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UMUC - European Division - Mason G Daly - Citation for Stephen Meltzer - August 27 1966 - Munich
No full textEurope;Hoffmann, RosemaryDr. Mason G. Daly Director European Division University of Maryland
Munich 27 August 1966
CITATION for STEPHEN MELTZER
This statement must be read to this august assemblage - in this ancient Bavarian capital - on this massive military kaserne astride this mediaeval crossroad to the Tegernsee. It must be read because it takes the form of a fairly cryptic citation, and citations are too dignified and too dramatic and often too droll to be left to the chance choice of words.
It is a great relief to know that Stephen J. Meltzer is not to become a Ph.D. drop-out. A Ph.D. drop-out is more tragic than a junior-high drop-out -for a man this age is too old to learn a useful trade, is too clogged with cholesterol to start a new life, is too encumbered with legitimate offspring to escape responsibility, is too tormented by success to be fulfilled short of those ultimate letters on the signature block -Ph.D. LBJ and the Great Society have set up all sorts of retrieval systems for drop-outs in our complex and confusing society, but we do not yet have an LBJ Salvage Corps for Ph.D. drop-outs, and this man is too old and too realistic to sit around waiting for one.
This man can lay claim to calm good judgment, we know that; thus we know this decision about the Ph.D. can only be right. After all, this man can claim to know the difference between a unit and an agency - and he's one of the few in the world who does.
This man can claim to know the difference between one kind of APO and another, and it's a lucky man who sees that difference at once.
This man can claim to know the difference between a quarterly report and a window box, we suppose because he and some of the educational carpenters present have hammered out some of each.
This man can claim to have tried nobly to define "on-duty education" for those in high places in the command , and if there has been a temporary set-back, he knows full well that the semantic mazes of on-and off-duty education will soon have troops streaming back into the halls of GED at all hours of the day and night because we all know, all too well, that all men in uniform are really on-duty 25 hours a day, 367 days a year, and we can have all the time left over to educate them.
This man can claim he knows the re al difference between a district supervisor and a GED coordinator, and that's because Bill Brenner told him.
This man can claim to have tried to keep USAFI-Europe from slipping into another camp, but he watched with the rest of us as USAFI, making up letter-heads for others, lost its own letter-head. But it has a new building, it still has Larry Gates, and it enjoyed throughout its recent metaphysical changes, warm regard and continued requirement s of this man and his agency.
This man can claim to have taken less TDY than his predecessor, Warren Winstead, but then, who can't?
This man can claim to have foster-fathered a fine graduate program (which was fathered with a certain amount of trumpetting for a first-born by that same predecessor), can claim to have quietly fathered a second graduate program with the steadied calm of veteran paternalism, and he can claim to have patiently nurtured that everlasting academic agony in your midst - that 17 year old Maryland just passing out of puberty. But he hasn't fathered or fostered or nurtured anything until he broods and gives birth to that NYU dissertation.
This man can claim to be escaping the stigma of home-steading, but then Russel the Wise is escaping that too by just normal retirement.
This man can claim (and rightly) to have been a calming, steadying influence in all circumstances surrounding GED. Why, even the Maryland director (and this will surprise everyone here) has raised his voice and has been unnecessarily histrionic in the presence of this man. But this man just gritted that pipe stem tighter and remained absolutely coherent and calm, and soon even that Marylander returned to coherence and calm. If only we all could so firmly grip a good pipe stem we might better weather these crises we so often share. Yet, this man must somewhere, sometimes perturb, he must surely release a head of steam in some setting. No doubt Florrie could fill us in on that. We do know that she escaped him for some reason two nights of ever y week up there in Heidelberg because she regularly attended Maryland classes. That gave her six full hours reprieve from this man per week and we can only presume she needed that. But before we congratulate Florrie too much for her escape and her scholarship, we probably should know whether or not this man takes that pipe to bed.
This man can claim to be returning to a wonderful world of stable living, a world where you dare to predict even a month ahead the country, the city, even the house you will live in. And he's heard so many reassuring things about other returnees such as Larry Snell's $70,000 pad with 5 bedrooms and six baths and garden wall to garden wall swimming pools teeming with chlorine and dead leaves.
And so this man has led us through an astonishing period of reorganization and window boxes, led us with a calm demeanor and a steady intellect, and a firm grip on his pipe.
After Egbert the Elder, and Warren the Wonder, we had Stephen the Steady. And now, in another of our interregna, we fall back again -with confidence -on the experience and judgment of George, the Ringer, the longest stand-in in GED history. We wish him God speed good window boxes, and brand new, better definitions of on-and off duty education.
And now to Steve and Florrie Meltzer the Marylanders in Heidelberg want to be remembered - along with Heidelberg - by this fairly schmaltzy mug which shows the old Neckar city. It will be, you may be sure , appropriately engraved and sent to you as soon as you send us the address of your new splitlevel pad in the Great Society
UMUC - European Division - Mason G Daly - Banquet Speech - September 26 1965 - Berchtesgaden, Germany
No full textEurope;Hoffmann, RosemaryI have come to speak to you of metaphors and mandates, of dialogues and monologues, of educators and escapists, of Mannheim, North Baden and Mandan. A year and a half ago the New Look in conferences for dependent school ND. educators began. Your first conference focussed on the so-called "project on instruction," a scholarly, statesmanlike, academic achievement, published as "Schools for the Sixties.” Thirty-three recommendations from the published volumes which make up the study are claimed by educators who know to be "logical, rational, deceptively simple, but in reality knowledgeable, far-reaching and far-sighted." If those educators are only half right, what great good sense it was to have a conference built around the implications of that study, a conference built around the presence of authors who synthecized the findings into book form. Your next conference was an educational Tsunami - a veritable seismic sea wave - of movement, action, dialogue, decision-making. Your metaphors got a little muddled in describing that second conference, and relating it to the first. "Before the seeds of inspiration sink into the sediment," you said, "it was time to start another splash of scholarly discourse" designed to pull the books off the shelves, take decisions and recommendations out of the books, and get into action. So it was called "From Bookshelves to Action," and despite the mataphors the seeds were not too sedimented, nothing was too soggy, and a lot of important dialogue was washed up. Well, never mind your metaphors, you have brought a new look to education conferences in Europe, and here you are at another one, with a new theme, more notable educators shipped in, here to engage again in useful dialogue on issues which know no bounds in their importance, and you are faced, as you always are, with the mandate to improve education in overseas’ schools. This part of the exercise, my part, is no dialogue, fortunately for me, if not for you. It is always set up as a monologue, and an after-dinner one at that, which is the worst kind. My little mandate comes from the program committee to say something a little less than seismic, to probe around a little to see how far those seeds of inspiration have sunk, and to sprinkle not splash you with just enough scholarly discourse to keep you alert but still comfortably digesting and gathering strength for tomorrow and the week to come .
Were I subject to paranoid tendencies, which of course I am not, I would doubtless come to the conclusion that you are my enemies rather than my friends, because you persist in taking these opportunities to repeatedly expose me in monologue at these veritable Walkerian summits of education. I am not paranoid, but more sadly I am reality-oriented. Sure, I dabble now and then in some practical problems of child learning after all I am the father of four children, and I am learning a lot from them -but I am not, by any stretch of the imagination or the metaphor, a peer to these Imports from the States in the matter of The Child-The Learner. I may be caught up in the next couple of days -I hope I am- in the seismic wave which will sweep us all on to new heights, rather new beaches, I mean coastlines, I mean shores, I mean frontiers (you do see, don't you, how treacherous these metaphors become!). But right now I feel I must move out, or is it in, to calmer waters where I can safely tread nearer to my own experience, where if my convictions do show, I will still be adequately clothed in safe platitudes to avoid embarrassing myself or the program committee. You know, I just may be becoming a little paranoid at that. In trying to justify my presence here at this head table tonight, with all these Imports, I have just begun to wonder if perhaps someone on the program committee, as may have been the case in years past, isn't using me as a subject of an unkind experiment. After I expose my limitation on the subject of the conference, the rest of you will look so darn good.
I may later on, bravely, and to help the experiment along, splash into the conference theme just a bit, just for kicks. But permit me to wade around just now in the matter of the mandate, the mandate to improve education in overseas schools . And that is fairly slippery stuff to wade in. I have a lot of friends sitting here tonight, along with those enemies running the experiment, and I do not want to see those good friends, along with me, turned into haggard educational hangers-on. I do not want those CPOers or provincial congressmen who wonder about Americans, especially educators, who for some reason wish to stay away from Main Street -USA for more than a six weeks American Express tour, I do not want them to take the sugar out of the long-delayed pay raise provisions by hooking on a rider that limits anyone's right to "going native."
Among those sitting here tonight are those whose committment to dependent schools is deep and devoted, and it is very doubtful that they have an over-committment to gasthauses and bistros and pubs. The cut of the clothes out here and the cut of the hair is more Middle-TownUSA than anything I have seen in a long time.
I discern here tonight in Berchtesgaden, not a room-full of altogether happy people living in a society exactly permeated with security; rather I see a bunch of educators whose lives know some frustration and some fear, whose proclivities for one foreign culture or one watering hole are pretty well disrupted by the dreaded musical chairs of civil service and rather recently by the big ruptures of reorganization and centralization ; whose faces and bent backs show slight evidences of emotional, if not professional ill health. Many of you are, let's face it, stricken with a degree of middle-aged cynicism, and you're just a little haunted with being hounded about whether you are dedicated educators or dilletant escapists-- ; you cannot, under those conditions, be expected to be glowing, smiling portraits of optimism and wellroundedness and utter fulfillment at such a time . This dependents' school outfit in Europe, even allowing for your present condition, is on the make. It has been recently re-institutionalized, and although I do not pretend to understand or evaluate the merits of the centralizing which took place less than two years ago, I can assume that the separate services are not now claiming that they are each running schools which are, to use that beat up old American phrase, separate-but-equal. For better or for worse the unification, so far as it has gone, took place, and there is no time or purpose in engaging in a remembrance of things past. Rather it is a time to speak out, to join eagerly in the anatomy lesson on the new "body politic." There are signs which summon you to an educational breakthrough. And, to continue my mixed metaphors, this as a time to sharpen definitions, puncture balloons, watch out for provincial congressmen, and raise high the roof beams of high purpose.
Now just who am I to take off on such flights of metaphor and presumption. Well, I share a good sized shred of the same heritage. I stand in roughly the same place in the educational universe at this (I hope transcendent) hour of American education. I speak roughly the same language. I suffer from many of the same insecurities. I use the same PX's and get my liquor at the same class-6 counter. Furthermore, we, you and I, have had a long and still abiding, usually fruitful and warm fringe fellowship in this extension of the spirit and content of US education to foreign enclaves. I enjoy your hospitality in such stimulating conferences as this one promises to be and as those which preceded it were. We sometimes share professionals and mingle professional ideas; we have your people in our classrooms, in language courses, in culture-of-the-land courses, in math for teachers courses, in child study institutes. Some of your professionals become our occasional teachers of methods and guidance courses in the evening, while others gain professional status and CPO points by taking those courses. Your hospitality to me sometimes reflects your need for a speaker, perhaps, but I take it most of all to mean that we have an abiding and healthy respect for our separate but associated purposes in Europe. I am completely at ease in speaking to you good people about our imperative purpose, our sometimes perilous profession, our joint image, and our future destiny. I'll take my chances on metaphors and presumption.
Although an argument is rather regularly formulated that the entrenched, long-tenured overseas educator doesn't welcome or risk change, there is some likelihood that the home-steading type most surely recognizes the change which is upon American education wherever it is in the world, there is also some likelihood that the home-steader can steady change into the realities of this system because he knows and understands and, I hope, loves the system, better than the new-comer who is yet to learn the marvels of bureaucracy in civil service compounded by those in the military. He doesn't have to be fresh from Topeka, Kansas, or Upper Falls, Idaho, or Glenn Neck, Long Island, to know that both the world and the American education system are changing in dismaying, drastic ways. It doesn’t take a nervous system somehow re-sensitized in the good old USA to tremble with awe and anticipation and anxiety about the shape of things to come. I suggest the American who is reasonably at home in Europe may have clearer perspectives about our alliances and therefore our place in the universe and therefore some of our most vital needs in education.
