psihologia resurselor umane

Transcription

PSIHOLOGIA RESURSELOR UMANE
Asociaţia de Psihologie Industrială şi Organizaţională
Centrul de Monitorizare Profesională în Psihologia Muncii - Organizaţională
Universitatea "Babeş-Bolyai", Cluj-Napoca
Director fondator:
Horia D. Pitariu
Redactor responsabil:
Horia D. Pitariu
Responsabili de număr:
Roxana Capotescu, Coralia Sulea
Colegiul de redacţie:
Smaranda Boroş
Petru Curşeu
Ioana David
Doru Dima
Dragoş Iliescu
Daniel Paul
Filaret Sântion
Zsolt Szentgyörgyi
Delia Vârgă
Colegiul consultativ:
Zoltán Bogáthy – Universitatea de Vest, Timişoara
Sofia Chirică – Universitatea “Babeş-Bolyai”, Cluj-Napoca
Cary Cooper – Lancaster University Management School,
Lancaster
Nicolae Jurcău – Universitatea Tehnică, Cluj-Napoca
Rémi Kouabenan – Universitatea Pierre Mendès, Grenoble
Frank J. Landy – CEO SHL North America: Litigation Support
Division
Jacques Leplat – Directeur Honoraire à L’Ecole Pratique des
Hautes Etudes, Paris
Mircea Miclea – Universitatea “Babeş-Bolyai”, Cluj-Napoca
Nicolae Mitrofan – Universitatea Bucureşti
Ioan Radu – Universitatea “Babeş-Bolyai”, Cluj-Napoca
Zissu Weintraub – Departamentul de Ştiinţe Comportamentale,
Ministerul Apărării Interne, Israel
Mielu Zlate – Universitatea Bucureşti
Psihologia Resurselor Umane (ISSN: 1583-7327) apare bianual.
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Toate drepturile rezervate: Psihologia Resurselor Umane, Asociaţia de Psihologie Industrială şi
Organizaţională (APIO).
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pot depăşi 10 pagini. Pentru recenzii lungimea maximă este de 3-4 pagini. Lungimea articolelor din secţiunea
“Sfaturi pentru manageri” nu poate depăşi 10 pagini scrise la un 1 rând.
5.
Referinţele bibliografice din interiorul textului se vor face prin indicarea autorului citat şi a anului de publicaţie
a sursei citate: exemplu: Roşca, 1963; Curşeu & Buş, 2002. Bibliografia de la finalul articolului va avea
următorul format:
Pentru articol publicat într-o revistă:
•
Armenakis, A.A., & Bedeian A.G. (1992). The role of metaphors in organizational change.
Group and Organizational Management, 17, 242-248.
Pentru carte:
•
Katzenbach, J.R. & Smith, A. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Pentru capitol sau studiu din cadrul unei cărţi:
•
Harrison, R. (1974). Role negotiation: a tough-minded approach to team development. In P.J.
Berger (Ed.), Group Training Techniques. Essex: Gower Press.
The Human Resources Psychology magazine is written according to the American Psychological Standards set
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Les références bibliographiques doit indiquer l’auteur cité et l’année de la publication de la référence. La
bibliographie doit respecter le format suivant:
Pour un article publié dans un revue:
•
Pour une livre:
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Pour un chapitre or une étude trouvée dans une livre:
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PSIHOLOGIA RESURSELOR UMANE
Centrul de Monitorizare Profesională în
Psihologia Muncii – Organizaţională
Universitatea "Babeş-Bolyai", Cluj-Napoca
Volumul 3, nr. 1/2005
Asociaţia de Ştiinţe Cognitive din România
Cluj-Napoca
Facultatea de Psihologie şi Ştiinţele Educaţiei, Secţia Psihologie
Str. Kogălniceanu, 1, etaj 3, camera 307
Tel./ fax: 0264-598751
Adresa web: www.apio.ro
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright © 2005 Asociaţia de Psihologie Industrială şi Organizaţională
Publicarea de articole în Revista ,,Psihologia Resurselor Umane’’ e avizată de trei
recenzori.
Abonamente:
Pentru membrii APIO abonamentul este inclus în cotizaţia anuală.
Pentru nonmembri, abonamentul anual (2 numere) costă 250.000 lei (taxe poştale incluse)
Pentru abonamente, contactaţi-ne la adresa: [email protected]
CONT IBAN: RO38 BTRL 0130 1205 9213 60xx
Editura:
Asociaţia de Ştiinţe Cognitive din România
Str. Gh. Bilaşcu, nr. 37, Cluj-Napoca
Email: [email protected]
Tipărit în România
Psihologia Resurselor Umane
Volumul 3, nr. 1, 2005
CUPRINS
Editorial
Steven R. Brown
Trecutul e un prolog
6
Studii şi Cercetări
•
•
•
•
•
Robert M. Lipgar , John P. Bair, Cristopher G. Fichtner
Integrarea cercetării cu conferinţa de învăţare: 10 ani de studii bazate pe metodologia
Q investigând învăţarea experienţială în tradiţia Tavistock
13
David Bimler, John Kirkland
De la circumplex la sferă: percepţiile asupra activităţilor vocaţionale, investigaţie şi
aplicaţii
29
Dragoş Iliescu, Smaranda Boroş
O alternativă pentru constituirea hărţilor cognitive în studiul identificării organizaţionale:
Q-sort
41
Janet Firth, Dan Nichita
Studiu de caz al strategiei de resurse umane adoptate în cadrul unei organizaţii în
vederea integrării în Uniunea Europeană: Poliţia Română de Frontieră
51
Darrell W. Boothe, Thomas Li-Ping Tang
Le management de la qualité totale: application et problèmes encontrés
61
Managementul Resurselor Umane în Practică
•
Care e cea mai potrivită persoană pentru un post de muncă?
Psihologii iau în considerare noi modalităţi de relaţionare a diferenţelor individuale cu
succesul la locul de muncă
69
Figuri de psihologi
•
Edwin A. Fleishman - Medalia de aur pentru o viaţă dedicată aplicării psihologiei
71
Recenzii şi Note Bibliografice
•
MIELU ZLATE (2004). Tratat de psihologie organizaţional-managerială. Bucureşti:
Editura Polirom
(Daniela Vercellino)
75
•
EDMOND CRACSNER (2005). Istoria psihologiei militare române. Bucureşti: Editura
Psyche
(Roxana Capotescu)
76
•
Cărţi noi de psihologia muncii şi organizaţională
77
Informaţii
78
3
Human Resources Psychology
Volume 3, no. 1, 2005
CONTENT
Editorial
Steven R. Brown
What’s Past Is Prologue
6
Studies and Research
•
Robert M. Lipgar , John P. Bair, Cristopher G. Fichtner
Interating Research with Conference Learning: 10 Years of Q Methodology Studies
Exploring Experiential Learning in the Tavistock Tradition
13
David Bimler, John Kirkland
From Circumplex to Sphere: Perceptions of Vocational Activities, Explored and Applied
29
•
Dragoş Iliescu, Smaranda Boroş
An Alternative to Mapping Organizational Identification: Q-sort
41
•
Janet Firth, Dan Nichita
A Case Study Analysis of an Organization’s Strategic HR Approach to Integration into
the EU: the Romanian Border Police
51
Darrell W. Boothe, Thomas Li-Ping Tang
Total Quality Management: Implementation and Common Pitfalls
61
•
•
Applied Human Resource Management
•
Who is the best person for the job?
Psychologysts find a way to link individual differences with success in the workplace
69
Psychologists Figures
•
Edwin A. Fleishman - Golden Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of
Psychology
71
Book Reviews and Bibliographical Notes
•
MIELU ZLATE (2004). Treatise of Organizational and Managerial Psychology.
Bucureşti: Polirom Publishing House
(Daniela Vercellino)
75
•
EDMOND CRACSNER (2005). History of Romanian Military Psychology. Bucureşti:
Psyche Publishing House
(Roxana Capotescu)
76
•
New Books of Work and Organizational Psychology
77
Information
4
78
5
TRECUTUL E UN PROLOG
… cel care ştie cum să aştepte, nu trebuie să facă
concesii.
(Freud, 1922, p. 40)
Steven R. Brown
Kent State University
6
În scrisoarea sa din 1935 către revista
ştiinţifică britanică Nature, William Stephenson a
prezentat ideea care avea să primească ulterior
denumirea de metodologia Q, şi în acea scrisoare el
şi-a exprimat optimismul cu privire la invenţia sa,
care (a susţinut el) “introduce tehnica factorială, din
activitatea de grup şi de teren, în laborator,
acoperind sfere ale activităţii, până acum,
neexplorate sau imposibil de explicat prin apelul la
factorizare (p. 297). Printre acele sfere, neexplorate
până atunci, Stephenson a menţionat în mod
explicit estetica, psihologia educaţională şi teoretică
(„pură”) şi factorul g al lui Spearman, despre care a
spus că sunt acum subiecte de cercetare în „condiţii
experimentale mult îmbunătăţite”. Acest termen
generic pentru toate aceste sfere a ajuns să fie
cunoscut sub numele de subiectivitate, iar
preocuparea pentru un studiu ştiinţific al
subiectivităţii reprezintă raţiunea de a fi a
metodologiei Q şi criteriul pe baza căruia aceasta îşi
revendică dreptul la notorietate.
Oamenii împărtăşesc opinii despre lucruri –
de exemplu, despre faptul că nu s-ar fi cuvenit ca
Statele Unite să intervină în Irak fără susţinerea
Naţiunilor Unite, sau că romanul cel mai bine
vândut, Codul Da Vinci, este o poveste captivantă,
sau că există viaţă după moarte etc., toate acestea
fiind, pur şi simplu, subiective, adică nu pot fi
demonstrate în acelaşi mod în care se poate dovedi
că 2 + 2 = 4 sau că apa îngheaţă la 0o C. Opinia
necesită un susţinător, ceea ce implică referirea la
propria persoană, acesta nefiind şi cazul unui fapt.
Totuşi, anterior metodologiei Q, nu exista o
modalitate sistematică de a califica toate aceste
aspecte ale subiectivităţii sau o modalitate care să
se supună standardelor ştiinţifice. Poeţii şi filozofii,
de-a lungul timpului, au fost întotdeauna conştienţi
de importanţa subiectivităţii, la fel cum au ştiut şi
despre vise, însă a trebuit ca un Freud să inventeze
mijloace sistematice de studiu al viselor, acesta fiind
şi rolul lui Stephenson în cazul subiectivităţii.
Această
ediţie
specială,
dedicată
metodologiei Q, constituie o ocazie potrivită pentru
o evaluare experimentală vizând măsura în care a
fost justificat optimismul iniţial al lui Stephenson. La
început, ideile sale au fost întâmpinate cu
neîncredere şi chiar iritare. După moartea lui Sir
Charles Spearman, care a fost mentorul lui
Stephenson, Sir Cyril Burt a devenit liderul
oamenilor de ştiinţă preocupaţi de analiza factorială,
părerile acestuia cu privire la corelarea persoanelor
fiind atât de contradictorii faţă de cele ale lui
Stephenson, încât cei doi au găsit necesară
clarificarea poziţiilor respective în cadrul unui articol
care îi are drept co-autori (Burt & Stephenson,
1939). Au existat câteva aspecte în privinţa cărora
au fost de acord, însă multe asupra cărora şi-au
exprimat dezacordul, numeroase aspecte din cele
din urmă avându-şi originea într-o problemă a
definirii vizând natura matricei (sau a matricelor)
care urmau să fie supuse analizei factoriale.
În ceea ce priveşte distincţia dintre Q şi R, de
exemplu, Burt a considerat ambele aspecte ca
„implicând aceleaşi scopuri, metode şi teoreme, şi
… fiind doar moduri alternative de analiză a oricărui
tabel sau cifre” (Burt & Stephenson, 1939, p. 274).
Cu alte cuvinte, din punctul de vedere al lui Burt, a
existat întotdeauna o singură matrice care a fost
adusă în discuţie, calcularea corelaţiilor dintre
coloanele matricei făcând obiectul metodei R, iar
calculul corelaţiilor dintre rânduri făcând obiectul
metodei Q. Astfel, principiul reciprocităţii expus de
Burt a explicat că „factorii obţinuţi ca urmare a
corelării persoanelor ar trebui să fie de aceeaşi
natură şi număr cu cei obţinuţi ca urmare a corelării
trăsăturilor” (p. 278), având în vedere că cele două
seturi de factori au rezultat din acelaşi set de
numere.
Stephenson, pe de altă parte, a susţinut că
„argumentele lui Burt confundă reciprocitatea, care
poate corespunde unuia şi aceluiaşi set de date, cu
supoziţia lui Stephenson vizând două seturi distincte
de date care sunt destul de lipsite de legătură şi
care servesc unor obiective psihologice diferite”
(Burt & Stephenson, 1939, p. 278). De aceea, din
punctul de vedere al lui Stephenson, au fost
întotdeauna luate în discuţie două matrice – una
cuprinzând măsurători obiective ale trăsăturilor
(cum ar fi QI, viteza de citire etc.) şi care urma să fie
supusă analizei factoriale R, şi o a doua, cuprinzând
răspunsuri subiective (precum cele obţinute ca
urmare a sortării Q) care avea să fie supusă
analizei factoriale Q. Metoda R se putea aplica
coloanelor primei matrice (care putea fi, la fel de
bine, examinată şi pe rânduri), în timp ce metoda Q
putea fi aplicată asupra persoanelor celei de-a doua
matrice (putând fi, la fel de bine examinate, mai întâi
rândurile şi apoi coloanele) – de aici, cele patru
sisteme factoriale diferite la care a făcut anterior
referire (Stephenson, 1936). Ceea ce a vrut
Stephenson să denumească prin R şi Q au fost
analiza R a primei matrice şi analiza Q a celei de-a
doua matrice; adică, a fost vorba de două matrice
diferite.
Cincisprezece ani mai târziu, trecând în
revistă Studiul comportamentului al lui Stephenson,
Burt (1955) a continuat să susţină supoziţia unei
singure matrice de date, astfel încât „dacă ne
limităm la măsurătorile obţinute o singură dată,
putem, fie să facem media persoanelor şi corelarea
trăsăturilor, sau [pentru aceeaşi matrice de date] să
facem media trăsăturilor şi corelarea persoanelor”
(Burt, 1955, p. 58), o viziune pe care a menţinut-o
până la sfârşitul vieţii (Burt, 1972). Până la apariţia
cărţii lui Stephenson, principalii oameni de ştiinţă
preocupaţi de analiza factorială au înclinat balanţa
de partea lui Burt – Charlotte Banks, Hans Eysenck
şi Godfrey Thomson (cu unele rezerve) în Marea
Britanie, şi ulterior R.B. Cattell, J.P. Guilford, Quinn
McNemar şi L.L Thurstone în Statele Unite (Studiul
comportamentului a fost publicat trecând peste
rezervele lui Thurstone, decizie care a fost
justificată prin republicarea cărţii în 1975 în cadrul
seriei clasice din cadrul University of Chicago
Press’s Midway). Cronbach şi Gleser (1954) nu au
fost deloc surprinzători atunci când au caracterizat
activitatea lui Stephenson ca fiind „înşelătoare” (cf.
Stephenson, 1954), iar această poziţie oficială a fost
introdusă în lunga istorie al cărei autor e Mowrer
(1953). Doar acei scriitori americani situaţi în afara
psihologiei propriu-zise – de exemplu, teoreticianul
sistemelor Russell Ackoff, asistentul social Charles
Gershenson şi psihiatrii Bernard Glueck şi Lyman
Wynne – au scris recenzii receptive. În domeniul
sociologiei, atât Ralph Turner, cât şi Melvin DeFleur
au adoptat un punct de vedere critic asupra
Studiului comportamentului, respectiv în privinţa
lucrării ulterioare a lui Stephenson, Teoria jocului
asupra comunicării în masă (1967), iar acest lucru
poate explica motivele pentru care numărarea
studiilor din sociologie implicând metodologia Q,
întreprinse până în prezent, se poate face apelând
doar la degetele unei singure mâini (şi aceasta
incompletă!), cu toate că trebuie remarcat faptul că
metodologia Q a fost primită cu entuziasm de un
grup
viguros
de
sociologi
ruşi
(http://www.qmethod.narod.ru/). În parte, datorită
dominanţei lui Burt şi opoziţiei sale în raport cu
ideile lui Stephenson, Stephenson a părăsit Marea
Britanie în 1947 şi s-a mutat în Statele Unite, unde
şi-a petrecut restul vieţii.
Până la începutul şi către mijlocul anilor ’60,
interesul psihologilor americani faţă de metodologia
Q s-a estompat – cu excepţia acelora specializaţi în
domeniul evaluării personalităţii care şi-au menţinut
interesul în sortarea Q ca şi tehnică (de exemplu,
Block, 1961) – şi nu a mai fost reanimat timp de 30
de ani. Acest declin al interesului a coincis cu
plecarea lui Stephenson, din Departamentul de
Psihologie, la Universitatea din Chicago şi cu
mutarea în cele din urmă, doi ani mai târziu, la
faimoasa Şcoală de Jurnalism a Universităţii din
Missouri, unde i-a fost acordată distincţia de
Profesor în domeniul Cercetării Reclamei /
Publicităţii, până la ieşirea la pensie din 1972. În
7
acest timp, teoria jocului propusă de el a stimulat
interesul asupra metodologiei Q în ştiinţele comunicării, conducând la numeroase publicaţii şi disertaţii
(la Missouri şi la Universitatea din Iowa, mai ales)
venite din partea unor persoane care ocupă, în
prezent, poziţii academice superioare. Teoria jocului
a fost comparată, în mod favorabil, cu teoriile lui
McLuhan, Ellul şi Marcuse (Rowan, 1978), ceea ce
a determinat republicarea sa în 1988.
Eu am luat contact cu ideile lui Stephenson
în timpul studiilor universitare în jurnalism, la
începutul anilor ’60 , interes pe care l-am menţinut
când m-am transferat la ştiinţe politice, domeniu ce
cuprinde anumite aspecte ce au suferit transformări
care le-au făcut receptive la ceea ce a avut de oferit
metodologia Q. Pe măsura difuziunii interesului şi a
forţei dobândite, a devenit necesară stabilirea liniilor
de comunicare, şi astfel, în 1977 a luat naştere o
revistă trimestrială (intitulată Subiectivitate operantă,
în continuă publicare de aproape 30 de ani), iar în
1985 a avut loc prima conferinţă anuală. Sinergia
rezultată ca urmare a contactului interdisciplinar a
determinat fondarea, în 1989 (la doar câteva luni
după moartea lui Stephenson), a Societăţii
Internaţionale
pentru
Studiul
Ştiinţific
al
Subiectivităţii (I4S), care va organiza cea de-a 21-a
întâlnire a sa în 2005 în Vancouver, iar în 2006, în
Trondheim. Aceste iniţiative au fost apreciate de
forumul electronic de discuţii (500 de persoane
înscrise de pe întreg mapamondul) şi de pagina
web Qmethod (www.qmethod.org). Dezvoltarea şi
accesibilitatea pachetelor PQMethod freeware şi
PCQ software de introducere şi analiză a datelor
(Schmlock & Atkonson, 2002; Stricklin & Almeida,
2004) au jucat un rol semnificativ în aplatizarea
curbei învăţării tehnice şi în transmiterea
metodologiei Q în faţa unei noi audienţe.
Accelerarea interesului pentru metodologia Q
din ultimii ani apare în iniţiative precum Societatea
Coreeană pentru Studiul Ştiinţific al Subiectivităţii
(K4S) şi în revista sa, Q – Metodologie şi Teorie, în
recent publicatul Journal of Human Subjectivity, ca
şi în publicarea studiilor metodologice Q în reviste şi
edituri academice prestigioase, incluzând o ediţie
anterioară specială (Goldman & Brown, 1990).
Apariţia volumelor lui Brown (1980), McKeown şi
Thomas (1988) a fost utilă pentru clarificarea ideilor
ascunse în proza mai dificil de înţeles a lui
Stephenson. Indicatorii mai recenţi ai progresului
sunt vizibili în calitatea şi rafinamentul publicaţiilor
notabile, precum recentele articole enciclopedice
(Brown, 2004; Ozer, 2001; Robbins, 2005),
capitolele din cărţi (Brown, in press-a, in press-b;
Brown, Durning & Selden, 1999; Durning & Brown,
in press; Febbraro, 1995; Gauzente-Juguet, in
press; Smith, 2001, pp. 319-343; Stenner & Stainton
Rogers, 2004; Stainton Rogers, 1995) şi acele
8
capitole de metodologie din cărţile care mizează
substanţial pe metodologia Q (de exemplu, Aalto,
2003; Addams, 2000; Barry & Proops, 2000; Dryzek
& Holmes, 2002; Peritore, 1999; Robyn, 2005;
Sylvester, 1999). Acum sunt disponibile, în mod
regulat, workshop-uri tehnice la conferinţele anuale
Q (şi on-line la www.qmethod.org), fiind accesibile şi
seminariile universitare dedicate metodologiei Q, în
universităţile din Statele Unite, Europa şi Orient. În
2004, metodologia Q a început să fie predată în faţa
unei vaste audienţe europene la Şcoala de Vară în
Analiza şi Colectarea Datelor în Ştiinţele Sociale a
Universităţii din Essex (Regatul Unit al Marii Britanii).
Un non-academician al cărui interes în
metodologia Q datează de mai mult de 30 de ani, a
scris recent „Voi pleca în mormânt cu credinţa că
Stephenson va intra, în cele din urmă, în istoria
ştiinţifică, pe poziţii de egalitate cu orice alt titan al
secolului 20” (comunicare personală). Dacă este
prea devreme pentru orice pronunţare definitivă de
acest fel, nu este nici un pericol în a concluziona că,
în egală măsură, discrepanţa dintre prima viziune a
lui Stephenson, din 1935, şi modul în care
metodologia Q este înţeleasă şi valorificată, în mod
curent, se estompează. Un capitol recent al lui
Smith (2001), de pildă, înlocuieşte 70 de ani de
neclarităţi în psihologia academică, prin plasarea
activităţii lui Stephenson pe aceeaşi poziţie cu alte
capitole ale behaviorism-ului, psihologiei cognitive,
fenomenologiei, post-modernismului şi a altor şcoli
de gândire care s-au impus, şi merge chiar mai
departe, sugerând că celelalte şcoli au multe de
învăţat de pe urma studiului subiectivităţii operante.
Dacă înţelegerea metodologiei Q a deraiat datorită
erorilor conceptuale ale trecutului, atunci se pare că
trenul gândirii a fost repus pe şinele de-a lungul
cărora rulează acum, prin propria energie către
destinaţia sa, mai puţin preocupat faţă de „linia
moartă” a trecutului. Această ediţie specială a
Psihologiei
Resurselor
Umane
constituie
testamentul acestei realizări şi poate marca sfârşitul
îndelungatului prolog Q.
Traducerea:
Aleksandra Maletici
WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE
... he who knows how to wait need make
no concessions.
(Freud, 1922, p. 40)
Steven R. Brown
Kent State University
In his 1935 letter to the British science journal
Nature, William Stephenson introduced an idea that
was later to be named Q methodology, and in that
letter he waxed optimistic about his invention, which
(he claimed) “brings the factor technique from group
and field work into the laboratory, and reaches into
spheres of work hitherto untouched or not amenable
to factorization” (p. 297). Among those spheres
hitherto untouched, Stephenson explicitly mentioned
aesthetics, educational and “pure” psychology, and
Spearman’s g, all of which he said were now subject
to scrutiny under “greatly improved experimental
conditions.” The generic term for all of these
spheres has come to be referred to as subjectivity,
and it is the provision for a scientific study of
subjectivity that is Q’s raison d’être and its claim to
fame.
People hold opinions about things—e.g., that
the U.S. ought not to have gotten itself involved in
Iraq without U.N. backing, or that the best-selling
novel The Da Vinci Code is a thrilling story, or that
there is life after death, etc., all of which are purely
subjective, i.e., are not subject to proof in the same
way that we can prove that 2 + 2 = 4 or that water
freezes at 0º C. An opinion requires an advocate,
which implies self-reference, whereas a fact does
not. Prior to Q methodology, however, there was no
systematic way to qualify all of this subjectivity, or at
least no way that could toe the mark in scientific
respects. Poets and philosophers down the ages
had always been aware of the importance of
subjectivity, just as they had also known about
dreams, but it took a Freud to invent a systematic
means for studying dreams, and Stephenson did the
same for subjectivity.
This special issue on Q methodology
provides a convenient occasion for a tentative
assessment concerning the extent to which
Stephenson’s initial optimism has been vindicated.
At the outset, his ideas were met with disbelief and
even irritation. Following the death of Sir Charles
Spearman, who was Stephenson’s mentor, Sir Cyril
Burt was the leading British factor analyst, and his
own views on correlating persons were so at
variance with Stephenson’s that the two of them
found it necessary to clarify their respective
positions in a co-authored article (Burt &
Stephenson, 1939). There were some points of
agreement but many of disagreement, and several
of the latter could be traced to a matter of definition
9
concerning the nature of the matrix (or matrices)
that were to be factor analyzed.
With regard to the distinction between Q and
R, for instance, Burt regarded the two of them “as
involving much the same aims, methods, and
theorems, and … as merely alternative ways of
analyzing any rectangular table of figures” (Burt &
Stephenson, 1939, p. 274). That is, for Burt, there
was always only a single matrix that was at issue,
and calculating correlations between the columns of
that matrix was R method, and between the rows Q
method. Burt’s reciprocity principle therefore stated
that the “factors obtained in correlating persons
should be of the same nature and number as in
correlating traits” (p. 278) since the two sets of
factors had emanated from the same set of
numbers.
Stephenson, on the other hand, held that
“Burt’s arguments confuse a reciprocity that may
conceivably apply to one and the same set of data
with Stephenson’s postulation of two distinct sets of
data that are quite unrelated and serve different
psychological objectives” (Burt & Stephenson, 1939,
p. 278). Hence, for Stephenson, there were always
two matrices at issue—one comprised of objective
trait measurements (such as IQ, reading speed,
etc.) and that was to be R factor analyzed, and then
a second comprised of subjective responses (such
as obtained from Q sorting) that was to be Q factor
analyzed. R method was applicable to the columns
of the first matrix (which could also be examined by
rows), whereas Q method was applicable to the
persons of the second matrix (which could also be
examined via rows and then columns)—hence his
earlier reference to four distinct factor systems
(Stephenson, 1936). It was the R analysis of the
first matrix and the Q analysis of the second matrix
that Stephenson meant by R and Q; i.e., two
separate matrices were involved.
Fifteen years later, in his review of
Stephenson’s The Study of Behavior, Burt (1955)
was still entertaining the assumption of a single data
matrix, so that “if we confine ourselves to
measurements obtained on a single occasion, we
may either average the persons and correlate the
traits, or [for the same matrix of data] average the
traits and correlate the persons” (Burt, 1955, p. 58),
a view that he maintained until the very end (Burt,
1972). By the time Stephenson’s book appeared,
all other major factor analysts had weighed in on the
side with Burt—Charlotte Banks, Hans Eysenck,
and Godfrey Thomson (with some reservations) in
Britain, and later R.B. Cattell, J.P. Guilford, Quinn
McNemar, and L.L. Thurstone in the U.S. (The
Study of Behavior was published over Thurstone’s
reservations, a decision that was vindicated when
the book was republished in 1975 as part of the
10
University of Chicago Press’s Midway classics
series.) Cronbach and Gleser (1954) were not
atypical when they characterized Stephenson’s
work as “treacherous” (cf. Stephenson, 1954), and
this official view was incorporated into Mowrer’s
(1953) lengthy history. Only those U.S. writers
outside psychology proper—e.g., systems theorist
Russell Ackoff, social worker Charles Gershenson,
and psychiatrists Bernard Glueck and Lyman
Wynne—wrote receptive reviews. In sociology, both
Ralph Turner and Melvin DeFleur were critical,
respectively, of The Study of Behavior and also of
Stephenson’s later work, The Play Theory of Mass
Communication (1967), and this helps to account for
why it is to this day that the number of studies
employing Q methodology in sociology can be
counted on one hand (with some of the fingers
missing!), although it is to be noted that Q has
recently been taken up with enthusiasm by a
vigorous
group
of
Russian
sociologists
(http://www.qmethod.narod.ru/). In part because of
Burt’s preeminence and his opposition to
Stephenson’s ideas, Stephenson left Britain in 1947
and moved to the United States, where he spent the
remainder of his life.
By the early to mid 1960s, interest in Q
methodology by U.S. psychologists faded—only
those in the specialized field of personality
assessment retained interest in Q sorting as a
technique (e.g., Block, 1961)—and it was not
resuscitated for another 30 years. This decline in
interest coincided with Stephenson’s departure from
the Department of Psychology at the University of
Chicago (1956) and eventual move two years later
to the University of Missouri’s famed School of
Journalism, where he was Distinguished Professor
of Advertising Research until his retirement in 1972.
During this time, his play theory stimulated interest
in Q methodology in the communication sciences,
leading to many publications and dissertations (at
Missouri and the University of Iowa in particular) by
individuals who now occupy senior academic
positions. Play theory was compared favorably with
the theories of McLuhan, Ellul, and Marcuse
(Rowan, 1978), leading to its republication in 1988.
I was introduced to Stephenson’s ideas while
engaged in graduate studies in journalism in the
early 1960s and carried that growing interest with
me when I transferred to political science, certain
parts of which were undergoing renovations that
made them receptive to what Q methodology had to
offer. As interest diffused and gained momentum, it
became necessary to establish lines of
communication, and so in 1977 a quarterly
journal/newsletter was created (entitled Operant
Subjectivity, in continuous publication now for
almost 30 years) and in 1985 the first annual
conference was held. The synergy resulting from
interdisciplinary contact led to the establishment in
1989 (just a few months after Stephenson’s death)
of the International Society for the Scientific Study of
Subjectivity (I4S), which holds its 21st annual
meeting in 2005 in Vancouver and its 2006 meeting
in Trondheim.
These initiatives have been
complemented by the Q-Method electronic
discussion list (500 subscribers worldwide) and the
Qmethod web site (www.qmethod.org).
The
development and accessibility of the PQMethod
freeware and PCQ software packages for data entry
and analysis (Schmolck & Atkinson, 2002; Stricklin
& Almeida, 2004) have played a significant role in
flattening the technical learning curve and placing Q
in the hands of new audiences.
The acceleration of interest in Q methodology
in recent years is indicated in initiatives such as the
Korean Society for the Scientific Study of
Subjectivity (K4S) and its journal, Q-Methodology
and Theory, and the newly published Journal of
Human Subjectivity, as well as by the publication of
Q methodological studies in leading journals and
academic presses, including a previous special
issue (Goldman & Brown, 1990). The appearance
of the volumes by Brown (1980) and McKeown and
Thomas (1988) were helpful in clarifying the ideas
hidden in Stephenson’s denser prose. More recent
indications of progress are visible in the quality and
sophistication of signpost publications such as
recent encyclopedia articles (Brown, 2004; Ozer,
2001; Robbins, 2005), book chapters (Brown, in
press-a, in press-b; Brown, Durning, & Selden,
1999; Durning & Brown, in press; Febbraro, 1995;
Gauzente-Juguet, in press; Smith, 2001, pp. 319343; Stenner & Stainton Rogers, 2004; Stainton
Rogers, 1995), and in those methodological
chapters in books that substantially rely upon Q
methodology (e.g., Aalto, 2003; Addams, 2000;
Barry & Proops, 2000; Dryzek & Holmes, 2002;
Peritore, 1999; Robyn, 2005; Sylvester, 1999).
Technical workshops are now routinely available at
annual Q conferences (and via on-line streaming at
www.qmethod.org), and graduate seminars devoted
to Q are increasingly available in U.S., European,
and Oriental universities. In 2004, Q methodology
began to be taught to a largely European audience
at the University of Essex (U.K.) Summer School in
Social Science Data Analysis and Collection.
A non-academician whose interest in Q
methodology dates back more than 30 years
recently wrote that “I will go to my grave believing
that Stephenson will eventually go down in scientific
history as the equal of any of the other 20th century
titans” (personal communication). Whereas it is too
early for a definitive pronouncement of this sort, it
may be safe to conclude that, on balance, the
discrepancy is narrowing between what Stephenson
first envisioned in 1935 and the way in which Q
methodology is currently understood and utilized. A
recent chapter by Smith (2001), for instance,
reverses 70 years of misunderstanding in academic
psychology by placing Stephenson’s work on par
with other chapters on behaviorism, cognitive
psychology, phenomenology, postmodernism, and
other more obvious schools of thought, and goes
even farther by suggesting that the other schools
have much to learn from the study of operant
subjectivity. If understanding of Q methodology was
derailed by conceptual errors of the past, then the
train of thought seems to have been placed back on
the track where it is now rolling along on under its
own steam toward its own destination with less
worry about the sidetracks of the past. This special
issue of Human Resources Psychology is testament
to this achievement and may be said to mark the
end of Q’s lengthy prologue.
References
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in Estonia. London: Frank Cass.
Addams, H. (2000). Q methodology. In H. Addams &
J. Proops (Eds.), Social discourse and
environmental policy: An application of Q
methodology (pp. 14-40).
