bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making the Dilettante an Expert: Personal Staffs in Public Bureaucracies
Authors: Hamilton Gary G. , Biggart Nicole Woolsey
Published: March 2006

Personal staffs of political leaders play an increasingly important role in modern government. Although much publicized, personal staffs are, however, one of the least studied aspects of government. This paper brings together the anecdotal writings of political observers, the formulations of organizational theorists, and the historical analyses of historians and sociologists in an attempt to develop an ideal-typical model of personal staffs. The authors suggest that personal staffs in modern government are a means of mitigating the dilettantism of political leaders in their relations with competing power groups, including the public bureaucracy.
Mass Media and the Women's Movement: 1900-1977
Authors: Cancian Francesca M. , Ross Bonnie L.
Published: March 2006

News coverage of women is strongly related to the women's movement. The quantity of coverage was measured from 1900 to 1977 for the New York Times and the periodicals in the Reader's Guide. Television coverage of the women's movement and newspaper reporting of the civil rights movement were also examined. Coverage of women was highest when the women's movement was strong; however, there was little media coverage of the early stages of the current women's movement and civil rights movement. A content analysis showed that the quality of news coverage also varies with the strength of the movement.
A Framework of Participation in Community Organizations
Authors: Wandersman Abraham
Published: March 2006

This article presents an organizing framework of participation in community organizations which uses an interdisciplinary perspective and attempts to provide a map of the major dimensions that characterize the complex phenomenon of participation. The major elements of the framework include: 1. environmental, ecological, and social characteristics of the community, 2. individual differences, 3. parameters of participation, 4. mediators, and 5. the effects of participation. Some potential uses of the framework are suggested.
Contradictions in the Design and Practice of an Alternative Organization: The Case of Hampslhie College
Authors: Kegan Daniel L.
Published: March 2006

Explicit and implicit design assumptions in the founding of Hampshire College are reviewed, especially as they relate to contradictions and problems evident in practice now, 20 years after its initial design. Issues include:

• the role of ideology in distorting perception and impeding problemsolving;

• the role of alternative institutions in the diffusion and implementation of educational innovations;

• the backsliding from an experimenting institution; and

• the difficulty of shifting from a founding to a self-renewing orientation.

Historical analysis finds that Hampshire was not structurally designed or enacted as a national experimenting college, but acquired this style and image in exploiting the environment for financial and human resources. The College is also found to embody a major contradiction of American society: that between norms of individual freedom and responsibility and norms of social responsibility and community. Three conclusions are offered to designers of alternative organizations:

• there are semantic entrapments in the phrase "alternative organization"-its use may often obscure quite traditional ideologies;

• there is a need for explicit feedback and evaluation systems monitoring the planners and the plan; and

• the wise fool should be welcomed back as a valued member of design and management groups.
Organization-Building for Rural Development: An Experiment in India
Authors: Tandon Rajesh , Brown L. Dave
Published: March 2006

This paper argues that local organizations able to act on behalf of the rural poor are critical to constructive social change in developing societies. An intervention for building such local organizations is described conceptually and its implementation illustrated in work with small farmers in rural India. Time-series data collected over 30 months revealed significant changes in activities by trained groups. Trained groups undertook more initiatives that were planned, informed, collectively organized, successful in influencing the village as a whole, and successful in influencing agencies outside the village. Qualitative data also indicated important changes in trained-group activities. The relevance of applied behavioral science theory and technology to rural development and social change is discussed in the light of these findings.
Labeling of Health Risk in Industrial Settings
Authors: Sands Roberta G. , Newby Larry G. , Greenberg Richard A.
Published: March 2006

In January 1974 a Louisville, Kentucky chemical company announced that a link had been found between angiosarcoma and exposure to vinyl chloride. A program of medical screening identified "at risk" workers, some of whom were reassigned to an alternative work setting, a wood pallet plant. Twenty-four "high risk" pallet plant workers (PP) were matched with an equal number of workers with some abnormal test results (TP) and normal results (TN). Illness behavior in the form of medical visits for reasons of illness and injury was documented from the dispensary medical records. Frequency of dispensary use was compared across groups for each PP worker's first year in the pallet plant and for one year prior to furlough or reassignment.

