Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 180 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-137). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 1, 2006. Dissertation Committee: James C. Palmer (chair), Paul J. Baker, Rodney P. Riegle, Susan E. Stroyan. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-100) and abstract. Also available in print.

<p>Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are one of the fastest strategic options that companies choose to face the global competitive market. However, previous researches have highlighted the high rate of failure among M&A. In fact, the merging companies have to face the issue of cultural differences which is one of the common reasons of M&A failure, reinforced when it comes to cross-borders combinations. Indeed, both partners incorporate in the new merged company the national and the corporate cultures. So, in order to be successful, the leaders have to consider the importance and the influence of these issues meticulously during the post-merger integration process; at the same level as the synergies, business performance and profit improvement. In order to have a better understanding of the corporate culture mismatches issues, we will present first in the theoretical part three major sections: the merger and acquisition context, the corporate culture and its concepts and finally the leaders‟ role within the M&A integration process. The second part will be illustrated by two case studies: the Daimler-Chrysler (a failure) and the Cloetta Fazer (a success) mergers. The first case represents the complexity that leaders can meet in any international merger. It is the typical frame where the cultural issues have been underestimated. On the other hand, Cloetta Fazer is one of the successful mergers that can be taken as a reference for managers in future merger integration. In that case, the pre-merger phase played an important role in the integration process because each aspect of the cultural differences was identified and a new and shared corporate culture was implemented.</p>

Thesis (M.Com. (Psychology)) - Rhodes University, 2007. / For a thesis in partial fulfilment of the degree of Masters in Research Psychology.

The research presented in this thesis is an exploration of readiness for change within a municipal energy supplier. The literature review revealed a particular gap of the concept of organisational readiness for change in the context of public sector companies with specific characteristics that may impede change. With a high rate and intensity of change due to radical changes within that industry, especially energy suppliers are under increasing pressure to adapt. Increasing forces for change combined with little change experience created an extreme context for the research presented. The concept of organisational readiness was chosen as the research focus with the aim to account for these characteristics and environmental specifics. The work of key authors in this field, including Armenakis and collaborating authors (Armenakis & Harris, 2009, 2002; Armenakis, Bernerth, Pitts & Walker, 2007; Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999; Armenakis & Fredenberger, 1997), Holt et al. (2007) and Mossholder et al. (2000) provided the main theoretical basis for the research. The research objectives were to gain a richer understanding of managers’ and other employees’ perceptions and beliefs concerning Stadtwerke Bielefeld’s readiness for change and key issues for successful change implementation. I adopted a constructivist paradigm with the focus on meanings and understanding using a qualitative approach and a local knowledge case study as the research design. The main element of the data collection was semi-structured interviews with a sample of senior managers identified as key informants, in order to interpret the phenomena in their unique setting. This was complemented by a questionnairebased survey of non-managerial employees’ assessments of readiness for change. The focuses of the applied content analysis were the context and the understanding of the situation as a whole. A striking finding among the management sample was a predominant focus on the rational side of leadership and a lack of acknowledgement of emotional aspects of change and its implementation. While in broad terms the non-management employees generally shared the managers’ confidence that change could successfully be implemented, there were significant and thus enriching differences at the detail level between the perceptions and beliefs of the two groups. The research makes a significant contribution to the understanding of change in public sector organisations. A methodology for change readiness assessment and analysis for these companies is proposed and successfully implemented during the research project. A notable finding was the very different and sometimes contradictory perspectives of managers and employees regarding readiness for change, which demonstrated the value of conducting research within two different groups of organisation members.

