Showing papers on "Situational ethics published in 2007"
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 57 empirical studies concerning enacted workplace aggression shows that both individual and situational factors predict aggression and that the pattern of predictors is target specific.
Abstract: The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 57 empirical studies (59 samples) concerning enacted workplace aggression to answer 3 research questions. First, what are the individual and situational predictors of interpersonal and organizational aggression? Second, within interpersonal aggression, are there different predictors of supervisor- and coworker-targeted aggression? Third, what are the relative contributions of individual (i.e., trait anger, negative affectivity, and biological sex) and situational (i.e., injustice, job dissatisfaction, interpersonal conflict, situational constraints, and poor leadership) factors in explaining interpersonal and organizational aggression? Results show that both individual and situational factors predict aggression and that the pattern of predictors is target specific. Implications for future research are discussed.
835 citations
TL;DR: Objective and subjective measures of identity threat were collected from male and female math, science, and engineering majors who watched an MSE conference video depicting either an unbalanced ratio of men to women or a balanced ratio.
Abstract: This study examined the cues hypothesis, which holds that situational cues, such as a setting's features and organization, can make potential targets vulnerable to social identity threat. Objective and subjective measures of identity threat were collected from male and female math, science, and engineering (MSE) majors who watched an MSE conference video depicting either an unbalanced ratio of men to women or a balanced ratio. Women who viewed the unbalanced video exhibited more cognitive and physiological vigilance, and reported a lower sense of belonging and less desire to participate in the conference, than did women who viewed the gender-balanced video. Men were unaffected by this situational cue. The implications for understanding vulnerability to social identity threat, particularly among women in MSE settings, are discussed.
831 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that combinations of traits and attributes, integrated in conceptually meaningful ways, are more likely to predict leadership than additive or independent contributions of several single traits.
Abstract: The trait-based perspective of leadership has a long but checkered history. Trait approaches dominated the initial decades of scientific leadership research. Later, they were disdained for their inability to offer clear distinctions between leaders and nonleaders and for their failure to account for situational variance in leadership behavior. Recently, driven by greater conceptual, methodological, and statistical sophistication, such approaches have again risen to prominence. However, their contributions are likely to remain limited unless leadership researchers who adopt this perspective address several fundamental issues. The author argues that combinations of traits and attributes, integrated in conceptually meaningful ways, are more likely to predict leadership than additive or independent contributions of several single traits. Furthermore, a defining core of these dominant leader trait patterns reflects a stable tendency to lead in different ways across disparate organizational domains. Finally, the author summarizes a multistage model that specifies some leader traits as having more distal influences on leadership processes and performance, whereas others have more proximal effects that are integrated with, and influenced by, situational parameters.
802 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine 42 prior studies in which the relationships between climate dimensions, such as support and autonomy, and various indices of creative performance were assessed.
Abstract: Creativity is commonly held to emerge from an interaction of the person and the situation. In studies of creativity, situational influences are commonly assessed by using climate measures. In the present effort, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine 42 prior studies in which the relationships between climate dimensions, such as support and autonomy, and various indices of creative performance were assessed. These climate dimensions were found to be effective predictors of creative performance across criteria, samples, and settings. It was found, moreover, that these dimensions were especially effective predictors of creative performance in turbulent, high-pressure, competitive environments. The implications of these findings for understanding environmental influences on creativity and innovation are discussed.
586 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on two studies -a mail survey among the general public (N =345) and a laboratory experiment among university freshmen (N=166) -that found that inclusion of additional activators improved the norm activation theory's potential to explain pro-environmental behavior.
Abstract: Studies that use the norm activation theory (Schwartz, 1977) to explain pro-environmental behavior often focus on personal norms and on two situational activators, i.e., awareness of need and situational responsibility (e.g., Vining & Ebreo, 1992). The theory's other situational activators, efficacy and ability, and its personality trait activators, awareness of consequences and denial of responsibility, are generally ignored. The current article reports on two studies - a mail survey among the general public (N = 345) and a laboratory experiment among university freshmen (N = 166)–that found that (1) inclusion of additional activators improved the norm activation theory's potential to explain pro-environmental behavior and (2) personal norms significantly mediated the impact of activators on pro-environmental behavior. Theoretical issues and issues concerning environmental management evoked by these results are discussed.
