<p> Mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) have become an important business strategy to help improve organizational performance. M&amp;As have been identified as one of the key strategies to help organizations compete in the global economy and have become attractive business strategies widely adopted and utilized among industries and global businesses. From the employee perspective, a merger or acquisition event can create uncertainty, changes and job losses. The literature suggests that some mergers and acquisitions fail not so much because of financial factors but more often because of the lack of integration of organizational cultures and other human factors. There is general agreement among some authors that studying human factors, rather than just M&amp;A financial factors, provides a far better understanding of M&amp;As' successes and failures. Research on M&amp;As suggests that managers should encourage employees to support an organizational (or collective) identity in order to maximize the positive outcome of M&amp;As. Through an extensive systematic review of the literature and an evidence based research methodology, this dissertation critically analyzed and examined the following questions: 1) How does the process of cultural integration during the post-merger and acquisition (M&amp;A) period impact the performance outcome of M&amp;As, specifically, on employee commitment, employee turnover rates and employee job satisfaction? 2) What is the impact of employee identification with the organization in the M&amp;A's organizational cultural integration process? 3) What is the effect of leaders' communication on employee identification with the organization during the post-M&amp;A cultural integration period? Based on the findings from the systematic review of the literature, the research questions are addressed and recommendations for ensuring successful post-merger and acquisition (M&amp;A) cultural integration are presented.</p>

<p> The quantitative, descriptive study examined workplace communication breakdowns by evaluating generational perceptions of supervisor leadership, communication and employee performance. Participants included members of the Baby Boomer generation, Generation X, and Millenials. Respondents completed an online survey that contained the Supervisor Leadership Communication Inventory. Additionally, respondents answered an open-ended question that asked about a supervisor&rsquo;s role in facilitating intergenerational communication. Data analysis indicated no significant differences among generational perceptions of supervisor leadership, communication or employee performance. Themes that emerged from responses to the open-ended question aligned with SLCI themes, including leadership, communication and teamwork. Limitations to the study included a lack of participation by members of the Silent Generation, possible misinterpretation of the survey questions and limiting the participants to only those who were employed full-time. Respondents indicated effective leadership was based upon treating employees as individuals and not based upon generational cohort. Recommendations included further research to determine the occurrence of workplace communication breakdowns based upon generational differences. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> generation, communication, leadership, teamwork. </p>

<p> This study examined the listening behaviors of organization development (OD) practitioners that result in client transformation. Interviews conducted with eleven OD consultants with extensive experience in executive coaching pointed to engaged, focused attention as a core characteristic of their listening. OD practitioners regularly use three primary listening approaches (active, empathetic, and expansive listening) to drive insight and help clients transform their perspectives. Practitioners subsequently use two secondary listening approaches (critical and reductive listening) to anchor insight into action and help clients transform their behavior. Transformative listening describes the repeating process of inquiry that blends primary and secondary listening approaches and tends to transform client perspectives and behavior. Conversely, transactional listening describes a listening approach appropriate for the negotiation and execution of agreements in the transaction of routine business. Self-awareness and use of self foster sensitivity to client needs and practitioner agility in blending the listening approaches used in transformative listening. </p>

<p> Leading at a distance has emerged concurrently with complex global changes, resulting in the diverse use of technology, virtual teams, and collaboration as a way of solving problems and growing innovative and successful organizations. Little research has been done to explore the perceptions of individuals who lead virtual organizations. In the absence of such research, little is known about effective leadership processes in virtual environments. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to discover an explanatory theory, derived from data, which facilitates an understanding of effective virtual leadership systems and processes. This study used classic grounded theory methodology involving multiple extant data reviews (> 20) and a purposive sampling group of 77 virtual leaders, dispersed globally, who were interviewed using voice-over Internet protocol, phone contacts, and e-mail as data collection methods. The <i>grand tour</i> research question for this study examined issues leaders faced when leading/working virtually and the processes virtual leaders used to resolve the stated issues. Data were analyzed using open coding, sorting, memoing, constant comparative analysis, selective coding, and theoretical sampling. The key finding of this study was a generated <i> theory of seducing engagement,</i> addressing participants' main concern: the process of cultivating success in the virtual worker-learner. <i> Engagement</i> is viewed as a significant variable in successful virtual working, virtual leading, and organizational/company success. The results from this study might be used by global organizations to inform infrastructure and planning for virtual leading; to enhance the knowledge, training, and preparedness of virtual leaders; and to spur further research in a rapidly growing field.</p>

