Employee experiences with volunteers

Volunteers frequently serve public and nonprofit organizations, among them libraries, parks and recreation departments, social service groups, and religious organizations. Research on volunteers and volunteerism traditionally focuses on antecedents to volunteering and outcomes for volunteers. In this study, we attempt to build on the existing literature by examining the volunteer experience from the paid employee's vantage point. Using a sample of employees who work alongside volunteers in animal care organizations (N = 270), we examine how employees described the volunteers with whom they interact. Although these assessments were generally positive, there was considerable variability. This appears to be explained, in part, by each organization's volunteer resources management practices. Results also indicate that employees who reported less satisfactory experiences with volunteers also reported being more stressed, overworked, and less committed to the organization, and having a greater intention to quit. Importantly, these results held up even after controlling for general job satisfaction. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.     

Agricultural multifunctionality and farmers' entrepreneurial skills: A study of Tuscan and Welsh farmers

The process of agricultural restructuring in Europe has been strongly influenced both by CAP support of multifunctional agriculture and by market liberalisation, and farmers are exhorted to become more entrepreneurial in response. This paper explores the interaction of these policy goals in two regions where a rural development form of multifunctionality is favoured.     

Wage Mobility in Israel: The Effect of Sectoral Concentration

Using a unique eight-year data set, merging population census and national insurance data, the paper examines and compares patterns of wage mobility in Israel. First, the public and the private sectors are compared. Second, within each of these sectors, a distinction is made between sub-sector groupings that exhibit a high level of concentration and those that are more diffuse and unregulated. Based on alternative measures of wage mobility, the central finding of the paper is that the extent of wage mobility in a given economic sector is negatively related to the degree of concentration in that sector.     

A Comparative Analysis of VHA,Non-VHA,and Overall Outpatient Treatment Use Intensity Among Older U.S. Veterans Denied or Awarded VA Service-Connected Disability Compensation

Poorer health is often associated with greater healthcare use among the general population. In contrast, while many veterans denied VA disability compensation ("denied applicants") are as impaired as those awarded VA disability compensation ("awarded applicants"), studies suggest that these veterans may nevertheless utilize less VHA healthcare. Whether they concurrently utilize less non-VHA, and overall healthcare, however, remains a critical, unresolved issue. The 2001 National Survey of Veterans was used to examine VHA, non-VHA, and overall outpatient healthcare treatment use intensity during the previous 12 months among veterans denied or awarded VA disability compensation. Results: Denied applicants were significantly more likely than those awarded to have not used any VHA outpatient healthcare during the previous 12 months (OR=2.45, 95% CI: 1.24, 4.81). Moreover, while not statistically significant, point estimates consistently suggested that denied may have concurrently used more non-VHA, and overall outpatient healthcare than awarded. It appears veterans denied VA disability compensation are forgoing VHA outpatient healthcare services, perhaps in favor of non-VHA outpatient healthcare services. While this result may be consistent with the intent of VA service-connected disability policy, further analysis is necessary to confirm adequate access to healthcare for denied veterans.     

Reading Some Fragments From the Work of Muriel Dimen,or Contradictions on the Spicy Side

ABSTRACT

My piece is concerned with some of Muriel Dimen’s feminist writing of the 1980s and her bold and unyielding pleasure in elaborating a sexual politics rooted in an acceptance of the proliferation of sexual diversities and the ambivalent relations of feelings and theories that so marked the moment. Between subjective narrative, social theory and psychoanalysis Muriel found a new kind of space for a feminist enunciation that could be undertaken while wearing extravagantly lascivious red lizard skin shoes.     

Journey towards independent living: resilience processes of women leaving residential care in South Africa

Among the many youth transitioning to young adulthood, a group that has been found to be particularly vulnerable is young people transitioning out of care, particularly residential care. Research on this population of youth has burgeoned over the past few decades, but in South Africa it remains limited. This article focuses on the resilience processes that facilitate better transitions of young women out of care and towards independent living. It replicates the research design of a previous study with young men, with the aim of determining to what extent the resilience process of young women are similar to those of men. A sample of nine women was purposively selected, interviewed in-depth and data analysed using grounded theory methods. The findings indicate that the same resilience process found among male care-leavers are evident also in the narratives of female care-leavers, confirming the findings of the previous study. However, these processes had a slightly stronger relational focus among women than was seen among men. The authors conclude that similar resilience-building programmes can be implemented to prepare both males and females for leaving care.     

An Application of Expectancy Theory to Explain a Manager's Intention to Use a Decision Support System

A continuing gap exists between the capabilities of sophisticated computer-based information systems and the extent to which these systems are used by individuals. Studies which have examined the relationship between system utilization and various user, system, implementation, and organizational variables have provided few consistent findings. A new approach to this topic is suggested by a recent study by Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw [11], which indicates that individuals' intentions to use a system determine subsequent use. A large body of psychology-based research also supports this relationship between behavioral intentions and subsequent behavior. This study employs expectancy theory, which has often been used to examine behavioral intentions, to explain managers' intentions to use a decision support system (DSS). The results imply that the variables of the expectancy force model are determinants of a manager's behavioral intentions to use a DSS, and the variables of the expectancy valence model are determinants of the attractiveness of using a DSS to a manager.     

Psychometric Evaluation of the Tagalog and German Subjective Happiness Scales and a Cross-Cultural Comparison

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) has recently been developed as a more complete measure for the assessment of molar subjective happiness. In the present study, we report on the translation and validation of German and Tagalog versions of the SHS and conduct an initial cross-cultural examination of subjective happiness. In Study 1, 960 participants in Austria completed a German version of the SHS, which showed a unidimensional structure, good internal consistency, and good convergent validity with other measures of subjective well-being. In Study 2, 182 participants in the Philippines completed a Tagalog version of the scale, which likewise had a unidimensional structure, high internal consistency, and good convergent validity. Finally, the results of Study 3 indicate that there were significant cross-cultural differences in subjective happiness. Specifically, participants in individualist Austria and Britain had higher SHS scores than their counterparts in collectivist Malaysia and the Philippines. Limitations of these studies are discussed.     

Organizational Linkages and Resource Mobilization: The Significance of Linkage Strength and Breadth*

This paper discusses the importance of identifying the environmental context in which organizations function. The relationship between an organization and those other groups and individuals constituting its environment is specified in terms of linkages. Two key dimensions of linkage are identified: strength and breadth. The former refers to how intimately the organization is connected with any other group while the latter refers to how extensive is the support. These linkages' dimensions are viewed from a “resource mobilization” perspective, i.e., as the means by which resources are brought into an organization. A study of linkages sustained by the NAACP during 1961–69 illustrates how the dimensions of linkage strength and breadth can be operationalized and applied. New avenues of research then are suggested.