Community college transfer students may have to repeat one or more courses at the four-year institution or may have to take more than the required number of courses to obtain a baccalaureate degree. This uncertainty about the transfer of credits and the extra cost in higher education that goes along with it, has come about mainly due to the lack of a working definition for college-level course work. Community colleges need to insure that every course designated as a transfer course will be transferable to a receiving institution. Four-year colleges and universities should expect the courses they accept in transfer to meet the same standards required within their own curricula. The defining characteristics of "college-level" should be identified to facilitate equitable transfer of course credit and insure that transfer students are prepared academically to continue their baccalaureate studies. This study explored the defining characteristics of lower-level college course work in two North Carolina community college and universities, specifically in the areas of study in accounting and business management. Simultaneously, the characteristics of community college-level course work were compared with those of the university. The data gathering methodology utilized the qualitative research method of semi-structured elite-interviewing which allowed for in-dept exploration of the opinions of the knowledgeable individuals involved in the issue being studied. A set of broad, open-ended interview questions were designed to gather information from community college and university professors of accounting and business management. A total of 16 professors were interviewed. The analysis of the interviews included organizing the data into domains; generating categories, themes, and patterns; and comparing and contrasting the two-year analysis with the four-year analysis and the areas of study against each other. There are more similarities than differences in the comments among and between the groups, and the analysis resulted in the identification of ten categories of characteristics defining college-level course work. They include (a) Problem solving using higher level thinking skills, (b) Mastery of the subject matter, (c) Connections within and across disciplines, (d) Student maturity, (e) Essential knowledge base from high school, (f) Course content/professor expectations, (g) Pedagogical issues which include writing, reading, mathematics, student evaluation and textbook, (h) Rigor, (i) Application of the subject matter, and (j) Interpersonal skills. / Ph. D.

Internal control plays a pivotal role in enhancing security operations and quality control in an organization. The process of evaluating internal auditors is a powerful tool for the management team. It does not only prevent frauds, but also boosts profitability. From the perspective of management, internal auditors work for ensuring effective operations and improving performance for all the management systems within the organization. They bear great responsibility and play a key role. Therefore, the study attempts to explore the personal attributes and work characteristics, to analyze job satisfactions among internal auditors and finally to finds a list of key factors effecting job satisfaction. This study is conducted in three parts. First, a preliminary conceptual framework is established via literature review. This conceptual framework goes through constant modifications before being introduced into the empirical research architecture of this study. Questionnaires are thus designed based on this architecture. In the process of questionnaire design, opinions from eight senior auditor executives serve as expert validity. Expert opinions are modified and incorporated into questionnaires to quantify the correlation of personal attributes, work characteristics and job satisfactions among internal auditors. This research selected samples of the internal auditors from domestic companies, i.e. members of the Institute of Internal Auditors, in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. A total of 567 questionnaires are issued and 376 questionnaires are collected with responding rate of 66%. After deleting 104 invalid questionnaires, the number of valid questionnaires is 272. Statistical analysis, such as variance, correlation and regression, is conducted with SPSS software. Empirical findings are as follows: 1. Significant difference exists between the demographic variables, such as job titles, the years of work experience, disciplined personal traits of internal auditors, certain dimensions of work properties and internal and external satisfactions in terms of job satisfaction. 2. There is significance difference between the ages and the competition dimension factors of achievement motivation. 3. General auditors are found to be significantly more satisfied with work than senior auditors or entry-level auditors. It is also apparent that the more senior the positions, the more job satisfactions. 4. The demographic variables, work characteristics, achievement motivations, and job satisfactions are partially correlated. At a closer look, we find that the friendliness as a personal attribute is significantly positive correlated with job satisfaction. Neuroticism as a personal attribute is significantly negative correlated with job satisfaction. 5. Personal attributes of internal auditors impose significant impacts to achievement motivations and job satisfactions. 6. Personal attributes are affected by achievement motivations and, in turn, they affect job satisfactions. Achievement motivations have intervening effects though the effects are mild.

