The need for organizational transformation is a response to a larger paradigm shift occurring in science and society. It represents a shift from the mechanistic model to a systems, holistic model. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and practices that limit training effectiveness when facilitating a major organizational paradigm shift. A literature survey identified major clashes between those values and tools of organizational models based on the new paradigm and those of bureaucracy, bureaucratic management and training relationships, domains and dynamics. Participant observation and interviews were the methods used to collect data from a study group of 15 upper middle managers involved as a pilot management team in the first year of TQM implementation at a public university. The group was closely observed during five months of training and 10 participants were interviewed at the end of the first year of implementation. Their stories revealed four obstacles to transformation: 1) managers were coerced into complying, change was imposed from above, there were no appropriate support systems and fear was endemic; 2) the management team had more difficulty than non-management TQM teams learning the mechanics of TQM, claiming they didn't have necessary learning skills; 3) managers protected themselves by rewriting the rules of TQM to fundamentally preserve the status quo; 4) managers defined the TQM effort a success without substantive personal change, pushing responsibility down and praise up in the organization. These obstacles were inherent in the bureaucratic system that effectively protected the managers from substantive change. The conclusion was drawn that four conditions were missing for a major organizational paradigm shift: 1) a willingness to risk, coupled with organizational support; 2) deep learning skills that provide personal context for learning: 3) shared vision, and; 4) personal mastery. Training patterns and practices reflected the same missing conditions. The training program was powerless in the transformation effort because: 1) it modeled and reproduced the old instead of the new wisdom, values, tools and ways of thinking and talking, during the transformation process; 2) the learning capacity implicit in the training program was limited in the same ways management was, by missing support structures, willingness and ability to change, and shared vision; 3) it depended on traditional relationships and dynamics, despite new domain, and was not seen as a credible transformation agent. / Graduation date: 1994

As the world becomes more global and companies become internationalized there is a growing urge for companies to work more efficiently. A problem that might rise when people from different cultures work together, is the risk for misunderstandings when managers communicate with people from other cultures. For that reason, managers of internationalized companies need to be culturally intelligent to avoid misunderstandings. Hence, our aim with this dissertation is to see how managers’ Cultural Intelligence (CQ) affects their Communication. In order to see how managers’ Cultural Intelligence affects their Communication we used a quantitative study (survey), where Swedish managers from international companies were target population. In the end though, we found no relation between CQ and managers communication skills. The number of responses from the survey was too small to in order to make any general conclusions. The dissertation may however have some contribution and value for Swedish managers. For companies in general, the dissertation can give some indications that they should consider employees’ CQ and not only managers’ CQ. Communication however, is one of the most prominent factors when it comes to social interaction. Therefore, companies today should consider, when hiring, the new employees’ ability to adapt into new environments.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Sustainability is an emerging field, a knowledge frontier. However, the conceptualisation of what sustainability is, and what it means in theory and practice remains unsettled. Scant attention has been paid to how future managers make sense of sustainability, representing a significant gap in the literature. The overarching aim of this thesis is to explore how the polysemous phenomenon of sustainability is conceptualised by the next generation of managers. It explores how they made sense of sustainability; the drivers behind their sensemaking; whether there is a skew within their conceptualisations in favour of environmental explanations; and, whether the pilot of the UN Sustainability Literacy Test impacted on how they perceive sustainability. Drawing on 485 surveys, 7 semi-structured interviews and 3 focus groups, this was achieved through the theoretical lens of sensemaking, employing an inductive case study approach with elements of survey analysis, obtained from students at Plymouth Business School. The interpreted findings show that participants made sense of sustainability in various ways, mostly espousing a long-term/intergenerational view, with explanations principally couched in single-dimensional environmental terms, thereby demonstrating the sustainability skew. Education appears to be the main driver behind their sensemaking, although the media and conformity/socialisation also had an important part to play. The sustainability literacy test seems to have broadened perspectives and increased understanding of sustainability and for the vast majority of participants, the interest-levels following the test remained the same or increased. This study joins the ongoing conversation by providing an original contribution, both theoretically and empirically, to the contentious, complex and multifaceted notion that is sustainability, both in the wider sense and more particularly from the perspective of future managers. This is important because how future managers make sense of sustainability will ultimately structure its reality.

