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A brief overview of the challenges associated with demonstrating organizational effectiveness and the role of performance measures as surrogates for demonstrating effectiveness are provided. The complexity of analysis and the importance of use of performance measures provide a way to review the strengths and weakness of eight different ways to utilize performance measures. Among the topics to be addressed are dashboards, process improvement initiatives, self-assessment award frameworks, and integrated management frameworks including the Balanced Score-card. Finally, the article discusses which frameworks should be used for what purposes and what criteria should be used to select a framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic libraries are facing additional calls for improved accountability while the academic library distance education service environment continues a rapid pace of evolution. The Nash Model for Improved Demonstration and Reporting of Organizational Performance assists librarians in the assessment of distance education services by focusing on integrating and aligning the assessment process components of capacity, stakeholders, participation, technology, and organizational leadership to improve effectiveness and increase positive outcomes. Using the Nash Model for Improved Demonstration and Reporting of Organizational Performance, libraries can effectively align their distance education processes and services with the distance education service environment in which they operate and support. Nash Model aligned assessments for distance education services have the potential to be more successful in exhibiting and reporting assessment of their overall performance to stakeholders, therefore opening new doors to strategic opportunities and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Leadership and Organisational Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program offers an exceptional opportunity that we can get a picture on the one hand on the current level, on the other hand, the desired future of culture and compare the two images. Analysis of the difference between these two can offer the opportunity that we can obtain a clearer picture on the changes and the opportunities and limitations of the successful learning. The purpose of the author's study is describing the phenomenon named "pendulum effect" detected between perceived and desired values of the culture variables, and making its first described analysis with simple statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test alternative models of job performance based on competing categorization criteria. Design/methodological/approach: Survey-based data were collected from individuals in two separate studies. In Study 1, proficiency ratings of job performance were collected from individuals ( N = 553) across multiple jobs in four organizations in three Latin America countries. Similar data ( N = 489) were collected as part of a second study in order to provide additional support for the results observed in the first study. Findings: Modest support was obtained for performance models based on prior literature and a modified ten-factor solution. Follow-up analyses, on the basis of multidimensional scaling, suggested an alternative categorization that unveiled three underlying proficiency-dimensions. Emerging dimensions suggest that proficiency can be classified according to (a) the target of work behaviors (i.e., data, persons, and things), (b) the degree of influence behaviors convey (controlling others versus do-it-yourself), and (c) the degree of interaction involved (integration vs. working in isolation). Implications: The modest fit of the data with performance models derived from the extant literature calls for further investigations of the structure emerging from the current studies. Originality: These studies contrasted existing methods to categorize employee proficiency and provided empirical evidence of the shortcomings of these methods. Results also provided alternative criteria to discriminate performance behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accountability movement in public policy hails a new programme for US foreign assistance – the Millennium Challenge Account established in 2004 with the aim of ‘picking winners’ for grants among developing countries based on their demonstrated quality of governance. This article uses the MCA's own rating system to dispute its claim to know in advance which countries are best positioned to meet major development goals. High governance scores alone bear little or no relationship to growth in national income or decline in poverty. Attempting to measure public-policy performance limits the range of choice available to policy-makers, and may inadvertently limit true performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the debate about the total error and the uncertainty of measurements performed in clinical laboratories. He states that the uncertainty concept should meet widespread practical acceptance so that clinical laboratories can estimate the characteristic using the information that already exists. He infers that clinical laboratories must verify the consistency of declared performance during routine operations performed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Expectations and the way they are communicated can influence employees' motivation and performance. Previous research has demonstrated individual effects of workplace climate and individual differences on faculty productivity. The present study focused on the characteristics of institutional performance standards, evaluation processes and performance-responsive measures of academic departments in research universities, as articulated in institutional and departmental annual evaluation