Scholars of transformational leadership literature assert that school-based management teams are a vital component in transforming schools. Many of these works focus heavily on the roles of principals and teachers, ignoring the contribution of Assistant Principals (APs). More attention is now being given to the unique role that Assistant Principals play in school leadership teams (see for example, Muijs & Harris, 2002). While there is a good amount of literature on what APs do in terms of their roles and responsibilities, what remains unclear; is how and why they enact their role in particular ways, especially under the umbrella of urban school reform. This work will address this gap by examining: how Urban High School Assistant Principals come to understand their role as both leader and staff, particularly in the context of transformational models of leadership? Guided by the theoretical framework of middle management, this study utilized a qualitative case study approach to interview seven Assistant Principals in three urban high schools in a large Northeast coast school district. Additionally, a one-time 15 minute interview with the principals and direct reports to the APs was employed to gain a better understanding of the leadership dynamic within the schools. The interviews were transcribed and coded by the researcher using Atlas.Ti. Through the lens of middle management theory, this work focused on a specific group of Assistant Principals working under a distributed leadership model. The findings revealed that the role of the AP is nebulous position that when not appropriately defined can cause professional difficulties that impede the leadership capacity of APs and the growth of school success. As such, stakeholders involved in schooling need to gain a greater understanding of the psychological and sociological underpinnings that impact the functionality of their middle leaders (those not operating in senior level positions). The findings of this work speak to the intricacies of the Assistant Principalship and contribute to a growing body of literature centered on how Assistant Principals navigate their space as leader and staff in an educational setting where leadership is more shared and collaborative. / Urban Education

Perceived failures of previous service delivery models within the Gauteng Provincial Departments dictates for experimentation with new working and improved models. Gauteng Shared Service Centre was established to improve efficiencies and effectiveness and service delivery to all citizens in the province. This study conceptualizes and analyses integration of Gauteng Shared Service Centre Organisation Development functions. Specialisation within the component seems to create problems both for the component internally and its client externally which may have a spill-over effect to service delivery to the provincial citizens. The General Systems Theory is utilized to facilitate the analysis of the Organisation Development component from a system’s perspective. This component of the GSSC, like any system exits for the achievement of a specific objective. Working together among system components is crucial for efficiencies. Integration is crucial in coordinating all specialist tasks of the component for improved service delivery to clients. / Public Administration / M.A. (Public Administration)

En snabb förändringstakt på arbetsmarknaden sätter högre krav på medarbetarnas kunskap och lärande. Trots detta koncentrerar sig flertalet organisationer idag på de lukrativa vinsterna, vilket skapar sämre förutsättningar för arbetsplatsens grupplärande. Syftet var att utöka kunskapen om medarbetarnas upplevelser av betydelsen arbetsgruppen för lärandeprocesser i relation till organisationsförändring och ett hållbart perspektiv. Studien har en hermeneutisk ansats för att för att kunna tolka och få en djupare förståelse för medarbetarnas upplevelser. Åtta respondenter hittades med hjälp av ett bekvämlighetsurval från respektive åtta olika organisationer. Både strukturerade och semistrukturerade intervjumetoder användes för att besvara frågeställning och syfte. De transkriberade materialet har kodats, analyserats och tolkats med stöd av Illeris (2006) lärandedimensioner i ett successivt samspel där delar och helhet ökat på förståelse för fenomenet. Studien visade på att det upplevs finnas en ambivalent syn bland respondenterna i att lära under förändring i organisationer idag. Detta styrs av individuella erfarenheter, hur medarbetarna upplever relationen och kommunikationen till sina kollegor samt i vilken grad stöd till lärande arbetsplatsen erbjuder. / A quick change in the labor market results in a higher demand on the employee’s knowledge and learning abilities. Despite this fact many organizations today focus on lucrative profits, which in turn create worse group learning conditions in the work places. The purpose of the this study was to expand on the knowledge of the employee´s experiences in regards to the importance of working groups for learning processes in relation to organizational change and sustainable perspective. The eight respondents were chosen through a convenience sampling, who then where interviewed with structural and semi structural interview methods. The transcribed interview material has been processed through categorizing, analyzing and interpretation in a successively manner including both parts and whole. The study shows that amongst the respondents there seem to be ambivalence towards learning within an organization that is changing today. This is driven by; individual experiences, by how the employee´s relationship and communication is towards each other but also by the level of support the working place provides towards learning.

