Haitian Churches from the Inside Out: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Organizational Alignment as It Relates to Leadership and Culture

• Main Author: Jacques, Sabrina Jean-Pierre
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Caribbean Studies; Corporate culture; Leadership; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational behavior; Perceptions; Religion; Religious organizations
• ISBN: 0355493683; 9780355493689

Many studies have successfully established very prominent connection(s) existing between organizational effectiveness and organization's leadership while others have argued these same junctions between organizational effectiveness and the culture of the organization. However, there is a gap in literature accounting for the coexistence of both of these leading factors in a situation of organizational ineffectiveness to in turn account for which of these two factors (notably between leadership and culture) may be predominant and more influential in causing such questionable behaviors. Additionally, no study has been done in the past to explore organizational effectiveness or a lack thereof in the Haitian community. In such, this study looked at the internal structure in organizations, primarily Haitian churches to understand how this phenomenon relates to their existing leadership and culture by considering participants' personal lived experiences; thus taking a more in-depth look at organizational structure from the inside out. By adopting a holistic perspective, this study collected rich and detailed descriptions of the lived experiences of 18 participants who were or are still currently members of four Haitian churches in the Northeast Region of the United states, in Boston MA and surrounding cities. The results of this research have shown that despite the strong influence that culture may have on the functionality of Haitian churches, leadership has the dominant impact on the degree of effectiveness (or a lack thereof) that these churches experience. Haitian Christian churches’ inability to grow and thrive is due to the fact that the leaders’ mentality has not evolved with time. To be effective, the leaders need to be proactive in purposefully laying out the proper infrastructure, and obtaining the appropriate leadership trainings that will nurture the growth and sustenance of these churches.