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We offer a framework for developing the collaborative workplace, developed through a case study of a subsystem of Intuit Canada, a knowledge-based product development firm known for strong collaboration. Grounded in interviews, observations, informal conversations, and archival data, our framework reveals a series of factors that shape work, relationships, and behaviors to promote collaboration widely. Beyond factors, we uncover what it is about them, the underlying properties that created the conditions for employees to work, relate and contribute collectively. We show how the factors interrelate to create two collaborative subsystems; one fostering widespread alignment around strategic goals and the other fostering locally led interactivity to operationalize those goals. We illustrate how the duality works in practice and conclude with implications for future research and practice.

The presence and practice of individual and organizational humility has the power to enable organizational growth and change. Humility drives behaviors associated with learning and the ability to embrace the value of existing mental models while valuing the insights offered by new perspectives and approaches. This paradox-savvy practice, observed in humble individuals and organizations, allows them to appropriately value what is working about the existing system while simultaneously embracing the need for change. Our research finds humble behaviors emerging within psychologically safe environments that foster an attitude of inquiry, kinship, extraordinary collaboration, and professional excellence. Humble behaviors, at every organizational level, appear to enhance both individual and group capabilities that drive long term strategic advantage. Five capabilities were identified in our research: diverse networks, shared values, flexibility and adaptability, judgment and decision-making, and organizational learning. We bring these concepts to life by synthesizing established and emerging research, as well as diving deeply into an empirical case study that leverages humble practices in order to effectively drive organizational change. We argue that humility can impact organizing at all levels (individuals, leaders, followers, teams, executives, and organizations) and in so doing create the conditions in which sustainable organizational change can flourish.

This case study explores the organizational culture of a privately held company, Service Express, Inc. (SEI), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, providing customers with onsite data maintenance service for mission-critical servers. As of January 2013, it had 250 employees located in 24 regional offices in the Midwest and Southeast, generating revenues of around $50 million. SEI’s vision is to help its employees achieve their personal, professional and financial goals. The company takes the position that culture drives performance; in particular, the case details how SEI crafts its culture for a superior organizational performance; it explores various aspects (e.g., service-centric focus, servant leadership) that drive this organization’s culture. It draws reader’s attention to the notion that organizational performance (including profit) is a lagging indicator, while organizational culture is the leading indicator of organizational success.

This chapter shares the findings of a research study that investigated how organizations managed critical incidents that had the potential for dramatic economic impact and why those organizations chose to pursue certain issues. The findings expose organization identity’s role in stabilizing organizations. Understanding this role creates an opportunity to improve organization change efforts by examining and understanding a subject’s organization identity. Armed with this understanding, a change agent may design interventions in such a way as to align with identity or, when necessary, to specifically alter identity.

This pilot study partially tests a model for discovering the onset of a social movement. We analyze our model in the context of making investment decisions during the recent stock market mania and ...

A simulation methodology was employed to assess the cause and effect relationship between role conflict and selected physiological, affective, and performance measures. Multivariate analyses showed that these selected measures do differentiate between individuals exposed to conditions of role conflict and no role conflict. The study indicates the importance of utilizing interdisciplinary dependent measures and supports the use of simulation methodology in studying organizational stress.

This chapter attempts to elucidate the important role that divergent thinking plays in organizational creativity, innovation, and change. We define brainstorming as a systematized method of divergent thinking, review this literature, and advocate for the strategic use of brainstorming to enhance creativity and innovation. We identify contradictory findings in the research literature that have led practitioners and researchers to disregard brainstorming techniques. We suggest that cultural forces embedded in organizations may prevent divergent thinking and brainstorming from becoming established normative organizational processes, thus hampering organizations’ potential for change and innovation. The chapter closes by putting divergent thinking and brainstorming in perspective and provides guidelines for its use.

