Larry F. Moore

The Motivation To Volunteer

* This research was funded in part through a research contract with the Citizenship Branca, Department of the Secretary of State, Government of Canada. The most frequently asked, and most perplexing question in the field of voluntary action--why do people volunteer?--concerns the needs, motives, and desires of individuals who decide to give freely of the time, energy, and skills to work in the country’s social service agencies. Researchers interested in this question most commonly have explored the powers of a wide

The Resurrection of Taxonomy to Aid the Development of Middle Range Theories of Organizational Behavior.

Since the publication of Katz and Kahn’s The Social Psychology of Organizations (1966) and Thompson’s Organizations in Action (1967), the open systems model has dominated the thinking of scholars interested in organization theory. Although a number of authors, such as Scott (1961), had discussed the systems view of organizations before 1966, Katz and Kahn’s book was the first major exemplar of the systems model, and the one probably most often cited since then in connection with the systems paradigm. For Katz and Kahn, the stated purpose of applying the systems model to organizations was to facilitate the integration of so-called “macro” and “micro” concepts, thereby fostering some commonality of terms and concepts. Further, they hoped that the systems model would escape a commonly alleged fault of earlier approaches to the study of social organization, namely, a tendency to rely on analogies and metaphors that were not entirely appropriate (Katz and Kahn, 1966: 9).

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ATTITUDES AND THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PARADIGM

Abstract This study examined attitudes about business and the environment in a sample of 237 business students, using a 14-item measurement scale, the Business-Environment Questionnaire. The study also explored the underlying worldview concerning the environment using the New Environmental Paradigm Scale (Dunlap and Van Liere 1978). Overall, the study found the expressed attitudes of the sample to be strongly pro-environmental and primarily related to a concern for the balance of nature. The results appear consistent with the emergence of a “New Environmental Paradigm.” To the extent that attitudes of contemporary business students indicate the future orientation of the business community, corporate policies toward the environment may undergo a considerable shift in the future.

Characteristics of Canadian Volunteers in Direct Service

the less fortunate. But, in recent years, with proliferation of opportunities and cries for increased citizen participation, the volunteer has been described as any individual male or female, young or old with a deep concern for his fellow man, willing to give of himself to help others help themselves. The typical volunteer appears to be shifting from a class of people considered &dquo;do-gooders&dquo; to a broader cross section of society with the available time, energy and skills to work with others. Smith (1972) identifies five major classes of voluntary activity based on the types of goals involved. The class with which this paper is concerned, the service volunteer, is typified as being comprised of &dquo;white, middle-class women in the 30 to 60 age range who work a few hours a week at

The Inevitability of Multiple Paradigms and the Resultant Need for Middle Range Analysis in Organization Theory

It has become fashionable in recent years for scholars to criticize “the state of the art” in the study of organizations. A content analysis of many of these criticisms and alleged problems reveals discontent about fundamental issues such as the directions the field has taken or is taking, and about how research and theorizing are being conducted. Controversy of such a basic nature and the frequency of its appearance suggests to us that there is considerable disappointment and frustration on the part of many students of the field and a widespread suspicion that the rate of progress in our learning about organizations is incommensurate with the effort being expended.

A Winning Relationship: Managing the Student-Company Learning Interface

Managers emphasize that the critical skills and abilities required for effective management are holistic, empathetic, and action oriented and urge that management education include opportunities for more live process or hands-on exposure. This article addresses the nature of interaction-learning projects involving live natural organizations and advocates an enlarged concept of the learning arena to include four stakeholders: the students, the instructor, the contact person, and the organization. Differing expectations and role responsibilities for each stakeholder are identified. Specific suggestions are generated to help instructors manage the learning experience so that each stakeholder achieves a positive outcome.

Canadian Human Resource Management at the Crossroads

In this review, we employ an organization theory framework for understanding Canadian human resource management. We first examine the environment surrounding organizations in which the HR function is performed, then the HR function itself, and finally the HR managers values, beliefs and actions within this system. Many of the changes that are occurring in the management of human resources are due to the pressure the environment is exerting on business organizations—pressures which the HR specialist helps manage. Among the most significant changes that face HRM are the increases in the amount of government policy concerning HR and the amount of HR-related legislation. HR specialists have responded by encouraging their organizations to adopt new personnel practices, such as employment equity and TQM, and by increasing their own level of training and professionalization. As a consequence of handling these pressures, many practitioners surveyed maintained that human resource management now has a higher profile in their firms and a greater set of responsibilities. However, human resource management faces some tough challenges from the global and national economy. As a result, the HR function continues to be a primary target in downsizing efforts, and HR expertise has continued to move out of large firms into small, part-time consulting units or into the hands of other corporate managers with working HR knowledge.

Frond Lake: An Environmental Policy Role-Play

Traditionally, the North American economic paradigm has been predicted on self-interest and growth. The newly emerging environmental paradigm, based on assumptions of finite limits to growth, is additionally concerned with issues of conservation, preservation, and replenishment of resources. Differences between these paradigms raise many serious policy issues requiring the development of new guideposts or managers. The role-play detailed in this study enables students to experience how environmental and ethical issues often cut across management process types and increase the levels of uncertainty and complexity. The role-play can also be used effectively in focusing on specific managerial process issues as well.

Toward Middle Range Theory

This conference was called for the purpose of exploring the meaning of Merton’s (1968) concept of middle range theory, and for examining the relevance of the concept for the scientific study of organizations and organizational behavior (O.B.). This paper will attempt to set the stage for our deliberations by providing a brief interpretation of the history of theoretical development in O.B., and by highlighting the five major themes of the conference.

Planning for a university, using interactive forecasting

Abstract The benefits of programme review, forward planning and control have been demonstrated at the university-wide level. Within a faculty or department, there is also a clear need for developing and using planning methods which are rationally based and forward looking if appropriate responses to changing social and academic trends are to be made. This paper delineates a number of planning and control variables encountered at the faculty or departmental level, describes the development and use of a computer-based interactive forecasting model, and discusses the advantages and limitations of such models in planning a facultys progress toward its goals.