I__. - International Military Testing Association

supervisor-subordinate relations, make employees take responsibility for correcting problem
behavior, and save money and productivity lost to suspensions. The third initiative, the
Elimination of Mandatory Interviews, removed an agency requirement that all candidates for a
job be interviewed and allowed appointing officials to interview some, all, or none of the
candidates for a position after reviewing their written applications
Materials
A questionnaire, developed to measure respondents’ perceptions of climate and the specific
changes. was administered one year after program implementation began. The first part of the
instrument included questions regarding demographic characteristics of the respondents and
perceptions of organizational climate. Organizational climate was adapted from several
questionnaires (Gordon & Cummins, 1979; Siegel & Kaemmerer, 1978; Mowday & Steers, 1979;
and Young, Riedel, & Sheposh, 1979). It consisted of 47 items which represented nine _
organizational dimensions (e.g. organizational climate, management style, organizationsl
effectiveness). Seven point scales were used for all dimensions except organizational
effectiveness which was measured on a nine point scale.
The second half of the survey assessed the specific. changes and related issues. Three
aspects of the changes were addressed. First, a set of items using 7 point scales was developed
to assess the specific initiatives. For example, the ease, efficiency, and fairness of the
Elimination of Mandatory Interviews initiative was measured by three items employing 7-point
response scales. Second, perceived consequences resulting from the specific changes (e.g.,
augmented authority and increased ease in carrying out personnel actions) were measured with 7
point scales. Third, the general acceptance of the initiatives, preference for these changes over
the old system, and the extent to which respondents wanted the changes to continue were
assessed with three items employing 5 point scales.
Results
The mean responses for the components comprising the model for first-line supervisors and
managers and for the overall sample are presented in Table 1. In general managers gave a
slightly more positive assessment of the organization’s climate, the individual changes, the
perceived consequences, and the acceptance of the institutionalization of the changes.
Significant differences between supervisors’ and managers’ ratings were obtained for
ELIMINATION OF MANDATORY INTERVIEWS (Fl ]gg = 7.12, p K .Ol) and for ACCEPTANCE OF THE
INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE CHANGES (Fl ]g; = 13.11 p