Differences In Organizational Structure Research Articles

Translation and initial cross-cultural adaptation of the tool for support-gradual return-to-work for persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain to the Swedish setting.

A well-defined and clear procedure is a key factor supporting return-to-work and enhancing collaboration and understanding between employers and employees. The adaptation of the Tool for Support-Gradual Return to Work, TS-GRTW, addresses relevant cultural aspects valuable for wider adoption. develop a Swedish version, the GRTWswe, for implementation and integration into the Swedish labor market's RTW process. This involved translating, culturally adapting, and assessing the appropriateness and utility. In the initial step, a double back translation was performed to create an initial translated version. This version was then utilized in individual consultations, accompanied by an agreement questionnaire. For the subsequent step, group consultations were held to refine and customize the tool to suit the Swedish context. Ten occupational therapists completed the questionnaires, with mean agreement scores surpassing three on a four-point scale. Out of these, nine participated in group consultations. The findings suggest the requirement for specific modifications to the GRTWswe. These adaptations are essential because of cultural differences in organizational structures and reference frameworks. Moreover, participants unanimously agreed to broaden the scope of target groups, encompassing employees without regard for diagnosis and expanding the range of professions that can utilize this tool. This step aims to enhance the tool's applicability and usefulness. The study found strong alignment between questionnaire responses and group consultations outcomes, affirming the adapted tool's suitability for use in a Swedish context. The tool benefits employers and employees by enhancing communication, encouraging collaboration, and structuring processes, promising lasting improvements to work conditions.

Differences Between High and Low Performing Police Agencies in Clearing Robberies, Aggravated Assaults, and Burglaries: Findings From an Eight-Agency Case Study

This eight-agency case study analyzes the characteristics of four high-and four low-performing police agencies, as measured by their long-term crime clearance rates. High and low performers were identified through a systematic assessment of 30 years of clearance rates of robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, and homicides for the largest 100 police departments in the United States. Researchers then conducted in-depth case studies of eight of these agencies—four of the highest and four of the lowest ranking in terms of their investigative practices. Comparisons of high-and low-performing agencies reveal differences in organizational structure; leadership and resources; selection, training, and performance review for investigators; case assignment and investigative processes; and community interactions. These findings provide direct guidance to agencies seeking to strengthen their investigative organization and practices.

Comparative analysis of structural characteristics of China's 18 typical urban agglomerations based on flows of various elements

Flows of different elements among cities can affect urban organizational structures, leading to specific links between and roles for cities within urban agglomerations. Previous studies have mainly focused on flows produced by specific elements in a single urban agglomeration, and they cannot reveal differences in organizational structures affected by multiple elements among different urban agglomerations. Therefore we selected 18 typical urban agglomerations in China and explored their structural characteristics under comprehensive effects of four elements: economy, resources, population and technology, with gravity model and social network analysis. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Urban Agglomeration had a maximum flow intensity of 5.15, this concentration range was the largest from 0.65 to 3.75, indicating that more elements flowed internally. Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration had the largest network density at 0.412, the lowest efficiency at 0.567, and the lowest hierarchy at 0.000, showing that intercity relationships within SP were the tightest among the18 urban agglomerations. Geographical proximity and topological structure of subgroups proved that connections among subgroups were not complex, and cities of different provinces lacked close interactions. Furthermore, most of the key cities with high centrality indexes were municipalities directly under the Central Government or provincial capitals; these cities played important roles in networks and were distributed into “main spillover” and “bidirectional spillover” subgroups. This paper provides a unified analytical framework aimed at urban agglomerations that accounts for flows of multiple types of elements and explores urban organizational structures, and our results could provide scientific guidance for promoting the coordinated and sustainable development of urban agglomerations.

Differences in Organization Structure and the Supply Chain of Private with State-Owned Palm Oil Mills in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Indonesia is the world’s largest palm oil producer. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that Indonesia will produce 45.58 million tons of palm oil in 2022. This number has increased by 1.02% compared to the previous year, which reached 45.12 million tons. The palm oil industry comprises on-farms producing fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and processing industries. The processing industry can be divided into two main divisions: factories that crush FFB into crude palm oil (CPO) and factories that process CPO into various refined palm oil products. There are three actors in Indonesia’s palm oil processing business: the private sector, the government (BUMN), and small farmers. This study aims to find organizational and supply chain differences between state-owned palm oil mill companies (BUMN) and private palm oil mills. Data were obtained from documents, publications, agency research reports, or other supporting sources. This study uses a qualitative descriptive analysis method. The results showed differences in production capacity, organizational structure, and supply chain between state-owned and private palm oil mills. However, the two palm oil mills same produce CPO and palm kernels.

