This dissertation features three essays that constitute an integrative and multi-perspective investigation of organizational IT innovation diffusion. My proposed research builds upon diverse bodies of literature in IS, organization theory, and social movement, for proposing novel IT innovation models and theories. In particular, the studies in this dissertation take into account non-relational mechanisms of diffusion, i.e., theorization and framing, as well as normative and symbolic drivers of IT adoption decision. The three essays are situated as follows: The first essay examines the IT diffusion phenomenon from the adopters' point of view. It seeks to conciliate a number of seemingly paradoxical arguments applicable to explaining the diffusion of IT management techniques. Taking the specific case of the Capability Maturity Model diffusion into account, the paper applies a multi-perspective approach to examining the diffusion process. This research contributes to the IS field by (a) illustrating how several different theoretical perspectives (i.e., the efficient choice, forced-selection, fashion, and fad) can be used to explain the diffusion of an IT innovation, (b) identifying the specific limitations of each perspective, and (c) demonstrating how these competing perspectives can be consolidated and yield a holistic understanding of the IT innovation diffusion trajectory.The second essay is a theory-generative research synthesis. Through a review and synthesis of literature in IS and reference disciplines, a typological theory of IT innovation adoption is proposed. The theory identifies and thoroughly explains four ideal types (holistic configurations) of IT adoption, namely, IT adoption for efficiency increment, IT adoption for organizational transformation, IT adoption for compliance, and IT adoption for prestige. This theory aims at resolving a number of inconsistencies found in extant literature. It also sheds light on distinctive characteristics of IT innovation, and adds to its conceptual clarity. The third essay investigates the processes behind the social construction and diffusion of popular IT innovation waves (aka, IT fashions), and proposes a theory of IT fashion entrepreneurship. This essay is based on the argument that for a successful diffusion of an IT innovation, it has to be accompanied by a powerful rhetorical component. The role of this component is to inspire and provide legitimacy for the adoption decisions – despite all uncertainties regarding the actual realized benefits. Using an analysis of discourse associated with the rise of Enterprise 2.0 as a popular IT innovation concept, this essay generates a theory on how these rhetorical components are constructed by IT fashion entrepreneurs. Overall, the studies in this dissertation seek to go beyond the current dominant paradigm in IT diffusion stream of research, by focusing on under-explored mechanisms of IT innovation diffusion. The findings of the studies provide theoretical and pragmatic contributions for the IS field, as well as practical contributions for managers and IT vendors. / Cette thèse présente trois essais qui constituent une étude intégrative, multi-perspective et multi-méthode sur la diffusion des innovations organisationnelles en technologies de l'information (TI). Mon projet de recherche s'appuie sur diverses théories des organisations et des mouvements sociaux afin de proposer de nouveaux modèles d'innovation en TI et de suggérer certains développements théoriques. Plus particulièrement, les études qui forment cette thèse tiennent compte des mécanismes non-relationnels de diffusion, c.-à-d. théorisation et de framing, ainsi que des tenants normatifs et symboliques d'adoption de décision en TI. Les trois essais sont présentés comme suit:Le premier essai examine le phénomène de diffusion des TIs du point de vue des adoptants. Il cherche à concilier un certain nombre d'arguments en apparence paradoxaux qui visent à expliquer la diffusion des techniques de gestion des TI. En prenant le cas spécifique de la diffusion du « Capability Maturity Model », cette étude adopte une approche multi-perspective pour examiner le processus de diffusion. Cette recherche contribue au domaine des TI en (a) illustrant la façon dont plusieurs perspectives théoriques différentes (c.à.d, le choix efficace, la sélection forcée, la mode, et le fad) peuvent être utilisés pour expliquer la diffusion d'une innovation IT, (b) identifiant les limitations spécifiques de chaque point de vue, et (c) démontrant comment chacun de ces points de vue divergents peuvent être consolidés afin de donner une compréhension plus holistique de la diffusion de l'innovation informatique.Le deuxième essai propose une synthèse de la recherche sur l'innovation en TI., visant à proposer de nouveaux apports théoriques. Grâce à un examen et une synthèse de la littérature en TI et disciplines de référence, une théorie typologique de l'adoption de l'innovation IT est proposée. La théorie identifie et explique en détail les quatre types idéaux (configurations globales) de l'adoption des TI, particulièrement en ce qui a trait à l'adoption des TI pour l'augmentation de l'efficacité, la transformation organisationnelle, la conformité et le prestige. Le cadre théorique proposé vise à résoudre un certain nombre d'incohérences trouvées dans la littérature existante. Il met également en lumière des caractéristiques distinctives de l'innovation en TI, en ajoutant à sa clarté conceptuelle.Le troisième essai présente une étude des processus de la construction sociale et la diffusion d'innovations populairess de TI (IT fashion ) et propose une théorie de l'entrepreneuriat dans ce domaine. Cet essai se base sur l'argument selon lequel une bonne diffusion de l'innovation en TI doit être accompagnée d'une rhétorique puissante. Le rôle de cette rhétorique est d'inspirer et de donner une légitimité aux décisions d'adoption - malgré toutes les incertitudes concernant les bénéfices réels réalisés. En utilisant une analyse du discours sur un concept d'innovation TI populaire, à savoir la diffusion de Entreprise 2.0, cet essai génère une théorie sur la manière dont ces éléments rhétoriques sont construits et utiisés par des entrepreneurs en « IT fashion ».Globalement, les études de cette thèse visent à dépasser le paradigme dominant actuel dans le domaine de la recherche sur la diffusion des TI en mettant l'accent sur des aspects et mécanismes sous-explorés dans la recherche existante. Les conclusions de ces études fournissent des contributions théoriques et pragmatiques pour la recherche en TI, ainsi que des contributions pratiques pour les gestionnaires, les fournisseurs et les consultants en TI.