A one-year prospective design was used to explore health care costs, claims, and job burnout in relation to the following predictors: work and life stress, social support, exercise, Type A behavior, and personal hardiness. Nowack's (1991) model guided the study. A sample of 260 working adults from two organizations participated. Bivariate correlational results suggested that stressful work events were positively related to health care costs and the number of claims filed. With regard to job burnout, (a) stress appeared positively related to personal accomplishment and (b) Type A behavior was associated with greater emotional exhaustion. Higher job satisfaction, social support, and Type A behavior were associated with an increased sense of personal accomplishment. Findings concerning objective health indicators are discussed in relation to previous results pertaining to self-reports of health/illness.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION Both Cooke’s (1994) analysis of Habermas’s critical social theory and Weick’s(1995) sensemaking theory place argumentation as a central element of commu-nicative action and organizational sensemaking, respectively. In argumentation, aperson makes a claim the listener can confront, and the outcome of this process– intersubjective understanding – is realized when validity claims are redeemedwith good reasons. Cooke, however, locates argumentation in the lifeworld andwrites that the strong normative idealizations inherent in Habermas’s argumenta-tion presuppose that ‘no relevant argument is suppressed or excluded by the par-ticipants’, ‘no force except that of the better argument is exerted’, and ‘all theparticipants are motivated only by concern for the better argument’ (1994, pp.30–1). Namely, Cooke’s concept of argumentation can be read as an extension ofWeick’s version because she describes what social conditions must obtain in orderto make the concept good. We follow Cooke in suggesting that resourceful sense-making depends on a social setting free of the power effects of systematically distorted communication. Thus resourceful sensemaking is not only a theory oforganizational sensemaking but also a social theory that outlines what conditionsare required for its free and effective exercise.640 C. R. Wright and M. R. Manning

A smoke-free work environment results from organizational policy prohibiting smoking within all company premises. Keywords: Smoke-Free Work Environment

Initial meetings with new colleagues or teammates frequently give rise to behaviors such as nervousness, shyness, sarcasm, or false joviality. These behaviors can make the formation of a strong working relationship very slow and even difficult. This article presents an exercise for helping one interact more comfortably and effectively during a first encounter. The exercise provides a basis for improved interpersonal interaction and teamwork throughout the relationship or class. The exercise also leads to an exploration of individual entry behaviors and an examination of the effectiveness of those behaviors in developing a collaborative learning environment. The exercise can be used to introduce important management course topics (i.e., decision making, leadership, attitudes and perceptions, communication processes, interpersonal style, group dynamics, issues of trust, and organizing processes) via experiential methods. The success of this exercise is discussed along with a pedagogical framework for class discussion guided by Kolb’s experiential learning model.

This study represents a first attempt to employ cognitive cause-mapping techniques to explore individual sensemaking during a planned organizational change. The authors evaluated the contribution of this method as a vehicle for exploring sensemaking processes during a change effort. Study data revealed that cause mapping generates a rich source of information, demonstrates a high degree of content validity, and is a particularly useful technique for capturing the dynamics of sensemaking. The study also provided needed longitudinal and structural analyses of cause maps. Results showed significant differences in cause map content over time without corresponding differences in cause map structure. An integrated model of sensemaking during organizational change is offered.

Project-based courses have become common in universities. Using management advisory boards in projects courses can enhance their realism and spur students to greater levels of achievement. Advisory boards, consisting of volunteers with extensive business experience, advise students on how to complete their project, review progress, and evaluate students’ work, and they confront the students when it doesn’t measure up. Students report that advisory boards motivate them to perform well on their projects and help them learn what will be expected on the job after college. This article describes the effects that boards had in a course and provides suggestions for successfully utilizing such boards.

In this paper we attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practice by developing the concept of `resourceful sensemaking'.1 Resourceful sensemaking is the ability to appreciate the perspectives of others and use this understanding to enact horizon-expanding discourse. Using a critical events technique, we assess the resourcefulness of the sensemaking activities of individuals in interdisciplinary product development teams. Data include researchers' and stakeholders' observations of teams in action, careful reviews of documents and questionnaires completed by team members and selected stakeholders, and interviews with team members and other stakeholders during, and six months after completion of, the projects. We focus attention on the articulation of the resourceful sensemaking concept rather than on the formulation of testable propositions. We end the paper with a discussion of the implications of our study for work organizations using interdisciplinary product development teams.

