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The article focuses on laboratory medicine in the United States with an example of the University of Washington Hospital Medical Center (UWHMC) in Seattle, Washington. The organization of laboratory medicine varies according to local needs and history. Clinical chemistry, microbiology, immunology, genetics and informatics are the part of laboratory medicine. Detailed information about the UWHMC is provided.

The article discusses the disturbing issues of the "obsession" campaign's massive scale. First, it points to the ease having which foreign groups established organizations in the U.S. which are non-profitable. It states that all their ideologies, wealth and influence are marginal. Thus, the author stresses that this "Obsession Project" has also highlighted the poisonous political climate in the country in which demonizing a whole ethnic community seems to become more a commonplace. It is also noted that related campaigns that aim to lower the bar is acceptable speech as opposed to "hate speech."

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was politicised in the United States (US) by Donald Trump in an effort to deflect blame as the virus spread. In this paper, we empirically investigate media coverage of the WHO in the US to better understand how negative evaluations of international organisations (IOs) spread. To do so, we perform quantitative text analysis on an original corpus of over 11,000 news articles on the WHO from the New York Times and the Washington Post between 1980 and 2020. Our text‐as‐data analyses yield several noteworthy findings. First, we show that media coverage of the WHO in the US has become more negative over time. Second, we show that negativity increases during global health crises. Third, we provide evidence that explicit criticisms also increase during crises. Fourth, we show that "blame‐shifting" by Trump and allies was clearly observable in the US news media. Finally, we show that negative stories about the WHO are shared more than positive ones on social media. Our results provide unique evidence, suggesting that the WHO has become more politicised in the US, which we argue creates opportunities for politicians seeking to blame IOs during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation policy involves the dictates that guide the planning, conduct, and use of evaluation in any organization. It is – or at least should be – a central concern to those involved with evaluation. Evaluation policy shapes what evaluation practice looks like, while enabling or constraining what it can accomplish. This chapter offers a brief and selective history of evaluation policy in the United States. A description of the American Evaluation Association's activities regarding evaluation policy follows. The chapter then sets the stage for the other contributions in the current set of papers about evaluation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of military research and development (R&D) is reviewed. Relationships between military R&D and governmental science policy in the United States, France, and the Soviet Union--countries that pursue different science policies and R&D strategies--are compared. Suggestions for a more realistic science policy are presented. (SR)

The way military research and development (R&D) are organized in the United States, in the Soviet Union, and in some other advanced industrial countries is examined to determine how far the organization of R&D can explain the trends and direction of military technology. (RM)

This paper explores the issue of 're-making' corporate law through the prism of the United Nations' recent efforts at reducing legal obstacles experienced by micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in starting and scaling a business. In order to be fully successful, this paper suggests that the UN should go back to business fundamentals and should attempt to build from the ground up based on the real world needs of entrepreneurs, rather than work off already existing corporate legal systems. In this way, it is possible to engage in a more imaginative form of regulatory design in which a clear, open and preferential legal framework for stimulating innovation and business creation can be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of people to deal constructively with the needs of work and of family depends on the kind of work they do; the organization that employs them; and the economic, social, and national context in which they live. This article compares the responses to this issue in the United States, Britain, and Sweden. In the United States, the effort has been to allow women to meet male work demands. In Britain, the emphasis has been on providing flexible arrangements for mothers who work. In neither case has there been any attempt to change the rules for career success or to deal with gender roles in the family. Sweden, however, has made the effort to try to equalize gender roles. This makes many aspects of life easier, hut women still are seldom found in top positions. These differences in national context determine the kinds of responses that organizations can make to the family needs of their employees. Their implication for the United States response is discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource dependence approach to organization-environment relations concerns in part the strategy and tactics whereby organizations seek to control aspects of their environment. This study utilizes and extends the resource dependence perspective and establishes the existence of a strategy that the corporate strategy literature ignores. Data from United States antitrust law is used here to sustain the argument that suppression of technology is one strategy used to control resource dependence. Specific tactics and their characteristics are identified, along with their objectives and the processes whereby these may be achieved. The paper shows that the selection of specific tactics is likely to depend on both the particular objective sought and the current judicial interpretation of these areas of law. Recent changes in the latter are producing a situation conducive to the utilization of patent-based tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the 2004 PIMA Joint Leadership Conference held on June 27-30, 2004 in New Orleans, California. Resource speakers; Topics discussed; Programs and activities.

