Managers spend seventy-five to eighty percent of their time communicating interpersonally. Ironically, communication skills are often listed as a major weakness of today's managers. The decision-making component of the managerial task requires the abilities to gather and analyze necessary information, consult with and involve the expertise of peers and subordinates in the decision-making process, and implement the final decisions through the aid of those effected by them. Communication, therefore, is the prerequisite for sound decisions and effective management. A strong and effective organizational communication system allows the "receiver" to express his needs and thoughts to the "sender." Renis Likert, echoed by numerous writers, considered communication a central key force in the decisional participation process. The hypothesis of this study was that the more effective the system of organizational communication is, the more involved the managers in middle- and lower-levels of the hierarchy will get. Communication effectiveness was measured through four components: Upward communication, downward communication, content of communication, and the sources of information. The impact of these components on the degree of decisional participation among the middle- and lower-level managers in Saudi Arabian governmental agencies was measured and analyzed. A multiple regression analysis was performed to assess this causal relationship between the four components of organizational communication and managers' decisional participation in strategic as well as operational decisions. The results indicated no significant relationship among the variables. Except for upward communication, the other three components of the organizational communication system did not seem to have a direct significant effect on the managers' reported participation in Saudi Arabia. The exploratory research suggested several implications for future research.

With the proliferation of computer networking technologies and improved systems development practice, organizationally-based information systems are beginning to include automated information interchange that transcends organizational boundaries. The scope of interorganizational systems ranges from the simple exchange of standardized messages to the integration of separate organizationally-based hardware and software components. The dissertation considers the characteristics of Automated Information Sharing Systems (IS*s) with a view toward developing classification schema and predicting issues of relevance to organizations and society arising from IS* development and evolution. Development of IS*s may be examined from a variety of perspectives including participation incentives and objectives as well as structural, growth and technical characteristics. Each of these is investigated by the analysis of actual case studies representing current and prototype IS* implementations. The output of the initial investigatory process is a set of representative taxonomies which may be used to classify and categorize IS*s. The primary taxonomic scheme, participation levels, represents categorization of IS*s on two bases: operational/technical characteristics and strategic utilization potentialities. Application taxonomies, interchange objective and interchange type, are also developed to provide a foundation for assessing the underlying characteristics of interchange prior to determining appropriate IS* application features. In this way, the thesis presents fundamental concepts for continuing research into the development and potential impact of IS*s.

Background Today's organizations are facing an increasing need of competent global managers. International experience is thus often a requirement in order to reach positions within top management. Expatriate assignments, whereby an employee relocates to work in another country for a longer period of time is a common way to gain international competence. However, the typical expatriate has traditionally been a man and still today, women are underrepresented in international management. Pressure from society on gender equality challenges organizations to increase their number of female expatriates. In order to explain the low share of female expatriates, prior research has foremost focused on the woman as an individual in the expatriation process rather than the organization's impact. Therefore we see a need of investigating how the organization and its underlying gendered substructures affect female expatriates. Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate how gendered substructures in an organization influence the prospects of female expatriates. Methodology The study is based on a qualitative approach and builds upon interviews and focus groups conducted in two Swedish MNCs. A deductive approach has been used, whereby gendered organizational theory creates the framework of this study. Conclusion The result from our study shows that gendered substructures influence the prospects for women to take on expatriate assignments. This can be seen in the vertical segregation within organizations, the lack of role models and a higher pressure on women in managerial positions. Contribution This study is important since it stresses the organization's role on women's prospects for expatriate assignments. Furthermore it highlights the complexity of gender equality work in organizations and gives its contributions to further research within the field.

International environmental policy (IEP) has the potential to influence the quality of life or the possibility of life, for virtually every organism in the world. Inputs from states and non-state actors shape the substance of such policy. Recently, numerous researchers have studied the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the formation of IEP. State-centric approaches claim little to no influence on the part of NGOs, while other researchers insist that NGOs have an important role in policy formation. In this paper, a detailed framework is used, which identifies the methods of influence available to NGOs and a variety of factors that may enable or constrain their efficacy. Numerous interviews were conducted with NGO representatives to help inform the framework's emphases. The framework is employed to test the claims of various commentators by ascertaining the extent of NGO policy influence at two recent international conferences: the 1999 International Joint Commission Biennial Conference, and the 2001 Conference of the Parties, Part 11, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is found that NGO policy influence at both conferences ranged from none to slight. The best method of influence available to NGOs is found to be the shaping of public opinion in powerful states, so that it is agreeable to NGO demands. The findings bolster state-centric claims, which place contemporary international political power largely in the hands of governments. Additionally, the findings acknowledge the power of public opinion in forming the preferences of governments. Lastly, public opinion in more powerful states is found to be more significant, in terms of policy influence, then its counterpart in less powerful states.

The United States and other nations of the free world are presently engaged in a life and death struggle. This conflict is between democracy and Communism--freedom versus slavery. In the classical definition of war, opponents and battlefields were readily defined, but in this "Cold War" conventional arms are only a part of the over-all battle plan. The persistent effort of the Communists to infiltrate and dominate the American labor movement is one of these battlefields. Domination and control of labor unions has been a primary goal of the Communist Party in the United States. In recent years, the power of organized labor has demonstrated its strength throughout our national economy. Labor organizations have the power to create, in this country, a state of national emergency. The problem is how this power can be controlled and protected for the American worker.

Presented to the Department of Information Systems University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Commerce Degree in Information Systems / The need for Information Systems (IS) professionals to communicate effectively has been identified as one of the key issues of IS management in the 1990s. The communication gap between IS professionals and other personnel in organisations has been well documented and studies have shown that appropriate training can improve communication skills. The objective of this research was to establish what constitutes effective communication skills training and to produce a guideline which IS managers and trainers could use to address this problem. The major finding of this research was that IS personnel do not perceive themselves to be poor communicators despite the fact that many studies have shown that there is need for improvement. This shows that there seems to be a gap between what is expected of IS personnel and their own perceptions of their communication abilities. In order for change to take place, IS Personnel need to be aware of their shortcomings and organisations need to get more involved. Managers can facilitate the process by communicating the need for improvement to their employees and can demonstrate their commitment by recommending appropriate training. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: This study, therefore, is an attempt to provide conceptual tools for understanding and facilitating the processes involved in the phenomenon of defining the roles for positions in new organizations (or new positions in old organizations) and redefining new roles for old positions in the light of changing circumstances. It seeks to answer the question, "What is known about the phenomenon of defining a role?". / 2031-01-01

Abstract not available

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.S.M.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 20, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.