Keywords

Rangers, Organizational Theory, Culture, Organizational Commitment, Microfoundations of Organizations

Abstract

Research describing conservation agencies has generally been exploratory and limited in the use of theory. Similarly, organizational theories can provide an understanding for how organizations change and adapt to their given environments, but they have not been applied to conservation agencies with unique challenges and strains from other public bureaucracies or private corporations. In expanding this body of literature, not only were these theories applied conservation agencies, but they were also explored in what Powell and Colyvas (2008, p. 276) called "microfoundations" of organizations, which focuses on the interplay between individuals and organizations. To explore this, a convergent mixed-methods design was conducted. Within the quantitative strand, anonymous online surveys (n = 183) were distributed to rangers within the Association of National Park Rangers and several social media groups as well as publicly available secondary data. For the qualitative strand, Zoom interviews (n = 11) and a participant observation of a Ranger Rendezvous conference was conducted. Through bivariate analyses, differences were found between law enforcement and non-law enforcement rangers; ordinary least squares regression indicate that role ambiguity and job satisfaction are important in predicting organizational commitment, and an interaction effect was found between type of ranger and job satisfaction on organizational commitment. Qualitative data finds several themes associated with rangers' perceptions of their organizations, including the variability of the implementation of policies, the importance of training in shaping ranger identity, and the variety of ways they perceive effectiveness and legitimacy. These strands are combined to describe how role ambiguity is important in organizational commitment as well as discussing the impacts of organizations on individual rangers. Theoretical and policy implications, limitations and future research are also discussed.

Completion Date

2023

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Moreto, William

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Criminal Justice

Degree Program

Criminal Justice

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

DP0028015

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0028015

Language

English

Release Date

December 2023

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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