UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR. MICHIGAN RENSIS LIKERT. DIRECTOR

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1 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN I N S T I T U T E F O R S O C I A L R E S E A R C H ANN ARBOR. MICHIGAN RENSIS LIKERT. DIRECTOR SURVEY RESEARCH CENTER AHOUE CAMPBELL, DIRECTOR RESEARCH CENTER FOR GROUP DYNAMICS DORWIN CARTTTHISHT. DIRECTOR February 26, 1952 Dr. J. W. Macmillan, Division Director Dr. Howard E. Page, Branch Head Office of Naval Research Washington 25, D. C. Dear Sirs: We attach the annual report of research activities conducted by the Institute for Social Research under your Contract Number N6 onr 232, Task Order 2. This report covers the activities during the calendar year of 1951.' The work done within the Institute under this contract has been divided administratively into two parts. One series of studies has been carried out within the Research Center for Group Dynamics under the direction of Dr. Dorwin Cartwright, Director of the Center. A separate series of studies has been done within the Survey Research Center, under the direction of Dr. Angus Campbell, Director of that Center. The work done by the two Centers has been integrated in that broad objectives are shared and certain specific studies have been complementary. However, the theoretical orientations, methods and focal interests are somewhat different. For this reason, the present report is divided into two parts, each summarizing the work of one of the Centers. We are including in this report reference to all projects within the Institute which have been supported all or in some part by ONR funds. In several cases the ONR funds were supplemented considerably from other sources, and these sources are mentioned where appropriate in the body of this report. Sincerely yours, SES:rr Enclosure Rensis Likert

2 INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan ANNUAL REPORT OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED BY THE OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH December 31, 1951 Survey Research Center Research Center for Group dynamics Contract Number N6 onr 232, Task Order 2

3 December 31, 1901 Contract No. N6 onr 232 Task Order 2 INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan ANNUAL REPORT OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED BY THE OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH Table of Contents Part I - Projects Within the Survey Research Center A. Factors related to productivity and morale in an office situation B. An experimental study of organizational change C. Productivity and morale among railroad workers D. Productivity and morale in an industrial situation E. Studies of processes and determinants of social change in a complex organization E-l. Changing supervisor-subordinate relationships through intensive discussion of survey findings E-2. An experimental evaluation of a training program E-3. Supervision, morale and attitude changes among white collar employees F. Power and leadership in the first-line supervisor G. Role analysis of an automobile factory H. Communication structure and attitudes in a complex organization I. Incentive programs and organizational effectiveness Part I I - Projects Within the Research Center for Group Dynamics A. Changing attitudes through social contact B. Group productivity

4 C. Pressures toward uniformity C-l. The influence process in the presence of extreme deviates C-2. C-3, The anchorage of opinions in reference groups The effect of different dimensions of disagreement on the communication process in small groups C-U. Group pressures toward selection and distortion of content in cognition and communication D. A field study on the determinants of cohesiveness E. A laboratory study on sensitiveness to feelings F. An experiment on de-individuation G. Appendix to Part I I Project personnel Publications during 1951

5 PART I Introduction In 19^7 the Human Relations Program in the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan began a series of studies designed to investigate some of the determinants of organization effectiveness. The series had an initial focus on productivity and individual worker satisfaction as criteria for organization effectiveness, and started with some hypotheses about the relationships between supervisory practices and these criterion data as a way of getting at the determining variables. The investigations were planned as field operations in ongoing organizations using organization personnel as subjects. Six large industrial units and a government agency have been used as study sites in the Program to date. In some of them we have conducted a number of related studies, and are building further research opportunities. As work has progressed and some understanding of the determinants of organization effectiveness have begun to emerge, research objectives have been adjusted in the direction of a broader Program plan. The Program has been supported both by the Office of Naval Research and by contributions from the organizations in which the studies have been done. This report is intended to provide a summary statement of the work that is in progress in the Program as a whole, including both those projects largely supported by the Office of Naval Research and those supported primarily by the organizations where the field work is being done. A. Factors Related to Productivity and Morale in an Office Situation Problem and progress to date In 19U7 an exploratory survey was undertaken in the home office of a large insurance company to investigate the relationships among supervisory practices, employee attitudes, employee productivity and morale. The productivity aspect of this study called for a design in which matched highproductivity and low productivity work groups were compared with respect to interview responses. The population included 2h supervisors and Ul9 employees A final report on this aspect of the over-all study has been published.(l) This productivity analysis, based on a part of the total population included in the survey, led to the formulation of concepts and measures for four dimensions of employee morale, A continuation of the original