Cheltenham, UK:
Edward Elgar.
Barry, J., & Proops, J. (2000).
Citizenship,
sustainability and environmental research: Q
methodology and local exchange trading systems.
Cheltenham, UK: Edwad Elgar.
Block, J. (1961). The Q-sort method in personality
assessment and psychiatric research. Springfield,
IL: Charles C Thomas.
Brown, S.R. (1980). Political subjectivity: Applications
of Q methodology in political science. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press.
Brown, S.R. (2004). Q methodology. In M.S. LewisBeck, A. Bryman, & T.F. Liao (Eds.), The SAGE
encyclopedia of social science research methods
(Vol. 3, pp. 887-888). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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Modern perspectives on J.R. Kantor and
interbehaviorism. Reno, NV: Context Press.
Brown, S.R. (in press-b). Applying Q methodology to
empowerment. In D. Narayan (Ed.), Measuring
empowerment: Cross-disciplinary perspectives.
Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2005.
Brown, S.R., Durning, D., & Selden, S.C. (1999). Q
methodology. In G.R. Miller & M.L. Whicker
(Eds.), Handbook of research methods in public
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Dekker.
Burt, C. (1955). [Review of the book The study of
behavior]. Occupational Psychology, 29, 58.
11
Burt, C. (1972). The reciprocity principle. In S.R.
Brown & D.J. Brenner (Eds.), Science, psychology,
and communication: Essays honoring William
Stephenson (pp. 39-56). New York: Teachers
College Press.
Burt, C., & Stephenson, W. (1939). Alternative views
on correlations between persons. Psychometrika,
4, 269-281
Cronbach, L.J., & Gleser, G.C. (1954). [Review of the
book The study of behavior]. Psychometrika, 19,
327-330.
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democratization: Political discourses across
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Gauzente-Juguet, C. (in press). La méthodologie Q et
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(Eds.), Méthodes de recherche pour les sciences
de gestion et applications en gestion des
ressources humaines. Brussels: De Boeck, 2005.
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“Q-technique”—description,
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Psychotherapy (pp. 316-375). New York: Ronald.
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Wiley.
Peritore, N.P. (1999). Third World environmentalism:
Case studies from the Global South. Gainesville:
University Press of Florida.
12
Robbins, P. (2005). Q methodology. In K. KempfLeonard
(Ed.),
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Elsevier.
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The changing face of European identity: A sevennation study of (supra)national attachments (pp.
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Smith, R. Harré, & L. Van Langenhove (Eds.),
Rethinking methods in psychology (pp. 178-192).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stenner, P., & Stainton Rogers, R. (2004).
Q
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discriminating between emotions. In Z. Todd, B.
Nerlich, S. McKeown, & D.D. Clarke, (Eds.), Mixing
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Psychology Press.
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The foundations of
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Psychometrika, 1, 195-209.
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University of Chicago Press.
Stephenson, W. (1967). The play theory of mass
communication. Chicago: University of Chicago
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Stricklin, M., & Almeida, R. (2004). PCQ for Windows
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toward African Americans: Attitudes toward health
care and the mass media. New York: Garland.
INTEGRATING RESEARCH WITH CONFERENCE LEARNING:
10 YEARS OF Q METHODOLOGY STUDIES EXPLORING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN
THE TAVISTOCK TRADITION *
Robert M. Lipgar ** , Ph.D.
Chicago Center of the A. K. Rice Institute
Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago Medical Center
John P. Bair, Ph.D.
North Chicago Veterans Administration Medical Center
Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School
Christopher G. Fichtner, M.D.
Illinois Department of Human Services, Finch University of Health
Sciences/The Chicago Medical School
Abstract
Empirical assessment and self-study procedures were implemented during a series of
nonresidential weekend group relations conferences in the Tavistock tradition and were
used to augment conference learning for staff and members. These studies were
organized and conducted so that focus on the conference’s primary task was maintained.
Findings of several studies of leadership, learning styles, and the role of the consultant
are discussed. Administrative and methodological problems encountered in integrating
research with conference learning are also reviewed. Because of the Tavistock model’s
distinctive emphasis on subjectivity and on learning through direct experience of covert
and often primitive processes, a research methodology compatible with experiential
learning was sought. Q methodology made it possible to obtain quantifiable, objective, indepth information about values, attitudes, and dispositions characteristic of individuals
and of individuals and groups in interrelationship. The Q studies were carried out over a
10-year period as an integral part of conference work. Learning based on firsthand
observations and experience was combined with feedback based on systematic empirical
research. The staff reviewed research findings in post-conference sessions to promote
their development and competency. Conducting research in the context of group relations
conferences provides experience in dealing with conflicting attitudes toward relying on
knowledge based on personal experience, empirical data, or theory for decision-making.
The results of this study have implications for conducting self-study and assessment
outcome evaluations in other institutions and organizational settings.
Key words: Tavistock model, Q methodology, leadership, learning stiles, role of the consultant
Retipărit cu permisiunea autorului şi a International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity,
deţinătoarea dreptului de copyright pentru varianta integrală, apărută pentru prima dată în Operant Subjectivity,
2000 (October), 24 (1): 1-24
*
**
Address inquiries to: Robert Lipgar, Suite 2901, 950 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL 60611,
[email protected].
13
The Educational Goals of A.K.
Rice/Tavistock Working Conferences
In the mid 1950’s, A. K. Rice and his
colleagues at the Tavistock Institute for Human
Relations conceived what we have come to
know in the United States as group relations
conferences. Working conferences in the
Tavistock tradition are conducted now
throughout the world. They were designed
originally to supplement didactic training for
executives and managers by providing special
opportunities for experiential learning about
authority and leadership.
In describing the distinctive task of
these working conferences, A. K. Rice
stresses that they are to provide opportunities
to gain knowledge-of-acquaintance through
experiential learning that is distinctively
different from knowledge about (Rice 1965, p.
24). Conferences in the Tavistock tradition are
exercises in gaining the kind of knowledge
relevant to a person’s capacity to be — the
kind of knowledge that enhances the capacity
to act in particularly relevant, effective, and
sophisticated ways. The distinction between
experiential and abstract or theoretical learning
is basic to understanding the characteristic
objectives and methods of the Tavistock
model.
Thus,
Bion’s
psychoanalytic
understanding of the difference between
knowing about and being (1962, 1965), is
critical to understanding group relations
conferences in the Tavistock tradition and to
understanding their far-reaching impact over
many years in many different settings.
Although the early development of this work at
the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations
was influenced by Kurt Lewin’s work in the
United States, the influence of Wilfred Bion
and other psychoanalysts was powerful in
giving the Tavistock model its distinctive
emphasis on studying covert and regressive
processes in group and organizational
dynamics.
One can hear echoes of Kurt Lewin’s
work with groups emphasizing communication
and feedback, but the greater influence of
psychoanalysis that stresses interpretation and
attribution of meaning is clear. With regard to
the functioning of the staff in their roles as
conductors of these conferences, Rice notes:
[He/she] cannot observe with a detached
objectivity that relieves him of the
responsibility of taking account of what he
14
is feeling himself. If he finds himself
becoming embarrassed, anxious, angry,
hurt, or pleased, he can ask himself why
he is feeling what he is feeling, and can
attempt to sort out what comes from within
himself and what is being projected onto
him by conference members. … [He] can
use himself as a measuring instrument —
however, rough and ready — to give him
information about the meaning of behavior,
both consciously and unconsciously
motivated. If he can then find an
explanation of the projection in terms of the
specific task set for that event, he can
make an ‘interpretation’ about the behavior
of those present, including himself. … So
far as he is able, the consultant [staff
member working in that Integrating
Research with Conference Learning
3
role] is concerned only with what is
happening ‘here and now’. … The skill of
the consultant lies in his capacity to
analyze — on a barely conscious
intellectual framework — his feelings, and
to express them in ways that will help the
members of the group to understand their
own feelings as they are experiencing
them. (Op. cit. 26-7)
Group relations conferences in the
Tavistock tradition reflect Bion’s resolute
determination to advance the human capacity
to seek and discover knowledge. For Bion,
being alive and relating in a social context are
vital to both learning and being. Group
relations conferences are in the psychoanalytic
tradition. They are temporary educational
institutions to provide opportunities for learning
in the “here and now.” In its objectives, design,
and methods, the Tavistock model for studying
groups and organizations parallels Bion’s
vision and work as a psychoanalyst.
The Challenge of Doing Research in
the Context of the Tavistock
Tradition
True to this tradition, we in the
Chicago region sought to add a kind of
research activity to the program of conference
events and activities that would be compatible
with the basic intentions of the Tavistock
model and would add to the opportunities for
the participants to learn. We wanted the
research also to be relevant to the broader
interests of academic and clinical group
psychologists. Such research and teaching
objectives are often thought to be
incompatible. To accomplish both, the
researchers and their methods had to be
authorized and made intimate parts of the
conference, open for self-study like all other
aspects of staff and member behavior. The
research methods had to combine advantages
of projective techniques in psychology with the
ease of administration characteristic of
commonly
used
objective
assessment
techniques. Despite modern developments in
the use of the Rorschach (Exner 1978; Lipgar
1992a), for instance, in the field of personality
assessment, adaptation of such procedures for
group administration did not seem appropriate.
A.K. Rice resisted doing research on
these conferences on a number of grounds,
because he did not want to focus on details
without understanding the institution of the
conference as a whole. Integrating research
activities into the conference work requires
clarity and commitment to the primary task of
the conference, which is to provide learning
opportunities for the registered members. To
do this, we had to articulate our motives for
collecting data as clearly and simply as
possible.
Findings not only had to be accessible,
but also had to be made a part of the
experiential work to the extent possible. The
research had to be open for discussion and
study, including the interpersonal and systems
impact of the research team, its role and
performance, as well perceptions and
fantasies of staff and participant-members
about the researchers, their methods, and
their data. Fears and fantasies, hopes and
myths about the power of researchers, their
instruments, or the truth of the research
findings have to be considered as part of the
life of the group. These attitudes and questions
were made part of the conference experience
and studied as such during the conference so
that more learning by acquaintance could be
achieved.
To do research in such a context, the
director of the conference selected leaders for
the research team who were fully experienced
and qualified both as study group consultants
and as researchers in other settings. The
conference director discussed the research
goals and methods in detail with the individual
selected to head the research team, who then
accepted the role of assistant director for
research. Together the director and the
assistant director for research selected 2-3
additional members for the research team.
Each of these individuals was experienced as
a member in several conferences and had
additional qualifications as a researcher,
analyst, or staff member in other conferences.
Prior to the conference, the research team met
regularly to prepare the research instruments,
plan the work in detail, and build team
cohesion.
Steps in a Program of Conference
Research Studies
Q Studies of the Small Group Consultant’s
Role
The role of the small study group
consultant carries much of what is distinctive in
the tradition. The research focused on that
role, because the small study group
experience is particularly critical to member
participation and learning from the work of the
conference. Conference participant responses
on
evaluation
questionnaires
have
subsequently provided support for this decision
by consistently rating the small study group
experience as the one in which they were most
emotionally involved and from which they
learned the most.
Mindful of Rice’s caution not to lose
the whole in the study of details, we decided
first to study staff orientation to the role of the
small group consultant. We began by
interviewing a number of people who had
served in this role several times. The
interviews produced a collection of statements,
referred to as a concourse (Stephenson 1978)
in terms of Q methodology (Stephenson 1953;
Brown 1980; Smith 2001). From this collection
of more than 150 statements, 72 were selected
as a balanced representation of attitudes
toward the role representative of Bion’s 4
categories of mental activity in groups: Work,
basic assumption Dependency (baD), basic
assumption Fight/Flight (baF/F), and basic
assumption Pairing (baP) — 18 statements for
each of these 4 categories. The statements
were Q sorted by 12 staff members, ranging in
experience in group relations conference work
from 2 to approximately 20 years. Each Q sort
constructed by the staff persons represented
the sorter's viewpoint about the role and work
of the consultants in the small group
conference. The Q sorts were intercorrelated
forming a 12 × 12 matrix that was factor
analyzed yielding the 4 orthogonal factors
15
shown in Table 1, interpreted as Work,
Educative, Nurturing, and Protective (Bradley
1987). The factors were associated with levels
of consultant experience. An interpretive
reading of the items rated highest and lowest
on each of the factor arrays showed that these
factors could be linked to Bion’s (1961)
categories of Work, basic assumption
Dependency (baD), Pairing (baP) and
Fight/Flight
(baF/F),
respectively.
The
interpretation of the relationships of the factors
to one another was modified upon
1
reexamination of these findings (Lipgar 1993).
They were renamed Group-Interpretive
Analyst, Group Facilitator, CollaboratorParticipant,
and
Protective
Manager,
respectively, and considered complementary
components of competency in the consultant’s
role rather than steps in a hierarchy of
experience.
Further examination of data collected
in the initial 1986 Q study, revealed that each
of the staff consultants whose Q sorts had the
highest loadings in the dominant Work factor
came to serve as directors or associate
directors in subsequent conferences. This
association of factor profiles with advancement
in leadership responsibilities is consistent with
the expectation that there is within the culture
of conducting group relations conferences in
the Chicago/Evanston area a set of attitudes
and beliefs that places a high value on Bion’s
insights into group psychology, his stress on
tracking and interpreting group-as-a-whole
transferences, projective identifications, and
splitting.
There was a single exception to this
finding: the factor profile for a staff member in
the initial study placed Nurturing (associated
with baP) above the Work factor. This highly
qualified individual, closely associated with
both the sponsoring institution and the
founding director of the conference work here,
soon assumed the role of conference director.
In subsequent Q studies, after working in
the director’s role, the individual’s factor profile
Table 1. Highest Ranked ‘Consultancy’ Q Statements by
Factor*
Factor 1: Work (Group-Interpretive Analyst)
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
I especially keep track of boundary violations.
I try to distinguish between what I bring into the
group and what the group may be putting into me.
I believe the main role of the consultant is one of
facilitation for the group’s own process.
I try to help people understand what is work and
what is non-work.
I look for opportunities to help members see the
connection between the impulses and fantasied
wishes and the restraints (and defenses) they
have developed as a group.
I keep in mind what is going on in the larger
system of the conference, what this group brings
into the room from the conference, and what it
may come to represent for the conference.
I am diligent in interpreting the de-skilling of the
members and their wish to put all the power and
knowledge into me, when this occurs.
Factor 3: Nurturing (Participant-Collaborator)
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
16
I feel the consultant’s most meaningful
contribution to the group is his/her sensitivity to
the group’s transferences.
I try to understand what is being put into me and if
I am somehow colluding in accepting a projection
and not being aware of it.
I pay attention to the whole group and to splits in
the group and what they represent.
Factor 2: Educative (Group Facilitator)
1
The re-examination of the ‘factor-arrays” (a
weighted composite of the rankings of the
statements as occurred in those loaded highest in
that factor) supported Bradley’s finding that these 4
factors are substantially associated with Bion’s
insights, and can be considered as 4 critical
dimensions of effective functioning in the
consultant’s role (Bradley, 1987). Interpretation and
re-interpretation of factors is integral to the
methodology of Q studies and can be considered a
strength of Stephenson’s approach to research.
Statement
Rank
5
I prefer to use concrete examples of group
behavior in my consultations.
I want people to understand that there is no
magic; that my interpretations come from the
same data that they have observed, that is
available to everybody.
In my interpretations, I often include data that the
interpretations come from.
I try to present the data to account for my
interpretation.
I first look for how members’ comments and
participation reflect attitudes toward the
consultant.
Factor 4: Protective (Protective Manager)
I try to avoid interpretations that cause narcissistic
wounds.
I avoid naming members when I make an
interpretation.
I seldom speak directly to an individual.
Consultations should mirror or reframe work of
which the group might be unconscious.
If the group is about to act out, I’ll step in with an
interpretation.
* From composite matrix based on staff Q sorts before and
after the 1985 conference.
shifted — loadings on the Work factor
increased and were now higher than the
loadings on the Nurturing factor, consistent
with the others who advanced to higher levels
of leadership.
Some Implications of the Initial
Study
As an objective map, these findings
confirmed the presence of a culture of opinions
and standards within which experienced
consultants
work
and
are
promoted.
Orientation toward the consultant’s role was an
important marker in identifying individual
readiness to assume authority and leadership.
Further, the reciprocal is also likely to be true:
working in positions of authority and leadership
influences one’s orientation toward the role.
These intelligible findings are based
on a factor analysis with the correlation matrix
of only 12 staff members. This study also
serves as an example for the use of Q
methodology to discover conceptual frames or
orientational sets associated with role
behaviors of special interest, adding to our
understanding of how orientation to the
consultant’s role is related to learning for
leadership and to competence and experience
in conference work. The results confirm
Stephenson’s view that much insight can be
gained with small samples and that
subjectivity, one’s attitudes and values, can be
studied scientifically. Q studies can reveal
lawful relationships between subjectivity
(specifically Q sort behavior, or operant
subjectivity) and samples of behaviors
gathered in experimental design strategies
using different circumstances, or stimulus
conditions (Lipgar 1965).
The usefulness of Q methodology is
demonstrated in at least 2 other ways. First,
the 4 factors found in the initial study of only 12
staff members appear again and again in each
of 8 subsequent conference staff matrices.
This constitutes substantive evidence that the
psychological dimensions or types generated
in the initial matrix are operative, defining
meaningful differences among staff groups in
other conferences. Specifically, the factor
arrays, Q sorts representing each of the 4
factors, were included as prototypes in
correlation matrices obtained from staffs in
more than 8 subsequent conferences; factor
analyses (varimax solutions) of the other staff
correlation matrices produced these prototype
factors as the highest loaders (in the range of
0.75 to 0.86) among the 5 or 6 factors in the
new matrices. Such high levels of consistency
in empirical findings is unusual in the social
sciences and bears noting, especially
considering that subsequent intercorrelation
matrices were generated from various
conference staffs of different sizes, different
personnel and composition, working under
different conference directors at conferences
conducted
with
different
institutional
sponsorship.
Secondly, the heuristic value of these
factors seems significant in that they bear a
striking resemblance not only to Bion’s
categories (based on insightful clinical
observation), but also to the 4 factors of
leadership
functions
(based
on
Rmethodology) reported by Lieberman, Yalom
and Miles (1973) in their study of leadership in
encounter groups: 1) Meaning Attribution; 2)
Caring; 3) Emotional Stimulation; and 4)
Executive Functions. The Q factors, Bion’s
categories, and the Lieberman et al. factors
are logically congruent and can be related to
the 4 essential functions of social systems
described by Edelson (1970) based on Talcott
Parsons’ theory of action (1937, 1951).
Edelson (op. cit.) also points out the relation of
Parsons’ 4 social systems factors to Freud’s 4
major structural concepts for the individual
psyche: Ego, Id, Ego-Ideal, and Super-Ego.
Such interrelationship among conceptual
frames developed by different investigators
using different methods to study psychosocial
systems, should inform further investigations.
Outcome Studies: Members’
Learning for Leadership
In 1987, we began the empirical
exploration of members’ views of leadership in
non-residential weekend group relations
conferences.
We
employed
a
more
conventional data collection procedure, one
that might appear more familiar to participants,
a questionnaire on which conference
participants would rank, on a scale of 1 to 4,
68 statements containing 17 four-item sets
descriptive of leadership behaviors and
attitudes. This was the first step toward
developing a Leadership Q sort for use in
subsequent conference studies.
Questionnaire data from the 1987 and
1991 conferences were submitted to multivariate analyses (Lipgar and Struhl 1993).
Statistically significant changes were found in
the opinions of good leadership during both
conferences, changes that were in directions
17
consistent with the educational goals for
working conferences in the Tavistock tradition.
Registrants
responding
to
this
questionnaire before the conference presented
an idealized portrait of leadership — the leader
as a hero, a cardboard cutout figure of a 10year-old’s ego ideal. In contrast, the portrait of
the preferred leader that emerges after
conference participation retains many of those
idealized characteristics, but is rounded out
with greater appreciation and specification of
what it takes to function in a leadership role.
Instead of a flat black and white portrait, a
description emerges with form, depth, and
color: leadership connected to members at
work and to group process (op. cit. 59).
A comparison of statements ranked
highest before and after the conference, shows
that members increase their appreciation of
the process of functioning on the job.
Leadership traits, matters of having the right
stuff, were replaced with statements describing
leadership functions and interactions, matters
of relationships among individuals working
together as a group.
Furthermore, in contrast with the 1987
conference where members were impressed
with true grit and the importance of persistence
and personal responsibility; the 1991
conference members valued leadership more
openly attuned to the emotional life of the
group and actively engaged in protecting group
functioning (op. cit. p. 65). However, the views
of leadership shifted subsequent to their work
in the conference. The views of members from
the 1991 conference changed more than those
in 1987.
Using the Q sorts for the 1987 and
1991 conference staffs a hypothesis can be
offered to account for the differences in
learning outcomes: the culture of the 2 staff
groups differs, as represented by their different
factor profiles. Between 1987 and 1991, a shift
occurred in staff orientation to consultancy,
considered a key role affecting conference
output (Hayden and Carr 1991).
In 1987, the conference staff group was
represented by 4 factors in the following order
of prominence: Group-Interpretive Analyst,
Group Facilitator, Participant-Collaborator, and
Protective Manager. In 1991, the prominence
order of the factors changed; the Group
Facilitator factor ranked first and the Group
Analyst factor was ranked second. The staff
culture in 1991 was more complex in terms of
the factor structure, involving the emergence of
18
6 factors. The change in the order of the
factors (in terms of how much of the variance
each accounted for) was parallel to changes in
conference members’ views of leadership. The
shift in the staff culture, more toward a group
facilitative mode and away from a strictly
interpretive one, implied an appreciation of
leadership attuned to teamwork, to the
dynamics of people working together as a
group, rather than leadership in a more
independent and heroic stance.
The results from this study are an
example of the use of Q data to explore ways
in which conference design and staff
functioning may affect member learning. The
use of factor scores to map key aspects of
staff culture can more objectively examine
relationships
between
conference
staff
orientation and member learning.
To obtain a closer view, we developed
a leadership Q sort based on interviews with
experienced staff in addition to the leadership
questionnaire designed for the earlier studies
(1987, 1991). We used the leadership Q sort
with staff and members of the 1995 conference
to test several hypotheses.
By examining longitudinal changes in
individual factor loadings, we were able to
describe changes in member and staff views of
leadership, changes in the factor loadings
within these 2 groups, and changes in relations
of groups and subgroups to one another.
Conference cultures and change in terms of
their concepts of good leadership can be
examined in depth. The factor structures
identify and quantify subgroups of opinion:
fault lines of diversity in terms of views of
leadership. Q studies make it possible to track
the direction of change in individuals as
representatives of subgroups, identified either
by demographics or by roles taken during the
2
life of a conference. For example, factor
profiles of men can be compared with factor
profiles of women. It is also possible to study
the experience and opinions of any particular
subgroup.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate similarities
and differences between the 1995 and 1996
conference cultures. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate
changes in member and staff views of
leadership before and after the conference.
2
In these studies, individuals with particular
leadership orientations are examined only as
representatives of subgroups and not in terms of
their personal histories or traits.
Figure 1 summarizes the factor
structure of all staff and members both before
and after the 1995 weekend nonresidential
conference. The factor structure can be
considered a map of good leadership, an
important aspect of conference culture. The
1995 conference culture was objectively and
quantitatively represented, by 6 factors, and
was composed of 6 subgroup views of good
leadership: Group Process Facilitator (21%),
Action Manager (11%), Task Leader (13%),
Non-directive
Egalitarian
Leader
(1%),
Professor (4%), and Committee Coordinator
(3%). Table 2 contains a list of the high ranking
Non-loaders
12%
Other Factors Mixed
12%
23%
Factors
Factor I Mixed
3%
VI Committee Coordinator
V Professor
4%
1%
IV Non-Directive Egalitarian
13%
III Task Leader
11%
II Action Manager
21%
I Group Process Facilitator
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Percent Members Loading
Figure 1. Staff and Member Leadership Orientations 1995 Group Relations Conference
(Based on composite matrix of member and staff Q sorts before and after the conference.)
Non-loaders
7%
Factors
Other Factors Mixed
13%
Factor I Mixed
22%
1%
V Administrator
IV Bion Work Group Leader
8%
III Team Player
11%
II Manager-Coach
20%
18%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Figure 2. Staff and Member Leadership Orientations 1996 Group Relations Conference
(Based on composite matrix of member and staff Q sorts before and after the conference.)
19
statements for each of these factors. Another
23% of the staff and membership who loaded
on both Factor 1 and on 1 or more of the
remaining factors saw the good leader as a
combination of the Group Process Facilitator
and 1 of the other types. They are referred to
in the figure as mixed-loaders.
Figure 2 shows a different conference
culture in 1996. The factor structure shifted
slightly, and although the Group Process
Facilitator type was still present, there
emerged an even stronger representation of a
Manager-coach leader. A comparison of the
Action Manager type that emerged in 1995
with the Manager-coach of 1996 shows subtle
3
but important differences in these 2 concepts .
Similarly, the Team Player has much in
common
with
both
the
Non-directive
Egalitarian and Committee Coordinator types
that emerged in the 1995 conference culture.
The Bion Work Group Leader represented by
8% of the conference group in 1996 has much
in common with the Task Leader identified in
1995, but included new subtleties about
responding to affects in the group-as-a-whole
and with the use of one’s self.
Figures 3 and 4, representing 1995
and 1996, respectively, show changes for the
members only in relation to composites of the
whole conference cultures before and after
participation in the work of the conference.
These changes are in terms of shifts in
members’ factor loadings. In both the 1995
and the 1996 conference, there was a
dramatic increase in the extent to which
members’ post-conference Q sorts loaded on
the Group Process Facilitator factors, providing
strong evidence that members valued more
highly those leadership attitudes and behaviors
associated with facilitating the relationship
aspects of group functioning. In both
conferences the Group Facilitator factors
included most of the staff working in consulting
roles, and especially the small study group
consultants.
3
Q statements ranked highest for the 1996 factor 2,
Manager-coach: “keeps group focused on task,”
“gives group structure and guidance,” “manages
group’s time and resources well,” and “provides
group with inspiration and motivation.” Examination
of the rankings of all 41 statements elaborated the
portrait of a leader as one who provided inspiration,
modeling, and mentoring, whereas the 1995 Action
Manager was seen more as an organizer who got
things done.
20
Table 2. Highest Ranked “Leadership” Q Statements by
Factor*
Rank
Statement
1
Factor 1: Group Process Facilitator
Able to use his/her own feelings to
understand group
2
Recognizes emotional issues affecting the
group’s work
3
Understands how others influence him/her
4
Reflect aspects of its process to the group
1
Factor 2: Action Manager
Gets others to feel part of decision-making
2
Manages group’s time and resources well
3
Shows persistence
4
Keeps group focused on task
1
Factor 3: Task Leader
Keeps group focused on task
2
Gives group structure and guidance
3
Capable of abstract thinking and clear
speaking
4
Reflects aspects of its process to the group
1
Factor 4: Non-directive Egalitarian
Values
personal
and
individual
responsibility
2
Regards others as equals
3
Harmonizes member’s needs with task
requirements
4
Able to use his/her own feelings to
understand group
1
Factor 5: Professor
Capable of abstract thinking and clear
speaking
2
Tolerates ambiguity
3
Shows persistence in face of obstacles
4
Values
personal
responsibility
1
Factor 6: Committee Coordinator
Raises the right questions when things get
stalled
2
Respects group’s potential
3
Optimistic about member’s capacities
4
Gets others to feel part of decision-making
and
individual
* From a composite matrix based on staff Q sorts before
and after the 1995 conference.
Heads of administrative teams were
represented as another subgroup by either
Factor 2, the Action Manager in 1995, or
Factor 5, the Administrator, in the 1996
conference. Another subgroup was composed
of the conference director and 2 other staff
members who had broad administrative
experience and responsibilities in other
settings. These staff were represented in 1996
by Factor 3, the Bion Work Group Leader, thus
distinguishing them from both the consulting
team members on the Group Facilitator factor
and the administrative team members on the
Action Manager and Administrator factors.
Although some members moved toward the
Task Leader factor in 1995, no members
appeared on the more sophisticated Bion Work
Group Leader factor in 1996 either before or
after the conference.
6%
VI Committee Coordinator
After
3%
V Professor
8%
3%
IV Non-Directive Egalitarian
0%
9%
III Task Leader
Factors
Before
0%
16%
21%
II Action Manager
4%
15%
0%
10%
32%
20%
30%
40%
Figure 3. Group Relations Conference 1995 Members’ Changes in Leadership Orientations
(Based on composite matrix of Member and Staff Q Sorts before and after the conference. Trends presented in
terms of percentages based on “pure loaders” in each factor. When mixed-loaders were included, the profiles
were essentially the same.)
V Administrator
Factors
IV Bion Work Group
Leader
2%
Before
0%
After
0%
0%
18%
III Team Player
1%
23%
II Manager-Coach
14%
I Group Process
Facilitator
16%
38%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Figure 4. Group Relations Conference 1996 Members’ Changes in Leadership Orientations
(Based on composite matrix of Members and Staff Q Sorts before and after entering the conference. Trends
presented in terms of percentages based on “pure loaders” in each factor. When mixed-loaders were included,
the profiles were essentially the same.)
21
In order to test the hypothesis that
subtle and sophisticated learning about
authority and leadership, as represented in the
Bion Work Group Leader factor, does not
occur during a weekend non-residential
conference, it would be necessary to design
and conduct a future Q study during 1 or more
5-day or 9-day residential conferences. If
confirmed, findings would be consistent with
the belief generally held among members of
the A. K. Rice Institute that 9-day national
conferences provide in-depth opportunities for
learning not accessible in non-residential
weekend conferences, even though the
conference design and methods used are quite
similar.
Research activities in the 1996-98
conferences included conventional evaluation
questionnaires to provide data on how
members rated the conference experience and
its component parts, i.e., small group, large
group,
intergroup,
conference
plenary
discussion, and review and application group
experiences. Responses on the questionnaires
also provided ratings of the effectiveness of
staff in each of these events. During the 1996
conference, the most intensively researched in
this series, we obtained ratings from small
group consultants about their own and each
other’s contributions to teamwork. Additionally,
the research staff attended small group team
meetings as observers and rated the small
group consultants’ contributions to the team’s
work. The additional data allowed the
exploration of links between staff behavior,
conference culture, and member learning.
Linking Staff Performance to Member Learning
Empirical studies conducted during the 1987
and 1991 conferences demonstrated that
learning takes place in terms of statistically
meaningful changes in views of leadership
(Lipgar and Struhl 1995) and that factor
profiles of orientations to the role of small
group consultant (Bradley 1987; Lipgar 1993)
were useful as objective ways to map key
aspects of staff cultures (Lipgar and Bair
1997). In order to examine the relation of staff
orientation to staff behavior and consider
linkages to member learning, we compared the
learning in small study groups. Questions
examined included each consultant’s views of
leadership, peer ratings of contributions to
teamwork, observer ratings of consultant
contributions to the team, member ratings of
consultant contributions to the small group,
22
and members’ views of small group learning.
Evidence was found to support member
learning about leadership, as inferred from
shifts in factor loadings before and during
conferences.
As expected, peers on the Small
Group Consulting Team rated the designated
head of their team as the most effective among
their group of 5; the research observers were
less likely to rate the team head in this way.
One of the small group consultants seemed to
be regarded as most effective, both in member
ratings and, more importantly, in the
movement of group members from 1 factor to
another during the conference. This seemed
significant, because, although he was less
experienced than the head of the consultant
team, he was the only consultant to load on
the Bion-Work Group factor along with the
director. Members of this consultant’s group
tended to show the most movement from 1
factor to another. Movement tended to be in
the direction of the Group Process Facilitating
factor, where most of the staff was located.
This factor places more value on facilitating
than on analysis or interpretation of the
dynamics of the group as a whole. Group
Facilitators tend to emphasize group process
and responding empathically to the emotional
life of the group, which is virtuous and positive.
This emphasis is not quite the same as the
true Bion stance. The Bion Work Group Leader
is group-centered, but attends also to task,
structure, and use of self in understanding the
group process, sorting out what are projections
and what are the consultant’s personal issues.
Q methodology provided objective
quantitative data to build and test hypotheses
about multi-leveled interactions within social
matrices. Q studies data combined with other
data enhanced our understanding of on-the-job
performance in relation not only to contractual
and covert role assignments, but also to
authorizations in the context of working groups
and organizations. This illustrates another use
for Q study results: hypotheses are brought to
the analysis of the data and refined or shaped
for further investigation. New hypotheses may
be developed for examination, thus supporting
what Stephenson and others have termed
abduction using the terminology of American
philosopher Charles Peirce.
Learning Styles and Group
Participation
In the 1997 conference, we began to
use Q sorts to explore the process of learning
by experience — how do people engage in the
work of these conferences? How do different
learning styles affect educational outcomes? A
Q sort composed of 34 statements was
selected from a concourse about people’s
views of themselves as participants and
learners in important educational activities.
The learning styles Q sort allowed us to
advance several steps in understanding how
members and staff engage experientially in
conference work. For the first time, Q data
could be analyzed during the conference.
