Date of Award

3-10-2006

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL)

Department

Leadership

First Advisor

Robert Groven

Second Advisor

Velma Lashbrook

Abstract

This study examines the potential of open information flow in leading autonomous and decentralized field staffs. Research questions focus on participant perceptions of access to useful information and whether a participant's more positive organizational outlook compared favorably to their actual process performance. A chaotic model of people-driven processes formed the framework that explored these effects. A set of perception-based questions centered on the goals, roles, processes, and relationships held within a field organization created the model's structure. An assessment tool collected participant self-reported views of their organization and compared them to the high and low participant performance groups of four unique processes. Operational and financial measures defined the metric categories of each process. The results identified consistent patterns of perception differences between the high and low performance groups within processes that utilized more operational metrics. Processes with only financial metrics did not show the same effect. Significant differences in perceived quality of information flow structures, and its content, \l/ere process dependent. These patterns provided insight and helped answer the study's research questions. The study lends general support for the model's usefulness in formulating effective processes within an organization. A suggested method to create and maintain people-driven processes was produced by integrating the model and study findings.

Identifier

SC 11.MAL.2006.Hennen.JM

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