It isn't altogether true that history has swirled past us educators stuck off here too long in Europe -this distant, dark-side of the moon. It is no more true that new blood, high in stateside-contact-corpuscle-count will refresh and revitalize any old corpse, than it is generous to look upon new blood as a carrier of change, something as infectious and feared as Typhoid Mary. As I read the signs about this often over-simplified matter, there is far more likelihood we will all go home all at once (and heaven help the balance of stateside education then), than there is any likelihood that any civil service or congressionally enacted formula, even with computer magic, can circulate and rotate educators in and out of stateside and overseas jobs for the regular refreshing of ideas and for the lowering of the level of Scotch in the blood stream. Given the formula, the balance of salary and job security necessary, the switch from Scotch to Schlitz, from London to New London, might be effected with gratifying ease. But no civil service or congressional Einstein has come up with a fair formula yet. Or, so the signs seem to say to me. What is needed now, today, is what you now have in dependents schools in Europe, a professional stance that accommodates new blood and old blood (there is no really significantly incompatable alcoholic or academic Rh factor), a professional stance that is getting on with innovations as well as conservations, a professional stance that happens to be getting dependent education into what might be called reasonably dynamic shape; perhaps I should say remarkably dynamic shape considering your per-pupilratios and certain unnatural but inevitable bureaucratic practices you are heir to. What you need is not rotation for rotation sake. What you need is release from some of the bleeding bureaucracy, some of the clinging obsolescence which keeps you from retaining the great educators who wander into your outfit too briefly and keeps you from rotating out the below average to miserable educator who hangs on for selfish purpose to your agony and to the detriment of your good system.
You have shown vividly that this old institution is by no means immovably moored to one place in time. Through reorganization first and also by responding to the stirrings of change in stateside education (why, good heavens, the day has finally come when it is no longer necessary for an educational measure in Congress to be disguised as a national defense act to secure its passage -which is the nearest to educational millenium I can remember in my lifetime).Through national affluence and national fright, dependents' education, along with education in several other sectors of our society, has been up-graded, is being up-graded so that all us old ones and all the new ones can experience strengthened status in our important calling, a status which the military seems reasonably prepared to recognize, a status that is not yet fully realized.
I know enough of you well enough to know that there is the professional poise in this room to bring this dependents' system into line with the dynamic, dare I say it?, upper-ten-per-cent of the nation’s schools. That, it seems to me, is a mandate worth slogging toward.
And it may be right here, reference this poise, that the old dependents' schools organization can be most like an Alice-in-Worlderland lookingglass land. It can hump along at about twice the speed of other educational outfits to approximately stand still. You are sometimes capable of letting Europe seem like the dark side of the moon. you do sometimes let civil service strictures and slottage systems, congressional budgets and bumblings, make your professionals less imaginative, informed, inspirational educators and more pale, palsied GS-somethings seeking safety in governmental sinecure. I trust you have the poise to prevent this from becoming the facts of life in the renovating dependents' school structure. I know you have the poise to show anyone that the way to better overseas education is not to exchange professionals between Mannheim, Germany, and Mandan, North Dakota. The view from the principal's office is the same, it is not educationally changed by looking out on United States' soil.
We all know very well that it takes a lot more than a mere change of scene to guarantee professional outlook or development. In the course of your recent administrator's conferences, with the new look you have in bringing big names with big ideas to Europe to be with you for weeks of discussion and debate about the dimensions of dynamic educational systems, you have probably exposed your professionals to more valid academic stimulation than they could have have in any Mandan system. The literature and thought that is getting into print is as readable here as there, and there is a reasonable chance that some things written in Europe and done in Europe are, in fact, more read and seen by these displaced Americans.
It seems fairly clear, then, that the dependents' school system in Europe is manned by a corps of professionals who are taking repeated soundings of the seismic waves, building in a dynamic system of self-renewal (there go those metaphors again!). Here is a corps of educators who might even cease to be stymied by the count down of regulations intended for clerk-typists in civil service, if this corps can continue to command the funds and the respect to bring stimulating educators from the outside into their midst, as now and in the recent past, regularly and intimately, and for week-long dialogues about the central mandate. Although we know very well that we will never eradicate all of the bureaucratic fumbling and dodo practices and even dodos from this system, you have evidence that you now have, in the new structure and the new look, a chance to eradicate, you now have a chance to anticipate, you now have a chance to innovate.
I am told that this process of eradication, anticipation, and innovation takes what industry and all outfits on the make, even conservative old universities, have learned to call "research and development," shortened of course to R&D. R&D shapes the chrome on the new Cadillac and it shapes the nose-cone for the trip to the moon; it reshapes the bosoms and bottoms of America and the Arctic gear of Little America; and the spirit of R&D has recently begun to shape projects in each dependents' school district over here.
Reorganized, centralized dependents' schools in Europe now, and in the foreseeable future, should face unrelenting innovation and change such as it has never experienced in its distinguished career. I have the presumption to suggest it needs continuing research about its basic structure. As jarring as it may be, I hope you face continuing administrative reorganization, more careful study for more valid centralizing, more musical chairs. You'll be in bad shape if you have broken old patterns only to fix new ones. There needs to be -there must be- a kind of "dynamics of planned change" built into your new system, because there must be a constant search for the best possible institutional arrangement of authority, responsibility, jobs, and personnel.
I suggest that the logic of some of your present practices, arrangement of districts and personnel, and especially the nature of your budgeting systems, are not yet based on very great depth in research and development. They are, I have the presumption to trust, a starting arrangement subject to the dynamics of planned change, subject to further depth research and further innovation. What a travesty it will be if after this shake-down period you find that jealousies, little human kingdoms, the myopia of selfish motives, fix the new, reorganized dependents' school system into calcified clusters of beat up educators counting civil service points in district arrangements that no educational seismic wave in the world would Jar into action.
But there is right now real, comforting
evidence that your new system is already based on dynamic districts for R&D into the better teaching of American youth in Europe, not just an arbitrary rearrangements of existing bureaucracy to enhance the status of the new superstructure. There are signs that each district is committed to being a "research and development center," each with separate projects and the common mission. Not busy work. Real projects to find out real things. Real centers of resource. Real "professional programming," I think some management wags call it. Busy work by any name is banal. Research and development in your districts just might be another name for the difference between mediocrity and magnificence in this system.
It is probably too soon, really, to judge the new system which has tried the promethean thing every president since Truman has tried -has tried to bring the separate services together in one unified effort. What a logical goal it all seemed, even before computers and MacNamara reaffirmed the seeming logic. As with the presidents who have tried, the schools have managed no absolutely remarkable unification in many logical things to date. But as with those hopeful presidents, the effort goes valiantly on. In recruiting teachers and staff, unification in these schools has scored well, I understand. There is no longer the duplicated effort, the spectacle of competing with each other for talent. But the competition spectacle has shifted and intensifed in another way because the Great Society abuilding back home, through its affluence and its new visions and its pervasive fears -has upgraded our profession, is upgrading it every few minutes, so that the teacher prepared as you must have him prepared can command salaries that congress does not yet let you offer. Where once the school teacher of America taught for thirty hopeful years, tucking away a pittance saving each year, to fulfill the long-held dream of maybe three months in Europe, the school teacher in America today can tuck away enough in a year or two for that trip, and dares to take Christmas vacation in Jamaica to boot. Dangling a job offer in dependents' schools in Europe is by no means what it used to be. The market has changed; the economic synapses of the teacher are knitted together with enough security to make any quality system on the hire look to its budgets and its bait. The budgets of your system will have to be adjusted, and soon, to recognize that the bait of Europe has lost much of its potency.
Your system, and all that it stands for is vulnerable to the degree it fails to recognize and respond to the changes in teacher bait, fails to get congress to sweeten the bait. This vulnerability was recently dramatized. The American Association of School Administrators, quite an outfit really, if I am to judge by the members present, their status and their respect for the power and purpose of the association, that group decided there is enough rotten in the salary system of depedent schools abroad to boycott or blackball or blacklist this system. (Now all those loaded terms are mine. I don't know the term used by the association, but if it was less semantically freighted it meant the same thing). When asked to nominate educators for Europe, the AASA came back with a solid "no," not until congress shapes up and met the challenges of the Great Society on this educational front too, with higher salaries and surer status for the teachers. Now that's not exactly a missionary approach on the part of the AASA, to be sure, but it is certainly one approach to a problem that you have and which has national attention. Outside of a few school systems struggling with deliberate or defacto segregation or with teachers unions striking for this or that, this is the American school system sitting/most dead-center in the attention of Americans. You know, whenever the Congress of the United States budgets for and buffets around one of its stranger responsibilities, whether it is the District of Columbia, or the page-boys who run up and down the aisles in the two houses, or the whole system of dependents e
UMUC - European Division - Mason G Daly - USAFE Conference: The Megamilitary and the Megauniversity - October 6 1966 - Wiesbaden
No full textEurope;Hoffmann, RosemaryDr. Mason G. Daly
Director, European Division
University of Maryland
USAFE Education Conference
Wiesbaden, Germany
6 October , 1966
THE MEGAMILITARY AND THE MEGAVERSITY
What a Way to Grow
In the era of the megakill and the megaopolis, in the midst of this megaconference, you must accept from me such a grandiose title. I'm sick of having university speakers and essayists play around with the now-cliched old hooker, old point of departure, popularized by Clark Kerr and a host of others - the multiversity. That just isn't enough anymore, it isn't quite camp. I insist on moving on to other dimensions, to new catch words, so hook on your nylon lassoes, let's go for a space walk.
There was supposed to be something calming in McNamara's news release of a couple of weeks ago in which he announced we had 7, 000 nuclear warheads in Europe all pointing in the right direction, all more accurate than anyone else's . If someone has more megakill to deliver in their warheads, just relax, they have fewer warheads and they are less accurate at the point of delivery. I guess that means one or two of those meant for LA will get off track and come down in Death Valley, and the one meant for DC will actually end up in College Park, Maryland. The one aimed for USAFE headquarters will miss Lindsey Air Station and epicenter over the von Steuben. And we always have Steve Canyon to deal with the Great Circle line when big football games are scheduled. I am calmed, and so are you.
Except in Vietnam, which is not supposed to be a megawar but a somewhat escalated brush fire, Mac's megamilitary is not so very multi anymore, not so populated with people in uniform; it is, rather, a megamighty thing with the world's most accurate delivery. It does not need so much a megawinged Air Force, manned by the old whiskey slugging, crumpled-hat pilots of yore, the famed highly sexed dare-devils of Catch 22 lore, it needs calm-nerved silo=sitters studying business administration with Ohio State, or Utah . The great army divisions of Americans in. Europe are either decimated by the current brush fire or they are all, all at once, populated by already-educated bachelors in uniform, for there are 20,000 fewer dependents going to those schools,
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and there are a couple of thousand fewer adults going to our school . With just under 10,000 adults enrolled right now, we still feel needed, but we can surely see that computerized delivery of megamight needs fewer men behind those 7,000 warheads in Europe. And the fewer-men trend will continue, however that big brush fire in Southeast Asia goes, however others simmering along the edges of containment may go. The megamriitary is a fact, today even in sheer numbers of men, but always in its increase in devasting delivery power and in the refinement of its computers and in the higher training of its buttonpushers. And it is surely obvious, isn't it, that the university, whether multi-or-mega in its tag, is just as inseparably married to the military as two Italian Catholics are married, and like those Italians, we had better hope for reasonable compatibility or seek some kind of Papal annulment to our present intimacy.
When you explore the mega-quality of the present university you also need a computer mind. Like McNamara and his military might, the university can point to large numbers, to be sure, but it can also point to what may be a mega brain, a kind of megacephalic striking force, hopefully aimed at right things, including now the outer reaches of space, the inner depths of the sea and the earth's crust , a mighty mega-synthesis of staggering technological and biological and astronomical explorations, all pumped up, propped up, by a cold war and an exploding population and intimately related to the megamilitary and its burgeoning needs .
The domain of the teacher and the taught is not a Greek garden, a monastic cloister, or a campus quadrangle. It is more than ever before the busy market-place, and the university is more than ever at home in the temples of trade, with the giants of industry, with the builders of bombs and submarines , with the healers of wounds and jungle crud, with the calibrators of heart beats in space walks. The biggest growth index in America, to borrow a phrase from that market-place, is found in the knowledge industry. From pre-kindergarten to post-postpost graduate study, this industry will continue to be a growth industry, and the heavy two-way traffic between the campus and the community promises to increase. And the only thing we know for sure
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about the picture in 1984 is that current enrollment figures of almost five million in colleges and universities will be tripled. It doesn't take more than a small slide rule, hardly a computer, to figure that out.
