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Measuring Normlessness in the Workplace: a Study of Organizational Anomie in the Academic Setting

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Measuring Normlessness in the Workplace: a Study of Organizational Anomie in the Academic Setting Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2013 Measuring Normlessness in the Workplace: A Study of Organizational Anomie in the Academic Setting Tayo Glenn Switzer Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: https://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Higher Education Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Switzer, T. G. (2013). Measuring Normlessness in the Workplace: A Study of Organizational Anomie in the Academic Setting. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/67 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. MEASURING NORMLESSNESS IN THE WORKPLACE: A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL ANOMIE IN THE ACADEMIC SETTING TAYO GLENN SWITZER A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June, 2013 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: MEASURING NORMLESSNESS IN THE WORKPLACE: A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL ANOMIE IN THE ACADEMIC SETTING prepared by Tayo Glenn Switzer is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: Jon Wergin, Ph.D., Chair date Lize Booysen, D.B.L., Committee Member date Randy Hodson, Ph.D., Committee Member date William Bergquist, Ph.D., External Reader date Copyright 2013 Tayo Glenn Switzer All rights reserved Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge my advisor and committee chair, Dr. Jon Wergin, for being a remarkable scholar, sage, mentor, and friend. He continually met me where I was in my journey as a doctoral student, and was as curious, interested, surprised, and delighted as I during every step of the way. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Lize Booysen, Dr. Randy Hodson, and Dr. William Bergquist, whose wisdom and maturity elevated my research, strengthened my spirit, and cultivated the scholar in me. I am simply humbled by their participation in my research. In addition, a thank you to the faculty and staff of the Antioch University Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program. To the person, their commitment and care for my success were evident in every facet of my doctoral experience. A message of sincere gratitude goes to the University of study. I cannot imagine a better experience in conducting research – receiving permission to conduct the research, access to the group of study, and survey development and deployment support – all exchanges were remarkable and productive. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues who have endured my absence and feeble attempts to explain my research. In particular, I am immensely fortunate for the friendship and support of Ben and Megan Rader, Geoff and Joanne Kistruck, Cindy Silver, Rick Martin, Hazel Morrow-Jones, Claire Menck, and Wayne Hartz. I want to acknowledge my mother, Deborah Switzer, for teaching me perseverance; my father, Erasmo Paolo, for giving me the courage to follow my own path; my mother-in-law, Joan Klopf, for her countless hours of editing support, and belief in me from the very beginning; and my brother-in-law, Adam Klopf, for standing in as a father figure with my two sons when I was away studying and writing. Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the support and sacrifice of my wife, Zoe, who has held me and our family together through all these many years. I am grateful for her and our partnership. Finally, my deep appreciation and love to my two sons, Kai and Leo. Daddy can wrestle now. i Abstract The dissertation explores leadership and change by examining normlessness in the workplace through a multi-layered study of anomie theory, anomie research in the workplace, and organizational and business management theory. The research validates a quantitative survey designed to measure the level of normlessness experienced by workgroups within an organizational context. The survey reflects a set of six normative aspects that when disrupted produce organizational anomie—a state of normlessness that leads to an increase in worker resistance and a reduction in worker consent. The audience studied in this dissertation is associate professors at a large Midwestern research university. Data were gathered using a 57-item electronic survey that was administered to 1,211 associate professors. The results of the research show the transferability of organizational anomie in the academic setting and also provide evidence for a variation of organizational anomie specific to the academic setting labeled academic anomie. The dissertation provides new ways for leaders and change agents to look at the organizational state of transition when old ways of operating are no longer relevant and new ways of engaging are not yet in place. The electronic version of the Dissertation is accessible in the open-access Ohiolink ETD Center, http://etd.ohiolink.edu/ ii Table of Contents Chapter I: Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Purpose of the Research ......................................................................................................................... 1 Preview of the Literature ....................................................................................................................... 1 Focus of Research—What the Research Is and Why It Is Important .................................................... 3 Academic Culture .................................................................................................................................. 6 Frame of Reference ................................................................................................................................ 9 Previous Anomie in the Workplace Setting Research ........................................................................... 9 Preview of the Methodology ............................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Previews ................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter II: Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 17 Introduction to Anomie—About Anomie, Anomie Theory Originators, and Key Contributors ........ 17 The Etymology of Anomie .......................................................................................................... 18 Seminal Authors .......................................................................................................................... 19 Anomie by Epistemology ............................................................................................................ 22 Anomie in Philosophy .......................................................................................................... 24 Anomie in Sociology ........................................................................................................... 25 Anomie in Criminology ....................................................................................................... 26 Anomie in Psychology ......................................................................................................... 28 Anomie in Institutionalism ................................................................................................... 30 Interpretation of Anomie Theory ......................................................................................... 31 Literature Associated with Anomie in the Workplace ........................................................................ 32 Related Phenomena ...................................................................................................................... 32 Research and Scholarly Work About Anomie in the Workplace ................................................ 33 Research and Scholarly Work Extending From Each Anomie Theory ....................................... 35 iii Research and Scholarly Work Extending From Durkheim’s Anomie Theory .................... 35 Research and Scholarly Work Extending From Merton’s Theory of Anomie .................... 35 Research and Scholarly Work Extending From Srole’s Theory of Anomia ........................ 36 Research and Scholarly Work Extending From Messner and Rosenfeld’s Institutional Anomie Theory ................................................................................................................... 37 Organizational Anomie—A Common Term Across the Research and Scholarly Work ............. 38 Anomie Research in the Academic Setting ................................................................................. 40 Research Techniques Used to Explore Anomie in the Workplace .............................................. 44 Anomie and Organizational Theory ...................................................................................................
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