Michael R. Ford and Douglas M. Ihrke
The purpose of this paper is to determine the differing ways in which nonprofit charter and traditional public school board members define the concept of accountability in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the differing ways in which nonprofit charter and traditional public school board members define the concept of accountability in the school or schools they oversee. The findings speak to the governing consequences of shifting oversight of public education from democratically elected bodies to unelected nonprofit governing boards.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use originally collected survey data from democratically elected school board members and nonprofit charter school board members in Minnesota to test for differences in how these two populations view accountability. Open-ended survey questions are coded according to a previously used accountability typology.
Findings
The authors find that charter school board members are more likely than traditional public school board members to define accountability through high stakes testing as opposed to staff professionalization and bureaucratic systems.
Originality/value
The results speak to the link between board governance structure and accountability in the public education sector, providing new understanding on the way in which non-elected charter school board members view their accountability function.
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Michael R. Ford and Douglas M. Ihrke
This study aims to use the original data collected from school board members representing nonprofit charter schools in the state of Minnesota to examine the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use the original data collected from school board members representing nonprofit charter schools in the state of Minnesota to examine the relationship between the distribution of board-executive governance responsibilities and the performance of organizations operating as part of a New Public Management style macro-governance reform.
Design/methodology/approach
A combination of survey data collected from Minnesota charter school board members and hard performance data were utilized in two OLS regression models to predict the link between organizational governance and school performance.
Findings
The authors find that boards can improve hard measures of organizational performance by shifting responsibility of day-to-day operations closer to the executive, and public advocacy duties closer to the board. The results build on the existing literatures on school board governance and board-executive relations. Overall, the findings suggest the existence of an ideal balance between board-executive governance responsibilities in key functional areas on charter school boards.
Originality/value
Though a healthy literature exists regarding the value of charter schools, very few studies have actually explored the way in which these organizations are governed. This study is the first to link charter board governance responsibilities to performance.
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Michael Ford and Douglas Ihrke
The purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which American school board members faced electoral competition, as well as the factors influencing the likelihood of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which American school board members faced electoral competition, as well as the factors influencing the likelihood of competition.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors utilized original national survey data of American school board members linked with school district demographic data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics. Several hypotheses were tested using three state-level fixed-effects logistic regression models predicting electoral competition.
Findings
The authors found that 39.6% of American school board members reported not having an opponent in their most recent election. School board members serving larger urban school districts with higher percentages of special needs students and racial minorities were more likely to have faced electoral competition.
Originality/value
The authors highlighted potential flaws in the traditional model of local democratic governance and helped expand understanding of the dissatisfaction theory of American democracy and continuous participation theory. The authors concluded with several suggestions on how the results can be used to inform future local governance reforms that increase electoral competition and/or create more effective governance models.
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Ross B. Emmett and Kenneth C. Wenzer
Our Dublin correspondent telegraphed last night:
Tallent Engineering, a member of the Charles Colston Group, hit the headlines last year when it won an order to supply parts for the Ford Sierra. Michael Colston, chairman of the…
Abstract
Tallent Engineering, a member of the Charles Colston Group, hit the headlines last year when it won an order to supply parts for the Ford Sierra. Michael Colston, chairman of the Colston Group, in an interview with Brian Rooks discusses some aspects of that deal, and outlines his views on industrial relations and company organisation.
John B. Ford, Michael S. LaTour and William J. Lundstrom
Uses an upscale female sample to extend previous research onwomen′s perceptions of their role portrayal in advertising media.Indicates that serious disenchantment with perceived…
Abstract
Uses an upscale female sample to extend previous research on women′s perceptions of their role portrayal in advertising media. Indicates that serious disenchantment with perceived portrayal of women still exists for this important group of consumers. Measures various attitudinal, company image, and purchase intention responses in addition to salient demographic and role orientation variables. Discusses the implications for advertisers using female models in their advertisements.
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Marcel Lourel, Michael T. Ford, Claire Edey Gamassou, Nicolas Guéguen and Anne Hartmann
The purpose of this study is to test a model of the relations between positive and negative work‐to‐home interference home‐to‐work interference on perceived stress, and job…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to test a model of the relations between positive and negative work‐to‐home interference home‐to‐work interference on perceived stress, and job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The mediating role of negative and positive work‐to‐home interference (WHI) and home‐to‐work interference (HWI) was examined. Perceived stress as a mediator was also tested. Data were obtained from a sample of 283 French employees.
Findings
The results of structural equation modeling indicated that perceived stress partially mediated the relationship between negative or positive work‐home/home‐work interference and job satisfaction. The implications and methodological limitations are discussed.
Practical implications
The study suggests the importance of studying relationships between work life and home life in organizational policies. Current research suggests that employee commitment is particularly high in organizations that have work‐life balance policies.
Originality/value
How home and work are related to perceived stress and job satisfaction is thus a crucial issue. In addition to the results reported here, the study conveys the complexity of the positive and negative relationships between the work domain and the home domain in a sample of French employees.
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Youjeong Huh and Michael T. Ford
In this chapter, how the occupational stress process changes over the life course and how this may intersect with observed generational differences are examined. This is done by…
Abstract
In this chapter, how the occupational stress process changes over the life course and how this may intersect with observed generational differences are examined. This is done by jointly reviewing studies on occupational well-being that adopted the theoretical lens of generational or lifespan developmental perspectives; the two perspectives are closely related and have the potential to better inform one another because both consider chronological age to be a pivotal factor driving individual differences in work values, attitudes and well-being. However, these perspectives have yet to be simultaneously considered in a review of occupational well-being research, leaving scholars wondering whether they overlap, and if so, in which area. It is hoped that juxtaposition of the two disparate bodies of literature can better inform the convergence and divergence of findings on worker well-being scattered across the two literatures. In this chapter, (a) generational differences in job satisfaction, (b) how work characteristics may differentially affect job satisfaction in workers across generations, (c) how work contexts may differentially impact job satisfaction across generations, (d) generational differences in work-family interface, and lastly, (e) recent developments in the field are discussed. Although extant research on the first topic, generational differences in job satisfaction, has shown some consistent evidence, research findings in the subsequent topics remain relatively inconsistent. Based on our review, it is concluded that additional research is needed to expand our understanding of the role of generation and chronological age in workers’ occupational well-being.