So who has time any more to wonder if our institutions of higher learning might be losing some of their fabled integrity by becoming more and more like educational service stations or supermarket places. So who can doubt that once the pressures of this cold war are alleviated, if they ever are, that some other utilitarian need of the moment will take over and direct the two-way traffic between campus and community. Well, to judge by present experience , we can thankfully say, there are very few signs that there is any loss of freedom to teach and to inquire, there is comfortingly little reason to suppose that the megabrain of 1984 need be any less free than it is today.
Certainly one result of this momumental knowledge industry will mean universities will group and merge, even in spite of themselves become megaversities, as once widely separated cities are now merging into megalopolis where provincialisms and parochial politics and even state borders are of far less moment than a joint power plant or garbage dump. The megalopolis is coming, is really here. The ideaopolis, the megaversity cannot be far behind.
In a kind of way, USAFE, with its Maryland, and USC, and Utah, and Oklahoma, and Capital Institute, and whatever other outfit Douglas Beakes may be bringing into the USAFE market -place, is a not so miniature version of the megaversity to come. And although these separate schools may now have only Beakes in common, they are not competitive, nor yet cooperative, but they are comfortably complementary in their purposes, and from a comfortable, compatible, complementary complex of universities grows, or so the computers and logic seem to say, gr eat megaversities.
Now is all of this has sounded megalophonous, that is high sounding and loud voiced , it may be just my big tongue. You can decide, if you like, that I am just a heavy footed megapod trying to make a
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microscopic idea into something megascopic. My complete title, which USAFE wouldn't print, was in fact, “The Megamilitary and the Megaversity, What a Way to Grow!” They didn't read that last word carefully and thought I was saying “What a Way to Go!” If enrollments are down in Europe and up in the jungles of Vietnam and Thailand , if education advisordom in USAFE is about to be riffed down to some new low that doesn't seem to match Great Society thinking nor a growth industry in education, so be it. I'm still talking about growing, not going.
And I have quite a bit of my twenty-five minutes remaining to continue my theme and to relate it to the scene and to this conference. Hold tight to those lassoes.
It won't hurt to be a little bit Commagerish (Henry Steele, that is) and sweep together a few historical relevancies concerning American higher education and how it grew, historically and philosophically. According to Commager's thinking, we Westerners can distinguish four major functions of the university over the centuries in which it fourished, and we find it, to be sure, still flourishing.
The first function of the university, developed in Italy and elsewhere on the European continent , was to train young men for the professions: originally for medicine and law, later for the church.
A second function developed in England in the residential colleges of Oxford and Cambridge: that of communicating to the young the heritage of the past and of training the young in intellectual discipline and in character. Eventually, the marginal functions came to be central in English education, and were transferred to the New World as Cambridge and Edinburg transferred their standards and practices to New England.
The third major function of the university, which emerged largely in the nineteenth-century German universities, was to carry on research, to expand the boundaries of knowledge.
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A fourth function of the university is associated with the American experience, says this American intellectual historian. The American university is to do all the other universities have done and also all other things anyone can possibly think of. It is one great big amalgam of the European inheritance and a great deal more. Sure, train the character; sure, train for the professions; sure, do research; but don't ever fail to serve the special needs of the society, to respond to whatever social pressures make themselves felt most ardently. The philosophy of the American university must accommodate service to the commonwealth, thus the philosophy fits no comfortable European pattern; it is truly something novel in the history of the western world; it is almost all things to all men.
Now in America there is always a small body of opinion holding to the academic autocratic point of view that a university must confine itself to teaching and basic research. It is a school of thought that maintains, quite seriously, that a university must not be active in the public sphere Iest it compromise its integrity and render itself ineligible to assay the role of social critic .
Such a view has been rejected totally by every university here this morning, and it has to be rejected by the public universities, allowing for a few critics and conservatives even on their payrolls whom they try to keep locked up in any handy ivory tower. If public means plebeian, these schools proudly admit the label, and uphold their American heritage and continue to get public support at the legislator's cash box. Plebeian, you understand, in the case of those present may be read to mean of the serviceman and for the serviceman.
There are indeed universities here this morning who proudly acknowledge their debt to Justin S. Morrill, the son of a Vermont blacksmith, who fathered the land-grant college system, and to Abraham Lincoln, son of a Kentucky farmer and fourth grade graduate, who put his signature to that Morrill Act, the first generous federal support to higher education in America.
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There are universities here this morning who have shared a few tiresome erudite brick-bats with old Maryland, brick-bats from critics of all sorts who have sought to make “off-campus” a dirty hyphenated word, who still try to characterize our enterprize in terms of supermarkets and service stations . Well, academic (service stations are standard issue for servicemen allover the world. We share comfort and satisfaction in doing rather well a job that needs doing in the knowledge that without this public university attitude and philosophy of education, the services would not have the educational level they enjoy today, a level that now calls for a complex of graduate schools, a veritable graduate pent-house atop old USAFI and old Maryland . There should be no apologies heard round here for performance in the public interest.
However public spirited and plebeian universities thought they were , there can be no doubt that the military in general, and USAFE in particular, forced them into still other avenues of ideas and innovation, and what little Gothic-lettered sanctity the most public university had left, is further violated by this military in this cold war. This dynamic, and not too painful, violation is progressive and the imperatives of the military are persistent and we are always, as universities, kept off balance. Maryland, you know, managed to get a bit Gothic and ivy coated even after it l eft the sanctity of College Park quadrangles and scattered itself around the world. It is hard to visualize anything Gothic or Ivy in places like Adana and Thule and Okinawa, isn't it, or to visualize Ehrensberger or Daly in a tower, granted. But some of you found us too preoccupied with our under graduate work overseas and with our burgeoning campi at home, and you felt we were too sluggish or to uncharacteristically conservative to help build the graduate penthouse now glowing atop USAFE's domain. Well, we hardly have time 'to bemoan this in private, much less in public. We are moving into a modest master's degree program with dependent school teachers -a part of this public domain- through Maryland's nationally noted Institute for Child Study. We do find ways to tap our resources in this public's interest every day. And anyhow, so long as we remain the big prep school for all these others in Europe and for a
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thousand or so others in the States , we serve as an important keystone to the megaversity which is being called into being. That keystone is granite hard and forthrightly implanted in good education .
I said the most public spirited university philosophy is always kept off-balance by the imperatives of the present megarmilitary fighting away bravely in this cold war. The cold war, however the antagonists may realign, -promises to remain America's central concern for a long, long time, and therefore will remain central in the very heartbeat of concerned universities and their administrators.
In the 1920's the men who ran our schools or budgeted and legislated for them knew that the business of America was business. There was a US President around to remind them of this. In the sixties the business of America is defense, in the broadest sense. Education acts, until a few minutes ago, had to be called National Defense Acts to get by. The current counter-part to the cult of business is the cult of the cold war. Schools are enlisted in the cold war much as soldiers, sailors and airmen are enlisted. And, well, retired generals and admirals are naturals for college presidencies and provosts and public relations artists and contract getters.
The society of the sixties, then, uses the cold war to press its demands upon the schools of today, quite naturally, quite inevitably, and here and there excessively. And the schools must come to terms with these demands. It is easy and tempting for schoolmen to reinterpret their role as that of running one of the nation's great “industries” an industry devoted to producing “human resources” (we do not say cannon-fodder anymore, even in our bitterest moments) for a technological society in a cold war.
There is some good in this. It is probably better for America than the strictly business syndrome of the 20's.-Mounting governmental concern, for whatever reason, can be good for education. Schools at all levels are national problems and must be dealt with in part on a national basis and receive national support. Whereas one educator has stated, and not without the basis for good argument, that the organization which
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has done the most to change American education has been The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the cold war is the elemental fact of American life that has most affected universities (and I am not overlooking the coinciding facts of affluence and population explosion).
To help America carry on a cold war in the midst of its affluent population, to be sure, underlines the university's social function, as per Commager, and here and there we may, under pressure, lose sight of true educational purposes, but I doubt that either philosophy or purpose have been sold for a cold war contract. The same university which contracts for cold war purposes hatches great batches of cold war critics, and there is comforting evidence that from both the eggheads and the long-hairs of these universities comes enough commotion and criticism to cause this cold war government to regularly assess its activities in terms of legitimate national aspirations. At least there has never been less national cohesion at a time when Americans are shooting to kill and are being killed.
While the cold war pressures are at work and while the graduate pent-house is a building over here, education in USAFE is also undergoing its own little industrial revolution. Programmed learning, including the much touted teaching machines, follows closely upon the extensive establishment of language laboratories, and now instructional television is struggling into place, its first steps supported by Maryland and USAFE. We way or may not be on the edge of a major break-through, but the technological revolution in education is on and Doug Beakes is its leader and chief catalyst. The industrialization of this particular educational establishment is caught up in the same search that is going on stateside, a search for the MEANS to better and more inclusive instruction. Such a search is always valid so long as it does not forget the ENDS of instruction. To just do an educational job for greater numbers, or for isolated souls, for dispersed silo-sitters is not the fundamental concern. The fundamental concern always remains, “Is the educational job worth doing?”
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If all of the machinery, all of the devices, all of the schools are not yet altogether articulated, if educators and equipment in USAFE are not yet sharing a coherent set of principles , the incoherencies can always be recognized and usually resolved, and the efforts at resolution are being rewarded in this good conference.
It is really no wonder at all that there are some incoherencies, that developments in USAFE are necessarily so dynamic, that educational establishments are off balance. In just fifteen years, electronics has leaped from the vacuum tube to the transistor to the maser to the laser. In less than a generation aircraft engineering has jumped from piston to jet to rocket and is poised for nuclear propulsion. In the five year s that make up the Beakesonian era in USAFE, education has leaped from Terrapins, to Trojans, to Boston Bulls, to Sooners, to CITers, to Utes; from console-controlled language booths, to auto-tutors, to TV ; and we are all here, to use Doug's own phrases, to become a conglomerate campus, all ribboned-up, loosely tied together, poised to become part of the USAFE master plan, seeking together a coherent philosophy. If we are not yet a quite solid mass, we do have real velocity. There is just no way to stop the USAFE world if you wanted to get off.
The University of Maryland may be counted on to strive for coherencies in its relationships with other schools and with USAFE goals. It will play its part in this year of the cold war, in this year of industrial revolution in education in USAFE, with as much vigor and imagination as it can muster. It will continue to find the courage to experiment and innovate, as it has in its TDY programs, in language and math, in science and in the humanities. It is not an academic autocrat in your midst, holding itself aloof in the market-place, operating out of the same old undergrad kiosk; nor is it an academic aggrandizer, seeking prestige through more and more programs and expansions. It will retrench where retrenchment is required and expand where expansion is indicated and supported. It will maintain academic quality and stay in the race for good teachers by raising tuition costs $2 per semester hour next year. But most of all it will continue to be the keystone of university education in Europe, and in the Far East and in the Atlantic area.
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And now, together, we are all under pressure to mitigate the ravages of DeGaullc's rupture pf NATO and the endless commitment of men to Vietnam. Together, too, we must mitigate the proposed curtailment of professional educators in USAFE's ranks. Route that manpower study team by me. I'll tell them you professionals are needed in greater numbers, not fewer, and I'll tell them in technicolor. Let's remember we have made a few convulsive leaps in closing educational gaps in times of crisis before. The greatest logistical mission of the Vietnamese war, the greatest welfare gesture to those tormented and trapped Americans there is not, after all, to get more hair spray on sale in Saigon and Bien IIo. Whatever it may sometimes seem, this American military is not made up of illiterate hordes of mercenaries. It is made up of Great Societymen, and there are among them some scientists to be exalted, some artists, poets, scholars, politicians , and even professors to be found. We will, together, continue to find and exalt them
UMUC - European Division - Mason G Daly - Speech at farewell dinner for Pete Skalkos - March 21 1964 - Heidelberg
No full textEurope;Hoffmann, RosemarySpeech at farewell dinner for Pete Skalkos Saturday 21 March 1964, Heidelberg. MG Daly
We seem to be met here after the fortunes of the cold war have I closed down the American diocese of Poitiers, thus causing the Bishop of Learning there , Peter of Poitiers, to move on . He will now become a high priest in that other diocese of learning that stretches from Panmunjon to Pusan. Hence forth he will be known as Peter of Panmunjon and Pvsan.
