Watercooler Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Watercooler - Research Paper Example Managements must therefore learn of the diversified characteristics of different pools of human resource and strategies to interacting with them. Managements also face the challenge of transferring human resource from one cultural set up and integrating it in another set up, and incorporating learnt knowledge from one culture into another, observations that complicates human resource management in the globalized corporate environment (Dewhurst, Harris and Heywood, 2012). Hofstede who reports on diversity of the globalized environment’s human resource similarly identifies this challenge. The author notes that while domestic environments such as within the United States exhibits homogeneity in human resource characteristics, the international set up such as the wider Europe has diversifies cultures that affect human resource behaviors. Human resource theories also apply selectively across different pools of human resource as applicable theories in the United States may not apply in other countries (Hofstede, 1993). The two articles therefore identify diversity in human resource as a challenge in the global set up. The two readings however demonstrate different approaches to managing diversity in the global environments and associated uncertainties to the diversities. Dewhurst et al. identifies a probabilistic approach to embracing involved risks. They identify a culture in which managers and leaders are not selected because of their understanding of the local environment. Their selection is instead based on the assumption that a manager can operate, universally, in the global set up (2012). This is contrary to Hofstede’s opinion that effective management is attained through incorporation of locals in managing a foreign culture (Hofstede,

Qualitative Article Review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualitative Article Review - Research Paper Example The case method can be effective in conducting an in depth analysis of the classroom activities. Case based method of instruction provides teachers with several opportunities to consider the difficulties of teaching and learning process from a different point of view. This method also develops critical thinking and reflection in teachers. Therefore, Stevens et al used a case study to elicit teachers content knowledge, their ability to identify student misconceptions as well as conducting critical reflection. Stevens et al drew nine participants five women and four men, with ages ranging from 31 to over 60 years. These participants participated in the workshop and completed the Q methodology. The participants had an experience of over seven years teaching at public schools and eleven years of higher education teaching. Stevens et al developed concourse statements relevant to the mathematics development workshop. The team members discussed the teaching strategies and materials that wer e to be used. The members developed 12 statements that represented the activities related to the conceptual knowledge. The participants arranged the statement in terms of preference. They arranged the ones they feel helped them in conceptual development. Stevens et al conducted Correlation coefficients to compare the manner in which individual participants sorted the statements for each Q set. He conducted Principal components Analysis to identify the number of components present in the data.

Festingers Social Comparison Theory Psychology Essay

Festingers Social Comparison Theory Psychology Essay In this essay we are asked to look at Festingers social comparison theory and its findings, applications, methodologies and theoretical approaches since its birth. We are asked to illustrate our understandings with reference to literature. Social comparison theory assumes that people tend to evaluate their successes, failures and opinions in relation to others (Festinger, 1954). This may occur with reference to a physical reality; what is happening at a particular moment in time relative to ones perceptions of anothers abilities. Take for example if someone can run a 6 minute mile he or she cannot know this is good or bad without comparing this time with other runners. It may also take place with reference to an objective evaluation, for example a comparison between two assignments with similar grades. Festinger (1954) postulates that there is an innate drive within human beings to compare themselves with outside images and assess their abilities in line with their assessments of others who are similar on the same tasks. Following on from Festingers (1954) original theory according to Kruglanski Mayseless (1990) people prefer to compare themselves with people who are similar to themselves as it tends to result in a mo re accurate evaluation. For example the runner would take into account age and sex of other runners and make comparisons based on this knowledge. Social comparisons are defined as comparative judgements made about a stimulus from the environment. They are context dependent (Kruglanski Mayseless, 1990). There are three levels of analysis to Social Comparative Theory. Firstly a judgemental process must exist before comparisons can be made. Social comparisons are made up of categorisations and comparative judgements about the self. The third level is the most specific of the three and is composed of the content of the comparison whether it is in the domain of comparison