321 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that individual behaviors are the products of the interaction between culture, culture, social roles, and personality and that situational context moderates the relative contributions of the three sources in influencing behavior.
Abstract: In this article I propose a model that posits three major sources of influence on behavior-basic human nature (via universal psychological processes), culture (via social roles), and personality (via individual role identities) and argue that individual behaviors are the products of the interaction between the three. I discuss how culture emerges from the interaction of basic human nature and the ecological contexts in which groups exist, and how social roles are determined by culture-specific psychological meanings attributed to situational contexts. The model further suggests that situational context moderates the relative contributions of the three sources in influencing behavior. I provide examples of apparent contradictory findings in the study of emotion that can be explained by the model proposed.
242 citations
TL;DR: For example, Johnson et al. as discussed by the authors used a subgroup of women who responded to the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study to examine whether type of violence experienced is differentially related to formal (e.g., police, medical agencies, counseling) and informal help seeking.
Abstract: Research indicates that two major forms of partner violence exist, intimate terrorism (IT) and situational couple violence (SCV). The current study (N = 389) used a subgroup of women who responded to the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study to examine whether type of violence experienced is differentially related to formal (e.g., police, medical agencies, counseling) and informal (e.g., family, friends/neighbors) help seeking. IT victims were more likely to seek each type of formal help but were equally or less likely to seek informal help. Findings can inform both family violence research and the development and implementation of social service programs. Key Words: coercive control, consequences of violence, domestic violence, help seeking, intimate partner violence. Current research indicates that partner violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that distinct types or subgroups of violent partners exist (Graham-Kevan & Archer, 2003; Holtzworth-Munroe, Meehan, Herron, Rehman, & Stuart, 2000; Jacobson & Gottman, 1998; Macmillan & Gartner, 1999; Tweed & Dutton, 1998). Johnson (1995) has argued that two major forms of partner violence exist: one embedded in a general pattern of power and control, which he has called "intimate terrorism" (IT), and the other a response to a situationally specific conflict, which he has called "situational couple violence" (SCV). Violence type is assessed by considering the context of nonviolent, controlling behavior (e.g., isolation, threats, economic abuse) in which the violence exists, particularly differences between motivation to generally control versus violence that is more situationally rooted (Johnson, 1995, 2001, 2005; Johnson & Ferraro, 2000). The physical and sexual violence associated with the pattern of control that defines IT effectively entraps victims in the relationship by creating an overwhelming sense of fear and by diminishing victims' personal resources (e.g., confidence, self-esteem), financial resources (e.g., money to escape, stable employment), and contact with support networks (e.g., family, friends, shelters). SCV does not exist within a context of control but is enacted as a means of controlling a specific situation or context and is often a disagreement that escalates into violence. Although IT is associated with more severe, frequent physical violence compared to SCV (see Johnson & Leone, 2005; Leone, Johnson, Cohan, & Lloyd, 2004), the types are not defined in terms of violence severity or frequency. Therefore IT is not a more severe "stage" of SCV but rather a different phenomenon, which among heterosexual couples may be rooted in patriarchal ideas about gender and the social acceptance of violence against women. Studies utilizing Johnson's typology show that IT and SCV have significantly different outcomes for victims, with IT victims reporting more symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as more injuries (Johnson & Leone, 2005; Leone et al., 2004). Piispa (2002) found that victims of physical violence involving severe psychological abuse (likely IT) reported more fear and sleeping and concentration difficulties and lower self-esteem compared to women who experienced isolated incidents of violence not involving emotional abuse (likely SCV). Thus, the nature of the violence and its context significantly predict consequences for victims. It is likely that violence type is also associated with different patterns of help seeking, given the differences in psychological and physical consequences among these two groups of victims. A next step, therefore, is to study differences in help-seeking patterns among women experiencing either IT or SCV. The current study examines the utility of theoretically and empirically derived variables to predict the likelihood that women engage in formal and informal help seeking. Research on Victim Help Seeking The psychosocial needs of women in violent relationships can be immense, with many women requiring legal, economic, and health services, as well as housing, child care, and general social support (Sullivan, Basta, Tan, & Davidson, 1992; Weisz, Tolman, & Bennett, 1998). …
177 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a content analysis was conducted on the written records of students formally charged with plagiarizing at a large West Coast university and each case was classified according to the primary ethical reasoning that the student used to justify plagiarism.
