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The behaviour of spontaneous environmental scanning is influenced by organisational factors. The focus of the scanning behaviour is influenced by organisational precepts in the working conditions as well as by the general situation in the organisation. Motivational factors, especially intrinsic motivation, have an effect on the intensity of the scanning behaviour. The author argues that organisations´environmental scanning ability is primarily based on the possibilities for the members to scan the environment in a directed manner. This is also an important prerequisite for the establishment of organised environmental scanning. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

abstract: This dissertation examines the factors related to the success of host country field offices established by international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Further, this dissertation examines NGO field office mission success in the context of working with foreign host governments and clients. This dissertation is a case of the field offices of The Nature Conservancy in South and Central America. The principal research aim is to identify the primary factors that are related to success of field offices. Success is identified as a multidimensional concept. A conceptual model for success is developed. The conceptual model derived causal factors from the literature and captured categories of variables such as: (1) managerial tactics and techniques dictated by the NGO and adopted by field office leaders; (2) the distance between cultural features of the host country and those of the country of origin of the field office manager and personnel; and, (3) characteristics of the host country government. The dissertation: (1) utilizes a working definition of NGO drawn from the scholarly literature in the field; (2) describes the role of field offices (located in host countries) in the calculus of "home office" goal achievement; (3) discusses the types of "change"--delivery of goods, delivery of services, changes in behavior, changes in norms or attitudes--that field offices may have and how they differ in the challenges they create for field office managers; and, (4) develops a conceptual definition for success. This dissertation is concerned with the factors associated with success in the international NGO's field office. A model of success predictors is tested in this work. The findings suggest that the field offices mission success may be affected by local culture but this was not an issue for the organization studied. Mission success as perceived by the field seems to be a product of organizational culture. The contribution of the research to academic literature is that this study is both an exploratory and descriptive study of how NGO mission is carried out in the field and the impacts of national and organizational culture on mission success. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2011

abstract: National and state education reforms are centered on developing higher academic expectations and standards to ensure students transitions into postsecondary options, college and career ready. What does this national emphasis signify for urban school districts that are educating a significant proportion of first-generation students and that struggle to produce students ready for the rigor of postsecondary education without remediation? Framed within Karl Weick's (1976) theoretical framework of loose coupling organizational theory, this qualitative study examined the implementation of the pseudonymous ABC High School District college readiness education reform initiative through the lens of district-wide system actors, which included district leadership, school-level implementers and the students as the intended beneficiaries. ABC High School District is the largest non-unified urban school district in a large metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States. I focused specifically on two implementation sites: Blue Sky and Desert Flower High Schools. The system actors expounded on their knowledge and understanding of how they perceived the implementation of the initiative, their interpretations of the district's new policy and initiative, and how this initiative guided their practices based on their respective roles. The findings included the four major themes of (a) building capacity of the actors, (b) communication, (c) policy and politics, and (d) academic rigor and high expectations. Two additional findings specific to counselors and students were also revealed. The counselor-specific experiences revealed the changes in their roles that have created confusion among school staff and their growing responsibilities that may impede the progress of the district initiative. The student-descriptions suggest their knowledge about college and career planning, challenges, and their academic preparedness to successfully transition to a postsecondary institution. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

abstract: The number of community college honors programs has significantly increased since the 1980s. This study analyzes qualitative data collected from employee, student, and faculty participants associated with a community college honors program in the western United States during the months of April 2011 and January-March 2012. Using a theoretical framework derived from literature on Institutional Isomorphism and Academic Capitalism, this work explores the motivations behind the creation of a community college honors program, the implementation of the program, and the program's effects on the micro-level experiences of those affiliated. The data analysis reveals that the motivations for the incorporation and continuation of the Honors Program are driven by hopes of improving the college's reputation and attracting new funding sources for its academic programs. These findings are consistent with arguments about Institutional Isomorphism and Academic Capitalism. However, consistent with literature on program implementation, I identified barriers in the form of staff and student perceptions that impede Honor's program conformity to ideal standards. I refer to this finding as "incomplete isomorphism." / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Sociology 2012

abstract: The purpose of the research conducted and presented in this thesis is to explore mentoring programs for ASL/English Interpreters, with a focus on the question "Is a Peer Mentoring Program a successful approach to mentoring working and novice interpreter?" The method of qualitative data collection was done via questionnaires and interviews with past participants of a Peer Mentoring Program and questionnaires to identified persons who have experience creating and running mentoring programs. The results of the data collection show that a Peer Mentoring Program is a successful approach to mentoring working and novice interpreters. This research provides valued information in regard to the experience of persons in a Peer Mentoring Program as well as successful aspects of such a mentoring approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education 2012

