Does a Hospital’s Profit Status Affect its Operational Scope?

We empirically evaluate whether a hospital’s organizational form (for-profit vs. not-for-profit or public) affects its operational scope (distribution of supplied medical procedures). Our results suggest that scope depends more on local demographics than causal forces from organizational form. This suggestion is consistent with differences in objectives (e.g., altruistic motives) ultimately exerting a stronger influence on operational scope than does the organizational advantage of not-for-profits in producing higher levels of non-contractible quality. It also offers information about how the availability of different medical services might change if the hospital sector continues its trend toward for-profit organization. Here, hospital conversions to for-profit status appear less likely to alter the mix of available services than do outright exits of not-for-profits.      

Building innovative organizations in China: The “execution+” organization

This paper explores how to build innovative organizations in China. Using grounded inductive theory building with ten case studies of commercial organizations in China’s information and communication technology (ICT) industries, we find that because China is entrenched in the paradigm of execution and its two-tier talent structure lacks a competent pool of middle-level talent, it calls for a new organizational form: “execution+.” The key to building “execution+” organization lies in building a competent middle tier by taking advantage of apprenticeship type of training. Our findings have implications for theories of organization design and organizational learning.     

Attitudes of Design Students Toward Computer Usage in Design

The success of efforts to integrate technology with design education is largely affected by the attitudes of students toward technology. This paper presents the findings of a research on the attitudes of design students toward the use of computers in design and its correlates. Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools are the most widely used computer applications in design. An instrument was developed and applied for the first time to relate computer attitude to design field through CAD. Interior architecture undergraduates of Bilkent University participated in the survey. As a result, students’ attitudes toward the use of computers in design were found to be positive. A significant gender difference in attitudes toward computers was observed with males having more positive attitudes than females. The results also revealed that students’ attitude toward computer usage in design was highly related to their general attitude toward computers, but it was not correlated with their perception of instructors’ attitude toward the use of computers in design.     

Organization–stakeholder fit: A dynamic theory of cooperation,compromise, and conflict between an organization and its stakeholders

Research Summary : We advance the concept of organization–stakeholder fit (O–S fit) to explain cooperative behavior between an organization and its stakeholders. O–S fit describes the compatibility that exists between an organization and a stakeholder when their characteristics are well matched. We highlight two dimensions of O–S fit: value congruence, or the supplementary fit of organizational and stakeholder values, and strategic complementarity, or the complementary fit of strategic needs and resources. For each dimension, we detail the unique relational factors—including core elements of trust, predictability, attraction/exchange, and communication—that motivate cooperation. We then explicate the ways in which value congruence and strategic complementarity dynamically interrelate over time. Finally, we consider how organization‐stakeholder misfit may result in alternative relational behaviors, such as conflict or compromise. Managerial Summary : We develop a new way of thinking about the relationship between organizations and stakeholders. Recognizing that positive relationships require a degree of fit or compatibility, we argue that cooperative behavior between an organization and its stakeholders is maximized when relational partners share both core values and strategic priorities. We explain that high fit along these two dimensions increases trust, relational predictability, attraction/exchange, and communication. We also describe how positive relationships might be formed with fit along only one dimension, and how negative relationships might result in the presence of misfit. Ultimately, we suggest that managers who want to foster positive relationships with stakeholders should concentrate on aligning their values and priorities, rather than simply concentrating on one or the other.     

The impact of problem-based learning strategies on STEM knowledge integration and attitudes: an exploratory study among female Taiwanese senior high school students

This study was designed to explore the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) strategies on the attitudes of female senior high school students toward integrated knowledge learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Content analysis and focus group methods were adopted as the research processes. Data and information about the STEM internet platform, an attitude scale and the contents of interviews were also collected for analysis. The subjects were 10th grade students at a girls’ senior high school who volunteered to organize teams for a Solar Electric Trolley Contest. A total of 40 students were grouped into 18 teams. The results of the study indicate: (1) that PBL strategies can be helpful in enhancing students’ attitudes toward STEM learning and the exploration of future career choices; (2) that the PBL teaching strategy helped to lead students step by step toward completing the contest’s mission and to experience the meaning of integrated STEM knowledge; (3) that not only that students can actively apply engineering and science knowledge, but also that students tend to gain more solid science and mathematics knowledge through STEM learning in PBL; and (4) that PBL can enhance students’ abilities and provide them experiences related to knowledge integration and application. Therefore, it is recommended that the curriculum at the girls’ senior high school include more content related to specialty subjects to enhance their technological capabilities. In addition, a learning mechanism should be offered to aid advisers or teachers in strengthening students’ integrated and systematic knowledge about STEM.     