Findings in relation to illness and injury for the three groups and the two time periods were not significant. Although the results were unexpected and negative, they demonstrate that high-risk workers can be perceived in a derogatory way. Such workers are faced with stigmatization as well as difficulties associated with their uncertain state of health.
Racial Exclusion in Juries
Authors: Benokraitis Nijole
Published: March 2006

This study examines the norms of jury selection, determines which norms are most important in qualifying individuals for jury service, and discusses how the interpretation and application of these norms influence the racial composition of juries as blacks progress from the jury list to the jury panel and to the jury box. The data come from a questionnaire survey of 1,551 legal personnel-district clerks, jury commissioners, state attorneys, defense attorneys, and judges-who are most directly associated with state petit trial juries in 325 counties of eight Southern states with large black populations. The results indicate that blacks are significantly underrepresented at several jury selection stages. Some of the reasons for this underrepresentation are related to unsupervised and unauthorized discretionary jury selection procedures and the systematic striking of blacks.
Basic and Applied Sociological Work: Divergence, Convergence, or Peaceful Co-existence?
Authors: DeMartini Joseph R.
Published: March 2006

The linkages and barriers between basic and applied sociological work are examined. Basic sociology is defined as "discipline oriented" and applied sociology is defined as "'client oriented.'" These orientations are compared on three dimensions: goals, working norms, and reference groups. Possible linkages between the two sociologies are examined through two questions: (1) what relevance do the products of basic research have for applied work; and (2) how is the training necessary for basic research relevant to applied skills? A review of policy and evaluation research literature indicates that social science research findings have an indirect impact upon decision makers while the testimony of applied sociologists places heavy emphasis upon the importance of methodology and statistics. The relationship between a study's methodological and statistical sophistication and its utilization, however, appears to be inverse. Sociological theory has played a minor role in the training for and conduct of applied work, though the need for a theory of application is often cited by those concerned with the formation of public policy. Three scenarios are offered that suggest possible trends in the relationship between basic and applied sociology.
Moving Beyond the Single-Solution Perspective: The Competing Values Approach as a Diagnostic Tool
Authors: Quinn Robert E. , McGrath Michael R.
Published: March 2006

One of the most important elements of the analysis and change process is the theoretical framework that is brought to the diagnostic task. The framework guides the selection of questions that are asked and the conclusions that are reached, and it greatly influences the selection of change strategies and, thus, the eventual outcome of the intervention.

In this paper we argue that the practice of organization development has suffered because of single-solution frameworks. In responding to this problem, the paper reviews a recent program of empirical research and proposes a new diagnostic framework. It is argued that the new framework not only reflects the comprehensive theoretical literature but also makes clear those potentially conflicting values that undergird the diagnostic process.
Bridging the Information Gap at Three Mile Island: Radiation Monitoring by Citizens
Authors: Gricar Barbara Gray , Baratta Anthony J.
Published: March 2006

This paper describes a unique effort to provide citizens with information about radiation exposure and to rebuild public confidence in information supplied by government agencies. The Citizen Radiation Monitoring Program (CRMP) trained lay citizens to monitor, interpret, and publicize radiation levels in 12 communities surrounding Three Mile Island (TMI) during the purge of radioactive Krypton from the reactor a year after the accident. One outgrowth of the accident was an erosion in the community's confidence in information about risks associated with the clean-up. Traditional mechanisms for information exchange between government officials and the public had a deviation-amplifying effect on this information gap. The CRMP sought to reverse this effect by (1) involving the communities in the program's design and operation, (2) trusting local citizens to measure and publicize radiation levels, and (3) addressing emotional as well as technical issues associated with the purge. Several implications for disseminating public information are offered.
Arabs in Israel: Political Tolerance and Ethnic Conflict
Authors: Seligson Mitchell A. , Caspi Dan
Published: March 2006

It has been argued frequently that democracies can survive if their citizens are committed to constitutional procedures and remain willing to grant civil liberties to minority groups. In ethnically and/or racially diverse democracies, maintenance of minority rightsfrequently has been problematical. This paper examines the commitment of Israeli Jews to the political rights of the Israeli Arab minority. The study is based upon a survey of 490 adult, urban Jewish citizens. It is found that younger, better educated, more affluent, and less religious Jews in Israel express higher levels of general tolerance and are more tolerant toward the political rights of Israeli Arabs.
Team Building and the Problem of Regression: The Personal Management Interview as an Intervention
Authors: Boss R. Wayne
Published: March 2006

This article describes the characteristics of a Personal Management Interview (PMI) and reports the results of its implementation in 16 different organizational contexts. Based upon Group Behavior Inventory and personal interview data collected from 208 participants (135 experimental and 71 comparison group members), the results show that the implementation of regular PMls can prevent the regression or fade-out which often occurs after off-site teambuilding sessions.
Action Science and Intervention
Authors: Argyris Chris
Published: March 2006

