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The purpose of this study is to test a theoretical causal model concerning how elementary and secondary school principals can influence school student achievement through the frequency of implementation of certain instructional leadership behaviors. After controlling for contextual variables, we hypothesized that three latent variables related to principal instructional leadership (school governance, instructional organization, school climate) affected student achievement. A total of 332 teachers and 56 school principals participated in the study. We conducted separate analyses of the proposed model at the individual and school level. The results confirm that the proposed model fit the data. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the results.

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to propose and test a model concerning how an organization's culture affects organizational performance; and second, to demonstrate the application of LISREL modeling methodology to estimate and test this model. Organizational culture is hypothesized to consist of three interrelated dimensions: a sociocultural system of the perceived functioning of the organization's strategies and practices, an organizational value system, and the collective beliefs of the individuals working within the organization. Organizational culture is operationalized by several latent variables: organizational structure and purpose, organizational values, task organization, climate, and individual values and beliefs. These variables, in turn, are hypothesized to affect organizational performance. Analysis of data from 392 respondents who participated in the study confirms the fit of the proposed model to the data. The model presented in the study represents an initial attempt to describe and evaluate the effects of various dimensions of organizational culture. It appears that the comparison of visible aspects of culture across and within organizations can provide useful information for guiding the directions of organizations. By investigating the variables defined in this study further, it may eventually be possible to explain why some organizations are not performing at desired levels of productivity. A methodological tool has also been presented in this article. It is clear that the application of structural equation modeling techniques can provide organizational scientists with powerful analytic tools for furthering theory testing and development. Structural modeling can be used to construct, estimate, and test a variety of models in organization science.

Palabras clave: Uso de las tecnologías de la información y comunicaciones, desempeño organizacional, mipymes, ecuaciones estructurales, regresión lineal X Efecto del uso de las tecnologías de la información y comunicaciones en el desempeño organizacional de las mipymes del sector ferretero del barrio Carvajal en Bogotá

This article presents the use of an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm for the development of short forms of scales. An example 22-item short form is developed for the Diabetes-39 scale, a quality-of-life scale for diabetes patients, using a sample of 265 diabetes patients. A simulation study comparing the performance of the ACO algorithm and traditionally used methods of item selection is also presented. It is shown that the ACO algorithm outperforms the largest factor loadings and maximum test information item selection methods. The results demonstrate the capabilities of using ACO for creating short-form scales.

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