bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Intraoperative Progress Reports on Anxiety of Elective Surgical Patients' Family Members
Authors: Leske Jane Stover
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effects of intraoperative progress reports on family members' state anxiety level (STAI S-Anxiety), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate during elective surgical procedures. Family members of randomly selected surgical patients were eligible to participate. Control group family members (n = 50) received usual care. Family members in the experimental group (n = 50) received a 5- to 10-minute progress report protocol about halfway through a surgical procedure. Families' STAI S-Anxiety scores, MAP, and heart rates were compared between the control and experimental groups using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Family members in the experimental group reported lower STAI S-Anxiety scores (p < .001), and had significantly lower MAP and heart rates than did the control group (p < .001). Progress reports appear to be a beneficial nursing intervention for reducing anxiety in family members during the irtraoperative period.
Minimizing Effects of Low Literacy on Medication Knowledge and Compliance among the Elderly
Authors: Hussey Leslie C.
Published: March 2007

Medication knowledge and compliance among the elderly was examined using a color-coded method, which was designed to tailor the medication regimen to the person's daily schedule. Data were collected from 80 elderly, predominantly indigent, and individuals of low literacy. Group 1 of the study received verbal teaching only, whereas Group 2 received verbal teaching and a color-coded medication schedule. Knowledge increased significantly among both groups. Compliance to the medication schedule increased in Group 2, among those subjects whose pretest compliance scores were low. These results suggest that a method that considers the characteristics of the individual can significantly increase knowledge and compliance.
Factors Influencing Nursing Home Placement Decisions
Authors: Johnson Rebecca A. , Schwiebert Valerie B. , Rosenmann Patricia Alvarado
Published: March 2007

The study used a qualitative design to describe the decision making involved when an older adult related to a nursing home. Tape recorded semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 nursing home residents. Findings indicate that the decision to relocate the older adults to the nursing home was commonly made by their physician in response to acute and chronic health problems. Subjects described their residential preferences, discussed problems encountered after nursing home placement; and gave advice to other older adults contemplating relocation to a nursing home. Nursing interventions could be directed toward community residential alternatives and advocacy to ensure the older adult's involvement in the decision making as much as is possible.
Hmong Cultural Practices and Beliefs
Authors: Jambunathan Jaya
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore the cultural practices and beliefs of the Hmong in the postpartum period Using the qualitative research method of in-depth interviewing, data were collected through semistructured interviews. A convenience sample of 52 childbearing Hmong women was interviewed with the help of Hmong interpreters. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed for analysis. Data analysis revealed cultural practices and beliefs categories related to diet, rest period, appropriate clothing, breast feeding, and sex practices in the postpartum period. Implications for nursing include both cultural sensitivity and an understanding of such traditional practices, before suggesting or implementing any health-promotion activities.
Subjective Appraisal of Infant Crying
Authors: Elliott M. Ruth , Drummond Jane , Barnard Kathryn E.
Published: March 2007

How families appraise difficult situations contributes to later adaptive functioning. We have observed in both research and practice that when appraising their infants' crying, mothers often compared their own infants' crying to actual or supposed much worse infants. They typically appraised their infants to be crying less than average infants. This phenomenon defined in the social psychology literature, is called downward comparison. Secondary analysts of an established data set was used to assess the extent of downward comparison and the identification of excessive crying among a sample of 193 primiparous mothers. Mothers appraised their own infants' crying to be less than that of the expected average infant. Mothers who identified their infants as excessive criers made less robust downward comparisons than did mothers who did not identify their infants as excessive criers. Nursing interventions that focus on supporting mothers' positive appraisal and promoting knowledge of infant behaviors, particularly infant crying, are proposed.
Nurses and the Administration of Medications
Authors: Cheek Julianne
Published: March 2007

Nurses administer medications every day as part of their practice. Consequently, many studies have explored nurses and the part they play in medication administration. The focus of these studies has often been limited, concentrating nurses and drug errors, rather than on incorporating a broader view of nurses and the medication administration process in general in an attempt to broaden the focus of the discussion about nurses and medication administration, this study used Critical incident Technique (C.I.T.) to identify registered nurses' perceptions of factors affecting the quality administration of medications in their practice setting. Five categories of themes emerged as having an impact on nurses and the administration of medications: the context the procedures, the groups of professionals involved, the personal attributes of individual staff, and the client implications of the research for nursing education and practice are discussed.
Patients' Explanatory Models for Heart Failure and COPD Exacerbations
Authors: Russell Cynthia K. , Geraci Therese , Hooper Anne , Shull Linda , Gregory David M.
Published: March 2007