Abstract: Given the tremendous proliferation of student plagiarism involving the Internet, the purpose of this study is to determine which theory of ethical reasoning students invoke when defending their transgressions: deontology, utilitarianism, rational self-interest, Machiavellianism, cultural relativism, or situational ethics. Understanding which theory of ethical reasoning students employ is critical, as preemptive steps can be taken by faculty to counteract this reasoning and prevent plagiarism. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that unethical behavior in school can lead to unethical behavior in business; therefore, correcting unethical behavior in school can have a positive impact on organizational ethics. To meet this objective, a content analysis was conducted on the written records of students formally charged with plagiarizing at a large West Coast university. Each case was classified according to the primary ethical reasoning that the student used to justify plagiarism. Results indicate that students predominately invoke deontology, situational ethics, and Machiavellianism. Based on these findings, specific recommendations are offered to curb plagiarism.
156 citations
TL;DR: The authors show that incidental exposure to complementary gender and status stereotypes leads people to show enhanced ideological support for the status quo and when the legitimacy or stability of the system is threatened, people often respond by using complementary stereotypes to bolster the system.
Abstract: According to system justification theory, there is a general social psychological tendency to rationalize the status quo, that is, to see it as good, fair, legitimate, and desirable. This tendency is reminiscent of the dispositional outlook of Voltaire's famous character, Dr. Pangloss, who believed that he was “living in the best of all possible worlds.” One of the means by which people idealize existing social arrangements is by relying on complementary (or compensatory) stereotypes, which ascribe compensating virtues to the disadvantaged and corresponding vices to the advantaged, thereby creating an “illusion of equality.” In this chapter, we summarize a program of research demonstrating that (1) incidental exposure to complementary gender and status stereotypes leads people to show enhanced ideological support for the status quo and (2) when the legitimacy or stability of the system is threatened, people often respond by using complementary stereotypes to bolster the system. We also show that (noncomplementary) victim‐blaming and (complementary) victim‐enhancement represent alternate routes to system justification. In addition, we consider a number of situational and dispositional moderating variables that affect the use and effectiveness of complementary and noncomplementary representations, and we discuss the broader implications of stereotyping and other forms of rationalization that are adopted in the service of system justification. From time to time, Pangloss would say to Candide: There is a chain of events in this best of all possible worlds; for if you had not been turned out of a beautiful mansion at the point of a jackboot for love of Lady Cunegonde, if you had not been clamped into the Inquisition, if you had not wandered about America on foot, and had not struck the Baron with your sword, and lost all those sheep you brought from Eldorado, you would not be here eating candied fruit and pistachio nuts. “That's true enough,” said Candide; “but we must go and work in the garden.” —Voltaire, 1758/1947, Candide or Optimism , p. 144
146 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that rational choice-inspired situational crime prevention initiatives are limited when it comes to offering protection against a growing number of so-called "expressive crimes".
Abstract: The rational choice theory of crime and its cognate field of study, situational crime prevention, have exerted a considerable influence in criminal justice policy and criminology. This article argues that, while undeniably useful as a means of reducing property or acquisitive crime, rational choice-inspired situational crime prevention initiatives are limited when it comes to offering protection against a growing number of so-called ‘expressive crimes’. Developing this critique, the article will criticize the sociologically hollow narrative associated with rational choice theories of crime by drawing on recent research in social theory and consumer studies. It argues that the growing tendency among many young individuals to engage in certain forms of criminal decision-making ‘strategies’ may simply be the by-product of a series of subjectivities and emotions that reflect the material values and cultural logic associated with late modern consumerism.
142 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a functional approach is used to predict voice behavior in a context-based model, based on the past performance of a worker, to predict whether or not he or she will use voice for impression management purposes.