Factors influencing the uptake of a mechatronics curriculum initiative in five Australian secondary schools

While the ready-made Lego™ Robotics kits are popular in schools and are used by students at both primary and secondary year levels, using the Picaxe microcontroller (chip) to create simple electronic devices, including robotic devices is less popular. The latter imposes an additional challenge as a result of the need to construct the universal board with the chip in it—a challenge embraced in the cross-disciplinary mechatronics program in this study. This paper reports on how teachers from five Australian secondary schools put into practice technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) developed from expert-led workshops and explores factors (intrinsic and extrinsic) that influenced the implementation. The results show that different strategies were adopted by the schools in implementing the programs. While teacher attitude played an important role in influencing the program’s success, being able to identify where the program sits within the curriculum and planning around timetable and facility constraints were also important factors to consider. The research indicated that teachers’ TPCK was most challenged in non-obvious areas such as diagnosing where faulty soldering joints were.     

Organizational Restructuring: Impact on Trust and Work Satisfaction

After the Asian financial crisis, companies are now contending with the current global economic slowdown. Whether it is at the national, industry or organizational levels, restructuring has gained currency as a strategic decision to realign internal structure with changing macro environmental factors. Faced with more competitive markets and greater demands on costs controls, organizations and businesses are taking the fast track to cost-cutting by downsizing, reorganizing their divisions, streamlining their operations, and closing down unprofitable divisions.Changes that are introduced in an organizational restructuring will affect the socio-psychological well-being of organization members given the potential for uncertainty that may accompany such changes. There is a need to better understand the consequences of organizational restructuring and consider some of its potential side effects on the work environment. Employees in a post-restructuring context are understandably wary about the future direction of the organization and their roles within it.This study is an attempt to examine the social-psychological impact of organizational restructuring on trust and work satisfaction. Additionally the inter-relationships between trust and work satisfaction, including their antecedents in the work environment are examined.Trust and work satisfaction levels were tracked before and three months after organizational restructuring for varying types of changes that were initiated during the restructuring. Both trust and satisfaction with working in the organization declined significantly when compared to pre-restructuring levels. Independent t-tests analysis indicated that there was a significant decline in trust for the work group which had a newly hired manager and a change in work processes. Results showed that there was a negative relationship between both work satisfaction and trust with the extent of change required of employees.The findings also showed that there was a positive relationship between trust and work satisfaction and that trust contributed to work satisfaction. Perception of colleagues willingness to help solve job-related problems contributed significantly to strengthening of trust relations among colleagues. Additionally, colleagues and supervisors willingness to listen to employee problems contributed significantly to work satisfaction.Results of the study highlighted the need for strategic decision-makers to consider the social impact of organizational restructuring. Top managers must realize that both trust and work satisfaction are important ingredients for the effective functioning of an organization and to actively ensure that support systems or structures are adequate and available to mitigate the negative impact, particularly if the changes to be implemented are extensive.     

An Organizational Learning Approach to Product Innovation

This article examines product innovation as an organizational learning process. It provides a framework allowing managers and scholars to relate product-innovation learning skills to organizational goals. Daryl McKee shows how different types of organizational learning skills are involved in incremental innovation, discontinuous innovation and institutionalization of innovation within the organization. This conceptualization can help scholars and managers diagnose an organization's learning skills and how they relate to new product management; direct the organization toward learning more efficient and effective product innovation; and provide scholars with a structure for future research.     

The structure of students’ knowledge and self-concepts. Part B. The structure of students’ self-concepts in industrial high school

The purpose of this study is to analyze the structure of industrial high school students’ self-concepts. The survey was conducted on 1,040 industrial high school students in Japan. A factor analysis was carried out, and five factors were identified: F1, attitude toward self-discipline; F2, attitude toward career development; F3, attitude toward professional skill development; F4, attitude toward social values; F5, attitude toward self-monitoring. It is suggested that the structure of students’ self-concepts in industrial high school includes these five components. The results of an ANOVA test showed that, there were significant differences among students of the three different grades for F1, F2, and F3. The mean scores for F1 and F2 became higher for older students, while the mean scores for F3 went down for older students. The results also showed a problem in that as the school year increases, the consciousness of professional development is reduced.     

