Secure Survey Design in Organizations: Theory and Experiments

Emerging in the literature on organizational design is the question of the efficacy of self‐managed work groups. From task‐forces and matrix prescriptions of the 1970s, imperatives towards de‐centralization, networked capabilities and self‐managed teams seem to be part of the IT‐driven prescriptions emanating from contemporary re‐structuring and social re‐engineering of workplaces. This article explores some interesting dysfunctionality dynamics of corporate “citizenship” behaviour in de‐centralized contexts and suggests the necessity to study, in some further depth, the unquestioned virtues of self‐regulated and de‐centralized teams. As the article implies, cultural engineering, leadership dynamics and complex motivation/citizenship behaviour within such organized settings also require critical re‐examination.

I. Organizations as Learning Bodies.- Technology in Support of Organizational Learning.- Practice Cannot be Reduced to Theory: Knowledge, Representations, and Change in the Workplace.- Ethnography and Organizational Learning: In Pursuit of Learning at Work.- Organization and Cognitive Design of (Technological) Learning Environment.- Learning is an Active and Personal Process.- II. Learning and Organizations.- Mental Models of Complex Systems: When Veridicality Decreases Functionality.- Error Management in Training: Conceptual and Empirical Results.- Decision Aiding in an Organizational Context.- User Interface Design from the Viewpoint of Human Learning.- Organizational Setting and Task Complexity: Interactions with Collective and Individual Cognitive Abilities. Elements for Elaborating a Framework.- Learning Strategies and Organizations.- III. Technology for Cooperative Learning and Working.- The School as a Workplace.- Intelligent Learning by Doing Tools for Technical and Dialectical Knowledge.- The Use of Computer-Mediated Role Play in Management Training.- Organizational Learning and Hypermedia: An Action Science Perspective.- Supporting Cooperative Work with Workflow Management Technology.- Computer Support for Cooperative Work: Computers Between Users and Social Complexity.- Communicating Through Pictures.- Complex Organizations, Knowledge-Intensive Applications, Software and Systems Development: A Case Study.

Sensory receptive fields combine features that originate in different neural pathways. Retinal ganglion cell receptive fields compute intensity changes across space and time using a peripheral region known as the surround, a property that improves information transmission about natural scenes. The visual features that construct this fundamental property have not been quantitatively assigned to specific interneurons. Here, we describe a generalizable approach using simultaneous intracellular and multielectrode recording to directly measure and manipulate the sensory feature conveyed by a neural pathway to a downstream neuron. By directly controlling the gain of individual interneurons in the circuit, we show that rather than transmitting different temporal features, inhibitory horizontal cells and linear amacrine cells synchronously create the linear surround at different spatial scales and that these two components fully account for the surround. By analyzing a large population of ganglion cells, we observe substantial diversity in the relative contribution of amacrine and horizontal cell visual features while still allowing individual cells to increase information transmission under the statistics of natural scenes. Established theories of efficient coding have shown that optimal information transmission under natural scenes allows a diverse set of receptive fields. Our results give a mechanism for this theory, showing how distinct neural pathways synthesize a sensory computation and how this architecture both generates computational diversity and achieves the objective of high information transmission.

Central-place foraging (CPF), where foragers return to a central location (or home), is a key feature of hunter–gatherer social organization. CPF could have significantly changed hunter–gatherers’ spatial use and mobility, altered social networks and increased opportunities for information-exchange. We evaluated whether CPF patterns facilitate information-transmission and considered the potential roles of environmental conditions, mobility strategies and population sizes. We built an agent-based model of CPF where agents moved according to a simple optimal foraging rule, and could encounter other agents as they moved across the environment. They either foraged close to their home within a given radius or moved the location of their home to new areas. We analysed the interaction networks arising under different conditions and found that, at intermediate levels of environmental heterogeneity and mobility, CPF increased global and local network efficiencies as well as the rate of contagion-based information-transmission. We also found that central-place mobility strategies can further improve information transmission in larger populations. Our findings suggest that the combination of foraging and movement strategies, as well as the environmental conditions that characterized early human societies, may have been a crucial precursor in our species’ unique capacity to innovate, accumulate and rely on complex culture.

BackgroundPropensity scores (PS) are typically evaluated using balance metrics that focus on covariate balance, often without considering their predictive power for the outcome. This approach may not always result in optimal bias reduction in the treatment effect estimate. To address this issue, evaluating covariate balance through prognostic scores, which account for the relationship between covariates and the outcome, has been proposed. Similarly, using a typical model averaging approach for PS estimation that minimizes prediction error for treatment status and covariate imbalance does not necessarily optimize PS-based confounding adjustment. As an alternative approach, using the averaged PS model that minimizes inter-group differences in the prognostic score may further reduce bias in the treatment effect estimate. Moreover, since the prognostic score is also an estimated quantity, model averaging in the prognostic scores can help identify a better prognostic score model. Utilizing the model-averaged prognostic scores as the balance metric for constructing the averaged PS model can contribute to further decreasing bias in treatment effect estimates. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the PS model averaging approach based on prognostic score balance and proposes a method that uses the model-averaged prognostic score as a balance metric, evaluating its performance through simulations and empirical analysis.MethodsWe conduct a series of simulations alongside an analysis of empirical observational data to compare the performances of weighted treatment effect estimates using the proposed and existing approaches. In our examination, we separately provid four candidate estimates for the PS and prognostic score models using traditional regression and machine learning methods. The model averaging of PS based on these candidate estimators is performed to either maximize the prediction accuracy of the treatment or to minimize intergroup differences in covariate distributions or prognostic scores. We also utilize not only the prognostic scores from each candidate model but also an averaged score that best predicted the outcome, for the balance assessment.ResultsThe simulation and empirical data analysis reveal that our proposed model-averaging approaches for PS estimation consistently yield lower bias and less variability in treatment effect estimates across various scenarios compared to existing methods. Specifically, using the optimally averaged prognostic scores as a balance metric significantly improves the robustness of the weighted treatment effect estimates.DiscussionThe prognostic score-based model averaging approach for estimating PS can outperform existing model averaging methods. In particular, the estimator using the model averaging prognostic score as a balance metric can produce more robust estimates. Since our results are obtained under relatively simple conditions, applying them to real data analysis requires adjustments to obtain accurate estimates according to the complexity and dimensionality of the data.ConclusionsUsing the prognostic score as the balance metric for the PS model averaging enhances the performance of the treatment effect estimator, which can be recommended for a wide variety of situations. When applying the proposed method to real-world data, it is important to use it in conjunction with techniques that mitigate issues arising from the complexity and high dimensionality of the data.