One of the main capital expenditures is construction projects; these can provide very large profits. These profits can be used for public projects; that are justified by cost-benefit analysis, or private projects; that are justified by budget constraints. Most projects have a very tight financial plan that is part of a large scheme. As projects are very cost intensive one of the main roles of project managers are to estimate total costs and ensure the budget is kept throughout the duration of the project. Libya is a developing country that has a growing construction industry, however, the management of construction projects frequently experiences challenges with time and cost restraints and this affects the overall performance of the project as well as the performance of the project managers. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate and evaluate the factors that impact project manager performance and their ability to complete and deliver projects successfully in Libya. This study will ascertain the role of project managers, the challenges that project managers in Libya frequently encounter the cause of time and cost overruns within construction projects and the main factors for successful construction projects. This research adopted both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The findings are based upon 300 structured questionnaires distributed to general, project managers working on construction sectors in Libya (Tripoli). Completed questionnaires received were 183. This is a response rate of 61%. The data was analyzed by using factor analysis (FA). A statistical analysis was used to confirm and addressed the issues of reliability and validity of the questionnaire survey as a measuring instrument. In addition structured interviews with qualified project managers were used to confirm that the data collected was truly reflective. Upon the data analysis from the questionnaire survey and structured interview that the project manager is the most important factor affecting the success of the project in construction industries Libya, furthermore project manager skills are important component that influence the performance of project manager. Proposed guideline has been adopted for implementation of balanced scorecard in Libya to help construction organisations improved their strategic management system. Finally, the conclusions, key findings, recommendations to industry, limitations of the study, and possible further work in research were discussed.

This research examines managers’ and facilitators’ perceptions of effective facilitation. A review of the literature revealed that practitioners have written much of the existing information regarding the practice of facilitation. There has been little validation of findings by independent researchers and little empirical research. None of the claimed outcomes on facilitation effectiveness had been confirmed by managers. Further, where research had been conducted it had focused on immediate, rather than longer term issues and outcomes. This research seeks to rectify the lack of robust research into perceptions of effective facilitation by both the facilitators involved and the managers who seek to use facilitators. In this research 40 people were individually interviewed: 20 managers and 20 facilitators. Interviewees were asked to comment on both their positive and negative experiences of facilitation. The data was transcribed and QSR NVivo was used to assist with the analysis. Combinations of a priori and inductive codes were used to analyse the data. The a priori model (Brinkerhoff, 1986) had six stages, namely: Goal Setting and Needs Analysis; Program Design; Intervention; Immediate Outcomes; Intermediate or Usage Outcomes; and Impacts on the Organisation. It was found that only four of the six stages were helpful in explaining perceptions of effective facilitation; and additional themes emerged that did not fit within this predetermined model.

This study is an attempt to improve job satisfaction and work motivation of the Egyptian textile managers and to fill the gap in the managerial literature regarding the Egyptian textile working context. The main objective of this study is to explore the motivation and job satisfaction of the Egyptian senior and middle managers. A research model was developed in order to explain and to understand the satisfaction and motivation process of senior and middle managers and was empirically tested in the actual textile context. Egyptian textile managers' motivation and job satisfaction were explored by using a total of 247 survey questionnaires and 33 interviews. The major findings indicated that the personal, organisational, and cultural factors were found to influence managers' job satisfaction and motivation. Managers were satisfied with their working conditions, job security, and their personal relationships. However, managers were dissatisfied with their pay, promotion, company policies, training, and their appraisal system. Moreover, managers have placed more concern for job content factors rather than for job context factors. The Egyptian culture was positively related with managers' concern for good personal relationships, achievement, responsibility, and for seeking to more knowledge. However, it negatively affected women managers' status as it led to a gender-biased discrimination towards them. The findings suggest a need to consider the personal differences between managers, improve the promotion system, review salary structure, adopt a results-focused appraisal system, pay more attention to the content job factors, improve training system, increase coordination and delegation of authority, give women equal rights, and increase managers' involvement in decision-making process.