A qualitative case study was conducted to document 12 employees’ perceptions of thriving in a Fortune 500 Company. The case study enabled the researcher to explore the perceptions of thriving among employees with varying levels of grit and resilience using maximum variation sampling strategy. The grit and resilience of these employees had been previously measured through a 14-item Adversity Quotient (AQ) Profile and a 10-item Grit Gauge (GG) assessment. Through analysis of interviews, concept maps, and a ranking exercise the researcher was able to identify the most critical factors that lead to thriving in the Fortune 500 Company. The factors include: positive connections, support of family, support of co-workers and others, shared passion, a sense of resolve and determination, and time for self and others. Additional findings from the research were documented and recommendations were made for leaders of corporate organizations and for further research.

Leadership succession, and especially that of the CEO, has attracted considerable interest amongst management and social researchers. Most of the research has been conducted in Western organisations and from specific vantage points such as understanding the financial impact of CEO succession and successor origins. However, there is currently little research on the actual process of leadership succession, and especially so in the Malaysian context. This research uses qualitative research methods to investigate leadership succession (which in this thesis means both CEO and upper-echelon managerial succession) in Malaysian organisations. The research reveals that most Malaysian companies are not engaged in leadership succession planning and implementation and the few that have such processes report low success rates. The research shows that leadership succession planning and implementation is in its infancy among Malaysian companies. Where upper-echelon manager succession is concerned, companies commonly practise leadership replacement rather than succession. However, with family-controlled publicly listed companies – and such companies constitute the majority of publicly listed companies in Malaysia and in most of Asia – dynastic succession is the predominant form of CEO succession and the CEO’s position is the preserve of members of the founding family. In investigating the factors that either enhance or inhibit leadership succession processes, a form of inhibitor that this thesis calls organisationally generated entrenchment was identified. Organisationally generated entrenchment appears to be common in Malaysian companies and has the effect of stifling smooth leadership succession. This research also shows that leadership succession processes are greatly influenced by cultural factors and that leadership succession models must take into account cultural effects. This thesis offers the Succession Development Pathway model as a means of facilitating leadership succession in organisations in Malaysia.

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Lack of effective organizational culture and poor cultural integration in the corporate group affect organizational performance and decrease shareholders return. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore successful strategies that one corporate group used to establish an effective organizational culture to improve performance. The Denison organizational culture model served as the conceptual framework for the study. A purposive sample of 20 senior managers from a corporate group in Ethiopia participated in semistructured face-to-face interviews. The selected participant met the criteria of a minimum 5 years of experience with successful strategies in establishing an effective organizational culture in the corporate group. The interview data were transcribed, categorized, and coded; they were subsequently member checked and triangulated to increase the trustworthiness of interpretations. The findings included a well-defined mission that attributed to developing shared understanding between employees and managers, and employee-focused leadership that contributed to motivating employees. Core corporate value findings included the well-being of the society through self-regulated corporate social responsibility. The findings identified in this study could have potential for economic growth in the local economy and may contribute to social change with strategies business managers may use to sustain their business and improve the life standards of employees and the local community.