Peter of Poitiers worked long as the apostle of that old patron saint of GED, the old Jaegerman himself, lately living ala carte, St. Egburt the Elder; worked briefly and courageously as, an Assistant in the NACom bishofric of St. Arvil of the Seven Day persuasion , now of the pentagon. I understand Peter's tenurewith St. Arvil was somewhat uneven . It was found that Peter always rested on the wrong day and did other such undisciplined things. Peter of Poitiers served well under the new guiding light of GED, known already by many names , but safely referred ed to as Warren the Wonder Younger, soon we all know to be canonized a ter a short period of beatification.
'As Peter of Panmunjon and Pusan there will be new challenges and new patron saints and far lesser saints to work with. In particular we should comment on that Bishop of Seoul with whom Peter will work, a man known as John the Bastian. I said Bastian. John the Bastian : is an educator who believes' in the wearing of the hair shirt, by others at least; he believes in early morning flaggelations, for other s of course ; he has a capacity for the consumption of bourbon and cigars that all who know him grow to repsect; he has a boiling point that is very low indeed, or so it seemed to the Marylanders muddling their way along in the Far East .
From Pusan to Panmunjon, Peter must be careful of being slickied . Thievery in that land is neither moral nor immoral, it is way of life. Maryland has never had a profeesor in Korea who not robbed every eight week term; but he was usually surprisingly happy and intrigued with that world of Korea. He soon found out, for instance, that there are two remarkable female billets in Seoul. BWQ's honestly named Faith and Hope, and just outside the caserne are a dozen or so quite properly named Charity. Pay day in Korea is a day never to be forgotten -the moose come out of the paddy fields and move into every barracks and bunk in the
American compounds . Now a barracks full of moose or even a, bunk
full of moose is not so bad, Peter of Poitiers. As a linguist of broad talents, you surely know that Moose has nothing to do with an antlered beast in the Far Last. Some of them are beasts alright,
but Moose is a Japanese word for loose woman.
There is one thing I should point out i n this connection . As you know, Korea, that miserable peninusula , is crisscrossed with all sorts of lines . The 38th parallel, the demilitarized zone line, and there is also The much better know Moose Line . That is a line , which proves to be more or less mythical, above which those frustrating American Generals have ruled no moose may venture. It
gives the GIs and other overactive Americans a place to go for rest and recuperation, and I suppose I should add for the cure. Peter of Poitiers should be able to 'add to the social life of Korea, as he always did to the social life of Gelnhausen and Hieidelberg and Frankfurt and Poitiers . He doesn't really have any competition, worth mentioning. Except for that which Faith , Hope, and Charity have to offer re reglarly, there are of course Maryland classes five nights a week, and there is Bingo seven nights a week, and there is the famous Asian Geographic Society, a very stimulating, group of , Orientals and Occidentals who gather once a month to discuss such esoteric things as the westward course of the butterfly.
It is a terrible but terrific experience to be in Korea with all of its alerts and revolutions and bastians and moose and slickie boys, to be in a land that had a rich and tantali zing culture, that really did invent the movable type printing, press that -_
Europeans claim for Gutenberg , that has monuments to their gods, which are wonderful and mysterious and hard to get to, that have
great grave mounds that display phallic wonders before those of
the king and make the queens' mound absolutely womblike in appearance
and spirit. It is a land of four fierce and definable seasons, and not at all incidentally, a land from which you can easily visit that charming world of Japan.
Peter of Poitiers, you should be warned that you have not escaped
the Maryland world, that that escape is entirely impossible.
There are bits of Maryland scattered around over there to be sure. At Seoul we have an enormous spread. And there are lesser little University of Marylands in other places . At Munsanee , Oijonbu,there's Osan U, and Kunsan U, and Taegu U, and we have to admit there
is that-other one the students insist on calling Pusan U. Let's be very sure that the European Division Marylanders give you a memento to go with your European memories. Take it now, drop it off in the States (we don't want it slickied) , and go on to fame and glory as Peter of Panmunjon and Pusan
Systems thinking as a competency for community college leaders in an era of increasing complexity
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the relevancy of systems thinking as a competency for community college leaders in an era of increasing complexity.
Scope
The study focused on community college leadership but drew evidence to support the argument from systems thinking applications in both higher education and healthcare.Systems Thinking as a Competency for Community College Leaders in an Era of Increasing Complexity
Anne Powel Davis
Dissertation Committee: Eric B. Dent, Ph.D. & Deborah Wharff, D.M.
Purpose and Scope
Research Approach & Formation of Argument
Findings
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the relevancy of systems thinking as a competency for community college leaders in an era of increasing complexity.
Scope
The study focused on community college leadership but drew evidence to support the argument from systems thinking applications in both higher education and healthcare.
Research Questions
RQ1: How does using a systems thinking approach provide value to community college leaders?
RQ2: What practices encompassed in systems thinking are most valuable for community college leaders?
RQ3: In what way, if any, is systems thinking currently represented in the American Association of Community Colleges six core leadership competencies? Should systems thinking be more (or less) prominent in these competencies?
Significance
Stages of Systematic Review
Conceptual Model
Main Themes & Key Authors
Line of Argument
Key Propositions
P1: Using a systems thinking approach enhances a leader’s ability to positively impact organizational performance.
P2: Discovery of underlying values and assumptions of stakeholders and justification of boundaries; framing of problems as patterns over time and mapping interrelationships of systems; and taking action systemically are the most valuable systems thinking practices for community college leaders.
P3: Systems thinking leadership provides a framework for dynamically integrating the American Association of Community Colleges core leadership competencies
Implications for Managers
Finding 1: Systems thinking has a positive impact
on a organizational performance.
Finding 2: The systems thinking practices of discovery, framing, and action are the most valuable practices for community college leaders.
Finding 3: Systems thinking is a higher order leadership perspective which provides
a framework for dynamically engaging and integrating the AACC core competencies.
Conclusion
The Kaleidoscope Model
of Community College Leadership
Future Research
Systems thinking leadership can help improve the capacity of community college leaders— presidents, chief academic officers, deans, department chairs, and faculty—to meet the mounting challenges and complexities facing today’s dynamic community colleges and improve organizational performance.
Before launching interventions, take time to discover the values and assumptions of stakeholders
Include participation of marginalized groups
Use systemic methods for framing interventions (Appreciate Inquiry, Design Thinking, Systemic Intervention)
Use coordinated, collaborative, and cooperative actions when implementing change
Conduct studies to validate systems thinking leadership in community colleges
Develop modeling and mapping tools appropriate for community college leaders
Develop best practices for incorporating systems thinking into leadership training and development for community college leader
Library systems documentation: Pulling it together with SharePoint
No full textDocumentation is crucial for a library systems office. But how have systems librarians documented their procedures, organized their documentation, and shared their knowledge? What tools do they use? This article will explore these issues and provide a case study of how the library Systems Team at the University of Maryland University College implemented SharePoint as a portal to organize and share their collective knowledge.Library Systems Documentation: Pulling it Together with SharePoint
Introduction
Documentation is crucial for a library systems office. But how have systems librarians documented their procedures, organized their documentation, and shared their knowledge? What tools do they use? This article will explore these issues and provide a case study of how the library Systems Team at the University of Maryland University College implemented SharePoint as a portal to organize and share their collective knowledge.
Why is documentation so important? Those who claim that documentation is not so important because “anyone in the future should be able to figure out what was done in the past” should “[m]ake that argument to someone who has inherited an undocumented network and watch the response!” (Wilson, 1998, p.100). The goal of documentation is “to keep technology running smoothly and serving the good of the institution” and “includes organizing, collocating, and disseminating the knowledge that will help you and others succeed in your library’s technological environment.” It also provides “a concrete pool of evidence for you to point to in describing the importance of your department’s function to your institution” and “paints a picture of what you have done and of the technological environment that needs supporting (Engard and Gordon, 2012, p. 94).”
What needs to be documented? “Think of the information that would have made your job easier and provide it for yourself, your staff, and your successor” (Engard and Gordon, 2012, p. 94). Document “how you do things so that if you have to do them again, you don’t have to start from scratch trying to remember how” (Rossman, 2003, p. 22). This includes configuration information for networks, servers and computers, maintenance procedures, as well as support issues and problem resolutions (Engard and Gordon, 2012). It is also important to establish a method for consistently documenting procedures and decisions (Wilson, 1998).
How should things be documented? For common tasks, provide step-by-step instructions and be liberal with screen shots. These will coalesce into “a pool of documentation” for the systems staff (Engard and Gordon, 2012). From a higher level, to organize that pool into an effective portal, it is especially important to develop a carefully thought-out taxonomy, mapping out your sites, content types, and navigation, as well as a governance strategy for its ongoing management (Buckley, 2011).
What tools are available? Common tools available in organizations include intranets, shared network drives, shared e-mail folders, help desk ticketing systems, and document management systems (Engard and Gordon, 2012; Lappin, 2010). A centralized portal and a tool that can manage records in multiple formats are desirable (Lappin, 2010). Large-scale enterprise content management (ECM) systems exist, but what many organizations really need is a system that provides basic content services (BCS) such as Microsoft SharePoint, which is a dominant player in this field (Pelz-Sharpe, 2008). SharePoint is of particular interest because it provides an integrated portal platform that combines document management tools with Web 2.0 communication and collaboration features, and it is readily available to Microsoft customers as part of the Microsoft Core Access License (CAL) Suite for institutions (Dahl, 2010; Diffin and Nangle, 2011). Wikis and Document Libraries provide a means of collaboratively creating, editing, storing, and managing documents. Many types of files can be stored in the Document Libraries, and SharePoint is designed to work seamlessly with Microsoft Office (Dahl, 2010). Announcement, discussion, and blog tools allow a centralized hub for managing a team’s communications. Calendar and survey tools are also included, as are workflow tools for managing projects and tracking issues (Herrera, 2008).
What have other libraries done? In the literature, there are a number of examples of libraries that have implemented SharePoint for documentation and communication. For example, SharePoint has been implemented at Towson University to create a portal for the reference team (“RefPortal”) (Dahl, 2010); at the University of Mississippi to build departmental sites (Herrera, 2008); at the University of Maryland University College for the Document Management Team (interlibrary loan and book delivery) (Diffin et al., 2010b); and at the University of Alabama for instruction requests, reference, and interlibrary loan (Ennis and Tims, 2010).
At the University of Mississippi, the library’s Information Technology department has a SharePoint site, and they use SharePoint’s blog for IT alerts and news items and have developed wiki pages for setup and troubleshooting tips (Herrera, 2008). At the University of Alabama, after developing their initial SharePoint sites, the library used SharePoint to create “Help Central,” which functions as a help desk and knowledge portal. It provides a ticketing system for users to report issues, for the staff to track and monitor the tickets, and for solutions to be added to a knowledgebase (Ennis and Tims, 2012).
The present article will elaborate further on how SharePoint can be used as a portal for systems documentation, and discuss how a taxonomy was developed, how the actual documentation was written, and some of the best practices that were adopted.
Background
UMUC Library Systems The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is a predominantly distance education institution serving more than 97,000 students in more than 25 countries (University of Maryland University College, 2012a, 2012b). Information & Library Services (ILS) relies heavily on technology to deliver library services to students, faculty, and staff worldwide. The Systems Team consists of four librarians: a Systems Librarian, a Digital Services Librarian, an Advanced Technologies Librarian, and a Web Specialist. Each of these librarians has very specialized knowledge, which makes it difficult for anyone else to fill in on those duties. (For the purposes of this article the Digital Services Librarian is being considered as a second Systems Librarian, in that this position also provides technical support for faculty, staff, and students.) The team manages a wide variety of areas, including access to electronic resources, server applications, software installation, cataloging, and the Web site. Other responsibilities include developing multi-media learning objects, in-house databases, and customized programs for the Web site.
Before SharePoint Before implementing SharePoint, all of the four team members managed their own documentation. There was a tendency to use the library’s shared network drive (the “S-drive”), but team members also kept documentation on their individual computers and in file cabinets, and much was kept in their own heads. Some procedures were documented; some were not. There was no systematic effort in creating, organizing, and sharing knowledge among the whole team, and there were no best practices. Documentation on the S-drive could be difficult to find and sometimes became outdated.
Earlier, some of the staff members had made “Survival Guides” listing where their documentation was stored, and the Systems Librarian compiled a local “Procedures” Web page to try to point to all the various documentation, but none of these were consistently maintained or were ever heavily used. What the team needed was a central portal and more consistent procedures for documentation.