Cohesion and coordination in multinational enterprises (MNEs) is promoted by simultaneous identification with global and local entities, yet little is known about how employees develop identification with each of these foci and about how employees develop identification with multiple foci. Integrating research on identification and leadership, I build theory on the likely role of the leaders in the development of employee identification in MNEs and test it by conducting surveys at two different points in time among 234 local employees of ten pharmaceutical MNEs in Korea. I found (1) transformational leadership by subsidiary leaders and team leaders fosters matching-foci identification through enhancing followers' collective self-esteem and psychological empowerment, respectively, (2) the positive relationship of transformational leadership to cross-foci identification is mediated by matching-foci identification, and (3) boundary leadership facilitates simultaneous identification with multiple-foci identification. These findings shed light on the top-down identification processes, where leaders at different organizational levels shape employees' perceptions of their work roles or organizations so as to foster their identification with multiple foci. The finding from this study also contributes to a line of research that takes an identity integration approach, by pinpointing a condition under which employees develop simultaneous identifications with multiple foci. Practically, this study can guide leaders in large and complex organizations on how to motivate employees to expend their efforts on behalf of multiple levels of organizational units, while avoiding the undesirable outcomes of disparate sub-unit identification. / La cohésion et la coopération au sein des entreprises multinationales (EMNs) sont encouragées par le biais de l'identification simultané avec des entités internationaux et locaux. Cependant, la façon dont les employés développent cette identification avec chacune de ces branches différentes ainsi qu'avec multiples branches et peu connue. En intégrant la recherche faite sur l'identification ainsi que sur les qualités de dirigent (anglais: leadership), je construis ici une théorie sur le rôle probable des directeurs dans le développement de l'identification des employés au sein des EMNs. Pour tester cette théorie, j'ai réalisé des sondages à deux moments différents parmi 234 employés locaux de dix EMNs pharmaceutiques en Corée. Mes résultats indiquent que (1) la gestion par les leaders de filiale et par les directeurs d'équipe aide, de façon respectif, à promouvoir l'identification des employés à des sections-paires, en améliorant l'estime-de-soi collectif d'un côté et en augmentant la responsabilisation psychologique de l'autre, (2) l'identification des employés à des sections-paires assiste à la relation positive de la gestion transformationnelle vers l'identification à plusieurs branches et (3) la direction de périmètre (anglais: boundary leadership) facilite l'identification simultané avec des branches multiples. Ces résultats aident à mieux comprendre le processus d'identification «du sommet à la base», où les directeurs à différents niveaux de l'organisation forment la perception qu'on les employés de leur organisation ainsi que de leurs rôles de travail pour leur permettre de s'identifier à de multiples sections. Les résultats de cette étude contribuent également aux études qui se spécialisent dans les démarches d'intégration identitaires en déterminant une condition par laquelle les employés peuvent développer simultanément des sentiments d'identité avec de multiples sections. De façon pratique, cette étude guide directeurs d'organisations grandes et complexes à motiver leurs employés à augmenter leurs efforts au nom de plusieurs niveaux organisationnels, tout en évitant des résultats défavorables reliés à l'identification des employés à des sous-sections différents.