Individuals, programmed with Model I theories-in-use, often use reasoning processes to diagnose and invent solutions to threatening problems that they then appear to ignore when they act. Moreover, the reasoning processes they use to act contradict the ones they use to diagnose and invent their actions. Individuals, therefore, appear to be disconnected from their reasoning processes, programmed to be so, and unaware of the program that keeps them unaware. This results in behavioral environments composed of escalating error and self-sealing processes that, in turn, leave people feeling helpless. They react by distancing themselves from their personal responsibility and creating an organizational culture to support their behavior. An intervention strategy for beginning to deal with these complex phenomena is described.
How Control Groups Can Cause Loss of Control in Action Research: The Case of Rushton Coal Mine
Authors: Blumberg Melvin , Pringle Charles D.
Published: March 2006

Experimenters who attempt to gain and maintain control over research situations routinely apply research designs using control groups. In this article, the authors examine the data produced by an action research project. Their findings indicate that the use of control groups can lead to incomplete and erroneous data and can even force termination of the experiment. The authors offer some suggestions for avoiding these difficulties and outline a new, more appropriate paradigm for research evaluation.
Action Research is Formative: Research at the Saskatchewan Hospital, 1 95 7-61
Authors: Sommer Robert
Published: March 2006

The author has examined the five lines of research started at a mental hospital between 1957-61 to determine their immediate effects upon practice and subsequent citations in the literature. Three lines of research combining basic and applied studies affected practice and research as measured by literature citations. One line of basic studies of perception and psychopathology influenced research but not practice. Applied studies of staff organization had immediate application but disappeared from the professional literature in a short time.
Phases of Progressive Burnout and Their Work Site Covariants: Critical Issues in OD Research and Praxis
Authors: Golembiewski Robert T. , Munzenrider Robert , Carter Diane
Published: March 2006

The term "burnout" represents a significant perspective on how people respond to their work, but the attention paid to this phenomenon has largely been clinical and often anecdotal. In this article, the authors seek to expand the analysis of burnout in ways that permit comparative analysis, especially in large populations.

This study specifically addresses three questions. First, does a paper-and-pencil instrument isolate domains of burnout that are relatively consistent between people-intensive work and the broader range of activities found in a commercial enterprise? Second, can we develop phases of progressive burnout? Third, can we test the efficacy of the burnout phases by searching for regularities in a panel of 22 variables commonly thought to tap the important facets of the work site?

The authors' analysis shows that we can answer these three central questions affirmatively, though occasionally with complex and potentially significant qualifications. The results of the analysis provide further evidence of the usefulness of a convenient instrument for measuring burnout and also suggest that behavioral scientists will find valuable a phase model that distinguishes regular and robust covariation by using a panel of variables thought to tap the important aspects of organizational life.
Internships in an Instant Bureaucracy: Some Organizational Lessons
Authors: Mills Edgar , Harris Richard J. , Brischetto Robert
Published: March 2006

Internships are viewed as interorganizational arrangements in which the academy and the agency each identify their interests and make their procedures and boundary resources flexible enough to accommodate each other's interests. Relatively open organizations meet these conditions more easily than closed systems do. This study analyzes faculty assessments of the Experimental Student Intern Program (ESIP) co-sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and 47 American colleges and universities during the 1980 decennial census. These assessments relate the degree of integration of classroom and field portions of the course. Severe problems with the internships arose, partly because the national staff failed to implement the ESIP by legitimizing it at the local level. The authors also discuss structural problems unrelated to the ESIP in the local census office. Neither the interests of the federal agency nor those of the academy were satisfied because the local agency lacked information, legitimation, and shared interests concerning the internship and was organized as a closed system rather than an open one.
The Importance of Employee Expectations in Organizational Diagnosis
Authors: Pond Samuel B. , Armenakis Achilles A. , Green Samuel B.
Published: March 2006

In this article, the authors advance arguments for empirically assessing expectations in terms of their importance in organizational diagnosis and the implementation of a change program. This study explores the feasibility of including in an organizational diagnostic survey a scale to measure employee expectations of the changeability of selected facets of organizational functioning. Exactly 437 employees from all levels of a mental health hospital completed a diagnostic survey. Each of the items on the survey included four parts pertaining to (a) a facet of organizational climate, (b) expectations of facet changeability, (c) facet importance, and (d) employee satisfaction with the facet indicated. Correlational analyses of responses to the four parts indicated that expectations of changeability could be measured independently of the remaining three parts. Moderated regression analyses clarify their nature and potential use.
Defining and Researching Leadership as a Behavioral Construct: An Idiographic Approach
Authors: Davis Tim R. V. , Luthans Fred
Published: March 2006

