Dianne D. Horgan

The Success of Schools in Implementing Eight Restructuring Designs: A Synthesis of First‐Year Evaluation Outcomes

*Much of the research reported in this series was supported by a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, to the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (Grant No. R-l 17D-40005). However, any opinions expressed by the authors are our own and do not represent the policies or positions of the U.S. Department of Education.

Brand character as a function of brand loyalty

This study investigated the relationship between self-image, brand image, and brand loyalty by asking whether people use products to enhance self-image. Subjects described themselves on an adjective checklist, then listed product brands to which they consider themselves loyal or not loyal. One month later, using the same adjective checklist, subjects described the type of person who would buy a particular brand to which they are loyal and a brand to which they are not loyal for both gender and non-gender related products. Significant differences between the two groups and a high correlation between self and product user ratings, were found.

Mentoring and participation: An application of the Vroom-Yetton model

Participative decision making is considered an important tool to develop subordinates. To explore how managers use PDM in mentoring relationships, we modified the Vroom-Yetton (1973) scenarios to include a protege/non-protege variable. One hundred and five managers completed the survey, and 68 of these completed a follow-up questionnaire concerning their own mentoring history. Contrary to our hypotheses, managers were neither more participative nor better decision makers with protege versus non-protege scenarios. Some differences in participation with certain situational attributes were found between protege and non-protege conditions suggesting that managers use PDM in different circumstances when dealing with proteges versus non-proteges. Mentoring history interacted with the protege variable in the scenarios. Unlike managers without mentors, managers who had been mentored showed significant differences when dealing with proteges versus non-proteges: they were both better decision makers (p=.001) and more participative with proteges (p=.004) than were managers who had not had mentors. Managers with mentors were alsoless participative in non-protege conditions (p<.05). Implications for mentoring as a developmental tool are discussed.

A cognitive learning perspective on women becoming expert managers.

Despite recent gains, women still face the “glass ceiling”—an invisible barrier that blocks their entry into top executive positions. Explanations for womens lack of success range from blaming men for discrimination to blaming women themselves. Rather than blaming the people in organizations, it is useful to analyze the task facing women managers. I argue that understanding the inherent difficulties in womens work can provide a new perspective on why women have difficulty in achieving top positions. Recent work in cognitive psychology is helping us learn more about the processes involved in reaching high levels of performance. Using these theories and concepts to analyze the task facing women managers, we can begin to develop new ways to help women develop higher levels of managerial skill.

Cognitive Reorganization and the development of chess expertise

Abstract One current research strategy in the study of expertise is to compare experts and novices. An important aspect of decision making involves looking for similarities among problem types. Little is known about such processes. We used grid technique to examine similarity judgments associated with different levels of chess expertise. Novice, expert, and master chess players evaluated 4 sets of 12 chess boards. Average FIC scores showed a curvilinear relation to expertise, suggesting increasing differentiation followed by integration in cognitive frameworks for construing board positions. Additional cognitive measures based on move generation tended to support and extend this structural model.

A COGNITIVE LEARNING PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN BECOMING EXPERT MANAGERS

Despite recent gains, women still face the “glass ceiling” – an invisible barrier that blocks their entry into top executive positions. Explanations for women′s lack of success range from blaming men for discrimination to blaming women themselves. Rather than blaming the people in organisations, it is useful to analyse the task facing women managers. It is argued that understanding the inherent difficulties in women′s work can provide a new perspective on why women have difficulty in achieving top positions. Recent work in cognitive psychology is helping us learn more about the processes involved in reaching high levels of performance. Using these theories and concepts to analyse the task facing women managers, new ways can be developed to help women develop higher levels of managerial skill.