<p>Workers' participation in management as a structural expression of an alternative form of industrial management has been mushrooming in both developed and developing countries. The increasing popularity of workers' participation has been accompanied by a proliferation of studies most of which have focused on either the extent to which it is associated with favourable outcomes or the extent to which prescribed participation is associated with actual participation. While this is relevant, it has meant that research whose objective is to investigate the conditions under which the form and content of participation vary in organizations in countries without a legal prescription for participatory forms has been neglected.</p> <p>The study reported here is concerned with: (a) exploring, using a structural contingency framework, why organizations in the same country adopt different participatory structures and (b) the dynamics or employee experience of participation. Empirical research was undertaken in a medium-sized and a small-sized company in Hamilton, Ontario. Data were collected with the aid of questionnaire, open-ended interviews, documentary material and on-site observation, including attendance at meetings.</p> <p>The analysis shows that choice of participatory structure is influenced by the interaction of a specified set of variables. Foremost amongst them is the nature of the product and technology. These variables, however, only provide structural opportunities and limitations and the eventual choice is shaped by the strategies choice of management. Analysis of respondents' desired involvement in the local-medium (work-related) decisions indicates that respondents do not have any revolutionary zeal to control work-related decisions. The predominant mode of desired involvement at both research sites is joint-consultation.</p> <p>As expected, employees of the small-sized company, overall, perceived more involvement in the formulation of work-related and organizational level decisions while employees at the medium-sized company, perceived more involvement in such organizational level decisions as wages, dismissals and grievances and working conditions (e.g. fringe benefits). As the latter decisions are formulated through the collective bargaining process, collective bargaining appears to be more effective than other participatory forms in ensuring employee involvement in such decisions. Furthermore, inspite of the fact that at the small-sized company all the distant level decisions are open to participation, both respondent groups did not perceive a market involvement in long term economic decisions like 'Closures and Mergers' and 'Capital Investments.' In the small-sized company, employed are only present at these meetings to discuss these long term economic decisions and obtain information without having the power to block issues they oppose.</p> <p>It is suggested that alternative decision-making structures at the organizational level only provide employees with greater visibility and formality in decision-making and policy formulation. However, the presence of employees at the meetings serves a commitment mechanism function as indicated by their high organizational commitment compared to the respondents at the medium-sized company. The lack of employee involvement at this level, especially in long term economic decisions, is attributed to employee lack of expertise but more importantly, to the power ownership or formal authority confers on management to decide which issues are open to participation and the extent of employee involvement.</p> <p>As a direction for future research the study suggests a closer investigation into the nature of the relationship between participatory work experience and blue-collar status/orientation.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract: I explore the sources of union decline from 1970-2008, inspecting the shifting prominence of different causes at different points in time. Using a relational approach which views labor and capital as actors that gain or lose power at the expense of each other, I find that U.S. union decline is the result of several institutional transformations that benefitted capital relative to labor. Capital was advantaged and labor was disadvantaged due to: 1) the financialization of the economy in the 1980s, 2) weakening protections of labor policy by the 1970s, 3) the reconfiguration of productive capital in the 1970s and 1980s, 4) an anti-union business offensive gaining momentum in the 1970s, and 5) the failure of unions to sufficiently organize new members throughout the entire period. Combined, this confluence of factors led to a steep decline in union membership. Results highlight the complex nature of temporal dynamics in capital-labor power struggles.

