The impact of attitude strength on customer-oriented priority setting by decision-makers: An empirical investigation

A key question in marketing decision-making pertains to what makes decision-makers focus on various types of information in different ways. Particularly in relation to a key marketing and management variable such as customer satisfaction this is an important issue. Costly derived customer satisfaction measures need to provide customer-oriented guidance regarding where to prioritise. Traditional research on intelligence use has mainly focused on objective research attributes, such as research quality. In this article, however, we will adopt the idea that decision-makers weigh information differently based on their perception of its relevance. With respect to crucial customer satisfaction information this represents an exciting, but nevertheless unexplored field of research. The results of latent variable modelling show that the strength of decision-makers’ attitudes toward customer satisfaction leads to a differentiated usage of satisfaction intelligence. By taking this into consideration, management and intelligence providers will be able to more effectively disseminate customer satisfaction information and facilitate a more customer-oriented perspective within firms.     

Determinants of perceived occupational stress among Chinese offshore oil workers

This is the first comprehensive study to explore the determinants of perceived sources of occupational stress among workers in the rapidly expanding Chinese offshore oil industry. In this study we surveyed 561 Chinese workers in a state-owned oil company using a questionnaire that measured occupational stress and Type A personality behaviour (TABP), social support and other socio-demographic data. Occupational stress was assessed by the Occupational Stress Scale, adapted from the questionnaire developed in previous studies (Cooper & Sutherland, 1987; Sutherland & Cooper, 1996). Using factor analyses, we identified nine sources of stress: 'interface between job and family/social life'; 'career and achievement'; 'safety'; 'management problems and relationship with workmates'; 'physical environment of workplace'; 'living environment'; 'managerial role'; 'ergonomics'; and 'organizational structure'. We performed hierarchical regression analyses on each source of stress with variables reflecting socio-demographic characteristics, TABP and social support. Better-educated workers perceived more stress from the interface between their job and family or social life and career achievement, but less stress from ergonomics. Type A workers perceived more stress from career achievement and the living environment. Social support was significantly associated with four sources of stress. Workers with different job titles perceived stress from different sources. Our findings imply that, in the stress management of offshore oil workers, different strategies and methods could be applied to different occupational groups, and to workers with different personalities and socio-demographic characteristics.     

哲学究竟是什么--张东荪的哲学观述评

为了回应哲学中的科学主义思潮,张东荪对"哲学究竟是什么"这一问题进行了追问。从哲学发展的历史来看,哲学是唯真是求的精神;从对哲学是否有独具的方法之追问中可知,与其说哲学有自己的独特方法,不如说哲学是一种态度,即彻底怀疑的态度、批判的态度、求整全求会通的态度;从哲学与文化的关系来说,哲学是文化之核心与本质的部分,它可为人们提供安身立命之本。张东荪对哲学特性的自觉,是为了申辩哲学的生存权利、寻求哲学的发展之路,这不仅在当时,而且在现在仍有其重要意义。     

Age stratification at work: Trends in occupational age segregation in the United States, 1950–2000

This paper adjudicates between competing accounts of recent trends in the amount and patterning of occupational age segregation. These accounts rely on narratives about: (1) the decline of age-graded mobility, (2) the rise of occupational volatility, and (3) the existence of dual labor markets, in particular increasingly bimodal age distributions in low-skill occupations. Using new log-multiplicative models and related methods, the findings show that overall age segregation declined between 1950 and 1990, which is consistent with the decline of age-graded mobility. Among women, though not among men, the findings show increasingly bimodal age distributions in particular low-skill occupations, which is consistent with a dual labor market. Starting in 1990, age segregation increased among men and may have increased among women, which is consistent with the occupational volatility narrative.     

和谐校园视野下的大学生职业心理分析与辅导

当代大学生职业心理健康问题越来越突出,调查当代大学生职业心理健康问题的现状,并从职业生涯教育、职业心理辅导、职业心理测评以及职业心理咨询方面开展辅导服务,将大大有利于当前和谐校园的构建。     

Violence in the nursing profession: Occupational and lifestyle risk factors in Swedish nurses

In a national study of the work environment, physical, and mental well-being of more than 2600 Swedish nurses, 30% reported having experienced violence at work. Possible association between violence and a range of occupational, demographic, and lifestyle characteristics were studied. Stepwise multiple linear and logistic regressions were used to further examine risk factors for violence. Occupational factors with significant correlations to workplace violence were nursing discipline (type of ward or facility), years of work experience, supervisory responsibilities, night work, work dissatisfaction, work-related musculoskeletal injury, and frequency of patient handling. Demographic/lifestyle factors related to violence were age, gender, smoking, coffee consumption at work, and use of alcohol to relax after work. The best fit linear regression model explained 17% of the variance in violence, 13%, of the variance in threat of violence. The logistic regression model confirmed an increased risk of violence and threats in psychiatric and geriatric settings. However, much remains unexplained about the aetiology of violencc in health carc settings. This report provides the basis for a pilot intervention study currently in progress.     

Impact of shift work and department type upon strain and attitudinal measures of hospital nurses

The effects of shift work (fixed versus rotating), type of hospital department (intensive care unit versus non-ICU), and job scope on stress and attitudes have been reported previously. The goal of the present study was to examine the interactive, as well as individual, impact of these variables on measures of perceived work stress, strain, work satisfaction and withdrawal intentions. Respondents in the study were nurses in a large general hospital in Israel. None of the two- or three-way interactions received empirical support. However, significant multivariate main effects for each of the three independent measures were found. The negative influence of rotating work shift compared to fixed work shift was supported. Nurses who thought that their job was more enriching were more satisfied and perceived their workload as being lower. Department type affected only burnout level; nurses in non-ICUs were lower in burnout. Several theoretical and practical possible interpretations and possible implications are presented.     

Analyzing Cohort Mortality Data

Several methods for analyzing data from mortality studies of occupationally or environmentally exposed cohorts are shown to be special cases of a single procedure. The procedure assumes a proportional hazards model for exposure effects and represents the log-likelihood kernel for the data as that of N independent Poisson variates, where N is the total number of person-units of mortality observation time in the study. It formalizes and justifies the epidemiological techniques of classifying deaths and person-months of study time into categories defined by exposure and other covariates, and of computing standardized mortality ratios and indirectly standardized death rates. Parameters representing exposure effects can be estimated by using standard software packages. Special cases and applications are described in the context of lung cancer mortality among U.S. uranium miners.     

The future of PR is ‘fantastic’, ‘friendly’ and ‘funny’: Occupational stereotypes and symbolic capital in entry-level job advertisements

Over the past decade, there has been a move towards examining public relations as a socio-cultural practice, acknowledging practitioners as influential communicators who produce and symbolise cultural values through public relations messages. Ideally, a diverse group of professionals would aide in representing a diverse society, but to date, the profession remains female dominated. In this article, it is proposed that practitioners’ own discourse do not only establish what is most valued in the occupation and which habitus suits the practice best, but that the discourse also opens and closes occupational entry for new practitioners thereby contributing to a lack of diversity.This article presents the findings of an indicative thematic content analysis of one of the most common, yet under-research sites of discourse, namely entry-level job advertisements in New Zealand and Australia. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the analysis found that the advertisements placed little to no emphasis on the nature of the work, instead focusing on elements of ‘fit’ whereby new entrants were expected to be charismatic, friendly, and willing to work in an environment that is ‘fun’ and ‘flexible’. In doing so, public relations practitioners tacitly created invisible barriers, a self-limiting occupational culture and furthered existing stereotypes of the ‘perfect’ practitioner.