Customer Service Employees and Discretionary Service Behavior: A Psychological Contract Model

We present a theoretical framework for explicating contact employee behavior during customer service encounters, labeled discretionary service behavior (DSB). The model takes an organizational justice perspective, incorporating psychological contracts and fairness perceptions. We define DSB, examine potential antecedents, present research propositions related to the model, and discuss potential organizational outcomes

Psychological Contracts, OCB and Customer Service: An Exploratory Examination

This paper examines the relationships among the psychological contract, fairness, OCB, and customer service. We report on two exploratory studies that provide insight into psychological contract violations and subsequent perceptions of fairness, as well as OCB activity. A linkage is made between psychological contracts and behavior directed internally and those directed externally (i.e., customer service). We extend the current theory to suggest implications for effectively managing customer service employee OCB. Finally, suggestions are made for both practice and future research to be conducted in a multidisciplinary design

Aging and Deafness

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Followership and the Development of Female Leaders in Higher Education Administration

Much attention in occupational advancement has been devoted to leadership studies, leadership literature, leadership trainings, leadership styles, and leadership strategies; however, the leadership dynamic is merely one side of the organizational coin. On the less-addressed flipside is the topic of followership. This Grounded Theory (GT) study addresses the perception of the role of followership in the development of female leaders in higher education. The study uses semi-structured interviews with 10 females in higher education administration to gather data concerning the perceived role followership has played in the professional development of the female administrators. Through GT qualitative data analysis procedures, interview data was reviewed, coded, and analyzed for emergent trends in perceptions. Analysis produces three core categories: Follower Influence, Sponsorship Relationship, and Advancement Opportunities. Findings allow for the development of a theory grounded in the data. This theory is called the Protégé Advancement Theory, which states that followers who exhibit exceptional effort, abilities, and performance are able to exercise upward influence, thereby securing a sponsor who transforms the follower into a protégé by developing a mutually beneficial, professional relationship in which the sponsor fuels protégé professional advancement while the protégé continually delivers exceptional performance

The Relationship between Compassion Fatigue and Self-Transcendence among Inpatient Hospice Nurses

Health care complexities have limited the understanding of nursing care and have jeopardized the soft skills or foundation of caring as the art of nursing. Hospice nurses provide a deeper, more spiritual and complex type of care for critically ill and end-of-life (EOL) patients, which place them at a high risk for compassion fatigue. Using Reed\u27s middle range theory of self-transcendence, the purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between compassion fatigue and self-transcendence among inpatient hospice nurses. A descriptive, correlational research methodology guided this inquiry surveying a convenience sample of 42 inpatient hospice nurses at 4 hospice locations. The Professional Quality of Life Scale assessment and Reed\u27s Self-Transcendence Scale were used to survey inpatient hospice nurses. According to study results, although self-transcendence was not significantly associated with fatigue, there was a positive correlation between self- transcendence and compassion satisfaction and between affect and self-transcendence. This study leads to positive social change by providing hospice nurses strategies on how to cope with grief and trauma experienced on-the-job, leading to improved hospice care

Validation of a reverse transcriptase multiplex PCR test for the serotype determination of U.S. isolates of bluetongue virus

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4076702

Waking Up the Dissident: Transforming Lives (and Society) with Feminist Counseling

When I was a student in the 70’s I took a year off to travel the world with a friend. Despite taking every precaution, I was sexually assaulted twice. The incidents changed the course of my life. I completed my studies and began working in a refuge for battered women. There I bore witness, not only to unimaginable cruelty, but to widespread institutional indifference to women’s suffering. Decades later, police, judicial and child welfare responses remain inadequate in Canada (as everywhere), and mental health practitioners continue to routinely blame and pathologize women. As a counselor, first at the shelter, later in a police crisis unit, I struggled to know how to respond when women sought my guidance. Should they report being beaten, raped, threatened with death? Should they seek treatment for depression? Could they lose their children? Could they be charged for defending themselves against their batterers? Women were looking for reassurances that I couldn’t give. What I could give them was tools to understand the forces acting upon their lives. I began to incorporate a feminist analysis into my work, including a sociology lesson and consciousness-raising in every session. I started bringing women together in groups, where many problems considered personal and psychological were recognized as common and social, requiring political solutions. For many women, reflecting on their problems from a feminist perspective was truly liberating and empowering

Effects of Selection Systems on Job Search Decisions

On the basis of Gilliland\u27s (1993) model of selection system fairness, the present study investigated the relationships between selection procedures, perceived selection system fairness, and job search decisions in both hypothetical and actual organizations. We conducted two studies to test the model. In Study 1, we used an experimental method to examine job seekers\u27 perceptions of, and reactions to, five widely used selection procedures. Results suggested that applicants viewed employment interviews and cognitive ability tests as more job related than biographical inventories (biodata), personality tests, and drug tests, and that job relatedness significantly affected fairness perceptions, which in turn affected job search decisions. Study 2 examined the hypothesized relationships between the selection systems and job seekers\u27 pursuit of actual, relevant organizations. Results from both studies offer support for the hypothesized model, suggesting that selection tests have differential effects on perceived selection system validity and fairness, which affect subsequent job search decisions

A Study of Teacher Practices and Attitudes Toward Parent Involvement in the Omaha Public School District Primary Grades

This is a descriptive examination of teacher attitudes and practices of parent involvement in a small urban district in a mostly rural state. Surveys were sent to 416 teachers of grades kindergarten, first, and second. Surveys were also sent to the teachers of alternative kindergarten classrooms and the pre-first classrooms. The survey was based upon one from the publication Hopkins Survey of Schools and Family Connections, Questionnaires for Teachers, Parents, and Students, p.81. The survey was self-reporting with anonymity guaranteed. Independent variables included grade level taught, a college level course or school district in-service session taken, and a bachelor’s degree or work beyond the bachelor’s degree earned. Dependent variables include attitudes toward parent obligations, communication practices, volunteer practices, attitudes towards parent involvement at home, general attitudes toward parent involvement, and parent involvement at my school. One-way analyses of variance were run to examine the variables. When appropriate, multiple range tests were run. The surveys indicated that the population of teachers in the Omaha Public School District have more similarities than differences when examining their attitudes toward parent involvement. Surveys showed that teachers valued parent involvement. Most agreed on the benefits and value of involving parents. Very few teachers had taken a college course or participated in a district training session on parent involvement