bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is Computer-Mediated Communication Intrinsically Apt to Enhance Democracy in Organizations?
Authors: Mantovani Giuseppe
Published: March 2006

Recent studies on social and organizational processes involved in computer-mediated communication (CMC) are discussed. A technological deterministic approach, which views CMC as inherently apt to support democracy in organizations, is challenged. Claims about equal access, overcoming socialbarriers, openness and de-individuation, are critically examined with reference to up-to-date literature. Our point, consistent with sociotechnical theory, is that CMC, especially in E-mail use, can alter rhythms and patterns of social interactions in ways both powerful and pervasive, neither positive nor negative in themselves, but shaped by local contexts of use. Stress on social identity processes involved in CMC is suggested as relevant to further research.
Who Gets Involved in Collective Action?: Social Psychological Determinants of Individual Participation in Trade Unions
Authors: Kelly Caroline , Kelly John
Published: March 2006

This study examined social psychological factors associated with willingness to participate in collective action. These factors were group identification, collectivist orientation, outgroup stereotyping, perceived intergroup conflict, egoistic and collective relative deprivation, and political efficacy. Three hundred and fifty members of a trade union completed questionnaires where items measured these factors along with their prospective participation in a range of union activities. Regression analyses indicated that the most significant correlate of participation was the strength of the respondent's sense of group identification. Other significant correlates were collectivist orientation and the degree to which the outgroup (management) was perceived in a stereotypical fashion. Further analyses were undertaken to examine the possible moderating effect of group identification on the relationships between independent and dependent variables. These indicated a broadly similar pattern of results for both strong and weak group identifiers though collective relative deprivation appeared to be somewhat more important for strong identifiers and political efficacy somewhat more important for weak identifiers. These findings are discussed in the context of research into social identity and collective action in other settings.
Social and Technological Characteristics of Coal-Face Work: A Temporal and Spatial Analysis
Authors: Winterton Jonathan
Published: March 2006

This paper offers a re-evaluation of the Tavistock studies of coal mining during the 1950s by analyzing their relevance to the social and technological characteristics of coal-face work before and after the studies. The historical analysis draws upon documentary evidence, while the study of contemporary changes in coal-face work has involved a decade of interviews with miners, mining engineers, managers and union officials, supplemented with underground visits. The specific recommendations of the Tavistock work are shown to have been made redundant by technological change, but their wider relevance is demonstrated both in relation to understanding earlier technological developments and in identifying weaknesses in the present organization of face work. Had the lessons of the Tavistock experiments been incorporated in the design of new technologies of coal production and the organization of face work, more human-centered work could have evolved without sacrificing improvements in productivity.
National Attitudes to Competitiveness, Money, and Work Among Young People: First, Second, and Third World Differences
Authors: Furnham Adrian , Kirkcaldy Bruce D. , Lynn Richard
Published: March 2006

Over 12,000 young people from 41 countries on all five continents completed questionnaires measuring such things as the work ethic, achievement motivation, competitiveness, and attitudes to money and saving. Attitudes to competitiveness, money, and saving were clearly and logically related to gross domestic product and economic growth over a 10-year period. The European nations (N = 16) had lower scores on these dimensions than the non-European nations (N = 27). Countries from North and South America scored highest on work ethic and mastery while Far and Middle Eastern countries' young people reported highest competitiveness and acquisitiveness for money. These results are discussed in terms of the limited research in this field.
Gendering Organizational Change: The Case of Relate, 1948-1990
Authors: Lewis Jane , Morgan David H. J.
Published: March 2006

In this paper we argue for the need to develop a gendered understanding of processes of organizational change. However, this should not simply be seen as a question of the proportions of women and men at different levels in the hierarchy. Organizational culture and the gendered metaphors and rhetorics that are used within the organization are also shown to be significant. Our analysis focuses upon a single case, a historical and sociological study of Relate, formerly the National Marriage Guidance Council. This case is especially interesting in that issues of gender inevitably enter into its primary task, the treatment of matital difficulties, and that as a voluntary organization it has employed a high proportion of unpaid women in the key activity of counseling, while the managerial positions have been dominated by men. This organization experienced a period of crisis in the 1980s culminating in the commissioning of a report from a firm of management consultants. We argue that the analysis of organizational difficulties at this time was considerably weakened by the failure to develop an understanding of complex issues of gender.
Personalizing Personnel Decisions in Feminist Organizational Theory and Practice
Authors: Morgen Sandra
Published: March 2006

