bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Heterogeneity in the Interpretation of Epilepsy
Authors: Nijhof Gerhard
Published: March 2007

In the life stories of 20 women and men, diagnosed as having epilepsy, diversity in the interpretations of epilepsy is researched. Early research has presented a rather homogeneous picture of the individual interpretation of epilepsy. The research has been criticized for the failure to distinguish between the interpretations of the self and those of others and the probability of a discrepancy between the two. The criticism put forward here is directed at the unwarranted homogeneity in the interpretations of the self. This homogeneity, it is suggested, is the result of factors such as the use of homogenetic concepts preset by the researcher, the use of encompassing concepts, not allowing for differentiation and heterogeneity, and the presentation of homogeneity by the researcher him/herself. In the interpretations observed in this research, heterogeneity is found. In life stories from the same individual, different interpretations are observed. Next to medical interpretations of "disease," those of "normality" and "abnormality" are ascribed to epilepsy, depending on whether the informants speak for themselves or are the spokesperson for "others. " Furthermore, the interpretation of abnormality appears to be formulated in an ambiguous and vaguely defined language. In the life stories, epilepsy appears thus not to have a homogeneous meaning but is constructed as a heterogeneous social phenomenon.
Spinning Tales from the World Wide Web: Qualitative Research in an Electronic Environment
Authors: Fleitas Joan
Published: March 2007

How do you learn about the texture of life from children with medical problems, and how do you translate their narratives into a web site for all to read? This article attempts to answer those questions. It describes the process of using qualitative research strategies to gather data for a Web-based project, "Band-Aides and Blackboards: When Chronic Illness, or Some Other Medical Problem Goes to School." The article discusses the rationale for using the Internet as a forum for collecting data and explores the advantages and disadvantages of its use. In addition to the Internet, focus groups and individual interviews were identified as rich sources of stories from children with serious health problems, and the article examines their utility. In addition, it details the process of publicizing an invitation, attracting children, and acquiring parental permission for their inclusion. The text takes a look at the barriers that were encountered along the route and addresses each of them, describing as it does the strategies employed to overcome them. A number of web addresses from the site are included as reference so that readers can go "on-line"for a more in-depth understanding of the process.
Reflections on Conducting Qualitative Research with Elderly People
Authors: Higgins Isabel
Published: March 2007

It should come as no surprise that conducting research with elderly people can be challenging and problematic. A review of the literature in this area provides some indication of what many other researchers have encountered, particularly in relation to doing quantitative studies. The majority of these challenges deal with issues involving consent. Although there have been a few articles dealing with doing qualitative research with this population, they were not informative in terms of preparing the author for day-to-day situations. This article is an attempt to redress some of this by sharing the author's experience of collecting data for a phenomenological study involving elderly people who reside in nursing homes. The aim is not to provide solutions but rather to highlight some of the challenges that confront qualitative researchers in this context.
An Analysis of Stylistic Variables in Electronic Mail
Authors: RICE RODNEY P.
Published: March 2007

This article presents the results of a stylistic analysis of 200 samples of electronic mail memorandums gathered from four organizations. Through systematic counting of textual features such as sentence and paragraph length, grammatical types of sentences, sentence openers, and diction, the study examines patterns of rhetorical choice common to electronic mail. In this sample, writers combined elements of formal and informal discourse but preferred simple coordinate sentence patterns, brief paragraphs, and active verbs. Additionally, the serial structuring of message content and reluctance to coordinate and subordinate ideas into appropriate rhetorical patterns indicate a general inattentiveness to providing logical frameworks for readers.
What are Business Schools for? On Silence and Voice in Management Education
Authors: Grey Christopher
Published: March 2007

There are widespread reports of poor working conditions, especially in developing countries. If these are commercially necessary and if business schools exist to enable effective management, why are they not taught in such schools? This article argues that the reason is that business schools are not primarily concerned with producing effective managers but withsocializing and legitimating managers. Critical manage ment education needs to give voice to concerns about management practice, which presents pedagogical problems to which some solutions are suggested.
Expert Strategies for Poor-Performing Students in Technical Courses
Authors: Sankowsky Daniel A.
Published: March 2007

Poor performing students in technical required courses tend to assume that their failure reflects lack of ability within the discipline. The suggestion made here is that tacit student strategies for learning and problem solving are also crucial factors, and when ineffective, function as concealed contributors to poor performance. It is further suggested that experts in various domains rely on some commonly held tacit strategies, and that these can be partially transferred to students through a set of implementable steps. This process benefits students by addressing some underlying issues and by providing useful interventions.
Developing First Encounters of the Close Kind: A Beginning Class Exercise
Authors: Manning Michael R. , Weber Paula S.
Published: March 2007

