Strategic ambiguity in the role development process

Today's turbulent business and social environment often compels organizations to adopt internal programs that will help them cope with complexity. One organizational sector in which this is particularly true is the health care industry, as managed care programs and competitive forces have changed the way hospitals and clinics operate. This study looks at a specific organizational program designed to cope with these industry changes and considers the impact of the program on the nurses involved. Drawing on theory and research on role development and strategic ambiguity, this case analysis looks at a hospital system in which the nursing role of “care coordinator”; was defined in a strategically ambiguous way. After analyzing interviews with 19 care coordinators, conclusions are drawn regarding affective reactions to strategic role ambiguity, behavioral adaptation to strategic role ambiguity, and the importance of conceptualizing role ambiguity as a systemic process.     

Framework for Change: Creating a Diversity Strategic Plan within an Academic Library

Abstract

In December 2017, Clemson University’s administration via the Assistant Vice President for Strategic Diversity Leadership charged each college and the University Libraries with creating and implementing a diversity strategic plan to align with the ClemsonForward institutional strategic plan and assessment system. Clemson University Libraries answered this charge by creating a Libraries Diversity Plan Working Group (LDPWG), which applied a provided institutional framework to conduct an inventory of current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and obtain input, feedback, and support from all the Libraries’ faculty and staff as well as the organization and institution administration to create an ambitious diversity strategic plan. The LDPWG worked for sixteen months to create an updated organization mission statement, a sustainable diversity statement, and an accountable roadmap, furthering Clemson University Libraries’ DEI initiatives and impact regarding six strategic priority areas: climate and infrastructure, recruitment and retention, education and training, research and scholarship, leadership support and development, and strategic partnerships.     

Organizing collective action amid the ripple effects of change: narratives of crisis,disaster, and opportunity

This study examines how narrative is used by remote stakeholders to cope with organizational change. Specifically, I focus on the public narratives of community leaders because these narratives often function as a rhetorical resource to attract businesses, receive grants, and retain local residents. Public stories announcing, explaining, and managing the ripple effects of organizational change warrant deeper analysis in order to refine our ability to respond to these effects at a community level. This in-depth case study analysis of one community's efforts to respond to the loss of its largest employer suggests that naming a change event as a crisis, disaster, or opportunity positions actors differently within narratives, creating powerful implications for social action. Specifically, crisis narratives call for punishment of the causal agent and legislation of responsibility; disaster narratives call for assistance to affected communities and legislation of support; and opportunity narratives create an unclear policy mandate and demand transformational leadership to mobilize action.     

Communicative signaling of occupational fitness: How innovative ability is expressed and assessed

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how individuals working in the innovation field communicatively define the nature of their work and make assessments of others’ innovative ability. Drawing on signaling theory, this work explores what communicative signals are valued within an ambiguous professional context. Interviews with 36 innovation workers revealed that individuals perceive this emerging occupational role as comprised of skills and traits that vary in how easily they are communicatively expressed, and in turn what forms of communication allow these dimensions to be evaluated. These findings inform the development of a grounded model for communicatively assessing innovative ability. This work extends our theoretical understanding of how signals of professionalism are actively, and communicatively expressed and assessed in new occupational settings.     

馆员合作研究中馆员多样性的考察与分析——基于南京农业大学图书馆的案例分析

[目的/意义]馆员多样性和团队合作是美国ClimateQUAL^TM组织氛围测评中的两个重要指标,但二者的关系还没有被详尽研究。本文利用近10年南京农业大学图书馆科研合作数据,深度分析馆员合作中所体现的馆员多样性,为进一步了解图书馆组织氛围的相关特征提供依据。[方法/过程]利用馆员及其年龄、职称、学历、学科背景、岗位等馆员属性信息,将这些馆员划分成不同的类别,计算辛普森指数（simpson）和熵值（entropy）,并依此来测度科研合作中的馆员多样性,绘制合作结构图来显示科研合作的状态。[结果/结论]将馆员个体作为多样性计算中的类别,辛普森指数为0.994,熵值为0.6。按馆员年龄、职称、学历、学科背景、岗位等属性划分类别,辛普森指数处于0.82-0.997之间,熵值处于0.59-0.89之间,高辛普森指数和高熵值表明不同层次的馆员都参与了科学合作,但合作不是很集中。对一定合作强度所形成的网络结构的分析也发现,合作还处于相对比较松散的状态,没有形成固定的合作团队。高学历和高职称馆员是图书馆科研产出的重要力量,虽然馆员学科背景广泛,但图情学科背景仍是南京农业大学图书馆科研产出的重要因素。     

博客：女性话语空间的拓展与反思

本文在考察博客网女性博客样本的基础上,结合网络博客的传播特性,以多维视野分析了博客如何使女性话语空间得到拓展;同时从主流意识形态、网络技术、传播效果等方面探讨了限制女性博客话语表达的不利因素,为女性话语的建构提供了一种思考角度.     