Organizations engage in a number of activities designed to foster effective learning. Three forms of learning with important implications for the innovation process are experiential (whereby firms gain relevant insights through direct experience with routines and patterns of action), vicarious (the observation of external activities, with inference and other attributions being employed to reconstruct the underlying processes), and inter-organizational (direct contact with outside entities or formal partnering initiatives). The papers in this thesis examine the relative influence of these forms of learning throughout the process of technological innovation. The first empirical paper ("Sequences of Learning in Technological Innovation – Towards a Process Model") employs interview and archival data from eleven innovation projects in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors. I find evidence of three distinct learning sequences operating throughout the innovation process: 1) intensive-externalizing; 2) intensive-internalizing; and 3) expansive-internalizing. The sequences vary both in the breadth of learning forms utilized early in the innovation project and in the degree to which the resultant knowledge is internalized as subsequent innovations are pursued. These findings offer useful insights into the locus and sources of learning related to innovation processes in technologically complex settings. In my second paper ("Learning and Innovative Performance – A Longitudinal Study of U.S. Medical Device Approvals"), I analyze a panel dataset of new product approvals for U.S.-based publicly traded companies in the medical device industry. There is evidence for the independent effect of geographically proximate vicarious learning on innovation outcomes (number of approved medical devices) as well as for the interactive effect of experiential and geographically proximate vicarious learning on innovation outcomes.The thesis contributes to current organizational research on learning sequences associated with technological innovation (Bingham & Davis, 2012) and to the literature on the role of vicarious learning within the innovation process by examining vicarious and other forms of learning in new product development (Srinivasan, Haunschild & Grewal, 2007). / Les organisations se livrent à diverses activités visant à favoriser un apprentissage efficace. Trois formes d'apprentissage avec des implications importantes pour le processus d'innovation sont expérientiel (où les entreprises acquièrent des solutions pertinentes à travers l'expérience directe avec les routines et les habitudes de l'action), vicariant (l'observation des activités extérieures, avec inférence et les autres attributions étant employées pour reconstituer les processus sous-jacents ) et inter-organisationnel (contact direct avec des entités extérieures ou des initiatives de partenariat officielles). Les études dans cette thèse examinent l'influence relative de ces formes d'apprentissage tout au long du processus d'innovation technologique. La première étude («Séquences d'apprentissage dans l'innovation technologique - Vers un modèle de processus»; traduction de "Sequences of Learning in Technological Innovation – Towards a Process Model") emploie les entrevues et les données d'archives reliés à onze projets d'innovation dans les secteurs des dispositifs médicaux et produits biopharmaceutiques. Je trouve preuves de trois séquences d'apprentissage distinctes opérant à travers le processus d'innovation: 1) intensive-externalizing; 2) intensive-internalizing; et 3) expansive-internalizing. Les séquences varient à la fois dans l'ampleur des formulaires utilisés au début du projet d'innovation dans l'apprentissage et le degré dans lequel la connaissance qui en résulte est intériorisée lorsque les innovations subséquents sont poursuivis. Ces résultats offrent des indications utiles sur le lieu et les sources d'apprentissage liées aux processus d'innovation dans les milieux technologiques complexes. Dans ma deuxième étude («Apprentissage et la performance innovatrice - une étude longitudinale de l'approbation des appareils médicaux aux États-Unis»; traduction de "Learning and Innovative Performance – A Longitudinal Study of U.S. Medical Device Approvals"), j'analyse un ensemble de données reliés aux approbations de nouveaux produits pour les entreprises publics américaines dans l'industrie des dispositifs médicaux. Il existe des preuves de l'effet indépendant de l'apprentissage vicariant géographiquement axé sur les résultats d'innovation (nombre de dispositifs médicaux approuvés) ainsi que de l'effet interactif de l'apprentissage expérientiel et vicariant géographiquement axé pour la réussite innovante. La thèse contribue à la recherche organisationnelle actuelle sur l'élaboration détaillée des séquences d'apprentissage associées à l'innovation technologique (Bingham & Davis, 2012), et à la littérature sur le rôle de l'apprentissage vicariant dans le processus d'innovation par l'examen de l'apprentissage vicariant et d'autres formes d'apprentissage dans le développement de nouveaux produits (Srinivasan, Haunschild & Grewal, 2007).