Initial meetings with new colleagues or teammates frequently give rise to behaviors such as nervousness, shyness, sarcasm, or false joviality. These behaviors can make the formation of a strong working relationship very slow and even difficult. This article presents an exercise for helping one interact more comfortably and effectively during a first encounter. The exercise provides a basis for improved interpersonal interaction and teamwork throughout the relationship or class. The exercise also leads to an exploration of individual entry behaviors and an examination of the effectiveness of those behaviors in developing a collaborative learning environment. The exercise can be used to introduce important management course topics (i.e., decision making, leadership, attitudes and perceptions, communication processes, interpersonal style, group dynamics, issues of trust, and organizing processes) via experiential methods. The success of this exercise is discussed along with a pedagogical framework for class discussion guided by Kolb’s experiential learning model.
Teaching Management in Societies Undergoing Paradigm Shift: The Case of South Africa
Authors: Human Piet , Hofmeyr Karl
Published: March 2007

Special problems and challenges face the teacher of management in societies undergoing paradigm shift. It is suggested that the fundamental values and assumptions underlying the dominant paradigm of society and consequently of the students and teachers themselves become the object of investigation and debate. This is a process of introspection and not, as in the traditional mode of teaching, a matter of transferring skills from teacher to student. This is illustrated by means of two processes applied at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town. Some of the problems associated with this mode of learning are highlighted.
Teaching Leadership: Preparing Graduate Students for "Taking Charge"
Authors: Farquhar Katherine
Published: March 2007

Fast-track MBA and MPA graduates cycle through several managerial assignments during their career, requiring that they repeatedly "take charge" of new units or organizations. Research has shown that this transitional stage of an executive assignment has unique leader-follower dynamics and tasks. However, most leadership courses do not provide formal study of the transition dynamics, tending to emphasize the qualities of established, steady state leadership. This article summarizes research on the "taking charge" process, distinguishing between the entering and the established phases of a managerial assignment along dimensions such as the self-focused and other-directed tasks at each stage. The article describes teaching strategies, materials, and adaptations to current curricula that enable students to understand the evolution of a managerial assignment from taking charge through to established leadership and to build relevant skills and expectations.
Teaching a Class on Gender Issues in Introductory OB Courses: Exercises and Theory
Authors: Jennings P. Devereaux , Egri Carolyn T. , Langton Nancy , Frost Peter J.
Published: March 2007

Surveys such as that done by J. B. Rosener and C. L. Pearce have found that only half of business schools have courses that touch in some way on the topic of gender differences, partly due to the lack of resource material in the area. This article presents a single, integrated class module for introducing first-year undergraduate organizational behavior students to gender issues. The module relies on running two experiential exercises, which are then debriefed using cultural theories of gender differences. To achieve both adequate depth and breadth the focus is limited to two important gender issues: gender role expectations and gender stereotyping.
Developing a Freshman Seminar: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Lamb Christine H. , Lee James B. , Vinton Karen L.
Published: March 2007

The development and implementation of an award-winning freshman course, Management 101, Freshman Seminar: The Ecology of Business, presented the College of Business at Montana State University with many challenges and opportunities. Design of the course, development of course and institutional objectives, selection of readings and activities, and impact of the course on both student and faculty development are discussed.
Fear, Stress, and Second-Guessing in Leadership Decision Making: Using Interior Monologues, Reflective Nonfiction, and Spiritual Approaches
Authors: Ferris William P.
Published: March 2007

Personal fears surrounding leadership decision making can lead to dysfunctional stress within leaders. Psychological hardiness and coping strategies can be taught using interior monologues of fictional leaders like Hemingway's Robert Jordan, passages from autobiographies and memoirs, student "leadership logs," and spiritually oriented readings like Leading With Soul. Pedagogies are placed in the context of recent leadership theory.
Using a Metaphor Exercise to Explore the Principles of Organizational Culture
Authors: Luechauer David L. , Shulman Gary M.
Published: March 2007

Students often complain that text discussions of culture are bland, lack practical application, and do not provide them with tools to assess the cultural dynamics of the groups in which they work. This article presents an exercise that the authors developed to show their students how they can assess and better understand Bion's principles of culture. It shows how to administer the exercise and how it can offer feedback regarding the culture of their class or the class groups in which they participate.
Poster Sessions: Enhancing Interactive Learning during Student Presentations
Authors: Pineda Rodley C.
Published: March 2007

