Florida reformed its civil service system with the passage of the Service First Initiative of 2001, resulting in a unique organizational setting by altering the employer-employee relationship, yet little academic research explored the power tactics used by politicians and political appointees in order to gain subordinate compliance in unique organizational environments. Using French and Raven’s bases of social power theory and Raven’s interpersonal power interaction model as the foundation, the primary purpose of this stratified cross-sectional study of politicians and political appointees in Florida was to explore whether certain demographic factors are predictors of the extent to which French and Raven’s “hard” and “soft” power tactics are used. Survey data were collected using the interpersonal power inventory, political predisposition measure, and a self-developed demographic information form from 354 political appointees and state employees and were analyzed using simple multiple linear regression. Findings indicated the usage of the power tactics is consistent Ravens original research with influence agents preferring the soft power tactics over hard. Findings also showed that age and race (notably African American) are statically significant predictors of usage of soft power tactics of expert, referent, informational, the legitimacy of dependency, personal reward and harsh power tactics of personal coercion, legitimacy of reciprocity and equity (p <.05). Positive social change implications resulting from this study include recommendations regarding development of leadership programs to reduce the reliance on the use of harsh power tactics in order to increase organizational and personal outcomes within Service First Initiative organizations.

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Den här uppsatsen har sin utgångspunkt i en arbetsgrupp, inom äldrevården, vilken har en förhållandevis jämn fördelning mellan antalet män och kvinnor. Hypotesen är att en organisation, med en sådan arbetsgrupp, i större utsträckning inhyser konflikter mellan arbetsplatsens jämställdhet och vårdtagarnas valfrihet att tacka ja eller nej till hjälp beroende på om den tilltänkta utföraren är man eller kvinna. Platsen har alltså valts strategiskt för att utröna om hypotesen kan bekräftas. Uppsatsen behandlar hur organisationen, formellt och informellt, samordnar dessa normer och utgår ifrån att det finns en inneboende intressekonflikt i relationen dem emellan. Det empiriska materialet har hämtats in med hjälp av samtalsintervjuer. Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att tydliggöra ansvarsfördelningen för hur de olika normerna avvägs mot varandra men också att utröna vilka efterverkningar avvägningarna får i det praktiska arbetet och rekryteringen. Som titeln implicerar använde sig organisationen av en undvikande logik i avvägningen. Istället för att synliggöra konflikten tonade man ner den genom att bara ta till sig jämställdhetskonceptet på ett terminologiskt plan och på så sätt löskoppla det från de interna aktiviteterna. Genom detta pragmatiska förhållningssätt kunde arbetet fortlöpa som tidigare utan att den inbyggda intressekonflikten gjorde avkall på effektiviteten. / This essay has its outset in a work team within the elderly care. The work team is relatively equally composed regarding the number of men and women. The hypothesis is that an organization, with a work team of that composition, will even more so contain conflicts between the work place' equality and the caretakers freedom of choice to accept or decline help depending on if the prospective personnel is male or female. The scene of the study has thereby been chosen strategically in order to prove the hypothesis. The essay is addressing how the organization, formally and informally, coordinates these norms and assumes that there is an immanent conflict of interest in the relation between them. The empirical data has been obtained through research interviews. The intention of the essay has been to clarify the division of responsibilities regarding how the norms should be balanced in relation to one another but also to determine which impacts the balancing will provide in the hands-on work and the recruitment of new staff. As the title implicate; did the organization use an avoidant approach in the balancing process. Rather than making the conflict visible, it was de-emphasized by absorbing the concept of equality only on a semantic level, thereby loose coupling the concept from the internal activities. Through such pragmatic disposition the activities could proceed as before without a conflict of interests intervening on the efficiency of the organization.

