I__. - International Military Testing Association

incentive utilization, scales measuring important interpersonal
and organizational constructs, and various demographic items.
The post-rotation questionnaires focused on soldier perceptions
(self ratings) of mission performance during their recent
rotation. In other words, the base and pre-rotation
questionnaires contained the home station determinants
(predictors) of performance, including utilization of incentives;
the post-rotation questionnaires (platoon self ratings) and
ratings by the O/Cs and company commanders functioned as
criterion measures of that performance.
The analyses prepared for this paper focused on the
responses from the squad members to the pre-rotation
questionnaire which included a measure of incentive use. The
soldiers assessed the utilization of each incentive; an
aggregation of responses to the items was used to assess the
total level of incentive utilization. The use of each incentive
was assessed by a five point scale: 1 = seldom used, 2 = used
occasionally, sometimes for the wrong people, 3 = used
occasionally, given to the right people, 4 = used often,
.sometimes given to the wrong people, 5 = used often, given to the
right people. A two dimensional response scale was used due to
shortage of questionnaire space.
RESULTS
The distribution of overall individual squad member
responses assessing the utilization of each incentive is
illustrated in Figure 1. The figure indicates that giving
'lPasseslt was the incentive most frequently utilized and the
incentive most often given to the right soldier. The least
utilized incentive was "Letters of appreciation or commendation."
The incentive seen as most often given to the wrong person was
*8Promotions.n
This incentive utilization pattern was similar across the
five battalions and for most companies. Most variation in the
utilization patterns was across platoons. This finding may
indicate that there was an attitudinal component to the ratings
which may have biased their accuracy. Nonetheless, the overall
responses of the soldiers, as well as the platoon mean
utilization levels shown in Table 1, suggest that, on the whole,
incentives are not as frequently or effectively utilized as they
might be'.
A key focus of analysis in this research was to estimate the
relationships between use of incentives, standard organizational
variables, and platoon performance. The estimates of these
relationships were needed to develop a working model of the
interactions among the variables. Such a working model, in turn,
was needed to develop a more thorough model for use in designing
programs, tools, or interventions to enhance unit performance.
In the analysis for this paper, the authors examined a set
of standard organizational variables to find their relation to
the use of incentives: 1) company learning climate, 2) job
satisfaction, 3) platoon pride, 4) expectations that the NTC/JRT.C
rotation would be valuable training, 5) motivation for the
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