This article reports developments related to organizational conferences in the United States. Details of the conference by the Center on Japanese Economy and Business are given in the article. The conference will be held in New York from January 8-10, 1993. Papers, workshops, panels and symposia are invited for presentation and may cover any aspect of the Japanese business system and its economic, political, social and legal environments. Schedule of the international symposium on the "Role of International Business in Economic Growth and Development," is also discussed in the article. Information on the 6th Annual International Symposium on Pacific Asian Business is also reported in the article. Themes of the symposium include international business and politics, managerial roles, modernization and socio-political change, transnational corporations, industrial structure, economic growth and others.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the state of research of police militarization in the USA to explore the claim that the police are becoming more like the military, or “militarized” in order to identify gaps in the research on this topic that require further investigation.Design/methodology/approach To explore the state of police militarization, this paper draws on a scan of scholarly papers published on militarization in the American context as well as a select array of gray literature on the topic.Findings While the nature of militarization has received substantial scholarly attention, debate on the phenomenon remains and there is little consensus on the definition of what makes a department militarized. The impact of militarization is similarly unclear: some scholars suggest that it has a negative impact on policing because it creates community hostility and encourages police to see force as a central problem-solving tool. However, other scholars suggest militarization is a positive development, as it could promote professionalism and accountability. To date, there has been little empirical work on the impact of militarization on policing that could inform this debate.Originality/value This paper suggests that empirical assessments of how militarization affects use of force and legitimacy will be valuable for informing the militarization debate. As scholars on both sides of the debate have suggested that militarization affect policing outcomes in these areas, empirical tests here offer a way to explore both sides’ claims. Such tests could offer new evidence on how militarization is affecting the character and operations of American police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminological research identifies the turn to community as part of a broader move away from the welfarist social. Yet, while we now have significant research on how community is made governmental within crime prevention strategies, we know less about how the zone of community is itself rendered governable—how neoliberal programmes delimit and control the moral order of the community they are said to promote. This paper focuses on the community notification of sex offenders in the United States, often known as Megan's Law. Drawing on research that identifies the increasing role of audit technologies for achieving control within organizations, this paper explores how Megan's Law similarly relies on a logic of audit to identify, manage and control the symbolic zone of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — Union-community collaboration is an increasingly common practice in industrialised nations where union power and density have declined. This paper proposes a framework for defining and evaluating community unionism, through a definition of the term "community." Design/methodology/approach — The author explores this framework drawing on campaigns in Sydney and Chicago. Findings — It defines the term community in three discrete but mutually reinforcing ways, as (community) organisation; common interest identity, and local neighbourhood or place. The term is used to then define community unionism as three discrete union strategies, and finally to examine one type of community unionism — coalition unionism. Successful coalition practice is defined by partner organisational relationships (coalition structure, bridge brokers, and coalition offices); common concern (common interest operates as mutual direct interest of organisation and members), and the element of scale (where success increases as coalitions operate at multiple scales such as the local, as well as the scale of government and/or business decision makers). Originality/value — The paper identifies three elements of coalition unionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the organization and representation of time in certain kinds of undergraduate programs, here represented by a sociology program in a US university. Written requirements for the major are analyzed as constituting a 'chart' that defines academic time in terms of units of before-after relationships. The paper shows how students 'reuse' these temporal units when charting paths through the university and reckoning their academic work to specific futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to draw out some of the implications of the 9/11 Commission Report for California's Homeland Defense and Security and to address government failures identified in that report. The question the paper addresses is: How can we design organizational arrangements and staff them to institutionalize imagination, foster organizational adaptability, and overcome ineffective operational management? A Matrixed Networks Model is proposed to "restructure" the way California government is organized to achieve the performance objectives alluded to in the above research question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Organizational leaders understandably seek to match their workforce to the organization’s strategic focus. However, they may find their ability to do so thwarted by reluctance to retire, even by those financially able to do so, based on the stigma that retirement means “old” and “out to pasture.” The purpose of this paper is to learn what can be done to overcome that possible barrier to implementing a strategic direction.Design/methodology/approach The authors interviewed 12 human resources executives across the USA concerning the challenge of reducing the stigma associated with retirement. The qualitative study involved conversations that focused on “what does your organization do?” rather than testing a specific hypothesis.Findings Respondents talked about actions ranging from the image-related to the substantive, practiced in both for-profit and non-profit settings. Organizations can position retirement as a transition to something else, and therefore a career stage rather than its end.Practical implications Organizational leaders can communicate that retirement is not a career end but a stage of work-life that can pay off in increasing flexibility for employees as well as for the organization itself.Social implications While strategic flexibility benefits organizations, a societal benefit can be more satisfied retirees if they transition to education, volunteer leadership or entrepreneurship.Originality/value The value of this research lies in prompting those at the highest level in organizations, those who design strategy, to consider how its implementation can be improved by actions to affect the retirement perspectives of employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies four groups among 113 Fortune 500 manufacturers that approach innovation quite differently. The groups