and promotion-tenure specifications. The faculty performance evaluation standards and review processes of 62 academic departments in 23 research universities in 13 US states were examined for clarity, consistency and performance-relevant elements. These characteristics were analysed through the lens of theories demonstrated as influential by previous workplace research. The similarities and differences of faculty performance standards, and the explicit and implicit messages they communicate, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become clear that firm performance has important implications for employees and organizations as confirmed by past researchers. This study examines human resource practices and the impact of incentives on manufacturing companies in the Malaysia context. Three types of human resource practices namely, performance appraisal, training, and information technology have been chosen as the focus of this research with the presence of incentives as moderator on organizational performance. This is imperative in order to ensure the successful management of employees and also to improve productivity and achievements of an organization. The research uses a sample of eighty-five firms in Sarawak, Malaysia, voluntarily participated in this study. The results have indicated that the two components of human resource (HR) practices namely, training and information technology have direct impact on organizational performance. It was found that incentive is positively related to organizational performance but did not moderate the relationship between both HR practices and organizational performance. Implications of the findings, potential limitations of the study, and directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to outline a framework, whereby academic and small to medium sized enterprise owner-managers can interact and learn more from each other in an environment of mutual collaboration. This paper outlines a methodology, which identifies a set of critical performance measures, common to SMEs, and thus allows the marketing function to be put in context within the overall organisational priorities. Decision-making scenarios, it can be argued are the only practical means by which one can influence or achieve a performance measure target. The outlined methodology also identifies the decision scenarios, which are significant to each of these critical performance measures and their relative impact on marketing performance measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores some of the similarities and differences between two approaches to the study of work that use moving images. The first approach, most notably practised by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, 'dissected' the movement of workers' bodies in the pursuit of efficiency. The second approach has emerged in the last few decades from ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. The article notes how shared technologies for data collection and shared interests in work practice belie more fundamental differences in analytic orientation. The article uses this comparison to highlight the potential contributions that the more recent corpus of studies can make to our understanding of work; an understanding that prioritizes the methodic practices in and through which members of society accomplish, experience and constitute work and organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is a pilot study that investigated the suitability of adopting an automated balanced scorecard for managing and measuring the performance excellence of academic staffs in the higher education setting. A comprehensive study of related literature with requirements elicited from the target population in a selected premier university in Malaysia through document analysis, interviews and survey questionnaires provided the foundation for the system development. By adopting the balanced scorecard, the proposed system provided a means for top down alignment of organisational objectives while creating a medium of communication between the lecturers and management. Though the method suggested in this study primarily focuses on the academic staff, it addresses the lack of a representative form of performance measurement for lecturers that accommodates the complexities of the profession while providing the potential adoption of an unconventional method to encourage excellence and development amongst all levels of employees in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article surveys the nature and aspects of structuring organization in a Muslim environment. It presents several questions and provides preliminary answers from Islamic perspectives. The article reflects on the current literature on management and examines the evolution of organizing in the early centuries of Islam. The article asserts that, though structures may seem similar across cultures, each culture gives different meanings to structural arrangements. The article also presents four forms of organization that are prevalent in Muslim countries. It is argued that the concept and practice of ehsan and Islamic general assumptions on organization offer practical guidelines for structuring and designing organizations more responsive to national culture and changing market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the effectiveness of branding processes in the health care delivery organizations. It states that facilitating the increased and appropriate use of branding among health care delivery organizations may enhance service and technical quality for patients. It also introduces the concepts of branding and the case that the use of branding may improve the quality and financial performance of organizations. It reveals that branding strategies may have positive effects on health care service delivery.