This article extends the feminist critique of bureaucracy by examining the ways feminist health organizations contest the bureaucratic ideal of impersonal, role-based, and instrumental social relations. Drawing on interview, archival, and fieldwork data collected by the author, this paper explores the personnel practices of feminist workplaces revealing the difficulties and possibilities that accompany their ways of handling personnel issues. The challenge of reconceiving personnel as persons is explored as a problem of both organizational theory and practice.
Fostering Empowerment, Building Community: The Challenge for State-Funded Feminist Organizations
Authors: Reinelt Claire
Published: March 2006

Using a case study methodology this paper explores specific ways in which the battered women's movement in Texas was affected by state funding. State funding of movement organizations is a mixed blessing. It allows movement activists to stabilize the funding of their organizations and to have a wider political and social impact. At the same time, state funding expands the organizational field based on available resources, not common ideology. This expansion has the potential to threaten the ideological and political cohesion of the movement. The affects of state funding are mitigated when the movement's leadership has a feminist vision and engages in feminist practices that challenge the bureaucratic and hierarchical practices of the state's decision making structures by empowering movement participants to work together collectively towards common goals.
The Organization(s) of Violence: Men, Gender Relations, Organizations, and Violences
Authors: Hearn Jeff
Published: March 2006

The major traditions of organizational analysis have not been characterized by a significant and explicit concern with gender, sexuality, and violence. This article considers some of the changing ways in which gender and sexuality are being approached, or indeed avoided, within organizational analysis, and some of the reasons why a focus on gender and sexuality might lead on to the study of the relationship of violence and organizations. This argument is elaborated through the identification of significant questions that need to be addressed in the study of violence and organizations, the illustration of some of these through a case study, and an evaluation of the potentials and limitations of this “violence” perspective for organizational analysis.
Objectivity, Reflexivity, and Fiction: Humanity, Inhumanity, and the Science of the Social
Authors: Linstead Stephen
Published: March 2006

Problems of perspective, proximity and distance, objectivity, and self-interest perpetuate tensions in the social sciences. In positivistic research, still dominant in the organizational sciences, attention has been concentrated on the eradication of bias in the researcher. The effects of this approach have extended into areas where it is implicit and remains unrecognized, particularly in the tradition of “reflexive sociology.” The focal problem here is one of self-knowing and declaration. Focusing on distanciation, the problem of stepping outside one's data, is an alternative perspective. Esthetic approaches to this issue demonstrate that the processes of fictionalization are endemic to the interpretation of data and the production of research accounts. Language is the central element in creating accounts which are constitutive of the world rather than revelatory of its essence, and hence are partial and persuasive versions of reality. This is discussed with reference to the work of organizational and occupational ethnographers. It is argued that research accounts are inescapably an order of fiction, representations of a world which is unknowable in any “objective” sense. However, the process and products of social science have a dehumanizing effect on social research in failing to recognize this. This cannot be countered by humanist strategies (e.g. self-declaration, confessional, etc.) which preserve misconceptions of authenticity but by exploration of what Lyotard calls the inhuman, those subliminal aspects of experience which are at or beyond the boundaries of articulation. This needs to be done by a greater incorporation of other forms of investigation of the human condition-literature, poetry, art, music-which habitually work at or on these boundaries into the form and processes of “normal” social science.
Communication Skills Training: Management Manipulation or Personal Development?
Authors: Hargiel Owen , Tourish Dennis
Published: March 2006

In a recent edition of Human Relations, Elmes and Costello (1992) reported the results of their observations of a communication skills training (CST) workshop. Their paper examined this approach to training from a dramaturgical perspective and argued that CST could be considered as an inherently manipulative means of strengthening management control within organizations. Given that there has been an explosive growth of interest in CST as a means of furthering personal development, in a variety of professional contexts, the present paper addresses the concerns raised by Elmes and Costello, by examining some of the central issues associated with this approach to training. Research evidence is reviewed which suggests that CST is an effective training medium which can be a positive force for strengthening relationships within the work environment. CST as a means of furthering behavioral change is examine in the light of the Elmes and Costello critique. Finally, the implications of these issues for the management of relationships at work are considered.
Young People Arguing and Thinking About the Police; Qualitative Data Concerning the Categorization of the Police in a Police-Youth Contact Program
Authors: Hopkins Nick
Published: March 2006