This study investigated three issues problematic to the state of knowledge on mentoring. These issues were: (a) lack of scientifically derived operational definitions in use in research on mentoring; (b) lack of agreement about how common mentoring is; and (c) lack of agreement about whether or not alternate forms of career support are more efficient than mentoring. The information collected to address each of these issues was acquired in two phases: a literature survey followed by a sample survey. The literature survey addressed the first issue. It resulted in the formulation of an operational definition of mentoring which was based on an empirical profile of an "ideal" mentoring relationship. Formulation of the profile was a major focus of this study.

nÃo hà / Baseado nas teorias sobre a economia do trabalho, a pesquisa em questÃo propÃe-se a averiguar o nÃvel de diferenciaÃÃo salarial de determinada empresa, atravÃs dos ganhos de um grupo especÃfico de funcionÃrios e relacionado Ãs suas funÃÃes, dentro do plano de cargos e salÃrios da instituiÃÃo. A importÃncia do estudo baseia-se na anÃlise de dados intrÃnsecos à firma e ao mercado no qual està inserida, microfinanÃas, tornando-se assim uma fonte de dados para um ambiente onde as informaÃÃes sÃo escassas. Os resultados obtidos apÃs os estudos propostos nÃo indicam haver diferenciaÃÃo salarial no que diz respeito ao gÃnero ou cor dos funcionÃrios em torno da anÃlise denominada estÃtica. Por outro lado, a anÃlise, aqui conhecida por dinÃmica, identificou uma diferenciaÃÃo em relaÃÃo ao gÃnero dos empregados. / Based in the theories about modern work economy, the research presented proposes to examine the level of salary differentiation in a determined company, through the gains of a specific group of employees and related to their job description, inside the companyâs job description plans and salaries. The importance of the study is based on intrinsic data analysis to the firm and the market in which the company is present â microfinance â, becoming a source of data to an environment where information is scarce. The obtained results after the proposed studies do not indicate that there is salary differentiation in respect to gender or color of the employees, according to the static analysis. On the other hand, the dynamic analysis identified a salary differentiation in gender between the employees.

Athletic programs within Division I-A universities and colleges have maintained a unique relationship with both the NCAA and their governing academic institutions. Resources in support of academic, social, and athletic services for student athletes vary across the country for Division-I collegiate athletes. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes and opinions of student athletes concerning academic, athletic, and social services provided to them at numerous Division-I athletic programs. Student athletes have not been assessed through a questionnaire concerning their own perceptions and opinions of the specific services (athletic, academic, and social) provided to them at their designated university. Is there a relationship between the attitudes and opinions of student athletes on academic, athletic, and social services and the amount of money spent per student athlete at their Division-I institutions? Four Division-I universities were viewed, individually, according to the athletic academic budget designated for each scholarship student athlete. As a result of the findings, the following summary and conclusions were drawn regarding student athletes' attitudes and opinions toward athletic academic services provided at their designated university. The researcher concluded that overall gaps between expectations and experiences do exist at all target universities. There is a realistic value in identifying expectation-experience gaps at individual universities as a means for internal evaluation and potential improvement for services provided to student athletes. Identification of areas in need of change or improvement would be the first step toward creating a more holistic environment for the student athletes at each targeted university.

How police officers deal with stress greatly affects how they carry out their daily lives and how they treat family and friends. In this study 2 police departments were issued surveys to see how the police officers experienced stress. Questions on the survey asked the officers about the sources of stress, sources of support, and which methods they used to alleviate the stress. The surveys were given to the respective departments over a period of 2 months, and 132 surveys were returned. The statistical analysis performed showed danger was a factor when examining stress. Administration support was found to be a source of support.

This study used a case study approach to examine how religious culture, such as theologies and doctrines, is lived or practiced by "Pass the Salt" luncheon participants. "Pass the Salt" participants are taught the teachings of Harvest Evangelism, an interdenominational Para-church organization; these teachings are evidenced through their cultural toolkit. It was expected that the luncheon participants would practice Harvest Evangelism's religious culture in the workplace. Participant observation and personal interviews were conducted to examine participants' application of the cultural toolkit to their everyday lives, specifically in the workplace. Findings indicated that the leader of the "Pass the Salt" luncheon was more likely to practice or live the religious doctrines provided by Harvest Evangelism, while others lived religion in a different way.

