Technical Support Staff Research Articles

The impact of work and organizational characteristics on the health status, job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions of workers in an information service industry

Based on the conceptual model of "healthy work organization", we conducted a questionnaire survey of 612 Japanese workers in an information service industry company to investigate the effect of work stressors and organizational characteristics on workers' health status, job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions from July to August 2001. The response rate was 96.2%. For the statistical analysis, data on 488 computer technical support staff were used. To grasp the occupational stressors, we used a focus group to clarify work stressors and organizational characteristics. After factor analysis, we identified seven factors composed of 29 items and created seven scales of work and organizational characteristics. As scales of "organizational characteristics", "insufficient evaluation system", "undeveloped management system", and "career and future ambiguity" were used. The remaining scales, "poor coworker support", "poor supervisor support", "insufficient office amenities" and "high job demands and control", were used as scales of "work and workplace characteristics". The results of multiple regression analysis showed significant relevance of organizational characteristics to health status, job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions of workers. They supported "healthy work organizations" as useful conceptual tools for the study of organizational health.

Profile of veterinarians and veterinary practice in Ghana.

This paper presents a profile of veterinary practice and veterinarians in Ghana, as assessed through secondary data and a questionnaire. In all, 123 veterinarians responded, giving a response rate of 85%. (123/145). Analysis of the secondary data from 1986-95 revealed that Veterinary Livestock Units (VLU) per veterinarian ranged from 10000 to 16000 and VLU per technical support staff ranged from 2000 to 3000. However, the distribution of the staff within the country was poor, resulting in very high ratios for the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Volta Regions and low ratios for Central, Ashanti and Eastern Regions. The bulk of the respondents (78%) had 15 or fewer years of experience. with the overall mean being 12 years. The most common animal species handled were small ruminants and the most common activities were prevention/treatment of worms, surgery and giving advice. Lack of transport ranked highest among the constraints to veterinary work. The perceived determinants of effective and efficient service delivery were the availability and efficiency of means of transport, adequacy of logistics, remuneration for staff in rural posts and farmer education in husbandry practices. The respondents perceived poor management techniques of farmers and lack of credit as major factors hindering livestock production in Ghana. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.

Dietitians in New South Wales: workforce trends 1984-2000.

Complete surveys of the dietetic workforce in NSW were conducted in 1984 and 1991 and have now been updated with a new survey in 2000. In the nine years since 1991, the total active workforce grew by 48%. Although there were significant improvements in the ratios of hospital dietitians per 100 acute beds (from 0.88 to 1.08) and dietitians per million population (from 69.7 to 96.5), the supply of dietitians does not yet reach recommended levels, especially in rural areas. Other trends were significant increases in the proportion of dietitians employed outside hospitals (to 38% in 2000) and in non-clinical work (50% in 2000), and declines in the number of technical support staff for dietitians.

Role of the man–machine interface in accident management strategies

First, this paper gives a short general review on important safety issues in the field of man–machine interaction as expressed by important nuclear safety organisations. Then follows a summary discussion on what constitutes a modern Man–Machine Interface (MMI) and what is normally meant with accident management and accident management strategies. Furthermore, the paper focuses on three major issues in the context of accident management. First, the need for reliable information in accidents and how this can be obtained by additional computer technology. Second, the use of procedures is discussed, and basic MMI aspects of computer support for procedure presentation are identified followed by a presentation of a new approach on how to computerise procedures. Third, typical information needs for characteristic end-users in accidents, such as the control room operators, technical support staff and plant emergency teams, is discussed. Some ideas on how to apply virtual reality technology in accident management is also presented.

