<p> This study describes and explicates the nuanced nature of commonly adopted buzzwords such as innovation by analyzing how innovation is defined and embedded structurally within a single organization. Working to uncover how the individual construction of a local definition of innovation within the global context of a quasi-academic organization changes as organizational priorities and practices evolve over time, I present the varied framings of innovation at the micro, meso, and macro levels, through two research phases (a) the definition phase and (b) the practice phase over the course of one year. </p><p> This thesis project is situated within a single Mid-Western quasi-academic organization specializing in informatics and health care research, and implementing targeted innovation strategies at the time of this study. Through the use of a mutli-methodological approach I layered the elements of d/D discourse inherent in interview data within the organizational context to present a glimpse into socially constructed view of commonly used buzzword innovation. By analyzing the interviews of 25 individuals at all organizational levels, with prior social network analyses and modified Delphi Method results, I found that employees shift their framing of innovation to align individual meanings with organizational perceived meaning (funded action and executive activities), individuals almost unanimously agreed that the organization by its nature of existence was innovative, but often struggled to name an innovation produced in the last year. Second, investigator-level innovation and staff-level innovation varied in its examples with investigators naming products and people. In addition, there are several possible rationales for why the definition of innovation changes over time but the reliance upon federal funding bodies may strongly shape perceptions at all levels. This study contributes to understanding how the changing nature of individual, organizational, and societal language and institutional structures affect and, in turn, are affected by employees&rsquo; lived experiences and organizing processes, practices, and texts. Specifically, this study provides a case study of such changes by developing understandings about how innovation is framed or defined by the individuals within the organization and how this definition changes in practice as it is applied within the organizational context. Additionally, this study contributes to the innovation discourse and materialities in addition to its pragmatic contribution to organizations that seek to engage in the innovation market to obtain competitive advantage. </p>

<p> Individuals spend a majority of their lives in the organizational settings and the communication that occurs is detrimental to maintaining balance, while allotting for specific goals to be met. This goal of this thesis was to catalog supervisor misbehaviors with regard to frequency and valence and validate an adapted supervisor misbehavior measure. Additionally, misbehaviors have a relationship with power (prosocial/antisocial), organizational dissent, organizational orientations, supervisor credibility, and subordinate satisfaction. Participants (N = 258) responded to a questionnaire assessing their perceptions on misbehaviors of their current or most recent supervisor. Statistical analyses substantiated the adaptation of misbehaviors from the instructional to the organizational context. Supervisor misbehaviors had significant relationships with power (antisocial and prosocial), dissent (latent), organizational orientations (ambivalent), supervisor credibility (competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness), and subordinate satisfaction. Results are consistent with those found by Kearney et al., (1991) the seminal research on teacher misbehaviors. Despite compelling results, additional research is necessary to ascertain an exhausted supervisor misbehaviors typology and validate a corresponding measure.</p>