Programs of intergroup contact frequently fail with the positive evaluation of the individual contact-partner being separated from the representation of the category as a whole. The paper reports qualitative data gathered from 81 pupils taking part in 28 group discussions concerning the police officers that they meet in a school-based police-youth “contact” program. These data address allow an exploration of the nature of the process of categorization. The paper considers the options for creating more positive police-youth relations.
Influences upon Managerial Moral Decision Making: Nature of the Harm and Magnitude of Consequences
Authors: Weber James
Published: March 2006

Business ethics research typically emphasizes the influence of personal and organizational forces upon ethical decision making. While accepting these forces as important, Collins (1989) and Jones (1991) suggest that the moral issue and its intensity may also influence individuals' resolution of an ethical dilemma. Utilizing a sample of 259 managers and a modified Moral Judgment Interview survey, this research reports that the type of harm, that is, the nature or kind of harm, and the magnitude of the consequences, that is, the degree or extent of the harm affecting the victim, influence the moral reasoning criteria evoked to resolve the dilemmas, as predicted by Collins and Jones. This finding has significant theoretical, empirical, and practical implications, as discussed in the paper.
Complementing Kohlberg: Mapping the Ethical Reasoning Used by Managers for Their Own Dilemma Cases
Authors: Snell Robin Stanley
Published: March 2006

In standard Kohlbergian research, respondents tackle hypothetical ethical dilemma cases and state what should be done and why (a form of espoused theory). Kohlberg's six-stage model of espoused theory (KSSMET) is used to assess the responses. An individual's ethical reasoning is located either at a single stage or at transition points. This paper demonstrates a complementary research paradigm where ten Hong Kong Chinese managers were asked how they had tackled their own ethical dilemmas at work and why (indicating theory-in-use). Their ethical reasoning theory-in-use was found to be volatile (spanning many stages). An aggregate map of respondents' theory-in-use values (MTV) was developed as an approximate “cultural” map, representing socially-constructed values which may change over time. While MTV was found strongly to resemble KSSMET, there were some differences in actual values expressed which appeared to reflect cultural differences between Chinese and U.S. managers.
Sales Agents and Clients: Ethics, Incentives, and a Modified Theory of Planned Behavior
Authors: Kurland Nancy B.
Published: March 2006

Commission is popularly believed to engender unethical intentions, although little research has directly examined this relationship. This paper directly examines the influence commission, along with experience, income, professional accreditation, and a modified theory of planned behavior, has on agents' ethical intentions toward clients. The study sample was systematically drawn from a national group of financial service industry professionals. Only a modified theory of planned behavior significantly predicted agents' ethical intentions. Implications and limitations are discussed.
The Effects of Strategy Type on Strategy Implementation Actions
Authors: Walderseel Robert , Sheather Simon
Published: March 2006

It is widely accepted that different strategies need to be implemented in different ways. The strategy style match model assumes personality is the primary determinant of strategy implementation actions. It is argued that such an approach is inadequate because it ignores the effect of context on behavior. The study demonstrates that strategic context influences managers' espoused strategy implementation intentions. The implications for the management of human resources in strategic change are discussed.
Human Resources, Scientists, and Internal Reputation: The Role of Climate and Job Satisfaction
Authors: Jones Oswald
Published: March 2006

This paper identifies the factors which determine the human resources reputation of firms involved in R&D. Reputation in this context refers to the extent to which employees regard their organization as a “good” place to work. The sample of 402 respondents was drawn from ten science-based firms. In terms of age, educational qualifications, and years of experience, the sample was representative of scientists employed in the ten organizations. Reputation is regarded as being of importance both conceptually and practically. Organizational reputation has been widely referred to in the literature, but it has not been consistently defined nor its determinants investigated systematically. Innovatory climate and job satisfaction are identified as the main determinants of reputation among R&D scientists.
The Effects of Supervisor and Subordinate Age on Objective Performance and Subjective Performance Ratings
Authors: Liden Robert C. , Stilwell Dean , Ferris Gerald R.
Published: March 2006

The effects of subordinate and supervisor age on objective and subjective performance ratings were examined in a field study covering the period from 1980 through 1986. Archival data on sales representatives and their supervisors were collected from the southern United States region of a large corporation. Results revealed that older employees performed better according to objective measures as well as on subjective performance ratings. Findings also demonstrated that subordinates of older supervisors achieved higher levels of objective performance than did subordinates of younger supervisors. Recommendations are discussed for theory development and experimental studies to resolve some of the inconsistencies in the literature.
A Correlational and Factor Analytic Study of Four Questionnaire Measures of Organizational Culture
Authors: Xenikou Athena , Furnham Adrian
Published: March 2006