This companion dissertation reports the findings of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. In addition, prior ample evidence confirms that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit. Emerging positive organizational theory and research show promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. Therefore, this collaborative case study research was designed to explore positive influences on the success of the four community college units. This companion dissertation contains four manuscripts. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the study. Chapter 2 contains a collectively written synthesis of the findings from the four individual case studies. Chapter 3 reflects individual research on a partnership that serves as a national model for adult education. Chapter four offers an alternative perspective to developing authentic leaders in community colleges. Key findings across the units suggest the influence on performance of: (a) a people-first culture, (b) authentic, trusting, inclusive leadership, and (c) resource richness beyond constrained tangible resources. Practical recommendations for scholars and practitioners are offered.

Increasingly, researchers on strategy are turning away from the highly abstracted and de-humanized components that seem to typify the macro approach to strategy. This movement is at least partially brought about by a philosophical recognition that the emergent and unpredictable nature of organizational life is fast exposing the constraints of an approach to strategy that is based on the values of rationality, predictability and control. In this thesis I argue that organizational change in general and the act of strategizing in particular can be thought of as a social, transformative and emergent process as opposed to the overly orderly, rational, formative and/or humanistic views on strategy presented by systemically oriented theorists. I draw on the theory of complex responsive processes of relating as espoused by Stacey, Griffin and Shaw (2000) and specifically on Stacey’s (2003, 2007) substantial contribution to the field of strategic management. By utilizing a reflexive research methodology I describe the arduous social and emergent process of transformation in my practice and identity (observable in subtle changes in disposition, language and assumptions) as I begin to act into the understanding of strategizing as an ongoing, incomplete, social process. In doing this, I am suggesting that the narrated accounts of our shifts in practice due to us knowing differently are important contributions in the process of transforming our theories on and beliefs around strategy. These accounts should not be seen as premature attempts at methodological frameworks, but rather as explorative participation in the emergent transformation of a radical, social approach to strategizing. I engage critically with the notion of strategy-as-practice and suggest a review of the fundamentally rational and formative assumptions still prevalent in the work of researchers like Johnson, Melin and Whittington (2003) and Samra- Fredericks (2003). Whilst acknowledging the role of culturally mediated dispositions in the ongoing transformation of organizations advocated by Chia and Holt (2006) and Chia and MacKay (2007), I argue for the paradoxical and therefore simultaneous occurrence of habitual and mindful actions by people strategizing as opposed to the authors’ suggestion of a predominantly mindless experience of organizational change. Finally, I turn to Stacey’s (2007) question as to why people continue to make long-term forecasts if their usefulness is so obviously limited. Whilst understanding his frustration, I argue that there is value nevertheless in engaging in strategy making albeit not for the rationalist reasons usually stated. In my view the real value of strategising is to be found in two areas: first in the social activity that goes into creating these documents, and second: the documents not only serve as markers in an ongoing process of strategising; they also give us a way of ‘going on’ and taking the next step.

Perceived failures of previous service delivery models within the Gauteng Provincial Departments dictates for experimentation with new working and improved models. Gauteng Shared Service Centre was established to improve efficiencies and effectiveness and service delivery to all citizens in the province. This study conceptualizes and analyses integration of Gauteng Shared Service Centre Organisation Development functions. Specialisation within the component seems to create problems both for the component internally and its client externally which may have a spill-over effect to service delivery to the provincial citizens. The General Systems Theory is utilized to facilitate the analysis of the Organisation Development component from a system’s perspective. This component of the GSSC, like any system exits for the achievement of a specific objective. Working together among system components is crucial for efficiencies. Integration is crucial in coordinating all specialist tasks of the component for improved service delivery to clients. / Public Administration and Management / M.A. (Public Administration)

Understanding organizational behavior (OB) has profoundly influenced organizational performance and how people behave in organizations. Researchers have suggested various micro and macro organizational behaviors to be the impetus for high-performing organizations. Through a policy capturing approach this study builds on these findings by specifically examining the perceptions of micro and macro organizational behaviors in an organizational setting. The participants (n =181) completed a Micro and Macro Organizational Behavior Perceptions Questionnaire. Results showed perception differences exist between subordinates and supervisors. Additionally, participants perceived job satisfaction to be the most important micro organizational behavior, whereas organizational design was perceived to be the most important macro organizational behavior. However when comparing hierarchal positions in the organization, supervisors weighted leadership as the most important and subordinates weighted job satisfaction as the most important organizational behavior. While these findings only scratch the surface as to how organizational behavior is perceived, the implications challenge leaders to close the OB perception gap. Correspondingly, organizational behavior thinking may result in improving individual and organizational performance.