图书馆组织气候评价ClimateQUALTM的本土化研究

介绍马里兰大学图书馆创建的图书馆组织氛围和多样性评估体系ClimateQUAL^TM的产生背景及原理,将其引入国内,并进行本土适用性设计,从而构建起国内图书馆组织气候测评体系,包括9个维度和27个核心指标,同时对新增的4个维度进行重点阐述,以期提高图书馆管理水平,建设健康的图书馆组织,提升用户服务质量。     

Visualizing diversity: the Oregon Health & Science University Educational Use Photo Diversity Repository

Background:Health science education needs images that represent both the diversity of patients served and the diversity of its students and clinicians. To begin to address this need, a nurse educator and librarian collaborated to launch the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Educational Use Photo Diversity Repository. This online resource provides educators of health professional students with access to photos of pathophysiological conditions in skin of various colors so their students can increase their awareness of issues related to health and diversity and prepare themselves for more effective clinical work with their future patients.Case Presentation:The OHSU Educational Use Photo Diversity Repository became a university-wide project, leveraging the thoughts of an image advisory board, clinicians, faculty members, administrators, and students. Key considerations were given to the workflows used to submit photos as well as the controlled vocabulary for submitting images. The repository was started with photos already in existence, with future plans to have images taken specifically for the repository.Conclusions:This repository is playing an important role as OHSU and the health sciences in general reflect on the role of systemic racism in health care and clinical education. Negotiating issues of consent, patient health information, and privacy around using different technologies to take photos is a complex and ongoing process. The repository provides opportunities for closely examining these processes and creating improvements that result in more equitable education.     

范式可视化与共被引分析:以战略管理研究领域为例

尽管“范式”概念在理论分析中得到广泛使用,但是由于缺乏鉴别这个科学共同体的具体方法,它仅仅作为一个哲学构念在哲学层面进行探讨。最近新兴起来的文献计量研究方法,特别是共被引分析则给我们提供了一条开展范式实证研究的新思路。不仅如此,利用现代统计技术还使范式得以可视化。本文以战略管理研究领域为例,说明共被引分析法的具体应用。     

Strategic CRM: Improving the Business of Academic Libraries

An argument can be made that libraries are businesses, with users as their customers. Given the increasing scarcity of funding and pressure for proving value, academic libraries could benefit from leveraging certain business practices to increase user satisfaction. Creating a comprehensive strategy for building long-term user relationships can solidify support for libraries by engaging with all stakeholders to improve their library experiences. The Customer Relationship Management philosophy described here provides an opportunity for institutions to show their total value to all users and stakeholders and in doing so, improve the business of academic libraries.     

Supporting Librarians in Making the Business Case for OER

College textbook costs increased at three times the rate of inflation between 2002 and 2012 (United States General Accounting Office [GAO], 2013). One solution to high textbook costs is Open Educational Resources (OER) and institutional librarians, because of their reach throughout the institution and particular skillsets, are keenly positioned to make the business case for OER and become leaders of the OER movement. This article discusses the issues most relevant to OER adoption and provides an environmental scan of OER resources currently available to institutions, faculty, and students.     

Communicated values as indicators of organizational identity: A method for organizational assessment and its application in a case study

Organizational identity (OI) has traditionally been defined as those core, distinctive, and enduring features unique to an institution (Albert & Whetten, 1985). However, organizational research (e.g., Ashforth & Mael, 1996; Cheney & Christensen, 2001; Vaugn, 1997) published in the last decade has prompted that Albert and Whetten's (1985) definition of OI be recast to emphasize message transmission and organizational values among its core properties. Subsequently, this paper advances a revised definition of OI, describes a content analytic method for OI assessment, and then applies it in a case study to determine the communicated values comprising the identity of a specific organization, the United Church of God, an International Association, during its first five years. Results of a longitudinal analysis indicate that United's identity reflects the following values: (a) during its first year of existence family security, obedience, mature love, helpfulness, and ambition; (b) during its third year of operation family security, helpfulness, ambition, obedience, and true friendship; and (c) in its fifth year family security, ambition, helpfulness, obedience, and wisdom. Based on these results, three findings are advanced regarding United's OI. The implications of this study are addressed in terms of what they mean for United and for OI inquiry in general.     

