This study, utilizing Preston and Karahanna’s framework for shared vision development and Agency Theory, explores the impact of vision development factors and factors associated with incentive plans on shared vision and alignment. Results of the study confirm the strong relationship between shared vision and alignment, and indicate that having an effective management team is important with respect to developing and maintaining shared vision and alignment within the organization. Several vision development factors such as using the language of the business, participation on the top management team (TMT), and having knowledge of the business impact shared vision through their influence on teamwork. Also, results of this study suggest that participation on the TMT by the CIO/IT leader is more important than the individual’s position in the organizational hierarchy. In addition, attributes associated with incentive plans such as achievable and clear measures, measures linked to organizational goals, measures that align the interests of the individual with those of the organization, regular plan reviews, and using a balanced scorecard approach with respect to incentive plan design positively impact teamwork and shared vision. For practitioners, this highlights the importance of incentive plans as powerful tools that can be used to reinforce shared vision, effective teamwork, and alignment within the organization. Also, the CIO/IT leader needs to be knowledgeable of the business and must fill the role of both a technologist as well as an enterprise leader. This person must be an evangelist communicating the value and benefits of IT to the rest of the organization.

The Rappahannock River Basin Commission is undergoing a collaborative water supply planning process for Virginia's Rappahannock River Basin. Participants in the planning process have indicated an interest in technical information about the possible impact conservation programs may have on reducing residential water demand. The potential influence of conservation programs is identified through a literature synthesis and a statistical analysis of residential water demand for a locality within the basin (Stafford County). In the literature synthesis, conservation programs are classified as voluntary or mandatory. Voluntary programs utilize financial incentives (such as water pricing and rebates) or educational incentives (such as radio ads and bill inserts) to encourage conservation, and mandatory programs utilize regulatory incentives (such as plumbing standards and bans on outdoor water use). The water demand statistical model was estimated to more specifically identify how Stafford residential water customers respond to water pricing/rate structure changes (financial incentives), imposition of federal regulations on plumbing standards (regulatory incentives), and a voluntary conservation program utilizing educational incentives. The results indicate that while many studies have found residential customers are responsive to price changes, Stafford residential water users have not significantly changed their water demand in response to price/rate structure changes. Previous literature also suggests federal plumbing standards potentially have a significant impact on water demand. The influence of new plumbing standards in the Stafford demand model was inconclusive and warrants further analysis. Consistent with the literature, voluntary conservation programs utilizing educational incentives alone did not substantially alter residential water demand in Stafford County. / Master of Science

Water quality is a substantial issue in rural and urban areas in the Midwestern United States. Water resources, such as streams, are often impaired by pollution. This can pose a threat to the natural ecosystem and the health of those that live within it. In the Lower Kaskaskia River region, Illinois communities are faced with impaired water resources. In order to effectively manage for healthy waterways, communities must have skills and resources to address threats to water quality. This study assessed capacity for effective watershed management in four communities within the Lower Kaskaskia River region. Each community exists within a subwatershed of the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed. A stratified, random sample of 3,609 residents living within the four watersheds was taken to gather data on several community capacity indicators for each watershed community. A questionnaire was distributed to individuals living within the study area to measure dimensions of community capacity and familiarity with water conservation practices. With data from the questionnaire, it was possible to measure collective action, community empowerment, and shared vision for each of the communities within the study area. Exploratory factor analysis yielded outcomes that differed from theoretical literature on the topic. A stepwise regression analysis illustrated the importance of community empowerment in explaining the greatest amount of variability (39%) in community capacity. Once reliable measures of community capacity were established, it was possible to examine them across urban and rural areas. A multivariate analysis showed no significant difference between urban and rural community type in regards to levels of community empowerment, collective action, shared vision, and community capacity. Measurements of community capacity were not significantly different at á = 0.05 across urban and rural communities; however, practical differences between urban and rural communities were identified. Understanding practical differences in community capacity between different community types will assist in the development of outreach and education techniques that are relevant for both urban and rural communities that exist within the study area. Outreach and education strategies will allow for the implementation of effective natural resource management within the study communities, while informing citizens and leaders on watershed conservation practices that can be implemented at the individual and community levels.

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Research has been conducted regarding what relationship demographic diversity have to organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; however never at the same time. This research adds a new context, to this field of research since research has never, to our knowledge, been conducted in a school context. The purpose with this thesis is to explain what relationships gender, age, cultural and tenure diversity have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience. A cross-sectional research design was used, because of the positivist and deductive approach. The method consisted of a quantitative part in the form of a web based self-completion questionnaire mediated by email, to upper secondary schools, in five Counties, with a minimum of three managers. The qualitative part was in the form of three in-depth interviews, two with School Directors and one with a registrar. The findings shows that gender, culture have a negative relationship to organisational ambidexterity, and age have a positive relationship when moderated by shared vision. The limitations are that only schools with a minimum of three top managers were chosen; the results thereby lack generalisability in other contexts. The implications are that shared vision, when applied to an upper secondary school context seem to decrease in importance and suggestibility. The original value of the conducted study is new insights regarding the relationships demographic diversities have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; the choice to conduct the test in a school context.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / District leadership has been found to have a measurable effect on student achievement by creating conditions within which teachers and administrators frame their daily work with children. The superintendent is uniquely poised to build the needed infrastructure of support and assure its alignment with the philosophy and mission of the district and, in turn, with the work of the school. By attending to the habits and conditions that allow a staff to work as a unit, superintendents are able to contribute to the development of a community of professional learners within and among district schools. This qualitative case study analyzed district leadership practices that support ongoing teacher growth in a Massachusetts school district by examining the work of the superintendent and the impact of his leadership on the ongoing development of a community of professional learners at the district and school level. Data included interviews with teachers and administrators, artifact analyses, and observations of district meetings. Findings reveal the superintendent's use of a PLC process to model and provide support to school-level leaders by encouraging broad-based participation in the skillful work of leadership; establishing a clear vision which resulted in program coherence; fostering a system of inquiry-based accountability that informed decision making and practice; and nurturing organizational relationships that involved high district engagement and low bureaucratization which supported school-based collaborative teacher growth. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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This comparative case study aimed to explore the elements that align with Senge&rsquo / s framework of the Learning Organization, comprised of the disciplines of Personal Mastery, Shared Vision, Mental Models, Team Learning, and Systems Thinking, in the English Language Preparatory Programs of two selected higher education institutions to determine what characteristics of a learning organization they possess. In this study, qualitative case study method was employed. The study was conducted in two organizations, one (Organization A), part of a private Englishmedium university, and the other (Organization B), part of a public Englishmedium university, in Ankara, Turkey. The sample contained seven administrators and twenty-two instructors from Organization A and seventeen instructors and 3 administrators from Organization B. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using content analysis technique. The findings revealed that both organizations are evolving towards a learning organization, but have not institutionalized the five disciplines to an ideal state yet. Organization A is doing somewhat better than Organization B as regards the disciplines of Team Learning and Personal Mastery / however, there is no considerable difference between the organizations in terms of the disciplines of Shared Vision, Mental Models and Systems Thinking. Overall, in both organizations there are impediments in terms of the development and achievement of personal visions, learning of individuals and teams, development of a shared vision, surfacing and questioning mental models, and acting from a comprehensive systems approach.

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