Ever increasing demands are being made on welfare organizations to display efficiency. Evaluation workshops constitute a form of learning for the purposes of building up competence to conduct evaluations within welfare organizations, with the support of research and development units. In workshops of this kind, welfare work professionals meet in order to conduct evaluations together with researchers/professional evaluators. This article presents experiences from 10 such evaluation workshops conducted in western Sweden. The workshops were perceived very positively by the participants. While the evaluations are being conducted, the participants also develop a more general competence in this field. The evaluations conducted at the workshops are primarily internal, but with external support, with all the limitations this involves in relation to the possibilities for critical scrutiny. Evaluation workshops have a beneficial effect on the learning of evaluation methods by directly combining learning and conducting evaluation. The workshops may also serve to build capacity in the organizations for evaluative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation integrity is a potentially critical issue for problem-solving teams (PST) and most response-to-intervention models. The current study hypothesized that providing performance feedback, which has consistently been shown to increase implementation integrity, to PSTs would enhance the procedural integrity of the process. The PSTs for three elementary schools were provided performance feedback with a 20-item checklist created from the literature. A multiple-baseline design across schools revealed an immediate change in level after providing performance feedback. The resulting percentages of non-overlapping data were 90.9%, 90.0%, and 100%. However, PSTs still did not monitor student progress, assess the effectiveness of the intervention, or measure the integrity with which the intervention was implemented even after receiving feedback. Thus, providing performance feedback could be a method to increase the fidelity with which critical components of data-based problem-solving are implemented, but these data suggest the need for additional research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using a sample of Virginia hospitals, performance measures of quality were examined as they related to technical efficiency. Efficiency scores for the study hospitals were computed using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study found that the technically efficient hospitals were performing well as far as quality measures were concerned. Some of the technically inefficient hospitals were also performing well with respect to quality. DEA can be used to benchmark both dimensions of hospital performance: technical efficiency and quality. The results have policy implications in view of growing concern that hospitals may be improving their efficiency at the expense of quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on several articles published within the issue. These includes one which describes the efforts of the city of Des Moines, Iowa, in achieving its citizen-informed performance measurement and reporting practice, and another by Brooke A. Myhre which discusses how government employees can be a critical part of performance measurement and public involvement.

Abstract: Background: We introduce locally-smoothed (LS) median absolute difference (MAD) curves for the evaluation of hospital point-of-care (POC) glucose testing accuracy. Methods: Arterial blood samples (613) were obtained from a university hospital blood gas laboratory. Four hospital glucose meter systems (GMS) were tested against the YSI 2300 glucose analyzer for paired reference observations. We made statistical comparisons using conventional methods (e.g., linear regression, mean absolute differences). Results: Difference plots with superimposed ISO 15197 tolerance bands showed bias, scatter, heteroscedasticity, and erroneous results well. LS MAD curves readily revealed GMS accuracy patterns. Performance in hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic ranges erratically exceeded the recommended LS MAD error tolerance limit (5 mg/dl). Some systems showed acceptable (within LS MAD tolerance) or nearly acceptable performance in and around a tight glycemic control (TGC) interval of 80–110 mg/dl. Performance patterns varied in this interval, creating potential for discrepant therapeutic decisions. Conclusions: Erroneous results demonstrated by ISO 15197-difference plots must be carefully considered. LS MAD curves draw on the unique human ability to recognize patterns quickly and discriminate accuracy visually. Performance standards should incorporate LS MAD curves and the recommended error tolerance limit of 5 mg/dl for hospital bedside glucose testing. Each GMS must be considered individually when assessing overall performance for therapeutic decision making in TGC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined the relationships between the organizational effectiveness and organizational development of a lodging crisis management plan. The data were collected from a random sample of hotel companies in the United States. The findings suggest that the crisis management issues prompt corporate hotel companies to take precautionary actions when developing crisis management plans. The results indicated that in terms of corporate preparedness and implementation, response and recovery had a positive effect on organizational development and organizational effectiveness. This level of corporate preparedness may determine a lodging firm's success in overcoming future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance feedback is one of the most widely used tools in organizational settings. To date, little research has been conducted focusing on comparisons of the differential effects of the sources, frequency, or media used for feedback on both the quality and quantity of performance. This research investigated the effects of different feedback sources for performance (peer vs. supervisor) on quality and quantity (separate and combined) of typing performance. The source of feedback did not differentially influence performance, although this result may have been due to a failure to establish a clear distinction between the two roles. Feedback, compared to no feedback, increased the targeted