This study is primarily about the Open Organisations Profile, a questionnaire developed in the United States by Professor Oscar Mink (1991) to assess openness in the workplace and thus assist in decisions on organisational change and development. The Open Organisations Profile was developed as an assessment tool of the Open Organisations theoretical model. The Open Organisations Model offers researchers a lens to assess an organisational system and the system’s ability to adapt to internal and external changes in its environment, while maintaining a sense of unity.While the Open Organisations Profile has been used extensively in Australia and the United States of America, limited research has examined its psychometric properties. This current set of studies aimed to examine the psychometric qualities of the instrument. The first study examined the reliabilities and factor structure of the Open Organisations Profile. Results indicated that the Open Organisations Profile displayed high internal consistency ranging from r = .80 to r = .95. Furthermore confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the theoretical three factor model of unity, internal responsiveness and external responsiveness.The second study assessed cultural differences and similarities between Australia and American using the profile. The findings suggested that significant differences existed between the countries and also between male and female values across the nine dimensions measured.The final study examined the relationships between the three higher order factors of openness and customer satisfaction and sales performance. The study found that the three factors of openness had a mediating effect on customer satisfaction and sales performance. The three studies showed the Open Organisation Profile offers researchers a reasonably reliable and valid instrument for assessing the openness of an organisation and its ability to adapt to internal and external changes in the organisation’s environment. Furthermore, the Open Organisations Profile could be used as guide to the areas that need to be addressed to help the organisation improve service delivery, customer satisfaction and financial return.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-196).

Demands for increasingly more responsive education systems have caused some higher education institutions to reconsider their original missions and envision new futures. This is particularly true with land grant institutions whose mandate it is to be the people's university. The purpose of this study was to explore the first year of a change project at a land grant institution to determine first attempts to prepare for and catalyze systemic change. The literature review supported the position that change was seldom enduring in higher education organizations, and to effect systemic change an organization needed to embrace the concept of learning. This study sought to make sense of organizational change through the experience of an innovative vision-driven, participant-centered change process. Data were analyzed using multiple sources including interviews, fieldnotes, project documents and participant observation. Three themes emerged from the analysis representative of participant experience: Learning How to Change; Developing a Change Design; and Collaboration and the Paradox of Partnership. The themes represented primary areas of learning for participants in the first year of the project. Stories of participant learning were expressed through key events experienced during the 12-month inquiry. Outcomes of this study reflected the centrality of learning in the beginning months of the change project. Change agents needed opportunities to learn how to change before enlisting others in the process. Active learning, reflection, and the value discovered through an expanded capacity for change created deeper ownership in the project for many participants. These aspects of the change process were also identified as attributes of a learning organization. Another significant research outcome addressed partnering efforts in the project's initial months. First attempts to build collaborative relationships with the State's community colleges were ineffective due to low levels of trust and highly competitive cultures. / Graduation date: 1997

This longitudinal case study examines how the process of radical organizational change unfolded within EES Consulting (EES). EES was an international engineering and environmental services consulting firm that experienced significant internal cultural difficulties in the early 1990s, such that OCI Consulting predicted the firm would fail within 18 months. This study focuses upon the Canadian operations, and their experience in becoming a top company to work for in Canada following their adoption of the Balanced Scorecard in 1999. The study employed a mixed-methods methodology, involving semi-structured and informal interviews, participant observation, third-party survey data, and internal corporate documents. Based upon this data, EES’ experience did not conform to that described by traditional change models (Lewin’s three-stage, punctuated equilibrium, or organizational development models) in terms of the pace, sequence, or linearity of change. Rather, EES’ experience was more consistent with recent conceptualizations of change as a continuous, emergent process, involving loops and iterations. Although EES members suggested that change was attributable to their adoption of the Balanced Scorecard, this technology merely served as the catalyst for subsequent organizational social dynamics that produced change. Specifically, change at EES occurred through negotiated redefinition of the social structures governing members’ actions. Thus, radical organizational change represented an act of social construction between members. This study’s key contribution is the development of a theoretical extension to Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory, involving a synthesis with the concept of organizational identity. Organizational identity is defined as the key interpretive scheme mediating the relationship between the institutional realm and action. Modifying identity enables alternative conceptualizations of structure, which consequently enable new courses of action by members. However, lasting change depends upon the continued legitimation and reproduction of these alternative structures, combined with the abandonment of previous structures. / Organizational Analysis

The SEIU and the AFL-CIO utilized similar rhetorical strategies in creating identification to further change within their organizations. Despite similar rhetorical strategies, the change efforts differ substantially in terms of success. This dissertation argues that the audience, culture and organizational structure influence the success of the change effort. The dissertation provides implications for rhetorical communication in labor unions.