<p> Global nonprofits face not only the challenges of funding but now need to adapt to the challenges of a complex and changing environment. Part of this changing environment is the need to network with other organizations to enhance their impact. As these networked nonprofits attempt to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century they most likely will need solutions that contain complex roles, procedures, and structures. Organizations need to learn to readily adapt to these challenges. A learning organization is one which has the ability to transform itself by collectively learning how to face new challenges. An organization that has this ability is better prepared to meet its challenges and can produce greater results. When an organization becomes a learning organization it may be more likely to possess the necessary tools to effectively meet its objectives. </p><p> Leaders must implant into the organizational culture factors that will allow the organization to make the necessary transformation. Transformational leadership has been proposed as a viable model of leadership that can produce this type of environment. Rijal (2009) stated that "transforming a complex system is difficult without a leader who understands the needs of the situation, the people and the goal and undertakes the necessary action to achieve the transition" (p. 131). </p><p> Networked global nonprofits offer a unique setting for analyzing this relationship. This study will look at several ministry nonprofits that have networked together to fulfill their common purpose. It will seek to discover more about the alleged relationship between transformational leadership and a culture of learning by seeking evidence within these global nonprofits. </p>

<p> Intercultural interaction is an aspect of effective organizational leadership in the post-modern multicultural operating environment. Consequently, organizations seeking to optimize operating results must have personnel capable of engaging in successful intercultural interactions (Earley &amp; Ang, 2003). This qualitative correlational research study explores the relationship between the capability for intercultural interaction, as represented by cultural intelligence and effective organizational leadership, as defined by transformational leadership style, in global organizational leaders. The research study also identified the factor(s) of cultural intelligence that influence transformational leadership style. The study population consisted of indigenous Indian organizational leaders who engage in intercultural interaction in conjunction with their employment at a global organization with operations located in India. Research subjects who participated in the investigation completed the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire version 5 (MLQ 5X). Data descriptions, correlational tests, and standard regression analysis methods established a significant positive association between the two variables that individually contribute to organizational success. Specifically, the cognitive and motivational components of cultural intelligence were demonstrated to have a significant positive association with transformational leadership style. The findings of this research study indicate that the relationship demonstrated between cultural intelligence and transformational leadership style among individuals linked through academic institutions extends into the commercial business environment.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to establish if a sales manager's leadership style could influence a salesperson's selling behavior to effectively align their selling approach in a buyer-seller exchange. Transformational and transactional leaders have the ability to affect the selling behavior of their salespeople. The research was nonexperimental quantitative study that used survey monkey to collect the data from Canadian mortgage brokers to determine if a transformational or transactional leadership style affected their selling or customer orientation. The significance of the study is that it may provide virtual managers with new insights on how to effectively support their salesperson's performance and assist in guiding their team's behavior so that salespeople can effectively align their sales approach within the buyer and seller exchange. The findings from the data collected suggested there was no relationship between a sales manager's leadership style and the salesperson's customer orientation. </p>

Family business is the most prevalent form of business organisation and accounts for about 70% of all companies in European countries. Studies of this sector attract an unusually diverse group of researchers and practicioners. A review of the growing literature reveals that most of the recent family business studies generally discuss succession issues which may be of particular concern to family businesses, and they often lack a firm empirical basis. furthermore, there exists a shortage of studies that establish linkages between family business succession issues and business performance. The importance of this study is acknowledged by the fact that it gives empirical evidence that links the succession issues and the state of performance in small and medium sized family businesses in the UK. Specifically, this thesis tries to develop a multifaceted concept of succession and investigates its relationship with multiple dimensions of financial performance, such as return on capital employed (ROCE), return on shareholder equity (ROSE), profit margin, return on total assets (ROTA), sales growth, progit growth, employment growth and employee productivity. In the research, propositions were generated based on Morris el's (1997) model of perspectives on the relationships between succession issues, characteristics of the transfer and post-transition performance. Morris et al's model classifies succession issues into three dimensions, namely preparation of heirs, nature of family and business relationships and planning and control activities. In this study, apart from these three dimensions, an additional dimension, focusing on compensation issues, was incorporated based on the literature. One primary hypothesis is to investigate whether business performance is associated with the four latent dimensions of underlying succession issues. In addition, this study focuses on the influence of business objectives on business performance. The literature suggests that family considerations and business performance can be competing goals in the family businesses (eg Dunn, 1995). Therefore it is very important to investigate whether business objectives have any impact on business performance. A stratified sample of 924 small and medium sized family controlled businesses was selected from the FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) database. 169 Usable responses were received, making the response rate 18.3%. With the sample, a variety of statistical techniques were used to analyse the data. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were employed to build up a succession issue scale. Hierarchical cluster analysis was involved for grouping family businesses, according to their commonalities on succession issue views, plus the subsidiary factors of business age and business size. Finally one way ANOVA and correlation analysis were conducted to determine the relationships between family business succession issues and business performance. Further development of the research was undertaken in two steps. First the assumed influence of subjective variables, such as business objectives on the business performance was investigated. A second postal survey was sent to the 169 companies which replied in the first survey and seventy usable responses were received (the response rate was 41.4%). Secondly, in depth interviews (six case studies) were conducted with incumbent managers and potential successors, which reveal that succession issues and business objectives both have significant relationships with various dimensions of performance, ie profitability ratios, growth ratios and efficiency ratios. It is therefore suggested that business owner-managers use multidimensional conceptualisation to consider succession issues and business objectives to better balance requirements for both family and business to achieve competitive advantage in running their business. Avenues for future research are also addressed at the end of the thesis.