Individualism–collectivism as predictors of BPO employee attitudes toward union membership in India

Drawing on data from a survey of 342 employees from three BPO organizations in Mumbai (India), this study examined whether cultural variables of individual cultural orientation and organizational culture, and their interaction were predictive of employees’ attitudes toward union membership in BPO organizations in India where unionization has hitherto not taken place. Using regression analysis, the researcher found that over and above the effects of demographic and job-related variable, and work stress and job satisfaction, horizontal individualism could predict union attitudes significantly and negatively whereas vertical individualism and collectivism could predict the attitudes significantly and positively. Similarly, organizational collectivism could predict employees’ attitudes toward union membership significantly and negatively. Using the univariate analysis of variance, the researcher found that the contrast between personal value and organizational culture of an individualist working in a collectivistic organizational culture or collectivist working in an individualistic culture are found to have stronger influence on union attitudes compared to the congruence of an individualist working in an individualistic culture or collectivist working in a collectivistic culture. The results and implications of findings are discussed in the paper with reference to the literature on role of cultural and attitudinal variables in relation to organizational outcomes like union membership.

The Year 2005 at DG Competition: The Trend towards a More Effects-Based Approach

This first review of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) gives an overview on DG COMP’s mandate and the main developments of 2005. The discussion includes institutional and policy developments, as well as the main competition policy decisions and Court judgments in the merger, antitrust, and state aid areas. It is argued that the trend towards a more effects-based analysis in EU competition policy had an impact on the assessment of competition cases, as well as on the development of soft law. For example, the effects-based approach was put high on the agenda with the publication of the Article 82 discussion paper. Similarly, the publication of the State Aids Action Plan (SAAP) launched a “more economic approach” in European state aid assessment. In line with its objective to focus resources on key sectors, two major inquiries were launched in the energy and financial sectors.The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not in any way represent an official position of the European Commission. Until 1 September 2006, Lars-Hendrik Roeller was the Chief Economist at DG Competition. He is now the President of the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin and a Professor at Humboldt University.     

Corporate governance in Taiwan: The nonmonotonic relationship between family ownership and dividend policy

This study considers an important aspect of corporate governance: the relationship between cash flow rights and dividend payout policy of listed family firms in Taiwan, an economy characterized by a predominance of family-controlled firms. Dividend payout levels are important because they are crucial to governing the firm and managing its investments. The empirical results show that at a low level of controlling families’ cash flow rights, the threat to lose control at any time makes controlling families claim more in dividends. This yields a positive relationship between dividend payout and the cash flow rights of controlling families at this level. Meanwhile, at a moderate level of controlling families’ cash flow rights, the entrenchment effect becomes more robust and creates a negative relationship with dividend payout. Finally, at the very highest level of controlling families’ cash flow rights, excessive firm-specific risk again helps to again create a positive relationship. This nonmonotonic relationship between controlling family cash flow rights and dividend payout also holds for financially mature firms that have a high earned to contributed capital mix.     

Adoption and policy implications of Japan’s new corporate governance practices after the reform

In this paper we explain the process and policy implications of Japanese firms’ adoption of recently reformed corporate governance practices. We use a selective adaptation framework in doing so. We present some qualitative predictions about the possible outcome of their adoption process. One advantage of our approach is that we can describe various aspects of the evolutionary process of Japan’s corporate governance reform as a system in a consistent manner, rather than as independent pieces. Our predictions provide policy implications and are empirically testable. Japan’s post-bubble corporate governance reform has been extensive and involves the enactment and revisions of many relevant laws and affected institutions. Japan’s aim has been to install US-like practices (the de facto global standard), with these practices replacing the now tarnished bank-centered practices, and to facilitate Japanese industry in regaining global competitiveness. However, we show that Japanese businesses’ adoption of US practices has been selective and efficiency and other policy implications of such behavior are potentially dysfunctional.     