本研究是以組織發展的部份觀點來探討影響一般企業成功推行 ISO9000系列品保制度之組織面因素。因為申請此一國際性的品保認證是一個強調品質的企業必然的選擇，也是世界的潮流。而國內有為數不少的廠商都已成功地導入合乎自己體質的品保制度，但也有許多企業目前正著手進行或考慮導入中，本研究採「定性研究」的個案探討，選擇四家資訊電子產業的個案公司對他們推動的歷程作深入的報導；四家公司皆已順利取得商檢局或其它國外機構的認證，其中兩家屬於集團企業下的公司或分廠，另兩家則為典型的中小企業。目的是期待藉由已成功導入的企業為例，發掘出影響推動的組織面因素，並發展出相關的假設命題，並提供建議目前 正著手進行或考慮導入的企業作為參考之用。

<p>Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is a broad discipline that studies different concerns regarding interactive systems’ development. One of the major interest points within the discipline is the reasoning behind building specific functionality into computers and the long-term effects that usage of systems will have on humans.</p><p>Within Human Computer Interaction there are theories and frameworks how to involve a user in the process of developing new systems. In this paper focus is applied to the development process within developing applications for Enterprice Digital Assistants (EDA) and to what extent the end-users are involved in the process. Fazer Bageri AB has been choosen to represent a business corporation that uses handheld computers in their everyday tasks.</p><p>The method used to gather information for this study has been by performing interviews and observations with key stakeholders at Fazer Bageri AB and MobiOne AB. Fazer Bageri AB is the purchaser, customer and user of the handheld computer applications that MobiOne AB developed.</p><p>The result shows that the end-users were only involved in the end of the developing process. We found that one of the main reasons for this is that there are not any resources for supporting involvement of the end-users. Within user-centric design there are many aspects to consider, but one of the most prominently is to establish a mutual understanding by all persons involved in the project, from developers to end-users about the importance of involving users throughout the development. We also found that there is no routine established for securing that the information about different updates in the handheld computers reaches the end-users.</p><p>The development process demonstrates that Fazer Bageri AB uses a traditional system development philosophy rather than a user-centric system development philosophy.</p> / <p>Inom ämnet människa datorinteraktion handlar många metoder om hur man involverar användaren i framtagandet av nya system. I denna undersökning ville författarna ta reda på hur verksamhetsprocessen vid framtagande av systemapplikationer för handdatorer kan gå till och om användarna involveras i processen. Verksamhetsprocessen jämfördes sedan mot teorier inom området. Valet föll på att undersöka verksamhetsprocessen hos Fazer Bageri AB då vetskap fanns om att de har 350 chaufförer som använder handdatorer i sitt dagliga arbete. När man utvecklar för så många användare är det viktigt att ta med användaren tidigt i processen.</p><p>Metoderna som använts i undersökningen har varit strukturerade intervjuer och observationer. Respondenterna har varit nyckelpersoner inom Fazer Bageri AB och MobiOne AB. Fazer Bageri AB är beställare, kund och användare av de mobila applikationerna för handdatorer som MobiOne AB tillhandahåller och är experter på.</p><p>Resultatet visar att användarna i denna undersökning var involverade endast i slutet av processen, en orsak till detta tycks vara att det saknas resurser för att ersätta ytterligare involvering av användare. Med att ersätta menas i detta fall ekonomisk kompensation till chaufförerna för den extra arbetstid det skulle innebära att involveras i processen. En viktig aspekt inom användarcentrerad design är att säkerställa att samtliga involverade har samma uppfattning om det som skall göras eller vad som åstadkommits. Viktigt är därför att informationsflödet inom företagen fungerar för att samtliga skall ha möjlighet att ta del av arbetet. Informationsflödet mellan handdatoransvarig och slutanvändare hos Fazer Bageri AB kan verka tveksamt då det innefattar flera olika informationsled.</p><p>Verksamhetsprocessens olika faser som kartlagts skiljer sig delvis ifrån de teorier inom människa datorinteraktion som tagits del av inför denna undersökning. Detta beror till stor del på att Fazer Bageri AB har en traditionell systemutvecklingsfilosofi snarare än en användarcentrerad designfilosofi.</p>