Save Time, Save Lives: The Impact of 9-1-1 on the Lethality of Aggravated Assaults

The mobility of data factors and the adoption of a collaborative innovation framework are key drivers influencing the gaps in total factor productivity (TFP) among enterprises in the digital economy. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2006 and 2022, this study empirically demonstrates how data factor flow reduces TFP gaps. The findings reveal that data factor flow enhances TFP convergence by facilitating knowledge diffusion, improving information transmission, and boosting innovation efficiency. However, the heterogeneity in enterprise RD efforts limits this convergence effect, highlighting the importance of collaborative innovation. The study further shows that the impact of data factor flow is more significant in smaller, privately owned enterprises in the eastern regions and in industries with low to high technology intensity and high market concentration. Key insights include (1) a positive synergy between government data openness policies and enterprise data flow, which reinforces the narrowing of TFP gaps; (2) a nonlinear relationship between data flow and TFP gaps, suggesting an optimal range for its maximum impact. The study concludes that an integrated framework optimizing both data governance and collaborative innovation ecosystems can foster innovation diffusion and support productivity-based competition. These findings provide valuable insights for innovation policy formulation and strategic decision-making in the digital economy.

Faculty Opinions recommendation of Negative feedback that improves information transmission in yeast signalling.

Dial 911 for Murder: The Impact of Emergency Response Time on Homicides

Affordability has become an objective for organizations to provide products and services with accurate positioning in the target market, with profitable pricing containing a value proposition that meets customers' expectations, needs, wants, and requirements, that is delivered as fast as required, and containing excellent quality and reliability. The aim of this study was to understand employee perceptions regarding cultural wants and barriers regarding affordability. A survey was distributed to employees of an aerospace organization to gain insight into employee perceptions of affordability characteristics. Moreover, a qualitative thematic analysis was performed to analyze why employees may want an affordability culture and potential cultural barriers to affordability that may exist within an organization. Upon preliminary analysis, several categories were identified when prompted regarding why an affordability culture is wanted, including financial factors, business factors, image management factors, and factors of effectiveness and efficiency. Categories identified when prompted regarding cultural barriers included organizational resistance, workforce and workflow barriers, organizational culture barriers, process barriers, and financial barriers. Future research directions should continue to refine overall survey design, research methodology, and consider external factors such as respondent occupational role status on perception. The generation of these coding schemes may aid in identifying areas of opportunity for organizations in terms of overcoming cultural barriers to affordability as well as benefits of having an affordability culture. This contributes to a growing body of knowledge surrounding affordability culture within organizational settings.

Optimal resource allocation in survey designs

Decomposing response error in food consumption measurement: Implications for survey design from a randomized survey experiment in Tanzania

Global Manager: Indian Perspective

Background The issues arising due to participant non-response are problematic for many surveys. An international trend of falling survey response rates has led to more researchers questioning the extent to which non-response can cause issues with analysis, and what can be done to combat this non-response. Non-response weighting is a common method used by surveys, however the construction of these weights can rely upon untested assumptions and low quality and quantity of data. Administrative data can provide new opportunities in survey design, including improved construction of non-response weights, allowing better survey-based estimates.
 Main Aim In this paper we explore the potential of using administrative data from the sampling frame of a large social survey to model non-response. The data used for this paper is part of the Healthy Aging in Scotland (HAGIS) Survey.
 Methods The HAGIS pilot wave collected a sample of approximately 1000 individuals aged over 50 in the Scottish mainland. HAGIS utilised administrative data in the sampling with screening being provided to select households with at least one eligible respondent (over 50). Administrative data were also available for the full sample, and not just respondents to the HAGIS pilot wave. The administrative data consists of individual demographics, hospital admissions, and prescription data held by NHS Scotland.
 Results Survey response is modelled as a function of explanatory variables from the administrative data in order to examine whether there is systematic demographic and health-based non-response in the survey. We further examine whether this non-response is causing significant biases and then how health data might predict non-response.
 Conclusion Finally, we discuss how these models could be used in improving conventional weighting techniques to combat non-response in survey design.

Leadership was conceptualized as consisting of a discretionary and nondiscretionary component. Discretionary leadership was that under control of the leader. Nondiscretionary leadership was that invoked by the organizational setting in which the leader operated. The setting was conceptualized in terms of twelve dimensions of the Organizational Practices Questionnaire. Leadership consisted of two reward and two sanctions dimensions. Interactive and noninteractive relationships of these leadership components with performance and satisfaction were investigated. With one exception, all relationships with the criteria were noninteractive. Results were discussed in terms of theoretical significance and their implications for management training and organizational design approaches. Suggestions for further research were included.