Autonomous work group selection

The history of selecting office employees and autonomous work group employees is discussed. This study demonstrates the implementation of autonomous work group procedures with office/clerical employees. A selection model is developed advocating the use of skill, personality, and cognitive-based tests.     

Mentoring to prevent school drop outs

American businesses have established partnerships with schools in an effort to upgrade the quality of education and increase the number of skilled workers for the future. In these partnerships, business employees act as mentors to help develop human and social capital in at-risk children beginning at an early age so that they will graduate from high school and be prepared for post-secondary education. The purpose of this study was to examine mentoring policy in two elementary schools in an urban district. Participants in the study included central office administrators, principals from the two schools, 10 fourth-grade at-risk students in each school who had been mentored for at least one year, their mentors from local businesses, their teachers, and parents. Data were gathered from interviews, documents, and observations. The successes and limitations for mentoring programs in these two schools depended on policy, implementation, school governance, and support from central office. The study provided implications for improving these programs and providing a model for future mentoring programs.     

COUNSELING IN THE STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

The place and importance of counseling in State Employment Services has, in many instances, not been recognized as a necessary function of the United States Training and Employment Service (USTES) by some local office managers as well as administrators. After discussing this matter with the counselors in the Halsted office, the following article was written not to justify the existence of counseling but hopefully to show its importance.     

An effective daily box office prediction model based on deep neural networks

The task of the daily box office prediction model is to build a dynamic prediction model to rolling forecast daily box office. It is a complex task as the movie box office has a short life cycle, and the static data and dynamic data that affect the trend of box office are heterogeneous. This paper proposes an end-to-end deep learning model for daily box office prediction, called Deep-DBP which consists of temporal component and static characteristics component. The temporal component is the main component which uses LSTM to learn the temporal dependencies between data points. The static characteristics component is an auxiliary component and it integrates static characteristics to improve prediction effect. The Deep-DBP can overcome the problems that the ARIMA and traditional ANN model cannot solve. The structure of input and output proposed in the model can well handle short time series prediction problem. It is a successful case in dealing with multi-source and multi-view data, addition of static characteristics component reduces the prediction error by 7%. The prediction error of Deep-DBP is 30.1%, which is better than that of the previous model. The experiment proved that the more training data collected, the better the prediction effect.     

AN INNOVATION IN THE PREPARATION OF COUNSELOR SUPERVISORS

Employment Service counselor supervisors were prepared at Indiana University under a contract with the Indiana State Bureau of Employment Security. Our campus program was a combination of didactic and practicum courses. The off campus program consisted of visitation by faculty members to the local offices of the enrollees and involved consulting with the office staff as well as the enrollee. Reaction to the program by total office staffs was favorable.     

Personal and Organizational Responses to Work-Nonwork Interface as Related to Organizational Commitment

This research examined how the response of employees and organizations to the mutual influences between work and other domains was related to 2 forms of organizational commitment (OC): commitment to the local unit and commitment to the head office. All 720 employees of a school district in Western Canada were surveyed by mail questionnaires. Three hundred usable questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 42%. The findings showed that nonwork domain variables affected OC. Positive nonwork-to-work spillover and organizational responses to nonwork, namely separation and respect, were related to commitment to the head office and individual coping strategies were related to commitment to the local unit. The paper concludes with conceptual implications regarding research on OC.     

A time–cost optimization of the national postal distribution network

The postal distribution network in the Czech Republic consists actually of 69 local transit centres (according to the administrative division of the Czech Republic). Each of them operates the post offices in the given region. Some of the important local transit centres can be selected as sorting centres—transhipment points for postal consignments. The aim of this paper is to present a bicriterial optimization model for the selection of the subset of transhipment points from the set of transit centres and choosing their appropriate equipment, such as sorting machines. Another important output of the model is the assignment of the transit centres to the sorting centres. There are two basic optimization criteria defined in this model: minimization of the sum of investment and operational costs connected with building and operating of the sorting centres and the maximization of the percentage of postal consignments delivered to the appropriate post office in the desired time (next day). The proposed model contains several thousands of zero‐one variables and constraints. The model has been verified, and the results accepted. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

政策执行偏差严重程度对公众地方政府责任判断的影响机制

为探讨地方政府政策执行偏差严重程度对公众地方政府责任判断的影响机制。采用问卷法对728名社会公众进行调查,结果显示：（1）公众地方政府有意性判断和公众地方政府可控归因中介了政策执行偏差严重程度与公众地方政府责任判断之间的关系。（2）政策执行偏差严重程度还通过公众地方政府有意性判断→公众地方政府可控归因的中介链作用于公众地方政府道德责任判断。并对研究的实践启示进行了讨论。     

