Processes In Social Systems Research Articles

Opinions of Literature Teachers Related to Academic Training, In-Service Training and Organizational Socialization Process.

One of the utmost important functions of Turkish Education system is to teach Turkish Language at pre-schools, elementary schools, junior high schools and higher education institutions effectively. In this respect, at high schools which comprise the secondary schools, it is clear that Turkish Language and Literature teachers have paramount roles. In terms of Turkish language education, the principal function of junior high schools is to help students acquire skills in using Turkish efficiently, which is one of the ways of transferring national culture to students. Including the above mentioned reasons, the purpose of this study was to assess the views of Turkish Literature teachers on their academic training, in-service training and organizational socialization process that were sources for university education in terms of teaching Turkish language effectively. In the present study, 92 literature teachers carrying on their duties at primary high schools in 2013-2014 school-year in the province of Erzincan were interviewed on their professional socialization variables. Seventy-five teachers participated in a pre-test conducted in order to determine validity and reliability of “Literature Teachers Professional Socialization Variables Scale” used in the study. The results of the pre-test showed that in the multi-factor scale, total variance of the factors is 49.636%, while the reliability varies between 78.9 and 87.3%. According to the findings of the study, literature teachers stated that their “academic training”, “in-service training” and “organizational socialization” practices ranked between “low and medium”. The results of the study revealed that the pre-service training conducted just before teaching was far from adapting teachers effectively into teaching. In parallel with these results of the research, it was suggested that a career system promoting the leadership skills in teaching should be adopted by literature teachers. Key words: Junior high school, literature teacher, professional socialization, academic training, in-service training, organizational socialization.

Personality Differences in Organisational Socialisation Tactics

Abstract The demographic shifts, the increased workforce mobility, and the shortage of skilled workers have led to a new thinking within human resource management. To address this issue, organisations adapt their methods towards a higher focus on their employees. The purpose of this paper is therefore the identification of organisational socialisation tactics, which are classified into the individualized socialisation strategy and the institutionalised socialisation strategy. Studies show that the institutionalised socialisation strategy causes better results in terms of newcomer adjustment than the individualized socialisation strategy. In this context, the instiutionalised socialization strategy determines that organisations consider newcomers’ personalities and demographic characteristics. The results of this paper support this argument and reveal that students in the DACH region differ in their organisational socialisation preferences. In other words, a well-structured organisational socialisation process, which considers newcomers’ personalities can lead to a competitive advantage for organisations.

THRESHOLD EFFECTS IN THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROCESSES. SOCIAL-ENERGY APPROACH

The purpose of this research was to investigate the threshold effects in the social and political processes through the creation mathematical model of the social system. Method or the methodology of the work: As the basic approach used by the author's socio-energy approach. The method is based equation stream of social energy through the system, then the model is based on nonlinear dynamic system with application the ideas of fractal geometry to calculate the individual elements of the structures, as well as the Langevin equation to account for fluctuations in the social and political processes. Using this equation is created a model of the communication of the field that describes interaction of individuals in society As a result, on the basis of created the mathematical theory of a computer modeling of the impact of the information of one social system to another, which has revealed pattern of such processes as reflexivity, and also the presence of characteristic peaks (bifurcation points). The area of application of the results: in modeling and forecasting processes in social systems in the conditions of the information wars.

Transmission of cultural traits in layered ego-centric networks

Although a number of models have been developed to investigate the emergence of culture and evolutionary phases in social systems, one important aspect has not yet been sufficiently emphasized. This is the structure of the underlaying network of social relations serving as channels in transmitting cultural traits, which is expected to play a crucial role in the evolutionary processes in social systems. In this paper we contribute to the understanding of the role of the network structure by developing a layered ego-centric network structure based model, inspired by the social brain hypothesis, to study transmission of cultural traits and their evolution in social network. For this model we first find analytical results in the spirit of mean-field approximation and then to validate the results we compare them with the results of extensive numerical simulations.

