Representation is hallowed in American jurisprudence. Under the adversary approach manifested in the judicial system of the United States, the right to assistance of counsel is a tenet of the Constitution for those accused of crimes as well as a protection accorded by the Wagner Act for unionized workers facing discipline at the hands of their employers. Of more recent vintage, soaring caseloads have increasingly clogged the courts and, some would contend, have served to deny justice through its delay. Consequently, those enmeshed in disputes have turned to alternate means to resolve their differences equitably and efficiently. Chief among these new methods is a process, mediation, in which adversarial relations are anathema. Parties that consent to mediation choose a neutral who fosters their attempt to negotiate a settlement. In the juxtaposition of our historical reliance on adversaries pitted against each other in the pursuit of justice with a modern dispute resolution venue that demands cooperation in the quest for agreement, is representation still a cherished right? One overarching question prompts this Investigation. Does the presence of a Representative in mediation affect the client's perception of Procedural Justice as well as the likelihood of reaching a settlement? A mixed-design empirical study was conducted in which emic, between-subjects variables (obtained from self-report surveys) and etic, within-subjects variables (experimentally manipulated in a manner akin to policy capturing) were measured in a sample of upper-class undergraduates. In sum, results demonstrate that representation has a positive effect on subjects' perception of Procedural Justice generally and, more particularly, that Facilitators--representatives who empower their clients to directly negotiate with their opponent--augur higher perceptions of fair process and predicted outcomes among their clients than those represented by Advocates, who dominate negotiations, or the Unrepresented. This exploratory Investigation will advance Organizational Justice theory by shedding light on the impact of representation on a client's perception of process control, voice and overall fairness in mediation. Also, the evidence informs mediation practice by suggesting a greater use of representatives who support their client's direct participation.

In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty police officers. The interviewing process used a phenomenological approach which focused on the meaning that police officers made of their work. "Meaning" relates to the personal interpretations and evaluations that officers make 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 police officer?" The second interview focused upon the question, "What is it like for you to work as a police officer?" And the third interview asked, "What does it mean to you to work as a police officer?" The interview 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 stressful experiences of the participants. Eighteen themes relative to occupational stress emerged from the data. Themes associated with autocratic management practices of police organizations were the most frequently perceived occupational stressors by the participants of this study. The author suggests that police work is no more stressful than other high-stress occupations, though police work seems to be very stressful because autocratic management practices intensify other stressors. Management reform seems to be an important task for the future well being of police officers. If police management styles become more democratic and supportive, there could be an across the board reduction in the negative affects of many occupational stressors. Officer health and job performance could subsequently improve. The author suggests that stress plays a critical role in the meaning that police officers make of their work. Stress has become the currency through which officers exchange meaning. Stress is the psychic Purple Heart of policing and validates an officer's experience.

Despite the increasing representation of women in the workforce, there continues to exist a gross under-representation of women in senior management. One specific and important aspect of organizational experience that is related to advancement is performance feedback. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between gender and perceptions of the nature and quantity of performance feedback received. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 male and 5 female managers regarding the types, amounts and effectiveness of the feedback they receive from their supervisors. From the information acquired through the interviews, a questionnaire was developed and administered to a larger sample of managers, testing five tentative hypotheses and investigating two questions of a more exploratory nature. Consideration was given to both formal and informal feedback processes. The results of the study suggest that although male and female managers do not differ significantly in their perceptions of the quality and quantity of feedback received, there are gender differences regarding what constitutes effective feedback, and what contributes to a sense of fairness in the appraisal process. The amount of feedback received is especially important to women.

No description available.

No description available.

A frequently used safety device is the safety sign. Despite its frequent use, it is often found to be ineffective in modifying consumer behavior. Those areas of research that are related to safety sign compliance are described in this dissertation using an information processing model of the consumer. One important area, identified as impacting consumer safety sign compliance, is how the consumer perceives the safety risk associated with the product. Research in the area of risk severity has found that there are at least two underlying risk dimensions used by consumers, with each of these dimensions being composed of several variables. However, research done in the area of risk severity has focused on risk as defined in terms of the number of people that may die from accidents rather than the extent of injuries that a person might experience. While it may be appropriate to apply these research findings to a large-scale project, such as a nuclear power plant, it may not be appropriate to apply these findings to consumer products. This is due to the fact that the most likely injury mode for a consumer product is not death. This dissertation describes a series of four experiments designed to examine those factors that impact consumer perception of risk for consumer products. Experiment 1 found that risk factors obtained when risk is defined as death were the same as when risk was defined as injury. Experiment 2 found that the risk factors obtained for both a broad and narrow class of product were the same. Experiment 3 found that a subject's perception of a product's risk could be modified through manipulation of risk variables. Experiment 4 explored the possibility of using risk perception variables to modify risk taking behavior through the use of product labels that described a product in terms of risk variables. A discussion follows regarding the impact of these findings on the area of risk perception research as well as the applied areas of Marketing and Safety Engineering.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>The predicted future operating room nurse and surgical technologist shortages may have significant implications for the healthcare industry. Improving the job satisfaction of operating room personnel could promote retention and provide adequate staffing in operating rooms. The job satisfaction of operating room nurses and surgical technologists can result in positive or negative work environments. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of job satisfaction of operating room nurses and surgical technologists to discover how job satisfaction influences the intent to leave or remain in the work environment of the operating room. A purposive selection was made of 12 registered nurses and 12 surgical technologists who had varying degrees of experience in the healthcare field, and were working part time or full time in the operating room of a pediatric medical center in North, Texas. Interviews were audio-recorded and the seven steps were used from Moustakas van Kaam analysis to reveal themes and patterns from the research data. Six themes emerged from the research study that included teamwork, recognition from surgeon, working with pediatric patients and their families, staff appreciation, work environment, and executive leadership. Based on the findings, further research is needed to ascertain strategies that would improve operating room registered nurses and surgical technologists&rsquo; job satisfaction and retention. </p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative research study is to analyze the relationship between individual cognitive, behavioral, and motivational characteristics and sales quota attainment for three industrial sales organizations in West Virginia. The intent of the study is to learn more about organizational efforts to implement an effective system for hiring to identify top performing talent in order to accomplish sales goals. From a human performance improvement perspective, this research study applies both the Behavior Engineering Model (Gilbert, 1978) and the Human Performance Improvement / HPT Model (Van Tiem, Moseley, &amp; Dessinger, 2012). The Behavior Engineering Model allowed the researcher to determine which individual characteristics are relevant for the purpose of this study. The Human Performance Improvement/HPT Model further allowed the researcher to define the issue of the recruiting approach of sales as a performance gap. Individual cognitive, behavioral, and motivational characteristics of 238 sales representatives were assessed using a psychometric assessment tool, the ProfileXT&copy; (Profiles International, I, 2007). A stepwise multiple regression was conducted to evaluate which ProfileXT&copy; scale scores were most effective at predicting sales performance. The only factor significantly related to sales performance was Independence, F (1,236) = 18.286, p &lt; .001, with a multiple correlation coefficient of .268, indicating that approximately 7.18% of the variance in sales performance could be accounted for by independence alone. Further analysis indicated no other significant predictor variables from the ProfileXT&copy; scales. The researcher concluded with recommendations for future research.</p>