To stay or to go: voluntary survivor turnover following an organizational downsizing

This paper examines the relationship between survivor reactions to a downsizing and retention subsequent to a downsizing. We hypothesize that survivors who experience the downsizing as distributively, procedurally, and interactionally just and who see top management as trustworthy will feel more attached to the organization because each reduces the threat inherent in downsizing. In addition, we hypothesize that survivors who feel empowered will also feel more attached to the organization because they feel better able to cope with the downsizing. We further hypothesize that those survivors who feel more attached to the organization following the downsizing will be more likely to remain with the organization in the coming year. The theoretical model is tested on a sample of aerospace employees who survived an organizational downsizing. The trustworthiness of management, distributive justice, procedural justice, and three dimensions of empowerment are found to facilitate more organizational attachment. Higher levels of attachment are found, in turn, to facilitate less voluntary turnover in the year following the downsizing. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Audience perceptions of high-status ties and network advantage: The market for coaching jobs in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (2000–2011)

Social ties with high-status others can be a potent signal of an individual's underlying quality and future promise. Individuals in competitive markets, therefore, have an incentive to publicly claim connections to high-status others. However, cognitive limitations and biases can make social network connections difficult for observers to reliably discern, and claims to high-status ties can go unrecognized by the audience. Our core contention is that claims to high-status affiliation are advantageous only when the audience recognizes the claim—unrecognized claims, like unreliable signals, do not deliver advantage and can backfire. Further, we draw on the literature on imprinting and develop arguments for why some people are more likely to make claims to high-status ties and why some claims to high-status ties are more likely than others to be recognized by the audience. We test our arguments with data from the market for head coaching jobs in NCAA basketball (2000–2011). Our study contributes to the sparse literature on how social network ties that exist in the minds of third-party observers influence individual attainment in market settings; and it offers new insights into how imprinting processes shape the perception and use of high-status network ties.     

Teams as boundaries: How intra‐team and inter‐team brokerage influence network changes in knowledge‐seeking networks

What role does an ego's brokerage location—within a team (intra‐team) or outside the team (inter‐team)—play in the evolution of an instrumental knowledge‐seeking network in terms of both proximal (i.e., within the team) and distal (i.e., outside the team) tie formation and tie decay? We address this question by drawing on literature about social networks, brokerage, and teams. We use temporally separated data from 302 students embedded in 97 teams to test our hypotheses about the impacts of intra‐team and inter‐team brokerage on proximal and distal network evolution, specifically on four network changes in knowledge‐seeking networks: proximal tie formation, proximal tie decay, distal tie formation, and distal tie decay. We find that these four changes depend on individual network brokerage location even after controlling for personality and task characteristics. Specifically, inter‐team brokers change their networks both within and outside their teams, whereas intra‐team brokers curtail their network changes. We argue that these opposite effects occur because inter‐team brokers have greater autonomy than intra‐team brokers. This study adds to the ongoing dialog about network evolution in social network literature and to the conversations about brokerage and its location in the context of team‐based work.     

Integrating attachment style,vigor at work,and extra‐role performance

This paper presents and tests a model of the impact of secure and insecure attachment styles (secure, counterdependent, and overdependent) on citizenship behavior and workplace deviance behavior through vigor at work. Employees who exhibit secure attachment styles are proposed to exhibit more vigor at work because of more effective use of physical, emotional, and cognitive resources which translates into increased organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and decreased deviance. Insecurely attached employees are hypothesized to exhibit the opposite pattern. In a sample of 331 repair generalists in a large building facilities and maintenance organization, results indicate that attachment styles indirectly predicted OCBs and deviance through vigor. Implications of these results for attachment style, vigor at work, OCBs, and deviance are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

外立面作用下水平湍流浮力射流火焰的附壁研究

用防火板模拟建筑外立面,设计了可控流速和开口尺寸的气体燃烧器产生水平湍流浮力射流火焰,系统研究了外立面抑制火焰卷吸所导致的水平湍流浮力射流火焰附壁规律。将火焰流场演变分为两个阶段:(1)出口到流场水平动量衰减为零(等价点)的阶段;(2)火焰附壁或不附壁的阶段。其中,火焰附壁与否很大程度上取决于等价点到出口的水平距离LE。通过分析,我们发现雷诺应力是导致流场水平动量衰减和火焰附壁的主要原因。由此,我们基于普朗特混合长度理论推导了雷诺应力的近似表达式并结合动量控制方程,获得了LE与修正弗洛德数Fr*的线性关系,从理论上解释了出口宽高比n(n=B/H,B是开口宽度;H是开口高度)越大,火焰越容易附壁的现象,并确定了不同开口及流速条件下,火焰附壁的临界条件。     