typing performance significantly. Feedback for accuracy of performance yielded the largest overall results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business leaders and managers have begun to structure their business strategies by considering services as a key factor for success. Several services strategies offer good results, including those based on a product's specification differentiations; those drawing on the exclusive use of a given technology over time; on how a service is delivered, with emphasis on customer interaction; on facilities, or on partnering with suppliers and customers. However, constant innovation is the key to achieving service excellence. There are three drivers of innovation processes in service organizations: 1) employing new technology; 2) initiative and creativity deployed by the organization's human capital; and 3) aligning innovation process and organizational strategy. Which of these innovation practices is employed in Venezuela? To address this question, during the first half of 2006 the authors undertook an exploratory study of 59 service businesses based in Venezuela. In probing the most commonly employed service strategies, responses centered on service differentiation features, service standards, and delivery options; whereas the most commonly employed innovation strategies dealt with product/service or process. Although the sample of firms is limited, it may be observed that whereas some companies work on improving the performance standards of their current service system, most superior service organizations are undertaking process innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Island County Environmental Health Initiative (ICEHI) is a demonstration project in the use of the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) to build capacity in the 10 essential services of environmental health. The PACE EH methodology systematically applies the 10 essential services of environmental health through the completion of 13 tasks derived from a community-based environmental health assessment process. The ICEHI has successfully engaged community members, identified environmental health issues important to the community, and led to the implementation of action plans aimed at reducing environmental health risks through use of community resources. This paper describes the methodology utilized by the ICEHI to address locally important environmental health issues so that other local and state environmental health agencies may replicate the process in their communities. [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]

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]

This paper examines the impact of the three organizational success factors—customer focus, innovation, and personnel commitment—on the business performance of Turkish firms. A survey instrument was developed and administered to the managers of the firms. The study found a significant relationship between the organizational success factors and business performance, where firms with high customer focus, personnel commitment, and innovation significantly outperformed those firms with low customer focus, personnel commitment, and innovation on a number of performance measures. High correlations among the three organizational success factors indicate synergistic relationships among them. This suggests that in order to achieve high performance and organizational success, firms need to ‘have a customer focus culture, must have personnel commitment, and must innovate.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of enterprise systems implementation on operational performance. The work extends the literature on enterprise systems by focusing on changes in process dynamics as a source for ongoing firm-level performance improvement. A case discussion of Tristen Corporation, a firm that implemented ERP and subsequently experienced benefits through gains to its continuous improvement efforts, is examined in light of theorized impacts of such implementations on process dynamics. Analyses of longitudinal data suggest that performance along a key metric motivating the ERP initiative (i.e., order fulfillment lead-time) showed a significant improvement immediately after system deployment. The data further suggest that the system implementation gave rise to an ongoing trend of performance improvement, in contrast to a stable performance trend prior to go-live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As firms seek to improve coordination through the use of electronic interorganizational systems (IOS), open standards are becoming increasingly important. To better understand the process of standards diffusion, we investigate firms' migration from proprietary or less-open IOS (i.e., electronic data interchange or EDI) to open-standard IOS (i.e., the Internet). Theoretical work in economics suggests that network effects are a determinant of network adoption, yet the extant literature falls short of empirical testing of the theory. We develop a conceptual model that features network effects, expected benefits, and adoption costs as prominent antecedents. We examine the model on a large dataset of 1,394 firms. The empirical results demonstrate the significant impacts of network effects on open-standard IOS adoption. We find that adoption costs are a significant barrier to open-standard IOS adoption, but EDI users and nonusers treat this very differently: EDI users are much more sensitive to the costs of switching to the new standard. This finding illustrates that experience with older standards may create switching costs and make it difficult to shift to open and potentially better standards, a phenomenon called "excess inertia" in technology change. Further testing the underlying factors that contribute to network effects and adoption costs, we find that trading community influence is a key driver of network effects, while managerial complexity, as opposed to financial costs, is a key determinant of adoption costs. Overall we believe that this study, based on a rigorous empirical analysis of a unique international dataset, provides valuable insights into a set of key factors that influence standards diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the general question proposed by the call of this special issue: "What historical or contingent events and factors influence the creation of ICT standards, and in