Despite the large number of studies that have examined the antecedents of organisational commitment, the investigation of the influence of organisational culture and subculture on commitment is noticeably absent. The aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of both organisational culture and subculture on organisational commitment. Other measures which have been shown to be related to either organisational commitment or organisational culture are also included in the study. These are leadership style, job satisfaction and demographic variables such as age, education, years in position and years of experience. Recently, multivariate studies have examined the causal relationships between a variety of different variables and organisational commitment, and a number of these have concluded that the effects of these variables on organisational commitment were mainly mediated by job satisfaction. The data gathered in the present study is examined to determine if it is consistent with job satisfaction fulfilling such a mediating role between commitment and the other variables in the study. Also, a multi-dimensional measure of job satisfaction is employed in the present study and the effects of the different job satisfaction components on commitment are investigated. The subjects used in this study were nurses working in different hospital settings. A questionnaire survey was used which was complemented by semistructured interviews. A total of 398 questionnaires were distributed to nurses in seven hospitals, from which 251 completed questionnaires were returned (63.5% response rate). The sample was obtained from three general public hospitals, two private hospitals and two psychiatric hospitals. Correlational and regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between nurses' commitment to their wards and the other variables measured in the study. A causal model of commitment was developed using a multiple regression analysis in which the role of job satisfaction in mediating the causal link between commitment and the other variables was explored. It was found that organisational subculture had a greater impact on commitment than organisational culture. Innovative and supportive subcultures had a positive effect on commitment and a bureaucratic subculture had a negative effect on commitment. The leadership style variable, consideration, also exerted a relatively strong influence on commitment when compared with other variables included in the study. The results of this study also revealed that the job satisfaction dimensions with the strongest associations with commitment were the control, professionalism and interaction dimensions, which represent intrinsic factors of job satisfaction or those related to higherorder needs in Maslow's (1943) hierarchy. Age showed a direct positive influence on commitment. However, the level of education, years in position and years of clinical experience failed to showed any impact on commitment. Thus, the results of this study are not in agreement with causal models (such as that proposed by Williams and Hazer 1986), in which the influence of various antecedents on commitment are totally mediated via their influence on job satisfaction. The effect of the culture and leadership style variables on commitment was found to be significantly reduced, but not totally eliminated, after statistically controlling for the job satisfaction variables. Finally, in relation to the different hospital groups, the results showed that private hospitals had the strongest bureaucratic ward culture when compared to general public and psychiatric hospitals. The most innovative ward culture was found in general public hospitals and the most supportive ward culture was found in psychiatric hospitals. These findings were contrary to expected outcomes.

My aim in this thesis is to improve understanding of the contributions of organizational climate to organizational effectiveness. Climate is defined as the shared perceptions of the work environment (Schneider & Reichers, 1983). First, I developed and empirically validated four targeted climates ??? climates for involvement; mission-alignment; consistency; and adaptability ??? reflecting a broad range of management perspectives. These climates are based on Quinn and Rohrbaugh???s Competing Values Framework (1983a), and extend the work of Patterson et al. (2005). Using secondary data from 2027 business-units from diverse industries, worldwide, these climates were, as expected, inter-related, yet distinct. Second, I explored the relationships between multiple climates and stakeholder outcomes (staff motivation, perceived customer loyalty and perceived business performance) using structural equation modeling and discriminant function analysis. Separate but matched manager and employee samples from 620 business-units were used to assess relationships linking the four climates and three effectiveness outcomes within a single model. The findings indicated that employees??? perceptions of workplace characteristics influence important organizational outcomes. Overall, key findings were: (1) a climate for mission related directly to perceived business performance; (2) climates for consistency and adaptability both related to higher business performance through their positive link with customer loyalty; (3) a climate for involvement also related to business performance, but only when the context was uncertain; (4) while climates for involvement and mission related to staff satisfaction, staff satisfaction did not uniquely predict business performance; (5) the most effective business-units, with high scores on all three outcomes, had a balance of high levels of all four climates. The thesis discusses the implications of these results for both theory and practice, as well as suggestions for future research. In particular, the comprehensiveness and empirical integrity of this multiple-climates model indicates its potential to provide new insights about the relationships between perceived organizational characteristics and outcomes. Furthermore, my research suggests that organizations can foster high levels of all four climates concurrently, and in doing so achieve better outcomes for a diversity of stakeholders. This has implications for change management: specifically that organizations should embed and integrate multiple approaches concurrently rather than move from one to the next.

The managers in this research report that strategic stories are scarcely used in large international companies, which are described as contexts of logical argumentation, where credibility from functional expertise and logical persuasion is paramount. Managers describe a need to wear ???corporate armour.??? Multicultural aspects engender many communications challenges. / Many risks are thus seen in strategic storytelling. Storytelling is viewed as easy to do badly, and very hard to get right, requiring time and effort that offer only marginal returns. The risks, which appear to outweigh the potential gains, have to do with performance risks: a loss of personal and professional credibility, a failure to tell a story that is relevant to the audience, organizational resistance to storytelling and the fear of anti- or counter-stories. / Nevertheless, strategic storytelling is perceived to be a potentially valuable communication tool for managers in large international companies, especially as a complement to other, more widely used communication vehicles. The emotional power of storytelling is seen to be its highest value: in certain situations, it can help managers achieve their communication goals more effectively than conventional communication modes. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

The managers in this research report that strategic stories are scarcely used in large international companies, which are described as contexts of logical argumentation, where credibility from functional expertise and logical persuasion is paramount. Managers describe a need to wear ???corporate armour.??? Multicultural aspects engender many communications challenges. / Many risks are thus seen in strategic storytelling. Storytelling is viewed as easy to do badly, and very hard to get right, requiring time and effort that offer only marginal returns. The risks, which appear to outweigh the potential gains, have to do with performance risks: a loss of personal and professional credibility, a failure to tell a story that is relevant to the audience, organizational resistance to storytelling and the fear of anti- or counter-stories. / Nevertheless, strategic storytelling is perceived to be a potentially valuable communication tool for managers in large international companies, especially as a complement to other, more widely used communication vehicles. The emotional power of storytelling is seen to be its highest value: in certain situations, it can help managers achieve their communication goals more effectively than conventional communication modes. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

The economy of Asia Pacific is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. Since most economic activities are under the control of Overseas Chinese, the study of the influence of Chinese Culture has become an important item in strategic management research. Despite the criticality of understanding the strategic decision processes of Chinese managers, very few empirical studies have addressed this gap. This research attempts to develop an integrative model that explains the causal relationships between Chinese culture, strategic decision making processes and organizational performance. The study uses the quantitative research design and structural equation analysis technique to develop and test the model. The major findings are two causal paths in the model, namely cognitive-speed path and social-political path. The cognitive-speed path suggests that the Chinese focus on the big picture and that the adoption of a holistic view, as well as drawing analogues from past experience and extensive network, will reduce the duration of the decision process. The social-political path shows that Chinese managers focus on the collective interest, strive to maintain harmony and save face; the managers also use a collaborative approach to handling conflict, thus reducing dysfunctional political behavior, while reinforcing the decision team's focus on common goals, factual data and fair processes. These two paths are found to have a positive relationship with organizational performance with the cognitive-speed path showing a stronger effect. The most significant contribution of this study is the establishment of a Chinese strategic decision making process model that can benefit both Western and Chinese organizations by adapting some of its implications. Future studies can enhance the model using longitudinal design with more detailed variables and larger sample size to study the effect of other contextual differences like ownership or age groups.

Disputats Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychology, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-156).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.