Morgen Johansen

Political Persuasion during Times of Crisis: The Effects of Education and News Media on Citizens' Factual Information about Iraq:

Education is a powerful cognitive resource that undermines the persuasiveness of political propaganda. However, little is known about the conditions that weaken this resource. This study examines whether lopsided media coverage preceding and during the initial phases of the Iraq War provided an information environment sufficient to overcome the positive effects of education, finding that for viewers of the unbalanced and partial CBS and Fox, the educated were as likely to be misinformed about Iraq as the uneducated. Findings are discussed within the context of persuasion theory and the watchdog role of the news media.

Understanding Variations in Media Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Comparing Media Outlets in Their Coverage of Lawrence v. Texas

Given the central importance of news media in providing the public with information about court decisions,this study examines variations in local and national media coverage of the Supreme Court decision on a Texas antisodomy law known as Lawrence v. Texas.The authors use content analysis of newspaper articles to test hypotheses concerning how media coverage of the case might vary by media outlet. The authors assess bias by examining overall coverage and the tone of coverage.The analysis suggests that media outlets varied in their coverage of the case,with states that had existing sodomy laws providing more coverage,and that some outlets tended to be more biased in their tone than others. The analysis confirms the importance of local relevance,but the authors also find that media outlet size and political context may play a role in determining coverage of an issue.

The Direct and Interactive Effects of Middle and Upper Managerial Quality on Organizational Performance

This article presents an empirical study of the effect of middle manager quality on organizational performance. Using 6 years of data from more than 1,000 Texas school districts, the author finds that quality middle managers positively impact performance. In exploring the relationship between quality middle and upper managers, she finds that their interaction leads to improved organizational performance. This article makes two contributions to the public management literature. First, it introduces a measure of middle manager quality that allows researchers to explore the ways middle managers affect organizational performance. Second, the findings reveal that public management research has underestimated the impact of management.

The Impact of Managerial Quality on Employee Turnover

Abstract This paper empirically examines, at the organizational level, the impact of quality public managers on turnover. Quality managers can influence turnover through human capital management, budgeting, setting tasks and providing goals. However, their ability to affect turnover depends on managerial level, which in this study are the upper and middle levels. Managerial quality is operationalized with superintendent and principal salaries and turnover is operationalized with the retention rate of teachers in school districts. The findings reveal that quality middle managers exert a significant and negative effect on organizational turnover and quality upper level managers do not directly influence turnover.

The Effect of Plan B on Teen Abortions: Evidence from the 2006 FDA Ruling

The 2006 FDA ruling made Plan B, the popular brand of emergency contraception (EC), available without a doctors prescription to women 18 and older; women younger than 18 still have to produce a doctors prescription for the drug. We hypothesize that since unplanned pregnancies are more likely to be terminated, an increase in the availability of EC may lead to a decrease in the abortion rate among women affected by the ruling. Therefore, in the absence of a change in the sexual risk taking, we expect to observe a decline in the abortion rate among women aged 18 and 19 after 2006, and expect no change in the abortion rate for women aged 15 and 16. We use the difference-in-difference methodology on the age-by-year-by-state abortion data to test this hypothesis. In contrast to the related literature, we find a moderate reduction in abortion rates among women age 18 and 19 in years after 2006 in states that were affected by the change, compared to changes in the control group in the same states. Yet, we do not observe a similar large change in abortion rates among women age 20-24.

Who Values Diversity? Comparing the Effect of Manager Gender Across the Public, Private, and Nonprofit Sectors:

Researchers have focused on the role of managerial gender on attitudes toward diversity issues mainly in either the public or private sector, but there is little research that compares managerial attitudes on diversity across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. This article identifies important distinctions among the sectors that may influence gender differences in managerial priority placed on diversity. Using a national survey of nearly 1,000 top-level managers in public, private, and nonprofit hospitals in the United States, we analyze how managerial gender combined with cross-sector differences shape managerial priority on diversity. We find female managers place a higher priority on diversity than their male counterparts in nonprofit and private organizations compared with managers in public organizations. The differing effects of managerial gender on the priority placed on diversity are shaped by the organizational contexts of the three sectors. This research provides systematic evidence of sector differences in the patterns of managerial priorities regarding diversity.

Collaborative Networking, Environmental Shocks, and Organizational Performance: Evidence From Hurricane Rita

ABSTRACT An organizations external environment, such as an environmental shock, is of great concern to public management scholars because it influences the behavior and ability of public managers to improve organizational performance. In this study, we examine how collaborative networking with the purpose of preparing for a natural disaster moderates the negative impact of Hurricane Rita on school performance in Texas. Our data consists of survey responses from Texas superintendents who were surveyed shortly after Hurricane Rita about their pre-hurricane disaster preparedness including collaborative networking behavior. Using this dataset, we use a collaborative networking measure that incorporates both the frequency of contact with various groups and the intensity of those interactions. Findings reveal that collaborative networking to prepare for natural disasters moderates the negative impact of a natural disaster on organizational performance.

Managing for Results Differently: Examining Managers’ Purposeful Performance Information Use in Public, Nonprofit, and Private Organizations:

Performance information (PI) is only valuable when decision makers use it to improve their organization. Despite its importance, evidence on PI use is still limited, particularly about PI use in different contexts and for specific purposes. This article examines managers’ use of PI for specific purposes (purposeful PI [PPI]) and compares cross-sector differences in reported PPI use with a survey of nearly 1,000 top-level hospital managers in public, private, and nonprofit hospitals in the United States, while controlling for task. Findings show significant cross-sector differences in reported PPI use in three decision areas: personnel, day-to-day operations, and service efficiency, and that public managers use PI significantly less than their private and nonprofit counterparts in most decision areas. Results are discussed within the literature on performance management and cross-sector differences.

What Drives Japanese INGOs to Operate in Latin American Countries

ABSTRACT International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) provide essential aid and public services to less-developed countries. Although most literature focuses on Western INGOs, Asian INGOs have also become globally active. Little is known about what motivates INGOs to provide services in other regions, such as Latin America. In this study, we seek to identify the criteria Japanese INGOs use to select Latin American recipient countries. We propose that Japanese INGO operational location decisions are a function of Japanese foreign policy agenda, Japan-recipient country business relations, and recipient country’s need and liberalization. Using data from Japanese INGOs working in Latin America and 24 Latin American countries on contextual, macroeconomic, and demographic indicators, we find that the significant factors driving INGO decisions to operate in Latin American countries are need and the presence of Japanese businesses in the recipient country. Results have practical implications for foreign aid targeting and economic development.