Abstract: In order to cope with dynamic and competitive environments, organizations are pushing their employees to work harder and to seek out opportunities for constructive change. In fact, initiative is seen by many as a major source of competitive advantage and organizational success (Crant, 2000; Parker, 2000). Voice behavior is the form of proactive behavior that has received the most empirical attention. Van Dyne and LePine define voice behavior as a form of organizational citizenship behavior that involves "constructive change-oriented communication intended to improve the situation" (1998: 326). Voice entails challenging the status quo with constructive suggestions, even when others disagree (Van Dyne and LePine, 1998). Research concerning voice behavior is important for several reasons. First, making constructive suggestions is the essential "first step" in the innovation process (LePine and Van Dyne, 1998; Scott and Bruce, 1994). By drawing attention to opportunities for improvement, voice behavior serves as the "seed corn" for continuous improvement and organizational adaptation (Ashford et al., 1998; Van Dyne and LePine, 1998). Second, unlike organizational exit or neglect (Hirschman, 1970), voice behavior makes it possible for an organization to channel employees' dissatisfaction with the status quo toward correcting mistakes, improving processes, and formulating novel solutions to organizational problems (Zhou and George, 2001). Further, as illustrated by the Challenger incident and Enron's demise, a lack of voice behavior can lead to serious organizational problems. Finally, voice behavior can also result in benefits for the individual worker such as the appearance of competence (Stamper and Van Dyne, 2001) or higher performance evaluations (Thompson, 2003). Thus, research examining the antecedents and consequences of employee voice is extremely relevant to both researchers and practitioners. Unfortunately, LePine and Van Dyne (1998) note that researchers have not been very successful in predicting voice behavior. There are at least three possible explanations for this. First, most studies focus exclusively upon main effects, rather than analyzing interactional models, despite the likelihood that employee voice may be highest when individual differences lead some individuals to respond to favorable situational factors (LePine and Van Dyne, 1998). Second, voice behavior promotes change and challenges the status quo. This makes it a potentially risky behavior for employees. If voice is perceived as complaining or personal criticism, it can upset interpersonal relationships or create negative impressions (LePine and Van Dyne, 1998; Stamper and Van Dyne, 2001). Finally, researchers have not explicitly taken a functional approach to voice behavior (cf. Snyder, 1993). Functional analysis is pervasive in areas of psychology that emphasize purposeful action to obtain desired ends and concerns the "reasons and purposes, the needs and goals, the plans and motives that underlie and generate psychological phenomena" (Snyder, 1993: 253). In the current context, a functional approach focuses upon identifying the purpose served by engaging in or not engaging in voice behavior. Our research is designed to address each of the issues raised in the preceding paragraph. We attempt to gain a greater understanding of voice behavior by exploring the extent to which worker personality (i.e., self-monitoring) interacts with a contextual feature of the workplace (past performance) to predict when some people engage in voice behavior. Our model is based upon a functional approach that suggests that voice may, in some situations, serve impression management purposes. Our model also takes into account the potential risk involved in voice behavior. In addition, we engage in an exploratory examination of how these factors interact to influence worker promotability. VOICE BEHAVIOR AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT Impression management is defined as "the process whereby people seek to control or influence the impressions that others form" (Rosenfeld et al. …
TL;DR: A methodological/methods package devised to incorporate situational and social world mapping with frame analysis, based on a grounded theory study of Australian rural nurses' experiences of mentoring, is intended to assist other researchers to locate participants more transparently in the social worlds that they negotiate in their everyday practice.
Abstract: Aim. Our aim in this paper is to explain a methodological/methods package devised to incorporate situational and social world mapping with frame analysis, based on a grounded theory study of Australian rural nurses' experiences of mentoring.
Background. Situational analysis, as conceived by Adele Clarke, shifts the research methodology of grounded theory from being located within a postpositivist paradigm to a postmodern paradigm. Clarke uses three types of maps during this process: situational, social world and positional, in combination with discourse analysis.
Method. During our grounded theory study, the process of concurrent interview data generation and analysis incorporated situational and social world mapping techniques. An outcome of this was our increased awareness of how outside actors influenced participants in their constructions of mentoring.
