Organizational variables needed for effective execution of population planning programmes in Pakistan

Although the organizational and administrative aspects of family planning and population programs are basic to their ultimate success, they have been little studied. Some of the organizational variables necessary to effective implementation of population planning programs in Pakistan are outlined. These variables are of 2 types: 1) intraorganizational; and 2) interorganizational. Field workers must have an adequate idea of the role they should play and an adequacy for such a role. Care should be taken in the selection of field workers. They should be assigned to areas where their clients will have socioeconomic backgrounds similar to their own. Family planning field workers should have regular opportunities to communicate with other types of field workers in other programs. Both vertical and horizontal communication among family planning workers is important. The success of family planning programs will ultimately depend on the effecting of social changes and larger changes in social values. In other words, family planning programs should occur in the larger context of development programs. Interdepartmental communication among various agencies involved with family planning and population is necessary.     

Cultural Transmission in International Organizations Impact of Interpersonal Communication Patterns in Intergroup Contexts

This study examined how organizational cultures are transmitted and maintained through interactions among organizational members across intergroup boundaries. The major hypothesis of interest was that the total number of individuals' out-group communication network links predicts the degree of individual-out-group transmission of work-related values and beliefs. The research design involved a survey of workers in international organizations with bicultural workforces (U.S. and Japanese). A total of 118 responses were submitted to a series of multiple regression analyses. The results provided evidence to support the relationship between communication and cultural transmission. Theoretically, it addressed two issues that have not been dealt with in social influence theories. First, it identified different types of social influence: agreement, accuracy, and congruency derived from the coorientation model. Second, it identified specific conditions under which social influence takes place by examining relational proximity in three different types of networks.     

Innovations in local government: A sociocognitive network approach

What frames of reference (assumptions, values, and belief systems) are used by municipal decision makers to guide their assessments of management innovations? Are frames of reference related to an actor’s position in an interpersonal communication network? Can the study of frames of reference and communication roles be combined in a new “sociocognitive network” approach to the study of innovation adoption and diffusion? This study addresses these questions in the context of local government decision making. The results suggest that a sociocognitive network approach, which considers both frames of reference and communication roles, holds significant promise as an element in multivariate representations of innovative behavior. The results of this study are best viewed as contributing to theory development in research on innovative behavior in organizational decision making. Additional research will be required to test and refine this theory in other organizational contexts.     

INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AS A PREDICTOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

This study examines the relationship between involvement in a job-related communication network and organizational commitment. The findings indicate a complex relationship that is moderated by the degree of job involvement. For employees who are not involved in their jobs, involvement in the job-related communication network functions to foster commitment to the organization. Two major conclusions are drawn: (1) the impact of involvement in communication networks on employee attitudes and behaviors may occur only for individuals with certain characteristics; and (2) previous studies that have reported main effects for individual variables on organizational commitment may need reinterpretation in light of the disordinal interaction obtained here. The possibility that different commitment processes operate for different kinds of employees is explored, with special emphasis on those employees for whom communication is a potent factor in determining attitudes. Implications for future research on the relationship between communication network involvement and other employee responses are discussed.     

Things are always more complicated than you think: An open systems approach to the organizational effects of computer-automated technology

The effects of computerized office and factory automation are examined. An open systems framework is used to organize this literature. The review suggests that the benefits of technology are derived from theintermediate effects of the technology on organizational processes (the task structure, personnel system, formal structure, and informal organization). Thus, it is misleading to examine thedirect effects of computerized technology on organizational outcomes such as profits and satisfaction. Some of the effects of technology on the organizational processes are inevitable (e.g., changes in informal communication patterns). Others are determined less by the technology than by management decisions. The key to achieving success with computerized technology is matching changes in organizational processes to each other, as well as to the technology and the larger environment of the organization.Ann Majchrzak is currently Associate Professor of Human Factors at the Institute of Safety and Systems Management at the University of Southern California. She has recently written two books on the subject of technological change. Katherine J. Klein is an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology in the Psychology Department of the University of Maryland at College Park.     

