Date of Award

5-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Legacy Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair/Advisor

Marion, Russ

Committee Member

Cawthon , Tony

Committee Member

Satterfield , James

Committee Member

Schreiber , Craig

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to model the role of vision in a complex organization and the roles that agents, tasks, knowledge, roles, resources and beliefs play. For this purpose, an investigation into the current structure of this model is conducted. Additionally, this study sought to develop a better understanding of how agent's individual vision and beliefs about the organizational vision can be influenced over time. This purpose sought to identify the evolution of vision, therefore, required a method that simulates how these entities change over time. Dynamic Network Analysis was utilized to capture an understanding of the existing organizational dynamic and to analyze the changes in the dynamic over time using simulations.
Results found that complex organizational vision is rooted by leader and organizational values and beliefs. The present state of the organization is composed of people, knowledge, resources and roles, while these individuals bring with them organizational pressures, concerns, and perceived obstacles. Through interaction and interdependency, individuals exchange ideas, aspirations, and beliefs. Upon interaction, individual beliefs converge and neutralize toward organizational beliefs, while internal and external tension is applied. Vision emerges through the interaction of these entities over time. Consequently, reduced interaction has a stifling impact on vision. When organizational members do not commit to vision at some level of preferential capacity, organizational performance can be severely damaged, in the form of knowledge loss and task failure.

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