Motivating self-regulated learning in technology education

This paper proposes a compensative model for self-regulated learning in technology education (SRLT) comprised of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational domains. Discussion of the cognitive domain centers on problem-solving and creativity, with a focus on the need to engage students in open-ended assignments in informal contexts and to teach them a repertoire of methods, strategies and heuristics for inventive design and problem-solving, rather than letting them search randomly for ideas or use the trial-and-error method. The notion of metacognition deals with peoples’ ability to be aware of and control their own thinking, for example, how they selects their learning goals, use prior knowledge or intentionally choose problem-solving strategies. Self-regulatory behaviour is highly correlated with an individual’s motivation to handle challenging assignments, and with his or her internal satisfaction from being engaged in a task that contributes more to creativity than to receiving external rewards. Another important factor is an individuals’ self-efficacy belief in their ability to handle a highly demanding assignment determined by previous positive experience in similar tasks and the existence of a supportive social and emotional environment. The SRLT model highlights the interrelationships between the cognitive, metacognitive and motivational aspects of learning, problem-solving and invention. For example, teaching students problem-solving strategies could help them accomplish a task, improve their ability to monitor their own thinking and reflect on their learning, and enhance their self-efficacy beliefs about problem-solving and creativity. The teachers’ role in promoting SRLT education and directions for further research are also discussed.     

Assessing South Africa Learners’ Attitudes Towards Technology by Using the PATT (Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Technology) Questionnaire

The PATT (Pupils’ Attitude Towards Technology) questionnaire, as validated for the USA, was used to assess and analyse South African learners’ attitudes towards technology. The responses of 500 girls and 510 boys, from the Gauteng Province in South Africa, were analysed using a principal component and a principal factor analysis. The explained variance was rather low and indicated that the questionnaire needed adaptation for the South African context. The outcomes of the research were positive in that there were no significant differences regarding the gender attitudes that ‘technology should be for all’ and that ‘technology makes contributions to society’. The fact that girls have a stronger gender discrimination view related to themselves regarding technology needs to be addressed in future curriculum development issues. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Toward sustainable practices in technology education

This paper discusses the problematic relationship between technology education, consumption and environmental sustainability. The emerging global sustainability crisis demands an educational response that moves beyond mere ‘tinkering’ with classroom practices, toward technology education which embraces life cycle thinking and ‘eco-innovation’. It will argue that the urgent transformation to technology education for sustainability citizenship must begin with a critical examination of existing practices and assumptions which underpin unsustainability. The initial context for this discussion will be technological education in Canada and the United States, in particular a recent national report on the assessment of technological literacy. The paper concludes by suggesting several ‘new paths’ forward to move technology education toward more sustainable practices and more relevance for young people.     

Assessing intelligence as learning within an industrial marketing group: a pilot study

Employees within the marketing function of a high-tech manufacturing firm were studied with regard to their opinions concerning the encouragement and utilization of intelligence as part of the overall learning within the department (and the firm) according to a model suggested by Bonthous in 1996. Initial findings indicate that there exists some variance between management and nonmanagement perception in terms of the approach needed to integrate intelligence into the organization as well as the most effective methods to create an organizational learning environment.     

Red,blue, and purple firms: Organizational political ideology and corporate social responsibility

Research summary : Why do firms vary so much in their stances toward corporate social responsibility (CSR )? Prior research has emphasized the role of external pressures, as well as CEO preferences, while little attention has been paid to the possibility that CSR may also stem from prevailing beliefs among the body politic of the firm. We introduce the concept of organizational political ideology to explain how political beliefs of organizational members shape corporate advances in CSR . Using a novel measure based on the political contributions by employees of Fortune 500 firms, we find that ideology predicts advances in CSR . This effect appears stronger when CSR is rare in the firm's industry, when firms are high in human capital intensity, and when the CEO has had long organizational tenure . Managerial summary : Why do firms vary in their stances toward corporate social responsibility (CSR )? Prior research suggests that companies engage in CSR when under pressure to do so, or when their CEOs have liberal values. We introduce the concept of organizational political ideology, and argue that CSR may also result from the values of the larger employee population. Introducing a novel measure of organizational political ideology, based on employees' donations to the two major political parties in the United States, we find that liberal‐leaning companies engage in more CSR than conservative‐leaning companies, and even more so when other firms in the industry have weaker CSR records, when the company relies heavily on human resources and when the company's CEO has a long organizational tenure . Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.