Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Leadership and Change

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a term used in many industries to describe a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. In the aviation industry, the aircraft engine OEM refers to the company that manufactures engines powering the aircraft. The OEM manufactures the engine, defines the required maintenance to operate the engines, and recommends product modifications. Product modifications are recommended to improve product safety, durability, reliability, and cost of ownership and are formally communicated through issuance of service bulletins. Properly performing the required maintenance and adopting service bulletins is an important element of maintaining a high standard regarding safety performance. The aircraft engine OEM is the source of knowledge regarding how to properly and effectively perform standard maintenance tasks. The OEM also has information related to service bulletins that is critical to properly assess and adopt service bulletins. This study identifies the critical elements of engagement between aircraft engine OEMs and airlines during two processes. The first process studied was the adoption of service bulletins and included how the airline becomes aware of a service bulletin, how they assess the need to perform the service bulletin, and finally how the airline prepares and executes on the adoption of the service bulletin. The OEM engagement was identified and analyzed during each phase of this process. The second process studied was how the airline identifies when they need support from the OEM to properly complete required maintenance and inspection tasks. OEM engagement was identified and analyzed during this process. Critical elements required for effective and efficient engagement identified in this study are then compared to existing literature on effective interorganizational engagement. Applying the learnings from this study to the more generic process maps developed in previous studies (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mitchell Kusy Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rajiv Abhimanyu Bissessur Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Media and Communication

The World Bank classifies the Lebanese economic crisis as one of the 10 worst such crises globally since the 19th century—and possibly one of the top three. Azma fawq ‘azma [crisis upon crisis] includes financial collapse, inability to care for 1.5 million refugees, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic on an already fragile healthcare system, and the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, one of the worst non-nuclear explosions in human history, that killed 218 people, injured 7,000, and left 300,000 unhoused. Due to unprecedented levels of inflation, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, food prices have risen 500%, and 80% of the population lives in poverty. These crises have transformed Lebanon from a beacon of success to a failed state. Given the severe lack of organizational communication research in the Mashreq (Middle East), this dissertation is of particular importance as it fills a critical gap in research. The dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine how NGOs mobilize support, provide services, and engage in interorganizational collaboration to support citizens, residents, and asylum seekers struggling to survive in Lebanon. The triangulated methodological approach includes policy analysis, two phases of field research in Lebanon, and in-depth interviews with leaders, administrators, employees, and volunteers representing 52 NGOs. Interview respondents (n = 64) provided first-hand experiences, insights, and assessments of NGOs' efforts to combat intersecting crises, reflected on the complexity of these crises, and highlighted the need for economic and political reform to assuage the feelings of being trapped in the azma fawq ‘azma. Emergent themes include the importance of collective identity through interorganizational collaboration, the benefits of group cohesion in providing support and services, a sense of purpose that has expanded alongside the crises, a continuing (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lara Martin Lengel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lori Brusman Lovins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Terry Rentner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ellen Gorsevski Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Area Planning and Development; Banking; Communication; Economics; Management; Middle Eastern Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Near Eastern Studies; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Peace Studies; Political Science; Regional Studies; Rhetoric; Sustainability

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Organizational Behavior

Interorganizational project structures, typified in the construction industry, are highly equivocal and interdependent contexts that require coordination amid pervasive conflict. Although organizations are typically considered the unit of analysis in interorganizational coordination, it is the individual organizational representatives who are responsible for the ‘on the ground' coordinative efforts. In a two-year-long ethnography of an interorganizational construction project, I explored how individual organizational representatives used artifacts and their associated sensate experience to manage conflict and resolve felt tension in order to coordinate. The theorized process model I developed shows how the most productive interactions among organizational representatives involved creating an artifactual experience, comprising interaction with an artifact that evoked a meaningful aesthetic experience. In project team meetings, organizational representatives would use artifacts such as building plans, models, and prototypes to create an artifactual interaction comprising four interactive dimensions of revealing, engaging with, commentating on, and proximally positioning to the artifact. In so doing, the bodily senses of the organizational representatives were engaged in an aesthetic experience. Through the synchrony in attention and shared aesthetic experience, project team members experienced increases in collective energy that cut through the felt tension that would emerge in team meetings. Rather than resolving interorganizational conflicts, the collective energy helped project team members to co-construct a salient line of discourse for the team, which took the form of a decision or provisional agreement that became the next concrete step in a path forward. My findings on experience-as-coordination-mechanism suggest that embodied forms of knowledge such as felt tension, aesthetic experience, and collective energy are important for understanding interorganizational (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Paul Stephens (Committee Chair); Ronald Fry (Committee Member); Hans Hansen (Committee Member); Richard Boland Jr. (Committee Member); Diana Bilimoria (Committee Member) Subjects: Aesthetics; Behavioral Sciences; Management; Organizational Behavior