particular, their success or failure?" Based on a case study conducted over a period of three years in a Norwegian hospital on the standardization process of an electronic patient record (EPR), the paper contributes to the current discussion on the conceptualization of standard-making in the field of Information Systems. By drawing upon the concepts of logic of ordering adopted from actor-network theory and upon reflexivity and the unexpected side effects adopted from reflexive modernization, the paper makes three key contributions: (1) it demonstrates the socio-technical complexity of IS standards and standardization efforts; (2) it shows how complexity generates reflexive processes that undermine standardization aims; and (3) it suggests a theoretical interpretation of standardization complexity by using ideas from complexity theory and the theory of reflexive modernization. These research questions are addressed by offering an historical and contingent analysis of the complexity dynamics emerging from the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the argument that environmental performance standards offer a relative disincentive for the adoption of cleaner technologies, and it shows that this relative disincentive exists when regulators cannot credibly commit to a stringent environmental standard. The relative disincentive is alleviated if the firms are sufficiently heterogeneous in the adoption costs, if the regulator engages the firm repeatedly, or if the regulator can combine an environmental performance standard with another instrument, such as a subsidy to the adoption of a cleaner technology or fines for non-compliance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The emerging work on understanding open source software has questioned what leads to effectiveness in OSS development teams in the absence of formal controls, and it has pointed to the importance of ideology. This paper develops a framework of the OSS community ideology (including specific norms, beliefs, and values) and a theoretical model to show how adherence to components of the ideology impacts effectiveness in OSS teams. The model is based on the idea that the tenets of the OSS ideology motivate behaviors that enhance cognitive trust and communication quality and encourage identification with the project team, which enhances affective trust. Trust and communication in turn impact OSS team effectiveness. The research considers two kinds of effectiveness in OSS teams: the attraction and retention of developer input and the generation of project outputs. Hypotheses regarding antecedents to each are developed. Hypotheses are tested using survey and objective data on OSS projects. Results support the main thesis that OSS team members' adherence to the tenets of the OSS community ideology impacts OSS team effectiveness and reveal that different components impact effectiveness in different ways. Of particular interest is the finding that adherence to some ideological components was beneficial to the effectiveness of the team in terms of attracting and retaining input, but detrimental to the output of the team. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustaining and improving the performance of a newly transformed operating system relies on more than the measurement of key indicators. It requires performance management systems that make use of the information they collect to take timely action before problems occur. To establish an appropriate performance management system, organizations need to decide how value should be measured at the top level of the organization and to choose performance indicators and targets that cascade from these top level metrics down to the shop floor. The right indicators include primary measures that effectively describe the system's performance and secondary measures that can act as a predictor for forthcoming problems or an aid to the diagnosis of root causes. They also include measures of performance over timescales, maintaining the organization's health so that short term profit is not achieved at the expense of future success. With a well-designed, effectively operated performance measurement system, companies can ensure that improvements achieved during the initial phase of an operational transformation are maintained and enhanced over the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing an incentives-based budget system at a large public research university significantly redirected internal funds while producing notable organizational and financial surprises. For example, units did not increase their "hoarding" of students, contrary to some expectations. The findings point to several issues for further analysis and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background To date researchers have given little attention to the use of quality of life (QOL) data for organization and systems-level change. This article presents two state-level examples of how QOL data are currently used in the USA. Method Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) were assessed on an ongoing basis using two multidimensional QOL instruments. Data were analysed at the individual and organizational level. Results Examples of statewide data utilization include: (1) determining significant predictors of quality outcomes; (2) developing provider profiles; (3) comparing individuals with ID with those without ID; (4) developing state-level performance standards; and (5) implementing continuous programme improvement. Conclusions The availability of this type of data allows service delivery systems to: (1) significantly alter the relationship between individual consumers and service providers; (2) open the system to scrutiny by citizens with and without ID; (3) improve responsiveness and quality outcomes; and (4) shape future directions of the service delivery system for people with ID. [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.

Reports on the challenges faced by clinicians in drafting a project plan for clinical trials. Benefits of implementing a performance metrics system in all operational departments; Efficacy of performance metrics in tracking the efficiency of the cooperation with study sites and contract research organizations; Maintenance of sophisticated systems for research and development timeline, cost, and productivity tracking based on the input from research-based pharmaceutical firms.

