Contrariando o caráter universalista das abordagens clássicas anteriores, a Teoria da Contingência defende que não há uma melhor forma de se organizar. Conforme o contexto ambiental apresentado, a organização deve se estruturar de uma maneira diferente. No âmbito da contabilidade gerencial, os estudiosos desta teoria argumentam que não há como desenvolver um Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial (SCG) que tenha a mesma eficiência em todas as situações. Diferentes ambientes requerem diferentes modelos de estratégia e estrutura organizacional, o que termina por impactar a forma como o SCG é organizado. Amparada então pela teoria contingencial, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo identificar e analisar os arranjos promovidos pelo encaixe existente entre os fatores ambientais e organizacionais nas maiores empresas atuantes no mercado brasileiro. Os fatores empregados são: ambiente, tecnologia, estratégia, estrutura organizacional, atributos do SCG e desempenho organizacional. Para cada fator, há uma ou mais variável que procura mensurar o quanto as características tratadas estão presentes. A coleta dos dados se deu por meio de questionários enviado às empresas constantes no projeto Melhores & Maiores, edição 2006. A amostra final é composta por 104 participantes, a partir da qual se empregou estatística descritiva e Análise de Cluster. Os resultados revelaram três arranjos. O primeiro é composto por empresas com ambiente competitivo, tecnologias modernas e não-padronizadas, estratégia de diferenciação, estrutura orgânica e atributos do SCG sofisticados (instrumentos e práticas modernas, informações tempestivas, agregadas, integradas, não-financeiras, focadas no ambiente externo e no futuro). O segundo é composto por empresas com ambiente estável e protegido, tecnologias pouco padronizadas e pouco desenvolvidas, estratégia de liderança em custos, estrutura mecanicista e atributos do SCG menos sofisticadas (instrumentos e práticas tradicionais, informações não-tempestivas, não-agregadas, não-integradas, financeiras, focadas no ambiente interno e no passado). O terceiro arranjo é composto por empresas com ambiente e atributos do SCG semelhantes ao primeiro, e com estratégia e estrutura similar ao segundo. Nos dois arranjos iniciais o desempenho mostra-se superior e considerando ainda que a disposição das variáveis convergem com os resultados empíricos de outras investigações, conclui-se que nestes arranjos há um maior encaixe entre os fatores situacionais do que no terceiro. O estudo ainda conclui que ajustar os atributos do Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial a cada contexto ambiental e organizacional resulta na utilização mais eficiente dos recursos aplicados neste sistema. / Unlike the universal character of previous classical approaches, the Contingency Theory claims that there is not one best way for organization. Thus, companies should structure themselves differently, in accordance with the environmental context they find themselves in. In the field of managerial accounting, researchers of this theory argue that it is not possible to develop a Managerial Accounting System (MAS) that presents the same effectiveness in all situations. Different environments require different strategies and organizational structures, which end up impacting the form in which the MAS is organized. Therefore, based on the Contingency Theory, the purpose of this research is to identify and analyze the arrangements that are made by the adjustment of environmental and organizational factors in the largest companies in the Brazilian market. The factors that are utilized are the following: environment, technology, strategy, organizational structure, MAS attributes, and organizational performance. For each factor there are one or more variables which seek to measure the extent of the presence of the characteristic being considered. Data was collected by means of questionnaires which were sent to the companies listed in the Melhores & Maiores project, 2006. The final sample consists of 104 participants, and this sample was subjected to descriptive statistics and Cluster Analysis. The results revealed the existence of three arrangements. The first consists of companies with a competitive environment, modern and non standardized technology, differentiation strategies, organic structure and sophisticated MAS attributes (advanced management accounting practices, and timely, aggregated, integrated, and non financial information focused on the external environmental and in the future). The second consists of companies in a stable and protected environment, with technology without much standardization and development, low price strategy, mechanistic structure, and less sophisticated MAS attributes (traditional management accounting practices, and untimely, non aggregate, non integrated, non financial information focusing on the internal environment and in the past). The third arrangement consists of companies in an environment and with MAS attributes which are similar to the first arrangement, and with strategies and structure similar to the second. The first two arrangements presented superior performance, and considering that the dispositions of the variable converge with the empirical results of other investigations, it is concluded that these arrangements achieve greater fit between situational factors than in the third. The study also concludes that the fit of the MAS attributes to each different environmental and organizational context results in more efficient utilization of the resources applied in such system.