政策执行偏差严重程度对公众地方政府 责任判断的影响:多重中介模型的检验

为探讨地方政府政策执行偏差严重程度对公众地方政府责任判断的影响机制。采用问卷法对678名社会公众进行调查,结果显示:(1)地方政府政策执行偏差情境下,公众地方政府愿望判断和公众地方政府信念判断在政策执行偏差严重程度和公众地方政府责任判断之间起多重中介作用。(2)公众地方政府信念判断在政策执行偏差严重程度和公众地方政府责任判断之间的中介效应量大于公众地方政府愿望判断的中介效应量。     

Children First

Abstract

Investigations and prosecutions involving murdered and physically abused children are among the most serious and most complex faced by law enforcement professionals. These cases are complicated on legal, factual, medical, and scientific levels. Oftentimes, the evidence against the suspected perpetrator is solely circumstantial. Many of the problems inherent in these investigations can be overcome by prioritizing these cases. The local prosecutor's office can take the lead in ensuring justice by direct participation in the investigative phase and by ensuring continuity in the prosecution. In this article, I outline a model to ensure that this happens.     

Office paper recycling: A function of container proximity

We investigated the effects of proximity of containers on pounds of office paper recycled and not recycled by 25 employees. During a memo and central container condition, one container for recyclable paper was provided; in a memo and local container condition, desktop recycling bins, announced by memo, were successively introduced across administrative, office, and instructional settings using a multiple baseline design. Only 28% of paper was recycled in the central container condition, but when recycling containers were placed in close proximity to participants, 85% to 94% of all recyclable paper was recycled. Follow-up assessments, conducted 1, 2, 3, and 7 months after all settings received local recycling containers, showed that 84% to 98% of paper was recycled. Providing desktop recycling containers was a cost-effective procedure with long-term maintenance and program survival.     

GENDER ROLE AND POLITICAL OFFICE

Women are less represented in prestigious national political offices than they are in state and local offices. How this underrepresentation may be related to perceived characteristics of office and candidate are explored in the two studies described here. In Study 1, the "masculinity/femininity" of local, state, and national offices was analyzed; all levels of office were rated as more "masculine" than "feminine." In Study 2, the sex as well as the gender role of a hypothetical presidential candidate was varied. "Masculine" and male candidates were evaluated as being more competent on presidential tasks such as dealing with terrorism; "feminine" and female candidates were rated higher on tasks such as solving problems in our educational system. Men, regardless of gender role, were perceived as being more likely to win a presidential election, and "masculine" tasks were evaluated as being more important than "feminine" presidential tasks. Implications for future female politicians are discussed.     

Influencing organizational commitment through office redesign

Prior research on the effects of office redesign on work-related outcomes has been largely atheoretical and yielded mixed and conflicting findings. Expanding on individual reactions to office design changes as specified by social interference theory, we propose that office redesign affects organizational commitment and this relationship is mediated by employee perceptions of the broader work environment. This conceptual model is tested using 121 financial services employees who experience office redesign and 136 who do not. Results indicate that perceptions of innovation and collaboration mediate the effects of office redesign over and above negative personal reactions such that affective organizational commitment is enhanced among those experiencing reconfigured offices. Findings provide support for an expanded rendition of social interference theory that provides for favorable (as well as unfavorable) employee reactions to office redesign. Such a theoretical explanation is asserted to increase understanding of how the physical environment influences employee attitudes.     

Uniting veterans across distance through a telephone-based Reminiscence Group Therapy intervention

This report describes the implementation of a six-session telephone-based Reminiscence Group Therapy (RGT) intervention for veterans enrolled in a Home Based Primary Care Program (HBPC). HBPC psychologists face challenges not routinely encountered in the traditional office setting, and the intervention demonstrated the feasibility of conducting semistructured group treatment by telephone. Postgroup feedback indicated that the veterans found meaning in shared experiences and connection with themselves and others. The RGT intervention allowed for efficiency in service delivery while also providing an opportunity for veterans to socialize and gain a sense of meaningfulness and identity through facilitated recall of past experiences.     