Social Capital, Social Networks, and Political Participation

Social Capital is created through the patterns of interdependence andsocial interaction that occur within a population, and we attempt to understand the participatory consequences of these patterns relative to the effects of human capital and organizational involvement. The production of social capital in personal networks was examined with the use of social network and participation data from the 1992 American study of the Cross National Election Project. The results suggest that politically relevant social capital (that is, social capital that facilitates political engagement) is generated in personal networks, that it is a by-product of the social interactions with a citizen's discussants, and that increasing levels of politically relevant social capital enhance the likelihood that a citizen will be engaged in politics. Further, the production of politically relevant social capital is a function of the political expertise within an individual's network of relations, the frequency of political interaction within the network, and the size or extensiveness of the network. These results are sustained even while taking account of a person's individual characteristics and organizational involvement. Hence, the consequences of social relations within networks are not readily explained away on the basis of either human capital effects or the effects of organizational engagement.     

Organizational and geopolitical approaches to international science and technology networks

Recent views of science and technology have relied heavily on social network approaches. However, even within social network approaches, there are distinctive positions on international science and technology networks, depending on how boundaries and organizational processes are conceptualized. We contrast organizational approaches, exemplified by that of Shrum and Mullins, with geopolitical approaches, exemplified by Thomas Schott’s work. Problems and advantages of each approach are discussed. Finally, we propose that the difference between empirical levels of analysis and the part/whole distinction offers a preferable way of conceptualizing the micro-macro problem.     

Studying Complex Discursive Systems.

Scholars increasingly theorize about the power of communication to organize and structure social collectives. However, two factors threaten to impede research on these theories: limitations in the scope and range of existing methods for studying complex systems of communication and the large volume of communication produced by even small collectives. Centering resonance analysis (CRA) is a new text analysis method that has broad scope and range and can be applied to large quantities of written text and transcribed conversation. It identifies discursively important words and represents these as a network, then uses structural properties of the network to index word importance. CRA networks can be directly visualized and can be scored for resonance with other networks to support a number of spatial analysis methods. Following a critique of existing methodologies, this paper describes the theoretical basis and operational details of CRA, describes its advantages relative to other techniques, demonstrates its face validity and representational validity, and demonstrates its utility in modeling organizational knowledge. The conclusion argues for its applicability in several organizational research contexts before describing its potential for use in a broader range of applications, including media content analysis, conversation analysis, computer simulations, and models of communication systems.     

Socialization Communication,Organizational Citizenship Behaviors,and Sales in a Multilevel Marketing Organization

Multilevel marketing organizations (MLMs) are a rapidly growing but often controversial marketing organizational type boasting nearly 10 million members and over $20 billion in annual sales. The success of the MLM business model rests largely on forming cooperative social networks of member distributors. Socialization of new members to the norms and values of the MLM plays a key role in eliciting that cooperative behavior. However, the member cooperation that produces successful networks may inhibit the financial performance of individual distributors. Drawing upon social identity theory, this study investigates whether communication of the MLM’s behavioral norms during the socialization of members affects the degree to which members cooperate with each other and how that cooperation affects the sales performance of individual distributorships. The results of a survey of MLM members suggest that both effects occur. Socialization communication positively affects member cooperation, which produces direct and indirect effects on sales. Cooperation, measured by several organizational citizenship behaviors, exerts a positive direct effect on sales, but a negative indirect effect when the relationship is mediated by group cohesion.     

Transformational leadership and group interaction as climate antecedents: a social network analysis

In order to test the social mechanisms through which organizational climate emerges, this article introduces a model that combines transformational leadership and social interaction as antecedents of climate strength (i.e., the degree of within-unit agreement about climate perceptions). Despite their longstanding status as primary variables, both antecedents have received limited empirical research. The sample consisted of 45 platoons of infantry soldiers from 5 different brigades, using safety climate as the exemplar. Results indicate a partially mediated model between transformational leadership and climate strength, with density of group communication network as the mediating variable. In addition, the results showed independent effects for group centralization of the communication and friendship networks, which exerted incremental effects on climate strength over transformational leadership. Whereas centralization of the communication network was found to be negatively related to climate strength, centralization of the friendship network was positively related to it. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Organizational network perceptions versus reality: A small world after all?