Contrariando o caráter universalista das abordagens clássicas anteriores, a Teoria da Contingência defende que não há uma melhor forma de se organizar. Conforme o contexto ambiental apresentado, a organização deve se estruturar de uma maneira diferente. No âmbito da contabilidade gerencial, os estudiosos desta teoria argumentam que não há como desenvolver um Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial (SCG) que tenha a mesma eficiência em todas as situações. Diferentes ambientes requerem diferentes modelos de estratégia e estrutura organizacional, o que termina por impactar a forma como o SCG é organizado. Amparada então pela teoria contingencial, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo identificar e analisar os arranjos promovidos pelo encaixe existente entre os fatores ambientais e organizacionais nas maiores empresas atuantes no mercado brasileiro. Os fatores empregados são: ambiente, tecnologia, estratégia, estrutura organizacional, atributos do SCG e desempenho organizacional. Para cada fator, há uma ou mais variável que procura mensurar o quanto as características tratadas estão presentes. A coleta dos dados se deu por meio de questionários enviado às empresas constantes no projeto Melhores & Maiores, edição 2006. A amostra final é composta por 104 participantes, a partir da qual se empregou estatística descritiva e Análise de Cluster. Os resultados revelaram três arranjos. O primeiro é composto por empresas com ambiente competitivo, tecnologias modernas e não-padronizadas, estratégia de diferenciação, estrutura orgânica e atributos do SCG sofisticados (instrumentos e práticas modernas, informações tempestivas, agregadas, integradas, não-financeiras, focadas no ambiente externo e no futuro). O segundo é composto por empresas com ambiente estável e protegido, tecnologias pouco padronizadas e pouco desenvolvidas, estratégia de liderança em custos, estrutura mecanicista e atributos do SCG menos sofisticadas (instrumentos e práticas tradicionais, informações não-tempestivas, não-agregadas, não-integradas, financeiras, focadas no ambiente interno e no passado). O terceiro arranjo é composto por empresas com ambiente e atributos do SCG semelhantes ao primeiro, e com estratégia e estrutura similar ao segundo. Nos dois arranjos iniciais o desempenho mostra-se superior e considerando ainda que a disposição das variáveis convergem com os resultados empíricos de outras investigações, conclui-se que nestes arranjos há um maior encaixe entre os fatores situacionais do que no terceiro. O estudo ainda conclui que ajustar os atributos do Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial a cada contexto ambiental e organizacional resulta na utilização mais eficiente dos recursos aplicados neste sistema. / Unlike the universal character of previous classical approaches, the Contingency Theory claims that there is not one best way for organization. Thus, companies should structure themselves differently, in accordance with the environmental context they find themselves in. In the field of managerial accounting, researchers of this theory argue that it is not possible to develop a Managerial Accounting System (MAS) that presents the same effectiveness in all situations. Different environments require different strategies and organizational structures, which end up impacting the form in which the MAS is organized. Therefore, based on the Contingency Theory, the purpose of this research is to identify and analyze the arrangements that are made by the adjustment of environmental and organizational factors in the largest companies in the Brazilian market. The factors that are utilized are the following: environment, technology, strategy, organizational structure, MAS attributes, and organizational performance. For each factor there are one or more variables which seek to measure the extent of the presence of the characteristic being considered. Data was collected by means of questionnaires which were sent to the companies listed in the Melhores & Maiores project, 2006. The final sample consists of 104 participants, and this sample was subjected to descriptive statistics and Cluster Analysis. The results revealed the existence of three arrangements. The first consists of companies with a competitive environment, modern and non standardized technology, differentiation strategies, organic structure and sophisticated MAS attributes (advanced management accounting practices, and timely, aggregated, integrated, and non financial information focused on the external environmental and in the future). The second consists of companies in a stable and protected environment, with technology without much standardization and development, low price strategy, mechanistic structure, and less sophisticated MAS attributes (traditional management accounting practices, and untimely, non aggregate, non integrated, non financial information focusing on the internal environment and in the past). The third arrangement consists of companies in an environment and with MAS attributes which are similar to the first arrangement, and with strategies and structure similar to the second. The first two arrangements presented superior performance, and considering that the dispositions of the variable converge with the empirical results of other investigations, it is concluded that these arrangements achieve greater fit between situational factors than in the third. The study also concludes that the fit of the MAS attributes to each different environmental and organizational context results in more efficient utilization of the resources applied in such system.

Challenging behavior in preschool is a serious concern for teachers. In recent years, positive behavior support (PBS) has been shown to be effective in reducing such behaviors. Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a specific program for implementing PBS principles in classroom settings. CW-FIT is a group contingency that utilizes social skills training, teacher praise, and positive reinforcement to improve student behavior. Students are taught specific social skills and then work in teams to earn a group reward based on the use of these skills. CW-FIT has been shown to be effective in elementary classrooms but has not yet been evaluated with other age groups. The present study examined the effects of CW-FIT implementation on teacher praise rates and student engagement in four preschool classrooms with 55 total students. A single-subject, multiple-baseline design with embedded reversals was used to evaluate impact. Results indicate that CW-FIT increased teacher praise rates and student engagement while reducing student disruptive behavior. Both teachers and students found CW-FIT to be socially valid. The present study indicates promising results for the implementation of CW-FIT in a preschool setting.