Interventional Bronchoscopy

Interventional Bronchoscopy Edited by C.T. Bolliger and P.N. Mathur. Switzerland: Karger, 2000, 257 pp., $172.25. The field of interventional bronchoscopy is rapidly progressing. With this new growth, pulmonologists, especially interventional bronchoscopists, must keep abreast of the rapid developments in technology and the various techniques of therapeutic modalities. Because most of the indications, contraindications, and techniques of endobronchoscopic modalities are still evolving, together with a new generation of pulmonologists trying to gain experience in this field, this book by Bolliger and Mathur could not have come at a better time. It is an excellent, concise monograph encompassing the field of interventional bronchoscopy from the days of development of the bronchoscope to its modern use in various endobronchial diseases.emtpy The book is organized into five sections. The first section begins with the general aspects of bronchoscopy starting from its inception, from the days of Killian to the present day of modern bronchoscopy. With the forgotten art of rigid bronchoscopy, Dr. John Beamis has written an outstanding review on the modern use of the rigid bronchoscope. The various techniques of performing rigid bronchoscopy are supplemented with stepwise illustrations of the actual technique. The next chapter deals with the expertise, personnel, and equipment required as well as the maintenance of this equipment, making this chapter a must-read for the technical support staff of a bronchoscopy suite. The last two chapters in this section deal with the functional evaluation of the patient before and after endoscopy. This includes administration of anesthesia and preoperative evaluation for interventional bronchoscopy. How these investigations impact interventional strategies, technical success rates, and outcome is discussed at length.emtpy The second section deals with diagnostic bronchoscopy, including techniques of transbronchial needle aspiration and endobronchial ultrasound. The technique of transbronchial needle aspiration is very well explained by leading authorities in this field. Color figures and line diagrams add a great deal to this chapter. The authors think that the reader would acquire a better understanding, greater confidence, and improved yield with this important diagnostic tool. The evolving role of endobronchial ultrasound in airway and mediastinal diseases is depicted beautifully in the figures, which are very well described in the legends. The description clearly illustrates the addition of a new technique in pulmonologists' armamentarium and its research potential.emtpy The third section consists of thorough discussions of various therapeutic endobronchoscopic techniques, including foreign body removal, laser therapy, electrocautery, argon plasma coagulator, cryotherapy , brachytherapy, photodynamic therapy, and placement of tracheobronchial stents. All these techniques are very well described by well-known authorities on these techniques. The precise description of techniques is complemented with color photographs and references. The concluding chapter, which is certainly a highlight of this section, deals with the multimodality treatment of lung cancer, and it gives a concise and excellent review of managing terminal cancer by combining the traditional methods, like radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with the new endobronchial therapeutic modalities. The chapter adequately illustrates the role of endoscopic procedures in the management of advanced lung cancer. Although the authors briefly describe the role of flexible bronchoscopy in endoscopic procedures, better-detailed descriptions of actual techniques and safeguards would have been more appropriate because most of the centers still lack the expertise of using the rigid bronchoscope.emtpy The fourth section deals with the new techniques coming into the realm of pulmonologists and intensivists. The chapter on percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy and long-term transtracheal oxygen therapy are precise, easy to read, and supported by properly placed figures and tables that are helpful to the beginner. The reader will also be happy to see the chapter on image-guided interventional procedures in the thorax, which also adequately compares the yield of these procedures to those of traditional procedures.emtpy The last section deals with the potential future uses of bronchoscopy and includes autofluorescence bronchoscopy, virtual bronchoscopy, and the use of optical, diagnostic, and therapeutic technologies in pulmonary medicine and gene therapy in lung cancer. The illustration of virtual bronchoscopic images provides the reader with a practical approach, which in the future may take the place of conventional bronchoscopy as the standard of evaluating bronchial lesions.emtpy Apart from the lack of an adequate description of the use of flexible bronchoscopes in endobronchial therapeutic techniques, this book really provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of endobronchial therapeutic modalities and is highly recommended for those individuals who are currently performing the interventional procedures or who are planning to learn them in the future. This book is also recommended for pulmonologists who are not in the field of interventional bronchoscopy, but who want to learn about the various ways in which they can help their patients. Sandeep Mehrishi, M.D. Interventional Pulmonary Unit,Nassau University Medical Center,East Meadow, New York, U.S.A. Suhail Raoof, M.D. Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine,Nassau University Medical Center,East Meadow, New York, U.S.A.

Using information extraction and natural language generation to answer e-mail

This paper discusses the use of information extraction (IE) and natural language generation (NLG) in the design of an automated e-mail answering system. We analyse short free-form texts and generate a customised and linguistically motivated answer to frequently asked questions. We describe the approach and the design of a system currently being developed to answer e-mail in French regarding printer-related questions addressed to the technical support staff of our computer science department. A domain-dependent approach was preferred because precision is crucial in e-mail answering, as a wrong answer sent to a client can have negative consequences in terms of customer satisfaction.

Staffing the Reference Desk

Summary Reference librarians use various methods to deal with the demands of staffing the reference desk. As online catalogs become the norm, the lines between technical services and public services become blurred and personnel serve dual roles. Cross-training provides librarians with a better understanding of the entire research process and helps expand reference coverage. Some libraries use support staff as the initial patron contact to relieve reference librarians from answering routine and directional questions. A library must determine if the benefits of reference training for technical service librarians and support staff are worth the time required. With the advent of remote reference service, traditional ideas of reference must be reevaluated as libraries consider whether the conventional reference desk could go the way of the card catalog.

University Research Reactors: Issues and Challenges

University research reactors are underutilized and, as a result, are being decommissioned. The reason for the lack of utilization is shown to be a chronic inability to generate sufficient funds to procure and maintain state-of-the-art instrumentation for prospective researchers. The role of these reactors in nuclear science/engineering education is explored and the rationale for their continued operation is presented. It is argued that base financial support for both reactor operations and the technical support staff needed to interface with experimenters is necessary if these research facilities are not to be irretrievably lost from the educational infrastructure of the United States.