for example in sporting competition; levels of achievement with reference to age and gender may be taken into consideration, as outlined by the runner example(Kruglanski et al., 1990). There are two main kinds of social comparison; upwards and downwards social comparisons. Upwards comparisons occur when an individual compares itself to someone who they believe to be better off than themselves. Downwards social comparisons occur when people compare themselves to people they believe to be worse off than themselves. Festinger (1954) proposes that people who engage in downwards social comparisons do so in order to maintain their self esteem and buffer their self evaluations. Upwards social comparisons supposedly exhibit more negative effects such as lowered levels of self-esteem. These processes will be discussed later. There have been many components to Festingers original theory that still remain intact but the scope of social comparison theory has been extended to a vast array of psychological domains and its implications have been applied to a variety of settings. How SCT findings, methodologies and theorising has evolved since Festingers 1954 publication Festingers original theory has undergone a number of changes over the years particularly in relation to its extension towards cognitive psychology. Since its founding the theory has been accepted to be more complex than originally thought. For example new dimensions of the theory have been suggested. Revisions include en empirical emphasis on motivations and drives, self enhancement, perceptions of self esteem, self esteem buffering, perceived target closeness, components of closure to name but a few (Kruglanski et al., 1987; Corning, 2002, Gerrard, Gibbibs, Lane Stock, 2005). According to Suls, Martin Wheeler (2002) social comparisons serve as a defence mechanism to protect ones self evaluation. Self enhancement depends on a number of variables such as whether the person compares upwardly or downwardly. If a person compares his or her own abilities in relation to people perceived to be lower than the individual this may act as a buffer to maintain the person sense of self worth and esteem. In the educational domain, people that are less academically driven prefer downwards social comparisons to prevent them from felling bad about bad results (Blankton et al., 1999). Research suggests that people have varying responses to social comparisons and these depend upon the perceived closeness of the target and the perceiver, and the importance of the particular domain of categorisation or expertise owned by the perceiver (Tesser, 1988; Suls et al., 2002). Several other models have been introduced to extend Festingers (1954) original theory. Social comparisons proxy model as proposed by Wheeler, Martin Suls (1997) refers to a situation in which people use social comparisons to assess their abilities in relation to an unfamiliar task. To illustrate, Wheeler et al., (1997) offers the example of a person considering pursuing a university degree. Social comparisons are made between the person and others who are currently in university. If the proxy (experienced other) is similar to how they perceive themselves on average they are more likely to pursue the goal. Amount of effort needed to pursue goal is an important indicator of the outcome and often other related attributes are perceived irrelevant (Suls et al., 2002). There seems to be sufficient evidence to support this theory. A model that has been derived from SCT is the Relative Deprivation Theory as proposed by Davis (1959). This model provides a conceptual framework for personal perceptions of discrimination and deprivation. Davis (1959) postulates that this process helps people cope with social deprivation, people tend to assess their levels of deprivation by comparing their situation with those around them. In India because of the inflexibility of the Caste system people often compared themselves downwardly in order to deal with their present state of poverty, for example those living in the slums would compare themselves to the sewage dwellers or pavement people. This acts as a buffer for people to cope better with their unchangeable circumstances. The applications of Festingers (1954) theory are vast. The implications have many important effects particularly for health psychology. Research suggests that when a threat is involved downward social comparisons help people cope better. For breast cancer patients it was found that patients who preferred downwards social comparisons dealt with their illness much better (Taylor, Wood Lichman, 1983). Likewise, according to Meta analysis, comparisons of the self to others in relation to appearance can lead to body dissatisfaction which correlates strongly with eating disorders (Myers Crowther, 2009). In conjunction with Meta Analysis Corning, Kruum Smithans (2006) study looking at social comparisons and eating disorder symptoms found that women who engage in everyday social comparisons were more likely to exhibit eating disorder symptoms, and also found that self esteem was also a predictor of disorders. Research reveals that social comparisons can also predict success in cessation o f smoking behaviours (Gerrard, Gibbons, Lane Stock, 2005). People that dissociate themselves from other smokers or the target behaviour are more likely to give up smoking in comparison to those who do not. When a decrease in downwards comparisons to smoking exists, smokers are more likely