Arbiters,Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of Business School Reputations1

How are organizational reputations established? Expanding on recent work that emphasizes the construction of reputations rather than their cultural content, we explore how forces in the organizational environment define organizational reputation. Specifically, we demonstrate how two types of mediators—reputational arbiters and reputational entrepreneurs—influence the development of reputations by organizing and managing the information on which reputations are built. Buttressing our theoretical claims with 30 interviews of business school administrators, we find that these mediators play a central role in determining organizational reputations by engaging in three processes of information manipulation: synthesis, selection, and simplification. In addition to specifying the key role that the manipulation of information by outsiders plays in the development of reputation, this approach suggests the importance of the interrelationships among these mediators in the determination of reputational standing.     

PERCEPTIONS OF MARRIAGE AND RATIONALITY BY LEVELS OF PERCEIVED HEALTH IN THE FAMILY OF ORIGIN*

The family therapy field has witnessed a beneficial dedication to the study of the transmission of pathology (Mueller & Pope, 1977). Of late however, there is a concern that pathology has been overly stressed (Stachowiak, 1975). It is perhaps with this overemphasis in mind, and that the absence of pathology does not necessarily equal health (Kleiman, 1981), that researchers have recently pursued the study of family health (Olson, Russell & Sprenkle, 1983; Walsh, 1982). The concept of family health has particular significance when considering the family of origin. Bowen (1978) and Framo (1981), in particular, have described the transmission of pathology from one generation to the next. It is less clear, however, whether health follows a similar transmission process, although the notion seems appealingly logical. Anderson (1981) pointed to the dearth of investigations studying the consequences of health in the family of origin and offspring characteristics. This study addresses these concerns by investigating the extent to which subjects' rational thinking and perceptions of marriage are associated with their level of perceived health in their families of origin.     

Introduction to “Sexual Scripts: Origins,Influences and Changes”

Qualitative Sociology -     

Congruence and Coherence as Predictors of Congruent Employment Outcomes

Four diagnostic signs derived from Holland's (1985a) theory of vocational personalities and occupational environments were evaluated for their ability to predict personality-environment congruence in a sample of 87 employed persons with special needs. Participants, 40% of whom were female, had an average age of 35.6 years. The diagnostic signs were employment congruence, aspirational congruence, employment coherence, and aspirational coherence, all measured during an initial assessment. The outcome was personality-environment congruence in a job held 15 months after the initial assessment. Employment congruence was found to be the best predictor of future personality-environment congruence. Employment coherence was also predictive of future personality-environment congruence, and aspirational congruence was correlated with the latter. The clinical and research implications of the findings were discussed.     

High tech and high performance: Managing appraisal in the information age

Conclusion Information technology leaders recognize that the greatest impediments to success are often people related rather than information, technology, and systems related (Roepke et al., 2000). Obviously, the human component is a central concern when organizations introduce technology to the performance-management process. After all, combining people and technology successfully is critically important to firms. While the potential for accelerating positive HRM outcomes through various technology applications clearly exists, implementation that fails to consider trust, fairness, system factors, objectivity, personality, or computer literacy and training (among other concepts) has negative implications for an organization’s distinct and inimitable human component. Possible gains in efficiency, objectivity, or accuracy that a high technology approach to performance management produces could turn out to be costly for firms if they bring about user dissatisfaction leading to diminished job attitudes, poor performance, or increased turnover.     

Competing for tots: operating objectives and characteristics of for-profit and not-for-profit child care centres in the Pacific Northwest

Child care services are provided by profit-oriented businesses, not-forprofit agencies and governmental units. This paper compares goal priorities and operating characteristics of not-for-profit and for-profit child care centres in parts of Canada and the United States. Directors of 292 Pacific Northwest centres responded to a survey about their financial and non-financial operating objectives. The relative rankings of objectives were similar for not-for-profit and for-profit centres, and for centres in both countries. Non-financial objectives were rated higher than financial objectives. Satisfying the developmental and educational needs of children was the single most important operating objective. Providing access to eligible children was the next most important objective, particularly for not-for-profit centres and for those with government-subsidised children. The remaining objectives, in order of importance, were minimising costs, maximising utilisation, maximising revenues and maximising profits. Profit maximisation was ranked low by both not-for-profit and for-profit respondents. Not-for-profit and for-profit centres exhibited differences on a number of operating characteristics, services provided and employee benefits. Such characteristics were found to be associated with auspices (not-for-profit or for-profit) and location (US or Canada). Results suggest that centres operating under both auspices are capable of altruistic behaviour. Differences in motivation between organisational forms were very small. However, variations in operating characteristics and services suggest that the objectives are achieved in dissimilar ways.     

Ongoing Serials Cataloging Training

Abstract

Cataloging requires constant continuing education. The recent changes to Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2) Chapter 12 have necessitated widespread efforts to train and retrain serials catalogers. Serials cataloger librarians from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, and the San Francisco Public Library describe their methods and the challenges of ongoing serials cataloging training. Serials Review 2003; 29:117–120.     

Disability Beyond Stigma: Social Interaction, Discrimination, and Activism

This article critiques the assumptions about the nature and meaning of disability advanced in social-psychological writing, suggests the origins of these assumptions, and proposes a return to a Lewinian/minority-group analysis of the situation of people with disabilities. It concludes by placing the articles in this issue of the Journal of Social Issues in context and by presenting questions in need of further exploration.     

COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES AND THE FRAGMENTATION OF PROVISION: A CASE STUDY OF HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE SERVICES IN A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY

Although the use of non-government organisations to provide assistance has long been part of Australian welfare history, the principles of community-based provision have only recently been adopted as part of the mainstream philosphy of service provision. This article examines the association between the expansion of community-based provision and the fragmentation of service provision using information drawn from a study of the provision of long-term care for a group of primarily elderly people through the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) and related provisions in a suburban community. The account focuses on the structure of formal service provisions, identifying organisational features which directly affect the operation of the system of local services, fragmenting the assistance made available. First, the organisations providing care are all of relatively recent origin and their operation continues to reflect many of the characteristics associated with their initial establishment. Second, the organisations involved are essentially hybrid bodies, being the product of both national/State programs and local initiatives. A number of tensions and conflicts arising from this characteristic are discussed. Third, service providing agencies tend to be highly specialised, with the consequence that the main division of labour is between, rather than within, organisations. Finally, the system of funding and administration has tended to orient agencies vertically, towards the source of funding, limiting their flexibility and capacity to develop horizontal patterns of cooperation with other services in the local area. Overall, the emergent system of services appears to be characterised by a large number of small organisations organised under a range of different auspice bodies, struggling to preserve their own autonomy and to operate within an insecure and continually changing policy environment. Recognising that reforms are likely, a number of broad alternatives to privatisation arc canvassed in the final section of the article.     

The legal aspects of parental rights in assisted reproductive technology

This paper provides an overview of the different legal approaches that are used in various jurisdictions to determine parental rights and obligations of the parties involved in third party assisted reproduction. Additionally, the paper explores the differing legal models that are used depending on the method of surrogacy being utilized. The data demonstrates that a given method of surrogacy may well result in different procedures and outcomes regarding parental rights in different jurisdictions. This suggests the need for a uniform method to resolve parental rights where assisted reproductive technology is involved .