Boris W. Becker

Values and the Organization: Suggestions for Research

Despite long interest in human values, few investigators have focused on values and organizational process. Questions regarding how values relate to reward structure, upward mobility, goal commitme...

Personal Values and Management What do we Know and Why don't we Know more?

Research into the relationship between personal values and organizational phenomena has enjoyed a lengthy history. As a result, there is fair agreement among management scholars about two things: what values are and with what they vary. There are also substantial gaps in understanding, including how (if) values cause behavior and what happens to them when the individual joins an organization or enters an occupation. The authors identify some possible reasons for these gaps, having to do with the level(s) at which the values construct is conceptualized, methodological irregularities in values research, and neglect by management scholars, and discuss attendant corrective actions.

Work and Commitment Among Young Professionals: A Study of Male and Female Dentists

This research examines gender differences in personal characteristics, work experiences, work attitudes, and professional commitment for a group of young (age < 45) dentists. While males and females had similar work attitudes, they differed in work experience -males worked more hours, saw more patients, and earned higher incomes. Males had higher scores on affective and behavioral professional commitment measures than did females, but the gender difference was significant only for behavioral commitment. For both females and males, affective professional commitment was related positively to job satisfaction, office cohesion, having young children, and negatively related to stress. The relationship between owning the practice and affective professional commitment was greater for men than women, whereas the relationship between the proportion of office staff who are close friends and affective professional commitment was greater for women than men. For males, behavioral commitment was related positively to being married, being a specialist, working more hours, having higher income and belonging to the professional association. For females, behavioral commitment was related positively to job involvement, office cohesion, and the number of days worked each week. Results suggest that affiliation is related more closely to professional commitment among females, while practice control and productivity are related more closely to professional commitment among males.

Timeliness in ambulatory care treatment. An examination of patient satisfaction and wait times in medical practices and outpatient test and treatment facilities.

Timeliness, one of the Institute of Medicines six aims for improving the quality of health care, is an important yet understudied aspect of health care. It has been well documented as a factor influencing satisfaction in many other service industries but not as frequently in health care, especially outside of the emergency department. This article examines current trends with wait times and their effect on overall satisfaction with care in physicians offices and outpatient test and treatment facilities offering both analysis of the current situation and recommendations for improvement in the future.

Measuring innovativeness for the adoption of industrial products

Abstract This study evaluates two traditional methods of segmenting industrial markets based on firm innovativeness. There are two distinct innovativeness measures used in the literature. The first innovativeness measure is based on the time of adoption of a single product. Segmenting an industrial market based in this measure was found to be predictive of a firms relative time of adoption of related products. The second innovativeness measure is based on the usage of multiple products at a single point in time. Segmentation based on this measure captured the degree of adoption or usage of a new product. However, neither of these measures captured both the time of adoption and the degree of adoption constructs of innovativeness. Therefore, a third innovativeness measure is proposed here which is a hybrid of the two traditional measures. This composite measure captured both innovativeness constructs.

Evaluations of care by ambulatory surgery patients.

As medical care increasingly moves from inpatient to outpatient delivery settings, attention must be paid to patient assessments of the care received in these ambulatory medical centers. This study of patients in ambulatory surgery centers (N = 275) across the United States reports on the ratings given to the varied attributes of the ambulatory surgery experience. The respondents (N = 36,078) gave highest ratings to those items which evaluated the nurses and physicians and lower marks to items related to registration and access. The article concludes with an illustration of a quadrant analysis technique that managers can use to identify the specific care issues that should be addressed to increase positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Perceived Quality of Marketing Journals

The principal purpose of this study is to identify the “prestige” of journals that publish papers in marketing, as seen by department chairmen or other administrators in charge of marketing faculty. There have been previous reports on evaluation of business publications in general (Weaver 1975). However, there has not as yet appeared a study dealing specifically with marketing papers and publications. Marketing academicians have a particularly wide range of journals in which to publish their research findings or speculative ruminations. The research question is: What is the relative status of the numerous publication vehicles available to marketing academicians?

Self-selection or socialization of public- and private-sector managers?: A cross-cultural values analysis

Abstract This paper brings together two streams of research. First, systematic differences have been observed when comparing private- and public-sector managers. Second, when such systematic differences are found as between members of different organizations or occupations, they may be ascribed either to self-selection or to socialization processes. Our research, which measures respondent values and is set in a cross-cultural context (Canada and Japan), suggests that the influence of socialization is dominant.

Advertising Expenditures by Professionals: An Exploratory Investigation of Dental Practitioners

Abstract While interest in the advertising activities of professionals has grown over the past decade, evidence of their advertising behavior has been limited primarily to sporadic, anecdotal pieces in the trade literature. This article presents the findings of an exploratory survey of dental practitioners. It provides baseline data on the proportion of dental professionals who advertise, and on the level of their advertising expenditures. Great heterogeneity is found within the profession. The probability of using advertising and the amount spent on advertising vary with the characteristics of both the practice and the individual practitioner.

Product availability and the management of demand

Points to a new emphasis on distribution as a result of material shortages or failures of supply. Proposes that this new awareness requires understanding of the nature of distribution efforts through the logistic response function. Focuses on the managerial problems of utilizing distribution strategy, and asks how firms will capitalize on the challenge it presents.