In the late 1970s, China’s party leaders realized that China was not able to develop in isolation. Their aim of “learning from advanced countries” also implied bringing change to China on all business-related levels. However, both Chinese and Western practitioners and scholars agree on the inappropriateness of any change approach alien to Chinese specification. To bridge this void, this research directs its interest towards a substantive theorizing upon the Jesuits’ Accommodation approach in China (1583-1742). To do so, Hermeneutic Phenomenology, rooted within the Utrecht School and following Max van Manen, establishes a renewed contact with the Jesuits’ Accommodation experience outside its traditional research environment. Grounded in an exhaustive description of the Accommodation phenomenon along its meaning-units, a reflective analysis into the structural aspects of the Jesuits’ lived Accommodation experience allows eight essential themes to be abstracted. Becoming the building blocks of a substantive Theory of the Unique, these themes summarize all requirements that are reflected in, and/or concern Context, Course, and Content of any Sinicized change approach able to in-culturate/accommodate (foreign) persons|change-agents, (unfamiliar) ideas|concepts, and (alien) approaches|international bestpractices into a Chinese environment. As a result, research into the Jesuits’ Accommodation approach provides Chinese and Western management practitioners and scholars with one new substantive approach to act towards the Chinese Others with thoughtfulness and tact in a fresh and systematic way. Further conceptualized and Sinicized, applying The Chinese Change Concept—The 3C-Approach in a contemporary Chinese organizational environment finally allows to effectively manage change in Chinese organizational settings today.

The SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a leading software solution for corporate business functions and processes. Business Process Management (BPM) is a management approach designed to create and manage organisations’ business processes. Both promise an improvement of business processes in companies and can be used together. In conjunction with the SAP ERP system and BPM approach, BPM maturity models can be used as diagnostic tools that allow an organisation to assess and monitor the maturity of its business processes. This research analyses the complex relationships between the three topics of SAP, BPM and BPM maturity models and the impact of SAP on the use of BPM maturity models. This study is based on eleven personal interviews that were conducted with participants with many years of practical experience within the three subject areas. Four maturity models, which feature in the interview statements, are examined in more detail. The results of the interviews are then compared with the documentation of the four BPM maturity models for possible dependencies. The connections between SAP and BPM maturity models have not yet been discussed in the literature. This research illustrates that SAP ERP is a dominant system in many companies and has an impact on the utilisation of the BPM approach. To identify and improve the dependencies within an organisation, this research develops ten principles which any organisation can use as management guidelines to use the SAP system in a more optimised way. Collecting data from multiple sources strengthens the validity of the data. For this reason, a web survey is used to examine whether the ten developed principles are supported by SAP users and process consultants. More than 150 participants took part in this web survey and evaluated the developed principles. This research uses the method of triangulation from various data sources to examine the relationship between BPM and BPM maturity models from the point of view of a SAP ERP system, and to develop principles that enhance collaboration.

The doctoral thesis deals with the topic of specification and comparison of cultural dimensions of companies from different places of global community. Main focus is to answer a question, how the corporate culture and its cultural dimensions influence a shift of a company towards a knowledge-based economy. The identification of cultural dimensions was realized through the quantitative research VSM 94 in two German parent companies and their subsidiaries from the Czech Republic, India, Japan and USA. In case of one Czech subsidiary the research was extended with the qualitative research TCSD. Subsequently the identified cultural dimensions were compared with the desirable cultural dimensions of knowledge-based company. The results show that only cultural dimensions of low power distance and feminity correspond to the knowledge-based economy, long-term orientation is in the transition phase. The longest way to the knowledge-based economy was revealed by collectivism and uncertainty acceptance. Here can be found the greatest potential for corporate culture forming and human resources management. Based on the analysis of cultural dimensions, shared values, strength of corporate culture, cultural influence of parent company and impact of national culture were expressed proposals to shift the examined companies to the ideal state - knowledge-based company.

The aim of the Diploma Thesis was to analyze the field of corporate culture at the company HELUZ and suggest changes in the corporate culture. The first part summarizes information taken from the scientific literature focusing on corporate culture, its typology, the impact on company´s strategy and company performance. Practical part describes selected company HELUZ, its data, innovative and personal policy. It focuses on content of corporate culture, its elements standards and values. Further part of the Thesis deals with corporate climate, atmosphere and satisfaction of employers. Based on information previously provided I made recommendations for changes, which should be implemented by management of the company into its strategy and which should encourage strength of the corporate culture. In the last part, there are summaries, answers and suggestions for the aim of my Thesis.

The aim of this thesis is the evaluation of the current situation of corporate culture in chosen factory and the consequent proposal of a suitable action to improve the corporate culture.