4,897 research outputs found
Putting context into organizational intervention design:Using tailored questionnaires to measure initiatives for worker well-being
Realistic evaluation emphasizes the importance of exploring the mechanisms through which organizational interventions are effected. A well-known mechanism in organizational interventions is the screening process. Standardized questionnaires, in popular use, neither consider individualsâ appraisals of working conditions nor the specific context of the workplace. Screening with items tailored to intervention contexts may overcome the limitations of standardized questionnaires. In the present study, we evaluate an approach to develop a tailored questionnaire to measure employeesâ appraisals of their specific working conditions. First, we interviewed 56 employees and 17 managers and, later, developed tailored items focused on the working conditions in a postal service. In follow-up interviews, we explore participantsâ experiences with the tailored questionnaire, including the development of initiatives, compared to their previous experiences with the companyÂŽs annual attitude survey that used standardized scales. Results indicated that participants felt the tailored questionnaire highlighted issues that had previously been ignored, that initiatives were easier to develop due to its specificity, and that the feedback strategy was useful in prioritizing questionnaires. Overall, it can be concluded that tailored questionnaires may be appropriate for use in organizational intervention research and more broadly that evaluations of organizational interventions need to be contextually grounded
Large current noise in nanoelectromechanical systems close to continuous mechanical instabilities
We investigate the current noise of nanoelectromechanical systems close to a
continuous mechanical instability. In the vicinity of the latter, the
vibrational frequency of the nanomechanical system vanishes, rendering the
system very sensitive to charge fluctuations and, hence, resulting in very
large (super-Poissonian) current noise. Specifically, we consider a suspended
single-electron transistor close to the Euler buckling instability. We show
that such a system exhibits an exponential enhancement of the current noise
when approaching the Euler instability which we explain in terms of telegraph
noise.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures; v2: minor changes, published versio
The Ties that Double Bind Us: Career, Emotion and Narrative Coping in Difficult Working Relationships
This article examines through an autoethnographic account how career aspirations and constraints may lead individuals to endure emotionally aversive situations. It presents evidence that individuals in such situations engage in emotionâfocused coping through narrative, illustrated by the authorâs autoethnographic narrative of a difficult working relationship which developed into a double bind situation. The paper suggests that narrative coping in response to a double bind can actually serve to reify and prolong such situations. The paper concludes that autoethnographic research does not lend itself to simple organisational solutions. Possible avenues for further research are outlined and discussed
Making sense of theory construction: Metaphor and disciplined imagination
This article draws upon Karl Weickâs insights into the nature of theorizing, and extends and refines his conception of theory construction as âdisciplined imaginationâ. An essential ingredient in Weickâs âdisciplined imaginationâ involves his assertion that thought trials and theoretical representations typically involve a transfer from one epistemic sphere to another through the creative use of metaphor. The article follows up on this point and draws out how metaphor works, how processes of metaphorical imagination partake in theory construction, and how insightful metaphors and the theoretical representations that result from them can be selected. The paper also includes a discussion of metaphors-in-use (organizational improvisation as jazz and organizational behavior as collective mind) which Weick proposed in his own writings. The whole purpose of this exercise is to theoretically augment and ground the concept of âdisciplined imaginationâ, and in particular to refine the nature of thought trials and selection within it. In doing so, we also aim to provide pointers for the use of metaphorical imagination in the process of theory construction
Individual leader to interdependent leadership: A case study in leadership development and tripartite evaluation
This article is available open access through the publisherâs website at the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Sage Publications.The Problem - In this case study we see a move away from orthodox views of school leadership as âheadshipâ to a more contemporary model of educational leadership wherein we note a departure from functional, curricula-based school leadership toward more human resource development (HRD) approaches. The aim of this study was to consider the effectiveness of an educational development program for middle leaders within an educational establishment.
The Solution - We examined the impact of a bespoke higher education leadership development intervention in Leadership (and Change) on the formation and cohesiveness of a newly formed innovative leadership structure.
The Stakeholders - The leadership development intervention was designed through a tripartite collaboration including a university, senior school leaders, and staff. The intervention was designed to shift leadership from individual leader agency to interdependent human leadership agency. Through tripartite evaluation we uncover leadership development praxis that transcends the boundaries of conventional educational leadership and reemphasizes the benefits of bridging the academic/practitioner divide and the application of theory to praxis
Policy, Performativity and Partnership: an Ethical Leadership Perspective
This article identifies the need to think differently about educational partnerships in a changing and turbulent post compulsory policy environment in England. The policy and institutional contexts in which universities and colleges currently operate seem to be fuelling performativity at the expense of educational values. There appears to be a sharp interruption in the steady increase in educational partnerships as a vehicle for increasing and widening participation in higher education. We are witnessing a marked change in university / college relationships that appears to be a consequence of government calling a halt to increased participation in higher education, creating an increasingly competitive market for a more limited pool of student places. The implication that educational policy at the national level determines a particular pattern or mode of leadership decision making throughout an institution should however be resisted. Policy developments that challenge the moral precepts of education should not be allowed to determine how a leader acts, rather they should prompt actions that are truly educational, rooted in morality, and atached to identifiable educational values. Educational leaders have agency to resist restricted discourses in favour of ethical and principled change strategies that are a precondition for sustainable transformative partnerships in post compulsory education. University leaders in particular are called upon to use their considerable influence to resist narrow policy or managerial instrumentalism or performativity and embrace alternatives that are both educationally worthwhile and can enhance institutional resilience
Trust and control interrelations: New perspectives on the trust control nexus
This article is the post-print version of the published article that may be accessed at the link below. Copyright @ 2007 Sage Publications.This article introduces the special issue on New Perspectives on the Trust-Control Nexus in Organizational Relations. Trust and control are interlinked processes commonly seen as key to reach effectiveness in inter- and intraorganizational relations. The relation between trust and control is, however, a complex one, and research into this relation has given rise to various and contradictory interpretations of how trust and control relate. A well-known discussion is directed at whether trust and control are better conceived as substitutes, or as complementary mechanisms of governance. The articles in this special issue bring the discussion on the relationship between both concepts a step further by identifying common factors, distinctive mechanisms, and key implications relevant for theory building and empirical research. By studying trust and control through different perspectives and at different levels of analysis, the articles provide new theoretical insights and empirical evidence on the foundations of the trust-control interrelations
Organizational sensegiving: Indicators and nonprofit signaling
Resource acquisition depends upon the agreement between an organization's sense of identity and the perceptions of organizational identity held by resource providers. To smooth the flow of resources and buffer against potential issues, organizations seek to manage external perceptions and, to the extent possible, control their organizational identity. Using exploratory factor analysis, we examine the data from 300 GuideStar profiles to develop a sense of how nonprofit organizations âgive senseâ to resource providers and attempt to manage their organizational identity. We find evidence of three sensegiving strategies. We then use a seemingly unrelated regression model to examine the relationship between these strategies and revenue outcomes, finding evidence that (a) nonprofit organizations demonstrate intentional sensegiving, and (b) different sensegiving approaches are related to different income streams
Precision spectroscopy of pionic 1s states of Sn nuclei and evidence for partial restoration of chiral symmetry in the nuclear medium
Deeply bound 1s states of in Sn were preferentially
observed using the Sn(,He) pion-transfer reaction under the recoil-free
condition. The 1s binding energies and widths were precisely determined, and
were used to deduce the isovector parameter of the s-wave pion-nucleus
potential to be . The observed enhancement
of over the free value ()
indicates a reduction of the chiral order parameter, , at the normal nuclear density, .Comment: 4 pages including 3 postscript figures, RevTeX 4 with multirow.sty,
submitted to Physical Review Letter
On the way to Ithaka [1] : Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Karl E. Weickâs The Social Psychology of Organizing
Karl E. Weickâs The Social Psychology of Organizing has been one of the most influential books in organization studies, providing the theoretical underpinnings of several research programs. Importantly, the book is widely credited with initiating the process turn in the field, leading to the âgerundizingâ of management and organization studies: the persistent effort to understand organizational phenomena as ongoing accomplishments. The emphasis of the book on organizing (rather than on organizations) and its links with sensemaking have made it the most influential treatise on organizational epistemology. In this introduction, we review Weickâs magnum opus, underline and assess its key themes, and suggest ways in which several of them may be taken forward
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