The importance of building alliances

This may come as a surprise to Gen-Xers, but on-the-job allies are a political necessity. Information and support from workplace alliances are vital to doing your job. Your peers, boss, subordinates, and even enemies, can and should be in your network of allies. How do you build alliances? It's accomplished by cultivating relationships based on mutual benefit and interest. Information and favors are traded on a quid pro quo basis. Your peers, subordinates, and boss have different needs but they share some goals with you. Goals are the common denominator. Consider the following ways to cultivate your network of allies: Be a reliable news source; offer feedback; be congenial; share expertise; consult; strive to be a role model; don't demand credit; don't wait for recognition; articulate your needs; share a hot idea; save face for someone; and connect people who can help each other.     

Managing the deliberately mute

The contrast in communication styles and values between Gen-Xers, now mostly in their mid to late twenties, and forty- and fifty-somethings is obvious. Gen-Xers are focused on the assignment and the deadline; their goal is to do good work in a timely manner. But they are highly skeptical that enthusiasm has any influence on the outcome. When we question them about their taciturn manner, they all give us the same two reasons: They really don't care one way or the other and they're convinced that what they say doesn't matter anyhow. This may frustrate a manager charged with getting the buy-in or enthusiastic participation from the troops, but it's a fact. There are, however, ways to get Xers to talk--provided you really want their ideas and opinions and you acknowledge that you hear what they say. Here are the best techniques from those who successfully manage large numbers of the young, including young physicians: (1) Focus on what matters; (2) don't ask if you're not going to act on the feedback; (3) personalize your request for information; and (4) always do a worst case scenario when you need the buy-in.     

Fired? Here's an exit strategy

Who gets fired in a boom job market? People are fired more often for things they failed to do than for mistakes they made. The new rules of engagement are: There is no probationary period; resistance to technology is a quick ticket out; a lack of emotional commitment to the role you're hired to play is usually fatal; personality defects that keep others from producing are not tolerated. The most common reason for being fired, however, is lack of fit. Whether you're laid off or fired, don't ask for explanations. The fact is, the people with the power to get rid of you don't want you to stay. What matters is maximizing what they'll do for you on departure. To get the most favorable terms with the least financial and ego damage, here's a game plan: (1) Get a favorable reference--in writing--from your boss; (2) gather work samples and good performance appraisals you've received; (3) negotiate for as much severance pay as possible; (4) negotiate for outplacement assistance; (5) gather contact names from co-workers; and (6) leave in style.     

The declining significance of race among American men during The latter half of the twentieth century

The extent to which racial minority groups face discrimination in the labor market is the subject of considerable debate. Using William J. Wilson's thesis of the declining significance of race as our theoretical context, we provide further empirical evidence about labor market discrimination by investigating wages among African American, American Indian, Chinese American, Hispanic white, Japanese American, and non-Hispanic white men. We find, during the period before the civil rights movement, that a substantively significant wage disadvantage is evident for these minority groups with controls for observed labor force characteristics. In recent data, these net disadvantages are reduced substantially for each of these groups except Hispanics. With the exception of Hispanics, the results support Wilson's thesis.     

A psychophysiological view of pain: Mind-body interaction in the rehabilitation of injury and illness

A shift toward a psychophysiological view of pain appears to be gaining ground as the cost of health care continues to increase. Billions of dollars are expended in America due to persistent pain. Psychotherapist involvement in the treatment of pain may be an effective form of intervention. People injured within and outside the bounds of compensation systems may display different pain patterns. Variables affecting pain, alternative treatment methods and needs, and return to gainful work are discussed.     

Conditioning factors for fertility decline in Bengal: history, language identity, and openness to innovations

This article argues that looking solely for the immediate causes of reproductive change may distort our understanding of policy options by failing to take into account the historical and cultural factors that affect not only the impact of policies and programs but their very nature and existence. The article examines the historical origins and spread of “modern” ideas in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. It concludes that a colonial history in which education and modernization processes took hold very early among the elites in the larger Bengal region was paradoxically accompanied by a strong allegiance to the Bengali language. This strong sense of language identity has facilitated and reinforced the diffusion of modern ideas both within and between the two Bengali‐speaking regions. Thus, to understand the fertility decline in Bangladesh, for example, one needs to look also at cultural boundaries. In this case, the cultural commonality through language facilitates the spread of new ideas across the two Bengals. In turn, the strong sense of language identity has facilitated mass mobilization more easily and intensely within the two Bengals. Shaped by these processes, Bangladesh and West Bengal today are more amenable to social change than many other parts of South Asia and the Middle East.     

Effects of societal intergration, period, region, and culture of suicide on male age-specific suicide rates: 20 developed countries, 1955-1989

Multiple indicators of societal integration and proxies for the culture of suicide form the model used to explain variation in male age-specific suicide rates from 1955 to 1989 in 20 developed countries. The hypothesis that certain determinants of suicide rates have changed over the period between 1955 and 1989 was rejected, as was the hypothesis that there are effects of period, net of measured predictors. The determinants of suicide rates do vary by age, with the culture of suicide playing an especially important role in the 35-64 age group.     

Future state visioning—A powerful leadership process

The process of conceptualizing and implementing significant change in complex organizations can be aided greatly through ‘future state visioning’, a set of processes for determining what and where you want to be by a future date. After developing ideas about the nature of the future environment facing the organization and the stakeholders who will be significant at that time, executives can articulate the values and principles which should guide actions leading to the future state vision. Examples from three organizations are used to illustrate the steps for successful use of the future state visioning procedure.     

Who Holds the Stakes? A Case Study of Stakeholder Identification at Two Nuclear Weapons Production Sites

Traditional risk assessments, including those involving the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), are often criticized for producing useless or noncredible management responses because they did not meaningfully involve the public. The first step to involve the public is to identify appropriate active participants (stakeholders). This study was done to understand the processes used to identify stakeholders to serve on advisory boards established at the two largest remediation sites in the United States: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The Hanford stakeholder identification process produced an interest-based board whereas the Savannah River Site strategy produced population-based representation. The basic goals of the stakeholder advisory groups were similar. However, different processes were used to identify the participants for the groups in part because of distinctly different social and cultural conditions in the areas affected by the operations of the two facilities, and in part because of the different level of trust of the USDOE and their contractors at Hanford compared with Savannah River. The discussion analyzes their different needs and potential for successful citizen participation.