Cross-training initiative Since ILS is a small library, it is critical to have training and documentation that allows someone to step in for another person and keep things moving in case of absences due to illness or vacations. The Document Management and Electronic Reserves (EReserves) Teams had recently embarked on a successful cross-training initiative that included using SharePoint for documentation and conducting cross-training sessions between the two groups. To keep the knowledge fresh once the initial training was complete, every member of both teams worked in the other area one day a month.
SharePoint was chosen as the collaboration tool because it was designed specifically to manage documents, share information, and facilitate communication. Plus, the UMUC IT department had a license for it and had made it available without the library incurring any additional cost. While other options were considered, such as free, online wikis, none of them had all the functionality offered by SharePoint. Also, these services could disappear or become fee-based at any time, and there was no guarantee that data would be retrievable if the services went down. Knowing that the IT department hosted the secure SharePoint server and that they backed it up daily eliminated the concern for potential data loss (Diffin et al., 2010b, p. 231).
The cross-training worked so well that the Assistant Director for Systems and Access Services then expanded the idea to the Systems Team. Using the concepts learned by Document Management and EReserves, the Systems Team began a more formalized process of sharing and documenting knowledge.
Implementation
Getting started The Assistant Director for Systems and Access Services had some initial meetings with the Systems Team to discuss the cross-training project and to decide how the team would proceed. The main focus of this project would be building the knowledgebase. The UMUC IT Department had created a SharePoint site for the Library, and a Systems sub-site was added. The launch of the Systems site created a sense of community among the team members and officially marked the beginning of the implementation.
Site structure As part of the planning, the first priority was to develop the site structure. This provided a fresh start to reorganize the documentation strategically. The structure and hierarchy was mapped out according to the team member functions, including: cataloging, electronic resources, in-house applications, IT (hardware, software, and server management), multi-media learning objects, patron and staff assistance, and Web site management, plus useful contacts. Best practices and conventions Given that the Document Management Team had already “implemented best practices for the wiki so it would have a homogenous look and feel even though several different people were working on it” (Diffin et al., 2010a, p. 575), a member of that team was invited to speak to the Systems Team. He covered the basics of SharePoint’s tools and features and shared best practices on style and visual aids. Verdana was chosen as the text font and standardized sizes were adopted for content and headers. Annotated screenshots were preferred over descriptive paragraphs for concision. Breadcrumb trails would be added to the very top of every wiki page for navigation. Internet Explorer became the preferred browser when updating wiki pages because important formatting features in SharePoint were exclusive to this browser.
A consensus was reached that the wiki feature would be used as the main tool for creating, organizing, and sharing documentation because of the following features, as summarized by Diffin and Nangle (2011, p. 136):
1. Editing and updating is easy through the WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editor.
2. Errors can be quickly and easily undone using version history which encourages collaboration. SharePoint creates a new version of the document whenever any change is made in a document.
3. E-mail alerts inform subscribers of any changes to wiki pages.
4. Permissions can be added to selected pages that contain sensitive information.
5. Visual aids (e.g. screenshots) can be inserted to simplify documentation.
In addition, all wiki pages can be distributed and shared via URLs.
The Systems Team then came up with documentation conventions for the wiki pages that specified several recipe-style elements to be included as needed, such as background information, tools, how-to steps, and problem resolution. Tools included what the user would need (e.g., software, user IDs and passwords, directories) to complete the documented task. The how-to section included step-by-step instructions with screenshots. Problem resolution indicated things that have gone wrong and steps that were taken to fix the issue.
When the rubber hits the road Based on the job duties, the responsibilities for creating content in SharePoint were divided among the four library professionals. The Systems Librarian was responsible for Web sites, cataloging, and IT. The Digital Services Librarian documented electronic resources and provided assistance with Web sites. The Web Specialist worked on in-house applications. The Advanced Technologies Librarian covered the multi-media learning objects. Each member decided on the structure and content within their assigned functional areas while still following the basic agreed-upon guidelines and conventions.
The Systems wiki site then started to take shape. Over time, the initial structure was fleshed out considerably, as documentation was migrated from the S-drive or created anew. In some cases, sub-menus were created to refine the organizational structure. For example, the top-level IT page linked to a page called “Server Applications,” which in turn linked to pages on EZproxy, ILLiad, and PeopleSoft.
As documents migrated off the S-drive and were converted into wiki pages, shortcuts were provided from the S-drive to the new SharePoint site so that anybody looking for the old documents could get to the new documents quickly. Perhaps more importantly, links were provided in SharePoint to the documentation that still resided on the S-drive, so that SharePoint could effectively function as a portal to all or most of the documentation. The idea was that a user could come to SharePoint and still get to everything, even if some things were still on the S-drive.
While Word documents on the S-drive were generally re-done in wiki format, other types of documents (e.g., spreadsheets) were simply uploaded into SharePoint into the “Documents” area. These were organized into subfolders as needed, and were linked to from wiki pages where appropriate. The S-drive would still be needed for certain types of files, such as software installation executable files. Also, documents that were not currently in use but were needed for historical purposes would remain on the S-drive and not migrated.
During implementation, monthly team meetings were scheduled to review progress. The members presented their new wiki pages, elaborating on the procedures, policies, and knowledge contained therein. The other team members then had a chance to ask questions about the procedures. For example, one member asked for clarification on how Captivate tutorials were created; another asked for details about updating electronic resources. This cross-training enabled all the team members to become familiar with each other’s work and to know where to look if questions came up during a team member’s absence. After much of the initial documentation was created, team members made an ongoing effort to review and update their pages and met every few months to discuss the updates. They signed up for e-mail alerts to be notified when pages were updated.
The Result
The home page The Systems home page includes a checklist of important maintenance functions in the center. On the right is a who’s who, indicating which staff have responsibilities for the various areas. At the bottom of the home page is a list of current projects. The site navigation bar on the left contains the menu linking to the top-level functional areas of the wiki. Also included on the navigation bar are standard SharePoint links to “Documents” (the library of uploaded documents, such as spreadsheets), “Pictures” (in this case, the library of uploaded screenshots), and other tools (Calendar, Lists, Discussions, Sites, People, and Groups).
1. Home page
Organization The major functional areas, comprising the top-level navigation, are as follows:
Cataloging: This includes cataloging and weeding procedures, links to useful documentation (such as MARC standards), and the necessary tools (such as OCLC logins).
Contacts: Important contact information for the IT department (including after-hours and emergency numbers), plus other UMUC units and external vendors of vital importance, as well as the after-hours contact information of the library Systems Team members is gathered here.
Electronic Resources: Providing technical support for electronic resources includes documentation on setting up, branding, and troubleshooting electronic resources, maintaining the SFX linking service, and obtaining Lexis.com IDs for the Legal Studies program.
In-house Applications: This section includes documentation on special processes that were created by or for the library. These include everything from Access and MySQL databases that were created for in-house use, outward-facing systems such as the electronic reserves request system used by faculty, and processes involving external systems, such as the nightly processes that extract patron data from PeopleSoft and load it into the library catalog.
IT: This section became a launchpad for a broad range of systems documentation, including equipment inventories, software installation instructions, server applications (such as EZproxy and ILLiad), and IP and domain information. Learning Objects: Documentation in this section covers how multi-media and interactive learning objects on the library Web site were created and are maintained.
Patrons and Staff: This section includes tools for assisting patrons (e.g., verifying whether a patron is current), a setup checklist for new employees, how-to pages for library staff (e.g., how to access network printers, tips for using Dreamweaver), plus links to some of IT’s help pages (e.g., about using UMUC e-mail and calendars).
Web Site: The Web site management page contains documentation on how to use the content management system and what Web site conventions are in use (e.g., image and file naming conventions). 2. Top- level page for “IT” category
3. IT > Software Installation
4. IT > Software Installation > ILLiad
Project management Although not initially considered during the planning stages, SharePoint has also been used by some of the staff as a simple project management tool. Pages have been set up for special projects, indicating to-do lists and timelines. These pages will be saved after project completion in order to document what was done. “Project” sections have been added to the top-level pages as needed, with links to these pages. Links to current projects are also placed on the Systems home page for easy access.
5. Project page that was developed when servers had to be taken offline for a facilities electrical upgrade
In fact, SharePoint was used by the authors to collaborate on this article. A project folder was created in the Document Library, and each added a Microsoft Word document with their respective parts. The parts were then combined into a master document that was reviewed by the group. Further changes were made to the master document by the individual members with Word’s change tracking feature turned on, and SharePoint prevented more than one individual from working on the document at a time. The group then met again and reviewed the changes, approving or modifying them as needed. No documents were e-mailed back and forth, nor was there any confusion about what version was the most up-to-date. SharePoint, in conjunction with Word, proved to be a very useful collaboration tool.
Conclusion
SharePoint has been a very successful portal for the Systems Team. There is now a single, consistent interface for documenting and sharing knowledge and procedures. Having one central, structured location for documentation works much better than e-mailing how-to instructions back and forth or trying to find documents on the departmental shared drive. Links to wiki pages can be sent easily to library staff who ask about specific procedures.
The two Systems Librarians, who need to cover for each other, have particularly benefitted and have been the heaviest users and biggest advocates. Having their documentation readily available is critical for the Assistant Director for Systems and Access Services, who also provides back-up coverage for technical support.
The initial planning of the interface gave it a solid structure on which to grow, and consistent procedures for creating documentation have helped it grow in a somewhat orderly fashion. Placeholders for items that still need to be documented have been put in place, as have links to documentation that still lives on the shared network drive, enabling SharePoint to function as a more comprehensive portal. While the top-level structure has been stable, some of the lower-level structure may need some adjustment, as some pages have ended up getting buried. For example, to find the page on DreamWeaver Tips from the Systems wiki home page, the user has to click on Patrons & Staff on the left navigation menu, then on a link to Staff Instructions, and finally on a link for the DreamWeaver Tips page. This has frustrated some library staff members.