Quality Concerns in Nursing Homes That Serve Large Proportions of Residents With Serious Mental Illness.

Nursing homes (NHs) are serving greater proportions of residents with serious mental illness (SMI), and it is unclear whether this affects NH quality. We analyze the highest and lowest quartiles of NHs based on the proportion of residents with SMI and compare these NHs on facility characteristics, staffing, and quality stars. National Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports data were merged with NH Compare data for all freestanding certified NHs in the continental United States in 2016 (N = 14,460). NHs were categorized into "low-SMI" and "high-SMI" facilities using the lowest and highest quartiles, respectively, of the proportion of residents in the NH with SMI. Bivariate analyses and logistic models were used to examine differences in organizational structure, payer mix, resident characteristics, and staffing levels associated with high-SMI NHs. Linear models examined differences in quality stars. High-SMI facilities were found to report lower direct-care staffing hours, have a greater Medicaid-paying resident census, were more likely to be for-profit, and scored lower on all NH Compare star ratings in comparison to all other NHs. As the SMI population in NHs continues to grow, a large number of residents have concentrated in a few NHs. These are uniquely different from typical NHs in terms of facility characteristics, staffing, and care practices. While further research is needed to understand the implications of these trends, public policymakers and NH providers need to be aware of this population's unique-and potentially unmet-needs.

The Challenges of Bridging the Research–Practice Gap through Insider–Outsider Partnerships in Education

Background Partnerships between schools and universities are increasingly advocated as a way to bridge the research–practice gap in education. Empirical research has revealed a wide variety of benefits that these partnerships can bring to merging research and practice. Yet, empirical studies also demonstrate that merging research and practice through partnerships at local sites is neither straightforward nor a guaranteed process. Rather, it is a fragile process fraught with tension that often stems from the relationship between the school and university partners. Purpose Kornfeld and Leyden reflected that if schools and universities are to successfully partner, they “should be ever mindful of … the infinite complexities and potential pitfalls in the relationship.” The purpose of this literature review is to document these complexities and pitfalls more fully so that schools and universities involved in partnerships can have more realistic expectations of the demanding work entailed in maintaining healthy relationships. Realistic expectations can help school and university partners to more successfully navigate the fragility of their work. Furthermore, the research literature suggests that when partners work collaboratively to address these challenges, they will strengthen their relationships. Research Design A literature review was conducted using an intellectual social network analysis and an extensive database search. A total of 56 studies were selected for analysis using relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria. Findings The 56 studies reveal that challenges to maintaining partnerships emerge from the differences in schools and universities along three high-level categories: organizational structures, discourse practices, and power relations. Yet, schools and universities can mitigate these challenges by working together to collaboratively build organizational infrastructure, shared meaning, and trusting relationships. Recommendations Schools and universities that partner to close the gap between research and practice at local sites should be mindful of the ways that their differences in organizational structures, discourse practices, and power relations can complicate their work together. At the same time, schools and universities can strengthen their relationships by intentionally working to collaboratively build organizational infrastructure, shared meaning, and trusting relationships. By working to reconcile the differences between themselves, schools and universities can better learn how to navigate the fragility inherent in their partnership.

Triage response by two different out-of-hours healthcare services: an observational cohort study

