The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: The Contingent Role of Public Service Motivation

In this paper we examine whether the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) is contingent on public service motivation (PSM). We propose that PSM may reduce the motivational influences of transformational leaders’ behaviours on followers’ OCBs in public sector organizations. Using a sample of Mexican employees we tested this proposition with structural equation modelling. Our results show that the motivational effects of transformational leadership were less for public sector followers higher in PSM than for those lower in PSM. A follow‐up study in private sector organizations did not reveal a similar interaction effect. These findings appear consistent with previous research demonstrating that PSM is more aligned to the goals and values of public rather than private sector organizations. Nevertheless, the direct effects of PSM on OCBs remained in the private sector.     

Race and Theory: Culture, Poverty, and Adaptation To Discrimination In Wilson and Ogbu

This article provides the theoretical resources to resolve a number of conundrums in the work of William Julius Wilson and John Ogbu. Contrary to what Wilson's and Ogbu's work sometimes imply, inner-city blacks are not enmeshed in a "culture of poverty," but rather are generally committed to mainstream values and their normative expectations. Activities that deviate from these values derive from the cognitive expectations inner-city blacks have formed in the face of their restricted legitimate opportunity structures. These expectations, which suggest that educational and occupational success are improbable for inner-city residents, are accurate. If their opportunities were to improve, their cognitive expectations would change and most would be committed to taking advantage of these new opportunities. The differences that separate the inner-city poor from whites center on cultural symbols, which help constitute their identity, sometimes in opposition to the white majority. Most deficiencies in performance among blacks stem not from these cultural attributes, but from the way they are processed in white-dominated organizations. Given a majority commitment to equal opportunity and a majority belief that blacks actually have equal opportunity, many conclude from their performance that blacks are in some sense inferior. This "new racism" overdetermines the performance of blacks.     

Sample size re-estimation without unblinding for normally distributed outcomes with unknown variance

Monitoring clinical trials in nonfatal diseases where ethical considerations do not dictate early termination upon demonstration of efficacy often requires examining the interim findings to assure that the protocol-specified sample size will provide sufficient power against the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true. The sample size may be increased, if necessary to assure adequate power. This paper presents a new method for carrying out such interim power evaluations for observations from normal distributions without unblinding the treatment assignments or discernably affecting the Type 1 error rate. Simulation studies confirm the expected performance of the method.     

Reply to Bengt Westerberg: the pursuit of a drug-free society

Bengt Westerberg missed the point in his critique of "Pollution rituals in Sweden: pursuit of a drug-free society". The effectiveness of Sweden's restrictive line was not the issue. Moreover, Westerberg's defence of Swedish policy was highly selective in its use of statistics. Other statistics cast some doubt on his case. His reply also failed to mention that the opposition to some aspects of the restrictive line had included his own party and other political parties. The main point of my original article was ignored – the argument that it is unjust and illiberal to sentence an individual to prison for self-harm. It is also illiberal to argue that the end of a drug-free society is justified by means that encroach on basic human rights.     

Parity of participation in liberal welfare states: human rights,neoliberalism, disability and employment

Governments continue to face challenges in implementing effective strategies to increase social and economic participation of people with disabilities. In a recent OECD high-level policy forum on Sickness, Disability and Work, the main policy message was the need for a culture of inclusion; with a dual focus on short-term active policy interventions and long-term structural reform. This paper examines policies in liberal welfare states that encourage people receiving disability benefits to participate in the labor market. Examples from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia of active labor market programs aimed at moving people with disabilities from workfare are analyzed in the context of international disability rights and neoliberal discourse. The paper explores the extent to which new approaches to activation policies are facilitating parity of participation and factors that impact the effectiveness of these policies.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

Abstract

This column includes reports on sessions from the Electronic Resources Minnesota Conference 2019 and Charleston Library Conference 2019. The reports cover a user experience analysis of a discovery system, managing change due to an organizational restructure, improving communication between subject specialists and technical services, and key findings of the LYRASIS 2019 Accessibility Survey Report.     

Sample sizes required for binomial trials when the true response rates are estimated

Binomial trial sample size specification depends upon the values of the unknown response rate parameters, as well as upon the size and power of the resulting test. In practice, the values assumed for these parameters are based upon the results of previous or pilot trials, or upon the investigator's prior knowledge or belief. In either case, there is some uncertainty associated with these values that should be taken into account if the sample sizes are to be specified realistically. This paper describes a procedure for incorporating this uncertainty explicitly into the sample size determination on the basis of joint confidence distributions obtained from the pilot or prior information.