The following research is a qualitative theory consuming study which investigates China's actions in Kenya regarding the postcolonialism and colonialism theory. The purpose of the essay is to understand how the theory can be used in the actions between China and Kenya by answering the following questions: How has Kenya been influenced by China's development efforts from a colonial perspective, as well as in terms of political, economic, and cultural dimensions?  In what ways has China been crucial in the development work that has impacted Kenya's political, economic, and cultural dimensions, and how can the postcolonial perspective be applied to this development work? The research established the theory where postcolonialism and colonialism is described, with a following analysis where eight people living in Kenya got interviewed to be able to understand the problem and the actions from China. The research is separated into the following perspecitves, politics, economics and culture. The study concludes with a result that proves that both theories of postcolonialism and colonialism are difficult to apply to China's actions in Kenya today due to their ongoing nature.

There is scant research into the influence of leader or follower personality on the development of leader-member exchange quality (LMX; Dienesch & Liden, 1986; Gerstner & Day, 1997; Liden, Sparrowe, & Wayne, 1997, Harris, Harris, & Eplion, 2007). Furthermore, where such research has been undertaken, it has focused mostly on broad-trait based personality factors (such as the Big-Five; Phillips & Bedeian, 1994; Erdogan, Liden, & Wayne, 2006). There are strong theoretical grounds for expecting that more narrow and specific relationship-based personality assessments will provide superior prediction of LMX quality, and richer insights into the LMX development process. The current study draws on attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1980; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007) to examine how individuals' dispositions relate to their LMX quality and two relationship-based aspects of work performance (organizational citizenship behaviour [OCB] and counterproductive work behaviour [CWB]). The moderating influence of emotion regulation and affectivity on these relationships was also explored. Data were collected from managers, front-line staff, and their co-workers at two Canadian hospitals. Emotion regulation (Gross, 1998a; Gross & John, 2003) was found to moderate the association between attachment and LMX. Additionally, in some instances leaders' trait affectivity interacted with emotion regulation to influence the impact of leader attachment on LMX quality. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Gratitude is an emotion with a number of positive benefits for both individuals and organizations; however, very little research has addressed the role of leaders in influencing the gratitude of those they lead. Organizational leaders can increase the gratitude levels of the leaders who report to them, who then can influence the gratitude of their own subordinates. This study addresses how the emotion of gratitude can trickle-down through two levels of an organizational hierarchy. There are two potential theories to support such trickle-down effects of gratitude: a behavioral explanation in social learning theory and an affective explanation in gratitude as an emotional contagion. Social learning theory can explain how gratitude trickles via the influence role models (i.e., leaders) have on the behavior of those below them. In addition, gratitude as an emotional contagion can unconsciously increase feelings of gratitude after experiencing gratitude expressions and these feelings of gratitude should increase the spread of gratitude to others. An experimental study design consisting of students acting as supervisors and subordinates evaluating email manipulations was used to test the hypotheses. The results from this study support the idea that gratitude can spread from upper-level leaders to lower levels in an organizational hierarchy. In addition, results suggest that this relationship is positively mediated by role modeling effects supporting the behavioral explanation of trickle-down effects. However, results did not support emotional contagion theory as a mechanism that explains trickle-down effects. Such findings offer important implications as leaders can play a significant role in spreading the positive effects of gratitude throughout their organization.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the discourse function of connectives in Chinese narratives. It is found that connectives , being a kind of cohesive ties , operate at different levels of discourse as boundary markers. The present study also points out that the occurrences of Chinese connectives are governed by semantic relatedness and discourse structure of the connected discourse units. Chinese connectives are classified on the basis of their meanings into four categories. In describing the positions of the four types of connectives in discourse , the author asserts that Chinese discourse is hierarchically composed of recursive micro-structures and macro-structures , with units occuring at a lower level exhibiting tighter connection. The four categories of connectives occur in discourse to link units at different levels. Additives , with the meaning of “in addition” , generally occur within topic chain to link micro-structures. Causals, which serve to connect expressions bearing causal relations , are mostly used at the connections of micro-structures and less frequently to link macro-structures. Adversatives, which mean "contrast" or "contrariness" , occur at the connections of macrostructures where discourse usually shifts to a different view point. Temporals , indicating temporal sequence , may be used either to link micro-structural expressions of events or actions or to mark shifts of the temporal settings at macro-structural level. The above findings are verified with a quantitive analysis of topic continuity which is proposed to be the indicator of semantic relatedness. The quantative analysis reveals that additives are associated with high topic continuity , and causals , adversatives and temporals are related to low continuity. The thesis also includes an experiment on empirical validity of the findings. The results of the test show that the conclusion proposed in this study adequately describes the native speakers ' competence in using Chinese connectives to organize discourse.