6 - 2 - analysis of the data is being made in order to test some of the major findings of the earlier analysis and to extend the investigation of morale in relation to supervisory practices and employee attitudes. A final report on this phase of the study will be published in The morale dimensions used in this analysis are: (1) Intrinsic job satisfaction - the degree of satisfaction the individual" obtains from performing those tasks which constitute the content of the job. ( 2 ) Financial and job status satisfaction - the degree of satisfaction the individual feels with his present and expected earnings in the organization and with his present and expected job status level in the organization. (3) Company involvement - the degree to which the individual derives satisfaction from and identifies with the organization in which he is employed. (ii) Pride in work group - the degree of attachment to and satisfaction with the accomplishment of the immediate and secondary work group of which the employee is a member. An additional extension of the original survey has been a field experiment designed to test the hypotheses about supervisory practices and productivity. This work is reported separately, as Project B. Project personnel Dr. Nancy Morse, Study Director Support The earlier phases of this study were supported by the Office of Naval Research. The work during the past year has been supported by the University of Michigan and by the company in which the field work has been done. Publications (1) Katz, D., Maccoby, N., and Morse, N. Productivity, Supervision, and Morale in an Office Situation, Part I. Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, (2) Maccoby, N. The Relationship of Supervisory Behavior and Attitudes to Group Productivity in Two Widely Different Industrial Settings. Mimeo. 19u9. (Paper presented at American Psychological Association meetings.)

7 - 3 - (3) Maccoby, N. A Quantitative Comparison of Certain Psychological Conditions Related to Group Productivity in Two Widely Different Industrial Situations. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, (U) Morse, N. Relationship Between Areas of Work Satisfactions and Other Factors. Mimeo. 19U&. (Paper presented at the American Psychological Association meetings.) (5) Kahn, R. and Morse, N. Morale and Productivity, Journal of Social Issues, Winter, B. An Experimental Study of Organizational Change Problem Early studies in the Human Relations Program and theoretical developments in the literature of social psychology and industrial relations suggest that one of the important determinants of the effectiveness of complex organizations is the way in which control and regulation functions are performed. In this study, a field experiment was designed to examine, systematically, the way in which differences in the location of control and regulation function in the administrative hierarchy of a complex organization are reflected in organizational effectiveness. Four major research problems were formulated: (1) How do differences in location of control affect individual worker productivity and individual worker attitudes toward the job, other workers, working conditions, and the larger organization? (2) How does change in location of control affect supervisory practices? What does i t do to relationships among supervisors and suncrvised, to relationships among persons under various kinds of supervision, and to individual worker productivity and attitudes? (3) How do different kinds of individuals and groups respond to the same change in location of control? (U) What are the dynamics of the change process itself? What are the factors that facilitate or inhibit change in location of control in a functioning complex organization, and what is the pattern of interaction among key persons during the change pz-ocess?