Oral presentations in the classroom provide students with the opportunity to learn from each other's research and opinions. Poster sessions can enhance this learning experience by reducing the routine and anxiety normally associated with this activity, and by providing the instructor with the ability to maximize student participation despite class size and time constraints. This article suggests several dos and don'ts when conducting poster sessions in a classroom setting.
Comfort
Authors: Morse Janice M.
Published: March 2007

Caring is an inadequate concept for nursing practice. Rather, if comfort is used as the central paradigm for nursing, the focus of nursing research changes from the nurse to the patient. The components, limitations, and relevance of comfort are discussed in this article. Preliminary results of a study exploring the usefulness of comfort in emergency rooms identified eight types of comforting. The characteristics of each type are described.
Wandering in Alzheimer's Dementia Patients
Authors: Lucero Mary , Hutchinson Sally , Leger-Krall Sue , Wilson Holly Skodol
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this research was to describe wandering behaviors of institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease in their natural environment. Such descriptive information is necessary before successful product and/or nursing intervention programs can be developed. Videotaped behavioral observations yielded detailed data descriptive of patients with middle and late dementia. These patients have the physical ability to perform various functions, activities, or actions; the individual's mental ability is less supportive of physical ability. The degree of task simplicity required to enable the patient to complete unsupervised tasks depends on the level of dementia. The need for interventions is greatest during unstructured periods of the day.
Patterns of Concerns and Demands Experienced by Spouses Following Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
Authors: Artinian Nancy Trygar , Duggan Colette Hmilebrand
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to describe spouses' concerns and demands related to their partner's recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) prior to discharge and at 1, 3, and 6 weeks following discharge; and second, to describe how spouses' concerns and demands change from the time of hospitalization through 6 weeks after discharge. The study used a descriptive panel design. Ninety females (82.696) and 19 (17.4%) males constituted the sample. Respondents' mean age was 60.7 years. Manifest content analysis revealed that spouses' concerns and demands changed from week to weekly The study firings support a convalescence trajectory and lend support for paying close attention to the timing of interventions after surgery and during early convalescence.
Validity of Concepts for Selected Nursing Diagnoses
Authors: Chang Betty L.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which defining characteristics found in selected patients cluster to form a nursing diagnostic response/label or define a concept, and to determine the construct validity of the defining characteristics for Self-Care Deficit Impaired Mobility, and Pain. The sample included 309 medical-surgical patients who were found to have the diagnostic responses of interest. he signs and symptoms of the 309 patients were submitted to cluster analysis. Scores on the clusters were examined for their ability to differentiate between two known groups of patients: those identified by clinical nurse specialists (CNS) as having, or not having, selected diagnostic responses/labels. The cluster score Self-Care Deficit differentiated between patients with and without the CNS-diagnostic response of Self-Care Deficit and Pain. Patients with CNS-diagnosis of Self-Care Deficit and Impaired Mobility scored high in the Impaired Mobility Cluster score. Limitations of the study, clinical relevance, and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Well-Being of Caregivers of Spouses with Parkinson's Disease
Authors: Berry Ronald A. , Murphy Juanita F.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relationship among stages of Parkinson's disease (PD), elderly care receivers' physical and social functioning, and spousal caregivers' physical, social. psychological, and economic well-being. The nonrandom convenience study sample comprised 30 spousal caregivers of elderly individuals diagnosed with PD; all attended group support sessions. Findings indicated a statistically significant linear relationship between stages of PD and care receivers' functional ability and between care receivers' functional and social ability and caregivers' hours of caregiving. Caregivers' health was associated with diminished physical functioning of care receivers. Caregivers' age, years of marriage, and educational level were associated with their social, psychological, and financial well-being. The main implication for nursing practice is that elderly family caregivers must be included in mutually developed care plans; they are at high risk for diminished well-being because of the time and energy involved in providing needed care.
Crisis Intervention
Authors: Simington Jane A. , Cargill Linda , Hill Wendy
Published: March 2007

Crisis intervention is based upon crisis theory and is defined as a short-term active mode of therapy that focuses on solving the client's immediate problem and reestablishing psychological equilibrium. The crisis intervention program was the first phase in the development of a broader mental health program with advancement decisions being based upon evaluation results of this initial phase. An evaluation methodology using the Stuffle beam Goal-Stakeholder Model (1980) was designed and implemented. A satisfaction survey was conducted to develop a database relative to the program's process. The Mental Health Category Measure, and the Crisis Call Outcome Rating Scale were used to capture outcome data. Analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data indicate that stakeholders are satisfied with the program. Outcome data demonstrates that the program produces the intended outcomes. Triangulation, a method of comparing the qualitative and quantitative findings revealed consistency, and thus provides confidence in the accuracy of the findings.
Nurses' Reactions to Participation in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on the Nursing Unit
Authors: Pups Gina M. , Weyker Joseph D. , Rodgers Beth L.
Published: March 2007

