<p> Using a single case study methodology and the theoretical lens of collective memory, this study explored the stories told in a family-owned business. From the research, a robust picture of these stories emerged. </p><p> Interviews, observation, and document review occurred at a family-owned, agriculturally based manufacturing business. Three family member and 22 non&ndash;family member employees were interviewed for this study. From the interviews, five stories emerged, which met the criteria of being shared among either the family member employees, the non&ndash;family member employees, or both employee categories. </p><p> Collective memory, as defined by Casey (1997), provided the theoretical foundation for the study, allowing the stories identified to be considered in relation to history and commemoration (Schwartz, 2005) and nonparticipant narrators (Casey, 1997; Linde, 1997). In the analysis of both family members&rsquo; and non&ndash;family members&rsquo; stories, the notion of a hybrid story emerged. A hybrid story incorporates two distinct stories, a family story and an organizational story, that could each stand independently. However, within the hybrid story, the two distinct stories are united into one cohesive story. </p><p> The identification of the hybrid story answered the calls of multiple scholars. Using collective memory to analyze these stories addressed Boje&rsquo;s (2008) appeal for more theorizing and research uniting collective memory and organizational stories. The hybrid story represents a new type of entrepreneurial story, as Wry et al. (2011) requested. Stories, including the hybrid story, are an artifact of an organization&rsquo;s culture. As such, the hybrid story presents further cultural exploration, as Nicholson (2008) invited. Finally, the inclusion of non&ndash;family member employees&rsquo; data allowed for their representation within this study, a gap previously noted within the family business literature (James et al., 2012; Mitchell et al., 2003; Sharma, 2004). </p><p> The implications of the hybrid story are unknown at this time; however, some benefits for family-owned businesses can be hypothesized. First, the hybrid story may provide employees with a greater sense of stability. Second, hybrid stories may create increased stability and understanding during periods of organizational change. Finally, hybrid stories may have implications for increased legitimacy.</p>

<p>This dissertation extends and contributes to the extant literature on social enterprise by examining the enterprise-beneficiary relationship in social enterprises with particular focus on performance measurement and social value creation. Ironically, while social missions and commitment to beneficiaries is what distinguishes social entrepreneurship from traditional entrepreneurship, little research has been conducted to examine this relationship. Utilizing a portfolio of 101 social enterprises based in New England, this study consisted of two phases: the development of a typology of social enterprise based on the enterprise-beneficiary relationships present in the portfolio, and a comparative case study closely examining six cases of social enterprise across the typology. </p><p> By examining beneficiary positioning, level of interaction, and relationship characteristics four archetypes of social enterprise were identified: general benefit enterprises, philanthropic enterprises, social business enterprises, and relational social enterprises. Examining these models, the concept of entwinement emerged. I define entwinement as the mutual reliance and commitment between two parties, in these cases the enterprises and the individual beneficiaries they seek to serve. These models fall along a continuum of entwinement, ranging from no entwinement in the general benefit enterprises to high entwinement in the relational social enterprises. By examining two cases each of philanthropic enterprises, social business enterprises and relational enterprises I found that entwinement has positive implications for stakeholder salience and depth of impact for individual beneficiaries. I also found that while funding requirements are a key driver of the development of formalized social performance measurement programs, the level of entwinement moderates that relationship. </p><p> This dissertation contributes directly to stakeholder theory and to the social entrepreneurship literature. It offers an explanation for how managers recognize the salience of their stakeholder groups by raising entwinement as a key mechanism through which managers recognize the legitimacy and power of the beneficiary group. By utilizing the capabilities approach from the development literature, this study also presents a framework through which depth of impact can be examined across issue are and business model design. Finally, this paper identified funder requirements as a key driver of social performance measurement systems, suggesting that even as social enterprises diversify their revenue streams and business models they still bear significant semblance to non-profit organizations. </p>