Investigation of literature on organizational effectiveness (OE) reveals that the researchers have been in consensus for the difficulty of defining, modeling, and measuring OE, which is important for attaining high performance. Major focuses of this paper are, therefore, to construct a conceptual framework to model OE, to derive major determinants of OE from this framework, and to measure OE by constructing prediction models based on artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple regression (MR) techniques. Based on the proposed framework that investigates OE from the perspectives of organization and its subsystems, business, and macroenvironments, the most significant variables that determine OE have been collected and used as inputs for the two prediction models, which have been constructed by using the information associated with 116 Turkish construction companies obtained from a designed survey. According to the prediction results and comparative study, ANN slightly outperformed the MR model in terms of errors, correlations between desired versus actual outputs, and relations between input-output parameters. The ANN model is proposed for use as a tool to assess company effectiveness and to guide decision makers about the major determinants of OE to increase firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two concerns related to setting performance standards on educational assessments are discussed. First, criteria for a standard-setting process from the point of view of a standard-setting sponsor, called here"institutional criteria,"are developed using a state department of education as an example. Four institutional criteria are proposed: (a) consistency with policy goals, (b) legal defensibility, (c) generation of assets for support, and (d) efficiency. Some steps sponsors may take toward meeting these criteria are introduced by reviewing, and in some cases elaborating on, Hambleton's (2001) 20 questions from the perspective of the 4 criteria. Second, the concept of vertical moderation of performance standards is reviewed, and considerations that can lead to different choices for moderation of standards are explored. Realistic state data are used to illustrate some of these choices. How moderated standards may be consistent with the 4 institutional criteria is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a simplified fuzzy-logic-based speed controller of an interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (LPMSM) drive for maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) of stator current with inherent nonlinearities of the motor. The fundamentals of fuzzy logic algorithms as related to motor control applications are illustrated. A simplified fuzzy speed controller for the LPMSM drive has been found to maintain high performance standards with a much simpler and less computation-intensive implementation than a nonsimplified fuzzy-based algorithm. Contrary to the conventional control of IPMSM with d-axis current equal to zero, a nonlinear expression of d-axis current has been derived and subsequently incorporated in the control algorithm for maximum torque operation. The efficacy of the proposed simplified fuzzy-logic-controller (FLC)-based IPMSM drive with MTPA is verified by simulation as well as experimentally at dynamic operating conditions. The simplified FLC with MTPA is found to be robust for applications in IPMSM drives. The complete vector control scheme is implemented in real-time using a digital signal processor (DSP) controller board DS 1102 in a laboratory 1-hp IPM synchronous motor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the excellence level of the farming scientific journal Pastos y Forrajes. In order to achieve it, an adjustment of the methodology for determining the level of Industrial Organizing Excellence developed by Suárez Mella was made; and the evaluation criteria of the Permanent Commission of Publications of the Cuban Academy of Science, as well as those of the Director, Editor and members of the Editorial Committee of the journal, were taken into account. The excellence level of the journal reached 66,6% in 1996 and from an improvement program 76% was achieved in 2002. This study allowed to determine the most critical indicators, and the evolution of the excellence level in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shows how the measurement system of a firm, when linked to its strategy, can be used as an organizational alignment tool. Importance of alignment for organizational effectiveness; Discussion of the dangers of misalignment; Implementation of a cascading strategy and the creation of scorecards; Reflection of the organization's strategy through its performance measurement system.

Using an applied sample, this study examined the effects of enhancing self-efficacy perceptions (Bandura, 1977, 1986) in trainees prior to their participation in a telemarketing training program. Specifically, this research explored whether enhancing self-efficacy perceptions affected trainees' performance levels and turnover rates. As predicted, trainees assigned to the self-efficacy condition remained employed longer than the control group participants. However, results indicated no differences between the groups in terms of job performance levels. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for job training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national survey of 191 heads of public relations departments in hospitals measured the departments' expertise or knowledge to practice excellent public relations, as defined by recent research. Utilizing 2 scales original to the study, correlations showed strong and significant relationships between organizational effectiveness and departments with high potential to practice the 2-way symmetrical model, enact the manager role, and participate in strategic planning. Analysis further showed that traditional communication craft, as characterized by 1-way models and the technician role, is a foundation for public relations excellence. Findings can be used to help resolve the current crisis faced by hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies the ethical criteria of survey research as a profession. It states that rigid adherence to performance standards does not necessarily protect professional ethics and professional ethics alone do not protect transcendent moral codes. Professional ethics involve obligations to clients, to others whose assistance is needed to conduct a survey and whose interests may be affected by it, to the profession, and to the society at large. Fulfilling all these obligations in a way that adequately achieves a balance is essential if survey research is to be a profession and not just a technically advanced trade. The irrelevance of performance standards to professional ethics is obvious with respect to surveys conducted in countries, or parts of countries, with limited or inadequate survey resources or with life style characteristics that, for example, may make for low completion rates. Thus it may prove to be very costly to implement satisfactorily a probability sample in conformity with state-of-the-art standards that would apply in the U.S. or Western Europe.