Since a research period of ½ hour had been
scheduled on Saturday afternoon for all staff
and members to construct Q sorts, it was
possible for the research team to process the
data and report findings to staff during the
evening. The next day the results were
reported to the entire conference during the
plenary review session. Because of this
procedural innovation, learning from the
research was authorized as part of the work of
the conference. The high level of cooperation
obtained during the 1997 conference for a real
time research project reflected the excellent
4
cooperative work of the research team.
Before the conference, all staff and 38 of 43
members constructed Q sorts, and during the
conference, all members and staff sorted.
The ability to analyze the data and
report initial findings in a plenary conference
review session, made data collecting and
analysis an integral part of the discovery and
discourse processes, thus reinforcing social
system study objectives as components of the
conference. The research team delivered their
interpretation of the factors in the form of brief
monologues, giving the factors a voice, as
though each factor were a member
participating in the open dialogue and
discourse of the plenary review session.
Individual factor loadings were not announced,
and no discussion was held about
5
methodological or theoretical matters.
4
John P. Bair, Ph.D., Assistant Director for
Research and head of the 1997 research team
consisting of Steven R. Brown, Ph.D., Clive Hazel,
Ph.D., and Ann Kaplan, Ph.D.
5
Prior to the conference and during the plenary
opening, members had been invited to address
In the pre-conference correlation
matrix, 3 factors were identified, 2 of which
were bi-polar. During the conference, 2 more
factors emerged. The report of research
findings did not stir much discussion during the
“plenary review session” or the “final” review
and application sessions. Since this was the
first time in our conference work that real time
research data analysis was introduced as an
integral part of the learning opportunities and
experience, it is perhaps not surprising that
more exploration did not occur. Nevertheless,
the report raised staff awareness of the
different learning styles and provided insights
about ways members join or resist joining
various conference tasks.
During the conference, discussion and
review of the Q findings can illuminate and
identify covert processes that advance or
inhibit learning. However, another factor
solution based on the same intercorrelation
matrix was explored several months after the
conference. It revealed 7 styles of participation
and learning (listed here in decreasing order of
the amount of variance each accounted for in
the matrix): 1) Belief that learning requires
engagement, both with others and with inner
feelings; 2) Self-reliant (perhaps counterdependent),
self-possessed,
and
selfauthorizing; 3) Thoughtful engagement of inner
feelings and others in the “here and now;” 4)
Cooperative acceptance of authority and
structure, harmony seeking; 5) Assertive,
competitive with authority, willing to express
dissent and conflict; 6) Willingness to work with
difficult emotions (i.e., anger), but requiring
structure and authority in order to be
interactional; 7) Responsive, dependent on
and reactive to situational aspects. The factors
and their relative prominence provided a
quantified representation of the 1997
conference and an objective basis for
exploring similarities and differences with other
conference cultures. This particular structure
could be used as preparation for further work,
a baseline against which to compare and
contrast
future
conference
cultures.
Hypotheses could be considered about the
relationship of member and staff orientations to
learning, satisfaction with the experience of
various conference events, and the nature and
extent of changes in concepts of leadership
before and during the conference.
inquiries about the research to the assistant director
for research or the author as conference director.
23
During the 1997 conference, we
collected questionnaire ratings from members
regarding their evaluations of the conference
program and the consultants. We asked small
group consultants to rank the members of their
groups in terms of the quality of their
involvement as “workers.” Research observers
ranked the contributions of the small group
consultants to the work of their teams. Each
consultant’s
small
study
group
was
characterized in terms of the factor loadings of
the members, while each consultant was
characterized in terms of orientation to the
consultant’s role. The dynamics of factor
loadings before, during, and after the
conference served as an indicator of the kind
of learning that occurred. Together with other
ratings and anecdotal reports by staff and
members, qualitative case study comparisons
of the consultants’ work and that of their
groups were attempted.
Our aim here was two-fold: 1) To
develop hypotheses (a, b, and c) about the
function of: (a) consultants (as psychological
work leaders, in Bion’s sense, with (b) the
views members hold of good leadership (as an
indicator of educational outcome) together with
(c) the styles of participation and learning that
characterize conference members. 2) To
obtain
objective
evidence
to
support
hypotheses about the ability of consultants to
facilitate effective learning among group
members. This is an on-going program of
research in which methods as much as
subjects are on trial (Lipgar 1992b), and in
which Q methodology has been found to be a
flexible and powerful tool.
Staff Relations and Development
The director’s commitment to include
research as an integral part of the conference
altered group dynamics within the conference
staff. Relationships among teams were
affected. Feelings of competition, inevitably
part of staff dynamics, were stirred in
unfamiliar ways. The researchers were viewed
as interlopers, technocrats who had little
appreciation for the members’ struggles with
conference objectives and who had neither
real commitment to the Tavistock tradition nor
understanding of the primary task. The
research team explored strategies to reduce
feelings of envy toward the consulting team
who had direct contact with the membership.
They felt “left out.” Both reactions, left
24
unexamined, could have affected staff
performance negatively and jeopardized the
success of the conference.
While tensions emerged among the staff
throughout the conference and were part of the
work, they were most often exposed and
turbulent in the inter-group or institutional
events. At these events intra-staff relations
were naturally under scrutiny, since members,
representing their own groups in various roles,
could attend and interact with the staff (as one
of the working groups) in this part of the
conference program. Unless there had been
some meaningful work addressing staff
relations prior to these sessions, the ability to
use research findings and explore feelings and
fantasies stirred by the presence of the “other
set of eyes,” could have been impaired.
One anecdote can serve to illustrate
the depth of feelings that emerged. During the
institutional event (one of the here and now
sessions in which research staff are not
restricted to the role of observers), a
conference member, in the role of a
plenipotentiary, raised a question for
discussion with the staff and addressed one
staff member by her first name. Motivated
perhaps by a need to have more direct contact
with members in order to participate in the
“real work” of the conference, one of the
research staff described what he had
perceived to be an inappropriate presumption
of familiarity by the member. This interpretation
registered as an affront to the member and she
left the conference, missing the final 3 events
of the weekend. The addition and authorization
of a research team changed staff structure and
dynamics in significant ways. Our lack of
experience with these new challenges left the
director and staff unprepared to deal with the
incident in a constructive way that might have
convinced the offended member to remain with
the conference and thereby could have
enhanced learning for both members and staff.
Authorizing the research team to carry
out the research tasks raised new questions
about role boundaries, particularly concerning
authorization of the consulting team to function
as primary interpreters of conference
dynamics. What were the relative merits,
power, and credibility of interpretations based
upon different kinds of data? When would it
have been appropriate, when could it have
been helpful, to make interpretations based
upon research findings rather than clinical
observations, and when might it have been
appropriate to present the data upon which
interpretations had been based?
Staff became more uncertain about
their roles and authorizations. Anxieties about
being inadequate, or being seen as
inadequate, increased. The need to assert the
legitimacy and relevance of one’s insights led
at times to heightened intra-staff competitive
tensions. Anxieties raised in staff meetings
were sometimes expressed quite directly in
terms of “Whom did the director love more?”
Issues involving the relationship between the
humanities or liberal arts and the sciences,
usually handled less openly in academic
circles, were experienced by the staff and
explored in the conference in much more
personal terms.
In 1996, two post-conference review
sessions were held specifically to discuss
orientations
toward
consultancy
as
represented in the individual Q sort factor
profiles in order to prepare staff to work
together. Review session preparation included
printing each staff member’s name and
position on the factor structure. Five factors
accounted for the staff intercorrelation matrix,
which was comprised of Q sorts from before
and after the conference for each staff
member. Three staff defined a factor named
Group Process Facilitator and accounted for
the largest portion of the variance in the matrix.
Other factors defined by more than 1 staff
person included Mentor-coach; and Bion Work
Group Leader.
Staff who attended the postconference review discussion explored not
only technical matters (such as how the
research was conducted and the meaning of
“loading on a factor”), but also substantive
issues of how consultants could best
contribute to the work of the group and to
member learning. Some of the competitive
feelings and anxieties about “being scrutinized
by the director and one’s peers” were also
explored. This opened discussion of individual
staff member views of consultancy and
perceptions of self-competence. Relations
between the research team and staff became
more collaborative in 1997. Using postconference meetings to review research
findings in detail and discuss the ways to
integrate research with conference learning
provided new opportunities to share staff work
experiences and advance the purpose of
conference workshops.
A Work in Progress
Group relations conferences, treated
here as social laboratories — microcosms of
larger institutions — traditionally not only
provide distinctive opportunities for learning,
but also can be structured and conducted as
challenging contexts for testing self-study
research
methods.
Selecting
research
questions, determining which aspects of these
temporary
educational
institutions
to
investigate, and selecting techniques for data
collection and analysis must be considered in
the context of the primary group learning tasks.
Integrating research activity with the traditional
work of the conferences necessitates finding
new ways to solicit and maintain staff and
maintain active member participation to enrich
the overall educational experience.
Our experiences, obtained over more
than 10 years conducting research as part of
group relations conferences conducted in
Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, carry
implications for outcome evaluation and selfstudy in other educational, institutional, and
organizational contexts. Research that is
planned and supported as on-going endeavors
in organizational settings can advance learning
for all participants by providing ongoing
feedback and review.
Q methodology can enhance our
understanding about how members learn, how
consultants contribute to the psychological
work of the conference, and how leadership
functions both in member groups and among
staff. To extend and understand the
interactional functioning of different systems
within social matrices require both quantitative
and clinical methods. Learning and knowing,
as well as leadership — psychological and
managerial — take place in social matrices
and are functions of them. People approach
their work as learners, and exercise their
authority and leadership in different ways.
They also engage in learning by experience
along several dimensions: openness vs.
defensiveness in relation to the social matrix;
acceptance vs. defiance of authority;
responsiveness to internal vs. external stimuli.
Deeper and more comprehensive knowledgeof-acquaintance of authority, leadership,
groups, and organizations, as well as testable
hypotheses and scientific knowledge — all
can be gained and communicated from results
of appropriately designed Q methodological
studies.
25
The 3 major components of a working
conference in the A. K. Rice/Tavistock tradition
include: 1) the role of the consultant as a
psychological leader based primarily on the
group work of Wilfred Bion (1961); 2) learning
for leadership as the primary goal-oriented
task; 3) learning by experience as the method
(Rice, 1965). The design of the conference
events, the general philosophy of management
and consultation, the emphasis on task and
boundary management, as well as the
encounter and management of anxieties
integral to learning by experience, all follow
from these 3 components. Our research
efforts, therefore, have been directed to
learning more about consultant behavior and
values, leadership behavior and functions, and
the process of participatory group learning.
The
penetrating
power
of
Q
methodology and its adaptability make these
experiential and profoundly personal, yet
communal, journeys possible and instructive.
Together with the intensive encounters
engendered in group relations conferences,
the scientific inquiries of operant subjectivity
enable us to combine the riches of the domain
of feelings, fantasies, and values with the
discipline of quantification and statistical
analysis.
Conclusions
Among the results from the Q studies
conducted during a series of conferences
which show the usefulness and power of this
research approach are: 1) objective mapping
of critical dimensions of the consultant’s role;
2) objective mapping of significant aspects of
conference cultures; 3) quantification of
changes in understanding of leadership among
members and staff before and after the
conference; 4) abductive development of
hypotheses specifying some covert processes
that may affect staff effectiveness as work
leaders; and 5) preparation of new hypotheses
relating specific leadership and learning
variables.
Research findings can also be used to
refine conceptual frameworks about leadership
and group dynamics. Factors representing
different consulting stances were remarkably
consistent
over
several
conferences.
Furthermore, the factors represent an objective
conceptual map of leadership dimensions and
consultancy functions. The factor loadings of
individuals were correlated not only with the
26
amount of experience subjects had in the
consulting role, but also with satisfaction
ratings assigned by registrants while reflecting
on their small group experiences. The
dimensions of the consultant role as mapped
by Q factor analysis bears striking
resemblance to dimensions of leadership
functioning as developed by researchers using
other investigative methods and settings (e.g.,
Bion; Lieberman, Yalom, and Miles; Edelson/
Parsons).
With Q methodology, a scientific
approach to qualitative research about
subjectivity, nuances of complex subjective
experiences and inter-subjective dynamics
can be objectified, quantified, and integrated
into the primary educational mission of any
organization or institution. The studies
described here raise questions important for
understanding group psychology in general
and group relations conference work in
particular: 1) To what extent is it virtually
inevitable that groups move away from the
difficult tasks set forth by the founders, tasks
which inspired them? 2) Are there common
dimensions, forms, and structures underlying
particular manifestations of orientational sets,
values, and attitudes at any particular time and
in any particular organizational setting? 3) Is
the search for lawful relationships among such
variables as leadership and consultancy
stance, learning style, and learning-ofacquaintance in conflict with group experiential
learning? 4) Will the A. K. Rice Institute and
Tavistock tradition, so inspired by Bion’s work
and vision, become in contemporary practice
another movement to facilitate cohesiveness
and belongingness at the expense of the hard
work of learning, growth, and adaptation?
In the most profound sense, both Bion
and Stephenson studied learning and knowing:
how personal experiences inform our thoughts,
knowledge, and actions; how personal
experiences are shared and transformed both
as “common sense” and as sophisticated
knowledge. With different but not incompatible
contributions, both Wilfred Bion and William
Stephenson bring us further along the journey
of exploring the unknown, symbolizing the asyet-unspoken, and giving voice to thoughts
waiting to be born — searching “concourses
of communicability.” By integrating group
relations conference work with Q studies, we
cross the threshold to new ways of learning,
new ways of sharing our learning, and new
ways of creating knowledge about leadership
and community.
Rezumat
Evaluările
empirice
şi
procedurile
de
autocunoaştere au fost implementate pe parcursul
unei serii de conferinţe de weekend asupra relaţiilor
de grup în tradiţia Tavistock şi au fost utilizate
pentru a dezvolta învăţarea în cadrul conferinţei
pentru personal şi membri. Aceste studii au fost
organizate şi conduse pentru a menţine focalizarea
pe sarcinile de bază ale conferinţei. Sunt discutate
câteva studii asupra leadership-ului, stilurilor de
învăţare şi rolului consultantului. Sunt de asemenea
trecute în revistă problemele administrative şi
metodologice întâmpinate în integrarea cercetării cu
învăţarea în cadrul conferinţei. Deoarece modelul
Tavistock
accentuează
în
mod
distinctiv
subiectivitatea şi învăţarea prin experienţa directă a
proceselor ascunse şi deseori primitive, a fost
căutată o metodologie compatibilă cu învăţarea
experienţială. Metodologia Q face posibilă obţinerea
unor informaţii cuantificabile, obiective şi profunde
cu privire la valorile, atitudinile şi caracteristicile
dispoziţionale ale indivizilor şi grupurilor aflate în
relaţii. Studiile bazate pe metodologia Q au fost
desfăşurate pe o perioadă de 10 ani ca parte
integrantă a conferinţei de lucru. Invăţarea bazată
pe observaţii şi experienţe directe a fost combinată
cu feedback bazat pe cercetare empirică
sistematică. Echipa a analizat rezultatele conferinţei
în sesiuni desfăşurate la sfârşitul conferinţelor
pentru a promova dezvoltarea şi competenţa
acestora. Realizarea cercetării în contextul
conferinţelor asupra relaţiilor de grup furnizează
experienţe pentru abordarea atitudinilor conflictuale
faţă de cunoştinţele bazate pe experienţa
personală, date empirice, sau teoria privind luarea
deciziilor. Rezultatele acestui studiu au implicaţii
pentru autocunoaştere şi aprecierea rezultatelor
evaluărilor
în
alte
instituţii
şi
contexte
organizaţionale.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to acknowledge with appreciation
Robert Mrtek and Marsha Mrtek whose editorial
efforts have made this report more readable and
coherent.
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FROM CIRCUMPLEX TO SPHERE:
PERCEPTIONS OF VOCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, EXPLORED AND APPLIED
*David Bimler, John Kirkland
Massey University, New Zealand
Abstract
Schematic maps of the world of work are often used in vocational guidance. Arguably a
map is most effective if it coincides with the cognitive representation already internalized
by job-seekers. Here, multidimensional scaling was used to extract a consensus
representation from judgements about similarities among a set of vocational-aptitude
descriptors. To exclude artefacts confined to a single procedure for eliciting similarity
judgements, or a single form of analysis, three different procedures were used, and
multiple groups of informants. The results converged on a ‘vocational space’ with at least
three dimensions. Its axes were interpreted as ‘people / things’, ‘indoor / outdoor’, and
‘creative / routine’ aspects of work – though the map is rotationally indeterminate, so other
frames of reference are valid. This map is shown to accommodate individuals’ preference
rankings of the descriptors, by representing them as vectors.
Key words: interests; aptitudes; multidimensional scaling
*
Introduction
Job-seekers confront a bewildering
plethora of occupational titles and descriptions.
They must make sense of information
impinging on them from a variety of sources.
At the same time, they must make sense of
their own preferences and aptitudes: their
enjoyment or lack of it for various facets of
work, job-related activities, and rewards
(reinforcers) provided by jobs. There is
evidence that job-seekers who set out with
clear career intentions achieve higher
satisfaction and performance in their jobs than
those who find work by accident or default.
Clarity of intentions, and awareness of the
range of available alternatives, are associated
with job satisfaction. According to Shivy,
Phillips and Koehly (1996), what counselors
can offer to job-seekers is a tool for thinking
*
Corresponding author. Address:
David Bimler
Health and Human Development, Massey University
Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New
Zealand
Ph. 0064-4-3800151
[email protected]
about occupational opportunities; a schema or
‘map’ of the world of work. Once internalized, it
provides a framework for organizing both sets
of information (and becoming aware of both
ranges of choices).
A number of such schemata have
been proposed. Holland introduced a
classification of occupations into six divisions
(occupations may also have secondary and
tertiary tags), and parallel classifications of
work interests and ‘vocational personalities’
(1973). Prediger (1982) interpreted these six
categories as regions within a two-dimensional
continuum, shifting the emphasis to the pair of
bipolar axes that underlie this continuum.
These axes provide a co-ordinate system, in
which a given occupation can be located and
its attributes can be specified. Prediger
identified them as the oppositions ‘People /
things’ and ‘Ideas / data’. However, Tracey and
Rounds pointed out equally valid alternative
axes or oppositions for spanning the
continuum (1996), and other ways of dividing it
into categories (1995). Seven and eight
categories characterize the systems of
Athanasou (2002) and Roe (1956).
Given the long history and widespread
use of tools based on Holland’s system, it
29
might seem otiose to re-address this issue.
Nevertheless, we argue that if job-seekers
benefit from vocational counseling by acquiring
a schema – a framework for organizing
information, clarifying their aspirations and
options, and facilitating communication with
advisers – then any pre-existing consensus
about occupational structure, shared across
the culture, is probably most easily acquired (if
not present already, in nascent form).
Holland’s categorical system and the
subsequent dimensionalized schemata grew
out of theory, and are not necessarily the way
that an informant (or a consensus of
informants) would spontaneously think about
the world of work. A number of studies have
explored the ‘cultural consensus’ about
occupations, not always finding the structure
predicted by these theoretical schemata (Shivy
et al., 1996; Shivy, Rounds & Jones, 1999).
Note also that occupational titles are not
necessarily the best items to investigate
occupational cognition – the best landmarks
within the underlying structure, as it were. We
argue below in favor of a finer-grained item set
of job activities or aspects.
There is a long research tradition of
representing vocational cognition with maps
reconstructed from direct judgements of
similarity, or from similarity estimates derived
indirectly from preference rankings (reviewed
by Rounds & Zevon, 1983; Davison, Richards
& Rounds, 1986). The mathematical
procedures for this ‘cognitive cartography’ are
known as multidimensional scaling or MDS
(Jones & Koehly, 1993).
Individual items (titles, etc.) are
represented as points within a spatial map of
two or three dimensions (or more), arranged
so that the distance between any pair of points
reflects the (dis-)similarity between the
corresponding items. Adjacent items are the
most similar, and the most interchangeable.
Most distant items are most dissimilar: the
choice or opposition between them is most
clear-cut. This explicitly geometrical metaphor
is a natural way of approaching the vocational
domains.
Crucially,
judgements
of
occupational similarity can be used as
judgements of ‘transferability’ (how well a
candidate will be suited to one job if he is
known to be ideally suited to a second). Reeb
(1971) demonstrated that the two are highly
correlated and yield equivalent MDS solutions.
MDS played a central part in the
research reported here. Subjects indicated
their relative preferences among a set of 99
30
vocational activities. A three-dimensional map
of the items, depicting their interconnections
and underlying structure, was instrumental in
analyzing the subjects’ responses. But the item
set is the culmination of an empirical process
of progressive refinement, with MDS applied at
each iteration to indicate any absences within
the set (where items needed to be generated)
and any redundancies (where highly similar
items could be rationalized). In geometrical
terms, these correspond to regions of the map
where too few items were distributed, or too
many, respectively.
When a MDS solution is properly
aligned, each of its dimensions (axes) is
interpretable as a particular distinction drawn
by the informants; in other words, as a
particular attribute on which items can vary,
such that the difference between two items’
values on the attribute contribute to the overall
impression of inter-item dissimilarity (and
eventually to inter-item distance). Thus specific
attention was paid to ensuring that item-points
were present at the extremes of the three
dimensions, since such items convey in pure
form the vocational attribute or quality
represented by that axis, positively or
negatively depending on the pole. When a
subject’s preferences are elicited, such items
sample his or her attitudes to that attribute
most directly. New items were generated if
necessary.
Alternative domains and
dimensions
Existing
tools
for
vocational
assessment tend to assume that the different
domains within the broader ambit of ‘vocation’
– titles, aptitudes or skills, interests,
‘predicates’ (Coxon & Jones, 1979) – are all
homologous ways of referring to the same
structure, with homologous axes underlying
them. One might describe these different item
sets as different sets of landmarks that all
occupy the same landscape, and are all
equally good for navigating within it. But the
empirical evidence suggests that these
domains do differ in the salience of specific
dimensions. Dawis (1992, p. 177) concluded
that “The RIASEC structure fits only interest
data, and an occupations map based on
interest data will not correspond to […] an
occupations map based on other vocational
variables”. For reinforcers (the extrinsic,
motivating attributes of jobs), some can be
accommodated within occupation-title space,
but not all (Shubsachs & Davison, 1979). MDS
treatment of reinforcers revealed additional
dimensions (Ronen et al., 1979).
Most MDS analyses of the subjective
dissimilarities among a list of occupation titles
find a ‘Prestige’ or ‘Status’ dimension emerging
as a prominent quality of occupations, used by
informants to discriminate them (e.g. Burton,
1972; Kraus, Schild & Hodge, 1978; Shivy et
al., 1996). Alternatively a dimension is given a
label such as ‘level of educational requirement’
(Coxon & Jones, 1979) or simply ‘Level’
(Reeb, 1971), diverging from Status, but highly
correlated with it. There are also studies where
status varied little among the items available –
these were restricted to a narrow band of
status levels – so the quality failed to
distinguish them as a dimension in the MDS
solution (Coxon, 1971; Johnson, 1992).
Status level is clearly a useful variable
to know about occupations, and about an
individual’s vocational aspiration; to omit it
from discussion brings to mind the
performance reported by Walter Scott, of “[…]
the tragedy of Hamlet, the character of the
Prince of Denmark being left out”. But at the
same time, it is an irrelevant and confounding
factor for the purpose of determining which
tasks and activities job-seekers like to do, and
where they excel. When we assess the overall
dissimilarity between two items, there are only
so many dimensions we can consider
concurrently, i.e. only so many independent
qualities on which inter-item differences will
contribute. This is a cognitive limitation of the
human mind (additional to the celebrated “7±2”
limit of short-term memory). The high salience
of Status may mean that some other form of
variation is thrust into the background; some
variation that might gain in importance if the
salience of Status were reduced.
For this reason, the present study
moves away from job titles as the landmarks of
choice for examining the structure of
occupational cognition. Titles do have other
disadvantages. As a practical tool for eliciting a
job-seeker’s
preferences,
they
allow
idiosyncratic factors to contribute significantly.
A school-age client who has not previously
mulled over the relative appeal of different
careers might opt for one above others for any
number of trivial or irrational reasons: because
he has heard of it, or because she has a
relative in that line of work, or because a
recent TV series has glamorized the
occupation.
For less familiar items that have not
entered the cultural consensus, informants’
judgements of similarity will be no more than
guesswork, with no preconceived niche readily
accessible within our mental filing systems.
Conversely, clarity in our minds about the
connotations of a given occupational title
implies that it is conspicuous within the
consensus. But a title that is familiar enough to
evoke instant associations and a concrete
mental image may not correspond to a single
specific combination of activities. ‘Scientist’, for
instance, evokes a single image (someone in a
white lab coat) but covers a diffuse,
heterogeneous range of actual jobs. Coxon
(1971) was careful to work with “a list of
occupations that avoided those titles with
heterogeneous connotations.”
Note also that judgements of similarity
among job titles are likely to be based on
stereotypes as much as on accurate
knowledge of the various jobs’ requirements,
especially if the number of titles is large
enough to map the terrain to a useful degree of
detail. The cultural consensus is not an
infallible guide to the true nature of a given
occupation; distorted and oversimplified
perceptions of the occupational domain are
shared as easily as veridical ones (creating
another rôle for vocational counseling – to
correct a job-seeker’s misconceptions if they
would lead to later dissatisfaction with a
chosen career). Even experts may disagree.
Schwartz (1992) documents the discordance
among vocational analysts on the correct
coding for ‘Dentistry’. Fortunately, possible
distortions in the cultural consensus – that is,
the possible inaccuracy of locations within the
‘map’ of points representing specific jobs – do
not detract from its value as a schema.
Some studies have worked around
issues of misconception and ignorance by
providing informants with a gloss on each title
– an explanation of the duties and activities it
involves. In fact, one could dispense with the
titles altogether by unpacking them and asking
informants to judge similarities among the
component activities. That approach was taken
here.
Which is not to say that the present
items capture all the information of interest, if
used for vocational assessment. It may be that
for a complete characterization of a jobseeker’s vocational profile, “activity” items such
as these should be combined with others
drawn from complementary domains, to
sample complementary axes such as Status.
31
The ‘VOC-99’ items
Ninety-nine items were developed and
fine-tuned over a series of iterations, to explore
the multidimensional semantic space they
occupied and to sample it comprehensively
and evenly. Rather than vocational titles, items
were worded in terms of vocational activities
and objects of activity (i.e. verbs and nouns),
after verbs and nouns were found in a pilot
study to be interchangeable. The iterations
involved rewording items, winnowing items out
when they led to duplication or redundancy,
and generating new ones to fill any voids or
under-represented regions in the space. Three
key dimensions or axes of the map were
tentatively identified, and attention was paid to
ensure that there were items sampling these
dimensions in relatively pure form (and located
at the axial extremes). Instances are listed in
Figure 1. They are numbered from 1 to 106
(with some numbers skipped).
Items were printed on 35-by-75 mm.
slips of card for the data-collection tasks. This
allowed informants to physically manipulate
them, sorting them into piles according to
various criteria. Three sets of data are
considered here. In the first two, informants
indicated the similarities among the meanings
of the items, considered qua general concepts.
In the third, the items were applied in specific
cases: informants ranked these features of
jobs in order of personal preference.
(2) GOPA-sorting
This is the familiar process of ‘sorting by
similarity’ (Coxon, 1999), with additional
phases to extract further information from the
participants (Bimler & Kirkland, 2003). The
acronym stands for Group-, Opposite-,
Partition- and Additive-sorting phases. In
Group- or G-sorting, informants arrange the
items in groups according to similarity (as in
Burton, 1972; Krause et al., 1978), then
proceed to refine those groupings in the P- and
A-sorting phases. The resulting judgements of
similarity are complemented by dissimilarity
judgements elicited by O-sorting. Here the
informants look for pairs of groups that are
collectively most dissimilar, i.e. groups that are
antinomial in their content, or closest to a polar
opposition.
The penultimate selection of items
contained only 78 items. This selection was
GOPA-sorted by 30 students at Massey
university (14 F, 16 M). Twenty-one items were
added, creating the final set of 99 items. These
were GOPA-sorted by a different 50 students
(36 F, 14 M).
(1) Method of Triads (MoT)
Here the informant is presented with
three items at a time and asked to identify the
“odd-one-out” or “one least like the remaining
two” in each triad (Coxon & Jones, 1979). This
is equivalent to identifying the most similar pair
of items. The triads are created randomly, by
shuffling the ‘deck’ of item-cards and dealing
them out in groups of three.
The triadic method was applied to an
earlier selection of 78 items. For convenience
these were split into two subsets of 21 and 57
items for the MoT process. Although six of the
items were later winnowed out, 72 were
retained in the final version. Thus these data
are useful here as a way of validating the final
three-dimensional ‘map’.
For the 21-item subset, seven triads
were generated by each cycle of shuffling and
dealing. Thirty Massey University students
were recruited as subjects (genders not
recorded) and paid for a one-hour session.
Most of them provided six cycles, for a total of
1162 triads.
(3) Method of Successive Sorts
(MOSS)
This is a variant of Q-sorting (Block,
1961). Informants sort items into five rankordered piles, ranging from most appealing,
congenial or preferred items (which go into the
pile at one extreme) to those least preferred
(which go into the pile at the other extreme).
The sorting is a two-step process. The
informant first creates three piles containing
items that are more preferred, neutral, and less
preferred. Second, the first pile is subdivided
into piles containing most and more preferred
items, while the third pile is subdivided into
piles of least and less preferred. Items can be
shifted between piles if the informant
reconsiders. Often a researcher using Qsorting sets the number of items in each pile,
but a forced distribution was not thought
necessary here.
MOSS data came from 137 students
from classes in four New Zealand secondary
schools. Ages ranged from 15 to 18, with a
roughly equal gender mix.
32
For the 57-item subset, 19 triads were
generated by each cycle of shuffling and
dealing. Fifty-three students were recruited
through Massey University, most of them
providing three cycles, for a total of 2831
triads.
Analysis
(1) Triadic data lend themselves to a
direct form of MDS, using a ‘Maximum
Likelihood’ algorithm (Bimler & Kirkland, 2001).
A given triad, consisting of the items Ei, Ej, Ek,
is represented in the MDS solution by three
points (xi, xj, xk) that form the corners of a
triangle. Analysis consists of iteratively
relocating the points within the geometrical
model until they conform with as many
judgements as possible. A judgement from one
of the informants that Ei is the odd-one-out in
the example – that is, that Ej and Ek is the
most-similar pair – is an indication that in
geometrical terms, xi should be the acute
corner of that triangle. This can be restated as
a pair of implied distance comparisons: djk (the
length of the side of the triangle between xj
and xk) should be less than both the other
distances dij and dik, where these distances
naturally depend on the positions of xi, xj, xk. A
goodness-of-fit criterion is defined to measure
how well all those comparisons are met by the
reconstructed distances, and points are
adjusted to maximize the criterion (Takane,
1978).
(2) Estimates of inter-item similarity
were extracted from the GOPA data, and
analyzed with Kruskal’s algorithm for nonmetric least-squares MDS (Jones & Koehly,
1993).
One similarity estimate comes from the
proportion of times that a given pair of items
are grouped in a pile together (co-occurrence).
We write this as dSij; together these elements
comprise a 99-by-99 matrix DS. A second
estimate of association between two items is
their ‘antinomality’, which we write as dOij, with
DO as the matrix of these estimates. This is the
proportion of O-sorting decisions in the GOPA
data, in which Ei and Ej are found in piles that
are chosen as ‘most opposite’ (for details see
Bimler & Kirkland, 2003).
(3) MOSS data from the q-th informant
can be written as 99 values: each item
receives a value according to the pile it is
assigned to, from +2 (most preferred) down to
-2 (least preferred). These are rescaled
(ipsatized) to a mean of 0 and a standard
deviation of 1. We write vq to denote the q-th
array of 99 normalized values, and vqi for
individual values in vq.
The correlation rij between the vqi and vqj
assigned to a given pair of items Ei and Ej,
when q varies over all 137 informants, is a
further index of association between that pair.
The correlations for all the pairs, written as a
matrix DM, are grist for the mill of MDS.
Following Johnson (1995), Canonical
Correlation or CANCORR was used to check
the independently-obtained MDS solutions for
similarity. CANCORR compares two sets of
coordinates by extracting a linear combination
from each, such that the correlation between
them Rc is maximal. It goes on to extract
further pairs of linear combinations (each new
combination being orthogonal to those
previously extracted from its respective
coordinate set), providing correlations R2, R3.
To foreshadow the Results section, a
three-dimensional solution was preferred. Thus
each item is represented by the coordinates
{xi1, xi2, xi3}, or xi for short. The solution as a
whole can be written as a 99-by-3 matrix X (in
which xi is the i-th row).
We can use this solution to summarize
the preference rankings from the q-th
informant, vq, by way of multivariate regression
(Jones & Koehly, 1993). The value vqi
assigned to the i-th item is the dependent
variable, and there are three independent
variables, the coordinates that represent that
item in X. Regression provides the
approximation:
vqi ≈ bq0 + bq1 xi1 + bq2 xi2 + bq3 xi3 (where
the offset bq0 is usually close to 0)
and a multivariate correlation Rq that
measures the compatibility between X and vq.