O trabalho versa sobre o processo de montagem e falência de um órgão administrativo, a Provedoria da Fazenda Real da Capitania da Paraíba (1647 - 1755). Através da análise sistêmica, política-administrativa, do órgão fazendário paraibano, pode-se entender a relação contraditória entre o funcionamento, na esfera fiscal, da estrutura patrimonialista montada desde a expulsão dos holandeses da Paraíba, e as investidas centralizadoras do fiscalismo régio. Tais investidas foram sentidas: a) na busca da diminuição de privilégios dos administradores da Fazenda paraibana; b) na constante centralização dos vários pontos de receita existentes na capitania para o seio da Provedoria da Fazenda; e c) na radical intervenção do Marquês de Pombal, quando do decreto da anexação e subordinação da Capitania da Paraíba à de Pernambuco. Destaca-se ainda, a trajetória da falência econômica da Capitania da Paraíba, cuja asfixia repercutiu na crise fiscal e na subordinação / This work studies the process of setting as well as bankruptcy of an administrative organ, the department of the royal treasury Captaincy of Paraíba (1647 - 1755). Throughout the analysis of the political and administrative system of this organ, the research points out a contradictory relationship between the patrimonial structure that was built on the occasion of the expulsion of the Dutch from Paraíba, and the attempts to centralize the charge of tributes under the royal control. Such attempts may be characterized by the following actions: a) trying to diminish the privileges of the administrators; b) centralizing the various points of receipts under the department of royal treasury control; c) annexing and subordinating Captaincy of Paraíba to Pernambuco one, a radical intervention by Marquis of Pombal. In addition, the work emphasizes the course of economic bankruptcy of Captaincy of Paraíba, resulting in the crisis of the charge of tributes as well as in the subordination.

Contrairement à ce que plusieurs académiciens ont traditionnellement envisagé, la question principale qui a animé cette recherche s’est axée à indiquer comment les secteurs subalternes ont-ils exprimé leurs défis politiques pendant la période de 1770 à 1830 dans l’ancienne Gobernación de Popayán et comment ces actions ont marqué les relations entre les secteurs subalternes et les autres secteurs de la société de l’époque (composés principalement des criollos et péninsulaires). Alors, le propos principal de cette recherche a été celui de caractériser la culture politique des secteurs subalternes, exprimée à travers des actions collectives contentieuses pendant la période de 1770 à 1830 dans la Gobernación de Popayán, tenant en compte la transition politique qui s’est passé avec le processus d’indépendance qui eut lieu au début du XIXème siècle. Le but principal de cette recherche a donc été de comprendre les échangés, les tensions entre les secteurs subalternes et les groupes sociaux représentés par les élites créoles et péninsulaires, et comment au travers les actions collectives, les subalternes purent exprimer notions ou valeurs comme justice, liberté, et procurèrent aussi d’établir des mécanismes de solidarité d´action conjointe et mobilisation collective tout au long de ces années troubles / Contrary to what many scholars have traditionally contemplated, the main question that prompted this research centered on how the subordinate sectors expressed their political challenges during the period 1770 to 1830 in the former Gobernación de Popayán and how these actions marked the relations between the subordinate sectors and the other sectors of the society of the time (mainly composed of Criollo and Peninsular). The main purpose of this research was to characterize the political culture of the subordinate sectors, expressed through contentious collective actions during the period from 1770 to 1830 in the Gobernación de Popayán, taking into account the political transition that took place passed with the process of independence that took place at the beginning of the XIXth century. The main aim of this research was to understand exchanges, tensions between the subaltern sectors and the social groups represented by the Creole and Peninsular elites, and how through collective actions the subordinates could express notions or values as justice, freedom, and also to establish mechanisms of solidarity for joint action and collective mobilization throughout these turbulent years.