A wide range of emotions are associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempts. Articles documenting nurses' reactions to CPR situations are scarce in the nursing literature. This study contains nurses' own descriptions of feelings experienced during and after CPR attempts and the nurses' suggestions for what could make the experience easier, what makes it more difficult, and what interventions the nurses use to reconcile their emotions. The participants were 29 registered nurses employed at an urban Midwestern hospital who completed an open-ended questionnaire that elicited descriptions of CPR events. The data were analyzed using a process of thematic analysis.
The Preterm Labor Experience
Authors: Coster-Schulz Marcia A. , Mackey Marlene C.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the study was to identify how women described, interpreted, and managed their preterm labor experience. Ten married, middle-class women participated in an in-depth, tape-recorded interview in the hospital after preterm labor was stabilized; periodically over the telephone after discharge from the hospital; and in the hospital, home, or via telephone after birth, for a total of 31 interviews. Using qualitative data analysis techniques, the findings were conceptualized as five recursive stages: becoming aware that something was wrong and feeling unbalanced, making sense of the experience as they sought to understand why preterm labor occurred, trying different strategies to re-create a balance in their lives, addressing other life stressors that threatened restoring balance, and emerging from the preterm labor experience with added growth. An increased understanding of the preterm labor experience from the woman's perspective can be helpful to health care professionals and others who support women during pregnancy.
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go Bankrupt
Authors: Sheppard Jerry Paul
Published: March 2007

The 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act was intended to make reorganization easier and more successful. However, the law may have removed so much of the risk from bankruptcy that filing is now considered an effective management strategy. Yet there are several practical, logical, public policy, legal, managerial, and definitional problems with the strategic use of bankruptcy. This article discusses these problems and argues that decision makers should not think of bankruptcy as a viable strategy but should rather concentrate on ways to prevent it.
Service-Learning and Management Education
Authors: Godfrey Paul C.
Published: March 2007

The private sector of United States society (private corporations) currently enjoys the moral authority to set the national agenda. Business schools, because they train future managers, can play a vital role in helping the private sector sustain that moral authority. Specifically, I argue that service-learning pedagogies offer management educators a way to incorporate citizenship skills and moral training into the traditional management curriculum. This article describes the concept of service-learning, reviews the current state of service-learning in management, and argues that service-learning can enhance both the technical capability and moral capability of students. Key issues for faculty members involved in service-learning programs are also highlighted.
Local Approach to Damage in Elasto-Plastic Metal Matrix Composites
Authors: Voyiadjis George Z. , Kattan Peter I.
Published: March 2007

Damage is incorporated along with plastic deformation in this model for the analysis of fiber-reinforced metal matrix composite materials. In the formulation, a micromechanical composite model is used in the sense that the matrix and fiber local con stitutive damage relations are treated separately and then linked to the overall response through a certain homogenization procedure. In this process, two local damage tensors MM and MF are introduced where MM accounts for the damage in the ductile matrix such as nucleation and growth of voids, while the tensor MF reflects the damage in the fibers such as fiber fracture. The problems of debonding and delamination can be conveniently represented by either MM or M F, or a combination of both depending on the extent of complexity that is desired of the final constitutive model.
A Micromechanics Approach for Constructing Locally Averaged Damage Dependent Constitutive Equations in Inelastic Composites
Authors: Boyd J.G. , Costanzo F. , Allen D.H.
Published: March 2007

Homogenization techniques are utilized herein to construct locally aver aged mechanical constitutive equations for composites. Techniques are first reviewed for elastic composites, followed by a review of elastic composites with cracks and inelastic composites without cracks. These reviews are followed by a development of homogenized equations for inelastic composites with cracks. All equations are constructed for the case wherein a representative volume element is subjected to spatially uniform boundary strains. Several examples are presented for a representative SiC/Ti continuous fiber com posite subjected to tensile deformations transverse to the fiber direction. It is demonstrated that as the damage and matrix material model are increased in complexity, the computa tional requirements needed to obtain homogenized properties increase to the point where homogenization techniques may not be computationally tenable when applied recursively in macroscale structural analyses.
Women’s Career Advancement
Authors: Metz Isabel , Tharenou Phyllis
Published: March 2007