are based on 27 measured elements of corporate environment, corporate strategy, and formal and informal organization. Both product innovation and financial performance differ significantly over the groups, and a group of 42 firms that invest heavily in innovation perform best financially. A smaller group of firms that are not innovative but which follow a strategy of acquisition perform nearly as well financially. Firms focusing research resources on process innovation perform poorly, although process research complements product research among the effective innovators. Particularly important for explaining both product innovation and financial performance of these firms are salient combinations of classic elements of good environment, good strategy and good organization--strong positions in growing markets, investment in research and development, open and creative organizational structures and supportive organizational climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1970s the U.S. has witnessed the emergence of a wide range of organizations that explicitly reject the norms of rational-bureaucracy and identify themselves as "alternative institutions" or "collectives." Grounded in an extensive study of the practices of worker collectives, this paper seeks to identify some of the structural commonalities which link these new work organizations and to develop a theoretical framework for understanding them. First, the ideal-type features of collectivist democracy are delineated and contrasted with the characteristic features of bureaucracy. The ideal-type approach allows us to assess these organizations not as failures to achieve bureaucratic standards they do not share, but as efforts to realize wholly different values. Second, constraints and social costs that inhibit the realization of organizational democracy are discussed. It is in the conceptualization of alternative forms of organization that organizational theory has been weakest, and it is here that the experimentation of collectives may broaden our understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work-in-progress paper aims to présent a qualitative analysis of the incidence of the organizational model of decentralization and local autonomy, on the EU member states, according to their own national specificities. In ternis of methodology, the research makes use of the comparative analysis, in order to test if the current sharing of administrative skills and the légal framework of local autonomy at the level of the EU member states leads to a effective supply of the public services for its citizens. For this purpose, the analysis focuses on two items, the architecture of administrative powers and local autonomy and the way of distribution of the necessary fmancial resources to support local self-government in some EU member states. For comparative analysis, the paper noted a number of EU member states, which has grouped them into four geographical areas (North, South, Center and South-East). As a work in progress, current research, based on those two items, it will highlight some différences and similarities which subsequently, will help the authors to identify the causes that generate them, in order to draw final conclusions about the functionality of the organisational model of décen­tralisation in the context of the need more acute to boost the quality of life and to strengthen the local public affaire in différent EU member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two competing approaches--exchange and power-dependency--have been used in previous studies to conceptualize interorganizational relationships. The basic premise of this paper is that an integrated view of these relationships is needed that incorporates propositions from both of these approaches. Propositions are developed from these two approaches for explaining variations in the frequency of interaction and the nature of interactions between pairs of organizations in an interorganizational set. Special emphasis is given to the nature of interactions in an asymmetrical relationship. The propositions are tested using data on interactions between community organizations and local offices of the United States Training and Employment Service. The results suggest that interorganizational relationships should be conceptualized as a mixed-motive situation in which each organization behaves in accordance with its own self-interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using models drawn from organizational theory and institutional economics, this paper examines the extent to which firms borrow money. We argue that corporate borrowing depends on four factors: the expected return on borrowing, the availability of internal funds, the strategic orientation of the chief executive officer, and the firm's board composition. We formulate four hypotheses, which we test with data on 22 large U.S. manufacturing firms from 1956 through 1983. Retained earnings, the expected return on borrowing, the presence of a representative of a financial institution on the firm's board of directors, and the presence of a CEO from a finance background are all associated with the level of borrowing. The findings suggest that both economic and organizational factors affect the extent to which firms borrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The percentage of the U.S. work force that is unionized is at its lowest level in more than 50 years. Although many studies have sought the reasons for this decline, few have investigated characteristics of unions themselves as possible factors. This paper focuses on unions as organizations, and applies a model of national union effectiveness to union organizing. The authors propose a composite measure of organizing effectiveness that goes beyond union success in representation elections. An analysis of data from the 1990 National Union Survey and other sources, with controls for environmental influences, suggests that organizing effectiveness is enhanced by innovation and reduced by centralization of control at the national level. Some evidence is also found that internal union democracy enhances union success in organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the enormous growth of college courses dealing with spatial information, curriculum planning involving geographic information science ( GIS) courses and programs has received little attention within the GIS literature. As the number and variety of GIS courses expands, so too does the importance of both systematic and inclusive planning and campus-wide coordination. In this article we explore course planning through an exploration of 312 GIS course syllabi used at US colleges and universities with the goal of characterizing the degree to which learning resources, student evaluation methods, and course topics have become standardized across institution types, academic levels, and disciplines. Our findings reveal a consensus in the use of GIS software across courses but no similar agreement in the use of textbooks. Hands-on activities were used as evaluation methods in nearly every course in the sample regardless of institution type or academic level. However, quizzes, tests and final exams were used more often in community colleges while papers and projects were used more frequently in four-year and comprehensive research universities. The frequency of topic categories listed on syllabi was relatively consistent across institutions, academic levels and disciplines with a few topics such as vector analytic operations, data models, and data creation/acquisition/editing included on more than 50% of