The ritual of reorganization in a public bureaucracy

Cultural aspects of complex organizations have recently captured the attention of scholars, yet empirical studies in this area remain rare. This paper explores the paradox that reorganizations are common in modern bureaucracies even though they have been found to have few instrumental effects. The present study of a state regulatory agency found that while reorganization had little instrumental consequence, it did provide the context for a power struggle between the administrative and occupational spheres of authority. In fact, reorganization proved to be a highly ritualized arena for significantly altering the agency's informal structure by replacing an entrenched dominant subculture. By examining the symbolic and ritualistic nature of this process, this paper looks beyond the ineffectual manifest functions of reorganization to uncover its power latent functions.Donald D. Stull is Associate Professor of Anthropology and a research associate with the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas. Steven Maynard-Moody is Associate Professor of Public Administration in the Division of Government and Director of the Policy Analysis Program in the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas. Jerry Mitchell is Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Baruch College, City University of New York. Support for this research was provided by a grant from the General Research Fund of the University of Kansas. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Denver, Colorado, in November 1984. We wish to thank F. Allan Hanson for his critique of an earlier version of this paper. We are grateful for the patience and openness of those working in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.     

THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL PARTIES ON BRAND-NAME CAPITAL: THE 1982 TYLENOL POISONINGS AND SUBSEQUENT CASES

An examination of the 1982 Tylenol poisonings reveals stock market losses to Johnson & Johnson that far exceed direct costs and losses shared with other pain-reliever producers; this evidence provides support for the Klein and Leffler [1981] theory of brand names as quality-assuring mechanisms. Of the subsequent cases, only the 1986 Tylenol poisonings were associated with significant stock market losses. Prior to the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol poisonings, Tylenol was the number one pain reliever, whereas the other pain relievers that were poisoned had a much lower level of brand-name capital to lose.     

The evaluator as program consultant

This paper presents a model for the role of the evaluator in which the evaluator acts as a Program Consultant who operates in three domains: Program Development, Planned Change, and Evaluation Technology. This permits the performance of evaluations that have greater validity and utility. The model is presented both from the theoretical perspective of linkage and from the context of the evaluation of a Case Management program operated by a Community Action Agency. Each of the domains is discussed with examples from the Case Management Evaluation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contexts in which the model is best applied.     

Modelling consumer risk reduction preferences from perceived loss data

For many years the Theory of Perceived Risk has been used to explain consumers' behaviour. One area of interest is the relationship between loss types and the use of risk relievers. Problems with trying to measure the relationship encourage the use of indirect methods. Data on four loss types and 14 risk relievers were collected for 24 products and services and a regression model was used to reveal the relationship between loss types and risk relievers. The constants in the equations altered across products, while the slopes remained the same. The evidence suggests that the model used was incompletely specified and that further testing is necessary.     

Implementing Multicultural Education as seen from a number of different perspectives

This paper looks back over a period of twenty years at the issues surrounding the introduction of race equality policies. The author has worked in a variety of roles in education. Policy development in a comprehensive school is explored from the head teachers perspective; introducing teachers in initial training to race equality is explored from the senior tutor's perspective; introducing policies into two local authorities is explored from the perspective of the Chief Inspector and the Director of Education.

In the period covered, from 1977 to the present day, race equality has moved from being a high profile subject to being marginalised by government initiatives which have included the introduction of national curriculum accompanied by extensive testing. The paper analyses how race equality might be put at the centre of the education agenda. There are lessons to be learned from the experiences gained inpursuing race equality in the 1970's and 1980's. This paper shows how different sectors of the education service can learn from these lessons. Policy initiatives, the paper argues, must be part of mainstream education. They must be judged by how far the policies contribute to improving the educational achievements of ethnic minority pupils in mainstream education.     

Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization

Despite widespread adoption of servant leadership, we are only beginning to understand its true utility across multiple organizational levels. Our purpose was to test the relationship between personality, servant leadership, and critical follower and organizational outcomes. Using a social influence framework, we proposed that leader agreeableness and extraversion affect follower perceptions of servant leadership. In turn, servant leaders ignite a cycle of service by role-modeling servant behavior that is then mirrored through coworker helping behavior and high-quality customer service, as well as reciprocated through decreased withdrawal. Using a multilevel, multi-source model, we surveyed 224 stores of a U.S. retail organization, including 425 followers, 110 store managers, and 40 regional managers. Leader agreeableness was positively and extraversion was negatively related to servant leadership, which was associated with decreased follower turnover intentions and disengagement. At the group-level, service climate mediated the effects of servant leadership on follower turnover intentions, helping and sales behavior.     

Family versus friends: Their relative importance as referent others to an aged population

There is much social gerontological research suggesting that the aged in our society constitute a minority group or separate stratum. This separateness, in combination with a lack of a clear conception of the elderly role, has led to a preponderance of stereotyped images of the elderly. A mailed questionnaire was returned by 224 retirees of a large utility company in the Southwest and provided a data base to test a conceptual model of the dynamics of the process of acceptance or denial of age‐appropriate behavioral expectations. The model, grounded in the reference group theoretical approach, was concerned expressly with the operationalization of factors thought to influence whether the elderly accept age‐appropriate behavioral expectations as pertinent to their life situation. Whether the people in this particular population accept others' expectations for their behavior was found to be affected by their perception of the expectations of family members and friends and whether the respondents characterized themselves as subject to age‐related shortcomings. In addition, friends were found to be a more salient reference group in conveying age‐appropriate behavioral expectations than family members. The analysis provided general support for the reference group approach and suggested a broader application of the concept in the gerontological literature.     

Afrocentric Intervention Paradigm: An Overview of Successful Application by a Grassroots Organization

A grassroots social service organization's successful use of Afrocentric ideas, theories, and frameworks in its programs and services illustrates that many African Americans respond more readily to human and social services interventions that value and understand their historical experiences and include their cultural influences as “protective factors” in social service interventions. This article describes how the Community Empowerment Association's programs and services are designed to be culturally proficient by holding African customs, ethos, history, mores, society, and traditions in high esteem.