ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL TRAINING AND SUPPORT

The present study uses both objective and survey data to examine relations among retail sales training, organizational support, and store performance and to examine whether training interacts with organizational support to predict store performance. The study is unique in that it presents an example of the analysis of the relationship between organizational level measures of training and performance, as opposed to more traditional individual level measures. Archival data in a correlational design were analyzed for 62 stores belonging to the same international merchandising firm. Two measures of training and two measures of support were used to predict two measures of store performance. Results indicated that training and organizational support were significantly correlated with both measures of store performance, although the relationship between training and organizational performance was stronger. In contrast to predictions, there were no significant interactions between the training and support variables.     

Social-Cognitive and Situational Influences on the Use of Face-Saving Persuasive Strategies

This study investigated the influences of three situational variables and interpersonal construct differentiation on the use of face-saving strategies. Speakers carried out role-play persuasive tasks that were varied on the dimensions of speaker power, request magnitude, and familiarity. The resulting messages were coded for the dominant levels of autonomy granting and positive face support provided to the target. Speakers provided more face support when they had relatively little power. Furthermore, this effect was stronger for positive face support than for autonomy granting. Speakers also granted more autonomy when making large requests, especially when they had relatively little power. With respect to familiarity, speakers provided less face support to familiar targets when small requests were involved but provided more face support when making large requests. The study also found several interactions between construct differentiation and the situational factors. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Social Networks and the Development of Close Relationships

This study examines the linkage between dose heterosexual relationships and their social networks of dose friends and family members. The central proposition of this study states that relational development will be positively associated with each partner's involvement in the other's social network and the degree of overlap in the individual social networks of each partner. Generally, the findings were consistent with this proposition. Among the indicators of network involvement and overlap, the range of network involvement (i.e., number of known members in the partner's network) emerged as the most powerful predictor of relational development. Findings are reviewed in light of existing theories and research, and suggestions for future research are made.     

Cultures and Cultural Property

abstract  In a number of contexts one comes across the suggestion that cultures are collective owners of cultural property, such as particularly significant works of art. Indigenous peoples are often held to be collective owners of cultural property, but they are not the only ones. Icelandic culture is said to have a claim on the Flatejarbók and Greek culture is held to own the Parthenon Marbles. In this paper I investigate the conditions under which a culture is the rightful owner of cultural property. I argue against the claims that cultures inherit cultural property. I also argue that a culture's claim to own cultural property is seldom, if ever, founded on either practices employed in the culture or collective production of cultural property. I maintain, however, that the very value of cultural property for some culture can, in some instances, provide the basis for the culture's claim on the property.