Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Management

How do leaders of established organizations effectively manage intrafirm entrepreneurial groups so that they can be successful? Focusing on drivers of breakthrough groups' performance and radical innovation, this research identifies drivers and proposes a multifaceted model providing a pathway for breakthrough business growth in an organically driven mode. The corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and innovation management literature, while helpful in describing the difficulty associated with leading CE and ambidextrous organizations, are focused on wider structural or behavioral solutions to address ambidexterity challenges and product innovation, omitting the unit of analysis—the group/team—and the drivers that influence groups' breakthrough innovation and performance aims in a contemporary context in which organizations' business models can change in the blink of an eye. Using a QUANqual design, the research follows an `inside-out logic' to account for the position of each introduced construct in the nomological network, which include (1) intragroup mechanisms; (2) team boundary mechanisms (boundary buffering and spanning); (3) environmental mechanisms including senior management communication, incentives, proactive IT stance; and, (4) contextual influences. The prevalence of a mismatch between conventional incentives vis-a-vis team members' breakthrough pursuits is also investigated. Findings reveal a paradox around top management communication, as well as the mediating roles of team buffering and spanning on the relationship between relational climate and outcome variables, radical innovation, and team performance. Overall, results suggest that that just having a top team (i.e., good relational climate) is not enough for breakthrough performance, and could be for naught should the team's boundaries not be managed by leaders as to create buffering (from extra-team interference) and spanning (or access to resources) beyond the team. Environmental mechanisms, and parti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Robert Hisrich Ph.D. (Committee Member); Yunmei Wang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Satish Nambisan (Committee Member) Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Management

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Management

Teams must constantly balance internally focused interactions through Adaptation and externally focused processes of spanning boundaries to facilitate change. This dynamic of team Adaptation has not been studied. In empirical studies on team Boundary Management or Adaptation, attention is given to laboratory based experiments and field studies of new product development teams in high-tech industries. This research focuses on continuous quality improvement (QI) teams which are comprised of a dynamic and shifting set of members otherwise attuned to their professional daily activities not directly related to the project. The teams of interest operate in highly institutionalized and regulated service industries of healthcare. The overarching research question in this study asks what factors influence team adaptation and how do teams effectively achieve internal and external balance in their QI projects, and to what extent does this contribute to project success. To answer this question, a developmental sequential mixed methods study is conducted that utilizes qualitative analytics through grounded theory based theme development and thematic analysis as well as quantitative analytics of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Structural Equation Modeling. The first study is a mixed methods design utilizing a grounded theory approach for theme development followed by QCA to articulate complex causal interactions among identified factors influencing Adaptation. The sample includes 23 physicians / physician leaders / and hospital administrators who provide 39 team project examples for evaluation. The second study is a Quantitative design utilizing factor analysis to discern factors identified in study one in order to assess internal and external factor effects on Adaptation. A survey resulted in 215 responses for analysis from an expanded sample of team members in institutionally structured organizations. The third study is a Qualitative design utilizing thematic analysi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen PhD (Committee Chair); Corinne Coen PhD (Committee Member); David Aron MD (Committee Member); J.B. Silvers PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management

Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Weatherhead School of Management

Over time enterprises have woven together a fabric of processes, information structures, and computer tools to conduct their day-to-day business. Many of the components of this patchwork of systems cannot work together effectively, as the underlying models are incompatible. There is however, a strong business case to be made for ensuring that end-to- end business processes are interoperable, both across the enterprise, and with other enterprises. Qualitative research demonstrates that distinct cultures and non-overlapping knowledge between IS development (ISD) team members impedes system development success. It also identifies Boundary Spanning mechanisms as a significant mitigator. We develop these ideas further by exploring the mechanisms of knowledge sharing in project teams covering overlapping competence, and the presence of knowledge integration mechanisms - acculturation, boundary spanning roles- in how they affect ISD success. We utilize survey data derived from 139 ISD projects in a global US automotive OEM, completed between 2006 and 2009. We show that boundary spanning roles, acculturative processes, and cross-domain knowledge affect in significant ways IS development success. In particular, we demonstrate that facilitative boundary spanning roles - ambassador, coordinator, and scout - moderate the relationship between accumulated IS business domain knowledge and ISD success, and that IS business competence is partially determined by acculturation among IS team members, and the technical competence of the IS team. Teams with low levels of business domain knowledge may be able to mitigate their business knowledge deficit by engaging in boundary spanning behaviors as to enhance the flow of information across the team's knowledge boundaries.

