Performance Of Workers Research Articles

Validated foodservice training manual for supervisors with limited experience

The objective of this research project was to develop a useful, validated training manual to be used by supervisors in small foodservice operations and government-funded nutrition programs that do not have access to the services of a registered dietitian. The accuracy of the content was critiqued by an expert panel. The pilot phase was conducted at one congregate dining site to assess and revise problems involving evaluation design. The model phase evaluated the trainer's ability to use the manual and the worker's knowledge and performance as a result of training. Foodservice workers' scores after training were significantly higher than scores before training (p less than .01). Performance evaluations 4 weeks after training showed a significant positive change in work behavior (p less than .001) over evaluations before training. At 8 weeks a return to pretraining behavior was observed. The project showed that regular in-service training sessions conducted in short segments that are inexpensive and continuous would be valuable in any foodservice operation with limited access to dietitians. Benefits from such training include improved efficiency of food preparation and service, better quality of products produced, increased cost-effectiveness, and higher employee morale.

Workers Norms and Involuntary Unemployment

Consider the organizational environment of labor management wherein the firm can measure the average performance (i.e., group work norm) of its employees but has difficulty in observing the individual worker's performance within the group. Accordingly, the worker's remuneration is based on the observed group norm. Because of the way in which workers interact among themselves in setting work norms, there results an undersupply of effort from a given workforce size. Furthermore, the group work norm is shown to be negatively correlated with the size of the workforce. Consequently, short-run unemployment can arise with involuntary features. The paper also explores the effectiveness of alternative remuneration schemes in mitigating the inefficiency associated with the group work norm setting.

マイン・オンライン・システムの採用による深沢鉱山の近代化

Fukasawa Mine is a kuroko mine, developed and operated with a fully trackless sytem. The cut and fill method with artificial roofing is applied; about 20 drift headings spread throughout an area of 2.0km by 1.0km and are generally being worked on to produce 26, 500t of crude are per month. These drift driving works progress in cycles of drilling and blasting, mucking, and timber supporting.The development of Mine On-Line System (MOS) is composed of innovations on mining machines and underground communication; it aims to establish the optimum combination of workers, machines, and drift headings. Innovations in mining machines include the development of cross-cut jumbos, timbering machines, and scale-up of loaders. An innovation in underground communication is the adoption of the integrated underground communication system combined with a personal computer.A drastic improvement of worker's performance has already been observed and further improvement is expected.The mine production is scheduled to increase to 30, 000t per month in the near future, due essentially to the improvement of productivity as a result of the MOS project.

School Staff Input in the Evaluation of School Social Work Practice

Evaluations of school social work programs should take into account not only the outcome of intervention with students but the perceptions of school staff members. The authors report on a study analyzing the opinions of school personnel concerning the social worker's role and performance in a twenty-eight-district area.

Personal Motivation as a Criterion in Evaluating Social Work Practice

The personal motivations that guide, influence, or are associated with performance must be regarded as functionally irrelevant in evaluating a social worker's performance of social work functions. The relevant question is: Did the social worker do what a worker is expected to do in the fulfillment of professional responsibility?

Evaluation of Performance: Where Does It Fit In?

An evaluation of a school social worker's performance must include assessments of the practitioner's effectiveness as both a provider of services and as a member of an organization. In both types of assessment, emphasis should be on attainment of specific goals, not on general impressions.

An Empirical Study of the Role of Accounting Data in Performance Evaluation

Accounting systems are often the most important formal sources of information in industrial organizations. They are designed to provide all levels of management with timely and reasonably accurate information to help them make decisions which are in agreement with their organization's goals. It is therefore surprising to find reports that managers, in adapting to accounting systems, deliberately falsify the data and make decisions which may be detrimental to the long-term interests of the organization. Yet there are many such reports in the accounting literature. Many of the documented examples of falsification and dysfunctional decision making were an outgrowth of attempts to make the accounting reports a more favorable reflection of the manager's or the worker's performance. Whyte has described the ingenious attempts of a group of workers to obtain easier standards when their payments included a bonus based on these standards.1 Other investigators have noted the tendency of managers to pad their budgets either to make the reported variances more favorable or in anticipation of cuts by either superiors or accountants.2 Perhaps of even more concern to accountants are the numerous examples in the literature of managers making decisions in response to the accounting system, even though the decisions are contrary to the goals of the

Noise and emotional stress

A review of the literature devoted to noise and its effects upon human beings reveals several hundred papers devoted to this particular subject. It is, however, difficult to find significant agreement as to the most important effects of noise. Part of the problem is that one man's noise is another man's music. In addition, there are cultural and environmental factors which may make noise acceptable in one situation and unacceptable in another. Many studies conducted during the 1930's and 1940's concluded that noise was ruining public health, was increasing the incidence of mental disease and even interfered with the birth rate. Other investigators have claimed that background noise impaired the industrial worker's performance. Experimental laboratory studies have been generally unable to substantiate these claims because of multiple uncontrolled factors. Some writers even suggest that individuals perform tasks better in the presence of background noise. Physiological studies may be divided into those pertaining to the individual as a whole and to those affecting only the ear. In the study of general body functions, most of the experimental data indicate minimal changes in such measurements as basal metabolism rate, respiratory rate and muscle tension. Individuals adapt rather rapidly to exposure to noise, and changes in bodily function appear to be insignificant following such adaption. Similar results are noted with factors more difficult to measure, such as irritability and subjective fatigue. More is known about the effects of noise on the ear itself. Exposure to noise of sufficient loudness will interfere with communication and may produce transient hearing impairment or permanent loss of auditory function. In conclusion, noise may or not affect human behavior, depending on the type of noise and the type of behavior involved. There is no direct proof that the increasing noises of our civilization result in additional emotional stresses. However, it is likely that the study of noise and behavior will become increasingly important in the years to come.