<p> This study was designed to determine what it is that Chief Learning Officers do to build the learning organization by examining interview data from current Chief Learning Officers using the constructs of change and leadership. The study sample included current Chief Learning Officers who work for U.S. based organizations within the U.S. and have been in their current Chief Learning Officer position for at least two years. </p><p> The study used a qualitative, exploratory methodology combined with phone or face-to-face interviews in order to gather data. The data was analyzed using the Systems Learning Organization Model (Marquardt, 2011). 20 Chief Learning Officers were interviewed for approximately 60 minutes each and asked the same series of questions in order to further explore how Chief Learning Officers use leadership and change to build the learning organization. </p><p> The study findings show that Chief Learning Officers do four things to build the learning organization: 1. They themselves collaborate with others inside and outside of the organization, and encourage others to do so as well; 2. They assess and measure their learning and development programs on a consistent basis; 3. They seek and secure funding and other resources for their learning and development opportunities; 4. They have a vision for their learning organization, and realize that vision through strategy development and implementation.</p>

<p> This dissertation advances a novel approach that I refer to as the structure of strategic communication. Leveraging theory on how people naturally structure their arguments, this approach contends that organizational actors deploy arguments to influence others at two structurally distinct levels&mdash;<i> within</i> the rules of the game or <i>about</i> the rules of the game. This dissertation&rsquo;s primary claim is that talking more about the rules of the game, which exposes the assumptions underlying our social institutions to direct examination, may have profound implications. I build evidence for this claim in two ways. First, I develop a new measurement called the <i>argument structure ratio</i> (<i>ASR</i>) that conceptually and empirically captures how explicit a speaker makes these assumptions in their communication. I outline a three-step methodology for measuring the ASR of any collection of written texts. Second, I theorize and empirically demonstrate how the ASR impacts an audience&rsquo;s reaction. Using all public speeches made by the Chairperson of the United States Federal Reserve from 1998 to 2014, I show that the more they expose the assumptions underlying the Federal Reserve System, the more their speeches produce market uncertainty. I argue that these findings fundamentally change how we think about the role of strategic communication in market contexts. More generally, this work provides a new way to conceptualize and study strategic communication that extends well beyond financial markets to a variety of different organizational contexts and across multiple levels of analysis. Taken together, this dissertation provides a theoretical and methodological foundation upon which to conduct research on the structure of strategic communication.</p><p>

<p> Diffusion of innovation across cultures is a broad field of study, especially when considering the adaptation of organizational development (OD) innovations into multicultural environments. Although OD interventions are often adapted to fit unique circumstances of each organization&rsquo;s culture, this study explored whether there were specific adaptations that occur when OD interventions are applied to Indian organizations by Indian practitioners. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how appreciative inquiry (AI) as an OD intervention was received and adapted by OD practitioners in India with particular focus on for-profit organizations.</p><p> A thematic analysis of 17 implementations shared by Indian practitioners was conducted to examine the fidelity and extensiveness of AI adaptation. Toward this end, the study was tailored to ensure the intervention was localized and situated more specifically in the organizational and leadership contexts. Results revealed that AI, when applied to India-based for-profit organizations, exhibited a level of adaptation that could be applied on a global scale. It is anticipated that understanding the factors that drive AI adaptation in India will assist scholars and practitioners to establish guidelines for successfully transferring organizational innovations.</p>

<p>Employment is an integral part of individuals? lives, providing many benefits to workers. Unfortunately, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face additional barriers to employment, and are often placed into jobs that are poorly matched to their abilities and characteristics. The current study explored the potential use of the O*NET Computerized Interest Profiler (CIP) tool with high-functioning individuals with ASD, utilizing subject matter expert ratings of occupations outputted by the CIP as well as ratings of the potential use of the CIP with this population. Results demonstrated that subject matter experts (SMEs) rated CIP-outputted occupations as appropriate, of interest to, and attainable for high-functioning individuals with ASD, and rated these occupations significantly higher than distracter occupations. SMEs also reported positive reactions to the potential use of the tool itself. These results demonstrate that the CIP may be a viable and useful tool to use in the career exploration of individuals with ASD.

