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.     

THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY IN PUBLIC POLICY – A PHILOSOPHER IN A BUSINESS SCHOOL

Philosophical Studies -     

Concomitant short-term changes in the auditory evoked response, the EEG, and reaction-time performance in relation to the temporal parameters of stimulation

Abstract.— Two experiments are described in which short-term "habituation" of the auditory evoked response (AER) was examined using discrete trains of click stimuli and averaging across trains. In the first study, the stimuli consisted of randomly interspersed trains of regular clicks, at 3 or 10 sec interstimulus interval (ISI). In the second study, the ISIs were also short or long but were irregular varying between 2.4 and 3.6 sec in the former case and 6 to 12 sec in the latter. The N₁-P₂ component of the AER diminished within the 3 sec trains especially for the regular stimulation; no such development occurred with the longer ISI. The total voltage in the background EEG and the reaction-times to the stimuli showed essentially similar changes. The possible mechanisms governing the response decrement are discussed and it is concluded that the data may be interpreted in terms of the Groves and Thompson dual-process theory of habituation.     

The multidimensionality of state and trait anxiety

Abstract.— The two major problems investigated were ( a ) the multidimensionality of trait (A-Trait) and state (A-State) anxiety, and ( b ) the relationship between A-Trait and A-State under neutral conditions, using two measures of A-Trait (SR-GTA and STAI-T) and two measures of A-State (BRQ and STAI-S). These scales were administered to a sample of Swedish university students (54 males and 105 females). Factor analyses of the GTA situational scales yielded an interpersonal ego threat A-Trait factor and a physical danger A-Trait factor. Factor analyses of the GTA reaction scales and STAI-T reaction scales yielded, respectively, two and three factors providing evidence for the multidimensionality of A-Trait. Results of variance components analyses of the GTA scales provided further evidence for the multidimensionality of A-Trait. Factor analyses of the BRQand STAI-S measures yielded four and three factors, respectively, indicating the multidimensionality of A-State. The correlations between trait and state measures were higher than the correlations between the two state measures, and a factor analysis of the trait and state scales did not yield separate state and trait factors, questioning the proposition that A-Trait and A-State are distinct concepts. Via latent profile analysis, it was possible to compare A-State differences for different A-Trait profiles. Problems for further research were discussed.     

Humanism: a new bag of virtues for guidance?

The recent national concern over the failures of education has created a demand for new programs that will promote healthy psychological and personal growth. This article examines the present status of guidance theory and practice vis-à-vis humanistic education and suggests that the movement deliberately begs the question of values under the guise of promoting a new bag of virtues as educational objectives. It also discusses the need for a guidance theory based on a framework from developmental psychology rather than from theories of humanistic education.     

Non-Verbal Communication and Marital Satisfaction

Twenty-one college couples were identified as maritally satisfied and 21 couples as maritally dissatisfied by the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale. The Marital Communication Scale (MCS), a new behavioral measure of accuracy of marital non-verbal communication, and the Primary Communication Inventory (PCI), a self-report measure, were administered to each couple. The results indicate a relationship between marital satisfaction and accuracy of non-verbal communication as assessed by both measures. The commonality of the two measures was found to be limited, however.