Organizational Identification: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Students’ Relationship with Their University

Organizational identification (OID) is the outcome of social construction processes in which individuals define themselves in terms of their organizational membership. Students’ identification with their university reflects value congruence with the institution and is reflected in communication. Drawing on social identity theory (SIT) and utilizing quantitative and qualitative data from students (n = 555), we found relationships between OID and construed external image of the university, trust in the university, satisfaction with the university, perceived interorganizational competition, and outcomes, including intended future involvement. Students were re-surveyed nine months later (n = 397, with 83 respondents matching Time 1 and Time 2) to assess their OID stability. Open-ended responses describe situations and events that strengthen/lessen OID. We offer implications for OID, SIT, and for organizational communication research and practice.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior,Organizational Communication,and Burnout: The Buffering Role of Perceived Organizational Support and Psychological Contracts

This study investigated the communicative role of perceived organizational support and psychological contracts in fulfilling exchange relationships and buffering burnout in employees contributing extra role time organizational citizenship behaviors (ERT-OCB). The lens of social information processing positioned burnout as a job attitude subject to the influence of the organization’s communication environment that informs employees as to the value they and their extra role time contributions hold with the organization. Participants (N = d461), high school teachers coaching debate teams from 46 states, completed questionnaires. Findings showed that both organizational support and psychological contract fulfillment buffered the positive relationship between ERT-OCB and burnout.     

Applying organizational orientations theory to employees of profit and non-profit organizations

Organizational orientations theory posits three traits (upward mobile, ambivalent, and indifferent) of employees in organizations that are associated with communication traits, temperament, and perceptions of supervisor source credibility. All of these are hypothesized to be associated with organizational communication behavior and organizational outcomes such as employee job satisfaction and motivation. Previous research employing undergraduate student participants has provided support for this theory. Results of the present research indicate that this theory can be applied to typical full-time employees in profit and nonprofit organizations. All studied relationships were found to generate statistically significant results, accounting for substantial variance in each relationship. These results indicate this theory can be applied to employees in a wide variety of organizations. Suggestions for broadening this theory and its application are provided.     

Internationalization of Canadian Agriculture: Policy and Governing Paradigms

Abstract

Purpose: To identify various organizational climatic factors responsible for role performances of veterinary officers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Design/methodology/approach: Study was conducted in 11 selected districts. Data were collected from 220 respondents through a pretested interview schedule and subjected to correlation and multiple regression to draw valid inferences. Organizational climate was measured by using the index specially prepared for the study.

Findings: Around 76% of the respondents perceived that the organizational climate prevailing in the department of animal husbandry was favorable. Leadership, teamwork and trust had significant contribution towards perception of organizational climate. The respondents were least satisfied with motivation, decision-making and goal setting components of the organizational climate. The model with seven variables out of 16 independent variables was a good fit with R square of 85.59%. Work motivation, persistence disposition, participativeness, job satisfaction, physical facilities availability and timeliness of availability of facilities were found to have significant positive influence while job stress had significant negative influence on perceived organizational climate.

Practical implications: This investigation has an organizational and social significance for development of livestock organizations not only in India, but also to other SAARC countries as well.

Originality/value: No empirical evidence on inter-relation between organizational climate and job performance of veterinarians is available at present in Andhra Pradesh.     

个体学习、组织学习与学习型组织之辨析

本文从行政组织理论和学理比较角度,对学习型组织的核心概念:个体学习、组织学习和学习型组织三者之间的区别和联系以及个体学习和组织学习的转化机制、知识传递机制进行了研究和辨析,结果显示:个体学习是构建学习型组织的基础,组织学习是个体学习的系统性整合,学习型组织是组织学习的学习指导理念与奋斗目标.     

Trends in Female Authorships, Editorial Board Memberships, and Editorships in Educational Psychology Journals from 2003 to 2008

Robinson, McKay, Katayama, and Fan (Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23, 331–343, 1998) reported that women were underrepresented in terms of authorships, editorial board memberships, and editorships in the field of educational psychology based on membership trends. More recently, Evans, Hsieh, and Robinson (Educational Psychology Review, 17, 263–271, 2005) reported that women had made gains as editors but had not kept pace with organizational membership in terms of authorships and editorial board memberships. Our goal in this paper was to further examine women’s participation in educational psychology journals by extending the datasets of Robinson et al. and Evans et al. The number of female authors per article, particularly those from non-US institutions, has continued to increase. However, consistent with Evans et al., although females are continuing to make numerical gains in both authorships—both primary and secondary—and editorial board memberships, their involvement has not kept pace in relation to membership trends.     

An exploratory study of subordinates' perceptions of supervisory politics

This study was designed to explore the relationships between subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' involvement in organizational politics and subordinates' perceptions of supervisory work facilitation, satisfaction with supervision, and openness in superior‐subordinate communication. Results suggest that subordinates who perceive their supervisors as highly involved in politics are less open in communication and less satisfied with their supervisors than subordinates who perceive their supervisors as moderately or minimally involved in politics.     