Creating and updating wiki pages in SharePoint is not difficult due to the WYSIWYG editor
Open innovation strategies for overcoming competitive challenges facing small and mid-sized enterprises
No full textThe purpose of this dissertation is to explore how small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage open innovation to increase their economic viability and success in this modern, globalized post-industrial society marked by constant change and intense competition. To date, most open innovation research has focused exclusively on large companies, while neglecting the specific competitive challenges and strategies of SMEs. This dissertation evaluates the open innovation landscape from the vantage point of SMEs because these firms play a significant role in economies around the globe. Innovation is a crucial driver in their ability to survive, compete, and prosper. The dissertation author created three new models to explore the research topic. The first, the Holistic Model of Innovation, is useful to more fully understand the entire innovation landscape (both closed and open innovation as well as product and non-product innovations). This dissertation also presents the author’s SME Competitive Challenges Model, which identifies the main size-related competitive hurdles that SMEs face (i.e., challenges related to a lack of resources, limited dynamic capabilities, and excessive risk exposure). Additionally, the author presents his SME Open Innovation Strategies Model, which evaluates various open innovation strategies for overcoming these competitive challenges. This dissertation presents a series of propositions based on these new conceptual models and tests them by conducting a systematic review, several meta-syntheses, a case study, and multiple statistical meta-analyses with data from 34,676 SMEs across dozens of industries in 27 countries.SME OPEN INNOVATION 1
Open Innovation Strategies for Overcoming Competitive Challenges Facing
Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises
Brent T. Cornell
A Thesis
Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty
of
University of Maryland University College
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Management
Doctoral Committee: Dr. Dennis Winters
Dr. Sharon Hadary
Date Submitted: 7 December 2012 SME OPEN INNOVATION 2
Table of Contents
Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 8
Approach .................................................................................................................................... 8
Background/Context of this Dissertation .................................................................................. 10
Value of this Dissertation to the Field of Management ............................................................ 19
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 21
Structure of the Literature Review ............................................................................................ 21
Holistic Model of Innovation .................................................................................................... 25
Innovation Exploration ............................................................................................................. 27
Innovation Exploitation ............................................................................................................ 33
Collaborations in the Open Innovation Ecosystem ................................................................... 39
Summary of SME Open Innovation Strategies ......................................................................... 43
SME Competitive Challenges ................................................................................................... 46
Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................... 59
SME Competitive Challenges Model ....................................................................................... 59
SME Open Innovation Strategies Model .................................................................................. 61
Chapter 4: Methods .................................................................................................................... 68
Evidence-Based Research ......................................................................................................... 68
Overview of Dissertation’s Evidence-Based Methods ............................................................. 71
Benefits of Conducting an Evidence-Based Systematic Review .............................................. 72 SME OPEN INNOVATION 3
Steps for Conducting this Systematic Review .......................................................................... 77
Synthesizing Using the Meta-Synthesis Technique .................................................................. 86
Protocol for Statistical Meta-Analysis ...................................................................................... 87
Expert Practitioner Review Panel ............................................................................................. 91
Chapter 5: Analysis and Discussion .......................................................................................... 93
Proposition 1 (SME Challenges) Findings ............................................................................... 93
Proposition 1 (SME Challenges) Conclusion ........................................................................... 98
Proposition 2 (Open Innovation Collaboration) Findings ........................................................ 99
Proposition 2 (Open Innovation Collaboration) Meta-Analysis ............................................. 110
Proposition 2 (Open Innovation Collaboration) Conclusion .................................................. 112
Proposition 2a (Vertical Collaboration) Findings ................................................................... 113
Proposition 2a (Vertical Collaboration) Meta-Analysis ......................................................... 115
Proposition 2a (Vertical Collaboration) Conclusion............................................................... 117
Proposition 2b (Horizontal Collaboration) Findings .............................................................. 117
Proposition 2b (Horizontal Collaboration) Meta-Analysis ..................................................... 120
Proposition 2b (Horizontal Collaboration) Conclusion .......................................................... 122
Proposition 2c (Knowledge-Intensive Collaboration) Findings ............................................. 123
Proposition 2c (Knowledge-Intensive Collaboration) Meta-Analysis .................................... 124
Proposition 2c (Knowledge-Intensive Collaboration) Conclusion ......................................... 126
Proposition 3 (Outward Open Innovation) Findings .............................................................. 126
Proposition 3 (Outward Open Innovation) Case Study .......................................................... 129
Proposition 3 (Outward Open Innovation) Meta-Analysis ..................................................... 132
Proposition 3 (Outward Open Innovation) Conclusion .......................................................... 133 SME OPEN INNOVATION 4
Proposition 4 (Inward Open Innovation) Findings ................................................................. 134
Proposition 4 (Inward Open Innovation) Meta-Analysis........................................................ 137
Proposition 4 (Inward Open Innovation) Conclusion ............................................................. 138
Proposition 5 (Combined Strategies) Findings ....................................................................... 139
Proposition 5 (Combined Strategies) Meta-Analysis ............................................................. 141
Proposition 5 (Combined Strategies) Conclusion ................................................................... 144
Chapter 5 Summary ................................................................................................................ 144
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Implications .............................................................................. 147
Summary of Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 147
Implications for SMEs ............................................................................................................ 150
Additional Implications for Global SME Open Innovation .................................................... 175
Limitations and Areas for Future Research ............................................................................ 186
Dissertation Summary ............................................................................................................. 188
Appendix A: Statistical Meta-Analysis Results ...................................................................... 194
References ................................................................................................................................. 203
SME OPEN INNOVATION 5
Table of Figures
Figure 1. Dissertation Approach ............................................................................................... 10
Figure 2. Closed and Open Innovation ..................................................................................... 13
Figure 3. Literature Review Topics ........................................................................................... 21
Figure 4. Holistic Model of Innovation ..................................................................................... 26
Figure 5. Summary of SME Open Innovation Strategic Alternatives ................................... 44
Figure 6. Summary of SME Challenges Found in the Literature .......................................... 47
Figure 7. Main Groupings of SME Challenges ........................................................................ 48
Figure 8. SME Competitive Challenges Model ........................................................................ 59
Figure 9. SME Open Innovation Strategies Model .................................................................. 62
Figure 10. Dissertation’s Research Methods ............................................................................ 71
Figure 11. Levels of Evidence .................................................................................................... 80
Figure 12. Sources of Evidence .................................................................................................. 83
Figure 13. Studies Included in this Evaluation ........................................................................ 85
Figure 14. Geographic Coverage of SMEs Evaluated ............................................................. 86
Figure 15. Summary of Meta-Analysis Findings ................................................................... 143
Figure 16. Continuum of Innovation Openness ..................................................................... 151
Figure 17. SME Open Innovation Footprint Example .......................................................... 154
Figure 18. Key Determinants of SME Innovation Openness Impacting the Probability of an SME Benefiting from Open Innovation .................................................................................. 174
Figure 19. SME Global Open Innovation ............................................................................... 177 SME OPEN INNOVATION 6
Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my loving and supportive wife Dana. I would like to thank my dissertation advisors, Dr. Dennis Winters and Dr. Sharon Hadary, who devoted significant time providing me with guidance and direction. Additionally, I would like to thank the members of my expert practitioner review panel, Dr. Francesco Calabrese, Dr. John Corso, and Dr. Dorothea (Dolly) Greenwood Mastrangelo, who provided valuable feedback.
SME OPEN INNOVATION 7
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage open innovation to increase their economic viability and success in this modern, globalized post-industrial society marked by constant change and intense competition. To date, most open innovation research has focused exclusively on large companies, while neglecting the specific competitive challenges and strategies of SMEs. This dissertation evaluates the open innovation landscape from the vantage point of SMEs because these firms play a significant role in economies around the globe. Innovation is a crucial driver in their ability to survive, compete, and prosper. The dissertation author created three new models to explore the research topic. The first, the Holistic Model of Innovation, is useful to more fully understand the entire innovation landscape (both closed and open innovation as well as product and non-product innovations). This dissertation also presents the author’s SME Competitive Challenges Model, which identifies the main size-related competitive hurdles that SMEs face (i.e., challenges related to a lack of resources, limited dynamic capabilities, and excessive risk exposure). Additionally, the author presents his SME Open Innovation Strategies Model, which evaluates various open innovation strategies for overcoming these competitive challenges. This dissertation presents a series of propositions based on these new conceptual models and tests them by conducting a systematic review, several meta-syntheses, a case study, and multiple statistical meta-analyses with data from 34,676 SMEs across dozens of industries in 27 countries.
Keywords: Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Small Business Strategy, Global Open Innovation, Closed Innovation, Size-Related Competitive ChallengesSME OPEN INNOVATION: CHAPTER 1 8
Chapter 1: Introduction
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage open innovation to increase their economic performance in this modern, globalized post-industrial society marked by constant change and intense competition. To date, most open innovation research has focused exclusively on large companies, while neglecting the specific competitive challenges and strategies of SMEs. This dissertation evaluates the open innovation landscape from the vantage point of SMEs. This topic is important to the field of management because SMEs play a significant role in economies around the globe and innovation is a crucial driver in their ability to survive, compete, and prosper.
This dissertation’s main line of argument is as follows: (1) SMEs encounter size-related competitive challenges (i.e., lack of resources, limited dynamic capabilities, and high risk exposure); (2) Open innovation can increase an SME’s exposure to others’ complementary resources and capabilities, increase its innovation outputs, increase financial returns, and lower an SME’s risk exposure; (3) Therefore, open innovation can assist SMEs with overcoming their size-related competitive challenges; (4) However, various contextual moderators can enhance (or hinder) the effectiveness of SME open innovation strategies in different situations.
Approach
This dissertation begins by providing the background and context of SME open innovation and the research questions in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 presents a literature review and the dissertation author’s holistic model of what the open innovation landscape consists of and how various types of innovations relate to one another (Holistic Model of Innovation). Next, based on the literature review and this Holistic Model of Innovation (which depicts the integration and relationships between both open and closed forms of innovation as well as product and non-SME OPEN INNOVATION: CHAPTER 1 9
product innovations) the dissertation evaluates the specific size-related competitive challenges that SMEs face in today’s turbulent, ultra-competitive environment compared to larger firms. Chapter 3 presents these challenges in the author’s SME Competitive Challenges Model. Then, the dissertation builds on these two models to develop the author’s third model of the various strategies that SMEs can utilize to overcome these challenges (SME Open Innovation Strategies Model). This model provides a framework to guide SMEs toward becoming more economically competitive. These three models build on one another and are all needed to fully examine the research questions presented at the end of Chapter 1. The author’s Holistic Model of Innovation (Chapter 2) is critical to fully comprehend the entire innovation landscape; the author’s SME Competitive Challenges Model (Chapter 3) is required to cognize the size-related challenges that SMEs face; and the author’s SME Open Innovation Strategies Model (Chapter 3) is needed to understand how SMEs overcome those competitive challenges. This dissertation’s author created these three models since no such frameworks were found to exist in the literature and the models are needed to fully explore the dissertation’s research questions that are presented at the end of Chapter 1.
Chapter 4 presents the evidence-based research approach used to evaluate the validity of this dissertation’s theoretical models and the associated Research Propositions 1 through 5. Chapter 5 provides a detailed account of the analysis and presents the research findings. Then, Chapter 6 summarizes the conclusions and discusses the implications for practitioners.
The overall dissertation approach described above is illustrated in Figure 1. SME OPEN INNOVATION: CHAPTER 1 10
Figure 1. Dissertation Approach
Background/Context of this Dissertation
Significant advancements in technology in the U.S. during the 20th century led to the Post-Industrial Revolution. Innovation has always been a vital economic driver, but the modern globalized post-industrial society in particular relies even more heavily on intellectual capital and is primarily focused on processing knowledge rather than on simply manufacturing goods as was the case during the Industrial Revolution (Bell, 1976). Contemporary organizations must now adapt and innovate much more quickly than they have ever had to in order to remain competitive. Peter Vaill (1996) explains that the modern business environment in the post-industrial society is in a turbulent state of “permanent white water,” where companies face constant uncertainty and discontinuity. Drucker (1985) stresses the importance of continual innovation as an essential ingredient for organizations to survive and compete in this era of constant change. SME OPEN INNOVATION: CHAPTER 1 11
In advanced knowledge-based economies, a large portion of a firm’s market value is often determined by its intellectual property; companies rely heavily on these intangible assets for economic competition and growth (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). Innovation is a critical success factor for a company’s endurance in today’s ultra-competitive global landscape (Dervitsiotis, 2010). To remain competitive in the 21st century, companies need to not only create new innovative products and services, but they must also continually innovate their business models to respond to constant changes in the environment (Hamel, 2007). They must also refine their business models in response to their own recent innovations (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005; Drucker, 1985).
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that innovation is the primary factor that determines a country’s long-term economic growth and increases in productivity, and that innovation is even more important to an economy than either capital or labor resources alone (OECD, 2008). Many societies around the world recognize the importance of innovation and most countries and economic regions have introduced legal intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, and trademark protections (Leiponen & Byma, 2009).
Competition can accelerate the pace of innovation across entire industries as firms compete aggressively with one another to lower their costs and to improve the functionalities and features of their products and enhance their services (Lafley & Charan, 2008). Ceteris paribus (all else being equal), innovative firms are commonly rewarded with increased profits derived from innovations in their products, services, and business models (Hamel, 2007). In the long run, the most innovative companies tend to have the largest market shares, are generally the most profitable, and are usually the most capable of surviving during economic downturns (Atun, SME OPEN INNOVATION: CHAPTER 1 12
Harvey & Wild, 2007). Chapter 5 of this dissertation quantifies the benefits that SMEs have received using different types of open innovation strategies in various industries and countries.
There are certainly many other factors besides innovation that affect an SME’s success (e.g., marketing effectiveness, operational efficiency, and product quality). This dissertation’s author does not view innovation by itself as a panacea that will guarantee organizational success. For example, a perfectly crafted innovation strategy can be useless if a company improperly manages its resources, makes incompetent managerial decisions, or if a company goes bankrupt from la
The role of leadership traits in driving organizational life cycle decisions
No full textOf the many decisions a leader makes, none has more impact than the strategic
decision made during the final phase of the organizational life cycle. The leader can
discontinue the original organization through merger, acquisition, or closure, or the leader
can reinvent the organization and begin its life cycle anew. During this complex
decision-making process, with so many internal and environmental factors in play, the
impact of the traits of the resident leadership is significant and often underestimated.
The conceptual model used in this study is an adaptation of Greiner’s (1998)
organizational life cycle construct, a construct operationalized by overlaying
combinations of seven transformational and transactional leadership traits (Burns, 1978;
Bass, 1985) and two environmental factors onto the five life cycle phases. This construct
depicts variations in the resident leadership traits by life cycle phase, shows how
leadership traits process the surrounding environmental input during decision making,
and indicates that decisions will vary by phase as a result of the resident leadership traits.