<p> Workplace flexibility is becoming more and more common in American workplaces. However, most of these policies are created for professional and white-collar workers. Scholars have argued that the &ldquo;missing middle,&rdquo; that is, workers who are neither in the professional class nor low-wage workers, are often ignored in formal policies. Scholars have argued that workers experience a stigma for using these policies; however, little is known about how this stigmatization process occurs. This dissertation employs a grounded theory methodology to analyze 29 semi-structured interviews with missing middle workers to understand how they communicatively construct workplace flexibility and its attending stigma. Analysis of the data suggested the missing middle constructed workplace flexibility by drawing upon macro, meso, and micro-level D/discourses. In doing so, my participants communicated a fine line between use and abuse of workplace flexibility policies based on a) the perception of a worker as lazy, b) the perception of a worker using flexibility too frequently, and c) the perception of a worker having a non-acceptable rationale for using flexibility. Thus, workers become stigmatized for being perceived to abuse, not use, the policies. Based on the data, I offer a ground theory of this flexibility stigmatization process, that includes: a) organizational norms surrounding flexibility, b) the use of workplace flexibility, c) talk surrounding flexibility, and d) stigma perceptions. I then offer potential ways this communicative process can be reconstituted and transformed by human resource personnel, managers, and workers to disrupt the cycle of workplace flexibility stigma.</p><p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to identify and describe the behaviors that exemplary city managers practice to lead their organizations through conversation using Groysberg and Slind&rsquo;s (2012b) 4 elements of conversation leadership (intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality). </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> This qualitative research study was used to describe the behaviors of exemplary Southern California city managers. The counties included in the study were San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino. The researcher selected 10 exemplary city managers that met 4 of the 6 criterion identified as exemplary. The phenomenological research design was selected to explain how these city managers lead through conversation. Data collection included semistructured interviews, observation, and collection of pertinent artifacts. The researcher used the NVivo software to provide analysis of the data and show the emerging themes. The themes were then examined to identify behaviors that the exemplary city managers practice to lead through conversation. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Examination of qualitative data from the 10 city managers, collected through in-depth interviews, observational data, and review of artifacts produced 20 themes and 299 frequencies within the conversational leadership elements. Ten key findings supported the conversational leadership elements of intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The study supported Groysberg and Slind&rsquo;s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership and identified specific behaviors that exemplary city mangers practice to lead their organizations. The culmination of research identified four conclusions. City managers must (a) engage in conversations that promote trust and listening attentively to engage stakeholders in honest communication, (b) focus development strategies to cultivate a culture of open dialogue and a two-way exchange of information, (c) use strategies to gain active contributors to ensure a member&rsquo;s commitment to organizational goals, (d) use conversation to create clarity of message, provide focus, and elicit feedback on goals and directions. Recommendations: Further research is needed on city managers practicing conversational leadership in different regions of the United States. Additionally, research is needed on for-profit, publicly traded companies and professional sports organizations and the use of conversational leadership.</p><p>

<p> The fast-growing trend of using virtual teams comes with challenges including the lack of knowledge by some virtual team leaders for managing virtual teams. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the communication strategies that leaders use to manage virtual teams in real time to enhance team performance. The sample was composed of 4 successful virtual team leaders of a multinational accounting firm whose headquarters is in the northeastern region of the United States of America. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Tuckman&rsquo;s small group developmental model. Data consisted of semistructured interviews and the review of archival company documents. The interview protocol, interview transcription, member checking, and methodological triangulation allowed for data reliability and validity. Five themes emerged regarding completion of the 4 stages (comprehension, synthesizing, theorizing, and recontextualizing) of data analysis: time synchronization, face-to-face interaction, continuous training, communication tools and frequency, and leadership training and development. The findings of this study could contribute to social change enhancing communication strategies used in virtual teams, which could result in higher employee satisfaction, which in turn could benefit the organizations and virtual employees, their families, and communities.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative exploratory inquiry was to explore the perceptions of separated or retired Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y Marine Corps in the Southern California geographical area regarding communication. The specific perceptions were obstacles and enablers that they experienced when communicating with each other and any issues that arose from differences in communication preferences. The use of the exploratory inquiry design helped to gain insight into the communication problems that exist within the Marine Corp and provided possible solutions to assist leaders in improving multigenerational communication. The identification of communication problems may help individual leaders improve their leadership skills to accommodate generational needs, leading to a more effective workforce in any organization that uses the traditional-rational organizational paradigm. Seven Baby Boomer, six Generation X, and five Generation participants shared perspectives using semi-structured interviews to accomplish the study&rsquo;s purpose. Data results and narrative construction revealed a communication gap problem between generations within the United States Marine Corps related to traditional-rational organizational design contributed to the communication gap problem. A model was proposed to assist leaders of traditional-rational organizations to create an organizational culture in the future that might help reduce or eliminate the communication gap problem that was found to exist within the USMC.</p><p>

This dissertation examines race inequality inside the United States advertising industry. Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted at three large agencies in New York City during the summer of 2010 (including ethnographic observations, affinity-based focus groups, in-depth interviews, and open-ended surveys), I argue that the industry's good faith effort to diversify through internship-based affirmative action programs is overwhelmed by the more widespread material practices of closed network hiring—a system that advantages affluent Whites through referral hires, subjective notions of "chemistry" or "fit," and outright nepotism through "must-hires." Furthermore, the discriminatory nature of White affirmative action is hidden from view, masked by ideologies of color-blind meritocracy deployed by management and interns alike. I conclude that this disconnect between practice and ideology helps normalize and reproduce historic inequalities in the workplace by rebranding diversity as an aspect of individuality rather than a social problem best addressed at the group level.