Practicing induction: a generative dance between newcomers and organizations

Research on induction of newcomers is primarily focused on individual processes, such as acquisition of knowledge and socialization in order to create a smooth and frictionless entry period. The interest of our research, however, is the processes that happen on the organizational level. We claim that induction potentially triggers both individual and organizational learning and by drawing on practice-based theory we discuss how the interplay between individual and the organization, what we call a generative dance, ignites both kinds of learning. We focus on and describe the interplay that takes place in particular induction events and analyze the “dance” through the lens of learning. The article concludes with a brief discussion about the implications for practitioners and the challenges and future research prospects we have encountered. We draw on an empirical enquiry in two organizational settings, a Danish management consulting company and a German retail bank.

A Systems Approach to Identifying and Managing Opportunities and Constraints to Delivering Innovation Policy for Agriculture: An Analysis of the Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program

Abstract

In this paper we outline an analytical approach to identifying points in the policy process where management intervention to adjust organizational design could enhance delivery of innovation policy over time. We illustrate this approach using an example from native vegetation policy in the state of Victoria, Australia. We then use this approach to interpret recent reviews of the Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program, a policy instrument aimed at enhancing national economic growth by fostering innovation in research and development.

The approach described in this paper is grounded in the idea of policy as a complex and adaptive organizational system.

From the findings it was apparent that reviews of the Australian CRC Program have recognized some of its complex and dynamic properties. However, they have been limited in their capacity to translate this recognition into practical recommendations for organizational design to improve delivery on innovation, particularly in relation to the uptake of research outputs by industries such as agriculture. We propose that this is likely to reflect the bureaucratic foundations of innovation policy and the difficulties associated with changing processes and ways of managing them that have become locked in to the organizational system.

The design of policy instruments to deliver innovation, such as the CRC Program, should be informed by a detailed understanding of the dynamics that are mediating between policy objectives and outcomes over time. Dynamics such as the impact of bureaucratic constraints on the flexibility of policy processes and the participants engaged in them. In the absence of this sort of understanding, dynamics that critically affect the capacity of policy instruments to deliver innovation are likely to go unidentified and left to run their own course to an unpredictable and potentially counterproductive end.

While the idea of policy as a complex organizational system is well known, there remains a substantive gap in knowledge as to how thinking about policy in this way might be applied to generate practical options for improving organizational design. The analytical approach described in this paper addresses this gap in knowledge. In the absence of such approaches, the effectiveness of policy instruments such as the CRC Program, which are intended to foster innovation, will continue to be limited by deficiencies in organizational design.     

The Meaning of Work/Life: A Corporate Ideology of Work/Life Balance

Organizations wield great power over the structure of contemporary life. Using the rhetorical method of cluster analysis, we investigated the construction of work/life issues on Web sites of companies on Fortune's 2004 list of “100 Best Companies to Work for.” By identifying key terms and the terms that clustered around them, we uncovered a corporate ideology of work/life: 1) work is the most important element of life; 2) life means family; 3) individuals are responsible for balance; and 4) organizations control work/life programs. We conclude that organizational work/life programs may increase, rather than decrease, the amount of control organizations exercise over personal life. We explore the implications of this finding as well as directions for future research.     

Taiwanese technical education teachers’ professional development: An examination of some critical factors

There is a lack of research in the area of the influence that task autonomy (TA), organizational learning (OL), and group cohesiveness (GC) can have on technical education teachers' innovation of professional development (IOPD). Therefore, this study aimed to probe into the influences of TA, OL, and GC on IOPD by technical education teachers, and their relationships. We conducted a questionnaire survey on 265 full-time teachers. The results showed that TA, GC, and OL of technical education teachers revealed significant positive relationships with the degree of IOPD. The teachers' TA and OL are critical factors to their IOPD, as they are positive predictors.     

The concept map as a research and evaluation tool: Further evidence of validity

This study sought further evidence of the concurrent validity of concept mapping as a research and evaluation tool in science education. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which differences exist in the concept maps of advanced college biology majors (N = 25) and beginning nonmajors (N = 25) in the domain of mammals. Furthermore, it explored whether these differences are reflected in the way subjects assign class membership as revealed in a card sorting task. The results indicate that concept maps of biology majors are structurally more complex than those of nonmajors and that differences in the structural complexity and organizational patterns depicted in concept maps are reflected in the underlying dimensions used to assign class membership. Together, these findings suggest that the concept map provides a theoretically powerful and psychometrically sound tool for assessing conceptual change in experimental and classroom settings.     

Economic Sectors as Discursive Resources for Civil Society Collaboration

This study explores the communication processes of civil society collaboration, with particular attention to the ways in which sectoral differences are managed communicatively and how sectoral differences among members are implicated in the processes of collaboration. Findings from a 10-month qualitative investigation of a civil society collaboration of social service providers indicate that sector differences are discursive resources that people draw upon to make sense of uncertainty and frame arguments. Findings also demonstrate how sector differences are managed communicatively through practices of recognition, resistance, translation, and mediation. This study builds on previous scholarship that conceptualizes civil society collaboration as a series of communicative processes and discursive practices (versus economic or structural characteristics), as well as research that advocates a processual approach to the study of organizational collaboration.     

