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Employee performance and work environment are two key elements in the success of an organization. The relationship between employee performance and the work environment has become a major focus for many organizations to improve productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall organizational performance. This study aims to determine the development of research with the theme Employee Performance and Work Environment in the range of 2014 to 2023 through the help of the Vosviewers application in visualizing data. The method used in this study is qualitative research with a literature study approach. Asforthe data found, 98 documents were obtained and analyzed. These datasets are converted to CSV format, BibTeX, and RIS format and imported into bibliophilia for bibliometrics and analysis. The results showed that 2023 is the year with the highest number of publications on the topic of Employee Performance and Work Environment. Indonesia is the country that influences scientific publications the most. Samani, S.A. is the most prolific writer with 3 documents in the field of Employee Performance and Work Environment. Great potential for further research in areas such as Compensation, leadership, training, work-life balance, and work engagement, which still has the potential to be explored more deeply in the context of Employee Performance and Work Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training and development may not be a panacea for all the challenges that organisations face in the 21st century, but it has important implications on employee performance and overall organisational performance. Organisations that want to improve performance and productivity can do so through leveraging their most valuable resource, its people. The significance of this study is to inform curriculum developers about the skills shortage in the footwear industry in South Africa. The core problem this study seeks to address is the skills shortage in the footwear industry in South Africa. Furthermore, currently in KwaZulu-Natal, universities, technical and vocational education do not provide training on footwear. The mixed research method was employed. The purposive sampling was used to select the participants from Dick Whittington Shoes (Pty) Ltd Questionnaires, focus group interviews and document reviews were used to gather data. The findings of the study show that the human resource manager is facing a serious challenge from employees, which is a higher rate of absenteeism this hamper the performance of the organisation. The study found that the majority of employees are above the age of 55 years. In addition, they retire the organisation will reemploy them on the contract bases precisely because they find it hard to find incumbent with skills. The study recommended the need for a proper framework on continuous training and development of employees in the footwear industry in South Africa. Secondly, the public-private partnership with universities to bridge the skills gap and improve the gross domestic product in South Africa if implemented this could bring a resolution to the problems and challenges posed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employees are very important to any organization. Their expedient contribution towards the organizations' success is significant. Hence, training these important assets effectively becomes necessary to enhance their performance especially in the banking industry. The Nigerian banking industry faces a number of challenges in relation to employee development such as inability to spend budgetary provision for training when there is lull in business and poor management support of training. This study thus investigated the effects of management support of training on employee performance in Nigerian banking industry. The survey research design was used. The population of the study comprised of 121,445 employees of the 22commercial banks in the Nigerian banking industry from which a sample of 399 employees were selected using stratified sampling technique and 365 representing 92% per cent were retrieved. A questionnaire titled "Training on employee performance Questionnaire (T-EPQ)" was used to collect data. Data elicited were analysed using frequencies, percentages and regression analysis at 0.05 significant levels. The findings revealed that management support of training significantly affect employee performance (P (.000)-.05). The study concluded that training in the Nigerian Banking Industry affects employee performance. This study therefore recommends that employees should be trained adequately to meet their needs, values and expectations, most importantly to enhance employees performance. More so, management of banks should ensure maximum support of training to facilitate qualitative service delivery. Finally, CBN should adopt and implement policies enforcing management of Nigerian banking industry to ensure adequate training budget that will facilitate qualitative training programmes as innovative for improving employee performance in today's dynamic banking environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social dysfunctions are appearing inevitably in any organization, but if they are continuously monitored and controlled by the human resources specialists and managers, then these specialists may correct the gap between the obtained results and the proposed performance. To make these corrections are necessary some simulation techniques. In this article we propose to forecast social dysfunctions by diminishing these gaps or eliminate them using simulation and mathematical modeling based on prediction (Markov chains) and on use of IT programs (MATLAB and Excel). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of jobs that takes place entirely or partially in a computer is nowadays very significant. These workplaces, as many others, often offer the key ingredients for the emergence of stress and the performance drop of its long-term effects: long hours sitting, sustained cognitive effort, pressure from competitiveness, among others. This has a toll on productivity and work quality, with significant costs for both organizations and workers. Moreover, a tired workforce is generally more susceptible to negative feelings and mood, which results in a negative environment. This paper contributes to the current need for the development of non-intrusive methods for monitoring and managing worker performance in real time. We propose a framework that assesses worker performance and a case study in which this approach was validated. We also show the relationship between performance and mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to explore the skill acquisition process of informal economy workers and how it affects their current skills and productivity levels. We used a mixed method and multilevel sampling design with the aid of questionnaires and interviews. We found that trainings provided and skill-levels of workers were basic, and this affected their performance and productivity. We recommend that skill development policies for informal economy workers need to be specific, comprehensive, all-inclusive and peculiar to their challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared leadership practices between a group composed of 101 Colombian managers and another group composed of 121 Mexican managers. We distributed the Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes and Posner, 2002) to evaluate their type of leadership. The results showed that, although Colombian managers report higher scores in every practice, the pattern looks similar in both groups. The practice receiving a lower score in both groups was To Inspire while the practice with the highest score was To Model the Way, both of them related to transformational leadership. The only practices that showed significant differences between the two groups were To Model the Way, for the transformational leadership style, and To Encourage the Heart, for the transactional leadership style. We conclude that both Colombian and Mexican managers possess a similar pattern with small differences in frequency between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of knowledge management in business performance. First, there has been a review of the literature, which enabled most common dimensions of knowledge management and results for subsequent measurement. Were taken as the dimensions of knowledge management, creation, storage and transfer and the application and use of knowledge. Information acquisition, dissemination and interpretation of this shared, were used as measures for the creation of knowledge. Have also been used as measures of implementation and use of knowledge, empowerment, teamwork and commitment to knowledge. As dimensions of the results have been used operating results, financial and innovation. The methodology used is based on case study, through primary and secondary data. The results show that knowledge management influences the operating results both as financial and innovation. Thus, the surveyed companies have a higher-degree of knowledge management through teamwork, increased empowerment, flexibility in decision-making and an overview of the company, including practices, get more results both operational and financial and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial performance is viewed with great interest at any organization; its determination is an ongoing objective in the medium and long term. Conditionalities generally recognized by experts in this area of scientific concerns are clear: only good management exercised by professional managers, is capable of performance management, generating economic, financial and social performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the subject of management control and tries to create a performance measurement system for social enterprises, that is, how to measure success. Three reference fields for management are analyzed: (a) economic-financial performance, linked to the determination of general performance (profits, value added, etc.) and analytic results (production-cost of services, efficiency indicators, etc.); (b) social effectiveness, to measure the quantity and quality of work undertaken and to identify its impact on the intended beneficiaries and the community; and (c) institutional legitimacy, verifying conformity with law and mission statement. In integrating these aspects, we propose a multidimensional controlling framework that is appropriate to the management of a social enterprise. We try to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical model through the illustration of an Italian empirical case: the work integration social enterprise “Ulisse.