Albert I. Goldberg

Reputation Building: Small Business Strategies for Successful Venture Development

A positive corporate reputation can be crucial to successful venture development. Making use of the Strategic Reference Point theory, four reputation strategies were conceptualized: 1) dynamic exploitation of existing assets; 2) development of core competencies; 3) image management; and 4) strategic alliances. In a comprehensive investigation of three software enterprises in Israel, companies were found to differ in policies that possibly could lead to a good reputation. One company emphasized the long–term establishment of core competencies and remained a fairly unknown enterprise. A second company accentuated the short–term exploitation of assets and had a middling success in reputation building. A third enterprise invested in a broad spectrum of reputation building strategies and quickly developed a reputation for excellence in the field. In conclusion, corporate success often depends on the extent to which managers develop an integrated package of policies for systematically building the intangible asset of corporate reputation.

Well being, work environment and work accidents

We examine factors that influence accident proneness among employees. We agree that the determinants of accident proneness include organizational, emotional and personal factors. Using logistic regression we estimated three models, and their predictability for accident proneness among sample of 200 injured workers interviewed upon entering hospital emergency wards in Israel. Work injuries were not contingent on age, religion, nor education. The effects of gender were strong but non-significant. Subcontracted and higher-paid workers are more likely to get repeat injuries. Prior injury experience sensitized employees to stronger perceptions of risk associated with unsafe practices. Large family households, ameliorates stress feelings and lessens the likelihood of accident proneness while poor housing conditions have the opposite effect. The full model demonstrates considerable prediction of injuries when focusing on type of employment, personal income level, being involved in dangerous jobs, emotional distress and a poor housing environment. The model contains most of the significant results of interest and provides a high level of predictability for work injuries.

Physician assessments of patient compliance with medical treatment

In a study of how physicians evaluate patient compliance, practitioner judgments were compared to the self-reports of 138 adult patients receiving treatment for pulmonary diseases at an outpatient clinic. The research found no significant relationship between physician evaluations of compliance and accounts given by the same patients. The conclusions of physicians regarding patient compliance proved to be influenced by their views on the seriousness of the condition and the effectiveness of treatments, but patient reports were different. Physicians clearly have difficulties in appraising the compliance behavior of their patients.

Matrix structures and performance: the search for optimal adjustment to organizational objectives

Matrix structures continue to be utilized at high-tech companies despite considerable evidence about the many shortcomings of the method. Empirical research among companies employing matrix structures revealed three different resource allocation policies: (1) profit and cost centers; (2) direct priorities; and (3) comprehensive allocation planning. In order to evaluate organizational performance for each policy, a simulation was constructed to ascertain the optimal distribution of influence for managers under different work parameters and for various organizational objectives. The simulation provided answers for when organizational and market conditions necessitate increases or reductions in the influence of project managers in order to reach optimum performance. Based on the organizational objectives selected for this study, different patterns were found to characterize decision-making. Patterns varied considerably. At one extreme, the distribution of influence for reaching a specific objective remained stable despite changes in work parameters. In contrast, another pattern involved a high dependence between a specific work profile and the optimization of performance, with changes in each work parameter leading to quite different decisions about whether to increase, decrease, or maintain influence.

The Organizational Imperative in Science

An evaluation of organizational attachment processes accentuates the pervasive influence work sites have on the community of scientists. Work climates determine the distribution of rewards and resources to researchers and by meeting both personal and professional objectives can encourage allegiance to a specific organization. The basis for organizational allegiance, however, varies by employment sector: the fidelity of university scientists is related to satisfaction with general work conditions and is not necessarily connected to their research work; in contrast, non-academic scientists — employed at governmental and industrial laboratories — develop strong functional research relationships with their organizations. These complementary work locations for stable scientific careers highlight the organizational imperative as a vital link between alternative motivational structures for researchers and the development of the scientific enterprise.

The measurements of autonomy and technology for task svstems design

Numerous experiments in job enlargement, direct worker participation and autonomous workgroups have been reported. However, little cumulative knowledge has been gained through a lack of conceptual and theoretical bases. Moreover, worker autonomy and technology, the major variables in those experiments either were measured by questioning workers and supervisors and are consequently modified by their perception, or were measured in a very broad fashion. In the present work more objective and specific measures for technology and autonomy, which can link job design research and experiments with job design practice, were developed and validated. Automony and technology are of course multidimensional concepts. Relevant aspects for job design are derived from a model for task related decision making which shows that the degree of worker autonomy is contingent on task technology and worker characteristics. Technology is measured by cycle time, task repetitiveness, task skill level, disturbance level of a task and...

Promises in the Promised Land: Mobility and Inequality in Israel.@@@Divided we Stand: Class Structure in Israel from 1948 to the 1980s.

Preface Mobility Research and Bases of Stratification The Israeli Setting Cohort Succession and the Process of Stratifcation: Basic Models and Parameters Ethnicity in the Process of Attainment Ethnicity and Upbringing: Some Nonadditive Outcomes Economic Opportunity among Ethnic Groups Culture and Religion in thr Process of Status Attainment Ethnicity, Gender, and Status Attainment among Working Women Conclusion: Religious and Ethnic Diversity in the Stratification System Appendices Bibliography Index

Normative and Utilitarian Particularism: The Impact of Social Structure on Service Commitments

Particularistic considerations among professionals have been ascribed to social structural exigencies. A comparison of conventionally employed professionals with practitioners belonging to a communal framework (kibbutz) reveals two distinct forms of particularism: a generally approved Normative Particularism that caters to the legitimate demands of the professionals immediate social environment, and a less accepted Utilitarian Particularism that reflects a concern for clients who can provide greater concrete rewards. Regression analysis shows both forms of particularism to be generated out of direct interactions between practitioner and client, irrespective of social structure. Such dyadic ties may encourage practitioners to meet legitimate normative expectations, but they also provide opportunities for satisfying egoistic motives. In either case, particularistic service commitments are inherent to professional practice, and demonstrate the continuing significance of this work practice in contemporary society.