In our attempts to use Clarke's methodological package, however, it became apparent that our constructivist beliefs about human agency could not be reconciled with the postmodern project of discourse analysis. We then turned to the literature on symbolic interactionism and adopted frame analysis as a method to examine the literature on rural nursing and mentoring as secondary form of data.
Findings. While we found situational and social world mapping very useful, we were less successful in using positional maps. In retrospect, we would argue that collective action framing provides an alternative to analysing such positions in the literature. This is particularly so for researchers who locate themselves within a constructivist paradigm, and who are therefore unwilling to reject the notion of human agency and the ability of individuals to shape their world in some way.
Conclusion. Our example of using this package of situational and social worlds mapping with frame analysis is intended to assist other researchers to locate participants more transparently in the social worlds that they negotiate in their everyday practice.
TL;DR: It is argued that a subject-dependent-situation specific understanding of information is best suited to fulfill the needs in information science and that it is urgent for us to base Information Science (IS) on this alternative theoretical frame.
Abstract: This article contrasts Bates' understanding of information as an observer–independent phenomenon with an understanding of information as situational, put forward by, among others, Bateson, Yovits, Spang-Hanssen, Brier, Buckland, Goguen, and Hjorland. The conflict between objective and subjective ways of understanding information corresponds to the conflict between an understanding of information as a thing or a substance versus an understanding of it as a sign. It is a fundamental distinction that involves a whole theory of knowledge, and it has roots back to different metaphors applied in Shannon's information theory. It is argued that a subject-dependent-situation specific understanding of information is best suited to fulfill the needs in information science and that it is urgent for us to base Information Science (IS; or Library and Information Science, LIS) on this alternative theoretical frame. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors expand theoretical and empirical understanding of interpersonal relationships under distributed conditions by highlighting the importance and consequences of situation invisibility, and demonstrate the impact of situational explanation as an antidote to situations invisibility.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the construction of occupational identity amongst a new and significant occupation: management consultants, and explore how consultants use these rhetorics to respond to issues of legitimacy, efficiency and vulnerability.
Abstract: In this article we explore the construction of occupational identity amongst a new and significant occupation: management consultants. Extending a conceptual framework developed by Fine (1996), we argue that occupational identity is not a consistent whole, but constructed from imagery to interpret and manage situations commonly experienced by occupational members. We argue that consultants, as an occupation, face three key structural constraints as features of their work, which we term, legitimacy, efficiency and vulnerability. On the basis of our interview data, we identify five social roles around which occupational `rhetorics' are constructed — professional, prophet, partner, business person, and service worker. We explore how consultants use these rhetorics to respond to issues of legitimacy, efficiency and vulnerability, and also highlight how different imagery is used based on its situational salience.
TL;DR: The results show that the processing of implicit meanings and irony in contextually rich situations depends on brain mechanisms involved in the "theory of mind," based on processing relevant information in a situational context, and suggest different functions in each region.
TL;DR: This work proposes the use of Fuzzy Logic theory with the purpose of determining and reasoning about the current situation of the involved user and elaborate on the architectural model that enables the system to assume actions autonomously according to previous user reactions and current situation.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, a methodological approach to study the psychological engagement of law students drawn from research and theory in the field of psychology is presented. But the authors focus on the impact of institutional, situational, and individual factors.
