Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing Administrative Experiences: Feminist, Labor, And Organizational Culture Perspectives, Joan L. Arches, Paula Schneider

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A framework is offered for making organizational assessment for change using feminist, labor, and organizational culture perspectives. A vision of a humane work environment is important. The labor literature provides the critical analysis, the feminist perspective provides alternatives, and the concept of organizational culture provides the tool for assessment. Based on an exploratory study with women administrators, the authors look at how differences in values are reflected in the administration and structure of feminist and traditional agencies.

An Analysis Of The Extent To Which Humor Is Accepted And Employed In The Workplace For The Enhancement Of Productivity And Creativity, Jonathan R. Specht, Paul D. Tobin

Theses and Dissertations

Today's business literature is filled with discussions of the many benefits humor can bring to the work environment. Two of these purported benefits, namely, the enhancement of workplace productivity and the enhancement of workplace creativity, have attracted the attention of modern managers challenged with keeping their organizations competitive despite dwindling financial and human resources. Unfortunately, little research has been done to date which actually demonstrates a link between the existence of workplace humor and improved levels of productivity and creativity. Without this demonstration of causality, most managers are reluctant to invest corporate resources in pursuit of workplace humor despite its …

Evolving Sisterhood: An Organizational Analysis Of Three Sororities, Bonnie J. Galloway

Dissertations

From 1851 through June, 1993, more than 2,800,000 women have been initiated into the twenty-six National Panhellenic Conference sororities. Not only are members active during collegiate years, but many continue participation through alumnae groups. Upholding the principles of community service and moral development, sorority women volunteer time and talent in a myriad of ways that benefit local communities and the greater society as a whole. Sororities also provide women important leadership training and experience.

The research design of this project takes a sociohistorical perspective. The study utilizes the population ecology model for organizations to examine three representative sororities: Chi Omega, …

A New Social Contract For The American Workplace: From Paternalism To Partnering, Murray L. Weidenbaum, Kenneth W. Chilton

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

As American business struggles to cope with global competition, technological breakthroughs, and various forms of deregulation, the workplace is being thrown into turmoil. Against this backdrop, 1994 is also on pace to set a record for publicly announced downsizings, most of them justified under the banner of "restructuring." This study is the first comprehensive look at this evolving picture.

How To Restore Employee Trust In Management: A New Social Contract For The American Workplace, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The number of layoffs and the amount of downsizing in corporate America are both happening at unprecedented rates. Firing workers has falsely become the ultimate management tool to success. The old social contract of work in exchange for fair pay and some measure of job security is deteriorating. Accordingly, this paper introduces a new social order that replaces paternalism with partnership, views employees as value-adding resources, and focuses both employers and employees on meeting the customers' needs and desires.

An Approach For Representation Of Organizational Mental Models Using System Dynamics, Jörg-Peter Theissen

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The concept of mental models has received much attention within recent years, especially within the context of organizational learning. This research is based on and departs from the Organizational Learning Process as developed by Keating, Robinson, and Clemson (1994). That process, which is based on a verbal representation of mental models, does not call forth the kind of change that is desired in Organizational Learning. This research investigates if mental models can be represented in the form of system dynamics models and inquires if this representation is beneficial to the process of Organizational Learning.

The research was designed as a …

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile And The Organization, Kent Hendrickson, Joan Giesecke

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

In this article, we describe how we have used MBTI effectively in our organization as a way to understand the overall "personality" of the organization. We also discuss the implications of this profile for managing the organization to achieve organizational goals.

Beyond Coping: An Empowerment Perspective On Stressful Life Events, Lorraine M. Gutierrez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Research on stressful life events has demonstrated their negative effects on health and mental health. The possibility of empowerment, how individuals can take action to change their situations, has been largely overlooked by this research. Empowerment theory and research suggest that the outcome of stressful life events can be less debilitating when individuals are encouraged to identify with similar others, to develop specific skills, to perceive the societal or institutional components of their problems, and to engage in change on a collective level. This article develops this perspective by proposing how an empowerment perspective can enhance our understanding of the …

Designing Community Social Services, John O'Looney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The literature is reviewed on the qualities of integrated and non-integrated organizational systems. Social service delivery has changed in recent decades such that organizational strategies and structures that may have once been successful no longer appear to be so. As tasks have changed, so too have the technologies that might assist in the more effective delivery of social services. A discussion of how organizational strategies might be designed, so as to link emerging tasks requirements with the ability to effectively use existing and potential technologies, concludes the paper.

Connecting Productive Schools And Workplaces For A Knowledge Society, Byrd L. Jones, Robert W. Maloy

New England Journal of Public Policy

As American education struggles to achieve new competencies for an emerging information age, popular reforms remain locked in industrial-era metaphors. Testing for basic skills, teacher professionalism, and school-business collaboration assumes that schooling prepares workers with skills for predictable roles. Meanwhile, computers and related technologies make possible low-cost information that is transforming learning and jobs. Hierarchical organizational structures that subordinated most employees have given way to flatter, flexible teams. Quasi-autonomous decision making by knowledgeable professionals extends to more and more workers. When businesses simply offer schools a few extra resources, they stunt interactive partnerships that enable youth and business cultures to …

Inclusion: Educating Students With And Without Disabilities, Bill Henderson

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article presents an overview of inclusion, a practice that is being utilized increasingly in schools across the country. In inclusive schools, students who have disabilities learn together with their nondisabled peers. Teachers and support staff collaborate to serve all students in integrated classes. After reviewing the social and legal background of inclusion, Henderson describes specific strategies for designing and implementing successful programs. He outlines organizational change, curriculum and instruction modification, and school culture transformation.

Connecting Productive Schools And Workplaces For A Knowledge Society, Byrd Jones, Robert Maloy

Robert W. Maloy

As American education struggles to achieve new competencies for an emerging information age, popular reforms remain locked in industrial-era metaphors. Testing for basic skills, teacher professionalism, and school-business collaboration assumes that schooling prepares workers with skills for predictable roles. Meanwhile, computers and related technologies make possible low-cost information that is transforming learning and jobs. Hierarchical organizational structures that subordinated most employees have given way to flatter, flexible teams. Quasi-autonomous decision making by knowledgeable professionals extends to more and more workers. When businesses simply offer schools a few extra resources, they stunt interactive partnerships that enable youth and business cultures to …

Recognizing And Managing Multiple Organizational Approaches, Joan Giesecke

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

Organizational theory today includes a number of analytical models which provide descriptions of how organizations function as well as prescriptions as to how organizations should function. Five organizational models seem particularly appropriate to academic libraries. The rational model describes organizations as value- maximizing units which are task oriented. The political bargaining model views organizations as arenas for conflict and bargaining where participants form coalitions and interest groups to achieve their own ends. The garbage can model views the organization as a chaotic mess where independent actors pursue individual, yet changing goals and decisions are mostly a function of timing. The …

Perceived Communication During Organizational Change, Paula Blunck

Dissertations and Theses

Organizational change often involves the creation of work teams. This research examines how the creation of self-managed work teams within a particular organization affects perceived communication. Previous research suggests that self-managed teams would socially construct a different view of the organization especially as it relates to power than would those in traditional organizational departments. Attitudes about communication and power within the organization are analyzed in nine self-managed teams and five traditional departments. This analysis is conducted through both qualitative and quantitative means. Group comments and discussions are used in a qualitative analysis. Multidimensional scaling is used to reveal underlying attitudinal …

With A Little Help From Our Friends: Social Support As A Source Of Well-Being And Of Coping With Stress, Darlyne Bailey, Donald M. Wolfe, Christopher R. Wolfe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The relationship between one's psycho-emotional and physiological health has long been of interest to social scientists. While many factors have been examined for their impact on causation and prevention, over the past two decades the concepts of social support, stress and well-being have undergone much scrutiny. In this article the authors provide empirical data to enhance our understanding of the interrelatedness of these three concepts.

Based on the findings from a study of stress and health in organizations, a model is proposed which elucidates some of the conditions under which social support networks mediate the impact of stress on psychological …

The Evaluation Of Organizational Structure In The Rape Crisis Movement In Minnesota From 1970-1990, Cheryl A. Champion

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study documents the changes in the organizational structure of the rape crisis centers (RCC) in Minnesota. It compares the organizational types of similar alternative agencies with those organizational types that emerged in RCC. It considers a framework that predicts at what period in the natural history of a social movement changes in organizational structure and personnel occur. It determines how the evolution of RCC reflects this framework. Finally, it assesses the relationship between feminist ideology and organizational functioning. Several findings emerge from this study. Over time, RCC evolved from grassroot collectives into programs of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. …

Alumnews, Spring 1994, Alumni Association, Wright State University

AlumNews

Twenty-eight page issue of the AlumNews newsletter. This newsletter focuses on news about programs, events, and activities for alumni from Wright State University.

March 10, 1994, Arkansas Baptist State Convention

Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine, 1990-1994

No abstract provided.

Orlando Magic, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the NFL having concluded its annual business in Hawaii, the pitchers and catchers about to report to spring training, and the Winter Olympics ready to open in Lillihammer, I want to pause this week and take a look at the Orlando Magic.

Methodological Observations On Clinical Organization Research, J. J. Ramondt

Clinical Sociology Review

No abstract provided.

The Rationalization Of Drug Treatment Programs: The Emergence Of Court-Enforced Drug Treatment Bureaucracies, John G. Richardson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Politics, Professionalism And Power, John Green

Politics, Professionalism and Power

This book examines the role of increased professionalism in the growth of both the Republican and Democratic national parties, beginning with Republican National Committee Chairman Ray C. Bliss in the 1960s. It analyzes how an increased application of professional values has contributed to the continued growth of national party organizations, despite recurring constraints in party policymaking.

Evaluation Research And The Psychiatric Hospital: Blending Management And Inquiry In Clinical Sociology, George W. Dowdall, Diana M. Pinchoff

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper discusses the multiple roles sociologists play in conducting evaluation research in a large state psychiatric hospital. The key to understanding this form of clinical sociology is its blending of management and inquiry in a unique organizational context. The authors, sociologists who have both served as directors of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center's program evaluation unit since its founding in 1979, present examples of the unit's work, discussing the role sociologists play in the collection, analysis and reporting of data used by hospital administrators for strategic planning, continuous quality improvement programs, and the monitoring of patterns and trends for census …

Understanding Kaye Scholer: The Autonomous Citizen, The Managed Subject And The Role Of The Lawyer, Nancy Amoury Combs

Faculty Publications

The Office of Thrift Supervision's (OTS) unprecedented enforcement action against Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays and Handler (Kaye Scholer) prompted howls of protest from the legal community. OTS, it was claimed, was using its excessive power to redefine the role of the lawyer. This Comment confirms that OTS sought to impose duties on Kaye Scholer that conflict with professional ethics rules. The Comment then goes on to suggest that the conflict over professional responsibility in the Kaye Scholer case reflects, more fundamentally, a conflict over the role of the citizen, and the citizen's relationship with the state. Our adversarial system of …

Work And Family: Bibliography: 1969 - 1994, Catherine Smith (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

1994 was designated by the United Nations as International Year of the Family, with the theme for the year as Family: resources and responsibilities in a changing world. The Year of the Family was intended to stimulate international national and local actions to strengthen families as 'the smallest democracy at the heart of society'...

...Edith Cowan University recognised the International Year of the Family by undertaking a range of activities designed to promote discussion and debate. The range of activities recognised the University's role as an educator, employer and community member. This Bibliography represents just one of the activities undertaken …

Fusing Educational Reform Policy And Action: Assuring The Development Of Local Leaders, George F. Marnik, Gordon A. Donaldson Jr.

Maine Policy Review

School change does not happen in a vacuum. It requires initiative and leadership. Because Maine's educational system features a strong local control component, successful educational change requires development of local leadership. George Marnik and Gordon Donaldson report on the Maine Academyfor School Leaders, an educational leadership development project in which they were involved. Among other things, the researchers learned that successful educational change is not likely to result from a one-size-fits-all state policy. Rather, successful reform occurs "one individual at a time, one school at a time."

Total Quality Management: The Case For The Public Sector: A Comparative Study Of The Implementation Of Total Quality Management In Three Health Care Organizations, Zayed Mohammed Abu

Dissertations and Theses

Total quality management [TQM] is an approach to improving the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of the whole organization through the improvement of the organizational processes and those who perform them. There has been a rising interest among public sector professionals in examining the applicability and usefulness of TQM methods to public organizations. This research provides descriptive information about the experience of three health care organizations that vary in terms of ownership, whether being publicly or privately owned, with implementing TQM. Participants at these organizations were interviewed, and/or surveyed and observed. The study provides a narrative description of each organization's experience …

Transforming Leadership In The California Literature Project: Ethnographic Narrative As True Fiction, Jon S. Davies Edd

Dissertations

With rare exception leadership scholars and practitioners focus on individuals as leaders. However, to investigate leadership only through the activities of individual leaders is to miss its essential feature, namely, that leadership is a particular kind of relationship in which leaders and followers create changes. Relationships are difficult to describe because researchers cannot observe them directly; instead, they must infer them indirectly. This study investigated leadership relationships in the California Literature Project. An exploration of leadership relationships required that I implement research methods that would support the construction of detailed descriptions of transforming leadership processes. These methods developed in part …

Leadership Training Of Ministerial Students In Evangelical Institutions Of Higher Education, Alan E. Nelson Edd

Dissertations

There exists a growing sense within evangelicalism in the United States, that more and better leaders are needed in local congregations. Traditionally, seminaries, graduate and undergraduate schools have prepared pastors to fulfill these roles and satisfy church expectations. The majority of pastoral preparation is theological in nature, augmented by ministerial skill courses. The hypothesis of this research was that little has been done in the area of leadership development and that an optimum program is needed to serve as a model. The intent of this research was twofold. First, the researcher needed to determine to what extent pastoral preparation programs …

The Influence Of Glasser's Control Theory And Reality Therapy On Educators: A Case Study, Debra Cullinane Edd

Dissertations

The influence of Glasser's control theory and reality therapy on educators' perceptions of change, relationships and self reflection has to date not been researched. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the influence that control theory and reality therapy training had on educators in one school district. A case study method was chosen because of its descriptive and evaluative strength in educational settings, its qualitative character and its flexibility. All educators currently employed who had participated in one week of training or more were sent a fifteen item survey. From the group of 100 who received the …