<p> Organizational leadership is the foundation that influences workforces and determines the overall success of organizations and employees. Prior to this study, research of Millennials&rsquo; wants and expectations from their organizational leaders lacked clarification and clear interpretation. A critical element in organizational survival is Millennial knowledge workers who create knowledge that supports sustainable, innovative, and successful organizations. Organizational leaders who want their organizations to succeed will capitalize on accuracy and precision in distinguishing Millennial knowledge workers&rsquo; wants and expectations of them. This study&rsquo;s central research question was, &ldquo;What do Millennial workers want and expect from their organizational leaders?&rdquo; Several subquestions further clarified the study&rsquo;s focus: &ldquo;What do Millennials want and expect, if anything, from their organizational leaders in terms of (a) their relationships with their leaders, (b) their perceptions of their leaders as role models, and (c) their leaders&rsquo; ethical behaviors?&rdquo; and &ldquo;What do Millennial workers want to avoid in their organizational leaders?&rdquo; The research methodology was a generic qualitative inquiry, utilizing thematic data analysis. This qualitative study utilized a 3-phase interview model and included semistructured questions and additional probing questions. The population of the study was Millennial knowledge workers. The study sample was recruited from U.S. businesses and organizations in various industries. The thematic data analysis comprised inductive and interpretive data and employed initial, theoretical, and focused coding. The study findings establish many wants and expectations of Millennial knowledge workers from their organizational leaders. These Millennial knowledge workers want and expect organizational leaders to demonstrate mutual respect, offer effective communication, behave ethically, and create and develop relationships with them. These Millennials expect leaders to provide coaching and guidance and to differentiate between work life and other unrelated life responsibilities. These Millennials expect leaders to be positive role models with emotional intelligence, and as a rule, they avoid unethical leaders. The findings benefit and support workplace partnerships and overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness, suggesting that organizational leaders must establish distinct and diverse understandings of Millennial knowledge workers&rsquo; wants and expectations.</p><p>

<p> Within today's technologically enmeshed world, people are spending more and more time in front of screens (both large and small). This comes at a cost; time spent outdoors is becoming scarce. How does engaging with nature impact our practice of leadership? A Collaborative Inquiry carried out by four individuals with personal leadership practices explored this question. We found that our leadership practices were improved through spending time in nature. A significant impact we identified was that our experiences in nature had an ego-reductive influence, turning our focus outwards and improving our ability to navigate complex situations with greater fluidity. We recommend that leaders looking to alter their perspective adopt a practice of intentional reflective time in nature.</p><p>

<p> Businesses fail in the absence of a sustainable engagement strategy with stakeholders who influence and are influenced by a company's business activity in communities where the company has a presence. The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate factors that defined a framework regarding the creation of shared value when applying the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainable development as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy between business, the community, and U.S. watershed initiatives to help resolve often conflicting stakeholder views. The specific problem was the lack of an existing framework regarding the creation of shared value when applying the TBL of sustainable development to CSR engagement initiatives between the firm, the community, and U.S. watershed initiatives to help resolve often conflicting stakeholder views. The theoretical framework was stakeholder theory integrated with the corporate imperatives of CSR, TBL, and shared value. The study focus was to compare shared value, CSR, and the TBL perspectives of 22 leaders and participants from two collaborative watershed initiative partnerships in one mid-eastern state. The study research question was: How do shared value, CSR, TBL define a community engagement framework between the firm, the community, and U.S. watershed initiatives to help resolve often conflicting stakeholder views? Two primary study conclusions emerged: (a) shared value, CSR, TBL were factors that defined a community engagement framework when integrated into a strategy between the firm, the community, and U.S. watershed initiatives to help resolve often conflicting stakeholder views; (b) the factors that contributed to creating shared value were interrelated and contributed to creating shared value when joined together in a Sustainable Community Engagement Framework to help resolve often conflicting stakeholder views.</p><p>

<p> A nation-wide study of the leadership requirements for combined emergency management and fire departments from medium-sized municipalities was conducted. It has been widely recognized by the emergency management community and the federal government that emergency management should be professionalized. The first step in professionalization is standardization. The study disclosed that there was an extremely high variability in the training, education and experience requirements for each of the leadership ranks. Not only was there high variability in the requirements for holding each of the ranks, the ranks themselves varied greatly from department to department. The single rank present in all departments was that of chief, and even for that rank, 30% were appointees with no concrete position requirements. Furthermore, the actual requirements for each of the leadership ranks was compared to recommendations from three professional organizations, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association. Not only did the actual requirements for each rank vary greatly from the recommendations from each organization, the recommendations between the organizations varied greatly. It is quite clear that even the professional organizations have not come to a consensus of opinion or agreement on requirements, nor are they even close to doing so. Two departmental models were also examined, and once again there was a high variability of requirements for each leadership rank. Although standardization is the first step in professionalization, there has been little movement in that direction. Emergency management has a long way to go if it is to be professionalized, and the safety of the public and nation stand in the balance.</p>