The purpose of this study is to explore the roles of social-emotional-oriented communication and work-oriented communication in enhancing organizational commitment in the context of the People’s Republic of China. Literature regarding the functions of different types of communication was reviewed and the human relations theory was applied as the main guidance of the current research. The study utilized the statistical method to analyze the data collected from questionnaires. A total of 69 employees working in a Chinese local governmental organization participated in the research. Horizontal and vertical social-emotional-oriented communication were examined separately by four indicators: employee’s perceived quantity of social interaction with peers (superiors) within the department, quantity of social interaction with peers (superiors) outside the department, quality of these interactions, and emotional coloring of the interactions. Work-oriented communication was measured by three indicators: employee’s perceived quantity of the organization’s strategic information regarding the policies and development, the employee’s perceived quantity of vertical interaction with management (downward and upward), and the employee’s satisfaction with management’s responsiveness to the upward feedback. Organizational commitment was tested by the three components model: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. The findings from regression analyses revealed that social-emotional-oriented communication between subordinates and superiors is a positive predictor of affective commitment, and the perceived quantity of organizational strategic information and vertical interaction with management; and that work-oriented communication is a strong positive predictor of affective commitment and normative commitment. However, the results failed to prove the effects of horizontal social-emotional-oriented communication. The conclusion is that in Chinese governmental organizations, vertical communication and communication regarding work-related topics help to make employees want to stay with and contribute to the employing organization; and the better social-emotional-oriented communication the employees have with superiors, the better work-oriented communication they have at work.

There is a worldwide shortage of direct care workers who help older adults in their own homes. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that owners of home health care businesses can use to retain adequate direct care workers for their businesses. Five home care agency owners from Wake County, North Carolina, participated. Each owner had successfully implemented strategies to ensure adequate caregivers to sustain the business. Human relations theory was used to address the business problem. Data collection involved interviewing the 5 owners of home care agency businesses in their offices. Through a process of methodological triangulation, observations and documentary evidence supplemented data collected through semistructured interviews. Deductive and inductive coding were used to arrange and identify 3 emergent themes: company reputation, training and career development, and the role of government. The results of this study may contribute to social change because home care agency owners and other business owners can use the findings to improve on their treatment of low income workers which may help eradicate discrimination to ethnic minorities.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur arbetsrelaterad stress påverkar diakoner i Svenska Kyrkan, samt vilken inverkan diakoners arbetsmiljö har på arbetsrelaterad stress. Studien har utgått från en kvantitativ ansats och datainsamling gjordes i form av en webbenkät som skickades ut till vigda diakoner som arbetar i två stift inom Svenska Kyrkan, varav 65 diakoner deltog i studien. Enkäten bestod av ett antal bakgrundsfrågor och sedan frågor tagna från det validerade frågeformuläret Work stress questionnaire. Empirin analyserades sedan utifrån de fyra kategorier som återfinns i Work stress questionnaire. Specifika frågor analyserades även utifrån arbetskrav och resurser som återfinns i teorin Job Demands- Resources Model och de sju antaganden från Human Relations Theory of Management, samt utifrån den tidigare forskning som finns om ämnet. Studiens resultat visade att det finns flera faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som kan vara bakomliggande faktorer till arbetsrelaterad stress. Stor arbetsbelastning, otydliga mål, höga krav och förväntningar samt tidspress är några av de största bakomliggande faktorerna till arbetsrelaterad stress som diakoner ställs inför i sitt arbete. Studien visar även på att det behövs framtida forskning kring ämnet för att förstå och minska de faktorer i diakoners arbete och arbetsmiljö som leder till arbetsrelaterad stress.