Abstract: INTRODUCTION As teachers, administrators, scholars, and practitioners, one critical issue we face in the academic world is how to foster the academic success and psychological well-being of future generations of teachers, scholars, and practitioners. In some cases, even the most well-prepared and academically motivated students enter law school with the drive and ability to succeed, but along the way, may encounter difficulties that interfere with their potential success in law school and beyond. What are the barriers to engagement, academic success and psychological well-being that impede some students? How might we understand the process of engagement and investment in legal education, particularly for students who have been historically on the margin of inclusion, namely ethnic minority group members and women? What means of institutional change can be implemented to foster engagement, achievement, and well-being for all students? At the heart of these questions is the motivation to understand and explore the academic and psychological well-being of students entering a rigorous and challenging career arena. These questions reflect the challenges of our time as access to higher education has become a reality for students from all walks of life-particularly those who have been historically excluded from such arenas on the basis of factors such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, international status, and sexual orientation. The answers to these questions require researchers and institutional change agents to formulate committed programs of evaluation, experimentation and intervention in the legal education system. In order to effectively study and create such meaningful interventions, the initial work can be informed by theoretical models and experimental methodologies used in the field of social psychology to explore issues of motivation, personality, engagement, and stigmatization. In this paper, we introduce a methodological approach to studying the psychological engagement of law students drawn from research and theory in the field of psychology. We provide some preliminary insights into the types of experiences and factors that may compromise engagement versus those that foster investment and success. I. DEFINING AND MEASURING "ENGAGEMENT" Defining "engagement" is a critical first step in the process of identifying those factors that may directly or indirectly affect it. As we define it here, engagement refers not only to the academic investment, motivation, and commitment that students demonstrate within their institution (both in and out of the classroom context), but also to the psychological connection, comfort, and sense of belonging that students feel toward their institution, their peers, professors and administrators. Thus, engagement encompasses the institutional, situational, and individual factors that may impact any given student. These factors may work independently or synergistically to create a global "culture" of law school for each student. Each factor informs and impacts the others, creating a network of potential sources of disengagement, and consequently, windows of opportunities for interventions. For example, the rules and regulations about grading and ranking may create an atmosphere of competition and stress that threatens the comfort and confidence of students. Feeling a psychological disconnect from professors and peers may undermine one's ability to form work groups and engage comfortably in the classroom environment. Likewise, doubting one's competence and academic preparation for law school can interfere with a student's confidence and comfort in interacting with peers and professors even in non-academic settings. For the purpose of this paper, we treat "engagement" as reflecting both the academic and psychological investment, as well as the comfort of students, and explore the impact of select institutional, situational and individual factors. A. Institutional Factors Institutional factors often include the policies, regulations, and structures within the academic system that may create static and inflexible systems, which students must cope with. …
TL;DR: Analysis of student's reactions to five scenarios involving IT use showed that ethical decision-making processes did indeed vary by scenario, suggesting that a single-issue approach is inadequate for studying ethical decisions.
12 Sep 2007
TL;DR: A set of extensions to the method engineering meta model are proposed that allow the method engineer to differentiate between “context” and “project type” in describing situational methods.
Abstract: Based on the experience that there cannot be a “one-size-fits-all” method, different situational method engineering approaches are examined in this paper. The result of the analysis shows that “situations” are conceptualized very imprecisely. Therefore, we propose to differentiate between “context” and “project type” in situational method engineering. Especially context is neglected in existing method engineering approaches. To close this gap, we enhance existing method engineering processes by adding three steps to facilitate the identification of context factors and project type factors, enabling the engineering of both contextual and project type-specific methods. Furthermore, we propose a set of extensions to the method engineering meta model that allow the method engineer to differentiate between “context” and “project type” in describing situational methods.
TL;DR: The authors investigated whether positive personality variables associated with the character strengths of courage and kindness, when examined in the context of situational and demographic variables, distinguish Holocaust-era courageous altruists from bystanders.
Abstract: This study investigated whether positive personality variables associated with the character strengths of courage and kindness, when examined in the context of situational and demographic variables, distinguish Holocaust-era courageous altruists from bystanders. Seventy-nine non-Jewish rescuers and 73 non-Jewish bystanders were administered measures of empathic concern, social responsibility, risk-taking, altruistic moral reasoning, and perceived marginality. Situational variables included wartime living arrangements, history of persecution, previous experience with Jews, and whether an individual had been asked for help. A two-group discriminant function analysis was able to correctly classify 96.1% of the sample, separating the rescuers and bystanders by more than three standard deviations. The discriminant function was best defined by social responsibility, altruistic moral reasoning, empathic concern, and risk-taking. Implications are discussed regarding the relationship between character strengths an...
IBM1
TL;DR: The emerging prevalence of situational application development and the changing role of IT are described and the experience at IBM in building, deploying, and managing the IBM Situational Applications Environment is described that enables employees to take responsibility for some of their own solutions.
