Professional commitment of financial planners in Australia: an examination

The purpose of this paper is to examine the demographic variables of age and gender in conjunction with three independent variables: Internal versus external locus of control personality dimension, individualist versus collectivist personality dimension, and perceived environmental uncertainty and to relate same to the professional commitment (PC) of financial planners in Australia. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 312 financial planners nationally, with a 36% response rate and statistically significant results. At the 95% confidence level (p=0.05) respondents over the age of 35 demonstrated no difference between their levels of professional commitment than did those under the age of 35, while at the same level of confidence, females demonstrated no statistically significant difference in their level of PC than did their male counterparts. Respondents with an external locus of control displayed lower levels of PC (p=0.05), than those with an internal locus of control but these were not statistically significant. These findings contribute to our understanding of the professional commitment of financial planners, and are important from a public policy perspective in an era of increasing attention to, and likely increased regulation of, the financial planning industry.

The effect of mood on opposite-sex judgments of males' commitment and females sexual intent

Gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent and commitment have been the subject of formal and informal inquiry for considerable time. One evolutionary theory, Error Management Theory (EMT), predicts that opposite-sex perceptions of female sexual intent and male commitment intent reflect intrinsic biases that minimize gender-specific evolutionary costs. The results supporting these hypotheses were obtained from subjects regardless of mood. We hypothesized that mood would influence ratings of sexual and commitment intent. Sixty participants (30 males, 30 females) were recruited and exposed to a positive and negative mood condition in counterbalanced groups using video stimuli. Preliminary analyses found an unexpected effect of order of mood induction, necessitating separate analyses of the Positive-Negative (PN) and Negative-Positive (NP) groups. Contrary to the original study, there were no gender effects. Positive moods led to increased ratings of both sexual and commitment intent across genders. Further, negative to positive mood-change was associated with significantly increased ratings. Both males and females attributed significantly higher sexual intent to same-sex rivals than themselves, but only males assessed themselves as having significantly higher commitment intent than same-sex rivals. The EMT model may require adaptation to acknowledge effects of variables such as mood on its predictions of gender-specific biases.

The normative distribution of chest tube drainage volume after coronary artery bypass grafting

Background
Little evidence exists to describe expected volumes of chest tube (CT) drainage after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Objectives
The study objective was to map the trajectory of CT drainage volumes from insertion to removal after CABG.

Design

This was a retrospective, descriptive study.
Patients
The study included 239 patients who underwent CABG at a single metropolitan hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

Results
The sample (N = 234), aged 68.7 years (standard deviation [SD] 9.9), was predominantly male (N = 185, 79.1%). The mean duration of CT insertion was 45.2 hours (SD 26.7), and total drainage volume was 1300.6 mL (SD 763.8). Drainage volumes plateau to 31 mL per hour, 8 hours after surgery. From 24 to 48 hours, the mean drainage was 21 mL per hour. Drainage volumes varied between genders.

Conclusions
Evidence of similar drainage patterns in other populations is difficult to locate. If the pattern of drainage shown in this study is consistent, experimental intervention studies comparing standard removal time and earlier removal are recommended. If not, prospective collection of relevant preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors across multiple sites is necessary to determine which patient or practice variations influence CT drainage patterns after CABG.

Sources of well-being and commitment of staff in the Australian Disability Employment Services

This study examined the role of working conditions in predicting the psychological health, job satisfaction and organisational commitment of personnel responsible for helping people with disabilities gain employment in the mainstream Australian labour market. The working conditions were assessed using two theories: the Job Strain Model (job demand, social support and job control) and Psychological Contract Theory (unwritten reciprocal obligations between employers and employees). In the case of the Job Strain Model, the generic dimensions had been augmented by industry-specific sources of stress. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in June and July 2005 with 514 staff returning completed questionnaires (representing a response rate of 30%). Comparisons between respondents and non-respondents revealed that on the basis of age, gender and tenure, the sample was broadly representative of employees working in the Australian disability employment sector at that time. The results of regression analyses indicate that social support was predictive of all of the outcome measures. Job control and the honouring of psychological contracts were both predictive of job satisfaction and commitment, while the more situation-specific stressors - treatment and workload stressors - were inversely related to psychological health (i.e. as concern regarding the treatment and workload stressors increased, psychological health decreased). Collectively, these findings suggest that strategies aimed at combating the negative effects of large-scale organisational change could be enhanced by addressing several variables represented in the models - particularly social support, job control, psychological contracts and sector-specific stressors.

