; and is best addressed through leadership development in the younger staff with less personal investment in the status quo.