In an attempt to increase efficiency and reduce costs in the provision of nursing care, many hospitals across the United States have introduced new models of care delivery. In a survey of hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association, 97% of the institutions surveyed reported that they had introduced some type of nurse-extender program. The article analyzes the effects of restructuring nursing care by introducing nurses' aides to a primarily registered nurse (RN) staff, increasing the RN to patient ratios, and initiating an automated IV drug administration system.

Dramatic changes in the health care delivery system have produced a highly competitive environment for home health agencies. This study examined the characteristics perceived to be present in successful home health agencies. The results reflect both similarities and differences from studies of successful hospitals and businesses. The overwhelming majority of respondents identified a reputation for quality patient care as the most important indicator of a successful agency. This is certainly consistent with today's customer oriented, market-driven environment, where a quality product is highly prized.

The article focuses on issues concerning the performance budget. Performance budget is a budget for various activities of a cost center or organization. Rather than focusing on the objects of spending, such as the costs for salaries, supplies or equipment, a performance budget is primarily concerned with activities of the organizational unit. Specific objectives for each activity are stated in a performance budget and specific financial resources are associated with each activity. Performance budgeting has advantage over both traditional budgeting and traditional performance evaluation.

A five-component measurement method was developed and applied to the 1981 impact statements of 30 Professional Standards Review Organizations (PSROs) by four blind raters familiar with the PSRO program. High inter-rater reliability (.95) was achieved. Rater's scores for each PSRO were then averaged and regressed against live variables predicted to affect PSRO impact: geographical density of PSROs: PSRO affiliation with a medical society; surgical necessity review: use of data profiles; and pre-existing Medicare hospitalization rates. As a set, the variables accounted for 44 per cent of the variance in PSRO performance (p < .05). When entered in stepwise regression, geographical density and use of surgical necessity review accounted for the largest share of the variance. The findings are believed to reflect the recency of PSRO motivation to demonstrate significant impact, and the value of surgical necessity review as an indicator of PSRO courage to risk unpleasant backlash from their medical communities. (Am J Public Health 1983; 73:1182-1185.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I report a study on the extent and nature of research in the public relations industry. I begin with a document analysis of all campaigns submitted to a national industry awards in 1991 and 1992 and then investigate the research experience of public relations practitioners by using interviews with a sample of award-winning practitioners. The discussion provides insights into attitudes toward research. The implications of the study are useful for assessing the development of the profession, the issues facing practitioners in competing for resources, and the usefulness of initial and continuing public relations education. Critical theory is used to examine the way individuals conceptualize their research activity and focus on the importance of the language used by practitioners to describe their data-gathering processes, its significance for understanding and rewarding public relations contributions to organizational effectiveness, and its relevance for communicating across disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Regular Commissions Board is the main mechanism for the selection of British Army officers. This study is the most comprehensive validation of that mechanism that has been undertaken. Current selection, training and reporting procedures were investigated and all types of male entrant were sampled. The validation utilized both training and job performance criteria. Within-study meta-analyses were carried out on the entrant and Corps subgroups. Total group validity coefficients of 0.33 (0.43 with resignations excluded), 0.31 and 0.31 were obtained for the prediction of regimental performance, and general officer and specialist training respectively, it is concluded that, given the current applicant population, the Regular Commissions Board is a fair, moderately valid method for the selection of officers, and it has utility. Observations are made concerning the basis of the Board's validity, and the value and design of assessment centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]