This study assessed if human capital is more related to women’s advancement to low levels (i. e., supervisory and junior management) and if social capital is more related to their advancement to high levels (i. e., middle and senior management) in Australian banks. The results do not support differential prediction hypotheses. Overall, human capital explained most of women’s advancement at all levels in Australian banks. The contribution of social capital to that explanation was, generally, negligible. The study also included qualitative data. The qualitative results appeared to support the view that social capital is more important to women’s advancement to high managerial levels than to low managerial levels. Of particular concern is that the women reported gender discrimination as the most frequent barrier to their advancement at all managerial levels. Implications for banks and for women’s career management are discussed.
Workaholics and Overworkers
Authors: Peiperl Maury , Jones Brittany
Published: March 2007

Since the late 1980s, there has been strong popular interest in the subject of working hours and in the so-called workaholic. There has been less interest in the academic literature on the subject of long working hours and the motivations of those who work beyond the limits of what is necessary. This study proposes a typology of those who put in excessive time and effort by introducing a second dimension: equity of perceived rewards. The new dimension points to another group alongside workaholics: overworkers. One hundred seventy-four managers and professionals with master of business administration degrees rated themselves on work and reward dimensions and provided data about work behaviors, rewards, attitudes, and job progression as part of a longitudinal study. Overworkers and workaholics were found to differ on a number of dimensions. Implications for these groups, including their potential roles in the context of boundaryless careers, and for the organizations that employ them are discussed.
Group Rapport: Posture Sharing as a Nonverbal Indicator
Authors: Lafrance Marianne , Broadbent Maida
Published: March 2007

Systematic observation and a questionnaire format were used to investigate the relationship between posture sharing and self-report indications of rapport in a group situation-college seminar classrooms. A pattern of significant positive correlations revealed that the greater the amount of mirroring and congruent postures evidenced by students vis-à-vis the teacher, the higher the ratings of involvement. Conversely, a significant negative relationship was found between amount of incongruent posture display and reports of interest. Implications of the findings for group dynamics and environmental design are discussed.
The Measurement of Intraorganizational Power: The Application of the Control Graph to Organization Development
Authors: Sorensen Peter F. , Baum Bernard H.
Published: March 2007

This is a review of work done in the past twenty years with the Control Graph, including the evolution of Control-Graph studies, its relationship to other perspectives of organizations, and an overview of study findings. These findings are reviewed within the context of contingency theory, and attention is given to the use of the Control Graph in the implementa tion and measurement of organizational change. Advantages of the Con trol Graph for applied research are cited, including its integration with theory, acceptance by practicing managers, and limited demand on re spondent's time. Greater attention needs to be given, however, to the need to tailor the instrument to each organization; systematic evaluation of its use in survey feedback; its relationship to more objective measures of control; and study findings that cannot currently be explained by con tingency theory.
Perspectives
Authors: pfeiffer j. william
Published: March 2007

We believe that the perspectives of human relations consultants can be broadened and enriched by looking beyond national boundaries. To that end, previous issues of G&OS have examined the state of training in Israel (March 1976 and June 1977) and in Australia (September 1976 and June 1977).
Who Benefits from Participation in Long-Term Human Process Interventions?
Authors: Scarpello Vida
Published: March 2007

The present research used a systems approach to assess the value of afour-year organization development program to an organization and its employee partic ipants. The study was conducted within an environmentally dependent research unit of a multinational Midwest-based corporation. Sales volume, climate/ structure, and perceptual data permitted exploration of relationships among (a) the organization's ability to meet environmental demands, (b) intraorganiza tional climate/structure changes, (c) effectiveness of the OD program for the organization, and (d) perceived value of OD experiences to the program's partic ipants. Subjects represented the total management population and a simple random sample of professional employees (i.e., researchers) within the unit. Results suggest that an OD program may be judged effective at the system level but not necessarily at the group or individual level of analysis. Further, system adaptation may be measured by observation of structural changes, but subjective evaluation of OD program effectiveness may be moderated by the amount and source of conflict experienced within the working environment.
Determinants of Communication Network Involvement: Connectedness and Integration
Authors: Monge Peter R. , Edwards Jane A. , Kirste Kenneth K.
Published: March 2007

This article reports the results of research efforts to develop and test two structural equation models of the antecedents of involvement in communication networks in large organizations, one for communication network connectedness and the other for network integration. A questionnaire was administered to 125 members of a naval training facility, along with a communication contact questionnaire which ascertained each person's typical work-related communi cation. The overall X2 test of the models showed (1) acceptable goodness-of-fit for the connectedness model with five of eight significant coefficients and (2) excellent goodness-of-fit for the integration model with six of eight significant coefficients. The amount of variance explained was moderate for both. The models are discussed in terms of plausible modifications of variables and links, possibilities for examination of the consequences of the network structure, and the necessity for constructing an integrated model.
The Delphi Technique: An Empirical Evaluation of the Optimal Number of Rounds
Authors: Erffmeyer Robert C. , Erffmeyer Elizabeth S. , Lane Irving M.
Published: March 2007