Background. There are a number of studies showing that general practice is oneof the most stressful workplaces for health care workers. Since the Baltic States regained independence in 1990, a reform of the health care systems took place in which a new role and more responsibilities were allocated to general practitioners. This study aimed to explore the psychosocial stress level among Lithuanian general practitioners (GPs) and examine the relationship between their psychosocial stress and work characteristics. Methods. A cross-sectional study was madeof 300 Lithuanian general practitioners. Psychosocial stress was investigated with a questionnaire based on the Reeder scale. Job demands were investigated with the Karasek scale. The analyses included descriptive statistics, interrelationship analysis between the different characteristics, and multivariate logistic regression to estimate odd ratios for each of the independent variables in the model. Results. The study shows that 48% of the respondents could be classified as suffering from work related psychosocial stress by the Reeder scale. The highest job strain prevalence was among widowed, single and female GPs. The lowest job strain prevalence was among males and GPs of older age. Job strain occurs when job demands are high and jobdecision latitude is low. Conclusions. The greatest risk tophysical and mental health from stress occurs to general practitioners facing high psychological workload demands combined with low decision latitude in meeting those demands. High job demands, patient load more than 18 patients per day and young age of general practitioners can predict a statistically significant effect on job strain. / <p>ISBN 91-7997-095-8</p>

As work environments become more complex and demanding, organizations are becoming more interested in measuring the impact of their human resource development programs and initiatives. With this increased attention on data and measurement, human resource professionals have been encouraged to utilize data collection and data analysis techniques to make more objective and rationale human capital decisions and to verify business impact. As a result, the human resource profession has seen a significant increase in the use of surveys to measure anything from training effectiveness to the efficacy of recruitment procedures. The increase in the use of survey instruments requires that more focused attention is placed on the reliability and validity of data from any instrument used to make important human resource and business decisions. One instrument that is currently being used to measure career plateaus and job fit is the Work Perceptions Profile. The purpose of this research study was to conduct a construct validity analysis of the Work Perceptions Profile data and to determine the factor structure of data from its items. The data in this analysis supported a two-factor model structure with the first factor measuring Work Characteristics and a second factor measuring Performance. The results of this analysis will be helpful in exploring further how employees perceive their work place, their careers and their relationships with others within the organization.

Background. There are a number of studies showing that general practice is one of the most stressful workplaces for health care workers. Since the Baltic States regained independence in 1990, a reform of the health care systems took place in which a new role and more responsibilities were allocated to general practitioners. This study aimed to explore the psychosocial stress level among Lithuanian general practitioners (GPs) and examine the relationship between their psychosocial stress and work characteristics. Methods. A cross-sectional study was made of 300 Lithuanian general practitioners. Psychosocial stress was investigated with a questionnaire based on the Reeder scale. Job demands were investigated with the Karasek scale. The analyses included descriptive statistics, interrelationship analysis between the different characteristics, and multivariate logistic regression to estimate odd ratios for each of the independent variables in the model. Results. The study shows that 48% of the respondents could be classified as suffering from work related psychosocial stress by the Reeder scale. The highest job strain prevalence was among widowed, single and female GPs. The lowest job strain prevalence was among males and GPs of older age. Job strain occurs when job demands are high and job decision latitude is low. Conclusions. The greatest risk to physical and mental health from stress occurs to general practitioners facing high psychological workload demands combined with... [to full text]

Working while studying is a popular trend around the world and the number of nontraditional students are increasing. As a result of working and studying simultaneously, workschool conflict tends to occur. There is still some debate as to which characteristics across the personal and work domains most significantly influence work-school conflict. Similarly, the extent to which social support moderates the experience of work-school conflict is unclear. In this study, secondary data was used to examine a model of work characteristics consisting of job demand, job control and working hours, as well as personal characteristics which include marital status, gender and number of dependents. Further, the effect of social support, comprising of family support, co-worker support and supervisor support as a moderator in this work- and personal characteristics model was also explored. The respondents of this study (N = 367) were from either a South African or American context and the characteristics in both contexts were explored. The analysis revealed that the proposed work- and personal characteristics model is not significant; and social support does not moderate the relationship. Furthermore, this research study found that there are different significant predictors of workschool conflict across the two distinct contexts.

