A major question in the study of complex organizations is whether it is possible to develop a useful taxonomy which identifies the crucial aspects of organizations and classifies them in a significant manner. One group of typologies of complex organizations focuses on the relationship between the organization and its environment. The purpose of this thesis is to test the validity of three existing typologies of complex organizations, each of which focuses on one aspect of the relationship between organizations and their environment. The major innovation in this research is the use of block modeling, a form of network methodology, to analyze the multiplex relationships and to establish categories of organizations in six towns in Minnesota. This categorical scheme is based on groupings of organizations that share 2 similar patterns of relationships in a community network. The first part of this thesis is an attempt to discover if the three typologies being tested, which were originally developed from data on internal organizational characteristics, are relevant categorical "tools" for distinguishing among "classes" of organizations that were grouped based on the relational data from network analysis of the six Minnesota towns. Three hypotheses are presented, each associated with a different typology to be tested: Hypothesis I - based on inputs (Resource Dependence), Hypothesis II - based on throughputs (Katz and Kahn), and Hypothesis III - based on outputs (Parsonian). Each of these hypotheses predict specific inter-organizational relationships that should be present in the empirical data. A typology is considered relevant for use in this study, if the inter-organizational relationship, predicted by the corresponding hypothesis, is found to be present in the empirical data. All three typologies examined are found to be relevant categorical tools for the network data employed in this study.

The present study was conducted to examine power use patterns and general power use strategies in organizations multidimensionally (i.e., downward, upward, and lateral directions of power use), to extend and explain previous findings by Kipnis et al. (1980), with reference to situational effects on multidimensional power use. The samples in this study consist of 230 full-time managers who were from eight local businesses, and a second sample of 140 college students who worked over 15 hours a week at the time of the study. Two exploratory factor analyses resulted in five commonly used power patterns and two general power use strategies based on the eight factors found from Kipnis et al. (1980) factor analysis. Significant differences between the manager's level and manager's power tactics use were not found in downward, upward, or lateral power tactics use when three corresponding MANOVA analyses were conducted. Two different measures of work unit size were used, and the relationship between the work unit size and manager's power tactics use was significant when tested by a stepwise multiple regression analysis. A final multivariate analysis with repeated measures found no significant difference between the two response formats used on the questionnaires given to the college student sample. The important implications and contributions of the present study are discussed as well as future research directions.

This study explores the relationship between music and creativity. Prior research has conflicting results with some finding that music does influence creativity and some reporting no relationship and others finding that music is harmful to creativity. All of these studies, however, have largely focused on the presence vs. absence of music without consideration for the characteristics (i.e., musical key, tempo, etc.) that make up the sound we identify as music and their unique effects on us emotionally, physically, and cognitively. This dissertation contends that different characteristics of music influence different components of creativity (i.e., novelty and usefulness) through their effects on executive functions—working memory and inhibitory control. The hypotheses presented in this dissertation were tested in a 2x2 between-subject lab experiment with two different control groups (i.e., nature sounds and no audio) using 436 undergraduate students. The results provide support for the physiological and affective consequences of musical key and tempo. However, measures of creativity were unrelated with the proposed mediating mechanisms, making any conclusions about the effects of music characteristics on creativity difficult to draw. Reasons for this are discussed. It can be said, however, that it does appear that music is not harmful creativity as reported by previous studies. Directions for future research are also discussed.

Studies have found links between physician relationships with nurses, patient safety culture, and patient outcomes, but less is known about a similar link between physician relationships with allied health professionals (AHPs), patient safety culture, and patient outcomes. The purpose of this exploratory quantitative, survey study was to investigate whether physician interactions with AHPs contribute to improved patient-safety culture, AHP empowerment, and self-efficacy. Based on a theoretical framework consisting of structural empowerment, psychological empowerment, and self-efficacy, it was hypothesized that self-efficacy is predicted by structural and psychological empowerment and self-efficacy predicts a positive patient safety culture. The AHP Survey of Physician Collaboration was constructed using psychometrically sound items from instruments that have studied similar phenomena. A purposive sample with 95 respondents consisted of occupational and physical therapists currently working in hospitals. Pearson Product-Moment correlation, standard multiple regression analysis, independent groups t-tests, and one-way between groups analyses of variance were employed. Although the survey results did not indicate a statistically significant relationship between psychological empowerment and patient-safety culture, findings in this study indicated that patient-safety culture has a significant positive correlation with structural empowerment and self-efficacy. Structural empowerment and self-efficacy were found to significantly predict patient-safety culture. The results did not show differences based on gender, profession, age, or years of service. By illustrating the nature of the relationship between physicians and AHPs, the results of this study can affect social change through enhancing the ability to reduce the number of preventable negative health outcomes in hospitals.

There are many operational and organizational stressors in policing. This study was designed to gain a better understanding of what causes police officers in a rural southern state mental and physical stress and to determine how best to assist officers when they are dealing with stress. The purpose of this study was to determine whether organizational or operational issues cause more stress among police officers in a rural southern state. Qualitative research methods and the phenomenological approach to obtain data from participants who have experienced job-related stressors were used. The social construct theory, a theory of knowledge in sociology, was used for this study. Data were collected by conducting interviews with 14 current police officers in a rural southern state with a minimum of two years of experience in rural policing. The in-vivo coding method was used to code the interview data in MAXQDA software. The study revealed that 13 of the 14 participants attributed organizational issues as their main stress factor. The findings from this study may result in positive social change for police officers and subsequently the communities they serve. The police department and the community benefit when officers are in good physical and mental health. Gaining an understanding of what factors contribute to officers' stress and determining ways to treat the effects of stress could contribute to positive social change by having psychologically and emotionally healthy officers on the street and that could strengthen the partnership between a police department and the community it serves.