Rq ranges up to 1 if the approximation is
perfect.
Between them, bq1, bq2, bq3 summarize
the whole array (with Rq indicating how much
is thereby lost). Conveniently, they are also the
components of a vector, i.e. the direction in
‘vocation space’ in which the vqi increase. For
instance, a high value of bq1 corresponds to a
vector nearly parallel to the first dimension D1,
and indicates a tendency to endorse or reject
items according to their locations along D1
(their xi1 values). The 99 values vqi are thus
reduced to global, low-resolution terms.
It is also useful to examine variations
among subjects without the intermediary of X.
Comparing the p-th and q-th informants, rpq is
the correlation between vpi and vqi, with i
ranging across items. Factor decomposition of
the 137-by-137 correlation matrix would be
‘inverse factor analysis’ or Q-factoring. Here,
for ease of comparison with the previous
section, we analysed the matrix with MDS.
33
Results
First the question of dimensionality was
considered. For the matrix DS, MDS solutions
with two, three, four and five dimensions
yielded Stress1 values (poorness-of-fit) of
0.309, 0.212, 0.160 and 0.135. The 2D
solution is patently inadequate, while the 5D
solution is not substantially better than 4D. We
settled on three dimensions for convenience of
display.
One 3D solution XS was derived from
the matrices DS and DO together (using the
repeated-measure feature of MDS). A second
solution XM was derived from DM. Comparing
XS and XM with CANCORR, the three
canonical correlates were Rc = 0.87, R2 = 0.77,
R3 = 0.66. All are significant at p < 0.0001
(according to a χ2 test of Wilk’s Λ statistic). In
other words, three pairs of mutuallyrecognizable linear combinations can be
extracted from the coordinate sets, or to put it
more loosely, the two solutions can be rotated
so that each of the three dimensions from
either solution has a recognizable counterpart
in the other.
Two other indices of similarity between
XS and XM are the Procrustes distance gl
between them; and the correlation rSM between
corresponding inter-item distances. According
to these indices, XS and XM are acceptably
similar, with gl = 0.117 and rSM = 0.58. We
concluded that the data from (2) and (3) are
manifestations of the same underlying
structure, and analyzed all three matrices
together, producing a compromise between
them that was reasonably compatible with
each. This was the 3D solution X. A 4D
solution X4 was also retained, for comparison
with the triadic results, which again involved
CANCORR.
Since the MoT data relate to two disjoint
sets of items, two 4D solutions XT1 and XT2
were obtained, containing 21 and 57 items
respectively. Due to subsequent removal of
items, only 15 of the items in XT1 found their
way into X4, meaning that canonical correlates
can be large without reaching the threshold of
significance. Even so, the first two correlates
were significant at p < 0.013 (Rc = 0.99, R2 =
0.91, R3 = 0.72, R4 = 0.08).
All 57 items in XT2 also appear in X4.
This time, all canonical correlates were
significant at p < 0.002 (Rc = 0.96, R2 = 0.94,
R3 = 0.84, R4 = 0.41). While this does not
guarantee that the structure of X is meaningful,
it confirms that it is at least reproducible, and
34
not attributable to noise or an artefact confined
to one specific procedure.
In fact there are four mutuallyrecognizable axes. The fourth dimension is
interpretable but minor, and it is omitted in the
following discussion, for ease when displaying
the solution. It seems to draw a distinction
between internally-focussed self-reliance at
one extreme (with items such as 71, Dealing
with a variety of challenges; 74, Working by
myself, alone; and 97, Doing it “my way”), and
external focus at the other extreme (with items
such as 25, Working in the food industry; 43,
Working with people from other countries; and
103, Being a “team player”). Fortunately,
retention or omission of this fourth dimension
has little impact on items’ coordinates along
the first three dimensions.
We interpret D1, the first dimension of X,
as a gradient from ‘people’ to ‘things’ (see
Figure 1). D2 can be glossed as ‘indoors
versus outdoors’; alternative labels for the
distinction are ‘cerebral versus physical’, or
simply ‘heads versus hands’. D3 is a gradient
from ‘creativity’ to ‘routine’.
On close inspection, the structure of
Figure 1 turns out to be a hollow sphere, with
the points located roughly equidistant from the
origin. 1 This spherical quality provides an
alternative way of displaying the MDS solution.
By ignoring the minor variations in their radial
distances from the center, they can be treated
as points on the surface of a globe, and
projected onto two dimensions. For this, the
globe is divided into two hemispheres
(positive- and negative-D1 halves) and
flattened separately. This perspective shows
how the points would look from the center of
the sphere, i.e. the origin. Figure 2 is the
outcome.
The two outer circles indicate the
‘equator’ where D1 = 0. The D1 axis is at the
center of each circle, with the inner circles
corresponding to 30° and 60° angles away
from that axis. These concentric circles
represent the relative magnitude of the
People/Things component, compared to others
(i.e. the ratio between D1 on one hand, and D2
and D3 on the other).
1
Radial distance from the center in MDS solutions
is often interpretable as ‘specificity’. The fringes of
the solution contain very specific items, while vague,
widely-applicable items are found near the origin.
Specificity is more-or-less constant in a welldesigned set of items, so the spherical property is
frequently encountered.
Figure 1. Three-dimensional MDS solution for 99 Vocation items: (a) D1 / D2 plane; (b) D1 / D3 plane.
Examples of items at the two extremes of D1 (‘People versus things’) are
22 Working with people (rather than with “things”),
65 Working with sick or injured people,
69 Teaching others;
ranging through to
19 Operating big machinery,
26 Working with machines,
47 Servicing heavy equipment.
Examples of items at the two extremes of D2 (‘Indoors versus outdoors’ – alternatively, ‘Cerebral vs. Physical’)
are
16 Providing others with legal advice,
37 Working with documents,
62 Working with private information;
to
28 Being a professional sports person,
93 Looking for adventure,
104 Pushing my body to the physical limits.
Examples of items at the two extremes of D3 (‘Creativity versus Routine’) are
6 Creating material which can be used for entertaining others,
45 Working with video and film,
55 Performing in the entertainment industry;
to
79 Following known pathways, walking in others’ footsteps,
86 Keeping to traditional ways,
101 Doing as my elders/parents suggest.
Thus Figure 2 can be thought of as a
pair of polar coordinate plots, with concentric
circles as the radial coordinate. The angular
coordinate represents the ratio between D2
(Indoors / Outdoors) and D3 (Creativity /
Routine) components. In each hemisphere, the
positive and negative extremes of D2 are at “3
o’clock” and “9 o’clock” respectively; while the
positive and negative extremes of D3 are at
“12 o’clock” and “6 o’clock”.
We turn now to the informants’ personal
rankings of the items. These are incorporated
in X by fitting a vector (a direction) to each
informant, running from least-preferred items
on one side of the solution, through to mostpreferred items on the other side, tracing the
gradient of preference. The average of the
multiple correlations Rq was high.
The vector components bq1, bq2, bq3
show the relative importance of each
dimension of ‘vocation space’. For example,
bq1 indicates the extent to which the q-th
informant’s preference for any item is
determined by its location along the People /
Things axis. Similarly, high values of bq2 or bq3
indicate a tendency to endorse or reject items
35
Figure 2. MDS solution for 99 Vocation items: their locations, as seen from the center.
The two hemispheres of the solution are shown separately (stereographic projection).
Figure 3. Crosses represent vectors in the MDS solution, projected into the same split-hemisphere diagram of
Figure 2. Each vector is one school pupil’s MOSS data set.
according to their locations along D2 or D3:
their connotations of Indoors / Outdoors and
Creativity / Routine. A vector can be included
in a projection such as Figure 2, by noting the
point where it intersects the notional sphere,
and projecting that point (along with the items)
into two dimensions. Figure 3 is the result.
One can assert that this structure is
inherent in the preference rankings, rather than
somehow imposed during their conversion into
vectors, since it can also be found in the
pattern of correlations rpq amongst informants.
MDS analysis of the correlation matrix yields a
three-dimensional solution, Y, in which the 137
informants are each represented by a point yq.
These locations have much in common with
36
their vector components (this is little more than
a re-statement of the overall compatibility
between the preference rankings and the
aptitude map X). Specifically: the correlations
between yq1, yq2, yq3 (the coordinates
representing the q-th informant in Y) and bq1,
bq2, bq3 respectively are 0.91, 0.92 and 0.83.
In that case, one may wonder why the
creation of the ‘subject space’ Y wasn’t
enough, and what more is learnt by creating X
and using it as an intermediary to convert the
rankings into vectors. The answer is that
vector components are interpretable (having
identified the axes of aptitude space).
Coordinates within Y are not directly
interpretable, nor do they provide any key to
newly-acquired data.
Figure 3 reveals a strong tendency for
subjects to prefer ‘people’ over ‘thing’-oriented
items – that is, most vectors have negative bq1
components, and concentrate in the ‘People’
hemisphere to the left of the figure.
Superimposed on this is a gender difference:
the general preference for People-centered
activities was stronger among girls. There are
large within-group variations; even so, if bq1 >
0, one can say with some confidence that the
informant was male. This difference is clear in
other data sets, involving earlier versions of
the item set, but regrettably gender was not
recorded for all cases shown here.
In another application, 24 market
researchers ranked the items with a target of
“Ideal Market Researcher” (at the 2004
Conference of the New Zealand Market
Research Society). That is, each activity or
aptitude was scored by the likelihood or
desirability of finding it expressed in a actual
researcher. Due to time constraints, they were
only presented with 45 items (every second
one). These individual descriptions fitted well
as vectors into X, with 0.57 as the mean value
of Rq. As shown in Figure 4, the average
description was summarized as bq1 = -0.69, bq2
= -0.62, bq3 = -0.37 (the ideal Market
Researcher favors working with people rather
than things; indoor rather than outdoor forms
of work; and creative rather than routine
tasks). Individual deviations from this
unsurprising consensus were small.
Figure 4. Crosses represent vectors in the MDS solution, as in Figure 3 (‘People’ hemisphere only).
Vectors shown as small crosses are individual descriptions of ‘ideal market researcher’;
large cross is the average description.
Discussion
By virtue of the way it was obtained, the
three-dimensional geometrical model or
‘aptitude space’ X reflects a widely-shared
cultural consensus: a Weltanschauung (Day et
al., 1998), or “collective conscience” in
Durkheim’s term. In a pilot study we applied
the same MDS methodology to a list of 70
‘nouns’ (items of the form “working with -----”)
used by Career Services New Zealand, and a
second list of 74 ‘verbs’, with very similar
outcomes. The same structure is likely to
emerge from any sufficiently comprehensive
and homogeneous inventory such as the
Career Interest Test (Athanasou, 2002). The
present scheme subsumes two of three axes
extracted in a MDS study (Day & Rounds,
1998) of the 90 items comprising the unisex
American College Test or UNIACT (Swaney,
37
1995); 2
there
the
third
axis
was
uninterpretable.
There is nothing innovative about our
use of three dimensions to map a vocation
space. Roe (1956) and Strong (1943)
presented
three-dimensional
frameworks.
Forty years of planar maps followed, before
Tracey and Rounds (1996) returned to a
spherical occupational map. However, the
present D2 (‘cerebral / physical’, or ‘indoor /
outdoor’) appears to be new.
Conversely, some of the axes found in
studies of related but not identical item
domains were not encountered here, such as
‘Status’ among occupational titles. Hence we
reiterate that of the salient attributes of
occupations, used to discriminate among
them, not all can be reflected by or
accommodated
within
‘aptitude
space’.
Nevertheless, occupations can be represented
within our model, using item rankings by
suitably-qualified
informants.
The
multidimensional framework further provides a
measure of an informant’s suitability for a job:
the similarity between two vectors, one
representing the job, the other summarizing his
or her activity preferences.
Of the dimensions reported here,
‘People / Things’ (D1) and ‘Creativity / Routine’
(D2) can be combined in various proportions to
generate
other
axes
and
polarities
encountered in the literature: Orientation, ‘Data
/ Ideas’, ‘Conventional / Artistic’, Sociability
and Conformity (Hogan, 1983). In an objective
sense, no set of axes is better than its
alternatives: because rotation has no effect on
inter-item distances, a spatial model can be
rotated to new axes without affecting how well
it accounts for the data. Rotational
indeterminacy is an unavoidable feature of
such models. Vocational models are a prime
example of Guttman’s observation (1966) that
a ring or circumplex, a continuous circular
configuration of points (as in the D1/D3 plane
2
This instrument is not completely homogeneous.
Its constituent items purport to be interests or
activities. But on inspection, many items designed to
capture an individual’s level on the Investigative
scale – one sector of the RIASEC continuum – are
not ‘things one might do’, but rather ‘things one
knows’ (or would like to know). UNIACT Item 25, for
instance, is “Understand biology”. To an extent this
scale is incommensurate with the other five scales,
and set aside from them, whether or not the
theoretical distinction between the Investigative and
other categories is valid.
38
here), can subsume a proliferation of rival
factors and polarities (see also Tracey &
Rounds, 1995, 1996). 3
Regions of the model can be related
back to the familiar RIASEC categories of
Holland’s 1973 scheme. The positive and
negative extremes of D3, for example, contain
items such as 79, Following known pathways
and 2, Working with visual arts or crafts
respectively, which would be categorized as
‘Conservative’ and ‘Artistic’. But six categories
delineating a hexagon are clearly too few to
exhaust a three-dimensional manifold.
One rationale for carving the circumplex
into categories such as Holland’s is that vector
components are arguably too broad, and too
abstract for clients to grasp when counselors
present the outcome of analysis. Alternative
ways of aggregating the item values vqi are
desirable, to provide a finer-grained battery of
more intuitive summary scales. These also
have the potential of capturing more
information, lost in such a drastic, Procrustean
reduction of the data as vector components. At
any rate, generating finer-grained scales is a
matter of pooling the values from a ‘catchment
area’ of sufficiently-related items, to obtain a
single score that is more robust than the
values of single items. Selecting related items
is straightforward with a MDS map, in which
relatedness is shown as geometrical proximity.
Conclusion
If young school-leavers entering the job
market held clearly-formulated opinions about
the world of work, vocational guidance would
simply be a matter of eliciting their views about
personal aptitudes and preferences, and
matching these to available career paths. In
practice, however, the teenage mind is
notoriously inchoate, veiled in inarticulate
obscurity – as much to self-report as to outside
observers.
So far several hundred senior secondary
school students have described their activity
preferences by sorting the VOC-99 item
inventory (or earlier recensions). Other
subjects have used the inventory by following
a ‘trilemma’ technique that we developed as an
alternative to MOSS-sorting. Here the
informant chooses the most- and leastpreferred alternatives from a choice of three.
3
“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them;
one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind
them.”
Sixty-six of these three-way forced-ranking
choices comprise the entire questionnaire (so
each item is ranked twice, in two different
contexts). Each choice has been optimized to
make it as stark (and informative) as possible
(Bimler & Kirkland, submitted).
Their responses were summarized
within a three-dimensional framework. There
has been general satisfaction among the
informants with this feedback; the summaries
made sense, and rang true, while telling the
informants more than they previously knew (or
were aware of). It has been used with adults
as well as school-leavers.
Over the years, the broad topic of
vocational cognition – divisible into sub-topics
of job titles, reinforcers, etc. – has been one
popular focus of MDS research. MDS studies
of the vocational realm have burgeoned into a
substantial literature (Davison et al., 1986;
Rounds & Zevon, 1983). The interest is
practical as well as theoretical. From the
outset, MDS explorations of an item set have
been intimately involved with the design of
instruments for practical assessment. That was
certainly the case here.
Our model of aptitude space has
multiple purposes. These include to facilitate
communication between vocational counselors
and clients, and to provide the latter with an
explicit schema for integrating vocational
information and clarifying options. Since its
structure was obtained from a shared, widelyaccessible consensus about item interrelationships, it should serve these purposes
better than models driven by theory.
Rezumat
Hărţile schematice ale mediului muncii sunt des
utilizate în consilierea vocaţională. O hartă este mai
eficientă în condiţiile în care coincide cu
reprezentarea deja internalizată de candidaţii pentru
un post. În acest studiu, scalarea multidimensională
a fost utilizată pentru a realiza o reprezentare
consensuală pentru judecăţile referitoare la
similarităţile din cadrul unui set de descriptori pentru
aptitudinile vocaţionale. Pentru a exclude artefactele
limitate de o singură procedură de obţinere a
judecăţilor similare sau de o singură formă de
analiză au fost utilizate trei proceduri diferite şi
grupuri multiple de participanţi. Rezultatele converg
spre un ,,spaţiu vocaţional’’ cu cel puţin trei
dimensiuni. Axele sale au fost interpretate ca
,,oameni/ lucruri’’, ,,interior/ exterior’’ şi aspecte
,,creative/ rutiniere’’ ale muncii – deşi harta nu este
determinată rotativ, astfel încât şi alte cadre de
referinţă sunt valide. S-a arătat că această hartă
cuprinde clasificările descriptorilor realizate de
participanţi reprezentându-le ca vectori.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Peter Batra for helpful
discussions, and his help in collecting the Market
Researcher data.
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AN ALTERNATIVE TO MAPPING ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION: Q-SORT
Dragoş Iliescu*
D&D Research
Smaranda Boroş
Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University
Abstract
Our paper proposes an approach to combine aspects from social cognition, cognitive
mapping, individual mental representations and a stringent aspect from the practice of
organizational studies: organizational identification. We argue that organizational
identification links the self-concept to the organization, by means of sharing similar,
enduring and central attributes (Dutton et al., 1994, Greenwald et al., 2002). After
reviewing the approaches to organizational identification as presented in the literature, as
well as the measures customarily used, we give special attention to the most important
attempts to operationally define this concept, that stem from social identity theory. We
then connect organizational identification to the study methods used in fundamental
research for the concept of self, primarily to the use of cognitive maps in representing the
self-concept. We hence adopt an operational definition of the term and propose as an
alternative method of data collection and data analysis for cognitive mapping: the Qmethodology. We analyze in an empirical study the limits and benefits of Q-methodology
in the mapping of organizational identification.
Key words: cognitive mapping, organizational identification, self concept
*
Issues of organizational
identification
How is organizational identification
defined in the field literature? A review of
definitions points to the fact that by the same
word are named very different realities. The
most obvious fact is its superposition with the
concept of organizational commitment. For
instance, Meyer & Allen (1997) define
organizational commitment as an attitude or an
orientation that links the identity of the person
to the organization, a process by which the
goals of the organization and those of the
individual become congruent (Meyer & Allen,
1997). O’Reilly and Chatman (1986) define
commitment as a psychological bond between
*
Corresponding authors:
Dragoş Iliescu ([email protected]),
D&D Research
Smaranda Boroş ([email protected])
Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University
the employee and the organization, but
differentiate between three forms this bond can
take:
compliance,
identification
and
internalization. They define identification as the
process of an individual accepting influence
from a group (organization) in order to
establish and maintain a relationship. Hence,
an individual may respect a group’s values
without adopting them, as opposed to
internalization (when influence is accepted
because the induced attitudes/values are
congruent with one’s own) or compliance
(when the are declaratively accepted in order
to win a certain benefit) (O’Reilly & Chatman,
1986). Interestingly enough, the scale (12
items) developed to measure these three
dimensions turned out to have only two
factors: 1) identification & internalization and 2)
compliance (Sutton & Harrison, 1993; Martin &
Bennett, 1996). In fact, this superposition
between identification and internalization is
also present in other commitment questionnaires (e.g. Organizational Commitment Scale,
41
Balfour & Wechsler, 1996: “What this
organization stands for is important to me.”).
Furthermore,
in
building
his
Organizational Identification Questionnaire,
Cheney (1983) defines it as an active process
by which individuals link themselves to
elements in the social scene. “This link is what
many other scholars have termed as
organizational commitment” (Downs, 1994).
In one of the most cited articles in the
field, Asforth and Mael (1989) refine the
concept
of
identification,
differentiating
cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects
related to it and discriminate between
identification itself and its antecedents or
consequences. Starting from the social
identification theory, they define organizational
identification as the perception of unity with /
belonging to a social aggregate (in this case,
an organization). In other words, they define
identification as a form of self-categorization.
They also postulate four principles of group
identification, which clear much of the previous
confusions. These principles are (Ashforth &
Mael, 1989):
1. Identification is a perceptual-cognitive
concept, not necessarily associated with
specific behaviors or emotional states.
2. Group identification means experiencing at
personal level the group’s successes or
failures.
3. Identification
is
different
from
internalization.
Identification
means
referring to self in terms of a social
category, while internalization means
incorporating the group’s attitudes / values
as guiding principles of one’s own
behavior. Accepting a social category as a
definition of self does not imply also
accepting those group’s values and
attitudes. Also, identification is specific to
each organization; internalization and
commitment might not be, because several
organizations may share common goals
and values. Commitment might arise
because that organization is a vehicle for
one’s own career goals. This leads to the
fact that leaving that organization for
another one where these goals can better
be fulfilled is possible at all times.
Identification with an organization, though,
means one cannot leave it without some
kind of “psychic loss” (Levinson, 1970,
apud Ashforth & Mael, 1989).
4. Group
identification
is
similar
to
identification with an individual, in the
42
sense that one defines oneself in terms of
that social referent.
As previously mentioned, the authors
also propose a number of antecedents that
level group (organizational) identification –
distinctiveness of the group, the group’s
prestige, salience of outgroups, factors
associated with group formation (personal
interaction, similarity, liking, proximity, shared
goals or threats, shared history etc.) –, as well
as consequences stemming from one’s
organizational identification – support and
commitment
towards
the
organization
(particularized according to the elements of
identification); cohesion, cooperation, altruism,
positive group evaluations; internalization of
norms and values, homogeneity in attitudes
and behaviors (Ashforth & Mael, 1989).
As a conclusion to the refinements the
authors make to the concept and a
consequence of the fact they view it in terms of
social categorization, they point to the fact that
group (organizational) identification is also
present in the absence of interpersonal
cohesion, similarity or interaction to the other
group members.
Dutton, Dukerich & Harquail (1994)
define organizational identification as the
degree to which a member defines himself or
herself by the same attributes that he or she
believes defines the organization. Strong
organizational identification occurs when (1)
one’s organizational identification is more
salient than alternative identities and (2) his or
her self-concept has many of the same
characteristics he or she believes define the
organization as a social group. An
organization’s members are said to become
attached to their organization when they
incorporate the characteristics attributed to the
organization to their self-concept. In this
perspective, the self-concept refers to “the
totality of self-descriptions and self-evaluations
subjectively available to an individual” (Hogg &
Abrams, 1988, cit. in Ashforth & Mael, 1989).
Dutton and collaborators propose
three ways of operationalizing strength of
identification: (1) directly assessing it, through
scale-based measures; (2) by asking
organizational members to evaluate a set of
identities and indicate the relative degree to
which these identities accurately describe
them as individuals, either by ranking each
identity or ranking them in hierarchy; (3)
directly assessing the level of overlap between
the characteristics by which an individual
describes him-/herself and the characteristics
that typify the organization. These are those
characteristics that are enduring, central and
distinctive to both the individual and the
organization (Dutton et. al., 1994).
In our paper, we shall use Dutton,
Dukerich and Harquail’s definition of
organizational identification as our work
definition.
They
define
organizational
identification as a process of self-definition,
through the cognitive connection established
between the definition of the organization and
the definition of self (Dutton et al., 1994).
At this point, we shall review some of
the most important contributions to the study of
the self concept in fundamental research. We
shall look at the implication for research of the
definition proposed by these authors and the
methods they have accordingly used. Our aim
is to adopt a proper method for the study of
organizational identification, a method that is
both valid and easy applicable in ecological
settings.
The self and the self-concept
Greenwald defines the self-concept as
the association of the concept of self with one
or more (nonvalence) attribute concepts
(Greenwald et. al., 2002). The self can only be
defined in relation to the different groups one
belongs to. By the representation Greenwald
and
collaborators
propose
for
the
conceptualization of the self, they adhere both
to Heider’s equilibrium theory and to Tajfel and
Turner’s
social
identity
theory.
The
representation proposed is in fact a cognitive
map of the self-concept. Such a map is
illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1. A social knowledge structure
(Greenwald et. al., 2002)
“This structure includes associations that
correspond to social psychological constructs
of self-concept, self-esteem, stereotype, and
attitude in the psyche of an elderly female
academic. Nodes (ovals) represent concepts
and links (lines) represent associations. Line
thickness represents strength of association.
The self-concept includes links of the ME node
to concepts that include roles (professor,
grandmother) and trait attributes (intelligent,
athletic)” (Greenwald et. al, 2002, p. 5).
They
further
developed
this
representation of the self to a more theoretical
refinement, which adheres to Heider’s
equilibrium theory and offers a dynamic view of
the social concepts comprised (i.e. stereotype,
attitude, self-concept and self-esteem and
identification). Such a representation is
presented in figure 2. They explain this figure
as it follows:
“Each vertex of the triangle represents a
concept. A balanced identity design always
includes self as one of the concepts (bottom
vertex), and it also includes both a social
category (group) concept and an attribute
concept. The three associations measured in
the design are identified on the triangle edges
that join the vertices for the two associated
concepts.
The
group–self
association
corresponds to an identity. The labels for the
other two types of associations depend on
whether the attribute is valence or not. If the
attribute is valence, then the group-attribute
association is an attitude and the self-attribute
association self-esteem. If the attribute is not,
then the group-attribute association is a
stereotype and the self-attribute association is
an aspect of self-concept” (Greenwald & al,
2002, p. 9).
Figure 2. A representation format for balanced
identity designs (Greenwald et. al., 2002).
43
Getting back to the issue of
organizational identification, as connected to
the self-concept, there is a necessary point to
be made now. As Ellemers and collaborators
(2002) argue, one source of confusion in the
literature is that the term "social (in this case,
organizational) identification" has been used to
refer to the content of the identity itself, as well
as to indicate the strength of the association
with a particular social category. These are
essentially different components of the social
identity, which although related, may operate
relatively independently of each other
(Ellemers & al., 2002). In terms of the cognitive
map Greenwald proposes, this is the
difference between the attributes included, and
the distance between “self” (as a node) and
these concepts (as nodes in the map).
To conclude these theoretical remarks
regarding the study of self, we focus on
Greenwald’s conceptualization of identity as
the link between the self and a social group
and of self-concept as the link between self
and attributes that belong to that social
category. In our case, organizational identity
could be conceptualized as a cognitive map
comprising the self and those attributes
characteristic to the organization, that the
individual has encompassed in his selfconcept. Such a map would illustrate the
attributes more important to the definition of
self as situated closer and having stronger ties
with the node representing the self.
The problem is that only by drawing
the map of organizational identity, we still
wouldn’t know too much about organizational
identification, since we assumed that the latter
means using the same attributes to define
oneself as they use to define their
organization. In order to obtain a cognitive map
of organizational identification, we should
superpose the map of organizational identity
with the one of the organization’s image, as
suggested by Dutton et al. (1994). At this point,
the logical question that arises is “what method
would be best suited to collect and aggregate
the data to draw this cognitive map?”.
Cognitive mapping
In the study of organizational
identification, cognitive mapping is first of all a
method of researching and constructing the
structure defining an individual’s selfidentification and/or his or her opinion about
the characteristics defining the organization.
Cognitive mapping has been widely accepted
44
in current research as a mostly qualitative
investigation
technique,
based
on
ideographical methods (such as individual indepth interviews or thought-listing technique)
(Daniels, 1999; Cacioppo, Hippel & Ernst,
1997), sometimes structured by the usage of
scaling
and
small
instruments.
Such
structuring methods may imply the “pile sorting
technique” (Trochim, Cook & Setze, 1994),
repertory grids (Daniels, 1999) and ratings on
Likert scales. The pile sorting technique
requires participants to group the statement
slips into piles in a way that makes sense to
them. The only restrictions in this sorting task
are that there cannot be (a) exclusively oneitem piles (in a 20-item set, there shouldn’t be
20 one-item piles), (b) one pile consisting of all
items, or (c) a “miscellaneous” pile (any item
thought to be unique should be placed in its
own separate pile).
According to Trochim, Cook & Setze
(1994), cognitive mapping combines a group
process (brainstorming, unstructured sorting,
and rating of the brainstormed items) with
several multivariate statistical analyses
(multidimensional scaling, the PathFinder
algorithm or hierarchical cluster analysis) and
concludes with a group interpretation of the
conceptual maps that result.
Hence, cognitive mapping has also
been viewed as a technique for the
visualization of structure and connectivity,
based upon data collected with other,
quantitative and structured methods of
investigation. One such method is the visual
card sorting, which implies the physical
mapping of the given concepts on a sheet of
paper, so that physical proximity would reflect
similarity and causal determination relations.
This method allows the computation of map
connectivity and map diversity, hence
computing map complexity (Curşeu, 2003).
Multi-dimensional scaling and the Pathfinder
algorithm have both made a career out of
visualising statistical data.
We take this last stance and consider
cognitive mapping to be an important visual
tool the researcher may use to clarify
connections and patterns that one is
confronted with the utter impossibility of
grasping, when based on purely numeric and
statistical information.
Most of the research on cognitive
mapping hitherto has defined data collected on
matters of organizational identification, both
pertaining of the organizational level and of the
more individual aspects, as being objective
data. However, even though objective in a
sense of „objectively measured”, data collected
from individuals about how they view their
organization, about how they describe their
social group, about how they describe
themselves are purely subjective data, in the
sense that they cannot be objectively and
reliably measured the same one measures the
distance between two points in space or the
outside temperature. These data are results
and products of the mind and should be
treated as such and assessed with the help of
methodologies that (a) ascertain this
epistemological stance and (b) have proven to
have both the techniques and the expertise to
deal with subjective data. Based on these
reasons, we argue that Q-methodology is fit to
be a data collection tool for cognitive mapping,
because of its epistemological background, its
procedure and form of both raw data and final
results it provides.
Q-Methodology
Q methodology circumscribes both a
data collection (Q-sorting) and a data analysis
technique (Q-factor analysis). The core
distinction from classical research methods in
social sciences resides in the fact that this
method analyses/correlates people instead of
variables,
thus
building
typologies
(Stephenson, 1953). It resembles cluster
analysis, but while the latter is only a
mathematical method of data aggregation, Qmethodology is a comprehensive approach,
which keeps the researcher in permanent
contact with the data. The resulted typologies
are hence impregnated with meaning and do
not only constitute the best mathematical
solution (Iliescu, 2003). This interaction with
the data is based on a constructivist
assumption lying behind Q-methodology.
Q-methodology is qualitative through
its assumptions and the logic of research, and
quantitative through the statistical apparatus
sustaining data analysis (Q-factor analysis)
(Brown, 1996).
“A Q-sort’s results can provide a
wealth of rich data and researchers can use
this technique to qualitatively discover patterns
of behaviors and perceptions of individuals.
Next, it is a description of how the results of a
Q-sort investigation can be quantitatively
analyzed, which allows researchers to
compare individuals with each other and
identify composites (i.e., typologies) of
individuals.” (Iliescu, 2003).
The application of Q-method involves the
following steps:
1.
Preparing the application: extracting
the community’s concourse on the
subject of interest, through direct
(individual of group interview) or
indirect (document analysis) methods,
establishing an optimum number of
cards to operate with, sampling the
statements from the concourse and
creating a q-deck, choosing the forced
distribution’s shape: the number of
points on the scale [-x,+x], the number
of cards to be placed on each point of
the scale.
2.
The application: the respondent is first
required to group the cards in three
piles: statements of agreement,
statements of dissent and of indecision.
The respondent is then asked to place
all q-cards on the given continuum [x,+x], following the rules of the forced
distribution, so that in the end the
cards’ placing will resemble a normal
curve (like in fig. 3).
17
13
13
9
9
6
6
3
3
1
1
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
Figure 3. Forced distribution of Q-sorts
3.
Data analysis and Q-factors extraction.
While R factor analysis (the analysis
we commonly know as factor analysis)
can be used to find similarities (or
shared variance) across test items, in
Q-factor analysis each person is
treated as an experimental case and
represents the factored entity. Thus,
45
instead of factoring variables across
people, in Q-factor analysis people are
correlated across variables (Carr, 1992;
Burt, 1972).
Subjects and method
The application we propose is a study
of organizational identification in students. We
used different samples for the two parts of our
study. We first asked 63 students from the
same department to make free associations
based on the sintagm “student in X (name of
the department) at the Y University (the
university where they study)”. They had this
expression written down on a sheet of paper
and had 5 minutes to write all the words or
expressions that came to their minds. A large
number of concepts (over 600) were drawn
from their association. Out of these concepts,
we kept (1) the ones that appeared most
frequently, (2) that were particular only to this
category of students and did not apply to all
students (e.g. study, parties, exams). (3) We
also eliminated synonyms, keeping only one if
several appeared. In the end, we decided for a
solution of 81 concepts, representing
attributes, emotions, behaviors, facts, all
related to being a student in X at the Y
University.
