<p> The 1960&rsquo;s space race in the United States gave rise to a unique culture of innovation embodied by an engineering class of professionals (Wisnioski, 2009). As knowledge workers, engineers were applying niche knowledge to solve big problems in the world (Kasdan, 1999). The result of their efforts in utilizing specific knowledge (i.e. esoteric knowledge) would become the basis for advanced development and production technology (Kasdan, 1999). One byproduct of this era is the advancement of engineering methods and computational mechanics (i.e. simulation) used to solve difficult, but semi-generalizable physics and engineering problems (Sinha, Paredis, Liang, &amp; Khosla, 2001). However, sharing knowledge involved in engineering methods and esoteric knowledge (McMahon, Lowe, &amp; Culley, 2004), as a whole, is difficult and a limiting factor in progressing similar large-scale, innovations (Alic, 1994). The response from organizations hoping to capitalize on developing esoteric technologies may turn to fostering a culture of innovation (Zairi and Al-Mashari, 2005). While research suggests innovation can be cultivated within an organization based on proposed frameworks and attributes (Crossan &amp; Apaydin, 2010), an examination of lived-experiences of leaders, whose mission is to seek out the development of new esoteric technology, may provide rich insight into how cultures of innovation actually operate (Jucevi?ius, 2010). Therefore, this study proposes that a study of esoteric technology providers, beyond a contextual inquiry, may provide insights into how cultures of innovation may lead to new breakthroughs in technology and possibly an enabler to the next space race.</p><p>

This dissertation is an attempt to make social scientific sense of common sense knowledge involved in the social production of organizational succession, where succession is defined as the change in the incumbent of an organizational position. Past succession research is typified in terms of two approaches, both of which are made problematic by the present study. The conventional quantitative approach ignores concrete activities and actors' meanings involved in the succession process, and reifies the formal structure of organizations by literally interpreting them. The qualitative approach also reifies formal structures, and has failed to yield explicit theoretical propositions concerning succession. The present study attempts to overcome the limitations of previous research by engaging in theory construction which focuses on actors' meanings and sensemaking practices related to succession. Ethnomethodological concepts and concerns form the background to an approach which assumes succession is inextricably related to the interpretive procedures and practices actors utilize in accomplishing and discussing succession. The concept of programmatic construction is developed as a scientific concept describing an important sensemaking practice whereby structurings of the life world are methodically enacted and employed as interpretive schemes in common sensemaking. Such structurings or programmatically constructed entities include 1) the social order, 2) social institutions, 3) organizations and 4) persons. Persons are recurrently typified in terms of one or more of four analytically distinct selves; the physiological self, the financial self, the social-psychological self, and the professional self. Characteristics of these programmatically constructed entities and the process of programmatic construction which are discussed include the important suggestion that each entity is verbally constructed in one or more of three typical forms - as a model of functional integrity, compliance or style. Five substantive types of succession are outlined - succession due to the death of a predecessor, voluntary resignation, status degradation (demotion or firing), retirement and advancement. Stages in cases of succession are also discussed. Orienting propositions are then outlined as the basis for the current research. These propositions relate programmatic construction and sensemaking to the types of stages of succession. Data for elaboration of the orienting propositions were collected by preparing transcripts from tape recordings of unstructured interviews with ten administrators - five administrators from each of two different organizations, a government and a college. Each respondent described cases of each of the five types of succession. Qualitative analysis of the case descriptions is undertaken in five chapters where each chapter focuses on one type of succession by applying the theoretical concepts to the case descriptions. A low order substantive theoretical model of each type of succession is inductively constructed: propositions in the substantive, succession-type specific models relate programmatically constructed entities to respondents' determination of the causes and consequences of predecessor departure, successor selection, and the stages involved in succession. The substantive models therefore explain members' meanings and practical activities related to the accomplishment and common language description of each type of succession. The final chapter of the dissertation involves a comparative analysis of the types of succession, and a discussion of human sense-making as a general theoretical topic. Substantive succession-type models are integrated into higher order propositions which explain the similarities and differences among specific cases and types of succession. Programmatic construction of entities is found to be an important sense-making practice underlying the accomplishment of organizational succession and descriptions of succession. The concept of programmatic construction and the types of entities produced in succession cases are given extensive consideration. Other sensemaking practices involved in succession are then discussed: certain practices proposed in previous ethnomethodological studies are related to current findings, and several additions are offered to a preliminary list of sensemaking practices. Finally, the broad implications of the present research are discussed in terms of 1) differences among the present approach and more conventional approaches to succession research, 2) future research on succession and 3) the importance of studying human sensemaking in other substantive contexts. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Knowledge-intensive firms are a growing and increasingly important part of our economy. They compete by bringing their knowledge resources to bear on their customers' challenging problems. Such knowledge resources can reside in workers, routines and work processes, stored data and knowledge, and relationships. Scholarship on these important firms, though, has focused largely on their workers' knowledge and skill, i.e., their human capital. This is in spite of the fact that the other forms of knowledge—organizational capital and social capital—both play important roles in firms. Additionally, there has been little research into the role of strategies in these firms. The research questions of this paper are designed to address these substantial gaps in our understanding of these firms. First, I examine the development and use of the full set of knowledge resources. I argue that organizational capital consists of both procedural and declarative organizational capital, and that all of these forms of intellectual capital play unique roles. Second, the paper suggests that the key strategic driver for such firms is how uncertainty impacts their ability to develop and use intellectual capital assets. Specifically, I examine the uncertainty that is brought into the firm by its customer interactions. The paper hypothesizes that the relationship between customer interaction uncertainty and organizational capital, as well as their relationships to human and social capital, will drive the performance of these firms. These questions are examined using both survey and archival data from 94 financial service organizations using linear regression and Hierarchical Linear Modeling. I find support for several of the hypotheses. Customer interaction uncertainty is positively associated with human and declarative organizational capital. Further, human and procedural organizational capital interact to impact performance, as do human capital and declarative organizational capital.

