Amy Mickel

Organizations are important sources of communication during natural-hazard crises. How members of an organization perceive these communications (e.g., creating confusion, causing disorder, providing clarity, and restoring order) influences response and recovery from such a crisis. Using Chaos Theory as a guiding framework, the authors developed a new instrument measuring the perceived effects of an organization’s communication on crisis-organizing processes. Three distinct studies were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of this new instrument: the “Perceived Effects of Communication on the Crisis-organizing Process (PEC-COP)” scale. This one-factor scale can be used by both scholars and practitioners to assess the effects of an organization’s communication on how people organize (i.e., react and respond) during a crisis. By gaining greater insight into how an organization’s communication is perceived, the organization can better prepare to communicate in ways that promote efficient and effective crisis-organizing processes throughout a natural-hazard crisis. Effective communication can create order out of chaos.

In this article, we present a data set and case study exercise that can be used by educators to teach a range of statistical concepts including Simpson's paradox. The data set and case study are based on a real-life scenario where there was a claim of discrimination based on ethnicity. The exercise highlights the importance of performing rigorous statistical analysis and how data interpretations can accurately inform or misguide decision makers.

In this qualitative study, we examine how converged mobile devices (e.g. BlackBerries, Treos, and iPhones) are experienced by users of this contemporary connectivity technology. Perhaps not surprisingly, users experience similar pressures to be accessible and responsive; however, the sources of these expectations extend beyond those internal to organizations to include sources external to organizations (e.g. family, friends, industry, CMD-user community, and society in general). Users’ reactions to responsiveness-accessibility pressures differ in this study, clustering into three different categories — ‘enthusiastic,’ ‘balanced,’ and ‘trade-offs.’ Further analyses reveal three emergent factors influencing users’ reactions: the number of expectation sources; specificity of the sources; and adoption motives. Our research builds on technology and work studies to include factors that are related to heterogeneity in interpretations and enactments. Moreover, findings suggest that in the context of this connectivity technology, the role of the organization may not be as central as it has been in many other studies of technology and work.

An investigation of perceived tradeoffs associated with significant life-quality decisions yielded five tension-management strategies which include: a) adopting a guiding philosophy, b) engaging in an ongoing practice, c) perceiving tradeoffs as `nothing given up of value/importance', d) applying a present orientation, and e) applying a future orientation. These strategies emerge as ways working professionals in the United States manage tension. Findings suggest that the use of one or more of these strategies is related to perceptions of more gains than losses associated with decisions. Further, examining the use of these strategies adds insight regarding why some respondents making similar decisions perceive tradeoffs differently. In dealing with work—life issues, the authors promote the use of tension-management strategies which are enacted by individuals alone or in conjunction with organizationally enacted strategies.

Practitioners view monetary rewards as an important and powerful motivational tool. Yet organizational research has focused primarily on the economic value of these rewards. In this essay, the authors challenge this view by suggesting that monetary rewards also acquire symbolic meaning via the organization's distribution practices. They contend that the presence of symbolic meaning adds symbolic value to the economic value of the reward, which increases the reward's overall perceived value. They argue that the increased perceived value of the reward can lead to desired organizational outcomes. Conversely, the authors argue that the absence of symbolic meaning can lessen the overall perceived value of the reward. This increases the likelihood of undesired organizational outcomes. These ideas have implications for organizational scholars' theories about monetary rewards and for how practitioners distribute monetary rewards in organizations.

In response to calls for a better understanding of quality of life, we draw upon working professionals' perspectives and experiences to introduce a theoretical model that emerged from an inductive analysis of respondents' language. A key element of this model includes a collective picture of factors representing quality of life. Further, this model suggests interrelatedness among these factors with pursuit of a high quality of life emerging as a dynamic process with a tensional nature. Our proposed model extends existing research by more fully capturing the complex ways in which people from the United States describe quality of life and its pursuit.

This article introduces interactive drama as an alterative to student role-plays. Interactive drama increases student engagement and explores complex issues in management. It features scenes from organizational life being performed live by trained actors before a student audience, stopping at pivotal points so the audience can interact with the actors. These sessions result in highly energized students wanting to participate in lively discussions. Because the vivid scenes are so memorable, the students are able later to connect them effectively to management theory or their own experiences in reflective journals or other written assessments. After describing why instructors should consider using interactive drama, the article explains how to use it in the management classroom and concludes by providing five detailed examples of interactive drama scenes.

This exploratory study examines obstacles working professionals face in their efforts to enhance quality of life including a discussion of the advice and employer assistance they desire. Based on a discursive formations’ framework, research findings emerged with implications for organizations including the importance of: a) clarifying expectations for employees, b) addressing employees’ desire for various types of advice, c) acknowledging obstacles that are internallybased, and d) understanding employees’ perceptions of work environments. A category of general-life issues (which bridge work and non-work domains) also emerged from the data.