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Berg PhD Dissertation Final.pdf (2.77 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Purpose matters to leaders at a personal and company level

Berg, Jodi Leigh
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4243-0140
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1490470958463158

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Management.
According to Gallup (Adkins, 2015), less than 33% of the U.S. workforce feel engaged at work. Much of the traditional research on engagement as well as commitment has been on external drivers that are not personal, e.g. compensation, training, sharing of the company's vision and strategy. This study joins the growing body of work on antecedents that are personal by exploring the impact of purpose. One of the key findings is that senior leaders can identify with their personal purpose and recognize how it aligns with their company's higher purpose, albeit in two distinctly different ways. This alignment is either through a task focused or socio-emotional lens, affecting how they make decisions around engagement, commitment and life satisfaction. This study also empirically demonstrates that companies can increase engagement and commitment by not only creating and sharing a company higher purpose vision - one that is about more than profits, but by helping employees identify their personal purpose. Employees with a personal purpose are even more engaged than when they perceive their company to have a higher purpose - with the greatest impact being when both exist. The future focused and altruistic elements of purpose are also components of a transformational leadership style. Transformational and transactional orientation indices demonstrate that individuals and companies tend to have an orientation towards either being transformational or transactional in nature. This research demonstrates that purpose does matter as well as contributing to the extant literature on motivation, self-determination and the relational climate around sharing a company vision.
Richard Boyatzis, PhD (Committee Chair)
Diana Bilimoria, PhD (Committee Member)
Kathleen Buse, PhD (Committee Member)
Ellen Van Oosten, PhD (Committee Member)
176 p.
Management
Personal purpose; company higher purpose; transformational; transactional; engagement; company commitment; life satisfaction; relational climate

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Berg, J. L. (2017). Purpose matters to leaders at a personal and company level [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1490470958463158

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Berg, Jodi. Purpose matters to leaders at a personal and company level. 2017. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1490470958463158.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Berg, Jodi. "Purpose matters to leaders at a personal and company level." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1490470958463158

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1490470958463158
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.