This qualitative case study was designed to explore how mentors in a formal mentoring program perceive their experience. The study is based upon the following assumptions: (1) mentors have experienced challenges; (2) mentors have had positive experiences in a mentoring dyad; (3) mentors will share their experiences; (4) the organization evaluates mentoring efforts by analyzing the mentees’ outcomes only; and (5) the organization offers support to the mentor. The site for the study was a global retailer located in New York, New York that had a formal mentoring program. The primary sources of data were: in-depth interviews with 19 former mentors, a focus group, and a document review. Mezirow (1990) proposed a process that one undergoes in a transformative learning event. In his model, individuals must have a dialogue with trusted others for support as they examine their prior roles. Therefore, it can be assumed that having a mentor could be instrumental in one’s transformative learning experience (Brookfield, 1987). Daloz (2000) proposed that for a transformative learning event to occur, there must be “the presence of the other, reflective discourse, a mentoring community, and opportunities for committed action” (p. 112). These concepts provided a construct for analysis and synthesis of the research findings. Although this study sought to examine how mentors perceived their role, a key finding revealed that participants were motivated by the desire to gain visibility. This impetus shaped their experience greatly. Further, the findings identified three categories of mentors: (1) those who accepted the role to appease management and possessed no desire to be a mentor, hence termed the Disgruntled: (2) those who were invested to the organization and had a desire to help others, and thus are Believers; and (3) those that were invested in the relationship, but had personal agendas for being in the role, called the Politicos. The primary recommendation from this study is that human resources need to be thoughtful in how they structure and monitor the mentoring dyad. This includes allowing participation in the program to be voluntary, providing training, and checking in with each member throughout the duration of the engagement.

Thesis presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Business Science, Management) in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, February 2017 / The business environment in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is driven by forces that have changed the industry landscape. These forces demand a new approach in management systems that ensure organisational survival and growth. Traditional approaches based on performance strategies in dealing with business environmental changes are proving to be limited. For organisations to address these shifts, organisational fitness has assumed a new intensified prominence in both organisational and management circles. Organisational fitness is conseptualised as the ability of the organisation to alignment to its environment to learn, and to build on organisational capabilities. What is evident from both management and organisational fields is the dearth of literature on organisational fitness. This dearth of literature has been attributed to the fact that organisational fitness and organisational performance are used interchangeably by authors. What seems unclear in the emerging stream of research on organisational fitness is the nature of variables that predict and mediate the production of organisational fitness. Furthermore, a noticeable feature of the literature that deals with organisational fitness is that it is drawn from stable environments. No doubt, the nature and scope of organisational fitness conceptualised in a volatile socio-economic environment differs considerably from that which is conceptualised in relatively stable environments. Based on existing literature, this study investigated the relationship among organisational size, organisational learning, organisational structure (predictor variables), organisational capabilities, organisational levers (mediating variables) and organisational fitness (outcome variable). In order to establish these relationships, an empirical study was conducted using public firms that are listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. A theoretical model portraying the relationships among the investigated constructs was developed and a number of propositions were formulated based on the theoretical model of the study. The study employed a survey research design using a quantitative research strategy. Data were collected from a non-probability and probability sample of 277 managers. A standardised measurement instrument consisting of all the variables under investigation was used and administered personally through officials of the human resources departments of the participating organisations. The hypothesised relationships were empirically tested using various statistical methods. Reliability analyses were conducted on all the measurement scales and adequate reliability was established. The content and structure of the measured constructs were investigated by means of exploratory factor analysis. To test the relationship among variables, structural equation modelling was used. The exploratory research through the literature review considered the theoretical and conceptual differences, and the relationship between organisational performance and organisational fitness. It was established that organisational fitness plays a preparatory role that enables organisations to perform. The relationship between organisational fitness and organisational performance is largely reciprocal, as organisational performance emits feedback that enables organisational learning and informs the fitness process in its strategic alignment and organisational capabilities building roles. An organisational performance-fitness model was developed to describe the relationship between the two constructs. The empirical research of this study established that predictor variables of organisational fitness from the existing literature (i.e., organisational size, organisational learning and organisational structure) do not predict organisational fitness in a volatile environment such as Zimbabwe. The mediating effects of organisational capabilities and organisational levers were also not confirmed by the research. The research confirmed a combined mediating effect of organisational capabilities and levers on the relationship between organisational structure and fitness. The research established interesting directions in the relationships between organisational size and organisational structure, organisational levers and organisational structure, organisational capabilities and organisational levers, organisational learning and organisational levers, and organisational capabilities and organisational fitness. The findings of the present study represent an incremental and meaningful contribution to the existing literature on organisational fitness, particularly in a volatile environment. The study also provides practical implications that could assist organisational managers to design organisational structures that will foster organisational learning and develop capabilities that will assist in the alignment of organisations to the operating environment in order to achieve fitness. The adoption of a hybrid organisational structure that is both mechanistic and organic in nature will enable organisations to handle the volatile environment in a way that will foster organisational learning and create much-needed organisational capabilities. The limitations of this research will trigger a scholarly interest in organisational fitness and will serve as a guideline for future research. / XL2018