The authors first discuss the problem of defining leadership, suggesting three minimal criteria: (1) demonstrated personal causation, (2) observed relationships between behavior and its effects, and (3) substantive performance outcomes. The authors then stress the importance of considering environmental influences on the leadership process and suggest an idiographic approach to researching leadership under such theoretic assumptions for leadership. The rest of the article presents a demonstration study for this approach. After first obtaining qualitative data concerning the problem and the context, the authors use a single-case experimental design to analyze quantitatively the impact that a production manager had on the performance of his unit. The authors feel that this article therefore represents a significant departure from the traditional ways in which leadership has been defined and researched.
Unanticipated Consequences of Union-Management Cooperation: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis
Authors: Dalton Dan R. , Todor William D.
Published: March 2006

In this article, the authors compare the grievance rates an organizational subunit experienced prior to, during, and after a union-management cooperative effort. This participative program provided a naturally occurring field experiment with multiple time-interval pretest measures, treatment removal, and a no-treatment, nonequivalent (intact) control-group design subject to interrupted time series analysis. Markedly fewer grievances occurred during the joint, cooperative effort than during the periods prior to and after the implementation of the one-year experimental program. The authors offer their observations and discuss the implications of these findings for the grievance process and union-management cooperative arrangements.
The Influence of Group Cohesiveness on Some Changes Induced by Flexitime: A Quasi-Experiment
Authors: Narayanan V. K. , Nath Raghu
Published: March 2006

This article examines the introduction offlexitime in a high-technology organization. In this study, the authors employed a quasi-experimental design that uses both an experimental and a control group and preand postmeasures. They assessed the impact of flexitime on employee perceptions of flexibility, back up, superior-subordinate relations, quality of supervision, job satisfaction, and productivity, using work-group cohesiveness as a moderator variable. The results indicate that employees in highly cohesive work groups reported improvement inflexibility, back up, superior-subordinate relations, and productivity. Employees in groups that lacked cohesion did not report any statistically significant change in any variable.
Escalative Intervention in Small-Group Conflicts
Authors: Van de Vliert Evert
Published: March 2006

Escalative interventions by professionals aim to increase the frustration of participants involved in a conflict. In small-group situations, consultants apply escalative interventions only occasionally, because clients hardly ever request them and because most interventionists consider de-escalation a more legitimate method. Yet conflict stimulation is appropriate when it will improve the social-psychologicalfunctioning of the client system.

This article presents eight extrinsic and intrinsic objectives of escalation. The typesof escalative interventions discussed are those that stimulate conflict through antecedent conditions, those that extend the conflict issues, those that extend the parties in the conflict, those that stimulate escalative behaviors, and those that develop escalative consequences. Since the latter two styles can be controlled best, they generally deserve preference. The author concludes that the same escalation objective may be attained by proceeding from initially different conflict conditions and using a variety of intervention strategies.
Experiences in Training Chinese Business People To Use U.S. Management Techniques
Authors: Lindsay Cindy P. , Dempsey Bobby L.
Published: March 2006

This article presents a training program developed in Beijing (Peking) China. In discussing this program, the authors highlight student actions in behavioral exercises and reactions to Western management theories. Explanations of these actions and reactions point to a combination of influences on modern Chinese organizational behavior. The authors found that traditional Chinese culture and modern socialist development have merged to produce unique forms of modern behavior.
Gender, Race, and Class: Differences in Levels of Feminist Orientation
Authors: Figueira-Mcdonough Josefina
Published: March 2006

This article focuses on the differences in feminist orientation occurring by gender, race, and class. The author derives 11 propositions from a review of the literature and tests them at four different levels of feminist reference: public, family, interpersonal, and self. Examining a sample of 1,735 boys and girls born after the onset of the women's movement, the author interprets the findings as degrees of responsiveness to an order that is equalitarian with regard to gender and links these findings to one or more of the strata considered. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for various feminist strategies.
What Do Successful Managers Really Do? An Observation Study of Managerial Activities
Authors: Luthans Fred , Rosenkrantz Stuart A. , Hennessey Harry W.
Published: March 2006

