Thesis--PlanA (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Queensland, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Dance. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves115-119). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99369

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1993. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [181]-195).

Thesis (M.A.)--Liberty Baptist Seminary, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Charisma has remained an important dimension of humankind’s social life, especially when religion is concerned. This thesis aims to address the question of how charisma is maintained even as it becomes routinized. In the sociology of Max Weber, charisma is defined as the extraordinary quality of a leader recognized by his followers and constitutes a type of authority in contrast to legal-rational and traditional authorities. Weber then proposed the thesis of the routinization of charisma, arguing that charisma was revolutionary, yet also inherently ephemeral and would inevitably be “routinized” into legal-rational or traditional authority. Recent studies have remodeled the concept of charisma based on empirical cases and theoretical contributions provided by prolific literature after Weber. Charisma has been redefined as “the expectation of the extraordinary” and the interdependence of charisma, institution and tradition has been increasingly emphasized, instead of their mutual exclusiveness. To address the question, this study examines the case of Soka Gakkai and Soka Gakkai International (SG&I), a new religion, which originated in prewar Japan. It has established a gigantic organization with an alleged membership of twelve million throughout the world and has developed various institutions affiliated to it. Meanwhile, its current leader, Ikeda Daisaku (池田大作), is well known as a charismatic leader to whom millions of members have expressed personal devotion for over five decades. It specifically focuses on young male Japanese members living in Hong Kong, who can be regarded in the periphery of the organization. This study argues that discipleship of followers is the key to the maintenance of charisma. Discipleship shapes members’ identity, daily practice and lives. Ethnographic accounts on members’ daily activities and the life stories of three members, yielded through eight months of fieldwork, illustrate members’ paths to become disciples and the nature of their discipleship. Also, the techniques employed by the organization to cultivate the discipleship are demonstrated. These include reinterpreting a Japanese traditional concept shitei (mentor and disciple), cultivating discipleship in secular educational institutions and offering rhetorical devices such as commemorative dates. My findings not only enhance our understanding of charisma and its routinization, but also shed light on the daily activities of grassroots members of SG&I, which until recently, have been neglected by literature on SG&I. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The concepts of transformational and charismatic leadership have led to a variety of leadership behaviors and practices that seek to enhance followers' motivation to perform beyond expectations, by changing their values, goals, needs and aspirations at work. One such activity, which has gained momentum and interest in recent years, is the dissemination of a vision. This thesis is an attempt to investigate the nature of the visioning process in organizational leadership through theoretical analysis and empirical investigation. / An analysis of the visioning process yielded two important components: the visioning activity and the visioning product. Based on this analysis and a review of the existing literature, vision was defined as a product with content and the visioning activity a two-stage process involving vision formulation and vision articulation. Building on these definitions, a number of vision content characteristics and visioning behaviors were examined, leading to theoretical propositions and testable hypotheses. / The empirical test of the proposed theoretical framework was carried out in two studies. Study 1 investigated observers' perceptions of leader behaviors, vision content characteristics and related attributions of vision and visionary leadership. This study was conducted using analyses of biographical and autobiographical accounts. Study 2 sought to replicate the investigation with direct observations from followers of "real-life" organizational leaders. / The empirical test substantiated the importance of distinguishing between the various content characteristics of visions as they relate to attributions of vision and visionary leadership on the part of observers/followers. The empirical results also support the importance of distinguishing between the various components of the visioning activity of leaders as they relate to attributions of vision and visionary leadership on the part of observers/followers. Finally, the results suggest distinct relationships between the attributions of vision/visionary leadership and various effects of the visioning process on followers. / In light of these results, suggestions for future research and implications for leadership practice are discussed.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Political Science and Social Sciences Consortium. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2006. / "A dissertation in political science and social sciences." Advisor: Max J. Skidmore. Typescript. Vita. Description based on contents viewed Jan. 29, 2007; title from "catalog record" of the print edition. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-191). Online version of the print edition.