Suchergebnisse

Researchers have recently devoted increasing attention to employee helping behavior at the work group level of analysis. Despite this surge in interest, possible moderators of the relationship between group helping norms and individual helping behavior have not been empirically examined. In a study of 147 employees and their supervisors working in 30 groups of a telecommunications company, we found that when individuals are more attracted to the group, group helping norms were more strongly related to individual helping. Contrary to expectations, when individuals' role ambiguity is lower, employees are more likely to align their behavior with group norms, but when ambiguity is higher, they exhibit an intermediate level of helping regardless of the norms. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.

A key dynamic in satisfying customers is effective leadership of customer contact employees. In spite of decades of leadership study, little research has investigated effective leadership interaction behaviors specific to the service environment. The purpose of this investigation is to compare positive and negative interaction behaviors as reported by both managers and employees. Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), 305 positive and 234 negative incidents of service leader interaction behavior were collected from 120 managers and 231 employees drawn from73 service organizations. Using Yukl's (2002) framework of leadership behaviors, the incidents were categorized to identify the most relevant behaviors for the service environment. The findings revealed 14 positive and 16 negative specific subcategories of interaction behavior, with significant disparities in perceptions between employees and managers. The implications of these findings are discussed and hypotheses are provided to guide future inquiry.

Implementation is posited as a multiphasic process, influenced by a range of factors, within a multilevel context. While there appears to be a general consensus that every implementation initiative will have a unique combination of influences that vary in importance across the implementation phases, leadership is an essential tenant throughout implementation frameworks, models, and theories. The exploration, preparation, implementation, sustainment framework is used to explore leadership, at both the inner organizational level and the outer system level, and to guide a discussion regarding three critical issues involved in implementation (organizational climate/culture, collaborative relationships, and contracting). Finally, three implementation strategies focused on improving leadership are described in order to provide examples of these issues.

This field study examined perceived stereotype threat in a promotion context using a written job knowledge test. The authors hypothesized that race and ethnic identity would predict perceptions of stereotype threat and that the effect of stereotype threat on test performance would be mediated by state anxiety and specific self-efficacy in a specified sequential order. Using structural equation modeling analyses of data from two public safety departments in a metropolitan city indicated support for this model. However, the stereotype threat effect was small, which may be because of the use of a job knowledge test, a promotion sample, or the composition of the applicant pool. Noteworthy contributions include the use of a self-report measure of stereotype threat, inclusion of two mediator variables in a theory-based sequence, and a test of the stereotype threat effect in an actual employment context.

The Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS) is a brief, pragmatic, and efficient measure that can be used for research or organizational development to assess leader behaviors and actions that actively support effective implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). The ILS was originally validated with mental health clinicians. This study validates the ILS factor structure with providers in community-based organizations (CBOs) providing child welfare services. Participants were 214 service providers working in 12 CBOs that provide child welfare services. All participants completed the ILS, reporting on their immediate supervisor. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the ILS. Internal consistency reliability and measurement invariance were also examined. Confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable fit to the hypothesized first- and second-order factor structure. Internal consistency reliability was strong and there was partial measurement invariance for the first-order factor structure when comparing child welfare and mental health samples. The results support the use of the ILS to assess leadership for implementation of EBPs in child welfare organizations.

Child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment and represents 79.5% of open child-welfare cases. A recent study found the evidence-based intervention (EBI) SafeCare® (SC) to significantly reduce child neglect recidivism rates. To fully capitalize on the effectiveness of such EBIs, service systems must engage in successful implementation and sustainment; however, little is known regarding what factors influence EBI sustainment. Collaborations among stakeholders are suggested as a means for facilitating EBI implementation and sustainment. This study combines descriptive quantitative survey data with qualitative interview and focus group findings to examine the role of collaboration within the context of public-private partnerships in 11 child welfare systems implementing SC. Participants included administrators of government child welfare systems and community-based organizations, as well as supervisors, coaches, and home visitors of the SC program. Sites were classified as fully-, partially-, and non-sustaining based on implementation fidelity. One-way analysis of variance was used to examine differences in stakeholder reported Effective Collaboration scores across fully-sustaining, partially-sustaining, and non-sustaining sites. Qualitative transcripts were analyzed via open and focused coding to identify the commonality, diversity, and complexity of collaborations involved in implementing and sustaining SC. Fully-sustaining sites reported significantly greater levels of effective collaboration than non-sustaining sites. Key themes described by SC stakeholders included shared vision, building on existing relationships, academic support, problem solving and resource sharing, and maintaining collaborations over time. Both quantitative and qualitative results converge in highlighting the importance of effective collaboration in EBI sustainment in child welfare service systems.

Sustainment of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in human services depends on the inner context of community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services and the outer context of their broader environment. Increasingly, public officials are experimenting with contracting models from for-profit industries to procure human services. In this case study, we conducted qualitative interviews with key government and CBO stakeholders to examine implementation of the Best Value-Performance Information Procurement System to contract for EBIs in a child welfare system. Findings suggest that stakeholder relationships may be compromised when procurement disregards local knowledge, communication, collaboration, and other factors supporting EBIs and public health initiatives.

BackgroundThis study examines sustainment of an EBI implemented in 11 United States service systems across two states, and delivered in 87 counties. The aims are to 1) determine the impact of state and county policies and contracting on EBI provision and sustainment; 2) investigate the role of public, private, and academic relationships and collaboration in long-term EBI sustainment; 3) assess organizational and provider factors that affect EBI reach/penetration, fidelity, and organizational sustainment climate; and 4) integrate findings through a collaborative process involving the investigative team, consultants, and system and community-based organization (CBO) stakeholders in order to further develop and refine a conceptual model of sustainment to guide future research and provide a resource for service systems to prepare for sustainment as the ultimate goal of the implementation process.MethodsA mixed-method prospective and retrospective design will be used. Semi-structured individual and group interviews will be used to collect information regarding influences on EBI sustainment including policies, attitudes, and practices; organizational factors and external policies affecting model implementation; involvement of or collaboration with other stakeholders; and outer- and inner-contextual supports that facilitate ongoing EBI sustainment. Document review (e.g., legislation, executive orders, regulations, monitoring data, annual reports, agendas and meeting minutes) will be used to examine the roles of state, county, and local policies in EBI sustainment. Quantitative measures will be collected via administrative data and web surveys to assess EBI reach/penetration, staff turnover, EBI model fidelity, organizational culture and climate, work attitudes, implementation leadership, sustainment climate, attitudes toward EBIs, program sustainment, and level of institutionalization. Hierarchical linear modeling will be used for quantitative analyses. Qualitative analyses will be tailored to each of the qualitative methods (e.g., document review, interviews). Qualitative and quantitative approaches will be integrated through an inclusive process that values stakeholder perspectives.DiscussionThe study of sustainment is critical to capitalizing on and benefiting from the time and fiscal investments in EBI implementation. Sustainment is also critical to realizing broad public health impact of EBI implementation. The present study takes a comprehensive mixed-method approach to understanding sustainment and refining a conceptual model of sustainment.