There is an increasing interest in within-group agreement in organizations, in response to evidence that agreement is predictive of various outcomes of interest. The model in this study suggests that within-group agreement on perceptions of the work environment is predicted indirectly by the quality of exchange relationships, specifically team-member exchange (TMX), leader-member exchange (LMX), social interaction and work interdependence, through the mediation of social influence, and directly by demographic homogeneity. Chan's (1998) typology of composition models was used to appropriately conceptualize the variables at the group level.Results suggest that average high quality LMX relationships are predictive of within-group agreement, and that high quality relationships within the team are predictive of perceptions of social influence within the team. The mediation model was non-significant, and contrary to existing literature, social interaction and work interdependence were not significantly related to any of the other variables in the model.Demographic homogeneity was related to both perceptions of social influence and to within-group agreement on perceptions of the work environment in the opposite direction from that hypothesized. Post-hoc analyses suggest that organizational cultural orientation (collectivist or individualist) may moderate the relationship between demographic homogeneity and within-group agreement on perceptions of the work environment.

The ability to backfill leadership positions has become a key focus of business leaders since 2005 when the baby boom workforce started to age. An aging workforce threatens the capability of business leaders to develop leadership pipelines to ensure business success. Grounded by the social exchange theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful strategies that technology services managers used to align core business objectives to improve succession planning at a technology services organization located in Dallas, Texas. Data collection and triangulation included semi structured telephone interviews with 12 technology services managers, company documents, and archival information. Data analysis included the examination of rich text data, coding, and classification of themes using Yin's 5-step approach. Four themes emerged, revealing that these managers (a) created and sustained a leadership talent pipeline for high potential employees for future leadership roles; (b) sourced internal candidates with core leadership competencies; (c) remediated leadership skills gaps through developed relationships and documented processes; and (d) re-engineered the replacement planning process for the internal leadership talent pipeline. Implications for positive social change include the potential for technology services managers to implement effective succession planning strategies that could increase employee morale, enhance profitability and growth, and promote healthy community partnerships.

Stress inside and outside of work affects employee productivity. In 2013, the estimated impact of employee absenteeism on U.S. businesses was $225 billion per year through reduced efficiency, overtime wages, fixed fringe benefits, and the cost of replacement employees. Based on the social exchange theory and the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies that HR leaders in a single organization used to reduce employee disengagement caused by stress. Using semistructured interviews, data were collected from 12 HR leaders and line managers within a single healthcare organization in eastern Tennessee. Member checking and validations using organization records assured the credibility and reliability of the interpretations and findings. Using the thematic analysis approach, 4 themes emerged, (a) integration of employee engagement practices into culture and business processes, (b) providing managers with the job resources they need to lead staff, (c) being transparent and honest in communications, and (d) relying on supportive supervisor behavior to mitigate employee stress. A mission-driven and values-based organization culture served as the foundation for implementing these individual strategies. These findings could contribute to social change by helping organizations reduce stress in the workplace, improve employee wellbeing, and reduce individuals' risk of morbidity and mortality caused by stress, leading to a reduction in healthcare costs for communities.