A review of the literature revealed four major self-report measures of organizational culture measuring organizational behavioral norms or values. This study set out to compare these different measures by correlational and factor analysis. The results of the correlational analysis showed the convergent validity of the questionnaires in a number of significant correlations among the overlapping subscales intended to measure the same theoretical construct in each of the four questionnaires. Finally, the factor analysis yielded six readily interpretable factors providing an eclectic framework of the organizational culture dimensions which is supported by the relevant literature. Results are discussed in terms of different frameworks and measures of organizational culture.
Spatial and Cultural Dimensions of the Houses of Omdurman, Sudan
Authors: Osman Khadiga M. , Suliman Mamoun
Published: March 2006

This paper summarizes the results of a concurrent investigation of extant housing patterns and daily domestic habits conducted in an urban Sudanese context. A combination of standard social sciences' research procedures and a modified space syntax/graph theory technique are employed to investigate society-space relationship. The social study reveals gender division in the conduct of activities and use of space, whereas the spatial analysis highlights a morphological pattern of gender segregation in the Sudanese house. The findings suggest that applying both spatial and aspatial methods of analysis is invaluable for eliciting and interpreting society's cultural norms.
The Relationship Between the Amount and Helpfulness of Entry Thaining and Work Outcomes
Authors: Saks Alan M.
Published: March 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the amount and helpfulness of entry training and work outcomes for newcomers during organizational socialization. A sample of 152 newly-hired entry-level professionals completed a questionnaire after the first 6 months of socialization. Supervisor ratings of job performance were obtained 4 months later. The results indicated that the amount of training received by newcomers was significantly related to job satisfaction, commitment, intention to quit, ability to cope, and several measures of job performance. Newcomers' perceptions of the helpfulness of training was significantly related to job satisfaction, commitment, and intention to quit beyond that explained by training amount. However, none of the amount x helpftdness interactions were significant. In addition, newcomers' anxiety was found to mediate the relationship between training and ability to cope, and to partially mediate the training relationships with job satisfaction, commitment, and intention to quit. These results provide support for the increasing use of training during socialization and its importance for newcomers and organizations.
Reactions of Beneficiaries to Preferential Treatment: A Reality Check
Authors: Tougas Francine , Joly Stephane , Beaton Ann M. , Pierre Line
Published: March 2006

This study investigates the reactions of men from minority groups and White women who were selected through preferential treatment. The selection procedure allowed for group membership to be taken into account only after the qualifications of candidates were successfully established. Participants, 76 men from minority groups and 170 White women, worked as bus drivers or maintenance workers, which were the two job categories targeted by the affirmative action program in place. Contrary to previous studies, it was found that men and women did not differ in their reactions. Moreover, this study revealed that work related self-evaluations, work motivation, and satisfaction were contingent upon one's beliefs about affirmative action, and emotional reactions to discrimination against one's group. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Balancing lwo Major Parts of Adult Life Experience: Work and Family Identity Among Dual-Earner Couples
Authors: Aryee Samuel , Luk Vivienne
Published: March 2006

As sources of meaning and identity, it has been suggested that research on work and family roles should focus on understanding the processes by which commitment to these roles is built and sustained (Bielby, 1992). Informed by this view, data obtained through structured questionnaires from dual-earner couples (N = 207) in Hong Kong were used to constructively replicate the work of Bielby and Bielby (1989). The thesis of this paper is that as individuals become involved in a role, they develop an identity attached to that role. Results of the regression analysis revealed support for the thesis but generally, in ways consistent with the prescribed roles of men and women in a gender-stratified social system. In addition, the results revealed that women balance their work and family identity by trading-off one for the other. In contrast, men are able to simultaneously identify with work and family roles. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and implications of the findings for a balanced life are discussed.
Using Collaborative Advocacy to Foster Intergroup Cooperation: A Joint Insider-Outsider Investigation
Authors: Bartunek Jean M. , Foster-Fishman Pennie G. , Keys Christopher B.
Published: March 2006