Teachers' organizational citizenship behaviour: Considering the roles of their work engagement,autonomy and leader–member exchange

The increasing demands that schools are confronted with recently, require teachers' commitment and contribution to school goals, regardless of formal job requirements. This study examines the influence of teachers' work context, in terms of autonomy and leader–membership exchange (LMX), on the relationship between their work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). A distinction is made between OCBI, targeted at benefits for the individual, and OCBO, targeted at benefits for the organization. Survey data from six Dutch schools for secondary education (n = 211), showed that autonomy and LMX both weakened the relationships between work engagement and OCBI and OCBO respectively.     

Organizational climate, services, and outcomes in child welfare systems

Objective

This study examines the association of organizational climate, casework services, and youth outcomes in child welfare systems. Building on preliminary findings linking organizational climate to youth outcomes over a 3-year follow-up period, the current study extends the follow-up period to 7 years and tests main, moderating and mediating effects of organizational climate and casework services on outcomes.

Methods

The study applies hierarchical linear models (HLMs) analyses to all 5 waves of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) with a US nationwide sample of 1,678 maltreated youth aged 4–16 years and 1,696 caseworkers from 88 child welfare systems. Organizational climate is assessed on 2 dimensions, Engagement and Stress, with scales from the well established measure, Organizational Social Context (OSC); youth outcomes are measured as problems in psychosocial functioning with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL); and casework services are assessed with original scales developed for the study and completed by the maltreated youths’ primary caregivers and caseworkers.

Results

Maltreated youth served by child welfare systems with more engaged organizational climates have significantly better outcomes. Moreover, the quantity and quality of casework services neither mediate nor interact with the effects of organizational climate on youth outcomes.

Conclusions

Organizational climate is associated with youth outcomes in child welfare systems, but a better understanding is needed of the mechanisms that link organizational climate to outcomes. In addition, there is a need for evidence-based organizational interventions that can improve the organizational climates and effectiveness of child welfare systems.     

UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND CLIMATE IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

This study examined the relationship between community college organizational climate and the conflict communication styles of individuals and job groups within the college. More specifically, this study investigated the relationships of employee perceptions concerning organizational communications, collaboration, formal influence, structure, focus on students, and work design/technology to their self-identified affinities for seeking solutions, control, or avoidance in conflict situations with their immediate supervisors. Effective leadership strategies are explored based on these relationships.     

Consider This: A Comparison of Factors Contributing to Employees' Expressions of Dissent

In this study, full-time employees were surveyed to determine the degree to which different considerations factored into their decisions to express upward or lateral dissent. Employees rated considerations similarly when reportedly dissenting to either supervisors or coworkers, with organizational climate and organizational attachment considerations being comparatively stronger than concerns associated with being perceived as adversarial and experiencing retaliation. A comparison across types of dissent revealed that organizational climate, organizational attachment, and adversarial perception/retaliation were more important considerations when employees expressed upward versus lateral dissent. Additionally, results suggested no significant differences in the way management and non-management employees weighed considerations when expressing dissent.     

The mediating roles of collective teacher efficacy in the relations of teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate to their burnout

This study examined the relationships between school organizational climate, collective teacher efficacy, and burnout in a sample of Korean middle school teachers. Using SEM, the results showed that school organizational climate reflecting higher levels of reflective dialogues was associated with both higher levels of collective teacher efficacy and lower levels of teachers' burnout. In contrast, school organizational climate reflecting higher levels of organizational politics was associated with lower levels of collective teacher efficacy, and did not have a direct effect on teachers' burnout. The relationship between school organizational climate and teachers' burnout was mediated by collective teacher efficacy.     

New working conditions and well-being of elementary teachers in Ecuador

The objective of this study was to analyze the stressors and working conditions which affect elementary teachers according to the TP-M theory. For this purpose, a research study was performed with nine focus groups composed of 75 teachers, each working in a different elementary school in Guayaquil (Ecuador). The results showed that occupational risks could be classified in two categories: (1) risks stemming from the social environment in which the teachers carry out their work; (2) risks derived from the new organizational demands that affect the physical and psychological health of teachers as well as their social and family relationships.     

Communication Conflict Styles,Perception of Ethical Environment,and Job Satisfaction Among College and University Counselors

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of college and university counselors (N = 669) regarding their ethical environment, job satisfaction, and ways of dealing with organizational conflict. Findings indicated that counselors manifested an average, but not positive, perception of their ethical environment. Job satisfaction was highest among counselors employed at small institutions. While variable, communication conflict styles indicated possible power struggles occurring within counseling centers. Implications for campus‐based counseling centers are discussed.