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2020, Leadership and Change

In the United States, cross-sector partnerships, a form of collaboration, are becoming increasingly common in practice (Gray & Purdy, 2018). However, questions remain regarding the effectiveness of these partnerships and if the many challenges of using them can be overcome. In particular, the intersection of cross-sector partnerships and power, which can deeply impact these partnerships, needs more attention. This study used interpretive phenomenology to understand, from the participant perspective, (a) the experience and construction of power, (b) the impact of power on participants, and (c) how power dynamics in these initiatives compare to dynamics in organizations. Seventeen participants from four homelessness-focused Collective Impact (CI) initiatives, a popular cross-sector partnership model, were interviewed about their experiences. In addition, I reviewed key documents about each initiative. Data was interpreted using a variety of theoretical lenses, including critical theory, as well as my own work experience in this area, and carefully analyzed through iterative re-engagement, reflexivity, and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that power presented in six different ways: resources, structures and processes, identity, resistance, formal leadership, and framing and communication. When examining the differences between collaborations, differences in these six areas, as well as the identity and ways of operating of the partner who began the partnership, seemed to influence the experience of power. Financial resources were a dominant form of power and provided some partners with disproportionate influence. Dominant partners were also able to stack power across these six areas. The impacts of power dynamics were largely negative. Other significant findings included that some partners did not experience power at all. Critical theory and positive framing may explain this outcome. I call for an expanded CI model with a sixth condition related to power. As par (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize (A.E.) Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Donna Ladkin PhD (Committee Member); Kirk Emerson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Public Administration; Public Policy; Social Psychology; Social Research

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

More and more, non profit health and human service organizations are turning to collaboration to address community problems. Challenging economic times are reducing and restricting funding requiring non profits to look for new creative solutions in contrast to restricting themselves to business as usual. Building sustained collaborations provides one solution while reducing overhead costs, eliminating service duplication, and building effective networks. This paper integrates three research studies: a conceptual study; a qualitative study; and a quantitative study. Each study examines elements that can sustain collaboration. The qualitative data suggests that enduring collaborations are characterized, on the one hand, by employee behaviors typically considered aberrant – including rule breaking and rule making – and on the other, “appreciative” participant behaviors. Findings imply non profit governance and leadership can purposefully foster environments in which collaboration ownership can be reproduced. The quantitative study examines the relationship between the sense of ownership felt by non profit partners and their intent to sustain collaboration. We posit that rule breaking, rule making, and appreciative behaviors all encourage participants to develop a sense of ownership leading to collaborative sustainability. Our findings indicate that rule breaking and rule making behaviors reinforce a sense of collaboration ownership, which contributes to collaboration sustainability.

Committee: Paul Salipante, Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Organizational Behavior; Public Health Education; Social Structure

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2017, Leadership and Change

Interorganizational collaboration is a process used by committed stakeholders within a problem domain to solve 'messy' or complex issues. Joint identification and resolution of complex problems is achieved through an iterative process, using elements for success: committed members, resources, time, communication, trust, shared goal, defined process, and collective identity. This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed methods process as a practical approach, resulting in richer data and increased understanding of the phenomenon of collaboration. The guiding research problem explored which elements influence successful collaborations and, specifically, how collective identity is developed, sustained, and related to the perception of success. The research population was comprised of collaboration experts and the participants in 46 collaborations that submitted applications to receive the Colorado Collaboration Award in 2013 and 2014. The research focused on the following questions: what elements of collaborations were evident from the Colorado Collaboration Award applications and the interviews with subject matter experts, how did subject matter experts and survey respondents describe successful collaborations, what collaboration elements influenced survey respondent perception of collective identity and success, and how did survey respondents and focus group participants describe their collaboration's efforts to achieve collective identity and success? The results of the study identified dimensions of success: collective identity, the development of relationships that bring value to communities, and despite challenges and differences, the building of something wonderful together. A new model for developing collective identity was justified. This dissertation is accompanied by the author's MP4 video introduction. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, h (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL. (Committee Chair); Carol Baron Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carl Larson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Matthew A. Koschmann Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Communication; Organizational Behavior; Social Research

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Public Policy and Management