This dissertation examines race inequality inside the United States advertising industry. Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted at three large agencies in New York City during the summer of 2010 (including ethnographic observations, affinity-based focus groups, in-depth interviews, and open-ended surveys), I argue that the industry's good faith effort to diversify through internship-based affirmative action programs is overwhelmed by the more widespread material practices of closed network hiring—a system that advantages affluent Whites through referral hires, subjective notions of "chemistry" or "fit," and outright nepotism through "must-hires." Furthermore, the discriminatory nature of White affirmative action is hidden from view, masked by ideologies of color-blind meritocracy deployed by management and interns alike. I conclude that this disconnect between practice and ideology helps normalize and reproduce historic inequalities in the workplace by rebranding diversity as an aspect of individuality rather than a social problem best addressed at the group level.

When students leave the university they enter a world filled with complex organizations. The U.S. education system socializes students to function well in the workforce (Bidwell, 2005; Hallinan, 2005; Bowles & Gintis; 1977, 2002). The focus of this study is how attending a large public university prepares students for life in complex organizations. Schools along with families are primary socializing agents of students (Hallinan, 2005). Policy is a powerful tool used by complex organizations to shape and structure individual behavior (Morgan, 1997; Schuman, 1976). Policies and policy implementation are designed to produce intended consequences, or outcomes; however, policy implementation has unintended and unanticipated consequences as well. One study of higher education found students who attend college are comfortable with complex organizations (Schuman, 1982). Large public research universities have grown into complex organizations, described by Kerr (1995) as "Multiversities." It is in this multiversity environment that a student learns about complex organizations. Although policy consequence studies exist, exploration of unintended consequences is not a typical dissertation topic. Organizational structure affects student learning (Berger, 2002). Unintended consequences of policy implementation in the loosely coupled, complex organization of a large public university remain relatively unexplored. This phenomenological study explored the unintended consequences to student's lives of a single policy, Absence from Class Due to Illness, in the loosely coupled, complex organization of a large public university through observation of study participant experiences. Study participants included university personnel: faculty, administrative deans, health service physicians, health service staff, and students interviewed between June 2006 and February 2007. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and document review. The complexity of the university appears through this single policy lens and allows us to see how students learn to live in this complex environment. The dissertation discussed three student learning themes emerging from study participant stories (1) learning the system, (2) making the system work, and (3) handling ambiguity. Implications and future research for the study of higher education are discussed.

