Kulturelle Variablen, organisatorische Netzwerke und demokratische Staatsstrukturen als Determinanten der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung im internationalen Vergleich

The article focuses on the determinants of economic growth in modern democratic industrial societies. The investigation is led by the idea that the traditional theory of growth must be extended in two directions: towards the micro-level, i.e. towards the field of microeconomic attitudes and values, and towards the macro-level, i.e. towards the field of institutional and political conditions. The study makes an attempt to develop such an integrative perspective and to explain the growth rate in the 1980s and 1990s with cultural, political-institutional and economic factors. Empirical analyses show that economic expansion is limited by three factors: the distribution of post-materialist values, the size of economic interest organizations and consensus forms of democracy. Furthermore, the results confirm the assumption of conditional convergence of economic growth.     

Eigenschaften,Einstellungen und Werte von Generationen: Stand und Aussicht der Forschung

Ongoing Globalization and New Work foster the importance of diversity and with that generations. The classification of generations is similar in the core angloamerican area. Mostly its one generation every 15 years, starting after world war two, specified by social-historical occurrences in their first 15 years. Often generations are described isolated ascribing attributes, attitudes and values towards one or two of them. Thus comparing, quantitative and longitudinal studies are rare. Even though positive, path-braking examples do exist. Future research should include possible covariates like subgroups, intergroup bias or contrasting, descent trauma and self fulfilling prophecies in quantitative research.     

Kognitive Balance und Arbeitsplatzwechsel. Der Einfluss informeller Sozialbeziehungen auf Vertrauensverluste und Anschlusskündigungen kritisch-loyaler Mitarbeiter

This article uses a concrete example of an employee–s notice of employment termination which lead to another notice of termination of his colleague, to explore the factors which lead to such extremely un-satisfactory working conditions. The balance theory of Fritz Heider is used as an explanatory basis. Using a model, the effects of a resignation of an employee on the attitude and behavior of a colleague, with whom a positive emotional relation exists, are described. This colleague resigned after a while although he had a normal relationship to the company and although the company did not in any way violate his existing contract. Modeling this situation we can show that an imbalanced relationship structure between the two colleagues and the company can entail a notice of termination given by a loyal and well-educated employee, who has no direct conflicts with his company.     

Enttraditionalisierung und Traditionalisierung der Arbeitsteilung im Haushalt. Beide Seiten sind wichtig

With this contribution we reply to the constructive feedback of Johannes Kopp. In doing so, we clarify that our paper “How does the division of labor change in the course of marriage” (KZfSS 58 (1), 2006) was the theoretical starting point for further longitudinal analyses of the division of housework. In a second study, though, we already conducted the analyses requested by Kopp.     

Aktuelle Herausforderungen im internen Change Management der Commerzbank und der Deutschen Bahn

Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) - Dieser Artikel der Zeitschrift ?Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO)“...     

Schule und Schulklasse als soziale Kontexte der Entwicklung im Jugendalter

Studies dealing with the importance of social contexts already have a long tradition in empirical sociological and educational research. One possibility of applying context analysis is to consider schools as multi-level systems. The contribution focuses on the question of the relevant context factors on classroom and school level for the development of school achievement as a key aspect of development in adolescence. It is also examined whether social responsibility goals and norms are indicators of mediating processes between context variables on the one hand and school achievement on the other hand. Data base is the study “Competences and attitudes of students” (KESS) that examines the development of Reading achievement from grade 7 to 8 of a whole student cohort (9,682 students in 467 classes and 142 schools in Hamburg, Germany). Stepwise multi-level regression analyses reveal individual student characteristics, the average ability composition on the class level and the attended track on the school level as relevant predictors of the development of achievement. Social responsibility goals and norms are relevant indicators of mediating processes within the proximal context of the classroom, but not within the context of the schools. These processes are, however, gender-specific.     

Achtsamkeit im Team: Entwicklung eines Fragebogens und Hinweise zur Anwendung in der Praxis

Whereas the important role of individual mindfulness in organizations is more and more empirically supported, collective mindfulness—especially on the team level—is neglected. To foster research on mindfulness in teams, scientific sound questionnaires are important. Based on previous literature on collective mindfulness and semi-structured interviews this article in the journal Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation (GIO) aims at identifying relevant factors of mindfulness in teams and at developing a questionnaire based on these factors. The examination of 239 employees supports the factor structure which was assumed based on the interview results (deference to expertise; aspiration for flexibility; sensitivity to operations; reluctance to simplify interpretations; preoccupation with failure) and further hints at convergent and divergent validity. The application of the developed questionnaire to practice promoting mindfulness in teams is discussed.     

Die Arbeitsgruppe Professionssoziologie und die Randständigkeit der Professionssoziologie im deutschsprachigen Raum

The article analyzes the consequences of the marginal status of the Sociology of Professions in Germany during the last decades on the efforts of the new working group “Sociology of Professions.” This new working group has been established in order to make professions an attractive research topic. First it will be demonstrated that a lack of a solid grounding in the international literature influences the new efforts to publish textbooks. Second it will be shown that there is a missing historical perspective in the old and new sociology of professions in Germany. Finally everything seems to indicate that the new working group is more interested in questions of general sociology and occupational sociology than in questions of a sociology of professions.     

Eine integrative Theorie des Problemlösens in Gruppen II: Kognitive Grundoperationen und die Bearbeitung aufgabenbezogener Teilprobleme

This paper is the second paper in a three-part article series presenting an integrative theory of problem solving in groups on the basis of theory and research on group processes, problem solving and decision making. In the first paper of the series (Stempfle, 2004) basic recommendations for structuring problem solving processes in groups were established taking into account situational constraints. The focus was on aspects of group organization. Goal of the present paper is to discuss problem solving strategies in the work task area. A problem typology for work task sub-problems is proposed, wherein routine tasks, problems, puzzles and crisis situations are differentiated. It is hypothesized that the problem solving process of groups concerning arbitrary types of sub-problems can be described in terms of a complex sequence of five basic cognitive operations, namely information gathering, solution seeking, analysis, evaluation and decision. For the various sub-problems proposed, ideal problem solving strategies are proposed taking into account the need for action with regard to the sub-problem at hand and the resources available to the group. Problem solving strategies are stated in terms of sequences of the proposed basic cognitive operations.     

Über Macht und Ehre in Vereinen und Verbänden: Ein Rückblick auf Forschung und Politik

Cultural and professional associations are the expression of the modern society with structured organisations. The 19th century was the marking epoch of the constitution of associations in Germany. The involvement of associations in the political live, specially the professional ones, is typical in Germany. While political sciences focus on the analyses of interest representation and mediation functions of organisations, sociology research covers the full range of social, psychological, political and economical functions of organisations. Management and especially human resource management topics are presently gaining a growing importance within the research community which focuses on the cultural and professional organisations.