Showing papers in "The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science in 1988"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the coping mechanisms employees used to adapt to a major organizational transition and found that perceived uncertainty and fears about the impact of the transition were related to employee stress.
Abstract: This article examines the coping mechanisms employees used to adapt to a major organizational transition. Research was conducted to assess both coping resources and coping responses. The sample consisted of employees of the Bell Telephone System who had to cope with the company's recent divestiture. The results of a multivariate analysis suggest that perceived uncertainty and fears about the impact of the transition were related to employee stress. This relationship was only moderately affected by the coping mechanisms. Feelings of personal control and the ability to tolerate ambiguity were linked with improved stress levels, whereas active attempts to structure the situation by obtaining information and feedback either failed to affect or actually increased stress levels. The author concludes with implications of this research for the management of change.
517 citations
TL;DR: A review of the literature addressing employees' alcohol abuse and dependence is presented in this paper, where the authors identify four perspectives adopted by social scientists studying drinking behavior and the work place and recommend that these four perspectives guide future research and current efforts to reduce risk factors in the workplace that are associated with drinking behavior.
Abstract: This article presents a review of the literature addressing employees' alcohol abuse and dependence. Based on this review, the authors identify four perspectives adopted by social scientists studying drinking behavior and the work place. The work culture perspective postulates that administrative and occupational subcultures establish norms for alcohol use. The social control perspective postulates that an organization's disciplinary structure may either inhibit or create opportunities for the development of drinking problems. The alienation perspective and the work stress perspective postulate that various work place conditions (e.g., boring tasks, work overload) cause distress, which employees may seek to relieve with alcohol. The authors recommend that these four perspectives guide future research and current efforts to reduce risk factors in the work place that are associated with drinking behavior.
71 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of an investigation of whether the personality characteristics and behavioral tendencies of effective organization development (OD) consultants differ significantly from those of less effective ones.
Abstract: This article presents the results of an investigation of whether the personality characteristics and behavioral tendencies of effective organization development (OD) consultants differ significantly from those of less effective ones. From an extensive review of the literature by the author and a panel of three judges, three categories of characteristics were derived for testing: openness and responsiveness to others' needs and concerns, comfort with ambiguity and the ability to make sense of it, and comfort with oneself in relation to others. The study subjects, 105 OD consultants in the U.S. Navy, completed three personality instruments. Peers, fellow consulting team members, and superiors of these consultants (also OD consultants) also rated the subjects' consulting effectiveness. Multivariate analyses showed a strong, significant relationship between consultant effectiveness and the characteristics assigned to the three categories. The results strongly support the hypotheses that the personality charac...
66 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a study of the relationship between the perception and use of support in one's work environment and their effects on perceived stress and strain, and the analytic sample consisted of a large number of participants.
Abstract: The authors conducted a study of the relationship between the perception and use of support in one's work environment and their effects on perceived stress and strain. The analytic sample consisted...
64 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study that formally assessed the performance construct of business economic performance, including the issues of dimensionality and convergent and discriminant validity, was conducted, and the results supported the multidimensional nature of the construct and the guiding hypotheses were that operating and market performance constitute two separate but correlated dimensions of the financial performance construct.
Abstract: Organizational research has had problems with the concept of business economic performance because this concept has not been adequately developed theoretically, and little attention has been paid to measurement issues. This article discusses a study that formally assessed the performance construct, including the issues of dimensionality and convergent and discriminant validity. The research used data on the performance of 110 organizations, and the guiding hypotheses were that operating and market performance constitute two separate but correlated dimensions of the financial performance construct, and that indicators of operating performance would be highly correlated with and significantly related to that dimension, as would indicators of market performance with that dimension. The study's results supported the multidimensional nature of the construct.
64 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report the results of such a study whose evaluation criteria were developed according to a heuristic model of key cognitive, affective, and behavioral results of the QC process.
Abstract: Little reliable longitudinal research has investigated the outcomes of participating in quality circles (QCs). This article reports the results of such a study whose evaluation criteria were developed according to a heuristic model of key cognitive, affective, and behavioral results of the QC process. A sample of 225 military and civilian employees of a U.S. Air Force base was evaluated using survey and performance appraisal measures administered within the framework of a non-equivalent control design. Analyses of covariance yielded evidence that QC participation significantly affected the study's criterion variables. The authors discuss the limitations and implications of their study and offer suggestions for future research.