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / This qualitative case study examined the mechanisms employed by a public school Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer to support district wide curriculum reform. Utilizing organizational learning theory as a frame, the study aims to uncover the extent to which the district functions as learning organization. A learning organization can be characterized by a systematic approach to the acquisition and distribution of information to then retrieve and uniformly interpret new knowledge for the organization’s future use. Interview data and document analyses revealed strong evidence of organizational learning mechanisms employed by the Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer. Specifically, strategies for information acquisition and distribution were highly utilized, as well as structures for accountability including supervision, coaching models and a focus on data use. These district administrators delegated roles and meeting structures to support curricula adaptation, including heavy reliance on the instructional leadership of coaches and directors. With the goal of improving student outcomes via curricula reform, such structures facilitated adaptation and engagement in new learning by various members of the school district. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

"This thesis investigates organizational change strategies for e-business transformation. It proposes an instrument to measure the strength of a company's organizational change capabilities to make this transformation. Most "brick and mortar" business in the year 2000 are faced with a massive wave of change associated with the Internet. It is impacting the fundamental rules of business and changing their relationship with customers, suppliers and how work gets done. Firms that successfully make an e-business transformation will be rewarded with growth and strong returns. Many of those who are unable to change will not survive in the long run. A fundamental issue in e-business transformation is disruptive organizational change. A review of the academic literature identifies ten dimensions of organizational change capability that can increase the probability that a company can make a successful disruptive organizational change. These include: emotional unifying vision; use of symbols; enabling the free flow of emotions; providing a transition to the past; creating a playful environment; change infrastructure; first line supervisor buy-in; project management; training; and the reward system. An expert panel was surveyed to get their opinion on the dimensions. Dimensions were added and altered based on these opinions. An instrument was proposed to uncover these dimensions. It was reviewed by an expert panel, and then was then edited based on their feedback. It was found that the opinions of the expert panel were highly correlated with the dimensions identified in the academic literature. The instrument has a reasonable chance to measure the strength of an organization's change capabilities to make an e-business transformation. Further research could apply this instrument with a representative group of companies to determine the strength of each dimension."

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.

Humor is usually associated with trivial or non-serious banter; it is however a significant factor in the construction of organizational culture. This work provides an experience based organizational account of how organizations are produced and reproduced, as well as how organizational interaction is coupled with structure. This dissertation is based on two ethnographic studies: the first, a year-long study of a hotel kitchen, and the second, a three-year study of a private boarding school. This long term examination of an organization??s interaction is used to illustrate how organizational interaction produces the duality of organizational structuration overtime. An ethnographic communication-focused approach provides methods for recognizing multiple sites and levels of the Structuration process. As a result, this approach provides a major contribution to understanding the process of Structuration through agents?? actions in the context of their organizational culture.