Organizational socialization in the first three years of nursing profession: strategies to decrease turnover intention

In the first years of nursing profession, new-graduate nurses' turnover intention is a relevant issue due to both the tangible and intangible costs it generates to health care organizations, such as selection and recruitment costs, ward team burden in the onboarding process and the possibility to enhance ward team stability in order to provide an effective and safe nusing care. Organizational socialization is the main factor involved in these dynamics of turnover intention in the first years of nursing profession. This study aims to identify the main factors involved in the organizational socialization process to reduce turnover intention in the first 3 years of nursing profession. 101 new-graduate nurses have been enrolled within the first three years of nursing profession. They have been stratified looking at tenure and years in nursing. Organizational Socialization Inventory scale has been used to assess the onboarding process and 4 items to assess turnover intention. Turnover intention is of 23% in the first year in nursing, and it's over the 26% starting from the second year. The onboarding process explains over the 26% of the variance in turnover intention, and over the 36% in the sub-sample with a stable tenure. Unstable tenured nurses prefer to acquire those competences useful to perform their work, while stable tenure nurses aim to search for professional growth opportunities and integration in the ward-team, in order to reduce turnover intention. Turnover intention is relevant in the first three years of nursing profession. According to the different tenure, different strategies are necessary to plan an effective onboarding process and enhance nursing retention.

Settling In: A Study of Factors Contributing to Network Development and Socialization of Newcomers

While much research on organizational socialization has considered the influences and outcomes of organizational tactics and newcomer proactivity on newcomer adjustment, only limited work has focused specifically on the role of workplace network formation as a mechanism within the organizational socialization process. In this study we propose that network formation is a key element of newcomer socialization. Through a series of interviews with a cohort of new faculty members, we identify seven organizational and individual factors that contribute to the formation of such networks. Further, we find that the interaction between these factors can have important implications for newcomers' sense of integration, develop a typology that encapsulates variations in this interaction, and suggest that organizational tactics may have a greater influence than individual efforts on the formation of newcomer networks. Through this research, we provide a theoretical foundation for future inquiries on newcomer network formation, and practical guidance to organizations on how to support the formation of newcomer networks and enhance the organizational socialization process.

Making Use of Organizational Insiders' Resources: An Interactive Model of Newcomer Socialization

In this manuscript, we reframe the organizational socialization process using a resource-based framework and suggest that the organizational socialization process can be understood as a process through which newcomers get access to and make use of organizational insiders' resources, including their human capital, social capital and psychological capital. Our theoretical model indicates that organizational insiders' resources would positively relate to the newcomers' socialization effectiveness. In addition, we also propose that the effect of organizational insiders' resources on newcomers' socialization effectiveness is moderated by newcomers' proactive personality as well as organizational insiders' support.

The effects of career plateaued workers on in-group members’ perceptions of P-O fit

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects on in-group members of an influential worker's response to being in a state of career plateau. Design/methodology/approach – Using the concepts of the career plateau, person-organization fit, and organizational climate, a set of propositions is presented and discussed relative to the influential worker's response. A model is presented to illustrate the effects and the components involved. Findings – An influential career plateaued worker can affect the in-group he or she is associated with. An ineffectively plateaued worker is not only low in productivity, but also resorts to such negative behavior as absenteeism, withdrawal, and frequent job changes. When noticed by other in-group members, such behavior can affect their attitudes and behaviors. Practical implications – The organizational socialization process can counter the effects of the otherwise influential ineffectively career plateaued person's response. This is possible if the socialization process is strong enough to overcome (or complement) certain personal characteristics of the in-group members and their association with the career plateaued person by creating an environment where career progress, performance expectations, and role expectations are clear. Originality/value – The paper develops an original model based on a set of theory-based propositions that is of value to both academicians and practitioners.

