Purposive Social Change and Interorganizational Networks: The Case of Three Prepaid Health Programs

An important perspective emerging in the areas of community and organizational analysis is the political economy approach to interorganizational relations. This approach treats organizations as seekers of basic political and economic resources which are found in their environments. This approach has special implications for persons interested in the study and/or .implementation of programs of change, because it sensitizes the observer to the problems of political and economic conflict in interorganizational relations. The perspective also offers useful insights into the development of. intervention strategies that minimize the conflicts often associated with social change. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach to socia, change and interorganizational relations, three attempts at create prepaid health care programs in rural areas of the midwest are considered

The Job-Profession Continuum

Professions, occupations, and jobs are classified on the basis of particular attributes of each category, rather than by the usual labelling process adopted from popular usage. The theoretical criterion is the location of decisions concerning the allocation of work activities, i.e., whether within the local work organization or externally controlled. The degree of local determination functions inversely with a general consensus as to the level of skill and amount of knowledge required to perform the work. Ten varieties are selected to measure the degree of consensus on task determination of a sample of 86 occupations. Gamma and chi square scores are used to measure association between the variates and preliminary Guttman and numerical scales are constructed to demonstrate the job-profession continuum. Modal characteristics of profession, occupations, and jobs are derived.http://web.ku.edu/~starjrn

VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS: A COMPARISON OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNITY LEADERS

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