Involvement of Ministries of Health in Health Service Coverage Decisions: Is England an Aberrant Case?

This article examines the involvement of ministries of health in making health service coverage decisions in Denmark, England, France and Germany. The study aims to inform debate in England about the feasibility of reducing perceived ministerial and bureaucratic ‘interference’ in decisions affecting the National Health Service, based on interviews with senior government officials and other health system stakeholders. Ministries of health differ in their involvement in health system governance and coverage decisions (‘the benefits package’), reflecting differences in institutional arrangements. In all four countries, organizations at arm's length or independent from government are either involved in providing technical advice to the ministry of health or have been mandated to take these decisions themselves. However, ministries of health occasionally intervene in the decision‐making process or ignore the advice of these organizations. The Department of Health in England is not an aberrant case, at least in relation to coverage decisions. Indeed, ministries of health in Denmark and France play a larger role in making these decisions. Public pressure, often amplified by the media, is a shared reason for ministerial and ministry involvement in all four countries. This dynamic may thus limit the feasibility of attempts to further separate the NHS from both the Department of Health and wider political pressures.     

“Mad Money” madness: Jim Cramer's image restoration effort

The following is an evaluation of “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer's image restoration attempts during his March 2009 week-long media battle with Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show.” Using Benoit's (1995) image restoration theory as a conceptual framework, it is apparent that Cramer failed in restoring his reputation because he frequently coupled incongruent strategies and was unable to grasp the dynamic nature of communicative image restoration.     

Mastery, Frequency, and Interaction of Managerial Behaviors Relative to Subunit Effectiveness

The relationships among mastery and frequency ofmanagerial behaviors, and subunit effectiveness havefrequently been confused. This study investigates bothmain and interactive effects. The results show that the interaction effect can often be thestrongest effect and that increasing frequency withoutimproving mastery can sometimes be detrimental.Furthermore, these results offer a possible explanation as to why research of managerial behavior hasbeen so inconclusive. In addition, the results questionpopular advice given often to managers. Finally, somerecommendations are made as to how management development could be made more effective basedon the results of this study.     

The Evolution of Organizations: Suggestions from Complexity Theory About the Interplay Between Natural Selection and Adaptation

There has been much debate in the managementliterature between neo-Darwinists (who believe in thenatural selection of populations of organizations) andadaptationists (who contend that changes in organization structure and behavior occur in response to theenvironment). The general thesis of neo-Darwinism isthat species are blindly selected for survival by theenvironment. The latest empirical support for the dominant neo-Darwinism perspective adopted bymost biologists is based primarily on the experimentsconducted by Salvador Luria who claims to haveconclusively demonstrated that genes mutate randomly.Recently, however, biologists have re-examined Luria sresearch methods and, after replications of hisexperiments, now question some aspects of the validityof his results. Moreover, there is now new researchwhich provides support for the earlier adaptationistposition, namely, the existence of evolutionary driversand directors existing within self-organizing systems.Of particular importance to the present study is the experimental indication thatself-organizing systems play a conscious role in theirown evolution. We propose that similar mechanisms orprocesses operate in organizational adaptation, thuspointing toward a theoretical modification ofneo-Darwinism that embraces both adaptation and naturalselection in a general, unified theory.     

Reliance on sources of information for water-saving practices by irrigators in the High Plains of the U.S.A.

Who do farmers trust? Irrigators in the High Plains are confronted with a wide range of information sources with respect to water-saving practices. From a survey of 709 irrigators in 10 countries the most widely accepted sources are identified, regional variability of information is examined, the role of irrigator characteristics on source selection is determined, and the level of association between adoption and source preference is analyzed. Differences in irrigators' reliance on specific sources are more associated with location than irrigator characteristics. Information sources viewed as important by many irrigators frequently influence adoption decisions less than sources having a wide range of preference among irrigators. Mass media and advisor-oriented sources are much more significantly linked to adoption than inter-personal sources such as friends and neighbors. The three sources that best discriminate adoption behavior are private agricultural consulting firms, university research stations, and trade magazines.     

EXAMINING THE MULTIFACETED NOTION OF ISOMORPHISM IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY SUPERVISION: A QUEST FOR CONCEPTUAL CLARITY

The notion of isomorphism has been recommended as a comceptual framework to guide the practice of marrige and family therapy (MFT) supervision. The term is frequently cited in the MFT training literature but is often used in different ways. A panel of MFT supervirors rated the impotance and relevance to both therapy and supervision of a large pool of variables. The majority of variables were found to be a equally relevant or isomorphic to the domains of MFT and MFT supervisoin. A qualitative interview with a small subset of the panelists suggested that the concept, to varying degrees, has influenced their work as supervisors. The implications of the results for theory development, research, and supervisory practices are discussed.