Voices of Hope, Voices of Cynicism: Using Q Methodology to Interpret Complex Attitudes towards Organizational Change

The metaphor of voice is wed to explore attitudes of members of a manufacturing firm enmeshed in a constant flux of leading edge change recommended by external consultants. Q methodology, complemented by a discursive perspective on organizing, provides a rich understanding of the dynamic processes surrounding workplace changes. Insights could be gleaned about the participants’ beliefs and assumptions and the origins of each point of view by intertwining qualitative and quantitative analyses, using ethnographic data to develop the Q instrument, and later returning to traditional ethnographic analysis to interpret the Q results. Two voices were of special interest because of their influence on the change process. A hopeful voice occurring throughout the organization enthusiastically supported the recommended changes. A second, more complex voice emanated from long-time union workers and technical support staff in the production areas who accepted hope, but were cynical regarding management's commitment to implementation of changes. These individuals expressed a desire to change, but indicated pressures that needed to be addressed to make changes possible.

Implementing Technical Innovations in the Curriculum

This is the second in a pair of articles originally written for the Computing in the Social Sciences conferences in 1997 and 1998. The first, “The Paradox of Paperless Classes,” examined our sometimes surprising experience in implementing a paperless class format (with a focus on courses that use a campuswide network to facilitate the electronic “handing in” and return of student work). The present article specifically addresses the utility of a dialogue between technical support staff and faculty interested in using computer technologies in their classes. The introduction of computing technologies into the classroom, often apparently simple on the surface, can actually increase the variables in the teaching environment an order of magnitude beyond what any otherwise prepared professor might expect. Maintaining clear lines of communication between faculty and technical support staff before and during a course is essential for the mitigation of problems as they arise in the process of a course. Debriefing after the course will help with all subsequent courses.

Extending Educational Computing

Teachers are crucial to the integration of technology for teaching and learning. This article discusses a school’s efforts in teacher development and support for technology over five years. Access was facilitated by allocating a laptop computer to each staff member. Concurrently, an in-house inservice program was offered. Reported personal use was extensive; teacher confidence level and skill improved markedly. However, use of computers in the classroom remained relatively low. Further measures were instituted, including a detailed five-year plan for information technology, network and hardware expansion, appointing more technical support staff, and introducing, then refining, a technology-coaches scheme with specified basic skills for all staff. Classroom use showed small but steady gains in amount and diversity. From this case, factors such as pedagogical beliefs and lack of a collaborative culture are identified as inhibiting implementation of technology in the classroom.

Computers in the Faculty of Health Science—5 years on

In 1989, the Faculty of Health Science at Central Queensland University (CQU) committed itself to a major instructional development project for its nursing education program. Partially supported by a National Priority (Reserve) Fund (NPRF) grant, the Faculty undertook a multi-year project to develop computer-based learning materials. The success of that project was mixed. However, by 1993 staff and students within the Faculty were using computers regularly, many of the staff were involved in developing computer-based instructional materials, and some staff were using available computer-based tools to extend the scope of the standard Health Science materials developed under the project. As well, the Faculty was committed to using Faculty funds for technical support staff to maintain its computer infrastructure and to assist both staff and students in using that infrastructure. The authors review the original NPRF project, then explore the Faculty's continued development and use of computer-based learning materials through an examination of student and staff evaluations, personal recollections, and subsequent projects. This paper demonstrates that the NPRF project spawned a number of other computer-based developments, including the offering of health informatics degree programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, the development of the Faculty's current Internet site and a CD-ROM based interactive multimedia project for diabetes education. It also demonstrates that moderate levels of funding can maintain a computer-literate Faculty which views computers as essential tools for learning.

Adaptation to difficult designs: Facilitating use of new technology

The interface between technology and people has long been the focus of human factors engineering. The past decade has been a growth period for cognitive psychologists and computer scientists to collaborate on research and design for human-computer interaction. Psychologists in general and organizational psychologists in particular can also contribute to this work with models that capture the dynamics of technology implementation and the impact of technology on people, their work and working relationships. Strategies to support and adapt technology can affect users' evaluation of new technology. Facilitation may take the form of job aids, training, access to technical support staff, or the design of a comprehensive service, of which new technology is only one component.

Heart Murmurs. If You Allow for Mistakes Costs Are Even Higher!

In Reply.— Dr Toews' thoughtful letter highlights an important assumption which we made in our analysis of costs of specific strategies in the evaluation of heart murmurs in children. The presumption is made that echocardiography is performed in a diagnostically definitive fashion so that diagnostic inaccuracies are not encountered in the echocardiography-first strategy. We agree that this presupposes the availability of echocardiographic equipment appropriate for use in infants and children, technical support staff with adequate training and ongoing experience, and experienced pediatric echocardiographers to interpret the images.