THE INTERSECTIONS OF GENDER AND POWER IN WOMEN VETERANS’ EXPERIENCES OF SUBSTANCE USE AND VA CARE

In this article, we show that the Veterans Health Administration (VA), similar to military organizations, is a gendered organization where women Veterans’ experiences are embedded in and shaped by gender inequalities and structures of power. Based on an in‐depth analysis of women Veterans’ substance use histories and VA treatment seeking experiences, we illustrate how gender power dynamics are (re)produced and maintained through everyday social interactions and organizational practices and processes that render women Veterans both visible and invisible: visible as sexual objects and invisible as suffering subjects. By retelling the illness and treatment experiences of women Veterans with trauma histories and co‐occurring substance use and mental health disorders—a highly stigmatized population of Veterans—we highlight the importance of giving voice to their concerns when developing policies and programs to address the unique health care needs of women Veterans.

State Formation, Administrative Areas, and Thing Sites in the Borgarthing Law Province, Southeast Norway

This paper discusses some consequences of the state-formation processes on the thing organization in the Borgarthing law province in southeast Norway, between the 11th and 14th centuries. The aim is to identify and discuss thing sites in relation to social organization and regionalization processes related to power structures and the emerging supra-regional kingdom. The study explores two spatial levels—a regional level and a lower administrative level—through a case study of an Old Norse skipreia unit. Questions about territoriality, stability, and change will be discussed, particularly regarding the king's shifting influence in the Borgarthing law province.

Integrating Theories inAMJArticles

Academy of Management JournalVol. 56, No. 4 From the EditorsIntegrating Theories in AMJ ArticlesKyle J. Mayer and Raymond T. SparroweKyle J. MayerUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWashington University and Raymond T. SparroweUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWashington UniversityPublished Online:26 Jul 2013https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.4004AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleREFERENCES Argyres N. S. , Zenger T. R. 2012. Capabilities, transaction costs, and firm boundaries. Organization Science, 23: 1643–1657. Google Scholar Blau P. 1964. Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. Google Scholar Brass D. J. 1984. Being in the right place: A structural analysis of individual influence in an organization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29: 518–539. Google Scholar Bunderson J. S. 2003. 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Google Scholar Weber L. , Mayer K. J. 2011. Designing effective contracts: Exploring the influence of framing and expectations. Academy of Management Review, 36: 53–75.Link , Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byNew Ways of Seeing: Radical TheorizingSucheta Nadkarni, Marc Gruber, Katy DeCelles, Brian Connelly and Markus Baer5 March 2018 | Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 61, No. 2 Vol. 56, No. 4 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 26 July 2013 Published in print 1 August 2013 Information© Academy of Management JournalDownload PDF

Kierkegaard and Indirect Communication

Scholars have largely overlooked philosopher Soren Kierkegaard’s thoughts on occupational, vocational, and work topics, although he did concern himself with occupational topics. This theoretical piece explores Kierkegaard’s concept of “leveling” ( Nivelleringen), connecting it to human resource development (HRD) and organizational socialization processes, which are often conducted by HRD departments. Organizational socialization is important as it provides newcomers with functional and cultural information. Similar to the concept of leveling, however, organizational socialization can provide employees with taken-for-granted socially constructed definitions of the self. This article proposes expanding edification and capability for individuals in the workplace via Kierkegaardian indirect communication in HRD and organizational socialization practices.

Socializing to Co-Produce

Success rates of behavior change counseling programs (e.g., weight loss, smoking cessation, and debt management), where consumers seek to overcome their destructive habits and enhance well-being, are very low. Characterized by extended and complex service encounters, the providers of these programs face the challenge of gaining consumers’ compliance to adhere to the programs’ requirements and turning these consumers into effective co-producers of the service outcomes. This study investigates the process of customer organizational socialization in these programs, how it may promote co-production behaviors, and thus enhance consumers’ well-being as well as satisfaction with the organization. The context of debt management programs is used to test the model. Data were obtained from 364 clients of a major credit counseling organization in the United States. The results reveal the differential effects of three aspects of socialization (role clarity, task mastery, and goal congruence) on three different types of consumer co-production behaviors (compliance, individual initiative, and civic virtue). Overall, compliance has the greatest contribution to well-being, while both compliance and individual initiative enhance satisfaction with the organization. Furthermore, consumers with a higher or lower ongoing dependence on the organization have different routes to well-being, with the high-dependence group relying on individual initiative, and the low-dependence group favoring compliance. This study contributes to the literature of co-production, organizational socialization, and consumers’ well-being by showing how these three streams are connected. Managerial and policy implications focus on the need for these organizations to include efforts to ensure that consumers are effectively socialized into the program.

