MAIN SURVEY – RESEARCH CONSENT FORM

My name is Hongqun (Sabrina) Sun, and you are invited to participate in the survey for my research project titled “Organizational Culture in the Context of Hybrid Work Environment: How Can Middle Managers Foster Effective Subcultures to Engage Team Members.” I am a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) student in the School of Business, Faculty of Management at Royal Roads University. I can be contacted at sabrinaheimeisun@gmail.com. This research is conducted under the supervision of Dr. James Heskett, who can be contacted at jheskett@hbs.edu.

The purpose of this research is to explore how middle managers cultivate effective subcultures in hybrid work environments and how these practices influence team engagement. The study is recruiting eligible frontline managers/team leaders and team members who currently work in a hybrid arrangement. You may verify the authenticity of this project by contacting Dr. Hassan Wafai, DBA Program Head, Royal Roads University, at hassan.wafai@royalroads.ca.

Your participation will consist of completing an online or electronic survey, which will take approximately 20 minutes. The questions will focus on your professional experiences with team engagement, trust, managerial support, team composition, meaningfulness and contribution, and other aspects of working in a hybrid working environment. Your role is simply to respond to the questions honestly and based on your personal experience.

This study presents minimal risk, comparable to reflecting on everyday workplace experiences. You may skip any question or withdraw from the survey at any time before submission. Once the survey is submitted, your responses cannot be withdrawn because the survey is anonymous and the researcher will not be able to identify which responses belong to you.

There are no guaranteed direct benefits to individual participants. However, your participation may contribute to a broader understanding of how people work, lead, and engage at the team level in hybrid work environments.

There is no financial compensation for participation; however, participants may request a summary of the aggregate research findings once the study is complete. This research is conducted for academic purposes only and has no commercial intent.

There are no conflicts of interest in this project. Participation is entirely voluntary, and you are under no obligation to take part. Choosing not to participate will involve no penalty or negative consequences. No NAIT supervisor or executive will know who participates or does not participate in this research, and no NAIT supervisor or executive will have access to raw survey data. To further protect your privacy, you are encouraged to complete the survey in a private setting using a personal device and personal internet connection where possible.

Survey responses will remain anonymous because no names or email addresses will be collected in the survey. If you are interested in a follow-up interview or wish to receive a summary of findings, you may contact the researcher through a separate process. Any contact information provided will be stored separately from survey responses, kept confidential, and will not be linked to individual survey data. De-identified research data will be securely stored on an encrypted, password-protected drive for seven years, which meets NAIT’s data-storage requirements, and will be accessible only to the researcher and research supervisor.

The research results will be published in public outlets, including a doctoral dissertation that will be published in Royal Roads University’s Digital Archive, Pro-Quest, and Library and Archives Canada. Findings may also be shared through academic journals and conference presentations. In all cases, participants and organizations will remain anonymous, and no identifying information will appear in any publication or presentation. All data will be anonymized or de-identified before it is used in any research findings, publications, presentations, or reports. No participant or individual team member will be identified.

Please note:
Data may be stored on or accessible by servers in the United States and may be subject to examination by government or law enforcement. While the likelihood of this is small, I am required to inform you of this risk. Data collected through SurveyMonkey may be stored on or accessible through servers in the United States. As a U.S.-based platform, SurveyMonkey may be subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act, and data may be subject to examination or disclosure to U.S. government or law enforcement authorities only, if required by U.S. law.

This research project has been reviewed and approved by the Royal Roads University Research Ethics Board (REB) and the NAIT Research Ethics Board. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact the Office of Research Ethics at ethicalreview@royalroads.ca or the NAIT Research Ethics Board at reb@nait.ca.

NAIT will protect personal information in accordance with Section 10 of POPA. Pursuant to Sections 12 and 13 of POPA, personal information will be used and disclosed only for the purposes of this project. Within the parameters of this project, personal information may be inputted into an automated system to generate content or make decisions, recommendations, or predictions. If I have privacy concerns or questions, I can contact the researcher listed above in this consent.

Any personal information gathered for the research project will be protected and used in compliance with Alberta’s Post-Secondary Learning Act and in accordance with Section 4(c) of Alberta’s Protection of Privacy Act.

If you have any concerns about the way you’ve been treated as a participant, please contact the NAIT Research Ethics Board at reb@nait.ca.

By selecting “I agree” on SurveyMonkey, you indicate that you have read and understood this information and consent to participate voluntarily. By consenting, you are not waiving any legal rights in the event of research-related harm.