Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2001. / Thesis advisor(s): Anna Simons, Gordon H. McCormick. Graduation date for Louis M. McCray: March 2002. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89). Also available online.

This dissertation investigates factors that influence efforts by lower-level employees to initiate organizational change and innovation from the bottom up. Specifically, I attempt to reconcile competing theories regarding the effects of structural and social integration on individual innovation efforts. One theoretical view posits that integration provides information, ideas, and motivation necessary for innovation. An alternative view is that integration constrains individuals and routines, and thereby hinders innovation efforts. Drawing on both theoretical perspectives, I predict the effects of distinct types of structural integration (e.g., centralization, cross-unit integration, boundary spanning) and social integration determinants (e.g., geographic dispersion, decision process involvement, workplace network size) on the likelihood of individual innovation efforts among lower-level employees. I also consider the effects of interactions of social and structural integration with individual characteristics (i.e., personality, and experience) on innovation efforts. I test these predictions using survey data collected from interns and supervisors in the context of MBA and undergraduate internships. Analyses demonstrate that several aspects of structural integration do influence the levels of individual innovation efforts. For example, centralization and boundary spanning levels of the work unit have inverse U-shaped / text

This study explored change implementation communication from a multifaceted (more than one at any particular time) change perspective. It examined how employees make sense of and respond to the organizational coordination of multifaceted change efforts. The case of a merger provides the backdrop for which to understand the multiplicity and complexity of organizational change (both planned and unplanned) and how the communicative organizational response to these overlapping and subsequent changes both complement and compete with the initially introduced change. This project was organized into two studies. The first explored the messages stakeholders recall receiving from implementers about multifaceted change. The second tested the relationships between change messages and specific individual and organizational change outcomes. Thematic analysis revealed that implementers used four different change messages. Statistical analysis revealed that multifaceted change messages create higher levels of change satisfaction, message quality, change liking, and organizational trust. Moreover, messages including information about the multiplicity (or magnitude) produced the least degree of perceived deception, the greatest degree of coping efficacy, and higher degrees of organizational competency appraisals. / text

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Not available / text

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / This research study examines processes of change management due to regulatory impact on organisations within the South African gas pipeline industry (energy industry). It concludes that a 'changing organisation' is not simply the product of good design; its existence is subject to history and to shifting power relations (i.e. Government) both within and outside of organisations.

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Why do social movement organizations change? This study attempts to answer this question by observing forty diverse social movement organizations (from both random and convenience samples) active across a wide spectrum of social movements in Seattle, Washington between 1999 and 2005. It focuses on changing organizational strategies&mdash;measured as combinations of issues, tactics, and targets&mdash;during a dramatic period of expanding and contracting political opportunities (e.g., anti-WTO protests, election of G. W. Bush, September 11<super>th</super> attack, Afghanistan and Iraq wars). The analysis, based on interviews with representatives from the organizations, charts organizational adaptation and stability at both the field and organization levels. A series of maps of the social movement field, generated using correspondence analysis, depict the relative similarity and difference between these organizations and their issues, tactics, and targets during each year of the study. The maps reveal a surprisingly stable social movement field characterized by three distinct types of organizations (as indicated by their combinations of issues, tactics, and targets) that persist throughout the period. Significant growth in the size of the peace movement in the middle of the period has remarkably little effect on the overall shape of the field. This stability is further confirmed at the organizational level. Neither resource mobilization nor political opportunity theories anticipate such a high degree of organizational stability, and their explanations for adaptation find little support in these data. Consistent with the resource mobilization perspective, SMOs with broader goals are more likely change than their counterparts. However, contrary to this view, younger organizations with greater resources and centralized, bureaucratic structures are less likely to change. Expanding political opportunities do not appear to influence these SMOs, while contracting opportunities in the wake of Bush's election and the September 11<super>th</super> attack seem to encourage high levels of organizational stability. The study concludes with a discussion of organizational theories of structural inertia and institutionalization, both of which offer plausible explanations of organizational stability.

Note: / The history of I1Dst large organizations contains periods of turnoil and upheaval which called for, or resulted fram, attempts at steering the organization towards new directions and changing its fabric of goals, strategies, structures and values.[...] / L'histoire des grandes organisations contient presqu' invariablement des episodes de bouleversement et de crise. Ces periodes troubles exigent, ou parfois sont Ie resultat, des efforts pour imprinter a I lorganisa-:tion une nouvelle direction, pour en changer les buts, strategies, structures et valeurs.[...]

Change is inevitable and will be the hallmark of our lives. This study was undertaken against the background of the restructuring plans at the University of Durban Westville (UDW). It was motivated by a concern for the psychosocial consequences of organisational restructuring relating to non-academic employees at the university. A further motivation was the increased number of staff seeking counselling related to their anxiety, following the introduction of the voluntary severance packages. The basic premise of this study is that, while transformation is essential, it must be given a humane face. Organisational restructuring is placed within the broader rubric of change. The study was guided by the following research questions: • What are the psychosocial consequences of organisational restructuring for nonacademic staff at UDW? • How do non-academic staff react to the changes arising out of the restructuring process? • What are the views of non-academic staff about the organisational changes? Systems Theory and Crisis Theory have been used in the study to explain how individuals respond to change. The sample comprised 40 individuals who were employed by the University for a period ranging from under one year to 25 years. The research procedure adopted was one of triangulation. Data, both qualitative and quantitative in nature, were collected through the use of questionnaires, interviews and non-participant observation. Quantitative data was analysed using frequency distribution tables and cross tabulation tables. "Inductive analysis" was used for the formal analysis of qualitative data. The major finding of this study was that the respondents had no problem with transformation per se, but they were concerned about the manner in which it was being implemented at UDW. The majority of them felt that in attempting to meet transformational goals, the university management had compromised the fundamental requirements of fairness and sensitivity. Moreover, respondents believed that "unplanned change" was taking place too rapidly. This, they believed, contributed to a state of uncertainty and disorganisation. Changes needed to be phased in. The key recommendations regarding restructuring include the need for a commitment on the part of Management to the principles of fairness, justice and respect. A case is made for incremental and, manageable change. Programmes for employee development and counselling are crucial. The need for a participatory and transparent programme of change is also stressed. In short, wide ranging consultation, sound communication, an effective human resource team and a shared vision are all identified as essential elements for successful organizational restructuring. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1998.