Background: The entry points to Danish acute care are the out-of-hours health care services (OOH) and emergency medical services (EMS). Where EMS is organized in a similar manner throughout Denmark, the OOH is not. Four regions (including the North Denmark Region) have a general practitioner operated service (OOH-GP), whereas the Capital Region of Copenhagen, (Copenhagen) Denmark has the Medical Helpline 1813, (OOH-1813) which is staffed by nurses and physicians. Nationally, access to out-of-hours healthcare and emergency departments requires referral by one of the healthcare services. The OOH services in the North Denmark Region and Copenhagen handle similar patients and health problems; however, no published research has compared the type of actions performed in response to patient calls. We investigated and compared the type of triage response given by OOH-GP and OOH-1813 to patient contacts in the study period and the proportion of subsequent hospitalization.
 Methods: Observational cohort study of patients contacting OOH-GP and OOH-1813 from January 24th to February 9th, 2017. Patients with valid personal identification numbers were included. Primary outcomes were action performed by the call-handler i.e. telephone consultation, face-to-face consultation, home visit and hospitalization within 24 hours. Hospitalization was defined as a hospital stay of ≥24 hours.
 Results: We included 32,489 contacts (OOH-GP: 21,149 and OOH-1813: 11,340 (representative sample)). Calls to the OOH-GP were handled as follows: 67.2% (n=14,214) telephone consultation only, 32.8% (n=6,935) face-to-face consultations including 1,089 home visits (5.1%). In comparison, at OOH-1813, 51% (n=5,763) were handled by telephone consultation only, 49% (n=5,575) were triaged to face-to-face consultation including 38 home visits (0.44%). The differences in triage were statistically significant (p<0.05). Subsequent admissions occurred after 524 (4.6%) OOH-1813 contacts and 798 (3.8%) OOH-GP contacts (OR = 1.22 (1.01;1.27)).
 Conclusions: This comparison of OOH-1813 and OOH-GP shows significant differences in the triage responses, among these, notably more face-to-face consultations at OOH-1813. Subsequent hospitalizations were comparable with a small, but statistically significant, overrepresentation among the OOH-1813 cohort. These results could be due to the differences in organizational structure of the OOH or demographics in the two regions (capital vs city-rural), however further research is needed to determine this.

Critical Care in the Military Health System: A Survey-Based Summary of Critical Care Services.

Critical care is an important component of in-patient and combat casualty care, and it is a major contributor to U.S. healthcare costs. Regular exposure to critically ill and injured patients may directly contribute to wartime skills retention for military caregivers. Data describing critical care services in the Military Health System (MHS), however, is lacking. This study was undertaken to describe MHS critical care services, their resource utilization, and differences in care practices amongst military treatment facilities (MTFs). Twenty-six MTFs representing 38 adult critical care services or intensive care units (ICUs) were surveyed. The survey collected information about organizational structure, resourcing, and unit characteristics at the time of a concurrent 24-h point-prevalence survey designed to describe patient characteristics and staffing in these facilities. The survey was anonymous and protected health information was not collected. We analyzed the data according to high capacity centers (HCCs) (≥200 beds) and low capacity centers (LCCs) (<200 beds). Differences between HCCs and LCCs were compared using Fisher's exact test. Seventeen MTFs (7 HCCs and 10 LCCs), representing 27 ICUs, responded to the survey. This was a 65% response rate for MTFs and a 71% response rate for services/ICUs. HCCs reported more closed vs. open ICUs; more dedicated critical care services (i.e., medical and surgical ICUs vs. mixed ICUs); fewer respiratory therapists available, but more with certification; more total nursing staff and more critical care certified nurses; the use of subjectively more effective protocols (10.5 vs. 6.7 protocols/unit or service); higher utilization of an ICU daily rounds checklist (65% vs. 0%); and less consistency of clinician type participation during multidisciplinary rounds. ICU leadership structure was similar among the institutions. The majority of respondents were unable to provide summary APACHE II scores, but HCCs were more likely to submit this information than LCCs. Most centers perform multidisciplinary rounds daily, but they are more likely to be run by a physician credentialed in critical care at HCCs (85% vs. 59%, p < 0.05). 67% of respondents reported mortality rates <5%. The two services that reported mortality rates greater than 10% were both LCCs. This is the first comprehensive report about MHS critical care services. Despite notable variability in data reporting, an important finding itself, this study highlights notable differences in organizational structure and resourcing between HCCs and LCCs within the MHS. The clinical implication of these differences (i.e., impact on patient outcomes) of these differences require further study. Better understanding of MHS critical care services may improve enterprise decision-making about these services which could ultimately improve care of combat casualties.

