Mothers' psychological contracts: Does supervisor breach explain intention to leave the organization?

Recent evidence suggests mothers with infants are leaving the workforce (Cohany & Sok, 2007; Johnson, 2007), but research has not yet clarified why mothers make such a decision. The current research proposes that mothers form psychological contracts including content related to family that supervisors do not fulfill, resulting in intention to leave the organization. In a study of first‐time mothers, participants reported experiencing contract breach. Findings also suggested supervisors may have an opportunity to control the outcomes of breach and retain mothers by effectively managing perceptions of fair treatment (i.e., interactional justice). This is the first empirical research to indicate that mothers' intentions to leave depend on fulfillment of their psychological contracts related to family and fair treatment from their supervisor.     

A revealed preference test of rationing

This paper derives a revealed preference test for utility maximization under rationing and can detect, for which goods rationing is binding without specifying a functional form or imposing rationing constraints prior to estimation. For UK data from 1920–55, we find evidence of utility maximization under rationing with rationing binding for food and other services. Estimated virtual prices exceed observed food prices by 16.5% in 1947 and observed prices of other services by 10.9% in 1952.     

Attentional styles and stress factors of hotel sales/marketing managers

Paying attention is critical to performance. However, individual attentional styles vary from broad to narrow focus, and from external environment to internal thoughts. Successful performance requires a proper match between attentional style and the performance demands of the situation. This study examines the attentional styles of hotel sales managers and how those styles may relate to key elements of the job.     

Values and Beliefs Related to Ethical Decisions

Although there is reason to suspect thatpeople's values and beliefs influenceintegrity-related decisions, few studies haveexamined the values and beliefs related tomanagerial integrity. In the present study,197 students were asked to complete measures ofvalues and beliefs as manifest in theirpreferred courses of action when confrontedwith ambiguous situations. Subsequently, theywere asked to work on a managerial ``in-basket'task where the decisions made might result inharm to others or harm to the organization. Itwas found that values and beliefs were relatedto both types of decisions producing multiplecorrelations in the 0.40s. People whose valuesstressed growth and contributions to others, asopposed to personal gain, and believed actionswere under their control, as opposed toexternal control, exhibited greater integrity. The implications of these findings forunderstanding leader integrity are discussed.     

Managing pregnancy disclosures: Understanding and overcoming the challenges of expectant motherhood at work

A common, complex, and underexamined aspect of women's experience at work emerges when work and motherhood intersect for the first time; pregnant workers are challenged by the need to manage their impressions and identities. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to propose a model and corresponding propositions for understanding the determinants and outcomes of pregnancy disclosure. We extend stigma theory to the case of pregnant workers and explore the antecedents and consequences associated with timing of expectant status disclosure from the perspectives of pregnant women and their colleagues. We describe negative intra- and interpersonal experiences that may be encountered by pregnant women that may account for their departure from the workforce, thereby providing insight into the issues that may exacerbate (or ameliorate) turnover among working mothers.