The purpose of this study is to examine the events and activities that triggered strategic and large-scale changes in four community college based Small Business Development Centers. A review of the literature in organizational theory and community college education was used to form an integrated conceptual scheme which could be applied to the description and examination of the change process. Tichy's TPC (Technical, Political, Cultural) model for managing strategic organizational change was used to provide the conceptual framework for conducting research and organizing data as it related to the events and activities that triggered change in case studies at four community college based Small Business Development Centers in Oregon. The case studies dealt with how strategic and organizational changes were triggered, whether they were initiated by a common set of triggering events, and the management responses to these changes used in each of the four community college based Small Business Development Center. Information concerning the changes that took place was obtained through using the TPC's in-depth diagnostic plan to analyze the events that trigger change and their impact on the key organizational components of the Small Business Centers. The research produced three findings related to the events that triggered in the four SBDC's organizational changes and the manner and means by which they were perceived, managed, and dealt with by each of the SBDC's studied. The three primary findings were: (a) the role played by key individuals as responders and/or innovators of organizational change was to a large degree dependent upon the congruence between the situation(s) being faced and their backgrounds, personalities, and leadership characteristics; (b) the different roles and hierarchical levels existing in an organization significantly influenced how individuals perceived the nature, type, properties, and characteristics of the events triggering the change process; and (c) when there is no agreement among key organizational decision-makers on the nature or type of change taking place, social power, influence and/or bargaining is used in selecting the strategy used to deal the change event. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 77 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-220). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Ed.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Restricted until June 2001. Bibliography: leaves 113-120. Also available online.

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 288-299). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Oregon State University, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-152). Also available online.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 85 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-78).

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-111). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.