51 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the role of mediatory myths in mitigating ideological contradictions of organizations, explaining the nature of such contradictions and how myths act as frameworks for understanding and addressing complex reality, and found that a mediational myth concerning the efficacy of medication operates in these centers, and that this enables participants to perform their work despite contradictory goals of patient liberty versus social control of the mentally ill.
Abstract: This article examines the role of mediatory myths in mitigating ideological contradictions of organizations, explaining the nature of such contradictions and how myths act as frameworks for understanding and addressing complex reality. Case study analyses are provided of four community mental health centers in North Carolina involved with outpatient commitment. Data were collected over two years through observation, interviews with personnel, and medical and court records of clients. The author found that a mediational myth concerning the efficacy of medication operates in these centers, and that this enables participants to perform their work despite contradictory goals of patient liberty versus social control of the mentally ill. These findings expand the concept of the mediatory myth by indicating its role in mitigating contradictions in the environment outside an organization, not just within the organization.
50 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined employees' perceptions of employee assistance programs and their willingness to participate in them and found that the majority of the employees were satisfied with their assistance programs, while the rest were unsatisfactory.
Abstract: Little empirical research has examined employees' perceptions of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and their willingness to participate in them. A sample of 150 employees of a white collar firm w...
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the major theoretical perspectives on employees' substance abuse and assesses the desirability of integrating them using data from an anonymous mail survey of 9,175 employees of 47 organizations in three industries.
Abstract: In response to the use of alcohol and other drugs in the work place, policy decisions with significant social and legal implications—such as urine testing for drug use—are being made without a clear understanding of either the epidemiology or etiology of this phenomenon. This article presents the major theoretical perspectives on employees' substance abuse and assesses the desirability of integrating them. Using data from an anonymous mail survey of 9,175 employees of 47 organizations in three industries, the author analyzed responses to items addressing age, gender, social interaction with coworkers, and satisfaction with one's job to determine any relationship between these variables and self-reported instances of working while intoxicated. The findings indicate that the employees most likely to work under the influence of alcohol or other drugs were men younger than 30 years, and that the likelihood of their—or other employees'—doing so increased when they felt unhappy about their jobs and socialized f...
44 citations
TL;DR: This article explored various graphic characteristics associated with the visual analysis of single-subject data, and argued that quantitative adjuncts to visual analysis may facilitate the reliable interpretation of graphed data for a single subject.
Abstract: A study explored various graphic characteristics associated with the visual analysis of single-subject data. A sample of 20 rehabilitation therapists used visual analysis to rate 24 graphs of data sets using a traditional baseline/treatment (AB) format. Using the intraclass correlation approach, the authors assessed the interrater reliability and found that it ranged from .52 to .66 for each graph. Data analysis revealed that the graphic characteristics of level and mean shift were associated with consistent judgments across the raters, and that changes in slope across the two phases of a graph were associated with substantial rater disagreement. The authors discuss the implications of using visual and statistical procedures to analyze single-subject data, and argue that quantitative adjuncts to visual analysis may facilitate the reliable interpretation of graphed data for a single subject.
40 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the relationship between drug use and patterns of living and working for a sample of middle-class, white "baby boomers" who have lived in communal households and found that neither chronic nor current use of marijuana or alcohol had adversely affected the subjects' occupational status and achievement in middle adulthood, although a relationship was found between daily alcohol consumption and delaying marriage and childbearing.
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between drug use and patterns of living and working for a sample of middle-class, white “baby boomers” who have lived in communal households. A longitudinal investigation was initiated in the mid-1970s with 806 persons and followed up in 1986–1987 with 79% of these subjects. During interviews, the subjects supplied data related to their work and financial status, work-related attitudes and behavior, life status, and histories of drug use (i.e., types of drugs used, and quantity, frequency, and duration of use). The results indicate that neither chronic nor current use of marijuana or alcohol had adversely affected the subjects' occupational status and achievement in middle adulthood, although a relationship was found between daily alcohol consumption and delaying marriage and childbearing. The authors warn against extrapolating the results for this unique sample to the larger population, but note the implications they have for future research.
TL;DR: This article compares EAPs, HPPs, andQWL, discussing their theoretical underpinnings, methods, and demonstrated effectiveness in treating alcohol abuse and dependence, and encourages cooperation among EAP, HPP, and QWL practitioners in addressing work place factors related to drinking problems.
Abstract: Numerous programs addressing employee alcohol abuse and dependence have appeared in organizations in the U.S. since the 1940s. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have effectively used a dual strat...
