The purpose of this study was to develop, deliver and evaluate the effectiveness of a management development program aimed at improving capability to coach others in a way that inspired excellent performance and enhanced self-management. Eleven manufacturing middle managers completed this intensive six month program which combined group training sessions, one-on-one coaching and self-directed study. Pre and post questionnaires were used to measure the impact of the program. These included: a questionnaire based on Manz and Sim's (1987) work describing the behavior of leaders of self-managing teams, a measure taken from Hackman's (1986) studies of team effectiveness and leadership and Carew and Parisi-Carew's (1988) PERFORM questionnaire which assessed group performance and functioning. A series of T-test analyses were used to determine pre and post study differences in subordinate and boss ratings of the participants' behavior. Qualitative measures, including evaluation questionnaires and case studies were also used to understand the participants' experience of the program and changes in their thinking and behavior. The program produced important changes in the managerial style and practices of the participants. This was shown in boss and subordinate reports of increased uses of coaching style, greater sensitivity to interpersonal relations, increased self-control and greater encouragement of initiative and self-managing behavior by the participant managers. The T-test analyses provided limited statistically significant results supporting these reported changes. Self-evaluations from the participants showed major shifts in their awareness of the impact of their emotional states and use of language on others both at work and at home. This shift in their view of themselves as individuals, managers and coaches resulted in a sense of personal empowerment to improve their own performance and help others to do the same. This study demonstrates that management education for leaders of self-managing individuals and groups requires a new paradigm that emphasizes understanding oneself as a prerequisite to leadership effectiveness. It also shows how training managers in understanding an interpretive theoretical framework and language-as-action is powerful for changing behavior and producing inspiring management coaches.

Encouraging employees to contribute their unique creative outputs to an organization can be a pivotal source of innovation and continuous organizational growth. Cognitive diversity has been demonstrated to increase group creativity, but the same effect on an individual level at multinational corporations has not yet been tested. Using a sample of 122 employees currently employed at Japan-based organizations/companies in the U.S., this study theorized that cognitive diversity was predicted to significantly interact to influence individual creative performance, and that power distance orientation mediates such a relationship. Several simple and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to test the model. The results showed that cognitive diversity significantly predicted individual creative performance. Although the mediation effect of power distance orientation was not detected on a relationship between cognitive diversity and individual creative performance, a moderating effect was identified through an exploratory analysis. This study concludes with a discussion on the contributions to cognitive diversity and the implications of the results for research and potential future research objectives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the way forward in accounting and auditing. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between accounting students’ level of technology readiness (TR) and AI technology adoption (TA). This quantitative study examined the independent variables of TR, perceived ease of use (PEOU), and perceived usefulness (PU) and the dependent variable of TA. Moreover, the present study examined the mediating effect of PEOU and PU on the relationship between TR and TA. The present study was related to individual accounting students’ perceptions of TR and TA. Student participants (n = 101) recruited for this study were randomly sampled from 2 universities in Southern California, the United States. An online questionnaire consisting of 30 items regarding perceptions of TR, PEOU, PU, and TA was administered. The bivariate correlation and regression between variables showed that TR, PEOU, and PU positively influence TA; TR positively influences PEOU and PU; and PEOU positively influences PU. Mediation analysis showed that both PEOU and PU mediate the relationship between TR and TA. Because of the significant relationships among variables, the model met the criteria for technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM) and Model 6 of process mediation. This study adds to the empirical research regarding the relationships between the constructs of TR and TA of AI within higher education, in which there is a gap in the literature. The study contributed by applying the TRAM construct to the use and adoption of AI. TR, PEOU, and PU are important constructs within higher education and predict AI TA by accounting students. Additionally, TR is a precursor to PEOU and PU of AI for this population. For practice, universities should enhance use perceptions by creating opportunities for accounting students to interact with AI. Effective adoption of AI in accounting curricula aimed at enhancing students’ perceptions is essential to increase their adoption of AI and overall career readiness. For research, replicating the study at other universities, examining other factors that influence students’ adoption of AI, and exploring other AI topics in higher education could expand the literature on technology readiness and TA of AI.