to quit. Social comparison theory has also been applied to an academic setting. Research suggests that upwards social comparisons can predict success in an academic environment. Gibbons, Benbow Gerrard (1994) found that gifted students preferred to compare themselves with those who did the best in the class on receiving a high grade. Conversely, if students received a poor mark they preferred downwards comparisons. This inconsistency is considered by the researchers to represent a form of buffering of the self concept and esteem. Research conducted by Blankton, Buunk, Gibbons Kuyper (1999) found that overall those who preferred upwards social comparisons did better in end of term grades. Interaction between affect and social comparison Comparisons may involve affective and cognitive components. The Wheeler Miyake (1992) study that incorporated the Rochester Social Comparison Record (RSCS) scale found several important findings conveying the importance of the cognitive and affective component. Firstly the comparison direction, either upwards or downwards; depended on the perceivers relationship with the target. It also found evidence for a cognitive component to the theory, that is to say, priming mood effects the directional movement of social comparisons. Schacter (1959) proposes that people make comparisons by evaluating emotions. In a number of experiments he found that fear evoked participants to want to be in a situation where someone else was experiencing the same feelings. This has been explained as a self evaluative component similar to what Festinger outlines in his original theory (Schacter, 1959). Conversely, Goethals Darley (1977) suggest that values are a component people make social comparisons base d upon. Priming of a negative mood led to more upward social comparisons. Wills (1981) found that inducing threat leads to more downwards social comparisons this is explained as downwards comparisons serve to increase positive affect, mood, boost esteem and may reduce anxiety. Another study found that comparisons can lead to an induction of a positive or negative feeling (Buunk, Collins, Taylor, VanYperen Dakof, 1990). Downwards social comparisons increased peoples subjective well-being and an opposite effect was found for the upwards comparison (Wheeler et al., 1992). Being primed with either a threatening ego or self-esteem booster condition has a significant effect on individual social comparisons. When an ego boost is induced people tend to prefer upwards social comparisons and can this can predict behaviour i.e. individuals exhibited increased ability on a task. The opposite effect was found for an induced threat, similarly to Buunk et als. (1990) findings. Thus it has been co ncluded that motivations to maintain a positive self evaluation reflects performance on tasks (Johnson Stapel, 2007). Lastly people who exhibited high self esteem tended to engage in more self-enhancement comparisons (Wheeler et al., 1992). There seems to be a ubiquitous consensus that SCT exists but the exact dimensions of the theory are contested. The methodologies used tended to be mostly qualitative and really not applicable to the natural world. According to Wheeler Myiake (1992) existing methodologies for studying social comparisons have focused primarily on retrospective accounts and specify that an experience sampling measure should be adapted to account for social comparisons as they occur in naturalistic settings. In their 1992 study they describe a qualitative method of measuring SCT called the Rochester Social Comparison Record (RSCR) (Wheeler et al., 1992). Discussion Conclusion It has been assumed that social comparison theory is a pervasive and ubiquitous phenomenon in everyday life. However, there still needs to be a lot of work conducted in this area particulary in relation to directional comparisons and their implications (Buunk et al., 1990). Albeit, despite revisions on social comparison theory the fundamental building blocks of Festingers (1954) original theoretical framework remains the same. The self evaluative component is important for this theory (Suls et al., 2002). As proposed by Festinger (1954) people make evaluations of their own behaviours in relation to others that they perceive are similar, this aspect has remained untainted. There seems to be evidence for this drive like ambition for humans to compare themselves in relation to others (Festinger, 1954). There seems to be a distinct cognitive component to social comparison theory. Suls et al. (2002) propose that comparisons are made uniformly across all domains and are not exponentially context driven. Priming can effect comparative judgements (Wills, 1992; Schacter, 1959). Current research in this domain outline that comparative knowledge depends on the motivations of the comparator and are dependent upon a number of situational, cultural and personality facets. Kruglanski et al., (1990) posit that motivational factors, perceived relevance, and availability heuristics all have an important role in whether the evaluative dimension relates to similar or different others. The work on social comparison theory has been extended to practical applications to health, counselling psychology and educational psychology. Over all social comparison theory has had a major impact in Psychology. Its implications and applications have been extended to many branches of psychology and undoubtedly the full extent of its pervasiveness have yet to be uncovered.