Rather than evaluate managers on the basis of activities traditionally prescribed for success, an observation study was conducted to determine empirically which activities successful managers actually perform. Trained participant observers recorded the behaviors of 52 managers in three diverse organizations-a state department of revenue, a medium-sized manufacturing plant, and a campus police department-over a two-week period. In analyzing the data collected, the authors measured success by using a promotion index of level over tenure and by considering the top managers of each organization to be successful. Regression analysis found that two activities were significantly related to managerial success: interaction with outsiders and socializing/politicking. Further comparative analysis of managers ranked in the top and bottom thirds indicated that successful managers exhibited more behaviors related to conflict management, and comparisons of top-level managers with those in the middle and first levels indicated that successful managers exhibited more behaviors related to decision making and planninglcoordinating. The study found that some of the activities of the successful managers apparently depended upon the type of organization in which they worked.
Public Perceptions of Social Problems: Some Propositions and a Test
Authors: Stafford Mark C. , Warr Mark
Published: March 2006

Research on social problems has largely overlooked a central question: What characteristics must a phenomenon possess before the general public will consider it a social problem? Only by answering that question will one have a clear basis for predicting the outcomes of campaigns to define phenomena as social problems. The authors propose that any phenomenon will be perceived as a social problem to the degree that people (1) condemn it (i.e., view it as wrong or hazardous), (2) perceive it to be frequent or prevalent, and (3) consider it mutable. Data from a 1981 survey of Seattle residents provide strong support for this position, but they also show that the effect of perceived mutability is contingent on the type of social problem under consideration.
The Commercialization of Social Welfare
Authors: Gilbert Neil
Published: March 2006

Movements transforming the private sector of the social market have caused a blurring of the boundary between social and economic markets in the domain of social welfare. Increased federal expenditures for social welfare, a shift from cash benefits to in-kind benefits, and provision of social services to clients above the poverty level have encouraged commercial enterprises to penetrate the social market. This article discusses two movements-the growth of private practice among social welfare professionals and the influx offor-profit organizations into the field-and their implications. In evaluating these changes, the author predicts that social welfare will not soon return to the "liberal" welfare state or develop into a corporate welfare state, but will likely continue in the movement toward increasing privatization, resulting in decentralized production and delivery of services and increased competition among public, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. The author concludes that the most significant concern associated with the commercialization of social welfare may be its effects upon the charitable and communal ideals of social welfare.
The Future of the Voluntary Agency in a Mixed Economy
Authors: Kramer Ralph M.
Published: March 2006

The growing reliance of voluntary nonprofit organizations on governmental funds ties their future to the fate of the welfare state. A mixed, three-sector, social service economy has blurred organizational differences and made a more rational division of responsibility unlikely. This article suggests that the traditional roles of voluntary agencies can still be reformulated to suggest a more realistic view of their distinctive areas of competence and vulnerability. To avoid goal deflection in the future, the author concludes that voluntary agencies must cope effectively with the dilemmas of entrepreneurialism and vendorism.
Leadership and Substitutes for Leadership Among Professional and Nonprofessional Workers
Authors: Howell Jon P. , Dorfman Peter W.
Published: March 2006

In this article, the authors discuss their research on similarities and differences between professionals and nonprofessionals in their responses to managerial leadership behaviors and substitutes for leadership. Their study sample comprised workers at many organizational levels in several hospital and contract research organizations in the Southwest, and they used a multidimensional measure of professionalism to create subsamples of professionals and nonprofessionals. The authors used questionnaire data to test hypotheses regarding instrumental and supportive leadership behaviors and their substitutes. They found that role clarification and support from leaders were important predictors of workers'job satisfaction and organizational commitment for both subsamples, and that formal rules and procedures were an important supplement for instrumental leadership behaviors. Professionals differed from nonprofessionals in that intrinsically satisfying work tasks and importance placed on organizational rewards were strong substitutes for leaders' support. The authors conclude that worker professionalism is an important moderator variable for research on leadership and substitutes for leadership.
Role Structure and Burnout in the Field of Human Services
Authors: Leiter Michael P. , Meechan Kimberly Ann
Published: March 2006

This article discusses a study that investigated burnout as a function of aspects of role structure for people working in the field of human services. The subjects, the staff of a residential rehabilitation and mental health center, completed a six-item questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Least Preferred Coworker Scale. The relationships of accuracy, concentration of social support network, mutual references, and motivational hierarchy were analyzed in three multiple regressions with emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depersonalization. Emotional exhaustion wasfound to have occurred less often when a person's social support network within the setting was not concentrated solely within the formal work subgroup, personal accomplishment was enhanced by an ambiguous role structure, and depersonalization was found to be related primarily to a person s values toward personal relationships and work and to be more prevalent among those with concentrated support networks and ambiguously structured roles.
The Impact of Emergent Network Structure on Organizational Socialization
Authors: Sherman J. Daniel , Smith Howard L. , Mansfield Edward R.
Published: March 2006