The model is evaluated using a qualitative research methodology that analyzes
and compares primary data from nine case studies. The cases encompass global
organizations headquartered in the U.S. that had 2009 revenues greater than 5 billion
and that faced a strategic crisis in its final life cycle phase. Further, the nine
organizations fell into one of three industries: food, electronics, and consumer products.
Each case was analyzed using three of seven life cycle phase differentiators (i.e. focus,
communication, and systems); two environmental factors (i.e. customer and
communication); and seven leadership traits. The study compared the firms company-to-company
and within industry, looking for patterns linking leadership traits and the
strategic decision to reinvent or discontinue.
The results of the research support the conceptual model and central thesis that
the leadership traits possessed by the decision maker have a significant influence on
organizational decisions. In all nine cases, the expressed leadership traits predicted the
strategic decision to reinvent or discontinue. The research also found that while
customers and competition serve as critical factors in motivating change, the degree of
influence varied by case with no discernable pattern.
THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP TRAITS IN DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
CYCLE DECISIONS
By
Martha Crawford Reider
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, University College, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Management
2011
Advisory Committee:
Dr. Thomas Mierzwa, Chair
Dr. Yung-Chi Sung
© Copyright by
Martha Crawford Reider
2011
ii
DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to James Patrick Miller.
Thank you for your unwavering support, intellectual challenging, and never
ending encouragement, without which this journey would not have happened. You never
doubted me for a minute.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation represents the culmination of more than 3 decades of experience
with the effects of leadership on decision making from within global organizations and
those based in the United States, from start-ups to multibillion dollar enterprises. It has
long been my belief that the practical effects of leadership—positive and negative—have
been misunderstood and underestimated. This research has enabled me to structure my
thoughts and has given me the opportunity to develop a tool that industry and academics
could use beyond the scope of this study.
I would like to thank Dr. Claudine SchWeber for providing the initial spark and
support for the concept that lead to the exploration of the intersection of leadership and
organizational life cycle. Special thanks to Dr. Yung-Chi Sung, Dr. Michael Evanchik,
and Dr. Malcolm Odell for the time and effort they invested in helping to mold and
mature this study and for ensuring the high quality of the result. Further, I extend my
thanks to Jim Miller for providing the graphics and to the subject matter experts whose
observations, feedback, and invaluable guidance helped to direct this work.
Finally, I offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Thomas Mierzwa for his invaluable
support, guidance, and assistance throughout this journey. Without his patience and
persistence, this endeavor could not have been achieved.
All shortcomings of this document are mine alone.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1: Introduction and Management Problem.............................................................1
Introduction..............................................................................................................1
Management Problem................................................................................. 2
Research Question ...................................................................................... 4
Scope........................................................................................................... 6
Definition of Terms .................................................................................... 7
Significance of the Study.........................................................................................8
Flow of Dissertation Chapters ...............................................................................11
Chapter 2: Literature Review.............................................................................................13
Introduction............................................................................................................13
The Utility of Organizational Life Cycles .............................................................15
The Design of an Organizational Life Cycle and Phase Characteristics ...............18
Environmental Factors Affecting Customers and Competition.............................23
The Application of the Life Cycle Model Using the Five-Phase Life Cycle
Differentiators........................................................................................................27
The Initial Input Phase of Market Need and Solution Innovation............ 28
Phase 1: Create (Start-up) ......................................................................... 28
Phase 2: Direction (Growth) ..................................................................... 29
Phase 3: Delegate (Mature)....................................................................... 30
Phase 4: Coordinate (Sustain)................................................................... 31
Phase 5: Decline or Reinvent.................................................................... 33
The Role of Leadership Traits in a Life Cycle Model...........................................34
CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL MODEL ..........................................................................44
Overview................................................................................................................44
The Framework Components of an Organizational Life Cycle.............................44
Components of Environmental Factors .................................................................48
The Leadership Trait Component ..........................................................................50
The Phase Dynamics of an Organizational Life Cycle..........................................55
Thesis Statement ....................................................................................................58
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...............................................................59
The Research Design .............................................................................................59
The Study Set-up ...................................................................................................60
Set-Up ....................................................................................................... 60
Case Selection........................................................................................... 61
Evaluation Framework.............................................................................. 67
Case Study Analysis ..............................................................................................69
Data Collection ......................................................................................... 69
v
Data Analysis............................................................................................ 70
Concept Integration................................................................................................70
Shaping Findings ...................................................................................... 70
Threats to Validity .................................................................................... 71
CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSION..............................73
Individual Case Analyses and Results ...................................................................73
Starbucks Corporation .............................................................................. 73
Corn Products International, Inc............................................................... 76
Yum! Brands, Inc...................................................................................... 78
Kraft Foods, Inc. ....................................................................................... 81
Hewlett-Packard........................................................................................ 82
Motorola.................................................................................................... 84
Xerox Corporation .................................................................................... 87
Proctor and Gamble .................................................................................. 89
Nike Corporation ...................................................................................... 91
Summary Analysis.................................................................................................94
Phase Differentiators in a Life Cycle........................................................ 94
Customer and Competitor Environmental Factors ................................... 96
Leadership Traits ...................................................................................... 98
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK...............................................101
Conclusions..........................................................................................................101
Implications to Theory.........................................................................................102
Implications to the Leadership Theory ................................................... 102
Implications to the Theory of an Organizational Life Cycle .................. 105
Implications for Practice of Management............................................................106
Recommendations for Future Research...............................................................109
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................113
CURRICULUM VITAE..................................................................................................127
vi
LIST OF TABLES
1 Phase Differentiators of an Organizational Life Cycle ..............................................46
2 The Influence of Customer and Competition on the Phases of an Organizational
Life Cycle ...................................................................................................................50
3 Life Cycle Phases and the Blended Sets of Corresponding Leadership Traits ..........52
4 The Research Methodology........................................................................................60
5 The Case Studies ........................................................................................................66
6 Postcrisis Response of Starbucks ...............................................................................76
7 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Corn Products International................................78
8 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Yum! Brands.......................................................80
9 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Kraft Foods.........................................................82
10 Postcrisis Response of Hewlett-Packard ....................................................................84
11 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Motorola .............................................................87
12 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Xerox ..................................................................89
13 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Proctor and Gamble ............................................91
14 Postcrisis Leadership Response of Nike ....................................................................94
15 Summary Analysis of the Phase Differentiators of a Life Cycle ...............................96
16 Summary Analysis of Environmental Influence ........................................................97
17 Summary Analysis of Leadership Traits Expressed Postcrisis ................................100
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
1 The Framework of an Organizational Life Cycle.....................................................45
2 The Framework of an Organizational Life Cycle With Dynamic Movement. .........48
3 Influence of Environmental Factors on the Framework An Organizational Life
Cycle. ........................................................................................................................49
4 The Role of Leadership Traits in the Decision Process of an Organizational
Life Cycle. ................................................................................................................54
5 The Dynamic of a Life Cycle Phase. ........................Error! Bookmark not defined.
6 The Conceptual Model of Life Cycle-Leadership Trait Relationship. .....................57
1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEM
Introduction
Leadership is one of the most researched concentrations within the field of
management. This is due to its broad and varied influence across all aspects of business,
social, and personal life. Having a working understanding of the many aspects that make
up leadership is of value to business leaders (Masood, Dani, & Backhouse, 2006).
Leaders operate within a complex business milieu, simultaneously influencing and being
influenced by the corporation, the staff, the industry, the community, the customer, and
the competitive environment within which they work. Their decisions directly affect the
business lives of many by establishing corporate culture and setting the direction of an
organization. Leaders are looked upon to provide a measure of stability, yet at the same
time remain flexible, such that they can enable the organization to adapt to the unstable,
diverse, and rapidly changing technologies and global marketplace (Bass & Avolio,
1992).
Of the many roles and responsibilities assigned to a leader, decision-making is
arguably one of the most complex and broad reaching in its impact. The outcome of a
single decision can set the course and determine the fate of an organization. Decision-making
is intertwined with a variety of contextual factors, resulting in an infinite number
of unique combinations. A multiplicity of internal and external environmental factors
influences the process in a myriad of ways. Proximal context such as corporate culture
and leadership, and distal context such as competition, industry, and regulatory influences
2
go to creating a decision-making scenario that is unique; therefore, it is difficult to predict
(Avolio, 2007). The type, roll, and degree to which any one environmental factor
influences the decision-making process are specific to the circumstance. The result is that
no two decision-making events are the same.
One proximal factor that affects decision-making is the executive’s set of
leadership traits. Each leader comprises a set of traits, characteristics, experience, and
knowledge exclusive to the individual. The executive decision maker processes
environmental inputs through his or her leadership trait filter. The leadership traits
embodied by the organization’s decision makers, made more or less effective because of
the complex, fluid, and dynamic nature of the surrounding proximal and distal
environmental factors, directly shapes the leader’s abilities to implement successful,
meaningful, and sustainable change. That processing is always unique, as the
combination of leader, circumstance, and influencing factors are singularly distinct. It is
unlikely that any one leader possesses and expresses all possible leadership traits; thus, it
is equally doubtful that any two leaders will process the same facts in the same manner
under the same circumstances. In addition to trait differences between leaders, certain
leadership traits become more dominant and effective depending upon the circumstance.
When combining the three variables of circumstance, variation in leader’s traits, and
variation in trait expression, it is reasonable to conclude that it is unlikely that any
individual leader will be ideally positioned to maximize success under all decision-making
situations.
Management Problem
When it comes to the overall fate of an organization, no decision is more
important than that made at the end of the organization’s life cycle. Should the
3
organization continue the current path—eventually ending by being acquired, merging, or
becoming stagnant and declining in financial performance as market share erodes and
market size shrinks—or should it reinvent, innovate, and start the life cycle anew?
The flexible and adaptable nature of the life cycle model has provided scholars
with a structure upon which to explore the decisions, strategy, and evolution of an
organization. The multiphase model of the life cycle depicts organizations progressing
through a series of predefined phases that proceed forward in a unidirectional and
sequential manner (Greiner, 1998; O’Rand & Krecker, 1990). The individual phases are
each described by a distinct set of characteristics, expectations, deliverables, and
challenges related to the phenomenon being explored. This organizational exploration
exposes the relationships between the organization and influencing environmental
factors, providing a map of the dynamics that occur throughout an organization’s life
(Jawahar & McLaughlin, 2001; Kimberly & Miles, 1980).
As long as market and business needs are being met, an organization will likely
continue to reside within a particular phase. However, nothing remains stationary. Market
dynamics are fluid. Proximal and distal environmental influences
What organizational support is needed for effective virtual teams? A synthesis of evidence.
No full textRapid and continuing advances in information and communications technology (ICT)
have transformed how we live and work by loosening the constraints of time and place. Many
organizations are looking to increase their efficiency and productivity by taking advantage of the
possibilities created by these technological advances. The use of effective virtual teams is one
approach organizations can use to harness the potential of these technological advances to
achieve their mission and goals more effectively.
The purpose of this study is to identify organizational support mechanisms needed by
effective virtual teams. The research question investigated is, “What organizational support is
needed for effective virtual teams?” This study uses the evidence-based research synthesis
(EBRS) method of configurational analysis to investigate the research question. Using this
methodology, 144 research studies were evaluated with 31 selected as relevant to this research.
The research findings identified the following six organizational support mechanisms
needed for effective virtual teams: Communication Standards, Virtual Team Leadership
Development, Virtual Team Member Development, Information and Communication
Technology Standards, Common Work Practices and Virtual Team Formation Guidelines.i
What Organizational Support is Needed for Effective Virtual Teams?
A Synthesis of Evidence.
Jeff Zivick
A Thesis
Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty
of
University of Maryland University College
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Management
Dissertation Committee:
Dr. John Sherlock
Dr. Claudine SchWeber
Date: 28 March 2013
ii
Abstract
Rapid and continuing advances in information and communications technology (ICT)
have transformed how we live and work by loosening the constraints of time and place. Many
organizations are looking to increase their efficiency and productivity by taking advantage of the
possibilities created by these technological advances. The use of effective virtual teams is one
approach organizations can use to harness the potential of these technological advances to
achieve their mission and goals more effectively.
The purpose of this study is to identify organizational support mechanisms needed by
effective virtual teams. The research question investigated is, “What organizational support is
needed for effective virtual teams?” This study uses the evidence-based research synthesis
(EBRS) method of configurational analysis to investigate the research question. Using this
methodology, 144 research studies were evaluated with 31 selected as relevant to this research.