The main and interactive effects of social support, physical exercise, and personal hardiness on objective measures of health were investigated using a longitudinal research design. Data were collected from 192 working adults. Results showed main effects for hardiness and exercise on the dependent variables of health care costs and the number of health insurance claims filed. Hardiness appeared to be associated with fewer health problems. Contrary to prediction, those who exercised more appeared to have greater health care use. Three-way interactions suggested that health care use was lowest for those high in all three resistance resources: exercise: hardiness: and social support. But, the converse of this reasoning, that absence of these resources is associated with higher levels of illness, was not entirely supported. The interactions suggested that hardiness in the absence of exercise and social support was associated with the highest health care costs. The highest number of claims was apparent for those exhibiting hardiness and exercise. Thus, the presence of exercise, hardiness, and social support seemed to decrease health care use, but the factors contributing to greater health costs and claims were more complicated to interpret.

AIDS threatens to spread rapidly in Mexico. In the present study, results of a survey of 204 Mexican employees in hospitals and doctors' offices indicated that those health-care workers were largely knowledgeable about the illness. A majority were willing to provide AIDS care, although they feared contagion. Multiple regression analyses indicated that (a) attitudes toward high-risk groups (intravenous drug users and homosexuals) and (b) fear of contagion were both related to intentions to provide care to AIDS patients.A survey conducted in Ciudad Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, investigated health care workers' (HCWs) AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to provide care to AIDS patients. Questioned were 171 HCWs employed in a public charity hospital and 33 from private physicians' offices. 24% of respondents were nurses and 22% were doctors; mean age was 28 years. On average, respondents answered 82% of the AIDS-related knowledge items correctly and 76% felt their education had prepared them to treat AIDS patients. Despite widespread awareness of the modes of HIV transmission and the universal precautions, 87% expressed concern about becoming infected with HIV through patient care. 81% indicated they were willing to treat AIDS patients. Most HCWs had positive (19%) or neutral (53%) attitudes toward homosexuals, but 44% expressed negative attitudes toward intravenous drug users. Multiple regression analysis found that attitude toward high-risk groups and fear of contagion, but not knowledge, were related to behavioral intention to provide AIDS care. This finding is consistent with research indicating that knowledge-based programs that fail to address the affective component of AIDS care are insufficient for changing AIDS care intentions and behaviors. Overall, AIDS patients in the border areas of Mexico, appear to be receiving more effective treatment than those in parts of the country with lower AIDS prevalence. Reports from the latter areas allege incidents of refusal to provide medical care to AIDS patients or the provision of substandard care.

Recent emphasis in research and theory building on compassion in organizations has not yet received sustained attention by organization development and change scholarship. Compassion at work, however, has been reported as instrumental in coaching, ad hoc organizing, prosocial behavior during challenging times, and other processes central to developing and changing organizations. It also has been theorized to bring about an untapped organizational capability, contribute to fostering a climate of workplace forgiveness, and to facilitate development of social entrepreneurship. In this essay, we begin to outline what the recent advances in the compassion literature offer researchers and practitioners of organization development and change. We briefly review how compassion is defined across different contexts, how it can be seen through a positive lens and within broader lines of inquiry on social and emotional dynamics at work, and how interpretive approaches to studying compassion might fit with the study of change. Seeing compassion scholarship as more than a specialized trend in positive organizational behavior, we offer ample opportunities for diverse and novel inquiry into development and change at work.

Relationships among health care costs, social support, and occupational stress are investigated. Health care cost data were collected over two years for 260 working individuals. Multiple regression...

