The Cultural Specificity of Management Constructs: An Empirical Examination

The management literature reports on numerous studies examining relationships among the variables of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and more recently organizational character, organizational citizenship behavior, and propensity for participative decision making. The present study empirically examines relationships among these constructs among Egyptian managers. Although general support was demonstrated for the previously validated scales, the evidence suggests that these constructs are culturally specific and must be redefined, especially in emerging countries. Further, findings support some, but not all of the conclusions typically reached in existing studies of Western managers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The influences of gender and grade on perceived work stress and job satisfaction in white collar employees

A self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out, resulting in a sample of 675 white collar public sector employees. The survey examined the frequency of occurrence of work-based stressors and perceived control, and included a general measure of job satisfaction. The results revealed that higher levels of job satisfaction were reported by employees in higher grades. It was also observed that higher grades perceived more control within their working environment. No gender differenccs were found concerning reported stress problems, although significant differences were observed across grades in relation to role differentiation. Multivariate analyses revealed that grade effects were largely accounted for by differences in perceived control. Perceived control, role-based and organizational stressors as well as gender were the strongest contributors in predicting reported job satisfaction.     

Predicting the Timing of Separation and Marital Satisfaction: An Eight‐Year Prospective Longitudinal Study

Information from the growth curves (initial level and rate of change) for individual differences variables over the first 4 years of marriage was used to predict the timing of physical separation over the first 8 years of marriage and the level of marital satisfaction at the eighth year of marriage for an initial sample of 522 married couples. Overall, findings indicated that both initial level and change were needed to account for variability in each marital outcome. There was no evidence that information from wives' growth curves was sufficient to predict either marital outcome.     

关于使用价值量几个问题的辨析

传统政治经济学认为使用价值量等同于物品数量,物品数量是影响使用价值量的惟一因素。事实上,把使用价值量定义为“某种使用价值满足人的需要的程度”的认识是更加科学的。衡量使用价值量大小的标准是人的需要的满足程度而不是物品数量;使用价值量的影响因素不是单一的而是多样的,既有客观因素又有主观因素;由于人的需要的满足程度是一个动态标准,所以物品的使用价值量是不能够精确计量的。     

Stress and job satisfaction in mammography radiographers

Previous research suggests that substantial numbers of health professionals experience undue levels of occupational stress. Little is yet known, however, about a recently established specialized group, namely radiographers who work in the UK National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. All 134 radiographers in the first wave of the programme were sent a postal questionnaire to determine how stressed they felt at work, how satisfied they were with the job, and what were the principal causes of stress and dissatisfaction. A total of 103 were returned, a response rate of 77 %. The results showed that 30 % reported high levels of stress, which is more than in most other professions, and that only 17% described themselves as 'very satisfied' with their jobs. The most important predictors of stress were problems of communication (mainly knowing what to tell the client) and conflicts between home and work. The most important predictor of dissatisfaction was role ambiguity. Ways of reducing stress and increasing satisfaction must be found if radiographers are to remain healthy and are to continue to work for the programme.     

The relationship between newcomer expectations of job stressors and adjustment to the new job

This study examined the relationship between unrealistic expectations of organizational newcomers regarding job stressors and subsequent adjustment to the new job. Using a sample of 91 new employees, measures of expected stressors (gathered prior to the first day of work) were compared with stressors reported after six months on the job. The study examined the relationship between the accuracy of expected stressors (demands) and three indicators of job adjustment: job satisfaction; job involvement; and distress symptoms. The results provided partial support for the hypothesis that newcomers who underestimate job stressors have more difficulty adjusting on the new job than do newcomers who overestimate job stressors.     

Unemployment, life satisfaction and retrospective error

Summary.  The paper compares current and 1-year retrospective data on unemployment in the German Socio-Economic Panel study. 13% of all unemployment spells are not reported 1 year later, and another 7% are misreported. The ratio of retrospective to current unemployment has increased in recent years and is related to salience of unemployment measures such as the loss of life satisfaction that is associated with unemployment. Individuals with weak labour force attachment, e.g. women with children or individuals who are close to retirement, have the greatest propensity to under-report unemployment retrospectively. The data are consistent with evidence on retrospective bias found by cognitive psychologists and survey methodologists.     

The role of gender and job level in coping with occupational stress

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between coping and health problems in the context of gender and level in the organization. Questionnaire data were collected from 279 women and men (100 managers and 179 non-managers) at a sales department in a Swedish telecom company in which men and women worked at similar tasks. It was hypothesized that, if gender and level in the organization were controlled for, the use of problem-focused strategies would be associated with fewer health problems and the use of emotion-focused strategies with greater health problems. It was also predicted that men and women at a similar organizational level would not differ in their use of problem-focused coping strategies. The results showed, contrary to the hypothesis, that when level and gender were controlled for, no relation between problem-focused strategies and health was obtained. Instead the emotion-focused strategy of Seeking emotional support was associated with fewer health problems, whereas Focus on emotions and Alcohol/drug disengagement were associated with more symptoms. Coping was at least partly related to level. At a managerial level the men and the women used basically the same strategies whereas at a non-managerial level traditionally-conceived coping patterns were evident.     

农村公共产品满意度研究

根据河北省三个村庄农民的调查数据,研究农民对农村医疗等13项公共产品的满意度。结果显示,农民对国家的农业政策等6种公共产品表示满意,对农业信息服务等7种公共产品表示不满意。要提高农村公共产品的满意度,在农村公共支出方面,必须优先增加这7种农民不满意的公共产品的支出,并采取"加强农村儿童的医疗服务和农村儿童基本生活保障"等政策措施。     

连续性服务业中企业形象对顾客转换意向的影响

企业形象是顾客基于长期消费经验形成的对企业的态度,并对顾客的购买决策产生影响。本文以移动通信行业为例研究了连续性服务行业中企业形象对顾客转换意向的影响。通过对368名手机用户的调查分析,实证结果表明:企业形象不但会直接降低顾客转换意向,还会起到顾客满意到顾客转换意向的中介作用,起到一个缓冲器的作用。尽管替代者的吸引会直接提高顾客的转换意向,但是替代者的吸引对企业形象的作用却不显著。