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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 15:11.
The conditions for stress and burnout most frequently studied and cited in the literature can be grouped under three general headings: task characteristics (workload, role conflict and ambiguity, autonomy, and tenure), organizational characteristics (job context, and organizational pace and technology) and personal characteristics (demographics, social support, hardiness, unrealistic expectations, and career progress). In this article we will explore Organizational Characteristics.
Organizational Characteristics
The environment one works in can have a powerful influence on an individual. Several researchers have examined the effect of organizational level antecedents on work stress and burnout.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 15:21.
The conditions for stress and burnout most frequently studied and cited in the literature can be grouped under three general headings: task characteristics (workload, role conflict and ambiguity, autonomy, and tenure), organizational characteristics (job context, and organizational pace and technology) and personal characteristics (demographics, social support, hardiness, unrealistic expectations, and career progress). In this article we will explore Personal Characteristics.
Personal Characteristics
In addition to task and organizational influences, research has demonstrated strong relationships between personal characteristics and the experience of stress and burnout.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 15:38.
In addition to its traditional assumption of responsibility for promoting employee occupational health and safety, Canadian employers are beginning to recognize the workplace as a synergistic forum for the promotion of individual employee health and a healthier more productive work environment.
Organizational level stress interventions have been considered by researchers and organizations alike as the panacea to the presence of stress and burnout in the workplace. However, this is misguided and misplaced as its supporting theory is based on two unfounded assumptions. First, although numerous studies have been conducted, few methodologically sound studies exist to support the notion that negative employee states and behaviors, such as physical illness, absence, poor performance, and turnover, are caused by stress. Briner and Reynolds (1999) admit that it is “difficult to provide a definitive answer to the question of exactly why or how stress (however defined) actually causes undesirable employee states and behaviors.” However, a thorough examination of the literature left these researchers scratching their heads as they discovered that the same researchers who championed the cause and effect relationship between stress/burnout and undesirable employee states and behaviors are the very same individuals who recognize the lack of empirical evidence to support their cause (Ivancevich, Matteson & Freedman, 1990; Cox, 1993; DeFrank,, 1987; and Kahn, 1991). Briner and Reynolds suggest that it is this type of “cock-eyed optimism and general tone of enthusiasm” which drives the glaring research bias for wanting organizational level stress interventions to work.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 16:01
In his book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid C.K. Prahalad writes that Business leaders and anti-poverty activists cannot ignore the markets of those with the least. He calls these “Bottom of the Pyramid” (BOP) markets, and throughout The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, he describes the spending patterns, distribution channels and marketing efforts that have been successful in reaching those in the developing world. With myriad case studies and examples of companies that have been successful in making a profit while helping to contribute to the eradication of worldwide poverty, Prahalad shows business leaders how their firms can make enduring contributions, deliver dignity, empower poor people with new choices, as well as make a profit with the billions of aspiring poor who are making their initial entrance to the market economy. Read more »
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 16:24.
In their book, Deep Smarts, Harvard Business Professor Dorothy Leonard and Tufts University Psychology Professor Walter Swap provide a look at the interrelationships among knowledge, competitive advantage and continuous innovation. They explain that what makes knowledge transfer or what they refer to deep smarts so competitively valuable is that they are built on firsthand life experiences, resulting in tacit knowledge that is hard for other organizations to copy.
Over the past several years, the authors have conducted a research project in which they observed and interviewed coaches and their protégés in startups and older firms. The book presents the results of their research and reveals how knowledge transfer can be cultivated and leveraged throughout an organization, including how deep smarts emerge from the development of “experience repertoires” guided by knowledge coaches.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 16:39.
Starting your own business and doing what you do best is easier than ever, according to Faculty Fellow at Yale and entrepreneurial wizard Bruce Judson. Even though only 20 percent of the 1.7 million employees polled by the Gallup Organization said they had the opportunity to do what they do best every day at work, and over 70 percent of U.S. workers are “disengaged” from their jobs, most do not set out on their own and start their own business. In Go It Alone!,Judson provides the practical steps that can help nearly any person create his or her own business.
Judson starts Go It Alone! by dismissing conventional wisdom and explaining that you do not need to build endless financial resources and a team of employees before starting a substantial business. He writes that his tips and suggestions can substantially limit the risk of failure associated with a new venture, and describes the specific steps that should be taken before launching a business.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 17:13.
Some economists believe that China’s rise as an economic power is simply another case of an Asian country making decent headway much like Japan or South Korea. But management professor and international business researcher Dr. Oded Shenkar disagrees. In The Chinese Century, he writes that China’s ascent has more in common with the rise of the United States a century ago than with the recent progress of its predecessors and followers. Shenkar writes, “What we are witnessing is the sustained and dramatic growth of a future world power, with an unmatched breadth of resources, lofty aspirations, strong bargaining position, and the financial and technological wherewithal of an established and business-savvy Diaspora.” He writes that China’s impact on the world will be enormous. Read more »
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 17:46.
Lions are the people in all organizations who wield power and influence, and they are roaming freely in our lives. According to Steven L Katz in his book Lion Taming, they act differently because they think differently. But they don’t have to be difficult to work with.
Lions are the people all around us with power, responsibility, authority and talent — as well as the people who may simply be preoccupied with gaining more power and authority. They can be leaders, bosses, executives, professionals, managers, owners, boards of directors, elected and appointed officials, and employees. Lions roam freely everywhere, across all occupations and professions.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 18:45.
Lions are the people in all organizations who wield power and influence, and they are roaming freely in our lives. According to Steven L Katz in his book Lion Taming, they act differently because they think differently. They can be leaders, bosses, executives, professionals, managers, owners, boards of directors, elected and appointed officials, and employees. Lions roam freely everywhere, across all occupations and professions.
According to Steven L. Katz, you need strategies to deal with lions. In Part 2 of our review of Lion Taming we will discuss what you have to do to identify the lion employee.
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Thursday, December 04 2008
Submitted by spherica on Tue, 2005-03-08 19:06.
Contrary to popular ideas and circus posters, the art of lion taming is not about driving lions into a snarling frenzy, winning a battle of “man over beast” or sticking your head into the lion’s mouth! Lion tamers use brains not brawn. Thinking that you can muscle your boss is a bad idea. Even if you have the ability to escape from the ring unscathed, you still do not have the option of sending the lions at work back to their cages after their act. They are roaming free, and the things that they can do and say will have an impact on you and everyone around you for a long time to come. Read more »
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