The role of middle managers in the transmission and integration of organizational culture
Subtitle: a case study in a merged health care organization.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 181
Description: This case study examined the role of the middle manager in the integration and transmission of organizational culture in a merged organization. The bodies of literature on organizational culture, organizational mergers, and employee affective commitment were reviewed in conjunction with the role of the middle manager. A mixed research methodology that included semi-structured interviews with 19 middle managers, five senior staff, and 111 front-line employees was used. Two questionnaires, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979) and the Organizational Cultural Index (Wallach, 1983), were administered to 240 employees with a return rate of 59%. Regarding the first research question "Within a merged organizational context, what is the organizational culture at the middle management level as exhibited through the manager's beliefs and behaviours?" it was found that the underlying basic assumptions of the middle managers and the organization differed. For the second research question "Given the context of the merged organizational culture, how effective were the middle managers in the transmission and integration of the organization's culture to frontline staff?" it was observed that management of Bennis's (1989, 1993) four competencies appeared to have a profound effect on how middle managers transmitted and integrated the organization's culture to front-line staff. Regarding the third research question "What, if any, is the relationship of organizational culture with the middle manager's affective commitment?" it was found a relationship existed between organizational culture and affective commitment. While the results of this study show encouragement in unearthing the importance of the role of the middle manager in the transmission and integration of organizational culture, suggestions for further research into organizational departmental subgroups are warranted.
Notes: Adviser:  G. Ross Baker.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-05, Section: A, page: 1868.