The earnings gap between men and women has long been a problem of interest to sociologists. Using data provided by the General Social Survey, this thesis addresses this problem by utilizing a causal model that conceptualizes the labor market sector as intervening in the relationships between education and income, and between the absence or presence of children and income among women. The impact of age on these relationships is also considered. Women who have children and a lower educational level do not, it was found, make as much money and work more in the secondary sector than childless, better-educated women. The labor market sector was fund to be an important variable in terms of its impact on the relationships between educational level, the presence of children, and income. However, the labor market sector did not entirely mediate the relationship between the presence of children and income or educational level and income. Direct associations were found between the presence of children and income and educational level and income, but these relationships varied by sector and age. The presence of children did not effect the income of older women in the secondary sector, but did in the primary sector. Educational level did not effect income for either younger or older women in the secondary sector, but did in the primary. The relationship between educational level and income remained strong in the primary sector regardless of age group. An additional difference was found due to age. Younger women were found to have fewer children than older women. Previous research that has been conducted on women and the labor force was reviewed and critiqued and may be useful in more clearly explaining issues related to women's success in the job market.

This thesis examines how a more powerful and a less powerful profession --allopathic medicine and podiatry -- are linked in a series of networks through patient referrals and practice activities. The importance of professional networks is that they link different professions such as podiatry and allopathic medicine in ways which direct attention away from ranking the power of fields or viewing them as endlessly in conflict over occupational turf (traditional research questions) to questions of the actual and regularized relationships diverse professions have with one another. This thesis analyzes professional training and activity variables related to the emergence of networks and another set of conditions that results once occupational networks become established. Data were obtained from a mailed questionnaire survey of podiatrists who practice in the Chicago metropolitan area (N-168). Analysis consists of comparisons between podiatrists who are in networks with physicians and those who are not: and between DPM's who are in heterophilous (general referral) versus homophilous (surgical) networks with MD's. T -tests are the major form of statistical analysis used in this thesis. The findings of this thesis support the conclusion that the educational training and podiatric practice mandates (e.g., hospital staff appointment) are important determinants of the formation of networks with MD's. Friendship and social interaction patterns between DPM's and MD's and attitudes of DPM's toward podiatry were found to be highly related to network relationships between podiatrists and medical doctors. Profiles of podiatrists' professional activities and the extensiveness of their referral communication with MD's also were found to be related to the type of network podiatrists are in with medical doctors. Overall, results of this thesis clearly show that networks do link podiatrists and physicians and that such networks have important consequences for the professional activities and orientations of DPM's.

Growing research attention has been devoted to understanding the implications of work engagement with an emphasis on its motivational mechanism linking its antecedents to consequences. Findings from such research efforts could inform intervention efforts. Integrating organizational justice theories within the leadership framework, this study examined the effects of supervisory interactional justice and supervisory procedural justice on subordinates' work engagement. Based on survey responses from 352 Chinese employees collected at two time points with three months in-between, moderated regression analyses were conducted to test hypotheses that there is a direct positive effect of supervisory interactional justice and supervisory procedural justice on subordinate's work engagement respectively, and that leader-member exchange (LMX) quality moderates the justice-engagement relationships. Specifically, the supervisory interactional justice-engagement relationship was expected to be stronger for subordinates with high LMX quality, and the supervisory procedural justice-engagement relationship was expected to be stronger for subordinates with low LMX quality. The results showed that both supervisory interactional justice and supervisory procedural justice significantly correlated with subordinate-reported work engagement measured three months later. However, the results did not support the proposed main and interactive effect hypotheses after adding control variables. Supplemental analysis results demonstrated that supervisory interactional justice and supervisory procedural justice had significant indirect effects on work engagement through LMX quality. Further, POS was found to moderate the indirect effects of supervisory interactional justice. But POS was not a moderator for supervisory procedural justice. Moreover, emotional labor job type interacted with supervisory interactional justice in predicting vigor, such that supervisory interactional justice was significantly and negatively related to vigor when higher emotional labor is involved. In conclusion, the findings of the current study contribute to work engagement, leader fairness and social exchange theory literature and provide important theoretical and practical implications for future research in the field of work engagement and leader fairness.