William Weitzel

Managerial Models of Organizational Effectiveness.

Studies of organizational characteristics predictive of managerial judgments of overall effectiveness of subordinate organizational units are reported.3 The findings are interpreted within the framework of a hierarchical model of criteria of effectiveness. Measurable organizational characteristics serve as operational, short-run substitutes for the more subjective, long-run ultimate criterion of organizational effectiveness. The general business and research and development models of criteria of organizational effectiveness show differences in ways consistent with the analyses of Woodward (1965) and Thompson (1967).

The Conditioning Influence of Organization Size Upon Managerial Practice.

Abstract Organization size is a frequently discussed, less often studied, characteristic of organization units. Two size dimensions, unit size and size of parent organization, are analyzed for independent and joint relationships with various dimensions of organizational behavior and managerial practice. Results suggest that managerial practices of delegation, staffing and direction vary with size and moderate expected size influences upon coordination and performance.

Describing Organizations as Reinforcer Systems: A New Use for Job Satisfaction and Employee Attitude Surveys.

Abstract Job satisfaction data on managerial personnel were used to illustrate how organizations can be differentiated and described as reinforcer systems. Twenty-seven specific satisfaction scales were regressed on overall job satisfaction, separately for each of five groups of managers from five organizations. For all groups, overall satisfaction was found to be determined mainly by scales concerning challenge of the job and prospects of ones chosen career. Application of decremental stepwise multiple regression procedures to obtain minimum-variable-set equations resulted in different, though overlapping, sets of variables in the equations for the different organizations. These results suggest a way of describing organizations as reinforcer systems, in terms of the specific determinants of overall satisfaction for the organization.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWS OF EMPLOYEES' PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT: ONE MORE TIME

141 nurses described interviews reviewing recent performance. 8 process characteristics and 6 outcomes were examined. All measures were used previously by other researchers. 5 process characteristics were related to most of the outcomes. Specific findings were consistent with previous conclusions. Thus consensus on characteristics of effective appraisal interviews experienced by subordinates emerges.

A Supervisory View of Unit Effectiveness.

Abstract : First level supervisors (N = 53) from a cross-section of business and industrial organizations in metropolitan Minneapolis - St. Paul provided evaluative and descriptive information about the immediate work group which each supervised. From this information a model was built depicting first level supervisory perceptions of behaviors which lead to work unit effectiveness. This model was compared with a model based upon higher level managers perceptions of what leads to first level unit effectiveness. The overwhelming importance of production emphasis by both groups and the use of human relations behaviors in an instrumental fashion by first level supervisors is discussed in connection with managerial philosophy. Other similarities and differences between the models from the two organizational levels are considered. (Author)