Agile work practices have been adopted by most software development organizations and by many large organizations from other industries. The introduction of agile work practices is assumed to positively affect work characteristics and, in turn, well-being of employees. So far, there is only very little and methodologically limited empirical research on this topic. Based on job demands–resources theory, we developed and tested a model on the direct and indirect relationships between agile work practices, job demands and resources, and occupational well-being. Data were provided by 260 employees working in agile development teams who participated in two surveys that were approximately six weeks apart. Results of structural equation modeling provided support for the hypothesized model, suggesting that agile work practices have a negative indirect effect on emotional fatigue through lower job demands. At the same time, agile work practices also had a positive indirect effect on emotional engagement through higher job resources. Our research contributes to the literature by integrating agile work practices with job demands–resources theory, bridging an important gap between research and practice. Overall, the findings suggest that the implementation of agile work practices may have a positive impact on occupational well-being by improving employees’ perceptions of key work characteristics.

Much research has been done on the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The aim of this research was to investigate factors that influence the job satisfaction of these teachers. A literature review of theories on job satisfaction was undertaken. In the empirical investigation, a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used. In the quantitative phase, the data collection was done by means of a self-constructed structured questionnaire that focused on four work factors that were identified during the literature review, namely salary and benefits, management, work characteristics, and interpersonal relationships. The stratified, random sample consisted of 300 secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa. The data were statistically analysed using the Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software programme, and the results were appropriately interpreted. In the second, namely the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with a sample of 10 teachers who were purposefully selected from a larger sample. The data were analysed by using the constant comparative method. The results make a significant contribution to new knowledge and understanding of current issues relating to the job satisfaction of teachers in selected secondary schools in Addis Ababa. The results indicated that the teachers were significantly dissatisfied with most aspects of their work. Salary and benefits emerged as the primary dissatisfying aspect of all the work factors. Other areas of dissatisfaction related to poor fringe benefits and opportunities for promotion, the management style of the principals, the lack of decision-making opportunities for the teachers, as well as the opportunity to develop personally, and the poor relationships teachers have with the principals and the parents. The data also indicated that teachers who were 50 years and older, were significantly more satisfied with their work than the younger teachers. Accordingly, teachers with 21 years and more experience were also significantly more satisfied with their work than the less experienced teachers. In addition, all four of the identified factors were found to have statistically significant correlations with job satisfaction. Qualitative data confirmed the quantitative results. Finally, recommendations were made in order to enhance the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, and for further research. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Much research has been done on the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The aim of this research was to investigate factors that influence the job satisfaction of these teachers. A literature review of theories on job satisfaction was undertaken. In the empirical investigation, a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used. In the quantitative phase, the data collection was done by means of a self-constructed structured questionnaire that focused on four work factors that were identified during the literature review, namely salary and benefits, management, work characteristics, and interpersonal relationships. The stratified, random sample consisted of 300 secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa. The data were statistically analysed using the Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software programme, and the results were appropriately interpreted. In the second, namely the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with a sample of 10 teachers who were purposefully selected from a larger sample. The data were analysed by using the constant comparative method. The results make a significant contribution to new knowledge and understanding of current issues relating to the job satisfaction of teachers in selected secondary schools in Addis Ababa. The results indicated that the teachers were significantly dissatisfied with most aspects of their work. Salary and benefits emerged as the primary dissatisfying aspect of all the work factors. Other areas of dissatisfaction related to poor fringe benefits and opportunities for promotion, the management style of the principals, the lack of decision-making opportunities for the teachers, as well as the opportunity to develop personally, and the poor relationships teachers have with the principals and the parents. The data also indicated that teachers who were 50 years and older, were significantly more satisfied with their work than the younger teachers. Accordingly, teachers with 21 years and more experience were also significantly more satisfied with their work than the less experienced teachers. In addition, all four of the identified factors were found to have statistically significant correlations with job satisfaction. Qualitative data confirmed the quantitative results. Finally, recommendations were made in order to enhance the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, and for further research. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

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