Transnational Institutional Ethnography: Tracing Text and Talk beyond State Boundaries

Purpose: In this article I provide a rich account of how I utilized and critically applied the research strategy of institutional ethnography to investigate transnational processes of legislative standardization. The text at the center of this inquiry is a model law that was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to create omnibus HIV/AIDS laws across West and Central Africa (2005-2010). Expanding upon the sociological approach of institutional ethnography, my research method is best understood as a transnational institutional ethnography (TIE). This article provides a case study of TIE for those interested in ethnographically exploring transnational processes across diverse institutional settings. Design/Methodology/Approach: The complex legislative process being investigated was made visible through the use of participant observation, archival research, textual analysis, and informant interviews with national and international stakeholders (n=32). This research strategy involved ethnographic data collection in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Austria, South Africa, and Senegal (2010-2011). Findings: In this article a methodological discussion is offered focusing upon the everyday actualities of conducting transnational research in diverse environments, including cafes, conferences, courtrooms, and activist gatherings. I provide an account of (a) the complex institutional sites from which a research problematic may emerge; (b) challenges and opportunities when conducting interviews and identifying informants; (c) the importance of accounting for matters of geography and interview location in one's study design; and (d) the work of knowing where to look, what to read, and who to talk with during the iterative process of research and discovery. Originality/Value: Moving beyond state-based organizational relations, a focus which is predominant in most institutional ethnographies, in this article I explicate the research process undertaken to ethnographically interrogate complex processes of transnational social organization and translocal text-mediated relations. Methodological insights and lessons learned regarding the experience of conducting transnational ethnographic research are provided.

"Multiple Supports, Commitment, Citizenship Behaviors, and Passive Leadership at the Hospital"

Purpose: This paper examines the moderating role of passive leadership in the relationships of perceived support from organization, coworkers, and physicians to affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among hospital employees. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 182 hospital employees and a time-lagged design in which predictors and moderator were assessed at Time 1 and self-reported OCB was obtained 2.5 years later, we examined whether passive leadership moderated the relationships of perceived supports to commitment and their indirect effects on OCB. Findings: Analyses reveal that passive leadership is associated with a weaker relationship between perceived supports and commitment and that perceived support from coworkers and physicians were indirectly related to OCB only when supervisors displayed low passive leadership. Research limitations/implications: Although data were self-reported, our analyses show that method variance account for only 6% of the variance among constructs. Findings contribute to highlight the boundary conditions associated with perceived support and establish that passive leadership severely limits the beneficial effects expected from support available to employees. Practical implications: Findings suggest that supervisors should be trained not only on improving positive leadership skills but also on reducing passive behaviors in the face of problems in their teams. Originality/value: This study extends our understanding of social exchange processes in organizations and invites managers and researchers to look at factors that slow down the development of social exchange relationships with employees.

Professional baseball athletic trainers' perceptions of preparation for job-specific duties.

