Transformational–transactional leadership and upward influence: The role of Relative Leader–Member Exchanges (RLMX) and Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

By utilizing the resource theory of social exchange (Foa & Foa, 1974), we attempted to cast light on the dynamics of the relationship between transformational–transactional leadership and employees' upward influence tactics. Using data collected in two time points (N = 200, 1 year apart), we found perceptions of transformational leadership (Time 1) to be positively related to the use of soft and rational upward influence tactics (Time 2) whereas transactional leadership (Time 1) was positively related to the use of soft and hard upward influence tactics (Time 2). We also found support for a 3-way interaction between transformational–transactional leadership, relative Leader Member Exchanges (RLMX) and Perceived Organizational Support (POS) on employees' upward influence tactics. Specifically, in resource-constrained conditions (low RLMX and low POS), employees were likely to use soft tactics to influence a manager they perceived as transformational to a greater extent than in resource-munificent conditions. They were also likely to employ higher levels of soft and hard tactics to influence a transactional manager in resource-constrained rather than in resource-munificent conditions.     

Implicit Leadership and Followership Theories “in the wild”: Taking stock of information-processing approaches to leadership and followership in organizational settings

For over 30 years information-processing approaches to leadership and more specifically Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) research has contributed a significant body of knowledge on leadership processes in applied settings. A new line of research on Implicit Followership Theories (IFTs) has re-ignited interest in information-processing and socio-cognitive approaches to leadership and followership. In this review, we focus on organizational research on ILTs and IFTs and highlight their practical utility for the exercise of leadership and followership in applied settings. We clarify common misperceptions regarding the implicit nature of ILTs and IFTs, review both direct and indirect measures, synthesize current and ongoing research on ILTs and IFTs in organizational settings, address issues related to different levels of analysis in the context of leadership and follower schemas and, finally, propose future avenues for organizational research.     

Improving the Impact and Implementation of Disaster Education: Programs for Children Through Theory‐Based Evaluation

A main weakness in the evaluation of disaster education programs for children is evaluators’ propensity to judge program effectiveness based on changes in children's knowledge. Few studies have articulated an explicit program theory of how children's education would achieve desired outcomes and impacts related to disaster risk reduction in households and communities. This article describes the advantages of constructing program theory models for the purpose of evaluating disaster education programs for children. Following a review of some potential frameworks for program theory development, including the logic model, the program theory matrix, and the stage step model, the article provides working examples of these frameworks. The first example is the development of a program theory matrix used in an evaluation of ShakeOut, an earthquake drill practiced in two Washington State school districts. The model illustrates a theory of action; specifically, the effectiveness of school earthquake drills in preventing injuries and deaths during disasters. The second example is the development of a stage step model used for a process evaluation of What's the Plan Stan?, a voluntary teaching resource distributed to all New Zealand primary schools for curricular integration of disaster education. The model illustrates a theory of use; specifically, expanding the reach of disaster education for children through increased promotion of the resource. The process of developing the program theory models for the purpose of evaluation planning is discussed, as well as the advantages and shortcomings of the theory‐based approaches.     

Does Financial Satisfaction Vary Depending on the Funding Strategy Used to Pay for College?

This study sought to determine whether the levels of financial satisfaction reported by college undergraduates and graduates differ in relation to whether they funded their college education by working or borrowing or a combination of the two. Data for this study came from a survey sample of full-time freshmen that formed the basis of a longitudinal study conducted at a large public university. Funding sources examined were grouped into those who worked only, those who borrowed only, those who worked and borrowed, and those who used grants, scholarships, or other sources of money to fund their college education. Compared to those who had student loans, those who had financed college with grants, scholarships, or other money (usually from family and/or friends) were more likely to report greater financial satisfaction than those who had used student loans to pay for college. There was evidence that this was only true during college rather than after college. The results obtained suggest that merely possessing a student loan may not necessarily decrease the level of financial satisfaction as many suspect, especially considering other funding alternatives such as working during college. While there was no significant impact of these funding strategies on financial satisfaction either during or after college, there was evidence for possible thresholds at which overall student loan balances may begin to erode financial satisfaction. The results obtained suggest that student loans may not decrease the level of financial satisfaction as much as many have suspected when compared with working to pay for college, as long as the amount of the student loan is not excessive, and is not accompanied by other types of debt (which also reduced financial satisfaction).