Parental supervision and discomfort with children walking to school in low-income communities in Cape Town,South Africa

Objective: The risk of pedestrian injury is compounded for children living in low-income communities due to factors such as poor road and pedestrian infrastructure, reliance on walking as a means of transport, and compromised supervision. Parents play an important role in child pedestrian safety. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of child pedestrian variables on parental discomfort with regard to letting their child walk to and from school and on the frequency of adult supervision.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample from 3 schools participating in a pedestrian safety school initiative. The schools are situated in low-income, high-risk communities in the City of Cape Town. A parent survey form was translated into isiXhosa and sent home with learners to those parents who had consented to participate. The response rate was 70.4%, and only parents of children who walk to and from school were included in the final sample (n = 359). Child pedestrian variables include the time taken to walk to school, parental rating of the child's ability to safely cross the road, and the frequency of adult supervision.

Results: More than half of parents reported that their child walked to and from school without adult supervision. About 56% of children took less than 20 min to walk to school. Most parents (61%) were uncomfortable with their child walking to school, although the majority of parents (55.7%) rated their child's ability to cross the road safely as better or significantly better than average (compared to peers). The parents did not perceive any differences in pedestrian risk factors between boys and girls or between younger (6–9 years) and older (10–15 years) children. The time spent by a child walking to school and parents' perceptions of their child's road-crossing ability were found to be significant predictors of parental discomfort (in letting their child walk). Younger children and children who spent less time walking were more likely to be supervised by an adult.

Conclusions: Many South African schoolchildren have to navigate the roads without adult supervision from a young age. Caregivers, especially in low-income settings, often have limited options with regard to getting their child to school safely. Regardless of the child's age and gender, the time that they spend on the roads is an important factor for parents in terms of pedestrian safety.     

Careers as tournaments: The impact of sex and gendered organizational culture preferences on MBAs' income attainment

Drawing on gender role theory and tournament theory, we examined the effects of sex and organizational culture preferences on the incomes of MBA graduates over an 8‐year period. We found that masculine culture preferences led to higher income 4 years after graduation and, in contrast to previous research, the effect was stronger for women. By 8 years after graduation, however, men's rate of income increase was significantly higher than women's, an effect that was mediated by hours worked per week. These findings clarify some of the conflicting results of previous research on the effects of gender roles on women's careers and suggest that a tournament‐like aspect of careers may account for higher incomes in organizations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Profiles of commitment: An empirical test

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of distinguishing among foci and bases of commitment. Foci of commitment are the individuals and groups to whom an employee is attached, and bases of commitment are the motives engendering attachment. This study uses distinctions among foci and bases of commitment to develop four profiles of commitment, and examines the extent to which differences in these patterns predict other variables. Cluster analysis of 440 employees suggests the following profiles: (1) The Locally Committed (employees who are attached to their supervisor and work group), (2) the Globally Committed (who are attached to top management and the organization), (3) the Committed (who are attached to both local and global foci), and (4) the Uncommitted (who are attached to neither local nor global foci). The profiles are differentially related to intent to quit, job satisfaction, prosocial organizational behaviors, and certain demographic and contextual variables. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.     

Changing careers: the effects of social context

This paper investigates the social context in which career decisions are made. Results show that beyond individual‐level factors such as demographics and work history, individuals' decisions to change careers are socially embedded. Findings suggest that the greater the diversity of an individual's network of advisors, the greater the likelihood that an individual will change careers. In addition, this paper explores the mechanisms through which different subsets of advice relationships — instrumental versus psychosocial — affect the decision to change careers. Results show that the greater the diversity of an individual's set of instrumental relations, the greater the number of offers he or she receives during the job search process and, further, that the number of offers received is positively related to the likelihood of changing careers. The diversity of an individual's set of psychosocial relations was related to his or her confidence to overcome career obstacles. However, confidence was not, in turn, related to career change, counter to expectations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of flood water on the technical condition of natural gas transmission pipeline valves