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A system of evidence-based periodic service review (PSR) was implemented in specialist health services for people with challenging behaviour, to support the adoption of a positive behavioural approach. The extent and accuracy of PSR implementation, its impact on staff knowledge and attitudes, and its value as a practice leadership tool were assessed. The results indicated that PSR was implemented regularly, scoring was based accurately on tangible evidence, and increased scores over time indicated service improvement in line with PSR principles. Staff generally welcomed PSR as a quality monitoring tool, and greater knowledge of the rationale and process for PSR was associated with more positive attitudes. Managers regarded PSR as a valuable aid to practice leadership and had used innovative implementation methods to maximise its acceptance by staff teams. The style of management and need for support from the wider organisational structure are discussed as critical factors in successful implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of any organization depends on effective management, but health systems face a lack of competent management at all levels. During the past decade, there has been a growing interest in competency-based performance systems for enhancing both individual and organizational performance in health professions. This article reviews the processes and outcomes associated with the training and development of health managers. The study attempted to draw up guidelines for basic modeling of key management skills necessary to optimize the training of health managers. To achieve this, the following methods of research were used: critical analysis and synthesis of scientific literature on the research problem; documentary method - national and European documents were examined, inquiry method - direct inquiry. Results: A noticeable deficiency in knowledge and application of appropriate motivational approaches to communicating with staff. The most desired areas of excellence to which it is necessary to focus future training topics relate to: motivation skills, conflict resolution and team cohesion, communication skills, persuasion and influencing / leadership skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-business company is a complex entity. Evaluating corporate performance of such an organisation is even more challenging. Corporate performance is inherently multidimensional in nature, is viewed from various perspectives, and has to satisfy multiple objectives. It is multi-dimensional in the sense of being a function of many variables that drive firm performance; multi-perspectival, from various stakeholders' standpoints; and multi-objectives are to be optimised. So there is no single corporate performanceevaluation tool that can be prescribed as a stand-alone gauge; however, a unified and holistic corporate performance management system can be developed from multiple tools. This paper attempts to bring together a variety of performance management tools that have evolved and developed in theory, and have been tested and applied in practice. In developing this convergence, first a set of criteria that answers the multi-dimensional, multi-perspectival, and multi-objective requirements of a firm's performance will be identified and weighted. Second, management tools that have been used either singly or in combination by multi-business companies are reviewed and ranked against the chosen criteria. Finally, an integrated model or framework that brings together and unifies the elements of these ranked performance management tools is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on effective distribution practices specific to the paper industry are largely non-existent. Therefore, through our exploratory research, we first identify key elements of physical distribution in existing literature. Secondly, we empirically investigate the extent to which these elements influence non-cost-based (such as inventory turnover, order fulfillment etc.) measures of distribution performance in the paper industry. Using a sample of 95 National Paper Trade Association member firms, we create three performance groups (low, medium, and high). Then, we use analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test for any differences in the adoption of the physical distribution elements among these groups. Further, through partial least squares regression analysis, we attempt to identify those elements of physical distribution which may be most critical in explaining the differences in distribution performance. Our results provide general support for the importance of the key elements identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research into management control of truck driver activities, while highly valuable, has failed to provide a comprehensive framework of driver control theory. This article addresses this issue by presenting a data-driven framework of driver control based on grounded theory research methods that explore the experiences of logistics professionals. This research extends current theory from the salesperson control literature to the motor carrier industry. The findings suggest that formal and informal control methods are used in various combinations in the industry, that these control types are comprised of many forms of management activities, that no single control method is completely effective in isolation, and that a number of conditions affect what methods are used and how firms apply them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of an appropriate management of the material safety data sheets (MSDS) labels in avoiding accidents due to chemical substances. It states that over 30 million people are exposed to hazardous chemicals. Most of the developed countries are in the process of standardizing chemical substance information and requirements. Advances in technologies have played a significant role on how businesses prepare to meet regulatory requirements for handling chemicals.

The article discusses the role of a persuasive mandate for diversity in promoting cultural change in education in the U.S. It stresses the need for a political power which can emanate from students, board of trustees, and governance structures to be crystallized and convey clear organizational will and commitment to promote change in institutional culture. Moreover, it stresses the potential of a persuasive mandate for diversity to build an expansive network, engage stakeholders, and mobilize the systems and resources required for sustained efforts toward educational change.