This research analyzes the impact of U.S. Federal technology policy on the emergence of a complex network of strategic alliances in the semiconductor industry during a critical period in its evolution. During the mid-1980s the U.S. region of the global semiconductor industry was on the verge of collapse. A tectonic shift in the technological landscape occurred favoring the robust networked organizational form found in the Japanese keiretsu, and by 1985 Japan had taken the largest share of the global market. In the United States, industry leaders and policymakers moved to support and protect the U.S. manufacturing and supply infrastructure, crafting an organizationally innovative technology policy, called Sematech, which was implemented in 1987. Sematech was a public-private industry consortium that included fourteen U.S. firms, featuring sponsorship and protection by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Sematech is widely regarded as a critical element in the recovery of the U.S. region of the semiconductor industry. However, very few studies exist that demonstrate empirically how policy implementation achieved policy outcomes. This dissertation presents new evidence and analysis revealing a global network of research and development (R&D) based strategic alliances residing between policy and outcomes. The primary argument of this dissertation is that the emergent R&D contract network in the semiconductor industry represents a critical but overlooked element in the causal logic of policy implementation, which represents an intermediate causal mechanism residing between technology policy formulation and implementation, on one hand, and industry recovery and firm performance outcomes, on the other. The central propositions of this research are, first, that technology policy, via Sematech, facilitated the emergence of a complex self-organizing strategic alliance network and enhanced the network centrali (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Caroline Wagner S (Advisor); Michael Leiblein J (Committee Member); Trevor Brown L (Committee Member); Anand Desai (Committee Member) Subjects: Public Administration; Public Policy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1986, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1979, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

In the midst of an evolving environment, nonprofit arts organizations are seeking new ways to address various managerial challenges. In recent years, various forms of interorganizational restructuring practices have prevailed as a means to increasing nonprofit arts organization's long-term viability. This research has examined, in particular, two cases of mergers of nonprofit arts organizations to identify the reasons for which nonprofit arts organizations merge, various concerns and challenges that are involved in such mergers, and the factors that contribute to a successful completion of the mergers. Additionally, the research has utilized a survey to investigate the extent of interrelatedness among a sample of nonprofit arts organizations in Columbus, Ohio. The research has constructed in-depth narratives and analyses of the two case studies and has constructed an analytical framework for understanding the mergers of nonprofit arts organizations. In addition, the research has captured a set of evidence for various interorganizational relationships that exist among the nonprofit arts organizations. The research concludes with a set of policy recommendations for supporting mergers and interorganizational integration in the nonprofit arts sector.

Committee: Wayne Lawson (Advisor); Margaret Wyszomirski (Committee Member); Sydney Walker (Committee Member); Candace Stout (Committee Member) Subjects: Arts Management

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2014, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Vacancy contributes to a downward spiral of blight that many cities in the old American industrial belt struggle to escape. While the causes of vacancy and the effects – economic, environmental, and social – of vacant properties are well covered in the literature, successful reuse strategies and related supportive networks are not. This research investigates and compares the land reuse process in Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, two cities with large amounts of vacant property. Stakeholders in both cities utilized a variety of land interventions in reuse projects, with the most common being the establishment of greenspaces, though the obstacles facing successful reuse varied between and within the cities. Governance networks and interorganizational relationships play an important role in reuse, and each city has opportunities to enhance and build upon these to aid future work.

Committee: Geoffrey Buckley (Advisor); Yeong-Hyun Kim (Committee Member); Harold Perkins (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Business Administration

Buyer-supplier collaboration is an important element of successful supply chain management. Previous research on facilitators or determinants of interorganizational collaboration has typically focused on firm-level variables. However, a distinct difficulty with supply chain collaboration is that many of the enablers and barriers are related to people, and reside at the interpersonal level.The goal of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the extent to which key contact employees are able to facilitate collaborative practices between buyers and suppliers. A dual level of analysis is employed, comparing the effects of interpersonal relationship quality between key contact employees and interorganizational relationship quality. Relationship quality is measured as a second-order construct consisting of trust, relationship commitment, and relationship satisfaction. Four collaborative practices are considered: information sharing, joint problem solving, joint performance measurement, and flexibility. Data were collected from purchasing managers at 169 firms using a cross-sectional survey. Firms were sampled across a wide range of industrial sectors and consisted primarily of manufacturers. The results show that even after taking interorganizational relationship quality into account, the level of interpersonal relationship quality with key contact employees at the supplier has a significant impact on the level of collaboration at the buying firm. Higher interpersonal relationship quality has a direct, positive influence on information sharing and an indirect, positive influence on joint problem solving, joint performance measurement, and flexibility. Overall, the empirical results confirm that interorganizational and interpersonal relationship quality can be differentiated, and that both types of ties play an important role in shaping collaborative practices between firms.