Maintaining the reliability of a transmission system's operation is an extremely important issue in the context of ensuring the continuity of gas delivery to customers. Threats to maintaining the reliability of a transmission system's operation may appear at any stage of transmission, and the most common reasons for this are corrosion, material defects or accidental damage. The paper presents the impact of flood water on transmission valves in the context of possible threats to ensuring the technical safety of gas supplies. Hazards are described which relate to the chemical composition of flood water, which may cause corrosion of valve elements and risk of loss of gas pipeline stability caused by flooding. In the context of the design of a natural gas transmission network, the strength aspects and the phenomenon of corrosion are described. The results of tests related to a specific example are presented. The finite element method (FEM) is used to build ball valve models. Two types of valves are modelled for nominal pipeline diameters of 50 mm (DN50) and 200 mm (DN200). The results of the presented analysis show that the leak tightness of the tested valve flange connections was mainly influenced by changes in their operating conditions because the occurring additional forces and moments caused significant changes in the load balance of the flange connections.     

Resetting relationship trajectories: A reconceptualization of the relationship repair process

Negative events within and outside of work can disrupt coworkers' relationships, triggering a re-evaluation of relationship quality. The subjective experience of these events – which we term relationship threats – harms relationships, resulting in long-lasting negative interpersonal and organizational consequences. Coworkers' responses to a relationship threat determine whether relationships are repaired or whether the threat leads to a loss of commitment, lowered satisfaction, and increased negative affect. Because of the critical role that relationships play in organizational life, it is vital that we have a comprehensive understanding of the repair process. To date, researchers have focused on one of three repair processes: trust repair. In reconceptualizing relationship repair, we flesh out the remaining two processes: relationship work and sensemaking. Our reconceptualization balances the restorative actions that mitigate in-the-moment harm with those that sustain these benefits over time. We expand our understanding of relationship repair by highlighting the role that narrative foundations play in determining a relationships' vulnerabilities and determining effective repair processes. We highlight the importance of considering relationship threats as events embedded within a relationship's history; identify narrative foundations as a bridging mechanism between disrupted relationships and their repair; and expand our conceptualization of the processes that repair relationships.     

“If I know when you will arrive,I will let you walk to school:” The role of information technology

Introduction: Providing a sense of supervision for parents may facilitate their children’s involvement in physical outdoor activities, such as walking to school. Information technology (IT) solutions could bring more parental supervision, which in turn has the potential to enhance the proportion of walking trips to school. This study aimed to examine the role of a proposed hypothetical IT solution that gives parents real-time information about children’s entrance to and exit from the school, for the intention of parents letting their children walk to school. Method: A total of 820 questionnaires were distributed among pupils aged 7–9-years across 28 elementary schools to be completed by their parents (82% return rate). Results: Compared to the group of walking pupils, increased parental intention to let their children walk to school under the proposed solution could be explained by considerably more variables in the group of pupils who did not walk to school. The findings revealed that increased parental intention was higher among the walking pupils compared to the non-walking pupils. For the non-walking pupils, enhancement of walking facilities across the school area could potentiate the use of the proposed solution by the parents, which in turn may increase the proportion of walking on school trips. In addition, boy pupils, the pupils whose parents evaluated walking more favorable, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and those living in close proximity to the school could more likely benefit by shifting from non-walking to walking modes of travel, after implementation of the solution.     

Strength and tightness evaluation method for pipe flange connections considering thermal effects

The pipe flange connection is widely applied in chemical, power plants, petrochemical, offshore oil and gas industries, and its strength and tightness are significant for the safe operation. However, there are still no practical and applicable strength and tightness evaluation methods for pipe flange connections working in dramatically varying temperatures. This paper proposed an approach to evaluate the pipeline's strength and sealing performance considering thermal effects in actual operating conditions by combining the experimental measurement and thermostructural analysis. The critical thermodynamic parameters are identified through measured temperature data in operating conditions, and then these parameters are used in the thermostructural analysis to obtain the actual temperature and stress fields. Then, the strength and tightness in complex temperature cases can be evaluated accurately. The pipe flange connection of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling station is analyzed to verify the presented method's effectiveness. This method applies to evaluating the pipeline's strength and tightness and can predict the pipeline's performances under extreme temperatures using the tested data within the measurement range and the corresponding thermostructural analysis. Furthermore, the work in this paper also provides a reference for the design and analysis of pipe flange connections working in complex temperature conditions.     