Abstract: The aim of this article is to define the major elements of the institutional design process for the Russian rocket and space industry, a process which must take account of the changed economic conditions in the country and provide for the industry''s integration into the wider national economy. The article does this by demonstrating the features that need to be understood, highlighting the problems that need to be resolved, and arguing that an institutional design process will have to be based on compromise and accommodation of all the different actors involved. The article deals with a number of particular problems challenging the managers and methodologists of the Russian national space programme of today. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Current Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) research and practice may be characterized as either behavior focused or results focused. These two approaches stem from different origins and have different characteristics. The behavior-focused approach stems from applied behavior analysis (ABA) methods and emphasizes direct observation of and intervention on target behaviors of employees. In contrast, the behavioral systems approach encourages a shift from focusing on behavior exclusively toward focusing more on business results. A systems-oriented, results-focused approach toward Organizational Behavior Management is suggested as a means of making the field more relevant to the concerns of the business world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to illustrate how to conduct a Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) to aid in the design of targeted performance improvement interventions. BSA is a continuous process of analyzing the right variables to the right extent to aid in planning and managing performance at the organization, process, and job levels. BSA helps to build alignment among activities within an organization to better provide value-adding products or services to the organization's consumers, which ultimately determines its survival. This paper provides an overview of the BSA approach, a Behavioral Systems Analysis Questionnaire (BSAQ) to guide the performance analyst, and an example of the BSAQ applied to an organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: As part of a quality assurance in the anaesthesia department, this study was designed to enhance the rate of neuromuscular blockade monitoring for patients receiving muscle relaxant during anaesthesia. Methods: After approval of our local ethical committee, we assessed 200computerized anaesthesia records in which neuromuscular relaxants were used. The following data were collected: demographic characteristics, durations of anaesthesia and surgery, use of neuromuscular monitoring, reversal agents and the quality of neuromuscular monitoring. The results were discussed with all anaesthesia providers of the department and an internal guideline was elaborated with the endpoint that all patients having muscle relaxants should have quantitative neuromuscular monitoring. Six months later, another assessment of 200 consecutive records collected the same data to check the efficiency of the elaborated guideline. Results: The monitoring rate was of 67% at the first assessment and increased to 94% (p <0.05). The reversal rate was at 48% in the first assessment and was stable at the second assessment (50%). The rate of patients not monitored and not reversed decreased from 5 to 2% (p <0.05). Discussion: This study shows that as part of a quality assurance program systematic quantitative monitoring of neuromuscular blockade can be significantly increased. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The rise of sustainability as a concept in business forces companies to navigate a complex arena of standards and codes. The active and controversial debate regarding 'what the Equator Principles mean' for global finance and the projects it funds will undoubtedly continue. In the meantime, they represent an important shift in social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) by serving as guidance for process-driven project development. This represents a substantial change from SEIA in which the ultimate and end goal was to obtain a permit. The integrated approach of the new Equator Principles, especially requirements for transparency, consultation and feedback mechanisms, provide borrowers with the management guidance needed to convince financers of their due diligence in impact assessment and beyond. This paper looks at the application of the Equator Principles, and the IFC Performance Standards that underpin them, as tools that can be deployed at any level of project development, including existing facilities that may have never completed an SEIA. It assesses elements of monitoring and the 'art' of reporting to show how impact assessment practitioners can use the Equator Principles to create concrete indicators that will help to integrate impact assessment results to meet the challenges of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership, currently prescribed as a key requirement for effective school organization and management, is examined here as a rhetorical or discursive device, as a 'turn', in the sense used in literary and sociological discussion of the linguistic turn. In the educational sphere, a tacit separation of leadership from issues of governance and management is becoming apparent. This move may be significantly related to an aestheticization of learning, and what is said to be increasingly the performative nature of its application in educational institutions in England. Leadership is inherently relational, but institutes and sustains unequal power relations. The paper argues that a significant distinction should be understood between performance and performativity, analogous to 'event' and 'possibility', which affords unrealized ethical and emancipatory opportunities for educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is a systematical approach on remuneration and on its management in the domain of the human resources management, trying to identify the main variables with decisive influence in setting the minimal and maximal limits of remuneration, competences and the managerial art of administrating the remuneration system in the context of continuous law changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Multidisciplinary optimization (MDO) is a growing field in engineering, with various applications in aerospace, aeronautics, car industry, etc. However, the