EXPLORING THE FACTORS OF ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE TO IMPROVE WAQF MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

Waqf is one of the Islamic financial instruments that has been proven historically in empowering Muslim society. In Malaysia, waqf is managed by the State Religious Islamic Council (SIRC) of each state as the sole trustee of waqf. Hence, this situation has resulted in different management and organization structures. This study was conducted to explore the differences in organization structure and its waqf management. In depth interviews were conducted involving 12 informants from seven waqf institutions. The findings revealed that appropriate arrangement within the organization structure can help the institution to focus on their waqf management; hence the desired performance can be achieved. Two options in changing the structure were revealed, namely internal and external re-organization. Three factors of organization structure need to be carefully examined and considered, which are organization size, professionalism and authority to execute the re-organization, both internally and externally. SIRCs have to carefully examine the number of staff needed including staff with professional background to make sure the workload can be reduced and the management can be improved. Most of the SIRCs do not have the authority to hire more staff and change their structure. External re-organization of waqf management is one of the suggestions to gain the authority.

Role specialization and service integration in child welfare: Does organizational structure influence the decision to refer to supportive services?

The objective of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the child welfare organization by testing the hypothesis that the characteristics of organizations influence the decision to refer clients to additional services. Two aspects of organizational structure were examined: 1) role specialization, or the division of tasks intended to accomplish the mandate of the organization; and 2) service integration, or whether child welfare organizations and other services such as children's mental health are integrated. Other organizational factors proposed by the theoretical and empirical literature as salient to understanding child welfare decisions were included in the analyses (e.g., proportion of investigations of Indigenous children). Secondary data analysis of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect – 2013 was conducted. A subsample of 4949 investigations from 16 agencies was included in this study. Multi-level modeling was used to test the relative contribution of case and organizational factors to the referral decision. The results confirm the importance of clinical factors to child welfare decisions. Differences in organizational structure also influence the decision to refer clients to treatment and supportive services. Investigations conducted at agencies with a specialist structure were less likely to include a referral to other services, while investigations at multiservice agencies were more likely to include a referral. The proportion of investigations regarding Indigenous children influenced the decision to refer. The study contributes to the limited empirical evidence regarding the association between organizational structure and decisions.

Employers\u2019 experience of employees with cancer: trajectories of complex communication

PurposeRemaining in paid work is of great importance for cancer survivors, and employers play a crucial role in achieving this. Return to work (RTW) is best seen as a process. This study aims to provide insight into (1) Dutch employers’ experiences with RTW of employees with cancer and (2) the employers’ needs for support regarding this process.MethodsThirty employer representatives of medium and large for-profit and non-profit organizations were interviewed to investigate their experiences and needs in relation to employees with cancer. A Grounded Theory approach was used.ResultsWe revealed a trajectory of complex communication and decision-making during different stages, from the moment the employee disclosed that they had been diagnosed to the period after RTW, permanent disability, or the employee’s passing away. Employers found this process demanding due to various dilemmas. Dealing with an unfavorable diagnosis and balancing both the employer’s and the employee’s interests were found to be challenging. Two types of approach to support RTW of employees with cancer were distinguished: (1) a business-oriented approach and (2) a care-oriented approach. Differences in approach were related to differences in organizational structure and employer and employee characteristics. Employers expressed a need for communication skills, information, and decision-making skills to support employees with cancer.ConclusionsThe employers interviewed stated that dealing with an employee with cancer is demanding and that the extensive Dutch legislation on RTW did not offer all the support needed. We recommend providing them with easily accessible information on communication and leadership training to better support employees with cancer.Implications for cancer survivors• Supporting employers by training communication and decision-making skills and providing information on cancer will contribute to improving RTW support for employees with cancer.• Knowing that the employer will usually be empathic when an employee reveals that they have been diagnosed with cancer, and that the employer also experiences difficulties and dilemmas, might lower the threshold to discuss wishes regarding disclosure, communication, and work issues.• The interests of employer and employee in relation to RTW are interrelated; both have responsibility and a role to play, and are in need of support.

Commentaries on health services research

Commentaries on health services research

Urban School District–University Research Collaboration: Challenges and Strategies for Success

School district–university research collaborations represent one strategy to increase educators’ ability to use current, research-based information in program decision making and efforts to improve student achievement. However, differences in organizational structures, goals, values, and prior collaborative experiences have made successful school–university research partnerships challenging. This project intentionally structured and examined a mutually beneficial research collaboration between one small urban university with a significant percentage of first-generation college-going students and two local school districts (P-12) to examine high school math achievement and subsequent college math success. One partnership successfully conducted the study and identified actions to increase student success. The other was successful only to the point of partial data collection. This article describes the structures, mechanisms, and conditions that led to the successful partnership and compares them with the unsuccessful one. It contributes to our understanding of developing effective, mutually beneficial school–university research collaborations to improve student outcomes.