The widespread use of the Delphi technique of decision making has led to many variations in format implementation by practioners and researchers. The classic Delphi typically includes four rounds of questionnaires and feedback. This study attempted to establish empirically the point of stability in a six-round Delphi. The results indicated that Delphi groups reached stability in their decision making after the fourth iteration, thereby providing empirical support for the length of the classic Delphi.
Job Enrichment and Job Satisfaction in Greenfield and Redesign QWL Sites
Authors: Ondrack Daniel A. , Evans Martin G.
Published: March 2007

QWL programs were introduced at five petrochemical plants in the chemical valley complex in Lambton County, Ontario: three at newly constructed or greenfield sites and two at redesigned, existing sites. A random-sample survey of job enrichment and job satisfaction was conducted among blue-collar workers at each of the QWL sites and at traditional, unchanged petrochemical sites. Comparisons between employees in QWL and traditional sites showed no differences on various aspects of either perceived job enrichment or job satisfaction. However, comparisons between employees at greenfield and redesign sites showed several significant differences. It was concluded that there is greater potential for successful introduction of QWL programs at greenfield sites than at redesign sites and that a job-enrichment ceiling for QWL programs may exist in technologically intensive, continuous process production systems such as at petrochemical plants. Some unanticipated effects of QWL programs were also noted in that employees at redesign sites had lower satisfaction with job security and employees at greenfield sites had lower satisfaction with compensation.
Myths and Politics in Organizational Contexts
Authors: Ferris Gerald R. , Fedor Donald B. , Chachere J.Gregory , Pondy Louis R.
Published: March 2007

Myth systems and politics help to establish the internal context of organizational settings, and thus are quite important processes contributing to more meaningful interpretations of events and phenomena in organizations. Both processes have been studied, albeit, independently. In the present article, the argument is made that the integration of these two processes provides a potentially richer understanding of the dynamic processes of intraorganizational contexts, which is critical to effective organizational change. Examples are used to illustrate specific points and suggestions for research and practice are proposed.
The "Good Manager"
Authors: Powell Gary N. , Butterfield D. Anthony
Published: March 2007

This study replicated our earlier study (Powell & Butterfield,1979) of the applicability of the androgyny concept to management and reanalyzed that data using a revised Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Reanalysis of our earlier data showed that the good manager was described as more androgynous and less masculine on the revised instrument than on the original instrument. However, the good manager was described as more masculine and less androgynous by some groups in the newer sample as compared with their counterparts in the earlier sample. Overall, despite a considerable increase in the proportion of women managers, male and female undergraduate and part-time graduate business students continued to describe the "good manager" as masculine rather than androgynous. Implications of the results for theory, practice, and training and development are discussed.
Are Androgynous Managers Really More Effective?
Authors: Baril Galen L. , Elbert Nancy , Mahar-Potter Sharon , Reavy George C.
Published: March 2007

Spence's Personal Attributes Questionnaire was used to measure the sex role orientation of 65 first-line supervisors from seven organizations. Contrary to the basic hypothesis and the theoretical literature, those who scored high on both masculinity and femininity (androgynous) and low on both (undifferentiated) were rated by their superiors as least effective. The most effective supervisors were high on either masculinity or femininity but not both. However, consistent with the previous research and our own predictions, successful female supervisors were found to be higher on masculinity than were unsuccessful female supervisors and more feminine than were male supervisors. The findings are discussed in terms of the limited research in this area, the possible negative consequences of androgyny, and the effect of the social context.
Most Effective and Least Effective Boards of Nonprofit Human Service Agencies
Authors: Cook Rosemarie S. , Brown Nina W.
Published: March 2007

A study was conducted of 13 United Way agencies to determine if there were variables that would significantly discriminate between the boards of human services agencies judged most effective and those least effective. Stepwise multiple discriminant analyses revealed three functions that discriminated: Organizational Awareness—accounting for 59% of the variance; Shared Managerial Responsibilities-accounting for 23% of the variance; and Administrative Trustee Duties—accounting for 18% of the variance.
The Meaning of Boredom in Organizational Life
Authors: Gemmill Gary , Oakley Judith
Published: March 2007

