Date of Award

Fall 11-22-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Daniels College of Business

First Advisor

Melissa Akaka

Second Advisor

Michael Nalick

Third Advisor

John Sebesta

Fourth Advisor

Amy He

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Fractional chief financial officer (CFO), Fractional work, Organizational change, Organizational structure, Derek Salman Pugh, Role theory

Abstract

The rise of fractional work is transforming organizational structures. This 21st-century phenomenon sees skilled professionals moving towards fractionalizing their time to support multiple organizations through their work. Within the scope of nonprofit organizations, this research seeks to understand the impact of fractional CFOs (fCFOs) on organizational structures. Utilizing a case study approach, I explored how the evolving roles of a fCFO influence and drive organizational change. Through semi-structured interviews, archival data analysis, ethnographic journals, and grounded theory, this study analyzes the relationship between the fCFO roles and the organizational structure dimensions, as defined by Pugh et al. (1968), across three phases: (1) pre-fCFO engagement, (2) one-year post engagement, and (3) years two through seven post engagement. Findings reveal that the fCFO significantly impacted the nonprofit's structure by strengthening the organizational dimensions of specialization, standardization, formalization, centralization, and configuration. This study concludes that the successful engagement of a fCFO depends on clearly defined roles and deliverables that include financial guidance and recommendations, leadership of finance staff, audit support, and fiscal governance support, which leads to positive organizational change and long-term sustainability. The practical implications highlight the potential for delegating specific roles to fractional workers, allowing for flexibility and adaptation as organizations evolve. Theoretically, this research contributes to organizational structure literature by extending Pugh et al.'s (1968) framework to incorporate fractional workers and integrate role theory to understand their organizational contributions.

Copyright Date

11-2024

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Camila R. Powell

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

253 pgs

File Size

1.8 MB

Download

Available for download on Thursday, January 21, 2027



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