Although there is extensive information on the disease aspect of heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the illness aspect of these diseases has received limited attention. This limitation in our knowledge is of concern because these diseases are increasing in incidence and prevalence and contributing to the premature morbidity and mortality of thousands of persons. This naturalistic inquiry study was undertaken to describe the explanatory models (EMs) of persons hospitalized for HF (n = 30) or COPD (n = 30) exacerbations. In semistructured interviews, participants offered descriptions of the etiology, cause, and effects of their disease exacerbations and identified interventions that they believed would have helped prevent their hospitalizations or helped them to live better at home. The findings provide a basis for understanding the EMs of persons with HF or COPD as an initial step in making health care more relevant.
Probable Reasons for Expressed Agitation in Persons with Dementia
Authors: Ragneskog Hans , Gerdner Linda A. , Josefsson Karin , Kihlgren Mona
Published: March 2007

Nursing home patients with dementia were videotaped in three previous studies. Sixty sequences of nine patients exhibiting agitated behaviors were examined to identify the most probable antecedents to agitation. Probable reasons were interpreted and applied to the Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold model, which suggests that agitation is stress related. Analysis suggests that agitation often serves as form of communication. Two underlying reasons seem to be that the patient had loss of control over the situation and deficient autonomy. The most common causes for expressed agitation were interpreted as discomfort, a wish to be served immediately, conflict between patients or with nursing staff, reactions to environmental noises or sound, and invasion of personal space. It is recommended that nursing staff promote autonomy and independency for this group of patients whenever possible. By evaluating probable reasons for expressed agitation, the nursing staff can take steps to prevent or alleviate agitation.
Preventing Pressure Sores in Oncology Patients
Authors: Olson Karin , Tkachuk Linda , Hanson John
Published: March 2007

This project addresses staff nurses' concerns about the development of hospital-acquired pressure sores in cancer patients. The Braden Scale and the National Pressure Sore Advisory Panel Staging System were pilot tested. The incidence of hospital-acquired pressure sores was 8% and a mean Braden score of 16 was sufficiently sensitive (82%) and specific (84%) for use with our patient population. Eighty-two percent (9/11) of the patients with a score of 16 on the Braden Scale developed a pressure sore that day. The model of pressure sore development constructed by Braden and Bergstrom (1987) was used to guide the development of a pressure sore prevention protocol. The pilot test of this protocol over 6 months showed no decline in the incidence of hospital-acquired pressure sores and a reduction in the sensitivity and specificity of the Braden Scale. Possible explanations for this finding and revisions to the protocol are suggested.
Motion Study in Management and the Arts
Authors: Reeves Terrie C. , Duncan W. Jack , Ginter Peter M.
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the emphasis on the analysis of motion prevalent in scientific management was only the manifestation of a phenomenon, a way of thinking, that started in the natural and physical sciences during the 19th century and spread through the arts to engineering and management. Rather than being a separate phenomenon unique to management, motion study was based on an emerging way of looking at the world. The approach represented an important change in the knowledge development paradigm and involved breaking down complex phenomenon into component parts and putting them back together in an effort to better understand the whole, appreciate interrelationships, and eventually improve efficiency. In management, Lillian Gilbreth's concept of analysis and synthesis, Frank Gilbreth's motion study, Adamiecki's harmonograms, and Day's network models and decision trees best illustrated this changing paradigm. Similarities between approaches to the scientific study of motion in management and selected areas of the performing arts are discussed. Specifically, the notions of motion developed by Delsarte and Dalcroze in theater and von Laban in dance are compared with familiar notions of applied motion study in management. The article concludes with implications for management with regard to changing knowledge development paradigms.
The Caligula Phenomenon
Authors: O'Neill Regina M. , Sankowsky Daniel
Published: March 2007

The authors apply a theoretical lens from the field of psychotherapy to understand a previously unexplored aspect of dysfunctional mentoring relationships: theoretical abuse. The authors review existing research on mentoring and theoretical abuse and discuss ways that theoretical abuse can take place along three dimensions of mentoring relationships: mentor motivation, mentoring behaviors, and prote'ge growth. They present three typical protege responses to theoretical abuse, considering these responses within the formalization, hierarchical basis, and power dynamics of mentoring. They discuss psychological consequences of theoretical abuse for the prote'ge and conclude with a discussion of implications for both research and practice.
Crafting Vision
Authors: Nutt Paul C. , Backoff Robert W.
Published: March 2007

Visions are used to develop a strategy that can help an organization make a radical change. This article explores the role of vision in strategy development, seeking to understand its essential features and the means available to fashion a vision. Properties of a vision, steps in vision creation, and approaches that can be used to examine the vision creation process are suggested. Propositions are identified and research approaches are discussed that offer insights into ways to study the propositions.
Progressive Damage along Kink Bands in Fiber-Reinforced Composite Blocks under Compression
Authors: Wei Yang  , Wei Yue-Guang
Published: March 2007