What makes affirmative action‐based hiring decisions seem (un)fair? A test of an ideological explanation for fairness judgments

Studies show that Whites tend to show the lowest level of support for affirmative action (AA) policies. Opponents of AA often argue that this is because it violates principles of meritocracy. However, self‐interest (based on social identification with those adversely affected) could also explain their opposition. In three studies, we varied whether an Asian or White male is adversely affected by AA to test another explanation; namely, that Whites' fairness judgments are based on both the adversely affected person's race and the fairness evaluator's ideological beliefs. Although we found some support for the meritocratic explanation, this was not sufficient to explain why Whites view AA as (un)fair. Instead, we found strong support for our prediction that Whites who are opposed to equality perceive more unfairness when a White (vs. Asian) was harmed by AA, whereas Whites who endorse egalitarian ideologies perceive the opposite. This finding suggests that neither self‐interest nor meritocratic explanations can fully account for Whites' opposition to AA. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Who gets the benefit of the doubt? The impact of causal reasoning depth on how violations of gender stereotypes are evaluated

A large body of research demonstrates that women encounter severe penalties for violating gender stereotypes. In this paper, we explore the conditions under which the reverse is true—when being subject to a stereotype can actually benefit a woman compared to a man who is not subject to the same stereotype. In particular, we suggest that in situations of causal ambiguity—uncertainty about the reasons that a behavior occurred—differences in how men and women are evaluated will be moderated by the extent to which observers engage in a low or a high level of deliberative causal reasoning. In 3 experimental studies, participants were asked to make judgments about an employee who violated a female gender stereotype by failing to provide help to a coworker when asked to do so, but the reasons for this behavior were unclear. When participants were prompted to engage in deliberative causal reasoning, women were evaluated more positively than men, but not in the absence of such a prompt. Moreover, when participants did engage in deliberative causal reasoning, the more positive evaluations of women compared to men were driven by participants' beliefs that women's behavior was due more to situational constraints than the same behavior by men.     

Factors affecting perceptions of workplace sexual harassment

This study investigated several variables that determine how one interprets another's behavior as sexually harassing in ambiguous situations. Data were collected from 1234 male and female graduate and undergraduate student subjects who responded to 24 versions of a vignette describing an interaction between a male and female who worked for the same firm (2×3×2×2 design). Variables manipulated included (1) amount of prior socializing of the man and woman; (2) job status (peer coworker, direct supervisor, executive) of harasser; (3) verbal versus touching behavior; and (4) physical setting (at computer terminal or happy hour). Results revealed several main effects such that a male's potentially harassing behavior toward a female was evaluated more negatively (1) when the pair had not previously socialized, (2) when the harasser was a supervisor or executive, (3) when it involved verbal comments, and (4) when the behavior occurred in a work (versus social) setting. Additional analysis revealed that, contrary to previous studies, there were no male–female differences among respondents in evaluations of behavior as harassing.     

The importance of near miss reporting to further improve safety performance

Dealing with accidents implies that such events have in common the potential to affect people and the environment in a significant way. Therefore, all parties involved in industrial risk management processes, i.e. industry, regulatory authorities, public as well as scientific and technical institutions, are well aware of the importance of considering and analysing such type of events for the purposes of accident prevention. Also, the methods of Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) have large experience in numerically expressing the various degrees of risk related to accidents. On the other hand, the topic of including `near misses' (i.e. any event which could have escalated to an accident) in safety management systems with the aim to prevent major accidents and the occurrence of similar events in the future is relatively new. Although its importance has more and more been recognised in the last few years, it is not yet a commonly accepted fact that near miss reporting and investigation of near misses should be an integral part of a safety management system in industrial facilities. In the European Council's new `Seveso II Directive' 96/82/EC, there is—in addition to the mandatory requirements of major accident reporting—an explicit recommendation to report near misses to the Commission's Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) on a voluntary basis. In this paper, examples of current experience in the chemical industry with the collection and analysis of data on near misses are presented and discussed with regard to industry-wide conclusions. In addition to this more qualitative discussion, quantitative arguments are put forward regarding the impact of near misses on risk estimates derived from QRA.     