Persuasion is becoming increasingly prevalent and important for executives in the business world, especially in light of the current economic situation and the shifting dynamic in organizational management. As a result, it is worth examining the scientific process behind persuasion and how applying these findings will produce more effective executive leaders. This paper will dive into the realm of persuasion in the work place by first drawing upon the history between persuasion and rhetoric, how these historical thought processes have influenced the persuasion we know and understand today, as well as examine how certain techniques can make persuasion most effective, to not only produce more influential leaders, but also passionate and motivated organizations as a whole. Specifically, it will look into how becoming a persuasive leader is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle of the four main principles of effective persuasion: establishing credibility, framing the argument, providing compelling evidence, and connecting emotionally.

The primary value of the government lies in responding to different requests of people, and the government reform must be in increasing the execution.The execution of organization has been one of the focuses of government and public affair management. Therefore, the execution is bound to the result of effort and job performance the staff invest, and how to optimize the result is still need to rely on the work environment of justice, mutual confidence, and voluntary involvement that the organization created. This paper aimed to explore the relationship between the awareness of organizational justice and the execution by questionnaire survey., and the samples for the quantitative research were the staff of the land administration in Tainan City. The conclusions were that the execution was predicted by the awareness of organizational justice, the awareness of organizational justice had some significant difference in different individual variables of the staff, and the execution had some significant difference in different individual variables of the staff. Finally, based on the results from this paper, the suggestions are made for administration and the following related researches.

With the rapid technological development, the environment faced by the enterprises undergoing rapid change, market-oriented enterprises should seize the opportunity to promote the technological change, process change, organizational structure changes and cultural change, to adapt to not inside and outside of the segment changes in the environment. The change means the transformation of the organization change, means that the break with tradition, a breakthrough for the organization. This study adopts the case study method of qualitative research, through depth interviews with change leaders, and the interview data collection and analysis of organizational culture, leadership style in organizational change, the impact on the effectiveness of organizational change, results in the following the study found that: the success of organizational change to a large extent depends on the company's transformation strategy, determination and leadership style of the leader, the process of implementing change in organizations within the distribution of benefits and the power of the concept of change and organizational structure. A good organizational culture is helpful to implement the organizational change. So the organizational culture have obviously influence to the active change attitude and the ordinary change attitude. and organizational change strategies to adapt to the success or failure of the changing external environment, will directly affect the business change. First, the change leader to obtain top management support, Second, grasp the core personnel, the establishment of organizational change team. Third, in the change process, create a new corporate culture. With the change objectives and strategies to develop a management system. Keywords: organizational change, organizational culture, leadership style, power

This study explores the extent to which organizational culture and operational environment influence the leadership activities of an organization in the midst of significant organizational change and whether culture drives leadership development or vice versa. After exploring several different leadership theories, the study focuses on the concepts of transformational leadership as the theoretical foundations for the leadership component of the research. Likewise, the study builds on organizational theory and sociological foundations to focus on the work of Schein and Hatch for organizational culture, and Schneider for key concepts used in the development of person-organization fit. The research in this study concentrated on the manufacturing organization of a large, well-known company based in the US. This organization is in the midst of considerable organizational change in response to upheavals in its markets, its technology, and its manufacturing strategy. Research was conducted through collection of data from public sources, review of internal organization documents, a survey of perceptions of the organizational culture held by the staff, and detailed interviews with a cross section of the professional and managerial staff involved in the leadership development process. The results of the research and analysis showed that despite strong efforts by executive leadership and developing leadership at all levels to create a more compassionate organizational culture, the crisis facing the organization caused even the most committed and well-meaning individuals to revert to a cultural norm of a driven, results-oriented organizational culture. The interviews and survey data led to conclusions that culture change is a long term effort; that it requires executive leadership commitment, vision, and constant communication to reinforce the vision; and is best addressed through leadership development in the younger staff with less personal investment in the status quo.