<p> The workforce in today&rsquo;s organizations is increasingly diverse, including racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, age, sexual orientation, personality, motivation, values, and a multitude of other differences. These differences are often a source of friction and conflict in work groups, whether or not the conflict is openly expressed. Yet they can also add significant value to groups by providing a richer work experience and a broader pool of knowledge from which to solve problems and make decisions. The literature on this topic crosses multiple disciplinary boundaries, and includes social psychology, conflict studies, linguistics, political science, and management. Research on the performance of diverse work groups has been inconclusive, and has left us with limited understanding of the way in which difference plays out in groups, how group members make meaning of their differences, and how these differences shape and are shaped by group interactions. The research, using a social constructionist frame, analyzed videotapes of actual group interactions using a CMM methodology and compared group interactions to group member perceptions of difference and performance to achieve a deeper understanding of the dynamics of difference and performance in work groups. It found that groups that were relationally generative (i.e., that achieved better results than those of their individual members) had unique patterns that included a description of differences as strengths, better listening, stronger consensus, balanced participation, and inviting and building on each others&rsquo; ideas.</p>

<p> Collaboration between groups is a critical component in community resilience. Yet, memorable disaster mismanagements illustrate the difficulty of collaboration. Historically, it was thought that poor interoperability between communications equipment was to blame, but as technology differences were resolved, collaboration efforts continued to suffer. Recently, experts and practitioners are turning to group culture to explain collaboration failures. However, the literature is disjointed and dispersed with many gaps. The purpose of this research was to better understand the essential culture aspects important to good collaboration. A survey was utilized to examine the culture of a long-standing, successful collaboration: The Washington State and Local Tsunami Workgroup. The Workgroup endeavors to balance both Home Agency and Workgroup identities, utilize a flat hierarchy to its full advantage, and value openness and diversity as a means to reach the goal of mitigation of tsunami damage. Resulting themes centered on identity, commonality, structure, and attitudes.</p>

<p> Managing employees from different cultural and national backgrounds within international business organizations is one of the greatest challenges that mid-level leaders face in the new millennium because of the broad range of communication difficulties that can arise (Cox, 1991; Cupach &amp; Imahori, 1993; Fitzsimmons, 2013; Ietto-Gillies, 2005; Lisak &amp; Erez, 2015; Oliveira, 2013). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of the communication strategies and tactics of mid-level leaders in one major multinational company with a sizable multinational workforce, Saudi Aramco. The theoretical framework for this study was Communication Accommodation Theory (e.g., Giles, 2014; Giles, Coupland, &amp; Coupland, 1991, 2007). The principal survey instrument employed was the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs &amp; Hazen, 1977). </p><p> Only 7 demographic variables (education, age, gender, nationality match, language match, income, and duration of time with the company) had any significant correlations with the <i>Seven Dimensions Of Communication Satisfaction </i> proposed by Downs and Hazen (1977), but the strength of all those correlations was weak, with the exception of education. The more education the participants had, the more satisfied they were with their job. </p><p> Interestingly, in a culture in which gender differences play such an important role, there were no significant differences by gender in the workforce at Saudi Aramco. It was notable however, that the most satisfied employees were those who had been at the company the longest. National and language differences also played almost no role in employee satisfaction, most likely because the whole workforce is fluent in English. The employees did place some significance on what Suchan (2014) describes as Arabic styles of persuasion, which favor: (a) the use of repetition and paraphrasing to make a point, (b) the use of highly ornate and metaphoric language, and (c) the use of strong emotion. </p><p> Finally, in comparing the employees&rsquo; responses to Goleman&rsquo;s (2000) Six Styles of Leadership, the researcher discovered that the workers at Saudi Aramco relate most of all to Goleman&rsquo;s affiliative, coaching, and democratic leadership styles.</p><p>