8 - u - In the development of these four problem areas, a number of specific hypotheses were formulated to shape the research. The following illustrate some of the ways in which the theoretical problems were framed: (1) The greater the amount of control the individual has over the organizational conditions which affect him, the greater the individual's motivation to produce. (2) The greater the amount of control the individual has over the organizational conditions which affect him, the greater the individual's involvement in the organization. (3) The greater the amount of control the individual has over the organizational conditions which affect him, the greater the degree to which the individual will develop leadership abilities and skills. (h) The greater the amount of control the individual has over the organizational conditions which affect him, the greater the degree of his satisfaction with his superiors. (5) Relevant personality needs will determine the degree of adjustment which individuals make to a given type of control and regulation system. The "authoritarian" type will be more adjusted in an organization where superiors have a great deal of control over him than the "democratic" type will be. Likewise, the "democratic" personality type will be more adjusted in an organization where he is involved in the controlling processes than the "authoritarian" personality type will be. In other words, the same system of regulation and control will have different impacts on individuals with different personality needs. (6) The degree of adjustment of the individual to various) control and regulation systems will also depend upon the relevant past experiences of the individual what he is used to. Study design Four large clerical work divisions (involving a staff of approximately 500 people) doing the same type of work with the same basic work methods were divided into two groups matched on the independent variable, location of control, and numerous other variables, including productivity and job satisfaction. One group was involved in a program des'igned to raise the hierarchical location of control; the other in a program to lower the hierarchical location of control.

9 - 5 - Prior to the introduction of the programs designed to manipulate the independent variable, the supervisors and employees were administered questionnaires measuring a very wide variety of variables. The supervisors were interviewed to obtain similar information. One and one half years later the employees and supervisors were re-interviewed and re-questionnaired. In the intervening period the supervisors and employees were systematically observed. Progress to date The field work has been completed and the analysis is now under way. Some of the preliminary findings are: (1) The experimental manipulation of the independent variable resulted in a significant lowering of the locus of the control processes in one experimental group and a slight raising of locus of control in the other. (2) Productivity appears to have been increased both by shifting controls downwards and by shifting controls upward* (3) The effect of shifting controls downwards seems to result in significantly greater organizational involvement as measured by expressed willingness to expend effort to retain organizational relationships. Some of the initial hypotheses which were not confirmed are leading to new formulations which can be tested with the data already gathered. Several publications are in preparation for issuance during 1952 and the analysis of the data of this study will be completed in Project personnel Dr. Nancy C. Morse, Study Director, Mr. Arnold Tannenbaum, Assistant Study Direotor and graduate student in Psychology. Miss Carol Kaye, Assistant in Social Psychology. Study Director and graduate student Miss Jane Williams, Assistant Study Director. Support The major support for the two year field period was provided by the company in which the work was done. The Office of Naval Research has supported some of the measurement work in the field and some of the analysis

10 Publications (1) Morse, N. C, An Experimental Study of an Organizational Variable, in Groups, Leadership, and Men;.. Csraegle:,PrBBS (2) Morse, N. C, Reimer, E. and Tannenbaum, A., Regulation and Control in a Hierarchical Organization, Journal of Social Issues, Winter, C. Productivity, Supervision and Morale Among Railroad Workers Problem To study the determinants of productivity in a low-skilled labor population, and to compare the findings with those obtained in the earlier study on clerical workers. Progress to date Intensive interviews were taken with the 72 foremen and 298 men in 72 railroad maintenance-of-way section gangs. These sections were paired in such a way that the sections in each pair differed in productivity but were matched with respect to technical factors that might affect production. The field work, and most of the analysis, were completed prior to A final report has been published. (1) Findings The findings indicate that the behavior of the first level supervisor is an important determinant of the productivity of a work group. The supervisor of the high producing section tends to be a man who can differentiate his role from that of the workers themselves, who clearly perceives and accepts the responsibilities of leadership. At the same time, he is supportive in his relationship with his men, and shows some sensitivity to their interests, needs and aspirations. He seems to look at productivity, to some extent, as a problem of motivating the people he supervises. The supervisor of the low producing section, on the other hand, tends to be a man who does not clearly perceive his leadership function, is less supportive with his men, and less interested in their problems and aspirations. In contrast to the findings with respect to the relationship between supervision and p r o d u c t i v i t y, l i t t l e relationship was found between productivity and those employee attitudes which were used as a measure of morale.