Educational researchers contend that high-quality, sustaining teachers are critical to student success. However, few policymakers agree on the best way to improve teacher quality. Researchers outside of education found associations between employee engagement and job performance, which suggests that improving teacher work engagement may potentially improve teacher productivity. Engagement theories framed this correlational study; Kahn's engagement theory, Spector's job satisfaction theory and Meyer and Allen's organizational commitment theory. These theories contributed to examining relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and teacher work engagement. Additionally, this study further examined how these relationships mediated teacher demographics ( gender, age, educational level, and years of experience). Approximately 26 New York City secondary school teachers from five schools responded to a survey. Regression analysis showed no significant results between any of the variables; however, the descriptive analysis showed that teachers' satisfaction came from having competent supervision, their commitment was due to a sense of obligation to their schools, and their engagement was related to how absorbing they found their work. Results based on a response rate of less than 1%, suggests that due to low power, generalization among this population of teachers could not be established. Therefore, further study of how teachers engage with their work is warranted. Implications for social change are that programs that improve the quality of teacher supervisors or give teachers rewards regarding absorbing and engaging work assignments might improve teacher productivity and higher student achievement.

Organizational leaders and managers may not have the management acumen, organizational awareness, or leadership expertise to construct and implement effective strategies, policies, and procedures to help reduce the frequency of the phenomenon of workplace isolation. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, multiple case study was to gain a common understanding about how workplace isolation may influence a remote employee'€™s performance in a customer service organization in the United States. Emerson'€™s social exchange theory was used as the conceptual framework. A series of semistructured interviews with 21 remote workers that consisted of four different divisions at the same organization was conducted to yield thematic results. Data analysis included holistic and pattern coding. The most common understandings that emerged into themes were the need of social interaction, manager communication, and peer-to-peer interactions that had an influence on job performance. The knowledge acquired in this study can affect social change by providing insights for leaders, managers, and practitioners to create policies and strategies to improve the engagement, performance, and well-being of remote workers who may experience workplace isolation.

Organizations attempting to optimize productivity are seeking new ways to develop psychological capital in teams. The researcher conducted a quantitative study to determine whether team cohesion, as assessed by the Revised Group Environment Questionnaire (RGEQ), impacts team productivity, as assessed by the Performance Measurement Team (PMT) Manufacturing Resource System (MRS); whether this relationship can be attributed to a team's level of psychological capital, as assessed by the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12); and whether psychological capital mediates the relationship between team cohesion and team productivity. Forty-five PMTs in a large U.S. defense manufacturing organization were surveyed using the PCQ-12 and the RGEQ, and their respective PMT MRS productivity levels were recorded. Barron and Kenny's 4-step mediation analysis was employed using simple and multiple regression to determine whether a team's level of cohesion significantly contributes to its productivity and if its level of psychological capital mediates the relationship between cohesion and productivity. The results indicated that team cohesion does not predict team productivity and that psychological capital is not a mediator of team cohesion and productivity. Although cohesion and psychological capital have a significant positive effect on supervisor performance ratings, the effect is diminished when viewing the objective measure of productivity. The study promotes positive social change in the workplace by elevating awareness of the effect of team cohesion on the psychological states of manufacturing workers. Understanding these relationships will help organizations to implement teaming methods that support the efficiencies and well-being of employees.

Decades of qualitative case studies suggest that organizations must be able to deal with change effectively to compete and survive. Many researchers have linked higher workforce levels of agility and resilience to organizations' abilities to deal with change more successfully; however, there is a scarcity of empirical research addressing the efficacy of agility and resilience development in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively examine the development of workforce resilience and agility, as measured by FIT for Change assessment. The theory of planned behavior was the study's theoretical framework, theorizing that changing attitudes and beliefs about change through a learning program might lead to more positive behaviors in response to change. The primary research question was whether a significant difference exists between individual agility and resilience levels before and after a learning intervention in the target population (N = 612) of associates employed by a large healthcare organization who participated in the learning intervention. Due to the abnormal distribution of the data and failed assumption of homogeneity of the regression slopes, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used in lieu of ANCOVA. The results indicated that Agility scores increased on the second test (p = .000). Resilience scores did not change significantly on the second test (p = .913). This study is significant to healthcare organizations undergoing change and may result in organizations investing in development of agility and resilience of their workforce. Developing agility and resilience in people facilitates social change by creating communities that do not just survive but adapt in an optimistic way and find opportunities benefiting the society even during the most adverse changes.

Base closures and relocations reduce costs to the Department of Defense but necessitate the relocation of personnel, organizations, and functions. When Fort McPherson closed, Fort Bragg received the organization's personnel and equipment. The problem in this study was the lack of knowledge and understanding within the U.S. military, especially among civil service and contractor employees affected by realignments and closures, regarding (a) the decision process to accept or reject offers to relocate, (b) the potential health effects related to relocating, and (c) the effect that personnel relocations and losses have on the military mission. This study is essential because no scholarly research exists that would help individuals to make sound decisions and enable military leadership to understand the impacts to people and missions. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to delve deeply into the personnel issues among those affected by an actual relocation. The conceptual framework included cognitive learning theory, social learning theory, and the theory of planned behavior, all focused on how individuals make decisions. Purposeful sampling was used to select 24 DoD employees from different career fields for semistructured interviews. Transcripts were analyzed, showing that family, retirement, health, and financial factors were the most frequent themes in the decision-making process. The implication for social change is to improve the awareness of all stakeholders in the relocation process regarding the challenges faced by personnel, both assisting people making the decision to relocate and improving communications by military leadership to those affected. The outcome would be a smoother, more effective, and more efficient relocation process and minimal impact on the military mission.