<p> Despite the vast amount of research on work motivation, theorists still lack consensus regarding what truly motivates employees; yet employee motivation is widely recognized as critical to organizational survival in the global marketplace. In the knowledge economy, knowledge workers are the key to knowledge creation and, thus, organizational survival and success. Thus, organizations that wish to survive in the current economy must find ways to capitalize on the strengths of knowledge workers by developing an understanding of the motivating forces driving knowledge workers. Research suggests differences in employee motivation across age groups and generations. As Traditionalists and Baby Boomers approach retirement and exit the workforce, Generation Y, born between 1981 and 1997, is becoming a major part of the workforce. Thus, organizational leaders must develop an understanding of what motivates knowledge workers from Generation Y to contribute to the organization's goals and objectives, thereby contributing to higher levels of organizational performance; however, scholarly research has yet to address the work motivation experiences of Generation Y knowledge workers. This grounded theory study explored the work motivation experiences of Generation Y knowledge workers through a review of key motivation theories and exploratory, in-depth interviews with Generation Y knowledge workers in the healthcare industry, toward an understanding of Generation Y's intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, demotivators, and process of and approach to work motivation. The data revealed that Generation Y knowledge workers in the healthcare industry have a strong desire to contribute, both to their organizations and to their communities. The desire for purpose, which can be achieved through the attainment of social acceptance and self-worth, served as the primary motivator for the research participants.</p>

<p> This study examined stakeholders&rsquo;' perceptions of a leader identification process as a part of the launch of a leader development pool strategy within a large, U.S.-based corrections organization. Stakeholder perceptions included stakeholder expectations of, roles in, and contributions to the organization&rsquo;'s leader identification strategy and process, which were aimed at addressing a sparse leadership bench. </p><p> This single, descriptive case study centered around a leader identification initiative involving leaders and emerging leaders who were nominated for or applied to an accelerated development program. Fourteen leaders participated in the study. Their average tenure with the organization was 14.3 years. This study examined stakeholder perceptions around three phases of the initiative: the kick-off and communication phase (Phase 1), the talent review phase (Phase 2), and the disposition and development phase (Phase 3). </p><p> The study&rsquo;'s findings revealed agreement among stakeholder groups that (1) clearly defined roles and responsibilities were critical to building the leadership bench, (2) open and honest talent discussions were more important than the systems and processes designed to build leadership capacity, (3) the talent pool approach taken by the organization undermined true succession planning and targeted development, and (4) stakeholder expectations and involvement drove the need for planned changes in the leader identification and development strategy.</p>

<p> The combination of globalization, technological advancements, governmental regulations, changing customer tastes and trends combined with a host of other influences constantly force organizations to change, or respond to changes in the business environment. Businesses need their employees to be flexible and ready for change; however, the literature is rife with the assertion that more than 70% of organizational change initiatives fail. These failures cost organizations billions of dollars each year and have been blamed in part on employees' unreadiness for change, and their subsequent resistance to it. Businesses have a continued interest in understanding how to achieve higher rates of success with change initiatives; therefore, this research examined whether or not employees' personality traits predicted their readiness for organizational change. It also examined whether or not employees' level of education interacted with their personality traits to moderate the effects of personality traits on variances in readiness for change. Results indicated that personality traits predicted employees' readiness for change; however, increasing education did not interact with personality traits to modify the effects of personality on employee readiness for change.</p>

