The new look of office politics

Is a sea change occurring in the organizational politics of health care institutions? How is information informally spread throughout the office? It used to be that gossip was the vehicle by which employees learned much about the organization's culture and news. But now, organizations are characterized by a growing faction of staff who are emotionally detached and have a "day-laborer" mentality. The grapevine is not as effective as it once was. Non-participation includes ignoring the grapevine both as listener and feeder. What implications does this have for your organization?     

备战国考：2011，申论考什么

从往年的录取分数来看,在国家公务员考试中,决定性最大的笔试科目便是申论,特别是最后一道开放式大作文。     

A look at major planning methods: development, implementation, strengths and limitations

The purpose of this paper is to prepare an overview of planning as it is carried out in an organizational setting. The format utilized will be to examine the planning process in the context of three of the most popular planning models; management by objectives (MBO), program evaluation and review technique (PERT), and planning— programming—budgeting system (PPBS). Each of these models will be discussed in terms of the reasons for its development, the mechanics of implementing the model, the strengths of the model, and its basic limitations.     

Conservative accounting as a signaling device in debt covenants

This paper provides a signaling explanation for benefits of conservative accounting in a debt contracting setting. It develops a model in which firms want to finance more or less risky projects through debt, which is private information. Creditors price the risk on average riskiness, which implies a relatively high interest rate for low-risk firms. These firms can signal their low-risk type by implementing a conservative accounting system. The accounting signal is used in a debt covenant that stipulates early repayment in case of a bad signal. Thus, the low-risk firms benefit from a lower interest cost, but at the cost of higher risk of being forced to liquidate a profitable project. The analysis establishes conditions for separating and pooling equilibria and determines their individual and social welfare implications. It shows that conservative accounting by low-risk firms can even increase social welfare if it mitigates underinvestment.     

Teaching clinic lowers radiology utilization. A look at how to achieve more cost-effective imaging

Discover how an Oregon medical clinic made great strides decreasing radiology utilization after implementing a continuous quality improvement project that was embraced by physicians.     

Changing behaviors to build better physician/patient relationships. A look at 5 ways to motivate people

Changing behaviors may be the key to strengthening the physician/patient relationship. Learn what motivates people to act the way the do, and take a look at behavioral changes that could be made to better serve patient values.     

The case for complexity: A look at the relationship between individual and structure from the inside out

Abstract

This paper develops a model of the individual – structure relationship using a predominantly sociological explanation. Adopting the perspective of the individual and grounding the approach in a structurationist framework, a system of person-based and role-based relationships is proposed. The model's implications for the individual are developed from an examination of markets, hierarchies and networks. Main conclusions cross-cut individual, functional and organizational levels: (1) work- and non-work roles need to be intentionally maintained and leveraged as a way to develop individual and organizational complexity; (2) individual discretion is essential to achieving the proper balance between the two kinds of roles; (3) networks provide the greatest potential for role satisfaction; and (4) HRD assumes an instrumental role in establishing and maintaining a culture of trust and in designing and supporting jobs that foster complexity and discretion.     

The evolving board: a look at the board's changing roles and information needs

In looking at the practices of firms in developing active boards with highly informed directors, information needs of directors were found to increase dramatically with increased board activity. This article discusses the changing role of the board and the corresponding change in director information needs.     

Federal budget helps drive health policy. A close-up look at the budget process and how it affects health care funding

Crafting the budget is an annual process that Congress and the administration use to define the national policy agenda. It is a massive undertaking to decide how more than two trillion dollars is spent by the federal government. Over 20 percent of the budget is used for health care. The budget is a political document that defines the priorities of the federal government and directly influences overall health policy. Its construction deserves to be followed and influenced by physicians to ensure the health of the public.     

Mantras that look like plans

Lotman defines two modes of communication: the old sender-receiver type and another, which is called autocommunication. In the first type, new information is given to the receiver, newspapers add information to our existing knowledge. The second mode is communication to oneself: typical of this mode are meditation formulas, novels that are read many times by the same persons, and art in general. It does not add knowledge in the quantitative sense. It enhances readers ego.But any message, even a plan or a corporate report, can be read this way, in the autocommunicational meditational way. Plans are often mantras which organizations read to themselves, saying time and again: “This is what we should look like”. Seemingly disappointing planning has its purpose: finding an image, giving new cues, focusing of mind, giving enthusiasm.     

Unlocking the mask: a look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors

The conceptual and empirical links between authentic leadership and follower attitudes, behaviors, and performance outcomes have not been fully developed. Although we have a number of articles developing the theory of authentic leadership and testing propositions that will appear in a forthcoming special issue of The Leadership Quarterly (Vol. 16, Issue 3, 2005), the focus of this article is to provide some of the initial foundation work for the broader theoretical framework of how authentic leaders influence follower attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Here, we draw from positive organizational behavior, trust, hope, emotion, identification, and identity theories to describe the processes by which authentic leaders exert their influence on followers' attitudes and behaviors. Research propositions based on the proposed theoretical model and implications for future theory building and research are presented.     

Performance management theory: A look from the performer's perspective with implications for HRD

Performance management methods are receiving increased attention as organizations seek performance gains from their workforces during challenging economic times. In this paper, the construct of performance management is challenged along two lines: how applied models do not take full advantage of existing theories of work motivation; and how the impact of performance management will continue to be constrained as long it remains a predominantly top-down process. Several relevant theories of motivation are examined to illustrate gaps between theory and practice and to provide a basis for looking at performance management from the performer's perspective. Resulting implications for the human resource development (HRD) field are discussed.