自组织理论在广告公司组织变革中的运用

提高广告公司在新媒体环境中的系统自适性是其生存和发展的必然选择。本文借鉴自组织理论对企业管理的启示,探讨在广告公司系统中实现无序到有序演化的路径。     

Use of Non-Social Work Journals in Social Work Research: Results of a Citation Analysis

Social work research and teaching draw on the literature of other disciplines. While the use of interdisciplinary sources has been discussed at length and citation patterns in social work literature have been studied, no research has identified specific sources from other disciplines that are important for social work scholarship. Based on analysis of citations from core social work journals, several journals from both social work and other disciplines are identified as important to social work. Interdisciplinary citing patterns are discussed, and the coverage of various subjects in PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Social Work Abstracts, and Social Services Abstracts is compared.     

#MeToo,sexual harassment: an article,a forum,and a dream for the future

#MeToo has breathed new life into the women’s movement and especially into understanding and rectifying sexual harassment, abuse and assault. It has galvanized activists around the globe. And it has placed thousands of stories of the harassed in full view of the public. Sexual harassment, abuse and assault may occur within the organizational context or beyond; but sexual harassment, in particular has been legally labeled an organizational phenomenon. With this in mind, Robin Clair frames the early part of this article around the most recent organizational communication theories (see the appendix for an overview of these theories). Following the essay is a forum, in which invited scholars address questions related to the #MeToo movement.     

在线知识交流回帖动因的个案研究

采用整合社会网络分析、内容分析和访谈等方法的分析框架,从回帖的角度研究一个在线知识交流的个案,探讨影响回帖的因素。研究发现,发帖者之间的“关系”、主帖的质量以及参与者的核心度是回帖的重要动因,通过改进这些因素可以增加回帖数量,促进在线知识交流,提高在线协作的质量。     

Communicating policy-practice orientations: the case of sexual violence response among college students

How organizational members subjectively understand the characteristics of policy design processes can generate different policy outcomes. This case study of a multidisciplinary university team charged with designing and implementing sexual violence response policy articulates two policy-practice orientations: (a) unidirectional orientation (policy → practice); and (b) bi-directional orientation (practice ← → policy). These orientations suggest that how members discursively construct the relationship between policy and practice is subject to interpretations that impact policy implementation. The tension between these orientations amplifies dilemmas of communication and agency that influence what policy text can do and who can do policy. This study offers practical guidance for universities working through policy-practice challenges.     

Strategic Engagement: New Models of Relationship Management for Academic Librarians

ABSTRACT

How do we best bridge the gap between the Library and the diverse academic communities it serves? Librarians need new strategies for engagement. Traditional models of liaison, aligning solutions to disciplines, are yielding to functional specialisms, including a focus on building partnerships. This paper offers a snapshot of realignment across the Russell Group from subject support to relationship management. It then follows the journey of a newly-formed Faculty and School Engagement Team. Techniques are explored for building relationship capital, anchored to a model Strategic Engagement Cycle. Theory is contrasted with the challenges of securing real buy-in to new ways of working amid diverging agendas and assumptions, notably within the Library itself. Consideration is given to the retention of aspects of subject librarian roles. Investment in a relationship management function demands staunch and ongoing commitment to fulfil its promise, not only from its performers but from across the library community.     

Student Participation in Scholarly Communication and Library Digital Collections: A Case Study from the University of Washington Bothell Library

The University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College Library recently partnered with a faculty member to develop a digital collection showcasing student-produced digital oral histories. This case study describes the role of the library as faculty partner, student resource, and repository/publisher. Archiving and publishing requirements—such as file formats, agreement forms, and metadata—were integrated into the assignment and included as part of each project's overall evaluation and grade. Librarians provided instruction to teach students about topics related to knowledge production and scholarly communication. Assessment included student feedback surveys and faculty feedback to librarians.