presence of multiple disciplines leads to specific issues, which prevent MDO to be fully integrated in industrial design methodology. In practice, the key issues in MDO lie in the management of the interconnections between disciplines, along with the high number of simulations required to find a feasible multidisciplinary (optimal) solution. Therefore, in this paper, a novel approach is proposed, combining proper orthogonal decomposition to decrease the amount of data exchanged between disciplines, with surrogate models based on moving least squares to reduce disciplines. This method is applied to an original 2D wing demonstrator involving two disciplines (fluid and structure). The numerical results obtained for an optimization task show its benefits in diminishing both the interfaces between disciplines and the overall computational time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The progress in mixing of two liquids with two way solubility is visualised by means of two-colour laser induced fluorescence (LIF). The mixing process is divided into two steps. In the first step, the so-called macromixing, the fluid elements of a multicomponent system are dispersed and deformed due to viscous friction. During the second step, the micromixing, local concentration differences are reduced due to diffusion transport on molecular scale. Both transport phenomena can be simultaneously measured by injecting a mixture of an inert and a reacting dye. The performance of mixing is recalculated from the local measurements of the concentration fields and visualised by the local degree of deviation. The mass transport on the microscopic scale varies because of the locally diverse dissipation of energy. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are used for the calculation of the source terms of local energy dissipation. The experimental results correlate the progress of mixing to the local energy dissipation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Structural best management practices (BMPs) have become a tool for stormwater managers to achieve water quality improvement and regulatory compliance. Existing empirical evaluation of BMP performance is valuable, but has limited applicability to predict BMP performance over extended durations under a variety of storm types. This study applies a dynamic model to simulate BMP performance over a 10-year period. The BMP model used hourly output from a calibrated and validated land-use model to evaluate two BMP types: a retention facility and a flow-through swale. The model evaluated each BMP alone and in series targeting volume, total suspend solids, and total copper. Effectiveness was based on load reduction, event mean concentrations, and frequency of exceedence of relevant water quality standards. The model predicted over 60% removal of solids and copper over most conditions; however, effectiveness was reduced during large storms and wet years. Although performance was similar based on load reduction and water quality standard exceedence, the latter was most sensitive to storm size. This study demonstrates that BMP modeling can help managers understand expected BMP performance over a range of storms, time periods, and design parameters, and, perhaps more significantly, evaluate BMPs in series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the predisposing factors leading to uterine infection in dairy cows and evaluate its impact on the cow''s performance. Performance indicators included feed intake, milk fat and protein composition, milk yield, fertility and culling. Data were studied from 2914 completed lactations from the Holstein Friesian Langhill Dairy herd between January 1990 and August 2005. There were 402 cases of uterine infection (from 321 cows) in the Langhill herd, a level of 13.8% during the study period. Calving assistance was highly associated with the incidence of uterine infection (χ 2 =106.63, P <0.001). Failure to conceive (χ 2 =3.89, P <0.05; χ 2 =11.20, P <0.001) and culling (χ 2 =13.66, P <0.001, χ 2 =8.55, P <0.01) were also implicated with calving assistance and uterine infection, respectively. The main predisposing factors related to an incidence of uterine infection were calving assistance, twin births, malpresented calves, and retained placenta. First-time calvers and cows with a shorter gestation length were associated with more cases of uterine infections. Additionally, lower daily dry matter intakes and milk yields during the first 100 days in milk (DIM) were associated with higher incidence levels of uterine infection. Also, a higher incidence level of uterine infection was related to lower milk protein composition from 1 to 21 DIM and a poorer body condition from 101 to 300 DIM. Cows with poorer drying off body condition scores and longer lactation lengths were associated with a higher incidence level of uterine infection. Calving assistance was associated with male and twin births, first-time calvers and cows with oversized calves. Cows with an assisted calving were also associated with an increased number of days from calving to first service. The predisposing factors influencing the occurrence of calving assistance can be influenced by suitable management to reduce the chances of oversized calves, the detrimental effects of twin births (such as calving assistance and retained placentas) and prenatal knowledge of the calf''s sex. The occurrence of uterine infection can be reduced by minimising the need for assistance at calving. Assistance should only be carried out when necessary and appropriate hygiene should be used to decrease the incidence of uterine infections from intervention and involuntary culling due to cows failing to conceive. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines new managerial discourses and practices in which the dialectic of labour is reconstructed as a series of acts of self-understanding, self-examination and "self-work", and through which the "self qua self" is constituted as the central object of management technologies. We interrogate concepts such as "excellence", "total quality", "performance", "knowledge", "play at work" and "wellness" in order to decipher the ways in which managerialism deploys what we term therapeutic habitus, and projects a new horizon of "human resourcefulness" as a store of unlimited potentialities. We invoke management's wider historical-cultural context to situate managerialism within the framework of modernity as a cultural epoch whose main characteristic is what we term "derecognition of finitude". It is the modern synthesis - with the "self" at the centre of its system of values - that provides the ground for current elaborations of subjectivity by managerialism. The paper examines how current vocabularies and practices in organizations use "work" to rearticulate discursively the human subject as an endless source of performativity by configuring work as the site of complex and continuous self-expression. Management thus acquires a new discursive outline: instead of appearing as an authoritarian instance forcing upon workers a series of limitations, it now presents itself as a therapeutic formula mediating self-expression by empowering individuals to work upon themselves to release their fully realized identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of environmental public health (EPH)--ensuring food, water, and sanitation protection--is the traditional cornerstone of public health. Demands on the EPH infrastructure have broadened, however, to involve issues such as chemical and physical hazards in the environment, the role of the built environment in health, and disaster preparedness. Maryland, with its varied geography and population densities, faces many of the EPH challenges that are present elsewhere throughout the nation. A strong and stable EPH workforce is an essential ingredient in addressing these challenges. Yet significant workforce obstacles exist, including recruitment shortfalls, inability to retain qualified staff, impending retirements, inadequate training opportunities, insufficient compensation, and the absence of a robust career advancement pathway. Recognizing the importance of EPH protection for Maryland's future, state and local agencies and academic institutions are working collaboratively to address EPH challenges. Much progress has been made: Communication and interaction between state and local agencies have been strengthened; practitioners and academic institutions have collaborated to improve EPH training opportunities; and workforce development efforts have been made to address recruitment and retention challenges. Although there have been significant accomplishments, much work remains. It is imperative that these efforts continue and that they be supported at all levels of government. Coordination and communication, as well as the training, recruitment, and retention of the workforce, are critical to a strong and responsive EPH infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides empirical evidence about the total quality management effects on firms' performance, as well as on the practical limitations to its initial adoption and further implementation. The EFQM Excellence Model is used as a framework to assess the total quality management (TQM) practices and outcomes, given its primacy as a total quality standard within the European Union. The main objective pursued is to reinforce the potential competitive repercussion of TQM and to provide guidance to elaborate the firms' quality strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increased competition has led to organisations facing the challenge of implementing quality management to achieve best practice, while at the same time having to address the need for innovation management to develop new products, services and processes. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between quality management and innovation management from a perspective that recognises the full contribution of quality management to academia and praxis. The research question in the paper is, how can organisations use their existing quality models to achieve their innovation management objectives? A multiple- and segmented-case analysis is used to show, first, how organisations have applied quality models based on quality objectives and, second, how the same organisations have used these quality models to achieve innovation objectives. The findings show that the concepts of a quality-innovation continuum and that of quality as a preceding foundation for innovation can help organisations reconceptualise and reapply their quality models to achieve innovation objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the conditions under which capability, transaction and scale considerations interact in determining organizational boundaries. It is argued that this interaction contributes to explaining the individual firm's performance and growth whenever cognitive competence is limited, radical uncertainty is present, some inputs and processes are indivisible and complementary, and some relevant knowledge is tacit, non-transmittable and characterized by set-up processes with high fixed costs. Under the above conditions, which are becoming increasingly important with the spread of the knowledge-based economy, the growth of the firm can be regarded as a consequence of managerial ability to set a strategy that exploits the mutually reinforcing advantages provided by the organizational coordination of capabilities, transactions and scale of processes, while limiting counteracting forces deriving from errors of strategy that are due to cognitive inertia and myopia, unclear allocation of rights and responsibilities, errors in identifying aims, imprecision in performance measuring, difficulty in focusing incentives, influence activities and problems of internal communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful management of strategic change requires an understanding of which moves are possible in specific contexts, and thus of how specific contexts variously require, forbid, or permit certain organizational or policy actions. Appreciation of such modal issues of necessity and possibility thus becomes essential in understanding organizational and technological dynamics. This paper introduces the concept of modal narratives: forms of analytically structured narrative that explore questions of necessity, possibility and contingency. After a brief review of two common types of modal narrative—counterfactuals and scenarios— the potential of a third form is suggested: the superfactual. An extended example of a superfactual is provided in the Project Hindsight case, and the implications for strategic action are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research investigated questions that persist regarding the criterion-related and construct validity of situational (SI) versus past-behaviour (PBI) structured interview formats in predicting the job performance of managers. Analyses of data collected from 157 applicants to managerial positions showed that the PBI format significantly predicted job performance ratings (r = .32, p < .01), whereas the SI format did not (r = .09, ns). Investigation of potential construct differences between the SI and PBI formats showed that the PBI was more highly related to manager-relevant cognitive ability measures, assessment centre exercises and personality traits, as compared with the SI. Such differences help to explain the predictive validity differences between the SI and PBI observed in current and previous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the challenging area of R&D performance analysis. Our purpose is to increase the understanding of the essential factors and dimensions related to R&D performance analysis, and to introduce and facilitate a process of choosing applicable metrics of R&D performance for a specific need, context and situation. The research results show the linkages of the measurement dimensions to the selection of R&D measures, which is ultimately a case-specific process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the application of the principal concepts and tools of management and marketing toward developing an organizational performance by the department of information and information/documentation companies (IU/EID) in Latin America. This concepts have been applied by the IU/EID as a course of inertia and a collision course, both of which are equally detrimental. In this application, the situation of the area's population and its access to information must be considered.

This study investigates the effects of rater personality (Conscientiousness and Agreeableness), rating format (graphic rating scale vs. behavioral checklist), and the rating social context (face-to-face feedback vs. no face-to-face feedback) on rating elevation of performance ratings. As predicted, raters high on Agreeableness showed more elevated ratings than those low on Agreeableness when they expected to have the face-to-face feedback meeting. Furthermore, rating format moderated the relationship between Agreeableness and rating elevation, such that raters high on Agreeableness provided less elevated ratings when using the behavioral checklist than the graphic rating scale, whereas raters low on Agreeableness showed little difference in elevation across different rating formats. Results also suggest that the interactive effects of rater personality, rating format, and social context may depend on the performance level of the ratee. The implications of these findings will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has witnessed a resurgence of organizational socialization research. However, a critical question has been neglected: Is there a common underlying pattern to organizational socialization? We investigated newcomer learning, job satisfaction and intent to quit as common indicators of socialization, in research with 222 newcomers at two organizations during the crucial post-entry period. The results support a learning-dependent model of newcomer adjustment, with learning in specific domains related to improved attitudinal outcomes. Some aspects of organizational socialization were not uniform across the two organizations, suggesting a need for further development of socialization models and greater accounting for this in organizational socialization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost all state governments have adopted legislative or administrative mandates to manage for results. These mandates require agencies to engage in strategic planning and performance measurement, with the hope that performance information will be used to change decision-making behavior and improve performance. This article examines case studies of Alabama, Virginia, and Vermont to understand how corrections managers react to and use these mandates. The findings indicate a high degree of variation in case outcomes, ranging from compliance, to performance improvement efforts, to a questioning of the basic goals of corrections. There is a common logic: that explains how managing for results is used however, based on organization's leadership agenda, and informed by knowledge of environmental challenges and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As practitioners prepare to implement 'best value' models in housing management, it is clear that the measurement and evaluation of all aspects of service provision will have significant organizational consequences. This article argues that the use of performance indicators (PIs) reconfigures traditional power structures and mechanisms of control within organizations. Thus although PIs are generally perceived as valuable management instruments, we suggest that their privileged status in practice results in an oppositional culture whereby staff adopt strategies of resistance. The article is divided into four parts. The first part outlines our methodological approach. Here we set out the merits of a constructivist framework for a critique of recent developments in housing practice. The second part considers the background to the emergence of a performance culture in the public sector. By focusing on issues of power and conflict, the third part makes use of empirical research to highlight how the discourse of 'performance management' permeates housing practice. Finally, we provide some examples of other areas of housing practice, which can usefully be explored from a social constructivist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a rejoinder to sociologist J. Child, M. Forbes, I. Glover and P. Lawrence related to professionalism and work organization. The alleged links between either professionalism-and-work-organization or work-organization-and-economic performance were not established; that is, they did not establish that observable average differences in patterns of work organization between samples of British and German firms could be attributed to professionalism nor did they establish that the companies with different patterns of work organization had different economic performances. To some extent I was arguing that the thesis was an unsatisfactory example of its kind through weaknesses in coriceptualisation, inadequate documentation, and the failure to deal with conflicting evidence. If the various elements could not be sustained then the thesis fell. However, I was arguing further that this approach to the problems of British manufacturing did not provide an appropriate framework for studies or policies on work organisation and economic performance. The emphasis on cultural factors in analysis and the educational system in prescription did little more than provide a familiar scapegoat.