These concepts were written down on
81 cards, and 23 other students (study years 1
to 4, males and females, aged 19 to 33) had to
complete two Q-sorts using them. The given
distribution was from –5 to 5, as it follows: 1, 3,
6, 9, 13, 17, 13, 9, 6, 3, 1. They first had to fill it
for their department and the second time for
themselves as students there. They were
given the following instruction: “Please order
the 81 cards you were given on a scale from –
5 (I don’t think this statement/concept is
characteristic for my department /myself as a
student of this department) to 5 (I think this
statement/concept is characteristic for my
department /myself as a student of this
department) so as to respect the given
distribution.”
Results and discussion
We analyzed the results obtained from
the sorts using Q-factor analysis (the PQmethod
program,
designed
by Peter
Schmolck).
For the students’ image of the faculty,
we first performed a centroid extraction in 7
factors. 20 of the 23 respondents loaded on
46
the first factor, while none of the rest loaded
significantly on any of the others. Based on
this interesting result, we proceeded to a
centroid two-factor extraction and adopted the
resulting two-factor solution as a working one.
In this context, the first factor was obviously
the most spread one, and we may say, the one
representative
for
the
department’s
organizational culture.
The Self-Identity sorts grouping after
the factorial analysis in two distinctive factors
shows that we have encountered an
unexpected consensus in self-definition and
self-perception.
The first factor, containing 16 students
is grouped around the conceptual territory of
new ideals (z=1.541), knowledge (1.525),
learning (1.417), development (1.201), work
(1.055), high standards (1.024). They seem to
be rather neutral towards items like group work
(0.177), role models (0.069), uniqueness (0.016), loyalty (-0.105), and have a strong
rejection for items like indifference (-2.397),
boredom (-2.234), regrets (-2.196), anger (2.074), lack of action (-1.974), failures (-1.877).
The second factor, loaded by only 4
students, occupies a self-representational
territory based primarily on development
(2.076), brand new information (1.847),
expertise (1.810), highest standards (1.625),
knowledge (1.272). These people are neutral
towards concepts like status (0.072), new
ideals (0.000), satisfaction (-0.026), prestige (0.136) and seem to heavily reject identifying
themselves based on concepts like lack of
action (-2.405), unorganized (-2.136), limits (1.803), fears (-1.729), regrets (-1.604).
The factors are mostly similar in their
rejection patterns, but are quite different in
some of those things they adhere and are
neutral to – even though one cannot state they
were contradictory or positioned competitively
one towards the other. There seems however
to be a serious increase in efficiency, a downto-earth taste of realism and a strive for doing
better in the second factor, while the first
seems to be more like the idealistic, normal,
everyday student.
Images of the organization in the
representational system of the sample has
split, too, in only two factors, the first loading
18 respondents and the second only two. We
may conclude there is a more accentuated
consensus regarding the description of the
organization then it was the case for the selfdescriptions.
Descriptions of the organization, based
on the item-response pattern of this first factor,
convolute around prestige (2.121), renowned
(1.717), good teachers (1.664), high standards
(1.590), dropping down in intensity towards
vision (0.130), ambition (0.122), hopes (0.110),
effort (0.025), power (-0.001), pleasure (0.039), something different (-0.063) and
turning to a definite negative view of boredom
(-2.060), limitations (-2.001), uncaring (-1.998),
regrets (-1.902), routine (-1.713), lack of action
(-1.691).
Both pre-sorting and post-sorting
interviews are consonant with this pattern of
perception regarding the organization: the
university is thus seen as being renowned,
having high prestige and good teachers. The
prestige is apparent both in the academic
community, when compared with other
universities in the domain of this department,
and in student-talk. This prestige is naturally
associated with members of the organization,
so that professors teaching here are more
positively evaluated by the outside world, and
students learning here are looked up to by
students from other universities. Furthermore,
the university enforces high standards on its
teachers, its students, the courses, the
research programs etc. Few associate the
university with lack of action, boredom or
routine and, even though there is a widespread
belief of students around the country that
university life is generally full of limitations,
frustrating in the lack of practical experience it
provides and thus generating regrets, students
in this university don’t seem to be consonant
with this view.
The next step of our procedure was to
visualize the maps of identity and of
organizational image, according to the factors
we obtained. We did this by means of plotting
items into a two-factor space, considering the
Z-scores of every item on every factor as
coordinates.
Figure
4
presents
this
visualization for organizational identity.
As may be observed by visual
inspection of the graphic, items are grouped on
a path hinting at linear regression and at a high
correlation between factor scores. However,
there are significant differences in Z-scores for
some items, from one factor to the other.
The first factor has significantly larger
scores on items like new ideals, satisfaction,
learning, seriousness, uncaring and boredom
(the last two being negatively loaded). As
ascertained in post-sorting interviews, these
students view the university as tainted by a
kind of idealistic halo, are highly satisfied with
how things evolve, are set on learning and
project their idealistic attitude on the current
and future behavior of faculty staff. They reject
the idea of boredom or uncaring, which is
somehow hinted at by those students
comprised in the second factor.
The second factor has significantly
larger scores on items like development, high
standards, interaction, group work, power
(negatively loaded), showing thus, consonant
with post-sorting interviews, that they perceive
the
university
as
encouraging
selfdevelopment, a high level of interaction among
its members, group work and highest
standards in scientific output and discouraging
power games and dominance struggles.
Figure 4. An illustration of main organizational
identity attributes, based on the results of Q-factorial
analysis
A similar visualising procedure was
run
for
organizational
image,
but
superimposing the two pictures did not result in
an intelligible relationship between selfevaluations and organization-evaluations of
items. The reason for this could be the fact
that, even though both resulting in two factors
with the first one more heavily loaded, the two
sorts are not similar: people in the first selfidentity factor are not always the same as
people in the first organizational-perception
factor. The factor solutions have been
differently rotated for every sample and are
actually the expression of connected but quite
47
different segments of subjectivity. This is the
reason we have reached out to MDS, as a
visualising technique and not as a statistical
interpretation technique.
For further illustrations of our results,
we only kept those attributes whose Z scores
were larger than 1. We adopted this solution
for two reasons: the first was that plotting 81
concepts on one map would result in too heavy
and unintelligible an image; the second reason
was that given the forced distribution, concepts
with Z-scores lower than 1 were the ones piled
in the middle. Those are the concepts the
subject is not too sure about, considers them
rather neutral or not concerned with the matter.
Hence, the attributes we kept were the ones
our subjects considered most important in
describing themselves (or the organization),
either by agreement or disagreement.
The original factor solution resulted in 4
“maps”: one for each factor and one for each
sort
(self-image
and
organizational
perception). We then compared them 1 by 1.
The comparison was made by superimposing
the map for image (for factor 1 or 2) with the
map for identity (for factor 1 or 2). The aim was
of course to compare subjective outputs of
different realities given by the same people,
and because some students cross-loaded (on
factor 1 in the self-identity and on factor 2 in
the organizational perception), three intelligible
comparisons were made: image factor 1—
identity factor 1, image factor 1— identity
factor 2, image factor 2—identity factor 1.
We previously stated that for both
identity and image, factor 1 gathers most
subjects and is more clearly defined (being
stable across several factorial solutions), while
factor 2 is made up not of more uncertain
opinions on the matter but on fewer and not
mainstream ones. Hence, in factor 1 are those
subjects who have a clear, stable opinion of
the matter, consistent with the mainstream
opinion and maybe loaded with just a hint of
cultural idiosincratic models.
By comparing image factor 1 with
identity factor 1, we in fact should obtain a
cognitive map of organizational identification
(what is central and stable in both image and
identity). By comparing image factor 1 with
identity factor 2, we have the cognitive maps of
subjects who have a clear and mainstream
image of their faculty, but not of their
organizational identity. Image 2—identity 1
gives us a clue about the thinking of those
subjects with a clear organizational identity,
48
but not with a homogenous and mainstream
view of the faculty image.
We shall now analyze more in depth
the superposition described above, the general
principles and the particular results obtained in
our study. Figure 5 illustrates the visual
solution obtained by a multi-dimensional
scaling of item Z-scores from factor 1 of the
self-identity sort and factor 1 of the
organizational perception sort. The red marks
represent attributes defining identity, while the
blue ones refer to image. The lines between
them represent the similarities of evaluation of
these attributes, as they are related to image
and identity.
Figure 5. A map of organizational identification
So what does this representation tell
us about the students’ organizational
identification? First of all, due to our choice of
concepts (Z-scores higher than 1), we can see
they are strongly polarized. It is interesting to
notice that at the positive pole there are fewer
concepts than at the negative one. There are
several reasons for that. First of all, it is
because the concepts rated with the highest
agreement were different for image (prestige,
fame, good professors) and for identity (new
ideals, knowledge, study). The positive part the
map is given first of all by attributes defining
the “object” as an institution (for image) or as a
person (for identity). Second, it may be that
students in our sample define themselves or a
situation easier by exclusion (by saying what
they are not) than by inclusion (by saying what
they are). As Greenwald (2002) states, one
principle of self-definition is always the
positivity of self. So denying negative attributes
is one of the first tasks our cognitive systems
deal with in the identification process. The
attributes most strongly denied are boredom,
limitation, regrets and fury for the faculty’s
image and boredom, regrets, fury and lack of
action for identity. The best-contoured
attributes for organizational identification are
challenge (positive), wasted time and boredom
(negative).
It appears that concepts having the
best fit between self-image and organizational
perception and being thus part of the “identity”
(the matching of the above) are challenge,
high standards, wasted time (negative) and
boredom (negative). Concepts important and
salient but not perfectly matched are
development, work, hard study, uncaring
(negative), limited (negative), discontent
(negative). Concepts with a rather low degree
of matching are annoying and disorganized
(both negative).
In the interpretation of the map,
several aspects must be taken into account.
We can first analyze the distance
between concepts, as a measure of their
similarity in the position they have in one’s
identity and in one’s organizational image map.
From this we can tell which are the defining
attributes of identification (the closer they are
represented, the more defining they are).
Another measure of these attribute’s centrality
or salience are the Z-scores they obtained.
We could, based on the proximity
measure, group the items into conceptual
territories. As an example, we have a first,
positive, conceptual territory where the
challenge stemming from high standards can
be met by hard study, work and selfdevelopment. And of course we could have a
second, negative, conceptual territory, where
failure is annoying, leads to fear and anger and
lack of action turns into routine, regrets,
wasted time and compromise.
Second, we can analyze separately
concepts of agreement and of disagreement.
This is a valuable asset this technique offers
for cognitive mapping, since it can represent
reality in two dimensions: what we are and
what we are not. Generally, cognitive maps
reflect content (attributes), not their valences.
Nevertheless, our cognitive system seems
more prone in processing negative information,
as proved in many decisional studies focused
on the framing effect (see Curşeu, 2003, for a
thorough analysis of the literature).
Concluding remarks
Starting from a fuzzy state of art in the
research of organizational identification on the
one hand and on the developments of
fundamental research regarding the self, selfconcept and identity, our study proposed a
novel approach for the study of organizational
identification (superposition of cognitive maps
of organizational image and identity), as well
as a different method for data gathering (Qsort) and data analysis (Q factorial analysis).
The advantages of the methodology we
proposed lie in high ecological validity
(participants reflect their own world in
generating the items), ease of use in practice,
but most important, in the representational
realities this kind of map covers, offering
information not only about content and
structure, but about concept-valence as well.
Rezumat
Lucrarea de faţă porneşte de la perspective ale
cogniţiei sociale, hărţilor cognitive şi teoriei identităţii
sociale în abordarea unei realităţi organizaţionale:
identificarea organizaţională. Aceasta din urmă
desemnează legătura dintre conceptul de sine şi
organizaţie, prin împărtăşirea unor atribute centrale,
stabile şi similare între cele două (Dutton et al.,
1994, Greenwald et al., 2002). După trecerea în
revistă a abordărilor identificării organizaţionale din
literatura de specialitate, precum şi a măsurătorilor
ei consacrate, ne centrăm asupra operaţionalizării
acestui concept, în termenii teoriei identităţii sociale.
De la identificarea organizaţională trecem apoi la
metodele de studiu a conceptului de sine, aşa cum
apar ele în cercetarea fundamentală, în speţă de
utilizarea hărţilor cognitive ca metodă de
reprezentare a conceptului de sine. Pornind de la o
definiţie operaţională a termenului, propunem o
metodă alternativă de colectare şi prelucrare a
datelor pentru construirea hărţilor cognitive, şi
anume metodologia Q. Într-un studiu empiric,
verificăm limitele şi avantajele metodologiei Q în
cartarea identificării cognitive.
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A CASE STUDY OF AN ORGANIZATION’S STRATEGIC HR APPROACH TO
INTEGRATION INTO THE EU: THE ROMANIAN BORDER POLICE
Janeth Firth*
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Dan Nichita
Romanian Border Police
Abstract
This year ten European countries will gain accession into the European Union, thus not
only changing the size but its very nature. Europe has become a much more diverse
place, with huge variations in the wealth of its member states. Romania, one of least
developed countries of Europe, is working towards accession for the next phase in 2007.
The paper presents a snapshot of an organisation preparing for the EU in 2007, the
Romanian Border Police, and attempts to present a realistic picture of incidents
encountered over a short period (ten months), as the organisation begins to develop and
implement its HR strategy. The focus of this research is a group of Human Resource
Development senior managers, and the impact they have had on the development and
implementation of the strategic plan. In order to facilitate the modernisation project the
main HRD specialists (regionally based) were given an opportunity of studying a
postgraduate certificate in Human Resource Development at the University of
Wolverhampton Business School. The research attempts to reveal whether the managers
now have the necessary knowledge to facilitate the changes, and how this knowledge has
been transferred into the workplace.
Key words: HR strategy, accession into the European Union, Romanian Border Police
*
Introduction and historical context
This case study has three main
strands or themes, which are iteratively woven
throughout. The first theme goes in search of
the RPB culture, by applying accepted, tried
and tested models to analyse organisational
culture. Hofstede’s (1991) five dimensional
model is arguably the most influential and
widely used. However, the works of Jackson
*
Correspondence can be addressed to:
Janeth Firth, Principal Lecturer, University of
Wolverhampton, UK, Tel: +44 (0) 1902 323663
Email: [email protected]
Dan Nichita, Head of Training and Development,
Romanian Border Police
Email:[email protected]
(2002) will also be used and will provide a
theoretical framework to help capture the links
between culture and HR practice.
The paper will then attempt to present
the existing strategic HR position of the RBP,
and examine the steps of transition intended to
bring the organisation inline with its European
counterparts, by the year 2007. The steps of
transition have emerged as a result of
conducting a strategic gap analysis. The RBP
have called this ‘the implementation of an
advanced system for HRM’, with the HR
strategy being largely based on the training of
managers. The global and specific objectives
have clearly been articulated and the research
hopes to reveal how far the RBP have come in
starting to achieve its objectives.
51
The third theme therefore is concerned with
those involved in the process of change, to
achieve the strategic HR objectives, i.e. the
transition agents: those senior managers who
attended the programme of study, in order to
gain knowledge of the tools and techniques
needed to facilitate change. The underlying
questions running in this theme will be: to what
extent has their pedagogy impacted upon the
organisation? Their work-based projects
should demonstrate the transfer of this
knowledge into the workplace, and will be used
as a valuable source of secondary data.
However, due to time factors (the programme
of study was completed 6 months ago), it is
envisaged that little evidence of this may exist,
not all fourteen managers may have had the
opportunity to begin addressing the strategic
objectives. This strand is therefore emergent.
The paper presents a case study
analysis of the RBP, adopting the methodology
as developed by Yin (1994). Information is
drawn from interviews (unstructured and semi
structured), participant and non-participant
observation, and extensive documentary
analysis from various sources, such as the
current RBP strategic plan, and the assessed
work based projects. I have adopted a
qualitative and interpretive approach, which is
one that recognises that relationships and
practices are ‘organised through the ideas,
values and interests of individuals and groups
producing action and interaction’ (Seale,
1998:27). This approach will allow me to focus
on people’s subjective experiences, and help
me better understand how sharing meanings
construct understandings of professional
practice.
Ultimately the case study will help
understand how language and practices are
embedded in the patterns of organisational
behaviour thus informing the culture, a culture
that needs to change rapidly in order for the
RBP to function effectively within a Western
European capitalist economy, rather than the
former command economies of Eastern
Europe
A summary of the political and
economic situation of Romania is presented.
This provides necessary contextualisation in
helping to understand the very difficult
conditions and constraints in which the
Romanian Border Police operate. Romania is
one of the less economically developed
countries of Central and Eastern Europe
(CRANET Survey 2001). The Ceausescuian
communist legacy left Romania with an
52
unproductive economy dominated by inefficient
(obsolete) state owned enterprises and
collective farms (UK Foreign Office Country
Profiles 2003). Progress since 1989 has been
slow. Romanian governments have taken a
gradualist approach to structural reforms, with
disappointing results. The country experienced
high levels of inflation, a slight increase in the
GDP per capita, and a constant devaluation of
the national currency (lei). However, by the
year 2000, the GDP growth rate had increased
after a three-year period of decline between
1996 and 1999. At the same time the strong
currency reserves of the National Bank grew
by $950 million, and those of other commercial
banks by $290 million, thus demonstrating a
more optimistic climate (Guraău, 2002 p. 289)
much needed for the pending entry into the EU
in 2007. However progress on structural
reforms and privatisation has been slow.
Parliament has now adopted legislation to
accelerate the privatisation process. In the last
2-3 years there has been a massive increase
in the volume of training undertaken by
Romania, particularly the public sector. In
Romania’s National Development Plan (20002004), human resource development is one of
the three areas of national importance,
alongside environmental and sexual equality
(Romanian National Observatory, 2000 p. 33).
The Romanian Border Police
The Romanian Border Police were
established in 1999 as a result of the start of a
comprehensive reform and modernisation
programme. Part of this process was to merge
the National Border Guard and the Border
Police Directorate to form the RBP. To address
the pending inclusion into the EU (2007) the
RBP developed a strategy for the period 20032007. The main focus of the RBP’s strategic
document is that of border security,
understandably as Romania is land locked by
Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and
Moldavia. However, it also strongly identifies a
drive in the training of staff in legislation,
organisational development, human resource
management, human resource development,
and logistics (at this juncture it is necessary to
point out that some of the words used in the
RPB strategy are different from those used in
this paper. This illustrates in the first instance
the cultural language differences, which we
need an awareness of when conducting
research (Gilbert 2001). For example those we
refer to as HRD specialists are called
‘professors’ in Romania, and the concept of
HRD is generally referred to as ‘training’ by the
Romanians). Hence in order to improve the
RBP’s training systems and function new
headquarters were established, with the remit
of coordinating the training function across all
regions of the country. To facilitate the
modernisation project the main HRD
specialists (regionally based) were then given
an opportunity of studying a postgraduate
certificate in Human Resource Development at
the University of Wolverhampton Business
School. The preferred mode of attendance was
the block or fast track programme. That meant
that fourteen RBP senior managers would be
in residence for five weeks including
weekends. The period of five weeks is split into
three parts, thus requiring the students to
return to England on three separate occasions
over a five-month period. The RBP managers
were carefully selected by an independent
organisation to attend the programme of study,
which began in March 2003 and ended in
August of the same year. The content of the
programme consists of four main modules and
is CIPD endorsed. The modules are: Managing
Change through HRD, Managing the Learning
Process, Managing the Training Function, and
Employee Development. A work based project
and a professional development journal is also
required to complete the programme of study.
The work-based projects will feature later, and
will be used as a rich source of research
material.
In search of Romanian culture
The first strand of this case study
attempts to put some meaning to Romanian
culture. During their programme of study the
RBP managers were required to undertake a
module entitled ‘International Perspectives’.
The assessment of this is based on their ability
to conduct a comparative analysis of their
organisations HR strategy against a host
organisation in a different country. The data
from their findings has been used to examine
the RBP culture. However, first it can be useful
to contextualise an organisational culture by
first examining the national culture, and to
consider, and understand some of the major
aspects
impacting
and
influencing
organisational culture. The RBP managers
used Hofstede (1991) to make broad cultural
comparisons. This may be viewed as unhelpful
in as much that Hofstede’s (1991) western
theory might not fit into the Romanian context.
However, in Hofstedes work entitled ‘Cultural
consequences’ (2001) he writes at length
about being first Dutch and secondly
European. Hofstede (1991) claimed that in his
studies his dimensions accounted for just half
the differences. However, Hofstede’s more
recent work (2001) has ranked each of the
main cultural factors of: power distance,
uncertainty avoidance, individualism and
masculinity against the country analysed to
produce indices of countries. Romania was not
included in the indices. Hence the building up
of this cultural profile was original work done
by the group, and stimulated much debate.
The findings in Table 1 are based on a
synthesis of the data collected form the group,
and may help to rank Romania on Hofstede’s
indices.
The findings presented in Table 1
require further analysis, but given the
constraints of the word count a summary can
only be presented. The findings are not a total
surprise considering the organisation in
question is military, hierarchical, and ex
communist. One would expect to find such an
organisation as having high power distance,
high uncertainty avoidance and a high degree
of collectivism, but somewhat surprising that
the
organisation
is
moving
towards
masculinity. Several of the items listed relate to
recent changes in peoples behaviour, (such as
being more competitive, and the acquisition of
material wealth). Thus it invites the invocation
of cultural scholars such as Schein and his
work on corporate culture (1969), and
Hofstede himself, who suggest that it takes a
lot longer for an underlying culture to change
than for a people’s behaviour. According to
Searle (1998) changes in behaviour might
easily be misinterpreted as signs of culture
change. A further examination of this will be
incorporated into a follow up paper.
Having looked at the Romanian culture
the group were then asked to look at their
organisation culture. When the RBP managers
were asked to conduct a cultural analysis of
their own organisation they argued that in
order to compare their organisational culture
against a national culture the same model
should be used to give consistency. It is widely
known that Hofstedes (1991) model is used for
a societal analysis, but given the managers’
request and their justification for this request
they conducted an organisational analysis
using the same model.
53
Table 1. Sociocultural analysis of Romania (as analysed by the RBP managers)
Cultural dimensions
Observations and experience
Power distance
Hierarchical organisations
High degree of autocratic leadership (legacy of Communist regime)
Style of dress important i.e. uniforms displaying rank (status important)
Personal style is warm, friendly and emotionally open
Wide wealth differentials
Lecturers, teachers, parents treated with respect
High power distance
Risk traditionally avoided but becoming more accepted
Organisations tend to be strong bureaucracies
Strict rules and policies
Career stability important
Uncertainty avoidance
High emphasis now being placed on security (due to rise in corruption and gang
warfare)
Due to historical event Romanians want stability not uncertainty or ambiguity
High levels of stress, alcoholism, low standards of public health
Integration into the EU seen as bringing stability
Organisations now keen to work in partnership outside Romania
High uncertainty avoidance
Importance placed on group loyalty
Harmonious relationships within groups important
Individualism/collectivism
Strong emphasis on cohesiveness of family
Group achievement more important than personal achievement
High degree of collectivism
National culture moving towards masculine traits
Being more competitive (in the business world)
Achievement oriented
Acquisition of money and wealth becoming more important
Masculinity/femininity
More emphasis on buying houses, and owning home
Quality of life and caring for others becoming increasingly more difficult to
reconcile with the long working hours to achieve
Improved life style and obtain luxury goods (cars, own home etc.)
Growing importance placed on being ‘successful’
Moving toward masculinity
Their findings are recorded in Table 2 and
reveal that the national culture is influencing
organisational culture. Moreover, it was difficult
to avoid duplication i.e. some of the
observations, and subsequent comments
made of the national culture were being
repeated for their organisational culture. Table
2 represents a synthesis of their findings.
This cultural analysis helped the RBP
managers to make sense of the organisation in
which they operate. They had never conducted
such an activity prior to coming on the
programme of study, and they felt the whole
exercise gave meaning to some of the
54
practices adopted in the workplace. It is worth
mentioning at this point that Hofstede’s (1991)
cultural factors may be interpreted differently
from our British/Western perspective. As RussEft and Hatcher (2003) point out, the notion of
power distance may be construed as
something quite different between cultures. For
example, low power distance cultures hold that
‘all should have equal rights’ whereas high
power distance cultures hold that ‘power
holders are entitled to privileges’. The ways in
which two types of cultures interpret this may
be quite different and may lead to the
elimination of this particular principle because
of lack of agreement. This was something
experienced in the classroom, and needs to be
considered
analyses.
when
reading
these
cultural
Table 2. Organisational cultural analysis of RBP (as analysed by the RBP managers)
Cultural dimensions
Observations and experience
High power distance
RBP officers have a strict attitude to dress, official uniforms and noticeable rank
Hierarchical organisation
Select for specific job and level
RBP - 9 ranks in the hierarchical structure, 5 are senior officer ranks
Clear vision and strategy
High uncertainty avoidance
Leadership is task specific
Specific rules and policies
Limited use of performance related pay
Started setting appraisal targets
Need to clear vision and goals to aim for
High degree of formality
Emphasis on security
Collectivism
Group membership loyalty
Group achievement more important than personal achievement
Emphasis on teamwork and team competition
Normative or moral employee relations
Conscious ‘we’
Masculinity/femininity
Work to live
Relationships important
Conciliation and compromise
Acquisition of money and wealth becoming more important
Moe emphasis on buying houses, and owning own home
Increasingly becoming more competitive in the workplace
Both masculine and feminine characteristics evident
The next stage was for the managers
to examine their HR practices, being mindful of
the cultures (national and organisational)
influencing their practice. In order to capture
the links between culture and HR practices
Jackson’s (2002) framework was used as a
tool for analysis. The framework has
developed two contrasting management
perceptions of the value of people in
organisations: instrumental and humanistic.
These perceptions are evident in the way in
which policy is formulated, and the subsequent
HR practices coming from these policy
orientations. The framework is called ‘locus of
human value’. Jackson claims that the two loci
of human value lie at the heart of international
HRM and each approach is a product of
cultural factures. According to Jackson (2002),
global cultural interaction can bring these two
loci of human value into conflict. This is a
situation facing the RBP currently. They are
under increasing pressure to adapt their
culture in order to align themselves with their
EU counterparts. Hungary has recently been
accepted into the EU by developing their
processes and procedures to make EU laws
meaningful. This has been done by using the
well-educated workforce, and training them
into effective HR professions (CIA country
profiles 2003). Jackson (2002 p.470) argues
however, “managing globally goes further than
simply adapting practices effectively from one
culture to another”.
The RBP managers collectively agreed
that their perception of the value of people in
their organisation was humanistic, based on
Jackson’s framework. The following framework
was indicative of the RBP links between
culture and HRM practices.
55
Table 3. RBP Locus of human value
Cultural factors
Humanistic
The organisation
should serve the ends
of its people
People development
Loyal commitment
People orientation
Relations orientation
Collectivism
Seeing people as an end
in themselves
Quality of work & life
Democracy
People development
People welfare
Moral commitment
Worker participation
Developing the person
Social welfare
Job commitment
Given the socio-cultural, organisational and
HRM/cultural analysis, what HR strategy did
the RBP need to develop in order to meet EU
legislative demands? The RBP strategy
reflects some of HR practices, which need
development, and indeed those HR practices
that have yet to be implemented. The strategy
has been formulated on two plains: at
inception and the final vision. It is the final part
of the strategy, which is of more interest, and
thus demonstrates how the programme of
study has aided the process of HR strategic
planning.
The strategy taken by the Romanian
Border Police towards integration
into the EU
The
strengthening
of
border
management and controls, in particular on the
Eastern and Northern borders, is a key
element of Romania’s Accession Partnership
with the European Union. Romania, as many
other states in Central and Eastern Europe, is
faced with a growing threat from illegal crossborder activity, which includes illegal
immigration,
drug
trafficking,
weapons
smuggling and many other forms of organised
criminal activity. Many organised criminal
groups view Romania as a natural transit route
as they seek to penetrate the European Union
itself.
The National Border Guard was a
military organisation, in which conscripts made
up the largest part of the personnel. The
Border Police Directorate also had a military
regime but without conscripts. After one year,
the conscripts were ending their military
probation and they had to be replaced with
others, without any knowledge and skills
regarding border management (surveillance of
the borders). The training period over the first
three months from their military probation had
to be provided in order to equip them with the
56
necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes
required to cope with growing threats of cross
border crime. Moreover, due to the high
potential of corruption within the conscripts,
they were breaking the law by allowing some
facilities to the offenders (smugglers, illegal
migrants, traffickers of human beings, etc) in
exchange with benefits.
During the initial period, after these
two large organisations were merged, it
became clear there were vast cultural
differences between the two organisations,
and that the merger had presented many
problems. The main task was to replace oldfashioned methods to manage the borders with
a modern approach, in line with EU standards
and best practice. This required the
undertaking of a gap analysis, which would
form the basis for a new strategy, as
recommended by Beardwell (1995). The new
management team therefore initiated a gap
analysis, in order to establish the priorities as
well as an Action Plan (Journey of transition).
The gap analysis also accounted for the new
work methods, methodologies and the
strategic approach in the field of Human
Resources, logistics, and European legislation.
Thus, the scale of the task facing the RBP as it
seeks to develop itself from a partly military,
conscript organisation to a fully professional
law enforcement agency is considerable, and
addressing it places a severe strain on the
country’s scarce resources. Consequently,
external assistance through the European
Funding Programme was required.
HR strategic gap analysis
It was only possible for the senior RBP
managers to conduct a gap analysis since
attending the University of Wolverhampton.
Prior to that period the gap approach was
unheard of. The Gap Approach was used as
described by Walton (1999), and has been
established on two levels.
the green (land) and blue (sea) border,
control of the documents).
Inception level
The strategic position of the RBP at
the time of the exercise:
• military structure and regime
• ineffective structure, hierarchical with too
many tiers, and no formal regional
structures
• lack of communication both horizontally
and vertically, therefore the necessity to
establish a Communication Plan for the
RBP
• no Human Resources Directorate in which
the HRM and HRD areas are clearly
defined
• no strategies and policies, especially in the
HRD area
• lack of a training policy and function, high
number of training centres, a legacy of the
former regime when RBP had conscripts,
the professors were ‘trainers’ for the
conscripts rather than real professors for
the officers and sub officers
• the RBP Schools (Oradea and Orsova)
have a lack of specialised personnel for
delivering required training
• training delivered in a long established
way: no interactive training, playing role,
study cases etc
• lack of training for managers, as well as for
the reserve of the personnel. Almost all
managers had a military schooling and
they had a military management
• lack of personnel trained in the HR area,
especially in the field of employee
development, managing change through
HRD, organisational development, etc
• ineffective selection and recruitment
system for the professional sergeants
(hired based on personal contract, etc)
who are replacing the conscripts within the
professionalisation process
• out-of-date legal basis (not in accordance
with EU requirements) as well as
secondary border legislation
• lack of high level equipment for border
surveillance and control and equipment
out-of-date
• old fashioned methods and methodologies
in operational areas (border surveillance at
Final level
The Romanian Border Police strategic
vision for 1st January 2007 (the proposed date
for joining the EU) is:
• professional
management
structure:
qualified professionals at all levels and in all
functions (operational, logistics, HRM/HRD,
juridical,
international
co-operation,
financial)
• adequate equipment for border surveillance
and control at the green and blue borders,
as well as within Cross Border Points, in
line with those within EU
• adequate training system and function, in
line with the EU training function within
similarly institutions; modern training
centres and schools with required experts
for training and developing the personnel
• adequate legal basis, in line with EU
requirements, including the secondary
border legislation
• methods, methodologies and work patterns
according with those in use within the EU
similarly institutions
• adequate selection and recruitment system
for the personnel.
The
re-organisation
process
is
ongoing, but the strategy proves that the
Romanian Border Police are taking into
account all the changes needed, and how the
organisations personnel will be effected by the
speed of change (i.e. how quickly change is
implemented). Taking into account the
tensions change can cause as observed by
Jaffe (2003).
The Postgraduate Course in HRD at
Wolverhampton Business School made
possible this new approach to organisational
change and helped the Romanian Border
Police on the path of EU integration, by
assisting them to solve their own problems
through the teaching of process consultancy
(Schein 1969).
Knowledge transfer
The third theme of this case study is
concerned with those involved in the process
of change, to achieve the strategic HR
objectives, i.e. the transition agents: those
senior managers who attended the programme
57
of study, in order to gain knowledge of the
tools and techniques needed to facilitate
change. Given the RBP strategic HR
objectives do the managers now have the
necessary knowledge to facilitate the
changes? The underlying question will be: to
what extent has their pedagogy impacted upon
the organisation? The fact that a coherent
strategy has been formulated is in itself a
measure of success, but one of the key
measures would be how the managers have
demonstrated the transfer of skills and
knowledge into the workplace. Their workbased projects should demonstrate the
transfer of this knowledge into the workplace,
and has been used as a valuable source of
secondary data for this case study. Table 4
illustrates the nature of those work-based
projects and indicates whether the programme
assisted with their HR strategic objectives. The
black dotted boxes illustrate where the
manager felt the objective had been achieved.
Overall has the programme helped your
organisation focus its HR strategy on EU
integration?
Did the module ‘international
perspectives’ help link your project with
the HR strategy?
Did the module ‘employee development’
help link your project with the HR
strategy?
Did the module ‘managing the training
function’ help to link your project with the
HR strategy?
Did the module ‘design and deliver
training’ help to link your work based
project to the HR strategy?
Did the module ‘managing change’ help
with linking your work-based project to the
HR strategy?