Questioning Kaufman: How Cross‐Level Political Coalitions Interact with Organizational Structure

AbstractHerbert Kaufman's The Forest Ranger is considered a landmark study of how organizations can be structured to elicit compliance from field officials, yet there have been few attempts to validate Kaufman's claims. The author argues that the outcomes observed by Kaufman resulted from interplay between organizational structure and political context—a variable that Kaufman ignored. This argument is supported by case studies of two agencies with structures similar to Kaufman's U.S. Forest Service but poorer outcomes: the same agency today and India's forest departments. Both differences in organizational structure and poorer outcomes are found to be the result of political context. Specifically, coalitions assembled around agencies use the implementation process to shape outcomes in ways that could not be accomplished solely through changing laws or formal administrative structure. This points to the importance of building supportive field‐level coalitions to complement administrative reforms.

The Relation Between Policy Types and Organizational Structures in U.S. Federal Agencies

This study classifies U.S. federal agencies into five types, based on Lowi’s well-known policy scheme. It constructs and tests five hypotheses to identify any structural differences in formalization, span of control, headquarters ratio, and personnel mobility between five types of agencies. The five hypotheses were generally confirmed. One important contribution of this study is that it made the first attempt to do hypothesis testing on Lowi’s agency types. Another contribution of this research is in its sub-classification of Lowi’s fourth category, constituent agencies, into staff and foreign defense agencies. According to the data analyses, each type of these agencies had distinctive organizational structures compared with other types. This legitimizes the sub-classification of constituent agencies. Consequently, this study argues that any significant differences in organizational structures were contingent on the type of policy mission pursued by an agency. Thus, civil service reformers should carefully consider various structural elements that are contingent on the type of agency when implementing reforms.

Book Review: Handbook for student affairs in community colleges by Tull, A., Kuk, L., &amp; Dalpes, P. (Eds.)

Tull, A., Kuk, L, & Dalpes, P. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook for student affairs in community colleges. Sterling, VA: Stylus. 376 pp. US$95 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-62036-203-7 US$45 (paper). ISBN 978-1-62036-204-4 US$35.99 (eBook). ISBN 978-1-62036-206-8.The Handbook for Affairs in Community Colleges describes the role of student affairs administrators in the community college setting. Editors Tull, Kuk, and Dalpes collaborated with an array of 28 authors to identify the nuances of student affairs in community colleges using historical context, theoretical frameworks, contemporary issues, and current best practices. Each contributor is an accomplished community college administrator or university faculty member whose research is based on the community college setting.From inception to today, community colleges have filled in the gaps providing access to students with wide-ranging academic backgrounds and aspirations. To this end, student affairs professionals address student needs that vary greatly. This book details the organizational, financial, and population differences for administrators in community college student affairs.The text begins with a dedication from the editors and foreword by Arthur Cohen on behalf of the late Florence Brawer. Following this, the preface addresses the intended audience, statement of need, contribution to literature, and chapter authors. This 17-chapter volume is arranged in four parts: and Contemporary Developments, and Leading Affairs in Community College Settings, Student Affairs Programs and Services, and Future of Affairs in the Community College.Part One: Historical and Contemporary Developments is comprised of two chapters providing an overview of student affairs in the community college. The chapters link demographics to social movements creating a vivid picture of the changing climate within the student affairs profession. Comparative data for 4-year public and private colleges provide a glimpse of the unique and highly diverse nature of the community college. The section begins with an introduction to the seminal texts and theories guiding student affairs work, linking them to the attributes of today's community college students. Later, the discussion goes beyond demographic information to capture what students hope to achieve and the factors affecting these goals. This section provides current examples of best practices, including the role the community college has in the evolving landscape of student development theory with particular attention to millennial students.Part Two: Organizing and Leading Affairs in Community College Settings is composed of eight chapters, which highlight leadership from a variety of perspectives. The text uses organizational theory to frame how differences in organizational structure and leadership affect student affairs and the community college as a whole. Strategies to improve the functionality and impact of student affairs offices are identified. The suggestions provide effective, real world possibilities in an era of limited budgets and high accountability. The perspective of the senior student affairs officer (SSAO) is captured from the viewpoints of president and practitioner. Part Two uses case studies to illustrate effective institutional change and highlights the financial challenges present for student affairs. A recurring theme in Part Two is the importance of collaboration to fulfill both academic and student affairs needs of the community college. Emergent themes include relationship building, mission support, and advocacy as an expert in student development. The authors look beyond financial challenges to identify evolving methods of funding, including development and the rise of the auxiliary enterprise on community college campuses. A comprehensive review of legal issues using community college litigation highlights areas in which the community college may be at risk. …