Things Every Geologist Should Do :: essays research papers

As an experienced geologist, there are many things one could teach a new geologist. There are some basics recommended that every geologist be aware of. There are a variety of general geologic websites that a person could go to for information. One of them is called â€Å"Geysers and the Earth’s Plumbing Systems.† This website explains everything about geysers. Geysers are not often found on the surface of the earth and are considered very unstable hot springs. In order for a geyser to erupt there must be a water supply, a heat source, and a reservoir and associated plumbing system. There are only about fifty locations where geysers occur. In order for a geyser to erupt, boiling hot water and cool water must mix in the underground reservoir. When this happens the hot water rises and the cool water stays at the bottom. The water continues to rise until it comes out the top hole of the geyser. Sometimes the eruption is catastrophic while other times it is minor. Some characteristics that have an effect on geysers are the amount of rainfall, temperature of the water, and the barometric pressure. Even the smallest change in one of those can cause an eruption. Another interesting geological structure is slot canyons. This is something I have never heard about before, and I am assuming that not many other people have either. Slot canyons are hundreds of feet deep but only a couple of feet wide. They are mostly located in the southwest parts of the United States. They are very colorful due to the reflection of the sun off the walls of the canyon. It is said that they are hard to find but once located they are very beautiful. Lake Baikal is located in parts of Russia and southern Siberia. It is the deepest lake in the world, with an average depth of 730 meters, and the deepest part at 1620 meters. The lake covers over 31.5 square kilometers. That is one fifth of the world’s water in reserve. The Great Barrier Reef is a place that every geologist should visit at some point. It is located off the coast of Australia and extremely educational and beautiful. It is home to more than four hundred different types of coral, 1500 kinds of fish, and 4000 mollusks. The whole reef is over thirty-five hectares. After research in 1997 the reef was said to be in good condition and being well maintained.

Emotional and practical difficulties Essay

â€Å"Approximately 240,000 children every year find themselves experiencing the emotional and practical difficulties arising from their parents separating or divorcing. † (NACCC 2001). In most cases parents can be responsible, put their own feelings aside and do what is best by their children by mutually agreeing on contact without the use of solicitors and the courts etc. Unfortunately however there are many cases where this does not occur. Usually this happens through lack of trust and communication, which develops because of many different reasons e. g.  one partner having an affair. As a result of this many children lose contact with close attachment figures and many members of their extended family. If children are denied contact with their non-residential parent they may start to feel rejected or abandoned, blame themselves for what has happened, feel increasingly insecure and may even become withdrawn and in some cases depressed. Research by the NACCC has indicated that children who experience this situation may start to take unnecessary risks or even harm themselves through feelings such as ‘I just don’t care anymore’. In many cases children have become rebellious and in some cases to the extent of anti-social behaviour within their communities and in school or wherever they can receive the most attention. Most disturbingly however many researchers state that the denial of contact can lead to a child experiencing difficulties in establishing happy and lasting relationships in adulthood and thus the cycle continues. â€Å"A Child Contact Centre is a meeting place where children of separated families can enjoy contact with one or both parents, and sometimes other family members, in a comfortable and safe environment when there is no viable alternative. † (NACCC 2001). Child Contact Centres can ensure that children involved in parental disputes can not only enjoy contact with a non-residential parent (s) and/or other family members but:There are currently 280 Child Contact Centres throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here in N. I. there are four Centres. Three of these are in Belfast and Cookstown hosts the fourth. Knock Child Contact Centre on the Kings Road in East Belfast is taken as the example. It is staffed by approximately 40 volunteers who are trained in rigorous child protection, domestic violence and conflict, confidentiality approaches and other relevant areas. The centre is organised and co-ordinated by a senior social worker. It is overseen by a management committee and is now an independent charity. During the year 1 June 2002 to 31 May 2003, 74 families used the Knock Child Contact Centre. This involved 102 children and provided 784 family contact visits or 1043 individual children’s visits. There were also 56 visits where children came but the contact adult did not attend and 80 visits where the contact adult attended but the children were not brought. These situations can be very disappointing and distressing for both children and adults. Seventy per cent of the children attending the Centre in 2002/2003 were in the 0-5 years age range (71 children), 26% were between 6 and 10 years of age (27 children) and 4% were 11 years of age and older (4 children). While the majority of contact adults are fathers, in the past year, the number of mothers coming for contact with their children has risen from 11% to 19% (14 mothers). In 10 families the resident adult was the father, in one the grandparents, one was an aunt and in two families the children were in foster care. The remaining resident adults were mothers. Most of the families using the Knock Child Contact Centre have been involved in the legal system. Sixty-three families (85%) had contact orders when they were referred to the Centre and others obtained orders during the time they were using the Centre. In 22 cases (30%) there were non molestation orders, with allegations of domestic violence in a further 16 families. The Knock Child Contact Centre is open on Saturdays from 10. 00 am till 12 noon. Between 10 and 15 families attend and there are usually 8 volunteers plus the Coordinator present. Throughout the year the Centre continued to open on Wednesdays from 2.30 to 4. 30 pm. From the middle of June 2003, this has been extended to 3. 00 – 7. 00 pm to enable older children to attend after school and also to make midweek contact available to parents who are working. Four volunteers plus the Coordinator are present on Wednesdays. Throughout the first few visits families arrive where adults are apprehensive, often hurt and angry, and children are upset and confused. Over a period of time, in most cases, tensions lessen between parents and trust and confidence begin to build again to the extent that families can move on and make their own arrangements in the community. Ideally, the Child Contact Centre is a stepping stone which provides a neutral, relaxed setting for children to build or rebuild relationships with a parent or other relative with great practical and emotional support. It is not a â€Å"normal† situation or a long-term solution. â€Å"Attachment theory supplies us with an understanding of the abiding need for secure attachments, the profound significance of separation and loss and the lifelong importance of our relationship with others. † (Fox, I. Website 1).