Theoretical and empirical relationships between the individual's lifestyle, organisational characteristics and job satisfaction have received considerable attention in the literature. Typically, contingency models of organisational behaviour have related job satisfaction to the interaction of the socio-personality characteristics of individuals and the internal characteristics of the organisation (structure). The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that individual lifestyle interacts with organisational structure to influence the change in job satisfaction. In addition, the study tries to compare the predictive power of "subtractive" and "multiplicative" contingency and non-contingency models of job satisfaction. Specifically, interested in testing the hypothesis that the congruence between the individual lifestyles and perception of the internal characteristics of the organisation (structure) will account for significantly more variance in individual job satisfaction than any singe predictor of these same variables.

Recent evaluations of the role of management research have highlighted problems associated with its academic quality, and its relevance to management practitioners. It has been suggested that one of the main causes of these problems has been the fashionable nature of certain ideas disseminated through the management literature. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model through which fashions in management literature may be identified; and to analyse the characteristics associated with these fashionable ideas. This in turn facilitates analysis of why particular management ideas are susceptible to the pressures of fashion. Fashions in management literature are identified on the basis of their influence upon the management research community. This is evaluated via analysis of citations appended to academic journals over recent decades. In order to model the citation patterns associated with management publications, mathematical curve modelling is implemented. The models generated provide measurements of the influence and longevity of management literature. Such measurements may be employed in the identification of management fashions. Multiple regression analysis os emplopyed to study the impact of publication characteristics (ie authoring details, publishing media) upon the pattern of influence of management literature; while cluster analysis and case studies of individual publications are used to analyse the relationship between the content of published literature and the longevity of its influence. The results of these analyses reveal that the relative level of influence of management publications can be predicted with some accuracy on the basis of their input characteristics. Howver, the longevity of this influence is affected to a greater extent by the content of publications. A theory of management fashions is developed, based upon the content of management ideas, and the characteristics of the publications through which these ideas are disseminated.

The research uses neural nets as a tool in the investigation of busienss failure prediction and business performance monitoring. The novelty lies in the introduction of models including qualitative factors as well as financial ratios. In addition, an analysis of data gathered from a new survey is offered. To achieve its objectives the research begins by exploring the AI options and then reviews current neural net technology with a view to identifying appropriate technology for the implementation of a classifier for the two areas of failure prediction and performance monitoring. After consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the options, a multi-layer perceptron, back propagation net is adopted as being unsuitable for this application. In order to verify the validity of the bespoke neural net software it was necessary to employ a two stage strategy. The first step was to confirm that the net, as implemented, retained the expected property of being able to solve problems that were not linearly separable. This was achieved by demonstrating its ability to solve the straightforward XOR problem. To be confident of the net performance it was deemed necessary to replicate the experiments of previous research which used only purely financial inputs to the net. The results confirmed the validity of the new network implementation. Using the intital results as a control, experiments were undertaken to ascertain the effect of reducing the training sample size and to identify minimum sample sizes commensurate with maintaining the effectiveness. The work then further contributes to this research by using traditional stastical methods to provide an empirically derived equation for calculating the minimum number of training patterns required for corporate failure prediction in the context of the experimental sets of variables. The resulting failure prediction model was then used to test for symptoms of bankruptcy in firms currently trading. The thesis then leads on to describing a technique developed in this study for pre-processing qualitative questionnaires, prior to input into a neural model as well as providing a method for predicting values not supplied in incomplete survey responses. A contribution is also made to the area of company performance analysis by using neural techniques and discriminant analysis to show that relationships do exist between certain company variables and business performance, as well as highlighting which of these variables are the most important if an appropriate corporate condition monitoring strategy is to be developed. Lastly, the corporate performance neural network model is enhanced by facilitating the categorisation of a firm into one of several performance bands.