THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Within the strategic human resource management (SHRM) perspective, psychology‐based practices, especially empowerment, extensive training, and teamwork, are seen as vital to sustained competitive advantage. Other approaches, such as those of integrated manufacturing and lean production, place greater emphasis on operational initiatives such as total quality management, just‐in‐time, advanced manufacturing technology, and supply‐chain partnering as determinants of organizational performance. We investigated the relative merits of these practices through a study of the productivity of 308 companies over 22 years, during which time they implemented some or all of these 7 practices. Consistent with SHRM theory we found performance benefits from empowerment and extensive training, with the adoption of teamwork serving to enhance both. In contrast, none of the operational practices were directly related to productivity nor did they interact with other practices in ways fully consistent with the notions of integrated manufacturing or lean production.     

Parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in an academic counseling relationship

The role of parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in the context of an academic counseling relationship was investigated. Prior to participation in a 10‐hour academic counseling program in college, 91 students completed scales assessing perceptions of their current relationship with their parents and their attachment style. Students' support‐seeking behaviors and counselors' sensitivity, as reported by both participants (students and counselors), were evaluated twice during the counseling process, and general feelings of support were evaluated at the end of the program. Parental representations and attachment style both predicted students' support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in counseling. The strength of the prediction differed as a function of time of measurement and source of evaluation. In addition, student‐perceived counselor sensitivity was found to mediate the relation between parental representations and support‐seeking behaviors in counseling     

Ethics,Violence, and Counseling: Hear No Evil,See No Evil,Speak No Evil?

Situations involving violence directed either at a client or by a client pose ethical and legal dilemmas for the mental health professional. The authors present information concerning both ethical and legal aspects of violence as they relate to client welfare, dangerousness, confidentiality or duty to warn, and counselor violence. In certain situations, case material is used to illustrate both the ethical standards and the laws and statutes that provide directives for professional behavior.     

Helping Mom Fail: A Case of a Stalemated Divorcing Process

This article describes a systems approach to the problem of a child who had become symptomatic as a result of her parents' separation. Elements of the divorcing process that can create a symptomatic child are highlighted. Family members cope with separation and divorce by devising strategies for navigating the divorcing process. These strategies can mesh to create dysfunctional sequences in which family members get “stuck.” Case material illustrates the development of a stalemated divorcing process, in which a dysfunctional sequence keeps the child uncontrollable and mother incompetent. Family therapy breaks the stalemate and allows family members to proceed with appropriate developmental tasks.