Committee: Martha Cooper PhD (Advisor); Keely Croxton PhD (Committee Member); Michael Knemeyer PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Marketing; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Sociology

Like firms, congregations exist within a milieu of social relationships that make up their organizational fields. Within this web of relationships, organizations form ties with one another through partnerships. In this analysis, I evaluate how organizational structure and organizational culture affect the partnerships that congregations build with external social service organizations. In a quantitative analysis of the Organizing Religious Work dataset, I hypothesize that religious tradition, race composition, mission-orientation and governance structure will significantly affect the quantity, strength and diversity of these partnerships. The results show that religious tradition and resource building function as the most significant and pervasive predictors of congregations' partnerships with social service organizations. Mainline Protestant congregations, specifically Liberal Protestant congregations, establish a greater number of partnerships, stronger partnerships and more diverse partnerships with social service organizations than Conservative Protestant and Roman Catholic congregations. Access to capital and a congregation's size increase its visibility in the arena of social services. Black congregations form fewer connections and less diverse connections; however, they do not maintain weaker connections than White congregations. As organizations that seek to accomplish their expressed goals, congregations are strongly influenced by mission-orientation as a significant predictor of their involvement in social services. In the qualitative analysis, I discuss why congregations engage in social services, what they do as providers of social services and who does the work. In addition, I describe how congregations adjust their social service delivery in response to internal and external environmental pressures. Although congregations face many challenges in the provision of social services, they rely heavily on institutionalized notions of Christian charity to gui (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Katherine Meyer PhD (Advisor); Korie Edwards PhD (Committee Member); Townsand Price-Spratlen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Nursing

The objective of this study was to identify the conditions (i.e. inhibiting and facilitating factors) and strategies which affect the ability to progress from the inceptive efforts in the development of a multi-agency critical incident stress management (CISM) program through that of an established program. A qualitative cross case study design was used to examine 16 CISM programs across the state of Ohio. Data were gathered via a focus group interview and 23 telephone key informant interviews. Polivka's (1995) model of interagency collaboration provided a theoretical framework to analyze the data. Data were initially analyzed inductively using content analysis to identify consistent themes across the cases and then analyzed deductively according to the interagency collaboration model. Key findings indicated that program developers capitalized on the occurrence of critical incidents in the area and the subsequent acknowledged need for stress management services to initiate program development. Successful programs required assessment of the community to determine available resources and perceived support for a CISM program prior to initiating program development. Educating community stakeholders to create trust and consensus regarding CISM as a priority for first responders ultimately increased program support. Program developers also found that utilizing existing networks to initiate contact and obtain resources assisted in overcoming a lack of experience with collaborative efforts and a lack of program funding. Prior research has documented the significance of awareness, or knowledge of other agencies and their personnel and services, as a facilitating factor to interagency collaboration. The need for resources is also a documented factor in facilitating relationship building. However, the significance of this study is the identification of strategies utilized by program members to create or enhance these facilitating factors. Findings suggest that interventions sh (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Barbara Polivka (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2005, Management Information and Decision Systems

Information systems evolve in organizations, often in unexpected ways, due to user-driven innovation known as information systems improvisation. This dissertation explores this pervasive phenomenon by developing, a theory of Information Systems (IS) improvisation. This is the first such theory, which defines improvisation types, triggers, influential variables and organizational outcomes. The dissertation draws upon and synthesizes diverse streams of literature on improvisation, information system use, design and evolution, as well as inter-organizational information systems. The main goal of the dissertation is to build a process theory of IS improvisation through longitudinal, multiple-case-study research. The focus of the theory is explaining how specific contextual variables affect improvisation events (i.e. their frequency, type and evolution) over time during IS use. The selected theory variables pertain to such areas as organizational and inter-organizational environments, system characteristics and user types. The studied systems are inter-organizational, which extends the research scope across organizational boundaries. An interaction zone model that positions selected inter-organizational systems (IOS) into inter-organizational activity systems is utilized to facilitate IOS research design. The study data was collected and analyzed using a theory building research methodology through case studies (Eisenhardt 1989). Data includes interviews, document and archival analysis, and participant observation over a two-year period in two 1st tier suppliers in the automotive industry. Through qualitative analysis, the thesis constructs a framework of improvisation types, contexts and variables, which serve as a basis to formulate a theory of IS improvisation dynamics. Systematic comparisons between improvisation patterns and dynamics between studied companies refine and substantiate the developed theory. The proposed theory helps explain why and how improvisations t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2003, Organizational Behavior

This research explored interorganizational partnerships among non-profit organizations that were internationally active. The inquiry intended to gain insight into the nature of and identify the factors that enhance the potential for such partnerships. Utilizing unstructured interviews and observations informed by an appreciative inquiry philosophy, interorganizational partnership was found to be driven by forces whose strength has been largely underestimated. Interorganizational partnership was discovered to be founded on friendship and interhuman linkages. Friendship served either as a foundation upon which partnership was began or made to grow. The relationship between organizational representatives was important to the exploration of values and co-creation of shared reality. This included a future look into the development stages of groups of representatives and their effect on partnership quality. Strategies for effective participation in partnership efforts were suggested, including the careful selection of organizational representatives who are able to develop friendships with other representatives of organizations in the interorganizational group. Close interpersonal linkage was therefore also essential among organizational representatives and the leaders of the represented organization

Committee: David Cooperrider (Advisor) Subjects: