A survey of social media use, motivation and leadership among public relations practitioners

This study investigates the relationship between motivation, leadership and social media use among a sample of public relations practitioners who recently had begun using Twitter to follow Universal Accreditation Board (UAB)-affiliated organizations. A majority of the survey respondents were classified as “everyday users.” A series of Twitter leadership indicators correlated positively with internal motivation and correlated negatively with amotivation. Several word-of-mouth variables also were investigated with regard to motivation.     

Developing a factor model of coal miners’ attributions on risk-taking at work

This paper details a survey of coal miners’ views on the bases for risk-taking. While literature exists on the subject of risk-taking in mines, comparatively few studies have sought to elicit the views of mine personnel themselves. An 83-item questionnaire, grounded upon insights from an earlier qualitative study, was developed and distributed to a sample of mine personnel (N=932). Results were analysed by means of principal components, factor analysis, an iterative refinement of the data set resulting in the development of a three-factor model that was considered to reflect potentially important dispositional influences on risk-taking amongst operational staff in mines. Derived constructs, identified as time pressure, management commitment and confidence in ability to control risk, were found to possess moderate to high levels of internal consistency (α statistic) and high face validity. Findings are discussed with reference to insights from both cognitive risk research and more recent work within the safety culture/climate framework.     

Analysis of incomplete durations with application to contraceptive use

Models for analysing incomplete durations obtained from cross-sectional surveys are presented. The aim of the paper is to develop a framework for analysing the incomplete duration of episodes in progress at the time of the survey by formulating generalized linear models and fitting and assessing them by using standard statistical packages. The maximum quasi-likelihood method is used for model fitting. The choice of the distribution and the diagnostic procedures are discussed. Simulated data from two distributions (the Weibull and log-logistic distributions) are used to evaluate the methodology developed and to assess model misspecifications. A data set on the current use of the contraceptive pill from a cross-sectional survey in Egypt is analysed.     

Developing creative solutions to the problems of children and their families: communicative reason and the use of forum theatre

The paper represents a further development of work previously reported in this journal by Spratt & Houston (1999) and Spratt et al. (2000) . The authors have sought to develop ways of understanding current social work with children and families in line with the critical theory of Jurgen Habermas. This analysis has been complemented by an adoption of the methodology of the radical dramatist, Augusto Boal. In synthesizing Habermas's analysis of communicative discourses with the consciousness raising methodology of Boal, the authors have already demonstrated the effectiveness of this hybrid in problem‐solving exercises with social workers. The present paper reports on an application of this developing theory to practice, utilizing the centrepiece of Boal's method, forum theatre. A forum theatre project, concerned with the issue of bullying, is described and evaluated. It is argued that the project provides an exemplar of an innovative, democratizing and effective methodology that might profitably be utilized in social work with children and families. Finally, suggestions are made as to how these ideas could be developed in practice.     

Commitment to the union: a survey of research and the implications for industrial relations and trade unions

This paper presents an overview of the literature on union commitment. The aim is to survey the main approaches, findings and implications of the research. The nature and dimensionality of union commitment are examined, and the antecedents and consequences of union commitment are discussed in detail, including a review of the implications for union participation. There is also a discussion of the possibility of dual commitment to union and employer, and of the 'multiple constituencies' view of commitment. An attempt is made to link the union commitment findings to the wider industrial relations literature on, for example, why people join unions and the 'union renewal' thesis. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the literature for union–management relationships and for unions themselves, and with some suggestions for future research.     

Minimizing the expected time to detect a randomly located lost target using 3-dimensional search technique

Abstract

This paper considers a new model in search theory to find a randomly located target in the 3-dimensional space. An approximation algorithm that facilitates searching procedures for searchers or robots is presented. The expected time to detect the target is also proved. The statistical analysis by calculating the optimal search strategy which minimizes the time to detect the target, assuming trivariate standard normal distribution is provided, and the technique by flowcharts is designed as well. The effectiveness of this strategy is illustrated by introducing an application from real world.     

Coordination Structures and Mechanisms for Crisis Management in China: Challenges of Complexity

Public Organization Review - When responding to crises, a joint approach is often used, which requires coordination among government agencies and other institutions. In this article we combine the...     

Minifying Government: The Unintended Consequences of the Bergman Secondary Road Act of 1929*

Objective. In 1929, Iowa adopted the Bergman Secondary Road Act, which transferred control of the state's rural roads from the townships to the counties. This study examines the interesting and potentially important unintended consequences of the law. Method. We gathered the minutes from 2,275 Iowa township meetings in 20 townships from 1917 to 1950 to investigate the effect of the Bergman Act. Results. Multiple regression analysis shows that this apparently innocuous Act turned out to have dramatic and unintended consequences on Iowa's township governments. Without responsibility for the roads, township government activity plunged dramatically—the annual number of meetings and the length of those meetings fell by half from 1929 to 1930. The effect of the law on township activity remains substantial even after controlling for competing explanations, such as the onset of the Depression. Conclusions. The Bergman Act unintentionally caused a sharp drop in township activity and it may have initiated the gradual marginalization of Iowa township governments that continues today. It is even possible that it had a depressing effect on voter turnout in rural Iowa.