Network analysis allows researchers to study patterns of roles or social relationships within organizations, and is especially usefulfor examining the impacts of informal systems on organizational socialization. This article presents a study of the level of connections within networks based on information flow, affect, influence, and the exchange of goods or services. Controlling for belief system, congregation size, and size of community, researchers selected 44 protestant churches for the sample and administered questionnaires randomly to congregation members. Researchers used the resulting data to analyze the effects of the four types of networks on knowledge, desire for growth, personal development, attendance rates, and outreach. The findings indicate that informal systems greatly affect socialization, especially when network connections are based on information flow. The authors conclude that further research should address additional network characteristics that may influence organizational socialization, should employ network analysis at the micro level, and should examine the actual process or organizational socialization.
Social Networks and Organizational Interventions: Insights from an Area-Wide Labor-Management Committee
Authors: Nelson Reed E.
Published: March 2006

In this article, the author discusses a study to determine the effects of interorganizational network structure on the adoption of intervention strategies. The author examined the social network structure of key actors in an area-wide labor-management committee in an industrial city in the northeastern U.S., seeking to determine why some community leaders supported organization development/quality-of-work-life interventions whereas others did not. Using a mail survey of leaders in labor, management, and local government, the author obtained data as to whether respondents had established professional ties only, informal ties only, or both professional and informal ties with members of the community elite. From this analysis, the author concludes that people and organizations with "weak" ties (i.e., professional only) or no ties to the community elite are more likely to support ODI Q WL interventions than are those with "strong" informal and/or professional ties, who will prefer programs that do not threaten current organizational norms.
Political Limits to Interorganizational Consensus and Change
Authors: Gray Barbara , Hay Tina M.
Published: March 2006

When efforts at collaborative problem solving take place in interorganizational settings, political issues arise with respect to the distribution ofpower among various organizations with a stake in the matters being considered. This article discusses the efforts of the National Coal Policy Project (NCPP), a collaborative change effort by representatives of environmental groups andfirms mining and using coal, to achieve a consensus on national coal policy in a nonadversarial, nontraditional setting. The authors 'study of the NCPPexplores three political issues: the role of power in the selection of participants in the NCPP negotiations, the role of power in each stakeholder's decision as to whether or not to participate in the project, and the power of the NCPP participants to have the project recommendations implemented. The authors conclude that successful implementation depends upon the perceived legitimacy of the project and those selecting its participants, and on the ability to include all key stakeholders. This study has implicationsfor planned change in both interorganizational and intraorganizational settings.
The Relationship Between Perceived Unit Effectiveness and Occupational Stress: The Case of Purchasing Agents
Authors: Greer Charles R. , Castro Mary Anne Dorland
Published: March 2006

This article examines the functional relationship between occupational stress and perceived unit effectiveness. Purchasing agents in a Southwestern U.S. city responded to a self-report questionnaire, which solicited measures of stress and effectiveness and such information as respondents'gender, age, number of subordinates, andposition tenure and their organizations' size and type of industry. A regression analysis of these responseswhich controlledfor individual and organizational differences-found that perceived unit effectiveness was negatively related to occupational stress andpositively related to age. The authors found no evidence of an inverted-U-shaped relationship between stress and effectiveness, and little support for the proposition that gender moderates the relationship. Nonetheless, the authors point out that research on the relationship between occupational stress and perceived unit effectiveness should control for the effects of individual characteristics.
Tax Evasion and Perceptions of Tax Fairness: A Research Note
Authors: Etzioni Amitai
Published: March 2006

This research note addresses the debate as to whether tax evasion resultsfrom increased tax rates and economic incentives-as many economists claim -orfrom other factors as well, specifically taxpayers 'perceptions that taxes are unfair. Using survey data collectedfrom 1960-1980 and information on tax rates and estimates of tax evasion for that period, the authorfinds that tax evasion increased during this time, as did the percentage of Americans considering taxes unfair, even as tax rates remained stable. Moreover, those Americans presumably having the lowest incentives to cheat were most likely to consider taxes unfair. This information leads the author to conclude that a growing sense that taxes are unfair is more likely than increasing tax rates and one's level of income to lead to tax evasion.
Redesigning Sociotechnical Systems Design: Concepts and Methods for the 1990s
Authors: Pava Calvin
Published: March 2006

