Role stress among Canadian white-collar workers

The incidence of various stressors at work and outside work was examined in a group of public service workers with a large Canadian federal government department. Workers were either in clerical, technical and supervisory ('officers'), or management positions. Measures of work stress included role stressors (load, insufficiency, conflict ambiguity and responsibility), as well as stress due to the physical environment. Both life events and daily hassles were included as measures of non-work stress. The consequences of stress were considered in terms of vocational, psychological, interpersonal, and physical strain, as well as in terms of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Potential moderators of stress included social support and self-esteem. Among work stressors conflict, ambiguity and insufficiency were the more closely associated with vocational outcomes. MANCOVA followed by discriminant function analysis showed that clerical workers were distinguished by higher levels of insufficiency, officers by higher levels of conflict and the lowest levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and managers by higher levels of perceived responsibility for others. The results are discussed in terms of social role theory.     

Are attitudes to people with learning disabilities negatively influenced by charity advertising?

This paper investigated the hypothesis that the images presented by charity posters can have an effect on attitudes towards those that they portray. Ninety-nine school-children were shown one of two MENCAP posters; one from a much-criticised campaign in the 1980s and one a poster from the 1991 campaign. Subjects who saw the older poster were more likely to report that it made them feel pity and guilt, and were less likely to agree that people with a mental handicap are able to care for themselves. However, subjects did not differ significantly on how likely they would be to donate money to the charity on seeing the poster. These results suggest that it is possible to present a positive image whilst still encouraging the possibility of donation. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

An orthogonal series density estimation approach to reconstructing positron emission tomography images

Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important medical imaging technique. Statistically, the PET image reconstruction problem comprises estimating the intensity function of a non-homogeneous Poisson process from a set of indirectly observed data (an integral transform is involved). In this paper, we investigate a new reconstruction method consisting in the adaptation of orthogonal series density estimation techniques to use with an idealised form of the PET problem. The method provides reasonable reconstructions quickly; its computational speed is its major advantage. It has further advantages (e.g. no pixellation required) and various disadvantages (e.g. difficulties with object boundaries, non-negativity not guaranteed) which are discussed. Its major disadvantage, however, is the difficulty associated with generalising the approach to cope with more realistic versions of the PET model.     

The Learning Organization: Adult Learning and Organizational Transformation

The concept of the ‘learning organization’, with its roots in self-development and action-learning, has recently caught the imagination of many organizations and researchers. However, emerging definitions are creating ambiguity. There is, therefore, a need to add substance to them, and widen our understanding of what the concept means, by concentrating on what is meant by ‘learning’, and focusing on exactly how adults learn. Understanding and facilitating adult learning in organizations is, by and large, a confused activity that fails to connect with an individual's other experiences and needs, and with what modern psychology and research have to teach us. In particular, learning and skills need to be linked to the questioning of purpose and value in an organization.     

Which Label? An Investigation into the Effects of Terminology on Public Perceptions of and Attitudes towards People with Learning Difficulties

There is much rhetoric around the damaging effect of certain labels applied to people with learning difficulties. This empirical study investigated the effect of three different labels in current usage on public perceptions of the groups so labelled. The labels contrasted were 'mentally subnormal', 'mentally handicapped' and 'people with learning difficulties'. Three independent groups of subjects were presented with an attitude questionnaire. This included a semantic differential scale to ascertain a stereotype of the labelled group, a social distance scale, and a series of questions to tap attitudes regarding people's abilities and rights. Each group was questioned with reference to one of the three labels only. A total of 111 subjects took part. The main findings supported the view that the term 'learning difficulties' is associated with more positive attitudes than either of the other labels which do not significantly differ from each other. However there was also evidence that people labelled as having 'learning difficulties' were thought to be less deserving of special provision. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to present and future uses of labels.     

Strategic management step by step

This paper summarizes the application of Strategic Decision Making Process in a small company. The project described is an example taken from in-company projects conducted by the CAPITB Management Advisory Unit across the industry sectors and was part of the Strategic Decision Making Process Research and Project Work Programme.It describes the stages and work involved in the development and implementation of the Company's strategy and also identifies some of the benefits and problems which stemmed from the work.