Two of the authors of this paper have developed a model for promoting intergroup collaboration called collaborative advocacy. This model aims at achieving intergroup relationships that are both productive and empowering for their members; its cornerstone process goals include intergroup cooperation, group co-empowerment, and member empowerment. In this paper, an outside researcher and the two developers of this model describe and evaluate its use in the advisory board of an education and advocacy project for persons with developmental disabilities, family members, and professionals. Results of archival and interview investigations indicated that the project has succeeded in fostering educational activities, spawning the development of new advocacy projects, obtaining financial support, and providing opportunities for participants to make public contributions to the understanding of disabilities. Most board members have been satisfied with their level of influence. Group differences remain regarding the advisory board's goals and perceptions of the meaning of empowerment.
Neoclassical Economic Theory, Executive Control, and Organizational Outcomes
Authors: Swanson Diane L.
Published: March 2006

This manuscript examines neoclassical economic theory's egoistic, hedonistic, and autonomous kind of individualism and argues that this theoretical perspective on self can be congruent with executive power and control behavior. Using ideal-types of models, it proposes how this kind of executive behavior can arise from ego-insecurity to stifle the potential for shared meaning and social integration in organizations.
Contracting Careers
Authors: Herriot Peter , Pemberton Carole
Published: March 2006

In the light of the changing economic and organizational contexts for careers, it is argued that a model of organizational careers needs to be: contextualized; interactive between individual and organization; subjective, not normative; processual, not structural; tolerant of different interests; and cyclical in nature. A model of organizational career as a sequence of renegotiations of psychological contracts is proposed. These contracts are based both on a perceived match between one's own wants and what the other has to offer, and on the exchange of promised offers. The cost-benefit ratio of this exchange for themselves is optimized by each party, and is affected by the power each takes into the negotiation. Responses to the contract by each party are based on their perceptions of its equity and of whether it has been honored. Depending on whether the contract is transactional or relational in nature, a variety of outcomes will ensue, including exit from the contract or its renegotiation. Since the model proposes that each party's wants and offers are predicted by their business, personal, and social contexts, and since the process of negotiation and renegotiation is cyclical, this model allows for the present radical changes in careers.
Parental Attitudes: A Study of German, Greek, and Second Generation Greek Migrant Adolescents
Authors: Siefen G. , Kirkcaldy B. D. , Athanasou J. A.
Published: March 2006

The adaptation of attitudes toward parents following migration was tested in a transnational study of Greek, German, and second-generation immigrant Greek adolescents in Germany (N = 342). Three major factors resulted on the first section of the Attitudes Towards Parents Inventory and these corresponded to parental involvement, achievement motivation, and family cohesion. Principal component analysis of the second section extracted the two factors obedience and parental conflict. Greeks per se (i.e., migrants and nonmigrants) shared the characteristic of higher levels of achievement motivation, otherwise the second generation Greeks were more similar to adolescents from their “host” country. Several gender differences emerged. The results are discussed within the framework of cultural integration vs. pluralism.
The Sin of the Father: Reflections on the Roles of the Corporation Man, the Suburban Housewife, Their Son, and Their Daughter in the Deconstruction of the Patriarch
Authors: Schwartz Howard S.
Published: March 2006

The roots of the postmodernist denigration of the patriarch are traced to the postwar middle class family. The premise of this family was that the father would work and make possible a sphere of family life in which maternal influences, based on a primordial image of the mother, could operate without constraint. But identification with the primordial mother was psychologically insupportable for the mother, who blamed the father and enlisted the son in her antagonism. This deprived the son of the possibility of forming a superego and resulted in his aliention. The daughter raised the antagonism to the level of social program and carried it forward.
Discourse and Enactment: Gender Inequality in Text and Context
Authors: Garnsey Elizabeth , Rees Bronwen
Published: March 2006

This paper examines the discourse surrounding a major U.K. initiative designed to increase the “quality and quantity” of women's participation in the workforce and in managerial roles. Texts are studied to explore ways in which the persistence of inequalities may, without apparent intention, be encoded in language. Our analysis suggests that cognitive schemata are framed by the dominant discourse, here of “target-setting” within organizations. We find from commentaries that even potential critics of the campaign were drawn into acceptance of a common agenda and have been thereby diverted from addressing other pressing issues affecting women's opportunities. This analysis draws upon a conceptual scheme which is concerned with ways in which cycles of cognition, action, and outcome collectively actualize social structures, a process referred to as social enactment. We explore how a conventional discourse reinforces enactment processes supporting prevailing structures while new discourse offers the potential for change.
Men, Women, and Attitudinal Commitment: The Effects of Workplace Experiences and Socialization
Authors: Dodd-McCue Diane , Wright Gail B.
Published: March 2006