The author of this article argues that sociotechnical systems (STS) design has not kept pace with change, and that to be valuable in thefuture STS design must itselfbe redesigned. The article specifically states that a new set of concepts and methods is neededfor work systems characterized by the nonlinear conversion processes, for STS design has previously addressed only linear work systems, thereby confining its successes to production operations. The author proposes an extension ofSTS design to nonlinear work, describes a case example illustrating such an application, and in an analysis of emerging opportunities for extending STS design proposes six novel applications as future targets.
A Sociotechnical Analysis of the Integrated Factory
Authors: Susman Gerald I. , Chase Richard B.
Published: March 2006

This article presents a sociotechnical systems (STS) analysis of the integratedfactory. The authors discuss the new technology and new manufacturing methods, describe the organizational characteristics of thefully integrated factory, andpresent their visions of what the technical and social systems of such factories will be. The article presents strategies for managing the automation offactories and concludes with a time frame for organizational change.
Long-Term Sociotechnical Systems Change in a Computer Operations Department
Authors: Taylor James C.
Published: March 2006

This article addresses the applicability and longevity of sociotechnical systems (S TS) projects in various organizational settings, focusing particularly on an organization change project undertaken by the computer operations division of a research and development laboratory. The author examines the results and evolution of the project's design three and eight years afterwards in terms of the organization's leadership and culture, and concludes that STS analysis is appropriate for white-collar service settings and can generate longterm success.
Sociotechnical Systems in Health Care: A Field Experiment
Authors: Pasmore William , Petee Jeffrey , Bastian Richard
Published: March 2006

This article describes an intervention that employed sociotechnical systems (STS) analysis in the laboratory of a major health care institution in the Midwest. The analysis was performed on two departments of the laboratory to determine opportunitiesfor improving effectiveness, facilitating the introduction of new technology, and enhancing the work experience of technologists. The authors measured the results of the intervention by conducting a survey of technologists before and after the change effort and through follow-up interviews with a sample ofphysicians, supervisors, and technologists. The intervention did not achieve the results intended, and the authors present their explanations for why this occurred and suggest implications and recommendations for future STS applications to health care settings.
Limitations to the Application of Sociotechnical Systems In Developing Countries
Authors: Kiggundu Moses N.
Published: March 2006

An extensive review of the literature has found that the applications of sociotechnical systems (STS) in developing countries have been spotty and limited in scope. This article discusses the causes of these limitations, including the following: principles of the theory itself and the extent to which they conflict with prevailing conditions and practices in developing countries, the conduct of Western change agents operating in such countries, indigenous managers and other local stakeholders acting as potential change agents, and the quality of the partnerships between Western change agents and their counterparts in developing countries. Although the authorfinds STS theory and interventions epistemologically sound and robust, he notes that their application requires major adjustments both in developing countries and by Western change agents. The author concludes that the success of applications of STS will depend on the capacity of different developing countries to adjust and undertake interventions according to their individual and collective needs and circumstances.
Development and Validation of the Sex Role Conflict Scale
Authors: Chusmir Leonard H. , Koberg Christine S.
Published: March 2006

Because the authors found previous attempts at measuring sex role conflict to lack rigor in measurement and interpretation, they sought to develop an instrument for objectively measuring this condition. From a study of an initial group of 102 persons and afollow-up group of 556 persons from Western U.S. urban areas, the authors developed a new, 17-item, Likert-type scale, which they call the Sex Role Conflict Scale (SRCS). They employedfactor analysis to arrive at the final 17 items used, and conducted studies of the scale's reliability and validity, correlating its results with previously validated measures of role conflict, job satisfaction, job involvement, and propensity to leave. The authors found correlations between these variables and sex role conflict, and recommend the SRCSfor measuring the degree of such conflict experienced by both men and women.
Closing the Gaps: The Effectiveness of Linking Programs Connecting Chronic Mental Patients from the Hospital to the Community
Authors: Rosenfield Sarah , Caton Carol , Nachumi Gideon , Robbins Edwin
Published: March 2006

The research reported in this article tested the effectiveness of a linking program between city hospitals and community treatment programs in reducing the rehospitalization of mental patients following discharge. The authors proposed that the nature of the relationships between the liaison teams of such programs and those providing aftercare services is essential to providing a continuity ofcare and thus to lowering rates ofofrehospitalization. Two liaison teams were evaluated, one of which had more positive and ongoing relationships with providers of community services to mentalpatients. The program with the more positive and continuous relationships was predicted and found to be more effective in reducing rehospitalization rates for chronic mental patients. Testing a case management/ primary therapist adaptation by the less effective program demonstrated that patient or staff characteristics did not account for the differences between the programs'effectiveness.
Goal Coupling and Innovation in Medical Schools
Authors: Bussigel Margaret , Barzansky Barbara , Grenholm Gary
Published: March 2006

