A decision made under risky conditions can be sounder than one made when the decision maker is circumspect and prudent. It is important to understand one's risk-taking patterns, one's perceptions rooted in personal and professional history, and the degree to which cultural injunctions encourage or deter prudent risk taking. (Author/JOW)

A systematic mentoring approach combines old and new concepts from organizational learning, including intentional learning, failure and success, and storytelling. Mentoring should be a process of mature development and a joint venture, with a learning contract that aligns the mentor, proteges, and the proteges' manager. (JOW)

Guided learning (questioning, diagrams/analogies, modeling, coaching) was studied through critical incident interviews in five workplaces. Participation in everyday work activities was the most effective contributor to workplace learning. Organizational readiness and the efficacy of guided learning in resolving novel tasks were also important. (SK)

Discusses performance-centered portals that focus on supporting the goals and objectives of a company within an integrated work environment. Topics include performance-centered design attributes; work context; goal establishment; work processes; designing portals in stages; and increased performance and productivity. (Author/LRW)

Data from 559 undergraduates provided modest evidence that Holland's taxonomy of work environments moderated the relationship between personality and performance. The traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness were better predictors of performance in certain environments. The important relationship between personality and performance may be…

Unions' current intensive organizing efforts are crucial, but they will be inadequate if they do not also transform their functions and operations. New jobs, new kinds of workers, new situations require an organizational revolution among unions. (JOW)

Describes the Art Technology Group (ATG), an electronic business and customer management company, and the work they have done with wireless technology. Highlights include designing virtual offices and supporting the resulting virtual community; the mobility it allows; problems with bandwidth; and display issues. (LRW)

Critical educational research offers the researcher a position and an ethos of comfort. Even the declared recognition of the relativity of principles, norms or criteria so characteristic of much critical research does not prevent it from looking immediately for a way out of this uncomfortable situation i.e. to keep to the idea that comfort (for…

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between learning and gender at the workplace, by means of an empirical study. It is argued that gendered participation is learnt at the workplace and does not constitute a "natural" division. The empirical part of the paper is based on a qualitative study of a bakery in which gender…

This research explored how 15 female superintendents from a southwestern state experienced issues of gender bias. Participants came from a mix of urban, rural, and suburban districts that varied in size from 150 to 25,000 students. Using in-depth interviews and a transcendental phenomenological qualitative approach, the researchers examined how…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine organizational practice to investigate what insights could be gained to support and extend existing theory. Design/methodology/approach: Adopts a clinical approach, e.g. not a priori or an academic one where data are mangled to fit a theoretical stance. Findings: Data analysis reveals four…

This paper describes a research project investigating the workplace learning experience of information technology (IT) workers in Hong Kong. The research project explored in depth the workplace learning experiences of 65 IT workers from three different work sites. It went beyond the identification of workplace learning methods and resources…

This article examines the relation of perceived career plateau to job satisfaction and organizational commitment and the moderating effects of career motivation and perceived supervisor support on the relationships between perceived career plateau and the two dependent variables. Data are collected from 209 white-collar employees who are more than…

There is a disconnect between what principals are being asked to manage and accomplish and the level of support they receive to meet expectations. At a time when rhetoric on the principalship is focused on collaboration, most principals find themselves working in an isolated position within hierarchical organizations. And while principals are…

The second edition of NAESP's "Leading Learning Communities: What Principals Should Know and Be Able To Do" features new strategies to help principals structure and support learning communities to develop the whole child, prepare students for a changing global economy and society, rethink the learning day by bridging school and community, and make…