The purpose of the study was to determine the present status and the potential for future organization of business youth organizations in Utah high schools. Questionnaires were mailed to Utah high school business teachers and to Utah high school principals. Sixty-six per cent of the responding teachers bad never served as a business youth club sponsor; and 69 per cent of the teachers had never belonged to a business youth organization in high school or in college. Fifty-one per cent of the teachers expressed an interest in attending a regional meeting to discuss the organization of additional business youth organizations. Fifty-four per cent of the teachers expressed an interest in serving as sponsors for business youth cubs. Forty-three per cent of the teachers expressed a complete lack of knowledge about how to organize a business youth club in their schools within the next two years. The high schools in Utah were found to be neutral in encouraging business youth organizations at the local, state, and national levels. Significant differences at the .05 level of significance were found between the opinions of high school business teachers and high school principals in regard to (1) the levels at which business youth organizations should be promoted; (2) what type of student should be allowed membership in business youth organizations; and (3) the holding of conventions for business youth organizations. No significant differences were found between the teachers and principals in regard to (1) the sponsoring of contests for business club members and (2) the importance of business youth organizations.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of teaching intermediate typewriting at Utah State University during the Spring and Fall Quarters, 1971, utilizing a system incorporating prepared video tapes with the conventional teacher presentation method. There were 60 experimental and 60 control students used in the experiment. Those students in the experimental group received all their instruction via prepared video tapes while the control group received all their instruction in the conventional teacher presentation. The final measure utilized for comparing learning programs in the two groups was student performance in the following areas: straight copy timed writings gross words per minute and rate of accuracy, manuscript typing total gross words and rate of accuracy , letter typing total gross words and rate of accuracy, and statistical tabulation typing total gross words and rate of accuracy. Error measurement was based upon error rate rather than absolute errors. There were eight null hypotheses tested at the .05 level of significance. Since the study employed two groups of students who did not have pre-experimental sampling equivalence, scores were obtained for every student on pre and posttesting in the four major areas. These test scores were then used in the analysis of covariance technique because the groups available were intact or administratively organized groups within the University. The tests were developed by the author and were correlated with those commonly used to measure achievement in typewriting. A correlation coefficient using the Pearson "r" was used to determine test validity and reliability. The tests contained the same syllable intensity (1. 5) and approximate word length. The pretests were administered at the beginning of each quarter while the posttests were given during each quarter at the end of each unit of instruction. The Experimental group achieved higher than the Control group during the Fall Quarter in letter typing total gross words and during the Combined Quarters in statistical tabulation total gross words. The Experimental group achieved a more significant amount of errors during the Fall and Combined Quarters in straight copy timed writings. However, as the result of confusion with the posttesting in this area, these results may not be a true measurement of the students. In all other areas of testing there was no significant difference. In analyzing the accuracy data further, the error rate ranged from a low of .019 to a high of .036. The difficulty of the test copy had very little effect upon the rate of accuracy. The students in the Experimental group answering an evaluation form pertaining to video instruction, gave high approval to the use of prepared video tapes as a medium of instruction.