TL;DR: This article conducted interviews with 75 Mexican American couples in Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas, and conducted participant observation of many others, finding that women experienced strain from the changes in their lives, and faced discrimination based on both their gender and ethnicity.
Abstract: This article discusses how married Mexican American women are redefining their roles and conjugal relationships. Employing a symbolic interactionist framework, the author held in-depth interviews with 75 Mexican American couples in Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas, and conducted participant observation of many others. The data indicate that contrary to previous reports, married women are not passive, but have actually taken the lead in role making. The working-class women studied were seeking separate identities from their husbands, something the business/professional women had already attained. The women experienced strain from the changes in their lives, and faced discrimination based on both their gender and ethnicity. The author calls for recognition of the diversity among families in minority groups, of the resistance to change minority-group women face by being "twice a minority," and of the need to examine organizational structures not only from management's perspective, but also from that of the s...
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the juvenile probation officer (JPO) in affecting dispositions, in which the effects of extralegal factors were systematically tested, were found to produce treatment differences sufficient to undermine the rehabilitative ideal and confound studies of judicial bias.
Abstract: Concerns about bias and disparity in case dispositions-despite inconclusive evidence-have recently spurred interactionist research into the organizational processes and functionaries of juvenile justice. This article reports a study of the role of the juvenile probation officer (JPO) in affecting dispositions, in which the effects of extralegal factors were systematically tested. In one juvenile probation department in the southwestern U.S., 87 JPOs each completed a survey and recommended three dispositions for the case of a juvenile delinquent. The results indicate that the JPOs' background characteristics, organizational situations, and attitudes toward delinquency were crucial variables explaining dispositional disparity. The authors posit that the "IPO factor" can produce treatment differences sufficient to undermine the rehabilitative ideal and confound studies of judicial bias, and suggest that understanding the systematic nature of this factor might facilitate needed reform.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the attempts of five different manufacturing plants of a corporation to develop more cooperative labor-management relations, examining results obtained for the first two years of the change projects.
Abstract: A study compared the attempts of five different manufacturing plants of a corporation to develop more cooperative labor-management relations, examining results obtained for the first two years of the change projects. Data were collected through interviews with senior and lower-level managers, supervisors, and union officials, and from records on productivity, product quality, and grievances. Based on the numbers of problem-solving groups and reported changes affecting managers and union officials, two plants succeeded in improving labor-management relations, but through processes contrary to prescriptions given in the current literature. The author presents many deficiencies in current conceptualizations related to union-management change efforts. The article suggests topics for future research, especially the utility of an intergroup relations perspective and parallel organizations.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the medical and psychiatric literaure on seeking help is presented, and the authors call for construction of a grounded theory based on qualitative research, and recommend that EAPs develop more accurate classifications for labeling cases.
Abstract: Practitioners tend to employ cultural referral categories when classifying what has motivated clients to enter employee assistance programs (EAPs). These categories are rooted in ideology and used in ways that often conceal the diverse factors leading troubled employees to seek help. In particular, application of the term “self-referral” has grown dramatically while application of the term “supervisory referral” has declined, which may reflect practitioners' underlying beliefs about how employees ought to use EAPs. The article discusses some studies of alcohol treatment efforts for which the use of cultural referral categories made interpretation of the findings difficult. Following a review of the medical and psychiatric literaure on seeking help, the authors call for construction of a grounded theory based on qualitative research, and recommend that EAPs develop more accurate classifications for labeling cases.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a case study of the Family Crisis Shelter in Hawaii, which has retained its feminist program and continues to promote societal change despite its financing by governmental and conventional funding sources.
Abstract: Feminist-run shelters for battered women seek both to provide protection for these women and to empower them with a critique of the society that promotes violence and male domination. Largely because of difficulties in obtaining funding, however, in the U.S. the trend has been for such shelters to be coopted into conventional social service agencies. This article presents a case study of the Family Crisis Shelter in Hawaii, which has retained its feminist program and continues to promote societal change despite its financing by governmental and conventional funding sources. The author attributese this shelter's relative success to its particular empowerment strategy, which primarily depends on staffing by nonprofessional former shelter residents and its policy of providing nonjudgmental support for its residents.
TL;DR: The authors found that CAD's benefits are linked to the characteristics of the dominant technology, job design, and work group, and therefore, fulfilling the promise of CAD depends considerably on how well the concomitant changes in the workplace are managed.