The research findings identified the following six organizational support mechanisms
needed for effective virtual teams: Communication Standards, Virtual Team Leadership
Development, Virtual Team Member Development, Information and Communication
Technology Standards, Common Work Practices and Virtual Team Formation Guidelines.
KEYWORDS: VIRTUAL, GLOBAL, TRANSNATIONAL, DISPERSED, DISTRIBUTED, TEAMS, GROUPS,
ORGANIZATION, BEST PRACTICES, PERFORMANCE, EFFECTIVENESS
iii
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
Background ..................................................................................................................... 1
Context and Problem Statement ..................................................................................... 3
Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 5
Significance of the Research ........................................................................................... 5
Research Question .......................................................................................................... 6
Definition of Effective ..................................................................................................... 7
Definition of Virtual Team ............................................................................................. 8
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................. 10
Overview ....................................................................................................................... 10
Laying the Foundation .................................................................................................. 11
Technology and the Emergence of Virtuality ............................................................... 12
What is Virtuality? ........................................................................................................ 16
Organizations and Virtual Teams ................................................................................. 17
Effective Virtual Team Factors ..................................................................................... 21
Chapter 3 Conceptual Model ............................................................................................ 29
Conceptual Model Overview ........................................................................................ 30
Domain Descriptions .................................................................................................... 30
iv
Conceptual Model Summary ........................................................................................ 31
Chapter 4 Research Method .............................................................................................. 33
Evidence-Based Research Synthesis ............................................................................ 33
Search Strategy ............................................................................................................. 35
Unit of Analysis ............................................................................................................ 38
Inclusion-Exclusion Criteria ......................................................................................... 38
Quality Determinants .................................................................................................... 39
Data Extraction ............................................................................................................. 40
Data Analysis Approach ............................................................................................... 43
Subject Matter Experts .................................................................................................. 45
Chapter 5 Findings ............................................................................................................ 47
Synthesis of Organizational Support Mechanisms ....................................................... 48
Limitations .................................................................................................................... 63
Summary of Findings .................................................................................................... 64
Chapter 6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 66
Implications for Management Practitioners .................................................................. 68
Areas for Future Research ............................................................................................ 73
Overall Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 74
References ......................................................................................................................... 76
Appendix A: Methodology Implementation ..................................................................... 87
v
Appendix B: Overview of Organizational Theory Evolution ........................................... 90
Appendix C: Detailed Evidence – Communication Standards ......................................... 92
Appendix D: Detailed Evidence - Virtual Team Leadership Development ..................... 98
Appendix E: Detailed Evidence - Virtual Team Member Development ........................ 106
Appendix F: Detailed Evidence – Information & Communication Technology Standards
.................................................................................................................................................... 112
Appendix G: Detailed Evidence – Common Work Practices ......................................... 114
Appendix H: Detailed Evidence – Virtual Team Formation Guidelines ........................ 118
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1. Conceptual Model ......................................................................................................... 29
Figure 2. Process used to identify relevant source material from a broad literature search. ...... 35
Figure 3. Keyword Search Terms Represented as Boolean Combination Formulas. .................. 36
Figure 4. Table of Data Extraction Categories. ........................................................................... 41
Figure 5. Summary of Research Analysis Process. ....................................................................... 87
vii
List of Tables
Table 1 Descriptive Traits of a Virtual Team …………………………………………………… 8
Table 2 Organizational Support Mechanisms ………………………………………………….. 48
Table 3 Evidence Supporting Communication Standards Support Mechanism ……..………… 50
Table 4 Evidence Supporting Common Work Practices Support Mechanism ……………...…. 52
Table 5 Evidence Supporting Virtual Team Formation Guidelines …………………………… 54
Table 6 Evidence Supporting Virtual Team Leadership Development Support Mechanism ..… 57
Table 7 Evidence Supporting Virtual Team Member Development Support Mechanism …...... 61
Table 8 Evidence Supporting ICT Standards Support Mechanism ………………………...….. 63
Table 9 Evidence Per Research Paper Allocated Across Thematic Category ………...……….. 88
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Chapter 1 Introduction
Rapid and continuing advances in information and communications technology (ICT)
have changed how we live and work by loosening the constraints of time and place. Computers
continue to shrink in size and become more portable, allowing us to work or study almost
anywhere. Wireless communications technology keeps us connected to our colleagues,
customers, friends, and family nearly everywhere we travel, 24 hours a day. If we choose to, we
can become ‘virtual beings’ projecting our presence almost anywhere, anytime, regardless of our
physical location. When we join together as ‘virtual beings’ for a common purpose we create a
‘virtual team.’
Background
Many businesses, schools, governments, and other types of organizations recognize the
benefits that may be realized through strategically working in this virtual environment. We see
evidence of this is in the widespread use of virtual teams, which have become explicit elements
of many organizations’ strategic plans (Horwitz, Bravington, & Silvis, 2006; "Virtual Teams
Now a Reality," 2008, p. 472). Ninety-seven percent of respondents in a recent AON Hewitt
Consulting’s Benefits and Salary Survey said their organizations planned to either maintain or
increase the number of virtual work opportunities in their workforce (Dorr & Kelly, 2011, p. 3).
A survey of 250 companies conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) found
that two-thirds of the companies saw the importance of virtual teams skyrocketing (Stillman,
2008). Demand for virtual functionality in higher education has been predicted to increase from
110 million seats in 2009 to 200 million seats by 2020 (Redden, 2009). Another study conducted
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by the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that 80% of companies with more than 10,000
employees said they envisioned the use of virtual teams becoming integral to their business
strategies.
The increased use of virtual teams discussed in the aforementioned studies may be linked
to the benefits they promise: increased productivity, increased effectiveness, and reduced
organizational expenses (Adamson, 2009, p. 9; Duckworth, 2008, pp. 6-7). Volvo increased the
productivity of its virtual teams by forming an internal Collaboration Services group, which
developed tools and practices designed to improve the productivity of its virtual teams. This
Collaboration Services group first assesses the virtual teams’ current level of effectiveness
through surveys and interviews, performs an effectiveness gap analysis, and finally uses the
assessment results to close effectiveness gaps by improving the collaboration and
communication capabilities of the virtual teams (Adamson, 2009, pp. 5-7). Demand for this type
of support by virtual teams within Volvo was so great that the operating expenses of the
Collaboration Services group were fully covered by internal chargebacks from each group
serviced.
Every organization that must balance a limited supply of resources with its operational
expenses seeks to reduce costs. The promise of reducing operating expenses by using virtual
teams is cited as one reason for their incorporation into organizational structures (Dorr & Kelly,
2011, p. 38). A study conducted by IBM confirmed that using virtual teams reduced their
operational expenses by minimizing travel costs, eliminating office space, increasing
organizational diversity, providing ‘work from anywhere, anytime’ capability, and allowing for
the recruitment of competencies regardless of location. IBM cited these benefits as competitive
advantages offered by virtual teams (Aksu, 2009, p. 26).
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In addition to these tangible benefits, another driver of growth in the use of virtual teams
is the reality of competing in a global marketplace. Globalization is forcing organizations to
operate using geographically diverse structures and consequently their work teams are comprised
of individuals who are physically distributed, culturally diverse, and organizationally mixed
(Wong & Burton, 2000, p. 339). Multinational organizations must coordinate product
development, product launch, production, technical support, and pricing across organizational
and national boundaries. Virtual teams provide firms with an organizational structure that can
effectively accomplish these functions (Harvey & Griffith, 2007, p. 493). Virtual teams can help
improve communications and coordination at the local level (within local divisions and with
partners and customers) and across the parent organization at the regional and global levels. The
use of virtual teams allows product development, product sales, and product support can be
executed in an integrated fashion across multiple markets and throughout the parent organization
(Harvey & Griffith, 2007, p. 494)
Context and Problem Statement
The study of how organizations and their virtual teams work in a virtual environment is
one aspect in the larger context of how society in general is becoming more virtual (Igbaria,
1999, p. 64). The forces driving the virtualization of society, global economies, government
policies, diversified population and information technology are also affecting how organizations
structure and operate (Igbaria, 1999, pp. 65-67). Just as the virtual society transcends cities,
states and countries, the virtual workplace allows organizations to operate across divisional
boundaries that were established on geographical boundaries.
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According to Horwitz (2006, p. 473) the operational context necessary for effective
virtual teams is created by organizational characteristics such as policy, culture, commitment,
and strategy. Other organizational characteristics such as size, technology, autonomy, and
reporting structure also play a role in creating the operational context for effective virtual teams
(Child, 1972, p. 3; White, 1986, p. 226). Understanding how these organizational characteristics
can support or hinder the effectiveness of virtual teams and point to areas where support
mechanisms may be needed may help the organization improve its ability to succeed in its
mission.
For example, autonomy is an organizational characteristic that defines how much
decisional control resides at the level of the virtual team and how much is retained at higher
management levels. If control of team decisions remained with higher-level managers, conflicts
might arise when the membership of a virtual team spans multiple management structures, as
would be the case when members are located in different divisions or regions. In a situation like
this, an organization would support the virtual team by increasing its autonomy and moving
more decisional control to the team (White, 1986, p. 226).
Creating the organizational context to support effective virtual teams also requires more
than just providing telephones, computers and Internet access. For example, an organization’s
management may need to support its virtual teams by adapting established business policies such
as fixed workday hours to avoid impairing a virtual team’s effectiveness when its members are
distributed across multiple time zones. Changing an organizational policy so virtual team
members are not required to be in the office during preset working hours (e.g., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
may improve effectiveness by allowing the team to work when some virtual team members are
working in their office and some are working at their homes.
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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to identify organizational support mechanisms needed for
effective virtual teams. Virtual teams function within the context created by the parent
organization. This operating context can be conceived as an environment where information and
resources are transferred from the organization to its virtual teams and work products from the
virtual teams to their parent organization. The organizational support mechanisms needed by
effective virtual teams may be modeled as a transfer of policies, information and resources
flowing from the organization to its virtual teams.
Significance of the Research
This research is significant to the field of management because of its potential to improve
organizations’ ability to increase the effectiveness of their virtual teams and thus improve its
ability to succeed in its mission. Additionally, this research may be significant to academic
research by identifying new directions of investigation. The evidence-based research synthesis
(EBRS) approach employed by this study supports both of these objectives by grounding in
evidence the potential benefits for management practitioners and identifying gaps in existing
research that may interest other researchers.
Relevance to management. The study’s relevance to the field of management is based
on the increased knowledge to practitioners for implementing organizational support
mechanisms that may improve the effectiveness of their virtual teams. Managers responsible for
assembling and leading virtual teams may use this knowledge of the identified organizational
support mechanisms to increase the effectiveness of their virtual teams. Ultimately, the success
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of an organization depends on the success of its teams. If an organization chooses to use virtual
teams, it should expect those teams to be effective and it should also accept the responsibility to
provide the needed support mechanisms.
Relevance to academic researchers. The significance of this investigation to academic
researchers derives from evaluating research that investigates (directly and indirectly)
organizational support mechanisms needed for effective virtual teams. This research may also
identify gaps in existing research on virtual teams. For example, there may be an absence of
primary research on virtual teams in specific workplace contexts or in-depth studies of the
success or failures that organizations have experienced with their virtual teams. Finally, if
conflicts exist among findings, this research may help expose these conflicts and thereby provide
opportunities for further research.
Research Question
The effectiveness of teams, both virtual and traditional, seems likely to bear some
relation to the support received from the parent organization. Support mechanisms such as
policies, technology, and information may aid in supporting effective virtual teams (Horwitz et
al., 2006, pp. 473-478). This study investigates the organizational support mechanisms needed
for effective virtual teams. The research question that guides this study is:
What organizational support is needed for effective virtual teams?
Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is limited to examination of existing research primarily from peer-reviewed
academic journals. Research that directly investigates organizations and their virtual
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teams is the primary source for relevant evidence. Research from non-academic journals such as
industry periodicals, consulting reports and books are used to establish the importance of the
topic and to inform the context of the study. Secondary research created from studies of studies
is not considered as a source for evidential findings, but may be used comparatively to evaluate
the conclusions of this study.
Definition of Effective
Defining the term effective in the context of virtual teams has two aspects: performance
and viability (Sundstrom, de Meuse, & Futrell, 1990, p. 122). Performance refers to the approval
of the team’s output by the intended customer and viability refers to the team member’s
individual satisfaction, level of participation and the desire to continue as part of the team
(Sundstrom et al., 1990). Combined together, the definition of an effective virtual team may be
s