Organisationskultur. Eine Konkretisierung aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive

Kühl S. Organisationskultur. Eine Konkretisierung aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive. Managementforschung. 2018;28(1):7-35.Die Bestimmung des Verhältnisses von Informalität und Organisationskultur bereitet in der Organisationstheorie Schwierigkeiten. Das liegt daran, dass der Begriff Informalität häufig stillschweigend durch den Begriff der Organisationskultur ersetzt wurde, ohne dass dafür eine präzise, abgrenzungsscharfe Definition vorgenommen worden wäre. Unter Rückgriff auf Überlegungen von Dario Rodríguez argumentiert dieser Artikel, dass die beiden Begriffe Organisationskultur und Informalität das gleiche Phänomen bezeichnen: die nichtentschiedenen Entscheidungsprämissen einer Organisation. Dabei wird systematisch zwischen „unentscheidbaren Entscheidungsprämissen“ und „prinzipiell entscheidbaren, aber nicht entschiedenen Entscheidungsprämissen“ unterschieden. Es wird gezeigt, wie sich mit einer präzisen Bestimmung über das Konzept der Entscheidungsprämissen Ordnung in die „wilden Merkmallisten“ der Literatur sowohl über Informalität als auch Organisationskultur bringen lässt und empirische Phänomene genauer erfasst werden können

The effects of caffeine ingestion on time trial cycling performance

Purpose:The purpose of this work was to determine the effects of caffeine on high intensity time trial (TT) cycling performance in well-trained subjects.Subjects:Six male cyclists with the following physical characteristics (mean ± SD) age 30.7 ± 12, height 179.3 ± 7.5 cm, mass 70.0 ± 7.5 kg, VO2max 65.0 ± 6.3 mL·kg−1·min−1 undertook three 1-h TT performances, control (C), placebo (P) and caffeine (CAF), on a Velotron cycle ergometer conducted in a double-blind, random fashion. Subjects rested for 60 min and were then given CAF or P in a dose of 6 mg·kg−1 body mass and then commenced exercise after another 60 min of rest. Before ingestion, 60 min postingestion, and at the end of the TT, finger-prick blood samples were analyzed for lactate.Results:The cyclists rode significantly further in the CAF trial (28.0 ± 1.3 km) than they did in the C (26.3 ± 1.5 km, P < .01) or P (26.4 ± 1.5 km, P < .02) trials. No differences were seen in heart rate data throughout the TT (P > .05). Blood lactate levels were significantly higher at the end of the trials than either at rest or postingestion (P < .0001), but there were no differences between the three trial groups.Conclusion:On the basis of the data, we concluded that performance was improved with the use of a caffeine supplement.Lars R. McNaughton, Ric J. Lovell, Jason Siegler, Adrian W. Midgley, Laura J.S. Moore and David J. Bentle

Resilience Among Older Adolescents in Foster Care: the Impact of Risk and Protective Factors

This study explores the phenomenon of resilience among older adolescents in foster care. Data from 351 youths approaching the age of emancipation were examined. Resilience was measured by a composite score combining six domains: educational attainment, and avoidance of teen pregnancy, homelessness, mental illness, substance use and criminal involvement. Increased physical abuse, a history of sexual abuse, placement instability and delinquency in youths’ original families were associated with lower resilience. Non-white race was associated with higher resilience even after risk and protective factors were controlled. These findings highlight factors that contribute to resilient functioning and may be targeted for interventions promoting competence among these high-risk youth

Mapping and interpreting a decision-making framework for the implicit managerial theory in the Arab Gulf States

This article developed an empirical design to examine the direct effects of four dimensions of the strategic decision-making process (SDMP) on the organizational innovation in the context of cultural value characteristics of executive managers in Qatar. The study used the cultural relativity theory to explain and advance hypotheses regarding the associations between SDMP dimensions, culture attributes, and innovation performance in an input-process-outcome model. To test the raised research hypotheses of the proposed framework, the methodology of structural equation models was used. Based on quantitative evidence of 140 Qatari public and private organizations, the results demonstrated the following three major issues: (1) strategic decision-making practices have a direct and more significant impact on process innovation performance than product/service innovation performance, (2) innovation performance is both process and context specific, and (3) certain contextualizing constructs verify a particular cultural orientation. The Author(s) 2014.Scopu