A detailed review of current research and ideas concerning both communication processes and family functioning is provided in this valuable contribution to the literature. Divided into three parts the book focuses on: communication of family members over time; the role of interaction in various family relationships; and the association between family structure and communication. Readers are provided with a set of questions that they can use to examine their own and other's research and the chapters also illustrate a range of methodological and/or theoretical positions.
The teaching of organization theory and the conduct of organizational research have been dominated by a focus on decision-making and the concept of strategic rationality. However, the rational model ignores the inherent complexity and ambiguity of real-world organizations and their environments. In this landmark volume, Karl E Weick highlights how ......
Bringing together current theories on intercultural communication, this volume introduces some new theoretical developments. These diverse approaches offer guidance for investigating the complex phenomenon of intercultural communication. Part One provides an overview of the role of theory in intercultural communication research, Part Two includes theories on intercultural communication competence and adaptation, and Part Three focuses on specific contexts for intercultural communication such as health and small groups.
The organizational, social and psychological meanings of contracts, both written and unwritten, are the focus of this volume. The author addresses a number of important topics including contract making, interpretation of contracts, contract violations, strategies for changing contracts and contracts evolving from circumstances relevant to the 1990s. In addition, a thought-provoking discussion of how contracts are linked to an organization's strategy and its human resource practices is included. The book concludes with an assessment of societal trends that point to large scale changes in future employment contracts.
What is the nature of the relationships between family variables and children's successes in school? An examination of this question is the basis of this volume. Building on a model for evaluating the relationships between families, schools and children, the contributors analyze: how school achievement is influenced by parent-child interactions; how early adolescents are affected by the overlapping `spheres of influence' of school, family, community and peer group; and how family environment influences educational attainment. Other issues discussed include: education for children with learning difficulties; school truancy; and the effects of parental discord and divorce on children's learning. In conclusion, the book offers examples of prevention and intervention.
Using detailed case studies with statistical analysis In Search of Economic Success assesses comparatively the `market liberal' belief in free markets, limited government and the trade-off between economic efficiency and social justice. Kenworthy argues that the key to economic success lies in combining competition with cooperation. Among advanced industrialized nations, the countries achieving the best economic performance results over the past three decades have been the most committed to combining competition and cooperation. Those faring worst rely predominantly on atomistic, individualistic competition. In the end, the comparative record strongly supports a focus on cooperation-inducing institutions.
This exploration of marketing and consumer behaviour comprises original articles, both theoretical and empirical, and serves as a sourcebook for those interested in consumption and managerial consequences. Issues discussed include: elements of the marketing mix; advertising and promotion; relationship management; managerial intervention and stakeholder response; organization behaviour; economic development; class-and-gender-linked consumer behaviour; and the production of consumption. They are examined using anthropological perspectives and methods ranging from materialistic to semiotic.
This volume provides a thought-provoking and timely alternative to prevailing approaches to stress at work. These invariably present stress as a 'fact of modern life' and assume it is the individual who must take primary responsibility for his or her capacity - or incapacity - to cope. This book, by contrast, sets stress at work in the context of wider debates about emotion, subjectivity and power in organizations, viewing it as an emotional product of the social and political features of work and organizational life. Tim Newton analyzes the historical development of the dominant `stress discourse' in modern psychology and elsewhere. Drawing on a range of perspectives - from labour process theory to the work of Foucault and Elias - he explores other possible ways of understanding stress at work. He offers a cogent critique of the typical stress management interventions in organizations through which employees are supposed to increase their effectiveness and become `stress-fit'. With contributions from two colleagues, he explores various ways of `rewriting' stress at work. Together they emphasize the gendered nature of stress, the collective production and reproduction of stressful work experiences, and the relation of stress to issues of emotion management and control in organizations.