Women's underrepresentation in higher organizational ranks is often attributed to low attitudinal commitment. This study examines attitudinal commitment to determine its origins and whether it differs for men and women. Previous research indicates that men and women have different levels of attitudinal commitment. Two explanations of attitudinal commitment differences are the gender model and the job model. The gender model contends that socialization shapes attitudinal commitment; in contrast, the job model suggests that workplace experiences determine attitudinal commitment. This study tests these models using 328 accountants as subjects; controlling for subjects' professional and educational background minimizes the confounding of extraneous factors found in previous research. Attitudinal commitment and workplace experiences were measured using subjects' evaluation of organizational involvement and job satisfaction. Stepwise regression models predicted significant amounts of variation and identified the antecedents of both concepts. The results replicate previous findings that women are less committed to their organizations than men. Men and women reported lower organizational involvement but higher job satisfaction. Regression models overwhelmingly supported the job model to describe men and women's attitudinal commitment. The results suggest that women's underrepresentation in upper management ranks can likely be decreased, while increasing their organizational involvement and job satisfaction, by altering factors within the organization's control, factors that shape the job experience.
Do Women at the Top Make a Difference? Gender Proportions and the Experiences of Managerial and Professional Women
Authors: Burke Ronald J. , McKeen Carol A.
Published: March 2006

This exploratory study examined satisfactions and work experiences of managerial and professional women as a function of the gender proportions of their organizations. Gender proportion considered both the number of women (predominantly women, 50% women, predominantly men) and their location (at every level, in senior management). Data were collected from 792 managerial and professional women using questionnaires completed anonymously. Most respondents worked in organizations with predominantly men in senior management although women were as likely as men to be present at other organizational levels. Gender proportion was found to have only modest effects, when personal and organizational factors were controlled.
A Descriptive Study of Situational and Individual Influences upon Individuals' Responses to Sexual Harassment
Authors: Thacker Rebecca A.
Published: March 2006

Recently, Thacker and Ferris (1991) proposed a theoretical model in which they suggested that targets' responses to sexual harassment would be influenced by the nature of the working relationship between the target and the harasser, the type of harassment, and gender. The purpose of this study is to investigate these potential influences, as well as duration, another situational influence, upon two types of target response: complaint/refusal and avoidance/going along. Respondents are employees of the Federal government. Findings suggest that both situational and individual influences have differential effects upon target response. Implications for the design of user-friendly sexual harassment prevention policies are discussed.
Economics and Anthropology—Reluctant Partners
Authors: Casson Mark
Published: March 2006

Recent developments in economic theory make it an opportune moment to re-examine the role of economic principles in the interpretation of anthropological evidence. In analyzing human motivation, economics now takes proper account of affective as well as material rewards, while its analysis of individual decision-making allows for cognitive limitations, where these can be expressed in terms of information costs. There remain significant gaps in economic theory, though, so far as anthropological applications are concerned, for example, in the economics of language and the economics of social control. The paper shows how the application of economics can be extended to these and other issues. In the light of this, it is argued that anthropologists can and should now make greater use of economic principles in their research.
A Review and Critique of Workplace Industrial Relations Typologies
Authors: Kitay Jim , Marchington Mick
Published: March 2006

Over the years, there have been a number of attempts to construct typologies of workplace industrial relations. Each of these typologies has been useful in helping us to differentiate between workplaces, but we have doubts about the comprehensiveness and applicability of these typologies, and concerns that authors do not justify why they have chosen to focus on certain variables to the neglect of others. The aim of this paper is to offer a review and critique of some of the most widely quoted typologies of workplace industrial relations, before putting forward our own ideas. We have constructed a typology for understanding and predicting how the process of industrial relations change will proceed at workplace level, which is illustrated by examples from our own research. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate further discussion about the nature of typologizing as well as contribute to our understanding of workplace industrial relations.
The Moderating Effect of Organizational Commitment on the Occupational Stress Outcome Relationship
Authors: Leong C. S. , Furnham Adrian , Cooper Cary L.
Published: March 2006