Progressive damage along a kink band plays an important role for damage characterization of fiber-reinforced materials under compression. We approach this prob lem from a set of homogenized field equations which set up the criterion of initial surface instability. Further progression of the bifurcated kink bands into the composite blocks is formulated under damage induced bridge model, within the framework of J integral.
Numerical Simulation of Shear Induced Plugging in HY100 Steel Plates
Authors: Chen E.P.
Published: March 2007

Numerical simulations of penetration processes in HY100 steel plates were performed in this study. The penetrators were made of maraging steel rods and the impact velocity ranges from 78-400 m/s. Experimental evidence shows that the dominant mode of failure in HY100 steel plates is shear induced plugging. By using a maximum equivalent plastic strain failure criterion and the element deletion capability in the transient dynamic finite element PRONTO 2D code, shear plugging was successfully simulated. Quantita tively, calculated residue velocity of the penetrator and the plug velocity agree well with measured data. This investigation provides credence to the finite element technique that it is a viable tool for the analysis of this class of problems.
Micromechanical Analysis of Fracture of Concrete
Authors: Schlangen E. , Van Mier J.G.M.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, a recently developed lattice model for simulating the fracture of concrete is presented. The material is modelled as a lattice of brittle-breaking beam ele ments. The heterogeneity of the material is introduced in three manners: (1) by assigning random strength values to the beams in a regular lattice, (2) by generating a random parti cle structure of the material and assigning different strength values to the beam elements appearing in the various composite materials, and (3) by assigning constant strength values to beam elements in a random lattice. The fracture law is extremely simple, and upon exceedence of the strength of a beam element, it is simply removed from the mesh. The analysis is completely linear elastic. With the model crack face bridging in tension, curvi linear crack growth and the fracture mechanism of double-edge notched four-point-shear beams can be simulated realistically. The model seems very attractive because only a small number of single valued parameters is needed. These parameters can be tuned to experimental data in a relatively simple manner. It is important that the crack shapes found in real materials can be simulated to a high degree of accuracy.
Restoring the Neighborhood, Fighting Against Crime: A Case Study in Guangzhou City, People's Republic of China
Authors: Situ Yingyi , Liu Weizheng
Published: March 2007

This article presents a descriptive analysis of the Chinese neighborhood as an important social unit of crime control in the People's Republic of China. In conducting a three-month field observation, the authors found that both rapid development of the economy and an increasing crime rate in Guangzhou city have posed serious challenges to the neighborhood's traditional function of crime control. However, self-restructuring and strategic reform have enabled the neighborhood to play a new role in the system of comprehensive treatment of social order. The Chinese experiences have facilitated our understanding of crime and some possible solutions for this nation during its modernization.
The Role of Organizational Justice in Pay and Employee Benefit Satisfaction, and its Effects on Work Attitudes
Authors: Tremblay Michel , Sire Bruno , Balkin David B.
Published: March 2007

The objective of our study is to provide a complementary approach with regard to organizational justice in the domain of compensation. It presents research undertaken on a sample of 285 employees in three different Canadian organizations. The results reveal that employees distinguish clearly between pay satisfaction and benefit satisfaction, and that distributive justice perceptions are better predictors of pay satisfaction than procedural justice perceptions. This result is reversed for employee benefit satisfaction: Procedural justice perceptions are better predictors than distributive justice perceptions. Lastly, the results show that distributive justice perceptions with regard to pay play a more important role than procedural justice in job satisfaction and satisfaction with the organization.
Alternative Pay Practices and Employee Turnover:
Authors: Guthrie James P.
Published: March 2007

Using arguments drawn from the organization economics literature, associations between the use of alternative pay practices and firm turnover rates are hypothesized. Relationships between the use of skill-based and group-based compensation plans and firm turnover rates were examined in a sample of 153 New Zealand firms. Ordinary least squares regression results indicate that use of skill-based pay systems improves employee retention, whereas group incentive plans are associated with greater turnover. This latter association is magnified as organization size increases.
Follow the Leader?
Authors: Higgins Monica C.
Published: March 2007

This article examines career decision making in the rapidly changing organizational and employment context at the end of the 20th century, the context some scholars have called the “boundaryless career” environment. The particular focus is the extent to which different sources of social influence and the combination of such sources affect employer choice: specifically, whether individuals conform to a dominant employer choice (i.e., make a popular employment decision). Hypotheses are tested with survey data on a sample of master of business administration students in the process of making career decisions for their work lives following graduate school. Results provide compelling evidence that normative sources of social influence have a significant effect on compliance with the dominant employer choice whereas informational sources of influence, such as one’s network of advisors, do not. Implications for how different types of social influence may affect different types of career decisions in today’s work environment are discussed.
Change Agent Research and Organizational Change
Authors: Ragab A. Megid , Moriarty Richard J. , Guilmette Ann Marie
Published: March 2007

Change Agent Research (CAR) is a "people" change approach that con trasts what a group (or individual) thinks it is doing with the actual behavior that exists. CAR was first applied in the area of sport organiza tion and administration, with the Windsor Little League. In three phases, organizational audit and feedback (personal and audiovisual observa tion, interviews, and opinionnaires), treatment (including clinics) and development of change agents, and reaudit and packaging of CAR, the espoused aims of the program were clarified and contrasted to the competitive behavior demonstrated, and ten action directives were for mulated to reduce internal strain in the league structure and allow mod eration of the behavior of participants. The applicability of CAR methodology to other organizations is discussed.
Citizen Participation in Community Mental-Health Programs: A Study in Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation
Authors: Davis Tim R.V. , Specht Pamela S.
Published: March 2007

Citizen participation in the governance of community mental-health programs is a neglected area of health-care administration. The litera ture is primarily anecdotal with few empirical studies. This paper de scribes the first state-wide study1 of citizen participation to include all groups responsible for the administration of community mental-health programs.
Experiential Learning Methods for Management Development in French-Speaking Africa
Authors: pfeiffer j.william
Published: March 2007

This review continues our practice of examining the variety of human resource development practices in different nations. In prior issues we looked at training in Israel (March 1976; June 1977) and in Australia (September 1976; June 1977) and OD in Japan (Decem ber 1977).
Approaches to Conflict Management
Authors: Roark Albert E. , Wilkinson Linda
Published: March 2007

Conflict is an unavoidable but potentially productive part of human behavior. When managed effectively, conflict can lead to satisfaction with goals attained, more creative "solutions," and enhanced commit ment to relationships. This article describes a variety of approaches to conflict management, categorizes them, and discusses the similarities of and contributions made by a few widely used models. Detailed descrip tions are given of models that convert conflicts into problems to which problem-solving techniques can be applied.
Blind Spots in Organizational Theorizing
Authors: Weick Karl E.
Published: March 2007

Starting from the premise that much research on organizations lacks theoretical tension, this article suggests ways to put energy back in the field. The theme of blind spots is developed with illustrations of "blind ing spots," "blind spotting," "blind spots," and "blinding spotting." Implications for investigators and suggestions for improved theorizing are offered.
Training Men and Women for Androgynous Behaviors in Organizations
Authors: Sargent Alice G.
Published: March 2007

Organizational problems that arise from traditional sex-role behaviors are discussed. Androgyny is presented as a concept that can be integrated with behavioral-science training programs, especially human-resource-management programs. Androgyny is viewed as an effective mixture of behaviors that traditionally have been termed "masculine" and "feminine." Examples of traditional behavior are cited, and ways for male and female employees to acquire androgynous behavior are suggested.
Schools and Moral Development: Interpersonal Relations, Behavior, and Organizational Change
Authors: Wilson Thomas C.
Published: March 2007

This article, after briefly presenting moral development theory, analyzes the theory from the perspective of small-group processes and behaviors. The author hypothesizes that upper movement in the stages of moral reasoning is more apt to occur under a combination condition of high interpersonal competence and high role taking. The relationship between moral reasoning and behavior is also examined. The author takes the position that moral reasoning is perhaps necessary, but not sufficient, forschool endeavors and that attention ought to focus equally on moral behavior and reasoning. The bureaucratic and authoritarian nature of the school system, which mitigates against such focus, is also discussed. He concludes that if schools accept the charge of moral education toward action, such an outcome can develop only within a context of general school structural/organizational change.
The Impact of Situational Leadership and Classroom Structure on Learning Effectiveness
Authors: Hersey Paul , Angelini Arrigo L. , Carakushansky Sofia
Published: March 2007

Situational Leadership Theory was used to design and conduct two training courses for managers. Appropriate Situational Leadership styles were varied during the course, according to students' task maturity. When final examina tion scores for these groups were compared with scores obtained by managers in two control groups-receiving identicaL content, but not Situational Leader ship-based training-the managers in the experimental groups were found to have scored significantly higher. It is suggested that Situational Leadership Theory may be productively applied in training and educational as well as typical management situations.
Team Development in an Intact, Ongoing Work Group: A Quasi-Field Experiment
Authors: Hughes Richard L. , Rosenbach William E. , Clover William H.
Published: March 2007

A team development intervention with a squadron at the U.S. Air Force Academy is reported. A six-month follow-up involving comparisons with an equivalent control squadron indicated that the intervention positively influ enced both climate and performance variables in the target organization. Results are discussed in the context of current skepticism about the utility of process interventions for effecting lasting improvement in organizational effectiveness.
The Informant Panel: A Retrospective Methodology for Guiding Organizational Change
Authors: Lundberg Craig C. , Glassman Alan M.
Published: March 2007

Conventional field methods utilized for organizational diagnoses and interventional guidance are relatively inefficient, typically contain multiple meanings, and overly rely on the investigator's interpretations. The In formant Panel was invented to overcome these difficulties. Combining features of the Nominal Group and Delphi techniques, the Informant Panel is an inexpensive, time-efficient, retrospective method for obtaining the consen sually meaningful information needed to guide change projects. This article describes the Informant Panel, its origins, a major illustrative application, and its developmental requirements.
Managerial Women in Mixed Groups: Implications of Recent Research
Authors: Staley Constance Courtney
Published: March 2007

Current research on female membership in mixed groups often reports mixed findings regarding female effectiveness. Some studies of male- female leadership styles, for example, report no difference, some studies show a strong preference for male characteristics in a leader, and some studies find a complex interaction of variables when male-female styles are compared. Although norms, roles, stereotypes, and society itself appear to be in a state of flux, recent findings also imply positive suggestions for improving the quality and quantity of female interac tion in mixed groups. The research implications reported here may be divided into three categories that may be used as a framework to develop management training curricula for women.
A Top Management Personal Values Typology: Inverted Factor Analysis Approach to a Conglomerate
Authors: Brunson Richard W.
Published: March 2007

Although there has been considerable attention in recent years given to the personal values of top (central) management, there has been relatively little based upon empirical study. This empirical explor atory study reports an inverted factor analysis approach to developing a personal value typology of a management team of a highly success ful conglomerate. Although the validity of this study is tentative be cause of its small sample, the results substantiate other studies in suggesting a two-dimensional typology of personal values in manage ment teams: moralistic-humanistic and pragmatic.
Perspectives
Authors: Eden Dov
Published: March 2007

The effects of team development (TD) on organizational functioning were assessed in a field quasi-experiment designed to replicate Eden's (1985) field experiment. The command teams of seven combat companies underwent a three-day TD workshop and were compared to the command teams of nine control companies before and after the TD workshops. Pretest mean similarity established that the experi mental and control companies were equivalent. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the experimental companies significantly improved in teamwork, conflict handling, and informa tion about plans. Inconsistent findings in different studies com paring the effectiveness of TD are discussed in terms of team type and the rigor-confirmation relationship.
Burnout as a Function of Communication Patterns
Authors: Leiter Michael P.
Published: March 2007

This study explores a model predicting burnout among human service workers in terms of their social involvement with coworkers and their job satisfaction. The model is presented as a step toward recognizing the rich diversity of social contact occurring in health service settings. The results were consistent with expectations that burnout would be higher for workers who communicated extensively regarding work, but maintained relatively few informal, supportive relationships with cowork ers. The model included job satisfaction in conjunction with the communication variables as predictors of burnout. The results are discussed as having relevance to the development of peer supervision procedures in mental health settings. Methods of clarifying departures from the model are discussed.
Evaluating Performance in Training-Oriented Human Service Organizations
Authors: Osigweh Chimezie A.B.
Published: March 2007

Training organizations are reluctant to evaluate themselves seriously, partly because of the fear that gains from such evaluations are minimal while the losses may be astronomical, particularly if the evaluation is negative. Adding to this difficulty is the lack of program evaluation models that emphasize the idea of positive change in training contexts. A "value-added" model is proposed to address this circumstance in human service training organizations. Trainers and OD practitioners and researchers concerned with valuable change in organizations are thus introduced to the notion of a value-added framework.
The Relationship Between Job Security and Employee Health
Authors: Kuhnert Karl W. , Sims Ronald R. , Lahey Mary Anne
Published: March 2007

The relationship between perceived job security and employee health was examined in two manufacturing organizations. A significant relationship was found between health and job security using global measures of both constructs. Closer examination of the correlations among the subscales of the measures of health and perceived job security revealed different patterns of subscale relationships in two organizations. These results suggest that job security is an important determinant of employee health, and that inclusion of this construct in general models of stress and well-being may help to improve our understanding of work performance.
Who Wants Participative Management?
Authors: Collins Denis , Ross Ruth Ann , Ross Timothy L.
Published: March 2007

Participatory management systems have not been implemented at the pace forecasted by many managerial theorists. A survey of 485 upper-level managers from 59 industrial companies is utilized to examine this situation. The survey results show that the managers have a preference for participative systems, expect desirable outcomes to be achieved, generally perceive a need for organizational change, and express a willingness to support change toward a more partici pative system but generally do not install them. Contingency factors are examined to explain the variance associated with preferences for participative systems. The survey findings suggest that, although other reasons are often cited, the primary missing ingredient in the forecasted managerial evolution toward such systems is a lack of transformational leadership. Until this is developed, installation and success of such systems will remain limited.
Job Stress and the Buffering Effect of Supervisory Support
Authors: Cummins Robert C.
Published: March 2007

This investigation examined the buffering model of social support with respect to the moderating effect of supervisory support on the relationship between job stress and job dissatisfaction for 96 employed graduate and undergraduate business students. Although a cross-sectional design was employed, results are consistent with the hypothesis that supervisory support acts as a stress buffer only for individuals who are relationship—oriented—as measured by Fiedler's (1967) esteem for least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale. Implications for organizational interventions and for linking of leadership theory with the stress-buffering model of supervisory support are discussed.
The Impact of Top-Management Actions on Employee Attitudes and Perceptions
Authors: Niehoff Brian P. , Enz Cathy A. , Grover Richard A.
Published: March 2007

Popular approaches to organizational leadership note that productivity and innovation in U.S. organizations could be greatly improved if top managers placed more emphasis on organizational values and culture. Recent findings in transformational leadership research prescribe top management to develop and share a vision for the organization, model that vision, encourage innovativeness, support employee efforts, and allow employees input into decisions concerning their jobs (Bass, 1985; Kouzes & Posner, 1988). These actions should act to improve productivity by increasing positive attitudes and clarifying the roles of the employees. This study examined the relationships between these five actions and employee commitment, job satisfaction, and role ambiguity. Results suggest that top-management actions are strongly related to all three of these outcomes. The results also suggest that the effects of certain actions vary for different organizational settings.
Women's and Men's Expectations About the Effects of New Technology at Work
Authors: Hackett Edward J. , Mirvis Philip H. , Sales Amy L.
Published: March 2007

This article compares the views of men and women employed in hourly production jobs regarding the effects of an innovation on their working conditions, their organization, and the rewards they receive. Gender differences are found on an array of expectations likely to influence the innovation process, including knowledge of and general attitude toward new technology, job security, safety, learning opportunities, training and technical assistance, and rewards. Gender differences persist when education, age, seniority, and relevant characteristics of an employee's current job are controlled.
Cohesiveness without Groupthink
Authors: Bernthal Paul R. , Insko Chester A.
Published: March 2007

This study attempts to examine the role of task-oriented cohesion and its relationship to social-emotional cohesion within the groupthink framework. Specifically, it was predicted that the symptoms of groupthink would be least likely to appear when task-oriented cohesion exceeded social-emotional cohesion. In addition, it was predicted that the symptoms of group-think would be most likely to appear when social-emotional cohesion was high. The design manipulated type of cohesion (social-emotional cohesion: high vs. low; task-oriented cohesion: high vs. low) with the symptoms of groupthink serving as dependent variables. Group members were asked to indicate the degree to which they experienced the symptoms of groupthink after completing a decision-making task. Results indicated that the combination of low social-emotional and high task-oriented cohesion resulted in the lowest perception of groupthink symptoms. In addition, groups high in social-emotional cohesion were more likely to experience the symptoms of groupthink than were groups high in task-oriented cohesion. Implications of these findings for cohesion and the groupthink model are discussed.
Organizational Commitment and Whistle-Blowing
Authors: Somers Mark J. , Casal Jose C.
Published: March 2007

The relationship between organizational commitment and whistle-blowing was studied using a national sample of management accountants. Linear and curvilinear versions of the reformer and the organization man hypotheses were tested with results supporting a purely curvilinear model. More specifically, the relationship between commitment and the intent to report wrong-doing took the form of an inverted U, suggesting that moderate levels of commitment are most likely to result in whistle-blowing. Results were discussed in terns of their implications for theory and research and for management practice.
The Structural Embeddedness of Resistance among Public Managers
Authors: Brower Ralph S. , Abolafia Mitchel Y.
Published: March 2007

The study of resistance in organizations has been dominated by two perspectives. From a managerial perspective resistance is dysfunction that managers learn to "cope with." Most radical/critical perspectives see resistance as a weapon in the class struggle. Contrary to managerial characterizations we find that bureaucratic resistance is a common and varied mode of organizational behavior. Contrary to critical views it is often enacted to support, rather than undermine, the goals of the organization. Neither view adequately accounts for resistance by managers who are caught in conflicting role obligations. The many forms of resistance are largely unstudied, yet the informants in our ethnographic study have illuminated a variety of strategies and richly detailed accounts. We present a structural model of the relationships between resistors' strategies and antecedent conditions. Two cases from our research illustrate the model. We conclude with implications for managers, researchers, and recent prescriptions to "reinvent" government.
Race and Sex Differences in Line Managers' Reactions to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Interventions
Authors: Konrad Alison M. , Linehan Frank
Published: March 2007

Previous authors have used laboratory experiments and public opinion surveys to examine attitudes toward equal employment opportunity and affirmative action (EEO/AA) programs. This study adds a level of specificity to this research by examining attitudes toward the actual human resource management (HRM) practices comprising organizational EEO/AA programs. EEO/AA-related HRM practices were identified in in-depth interviews. Line managers in four organizaions (n = 242) responded to a survey asking them to express their attitudes toward 26 EEO/AA-related HRM practices and to indicate their level of organizational commitment and perceived career opportunities with the company. Findings indicated that although demographic groups differed in their attitudes, all demographic groups expressed neutral to positive attitudes toward EEO/AA-related HRM practices.
Behaviors, Trust, and Goal Achievement in a Win-Win Negotiating Role Play
Authors: Butler John K.
Published: March 2007

The study investigated whether negotiators' behaviors were related to changes in their opponents' initial trust, and whether trust and behaviors were related to their own goal achievement. Hypotheses were derived from a synthesis of two well-known models of mistrust and conflict. Participants were 296 management students, most of whom had supervisory experience. They performed a negotiating task with a fully integrative (win-win) solution, and provided data on their interactions and goal achievements. Increases in opponents' trust during negotiation were associated with information sharing and pursuit of the opponents' interests, but not with the pursuit of the negotiators' own interests. The achievement of negotiators' own goals was related to pursuing their own interests, but not to information sharing nor to pursuing their opponents' interests. Implications for negotiators and some apparently dysfunctional consequences of experience are discussed.
Changing Attitudes toward Quality
Authors: Procopio A. John , Fairfield-Sonn James W.
Published: March 2007

Each year firms spend millions of dollars on training efforts to improve employees' attitudes toward quality. Yet a review of the literature reveals very little rigorous research has been conducted to evaluate how successful these programs have been. Therefore, to test the effectiveness of one training program, a Solomon Four Group field quasi-experiment was conducted. Specifically, this study examined whether or not there was a relationship between participants' learning style, perceived program structure, prior experience with quality programs, age, and years of service with subsequent changes in attitudes toward quality. The results indicated that in this program the group receiving a pretest and training had significantly higher posttest attitudes toward quality scores. Implications for implementing a quality improvement program are discussed.
The Effect of Learning versus Outcome Goals on a Simple versus a Complex Task
Authors: Winters Dawn , Latham Gary P.
Published: March 2007

The effect of learning versus outcome goals on performance quality on a simple versus a complex scheduling task was examined using business school students as participants (n = 114). On a simple task an outcome goal led to significantly more correct schedules being produced than urging people to do their best. On a complex task, assigning a learning goal led to performance that was significantly higher than either an assigned outcome goal or being urged to do one's best. Self-efficacy was significantly higher in the learning goal condition than it was in the do-best condition. Moreover, the number of effective task strategies used on a complex task was significantly higher in the learning goal condition than it was in the other two conditions. These findings suggest that when attempting new complex processes, such as acquiring new businesses, organizations should set specific difficult learning as opposed to performance outcome goals.
Reducing the Threat of Rater Nonparticipation in 360-Degree Feedback Systems
Authors: Westerman James W. , Rosse Joseph G.
Published: March 2007

An advantage of 360-degree feedback systems is the removal of idiosyncratic single-source bias inherent in traditional top-down performance appraisal systems. Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree feedback systems assume the existence of representative participation to achieve this end. However, as most 360-degree feedback systems recommend the anonymity of raters, rater participation frequently becomes an issue of choice. To examine if there exist systematic differences in perceptions between raters who choose to participate and raters who choose not to participate in 360-degree feedback systems, data were collected from a 360-degree feedback source particularly vulnerable to the rater choice of nonparticipation-upward appraisals. Results indicated that raters who chose to participate felt more confident regarding the format of the appraisal, felt less pressure to bias their ratings, felt more confident that their ratings were accurate, were more secure in the role of rating superiors, and were more likely to perceive potential outcomes resulting from the process. Implications for managers are discussed.
An Employee Survey Measuring Total Quality Management Practices and Culture
Authors: Zeitz Gerald , Johannesson Russell , Ritchie J. Edgar
Published: March 2007

This article presents a survey instrument designed to measure total quality management (TQM) and supporting organizational culture. In this study, 13 a priori dimensions of TQM and 10 a priori dimensions of organizational culture or climate were operationalized in a 113-item survey designed to measure the level of culture and TQM as experienced by individual members. The instrument was successfully administered to a diverse sample of organization members. A factor analysis of results from 886 respondents indicates that seven TQM and five culture dimensions, comprising only 56 of the original items, account for most of the scale variance. This produces a relatively compact instrument that allows researchers and practitioners to measure perceived culture and TQM implementation among all types of employees, work contexts, and TQM program levels. Revised index scores were found to be significantly related to stage of formal TQM program, thus supporting scale validity. Suggestions for using the instrument are presented.
Perceptions of Workplace Affirmative Action Plans
Authors: Little Beverly L. , Murry William D. , Wimbush James C.
Published: March 2007

Affirmative action in the workplace continues to be a controversial issue, particularly for persons soon to enter the workforce. This study examines psychological constructs and demographic variables as precursors to perceptions of the self-interest implications of affirmative action programs. The constructs of symbolic prejudice and self-esteem were found to predict perceptions toward affirmative action in the workplace. Weak effects were found for race and gender.
Test of a Justice-Based Model of Subordinates' Resistance to Downward Influence Attempts
Authors: Tepper Bennett J. , Eisenbach Regina J. , Kirby Susan L. , Potter Paula W.
Published: March 2007

The authors developed and tested a model that depicts interactional justice as a mediator of the effects of managers' influence tactics on subordinates' resistance. Data collected from supervised workers provided evidence of mediated moderation: The use of hard influence tactics was associated with lower resistance when they were used with soft influence tactics. This effect was mediated by the experience of interactional justice. Although the use of rational influence tactics was unrelated to subordinates' resistance, it was associated with greater interactional justice when they were not used with soft influence tactics. Resistance was also related to the content of the influence attempt: Resistance was lower when targets perceived the request to be interesting, important, and unarnbiguous. Implications and directions for future research are briefly discussed.
Developing Effective Self-Managing Work Teams in Service Organizations
Authors: Spreitzer Gretchen M. , Cohen Susan G. , Ledford Gerald E.
Published: March 2007

A large body of research has emerged on the effective implementation of self-managing work teams (SMWTs). However, virtually all of the research has been conducted in manufacturing settings. This article draws upon the authors’research on SMWTs in two service organizations: an insurance operation and a telecommunications company. The authors focused on two research questions: First, they examined the relationships among different dimensions of SMWT effectiveness. Second, the authors explored the key success factors for SMWTs in a service context. They found that the different dimensions of SMWTs’effectiveness do not reinforce one another and are largely unrelated, and that creating an employee involvement (EI) context, work design, and team characteristics were important predictors of SMWT effectiveness. Surprisingly, team leadership was not important for SMWT effectiveness; in fact, sometimes, team leadership was negatively related to effectiveness.
A Hierarchical Network of Provably Optimal Learning Control Systems: Extensions of the Associative Control Process (ACP) Network
Authors: Baird Leemon C. , Klopf A. Harry
Published: March 2007

An associative control process (ACP) network is a learning control system that can reproduce a variety of animal learning results from classical and instrumental conditioning experiments (Klopf, Morgan, & Weaver, 1993; see also the article, 'A Hierarchical Network of Control Systems that Learn"). The ACP networks proposed and tested by Klopf, Morgan, and Weaver are not guaranteed, however, to learn optimal policies for maximizing reinforcement. Optimal behavior is guaranteed for a reinforcement learning system such as Q-learning (Watkins, 1989), but simple Q-learning is incapable of reproducing the animal learning results that ACP networks reproduce. We propose two new models that reproduce the animal learning results and are provably optimal. The first model, the modified ACP network, embodies the smallest number of changes necessary to the ACP network to guarantee that optimal policies will be learned while still reproducing the animal learning results. The second model, the single-layer ACP network, embodies the smallest number of changes necessary to Q-learning to guarantee that it reproduces the animal learning results while still learning optimal policies. We also propose a hierarchical network architecture within which several reinforcement learning systems (e.g., Q-learning systems, single-layer ACP networks, or any other learning controller) can be combined in a hierarchy. We implement the hierarchical network architecture by combining four of the single-layer ACP networks to form a controller for a standard inverted pendulum dynamic control problem. The hierarchical controller is shown to learn more reliably and more than an order of magnitude faster than either the single-layer ACP network or the Barto, Sutton, and Anderson (1983) learning controller for the benchmark problem.