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-21T12:22:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJPAS.pdf: 1125686 bytes, checksum: c24393052061dbd20bb6b255b0cfdaf9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T20:01:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJPAS.pdf: 1125686 bytes, checksum: c24393052061dbd20bb6b255b0cfdaf9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T20:02:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJPAS.pdf: 1125686 bytes, checksum: c24393052061dbd20bb6b255b0cfdaf9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-26T20:03:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJPAS.pdf: 1125686 bytes, checksum: c24393052061dbd20bb6b255b0cfdaf9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-20 / Não recebi financiamento / Generally speaking, the evolution of organizational behavior has been analyzed almost exclusively from the economic and technological transformations point of view. According to this perspective, firms are transformed by market forces as they struggle to adapt to customers’ demands in order to become more competitive and to survive and thrive. This viewpoint neglects the influence of powerful interests institutionalized in society, which manifests themselves inside firms through the actuation of organizational elites. Based on the study of organizational elites and the power relations they establish we are able to achieve a better understanding of factors that determine organizational behavior. With the advent of continuous transformations to which companies have been submitted with the stated purpose of giving them greater flexibility in the face of increasingly competitive markets, the old static organizational structures began to give way to network organizations, more susceptible to restructuring in order to suit economic interests. This flexible organizational environment would require also flexible professionals, averse to excessive specialization, which could hinder them the freedom to move through the organizational network seeking for new opportunities. The changes associated with this flexibility discourse, in turn, may offer opportunities to favoring not declared interests of the organizational elites. In this sense, the subject of our study is how the flexibility discourse might be used instrumentally by organizational elites in their internal disputes for leading positions in companies. More to the point, the question that we propose to investigate is: ‘would it be possible to identify in the behavior of members of organizational elites some evidence of the usage of the flexibility discourse as a tool to compete for command positions within organizations?’ It is not our intention to answer that question categorically, but to advance in the understanding of this topic through a reflection based on theoretical and empirical evidence. In order to seek possible answers we have investigated the careers of business consultants who worked for a multinational consulting company operating in Brazil. We have found that having worked for a renowned business consulting company represents a significant shortcut for executive positions in organizations from several industries, especially if coupled with an MBA title by some prominent American or European business school. This can be taken as an evidence that the flexibility discourse is aligned to the interests of organizational elites, to the extent that it legitimizes their claims to rise to positions of power in organizations without going through the lengthy path required by the assimilation of specific knowledge of each type of activity or industry. / Em geral a evolução do comportamento organizacional tem sido analisada preponderantemente sob o ponto de vista das transformações econômicas e tecnológicas. Segundo essa perspectiva as empresas se transformam impulsionadas pelas forças de mercado, na tentativa de se adaptarem às demandas dos consumidores e assim se tornarem mais competitivas, de modo a sobreviver e prosperar. Essa visão negligencia a influência dos interesses poderosos institucionalizados na sociedade e que se manifestam dentro das empresas através da atuação das elites organizacionais. A partir do estudo das elites organizacionais e das relações de poder estabelecidas por elas podemos ter um melhor entendimento dos fatores que determinam o comportamento organizacional. Com o advento das transformações contínuas às quais as empresas têm sido submetidas com o propósito declarado de conferir-lhes maior flexibilidade em face à competitividade crescente dos mercados, as antigas estruturas organizacionais estáticas passaram a dar lugar às organizações em rede, mais susceptíveis a reestruturações, conforme a conveniência dos interesses econômicos. Esse ambiente organizacional flexível demandaria profissionais também flexíveis, avessos à especialização excessiva, que poderia tolher-lhes a liberdade de mover-se pela rede organizacional em busca de novas oportunidades. As transformações associadas a esse discurso da flexibilidade, por sua vez, podem oferecer oportunidades ao favorecimento de interesses não declarados das próprias elites organizacionais. Nesse sentido, o tema de nosso estudo é a forma como o discurso da flexibilidade pode ser utilizado instrumentalmente pelas elites organizacionais em suas disputas internas por posições de comando nas empresas. Mais objetivamente, a questão que nos propomos a investigar é: 'seria possível identificar no comportamento de integrantes das elites organizacionais evidências ou indícios da utilização do discurso da flexibilidade como um recurso para a disputa por posições de poder no interior das organizações?’ Não é nossa pretensão responder a essa pergunta de forma categórica, mas sim avançar no entendimento deste tema através de uma reflexão embasada em evidências teóricas e empíricas. Para buscar possíveis respostas investigamos a trajetória profissional de consultores de negócios que trabalharam numa empresa de consultoria multinacional em operação no Brasil. Constatou-se que a passagem por uma renomada empresa de consultoria de negócios representa um atalho significativo para os cargos executivos em organizações dos mais variados setores de atividade, principalmente quando associada a um título de MBA por alguma escola de negócios norte-americana ou europeia de destaque. Isto pode ser considerado uma evidência de que o discurso da flexibilidade se alinha aos interesses das elites organizacionais ao legitimar suas pretensões de ascender a posições de poder nas organizações sem precisar percorrer o demorado trajeto necessário à assimilação dos conhecimentos específicos de cada tipo de atividade ou negócio, o que implicaria em sujeitar-se a uma longa carreira a partir de escalões subalternos. .