This study is to explore the future development of Bank of Kaohsiung (BOK), the only Kaohsiung based medium-size banking institute. Due to the close relationship between banking and economic development, banking institutes with headquarter at Kaohsiung serving the local enterprises in this region play a significant role. While¡Amost of the local banking institutions in Kaohsiung area moved their headquarters to Taipei or have been merged by Finance holding companies owing to their poor performance. BOK is the only one left. Nevertheless, BOK should not be satisfied with the advantage of being the only medium-size local bank, but has to seek the way to withhold the advantage from the market and survive even better when facing the severe competition from giant Finance holding companies. This research adopts the questionnaire research method of case study and carries on the research by exploring: 1.the viewpoint of the middle-ranked clerks of BOK for the value of the Bank¡¦s operation core resources. 2.the viewpoint of the bank clerks of BOK for their intention and cooperative willingness in the bank development, including bank organizational change and economies of scope. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1.Most of the middle-ranked clerks of BOK agree to the view points of resource-based view that ability is more important than resources , intangible resources is more important than physical resources and finance resources. 2.42.5% of bank clerks agree that it is a major defect of BOK with most of their branch office located at the southern part of Taiwan. Over 70% of bank clerks agree to move of the poor performance branch office to other volatile city. However, 84.5% of the questionnaires insist that any assignment to serve in other area shall be volunteered. 3.Developing the wealth management business is mild positive to bank clerks of BOK, and young, new coming, high educated bank clerks are more optimism. Over 80% of bank clerks recognize that solid customer support is the great asset of their Bank. 4.Expanding the loaning business among the medium and small enterprises is mild positive to bank clerks of BOK, especially high educated young bank clerks. 5.Nearly half of bank clerks believe that there is a little chance that BOK will not become a financial holding company. Also, 42% of the employee reject or highly reject the Bank to carry out actively to merge with other financial holding company. This research attempts to make some contributions on this subject. We start from the viewpoint of the middle-ranked clerks and bank clerks of BOK, through the empirical questionnaire research. We hope this can provides an objective discussion platform for people who concern the future development of BOK in the relevant issues.

The purpose of this study was to build an understanding of the transitional experiences of four Directors of Education who led school division restructuring initiatives in rural Saskatchewan. The data regarding the participants experiences were collected through participant observation, a survey, and a series of three interviews in which the participants were asked to describe their transitional experiences. Additionally, an interview with a member of the Restructuring Coordinating Committee and a process of document analysis provided further information about the restructuring initiative in which the Directors were involved.<p> The conceptual framework for this study included the work of several researchers who had previously focused on transitions. It included the concept that transitions took place in three non-linear stages: the ending, the neutral zone, and the beginning. Additionally, the conceptual framework reflected the belief that transitions are influenced by the individuals personal circumstances. This study added to the collective knowledge of change leadership as it chronicled the lived experiences of leaders who went through personal transitions while in the process of leading change and managing the transitions of employees within their organization.<p> This study utilized a multiple case study design to explore the transitional experiences of educational leaders, charged with the task of leading organizational restructuring. Participants included four Directors of Education from rural Saskatchewan school divisions that were involved in the January 2006 provincial restructuring initiative.<p> The data analysis resulted in three understandings: a) Variations in personal circumstances have a significant impact on the way that individuals experience transitions. b) Relationship building is a key component of the transition process. c) The leader must first negotiate interpersonal relationships and then focus on repatterning processes and building relationships within the organization.

