Coaching,Training und Co – ist das alles Personalentwicklung?

This paper focuses on coaching and similar types of consulting in the field of personnel development. First the author discusses the current debate concerning personnel development; finally she describes the special goals, target-groups and issues of coaching, clinical supervision, mediation, mentoring and outplacement-consulting within the field of personnel development.     

Coaching und Mentoring

The program “Mentoring for female junior executives at schools” in Hamburg has the goal of recruiting more female executives for schools in Hamburg. As a headmaster of a high school the author has attended this program as a mentor. She discusses the following questions: What are the differences between mentoring and coaching? Where are the limits of mentoring? When is coaching the better method? The main result is, that the mentor has to be very attentively of his position as a member of the organization. He has to decide, if he can advise the mentee for example in conflicts with superiors or if a coach could do a better job. A missing link in the mentoring program is the analysis of the culture of organizations, because this is an important factor for a successful start into the new function.     

Public Multichannel Management – an Integrated Framework of Off- and Online Multichannel Government Services

Government institutions have introduced multichannel environments over time following trends and technological innovations. These public multichannel environments often neglect specific channel characteristics and potentials and thus miss the opportunity to make full use of a strategic channel integration and combination with a focus on customer value creation. This study offers a systematic approach to establish an integrated public multichannel system not only taking into account user preferences, habits and their environment, but also the respective channel issuer and the characteristics of channels and public interfaces. Against this background, the study presents a systematic approach to expand services and channels according to their capacities, and provides academics and practitioners with a framework on public multichannel strategies.     

Ex Ante Project Evaluation and the Complexity of Early Decision-Making

This paper looks beyond more traditional evaluation activities to focus primarily on evaluation up front. It suggests that the early appraisal of an investment case or a project should apply essentially the same evaluation criteria that will be used in ex post evaluation, and thus increase the likelihood of a successful project outcome. However, the initial plan might be altered as result of subsequent analysis, assessment, negotiation, positioning, and the exercise of power. The last part of this paper presents an empirical study of 23 projects, which examines the complexity of processes that occur in the idea- and decision phases.     

Determinants and effects of formal target agreements: an empirical investigation of German firms

We investigate organizational determinants and performance effects of formal target agreements for employees based on the IAB establishment panel, a representative panel of German establishments. The results show that establishments with a high employee turnover rate, a large proportion of temporary workers, and a highly qualified workforce are significantly more likely to implement target agreements. Also, establishments with works councils installed are more likely to do so, controlling, among others, for firm size. Concerning organizational performance, we apply a first-difference and a fixed effects approach and find that establishments that implement target agreements achieve around 5 % higher total sales compared to firms that did not introduce this practice. Hence, organizations seem to benefit from the implementation of formal target agreements for employees.     

Investigating Possible Effects of Ethnicity and Age on Gambling as an Escape

Previous research has shown that there are a number of risk factors for disordered and problem gambling, including an individual’s ethnicity and age. Endorsing gambling as an escape has also been shown to contribute to and maintain disordered gambling. The present study examined potential interactions between ethnicity and age as they relate to disordered gambling, as well as if ethnicity and age would be predictors of endorsing gambling as an escape. Three hundred fifteen adults from the United States completed measures relating to gambling. Participants were grouped into ethnic categories of Caucasian and non-Caucasian, and age groups of 18–25, 26–35, 36–55, and 56 years old and above. Non-Caucasians reported more gambling problems than Caucasians. A significant interaction was found between ethnicity and age for 36–55 year olds. Overall, participants were more likely to gamble for positive than negative reinforcement. However, only gambling as an escape was a significant predictor of disordered gambling. Implications and limitations are discussed with the thought that these results are informative to practitioners treating disordered gambling.     

Comparison of Modes of Administration and Response Options in the Assessment of Subjective Health Using the First Question of SF-36

To compare two modes of administration (self-administered; by interviewer) and two response options format (using words; images of “facial-expressions”) of the first question of SF-36 (Q1SF-36), and to test its validity. We included 825 participants (20–90 years). Q1SF-36, using words or images, was included in a global questionnaire interview and at the end participants filled the SF-36. The agreement was tested by weighted kappa coefficients (WKappa). Classification Trees were used in the calibration of Q1SF-36 responses, with the physical (PDSF36) and mental dimensions of SF-36. Polyserial correlation coefficients and areas under the ROC curves (AUC) were used for validation. After categorization, using PDSF36 classification trees, the WKappa were 0.770 (self-administered vs. interviewer), 0.569 (self-administered vs. facial-expressions) and 0.566 (interviewer vs. facial-expressions). The WKappa between the PDSF36 and the modes (self-administered, interviewer and facial-expressions) were 0.784, 0.713 and 0.579 and the corresponding polyserial correlation coefficients were 0.784, 0.713 and 0.579. A good discriminatory power was found comparing the modes with the PDSF36 (AUC = 0.907, 0.923 and 0.827), but not with mental dimension (AUC = 0.538, 0.501 and 0.629). The Q1SF-36, by self-administration or interviewer, may be a valid alternative for assessment of subjective physical health, but not mental health.