abstract: This dissertation studies the role of organizational politics and power and their role in the success of public service Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). By doing so, it addresses two areas of research in network governance and organizational theory. On one hand it explores the role of public private partnerships in the emerging network governance paradigm of public administration. On the other hand it studies the widely discussed but considerably under-researched role of organizational power in network governance. The literature review establishes public service PPPs as a sub type of governance networks, and provides an initial framework to study the nature and dynamics of power in these PPPs. The research is descriptive in nature and uses inductive reasoning in the tradition of Kathleen Eisenhardt. Case studies in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan are conducted on two very similar PPPs. A replication logic is used to understand how power contributed to the success of one of those projects and lack of success in the other. Based on analysis of the findings, the dissertation concludes that public service PPPs succeed when the goals of the PPP are aligned with the goals of the most powerful collaborators. This is because regardless of its structure, a public service PPP pursues the goals targeted by the sum total of the power of its politically active collaborators. The dissertation also provides insight into the complexity of the concept of success in public service PPPs and the donor control on the operation and outcomes of public service PPPs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2012

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspectives of a professor emeritus regarding his life experiences in the discipline of chemistry and in a career dedicated to research, service and teaching. Another purpose, interwoven within the perspective of this one individual, was to explore the potential influence a professor emeritus can have on his institution, and the impact the institution, its changing culture, and its shifting priorities may have on a member of the professoriate dedicated to this chosen career path. The research guiding questions for this study were: (a) What elements of this professor emeritus’ example constitute his perspective on his life as a professor? (b) What elements in his social context contributed to this perspective? And (c) What elements in his life have detracted from this perspective? The literature reviewed for this study focused on organization theory and identity theory as a lens for understanding the perspectives of a professor emeritus. Further, the specific environment of higher education was examined including the professoriate, shared governance and changes in higher education over the last couple of decades. These topics were also explored as they converge in the life of an emeritus professor. The experiences of an emeritus professor were gathered through topical interviews in both unstructured and semi-structured formats, continuing dialog between the researcher and the participant, a researcher reflective journal, and the life artifacts and site documents related to the participant. The presentation of data for this study includes a short narrative of the history and mission of the University of South Florida as well as that of the Department of Chemistry within the College of Arts and Sciences, which is the tenure home of the participant. The data also includes biographical information on the participant, Dr. Dean Martin, and presents data that relate to Dr. Martin’s perspective regarding his career through the lens of self-identity via the theoretical concepts of social and salient identity. The data illustrate the elements that Dr. Martin believes contributed to and detracted from his perspective as an emeritus professor. The data also looks at Dr. Martin’s viewpoint on the various components of the University of South Florida’s landscape. Its environment and how it has changed … or not changed through its history. Finally, this inquiry explores the idea that can we garner ideas from Dr. Martin’s experiences that will direct current and future members of the professoriate towards an engaged and mutually beneficial path. The study presents a discussion of the intersection of personal identity and organizational affiliation. The major findings include three components that are significant in the life of this professor emeritus: a commitment to his continuing career as evidence through ongoing writing, mentoring and philanthropy; the importance of having the opportunity to have an impact in the current and future discipline of chemistry and academia, and the ever present fear of becoming obsolete.

To determine how leading companies in North America, Europe, and Asia develop and sustain strong talent pipelines, this research investigates talent management processes and practices in a sample of 37 multinational corporations, selected on the basis of their international scope, reputation, and long-term performance. In-depth case studies and a Web-based survey of human resources professionals identify various effective practices that can help companies attract, select, develop, and retain talent. However, the results suggest that competitive advantage comes not primarily from designing and implementing best practices but rather from the proper internal alignment of various elements of a company's talent management system, as well as their embeddedness in the value system of the firm, their links to business strategy, and their global coordination.