This paper discusses the conceptual and theoretical foundation upon which whole systems change interventions are based The paper first describes six methods of intervention that are currently being utilized to change whole systems: (1) future search, (2) search conferences/ participative design, (3) open space, (4) large scale interactive process methodology, (5) simu‐real, and (6) fast cycle full participation and the conference model. Next, six common values and assumptions underlying these large scale change interventions are identified: (1) organizations are seen as “whole systems,” (2) viewing organizations as whole systems requires the creation of dialogue among all organizational stakeholders, (3) organizations do not exist, but organizing processes and procedures do, (4) what we perceive as our collective organizational reality becomes the organization that is created, (5) individuals within organizations have the capacity to self‐organize and redefine their reality, and (6) humanity shares a set of universal values that are inherently “good” and these values will ultimately influence voluntary collective action. The paper concludes with an appeal for interventionists and users of large group techniques to be cognizant of the assumptions that drive their choice of intervention.

This paper examines the validity standards applied to paper and pencil questionnaires by four social science roles: academic researchers, expert consultants, teachers, and organization development (OD) process consultants. These roles, influenced by their key stakeholders (e.g., clients, reviewers, students), employ different validity standards and socialize firm beliefs about these standards. The resulting divergence of attitudes toward measurement inhibits learning from other roles and slows social science advancement. This paper examines the assumption that each role must apply the same validity standards.

Recent research in cognitive and social psychology finds that individual change is more emotional than rational. Further evidence suggests that the contagious power of emotions explains how groups may overcome obstacles and behave in unified ways. We offer a neuropsychological model of emotion-driven change in organizations that explains these findings and predicts conditions in which contagion effects will be successful in facilitating rapid change. Our model posits that emotive precursors to conscious action enable goal alignment and overcome cognitive resource limitations necessary to sustain organizational change over time. Our model adapts the findings from social and cognitive neuroscience to bring new insights into the mental mechanisms underlying the change process. The chapter concludes with tentative suggestions for developing new methods for research and practice that improve our predictive capability for creating rapid large-scale organizational change.

Recent democratic trends in Mexico as well as the opening of new economic markets and free trade relationships have made the management of change a major issue in Mexico. Most Mexican organizations need to transform their structures and processes, and to develop management and human resources in order to compete in the global marketplace. In addition, the need for change in Mexico includes such basic issues as uplifting whole classes of people out of poverty so that they can become productive members of society. We argue that change can be produced and facilitated through highly participative, egalitarian, and intensive large-group interventions. Even though existing cultural research might suggest that these approaches are inconsistent with the cultural orientation assumed to be predominant in most Mexican organizations, we offer two case studies employing whole-systems change approaches that provide evidence suggesting quite the opposite: large-scale and highly participative change interventions are very appropriate to facilitate change in Mexican society today.

Low power millimeter wave (LP-MW) irradiation has been successfully used in clinical practice as an independent and/or supplemental therapy in patients with various diseases. It is still not clear, however, whether exposed skin is directly affected by repeated LP-MW irradiation and whether cells of the epidermis can be activated by the absorbed energy. Keratinocytes, the most numerous component of the epidermis are believed to manifest functional responses to physical stimuli. In this study we analyzed whether LP-MW irradiation modulated the production of chemokines, including RANTES and IP-10 of keratinocytes in vitro. We also investigated whether LP-MW irradiation induces a heat stress reaction in keratinocytes, and stimulates heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) production. Vital staining of keratinocytes with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester and ethidium bromide was used to analyze the MW effect on the viability of adherent cells. In addition, we studied the effect of LP-MW irradiation on intercellular gap junctional communication in keratinocyte monolayers by Lucifer yellow dye transfer. We found no significant changes in constitutive RANTES and inducible IP-10 production following LP-MW irradiation. LP-MW exposure of keratinocyte monolayers did not alter Hsp70 production, unlike exposure to higher power MWs (HP-MW) or hyperthermia (43 °C; 1 h). LP-MW irradiation and hyperthermia did not alter the viability of adherent keratinocytes, while HP-MW irradiation induced cellular damage within the beam area. Finally, we found no alteration in the gap junctional intercellular communication of keratinocytes following LP-MW irradiation, which on the other hand, was significantly increased by hyperthermia. In summary, we detected no harmful effect of LP-MW irradiation on both keratinocyte function and structure in vitro, although these cells were sensitive to higher MW power that developed heat stress reaction and cellular damage. Our results provide further evidence that LP-MW irradiation does not induce evidence of skin inflammation or keratinocyte damage and that its clinical application appears to be safe. Bioelectromagnetics 24:165–173, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

This study investigates how organizations construct positive organization identity (POI). The authors use an inductive approach to conduct an explanatory case study of two organizations (located in...