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen, Ph.D. (Advisor); Nick Berente, Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Information Systems

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Management

Although difficult, complicated, and sometimes discouraging, collaboration is recognized as a viable approach for addressing uncertain, complex and wicked problems. Collaborations can attract resources and increase efficiency, facilitate visions of mutual benefit that can ignite common desires of partners to work across and within sectors, and create shared feelings of responsibility. Collaboration can also promote conceptualized synergy, the sense that something will “be achieved that could not have been attained by any of the organizations acting alone” (Huxham, 2003). However, previous inquiries into the problems encountered in collaborations have not solved an important question: How to enable successful collaboration? Through exploratory sequential mixed-methods research conducted in three empirical studies, I discover how interorganizational collaborations can overcome barriers to innovate and rejuvenate communities and understand the factors and antecedents that influence successful collaboration. In the first study (Chapter 2), I use a grounded theory approach to identify the factors involved in successful collaboration. My interviews with leaders in affordable housing cross-sector collaborations revealed most collaborations for affordable housing encounter a common set of obstacles: funding, partnering, community, and/or government. Key findings suggest leaders of successful collaborations exhibit heightened emotional and social competencies, take actions intended to create a better future, remain mission-focused, and continuously redesign to meet ongoing challenges. Further, successful collaborations were innovative—creating solutions that rejuvenated their communities. To confirm and validate the findings in the first study, I propose a theoretical model emerging from the qualitative research, designed and empirically tested through a survey of 452 leaders and managers participating in ongoing or recently completed interorganizational collaborations (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Tony Lingham (Committee Chair); Bonnie Richley (Committee Member); Mary Dolansky (Committee Member); James Gaskin (Committee Member) Subjects: Management

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2010, Communication Studies (Communication)

The goal of this dissertation is to advance our understanding of tensions and contradictions experienced in public relations work - a type of boundary spanning work that involves a high amount of information gathering and representation activities. Based on the analysis of 41 in-depth interviews with public relations professionals in the United States this research investigated the type of tensions and contradictions they experienced, how they negotiated with such tensions and contradictions, and what type of communicative strategies they used to deal with these tensions and contradictions. This research makes several theoretical and practical contributions to extant literature on boundary spanning and workplace tensions across disciplines. First, grounded in social constructionist thought this study presents a new definition of boundary spanning that emphasizes its discursive nature. Second, through a tension-centered perspective on organizations, use of structuration theory, and sensemaking processes, findings revealed that public relations professionals experienced four primary tensions and contradictions that revolved around work relationships with journalists, clients, supervisors, and colleagues. The tensions identified were: tangible-intangible, creative-controlling, secretive-trustworthy, and serving-servitude. Third, public relations professionals in this research understood these tensions, contradictions, and their work through metaphors of family and games. Fourth, public relations professionals used avoidance and reframing as strategies in navigating through tensions and contradictions. Fifth, the tension-centered perspective unearthed connections between the use of emotions, relationships, and experiences of work-family conflict in public relations work. Thus, this is the first systematic study that takes a tension-centered constitutive view of communication to the study of boundary spanning work in the public relations context and significantly advance (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Modaff PhD (Advisor); Claudia Hale PhD (Committee Member); Lynn Harter PhD (Committee Member); Amy Taylor-Bianco PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Leadership Studies

The purpose of this study was to identify the personal and organizational characteristics that facilitate and restrict boundary spanning (BS) of external leaders. The study was a two-phase sequential exploratory mixed-method study. The first phase examined the relationship between boundary spanning and emotional intelligence (EI) of external team leaders. Through interviews, the second phase explored individual and organizational characteristics that facilitate or restrict boundary spanning in external team leaders who scored differently on boundary spanning than predicted based on emotional intelligence scores. Bivariate regression and correlation showed that boundary spanning is strongly related to emotional intelligence. Three external leaders were selected for Phase II because they had nearly the same EI alignment scores but very different BS alignment scores. I wanted to know why, if EI and BS have such a strong relationship, the BS scores of these three leaders were so different. Qualitative data from 14 interviews revealed that leader distance and need are both facilitators and restrictors of boundary spanning. Boundary spanning is not just something that the leader does for the team. Boundary spanning is important based on an individual's need. If the need is low, the leader would offer less help and, therefore, the appraisal of the leader's boundary spanning would be lower. Also, the leader must understand when there is a need and how to react to the need by offering the appropriate help for the appropriate duration. The ability of the leader to understand the need of the team members requires relationship building. Relationship building is made easier when the leader distance (physical proximity, social distance, and perceived occurrence interval) is low. As emotional intelligence increases, so does the ability to recognize and utilize need and distance to span the boundary for the team. Boundary spanning is important on both individual and organizational (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark A. Earley Patrick D. Pauken (Advisor) Subjects: