A countrywide study on factors influencing the public relations practice in higher education in Taiwan

This countrywide study was conducted to determine what organizational and individual factors have a significant impact on the performance of public relations (PR) practice in higher educational institutions in Taiwan. In this study, a purposive sampling of 600 administrative staff whose jobs involved university PR was employed, and 301 effective questionnaires were recruited, yielding a 50% valid rate. Thirteen organizational and five individual factors were retrieved from the researcher’s prior qualitative research on the university PR practice to examine the PR performance in this study. Through a stepwise regression analysis, the findings indicated four organizational factors and one individual factor were significantly predictive of the performance of educational PR practice at the .05 and .001 levels. Further, organizational factors were found as having a greater influence than individual factors on the educational PR performance in this study.     

Interventions (Solutions) Usage and Expertise in Performance Technology Practice: An Empirical Investigation

Performance technology (PT) is complex, drawing theory from instructional design, organizational development, communications, industrial psychology, and industrial engineering to name a few. The Standards of Performance Technology developed for the certified performance technology designation codified the processes used in the practice of performance improvement. The Human Performance Technology (HPT) Model of the International Society for Performance Improvement illustrates the Standards for the Performance Technology process, including the selection, design, and implementation of appropriate performance interventions. Research exists on specific PT interventions, such as problem solving, feedback, or job analysis. This foundational study considers intervention usage within organizations and the expertise of performance technologists. Findings indicate that years of experience in the field or related field is positively correlated to expertise. Some alignment was found between higher ranked PT expertise and higher ranked intervention usage within those organizations.     

How the Organizational Learning Process Mediates the Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management Practices on Performance in Korean Organizations

The primary purpose of this research is to examine the structural relationships among several workplace‐related constructs, including strategic human resource management (HRM) practices, organizational learning processes, and performance improvement in the Korean business context. More specifically, the research examined the mediating effect of the organizational learning processes at three levels—individual, group, and organizational—to explain the relationship between strategic HRM practices and performance improvement. A total of 640 cases were used for data analysis, with general multivariate analyses and structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the learning processes at the three levels have a significant direct impact on organizational performance and that they also serve as a mediating interaction construct to maximize the effect of strategic HRM practices. The article provides conclusions, discusses the limitations of the research, and makes further recommendations.     

The Harvest of PT: ISPFS Past Presidents' Recommendations for the Preparation of Performance Technologists

Much of the preparation for performance technologists has been embedded in other disciplines such as instructional technology, organizational development, and human resources. Changes in the work environment are forcing instructional technologists to examine their priorities and to reexamine the primary skills they need to work in the field of performance technology. This interview study examines the collective advice, concerns, and recommendations of fifteen of ISPI's past presidents. They offer advice on essential skills, voice concerns about the general application of instructional technology, and comment on ISPI's role in the preparation of performance technologists in a world of fast-moving organizational problems, challenges, and opportunities.     

Negotiating Cultural Boundaries Through Collaboration: The Roles of Motivation,Advocacy and Process

This case study investigated the roles of organizational culture and the individual in collaborative processes at a large, public university. Results indicate that individuals who are motivated by a belief in shared mission use their awareness of the collaborative process to advocate for themselves and others, leading to stronger and more cognitively complex collaborations across organizational cultural differences. These findings provide insight into the individual’s role in the collaborative process and are the foundation for recommendations for ways to bridge the loosely-coupled and diverse components of higher education.     

Career Development: The Linkage Between Training And Organizational Development

Improved organizational efficiency can only be accomplished if the employees within an organization have developed the skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to perform at the highest possible levels. To a limited degree this can be accomplished via training, but employees develop the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes related only to their current job. As a result, the organization is only indirectly impacted. This refers to the micro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Organizational efficiency can also be accomplished through organizational development, but the individual employee is often overlooked during this process. Without employee commitment to improve efficiency, it will be short-lived. This approach refers to the macro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Both the micro and macro perspectives of improved organizational efficiency have their weaknesses. Thus, a combination of the two processes is necessary. Career development is that combination. Career development is a process which enables employees to develop beyond the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes required for their present job assignments. It is a process which is focused on improving organizational efficiency while relying on the development of the individual employee. Performance improvement practitioners can provide learning activities which improve employees' skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes by viewing improved organizational efficiency from an individual (micro) perspective while remaining dedicated to the overall enhancement of the organization (macro). However, many performance improvement practitioners fail to see the connection between training and overall organizational development. These terms are often used interchangeably which leads to the increased confusion and misapplication of each process. It is necessary, therefore, to arrive at an acceptable definition in order to communicate effectively the intent as well as the similarities and differences of the processes. This will enable performance improvement practitioners to better understand the commonalities of each process. It is this understanding that serves as the basis of this article and the forthcoming recommendations.     

Dealing with an aging workforce: Locating threats and opportunities in corporate media

ABSTRACT

Although workforce aging is among the major challenges facing developed countries, organizational communication about this issue has received little scholarly attention. Drawing on a content analysis of corporate media, we reconstruct how Dutch organizations (N = 50) framed older workers’ employability during the period 2006–2013 in diagnostic (problem-definitions) and prognostic (solution-definitions) terms, and we trace the influence of corporate media types and organizational characteristics on these frames. Results reveal that organizations frequently highlight problems on the macrolevel (societal) and the mesolevel (organizational), while most solutions are located on the microlevel (individual). Using multilevel modelling, we found support for the expectation that the issue is more strongly problematized in internal compared to external corporate media, and that problems related to individual older employees are most pronounced in public sector organizations’ communication. Our findings highlight diverse ways in which organizations can communicatively address factors that hamper older workers’ employability.     

Implications of job rotation literature for performance improvement practitioners

Job rotations have existed as a means of developing individual knowledge and skills since the industrial revolution, and in today's dynamic global workplace, they afford organizations an opportunity to manage changing psychological work contracts and employee desires for self‐managed careers. Through the systematic mining of psychology, business, management, and educational databases, this literature review provides a summary of job rotation practices, individual and organizational benefits, likely costs associated with job rotations, and implications for practitioners. Findings indicate that while employees seek learning and marketability over job security and stability, organizations strive to maintain continuity and internal growth and development of their workforce. Job rotations can appease both individuals and organizations through enhanced knowledge and skills, facilitation of greater job satisfaction, and identification of individual strengths for optimal organizational performance. However, these benefits come at a price to the individual and the organization in the form of increased work/life conflict, potentially higher training costs, and possible lower work unit morale. Conclusions are presented on the practical implications and recommendations for implementing job rotations and integrating the practice into performance improvement models.     

How should organizational leaders use employee engagement survey data?

This evaluation study explores how a nonprofit health insurance provider responds to the results of its annual employee engagement survey. The study answers two questions: (a) What do organizational leaders do with the data collected? and (b) How do leaders perceive the usefulness of the survey? It provides study results, discussions, and recommendations relevant to human performance technology practitioners, to help maximize the value of an organizational survey by increasing its usefulness as a catalyst for change.     

Using Performance Analysis for Training in an Organization Implementing Integrated Manufacturings A Case Study

Focused efforts to improve organizational and individual performance begin with analysis of the needs. However, the theory and practice of performance analysis are not well connected. This case study examined the use of a theory-based model, the Performance Analysis for Training (PAT) Model, for assessing performance needs within an organization that was integrating its manufacturing processes. The results showed that the PAT Model was a useful guide for assessing performance needs. This research also showed that the process and product of the performance analysis were influenced by the organization's characteristics, the decision maker's characteristics, and the analyst's characteristics. In practice, the PAT model and the actual process of performance analysis were similar. However, the analyst noted three adaptations of the model. These adaptations suggest that performance analysis in some instances may be more an iterative than a linear process.     

Career Development; The Linkage Between Training and Organizational Development Originally published in 1989, PIQ 2.1

Improved organizational efficiency can only be accomplished if the employees within an organization have developed the skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to perform at the highest possible levels. To a limited degree this can be accomplished via training, but employees develop the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes related only to their current job. As a result, the organization is only indirectly impacted. This refers to the micro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Organizational efficiency can also be accomplished through organizational development, but the individual employee is often overlooked during this process. Without employee commitment to improve efficiency, it will be short-lived. This approach refers to the macro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Both the micro and macro perspectives of improved organizational efficiency have their weaknesses. Thus, a combination of the two processes is necessary. Career development is that combination. Career development is a process which enables employees to develop beyond the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes required for their present job assignments. It is a process which is focused on improving organizational efficiency while relying on the development of the individual employee. Performance improvement practitioners can provide learning activities which improve employees' skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes by viewing improved organizational efficiency from, an individual (micro) perspective while remaining dedicated to the overall enhancement of the organization (macro). However, many performance improvement practitioners fail to see the connection between training and overall organizational development. These terms are often used interchangeably which leads to the increased confusion and misapplication of each process. It is necessary, therefore, to arrive at an acceptable definition in order to communicate effectively the intent as well as the similarities and differences of the processes. This will enable performance improvement practitioners to better understand the commonalities of each process. It is this understanding that serves as the basis of this article and the forthcoming recommendations.     

Team performance improvement: Mediating roles of employee job autonomy and quality of team leader–member relations in supportive organizations in the Korean business context

The purpose of this research was to examine the mediating roles of job autonomy and the quality of the leader–member relationship to explain the impact of organizational support on team performance. A total of 228 cases collected from Korean business organizations were used for data analysis. Hierarchical multiple regression, Type 1 SS‐based general linear modeling, and structural equation modeling were used for analyses. All results were compared to examine the magnitude of the interactions of two mediating variables—job autonomy and leader–member relation quality—to predict the influence of organizational support on team performance. Results include (1) two mediating variables played partial mediating roles; (2) between the mediating variables, leader–member relations maximized the magnitude of job autonomy; (3) organizational support was the commanding predictor for team performance, while it was found to be a statistically nonsignificant factor, which did not directly influence team performance. Conclusions are described, followed by limitations and future research recommendations.     

Performance contagion and human resource layout: New concepts in performance management

Job performance can be defined as the extent to which one exhibits behaviors that further the goals of the organization, and leaders try to manage the factors influencing the performance in an organization to guide it toward organizational goals. A main factor that influences the performance is emotions and behavior of other people. The influence of people on each other can be divided into physical and metaphysical contagions in the scientific literature. In this article, we introduce a new kind of metaphysical contagion that has a close relationship with individual and organizational performance. We name it performance contagion and introduce two kinds of factors (content and process) and subfactors. We conceptualize a new concept in performance management defined as human resource layout. Tools are suggested for applying the steps of this model to improve both individual and organizational performance.     

Organizational and professional socialization: its impact on the performance of new administrators

While interest in holding administrators accountable for school effectiveness has increased over the past decade, the quality of evaluation systems and corresponding assessments of their performance has not. Few empirical studies have focused on evaluating the performance of new administrators as they carry out important functions of their role, so little is known about the process of socialization and how it may affect the beginning administrator's job performance. The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of socialization factors that may be related to the evaluation of new elementary and secondary assistant principals' job performance. These factors were grouped into three major sets: individual demographics, professional socialization (i.e., type of administrative preparation), and organizational socialization (e.g., school context). Results of the LISREL covariance structure analysis supported the proposed theoretical model, indicating that organizational socialization directly affected administrative performance. In contrast, the effect of professional socialization on performance was mostly indirect. Moreover, independent of socialization, women in the study were rated as more effective than men. While most of the variation in performance observed was very likely due to individual differences, the findings suggest the importance of considering how an individual is socialized into the profession and the specific school when appraising performance.     

Defending the Community College Equity Agenda By Thomas Bailey and Vanessa Smith Morest

The current rhetoric around using data to improve community college student outcomes with only limited research on data-driven decision-making (DDDM) within postsecondary education compels a more comprehensive understanding of colleges’ capacity for using data to inform decisions. Based on an analysis of faculty and administrators’ perceptions and behaviors at 41 community colleges that participated in an initiative to improve student success, an argument is presented to include social capital as an explicit component of the capacity of community colleges for using data on student outcomes to increase student success. Building on Newmann, King, and Rigdon’s (1997) conceptualization of schools’ organizational capacity to meet accountability expectations and Smylie and Evans’ (2006) exploration of the role of Coleman’s (1988) social capital in policy implementation, this study found a relationship between the presence of forms of social capital as part of the organizational capacity for DDDM and the frequency and extent of data use among faculty and administrators. In light of research on organizational learning that suggests that social capital creates opportunities for the creation of new knowledge—such as possible solutions for persistent problems of student success—and research on organizational routines as mechanisms for change and preservation in organizations, this article concludes with recommendations for community colleges undertaking data-driven educational reform.     

Strategic Leadership: A Model for Promoting,Sustaining, and Advancing Institutional Significance

This article presents the methods, materials, and manpower required to create a strategic leadership program for promoting, sustaining, and advancing institutional significance. The functionality of the program is based on the Original Case Study Design (OCSD) methodology, in which participants are given actual college issues to investigate from a leadership perspective. Participants in the program work in teams to maximize the development of their individual and group leadership skills. Program outcomes are demonstrated by formal presentations that identify an organizational problem and the design of a solution. The identification of problems and strategies for solutions occurs within the framework of strategic leadership development. It is argued in this paper that layered strategic leadership is the key element to promote, sustain, and advance institutional significance. Implications and recommendations for community college strategic leadership practice are also addressed in this applied research article.     

Non-dispersive solvent extraction of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-toluic acid from purified terephthalic acid plant wastewater with <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-xylene as extractant

Non-dispersive solvent extraction (NDSE) with p-xylene as extractant was employed as a novel separation method to recover both p-toluic (PT) acid and water from purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater. The mass transport behavior of PT acid from aqueous solution to p-xylene was investigated by experiments and numerical simulation. Experiments showed that NDSE is feasible and effective. Residual PT acid in the raffinate can be reduced to lower than the permitted limit of wastewater re-use (100 g/m³) with extraction time longer than 60 s in industrial conditions. A mathematical model of PT acid mass transport was developed to optimize the membrane module performance. The model was validated with the experimental results with relative errors of less than 6%. Numerical analysis for mass transfer through the lumen side, the porous membrane layer, and the shell side showed that PT acid transport in the aqueous solution is the rate determining step. The effects of the membrane and operating parameters on membrane module performance were investigated by means of computational simulations. The key parameters suggested for industrial NDSE design are: fiber inner radius r₁=200–250 µm, extraction time t_e=50–60 s, aqueous/organic volumetric ratio a/o=9.0, and temperature T=318 K.     

组织薪酬差距和组织绩效的关系研究

组织薪酬差距与组织绩效的关系问题一直是实践界和理论界关注的焦点所在。基于薪酬差距“两分类法”的研究视角,采用问卷调查法考察可解释的薪酬差距和不可解释的薪酬差距对组织绩效的不同影响,并在此基础上检验个体工作绩效对薪酬差距与组织绩效之间关系的中介作用。回归分析的结果表明：（1）可解释的薪酬差距对组织绩效存在显著的正向影响,而不可解释的薪酬差距对组织绩效的影响为负向的但不显著;（2）未加以区分的薪酬差距对组织绩效存在显著的正向影响,但剔除掉个体工作绩效之后,这种影响变得不再显著;（3）员工的个体绩效对全部薪酬差距与组织绩效的关系存在中介作用。     

基于绩效的企业培训中的协作学习

提高绩效是企业培训的最终目标,培训的协作学习分为学习职务化和学习组织化两个阶段。学习职务化阶段通过开发个体心智模式和个体情境意识提高个体任务绩效;学习组织化阶段,通过开发共享心智模式和小组情境意识提高个体关系绩效,进而提升小组任务绩效。     

Preferences of Training Performance Measurement: A Comparative Study of Training Professionals and Non‐training Managers

ABSTRACT This survey‐based study addressed a perceived gap between training performance evaluation practice and decision‐making criteria required in business. Training professionals and non‐training managers in North Carolina were surveyed. The study found that the groups differ in the performance measures that motivate them to act on training issues. Non‐training managers preferred measurements of productivity, organizational climate, product quality, cost, and customer service reports. Training professionals preferred measures of opinions of the trainee's supervisor, end‐of‐training exam scores, progress/work performance reports, and opinions of the trainee. The study concluded that (1) training professionals and non‐training managers react to different training performance measures; (2) training professionals are more likely to react to job/individual‐level performance measures; (3) non‐training managers are more likely to rely on organizational‐level measures; (4) non‐training managers are not primarily concerned with converting training benefits to dollar figures; (5) on‐the‐job tests and customer service reports are valued by both the training profession and business and industry; and (6) the low response suggests a potential lack of interest for the strategic position of the training function.