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theses

This dissertation examined the introduction and implementation of an organizational Dashboard as a planned organizational change within four educational support service departments and the senior leadership group within a large, Northeastern university. General systems theory provides a theoretical framework for conceptualizing planned organizational change and the role of communication in these processes (Bertalanffy, 1950; Thayer, 1968; Ruben, 1983). Similarly, the role communication plays in the organizational stakeholder model of change implementation (Lewis, 2007) is used to understand these phenomenon. Interviews from 32 participants were used in this case study. Findings suggest the following themes: accountability- the way participants provide evidence to internal and external constituents about the impact of higher education (Zumeta, 2011); organizational changes- how members perceive a result or consequence of the Dashboard effort (Outcome, n.d.); leadership issues- members’ perception of the presence, or lack thereof, of leadership commitment to the Dashboard effort (Commitment, n.d.) ; information exchange- how members perceive the focus on the exchange of information about the Dashboard effort; and the overarching theme of communication- the process through which sensemaking and negotiation occur through social interactions (Berger & Luckmann, 1967). Findings suggest that communication is necessary to understand planned organizational change and change effort strategies because people negotiate meanings of the change effort through communication and as a result their perceptions of the effort based on communication can stall, promote or halt the change effort itself (Ruben, 2009a). Many of the three organizational levels of employees studied had different perceptions about the change effort because of their different perceptions of reality which stem from their membership in different organizational levels (Gallivan, 2001; Ruben, 1979; Thayer, 1979). Findings also suggest the importance of leadership and continuous facilitation of the change effort. A perceived shift in focus by leaders from the effort may be viewed by others in the organization as a lack of commitment which can stall or halt the effort. A change agent of the effort is imperative to keep the leader visibly engaged and others in the organization actively focused on results, especially in loosely coupled organizations such as institutions of higher education.

ETD_5206

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Stacy Smulowitz

doi:10.7282/T3VX0DM6

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.