Has the programme of study enhanced
your professional practice?
Does your project link into the general
organisational strategy?
Title of work based project
Does your project link into the HR
strategy?
Table 4. The work based projects
The new curriculum for training the border
police agents
Management of the externally provided
training for the Romania border police
Training of the county inspectorate of
border police: Giurgiu personnel in the
field of communication
Improvements of the staff appraisal
system in the border police HQ (360
degree appraisal)
The bureau against documentary fraud
Communication systems with the mass
media
Analysis, demands and perspectives of
Bucharest-Otopeni border cross point
Training and evaluations methods in the
Constanta border police directorate
Professional training of Romanian border
police - Hungarian border
Improving HR systems at the Romanian
border police
Teaching English classes to the Romanian
border police
Analysis of management styles in the
Romanian border police
Training in the filed of international
cooperation at the borders
Legislative considerations in fulfilling the
requirements of the EU
The overall picture is one of success
with only a few unmarked boxes, thus
illustrating areas where the programme of
58
study had not made a contribution in helping
with the HR strategy. From the table we can
see the least effective modules taught on the
programme, in terms of helping the
organisation formulate strategy and help
facilitate the change process is ‘employee
learning and development’, and the ‘design
and delivery of training’. Ongoing dialogue with
the managers revealed that these areas of the
programme were least helpful because of the
vast differences traditionally between training,
learning and development in Britain as
compared with Romania. The most helpful
area was the ‘managing change’ module.
However all managers stated that their work
based projects were based on real work
situations and helped with the development
and improvement of the HR processes,
systems and formulation of strategic
objectives.
Interviews of the managers will take
place later this year, as part of this ongoing
research, in an attempt to reveal whether their
individual plans for transferring the knowledge
and skills acquired has continued, and if so
how this has been achieved.
Summary
This paper has attempted to capture a
snapshot of an organisation preparing for
accession into the EU. The case study
presented national and organisational culture,
and then linked the HR strategy to the culture.
It then looked at the RBPs strategic objectives,
and presents as analysis of how the
programme of study at the University of
Wolverhampton Business School has helped
managers start to achieve those objectives.
The purpose of this case study
however, was not to find answers to how this
organisation should prepare itself for EU
integration, but rather, to present an account of
significant preparatory events over a ten month
period, as seen through the eyes of the
change agents. They have faced significant
changes. It is inconceivable that any
organisation can hope to achieve change on
this scale without ensuring that those involved
in the change process are suitably trained with
the requisite knowledge and skills to enable
them to do this. What the training did, in
addition to giving them the requisite knowledge
and skills, was to change their mindset i.e.
their attitudes towards training. Human
resource development is now viewed as a
much more powerful tool than previously, and
a means for achieving organisational change
and development. This raises questions as to
why training and development was not valued
before. The most interesting aspect of this
research will be to see how this is used
between now and 2007.
Rezumat
În acest an zece ţări europene vor adera la Uniunea
Europeană, ceea ce va modifica nu doar mărimea,
dar şi natura acesteia. Europa a devenit un spaţiu
mult mai diversificat, cu variaţii imense la nivelul
bunăstării statelor membre. România, una din ţările
mai puţin dezvoltate ale Europei, depune eforturi
pentru integrare în următoarea fază din anul 2007.
Acest articol prezintă o organizaţie care se
pregăteşte pentru intrarea în UE în anul 2007,
Poliţia Română de Frontieră, încercând să realizeze
o imagine cât mai realistă a incidentelor apărute pe
parcursul unei scurte perioade (zece luni), la
începutul procesului de dezvoltare şi implementare
a strategiei de resurse umane. Această cercetare
este focalizată asupra unui grup de senior –
manageri din domeniul dezvoltării resurselor umane
şi asupra impactului pe care aceştia l-au avut
asupra dezvoltării şi implementării planului strategic.
Pentru a facilita proiectul de modernizare,
principalilor specialişti în domeniul resurselor umane
(pe bază regională) li s-a oferit oportunitatea de a
participa la studii postuniversitare în cadrul
Departamentului de Resurse Umane al University of
Wolverhampton
Business
School.
Această
cercetare încearcă să evidenţieze dacă managerii
au acum cunoştinţele necesare pentru a facilita
schimbările, şi cum pot fi aceste cunoştinţe
transferate în mediul de muncă.
References
Beardwell, I. & Holden, L. (1995) Human Resource
Management (London: Pitman).
Brewster, C., Communal, C., Ferndale, E.,
Hegewisch, A., Johnson, G., & van Ommeren,
J. (2001) The HR healthcheck: benchmarking
HRM practice across the UK and Europe.
London: FT Prentice Hall.
Brewster, C., Communal, C., Farndale, E.,
Hegewisch, A. & van Ommeren, J. (2000)
Cranet Survey: executive report. Cranfield
Network on European HRM: Cranfield School of
Management.
CIA Country Profiles web site available at
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications
Gilbert, K. (2001) In search of Russian culture: the
interplay of organisational, environmental and
cultural
factures
in
Russian-Western
partnerships, University of Wolverhampton
Business School Working Paper Series 003/01.
59
Gurău, C. (2002) Online banking in transition
economies:
the
implementation
and
development of online banking systems in
Romania International Journal of Bank
Marketing 20(6),285-296.
Harris, H., Brewester, C. & Sparrow, P. (2003)
International resource management. London:
CIPD.
Hofstede, G. (1991) Culture and organisations:
software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.
Hofstede, G. (2001) Cultural Consequences, 2nd
edition. London, thousand oaks.
Iles, P. & Yolles, M. (2003) International HRD
alliances in viable knowledge migration and
development: the Czech Academic Link Project
Human Resource Development International
6(3) 301-324.
Jackson, T. (2002) International HRM: a cross
cultural approach. London: Sage.
Jaffe, D. (2003) Organisation theory tension and
change. London: McGraw-Hill.
Jick. T. & Peiperl, M. A. (2003) Managing change:
cases and concepts. London: McGraw-Hill.
Lawrence, P. & Edwards, V. (2002) Management in
western Europe. London: Macmillan Press.
Romanian
National
Observatory
(2000)
Modernization of vocational education and
training
in
Romania
http://www.etf.eu.int/etfweb.nsf/pages/download
bycountryfiles/$file/romania2000.pdf
Russ-Eft, D. & Hatcher, T. (2003) The issue of
international values and beliefs: the debate for a
global HRD code of ethics Advances in
Developing Human Resources 5(3) 296-307.
Schein, E. (1969) Corporate culture. London:
Longman.
Searle, C. (Ed) (1998) Researching society and
culture. London: Sage.
UK Foreign Office Country Profiles web site at
http://www.fco.gov.uk (2003).
Walton, J. (1999) Strategic HRD. London: Prentice
Hall.
Yin, R.K. (1994) Case study research: design and
methods 2nd edition. London: Sage.
Teste psihologice
Testele psihologice se supun dreptului de copyright. În conformitate cu standardele şi legile
internaţionale, precum si cu legile speciale emise de statul roman cu privire la protecţia drepturilor
de autor, utilizarea în orice scop, publicarea sau comercializarea neautorizată a acestor teste se
consideră a fi furt calificat şi se sancţionează penal.
Vă indicăm dreptul de comercializare în România a unor instrumente de evaluare psihologică care
pot fi achiziţionate sub licenţă precum şi distribuitorii acestora:
•
INVENTARUL PSIHOLOGIC CALIFORNIA (CPI),
VERSIUNILE CPI-462, 434, 260
D&D Consultants, Bucureşti (www.ddconsultants.ro)
•
16 PF
D&D Consultants, Bucureşti (www.ddconsultants.ro)
•
MATRICI PROGRESIVE RAVEN
RTS Romanian Psychological Testing Services,
Cluj Napoca (www.rtscluj.ro)
•
BATERIA DE TESTE PSIHOLOGICE
DE APTITUDINI COGNITIVE (BTPAC)
COGNITROM, Cluj Napoca (www.cognitrom.ro)
60
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM):
IMPLEMENTATION AND COMMON PITFALLS
Darrell W. Bother*
Middle Tennessee State University, USA
Thomas Li-Ping Tang
Abstract
This paper examines the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM), various
implementation procedures, and common pitfalls. TQM means that the organization’s
culture is defined by and supports the constant attainment of customer satisfaction
through an integrated system of tools, techniques, and training. TQM can be regarded as
a continuous, customer-centered, employee-driven improvement and is embedded in the
organization’s culture. If not implemented properly, TQM often leads to the alienation of
the workforce and decreased customer satisfaction. We also examine issues related to
the quality of products and services, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and
creating a “win-win” situation for the organization’s stakeholders.
Key words: Total Quality Management (TQM), Pitfalls, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction
*
Introduction
More than two decades ago, in 1980,
NBC aired a television documentary titled: “If
Japan cans…Why Can’t We”? This was the
wake-up call for many large corporations in the
US, those in electronics and automobile
industries, in particular. Thanks to the Total
Quality Management (TQM) movement, the
quality of much of what we buy in stores today
in the US is significantly better than in the past.
The underlying principles of TQM are also
applicable to the significant growth of both Ebusiness on the Internet and the overall
service economy.
Definition. Before we discuss the
notion of Total Quality Management, we need
to define the term quality. What is quality?
According to W. Edwards Deming (2000a), “a
product or a service possesses quality if it
*
Autorii doresc să îi mulţumească domnului Horia
D. Pitariu pentru sprijinul şi încurajările acordate.
Ambii autori au contribuit în mod egal şi numele lor
sunt aranjate alfabetic. Adresa la care poate fi
trimisă corespondenţa este: Thomas Li-Ping Tang,
Box 516, Department of Management and
Marketing, Jennings A. Jones College of Business,
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro,
TN 37132, USA. Telefon: (615) 898-2005, Fax:
(615) 898-5308
e-mail: [email protected]. (TQMBooher.doc:
12/16/2003, re-submitted 12/6/2004).
helps somebody and enjoys a good and
sustainable market”. “Trade depends on
quality” (p. 2). Quality can be defined as the
ability of a product or service to reliably do
what it’s supposed to do and to satisfy
customer expectations. On the one hand,
regarding product quality, there are several
dimensions of quality. They may include:
performance, features, flexibility, durability,
conformance, serviceability, aesthetics, and
perceived quality. On the other hand, when we
consider service quality, we may include the
following dimensions: timeliness, courtesy,
consistency, convenience, completeness, and
accuracy.
What is TQM? Experts provide the
following statement: TQM means that the
organization’s culture is defined by and
supports the constant attainment of customer
satisfaction through an integrated system of
tools, techniques, and training. This involves
the continuous improvement of organizational
process, resulting in high-quality products and
services (Sashkin & Kiser, 1993). It can be
regarded as a continuous, customer-centered,
employee-driven
improvement
and
is
embedded in the organization’s culture.
The TQM concept focuses on the
customer and promotes the idea of satisfying
customers’ needs by creating better products
and services at a competitive price (Leonard &
McAdam, 2002). There is an important
61
purpose, also: Better products and services
lead to more satisfied customers and, in turn,
lead to more customers which would, in turn,
bring more profits for the company. “Most of us
are in business to make money from our
customers. The equation is supposed to be:
‘More satisfaction equals more customers and
more customers equal more money’” (Hoare,
1994: 5). Money, after all, is the goal of why
these philosophical concepts were born.
According to Allan Sloan (2002), News
Week’s Wall Street Editor, Americans have
always loved money. De Tocqueville traced
love of wealth to the root of all that Americans
do (see also Tang & Chiu, 2003; Tang &
Weatherford, 2004).
The principles of TQM were well
established by W. Edwards Deming and other
pioneers such as Joseph Juran, Genichi
Taguchi, and Philip B. Crosby (Deming, 2000a,
2000b; Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000; Lau &
Anderson, 1998). Deming was credited for
Japan’s post-World War II quality revolution.
He continued to promote TQM till his death at
age 93 in 1993.
Deming’s 85-15 rule, one of the most
enduring lessons for managers, suggests that
when things go wrong, there is a roughly an
85% change the system (e.g., management,
machinery, and rules) is at fault. Only about
15% of the time is the individual employee at
fault. Productivity depends on people and
operations variables. Deming also has
identifies the following four common TQM
principles:
1. Do it right the first time to eliminate costly
rework and product recalls.
2. Listen to and learn from customers and
employees.
3. Make
continuous
improvement
an
everyday matter.
4. Build teamwork, trust, and mutual respect.
According to Deming (2000b), the
importance of quality is related to profits
mentioned earlier (Hoare, 1994). For example,
“it pays to keep the customers satisfied: if a car
owner likes his car, he’s apt to buy four more
cars of the same make over the following
twelve years. The customer is also likely to
spread the good news to eight other people”.
But woe to the car company that delivers a
shoddy product, an angry car buyer will tell his
troubles to an average of sixteen people (Car
and Driver, 1983, August, p. 33, cited in
Deming, 2000b: 122). “The happy customer
that comes back for more is worth 10
prospects. He comes without advertising or
62
persuasion, and he may even bring in a friend”
(cited in Deming, 2000b: 122).
In today’s world market, organizations
in the US attempt to implement various
concepts of quality improvements such as Six
Sigma, reengineering, and Total Quality
Management
(London,
2002).
These
philosophical concepts have become the
business “buzzwords” heard in most board
rooms today. Nearly all employees have heard
these terms in one form or another.
Unfortunately, to most of them, these terms
represent the latest “fad” that management is
trying to make them “buy-in-to” in order to
reestablish the business superiority.
Brief History. The TQM concept
originally came about in the US but was met
with indifference and a great reluctance by US
companies to implement it (Lau & Anderson,
1998). So the original pioneers took their idea
to Japanese and transformed the statement
“Made in Japan” from meaning “cheap and
poor in quality” into meaning “more value for
the dollar” (London, 2002; see also Davenport
& Tang, 1996; Rhody & Tang, 1995). After the
oil crisis in 1973, Japanese companies began
to dominate the world’s business markets
especially in the automotive industry.
Companies in the US were forced to become
more competitive or continue to lose business
and eventually face bankruptcy and business
failure. Japanese companies had employed
the techniques of TQM to create large transfer
of wealth to their companies since the 1980’s
and early 1990’s (James, 2002).
The basic idea of worker participation
was effectively used in the US in the 1940s. In
1949, a Quality Control Sub-Committee was
organized within the Union (Society) of
Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).
This sub-committee later developed into the
QC Research Group and introduced quality
control to Japan. In September, 1951, the first
Quality Control Conference was held in Japan
and the Deming Prize was awarded for the
first time.
In the early 1970s, the US began to
study Japanese businesses to find out how
Japan had seemingly taken over the world’s
markets overnight. In reality, while US
businesses
were
sleeping,
Japanese
businesses had been involved in a long and
continual process of developing manufacturing
processes which greatly improved their
products. The same concept that the US had
rejected previously had now become the
Japanese way of “doing things right”. All the
US companies wanted to convert to the
“Japanese Way” and began implementing it
right away.
In 1974, Quality Circles (QCs) were reintroduced back to the US. The Lockheed
Missiles and Space Company began the very
first pure quality circle program (QC) on the
Trident Naval Program. A quality circle (QC) is
a group of workers from the same work area
who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to
identify, analyze, and solve various workrelated problems (e.g., Tang & Butler, 1997;
Tang, Tollison, & Whiteside, 1987, 1989, 1991,
1993, 1996). There has been a long history of
research in the literature that is related to
quality circles (QCs). QC programs in the US
became very popular in the 1980s and beyond
(Griffin, 1988; Marks, Mirvis, Hackett, & Grady,
1986; Tang, Tollison, & Whiteside, 1987,
1989). It was estimated, at that time, that over
90% of the Fortune 500 companies used QC
programs (Lawler & Mohrman, 1985) involving
approximately 200,000 workers in the US
(Lawler, 1986). This QC movement has been
expanded to the TQM movement.
The buzzword, TQM, creates a great
expectation. Everyone talks about the great
thing that will bring back lost business and
make the business world all right again in the
US. Life will once again be grand and US
workers will be gainfully employed with a more
secure employment future (Anschutz, 1995).
However, somewhere along the way, the TQM
implementation went wrong, and TQM actually
appeared to be the cause of some business
failures.
TQM Pitfalls
Total Quality Management (TQM) is
one of the ways to improve quality. The
organizations’ attempts to regain lost business
have met with varying results due to the
misunderstandings of the TQM implementation
processes (Alter, 2000). As more and more
companies attempt to implement TQM, a
greater understanding of what went wrong can
be gained through the empirical research. Our
new knowledge in this area may improve
future TQM programs. Research has provided
solutions to some of the common problems of
TQM and pointed out some common pitfalls.
In a study of attributions of quality
circles’ problem-solving failure, Tang and
Butler (1997) identified the following reasons:
lack of top management support, lack of QC
members’ commitment, lack of problem-
solving skills, QC members’ turnover, the
nature of the QC task/project, lack of support
from staff members, and lack of data and time.
Following the same line of research, some
reasons for the failure of the TQM system are:
lack of implementation plans, lack of
leadership, lack of effective feedback, lack of
measurement and reward systems, and lack of
employee empowerment (Elmuti & Kathawala,
2002; Emery, Summers, & Surak, 1996). We
will provide brief discussion regarding the
causes of TQM implementation failure below.
Change. Perhaps one of the greatest
initial obstacles to overcome in implementing
any new program is “change”. Change is often
very slow in coming. People resist change
because of the fear and uncertainty change
brings. People cling to the familiar. People
want things to be left alone; they want life to go
on as it was. Besides, change involves
additional work. People want to take the
easiest path available, so they have a great
reluctance to change. In a world filled with
uncertainties, it is easier to hold on to the
familiar than doing something new. Change
would require great effort on everyone’s part.
TQM as a Separate System. A great
misunderstanding by upper management has
taken place. Firms believe that the TQM
concept is something that can be bought and
installed similar to a piece of machinery. They
believe that TQM can be brought in and, with
minor adjustments in the machinery, their firm
will be up and running with little effort. They fail
to understand “that TQM is a long-term
business strategy” with many “troughs and
peaks” (Dale & Cooper, 1994: 22). That is,
TQM can not be treated as a separate or a
parallel system in an organization. It has to be
totally integrated into the mission statement
and the whole system of an organization. For
TQM to be successful, it has to have top level
management’s full and enthusiastic support
(Tang,
Tollison,
&
Whiteside,
1989).
Management has to show employees through
their actions and the firm’s commitment to
TQM goals instead of words alone. Telling
employees “My way or the highway” would not
be sufficient. That attitude just wouldn’t fly.
Top Management Support. “TQM is
a way of doing things. The way includes
commitment, participation, influencing by
example, fair treatment, taking responsibility,
motivating, driving out fear, continuous
learning, and caring about the customer”
(Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 34). All of these
things are dependent upon top management
63
commitment.
To
be
successful,
top
management need to “(1) focus on customers,
(2) base decisions on facts, (3) focus on
processes, (4) improve continuously, and (5)
let everybody be committed” (Hellsten &
Klefsjo, 2000: 240). The sole responsibility of
implementing TQM is the top management.
Top executives need to ensure their
company’s short- and long-term strategies
revolved around the TQM philosophy.
Management has to be committed to
the continual process of TQM from the chief
executive officer (CEO) down through middle
managers to the employee (Lau & Anderson,
1998: 89). All levels of management need to
become trained and more than familiar with the
ideas of the TQM philosophy so that they are
able to implement TQM and measure TQM
improvements as benchmarks. Without
realistic goals and tangible measurements of
success, all their work in implementing TQM
will be fruitless. The firm will be lost in its own
desire to achieve quality without knowing what
quality is.
Often TQM will fail because of the lack
of upper management’s understanding,
dedication, and involvement. For instance,
instead of TQM being first on their meeting
agendas, TQM may be presented as an almost
“by the way” subject after other more important
issues had been presented. The importance of
TQM was ranked low on the totem pole. This
“off-handed approach” in dealing with the
subject of TQM may inadvertently indicate to
middle managers that TQM will be “just
another fad” which will pass away with time
(Dale & Cooper, 1994: 21). Their attitude will
be to humor their boss until he came upon the
“next” fad.
Middle
Management
Support.
Oftentimes this middle manager roadblock
proves to be a stumbling stone which results in
the failure of TQM to be successfully
implemented. The process of filtering the
concepts from top managers to the lower
echelons becomes plugged at the middle
manager levels. This resistance results in little
of the TQM concepts reaching the employees
and misunderstanding and confusion about
TQM. Because the middle managers do not
“buying into” the TQM program, the
employees, then, start to see TQM as a fancy
way of getting rid of employees, blaming
employees for poor products, etc. (Babbar &
Aspelin, 1994).
Because middle managers have used
their knowledge and skills to rise to their
64
current employment level, they often feel
threatened and only try to preserve their status
by resisting TQM implementation (Feinberg,
1998). In addition to the pressures of mergers
and acquisitions and stockholders demands, it
becomes a survival maneuver for middle
management to maintain their power and value
to the firm by not sharing information with
others (Lau & Anderson, 1998).
Instead of using employees to help
solve problems of quality, managers call in
experts to study the problem giving rise to the
idea that employees are responsible for the
problem. “Continuous improvement through
greater effort and through the acquisition of
skills and knowledge only makes the individual
more valuable to the organization” (Babbar &
Aspelin, 1994: 35). The lack of effective
communication with employees and a lack of
proven recognition and reward systems
present
some
formidable
barriers
in
implementing a TQM system successfully
(Elbo, 2001). Deming and Juran’s messages
state the same thing: “management must take
charge of quality” and emphasized the
importance of management’s responsibility by
stating “that quality must come even before
profit” (Elbo, 2002).
Implementation Plans. Lack of
implementation plans and lack of leadership
usually are the result of misunderstanding of
the concepts behind TQM. Managers often
delegate responsibilities of implementing the
TQM plan to underlings and then require
periodic reports be presented to them. This
undermines the process by not recognizing
that TQM is the most important part of the
firm’s mission and leads to its survivability or
failure in the future. This delegation also gives
the appearance that TQM is not very important
to the company, so employee commitment will
not be great. Combined with the confusion and
management’s lack of understanding of TQM,
mixed signals may be sent from the upper
levels of the company to the lowest levels.
Without clear goals and direct leadership,
chaos and fear rule the company: fear about
losing jobs, fear about doing more with less,
etc. No one knows what to expect.
Measurement and Feedback. The
lack of effective feedback usually occurs
because no one wants to be the one who
rocks the boat. Management just wants to hear
how successful TQM is and not that things are
not working. Fear of reprisals becomes a great
concern. So going through the motions
becomes commonplace.
Measurements may be designed
without any real basis for tangible
measurement. Imaginary goals are achieved
that will not reflect anything of value. On paper,
things always appear to look great, but the real
goal of increasing customer satisfaction is not
being measured. If it is attained by means of
customer satisfaction surveys, the information
may not be disseminated to the employees. No
measurable results are learned, and therefore
no actions can be taken to achieve greater
customer satisfaction. Only meaningless goals
of how well TQM is being implemented are
reported. TQM becomes the Albatross around
the company’s neck. Somewhere, somehow
they have lost the way (Hoare, 1994).
Quality Standards. As the values of
TQM become more apparent, benchmarks and
standards are established to help correct the
earlier erroneous ones that have no real
measuring capabilities. To ensure that the
company is providing quality to its customers,
companies turn to quality measurement tools
such as the Six Sigma and ISO registrations.
Six Sigma. Motorola popularized the
use of stringent quality standards more than 30
years ago. Six Sigma is a quality standard that
establishes a goal of no more than 3.4 defects
per million units or procedures. In fact, most
people will learn this concept in a statistics
course. Sigma is the Greek letter that defines
one standard deviation from the mean under
the normal curve. At One Sigma, it covers twothirds of the area under the normal bell-shaped
curve. At Six Sigma, it shows the highest
quality standard for organizations to achieve.
The ISO 9000. The ISO benchmark is
a registration process that measures
manufacturing and environmental practices.
ISO stands for the Switzerland-based
International Organization for Standardization
program (Savastano, 2002; www.iso.ch). ISO
set uniform guidelines for process to ensure
that
products
conform
to
customer
requirements. The ISO 9000 standards are the
internationally recognized standards for
evaluating and comparing companies in the
global marketplace and are the prerequisite for
doing business globally. At present, there are
only a few such benchmarks by which to
compare. As time progresses, more and more
benchmarks will be developed that will assist
in a tangible measurement of quality provided
to the customer.
Employee Empowerment. The most
overlooked and underutilized emphasis is
employee empowerment (Tang & Crofford,
1995/96). Employee empowerment doesn’t
mean giving free reign to the employees to do
what they think best, but rather a utilization of
employee skills and knowledge to guide them
and the company’s growth toward fulfillment of
the TQM concept: customer satisfaction.
Management must carefully guide and
encourage their employees through training,
recognition, and rewards so as to not alienate
them and bring about a decline in morale. With
the proper training, recognition, and rewards
systems in place, a company is well on its way
to successful TQM implementation.
Employee empowerment spells the
difference between success and failure in the
quest for TQM (Gatchalian, 1997). Know your
employees and their abilities. Your company
hired them for a reason. Find out what that
reason is. Use the personnel files of your
company to find out about your employees.
Their personal backgrounds, education levels,
military background and training, technical
training, and on-the-job training are right there
for your perusal. Get to know your employees
personally. Find out what interests and
hobbies they have. There are cases where
employee suggestions resulted in substantial
savings for the company in improved methods
of doing a task by reducing wasted time, effort,
and resources. Knowing your employees will
help you determine the strengths of your
employees and place them in better positions
for greater empowerment within the company.
The expression “You are only as strong as
your weakest link” still holds true today. A
company is only as strong as its employees.
Training. “Teamwork is a result of
successful empowerment of people within the
organization. Human resources are the major
assets of the organization and their skills and
brain power must be effectively honed and
harnessed through training and participation in
the
development
of
company’s
mission/vision/plans (MVP)” (Gatchalian, 1997:
431-432). Your employees are the ones who
do the job and often have suggestions for
doing the job better. Use their knowledge,
skills, and experiences to find new ways of
improving quality and thereby increase
customer satisfaction. Empowerment means
just that - empower your employees, don’t hold
them back!
A foundation of training in skills and
knowledge is essential in all aspects of the
business. Skill training is evident to success of
the business. Training, behind TQM concepts,
is essential for employees’ understanding of
65
the organization’s mission statements. To
better integrate the concept of team
empowerment, the employee must first
understand what it is they are attempting to do.
Without a clear focus on the mission, it
becomes easy to lose your way towards
achieving the goals you set for yourself.
Regular and periodic training seminars prove
to be essential to maintaining a straight course
toward the goals. It is all too easy to become
confused and distracted along the way as
problems arise without regular reinforcement
through training. The training seminars are
also an excellent means to share problems
with others and solutions for problems others
have found. The whole goal of empowerment
is in the sharing of knowledge. “With the best
of intentions, we can make an error of
judgment. Not to benefit from the error would
be to add negligence to the charge” (Hoare,
1994: 6).
Recognition and Reward. With these
problems of successfully implementing TQM
into the workplace comes the problem of
motivation. Use your personal human relations
skills as well as referent and expertise power,
not company position power, in achieving your
goals. Motivation should allow voluntary
willingness instead of dictatorial force. But not
all employees may be willing to change, so
occasionally these situations may require a
more forceful approach - perhaps a dismissal
or firing. Disagreement is valued, but
destructive and disruptive behavior and
attitudes can derail the TQM process. It is
important that all are willing to put forth effort to
implement the changes.
Directors and managers have the
opportunity to facilitate “pride and joy in work”
(Hoare, 1994: 5). Recognition and awards play
a large part in the motivation of employees, but
can be undermined by simple seemingly
unimportant things. Imagine an upper level
manager handing out a reward to an employee
he (or she) doesn’t know, mistakenly refers to
the employee as someone else while
presenting the award, and has little or no
knowledge of the purpose of this award.
Simple things like these can kill motivation
quickly. The importance of knowing your
employees and what they do for you and your
company can not be stressed enough.
Along with recognition and awards
come rewards and responsibilities. As people
prove themselves time and again, rewards and
responsibilities become necessary. One of the
goals of the company is to increase profits and
66
maximize shareholders wealth. Rewards come
in various forms, more commonly as monetary
rewards. The most common shareholders are
those that have invested money in the
company in stocks and bonds, but the
company employees are also stakeholder of
the organization. They may also have invested
part of their pay in company stocks and bonds
through retirement savings programs. More
importantly, these employees have invested
their work lives in the company. They should
be rewarded by sharing the profits they help
generate. Profit sharing plans and employee
suggestion rewards are but some of the ways
companies use to show value for their
employees.
The
reward
of
increased
responsibilities can vary from advancement in
employment status to achieving a position with
a title to include acquiring an office. Prestige is
an important factor to consider in meeting
employees’ expectations. Make sure that
employees are valued for their work, thoughts,
and ideas. The use of prestige can not be
overemphasized. When you value your
employees, they will value their company and
their jobs within the company.
The process of implementing TQM
requires, in many cases, a trial and error
process; especially as new ground is broken.
The steps the company takes, along the
journey, must be built on a strong foundation.
The foundation must be built on top
management’s
“commitment,
empathy,
personal power, management by example, and
fairness” (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36). As the
process continues, reevaluation of these steps
will become necessary. Steps such as
“recognizing the need for continuous
improvement,
accepting
change
and
innovation as essential, developing a vision
with a customer and quality focus, sharing the
vision, eliciting total participation, restructuring
and empowerment, educate and train,
motivation, recognition and rewards, all lead to
the celebration and revitalization” of the
company (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36). But
remember that after all this, “the journey’s just
begun”. The process is like continually being
on a treadmill. The TQM process is indeed a
long-term prospect. The journey won’t be easy,
but the rewards can be great if you persevere
and keep trying. Senior managers need to
develop a thorough understanding of TQM by
committing time and reading books, articles,
attending conferences and classes, and
visiting other companies to view progress they
have made in TQM (Dale & Cooper, 1994).
This paper has only scratched the
surface of the material available to managers
on the subject of TQM and how to avoid the
pitfalls along the way as it is implemented.
Some of the common problems of TQM have
been addressed, but as time goes along,
further research will bring to light more
solutions to these problems. The most
important problem to address will continue to
be that of “the lack of top level management’s
involvement” (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36).
Top level management is solely responsible for
the implementation of the TQM process, and
their efforts will determine the degree of
success or failure that is achieved.
Rezumat
Această lucrare examinează conceptul de
managementul calităţii totale (MCT), variate
proceduri
de
implementare
şi
problemele
întâmpinate. Prin MCT se înţelege definirea culturii
organizaţiei prin sprijinul şi efortul constant de
satisfacere a clienţilor printr-un sistem integrat de
instrumente, tehnici şi training. MCT poate fi privit
ca o îmbunătăţire continuă, centrată pe client,
impulsionată de angajaţi şi este integrat în cultura
organizaţiei. Dacă nu este implementat în mod
adecvat, MCT poate conduce la înstrăinarea forţei
de muncă şi descreşterea satisfacţiei clienţilor.
Articolul examinează, de asemenea, aspecte legate
de calitatea produselor şi serviciilor, satisfacţia
angajaţilor, satisfacţia clienţilor şi crearea unei
situaţii de tip câştig – câştig pentru actorii
organizaţiei.
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68
DARRELL W. BOOHER (B.S., Middle Tennessee
State University) has worked for Sverdrup
Technology Incorporated, now a part of Jacobs
Engineering, as an electrical technician for 15 years
and was a supervisor at Arnold Engineering
Development Center (AEDC) in Tullahoma,
Tennessee where he assisted in the testing of
rocket motors and jet propulsion engines. He has
served six years in the US Navy as a submarine
electrician and four years in the US Army as a multichannel communications equipment operator. He
has recently returned from living in Teresina, Piaui,
Brazil where he and his wife have stayed for nearly
two years. He has completed his B.S. Degree in the
Recording Industry Management program at Middle
Tennessee State University in the Fall semester of
2003.
His research interests in TQM evolve
from actual working experiences while performing in
numerous management positions in the military and
in civilian life.
THOMAS LI-PING TANG (Ph.D., Case Western
Reserve University) is a Professor of Management
in the Department of Management and Marketing,
Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Middle
Tennessee State University (MTSU), Murfreesboro,
Tennessee USA. He has taught Industrial and
Organizational Psychology at MTSU and National
Taiwan University, Taiwan. His research interests
focus upon the Money Ethic, the Love of Money,
pay satisfaction, business ethics, quality circles, and
cross-cultural issues. His research has appeared in
Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel
Psychology,
Human
Relations,
Journal
of
Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior,
Journal of Business Ethics, and many other
journals. He has published more than 90 journal
articles, presented more than 150 papers around
the world, served on the editorial board of four
journals and as an ad hoc reviewer for 24 journals.
He is the winner of two Outstanding Research
Awards and Distinguished International Service
Award at MTSU. In 2003, Professor Tang received
the Best Reviewer Award from the International
Management Division of the Academy of
Management in Seattle, WA.
