This paper evaluates and critiques a recent restructuring initiative for a college at a Midwestern university in the United States in which three academic departments were reduced down to two departments. The case study presents the experiences and perspectives of three faculty members-- one from each of those departments--who participated in the…

Middle-management leaders are in a crucible. In addition to managing their extensive regular duties and leading groups toward common goals, they must navigate conflicting expectations and competing demands from their superiors and subordinates. The challenges in middle-management leadership are exacerbated in fast-paced, high stakes, large-scale…

Utilizing competency-based education (CBE) initiatives as a practice is gaining traction across higher education settings. With the onset and residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such initiatives are gaining additional encouragement. CBE has produced some positive outcomes in terms of higher education. Researchers indicated that CBE…

This dissertation contributes to an understudied area in organizational change research, the study of a reorganization. The perception of communication by employees, midlevel managers, and senior leaders during the decision-making process for organizational change and throughout the change was the focus of this case study. Previous studies have…

Higher education institutions continually face changes that affect their operations. There is an evident scarcity of studies that investigate the health, well-being, and trust of the members of the university community, particularly when confronting these changes. This correlational research aimed to determine the impact of the relationship…

There is a wide-spread perception that universities reorganise their academic units frequently, although there is little beyond anecdote to support this. Similarly, the literature contains some speculation about what affects the success of such efforts, but there is almost no data to support various views. This study assesses the perceptions of…

This research employs the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical foundation to test the loyalty of employees and customers to remain with a company during a merger behavioral intention. The hypothesized model proposed that communication, perceived control, and subjective norm are associated with attitude, and perceived behavioral control and…

Despite the positive outcomes often associated with internationalization, internal stakeholders do not always welcome the changes it brings. This reaction is echoed in the numerous studies highlighting the problematic relationships between international and local students and the critical to resistant reactions among faculty members. In response…

Problems associated with managerialism are well established in Higher Education. Driven by pressures of funding cuts, league tables and the associated competitive environment, Higher Education followed other public sector bodies in adopting Lean Management principles. While there is scepticism about Lean Management because it is seen as an…

This study analyzed the transformation of a departmental culture through a process of implementing a new mission statement. The revised departmental mission promoted positive practices and rituals that transformed faculty relationships and student learning. These positive and ethical practices were derived from social constructionist principles,…

Change is a commonplace occurrence in today's organizations. A number of scholars suggest that communication strategies during organizational change are an important element to the success of a change initiative, yet such strategies are not given primacy in the research literature. The purpose of this paper is to add to the discourse on…

This study examined the impact that PLCs, communication, and the playbook had on a kindergarten through Grade 5 school merger in a suburban attendance zone. This merger involved two former elementary schools in the southeastern United States. The school merger created a new school model with a pre-K through Grade 2 school and a Grade 3 through…

Strategic Performance Management (SPM) is a multistep process that guides an organization's leadership in designing and revising a system of strategic performance management. Communication is key to the success of any change initiative. SPM provides a logically coherent process for linking strategic planning with performance management, ultimately…

Collaborative problem solving, creativity, innovation, and continuously improved performance outcomes are the normative expectations for organizations in the early 21st century. At the same time, workers seek not only equitable compensation for their efforts, but also opportunities for professional growth and development as well as acknowledgement…

In this paper, we provide an overview of the Pathways to Innovation Program (Pathways), a faculty development and institutional change initiative designed to address the adaptive challenge of integrating innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) into undergraduate engineering, nationwide. In particular, we build upon earlier papers that describe…