Abstract: The recent rise of grassroots computing among both professional programmers and knowledge workers highlights an alternative approach to software development in the enterprise: Situational applications are created rapidly by teams or individuals who best understand the business need, but without the overhead and formality of traditional information technology (IT) methods. Corporate IT will be increasingly challenged to facilitate the development, integration, and management of both situational and enterprise applications. In this paper, we describe the emerging prevalence of situational application development and the changing role of IT. We also describe the experience at IBM in building, deploying, and managing the IBM Situational Applications Environment that enables employees to take responsibility for some of their own solutions. Finally, we discuss ways in which the situational application development paradigm may evolve in coming years to benefit enterprises, the demands that it will put on IT departments, and possible ways to address these challenges.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present friendship as a folk concept, which recognizes the situational variability of its form, experience, and connectedness with other forms of relationship, and identify some of the issues that it could illuminate, both empirically and theoretically.
Abstract: Recent developments in organizational analysis have done much to fill out the dry, textbook image of rational, formal structures. Yet on one of the commonest kinds of organizational experience—friendship—organizational analysis has remained virtually silent. By contrast, within the wider social science literature some writers have recently accorded greater importance to friendship as a social phenomenon. This article suggests that organizational analysis would be well served by doing the same. To this end, the article explores what this might entail and identifies some of the issues that it could illuminate, both empirically and theoretically. In particular, it presents friendship as a folk concept, which recognizes the situational variability of its form, experience, and connectedness with other forms of relationship. In doing so, the article will help define and open up a focus for future research into friendship and organizational analysis.
TL;DR: The profession must address the complex issues of education-in-practice with the same determination and creativity that it previously applied to education at entry to practice.
Abstract: It is the obligation of a profession to articulate the special meaning of competence in its field and to foster the good performance of its practitioners through education and discipline. External societal demands for increased accountability, and internal pressures for greater use of measurements of the processes and outcomes of clinical performance, are forcing the medical profession to reevaluate its view of competence and to change the way the profession "manages" the competence of its members. Traditionally, and predicated on the notion of "once in, good for life," medical education has focused on assuring the competence of trainees as they first enter independent professional life. In parallel, professional regulatory authorities have concentrated on apprehending the "false-positives" of the educational system. But viewed from a performance orientation, competence reflects situational relationships among doctors, their patients, and the systems in which they perform and, thus, is only partly dependent on the attributes of individual actors. This shift in thinking has major implications for the practice of medicine, particularly for the process of maintaining and improving performance. In jurisdictions throughout the world, recognition of the need for systematic and accountable ongoing education for practicing doctors is growing. This educational need should not be seen as a mark of weakness or failure but, rather, as the natural consequence of engagement in challenging practice. "Ars longa, vita breva." The profession must address the complex issues of education-in-practice with the same determination and creativity that it previously applied to education at entry to practice.
TL;DR: Qualitative content analysis of interview transcripts revealed a wide range of strategies used for dealing with email in general, and for specific situations in particular, with idiosyncratic differences in application, consistent with the predictions of Action Regulation Theory.
TL;DR: In this paper, conscientiousness and neuroticism, self-management practices, and perceived situational constraints were integrated into a model that predicts efficacy and performance, and the model was tested using structural equation modeling with a sample of 228 undergraduate students.
TL;DR: In this article, a model is presented that demonstrates how culture influences numerous situational variables in a negotiation and, in particular, how culture impacts upon negotiators' ethical decision making, and that culture directly influences the legal environment, organizational code of ethics, organizational goals, and the perception of the other party.
Abstract: To be on the receiving end of 'unethical' negotiation tactics is a challenge at any time, but is especially difficult when the other party is from a different culture. A model is presented that demonstrates how culture influences numerous situational variables in a negotiation and, in particular, how culture impacts upon negotiators' ethical decision making. It is posited that culture directly influences the legal environment, organizational code of ethics, organizational goals, and the perception of the other party, and that culture moderates negotiators' understanding of each of these situational variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the model are also discussed.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the role of schemas and scripts in the formation and evolution of corporate law and all of modern policy-making, and reveal that all of us are susceptible to schemas that guide our attention and inferences.