Abstract: In a study of the implications of computer-aided design (CAD) for work and performance, the authors tested the proposition that CAD not only is superior to manual drafting and design technology, bu...
TL;DR: The Behavioral Index of Troubled Employees (BITE) as discussed by the authors was developed to address the shortage of instruments related to employee assistance programs (EAPs), the BITE gathers information on supervisors' opinions of various behaviors associated with troubled workers.
Abstract: To address the shortage of instruments related to employee assistance programs (EAPs), the Behavioral Index of Troubled Employees (BITE) was developed. This focuses on one aspect of the supervisor-troubled worker intervention process: supervisors' attitudes toward behaviors of impaired employees. As such, the BITE gathers information on supervisors' opinions of various behaviors associated with troubled workers. In a study of the instrument, the BITE was administered to 237 supervisors from two companies in the automotive industry. The underlying structure and pattern of the supervisors' attitudes was determined through the use of principle components factor analytic and reliability procedures. The results suggest that the BITE comprises four valid, reliable factors: industriousness, resistance, acrimoniousness, and disaffection. The authors discuss the implications of using the BITE in future research, theory testing, and training supervisors about EAP practices.
TL;DR: In this article, a study using single-case clinical data from an agency, and presenting several methods for examining such information, explores both the benefits of such analyses and the pitfalls associated with the proposed methods.
Abstract: The use of single-case methodology has been widely promoted in many disciplines in recent years. Although the use of such a methodology by individual practitioners is feasible and desirable, little attention has been paid to the aggregation of such data for evaluating agencies. This article reports a study using single-case clinical data from an agency, and presents several methods for examining such information. The authors explore both the benefits of such analyses and the pitfalls associated with the proposed methods.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how practitioners in EAPs can adopt the role of constructive broker to achieve the goal of providing humane treatment to troubled workers, by adopting a constructive broker role.
Abstract: This article describes how practitioners in employee assistance programs (EAPs) can adopt the role of constructive broker to achieve the goal of providing humane treatment to troubled workers. The ...
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between work and substance abuse, with special attention to employee assistance programs (EAPs) and their systematic response to impaired workers, is discussed. But the work in this issue does not serve as a primer or comprehensive work on substance abuse and the work place, and it contains articles by some of the recognized leaders in this field and demonstrates
Abstract: Substance abuse and work are social concerns with a fundamental effect on all of us. An individual’s personal identity and quality of life stem largely from that person’s employment status and the state of work and employment throughout society. Our own personal experiences and the news media remind us daily of the suffering associated with the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. This issue of The Joiirnal of Applied Behaviornl Scieiice considers the relationship between work and substance abuse, with special attention to employee assistance programs (EAPs) and their systematic response to impaired workers. 1 This issue contributes to our knowledge of substance abuse and its effects on the work place in two major ways. First, it clarifies our conceptual understanding and presents new research findings on the topic. Although this issue does not serve as a primer or comprehensive work on substance abuse and the work place,2 it contains articles by some of the recognized leaders in this field and demonstrates
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the characteristics of the organizations adopting EAPs and found that the greater the purveyor organization's integration of and managerial control over its subunit for EAP service delivery, the more supportive relationships the purveor organization has with treatment organizations within its community.
Abstract: Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have diffused rapidly, but few studies have examined the processes of this diffusion, and most of these have focused on the characteristics of the organizations adopting EAPs. This article addresses the “purveyor organizations ” that market EAPs to others. The authors hypothesized that the greater the purveyor organization's integration of and managerial control over its subunit for EAP service delivery, the more supportive relationships the purveyor organization has with treatment organizations within its community, and that the higher its level of sociopolitical acceptability, the more successful it will be in encouraging organizations adopting EAPs to implement them fully. Using survey data from 724 occupational program consultants from purveyor organizations, the authors conducted a multivariate analysis. Their findings support the hypotheses that these features of purveyor organizations affect the extent to which EAPs are implemented, with managerial control over t...
TL;DR: In this article, a study was made of the impact of gender on learning in group relations conferences and the authors concluded that a complete explanation of gender's effects on learning must consider the "agentic and communal dimensions of a group's task, the ambiguity of criteria for evaluating performance, women consultants' status, the gender composition of the group, and transference reactions.
