Uses social exchange theory to examine the process by which employees are dismissed from organizations. Examines interview data from an exploratory study that suggests managers are influenced by information from group members as they calculate a cost-benefit ratio for the employer-employee relationship. Indicates a progression of communication…

Establishing a human resource development (HRD) program for HRD practitioners frequently results in problems of organizational change. The author has applied the theories of three contemporary sociologists--Talcott Parsons, Lewis Coser, and Peter Blau--to a hypothetical case study of an HRD consulting firm faced with developing its own human…

Presents an analysis of faculty dynamics in nursing curriculum situations based on the social theories of conflict, community power, and interest-group to form a political model representing stages in policy development. These stages are applied to curriculum change examples to show how social conflict and power plays cause problems. (MF)