Given the complexity of organizing and keeping track of even a small organizational network, boundedly rational people may have learned to use small world principles in perceiving friendship networks: arrange people in dense clusters, and connect the clusters with short paths. Analysis of 116 perceived friendship networks from four different organizations showed that these perceived networks exhibited greater small world properties than the actual friendship networks. Further, people perceived more friendship clustering than actually existed, and attributed more popularity and brokerage to the perceivedly-popular than to the actually-popular.     

Communicating about the risks of terrorism (or anything else)

Communication is essential to preventing terrorists from achieving their objectives. Effective communication can reduce terrorists' chances of mounting successful operations, creating threats that disrupt everyday life, and undermining the legitimacy of the societies that they attack. Psychological research has essential roles to play in that communication, identifying the public's information needs, designing responsive communications, and evaluating their success. Fulfilling those roles requires policies that treat two-way communication with the public as central to ensuring that a society is strengthened, rather than weakened, by its struggle with terror. There are scientific, organizational, and political barriers to achieving those goals. Psychological research can help to overcome them-and advance its science in the process.     

THE INFLUENCE OF VERBAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND VERBAL ORGANIZING SKILLS ON SELECT MEASURES OF LEARNING

This study investigated the influence of verbal organizational structure and verbal organizing skills on recall of facts, ability to pattern, and ability to problem-solve. One hundred and fifty-nine college students, classified as high or low in ability to organize verbal material, heard recorded communications that consisted of either high-structure-sequence or low-structure-sequence messages. The results indicated that level of message structure and organizing skills were conjunctively related to the learning variables, with structure apparently accounting for more of the variance than organizing skills.     

Affect networks: a structural analysis of the relationship between work ties and job-related affect

The relationship between organizational networks and employees' affect was examined in 2 organizations. In Study 1, social network analysis of work ties and job-related affect for 259 employees showed that affect converged within work interaction groups. Similarity of affect between employees depended on the presence of work ties and structural equivalence. Affect was also related to the size and density of employees' work networks. Study 2 used a 10-week diary study of 31 employees to examine a merger of 2 organizational divisions and found that negative changes in employees' affect were related to having fewer cross-divisional ties and to experiencing greater reductions in network density. The findings suggest that affect permeates through and is shaped by organizational networks.     

Management Communication and Employee Performance: The Contribution of Perceived Organizational Support

This study used a cross-lagged panel design to examine the temporal relationship between management communication and perceived organizational support (POS), and its consequences for performance. We assessed management communication and POS 2 times, separated by a 3-year interval, in a social services organization (N?=?236). Our findings suggest that management communication was positively associated with a temporal change in POS. In addition, we found that POS fully mediates the relationship between management communication and both in-role and extra-role performance. The present study advances our theoretical knowledge concerning how management communication affects performance, with implications for practice. Specifically, it reveals that management communication affects performance mainly because it signals that the organization cares about the well-being and values the contributions of its employees.     

Joint effects of social networks and information giving on innovative performance after organizational entry

We combine the social network approach and organizational socialization literature in order to examine the influence of social networks and proactive behavior on newcomers' innovative performance. A sample of new employees completed questionnaires on social network and proactive measures, and their supervisors rated their innovative performance. The results suggest that both sparse (low density) social networks and newcomers' information giving were related to innovative performance. The results also indicate that information giving moderated the relation between sparse social networks and innovative performance: when newcomers' information giving was high, the characteristics of their social networks were not related to their innovative performance.     

