Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Sheryl Kristensen

Abstract

As the major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan fade from headline news, the effect remains a national concern for the 2.6 million post-9/11 veterans. Their hardships form the basis for this qualitative case study, which analyzed the organizational change effort at the Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR). This organization, specifically formed by the U.S. Marine Corps, instituted the necessary programs to meet the needs of Marine wounded warriors. However, the needs of these warriors are different now, and the WWR must adapt to remain relevant. The transformative change model presented by Anderson and Anderson formed the conceptual framework for this case study, which explored the central research question of how the leaders of an organization designed for a special mission effectively transform their operations to respond to new demands in a complex environment. The results from this case study, denoted by 8 themes, were derived from the analysis of the transcripts from 19 interviews conducted with representatives of the WWR. The 19 participants represented the diverse workforce of the WWR and were located at its sections across the country. To identify the emergent themes, structural and pattern coding methods were used as the data analysis process. Two themes from the data analysis were: developing a strategic communication plan and advancing the relevance of the WWR. The results from the case study were intended to help the leaders of the WWR realign their operations to achieve their new strategic objectives. This study is significant because it assessed the organizational change effort at the WWR to gain knowledge about veterans that may promote positive social change by informing the broader community of veteran support agencies about the urgent needs of the post-9/11 veterans.

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