Abstract:
The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the perception of university employees related to organizational change at a small, private university in the South. The researcher utilized a qualitative case study research design in order to understand organizational members' interpretation of the change. The study was intended to provide insight that will help higher education administrators successfully implement similar changes. Burns and Stalker's (1961) Contingency Theory provides the theoretical framework for the current study, which is guided by the following research questions: 1.What did stakeholders perceive as the primary reasons prompting the organizational restructure? 2.In what ways did stakeholders feel that the organizational restructure was related to the institutional culture? 3.How did stakeholders experience the organizational change process? Organizational change can be the result of many different factors, some of which are related to the external environment. Developing a firm understanding of all aspects of the change process, including stakeholder experiences, will help facilitate similar changes within higher education. This study examined stakeholder's perceptions of the pressures that prompted the change, as well as their experiences with the change process.
