Literatur / Books

Buchbesprechungen / Book reviews

Literatur / Books     

A model for consulting to help effect change in organizations

Rapid change in an organization's environment creates barriers to needed change in strategy and culture. Managers, and the consultants who are invariably called on to assist such efforts, face difficult challenges in working together to effect change. They often fail to achieve the desired results. The author offers a new model of consulting to help guide general managers and consultants in the creation of the necessary conditions for successful management of change. This model is based on lessons learned from case studies in the health care industry.     

Chan Is Missing: The Asian Eye Examines Cultural Studies

A critical reading of the Oriental sleuth in Hollywood films, focusing on the Charlie Chan series, is offered. The Chan series is contrasted to the 1981 Wayne Wang film, Chan Is Missing. These texts are fitted into a cultural studies perspective which criticizes the voyeuristic, investigative project of the traditional Asian eye.     

Shiftwork locus of control: Scale development

Shiftwork is a significant feature of occupational life for many people. It can have disruptive effects on sleep, health, social activity and performance. It is likely that beliefs about personal control will influence the individual-shiftwork relationship. This paper has two aims; first, to put forward the thesis that shiftwork-specific personal control expectancies may moderate the disruptive impact of shiftwork, and second, to report the development and preliminary validation of a shiftwork-specific locus of control scale. The scale demonstrated satisfactory psychominary qualities in terms of factor structure, internal reliability, construct validity and test-retest reliability. Variables associated with better coping with shiftwork such as alertness, flexibility of sleeping habits and the structured use of time correlated positively with shiftwork locus of control. In contrast, shiftwork locus of control was found to be inversely related to shiftwork problems such as sleep disturbance, poor mental well-being and work stress.