In this article, the authors report their study of how the degrees of "coupling"-orfit between parallel institutional goals and between institutional and lesser-order goals of organizations affect the implementation and success of innovations. Using a qualitative research design, the authors studiedfour medical schools that attempted to integrate the instruction of basic medical sciences into either organ-system or problem-solving curricula. The authors'findings lead them to hypothesize that the closer the innovation's goals are to institutional goals, the more targeted and limited the institutional goals, the tighter the coupling across institutional goals and with lesser-order goals, and the more linear and rational the goal-setting processes, the more likely an innovation is to survive. They conclude that medical educators-and other organization leaders-should spend more energy setting goals and priorities for competing goals, and articulating innovation goals with higher-order goals.
Unemployment and Nonwork Activities among Persons with Higher Education
Authors: Shamir Boas
Published: March 2006

This article reports a study of the relationship of employment status to participation in various nonwork activities, the relationship between duration of unemployment and the level of such participation, and the possibility that participation in nonwork activities moderates the psychological impact of unemployment. Using as its population highly educated unemployedpersons in Israel aged27-47years, a two-wave survey was conducted (N = 432). Comparing the responses to the first and second questionnaires, the author analyzed cross-sectional comparisons between those who had and had not become reemployed when they returned the second questionnaire and examined the changes in the levels of nonwork activity and psychological well-being of the respondents that had occurred between their responses. The author found unemployment to be associated with increased participation in certain nonwork activities, and that the level of participation in some activities is positively correlated with psychological well-being. No clear evidence indicated, however, that participation in nonwork activities moderates the relationship between employment status andpsychological well-being.
Common Behavior Changes in Successful Organization Development Efforts
Authors: Porras Jerry I. , Hoffer Susan J.
Published: March 2006

Finding that the field of organization development (OD) suffers from a lack of a unifying theory ofplanned organizational change and the difficulty of integrating research based on diverse methods and models, the authors propose a model in which on-the-job behaviors of organization members act as important mediating variables of organizational change. The article discusses a study seeking to identify and specify common behavior changes characteristic of successful change efforts. The authors surveyed 42 of the top scholars and practitioners in the field, using telephone interviews and open-ended questions. The participants nearly unanimously reported behavior changes common to their interventions and showed at least moderate agreement as to what those changes were. Furthermore, the participants' theoretical orientations and professional affiliations did not cause them to differ as to the behaviors they reported.
The Use of Decision Analysis for Organizational Design: Reorganizing a Community Hospital
Authors: McDaniel Reuben R. , Thomas James B. , Ashmos Donde P. , Smith Judith P.
Published: March 2006

Organizational design is presented as a decision process, with specific structures seen as providing alternative choices. To illustrate this, the authors present the case of a major metropolitan hospital that used the process to coordinate service delivery (nursing care versus patient care) and servicefocus (product oriented versus function oriented). Through interviews with more than 40 hospital administrators and staff, the authors created a list of 20 attributes, and used simple multi-attribute utility analysis to generate six design alternatives. The decision makers unanimously chose one alternative, even though potential for significant conflict existed because of differing values and objectives. The authors find decision analytic techniques useful for both the problem formulation and for generating and evaluating structural alternatives, and conclude that in this case consensus was facilitated by the decision process used
Self-Help as Mutual Protection: The Development of Hispanic Fraternal Benefit Societies
Authors: Rivera Jose A.
Published: March 2006

Research on self-help groups is plentiful yet published material on the origins, development and expansion of self-help groups organized by Hispanics to serve Hispanics remains scarce, as does material on fraternal benefit societies with ethnic, religious, or vocational bases. In this article, the author reports a test of three models advanced by Lieberman and Borman in a JABS special issue (1976) to explain the formation of self-help groups: the functionalist framework alternative pathways, and afflictive bond models. The history, ideologies, and activities of three Hispanic fraternal benefit societies were examined The findings support the explanatory power of Lieberman and Borman's three models; but indicate a fourth reason for the formation of self-help groups: mutual protection. The author concludes by calling for comparative studies to build a context for more empirical research on self-help groups organized as fraternal benefit societies, and for collaboration between policy makers and practitioners and such societies.