The pursuit of both job security and high pay as main reasons for job selection, according to self-determination theory (SDT), implies that people are controlled by external conditions (i.e. external ...regulation) and thus unlikely to be driven by altruistic values. Conceptually, however, pursuing high pay and pursuing job security seemingly carry disparate connotations. While the former signifies the love of money, which is thought to be incompatible with public service motivation (PSM), the latter accompanies motivation crowding-in, which may correlate positively with PSM. We tested this proposition by using the data collected from 514 municipal middle managers in Taiwan, and it received strong support. Results further show that pay satisfaction moderates the negative relationship between pursuing high pay and PSM. In the conclusion, we discuss how these findings shed light on contemporary administrative reform.
The literature on knowledge sharing motivation has addressed the importance of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to sharing knowledge. However, a theory of knowledge sharing motivation in the ...public sector requires particular consideration since government’s main concern is in public service, not profits. Therefore, the present study introduces the concept of public service motivation (PSM) to the study of knowledge sharing among civil servants. Based on the PSM theory, this study postulates that civil servants’ interest in policy making, commitment to the public interest, compassion, and willingness for self-sacrifice can drive them to share knowledge for a sacred reason – serving the public interest. By using the data collected from middle-level public managers in Taiwan, the authors empirically tested whether PSM predicts knowledge sharing, and our hypotheses received strong support. Thus, PSM opens a new window for researchers interested in the study of knowledge sharing in the public sector.
Points for practitioners
With the introduction of PSM, the present study connects knowledge sharing with public administration. Public service as a calling leads civil servants to share knowledge in order to create more advanced organizational knowledge and accordingly improve public service performance. Compared to situational factors (e.g. the use of information technology and rewards), PSM plays an even more pivotal role in promoting knowledge sharing, according to the results of our empirical research. Thus, altruistic motivation should be addressed and emphasized if knowledge sharing in the public sector is to be encouraged.
Research on how parents influence their children's public sector preference is becoming more plentiful; unfortunately, these studies do not include the analysis of cultural contexts. In this study ...based in Taiwan, elements of Confucian ideology, which encompass submission to authority and male dominance, are proposed as the main sources of this parental influence. First, parents directly transmit values, such as public service motivation (PSM) as well as security and growth values, to their children and subsequently shape their sector preferences. Second, parents' opinions and expectations about whether or not their children should consider a public service career in turn affects children's own public sector preference. Statistical results from the parent-child dyadic data support both value transmission and parental expectation mechanisms. Additional analysis shows that the father's influence is stronger than that of the mother.
The Internet has become a popular venue for facilitating sex networking for men who have sex with men (MSM).
The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Internet popular opinion leaders (iPOL) ...in disseminating information about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), increasing the frequency of HIV testing, and reducing risky behaviors among MSM in Taiwan.
A quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control website for comparison was used to estimate the effectiveness of iPOL. A community-level intervention, iPOL, was conducted at the Facebook social networking website and at top1069 as a control. The iPOLs actively disseminated HIV-related information via the platform of Internet opinion leaders and AIDS information center, and discussed and responded to questions or replied to Internet-using MSM.
A total of 369 iPOLs posted 432 articles and 503 replies to others, influencing 959,088 persons on Facebook. A total of 1037 MSM, 552 (53.23%) from an intervention website and 485 (46.76%) from a control website, participated in the follow-up study survey (response rate 96%). At the 6-month follow-up after the intervention was conducted, MSM who visited the intervention website were more likely to receive HIV-related information (25.49% versus 10.47%, P<.001), discuss HIV issues with others (41.88% versus 23.79%, P<.001), review articles about HIV (90.58% versus 79.73%, P<.001), and be asked about or discuss HIV-related questions (51.11% versus 31.78%, P<.001) than those on the control website. In addition, MSM were more likely to have HIV tests within 6 months (43.89% versus 22.31%, P<.001) and consistently use condoms during anal sex with online sex partners than those using the control website (34.15% versus 26.19%, P=.004).
The study showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the iPOL intervention as an online HIV prevention program. These findings underscore the importance of disseminating HIV information online, as well as the challenges inherent in the efforts of iPOL to reduce HIV-related risky behaviors among Internet-using MSM.
Three prototypical light emitting conjugated polymers, two poly(
p-phenylene vinylenes) (MEH-PPV and DP10-PPV) and a poly(diphenylacetylene), were examined for chemosensor applications to detect ...explosive compounds such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene (DNTs). All polymer thin films showed high fluorescence quenching sensitivity towards TNT and DNTs, indicating that a wide range of emissive conjugated polymers are potentially useful chemosensor materials for detecting landmines. The relative sensitivity of fluorescence quenching of the polymers by the analytes has been rationalized in terms of the vapor pressure of the analytes, the solubility parameters of the polymers and the analytes, and the relative energy levels of the polymers.
This paper presents a method of synthesizing microwave filters consisting of compact microstrip resonators (CMRs). The synthesizing method is based on the conventional insertion-loss design method ...and can be applied to the design of filters consisting of symmetrical and asymmetrical CMRs. The synthesizing method can help the designer to determine the appropriate layout according to the specified passband and stopband characteristics of the filter. A new type of CMR layout is proposed to suppress the spurious passband response and is applied to the implementation of a Ku-band filter. The measurement of the prototype shows approximately 1.5-dB insertion loss in the passband and a rejection greater than 40 dB at the specified frequencies. Besides, an asymmetrical CMRs filter operated at Ku-band was also designed and fabricated. The measurement result is also close to the computer simulation result. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed design concept
PDF
