Complex Action Methodology for Enterprise Systems (CAMES)

This completed action research utilizes the conceptual framework of quantum mechanics in action science field studies for bias-free behavioral data collection and quantification. The research question tied to experimental verification if action research field studies can practically utilize the theory of communicative action and the theory of quantum mechanics to contextualize the quantification with pathological and distorted behavioral pattern. The result is a quantum-like formalism that provides intermediary conceptuality for organizational intervening initiatives. This process of contextualization behavior in projects via quantum probability experimentally evidenced. The chapter concludes by reviewing the results of two experiments that the hypotheses that the theory of quantum mechanics and the theory of communicative action qualifies as a building block for a planned methodological approach to intervene and steer problematic social structures in the desired direction.

Dataveillance in the Workplace

The many obvious benefits that accompany digital technology have been matched by some less welcome and more contentious impacts. One of these is the steady erosion of employee privacy. Whilst employee performance has frequently been the object of scrutiny, the increasing number of organizations that monitor employees through advanced digital technologies has added a dystopian edge to existing employee privacy concerns, particularly as many employees are unable to exercise choice in relation to use of these technologies. If unaddressed, their concerns have potential to impact the psychological contract between employee and employer, resulting in loss of employee trust, negative attitudes, and counterproductive work behaviors. This chapter outlines some of the emerging issues relating to use of employee monitoring technologies. It summarizes both management rationale for monitoring as well as employee privacy concerns and proposes an ethical framework that is useful for balancing these differing perspectives.

Strategic Communication in Crisis

When faced with crises, organizational leaders must identify, prioritize, and communicate with organizational stakeholders. Increasingly, organizational leaders find themselves responding to crises made by persons that represent or are associated with the organization in some way. However, most case studies of image repair campaigns focus on the individual that has transgressed rather than on the often-simultaneous campaigns undertaken by the organizations with which they are associated. To study these issues more closely, this chapter uses The Ohio State University's (OSU's) tattoos for memorabilia scandal as exemplar and offers meaningful insight and pragmatic considerations for practitioners dealing with similar situational constraints.

Mobile Communication in Hospitals

Mobile communication for healthcare workers is a critical part of hospitals infrastructure. Many of these systems do not work well together, leading to difficulties regarding multiple communication devices with different usage area, unavailable or missing equipment, and alarm fatigue. Physicians and nurses often need information fast, and any delay between the decision and the action taken could cause medical errors. One suggested solution for this problem is to implement wireless phone systems. However, psychological theory and empirical evidence, both suggest that wireless phones have the potential of creating additional problems related to interruptions. The fact that hospital workers prefer interruptive communication methods before non-interruptive methods, amplifies the risk of overloading staff. The key is how to handle the balance between increased availability and increased interruptions. In this chapter, the authors present solutions and possibilities based on context aware communication systems that aim to reduce interruptions and thereby also alarm fatigue.

Dynamic Presence Rather Than Command Presence

Human beings are social animals inhabiting a world where unspoken, nonverbal body language dominates the perception of the listener. It has been shown that nonverbal behaviors effect perception more intently than verbal communication. Police-citizen interactions are a complex process where verbal and nonverbal interactions are occurring simultaneously and interpreted immediately, leading to multiple chances for misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the officer's intent. With little research on the actual techniques to create the perception of police legitimacy, the authors intend to link communicative intelligence to the verbal and physical behaviors officers should engage in to enhance procedural justice and improve police legitimacy. They posit that the citizen's perceived level of police fairness is derived from the officer's treatment of the citizen which is significantly influenced by how the officer communicates with the citizen.

Help Me Understand

Higher education leaders need to identify differences among generations of employees and students and develop a strategic plan for managing and motivating across the generations. This case study addresses the following question: “How do higher education leaders lead and motivate multigenerational employees and online students?” An understanding of the common characteristics of each generational group is the first step for developing a strategy for motivating all employees and students in higher education. Communication, mentoring programs, training, respect, and opportunities for career advancement are components valued by all. It is important for higher education leaders to understand the values, work ethic, and communication style of the different generations. The implications for higher education leaders lie in establishing an organizational culture that promotes satisfaction for all individuals in the higher education setting.

Leading Teacher Professional Learning

Teacher professional development is a critical component of teacher learning and improving classroom instruction. Effective communication is key in facilitating professional development. In this chapter, the authors present one aspect of communication in teacher professional development, building shared understanding of key terminology and ideas. they present three case studies of professional development program from across English, history, and science. These cases highlight professional development design and implementation approaches that produced varying degrees of success. The potential pitfalls and effective approaches to facilitating the development of shared language about key ideas are presented. Lessons learned and implications for those who work with diverse groups and conduct professional development are discussed.

The Case for Effectively Using Existing Business Improvement Models in Australian Schools

There is a significant lack of documented research on Australian school improvement that is contextualized within business improvement model settings. This is the case even though Australian schools have been operating within a business environment for a while now. This chapter aims at addressing this gap by discussing what educational quality is within schools. It will present an adapted version for continuous school improvement within school systems in Australia. This adapted version of continuous school improvement provides a theoretical framework on how schools operating as self-managed business systems can ensure that the delivery of educational quality is strategically sustained at the organizational level and that focus remains on the important core business of student learning. This adapted version has been described as strategic TQM and a case is made for its use in Australian schools through five transformations that are brought about through the SCOPE cycle for school improvement.

The Use of Online Social Networks and Its Influence on Job-Related Behavior

Web 2.0 technologies have progressively transformed social interactions among people. In addition, there is plenty of evidence of a positive influence of social relationships on work-related attitudes and behaviors. Within these frameworks, the purpose is to evaluate the effect of using online social networks on the workers' attitudes and behaviors, particularly in the context of higher education. The authors used an online survey to evaluate the attitudes and behavior of 157 faculty members. To assess the use of OSNs, they used a dichotomous variable. The t-student test and the PLS method were used to analyze the data. They conclude that the use of OSNs influences the workers' performance, but not job satisfaction, organizational commitment, or organizational citizenship behaviors (extra-role performance). The relationships they propose in what concerns the workers' attitudes are all empirically supported. Lastly, they describe the study limitations and we suggest some perspectives for future research.

Collaboration and Conflict in Three Workplace Teams´ Projects

This chapter extends the previous research published in 2016 which looked into the embedding contexts of networks of small firms, in the EU principally, and how collaboration between small to medium enterprises (SMEs) was supported inside national and regional clustering structures and incubators initiated in collaboration with university researchers and governments agencies. The current chapter drills down further to explore the processes at the level of individual firms to see how group and individual conflict and collaboration was generated or sustained within teams in three different case organizations. In other words, the chapter looks at micro level details of conflict and collaboration as well as the observed socioemotional dynamics. The three organizations were involved with executive education programs and the authors were able to access reflective diaries for 2004 to 2012 enabling the authors to triangulate notes taken with interview data and observations used for this chapter.