Organizational politics long has been considered a negative phenomenon, but scholars have noted it is an unavoidable part of organizational life. As such, much research has been devoted to exploring its nature, as well as its antecedents and consequences. Recently, research has investigated how political skill and political will are necessary for success in organizations, especially for leaders. Further, scholars have argued that politics is an inherently neutral concept, and have called for balance in research on the topic. As a result, a base of literature has begun to grow regarding the positive possibilities of organizational politics, including the potential benefits followers may reap from leaders' political support. However, empirical research on leader political support is lacking. Thus, the purpose of this two-study dissertation was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of leader political support, and test a model of its antecedents and consequences. In Study 1, three data samples were used to refine the initial measure of leader political support. The final 8-item measure appropriately covers the content domain, and demonstrated good convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. In Study 2, a sample of 66 leaders and 268 followers from a single organization was used to test a research model of leader political support. Results were mixed, in that most hypothesized antecedent relationships received support; however, many of the hypothesized consequences, although strong, failed to reach appropriate levels of statistical significance. Supplementary analyses indicated that the mixed results likely is due to a small N at the between level. Overall, the results provide some interesting insight into the leader political support construct, as well as a number of promising directions for future research. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 27, 2015. / Leader Political Support, Leadership, Organizational Politics / Includes bibliographical references. / Gerald R. Ferris, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffery S. Smith, University Representative; Wayne A. Hochwarter, Committee Member; Chad H. Van Iddekinge, Committee Member; M. Ronald Buckley, Committee Member.

This dissertation is a comparative, ethnographic study of emotion-work in two nursing homes – one part of a large, for-profit chain, the other part of a small, non-profit chain – and examines how nursing care-workers grapple with tensions between meeting organizational demands in an increasingly market driven field and providing compassionate care in times of personal crisis. Based on eighteen-months of fieldwork, sixty-five in-depth interviews and analysis of company documents, my research connects the financial and regulatory structure of long-term care to the emotional lives of staff in both nursing homes. While scholars have analyzed the consequences of medical reimbursement regimes on health care systems, my research uncovers the processes by which those consequences are created, and shows how their effects on residents are mediated through staff. Chapters 2-4 examine how proprietary status shaped the experience of work. Many scholars argue that for-profit facilities and non-profit facilities have become isomorphic since the imposition of market forces on long-term care. Although there were similarities between the two nursing homes, they were also strikingly different in their approach to reimbursement. While the for-profit won corporate awards for deftly maneuvering through the market, the non-profit’s community-oriented mission left them with a half-million dollar budget deficit. This section shows the processes by which market forces discipline community-oriented health services organizations such as nursing homes. Given this context, chapters 5-8 turn to how the staff used emotional attachments with residents to give their work dignity and meaning. Contrary to the established view that emotion work alienates employees, I argue that nursing care-workers used emotions – their own, their residents, and their colleagues – as resources in novel ways, even as their emotions were shaped and constrained by the financial and regulatory structure of long-term care. Emotions were shaped by organizations but they were not simply imposed on workers. Nursing care-workers themselves produced emotions, sometimes in ways consistent with organizational goals, and sometimes not, but they consistently found in their emotions a set of resources to manage the strains of their work lives.

The past two decades have witnessed an increasingly popular research interest in applying established organizational justice concepts, theories, and models to non-Western cultures and societies. Prior research has shown that cultural values can create national variations in individuals' justice judgments and reactions. Although cross-cultural organizational justice studies have extended our understanding of the cultural influence on justice perceptions beyond a Western framework, these studies have made broad cross-cultural comparisons without examining whether justice perceptions in different cultures are comparable in the first place. A general concern for justice does not suggest that justice has the same meaning across human societies. Moreover, organizational justice is a social psychological concept and its meaning is largely determined by sociocultural norms. The failure to attain the emic knowledge of organizational justice in non-Western cultures, along with the assumption of the universality of the meaning of organizational justice concepts in all cultures, has jeopardized the validity of cross-cultural organizational justice studies. Three overarching research questions prompt the current investigation. First, what is the context-specific meaning of organizational justice in a non-Western culture? Second, what is the dimensionality of the justice construct in a non-Western culture? Third, what is the relationship between organizational justice and other related theoretical constructs in a nomological network in a non-Western culture? In order to answer these questions, two studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, were conducted. First, I conducted an inductive, qualitative study to develop indigenous organizational justice measures based on qualitative data from in-depth personal interviews and open-ended surveys with survivors and laid-off employees from five organizations in China. In the second study, these indigenous measures were used to develop a survey and were validated using independent samples. After the validity was established, in study 2, I tested the effects of fairness perceptions on survivors' perceived employment relationships and their job performance as well as organizational citizenship behavior based on quantitative data from survey responses. In sum, results uncovered that in a Chinese context, organizational justice is an absolute term and refers to the legality and lawfulness of company rules and procedures; organizational fairness, is relative and refers to the fair treatment provided by the organization or its management. Hence, what has been labeled "organizational justice" is construed as "organizational fairness" in China. Further, while the etic dimensions of organizational fairness construct provide support that some aspects of fairness perceptions tend to be culturally invariant, the identification of emic dimensions challenges the previously assumed universality of the meaning of organizational justice. Finally, the present investigation revealed that the effects and importance of organizational fairness perceptions vary in a layoff situation. Not all fairness perceptions are equally important in influencing survivors' responses to layoffs. This exploratory investigation contributes to the building of global knowledge of organizational justice by advancing our understanding of what constitutes fair and just conducts in China, delineating differences and similarities between Chinese justice and fairness perceptions and those in the West, and explicating mechanisms underlying the effects of organizational fairness perceptions in a layoff situation.