Abstract Of approximately 330 recorded fixed platforms, 103 are listed as manned in the Galveston Marine Inspection zone. This zone includes all of Galveston and High Island Blocks, and portions of Brazos, East Breaks, Garden Banks, Alaminos and Keathley Canyon. Twenty-percent oversight inspections of both manned and unmanned platforms are being conducted to ensure the self-inspection program is meeting the intent of the regulations. This implementation of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 amended in 1978) is intended to further the promotion of safety of life and property on the OCS and the protection of the marine environment. Deficiencies that are noted during each inspection are being documented and owners and operators are normally allowed up to 30 days for correction: however, if items are of a lifesaving nature, less time may be allowed. This paper will cover the Coast Guard's regulating authority and objectives, the inspection process and common deficiencies found aboard regulated oil and gas production/exploration facilities. Requirements concerning CG-5432 "Annual Self Inspection Reports" and Emergency Evacuation Plans (EEPs) will also be reviewed. 33 CFR 140 through 33 146 and 33 CFR 151.57 are applicable to most fixed platforms on the OCS and will be discussed. Newly proposed regulations for "Subchapter N - OCS Activities" are still in development by the Coast Guard and requests for comments for these regulations have been extended until the end of this year. This paper will not cover these new regulations. Introduction Of the approximately 4000 fixed platforms that are established in the Gulf of Mexico under the oversight authority of the U. S. Coast Guard, 330 are in the Houston - Galveston area and fall under the regulatory purview of the Officer In Charge, Marine Inspection, Houston-Galveston Marine Safety Zone. This zone includes not only all the Galveston and High Island Blocks, but portions of Brazos, East Breaks, Garden Banks, Keathley, and Alaminos Canyon as well1. To promote safety of life and property on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), protect the marine environment, and implement the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) as amended in 1978, a number of federal agencies are tasked with the enforcement of federal regulations specifically addressing fixed platform facilities. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) comprises the regulatory framework. In those instances of federal agency jurisdictional overlap, interagency agreements serve to further define the application of each agency's oversight responsibilities. Regulating Authority & Objectives Regulating Authority. The responsibility of the U. S. Coast Guard with respect to OCS activities is derived from the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) as amended in 1978. This act, passed to bring under federal authority the establishment and enforcement of safety and environmental standards, defines the responsibilities of the U. S. Coast Guard with respect to the promotion of safety of life, property, and navigation. It furthers establishes, in part, the responsibility of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to conduct oversight in areas of safety, as well as the management of mineral leasing activities on the OCS.

This symposium explores collaborative research projects in which academics and practicing entrepreneurs work closely with one another to produce relevant knowledge that is immediately useful for bo...

The focus of this symposium is the values our words reflect, and how these values then shape the culture of our organizations. The symposium brings together several prominent scholars and practitio...

While research exists on knowledge transfer in the private and public sectors, there is limited understanding of such efforts in higher education. Universities interested in serving society beyond academic curricula often develop outreach programmes that lack a significant societal impact. We present an alternative model developed at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudio Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico (Monterrey Tech). This school has created a comprehensive structure designed to transfer knowledge from the university to the community and back. Monterrey Tech's model presents an institution-wide effort aimed at developing students' sense of citizenship while transferring knowledge that addresses societal needs.

Five patients were treated with a combination of Adriamycin/cis-platinum/cyclophosphamide for far-advanced and/or recurrent cancer of the salivary gland. Adriamycin, 40 mg/m2, and cis-platinum, 50 mg/m2, were given on day 1; cyclophosphamide, 200 mg/m2 daily for four days, was given by mouth on the third to sixty day of each monthly therapy course. Two patients achieved a complete remission, each lasting five months, and the three others had partial remissions from one to seven months (median six months) in duration. Therapy was well tolerated. Severe nausea and vomiting occurred on the first day of therapy but was self-limited. There was only mild to moderate leukopenia, no significant thrombocytopenia or elevations of serum creatinine, and no evidence of dose-limiting peripheral neuropathy. Adriamycin/cis-platinum/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy appears to be effective in the treatment of advanced parotid gland cancers.