The study attempted to examine the effect of organizational commitment as a moderator of the stress-outcome relationship. In all, 106 (39 male, 67 female) professional and administrative officers from various departments of a public sector organization each completed a set of questionnaires which consisted of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) which has six subscales relating to stressors, six relating to coping strategies, three relating to Type A, three to locus of control as well as three outcome measures: mental health, physical health and a five subscale job satisfaction measure. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and a single item for intention to quit was also completed. According to previous findings (Begley & Czajka, 1993), individuals with high organizational commitment suffered less negative outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, mental and physical health, and intention to quit as compared to those who were less committed. Therefore it was predicted that commitment buffered the relationship between occupational stress and stress outcomes. Regressions showed commitment as a main effect, but not in interaction overall. Stress was a significant predictor of all four dependent variables: job satisfaction, mental ill-health, physical ill-health and intention to quit. Results showed that commitment was significant only in the relationship between stress due to factors intrinsic to job, and mental ill-health. Therefore, there was little evidence for the moderating effect of commitment in any of the outcome variables. Commitment was found to affect the outcome variables directly while occupational stress was only found to predict mental and physical health.
The Ethical Issue Emphasis of Companies: Content, Patterning, and Influences
Authors: Nicholson Nigel , Robertson Diana C.
Published: March 2006

The study investigates the content and form of attention paid to ethics issues by U.K. firms. It considers the extent to which ethical attention can be characterized in terms of broad domain groupings, corresponding to company concerns with stakeholder groups, stewardship responsibilities, intrinsic values, and the social order of the firm. Survey results from an industry-stratified sample of 299 U.K. firms indicate that attention to ethical issues is industry-specific and a function of factors in the firm's operating environment. Of particular importance seem to be perceptions of public interest in the ethical conduct of management and staff, and in the social and environmental consequences of products and services. Results also indicate how companies manifest their ethical interests in different ways, including expressed concern, internal and external communications, and new policy formulation. Patterns across these criteria suggest scope for deeper analysis of relationships between ethical strategy, rhetoric, and action.
Employee Cynicism: An Examination Using a Contract Violation Framework
Authors: Andersson Lynne M.
Published: March 2006

Employee cynicism is an attitude characterized by frustration, hopelessness, and disillusionment, as well as contempt toward and distrust of business organizations, executives, and/or other objects in the workplace. This paper uses theory on contract violation to help integrate the diverse literature on cynicism and develop plausible propositions concerning some of the predictors and moderators of employee cynicism. First, the pertinent theory and research on cynicism is reviewed. Four specific domains of research are discussed in terms of their relevance to cynicism in an organizational setting. Next, the literature on psychological and implied contracts and their violation is presented as a framework for the study of employee cynicism. Finally, hypothetical linkages between cynicism and specific characteristics of the contemporary workplace are explored, offering propositions for future research.
A Network Analysis of Social Contagion Processes in an Organizational Intervention
Authors: Bovasso Gregory
Published: March 2006

Interventions aimed at changing the psychological attributes of individuals who form a social system may be limited by reliance on models and methods which do not account for the effects of social interaction on individual attributes. The use of network analysis to model the effects of social contagion on personal attributes is demonstrated in an evaluation of an organizational intervention. Sociometric indices of the norms created by social contagion predicted subjects' self-perceptions better than either expectations imposed on them in small groups or their own observable behavior. Social contagion stabilized the subjects' self-perceptions over time, despite the efforts of the intervention to change their self-perceptions through small group socialization and organizational restructuring. Network models of social contagion may provide useful tools for the design and evaluation of interventions that aim to change the attributes of individuals who form social systems. Further, these models theoretically integrate social relations and social cognition in a manner that helps to bridge the sociological and psychological study of human relations.
An Exploration of Interpersonal Relationships in Two Taiwanese Computer Firms
Authors: Chang Hui-Ching , Holt G. Richard
Published: March 2006

This study provides a fuller description of some of the ways businesspeople relate to each other and their customers in Taiwan. Through ethnographies and extended interviews, relationship patterns in two Taipei computer companies are shown to be influenced by Chinese traditions which view human emotion and orders of relationship as the basis of society. Taiwanese employees, particularly salespeople, are shown as adept at fusing functional and emotional elements to flexibly manage interpersonal relationships in complex and dynamic Taiwanese social, political, and economic contexts. It is concluded that relationships, as social resources, manifest themselves in various levels of business conduct, influencing the functioning of Taiwan firms in the modern business environment.
The Effect of Friendship on Decisions: Field Studies of Real Estate Transactions
Authors: Halpern Jennifer J.
Published: March 2006

A field study of real estate agents' transactions demonstrates that business friendship affects the negotiation process and the outcome of some transactions more for senior agents with 10 or more years of experience in real estate brokerage than for less experienced agents. Senior agents may have different cognitive scripts for business friendship than do new licensees. Newer agents rely more on friendly relations and on attention to reputation in their transactions, while the more experienced agents consider genuine business friendship useful for facilitating transactions.
Test of a Model of the Organizational Antecedents of Parent Involvement and Satisfaction with Public Education
Authors: Griffith James
Published: March 2006