Lack of vitality and creativity within an organization is often attributed to widespread boredom and the underlying lack of personal meaning members associate with their work process. However, exploration of the causes of chronic patterns of boredom in organizational life is often blocked because of the indiscussibility and repression of powerful negative feelings that surface with the experience of boredom. By developing a better understanding of the meaning of boredom in organizations, organization members can learn to constructively confront their boredom, thereby expanding their awareness and unblocking repressed feelings. The net effect of exploring such deeper meanings and unblocking them is the infusion of vitality and new personal meaning into the experience of work.
Failed Upward Influence Attempts
Authors: Maslyn John M. , Farmer Steven M. , Fedor Donald B.
Published: March 2007

Research on upward influence in organizations has often proposed that such influence is an episodic process, yet rarely does such research examine the use of influence after the employee has met with initial resistance. Based on the upward influence model of Porter, Allen, and Angle (1981), this study examined several predictors of subordinates' decisions to cease or persist in attempts to obtain work-related resources after an initial failure. ALISRE Lmodel indicated that upward influence actions following a failed influence attempt can be predicted with variables related to goal importance, influence agent characteristics (i.e., Machiavellianism and work experience), and aspects of the agent-target relationship (i.e., leader-member exchange and costs associated with influence). The implications of these findings are discussed.
Accountability
Authors: London Manuel , Smither James W. , Adsit Dennis J.
Published: March 2007

The authors argue that multisource feedback will have little impact when (a) ratees are not accountable for using the feedback, (b) raters are not accountable for the accuracy or usefulness of the feedback they provide, and (c) management does not accept accountability for providing resources to support behavior change. They review the literature on accountability in performance appraisal and decision making and outline an accountability model applied to raters and ratees. Components of the model include sources of accountability (e.g., the boss and organizational policies), the objective (i.e., the behavior or outcomes for which the actor is accountable), forces used by the sources to affect the actor's feelings of accountability (such as reinforcement for performance improvement), and mechanisms for activating these forces and holding someone accountable. Interventions are described to increase the effectiveness of the accountability mechanisms.
An Analysis of Managerial Helping Responses Based on Social Role Theory
Authors: Bowes-Sperry Lynn , Veiga John F. , Yanouzas John N.
Published: March 2007

Social role theory suggests that how managers respond to employees seeking help depends on the manager's gender. Consistent with social role theory, we found that women managers tended to use significantly more gender-consistent helping behaviors, such as understanding, and less masculine-related behaviors, such as evaluating, than their male counterparts. On the other hand, when helping behavior was examined within each sex group, we found that both men and women managers tended to rely less on understanding and more on evaluating, suggesting that the managerial role plays a greater part in shaping helping behavior.
Studies of Neuromodulation of Oscillatory Systems in Aplysia, by Means of Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Deodhar Dilip , Kupfermann Irving
Published: March 2007

Neural modeling methods were used to obtain insights into the role of neuromodulatory cotrans mitters. Although the work was guided by specific experimental observations on feeding in Aplysia, it was meant as a more general treatment of behavioral systems. Genetic algorithms were used to evolve the parameters needed to permit a simple two-neuron circuit to oscillate and contract mus cles that execute rhythmic feeding responses. The evolved circuits were found to possess a number of "emergent" properties not specifically selected for. The fitness of the circuit decreased under a variety of conditions, particularly when the rate of the rhythmic program increased. The fitness of the system could be restored when an autoregulatory cotransmitter system was added and served to dynamically alter the parameters of the muscles that generated the behavior.
View-Based Cognitive Mapping and Path Planning
Authors: Schölkopf Bernhard , Mallot Hanspeter A.
Published: March 2007

This article presents a scheme for learning a cognitive map of a maze from a sequence of views and movement decisions. The scheme is based on an intermediate representation called the view graph, whose nodes correspond to the views whereas the labeled edges represent the movements leading from one view to another. By means of a graph theoretical reconstruction method, the view graph is shown to carry complete information on the topological and directional structure of the maze. Path planning can be carried out directly in the view graph without actually performing this reconstruction. A neural network is presented that learns the view graph during a random exploration of the maze. lt is based on an unsupervised competitive learning rule translating temporal sequence (rather than similarity) of views into connectedness in the network. The network uses its knowledge of the topological and directional structure of the maze to generate expectations about which views are likely to be encountered next, improving the view-recognition performance. Numerical simulations illustrate the network's ability for path planning and the recognition of views degraded by random noise. The results are compared to findings of behavioral neuroscience.
Experiments with Reinforcement Learning in Problems with Continuous State and Action Spaces
Authors: Santamaria Juan C. , Sutton Richard S. , Ram Ashwin
Published: March 2007