Human Resource Management Case Study Essay

1. Ch 1, page 60-61, question 4: What is â€Å"evidence based HR†? Why might an HR department resist becoming evidenced based? The concept of â€Å"evidence based HR† is using specific tools (key performance indicators) to help clarify course of action, identify errors or omissions, and align HR to corporate strategy. It is a decision-making process combining critical thinking with use of the best available scientific evidence and business information (Rousseau & Barends 2011). It forces HR professionals to measure their efficiency and effectiveness quantitatively. In addition, it presents a clearer way to share information with colleagues in a systematic way. One tool that is used is Critical Path Analysis, which helps illustrate the minimum time needed to complete a process. Another method is process mapping, which can help determine needed steps/tasks and enable users to systematically follow the process outlined. Utilizing these tools helps develop uniform, consiste nt operating procedures, which results in a more efficient system. Two key characteristics of evidence based HR are a focus on business strategy, taking into account financial and organization performance measures that are most critical to the company and then using quantitative methods to identify human capital strategies that drive those outcomes; and standards of evidence, in which criteria is used to determine the importance of various relationships which can be used to better design employee strategies. An example is the measurement of employee productivity and work quality against organizational goals. Evidence based HR forces human resource professionals to systematically gather, utilize and evaluate information based on results. In addition, it causes HR professionals to be precise and utilize valid evidence. To do this, HR professionals must evaluate evidence to determine its’ worth. Furthermore, it involves change and systematic work skills, which often causes resistance. However, at the same time evidence based HR allows HR professionals to be viewed as a source of competitive advantage and as a department that creates value by maximizing the use of the company’s most important resource, its’ personnel. It also elevates the importance of employees as a resource beyond the HR department and increases the value of the department to the entire organization, and most importantly utilizes statistical evidence to â€Å"find the critical human levers for improving business results† (Gibbons & Woock 2007). 2. Ch 2, page 99,-100 question 4: How can strategic management within the HRM department ensure that HRM plays an effective role in the company’s strategic management process? When strategic management within the HRM department is used to ensure that HRM plays an effective role in the company’s strategic management processes, it will basically force HRM to review their mission, their goals and their objectives. These factors will have to be in-line with the strategic processes of the company. The two have to be in-sync when they are handled through strategic management. It integrates HRM into the company and the strategic processes from HRM are then also integrated into the strategic management processes of the company. HRM becomes a more active, effective department and both HRM and management then work as a unified team towards the company’s mission, objectives, and values. It creates the most productive and opportune environment for customers and the company. When we look at it from the opposite spectrum, if strategic management is not in place within the HRM department, it will create a state where the company is less efficient because although strategic management is being used throughout the company, it is not being used within the HRM department. When we strategically manage HR, we become involved with the employees from a strategic basis. By doing so, we are better able to handle the resources needed for the employees and to provide our employees with more, like better benefits, more comprehensive compensation packages, and related items. The employees are encouraged in their work because they are being motivated by the strategic management of HRM and what it’s doing to provide for them – the employees. Due to the greater encouragement, it reduces employee turnover and increases efficiency. This causes the company to be able to fulfi ll their goals and objectives that have been both created and managed through the strategic management process. 3. Ch 3, page 147-148, question 3: Many companies have dress codes that require men to wear suits and women to wear dresses. Is this discriminatory according to disparate treatment theory? Why? The process of establishing if an action/policy is discriminatory can be very challenging. However, a number of theories seek to differentiate actions that constitute  discrimination and those that do not. Disparate treatment Theory is amongst the most commonly used theories that have been used to ascertain whether an act or policy amounts to discrimination or not. The theory argues that one is subject to discrimination if they are treated less favorably than others are in similar situations (Bent, 2011). Many companies have dress codes that require men to wear suits and women to wear dresses. This has raised a debate on whether such policies are discriminatory or not. Based on the Disparate Treatment Theory, such a policy cannot be considered as discriminatory. Men and women cannot be on the same platform in that