Challenging and disruptive student behavior is a major concern for all teachers, including those who teach art. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research and resources available for art teachers to manage student behavior. School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) is a framework that has been shown to improve student behavior. Class-wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is an intervention that utilizes SWPBS principles including group contingency, social skills instruction, teacher praise, and positive reinforcement and has been shown to be effective in general education classrooms. This is the first study of CW-FIT in elementary art classrooms and examined the effects of the intervention on teacher praise-to-reprimand rates and student on-task behavior in three classrooms. The first classroom utilized an AB design while the other two used a reversal (ABAB) design to evaluate impact. The results indicated the teacher was able to implement CW-FIT with fidelity, increase praise-to-reprimand ratios, and increase group on-task behavior. Finally, both the teacher and students found it to be socially valid. Limitations and implications of this study for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Four statistics used for the analysis of categorical data were observed in the presence of many zero cell frequencies in two way classification contingency tables. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of many zero cell frequencies upon the distribution properties of each of the four statistics studied. It was found that Light and Margolin's C and Pearson's Chi-square statistic closely approximated the Chi-square distribution as long as less than one-third of the table cells were empty. It was found that the mean and variance of Kullbach's 21 were larger than the expected values in the presence of few empty cells. The mean for 21 was found to become small in the presence of large numbers of empty cells. Ku's corrected 21 statistic was found, in the presence of many zero cell frequencies, to have a much larger mean value than would be expected in a Chi-square distribution. Kullback's 21 demonstrated a peculiar distribution change in the presence of large numbers of zero cell frequencies. 21 first enlarged, then decreased in average value.

Introduction: Financial incentives increase smoking abstinence among pregnant and postpartum women. They have also been reported to reduce psychological symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in women at risk for perinatal depression. This prospective study aims to replicate and extend these findings using the BDI and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Methods: Participants were 169 pregnant cigarette smokers who were assigned to one of two treatment conditions: Best Practices only (n=88), which entails brief counseling and a referral to a pregnancy-specific quit-line, or Best Practices + Incentives (n=81). Participants were categorized as at increased risk (Dep+; n= 91) or lower risk (Dep-; n= 76) for depression based on history of depressive symptoms and baseline symptom scores. Treatment effects on smoking status and BDI/EPDS scores were examined across nine perinatal assessments using repeated measures analyses of covariance. Results: Financial incentives increased rates of biochemically-verified abstinence through 12-weeks postpartum independent of depression risk (ps ≤ .01) but did not differentially decrease BDI or EPDS scores (ps > .05). Scores decreased with both interventions for the Dep+ women (p = .001). Conclusions: These results replicate earlier evidence that financial incentives increase perinatal smoking abstinence in Dep+ women but not their efficacy in differentially reducing depressive symptoms at levels greater than Best Practices. The failure to replicate effects on depressive symptoms may be due to use of different control conditions in the current and prior study or increased screening and intervention for perinatal mental health during routine obstetrical care.

The prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on the United States as a whole and the United States military in particular. The primary aim of this research is to determine what impact the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on the performance of military hospitals over the fiscal years 2001-2006. Specifically, what direct effect has the war in Iraq and Afghanistan had on the productivity and quality of military hospitals, and, do productivity and quality trends differ based on hospital characteristics? Since observations over multiple time periods are nested within hospitals, multilevel mixed effects regression and Poisson regression models are used to evaluate changes in productivity and quality while accounting for differences within hospitals. Using a contingency theory framework, this study fills the gap in looking at the impact of war on permanent military hospitals’ productivity and quality using nationally developed and implemented quality indicators (Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research Inpatient Quality Indicators and Patient Safety Indicators). Structural characteristics of the hospital, teaching status and branch of Armed Service influenced productivity and certain quality indicators. The structural components were not able to reliably predict differences in productivity and all quality indicators, but overseas hospitals and non-teaching hospitals were most likely to differ from major teaching hospitals. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, denoted by the variables for wounded discharges and deployed staff, were only partially related to the productivity of military hospitals. Only an increase in the percentage of wounded discharges was related to productivity of military hospitals, and none were related to the quality indicators. In essence, the war affected the workload and productivity of military hospitals, but it did not affect the quality provided in the hospitals, as measured by AHRQ inpatient and patient safety quality indicators. Structural characteristics account for more of the variation in quality among military hospitals than the impact of war within the timeframe studied.