Abstract: A study was made of the impact of gender on learning in group relations conferences. Questionnaires were sent to 265 adults who participated in seven group relations conferences. The conferences varied in context and design, but each included a small group event highlighting reactions to consultant authority. Three-month follow-up data were collected from 60% of the participants. When the participants' self-assessed learning in relation to consultant and participant gender was statistically analyzed, 9 of IO significant effects favored the women consultants. Using Eagly's theoretical model of gender role differences in adults and psychodynamic group theory, the authors conclude that a complete explanation of gender's effects on learning must consider the "agentic" and communal dimensions of a group's task, the ambiguity of criteria for evaluating performance, women consultants' status, the gender composition of the group, and transference reactions.
TL;DR: In this article, a survey was conducted to investigate the beliefs of alternative dispute resolution professionals about the impacts of various situational factors on the likelihood of negotiating an agreement, and the survey responses of 119 labor relations and 44 non-labor mediators and arbitrators were compared.
Abstract: A survey was conducted to investigate the beliefs of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals about the impacts of various situational factors on the likelihood of negotiating an agreement. The author compares the survey responses of 119 labor relations and 44 nonlabor mediators and arbitrators. All respondents reported that when disputants have previous bargaining experience and deadlines are close, agreement is more likely, and that when one disputant has favorable alternatives outside the relationship agreement is less likely. Some differences emerged between the responses of those working in labor relations and those in nonlabor fields, however, and the author discusses the implications of generalizing findings from ADR in industrial relations to other settings.
TL;DR: The authors developed a model of interest in promotion and seeking promotion by integrating insights from the literature on internal labor markets, discrimination in organizations, cognitive balance theory, labeling theory, and expectancy theory.
Abstract: The authors developed a model of interest in promotion and seeking promotion by integrating insights from the literature on internal labor markets, discrimination in organizations, cognitivebalance theory, labeling theory, and expectancy theory. After making predictions based on this model, a sample of employees and supervisors in six offices of a federal government agency was examined. Data were drawn from questionnaire responses and personnel records. Interest in promotion proved to be more widespread than willingness to sacrifice to obtain promotion, and the former was related as predicted to the attractiveness of outcomes expected to accompany promotion and to severalvariables affecting promotion opportunity. Willingness to sacrifice for promotion was related to attractiveness of promotion, and some evidence indicated that this willingness declined when promotion opportunity was low-even when controlling for promotion interest. The implications of the findings for future research and practice are pres...
TL;DR: A review of the literature reveals substantial support for the holistic approach, but most of the applied perspectives employed by policy practitioners are reductionist in character as mentioned in this paper, and evidence indicates that the same factors account for the predominance of reductionism in all applied behavioral sciences.
Abstract: This article addresses the debate within the applied behavioral sciences over two paradigms:holism versus reductionism. A review of the literature reveals substantial support for the holistic approach, but most of the applied perspectives employed by policy practitioners are reductionist in character. Through a "sociology of knowledge" evaluation of clinical medicine-one of the most successful applied behavioral sciences-the prevalence of reductionism is related to several social structural factors, including the organizational and normative structure of the practitioner group and the broader interest structure of society. The author presents evidence indicating that the same factors account for the predominance of reductionism in all applied behavioral sciences.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that for educational theory to have coherent policy implications, these two strands of thought must be integrated and suggest how this could be used for such integration when augmented by examination of the contextual grounding of learning.
Abstract: Educational theory has developed in a fragmented fashion, with perspectives on the structure and organization of schooling developing in isolation from theories of cognition and learning. In this article, the author argues that for educational theory to have coherent policy implications, these two strands of thought must be integrated. Following an analysis of three major views of the role of schooling-the functionalist, Marxist, and cultural Marxist theories-the author reviews the"constructivist" framework and suggests how this could be used for such integration when augmented by examination of the contextual grounding of learning. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for theory, research, and educational policy.
TL;DR: The stylistic variations of the military custom of saluting, which both reflect the military hierarchy and provide a medium for the expression of individuals' attitudes toward the system, are examined in this paper.
Abstract: The article examines the stylistic variations of the military custom of saluting, which both reflects the military hierarchy and provides a medium for the expression of individuals' attitudes toward the system. Specific examples, conventions, and categories of saluting are presented, drawn from the author's previous experience as a United States Army officer, with reference to official guidelines and discussions with other military personnel. Common instances of individual manipulation of the standard rules for saluting are considered signs of structural ambiguity and of overlapping-and sometimes contradictory-systems of military power, values, and authority. Based on evidence of a complex interplay of social definitions in a relatively closed and regimented system, the author warns against using rigid or deterministic models of the relationship between individual action and social structure.