Effects of coworker information on perceptions and ratings of performance

This study examined the effects of performance information from the ratee's coworker both on rater's perceptions of the information and ratings of the ratee's performance. As part of a managerial role‐play exercise, subjects were required to rate an employee's performance. Audiotaped interactions of the ratee and customers were manipulated to reflect either good or poor performance. In addition, the ratee's coworker provided performance information which varied on (a) who was the initiator of the report and (b) the favorability of the information. Results revealed that while performance information from the ratee's coworker did not significantly affect ratings of performance when it was consistent with the rater's direct observations, ratings were affected when the information from a coworker was inconsistent with the rater's direct observations even though the information from a coworker was perceived as less accurate and of less use. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of interventions to make top tether hardware more visible during child restraint system (CRS) installations

Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine whether specific child restraint system (CRS) or vehicle conditions improve top tether attachment rates during volunteer installations.

Methods: A factorial randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate 4 different experimental categories: (1) Color of tether adjuster casing (black or red), (2) labeling on tether adjuster casing (labeled with “Tether: Use for forward-facing” or unlabeled), (3) storage location of tether (bundled in a rubber band on the back of CRS or Velcroed over the forward-facing belt path), and (4) labeling in vehicle (labeled under head restraint and below anchor or unlabeled). Ninety-six volunteers were randomly assigned to one combination of conditions. One installation per volunteer was completed. The primary outcome measure was acceptable attachment of the top tether to the tether anchor. The secondary outcome measure was overall secureness of the installation. Pearson’s chi-square tests were used to identify significant predictors of acceptable outcomes and logistic regression was used to investigate interaction effects.

Results: A total of 66/96 subjects (68.8%) attached the top tether in an acceptable manner, with either zero errors (n?=?50) or minor errors (n?=?16). A total of 30/96 subjects (31.2%) had unacceptable tether outcomes, with either major errors (n?=?10) or nonuse the tether at all (n?=?20). None of the 4 experimental categories significantly affected tether outcomes. Subjects who opted to install the CRS with the lower anchors (LAs) had higher rates of acceptable tether attachment compared to subjects who installed using the seat belt or those who used both LA and seat belt together (χ² = 6.792, P = .034). Tether outcomes were not correlated with previous CRS experience, use of instruction manual(s), age, or sex. Only 15.6% of subjects produced overall correct and tight installations. Of those who used the seat belt in some manner, 70.2% neglected to switch the retractor into locking mode.

Conclusions: Conditions in this study including tether color, tether labeling, storage location, and vehicle labeling did not significantly affect tether attachment rates. High rates of tether misuse and nonuse warrant further exploration to find effective solutions to this usability problem.     

Night club patrons who feel safe will return: Evidence to encourage management to address club violence

IntroductionThere is substantial evidence that heavy drinking is associated with aggression and violence. Most managers of drinking establishments are required to maintain a security staff to deal with disruptive patrons who threaten an organization's business or legal status. However, managers may focus little on minor instances of aggression even though these may escalate into more serious events. We hypothesize that proactive security efforts may positively affect patrons' perceptions of nighttime safety and influence their decisions to return to the club, thereby affecting the club's bottom line.MethodData for this study were collected from entry and exit surveys with 1714 attendees at 70 electronic music dance events at 10 clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area (2010–2012). Participants were asked to report on observations and experiences with aggressive behavior while in the club, their overall perception of club safety, and their plans to return to the same club in the next 30 days. Mediational multiple regression analysis was used to relate observations of club security to perceptions of personal safety and plans to return to the club.ResultsReported observations of an active club security staff were positively related to perceptions of personal safety. Safety perceptions, in turn, were significantly related to plans to return to the club. The indirect path between perceptions of security and plans to return was significant as well.ConclusionsThe results suggest that an active security presence inside clubs can encourage club attendance by providing an environment where minor altercations are minimized, contributing to the perception of club safety.Practical ApplicationsEvidence that proactive security efforts appear to increase return customers might motivate managers to implement better security policies.