syllabi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a case study of Transition House in Cambridge, MA, a pioneering feminist agency founded in 1976. Transition House has survived and is, today, a thriving agency. Based on interviews with and papers collected from those involved in founding and running it, as well as a few guests/clients, I argue that Transition House's evolution was impelled by three major forces shared with other early domestic violence agencies: changes in the culture due in part to successes of the battered women's movement in the early years, changes in the larger political-economic context due to national policies and economic trends, which make getting out of poverty in 2017 more difficult than it was in the 1970s, and learning from survivors and from evolving research on domestic violence. In 1976, the immediate focus was on women "battered" by their partners, and the agency was strongly identified with the women's movement. In 2017, the focus is on women who are battered by economic and social conditions as much as by their partners, and the agency is seen as a partner with the city and with other nonprofit agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although organizational theorists have given much attention to how environments shape organizations, they have given much less attention to how organizations mold their environments. This paper demonstrates what organizational scholars could contribute if they were to study how organizations shape environments. Specifically, the paper synthesizes work by historians, political scientists and students of corporate political action to document how corporations systematically built an institutional field during the 1970s and 1980s to exert greater influence on the US Federal government. The resulting network, composed of nine distinct populations of organizations and the relationships that bind them into a system, channels and amplifies corporate political influence, while simultaneously shielding corporations from appearing to directly influence Congress and the administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Agency Theory in order to understand the true nature of the corporation by determining the respective roles of shareholders and directors/managers within a corporation. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper compares the economists' depiction of the firm with the legal conception of the corporation. It then analyses the legal concept of ownership and proves that the shareholders are the owners of their shares only and not of the corporation which is a separate legal person. The theories of corporation and relevant case law are also analysed. Findings -- The analysis reveals that currently there are two distinct models of the corporation. The economists view a firm in terms of a nexus of contracts like a partnership where shareholders are the owners of the firm and the directors/managers are their agents. The law, on the other hand, regards the corporation as a separate legal entity with rights and liabilities of a natural person that is not subject to ownership. This doctrine of legal personality is the grund norm of corporate law from which other principles like limited liability, perpetual succession, transferability of shares and independent board are derived. However, both economic and legal models converge upon the purpose of corporation i.e. maximization of shareholders value. Originality/value -- The paper highlights the distinction between economic and legal models of the firm. It points out that from a legal perspective, neither the shareholders are the principals nor the managers are their agents as proposed by the Agency Theory. The economists assume conflict of interests between the shareholders and directors and devise mechanisms to reduce agency costs. Law, on the other hand, determines manifestly the rights and liabilities of each participant in corporate structure. The directors owe their duties to the corporation and manage it without interference from the shareholders. Such arrangement is a product of historical process and qualifies a corporation as a sui generis form of business organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its collapse as a result of World War I, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) was reorganized in 1935; and William G. Lennox was appointed its president. Among his initial efforts was developing a professional organization that would be dedicated to the study and care of people with epilepsy and would serve as the International League’s American chapter. His efforts resulted in the founding of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) in Kansas City, MO, on May 12, 1936. This article presents previously lost details of Lennox’s role in establishing the AES and in defining its mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I develop indices capturing business/market and nonprofit/mission characteristics of charter schools that can be used to explain many of their observed operational and political choices. This improves on earlier research using only a binary variable classifying charter schools as market or mission rather than letting them take on characteristics of both. Using data from a survey of charter schools, I construct market and mission orientation indices which I then use to reestimate a series of multivariate models published in earlier charter school research that used only the binary distinction between schools. These nuanced, nonmutually exclusive indices reveal aspects of school choices in terms of targeting student populations, recruiting staff, and engaging in political advocacy not uncovered with the original binary distinction. This demonstrates the importance of increasing the sophistication of our empirical measures in the study of charter schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While organizations function by regulating the actions of their members, when these attempted regulations are experienced as invasive and threatening, they create the potential for resistance [1]. This paper examines organizational resistance by cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy, in particular their resistance to regulations. Contrary to the popular public image of blind obedience to authority by subordinates in the military, there exists an inherent tension between blind obedience and loyal disobedience (i.e., situations in which being disobedient rather than obedient is considered as being loyal). The paper focuses on cadet resistance of a specific regulation, the accouterments regulation. The analysis concentrates on understanding the various categories and patterns that emerged from in-depth interviews, conversations, institutional documents, emails and photographs. As well as emergent themes and their implications to the Coast Guard Academy, an intervention strategy is presented. The major themes discussed are the nature, meaning, and form of regulations, resistance, the cycle of resistance/counter-resistance, and the cadet/administration relationship and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the papers featured within the issue, which focused on race relations in organizations and on the work life of African American men and women in organizations. The meaning of understanding race relations is understanding African Americans as a group, whites as a group, intergroup relations between whites and African Americans and how individuals behave within relationships. Most of the authors used variations of the interview method to obtain data on the life experiences of African American men and women.