The Historical Roots of Organizational Behavior Management in the Private Sector

Abstract

Applications of behavior analysis in the private sector became visible in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the 1980s, the field of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) was a well established discipline. This article chronicles the people, events and publications that contributed to the formation of the field, beginning with the precursors in the 1950s and ending in the early 1980s. The contributions of individuals who have been honored by the OBM Network are detailed and emphasized. Although some historical accounts attribute the development of OBM to influences from traditional management fields, the present account, through documentation of the formative events, argues that the field developed in relative isolation from such influences, emanating primarily from Skinner's development of programmed instruction and the advent of behavioral applications in other settings. While application of psychology to the work place predated behavioral involvement, the primary force for the development and growth of OBM came from within the field of behavior analysis.     

The ‘Full Potential’ of Uganda's Cotton Industry

During the 1960s, Uganda was the largest cotton producer in sub‐Saharan Africa. Attempts to revive the sector following its demise in the 1970s were unsuccessful in the 1980s and more effective in the 1990s. However, there is a sense that it still lags behind its full potential. Low quality of the cotton, lack of a domestic textile industry, and low use of purchased inputs due to lack of rural credit are identified as key constraints. This article argues that the fundamental problems are low profitability, which reflects the displacement of cotton by food crops, and the forced‐labour conditions under which cotton was grown. It concludes that promotion of biotechnology and training cotton growers are two areas that should receive priority.     

Civil Organizations in Mexico: Recent Evolution and Prospects

This paper begins by identifying how, as a result of the confluence of a number of factors, civil organizations (COs) in Mexico have shown an exponential development in the past 15 years. However, it is argued that COs are suffering a fiscal crisis and, in some sense, an economic one, provoked by the political reaction of the government toward this growth. At the same time, there is no crisis of legitimacy; their increasing levels of social support suggests a trend in the reverse direction. However, the legitimacy attributable by the population to nonprofits seems to be due to the novelty of this sociopolitical actor in the context of a disappointment with more traditional ones including government and political parties—as opposed to an endorsement of their proven capacity or efficiency in solving the problems of development. To take advantage of what seems to be a golden opportunity for its positive development, in addition to changing the unfavorable economic environment, it is argued that the sector has to face the challenge of thinking in its long-term interest and making sure that it is positioned to act as capably efficient.     

South Africa: Anti-Apartheid NGOs in Transition

Under apartheid, there were an ever-increasing number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concerned about challenging the South African state and furthering a nonracial democratic society. In the 1990s, with the transition to an African National Congress-led democratic government, these organizations underwent profound changes. This article describes the key dynamics of this process, outlines the challenges currently confronting the new NGO sector, and concludes that the prospects for progressive NGO work in dealing with the poor and marginalized are constrained by the prevailing neoliberal economic climate.     

论国民政府国营与民营经济范围之划分

南京国民政府成立后即根据孙中山的发达国家资本理论,提出了划分国营民营经济范围的问题,其政策设计与实践大体经历了三个时期:抗战前的初步界定、抗战时期国营范围的空前拓展与民营范围的急剧萎缩、抗战胜利后国营范围的调整压缩与民营范围的扩大。国民政府的上述政策有其合理性,但更存在着重大错误,政策的设计自相矛盾并与实践严重脱节,因而直至其政治垮台,都未能拿出一个切实可行的划分方案。产生上述问题的关键是决策者思想上的严重分歧,特别是对民生思想的错误理解和对民生生活的长期忽视。     

公共部门人力资源绩效审计

公共部门人力资源绩效审计是公共部门绩效审计的重要组成部分，在我国开展公共部门人力资源绩效审计具有重要的意义。文章分为三个部分，分别为公共部门人力资源绩效审计的概念、公共部门人力资源绩效审计的内容和公共部门人力资源绩效审计指标，希望对我国开展公共部门人力资源绩效审计具有一定的推动作用。     

农村劳动力非农就业行为的实证研究

本文从农村劳动力"转移能力"的视角分析了农村劳动力非农就业行为的影响因素,并以此构建分析框架,应用管理统计SPSS11.0对各因素进行定量分析,分析结果表明,扩大对第三产业的投资、提高农民收入、增加人力资本存量、消除制度因素的阻滞作用是加快农村劳动力非农就业的主要着力点。     

A new form of energy poverty is the hallmark of liberalised electricity sectors

The restructuring of electricity sectors has resulted in households paying significantly higher prices. Some European prices rose by more than 100 per cent between 2000 and 2010. NSW households experienced an 80 per cent increase during the period 2007 to 2012. Growing numbers of low‐income and vulnerable households are spending higher proportions of disposable income on energy bills and, we contend, suffer deprivation and social exclusion as a result. This phenomenon, we posit, is a new form of energy poverty driven by rapidly rising electricity prices which are directly related to electricity sector restructuring. The energy‐impoverished population is estimated at 150 million in Europe, and growing. Policy responses are ineffective and poorly targeted, while Australian policy makers rely on measures which significantly understate electricity price changes. This article explores the prevalence and consequences of the problem of energy poverty and outlines the extent of its occurrence in Australia, the country hailed as an exemplar of electricity sector liberalisation.     

How was a national moving and handling people guideline intended to work? The underlying programme theory

In healthcare, moving and handling people (MHP) often cause musculoskeletal disorders. To prevent musculoskeletal disorders due to MHP, many national evidence-based guidelines have been developed. However, little is known about how these guidelines were intended to work, i.e. their ‘programme theory’, how implementation by intended users is influenced by contextual factors and mechanisms to produce outcomes. This paper identifies the programme theory of a national MHP guideline (MHPG) using thematic analysis of the MHPG document, three organisational planning documents, and interviews with MHPG developers. The analysis identified the intended users of the MHPG as health and safety managers and MHP coordinators. The programme theory comprised contextual factors, potentially hindering (e.g. budget constraints) or facilitating (e.g. changing demographics) implementation, being influenced by mechanisms mainly based on ethical (quality of care, evidence-based practices), and economic reasoning (reducing cost of MHP, return on investment) to reduce injuries caused by MHP – the intended outcome.     

Performance measurement frameworks in public and non-profit sectors

In the last decade much attention has been devoted to developing performance measurement systems (PMS), which could encompass both financial and non-financial measures. Many frameworks have been conceived in order to allow companies to better evaluate their own performance by means of collected data, but few attempts have been made to provide public and non-profit organizations with PMS devoted explicitly for their needs. The aims of this paper are to review the frameworks currently developed and implemented in public and non-profit organizations and to identify the requirements of a framework, which can be applied in this context.