i PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO: EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF OPERATING PROCEDURES ON OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES IN TEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONS A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Business Administration by David C. F. Williamson Temple University, Fox School of Business August 2018 Review Committee: David Schuff, Advisory Chair, Department of Management Information Systems Lynne Andersson, Human Resources Management TL Hill, Strategic Management ii ABSTRACT Music festivals have become big business, bringing in $8.79B in global revenue in 2017, and continuing to grow with projected 2022 revenues of $13.7B. However, these events still function mostly as “temporary organizations,” with employees coming together for the distinct period of time that the event takes place in and fulfilling the tasks that need to be accomplished for the production to be successful. The process of festival production can be stressful, requiring the implementation of operating procedures and other guidelines to ensure that employees produce an optimal guest experience. Through a grounded theory study of managers and employees at three different music festivals and an historic case study, this work seeks to understand how operating procedures impact workers in temporary organizations. The results reveal a relationship between operating procedures and employee stress as well as guest experiences that suggest the more an organization is able to communicate procedures the less likely employees are to suffer stress. In addition, analysis unveiled the presence of “compensation anxiety” among festival employees as an occupational stressor not traditionally considered in the occupational stress or temporary organization literatures. iii For Allison, Tom, and Porter Without your continuous support I could not have completed this work. I love you all so much and am so grateful for all the wonderful things you have done for me. I’m a very lucky person! iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After spending half my life in school, this document represents the climax of all those years of study, and it would not exist were it not for the support and encouragement of many people. Firstly, I would like to thank my third-grade teacher, who is most certainly dead by now, for telling me that I was stupid and would never amount to anything. While mean spirited, and wrongheaded, her cruel heart did indeed provide a modicum of motivation. Much thanks to David Schuff, my committee chair. I know you didn’t have to take me on, and that you almost certainly regretted it, but still you stuck by me. Thank you so much for your herculean efforts. T.L. Hill for your support and direction. Graham and Sarah Major for the bed, the laughs, and of course the whiskey and soup dumplings. Stephen Hunt for encouraging me and setting a solid example of what it means to reach for lofty goals. Brad Morith for your continued support and encouragement, and may I be there for you as you pursue your goals. Maggie Jordan: Oh, Maggie, you were everything! Thank you so much! Karl Spinnenweber: you have the kindest of souls, and I thank you so much for your support. Irene Graff: you are filled with so much love! Can you believe we did it!!?? The three most important people of my academic life: Kate Ratcliff, Linda Shea, and Lynne Andersson: at each step of my academic journey you have each deeply transformed my life. You were, are, and will always be, my mentors. I will be forever grateful to each of you. Finally, and most importantly, my family: my mother and father, no matter what you have always been there for me, always standing there with your boundless caring and support; my wife Allison, and two sons Tom and Porter, without whom I most certainly never would have completed this work. I love you all so very much. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 – JAMAIS VU ...................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 6 Sensemaking ........................................................................................................................... 6 Temporary Organizations........................................................................................................ 8 Operating Procedures ............................................................................................................ 13 Occupational Stress............................................................................................................... 15 Research Question ................................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER 3 – MINING MUSIC FESTIVALS FOR THEORETICAL INSIGHT .................... 23 Settings ................................................................................................................................. 23 The Altamont Free Concert ............................................................................................... 24 FunFest............................................................................................................................. 25 Robert’s Soapbox Derby ................................................................................................... 25 The Bluegrass Festival ...................................................................................................... 25 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 26 Historical Case Study ........................................................................................................ 26 Observation ...................................................................................................................... 30 Interviews ......................................................................................................................... 33 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 35 Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 4 – GOING DEEP INTO THE DARKNESS .......................................................... 39 Altamont Free Concert .......................................................................................................... 39 FunFest ................................................................................................................................. 43 Robert’s Soapbox Derby ....................................................................................................... 56 The Bluegrass Festival .......................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH .................... 67 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 67 Relationships Between Operational Procedures and Stress ............................................... 73 Compensation Anxiety ....................................................................................................... 76 vi Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 79 Contribution and Future Research .................................................................................... 80 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX A – CODEBOOK ................................................................................................. 89 APPENDIX B – INTERVIEW GUIDE .................................................................................. 109 APPENDIX C – COMPLETE PILOT STUDY ....................................................................... 111 APPENDIX D – EXTENDED LCAONIAFEST CASE .......................................................... 120 APPENDIX E – CODING TABLES ...................................................................................... 149 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Lundin and Söderholm characteristics of temporary organizations. (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995) ....................................................................................................................... 8 Table 2: Differentiating Factors of Permanent and Temporary Organizations............................ 10 Table 3: The Stress Continuum Model. (Adapted from Nash, 2011).......................................... 17 Table 4: Sources and References of Open Codes....................................................................... 36 Table 5: Headliners and Top Performers of FunFest ................................................................