A survey of 69 employers and 31 recruiters compared attitudes of those who had prior contact with individuals with disabilities with those without prior contact. Results indicate that four variables influence acceptance of the Americans with Disabilities Act: (1) type of activity; (2) educational level; (3) number of disabled employees; and (4)…

Notes that the words and phrases that make up corporate lingo usually have meaning on two levels: management level and worker level, with huge gaps between them. Offers the author's "redefinitions" of a number of corporate terms. (SR)

Results of a survey of training in Australia indicate that a large majority of the Australian work force (79 percent) undertook some form of job-related training in 1989, mostly informal on-the-job training. Amount varied by type of company, gender, place of birth, and educational attainment. (JOW)

Conflict between people can arise over breakdowns in communication, work policies and practices, adversarial management, and personality conflict. A conflict-resolution plan involves defining the problem, collecting the facts and opinions, considering all solutions proposed, implementing the solutions, and evaluating the situation. (MLF)

In the Fall 1989 issue, Caraway discussed the advantages of grievance mediation, compared with arbitration. This article reexamines the issue from the viewpoint of the individual grievant and points to recent conflicting developments in the National Labor Relations Board's deferral doctrine. An introduction by Perry A. Zirkel summarizes the…

Pacific Gas and Electric's employee involvement program aggressively focuses on customer service, performance measurement tied to management bonuses, and commitment to change in the organizational culture. (SK)

Defines and reviews the literature on organizational commitment and identification. Reports an empirical study which found that commitment and identification correlated consistently and similarly with relevant attitudinal, tenure, and demographic variables. Concludes that communication scholars are advised to refer to identification as a process…

Companies are competing for an ever-smaller share of the labor pool and are finding that offering training gives them a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees. Both technical and interpersonal skills training is in demand. (JOW)

Organizations are using story telling to communicate values, adapt to change, define their culture, develop communication skills, and refine employee relationships. Examples include the anecdotal or biographical story, creative characterization, and story as metaphor. (SK)

Top-down processes for institutionalizing ideas can stifle creativity. Xerox researchers learned how to combine process-based and practice-based methods in order to disseminate best practices from a community of repair technicians. (JOW)

Although there are important human resource basics, such as competitive pay and benefits and career growth opportunities, retention of information technology (IT) workers is less about money than it is about respectful treatment. Retention involves designing interesting jobs, giving recognition, providing regular feedback, and being flexible about…

Defines the "Seven Cs," traditional yet effective business fundamentals used to engage employees. Discusses how many companies are leveraging the basics of good employee relations in order to inspire staff productivity and loyalty. (GCP)

As a form of performance monitoring, electronic performance monitoring (EPM) offers the opportunity for unobtrusive and continuous performance data gathering. These strengths can also make EPM stressful and threatening. Many features of performance evaluation systems, including the organizational purposes for which they are used, can affect…

This study explores the utility of employing knowledge management as a framework for understanding how public managers perform ecosystem management. It applies the grounded theory method to build a model. The model is generated by applying the concept of knowledge process to an investigation of how the urban ecosystem is publicly managed by civil…

Organizations recognize the importance of creative employees and constantly explore ways to enhance their employees' creative behavior. Creativity research has directed substantial efforts to understanding how work environment fosters creativity. Yet, this research has paid little attention to the importance of specific characteristics of the work…