人格特质及脑功能连接对社交网络的影响

采用网络分析的方法, 本研究从个体受欢迎程度和个体间亲密程度两方面探究了人格特质对社交网络的影响, 并在此基础上进一步探究了个体间大脑静息态功能连接相似性和社交网络的关系。结果发现：(1)高尽责性的个体在需要“值得信任”特质的社交网络中更受欢迎, 高宜人性的个体在需要“共享时光”的社交网络中更受欢迎; (2)在需要“相同兴趣”特质的社交网络中, 个体间人格相似性和社会距离呈显著负相关关系; (3)同样在需要“相同兴趣”特质的社交网络中, 个体间部分功能连接相似性与社会距离呈显著负相关关系, 这些功能连接主要集中在额顶控制网络以及背侧注意网络; 同时, 部分节点功能连接相似性与社会距离呈显著正相关关系, 这些功能连接主要集中在默认网络。研究结果揭示了人格特质对不同社交网络结构的影响, 以及个体间人格特质相似性和静息态脑网络相似性与社会距离的关系。本研究对理解社交网络的结构, 形成规律以及其中的信息传播规律有着重要启示意义。     

Channeling Power Across Ecological Systems: Social Regularities in Community Organizing

Relational and social network perspectives provide opportunities for more holistic conceptualizations of phenomena of interest in community psychology, including power and empowerment. In this article, we apply these tools to build on multilevel frameworks of empowerment by proposing that networks of relationships between individuals constitute the connective spaces between ecological systems. Drawing on an example of a model for grassroots community organizing practiced by WISDOM—a statewide federation supporting local community organizing initiatives in Wisconsin—we identify social regularities (i.e., relational and temporal patterns) that promote empowerment and the development and exercise of social power through building and altering relational ties. Through an emphasis on listening-focused one-to-one meetings, reflection, and social analysis, WISDOM organizing initiatives construct and reinforce social regularities that develop social power in the organizing initiatives and advance psychological empowerment among participant leaders in organizing. These patterns are established by organizationally driven brokerage and mobilization of interpersonal ties, some of which span ecological systems. Hence, elements of these power-focused social regularities can be conceptualized as cross-system channels through which micro-level empowerment processes feed into macro-level exercise of social recommendations for theory and designpower, and vice versa. We describe examples of these channels in action, and offer of future action research.     

Bonds and boundaries: Network structure,organizational boundaries,and job performance

We propose and test a framework that describes the relationship between network structures and job performance. We provide an integration of the current conceptualizations of social capital as they pertain to job performance outcomes by taking a multi-dimensional view of job performance. We break down job performance into creativity, decision-making, task execution, and teamwork, and distinguish the effect of structural holes within and across the organizational boundary on these four job performance domains. In an analysis of 318 managers, we find that networks rich in structural holes that cross the organizational boundary had a positive association with creativity and decision-making, whereas networks with few structural holes within the organization had a positive association with task execution and teamwork. We discuss the theoretical implications for integrating the social capital, boundary spanning, and network structure literatures, as well as the practical benefits of giving much more precise advice to managers and employees regarding how to use networks to improve performance at work.     

The Role of Social Network Structure in the Emergence of Linguistic Structure

Social network structure has been argued to shape the structure of languages, as well as affect the spread of innovations and the formation of conventions in the community. Specifically, theoretical and computational models of language change predict that sparsely connected communities develop more systematic languages, while tightly knit communities can maintain high levels of linguistic complexity and variability. However, the role of social network structure in the cultural evolution of languages has never been tested experimentally. Here, we present results from a behavioral group communication study, in which we examined the formation of new languages created in the lab by micro-societies that varied in their network structure. We contrasted three types of social networks: fully connected, small-world, and scale-free. We examined the artificial languages created by these different networks with respect to their linguistic structure, communicative success, stability, and convergence. Results did not reveal any effect of network structure for any measure, with all languages becoming similarly more systematic, more accurate, more stable, and more shared over time. At the same time, small-world networks showed the greatest variation in their convergence, stabilization, and emerging structure patterns, indicating that network structure can influence the community's susceptibility to random linguistic changes (i.e., drift).