Abstract: This Article is about some of the schemas and scripts that form and define our lives. It is about the knowledge structures that shape how we view the world and how we understand the limitless information with which we are always confronted. This Article is also about the "evolution of ideas" underlying corporate law and all of modern policymaking. It is about the ways in which schemas and scripts have influenced how policy theorists, policymakers, lawyers, and many others (particularly in the West) understand and approach policymaking generally and corporate law specifically. It is about both the invisibility and blinding effect of those schemas. It is about the battle over those schemas and the prizes of victory. And, finally, it is about how the now-dominant schemas render us the "unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society these past decades." We begin our discussion in Part II with the dominant knowledge structures underlying modern policymaking, describing the emergence of what we term the "meta script" of policymaking - or the schemas that frame our approach to policy analysis today. Part III turns to the law regulating large commercial interests - specifically, corporate law - and examines the emergence and dominance of the new "macro script" of corporate law. It examines the schemas that identify and legitimate the purpose of the law. Parts IV and V highlight the signs of illusion in those schemas and then begin to unveil the situational magician behind those illusions. Corporate law works, as all illusions work, by relying on a set of schemas that guide our attention and inferences and play into our intuitions and motives. Yet the outcome and response that this Article suggests is neither so benign nor light-hearted as that of a magic show. While its analysis is concentrated on corporate law, the Article's implications reach each of us, from law student to legal scholar, citizen to policymaker, and reveal something unsettling: all of us are susceptible to schematic sleight-of-hand, tricks that render us vulnerable to dangerous illusion. Where many have heretofore tended to see magic, this Article reveals the illusion of law and some of the unseen mechanisms that make it possible. This project's larger ambition, it should be noted, is not to encourage disillusionment with the purported goals of the law, but to provide insights that help tailor our means and to narrow the gap between our ends and our outcomes.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that PE teachers would be prudent to minimize ego-involving situations should they wish to reduce situational self-handicapping.
Abstract: Background. Self-handicapping is an attribution-related process whereby individuals create performance impediments/excuses to protect self-worth in socially evaluative environments. Thus, the prevailing motivational climate would appear to be an important factor when attempting to understand the situational self-handicapping process within school physical education.
Aims. Drawing from achievement goal theory, the study examined the effect of experimentally induced conditions (viz. task vs. ego) on situational self-handicapping.
Sample. Seventy British secondary school students (36 females and 34 males; M age = 11.98; SD=0.31).
Method. Participants were randomly assigned to partake in a running endurance task in either an ego-involving (20 male students and 16 female students) or a task-involving (14 male students and 20 female students) condition. Prior to completing the experimental task, participants were given the opportunity to claim situational self-handicaps. Data for goal orientations, subjective climate perceptions, perceived ability and perceived task importance were also obtained.
Results. After determining the effectiveness of the experimental manipulation, results revealed participants in the ego-involving condition to report significantly more situational self-handicapping claims. Further, and after controlling for individual difference variables, the results of moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed subjective perceptions of an ego-involving climate to be the main positive predictor of situational self-handicapping. Although a weaker contributor to the percentage of variance explained, task orientation emerged as a negative predictor of situational self-handicapping.
Conclusions. The findings suggest that PE teachers would be prudent to minimize ego-involving situations should they wish to reduce situational self-handicapping.
TL;DR: In this article, an instrument developed to explain to students the concept of the personal ethical threshold (PET) represents an individual's susceptibility to situational pressure in his or her organization that makes moral behavior more personally difficult.
Abstract: We present an instrument developed to explain to students the concept of the personal ethical threshold (PET). The PET represents an individual’s susceptibility to situational pressure in his or her organization that makes moral behavior more personally difficult. Further, the PET varies according to the moral intensity of the issue at hand, such that individuals are less vulnerable to situational pressure for issues of high moral intensity, i.e., those with greater consequences for others. A higher PET reflects an individual’s greater likelihood of adhering to the morally correct path, even in the face of high situational pressures (personal costs) and low moral intensity (collective importance). PET questionnaires were completed by 506 students representing eight business schools throughout the United States. Relationships between respondents’ PET and their gender, age, and major field of study, as well as the geographical location of their school, are explored. Results indicate that older students have higher PETs and that students attending schools in the northeastern part of the United States have lower PETs. These findings are discussed. It is argued that the PET instrument can be used to help students identify organizational pressures and intrapersonal processes that can impede their moral behavior in organizations.