Total Quality Management (TQM): Implementation and Common Pitfalls
Darrell W. Bother*
Thomas Li-Ping Tang
Abstract
This paper examines the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM), various
implementation procedures, and common pitfalls. TQM means that the organization’s
culture is defined by and supports the constant attainment of customer satisfaction
through an integrated system of tools, techniques, and training. TQM can be regarded as
a continuous, customer-centered, employee-driven improvement and is embedded in the
organization’s culture. If not implemented properly, TQM often leads to the alienation of
the workforce and decreased customer satisfaction. We also examine issues related to
the quality of products and services, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and
creating a “win-win” situation for the organization’s stakeholders.
Key words: Total Quality Management (TQM), Pitfalls, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction
*
Introduction
More than two decades ago, in 1980,
NBC aired a television documentary titled: “If
Japan cans…Why Can’t We”? This was the
wake-up call for many large corporations in the
US, those in electronics and automobile
industries, in particular. Thanks to the Total
Quality Management (TQM) movement, the
quality of much of what we buy in stores today
in the US is significantly better than in the past.
The underlying principles of TQM are also
applicable to the significant growth of both Ebusiness on the Internet and the overall
service economy.
Definition. Before we discuss the
notion of Total Quality Management, we need
to define the term quality. What is quality?
According to W. Edwards Deming (2000a), “a
product or a service possesses quality if it
*
Autorii doresc să îi mulţumească domnului Horia
D. Pitariu pentru sprijinul şi încurajările acordate.
Ambii autori au contribuit în mod egal şi numele lor
sunt aranjate alfabetic. Adresa la care poate fi
trimisă corespondenţa este: Thomas Li-Ping Tang,
Box 516, Department of Management and
Marketing, Jennings A. Jones College of Business,
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro,
TN 37132, USA. Telefon: (615) 898-2005, Fax:
(615) 898-5308
e-mail: [email protected]. (TQMBooher.doc:
12/16/2003, re-submitted 12/6/2004).
helps somebody and enjoys a good and
sustainable market”. “Trade depends on
quality” (p. 2). Quality can be defined as the
ability of a product or service to reliably do
what it’s supposed to do and to satisfy
customer expectations. On the one hand,
regarding product quality, there are several
dimensions of quality. They may include:
performance, features, flexibility, durability,
conformance, serviceability, aesthetics, and
perceived quality. On the other hand, when we
consider service quality, we may include the
following dimensions: timeliness, courtesy,
consistency, convenience, completeness, and
accuracy.
What is TQM? Experts provide the
following statement: TQM means that the
organization’s culture is defined by and
supports the constant attainment of customer
satisfaction through an integrated system of
tools, techniques, and training. This involves
the continuous improvement of organizational
process, resulting in high-quality products and
services (Sashkin & Kiser, 1993). It can be
regarded as a continuous, customer-centered,
employee-driven
improvement
and
is
embedded in the organization’s culture.
The TQM concept focuses on the
customer and promotes the idea of satisfying
customers’ needs by creating better products
and services at a competitive price (Leonard &
McAdam, 2002). There is an important
63
purpose, also: Better products and services
lead to more satisfied customers and, in turn,
lead to more customers which would, in turn,
bring more profits for the company. “Most of us
are in business to make money from our
customers. The equation is supposed to be:
‘More satisfaction equals more customers and
more customers equal more money’” (Hoare,
1994: 5). Money, after all, is the goal of why
these philosophical concepts were born.
According to Allan Sloan (2002), News
Week’s Wall Street Editor, Americans have
always loved money. De Tocqueville traced
love of wealth to the root of all that Americans
do (see also Tang & Chiu, 2003; Tang &
Weatherford, 2004).
The principles of TQM were well
established by W. Edwards Deming and other
pioneers such as Joseph Juran, Genichi
Taguchi, and Philip B. Crosby (Deming, 2000a,
2000b; Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000; Lau &
Anderson, 1998). Deming was credited for
Japan’s post-World War II quality revolution.
He continued to promote TQM till his death at
age 93 in 1993.
Deming’s 85-15 rule, one of the most
enduring lessons for managers, suggests that
when things go wrong, there is a roughly an
85% change the system (e.g., management,
machinery, and rules) is at fault. Only about
15% of the time is the individual employee at
fault. Productivity depends on people and
operations variables. Deming also has
identifies the following four common TQM
principles:
1. Do it right the first time to eliminate costly
rework and product recalls.
2. Listen to and learn from customers and
employees.
3. Make
continuous
improvement
an
everyday matter.
4. Build teamwork, trust, and mutual respect.
According to Deming (2000b), the
importance of quality is related to profits
mentioned earlier (Hoare, 1994). For example,
“it pays to keep the customers satisfied: if a car
owner likes his car, he’s apt to buy four more
cars of the same make over the following
twelve years. The customer is also likely to
spread the good news to eight other people”.
But woe to the car company that delivers a
shoddy product, an angry car buyer will tell his
troubles to an average of sixteen people (Car
and Driver, 1983, August, p. 33, cited in
Deming, 2000b: 122). “The happy customer
that comes back for more is worth 10
prospects. He comes without advertising or
64
persuasion, and he may even bring in a friend”
(cited in Deming, 2000b: 122).
In today’s world market, organizations
in the US attempt to implement various
concepts of quality improvements such as Six
Sigma, reengineering, and Total Quality
Management
(London,
2002).
These
philosophical concepts have become the
business “buzzwords” heard in most board
rooms today. Nearly all employees have heard
these terms in one form or another.
Unfortunately, to most of them, these terms
represent the latest “fad” that management is
trying to make them “buy-in-to” in order to
reestablish the business superiority.
Brief History. The TQM concept
originally came about in the US but was met
with indifference and a great reluctance by US
companies to implement it (Lau & Anderson,
1998). So the original pioneers took their idea
to Japanese and transformed the statement
“Made in Japan” from meaning “cheap and
poor in quality” into meaning “more value for
the dollar” (London, 2002; see also Davenport
& Tang, 1996; Rhody & Tang, 1995). After the
oil crisis in 1973, Japanese companies began
to dominate the world’s business markets
especially in the automotive industry.
Companies in the US were forced to become
more competitive or continue to lose business
and eventually face bankruptcy and business
failure. Japanese companies had employed
the techniques of TQM to create large transfer
of wealth to their companies since the 1980’s
and early 1990’s (James, 2002).
The basic idea of worker participation
was effectively used in the US in the 1940s. In
1949, a Quality Control Sub-Committee was
organized within the Union (Society) of
Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).
This sub-committee later developed into the
QC Research Group and introduced quality
control to Japan. In September, 1951, the first
Quality Control Conference was held in Japan
and the Deming Prize was awarded for the
first time.
In the early 1970s, the US began to
study Japanese businesses to find out how
Japan had seemingly taken over the world’s
markets overnight. In reality, while US
businesses
were
sleeping,
Japanese
businesses had been involved in a long and
continual process of developing manufacturing
processes which greatly improved their
products. The same concept that the US had
rejected previously had now become the
Japanese way of “doing things right”. All the
US companies wanted to convert to the
“Japanese Way” and began implementing it
right away.
In 1974, Quality Circles (QCs) were reintroduced back to the US. The Lockheed
Missiles and Space Company began the very
first pure quality circle program (QC) on the
Trident Naval Program. A quality circle (QC) is
a group of workers from the same work area
who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to
identify, analyze, and solve various workrelated problems (e.g., Tang & Butler, 1997;
Tang, Tollison, & Whiteside, 1987, 1989, 1991,
1993, 1996). There has been a long history of
research in the literature that is related to
quality circles (QCs). QC programs in the US
became very popular in the 1980s and beyond
(Griffin, 1988; Marks, Mirvis, Hackett, & Grady,
1986; Tang, Tollison, & Whiteside, 1987,
1989). It was estimated, at that time, that over
90% of the Fortune 500 companies used QC
programs (Lawler & Mohrman, 1985) involving
approximately 200,000 workers in the US
(Lawler, 1986). This QC movement has been
expanded to the TQM movement.
The buzzword, TQM, creates a great
expectation. Everyone talks about the great
thing that will bring back lost business and
make the business world all right again in the
US. Life will once again be grand and US
workers will be gainfully employed with a more
secure employment future (Anschutz, 1995).
However, somewhere along the way, the TQM
implementation went wrong, and TQM actually
appeared to be the cause of some business
failures.
TQM Pitfalls
Total Quality Management (TQM) is
one of the ways to improve quality. The
organizations’ attempts to regain lost business
have met with varying results due to the
misunderstandings of the TQM implementation
processes (Alter, 2000). As more and more
companies attempt to implement TQM, a
greater understanding of what went wrong can
be gained through the empirical research. Our
new knowledge in this area may improve
future TQM programs. Research has provided
solutions to some of the common problems of
TQM and pointed out some common pitfalls.
In a study of attributions of quality
circles’ problem-solving failure, Tang and
Butler (1997) identified the following reasons:
lack of top management support, lack of QC
members’ commitment, lack of problem-
solving skills, QC members’ turnover, the
nature of the QC task/project, lack of support
from staff members, and lack of data and time.
Following the same line of research, some
reasons for the failure of the TQM system are:
lack of implementation plans, lack of
leadership, lack of effective feedback, lack of
measurement and reward systems, and lack of
employee empowerment (Elmuti & Kathawala,
2002; Emery, Summers, & Surak, 1996). We
will provide brief discussion regarding the
causes of TQM implementation failure below.
Change. Perhaps one of the greatest
initial obstacles to overcome in implementing
any new program is “change”. Change is often
very slow in coming. People resist change
because of the fear and uncertainty change
brings. People cling to the familiar. People
want things to be left alone; they want life to go
on as it was. Besides, change involves
additional work. People want to take the
easiest path available, so they have a great
reluctance to change. In a world filled with
uncertainties, it is easier to hold on to the
familiar than doing something new. Change
would require great effort on everyone’s part.
TQM as a Separate System. A great
misunderstanding by upper management has
taken place. Firms believe that the TQM
concept is something that can be bought and
installed similar to a piece of machinery. They
believe that TQM can be brought in and, with
minor adjustments in the machinery, their firm
will be up and running with little effort. They fail
to understand “that TQM is a long-term
business strategy” with many “troughs and
peaks” (Dale & Cooper, 1994: 22). That is,
TQM can not be treated as a separate or a
parallel system in an organization. It has to be
totally integrated into the mission statement
and the whole system of an organization. For
TQM to be successful, it has to have top level
management’s full and enthusiastic support
(Tang,
Tollison,
&
Whiteside,
1989).
Management has to show employees through
their actions and the firm’s commitment to
TQM goals instead of words alone. Telling
employees “My way or the highway” would not
be sufficient. That attitude just wouldn’t fly.
Top Management Support. “TQM is
a way of doing things. The way includes
commitment, participation, influencing by
example, fair treatment, taking responsibility,
motivating, driving out fear, continuous
learning, and caring about the customer”
(Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 34). All of these
things are dependent upon top management
65
commitment.
To
be
successful,
top
management need to “(1) focus on customers,
(2) base decisions on facts, (3) focus on
processes, (4) improve continuously, and (5)
let everybody be committed” (Hellsten &
Klefsjo, 2000: 240). The sole responsibility of
implementing TQM is the top management.
Top executives need to ensure their
company’s short- and long-term strategies
revolved around the TQM philosophy.
Management has to be committed to
the continual process of TQM from the chief
executive officer (CEO) down through middle
managers to the employee (Lau & Anderson,
1998: 89). All levels of management need to
become trained and more than familiar with the
ideas of the TQM philosophy so that they are
able to implement TQM and measure TQM
improvements as benchmarks. Without
realistic goals and tangible measurements of
success, all their work in implementing TQM
will be fruitless. The firm will be lost in its own
desire to achieve quality without knowing what
quality is.
Often TQM will fail because of the lack
of upper management’s understanding,
dedication, and involvement. For instance,
instead of TQM being first on their meeting
agendas, TQM may be presented as an almost
“by the way” subject after other more important
issues had been presented. The importance of
TQM was ranked low on the totem pole. This
“off-handed approach” in dealing with the
subject of TQM may inadvertently indicate to
middle managers that TQM will be “just
another fad” which will pass away with time
(Dale & Cooper, 1994: 21). Their attitude will
be to humor their boss until he came upon the
“next” fad.
Middle
Management
Support.
Oftentimes this middle manager roadblock
proves to be a stumbling stone which results in
the failure of TQM to be successfully
implemented. The process of filtering the
concepts from top managers to the lower
echelons becomes plugged at the middle
manager levels. This resistance results in little
of the TQM concepts reaching the employees
and misunderstanding and confusion about
TQM. Because the middle managers do not
“buying into” the TQM program, the
employees, then, start to see TQM as a fancy
way of getting rid of employees, blaming
employees for poor products, etc. (Babbar &
Aspelin, 1994).
Because middle managers have used
their knowledge and skills to rise to their
66
current employment level, they often feel
threatened and only try to preserve their status
by resisting TQM implementation (Feinberg,
1998). In addition to the pressures of mergers
and acquisitions and stockholders demands, it
becomes a survival maneuver for middle
management to maintain their power and value
to the firm by not sharing information with
others (Lau & Anderson, 1998).
Instead of using employees to help
solve problems of quality, managers call in
experts to study the problem giving rise to the
idea that employees are responsible for the
problem. “Continuous improvement through
greater effort and through the acquisition of
skills and knowledge only makes the individual
more valuable to the organization” (Babbar &
Aspelin, 1994: 35). The lack of effective
communication with employees and a lack of
proven recognition and reward systems
present
some
formidable
barriers
in
implementing a TQM system successfully
(Elbo, 2001). Deming and Juran’s messages
state the same thing: “management must take
charge of quality” and emphasized the
importance of management’s responsibility by
stating “that quality must come even before
profit” (Elbo, 2002).
Implementation Plans. Lack of
implementation plans and lack of leadership
usually are the result of misunderstanding of
the concepts behind TQM. Managers often
delegate responsibilities of implementing the
TQM plan to underlings and then require
periodic reports be presented to them. This
undermines the process by not recognizing
that TQM is the most important part of the
firm’s mission and leads to its survivability or
failure in the future. This delegation also gives
the appearance that TQM is not very important
to the company, so employee commitment will
not be great. Combined with the confusion and
management’s lack of understanding of TQM,
mixed signals may be sent from the upper
levels of the company to the lowest levels.
Without clear goals and direct leadership,
chaos and fear rule the company: fear about
losing jobs, fear about doing more with less,
etc. No one knows what to expect.
Measurement and Feedback. The
lack of effective feedback usually occurs
because no one wants to be the one who
rocks the boat. Management just wants to hear
how successful TQM is and not that things are
not working. Fear of reprisals becomes a great
concern. So going through the motions
becomes commonplace.
Measurements may be designed
without any real basis for tangible
measurement. Imaginary goals are achieved
that will not reflect anything of value. On paper,
things always appear to look great, but the real
goal of increasing customer satisfaction is not
being measured. If it is attained by means of
customer satisfaction surveys, the information
may not be disseminated to the employees. No
measurable results are learned, and therefore
no actions can be taken to achieve greater
customer satisfaction. Only meaningless goals
of how well TQM is being implemented are
reported. TQM becomes the Albatross around
the company’s neck. Somewhere, somehow
they have lost the way (Hoare, 1994).
Quality Standards. As the values of
TQM become more apparent, benchmarks and
standards are established to help correct the
earlier erroneous ones that have no real
measuring capabilities. To ensure that the
company is providing quality to its customers,
companies turn to quality measurement tools
such as the Six Sigma and ISO registrations.
Six Sigma. Motorola popularized the
use of stringent quality standards more than 30
years ago. Six Sigma is a quality standard that
establishes a goal of no more than 3.4 defects
per million units or procedures. In fact, most
people will learn this concept in a statistics
course. Sigma is the Greek letter that defines
one standard deviation from the mean under
the normal curve. At One Sigma, it covers twothirds of the area under the normal bell-shaped
curve. At Six Sigma, it shows the highest
quality standard for organizations to achieve.
The ISO 9000. The ISO benchmark is
a registration process that measures
manufacturing and environmental practices.
ISO stands for the Switzerland-based
International Organization for Standardization
program (Savastano, 2002; www.iso.ch). ISO
set uniform guidelines for process to ensure
that
products
conform
to
customer
requirements. The ISO 9000 standards are the
internationally recognized standards for
evaluating and comparing companies in the
global marketplace and are the prerequisite for
doing business globally. At present, there are
only a few such benchmarks by which to
compare. As time progresses, more and more
benchmarks will be developed that will assist
in a tangible measurement of quality provided
to the customer.
Employee Empowerment. The most
overlooked and underutilized emphasis is
employee empowerment (Tang & Crofford,
1995/96). Employee empowerment doesn’t
mean giving free reign to the employees to do
what they think best, but rather a utilization of
employee skills and knowledge to guide them
and the company’s growth toward fulfillment of
the TQM concept: customer satisfaction.
Management must carefully guide and
encourage their employees through training,
recognition, and rewards so as to not alienate
them and bring about a decline in morale. With
the proper training, recognition, and rewards
systems in place, a company is well on its way
to successful TQM implementation.
Employee empowerment spells the
difference between success and failure in the
quest for TQM (Gatchalian, 1997). Know your
employees and their abilities. Your company
hired them for a reason. Find out what that
reason is. Use the personnel files of your
company to find out about your employees.
Their personal backgrounds, education levels,
military background and training, technical
training, and on-the-job training are right there
for your perusal. Get to know your employees
personally. Find out what interests and
hobbies they have. There are cases where
employee suggestions resulted in substantial
savings for the company in improved methods
of doing a task by reducing wasted time, effort,
and resources. Knowing your employees will
help you determine the strengths of your
employees and place them in better positions
for greater empowerment within the company.
The expression “You are only as strong as
your weakest link” still holds true today. A
company is only as strong as its employees.
Training. “Teamwork is a result of
successful empowerment of people within the
organization. Human resources are the major
assets of the organization and their skills and
brain power must be effectively honed and
harnessed through training and participation in
the
development
of
company’s
mission/vision/plans (MVP)” (Gatchalian, 1997:
431-432). Your employees are the ones who
do the job and often have suggestions for
doing the job better. Use their knowledge,
skills, and experiences to find new ways of
improving quality and thereby increase
customer satisfaction. Empowerment means
just that - empower your employees, don’t hold
them back!
A foundation of training in skills and
knowledge is essential in all aspects of the
business. Skill training is evident to success of
the business. Training, behind TQM concepts,
is essential for employees’ understanding of
67
the organization’s mission statements. To
better integrate the concept of team
empowerment, the employee must first
understand what it is they are attempting to do.
Without a clear focus on the mission, it
becomes easy to lose your way towards
achieving the goals you set for yourself.
Regular and periodic training seminars prove
to be essential to maintaining a straight course
toward the goals. It is all too easy to become
confused and distracted along the way as
problems arise without regular reinforcement
through training. The training seminars are
also an excellent means to share problems
with others and solutions for problems others
have found. The whole goal of empowerment
is in the sharing of knowledge. “With the best
of intentions, we can make an error of
judgment. Not to benefit from the error would
be to add negligence to the charge” (Hoare,
1994: 6).
Recognition and Reward. With these
problems of successfully implementing TQM
into the workplace comes the problem of
motivation. Use your personal human relations
skills as well as referent and expertise power,
not company position power, in achieving your
goals. Motivation should allow voluntary
willingness instead of dictatorial force. But not
all employees may be willing to change, so
occasionally these situations may require a
more forceful approach - perhaps a dismissal
or firing. Disagreement is valued, but
destructive and disruptive behavior and
attitudes can derail the TQM process. It is
important that all are willing to put forth effort to
implement the changes.
Directors and managers have the
opportunity to facilitate “pride and joy in work”
(Hoare, 1994: 5). Recognition and awards play
a large part in the motivation of employees, but
can be undermined by simple seemingly
unimportant things. Imagine an upper level
manager handing out a reward to an employee
he (or she) doesn’t know, mistakenly refers to
the employee as someone else while
presenting the award, and has little or no
knowledge of the purpose of this award.
Simple things like these can kill motivation
quickly. The importance of knowing your
employees and what they do for you and your
company can not be stressed enough.
Along with recognition and awards
come rewards and responsibilities. As people
prove themselves time and again, rewards and
responsibilities become necessary. One of the
goals of the company is to increase profits and
68
maximize shareholders wealth. Rewards come
in various forms, more commonly as monetary
rewards. The most common shareholders are
those that have invested money in the
company in stocks and bonds, but the
company employees are also stakeholder of
the organization. They may also have invested
part of their pay in company stocks and bonds
through retirement savings programs. More
importantly, these employees have invested
their work lives in the company. They should
be rewarded by sharing the profits they help
generate. Profit sharing plans and employee
suggestion rewards are but some of the ways
companies use to show value for their
employees.
The
reward
of
increased
responsibilities can vary from advancement in
employment status to achieving a position with
a title to include acquiring an office. Prestige is
an important factor to consider in meeting
employees’ expectations. Make sure that
employees are valued for their work, thoughts,
and ideas. The use of prestige can not be
overemphasized. When you value your
employees, they will value their company and
their jobs within the company.
The process of implementing TQM
requires, in many cases, a trial and error
process; especially as new ground is broken.
The steps the company takes, along the
journey, must be built on a strong foundation.
The foundation must be built on top
management’s
“commitment,
empathy,
personal power, management by example, and
fairness” (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36). As the
process continues, reevaluation of these steps
will become necessary. Steps such as
“recognizing the need for continuous
improvement,
accepting
change
and
innovation as essential, developing a vision
with a customer and quality focus, sharing the
vision, eliciting total participation, restructuring
and empowerment, educate and train,
motivation, recognition and rewards, all lead to
the celebration and revitalization” of the
company (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36). But
remember that after all this, “the journey’s just
begun”. The process is like continually being
on a treadmill. The TQM process is indeed a
long-term prospect. The journey won’t be easy,
but the rewards can be great if you persevere
and keep trying. Senior managers need to
develop a thorough understanding of TQM by
committing time and reading books, articles,
attending conferences and classes, and
visiting other companies to view progress they
have made in TQM (Dale & Cooper, 1994).
This paper has only scratched the
surface of the material available to managers
on the subject of TQM and how to avoid the
pitfalls along the way as it is implemented.
Some of the common problems of TQM have
been addressed, but as time goes along,
further research will bring to light more
solutions to these problems. The most
important problem to address will continue to
be that of “the lack of top level management’s
involvement” (Babbar & Aspelin, 1994: 36).
Top level management is solely responsible for
the implementation of the TQM process, and
their efforts will determine the degree of
success or failure that is achieved.
Rezumat
Această lucrare examinează conceptul de
managementul calităţii totale (MCT), variate
proceduri de implementare şi problemele
întâmpinate. Prin MCT se înţelege definirea
culturii organizaţiei prin sprijinul şi efortul
constant de satisfacere a clienţilor printr-un
sistem integrat de instrumente, tehnici şi
training. MCT poate fi privit ca o îmbunătăţire
continuă, centrată pe client, impulsionată de
angajaţi şi este integrat în cultura organizaţiei.
Dacă nu este implementat în mod adecvat,
MCT poate conduce la înstrăinarea forţei de
muncă şi descreşterea satisfacţiei clienţilor.
Articolul examinează, de asemenea, aspecte
legate de calitatea produselor şi serviciilor,
satisfacţia angajaţilor, satisfacţia clienţilor şi
crearea unei situaţii de tip câştig – câştig
pentru actorii organizaţiei.
References
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Anschutz, E.E. (1995). TQM - the public sector
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(Total
quality
management)
(Excerpted from the book ‘TQM America’).
National Productivity Review, 15, 1.
Babbar, S., & Aspelin, D.J. (1994). TQM? It’s as
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Dale, B.G., & Cooper, C.L. (1994). Introducing
TQM: The role of senior management.
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Davenport, J.L., & Tang, T.L.P. (1996). Learning
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Deming, W.E. (2000a). The new economics (2nd
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Deming, W.E. (2000b). Out of the crisis (2nd ed.).
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Originally
published in 1982.
Elbo, R.A.H. (2001). In the workplace; creating a
TQM program. Business World, 20, December
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Elbo, R.A.H. (2002). In the workplace: Top
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69
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70
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DARRELL W. BOOHER (B.S., Middle Tennessee
State University) has worked for Sverdrup
Technology Incorporated, now a part of Jacobs
Engineering, as an electrical technician for 15 years
and was a supervisor at Arnold Engineering
Development Center (AEDC) in Tullahoma,
Tennessee where he assisted in the testing of
rocket motors and jet propulsion engines. He has
served six years in the US Navy as a submarine
electrician and four years in the US Army as a multichannel communications equipment operator. He
has recently returned from living in Teresina, Piaui,
Brazil where he and his wife have stayed for nearly
two years. He has completed his B.S. Degree in the
Recording Industry Management program at Middle
Tennessee State University in the Fall semester of
2003.
His research interests in TQM evolve
from actual working experiences while performing in
numerous management positions in the military and
in civilian life.
THOMAS LI-PING TANG (Ph.D., Case Western
Reserve University) is a Professor of Management
in the Department of Management and Marketing,
Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Middle
Tennessee State University (MTSU), Murfreesboro,
Tennessee USA. He has taught Industrial and
Organizational Psychology at MTSU and National
Taiwan University, Taiwan. His research interests
focus upon the Money Ethic, the Love of Money,
pay satisfaction, business ethics, quality circles, and
cross-cultural issues. His research has appeared in
Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel
Psychology,
Human
Relations,
Journal
of
Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior,
Journal of Business Ethics, and many other
journals. He has published more than 90 journal
articles, presented more than 150 papers around
the world, served on the editorial board of four
journals and as an ad hoc reviewer for 24 journals.
He is the winner of two Outstanding Research
Awards and Distinguished International Service
Award at MTSU. In 2003, Professor Tang received
the Best Reviewer Award from the International
Management Division of the Academy of
Management in Seattle, WA.
Managementul Resurselor Umane în Practică
Care e cea mai potrivită persoană pentru un post de muncă?*
Psihologii iau în considerare noi modalităţi de relaţionare a diferenţelor individuale
cu succesul la locul de muncă
*
Rezultate
Testele psihologice şi evaluările au
fost utilizate în selecţia de personal începând
cu primul război mondial, dar până în anii ’80
s-a considerat că factorii care determină
succesul variază puternic de la un post la altul
şi de la o organizaţie la alta. În mod particular,
a fost larg răspândită convingerea că testele
care constituiau predictori eficienţi ai
succesului într-un post sau organizaţie s-ar
putea dovedi inutile ca predictori ai succesului
în alte posturi sau organizaţii similare şi că ar fi
necesar să se construiască teste pentru
selecţie în cazul fiecărui post sau organizaţie.
După câteva decenii de cercetare, psihologii
Frank Schmidt şi John Hunter au arătat că
această presupunere era incorectă şi că este
posibil să se stabilească legături clare, simple
şi generalizabile între diferenţele individuale,
cum sunt abilităţile cognitive generale sau
trăsăturile de personalitate şi succesul într-o
varietate de posturi.
Semnificaţie
Două mari categorii de diferenţe
individuale,
abilităţile
cognitive
şi
conştiinciozitatea, par să fie relevante pentru
performanţa în majoritatea posturilor studiate.
Măsurând separat aceste două variabile, este
deseori posibil ca ele să explice 20-30% din
varianţa
în
performanţa
în
muncă,
predictibilitatea fiind chiar mai mare pentru
multe posturi cu complexitate crescută. De
multe ori este posibil să se îmbunătăţească
predicţia prin adăugarea unor predictori
specifici pentru post, dar cei mai importanţi
predictori rămân cei universali (psihologul
*
Acest articol a apărut original în limba engleză ca
‘‘Who is the Best Person for the Job’’ la
www.psychologymatters.org/personnelselect.html.
Copyright American Psychological Association.
Tradus şi republicat cu permisiunea editorului.
American Psychological Association nu este
responsabilă pentru acurateţea acestei traduceri.
Traducerea şi materialul original nu pot fi reproduse
sau distribuite în nici o formă sau stocate într-o bază
de date fără permisiunea scrisă anterioară a
American Psychological Association.
Malcolm Ree şi colegii săi sugerează că
influenţa abilităţilor cognitive generale este atât
de puternică încât studierea abilităţilor
specifice care par relevante pe baza
examinării conţinutului postului aduce un
câştig redus). Ca rezultat al acestor cercetări,
înţelegerea noastră asupra modului în care
diferenţele
individuale
influenţează
performanţa în muncă a trecut de la un model
în care fiecare post şi fiecare organizaţie erau
gândite ca fiind unice (ceea ce însemna că
oricât de mult ai învăţa din studierea
performanţei într-un post ar avea puţină
relevanţă pentru înţelegerea performanţei în
alte posturi) la un model în care ipotezele cu
privire la relaţiile dintre caracteristicile
persoanelor şi caracteristicile posturilor pot fi
propuse şi testate.
De exemplu, cercetările realizate de
Schmidt şi Hunter sugerează că abilităţile
cognitive generale influenţează semnificativ
performanţa în muncă prin rolul acestora în
achiziţia şi utilizarea informaţiilor cu privire la
modul în care trebuie realizate activităţile.
Persoanele cu niveluri ridicate ale abilităţilor
cognitive achiziţionează noi informaţii mai uşor
şi mai rapid, şi sunt capabile să utilizeze
aceste informaţii într-o manieră mai eficientă.
Pornind de la aceste rezultate, psihologul
Kevin Murphy a sugerat că abilităţile cognitive
ar trebui să fie mai importante în cazul
posturilor complexe, când persoanele ocupă
un post nou şi când se produc în mediul de
muncă modificări care solicită angajaţilor să
înveţe noi modalităţi de realizare a sarcinilor.
Toate aceste predicţii au fost testate şi au
obţinut susţinere.
Aplicaţii
Cercetările relaţionând concepte cum
sunt abilităţile cognitive şi conştiinciozitatea cu
performanţa în numeroase posturi au modificat
practica în domeniul selecţiei personalului.
Deşi în trecut se considera necesară
dezvoltarea unor teste pentru fiecare nou post
sau organizaţie, s-a dovedit că aceste teste
sunt predictori relativ slabi pentru performanţa
în muncă. Cercetările din domeniul psihologiei
au condus la o abordare mai eficientă a
69
selecţiei personalului, care oferă un punct de
plecare excelent pentru prezicerea succesului
viitor (candidaţii cu un nivel ridicat al abilităţilor
cognitive şi al conştiinciozităţii au şanse de
succes într-o arie largă de posturi).
Testele pentru abilităţile cognitive sunt
utilizate extensiv atât în sectorul militar cât şi în
cel civil, dar utilizarea acestora este des
controversată datorită diferenţelor între
grupurile
etnice
la
scorurile
testelor.
Inventarele de personalitate nu arată în mod
tipic diferenţe între grupurile etnice şi
combinaţii dintre testele cognitive şi măsuri ale
factorilor de personalitate pot servi la creşterea
validităţii deciziilor de selecţie şi reducerea
diferenţelor de grup care ar putea să apară la
utilizarea testelor cognitive.
Cercetări citate
Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five
personality dimensions and job performance: A
meta analysis. Personnel Psychology, Vol. 44,
pp. 1-26.
Murphy, K. (1989). Is the relationship between
cognitive ability and job performance stable
over time? Human Performance, Vol. 2, pp.
183-200.
Ree, M. J., & Earles, J. A. (1992). Intelligence is the
best predictor of job performance. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, Vol. 1, pp.
86-89.
Ree, M. J., Earles, J. A., & Teachout, M. S. (1994).
Predicting job performance: Not much more
than g. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 79,
pp. 518-524.
Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1981). Employment
testing: Old theories and new research findings.
American Psychologist, Vol. 36, pp. 1128-1137.
Schmidt, F. L. & Hunter, J. E . (1998). The validity
and utility of selection methods in personnel
psychology:
Practical
and
theoretical
implications of 85 years of research findings.
Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 124, pp. 262-274.
Tett, R. P., Jackson, D. N., & Rothstein, M. (1991).
Personality measures as predictors of job
performance: A meta-analytic review. Personnel
Psychology, Vol. 44, pp. 703-742.
Waters, B. K. (1997). Army alpha to CAT-ASVAB:
Four-score years of military personnel selection
and classification testing. In R. F. Dillon (Ed.),
Handbook on testing (pp. 187-203). Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Welsh, J. R., Kucinkas, S. K., & Curran, L. T.
(1990). Armed Services Vocational Aptitude
Battery (ASVAB): Integrative review of validity
studies. Brooks Air Force Base.
D&D CONSULTANTS
Str. Zambilelor nr.41, Bucureşti
Tel/Fax: 242 89 63
Distribuitori exclusivi in Romania pentru probe
psihometrice consacrate la nivel internaţional:
CPI (462, 434, 260)
LD (Leadership Descriptor)
16PF (editia a cincea)
În curs de adaptare culturală şi etalonare:
Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS)
NPQ (Non-verbal Personality Questionnaire )
FFNPQ (Five-factor Non-verbal Personality
Questionnaire)
JVIS (Jackson Vocational Interest Survey)
SWS (Survey of Work Styles)
www.16pf.ro
70
Figuri de Psihologi
Edwin A. Fleishman
Medalia de aur
pentru o viaţă dedicată aplicării psihologiei
Fundaţia americană de psihologie recunoaşte prin acordarea Medaliei de aur realizările deosebite în câteva
domenii ale psihologiei. În anul 2004 Medalia de aur pentru o viaţă dedicată psihologiei i-a fost acordat lui Edwin
A. Fleishman.
Dorothy W. Cantor, preşedinte al Fundaţiei americane de psihologie a prezentat Premiile Medaliei de aur la cea
de-a o sută doisprezecea convenţie anuală a Asociaţiei Psihologilor Americani din 31 iulie 2004, la ora 14 p.m.