A key element in the solution of reinforcement learning problems is the value function. The purpose of this function is to measure the long-term utility or value of any given state. The function is important because an agent can use this measure to decide what to do next. A common problem in reinforcement learning when applied to systems having continuous states and action spaces is that the value function must operate with a domain consisting of real-valued variables, which means that it should be able to represent the value of infinitely many state and action pairs. For this reason, function approximators are used to represent the value function when a close-form solution of the optimal policy is not available. In this article, we extend a previously proposed reinforcement learning algorithm so that it can be used with function approximators that generalize the value of individual experiences across both state and action spaces. In particular, we discuss the benefits of using sparse coarse-coded function approximators to represent value functions and describe in detail three implementations: cerebellar model articulation controllers, instance-based, and case-based. Additionally, we discuss how function approximators having different degrees of resolution in different regions of the state and action spaces may influence the performance and learning efficiency of the agent. We propose a simple and modular technique that can be used to implement function approximators with nonuniform degrees of resolution so that the value function can be represented with higher accuracy in important regions of the state and action spaces. We performed extensive experiments in the double-integrator and pendulum swing-up systems to demonstrate the proposed ideas. '
A Web-Enabled Approach to Feature-Based Modeling in a Distributed and Collaborative Design Environment
Authors: Jae Yeol Lee  , Kim Hyun , Kim Kwangsoo
Published: March 2007

Network and Internet technology opens up another domain for building a future CAD/CAM environment. The environment will be global, network-centric, and spatially distributed. In this paper, we present a web-enabled approach to feature-based modeling in a distributed and collaborative design environment. The presented approach combines the current feature-based modeling technique with distributed computing and communication technology for supporting product modeling and collaborative design activities over the net work. The approach is implemented in a client/server architecture, in which Web-enabled feature modeling clients, neutral feature model server, and other applications communicate with one another via a standard communication protocol. The paper discusses how the neu tral feature model supports multiple views and how the client-side feature model supports inexpensive and distributed geometric pro cessing. It also explains how to maintain naming consistency between geometric entities of the server and clients. Moreover, it explains how to minimize the network delay between the server and clients according to incremental feature modeling operations.
Intelligent Assembly Planning of Triaxial Products
Authors: Kroll Ehud
Published: March 2007

The paper describes an approach to automatic generation of assembly sequences, which uses formal and heuristic knowledge in the area of assembly. A design process is envisioned where the engineer specifies individual part geometries and relates parts to each other to create assemblies. A computerized tool then analyzes the design and suggests sequences for assembling the product. The high-level modeling scheme is described first. Parts are represented in terms of their features, while products consist of parts related to each other through mating conditions. Automatic reasoning processes applied to the design representation plan selected assembly sequences in two stages: A graph transformation method generates an exploded view of the product and a rule-based procedure derives selected assembly sequences. An implementation for triaxial assemblies is described and demonstrated.
Design for Disassembly and Recyclability: A Concurrent Engineering Approach
Authors: Wang Michael H. , Johnson Michael R.
Published: March 2007

In this research, we show an integrated concurrent design methodology which is environmentally conscious for the manufacturing sec tor By interactively examining various phases in manufacturing processes, materials used, waste generated and product quantity specified, we could then predict the amount of waste (recyclable or nonrecyclable) that will be generated, the kinds of toxic materials, the approximate energy consumed and the approximate recycling cost required Accompanied by other information such as yeld, the designer or decisionmaker can then go back and check if their product design or process selection is suitable and least harmful to the environment
Coordination of Multiagent Systems with Fuzzy Clocks
Authors: Peters James F. , Sohi Nirmal
Published: March 2007

An Object Petri Net (OPN) model for coordination of multiagent systems based on fuzzy clocks is introduced The OPN model takes a refined design-to-time approach in real-time scheduling of Concurrent Engineering (CE) projects Agent tasks are subdivided into required and optional subtasks to take advantage of the imprecise nature of the computation performed by an agent Concurrent with each agent is a fuzzy clock which measures the timeliness of an agent-task relative to temporal intervals and prescribed deadlines In the context of a CE project, agents cooperate with a coordinator in managing their time, and in periodically supplying tasking status reports for a blackboard The blackboard is handled by a subagent of the coordinator Performance is measured in terms of elapsed times, deadlines, Quality-of-Product statistics, capabil ity, consumption of resources, amount of work done, and difficulty of a task The coordinator also maintains a collection of concurrent, hybrid Fuzzy Watchdog Clocks (hFWC) which provide useful statistics (current fuzzy time, elapsed time, and percent of allowed time for each agent) posted on the blackboard The contribution of this article is the introduction of fuzzy clocks in constructing timetables for project tasks and in mak ing appropriate adjustments in the overall schedule whenever agents fail, disappear, or are in conflict