E. Alan Hartman

Burnout: Summary and Future Research

The burnout literature is reviewed, compared, and summarized. Based on this process a definition of burnout is proposed encompassing three components: emotional and/or physical exhaustion, lowered work productivity, and overdepersonalization. A model to aid researchers is presented accompanied by research questions in need of answer if burnout is to be more fully understood.

Strategic Orientation: Differences between Family and Nonfamily Firms

The limited research that examines the relationship between ownership structure (family business status) and strategy has provided conflicting results. In this paper we empirically examined that relationship and found that some differences exist in how family businesses compete in the marketplace. The current understanding of the strategy construct, however, has limited our ability to measure the actual differences in strategies.

Innovative activity in small businesses: Competitive context and organization level

Abstract The effect of market type and product technology on innovation was studied using data from 3800 employees in 88 small businesses. Results demonstrate that: (1) organizational context effects on innovative activity are significant at administrative and strategic levels, (2) organizational members in consumer markets initiate more innovations but implement fewer than organizational members in industrial markets, (3) members of service-providing organizations report less innovative activity than those in goods-producing organizations, and (4) operative level employees appear to play a small role in the innovation process.

Patterns and outcomes of individual career mobility for Wisconsin school administrators

Abstract The impact on careers of changing jobs or organizations was studied using salary, job responsibility, and rate of movement data from 673 Wisconsin school administrators. Results indicated a high incidence of interpositional and interorganizational mobility, with 81% of the school administrators having changed organizations at least once and 54% of all position changes being organizational changes. Interpositional mobility led to higher salaries and longer time to achieve level. Recent interorganizational mobility had a positive effect on salary and responsibility for superintendents but not for principals. There was little effect on career outcomes of entering administration during a period of contraction or expansion of available jobs. Results are discussed within the context of an occupational labor market rather than an organizational labor market.

Human resources for the next decade

Public and private sector organizations are undergoing dramatic changes in structure and management practices. Two of these paradigm shifts are total quality management and process re-engineering, both of which have implications for human resource management in mental health organizations. These implications are described and models of organizations for the next decade are presented.

The Community Health Care Administrator Project: Characteristics and problems of rural administrators

SummaryThis project points to the complexities involved in understanding mental health management. Some hypotheses were supported: intention to leave the work organization and organization commitment were the best predictors of turnover, the rural manager more of a generalist compared to urban counterpart. Many hypotheses were not supported. The annual turnover rate has fallen, burnout seems a myth for this group, many rural-urban differences were not significant, job satisfaction was good. Nonwork variables affect turnover but not as strongly as predicted while reward systems came forward as a crucial area for predicting and understanding turnover.More work, of course, needs to be done. An understanding of state differences, career paths and turnover (why has it fallen), and reward systems as utilized in public sector organizations are needed. Continued research of rural and urban systems and managers using objectively defined taxonomies and systematic data collection is desirable. Finally managers’ responses to the problems and changes this decade will bring would be fascinating to follow.

Problems and issues for mental health administration in the 1980's

To determine issues in mental health administration in this decade 314 public sector, community level, mental health administrators and 200 professionals in mental health from across the country were sampled. The 670 responses from 253 respondents were analyzed and placed into 15 categories. Impact of decreased funding and personnel related issues were paramount. Implications of the data for administration in mental health are discussed.