Researchers have speculated on the nature of relations among parental satisfaction, school climate, and other variables. However, few empirical studies have examined relations among these variables in a causal framework, even when rhetoric of organizational change and its positive effects on parents, students, and teachers is abundant. The purpose of this study was to test a causal model incorporating school climate, school-parent communication, and parent empowerment and their effects on parental involvement and satisfaction. The present study employed a 71.2% sample of 42,818 parents (or 33,244 responding parents) from 122 elementary schools. Parent-school communication and school climate showed the strongest direct effects on parental satisfaction, followed by empowerment. The strongest indirect path to parental satisfaction was from school climate through informing parents. Other paths that showed weaker relations to parental satisfaction were: School climate-empowerment-informed; school climate-empowerment; and school climate-involvement. Parental involvement contributed little variance to parental satisfaction. Nonetheless, interaction terms (parent reports of individual-level school involvement x school-level parent perceptions of school climate, x being informed, x being empowered, x involved) showed that the relation of parental involvement to satisfaction was moderated by how well parents were informed, empowered and involved by the school, and their perceptions of positive school climate.
The Downside of Downsizing
Authors: de Vries Manfred F. R. Kets , Balazs Katharina
Published: March 2006

With the help of data obtained from open-ended interviews conducted with the various stakeholders in downsizing operations and applied within a clinical framework, individual reaction patterns are explored in the victims, the survivors (those staying with a company after layoffs), and the "executioners" (those responsible for the implementation of downsizing). Special emphasis is given to the reactions of the executives implementing the downsizing operation. Among this group of people, a number of ways of coping can be discerned, described as compulsive/ritualistic, abrasive, dissociative, alexithymic/anhedonic, and depressive. The article ends with a number of practical recommendations about how to facilitate the downsizing process. From the interviews conducted, it appears that downsizing, in the more narrow sense of the word, can be a quite destructive process. Reframing the concept so that downsizing is viewed as a continuous process of corporate transformation and change, a way to plan for the continuity of the organization, seems to be a more constructive approach.
The Limitations and Opportunities of Business Process Re-engineering in a Politicized Organizational Climate
Authors: Buchananl Davd A.
Published: March 2006

This paper is concerned with the organizational change and project management issues raised by the implementation of a business process re-engineering (BPR) approach in the politicized hospital context. This is a report of research in progress, focusing on the issues arising at the problem definition and project planning stages of a BPR application in an operating theaters department experiencing problems with scheduling and delays. The research design relies on a case study approach, with the researcher as participant observer, as both an adviser to the project team and as field interviewer. The paper argues that an ambitious BPR agenda is compromised in at least two regards. First, the lack of precision surrounding the focus and methodology of BPR gives politically motivated actors considerable influence with respect to defining terms of reference in ways which will shape potential outcomes in their favor. Second, the complexity and indeterminacy of the business process or "patient trail" can also dilute redesign attempts. The principal limitations of the approach thus concern the impracticality of embarking on rapid and radical change working from a "blank sheet of paper" with respect to organizational and job design. BPR, unlike other organization development interventions, is not a "context sensitive" approach. The role of project manager is critical in establishing a working balance between individual, occupational, and organizational goals in a manner perceived to be legitimate in the context. Effective BPR project management thus requires a combination of political and process analysis skills. The principal opportunities of BPR derive from its process orientation, which brings a fresh perspective to a traditionally and functionally fragmented organizational setting, and which presents a potentially valuable platform for an evolutionary approach to process improvement.
Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization: A Dichotomy Between Descriptive and Prescriptive Research
Authors: Tsang Eric W. K.
Published: March 2006

Despite the growing popularity of the term 'organizational learning," writings on the topic have little consensus in terms of definition, perspective, conceptualization, and methodology. This article examines the dichotomy between two main streams of theorizing in the field. The first stream, prescriptive writings on the learning organization, is concerned with the question "How should an organization learn?" Targeting practitioners, these studies are usually based on the authors' consulting experience and seldom follow rigorous research methodologies. They also tend to overgeneralize their theories to all types of organization. Descriptive researches on organizational learning fall in the second stream which tackles the question "How does an organization learn?" These are academic studies striving for scientific rigor. Nevertheless, they often fail to generate useful implications for practitioners. In the final section of the article, brief suggestions are made to integrate the two streams of research.