<p> The United States increasingly calls upon elite teams of Special Operations Forces, like the Navy SEALs, to respond to the evolving asymmetric threats posed by terrorists and extremists. These teams must have the capacity to adapt as a collective unit in the most dynamic circumstance. This research explored the nature of collective adaptation by these exceptional action teams using a qualitative case study methodology and a lens of complexity theory. Specifically, data gathered from official documents and interviews with retired Navy SEALs expanded the understanding of dynamic instability as it relates to team adaptation in uncertain environments. A greater understanding of this phenomenon contributed to the scholarly literature by identifying and describing the critical factors used by teams to promote adaptive capacity through the appropriate usage of structure and innovative flexibility in a dynamically changing situation. The study produced the following conclusions: 1. Individuals in an action team mentally reference a combination of general simple rules and situation-specific simple rules when they adapt in an uncertain environment. &bull; Varying application of different types of simple rules correspond with different levels of environmental uncertainty. &bull; Simple rules provide the basis for a shared cognitive structure that enables greater collective adaptation. 2. Previous experience plays an important role in the adaptive capacity of an action team. &bull; Experience provides an individual with context to determine how simple rules can and should be applied. &bull; Experience strengthens the relationship (trust and familiarity) between team members which allows them to adapt more quickly and effectively as a collective. 3. Relationships between team members, grounded in previous experience and a shared culture, play an important role in the adaptive capacity of an action team. &bull; Trust between team members gives each individual the freedom and permission to take initiative and adapt as necessary. &bull; Familiarity between team members enables the action team to collectively adapt more quickly and effectively because they can predict how another teammate will react given a specific set of parameters without the need for extensive communication. 4. The ability of individual team members to control emotions, slow and simplify reactions, and focus communication promotes more effective adaptation by an action team in an uncertain environment. &bull; Individual decision-making is enhanced when individuals are able to control their reactions and react calmly in the midst of an uncertain environment. &bull; As environmental uncertainty increases, individuals who react by slowing down and simplifying their actions are capable of more effective adaptation. &bull; In an uncertain environment, action teams that focus communication, reduce potential distractions for team members. This reduced, but effective communication is possible because of trust and familiarity between team members. 5. An action team's ability to adapt is dependent upon its dynamic instability (the interplay between morphostatic and morphogenetic factors). &bull; Morphostatic factors that promote structure include simple rules, selection of team members, familiarity between team members, and perpetuation of a structured culture that regulates behavior. &bull; Morphogenetic factors that promote flexibility include previous experience, distributed leadership, trust between team members, and perpetuation of a permissive culture that encourages innovation.</p>

<p> Human beings have engaged in trade, conducted war, created shelter, obtained food, practiced healing, and lived in community throughout the millennia. Historically, religion served as the overarching container used to create meaning within these human activities. In contemporary culture, the myth of "the bottom line" which is the Market economy has become the overarching container for a culture continually seeking to monetize human activity and create meaning through narratives of profitability. </p><p> Archetypal psychology employs polytheistic metaphors to describe the multiple autonomous forces or archetypes that exist within the human imagination. The work of archetypal psychologists and depth psychology authors including James Hillman, Ginette Paris, Michael Vannoy Adams, Karl Ker&eacute;nyi, Charles Boer, and Thomas Moore form the foundation for an archetypal analysis of the myth of "the bottom line." James Hillman calls for attention to the narratives of business and names the myth of "the bottom line," in <i>Kinds of Power </i>, "The drama of business, its struggles, challenges, victories and defeats, form the fundamental myth of our civilization, the story that explains the underlying bottom line of the ceremonies of our behavior" (1). </p><p> This dissertation is an exploration of the way the myth of "the bottom line" and the Market economy affect human experience of the archetype of War in the form of outsourcing of military functions; the archetype of Home in relationship to the commercial entity of a house and the recent market bubble; the archetype of Food in the form of agribusiness, patented seed stock, and processed food; the archetype of Healing in the form of industrialized health care; the archetype of Relationships within social media and technology. This analysis is achieved through an archetypal interpretation of authors who critique the forces of the Market on each of the respective archetypes. In addition, there is archetypal analysis of the voices of the businesses involved in these territories by "reading through" their annual reports and web sites. </p><p> Keywords: archetypal psychology, Hillman, Hermes, market, war, home, food, health care industry, social media, technology.</p>

<p> This study examined the relationship of sales employees' emotional intelligence (EI) to their organizational justice (OJ) perceptions, and examined if sales employees' job satisfaction (JS) moderated the strength of the relationship between their EI and OJ perceptions. Three assessments were administered electronically and completed by 135 participants. The Job In General (JIG) assessment measured overall JS of employees. The assessment used to measure employee EI was the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0). The assessment used to measure employee justice perceptions was the Perceived Overall Justice scale. Hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis (MRA) was used to identify any relationships. No statistically significant finding between EI, JS, and OJ were found when using hierarchical moderated MRA. Because of the violations of assumptions for MRA, it was determined that follow-up non-parametric testing was required. Non-parametric testing found a significant relationship between employees' EI and their OJ perceptions. The non-parametric testing confirmed previous findings of significant relationship between EI and OJ. Recommendations for future research include examining individual facets of EI and OJ, using different assessment to measure EI and OJ, and using a controlled environment to recruit participants.</p>