Academic Health Centers (AHCs) hold a unique place in today’s health care environment. They service their communities through a tripartite mission of education, research, and provision of complex care to disadvantaged populations. To achieve this mission, AHCs face challenges in funding and cost containment compared to non-AHCs. Additionally, the implementation of government programs like the Hospital Readmission Rate Program (HRRP) and Value Based Purchasing (VBP) have the potential to affect AHCs differently from non-AHCs. While AHC’s unique features are known and there has been research to date on HRRP and VBP, literature has yet to statistically explore the financial differences between AHCs and non-AHCs and how HRRP and VBP may have differentially affected AHCs compared to non-AHCs. The objectives of this study are to explore financial differences between AHCs and non-AHCs and the impact that HRRP and VBP has had on these two types of organizations through the use of a contingency theory framework. Contingency theory is an organizational theory that seeks to explain variations in organizational performance over time by studying internal and external environmental influences. Guided by Contingency Theory, the study used a non-randomized, quasi-experimental, retrospective study design to evaluate two hypotheses. The study sample consisted of a total of 10,157 (991 AHCs) US non-rural hospital years from 2011 through 2015. The study used operating margin and total margin as the key measures of hospital financial performance for the dependent variables. HRRP and VBP were combined into a single independent variable along with hospital type differentiating AHCs from non-AHCs. Covariates of Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, Medicaid expansion, health system affiliation, and ownership structure were used to control for other environmental influences. A repeated measure analysis of variance was employed to test the difference between the two hospital groups in isolation of HRRP, VBP, and covariates and a repeated measure analysis of variance with covariance was used to test the full model, which incorporated HRRP, VBP, and covariates. The results of the analysis support the significance of HRRP and VBP on hospital operating margin, but the results did not support a differential effect of these programs on AHCs as compared to non-AHCs. While the results did not support the two main hypotheses, it did provide valuable insight into the financial differences between AHCs and non-AHCs and the importance of VBP and HRRP on hospital financial performance. The results also provide important policy implications and thoughts on potential managerial actions given the HRRP and VBP programs.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the study of human operant behavior. One area of study reflecting this interest is the study of the formation of equivalent classes of stimuli by human subjects. The focus of the present research was the study of the conditions under which classes of equivalent stimuli can be inferred to be under conditional control. In Experiment 1-A, three college students were trained to respond to a balanced five-term contingency via a visual-visual simultaneous matching-to-sample task with two choices of comparison stimuli. Probe tests showed that subjects' behavior could be described as being controlled by positive and negative stimulus relations. When the second-order stimulus was removed during subsequent probes, none of the three subjects demonstrated strong correct responses to the four-term unit relations. Also, none of the three subjects demonstrated the expected transitive relations when the second-order (five-term) stimulus was removed. In Experiment 1-B--with the same three subjects--explicit training of the four-term unit relations showed the expected transitive relations in the absence of the second-order stimulus. In Experiments 2 through 5--using a matching-to-sample task similar to that used in Experiments 1-A and 1-B--five subjects were trained to respond to comparison stimuli C and E in the presence of sample A and second-order stimulus X and to comparison stimuli Band Fin the presence of sample D and second-order stimulus X. Likewise, the subjects were trained to respond to comparison stimuli Band Fin the presence of sample A and second-order stimulus Y and to comparison stimuli C and E in the presence of sample D and second-order stimulus Y. Probe tests for transitive relations showed that four of the five subjects eventually demonstrated four three-member classes of equivalent stimuli that functioned separately under the control of the second-order stimuli. The four subjects demonstrating the classes of equivalent stimuli either a) demonstrated the transitive relations immediately orb) demonstrated the transitive relations after explict retraining of the underlying four-term unit relations. The results of all experiments together indicated that the composition of classes of equivalent stimuli can be conditionally controlled by either a) removing the second-order stimulus orb) training subjects to respond to classes of equivalent stimuli under the control of other explicit visual second-order stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of verbal behavior, emergent behavior, and conceptual development.

Two methods of analyzing multi-dimensional frequency data are detailed. The Second Order Exponential (SOE) model is applicable for dichotomous classifications. The distribution has two sets of parameters, ϴi's and ϴj's. The ϴi's are interpreted as the log of the odds of the marginal probabilities if no two factor relationships exist. Or if all ϴij are not zero, then the ϴi's are analogous to a main effect in a 2m factorial analysis, (m = number of factors or classifications). The ϴif's may be interpreted as a measure and direction of the two factor relationships. These ϴij are analogous to partial or adjusted phi-coefficients. The second method discussed assumes a multinomial distribution and the statistics are developed from an Information Theoretic Approach. Each hypothesis is tested using twice the minimum discrimination information statistic (m.d.i.s), 2I. From the null hypothesis it is possible to estimate unique cell probabilities by an iterative metod. Then 2 is equal to 2 (sample frequencies) log (sample frequencies) - 2 (expected frequencies) log (expected frequencies). (141 pages)