Richard C. Ringer

Correlates and Consequences of Protege Mentoring in a Large Hospital

Using a statistical model, this study examined the correlates and outcomes of mentoring among a sample of 635 technically skilled, professional, and managerial hospital employees (men and women). Whereas individual as well as group and organizational characteristics influenced mentoring, group and orgnizational variables accounted for more variance in mentoring than did the individual variables. Mentoring increased with the proteges organizatoal rank, with leader approachability, and with group effectiveness; it decreased as the protégés tenure in the organization increased. Men reported more mentoring than women, and non-White minority individuals reported higher levels of mentoring than did White individuals. Mentoring was also associated with increased job satisfaction and decreased work alienation.

THE* Rules of Stakeholder Satisfaction (* Timeliness, Honesty, Empathy)

The results of an exploratory study examining the role of trust in stakeholder satisfaction are reported. Customers, stockholders, and employees of financial institutions were surveyed to identify management behaviors that lead to stakeholder satisfaction. The factors critical to satisfaction across stakeholder groups are the timeliness of communication, the honesty and completeness of the information and the empathy and equity of treatment by management.

The deterrent value of drug and integrity testing

Numerous studies have shown that job applicants may react negatively to drug, integrity, and personality testing and that these negative reactions can affect their attitudes and job search behavior. However, it is not clear if these negative reactions are equally strong among users and non-users of drugs. Using a sample of 509 subjects responding to a hypothetical employer, results showed that drug users had more negative reactions than non-users to urinalysis, overt integrity tests and personality inventories. Drug users responded equally negatively to all forms of testing, while non-users were especially negative towards personality tests.

Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Baseball: The Impact of Culture

Few sports-related events have generated as much controversy as the steroid crisis in baseball. Both ardent fans and casual observers wonder why professional baseball players would choose to use such substances when their use was viewed as outside the bounds of fair play. This article attempts to answer that question by applying concepts from the area of organizational culture. Understanding the culture of baseball and the ways leaders embedded and strengthened that culture adds insight into the decisions by athletes to engage in steroid use. In general, such use was consistent with the already-existing culture. In addition, key decisions and events likely created the conditions in which steroid use was more likely.

An Examination of Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Social Hypernorms and Authentic Community Norms in Corporate Drug Testing Programs

This manuscript discusses the utility of Integrative Social Contracts Theory in describing the social conduct of corporations in the area of drug testing. As a hybrid of classical contractarian theory and descriptive organizational theory, Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) occupies conceptual space at the intersection of normative and empirical approaches to analysis of business phenomena. Therefore, ISCT does not lend itself well to empirical testing in the positivist tradition. However, the expectations derived from ISCT can be examined through empirical testing and observation to determine if ISCT is useful in describing corporate conduct. This study asks not if ISCT is scientifically correct, but rather is it analytically insightful. The results suggest that ISCT provides a valuable framework for identifying areas of disagreement and convergence on important social and moral issues in business and society. However, the principle of implied consent through failure to exit may not be as strong as originally thought.

Managerial perceptions of change at a national laboratory

As a result of fundamental change in the environment, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is in the process of major organizational change. This paper reports the perspectives of four senior managers at the laboratory regarding the change effort and a major restructuring that took place at LANL. Describing the challenges the organization faces and the lessons they have learned, these managers provide a unique viewpoint of change at the laboratory, and organizational change in general. Several key lessons can be learned from the experience of LANL: (1) a well‐understood vision/mission is essential to organizations undergoing major change; (2) major organizational change may take longer than expected; (3) top manager commitment and open communication are critical to the change effort; and (4) changes in structure must be supported by changes in other areas (e.g. compensation and training).

Lessons in Leadership: Robert Oppenheimer and the Los Alamos Laboratory

The leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during WWII, serves as a vivid lesson in leadership. The recollections of those who worked with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos clearly attribute much of the success of the laboratory to Oppenheimers leadership. Of specific interest are: Oppenheimers efforts in recruiting, his ability to create a sense of meaning and purpose at the laboratory, his technical competence, and his ability to generate commitment and involvement among members of the laboratory.