Die Beschäftigung mit dem Thema Change Management erfordert die Auseinandersetzung mit einem heterogenen Feld von Ansätzen und fachlichen Perspektiven. Es besteht ein Mangel an systematischen empirischen Untersuchungen zu diesem Thema. Insbesondere fehlen Arbeiten, die mehr als eine "Schule" des Change Managements berücksichtigen. Unterschiede in den situativen Anforderungen werden zudem theoretisch und empirisch oft unzureichend berücksichtigt. Die Vermutung liegt nahe, dass das Scheitern von Veränderungsprozessen häufig durch die stereotype Anwendung generalisierender Empfehlungen gängiger Ansätze verursacht wird. Um diesen Defiziten zu begegnen, sollten in dieser Arbeit Kontingenzen von situativen Anforderungen und Change Management empirisch überprüft werden.<br><br> Der Untersuchung liegt eine Konzeption zugrunde, die hinsichtlich des Projekterfolgs von der idealen Passung (Kontingenz) zwischen situativer Anforderung und Change Management ausgeht und damit einhergehende prozessbezogene Einflussfaktoren berücksichtigt. Erfolg wird im Sinne der Nachhaltigkeit als Wirkungen wirtschaftlicher, organisationsbezogener und qualifikatorischer Art definiert.<br><br> In drei Teilstudien wurden Beratende und betriebliche Beteiligte jeweils projektbezogen schriftlich und mündlich zu betrieblicher Ausgangslage, Veränderungsprinzipien, Wirkungen und prozessbezogenen Einflussfaktoren befragt. Die erste Teilstudie umfasst vier Fallstudien. Hier wurden insgesamt 18 Projektbeteiligte, jeweils Beratende, betriebliche Projektleitende und &ndash;mitarbeitende, befragt. Die zweite Teilstudie umfasst die schriftliche und mündliche Befragung von 31 Beratenden verschiedener Schulen des Change Managements. In der dritten Teilstudie wurden 47 betriebliche Veränderungsverantwortliche schriftlich befragt.<br><br> Die Projekte der zweiten und dritten Teilstudie liessen sich in jeweils zwei statistisch abgesicherte Erfolgsgruppen einteilen, wobei sich die Erfolgsgruppen nicht systematisch auf Merkmalen der betrieblichen Ausgangslage unterscheiden. Folgendes sind die wichtigsten Ergebnisse:<br><br> Bei traditionell-bürokratischen Organisationsstrukturen geht ein langfristig-kontinuierliches, graduell-anpassendes, pragmatisch-lösungsorientiertes Vorgehen, in flexiblen Strukturen dagegen ein kurzfristiges, tiefgreifendes und integrativ-konzeptuelles Vorgehen mit Projekterfolg einher.In traditionell-hierarchischen Führungsstrukturen erweist sich ein wenig humanzentriertes und wenig selbstbeurteilendes Vorgehen mit standardisierter Vorgehensmethode, in flexiblen Führungsstrukturen ein stark humanzentriertes und ausgeprägt selbstbeurteilendes Vorgehen mit angepasster Vorgehensmethode als erfolgsversprechend.Bei grossem betrieblichem Veränderungswissen erweist sich ein selbstbeurteilendes Vorgehen, bei geringem Veränderungswissen ein wenig selbstbeurteilendes Vorgehen als erfolgsversprechend.Angesichts ökonomischer Anforderungen geht ein langfristig-kontinuierliches, schnelles und rollend geplantes Vorgehen mit einem tiefgreifenden und integrativ-konzeptuellen Ansatz, unter wenig Einbezug von Fremdbeurteilungen mit positiven Wirkungen einher.Bei technologischen Anforderungen ist ein langfristig-kontinuierliches, langsames und tiefgreifendes Vorgehen mit wenig Fremdbeurteilung erfolgsversprechend.Für soziokulturelle Anforderungen erweist sich ein langsames, selbstbeurteilendes, graduell anpassendes und pragmatisch-fokussiertes Vorgehen als erfolgreich. Angesichts politisch-rechtlicher Anforderungen geht ein linear geplantes, zielfokussiertes, fachberaterisches und wenig prozessorientiertes Vorgehen mit Erfolg einher.Bei Gesamtreorganisationen als innerorganisationale Anforderungen erweist sich ein linear geplantes, fach- und prozessberaterisches sowie tiefgreifendes Vorgehen als erfolgsversprechend.Bei innerorganisationalen Anforderungen durch Führungswechsel geht ein kurzfristig-temporäres, integrativ-konzeptuelles Vorgehen mit angepasster Vorgehensmethode mit Erfolg einher.<br><br> Hinsichtlich prozessbezogener Einflussfaktoren erweisen sich situationsspezifisches Beratendenhandeln, unterstützendes Führungsverhalten, grosse Akzeptanz der/des Beratenden, umfassender Einbezug der Mitarbeitenden, aktive Beteiligung und Engagement der Mitarbeitenden, Verankerung des Projekts in der Organisation und hoher wahrgenommener Nutzen der Veränderung als wichtigste unterstützende Faktoren.