Formal relationships

About: Formal relationships is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 86 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1706 citations.

Conference Committees, Sophisticated Voting, and Cyclical Majorities

Abstract: This paper examines a number of the formal properties of the place of the conference committee in the legislative process. It is argued that the use of conference committees affects the sophisticated voting decisions of a legislature by increasing the number of possible social alternatives beyond that initially considered in either chamber. Certain formal relationships between cyclical majorities and the occurrence and influence of conference committees are also discussed in relation to sincere and sophisticated voting. Finally, interviews with Iowa state senators are used to examine the formal properties of conference committees in relation to one specific piece of legislation. The empirical evidence indicates that the formal properties of conference committees are exhibited in certain behavioral tendencies.

A cluster randomized trial of an organizational linkage intervention for offenders with substance use disorders: study protocol

Abstract: Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in community correctional populations, yet these settings frequently are ill-equipped to identify and refer offenders to community-based treatment services. In particular, community corrections staff are often opposed to the use of medication in addiction treatment because of inadequate knowledge, resources, and organizational structures to facilitate client linkages to evidence-based services. Each of the NIDA-funded Research Centers recruited 2 criminal justice agencies to participate in the study. Eligibility rules required study sites that were focused on community corrections (i.e., probation or parole), had few or no formal relationships with treatment providers for referring clients to medication-assisted treatment, and had no state or local policies prohibiting such relationships. Sites under the oversight of the same parent agency were eligible only if they were in geographically distinct catchment areas, and could be assigned to different study arms without cross-contamination at any level. The 18 clusters consisted of community corrections officers and their offender caseloads nested within agencies, each of which was partnered with at least one community-based substance abuse treatment program. Randomization was blocked by Research Center, within which one cluster was randomly assigned to a training-only condition (comparison) and the other to training followed by a strategic organizational linkage process (intervention). Line staff received a scientifically-grounded, systematically-delivered training session that addresses gaps in existing knowledge, perceptions, and information about medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and local availability of MAT services. Key decision-makers subsequently were asked to collaborate in a strategic planning process to enhance formal and informal linkages between criminal justice agencies and local MAT providers. It was hypothesized that the two implementation intervention components together would be more likely than staff training alone to improve the process of referring opioid- and alcohol-dependent adults under community supervision to appropriate addiction pharmacotherapy. Outcomes were measured at the client (referrals), line staff (attitudes), and organizational (linkage) levels. Through closer collaboration among criminal justice agencies and treatment providers, improved linkages to effective substance abuse treatment should yield significant clinical, public health and public safety benefits. Clinical Trials gov registration number NCT01344122 .

A dyadic examination of the role of relationship characteristics and age on relationship satisfaction in a formal mentoring programme

Abstract: Research was conducted to test ideas derived from Wanberg, Welsh, and Hezlett's (2003) dynamic process model of formal mentoring to examine (1) the role of respect and communication in mentorship relationship satisfaction, and (2) whether the age of the mentor or the protege would impact those relationship qualities. The sample was comprised of 117 matched mentor–protege pairs from an organization's formal mentoring programme. We received survey data from both partners and used the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model to examine individual and dyadic effects. Data suggest that proteges' respect for the mentor and communication quality, as perceived by both partners, were independent predictors of mentorship relationship satisfaction. Proteges rated their relationships as more satisfying than did their mentors. Hypotheses regarding age differences in relational qualities were not supported. We suggest that researchers continue to examine formal relationships at the dyadic level, and that practitioners desig...

Professionals in Organizations: A Neoteric Model

Abstract: Most current models of formal organizations exhibit certain similarities. One, which may be called the Weber-Mannheim model, emphasizes the legal-rational ordering of formal relationships and, concomitantly, the notions of hierarchy, specialization, and the downward flow of authority. The Barnard-Simon model, while it focuses on the premises upon which organizational decisions are based, nonetheless assumes that organizational decision-making is enmeshed in a formal matrix typified by hierarchy, status differentials, and various kinds and degrees of expertise, with decisions being ratified by those at the apex of the formal structure. Selznick and Merton also, although they are mainly interested in primary organizational relationships, the unanticipated consequences of action, and the adaptive, organismic aspects of large-scale formal systems, assume that such processes operate within a legally prescribed and formal hierarchy. Finally, Michels is preoccupied with the pervasive impact of hierarchy upon beh...

Formal relationships among governing boards, CEOs, and medical staffs in independent and system hospitals.

Abstract: This study examines the impact of hospital participation in multi-institutional arrangements on formal relationships between hospital governing boards and chief executive officers (CEOs) and between governing boards and hospital medical staffs. Hypotheses are derived from Mintzberg's general theory of organizational design and are tested using combined data from three American Hospital Association Surveys of nonfederal, short-term hospitals. Analysis results provide considerable support for the study hypotheses. CEOs were found in general to have more formal influence in decisionmaking but also were more likely to be held accountable for performance standards in those hospitals that are part of multi-institutional arrangements. In addition, analyses using both 1976 and 1982 survey data indicate that hospital participation in multi-institutional arrangements is associated with lower levels of formal involvement of the medical staff in institutional decisionmaking. Relationships, for the most part, remain unchanged after the introduction of statistical controls for hospital size. One important issue raised by these findings is the possible impact on hospital performance of less participation by medical staff in the governance of hospitals whose boards are either responsible for multiple hospitals or accountable to higher organizational authority.