The fast development of the tourism industry has created both positive and negative impacts on host communities. Reacting to these impacts, host residents hold various attitudes towards tourism and tourists. It has come to common agreement that a supportive host community plays a vital role in the successful and long-term development of community tourism. In order to explain the antecedents of community attitudes towards tourism, researchers have investigated the topic from both the extrinsic perspective (such as stage-based models) and the intrinsic perspective (such as the Social Exchange Theory). Nevertheless, there are still several important research gaps and deficiencies within the existing literature. First, the influence of psychological factors (personality) on attitudes towards tourism is somewhat neglected. Second, when examining the relationship between community attitudes towards tourism and the influential factors, the majority of previous studies do not distinguish the orthogonal dimensions of attitudes (such as positive dimension and negative dimension). Third, the existing literature has not addressed the issue of whether specific attitudes towards tourism will lead to a corresponding behaviour when interacting with tourists, and what other factors are determinant in host-guest interactive behaviour. Aiming to address such research gaps and deficiencies, this study has a major objective of developing a theoretical model (encompassing attitude element) to understand the antecedents of host-guest interaction. A quantitative approach was employed for the entire project. A self-administrated questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data. A total of 878 useful questionnaires were returned for analyses. Stratification sampling methods were utilized in communities where population database was accessible, while random sampling methods were used in other communities. The findings from this study confirmed the two major hypotheses in terms of community attitudes towards tourism. First, there was a significant relationship between an individual's personality and his/her attitudes towards tourism. Residents being high on Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Agreeableness traits and low on the Neuroticism trait tended to be more positive towards tourism than their counterparts. Second, while some factors were found to be influential on both positive and negative dimensions of attitudes towards tourism, others only demonstrated influences on one dimension. The Resident-Tourist Interaction Model developed in this study provided a comprehensive theoretical framework in modelling and predicting host residents' interactive behaviour towards tourists. Drawing on the evaluation results of three leading behavioural theories belonging to the school of cognition, the Model identified attitudinal, volitional, social, motivating and habitual factors for the prediction of resident-tourist interactive behaviour. Motivating factor (intention) was the critical and immediate element for action, which, in turn, was best predicted by subjective norms. External factors (gender, age and personality traits) only moderated the predictive power of the Model by less than two percent. The Model was valid and reliable for the current data. The present study advanced resident-tourist interactive behavioural study by establishing a sound theoretical framework. It also consolidated the body of knowledge in understanding community attitudes towards tourism. Findings from this study have significant practical implications for community tourism planning and management.

This paper explores the political behavior process in information system implementation process. The organizational politics is the critical success/failure factor in the IS implementation process. We expect to understand, in different organizational contexts, what kind of political behavior will occur? What will be the events and processes of these political behaviors? Who's idea? At what time? In what setting? What will be the interaction among these dimensions? How will these political behaviors affect IS outcome and organization? This study will explain political behavior in IS implementation process from different interpretations and perspectives. This study relies on qualitative data collected from two cases--manufacturer Theta and government enterprise Delta--in the forms of interviews, documented data, archival data, and observation over eight month. The data are interpreted through five internally coherent theoretical perspectives: personal perspective, strategic contingency theory, conflict theory, social exchange theory, and structuration theory. Contributions include the following. In practice, we group 35 kind of political behavior into four types: aggression, defense, strengthen, withdrawal. Besides the adverse effects, some kinds of political behavior can lead to the success of the project. The detailed descriptions we use to describe the political behavior process in IS implementation process can help in similar cases to show how to reduce or prevent any negative consequences. Academically, we conduct contextual and process theory analyses of these processes, and use five theoretical perspectives to interpret these phenomena.

The aim of this dissertation was (1) to examine the work choice motivation for accepting the contingent employment in relation to various outcomes (job satisfaction, job involvement, and psychological contract) and the effect on work performance (obedience, and work expectation), and (2) to test whether workers¡¦ interaction may assist in explaining difference between the various outcome and the effect on work performance. The results of this study challenged earlier assumptions on the importance of volition in temporary work research. Analyses were based on a sample of 415 contingent workers from various organizations and types of the contingent employment. The most striking findings were that work choice motivation did not consistently associate with favorable outcomes and the effect on work performance, and that the relationship between work choice motivations related to work performance outcomes were non-significant. By way of contrast, self-fulfilling motive has positively effects on job satisfaction and job involvement, work-life balance motive and self-constrain motive have positive effect on psychological contract, and work control motive has negative effect on job involvement, and psychological contract. Also, this dissertation established that workers¡¦ interaction may have potential to improve the variations on predictions. The result showed that task-related interaction between standard and contingent workers has positive effect on job satisfaction, job involvement, work expectation, and obedience. Moreover, the non-task related interaction has negative effect on obedience. The interaction effects of work choice motivation and workers¡¦ interaction on job attitudes and work performance were also examined in this study. The result shows that the interaction between work-life balance motive and non-task related interaction has positive effect on psychological contract. Moreover, the interaction effect of self-constrain motive and non-task related interaction also has positive effect on psychological contract. The implications were also discussed in this study.