Attempting to enhance their productivity or improve working conditions, many businesses have adopted organizational change programs that involve a participatory component. To attain a comprehensive understanding of these change programs we need to investigate the influence of social factors such as power, the impact of local and global contexts, and the role that agency plays in these programs. Further, because organizational programs do not unfold linearly and the contexts in which they are embedded continually evolve, it is crucial to employ an approach that allows studying organizational programs over time. Attending to these considerations enables the production of narratives of organizational change that are congruous with the dynamism of organizational life. This dissertation explores the dynamics of an organizational program in a particular type of occupational health and safety program, which emphasizes employee involvement: participatory ergonomics (PE). Participatory ergonomics, intended to reduce workers’ exposures to work-related musculoskeletal disorders, draws on the input of small groups of labour and management representatives called ergonomic change teams (ECTs) to address exposure to hazards that may lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The dissertation’s examination of an organizational change program consists of an analysis of PE programs in two workplaces: a courier depot and a manufacturing plant. The dissertation’s investigation of the PE programs is based primarily on observations, which were gathered longitudinally as the ECTs endeavoured to make ergonomic changes, and fifty-five semi-structured interviews, which were carried out with ECT members and other key informants who were not members of the ECTs. Data collection occurred during 48 months in the manufacturing setting; in the courier company, collection took place during a 30-month period. The dissertation’s analysis is informed by negotiated order and critical theory lenses. Negotiated order considers social order as an ongoing process and draws attention to the activities of individuals and groups, and the manner in which they influence the dynamics of social life. In regard to organizational programs, it rejects the idea that they unfold independently of actors’ efforts; rather, it considers them as products of individuals’ attempts to establish and maintain the necessary agreements to ensure their operation. Critical theory, as it pertains to occupational health, identifies the constraints that shape working conditions and links these with the uneven distribution of power in the workplace and production imperatives. The dissertation addresses the following general research questions: What actions were undertaken by individuals to ensure the PE programs functioned and continued? How did the organizational and societal context enable or constrain the pursuit of PE program activities? The presentation of the findings begins with an account of the problem-solving processes used in both of the settings, an overview of the types of knowledge that were used, and a description of the actors’ access to knowledge. In each setting, design parameters, production pressures, the nature of the knowledge required to design solutions, and the differential distribution of that knowledge among workplace personnel influenced (a) the effectiveness of the ECTs’ solution building activities, (b) the design process, and (c) the nature and degree of participation by the teams’ worker members. The dissertation then proceeds to an examination of the implementation process. It explores how this process is affected by the organizational context, in particular the ECTs’ limited authority as agents of change, and shows that the minimal authority they possessed prompted the ECTs to select an array of strategies to accomplish their work. These strategies often took the forms of persuasion, persistence, and enlisting the assistance of other personnel. Extending the discussion of implementation, the dissertation then focuses on the division of labour within the ECTs as they carried out their activities. In both settings, implementation activities were unevenly distributed among the ECTs’ membership; they were predominantly carried out by managerial personnel. Both the programs’ functioning and the participation of worker representatives were influenced by the interplay among three main factors: the type of activities that needed to be carried out, workplace hierarchy, and stance, or participants’ views about their ability to act effectively. The discussion of the PE programs then proceeds to an examination of whether the programs were supplied with the resources required to continue over time. The outcomes differed: in Courier Co. the program was discontinued, whereas in Furniture Co. it was maintained. The discussions investigate how PE program continuation was affected by the program supporters’ activities and shaped by conditions both internal and external to the organization. Foremost among these conditions were management’s view of health and safety and the occupational health and safety regulatory framework. The dissertation’s examination of the PE programs over time provides evidence that the functioning and the degree of worker involvement in participatory occupational health programs are conditioned by structural and interactional elements. The programs were shaped by an uneven distribution of power, limits on access to knowledge and scarce resources, and actors’ divergent interests and their capacities to act in accord with these interests. The final chapter of the dissertation reviews the key findings and examines common themes that arose across the workplaces. The dissertation concludes with observations on several topics: the challenges of evaluating program outcomes in settings such as occupational health and safety; the lessons that participatory ergonomics practitioners can take from the study’s findings; and suggestions for possible avenues of future research.

Focusing on a community-policing pilot-project initiated in Kikuyu, a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, the current paper seeks to create an understanding concerning local premises for community-policing implementation. It is based on a field study that combined participatory observations and semi-structured interviews to investigate how the management of the pilot-project on the one side and the local police officers on the other side perceives the latter’s professional duty in Kikuyu. These perceptions and their correlation were analyzed through an institutional approach, involving regulative, normative and culture-cognitive perspectives. Initially, the findings show that intentions held within the management about how to change police practice in Kikuyu correlated to a large degree with the understanding local police officers already posses concerning their professional duty. However, applying the institutional approach, possible discrepancies were found. Concerning this, while the regulative and normative aspects of how to police Kikuyu seem to correlate between the two groups, differences on the culture-cognitive level indicate that the management and the local police officers have differing perceptions concerning police practice. Conclusively, following a distinction between a proactive approach to policing, expressed by the management, and a reactive approach to policing, expressed by the local police officers, the paper issues a warning regarding how historical and current social structures might result in a misinterpretation and misuse of community-policing on the side of the local police officers, which could lead to contradictive and counterproductive end results following the continued implementation of community-policing.

Understanding how committed employees are within an organization is a valuable tool for managing and fostering a successful work environment. A continued appreciation of employee commitment is especially beneficial following organizational change as it has been shown that change inevitably impacts commitment levels to some degree. This study investigated organizational commitment within a subpopulation of the newly restructured Parks Canada Agency using an established survey instrument. The findings revealed that an employee's tenure and work location currently influences commitment levels among the sample that was surveyed. This study also found that commitment to the Parks Canada mandate significantly differs from the expressed commitment to the current state of the organization. An effort to improve the moderate levels of organizational commitment would be a valuable strategy for enhancing the employer-employee relationship and contributing to the positive effects of the organizational change.