Using a sample of 468 participants, from two organizations, this study examined direct and moderating relationships between hardiness (a composite of challenge, control, and commitment), life and work stressors, and a variety of health-related outcomes. The results indicated that hardiness did not moderate the relationship between stressors and outcomes as reported by others (e.g. Kobasa 1982a). However, hardiness did have significant direct effects on emotional and psychological factors thought to be related to personal well-being and work performance. Hardy individuals reported higher levels of job satisfaction and fewer tensions at work dun did the less hardy. In general, hardy individuals experienced a higher quality of life and a more positive affect while being more energized and less negative about life. Hardy individuals also reported fewer somatic complaints and tended to be less depressed and anxious than individuals low in hardiness. In addition, hardiness was negatively related to all...

Using a self-report survey, this investigation described university employees' reactions to the publication of their salaries in a local campus newspaper. Correlational analyses indicated associations between impact of the disclosure and salary level, salary equity/satisfaction, instrumentality of performance-reward outcomes, internal salary attributions, and salary discussion. Further analysis found differences in respondent perceptions to be contingent upon job category (academic, professional, and support staff) and faculty level. Qualitative analysis suggested that individual responses to the salary disclosure took various forms: no effect at all, planning to leave one's job, attempting to correct salary inequities, reducing personal effort, and working harder. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on open pay systems and invasion of privacy.

This paper reports two studies of occupational stress and its relation with antecedent variables and job performance. The first study, in which 104 nurses participated in group discussions and 96 nurses completed a questionnaire, identified 45 stressful events for nurses. In the second study, 171 nurses who completed another questionnaire were also rated by a supervisor and/or a co-worker. Ratings of interpersonal aspects of job performance (such as sensitivity, warmth, consideration, and tolerance) and cognitive/motivational aspects (such as concentration, composure, perseverence, and adaptability) correlated significantly with self-reported perceptions of stressful events, subjective stress, depression, and hostility. Models developed through path analysis suggest that the frequency and subjective intensity of the 45 events identified in Study 1 cause feelings of stress, which lead to depression, which, in turn, causes decrements in interpersonal and cognitive/motivational aspects of job performance. Much of the literature on occupational stress emphasizes its effects on health. Dependent variables in such research include blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol level, and heart disease (Cooper & Marshall, 1976). We know relatively little, however, about the relation of stress to job performance. This article examines patterns of covariation between subjective stress and job performance and explores relations with individual characteristics, job conditions, stressful work events, and affective states.

Cholestyramine is a non-absorbable ion-exchange resin which specifically binds bile salts. We have treated seven patients with acute or chronic radiation-induced diarrhea that was refractory to the usual methods of control with cholestyramine. In each case, the diarrhea was controlled with cholestyramine. This observation supports previous experimental work with animals which indicated that bile salts contribute to the genesis of radiation-induced diarrhea. Cholestyramine is well-tolerated, but should not be administered with certain oral medications. The results of this small series are preliminary, but point the way toward a more extensive clinical trial to define the usefulness of cholestyramine in the treatment of refractory acute or chronic radiation-induced diarrhea.

This study explores the relationshp between stress and absenteeism with a non-managerial white collar sample (n = 147). Various operationalizations of absence were employed representing, frequency, hours, and length of absence (one day, two day, > two day). Stress was operationalized with variables representing stressors and strain from both work and non-work domains. Results found small but consistent relationships between prior absence (one day, >two day, and total absence) and many of the stress measures (work events, work conditions, life events, life conditions, job satisfaction, strain and negative affect). Two sets of variance were identified from the prior absence measures, short and long-term, that were both related to stress. No relationship was observed between stress and subsequent absence.