Social games have become popular on social media such as Facebook and MySpace. While there are plenty of market reports regarding social media, the related academic research is limited. This study applies Homans’ cost‐reward structure from Social Exchange Theory to investigate how social games change people’s social behavior on social media. The concepts of rewards are drawn from the gratifications of social media use, and the concepts of costs are drawn form the symptoms of media addiction. In a survey of 323 college students, participants’ perceived rewards and costs of Facebook use and game play are measured. The results indicate social game players perceived significantly higher costs of Facebook use than non‐players. In addition, costs of Facebook use and costs of game play also play important roles to influence social game players’ willingness to play more social games. Discussion and limitations are provided. / text

In a two-part study, dating sexual expectations will be evaluated and the sexual social exchange theory will be investigated in a date rape trial. In Part 1, participants (N = 100) will be presented with one of two fictional date scenarios that will differ only on the cost of the date (i.e., $30 or $175). Participants will then indicate what behaviors (sexual and not sexual) are appropriate at the end of a first date and then a fifth date. It is predicted that all participants will expect sexual intercourse more on the fifth date than the first, and that participants in the expensive date scenario will expect sexual intercourse more than participants in the inexpensive date condition. Part II will use the information gathered in Part I to investigate how sexual expectations in a dating scenario may manifest themselves as feelings of reciprocity in the sexual social exchange theory. In Part II participants (N = 160) will be presented with one of four trial summaries that differ depending on the cost of the date (i.e., $30 or $175) and the date number (i.e., first or fifth). Participants will render a verdict and then rate the defendant and alleged victim on various rating factors (e.g., credibility), in addition to completing the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale, short form. It is predicted that there will be fewer guilty verdicts and lower pro-victim judgments for both men and women when the cost of the date was high and when the couple was on their fifth date. It is also predicted that men will render fewer guilty verdicts and report lower pro-victim attitudes than women. Juror rating subscales (e.g., victim credibility) and rape myth acceptance scores are predicted to mediate the effects of the cost of date and date number on verdict. The results will be discussed in terms of how the sexual social exchange theory can explain juror perceptions in a date rape trial.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [282]-290).

Sjukvårdsorganisationer står inför stora utmaningar när andelen äldre i befolkningen ökar. Undersköterskor inom äldreomsorgen är en yrkeskategori som det ställs höga krav på eftersom de står för huvuddelen av den praktiska patientvården. Sjukskrivningarna ökar och ur ett nationellt perspektiv sticker Västsverige ut med särskilt höga sjukskrivningstal. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att få en djupare förståelse för undersköterskors subjektiva upplevelser av arbetslivet inom kommunal äldreomsorg. En kvalitativ fenomenologisk metod med tematisk analys tillämpades med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Tio undersköterskor från en kommun i regionen deltog. Intervjuerna transkriberades och kodades. I resultatet utkristalliserades tre teman och åtta underteman/kategorier: Arbetsuppgifter (praktiska arbetsuppgifter, sociala arbetsuppgifter, osynliga arbetsuppgifter), Organisering (formell organisation, informell organisation, omorganisation), och Välbefinnande (ökar välbefinnandet samt minskar välbefinnandet). De socialpsykologiska teoretiska utgångspunkter som ligger till grund för analysen är social utbytesteori samt gruppsykologi. Resultaten visade att upplevelser av arbetslivet till stor del präglas av sociala relationer, både inom arbetsgruppen och mellan vårdtagare - undersköterska. Själva arbetsuppgifterna var mindre framträdande när det kom till meningsskapandet kring vad som upplevs påverka välbefinnandet i yrkeslivet. / Healthcare organizations face great demands as the proportion of the elderly is increasing. Assistant nurses account for the majority of practical patient care and as a result, they are experiencing negative working conditions. As a consequence, the Western region in Sweden especially, is dealing with high levels of sick-leaves. The aim of the present study was therefore to gain a deeper understanding of assistant nurses’ experiences of working conditions. Qualitative phenomenological method together with semi-structured interviews was adopted. Ten assistant nurses in one municipality participated. The interviews were transcribed and coded based on qualitative thematic analysis. Three themes and eight thematic categories emerged: Working tasks (practical working tasks, social working tasks, invisible tasks), Organization (formal organization, informal organization, re-organisation), and Well-being (increasing well-being, decreasing wellbeing). The social psychological theories underlying the theoretical part of the analysis were Social Exchange Theory and Group Psychology. The result showed that experiences of working conditions to a large extent were connected to social relations, both within the working group and between healthcare providers and care-recipients. Working tasks were less prominent as far as the creation of meaning about what affects well-being within the profession.