     

Value managed relationships: The key to customer retention and profitability

The authors argue that customer satisfaction and retention are vital and can be improved by the technique which they call a Value Managed Relationship (VMR). A VMR is a collaborative, communicative partnership between suppliers and the supplier's customers, and it works by reducing system costs. Buchanan and Gillies point to examples in British industry where VMRs have been of great benefit.     

RECONSIDERING THE STIGMA OF PHYSICAL DISABILITY:

This article reexamines the stigma of physical disability using the empirical example of wheelchair users' treatment in public places. It draws upon conversational interviews with wheelchair users, field notes recorded during participant observation in public places while using wheelchairs, and previously published autobiographical accounts. The analysis of these materials primarily focuses upon the many public encounters in which wheelchair users request and receive various forms of assistance. Our analysis demonstrates that wheelchair users' place in public life is more uncertain and unsettled than the concepts deviance and stignia suggest. We argue for an empirical reassessment of the social definition of various physical disabilities through ethnographic study of relations between typical and atypical people and analytic attention to situated processes of identification.     

How Fair Is Safe Enough? The Cultural Approach to Societal Technology Choice1

This paper consists of an argument and a pilot study. First is a general, perhaps philosophical, argument against the National Academy's viewpoint⁽¹⁾ that dealing with risk is a two-stage process consisting of (a) assessment of facts, and (b) evaluation of facts in sociopolitical context. We argue that societal risk intrinsically revolves around social relations as much as around evaluations of probability. Second, we outline one particular approach to analyzing societal risk management styles. We call this the fairness hypothesis. Rather than focusing on probabilities and magnitudes of undesired events, this approach emphasizes societal preferences for principles of achieving consent to a technology, distributing liabilities, and investing trust in institutions. Conflict rather than probability is the chief focus of this approach to societal risk management. This view is illustrated by a recent empirical pilot study that explored the fairness hypothesis in the context of new nuclear technologies.     

Towards Balancing Power in Domestic Violence Relationships

Women's powerlessness to effect change in their partner's violence has been promoted in the literature. This has led to a downgrading in therapeutic responses to domestic violence and an over-reliance on legalistic remedies. However, many victims of domestic violence assert often that they want their relationships to survive and the violence to stop. Others may wish to leave their partners but find this too difficult. This paper describes a therapeutic/educational group program which set out to identify how women can become empowered and effect positive change in their partner's violent behaviour. The balancing of power was based upon the application of a set of guidelines which were applied in conjunction with McDonald's (1989) Cycle of Violence, with cognisance given to perpetrator characteristics. This initiative broadens the range of services available to women and it questions the political correctness of current domestic violence public social policy.     

The dynamics of welfare stigma

Drawing on the symbolic interactionist tradition, this paper focuses on the construction and management of welfare stigma in female welfare recipients' daily lives. In-depth interviews with ten women on welfare are analyzed, particularly in terms of how respondents manage their use of food stamps as stigma symbols. The complex and often contradictory pictures the women in this study painted of their feelings of stigma do not support the assumption, which underlies most research on welfare stigma, that welfare stigma is a coherent and relatively constant entity. The results of this study suggest instead that welfare stigma may vary depending on the social audience, situation, and recipient's life history. This analysis suggests that a symbolic interactionist approach to studying welfare stigma illuminates complex and dynamic aspects of welfare stigma that are obscured in other approaches and that future research on welfare stigma would benefit from drawing on the symbolic interactionist tradition.