The article focuses on "freestanding" status of schools of social work. Autonomy is automatically linked to programs that are freestanding and independent. It is also tied to the concepts of quality and excellence, self-determination, strong leadership, and prestige. These qualities are coveted by schools of social work and sought after by their parent institutions. Autonomy is a prized quality that affects all aspects of an organization and, therefore, can be considered a significant resource for organizational management. A review of the professional literature on the organization and environment of higher education institutions reveals that autonomy, organizational status, and position in an institution significantly affect resources, the development of external relations, prestige, visibility, student admissions, personnel, governance and decision making, professional accreditation, and curriculum delivery. Equally important, most freestanding schools have full control over income generated by off-campus and continuing education activities, as well as funds generated by research and grant activities.

The relationships between five performance feedback characteristics (supportive appraisal behaviour, invitation to participate, participation in goal setting, proportion of time spoken, and criticism) and three criterion measures (satisfaction with feedback interview, motivation to improve, and satisfaction with manager) were studied in an organization. Supportive appraisal behaviour was significantly related to all three criteria as perceived by subordinates (n = 78) and satisfaction with feedback interview as rated by managers (n = 39). Invitation to participate had its most significant effect on subordinate satisfaction with the feedback session. Participation in goal setting was most predictive of a suhordinate's motivation to improve. Practical applications of these findings for management development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the collection of information from and about people at work. It attempts to structure the field, define key problems, expose sources of conflict and point the way to resolving major difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article "The Study of Organizational Effectiveness," by J. L. Price, the author surveyed strengths and weakness of two general approaches to the study of organizational effectiveness, the goal approach and the system resource approach. One of the central problem with the goal approach is the variety of goals which may be inferred from organizational behavior and the resulting ambiguity in the conceptualization of effectiveness. The meaning of organizational effectiveness in that work fluctuates widely as the analytical focus shifts between types of organizations and between levels of analysis. Organizational effectiveness appears to be a loose and ambiguous rubric under which a variety of observable outcomes of organizational behavior are listed in disarray.

The sub-prime credit crisis in the United States was fueled by Pay-for-Performance schemes that rewarded high volume loan-making over credit worthy lending and good judgment. As a result, many thousands of individuals now are facing financial ruin through foreclosures. Should Pay-for-Performance arrangements be used in schools as incentives to raise test scores? Is this a sound idea for motivating teachers and administrators? This article discusses Pay-for-Performance and considers the appropriateness of such mechanisms in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on reflective practice and clinical supervision. The word supervision is a contentious one so that the very title of clinical supervision lead is not without its problems. Claiming the high ground for clinical supervision as a formative rather than a summative concept does not of course do away instantly with all ambiguities. Working within an educational agency that devotes much of its activity to vocational training, and within a society that places an increased emphasis on performance standards and accountability, it is impossible not to be aware of the need to walk on a knife edge.

This article responds to author's commentaries on the article "The Study of Organizational Effectiveness," by J. L. Price. The basis of simplistic approach rests with three assumptions supposedly made by the paper. First, the paper, according to the authors, assumes uniformity in the meanings that respondents attach to words designating core organizational activities. The paper assumes that respondents possess knowledge and competency with respect to the evaluation of nursing care within their limited spheres of involvement in the hospitals. Although, it may be desirable to have a general measure of organizational effectiveness for the reason suggested in the paper, this may not be possible. Some scholars believe that organizational effectiveness is so specific that a general measure cannot be developed.