What Information Technology Asks of Business Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Rhode Island

Using data from Rhode Island, this research examines the relationships among certifications, skills, educational levels and the level of compensation across the IT field and attempts to discriminate between ten major job functions. It assesses the significance of skills and certifications to specific IT worker categories. The level of education was found to predict success. Certification and skills vary across job functions, and did not necessarily differentiate across IT job functions. Suggestions on the development of curricula are proposed

GA4GH: International policies and standards for data sharing across genomic research and healthcare.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) aims to accelerate biomedical advances by enabling the responsible sharing of clinical and genomic data through both harmonized data aggregation and federated approaches. The decreasing cost of genomic sequencing (along with other genome-wide molecular assays) and increasing evidence of its clinical utility will soon drive the generation of sequence data from tens of millions of humans, with increasing levels of diversity. In this perspective, we present the GA4GH strategies for addressing the major challenges of this data revolution. We describe the GA4GH organization, which is fueled by the development efforts of eight Work Streams and informed by the needs of 24 Driver Projects and other key stakeholders. We present the GA4GH suite of secure, interoperable technical standards and policy frameworks and review the current status of standards, their relevance to key domains of research and clinical care, and future plans of GA4GH. Broad international participation in building, adopting, and deploying GA4GH standards and frameworks will catalyze an unprecedented effort in data sharing that will be critical to advancing genomic medicine and ensuring that all populations can access its benefits

The effects of perceived pressures on managerial and nonmanagerial scientists and engineers

The two major purposes of the present study were (1) to empirically investigate the effects of excessive pressures perceived by Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers employed in a large multidivisional energy R&D laboratory on work attitudes and performance; and (2) to test the proposition that scientists with managerial responsibilities perceive more pressures and strains than do those with no such duties. Results indicated that the pressured scientists perceived more role strain and a less positive climate, were less satisfied, and received lower performance evaluations from their supervisors than non-pressured ones. No differences were found in the perception of pressures between the managerial and nonmanagerial scientists, although the managers reported a more positive climate and higher satisfaction than did nonmanagers. The implications of these findings with regard to management practice (i.e., dual ladders) and future research on stress among this occupational group were briefly discussed. © 1992 Human Sciences Press, Inc

Team diversity, cognition, and creativity

This chapter proposes a theory that explains how increased levels of diversity within and among members of teams increase innovation and creativity in team decision making and problem solving. Using the work ofHartmann (1991), Koestler (1964), and Zerubavel (1991), our conceptualization of team diversity is based on the concepts of schemata and mental boundaries. Our model demonstrates that teams composed of individuals with heterogeneous schemata and thin mental boundaries possess greater creative potential than groups composed of individuals with homogeneous schemata and thick mental boundaries. Implications of this model for research and practice in diversity management and organizational creativity are discussed. © 2000

A multi-level model of group cognitive style in strategic decision making

In this article we propose the group-level construct of group cognitive style. We then develop a multi-level model of strategic decision making that incorporates individual-level cognitive style, group cognitive style, and strategic decision making. In developing the concept of group cognitive style, we argue that just as individuals have a cognitive style, or a characteristic way of gathering and processing information for decision making, over time, groups also develop such consistency in information processing and decision-making behavior. Group cognitive style is proposed to reflect differences in the composition and structure of the group, as well as the cognitive style and the social interaction of individual group members, and to have an impact on both strategic decision-making processes and ultimately on organizational performance

Dual Commitment Among Unionized Faculty: A Longitudinal Investigation

This study investigated changes in union, organizational, and dual commitment among 267 faculty of a public university in the U.S. over a 6.5-month period (from the beginning of contract negotiations to contract settlement). Specifically, it was hypothesized that labor-management relationship climate, union involvement, perceived pay equity, and the implementation of a multi-tier salary plan would differentially affect faculty members\u27 commitment levels. In addition, three established methods of measuring dual commitment were utilized to assess their convergent validity. Results indicated that organizational commitment and, in some cases, dual commitment increased over the time period. Further, the correlational and classification methods of measuring dual commitment detected changes in commitment, while Angle and Perry\u27s (1986) five-item dual commitment scale was found to have questionable reliability and validity. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the study\u27s findings were discussed. © 1991, Sage Publications. All rights reserved

When Work-Family Benefits Are Not Enough: The Influence of Work-Family Culture on Benefit Utilization, Organizational Attachment, and Work-Family Conflict

We developed a measure of work-family culture (i.e., the shared assumptions, beliefs, and values regarding the extent to which an organization supports and values the integration of employees\u27 work and family lives) and examined its relationship to work-family benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict. Using survey data from 276 managers and professionals, we identified three dimensions of work-family culture: managerial support for work-family balance, career consequences associated with utilizing work-family benefits, and organizational time expectations that may interfere with family responsibilities. As predicted, perceptions of a supportive work-family culture were related to employees\u27 use of work-family benefits. Both work-family benefit availability and supportive work-family culture were positively related to affective commitment and negatively related to work-family conflict and intentions to leave the organization. In addition, the three culture dimensions were found to have unique relationships with these behaviors and attitudes. © 1999 Academic Press

Work motivation: The incorporation of self-concept-based processes

This paper proposes a metatheory of work motivation incorporating theories of self-concept that have been proposed in the sociological and psychological literatures. Traditional theories of work motivation are reviewed, and the self-concept-based sources of motivation are presented. How the self-concept influences behavior in organizations is explained and used to develop a metatheory of motivational sources. Both research and managerial implications of the model are presented

Work and family from an industrial/organizational psychology perspective

Industrial/organizational (IIO) psychologists study human attitudes and behavior in the workplace. Their goals are to understand and measure human behavior to improve employees’ satisfaction and job performance, enhance employers’ ability to select and promote the best people, and generally make the workplace better for employees (www.siop.org). Although 1/0 psychologists focus on the interrelatedness of the individual, the group, and the organization, it has only been in the last 20 years or so that they have considered the relationship between work and family. Fortunately, the field has advanced tremendously since then and has added substantially to the work-family literature