Cohort and nested case-control studies of hematopoietic cancers and brain cancer among electric utility workers.

Recent studies have raised concern about the potential health effects of occupational exposures to power frequency electric and magnetic fields. We evaluated cancer mortality for leukemia, brain cancer, and lymphoma from 1960 to 1988 in a cohort of 36,221 electric utility workers using cohort analyses and three nested case-control studies. From a volunteer sample of the current workforce that represented a variety of different occupations and work locations, we collected 776 days of magnetic field measurements. We derived exposure information from company job history information and developed exposure scores by linking job history data to measured magnetic fields. In job title analyses, we compared "electrical workers" with other field and craft occupations, office, and technical support staff. Age-specific cancer rates for electrical and reference workers were similar. "Electrical workers" had rate ratios or odds ratios ranging from 0.7 to 1.4. Most ratios were close to 1.0. Lymphomas were slightly elevated compared with leukemias and brain cancers (ratios of 0.9-1.4 vs 0.7-1.2, respectively). Odds ratios for magnetic field exposure indices, based on scores for the mean, median, 99th percentile, and fractions exceeding 10 milligauss and 50 milligauss, were all close to or less than 1.0. The interval estimates indicate no strong association but are somewhat limited by imprecision.

Organizing Moves in Software Support Hot Lines

Brian T. Pentland, University of California, Los Angeles This paper introduces the concept of the move as a unit of analysis in technical service interactions and uses it as the basis for a theory of organizational knowledge. Data from six months of participant observation at two software support hot lines were analyzed inductively to identify a core set of moves with which technical support specialists respond to customer calls. When a specialist cannot respond to a call alone, he or she has to get help from others or give the call away. The moves specialists use in these situations both reflect and enact the structure of the organization: transferring a call reflects division of labor, escalating a call reflects hierarchy, and so on. By allowing the technical support staff to accomplish work collectively they could not do individually, organizing moves embody the distinctively organizational aspect of the collective performance. If we adopt a pragmatic definition of knowledge as situated performance rather than abstract representation, then organizing moves are a logical foundation for a theory of organizational knowledge.'

Creating A New Classification System for Technical and Supervisory Library Support Staff

Creating A New Classification System for Technical and Supervisory Library Support Staff

Intergroup conflict and conflict management in the R&D divisions of four aerospace companies

The author examined the intergroup conflict between R&D managers and non-managers in four aerospace companies, as well as the relationship between each of the five conflict-handling modes: competition, accommodation, sharing, collaboration, and avoidance, with the following variables: conflict frequency, job satisfaction, and job performance. The research findings indicate that intergroup conflicts were in the areas of goals, reward, control, authority, and insufficient assistance from technical support staff. Furthermore, intergroup conflict and conflict management were found to have both positive and negative consequences. Competition and avoidance were found to have exacerbated the frequency of conflict, and they had a negative impact on performance. Collaboration was found to have ameliorated the frequency of conflict, and it had a rather high positive impact on performance. Both sharing and accommodation were found to be inconsistently related to conflict frequency, and they had an inconsistent impact on performance. For three organizations, job satisfaction was negatively related to conflict frequency and avoidance while it was negatively related to accommodation based on one sample of subjects from one organization only. Competition, sharing, and collaboration were not found to be significantly related to job satisfaction. >

Evaluation of activities in the health services.

For planning or co-ordinating health services it is necessary to have reference points for evaluating similar departments in which homogeneous or equivalent activities are carried out. It is also necessary to consider the cost/benefit of the services. The paper presents several new indices of performance which may be applied to this problem and which enable quantitative comparisons to be made between hospitals and between departments. These indices include assessment of electrical hazards and service ability of equipment as well as the ratio of technical support staff to inpatient stay. The indices have been evaluated in a few large hospitals and found to be an effective management tool.

Every manager is an information systems manager now, or, managing user-controlled information systems

There are many examples of microcomputer based information systems built and operated by people in the departments using the systems - people who are not information systems professionals. When such “user-controlled systems” are used for departmental (as distinguished from individual) purposes, they are in effect miniature Information Systems Departments (ISDs), with all of the managerial and technical problems of such departments. The manager of the user department is, willy-nilly, an information systems manager, with all of the problems of the manager of the main ISD, and with little or no technical support staff. These problems require solutions in the microcomputer environment which are often different from the standard mainframe solutions, and in many cases the ISD staff has not developed appropriate microcomputer solutions. This paper reviews the relevant literature, most of which takes the Information Services Department point of view, gives examples of microcomputer-specific solutions to common information systems problems, and suggests ways in which the ISD can provide better support to managers of user-controlled departmental information systems.