they both dress differently. Even if people from both sexes were allowed to determine whatever they dress, there is no way that men would dress exactly as women (Belton, 2004). The most important consideration as to whether the policy that commits men to wear suits and women to wear dresses amounts to discrimination would call for the scrutiny of the motive. Many companies that take up such a policy are not inclined to punishing or discriminating against women. Rather, they attribute the policy to the need for sanity and decency at the work place. In a world where dresses for women can expose some of the most sensitive parts of their body, the need for regulation cannot be ignored. Furthermore, one cannot claim that putting on dresses is less fashionable as compared to putting on suits. The design and fitting of the dress and the suit would determine whether one is neat or not. From all these considerations, the disparate treatment theory rules out the possibility of the policy that requires men to put on suits and women dresses as discriminatory to women (Bent, 2011). 4. Ch 4, page 185, question 6: What are the trade-offs between the different approaches to job design? Which approach do you think should be weighted most heavily when designing jobs? There are three major approaches to job design: the engineering approach, human approach, and the job characteristic approach. Each is valuable in its own way, but there are trade-offs that occur depending upon the approach, which is taken. With the engineering approach (also called the task approach), there is a lot of repetition. This can lead to boredom. In this approach, there is specialization to the task, and employees are not encouraged to learn more or improve the job. Because jobs designed using this approach have employees typically set at a  particular station, each employee is basically a wheel in a cog, executing part of a task and passing it on to the next station. There is little interaction between employees and often the job is paced according to a machine (part of an assembly line). It is difficult to take pride in one’s work since there is not a finished product. Employees do not have a say in their work, tools or methods used. However, work is performed accurately, by the best person selected for the job, in a procedural, systematic way. This increases specialization thus leading to higher output. The human approach increases employees’ job satisfaction and emphasis motivators like responsibility, advancement, and recognition. In addition, importance is placed on working conditions, pay, job security, and employee relations. The psychological needs of employees are paramount in designing jobs, which increases employee satisfaction, but does not necessarily guarantee satisfaction or performance. Another approach, job characteristics, is based on the idea that employees will perform better if motivation and rewards are built into the work. As such, the work is designed to offer a variety of activities so employees can use different skills, tasks are executed in a manner that there is completion of an identifiable piece of work, there is work of importance, employees have the ability to work based on their knowledge, not as part of an assembly line, and there is feedback in regards to the work. This is optimal, however, drawbacks of this approach include needing to find people who are motivated to find best practices, who can work independently, and who do find motivation at work. The approach which should be weighted more heavily is dependent on the job. In the case of making an automobile or similar repetitive task, one would want to utilize an engineering approach, since the work is repetitive, precise, and focused on output. In most other cases, the job characteristics approach seems logical since it is likely to lead to better, more satisfied employees. It would be important to give sufficient feedback to help manage the employee toward optimal performance utilizing this approach. Ultimately, efficiency and productivity are key, so motivation must be included in some form to produce better results. The job characteristics approach appears to take in regards more factors (skill variety, task identity and significance, autonomy and feedback) to produce greater results. References Bent, J.R., (2011). The telltale sign of discrimination: probabilities, information asymmetries, and the systematic disparate treatment theory, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2011, Volume 44, Issue 4, p. 797 Belton, R. (2004). Employment discrimination law: cases and materials on equality in the workplace. Thomson/West Bobinski, D. (2004). The role of HR in strategic planning. Management Issues. Retrieved from: http://www.management-issues.com/2006/5/25/opinion/the-role-of-hr-in-strategic-planning.asp Campion, M.A. & Thayer, P.W. (1987). Job design: Approaches, outcomes, and trade-offs. Organizational Dynamics, 15(3), 66-80. Gibbons, J. M., Woock, C. (2007). Evidence-Based Human Resources: A Primer and Summary of Current Literature. The Conference Board, Retrieved from: http://www.conference-board.org/ Mashete, P. (2008). Approach to job design. Human Resource Knowledge. Retrieved from http://hrknowledge.blogspot.com/2008/01/approach-to-job-design.html Noe, R., J. Hollenback, B. Gerhart, Wright P. (2013) Human resources management (8th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Rousseau, D. M., Barends, E. G. R. (2011). Becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(3), pages 221–235.