<br><br> Widerstände aus der Belegschaft, problematisches Führungsverhalten im Veränderungsprozess, fehlende/mangelhafte neben Tagesgeschäft bereitgestellte Ressourcen, behindernde organisationale (nicht projektbezogene) Entwicklungen, Angst/Verunsicherung der Belegschaft sind die wichtigsten hemmenden Faktoren. / Dealing with the theme of change management requires an examination of a heterogeneous field of approaches and subject perspectives. Systematic empirical investigations of this theme are lacking. In particular, works that take account of more than one school of thought regarding change management are scarce. Furthermore, differences in situational requirements are often insufficiently considered both from a theoretical and empirical point of view. It can be assumed that the failure of change processes is frequently caused by the stereotypical use of generalized recommendations of common approaches. In order to combat these deficits, this work aims to empirically examine contingencies of situational requirements and change management.<br><br> The investigation is based on a concept that assumes that an ideal fit (contingency) between situational requirements and change management is necessary for the success of a project and takes into account the accompanying process-related influencing factors. Success is defined in the sense of sustainability as economic, organization and qualification-related types of effects.<br><br> In three part studies, consultants and those involved on an operational level were, based on the relevant project, questioned in oral and written form on the operational starting positions, change principles, effects and process-related influencing factors. The first part study comprises four case studies in which a total of 18 persons involved in the project, made up of consultants, operational project leaders and project workers, were questioned. The second part study comprises the written and oral survey of 31 consultants from different schools of thought regarding change management. In the third part study, 47 persons responsible for operational change were questioned in a written survey.<br><br> It was possible to divide each of the projects from the second and third part studies into two statistically valid success groups, whereby the success groups did not differ systematically in terms of features of the operational starting positions. The most important results are as follows:<br><br> Project success in traditional-bureaucratic organization structures is associated with a long-term, continuous, gradually adaptive, pragmatic, solution-oriented procedure. In flexible structures, on the other hand, success comes with a short-term, far-reaching and integrational, conceptual procedure. In traditional-hierarchical management structures, a minimally human-centered and less self-evaluative process with a standardized procedure proves to be conducive to success, while in flexible management structures, a strongly human-centered and markedly self-evaluative procedure with an adaptive approach shows itself to be beneficial. In terms of great operational knowledge of change, a self-evaluative procedure proves to be most promising, while with little knowledge of change, a less self-evaluative procedure should be favored. In view of economic requirements, a long-term, continuous, quick and cascading procedure with a far-reaching and integrational, conceptual approach and little involvement of evaluation by others yields positive effects. In terms of technological requirements, a long-term, continuous, slow and far-reaching procedure with a low amount of evaluation by others is conducive to success. For socio-cultural requirements, a slow, self-evaluative, gradually adaptive and pragmatically focused procedure proves to be successful. In view of political and legal requirements, a procedure that is planned in a linear fashion, is goal-oriented, includes expert consultancy and a minimal amount of process orientation will bring about success. With complete reorganizations as requirements within an organization, a procedure that is planned in a linear fashion, has expert and process consulting aspects and is far-reaching is conducive to success. In terms of requirements within an organization brought about through management change, a short-term, temporary, integrational, conceptual procedure with an adaptive approach will lead to success. With regard to process-related influencing factors, a situation-specific approach by consultants, supportive management behavior, a high level of acceptance of the consultant, a comprehensive involvement of the employees, their active participation and commitment, anchoring of the project in the organization as well as high perceived use of the ensuing change prove to be the most important supporting factors.<br><br> Resistance from staff, problematic management behavior in the change process, a lack of or deficient resources provided in addition to daily business, obstructive organizational (not project-related) developments and anxiety/uncertainty of the staff are the most important inhibitory factors.