Turnover following a crisis in Israel's nonprofits

Purpose – Involvement is a basic element in successful crisis management. Crisis solutions cannot be advanced when notions of “politics of self actualization” among volunteers and paid staff prevail because they generate turnover; the study seeks to: distinguish between nonprofits that have or have not experienced crisis; control their differences in organizational structure; measure the level of involvement of active – paid and volunteer – members; and assess differences in turnover behavior between paid staff and volunteers separately for nonprofits that experienced and those which did not – a crisis. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The questionnaires were distributed in 164 social organizations which operate in Israel. It was distributed to the employees at their workplace, and they were asked to fill it out completely. Also, the respondents were assured that the questionnaire was intended for research purposes only and that it would be anonymous. A total of 164 su...

Using statistical and machine learning to help institutions detect suspicious access to electronic health records.

ObjectiveTo determine whether statistical and machine-learning methods, when applied to electronic health record (EHR) access data, could help identify suspicious (ie, potentially inappropriate) access to EHRs.MethodsFrom EHR access logs and other organizational data collected over a 2-month period, the authors extracted 26 features likely to be useful in detecting suspicious accesses. Selected events were marked as either suspicious or appropriate by privacy officers, and served as the gold standard set for model evaluation. The authors trained logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM) models on 10-fold cross-validation sets of 1291 labeled events. The authors evaluated the sensitivity of final models on an external set of 58 events that were identified as truly inappropriate and investigated independently from this study using standard operating procedures.ResultsThe area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the models on the whole data set of 1291 events was 0.91 for LR, and 0.95 for SVM. The sensitivity of the baseline model on this set was 0.8. When the final models were evaluated on the set of 58 investigated events, all of which were determined as truly inappropriate, the sensitivity was 0 for the baseline method, 0.76 for LR, and 0.79 for SVM.LimitationsThe LR and SVM models may not generalize because of interinstitutional differences in organizational structures, applications, and workflows. Nevertheless, our approach for constructing the models using statistical and machine-learning techniques can be generalized. An important limitation is the relatively small sample used for the training set due to the effort required for its construction.ConclusionThe results suggest that statistical and machine-learning methods can play an important role in helping privacy officers detect suspicious accesses to EHRs.

A Comparison of Organizational Structure and Pedagogical Approach: Online versus Face-to-face

This paper examines online versus face-to-face organizational structure and pedagogy in terms of education and the teaching and learning process. The author distinguishes several important terms related to distance/online/e-learning, virtual learning and brick-and-mortar learning interactions and concepts such as asynchronous and synchronous interactions, etc, before deliberating on perceived differences in organizational structure and pedagogical approaches of virtual and brick-and-mortar schools by examining organizational structure, knowledge and pedagogical theories, ideas, and constructs. The roles of mission, vision, and other considerations that contribute to differences between virtual and brick-and-mortar schools are examined. The appropriateness of structure and pedagogy as related to variables such as class size, span of control, and several other factors is discussed. The benefits and drawbacks of both virtual and brick-and-mortar schools are assessed in terms of perceived effectiveness and relation to perceived organizational structural and pedagogical differences before the author presents an informed response to the major thesis of this paper based on pertinent literature and the foregone discussion. After recognizing prevailing practices with regard to organizational structure and pedagogy, and given the pertinent role of technology and several influencing factors such as leadership, and curriculum, among other factors in virtual and brick-and-mortar schools, several recommendations are presented for improving the teaching-learning process.

Gender Differences In Organizational Structure And Corporate Culture Preferences

The study aimed at establishing gender differences in the choice of organizational structure and corporate culture on a sample of 108 employees (males = 54, females = 54). It was seen that males prefer formalization and response culture while women give an edge to centralized organizations with an environment that promotes relationship culture. It was also noted that both males and females were least inclined to work in an organization with controlled culture.