The topic of organizational form has been gaining increased attention, its relevance often portrayed as 'new times' driving the need for new forms. However, what is more evident in the literature is that the need for new ways of looking at organizational form has yet to be addressed.^ I argue that the problem that "new organizational form" presents is precisely located in the inability of the field to think in other than "form" itself. By problematizing the focus on "form" I take issue with the largely ahistorical and aprocessual character of much organizational theorizing, but also with some process oriented theory, giving consideration as well to the possibility that the privilege obtained by modernist paradigmatic approaches in such theorizing is also part of the problem. With this as my point of departure, I argue for knowing the organizational as an ongoing process—i.e., "forming" over knowing "organizational form" by way of classification—and ask: How to arrive at processual knowing that might escape the modernist thirst for classification? ^ In addressing this question, I employ a two-stage research process. In the first stage, I consider whether the processual and more temporally sensitive lens of path dependence theory can take us out of the impasse of modernity. Empirically, what is of interest is how Ireland's Industrial Development Authority (the IDA) emerged at a particular point in time and how it evolved over time through the interplay of positive feedback mechanisms and reactive sequences. ^ In the second stage, I use actor-network theory (ANT) as metatheoretical lens to explore if path dependence theory performs "organizational forming." Via analyses supported by ANT, I highlight the performance of translation, hybridization and purification in path dependence theory, in the process translating path dependence, and show how the 'modern' works in re-articulating organizational form.^ In general, thus, it is my argument that the problem of "organizational form" cannot be addressed by following extant analytical approaches because such approaches focus on purification at the expense of translation and hybridization. I propose, therefore, an alternative theoretical emphasis and analytical approach, namely ANT, which would maintain an on-going opening for "forming."^

Research has examined the experiences of women in the workplace, yet women's experiences during pregnancy have been neglected to a large extent. Stress during pregnancy has consistently been shown to lead to detrimental consequences for women and their babies. Using the job stress theories, a conceptual model of stress during pregnancy is developed. This model includes factors from multiple levels (i.e., individual, interpersonal, sociocultural, and community) and highlights the role of job stress during pregnancy. In order to gain a deeper understanding of job stress during pregnancy, three pregnancy-specific organizational stressors are identified (i.e., perceived pregnancy discrimination, pregnancy disclosure, and identity-role conflict) and hypothesized to result in detrimental organizational, health, and family outcomes through experienced stress. The moderating roles of resources (i.e., self-regulation and resiliency) are also examined. Analyses of time-separated data from 124 pregnant employees revealed that women experience pregnancy-specific job stressors and that these stressors are associated with a variety of adverse outcomes. Furthermore, mediated moderation analyses revealed that self-regulation and resiliency function as coping resources during the stress process. Finally, a q-sort analysis of learning during pregnancy revealed nine learning themes. Contributions and future directions for research are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 3, 2017. / Discrimination, Health, Pregnancy, Stress, Well-being / Includes bibliographical references. / Pamela L. Perrewé, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joseph G. Grzywacz, University Representative; Chad H. Van Iddekinge, Committee Member; Shanna R. Daniels, Committee Member.