Wellbeing, job satisfaction and commitment among Australian community health workers: the relationship with working conditions

The Australian community health sector has undergone extensive organisational reform in recent times, and, in the push to enhance efficiencies and contain costs, there are indications that these changes may have undermined the wellbeing of community health personnel and their ability to provide high quality illness-prevention services. The aim of this study was to examine the working environments experienced by community health service employees and identify conditions that are predictive of employee stress. The study was guided by a tailored version of the demand-control-support model, whereby the generic components of the model had been augmented by more situation-specific stressors. The results of multiple regression analyses indicated that job control, and, to a lesser extent, social support, were closely associated with the outcome variables (psychological health, job satisfaction and organisational commitment). The more situation-specific stressors also accounted for significant proportions of explained variance. Overall, the results suggest that working conditions, particularly job control, social support and specific job stressors, offer valuable opportunities for protecting and enhancingthe wellbeing of community health service personnel.

Do repatriate support practices influence repatriate experience, organisational commitment, turnover intentions and perceptions of career success?

The focus of this paper is the development of a model for the effective management of repatriation in multinational enterprises (MNEs). It reviews the literature associated with the relationships between repatriate support practices in relation to repatriation experiences, organisational commitment, turnover intentions, and perceptions of career success. A model has been developed where it is hypothesized that the perception of the provision of important and higher quality practices will result in positive repatriation experiences A positive experience will be positively related to organisational commitment, and perceptions of career success, and negatively related to turnover intentions. These relationships are based on the concepts of social support, uncertainty reduction theory, and psychological contract theory.

Personal-organizational values fit and organizational commitment in Australian domestic and international students

This study examines the relationship between affective organizational commitment and the personal and perceived organizational values of international and domestic students in an Australian university. Results provide support for the values factors found by Abbott, White & Charles, 2005), and consistency with Schwartz's (1992) pan-cultural values hierarchy. Both groups of students rated their personal values as consistent with the rankings of the major pan-cultural values and perceived organizational values were drivers of affective commitment. This study highlights the need for higher education institutions as well as global organizations to address profit for values such as benevolence, self-direction, and universalism to encourage higher levels of student and employee commitment to their organizations and increase effectiveness.

Projecting the trend in the Canadian gender wage gap 2001-2031: will an increase in female education acquisition and commitment be enough?

The paper projects the gender wage gap for 25-64 year-olds in Canada over the period 2001-2031. The empirical analysis uses the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics together with Statistics Canada demographic projections. The methodology combines the population projections with assumptions relating to the evolution of educational attainment in order to first project the future distribution of human capital skills and, based on these projections, the future size of the gender wage gap. The projections suggest continued gender wage convergence produced by changing skills characteristics. However, a substantial pay gap will remain in 2031.

Nutrition surveys or surveillance : one-night stands or a long-term commitment?

Many disparate groups in Australia now concur about the need for continuous food and nutrition monitoring.

Transnational citizenship: problems of definition, culture and democracy

There is widespread disagreement over whether transnational citizenship provides defensible extensions of, or meaningful complements to, national citizenship. A significant strand of criticism relies upon empirical arguments about political motivation and the consequences of transnationalism. This paper addresses two questions arising from empirical arguments relating to the nation state and democracy. Do the alleged cultural requirements for effective political action provide an insuperable barrier to transnational citizenship? Does transnational citizenship necessarily require a commitment to transnational democracy? I argue that these largely empirical criticisms do not succeed in casting doubt upon the normative plausibility or practical viability of transnational projects. On the first question, I point to a growing transnational political culture that serves to motivate transnational citizens. On the second question, I argue for a legitimate category of transnational citizenship that, although inspired by cosmopolitan morality, is different from it, and that does not require transnational democracy.