Membrii Comitetului implicat în acordarea premiilor pentru anul 2004 sunt: Dorothy Cantor, preşedinte; Norman
Abeles, secretar; Charles L. McKay, trezorier; Elisabeth R. Straus, vicepreşedinte / director executiv; Norman
Anderson; Camilla Benbow; Patrick H. DeLeon; Ronald E. Fox; William C. Howell; Steven E. James; Norine G.
Johnson; Joseph D. Matarazzo; Martin E. Seligman; Richard M. Suinn; Philip G. Zimbardo.
Citaţie
„Pentru contribuţia sa semnificativă la
dezvoltarea psihologiei la nivel teoretic şi
aplicativ, pe care a susţinut-o de-a lungul
întregii sale cariere remarcabile. Cercetările
sale au avut o influenţă profundă asupra
modului în care înţelegem capacităţile fiinţei
umane, măsurarea acestora, dezvoltarea şi
aplicarea lor în domeniul muncii. Munca lui a
vizat probleme ale societăţii ce au o largă
răspândire, furnizând concepte şi metode
pentru creşterea generalizării de la contexte de
laborator la contexte de teren, realizând o
punte între psihologia teoretică şi psihologia
aplicată. A contribuit la conturarea profesiei
noastre prin influenţa sa ca lider, ca preşedinte
al diviziei a treia a Asociaţiei Psihologilor
Americani. Nu în ultimul rând, în calitate de
excepţional om de ştiinţă, autor prolific,
profesor, mentor şi practician a influenţat viaţa
a nenumărate persoane.’’
Biografia
Edwin A. Fleishman s-a născut în New
York la 10 martie 1927. Familia sa s-a mutat
mai târziu la Baltimore, unde a urmat cursurile
unor şcoli publice. A primit o bursă la Colegiul
,,Loyola’’ din Baltimore, unde a obţinut diploma
de chimist în anul 1945 la vârsta de 18 ani. La
sfârşitul celui de-al doilea război mondial a
activat în cadrul Marinei Statelor Unite în
calitate de ,,consilier pe probleme de
demobilizare’’ pentru personalul
aflat la
începutul tranziţiei la viaţa civilă. A urmat apoi
cursurile
postuniversitare
în
cadrul
Departamentului de psihologie al Universităţii
Maryland, unde s-a întreţinut ca instructor de
laborator în cadrul Departamentului de Chimie,
cu o bursă de la GI Bill. În 1949 a obţinut
diploma de master în cadrul departamentului
de psihologie, care pune un accent deosebit
pe
psihologia
experimentală,
metodele
cantitative şi cercetarea aplicată.
În 1949 Fleishman s-a căsătorit cu
Pauline Utman, licenţiată în psihologie la
Universitatea Maryland. Ei s-au întâlnit la o
prelegere susţinută de Walter Van Dyke
Bingham. Au doi fii, Jeffrey şi Alan, şi două
nepoate, Sera şi Ariana.
În 1949 Fleishman a lucrat pentru
câteva luni la Departamentul de Cercetare
pentru Personalul Armatei unde a dezvoltat
teste pentru variate specialităţi ocupaţionale.
Expunerea la un program de cercetare aplicat
la scară largă a fundamentat psihologia
experimentală şi cantitativă, contribuind la
întărirea viziunii dezvoltată de Fleishman
asupra naturii integrative a psihologiei teoretice
şi aplicate.
71
Fleishman s-a mutat la Universitatea
de Stat din Ohio , unde şi-a obţinut doctoratul
în 1951. Coordonatorul său a fost Harold E.
Burtt, care fusese studentul lui Musterberg la
Harvard, care la rândul său fusese studentul lui
Wilhelm Wundt. Fleishman apreciază ideea că
rădăcinile sale în psihologie pot fi regăsite la
Wundt! În 1950 a obţinut bursa de cercetare
International
Harvester
pentru
studiile
interdisciplinare în domeniul leadership-ului
desfăşurate în statul Ohio. Cu această bursă a
realizat studiile sale considerate acum clasice
asupra modului în care ,,climatului leadershipului’’ la nivelele superioare ale organizaţiilor
afectează comportamentul şi atitudinile la
nivelurile inferioare şi cum astfel de climate
interacţionează cu efectele antrenamentului
liderilor. Ei au dezvoltat metode de măsurare a
constructelor de aprecierea liderului şi
structură, care au fost traduse în câteva limbi
şi sunt încă larg utilizate în prezent.
În 1951 Fleishman a acceptat un post
în cadrul Centrului de cercetare în domeniu
resurselor umane al Forţelor Aeriene în San
Antonio, Texas. A dezvoltat un program ce
îmbină metodele corelaţionale şi experimentale
în studiul abilităţilor perceptiv-motrice ca
domeniu al abilităţilor umane. Taxonomia
rezultată reprezintă încă un cadru de referinţă
pentru descrierea diferenţelor individuale în
performanţele perceptiv-motrice. El a arătat de
asemenea cum diferenţele individuale la
nivelul abilităţilor ar putea fi exploatate pentru a
obţine informaţii cu privire la procesele
implicate în învăţarea deprinderilor complexe.
Această informaţie a fost utilizată pentru a
dezvolta teste pentru selecţia piloţilor şi a altor
categorii de personal.
În 1956 Forţele Aeriene i-au dat lui
Fleishman oportunitatea de a face un tur de
şase săptămâni al centrelor de cercetare
psihologică din Europa, unde a întâlnit câţiva
din psihologii cunoscuţi din Europa (de
exemplu, Bartlett, Eysenck şi Broadbent în
Anglia; Michotte şi Nuttin în Belgia; Fraise în
Franţa; de Groot în Elveţia; Ekman şi
Henricson în Suedia). În urma acestei vizite în
Europa a fost realizat un raport ce a avut o
largă circulaţie, sprijinind interesul lui
Fleishman de a încuraja comunicarea între
psihologii din diferite regiuni ale lumii.
În luna ianuarie a anului 1957
Fleishman s-a mutat la Universitatea Yale
unde a devenit membru al Departamentului
administraţiei industriale şi Departamentul de
psihologie. Împreună cu studenţii şi colegii a
realizat studii asupra relaţiei dintre lider şi
72
subordonat, factorii atitudinali şi motivaţionali
în productivitatea muncii de grup, şi factorii
relaţionaţi cu niveluri ridicate de învăţare şi
retenţie a deprinderilor. De asemenea, şi-a
extins munca într-un nou domeniu al
abilităţilor: stabilirea standardelor de fidelitate
şi validitate de construct. Examinând practic
toate testele existente pentru abilităţile fizice,
Fleishman a identificat ce măsoară testele, a
specificat testele cele mai relevante pentru
fiecare abilitate şi a dezvoltat norme naţionale
şi curbele de dezvoltare pentru testele
recomandate. Această activitate a culminat cu
cartea sa din 1964 Structura şi măsurarea
condiţiei fizice) (cu cuvântul înainte de Stan
Musial, pe atunci preşedintele Consiliului
pentru dezvoltarea condiţiei fizice la tineri).
În 1959 Fleishman a scris împreună cu
Robert Gagne o lucrare de introducere în
psihologie,
intitulată
Psihologia
şi
performanţele
umane:O
introducere
în
psihologie, care surprinde natura integrativă a
psihologiei fundamentale şi aplicate. În 1961 a
fost publicată prima dintre cele trei ediţii ale
lucrării sale Studii în psihologia personalului şi
industrială. În timpul acestei perioade
Fleishman a fost implicat în programul spaţial
al S.U.A., fiind coautor al unui raport susţinut
de Departamentul apărării, intitulat ,,Ce trebuie
făcut în legătură cu omul în spaţiul cosmic’’.
În 1960 Fleishman a fost unul dintre
cei opt psihologi invitaţi de Asociaţia
Psihologilor Americani (APA) într-o vizită la
institutele psihologice din Uniunea Sovietică
pentru a afla mai multe despre statutul
psihologiei de acolo. S-a întâlnit cu psihologi
cunoscuţi cum ar fi Luria, Leontiev, Oshanin şi
Lomov. A vizitat de asemenea şcoli şi zone
industriale. Observaţiile sale şi ale celorlalţi
membri ai grupului, care au făcut vizite
separate, sunt raportate în cartea Câteva
perspective asupra psihologiei sovietice,
publicată în 1962. În 1962, Fleishman a primit
o bursă Guggenheim şi o bursă Senior Faculty
de la Yale, şi a petrecut un an ca profesor
invitat la Institutul de tehnologie din Izrael,
Haiafa.
Din 1963 până în 1975 Fleishman a
fost director al Institutelor americane pentru
cercetare, în Washington, unde a dezvoltat o
organizaţie incluzând numeroase institute şi
programe. Studiile realizate aici au inclus
cercetări de laborator şi de teren în domeniul
performanţelor umane, tehnologiei educaţionale, comportamentului organizaţional şi
programe internaţionale în ţările în curs de
dezvoltare. Ultimele programe i-au îndreptat
Figuri de psihologi
atenţia
asupra
aspectelor
legate
de
colaborarea cu colegii din alte ţări şi aspectelor
interculturale în aplicarea metodelor şi
modelelor în domeniul psihologiei.
În timpul acestei perioade, Fleishman
şi colegii săi au dezvoltat un program de
cercetare asupra taxonomiilor din psihologie,
în special din domeniul performanţelor umane.
Ei au examinat şi au evaluat modalităţile
alternative de descriere a sarcinilor, a dezvoltat
taxonomii provizorii, şi a evaluat utilitatea lor
pentru un număr de scopuri fundamentale şi
aplicate. O altă contribuţie a fost dezvoltarea
unor sarcini de laborator reprezentative pentru
diferite categorii de performanţă şi utilizarea
acestor sarcini în studii asupra efectelor
medicamentelor, zgomotului şi a altor variabile
independente.
Din 1970 până în 1976, Fleishman a
fost editor la Journal of Applied Psychology. În
1974, a fost ales preşedinte al Asociaţiei de
psihologie aplicată pentru o perioadă de opt
ani şi a fost membru al comitetului executiv
pentru 24 de ani. A fost responsabil pentru
reorganizarea Asociaţiei de psihologie aplicată
în divizii reprezentând majoritatea domeniilor
de psihologie aplicată. În această perioadă a
participat activ la organizarea unor congrese
internaţionale
la
Montreal,
Edinburgh,
Ierusalim, Kyoto, Madrid şi San Francisco. Din
1975 până în 1976, Fleishman a fost profesor
invitat la Universitatea Irvine din California. În
timpul acestui an, Academia Naţională de
Ştiinţe i-a propus să facă parte dintr-un grup
operativ reprezentând S.U.A. la Moscova
pentru a dezvolta primul program de ştiinţe
comportamentale cu psihologii de la Academia
Sovietică de Ştiinţe.
În 1976 Fleishman s-a reîntors la
Washington, ca preşedinte fondator al
Advanced Research Resources Organization,
implicată în cercetarea performanţelor umane,
eficienţei
organizaţionale
şi
dezvoltării
resurselor umane. Conceptele taxonomice
dezvoltate anterior au fost transpuse într-o
metodă de determinare a solicitărilor postului,
numită acum Fleishman Job Analysis Survey
(F-JAS). El şi colegii săi au extins de
asemenea taxonomia la aria dimensiunilor
echipei (vezi Fleishman & Zaccaro, 1992). În
timpul acestei perioade au fost publicată
lucrarea Taxonomiile performanţei umane:
Descrierea sarcinilor umane ( Fleishman &
Quaintance, 1984) şi setul de trei volume
intitulat Performanţele umane şi productivitatea
(volumul 1: Evaluarea capacităţilor umane,
realizat în colaborare cu Marvin Dunnette;
volumul 2: Procesarea informaţiilor şi luarea
deciziilor, cu William Howell, şi volumul 3: stres
şi eficienţa performanţelor, cu Earl Alluisi).
În 1985 Societatea Japoneză pentru
Progres în Ştiinţă l-a invitat pe Fleishman să
ţină timp de câteva luni prelegeri la universităţi
şi centre de cercetare din Japonia. În 1993 a
fost profesor invitat la Universitatea din Hong
Kong. A fost invitat să ţină discursuri la trei
conferinţe ale NATO asupra planificării şi
utilizării forţei de muncă, ţinute la Londra
(1967), Lisabona (1973) şi Paris (1994). A
participat frecvent la congrese internaţionale şi
a fost invitat să ţină prelegeri la mai mult de 25
de universităţi diferite şi centre de cercetare
din întreaga lume.
În 1986 i s-a acordat titlul de
,,Distinguished University Professor’’ la
Facultatea
de
Psihologie
din
cadrul
Universităţii George Mason, unde a fondat
Centrul de Studii Comportamentale şi
Cognitive. Aici a colaborat cu studenţi şi cu
facultatea în studii asupra performanţelor
umane şi leadership –ului. În prezent
Fleishman este consultant la numeroase
organizaţii, recent a completat două capitole
pentru noua Enciclopedie a evaluării
psihologice (Fleishman, 2003) şi este în
continuare editor pentru ,,Series in Applied
Psychology’’ pe care a fondat-o pentru
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. La retragerea
sa, Universitatea a stabilit acordarea anuală a
Premiului Edwin A. Fleishman pentru Disertaţii
pentru cea mai bună lucrare de psihologie
experimentală aplicată a unui doctorand.
Fleishman este autorul a peste de 300
de articole, capitole de cărţi şi rapoarte
tehnice, şi pe lângă cărţile deja menţionate, a
fost coautor la cărţile Leadership şi supervizare
în industrie (1955), Dezvoltări actuale în studiul
leadership-ului (1973), Abilităţile umane (1992)
şi mai recent Un sistem informaţional în
domeniul ocupaţional pentru secolul al XXI-lea:
Dezvoltarea O*NET-ului (1999).
Fleishman s-a implicat în Comitetul de
Planificare şi Reglementare al Asociaţiei
Psihologilor Americani,
Consiliul editorilor,
Comitetul de Relaţii Internaţionale în
Psihologie, Comitetul Ştiinţific de Premiere şi a
fost preşedinte al Comitetului de Testare şi
Evaluare Psihologică al APA. A fost ales
preşedinte la trei divizii ale APA: Evaluare,
măsurare şi statistică (Divizia 5), Societatea
pentru psihologie industrială şi organizaţională
(Divizia 14) şi Psihologie experimentală
aplicată şi psihologie inginerească (Divizia 21).
A fost consultant la Departamentul de stat al
73
S.U.A.,
Departamentul
de
justiţie,
Departamentul de muncă, Administraţia
securităţii sociale, Consiliul prezidenţial pentru
dezvoltarea condiţiei fizice la tineri, Biroul
secretarului apărării, Biroul general de
medicină militară şi la numeroase organizaţii
industriale.
Distincţiile primite includ Premiul
Franklin Taylor acordat de Societatea de
psihologie inginerească (1974), premiul
acordat de APA pentru Aplicaţii în domeniul
psihologiei
(1980),
respectiv
pentru
Promovarea psihologiei la nivel internaţional
(1999), un doctorat onorific din partea
Universităţii din Edinburgh (1982), Premiul
pentru activitate profesională remarcabilă
(1983) şi Premiul Scott Myers (1998, 2002)
acordate de Societatea de Psihologie
Industrială şi Organizaţională, primul Premiu
pentru
psihologi
recunoscuţi
la
nivel
internaţional al Diviziei de Psihologie
Internaţională din cadrul APA şi Premiul James
McKeen Cattell acordat de Societatea
Americană de Psihologie (1993).
Bibliografie selectivă
Fleishman, E. A. (1953). Leadership climate, human
relations training, and supervisory behavior.
Personnel Psychology, 6, 205–222.
Fleishman, E. A. (l954). Dimensional analysis of
psychomotor abilities. Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 48, 263–272.
Fleishman, E. A. (l957). A comparative study of
aptitude patterns in unskilled and skilled
psychomotor performances. Journal of Applied
Fleishman, E. A. (1960). Psychomotor tests in drug
research. In J. G. Miller & L. Uhr (Eds.), Drugs
and behavior (pp. 273–296). New York: Wiley.
Fleishman, E. A. (1965). Attitude versus skill factors
in
work
group
productivity.
Personnel
Fleishman, E. A. (1967). Performance assessment
based on an empirically derived taxonomy.
Human Factors, 9, 349–366.
Fleishman, E. A. (1972). On the relation between
abilities, learning, and human performance.
American Psychologist, 27, 1017–1032.
Fleishman, E. A. (1975). Toward a taxonomy of
human performance. American Psychologist, 30,
1127–1149.
Fleishman, E. A. (1978). Relating individual
differences to the dimensions of human tasks.
Ergonomics, 21, 1007–1019.
74
Fleishman, E. A. (1982). Systems for describing
human tasks. American Psychologist, 37, 821–
834.
Fleishman, E. A. (1988). Some new frontiers in
personnel
selection
research.
Personnel
Fleishman, E. A. (1999). Applied psychology: An
international journey. American Psychologist, 54,
1008–1016.
Fleishman, E. A. (2003). Cognitive abilities in work
and organizational settings (pp. 228–233). In R.
F.
Ballesteros
(Ed.),
Encyclopedia
of
psychological assessment (Vol. 1). London:
Sage.
Fleishman, E. A., Costanza, D. P., & Marshall-Meis,
J. C. (1999). Abilities. In N. G. Peterson, M. D.
Mumford, W. C. Borman, P. R.
Jeanneret, & E. A. Fleishman (Eds.), An
occupational information system for the 21st
century: The development of O*NET (pp. 175–
196). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Fleishman, E. A., & Ellison, G. D. (1969). Prediction
of transfer and other learning phenomena from
ability and personality measures. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 60, 300–314.
Fleishman, E. A., Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J.,
Levin, K., Korotkin, A. L., & Hein, M. (1991).
Taxonomic efforts in the description of leader
behavior:
A
synthesis
and
cognitive
interpretation. Leadership Quarterly, 2, 245–287.
Fleishman, E. A., & Parker, J. F. (1962). Factors in
the retention and relearning of perceptual-motor
skills. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64,
215–226.
Fleishman, E. A., & Quaintance, M. K. (1984).
Taxonomies of human performance: The
description of human tasks. Orlando, FL:
Academic Press.
Fleishman, E. A., & Reilly, M. E. (1992). Handbook
of human abilities: Definitions, measurements,
and
task
requirements.
Potomac,
MD:
Management Research Institute.
Fleishman, E. A., & Zaccaro, S. J. (1992). Toward a
taxonomy of team performance functions. In R.
W. Swezey & E. Salas (Eds.), Teams: Their
training and performance (pp. 36–56). Norwood,
NJ: Ablex.
Zlate Mielu (2004). Tratat de psihologie
organizaţional-managerială.
Bucureşti: Editura Polirom
Volumul I din cartea “Tratat de
psihologie organizaţional-managerială » a
profesorului Mielu Zlate aduce, în sfarşit, o
structurare
teoretică
în
domeniul
organizaţional. Autorul îşi structurează cartea
pe trei mari părţi şi anume : Cadrul teoreticometodologic, Individul în organizaţie şi Grupul
în organizaţie.
Capitolul 1 este structurat astfel încât
cititorul – fie el student, psiholog, economist
sau manager – să se familiarizeze cu
terminologia aferentă domeniului şi principalele
teorii – prezentate cronologic – care explică
funcţionarea resurselor umane în organizaţii.
Menţionăm ideea de cronologic pentru că
autorul abordează atat primele teorii şi
probleme organizaţionale (din anii de început
ai psihologiei industrial-organizaţionale), cat şi
cele mai recente care prezintă problematici de
studiu pentru cercetători şi probleme serioase
la care managerii trebuie să le facă faţă zi de
zi. Capitolul 2 ne familiarizează cu definiţiile şi
clasificările organizaţiilor, pentru ca în capitolul
3 să fie aduse în discuţie teoriile organizaţiilor,
iar în cel de-al patrulea şi ultimul se discută
eficienţa, ca problemă fundamentală a
psihologiei organizaţional-manageriale. Dacă
până în acest moment cititorul nu a fost
cucerit, suntem convinşi că acest capitol final
al primei părţi va starni curiozitatea cititorului şi
mai ales a celor din management. De ce ? E
simplu. Problema centrală a oricărei organizaţii
a fost şi este eficienţa acesteia, care nu se
referă la supravieţuirea pe piaţă, ci mai ales la
profit. În fond, aici se reflectă eficienţa oricărei
organizaţii.
Partea a doua a lucrării, Individul în
organizaţie, aduce în discuţie aspecte din
domeniul managementului resurselor umane,
cum ar fi recrutarea şi selecţia de personal şi
managementul carierei. Totuşi, înainte să intre
în profunzimea acestor teme, autorul discută
ideea omului organizaţional. Interesantă şi utilă
este abordarea problematicii compatibilităţii vs.
incompatibilităţii dintre individ şi organizaţii,
problematică des discutată, dar de cele mai
multe ori în cadrul capitolelor dedicate
recrutării şi selecţiei de personal. Felicităm
autorul pentru această viziune de ansamblu ;
în
fond,
despre
compatibilitate
sau
incompatibilitate nu poate fi vorba doar în cazul
selecţiei de personal. Un individ selectat în
baza principiului compatibilităţii poate la un
moment dat să devină incompatibil cu
organizaţia în care lucrează.
Nu vom insista asupra capitolelor
legate de recrutarea şi selecţia de personal şi
cel de managementul carierei, acestea fiind
tematici bine cunoscute specialiştilor implicaţi
în domeniul resurselor umane. Totuşi, ţinem să
apreciem rigurozitatea ştiinţifică şi abordarea
metodologică a acestora.
Ultima parte a volumului aduce în
discuţie o problematică de mare actualitate în
mediul organizaţional şi anume grupul în
organizaţie. Problematica grupurilor de muncă
este un aspect de mare interes organizaţional ;
în momentul de faţă vorbim de echipe de
proiect şi echipe de lucru mult mai des decât în
trecut. Autorul suprinde aici şi principalele
aspecte legate de dinamica şi dezvoltarea
grupurilor de muncă.
Ultimul capitol al părţii a treia este
dedicat comunicării organizaţionale ; practic
acesta este un aspect care preocupă
majoritatea organizaţiilor. Deşi comunicarea
organizaţională ar trebui să devină din ce în ce
mai rafinată datorită dezvoltării tehnologice –
internet, intranet, teleconferinţe etc. – acesta
rămane un aspect problematic al organizaţiilor,
care de multe ori dacă nu este bine “utilizat”
poate duce la serioase perturbări ale activităţii
organizaţionale.
În final ţinem să aducem autorului
aprecierile noastre sincere autorului pentru
viziunea de ansamblu, angajamentul ştiinţific,
spiritul metodologic şi capacitatea de sinteză
de care a dat dovadă şi ţinem să-l asigurăm că
aşteptăm cu mare interes volumele II şi III.
Daniela Vercellino
75
Constantin-Edmond Cracsner (2005).
Istoria psihologiei militare româneşti
Bucureşti: Editura Psyche
Comandorul psiholog dr. ConstantinEdmond Cracsner şi-a asumat prin lucrarea sa
,,Istoria
psihologiei
militare
româneşti’’
îndatorirea, deloc uşoară, de a prezenta
drumul parcurs de psihologia militară
românească spre fundamentarea ca ştiinţă.
Trebuie să precizăm de la început că ne aflăm
în faţa primei lucrări de istorie a psihologiei
militare realizate în ţara noastră.
Structurată pe nouă capitole, lucrarea
prezintă evoluţia psihologiei militare într-o
manieră accesibilă, putând fi parcursă cu
uşurinţă chiar de cititori care nu deţin
cunoştinţe solide în domeniul psihologiei sau al
activităţilor desfăşurate în mediul militar. Acest
aspect constituie unul dintre atuurile lucrării, ce
poate fi astfel consultată atât de psihologi, cât
şi de alţi specialişti din mediul militar, pentru
care conştientizarea importanţei activităţii
psihologice pentru domeniul în care activează
este esenţială. Primul capitol, ,,Introducere’’,
oferă cititorului o imagine generală asupra
psihologiei militare ca disciplină teoretică şi
practică şi asupra poziţiei acesteia în cadrul
psihologiei, dar şi a ştiinţelor militare. Al doilea
capitol,
intitulat
,,O
retrospectivă
caleidoscopică asupra istoriei psihologiei’’
realizează o sinteză a apariţiei şi dezvoltării
psihologiei ca ştiinţă, începând cu ideile
psihologice din filozofia antică, medievală, din
iluminism şi romantism şi până la paradigmele
din cadrul psihologiei ştiinţifice, pe care o
considerăm deosebit de utilă pentru cititorul
nefamiliarizat cu domeniul psihologiei.
Merită să ne oprim mai atent asupra
capitolului trei, ,,Evoluţia ideilor psihologice şi
lupta armată la români’’ în cadrul căruia autorul
se apropie mai mult de realitatea din psihologia
românească: sunt discutate idei ce au
influenţat evoluţia acestei ştiinţe în ţara
noastră, dar în acelaşi timp şi evoluţia societăţii
româneşti, trecerea de la psihologia intuitivă la
psihologia ştiinţifică fiind realizată concomitent
cu prezentarea unor etape importante din
cadrul istoriei ţării noastre, cum ar fi, de
exemplu, perioada domniei lui Ştefan cel Mare,
Mihai Viteazul, Dimitrie Cantemir, perioada
războiului de independenţă, a celor două
războaie mondiale, perioada comunistă şi
etapa de după decembrie 1989. Acest capitol
face trecerea la prezentarea, în cadrul celui
de-al patrulea capitol, a procesului de
76
constituire a psihologiei militare româneşti ca
ramură distinctă a psihologiei.
Capitolul cinci, intitulat ,,Istoria unor
structuri de psihologie din armata României’’
detaliază procesul de dezvoltare a psihologiei
româneşti
prin
prezentarea
evoluţiei
principalelor structuri care au desfăşurat
activitate psihologică în cadrul armatei române:
structurile de psihologiei din cadrul Ministerului
Administraţiei şi Internelor, Serviciului Român
de Informaţii, Ministerului Apărării Naţionale,
Serviciului de Protecţie şi Pază, Serviciului de
Telecomunicaţii
Speciale.
Urmărirea
sistematică a principalelor obiective şi atribuţii
ale acestor structuri, strâns legate de evoluţia
social-politică din România ultimelor decenii,
ajută cititorul să îşi formeze o imagine asupra
psihologiei militare desfăşurate în ţara noastră.
O atenţie deosebită este acordată de
autor evidenţierii contribuţiei aduse la
dezvoltarea psihologiei militare româneşti de
specialişti din domeniul militar şi psihologie.
Sunt prezentate personalităţile care s-au
succedat la comanda diferitelor structuri, dar şi
angajaţi care au activat sau îşi desfăşoară în
continuare activitatea în acest domeniu. Deşi
aceştia apar amintiţi pe parcursul întregii
lucrări, autorul dedică întregul capitol 7 ,
intitulat chiar ,,Personalităţi din istoria
psihologiei militare româneşti’’, prezentării
acestora. Capitolul cuprinde biografiile a peste
douăzeci de psihologi şi specialişti din
domeniul militar, între care îi amintim pe
generalul Victor Anastasiu, psihologul Valeriu
Ceauşu, locotenent-colonelul Ştefan Odobleja,
colonelul Gheorghe Perţea, psihologul Paul
Popescu-Neveanu,
profesorul
universitar
Gheorghe Zapan. Deşi este lăudabil efortul
autorului de a omagia toate aceste
personalităţi care şi-au adus contribuţia la
dezvoltarea psihologiei militare româneşti, o
serie de informaţii privind viaţa şi preocupările
acestora nu au o relevanţă directă pentru
tematica acestei lucrări.
În capitolul 8 ,,Modele de organizare a
serviciului
psihologic’’
autorul
detaliază
principiile şi normele de organizare a unor
structuri care desfăşoară activităţi psihologice
din cadrul sistemului militar şi civil românesc,
dar şi din cadrul sistemului militar din alte
cincisprezece ţări. Suntem de părere că
prezentarea
caracteristicilor
organizării
sistemului militar în alte ţări depăşeşte
domeniul de interes al unei istorii a psihologiei
militare româneşti; deşi autorul afirmă că
aceste
caracteristici
reprezintă
repere
importante pentru dezvoltarea şi reorganizarea
activităţii psihologice în cadrul Armatei
Române, nu ne sunt oferite totuşi direcţii
concrete privind asimilarea lor în cadrul
activităţii psihologice desfăşurate în mediul
militar din ţara noastră.
Lucrarea se încheie cu prezentarea, în
cadrul capitolului 9, a unor consideraţii cu
privire la sistemul actual de activităţi
psihologice desfăşurate în cadrul Armatei
Române şi expunerea, în linii foarte generale,
a unor propuneri ale autorului vizând
restructurarea activităţii în domeniul psihologiei
militare desfăşurate în ţara noastră. Deoarece
obiectivele principale urmărite de autor în
cadrul acestei lucrări au fost evidenţierea
trecutului acestui domeniu şi totodată
omagierea personalităţilor care şi-au adus
contribuţia la dezvoltarea sa, putem înţelege
accentul mai redus pus pe oferirea unor direcţii
de optimizare a psihologiei militare româneşti.
Totuşi, cum simpla cunoaştere a trecutului unui
domeniu ştiinţific nu poate constitui singurul
punct de plecare pentru construirea viitorului
său, nu putem să nu subliniem necesitatea
dezvoltării în continuare a unei metodologii
care să eficientizeze practica în domeniul
militar românesc. Ne exprimăm, asemeni
autorului, speranţa că această lucrare va fi
urmată de apariţia unui tratat care să
aprofundeze problematica psihologiei militare
româneşti şi considerăm că ,,Istoria psihologiei
militare româneşti’’ reprezintă un reper extrem
de util pentru materializarea, în viitorul extrem
de apropiat, a acestui deziderat.
Roxana Capotescu
CĂRŢI NOI DE PSIHOLOGIA MUNCII ŞI ORGANIZAŢIONALĂ
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Iluţ, P. (2004). Valori, atitudini şi comportamente sociale. Teme actuale de psihosociologie. Iaşi:
Polirom.
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Polirom.
Neculau, A. (2004) Educaţia adulţilor. Iaşi: Polirom.
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Todoran, D. (2004). Psihologia reclamei. Bucureşti: Tritonic.
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77
INFORMAŢII
În data de 8 aprilie 2005 a fost convocată Convenţia Naţională a Colegiului Psihologilor din România,
în conformitate cu art. 26 (3) şi (5) din Legea 213/2004 şi hotărârea Comitetului Director din 30
octombrie 2004. Manifestarea a avut loc în Aula Magna a Universităţii din Bucureşti, în clădirea
Facultăţii de Drept, B-dul M. Kogălniceanu, nr. 64. Au participat delegaţii şi candidaţii desemnaţi prin
Convenţiile Teritoriale.
Ordinea de zi a cuprins:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Aprobarea următoarelor documente, conform art. 27, lit. a, din Legea 213/2004:
• Regulamentul de organizare şi funcţionare internă;
• Codul deontologic al profesiei de psiholog cu drept de liberă practică;
• Codul de procedură disciplinară;
• Normele de avizare a metodelor şi tehnicilor de evaluare şi asistenţă psihologică.
Alegerea preşedintelui Colegiului şi a membrilor Comitetului Director (membrii comisiilor
aplicative precum şi ai comisiei metodologice şi de deontologie) conform art. 27, lit. b, din
Legea 213/2004 pentru primul mandat de 4 ani.
Comisiile Colegiului, rezultate în urma alegerilor, se vor întruni în vederea alegerii biroului
constituit din preşedinte, vicepreşedinte, secretar. În continuare vor rămâne în sală
Comitetul director (preşedintele Colegiului şi membrii comisiilor) precum şi preşedinţii
Comitetelor de Filiale.
Convocarea primei adunări anuale a Consiliului Colegiului Psihologilor din România.
Adunarea Consiliului Colegiului are următoarea ordine de zi, conform art. 30 din Legea
213/2004:
• aprobarea cotizaţiei anuale şi nivelul taxelor necesare acoperirii costurilor de atestare şi
a altor servicii prestate;
• aprobarea structurilor administrative ale Comitetului director;
• aprobarea bugetului de venituri şi cheltuieli al Colegiului.
*
* *
Asociaţia Psihologilor din România şi Facultatea de Psihologie şi Ştiinţele Educaţiei Iaşi organizează
Simpozionul Internaţional EXIGENŢE ŞI STANDARDE ALE PSIHOLOGIEI APLICATE. Manifestarea
va avea loc în Câmpulung Moldovenesc (jud. Suceava) în perioada 7-9 octombrie 2005. Data limită de
trimitere a rezumatelor comunicărilor şi lucrărilor ştiinţifice este 1 iulie 2005 (detalii suplimentare la
adresa de e-mail [email protected]).
78

psihologia resurselor umane

Transcription

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