The extent to which individuals are prepared completely for work in a particular athletic training setting (eg, professional sports, college, high school) is unknown. This issue is critical today, and findings in this area have implications for athletic training education policy and employers. To determine the perceptions of preparation for work-specific tasks by professional baseball athletic trainers (PBATs). We also wanted to determine whether various preparation experiences interact with perceived skills. Cross-sectional study. Online survey administered via Survey-Monkey. Two hundred seventy-five PBATs. The PBATs reported their levels of preparation before employment in their positions and their current skills in each of the 8 work task domains: evaluation of elbow injuries; evaluation of shoulder injuries; evaluation of general injuries; acute care; injury prevention; treatment, rehabilitation, and reconditioning; organization and administration; and non-athletic-training tasks. Nine repeated-measures analyses of covariance were performed with each perception of preparation (retrospective, current) as a within-subject factor. Preparation experiences were included as between-subjects factors, and number of years working in baseball was the covariate. Subscale reliabilities were calculated and found to be between 0.79 and 0.97. A total of 180 PBATs (65%) completed the survey. The backgrounds and routes by which PBATs gained employment in the professional baseball setting varied. Individuals who completed professional baseball internships, had previous work experience, and immediately entered the professional baseball setting after graduation had noted differences in their perceptions of preparation for work tasks. The PBATs indicated they were substantially underprepared for tasks in the organization and administration and non-athletic-training task domains. The organizational socialization process is complex, and no 1 experience appears to completely prepare an individual for work in the professional baseball setting.

Le mentoring à la française : un processus informel, silencieux mais efficient

Résumé En France, on parle peu de mentoring qui figure pourtant en bonne place dans les pratiques anglo-saxonnes de développement RH. Une enquête conduite auprès de 402 managers montre que les apports enregistrés par les bénéficiaires français d’un mentoring informel existent bel et bien. Le mentoring informel constitue un gisement d’avenir qui s’inscrit dans un processus écologique et efficient de socialisation organisationnelle.

Personality and organisational commitment

PurposeThis study aims to test the mediating role of work satisfaction aspects, such as satisfaction with the work itself and satisfaction with human resource practices, in the relationship between the Big Five and organisational commitment.Design/methodology/approachData from 190 new police officers in a three‐wave longitudinal survey were analysed by structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsResults showed that: satisfaction with human resource practices completely mediated the relationship between openness to experience and normative commitment; satisfaction with the work itself completely mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and normative commitment whereas it partially mediated the relationship between extroversion and affective commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is focused on the police context. Future studies should investigate other contexts for comparison.Practical implicationsThe predictive effect of personality on both job satisfaction and organisational commitment has some practical utility with regard to selection practices. During the organisational entry process, organisations should monitor different aspects of job satisfaction in order to foster a positive environment for employees.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the process linking personality to job satisfaction and organisational commitment in a unique longitudinal model during the organisational socialisation process.

Instability, informal control, and criminogenic situations: community effects of returning prisoners

Incarceration, whose putative goal is the reduction of crime, may at higher concentrations actually increase crime by overwhelming neighborhoods with limited resources. The present research poses and provides initial support for an explanation of this paradoxical consequence of a crime control strategy. Specifically, we draw on two different lines of theoretical work to suggest that large numbers of returning prisoners may negatively impact a community’s economic and residential stability, limiting a community’s capacity for informal social control and resulting in labor market conditions conducive to criminal behavior. This study combines data on local social organization processes from a large survey of Seattle residents with contextual, crime, and incarceration data from the US Census, Seattle Police Department, and Washington State Department of Corrections. The results suggest that high concentrations of returning prisoners are associated with a reduced capacity for collective efficacy; the fostering of social situations conducive to criminal behavior; and higher levels of violent crime. The impact of incarceration on these neighborhood processes, however, appears to be largely indirect through the turmoil that concentrations of incarceration create in a neighborhood’s labor and housing markets. We conclude with a call for greater scrutiny of the goals and actual outcomes of incarceration policy.

Forging friendships: The use of collective pro-terms by pre-school children

This article discusses the ways in which a group of four-year-old children co-constructed friendship networks when they began primary school in Wales, UK. This discussion has emanated from a wider study of the everyday social interactions children engage in when new to their school environment. The children’s interactions were investigated through the use of an inductive, ethnomethodological approach through the combination of conversation analysis (CA) and membership categorization analysis (MCA). The transcriptions revealed that the children used the collective pro-terms ‘we’ and ‘us’ in order to explicate affiliations and exclusions with their peers in their everyday social interactions. These findings offer an insight into the daily social organization processes children engage in and suggests their preference for exclusive dyadic friendships. The article also reveals the social competencies which four-year-old children have in accomplishing social organization.