With the release of Workforce 2000: Work and workers for the twenty-first century (Johnson & Packer, 1987) which projected increased cultural diversity in the workforce; more and more organizations and organizational consultants have become interested in methods to insure that all people are respected and their talents are fully utilized in organizations. Organizational change strategies are being employed to this end. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe how a group of practitioners conceptualize the nature of their diversity work and describe the change strategies they use. Diversity work in this study is a generic term used to describe the variety of approaches commonly labeled managing diversity, valuing diversity, multicultural organization development, etc. Approaches which include as their goals, respect for all people, the removal of advantages and disadvantages in the workplace based on social group identity, and the re-creation of organizations to reflect diverse perspectives. Through a qualitative case study approach using in-depth interviews the perspectives of four practitioners are explored and shared. The practitioners were chosen through a review of the literature so as to represent approaches that have been documented in writing, and to include people with differing perspectives on the use of individual and systems focused strategies. The four participants are Asherah Cinnamon, Judith Katz, Roosevelt Thomas, and Barbara Walker. Through the interview process three areas were explored with the participants: the practitioners' personal and professional background; their philosophies of change; and their approaches to diversity work. Results of the study indicate that each of the four cases was unique in and of itself. Through each description the theory and assumptions behind the work are made more explicit. At the same time common threads are revealed that provide connections among the approaches. While each practitioner has specific goals, focus, language, and ways of thinking about the work which are articulated through the case descriptions; themes which emerge from the cross-case analysis shed light on the overall practice and also have implications for the future of this work.

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In-depth interviews were conducted with five human service professionals who worked in a community-based residential group home for developmentally disabled adults. The interviewing process used a phenomenological approach which focused on the perceptions of the human service professionals. "Perceptions" relate to the personal interpretations and evaluations that the human service professionals made of their work experiences. The interview process consisted of three ninety-minute interviews with each participant. The first interview centered around the question, "How did you come to work as a human service professional?" The second interview focused upon the question, "What is it like for you to work at a community-based residential group home for developmentally disabled adults?" And the third interview asked, "What does deinstitutionalization mean to you?" The interviews were audio-recorded and later transcribed. After significant transcript material had been identified, it was then synthesized in two ways: first, as profiles of the participants; and second, as excerpts from the interviews which were woven together with emergent themes that connected the experiences of the participants. Seven themes relative to their experiences at the community-based residential group home emerged from the data. The seven emergent themes that evolved from the data were: (1) Are private sector community-based group homes for the developmentally disabled adult truly independent, or are they a cleverly disguised extension of state government? (2) Community-based group homes, unlike the large state institutions, should impress family and community values upon their clients. These values are critical to the healthy and productive independence of clients. (3) The quality of care is much better in community-based group homes than in large institutions. (4) Staff development and staff selection are critical to the success of the program. (5) Members of the public and family members of some clients resent the good quality of life that the clients have. (6) Community-based group homes have a positive economic impact upon the local community and that fosters positive integration into the community. (7) Can a community-based program such as ours, which is driven by the needs of the clients, maintain its unique identity and philosophy?

Human service agencies are charged with the responsibility of providing care to those who are in need. Care recipients represent all walks of life. However, those who provide the services are not reflective of those they serve. This study focuses on affirmative action training and its effect at a selected facility of a human services agency. There is a general notion that racism and discrimination have contributed to the lack of minorities (particularly blacks) obtaining their fair share of positions of authority and influence. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts had directed all of its agencies to implement affirmative action in 1972. However, by 1989, this human service agency and the selected facility had not achieved their respective affirmative action goals. The search, in part, revealed that (1) the agency had to be subject to a Federal conciliation agreement to initiate its affirmative action activity six years after being directed to do so by the State; (2) the majority of blacks hired at the facility during the early 1980s were confined to entry-level paraprofessional and service maintenance jobs; and (3) the facility conducted its first and only comprehensive affirmative action training in 1989. The training was developed to provide key managers and supervisors with knowledge and awareness needed to fulfill the agency's mandate. Each training participant responded to a pre- and post-training attitudinal questionnaire and examination. Interviews were conducted with five randomly-selected trainees. Results indicate that: the agency has been slow and, in some cases, reluctant to implement the affirmative action mandate; the facility suffered from the residue of the agency's inactions; however, it has more recently demonstrated that affirmative action can be implemented successfully; and affirmative action training can be beneficial in enhancing knowledge of affirmative action while raising levels of sensitivity and awareness of key managers and supervisors.