Extending Models of Prosocial Behavior to Explain University Alumni Contributions1

Survey data merged with contribution records from a development office database provided a basis for understanding alumni support for a university. The survey randomly sampled alumni of a state university school of management who had graduated between 1980 and 1988. Subjects filled out mail questionnaires measuring social psychological constructs from the literature on prosocial behavior. The determinants of obligation to donate included perceived efficacy, perceived need, reciprocity, and individual attachment to the university. Obligation and other constructs explained the number of donations recorded in the development office database over 6 years. The model also predicted intentions to support the university by working for an alumni association or attending reunions. This model of alumni donation leads to recommendations for designing university fund-raising communications.     

Does Risk Assessment Make a Difference? Results of Implementing the SAVRY in Juvenile Probation

An effective approach to reducing recidivism is, first, to identify a youth's risk of reoffending and then to match the intensity of interventions to that risk level. This pre-post quasi-experimental, prospective study compared 247 (pre) with 217 (post) adjudicated youths to examine the implementation of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and its effects on case management practices in Louisiana's Caddo parish probation office. The results indicated that placement rates dropped by 50%, use of maximum levels of supervision dropped by almost 30%, and use of community services decreased except for high-risk youths, but only after the SAVRY was properly implemented. This shift towards more appropriate allocation of resources that are matched to risk level occurred without a significant increase in reoffending. The implications for implementation and for use of risk/needs assessment in juvenile probation are discussed. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employees’ Work Patterns–Office Type Fit and the Dynamic Relationship Between Flow and Performance

Organizations must improve their employees’ performance in order to compete effectively. Evidence shows that flow experiences enhance performance. However, a dynamic approach to this phenomenon is needed. Furthermore, different work patterns (based on task profiles) can have specific environmental requirements (office types). This research aims to analyze the dynamic relationship between office workers’ flow and in-role and extra-role performance, considering work pattern–office type fit as a predictor of the initial level of each of these three variables. A total of 83 workers participated in this diary study. Results of the latent growth model showed a positive association between: (1) the initial levels of flow and in-role and extra-role performance; and (2) the changes in flow and in-role and extra-role performance. Furthermore, work pattern–office type fit directly influenced workers’ flow. In addition, flow mediated between work pattern–office type fit and in-role performance. Our results show that workspaces that fit employees’ work patterns are more likely to induce flow, which, in turn, will have beneficial consequences for the organization.     

Reaction to trauma: a cognitive processing model.

We integrated existing cognitive processing models of posttrauma reactions into a longitudinal model. Data were obtained after a multiple shooting in a city office block. The subject group comprised 158 office workers who were in the building at the time of the shootings. The methodology of this research was a repeated measures survey, with data collection at 4, 8, and 14 months posttrauma. Measures included the Impact of Events Scale (IES) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. A path analysis was performed with the IES as an indication of cognitive processing. Intrusion and avoidance were shown to mediate between exposure to trauma and symptom development. Intrusion was also found to be negatively related to subsequent symptom levels. The findings provide provisional support for a cognitive processing model.     

Sex roles and political ambition

This article explores the relationship between political ambition and sex among local officeholders. Based on interviews with men and women municipal legislators, the study examines subjects' background characteristics and behavior in office in relation to political ambition. A discriminant function analysis identifies two underlying dimensions on which the male and female ambitious and non-ambitious groups cluster. The first function, based on characteristics the person brings to office, distinguishes (a) moderately ambitious groups and retiring women from (b) highly ambitious groups and retiring men. The second function which distinguishes (a) ambitious men from (b) ambitious women and retiring men has to do with behavior in office characteristics. The contrast between ambitious women and ambitious men suggests different ways of viewing benefits of political office which have implications for change in the political system.Support for this research was supplied by the Florence Eagleton Grants Program, 1976–1977, Center for the American and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.     

Effectiveness of intensive outpatient programming in private practice: integrating practice, outcomes, and business

The development of a model for treating acutely depressed patients on a frequent basis in an independent practice setting is described. Strategies to collaborate with managed care organizations, employee assistance programs, and local provider networks to recruit these patients are outlined. The patients treated in the intensive outpatient program described in this article were primarily depressed, were more acutely distressed than national and local inpatient samples, were often in suicidal crises, and had multiple comorbidities. Nonetheless, they demonstrated significant pre- and posttest improvements on a variety of client- and clinician-rated measures. A dose-response curve further illustrated that significant improvement in depressive symptoms was predictable. Private practitioners can expand their services through the development, implementation, delivery, management, and evaluation of mental health services that respond to market dynamics.