11 - 7 - The results of this research corroborate many of the findings obtained in an earlier study of clerical workers. This is true both for the positive results showing the relationship between productivity and supervision, and the negative results in relating productivity to employee morale. Replication of the findings in two such different work situations provides some evidence of the generality of the relationships obtained. Project personnel Mr. Gerald Gurin, Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology. Support This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research. Publications (1) Katz, D., Maccoby, N., Gurin, G., and Floor, L.G., Productivity, Supervision and Morale Among Railroad Workers, Survey Research Center, D. Productivity and Morale in an Industrial Situation Problem This study, the third in the Human Relations Program to deal with the productivity criterion, has had the following major objectives: (1) To determine the social-psychological correlates of productivity and morale in an industrial situation, testing some of the conclusions derived from earlier studies of clerical workers in an insurance company and track laborers on a railroad; (2) To identify some of the components of industrial morale; (3) To assess the relative validity and reliability of the personal interview and written questionnaire for collecting social research data in an industrial situation. Progress to date Intensive interviews were taken with 200 supervisory employees; written questionnaires were obtained from about 20,000 rank and file workers

12 in a tractor factory. The editing, coding, tabulation, and major analysis of these data are completed. During 1952 the analysis will be completed, and the several papers and interim reports now available will be consolidated into a single research monograph. The methodological results available from work in connection with the third objective stated above will be presented in a doctoral dissertation to be submitted to the University of Michigan during the current academic year. A number of demographic, situational, and supervisory character-, istics have been found to be positively related to productivity. Among these are skill level of the job, liking for the job, communications skills of the supervisor, supportiveness of the supervisor-subordinate relationship, cohesiveness of the primary work group, and satisfaction with rewards. Morale, as measured by some 70 attitudinal and perceptual items, has been found to consist of at least four components, as identified by means of factor analysis: intrinsic job satisfaction; satisfaction with supervision, satisfaction with over-all organizational policies, and satisfaction with the systems controlling rewards and mobility. Indexes measuring the first three of these components have been used as criteria in the analysis of the correlates of morale. (1), (6). The methodological study comparing questionnaire and interview results for an identical population, half of which was interviewed prior to and half subsequent to filling out the questionnaire, raises serious questions about the usually unquestioned superiority of the interview technique for all data collecting purposes. The findings suggest that in an industrial situation the factor of anonymity may be of major importance in encouraging frankness of responses. Thus, the questionnaire responses tended to show fewer management stereotypes and more open criticism of supervision and company policies. The obvious superiority of the interview for exploratory work, and the greater quantity and flexibility of data provided by personal interview, are of course acknowledged. These factors were not assessed in this project. Project personnel Mr. Robert Kahn, Acting Program Director and graduate student in Social Psychology. Mr. Kermit Schooler, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Psychology. Mr. Robert Neel, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Psychology. Support This project has been supported largely by the company in which the field work was done.

13 - 9 - Publications (1) Carlsson, G., An Analysis of Morale Dimensions, Mimeo., (2) Kahn, R.L., The Pattern of Relationships between Organizational Characteristics and Productivity, Mimeo., 1951* (Paper presented at American Psychological Association meetings.) (3) Kahn, R.L. and Morse, N., Morale and Productivity, Journal of Social Issues, Winter, 1951 (k) Katz, D. and Kahn, R., Human Organization and Worker Motivation, in Industrial Productivity, Industrial Relations Research Association, 1951' (5) Neel, R.G., Factors Related to Productivity (A Preliminary Report), Mimeo., (Paper presented at American Psychological Association meetings.) (6) Schooler, K., Methodology for Studying the Dimensions of Morale, Mimeo., (Paper presented at American Psychological Association meetings.) (7) Survey Research Center, Company "A" Study, Report I I I : Attitudes and Opinions of First-level Supervisors. Three volumes, Mimeo,, 195T! (8) Survey Research Center, Company "A" Study, Report IV: Comparison of Attitudes of Hourly Employees, Weekly Employees and Firstlevel Supervisors"! Mimeo., (9) Survey Research Center, Company "A" Study, Supplementary Report; Attitudes and Opinions of Hourly and Weekly mployees> Mimeo., (10) Survey Research Center, Company "A" Study, Report V: Factors Related to Productivity, Mimeo., ' (11) Survey Research Center, Company "A" Study, Report VI: Factors Related to Morale, Mimeo., E. Studies of Processes and Determinates of Social Change in Complex Organizations: A Series of Studies in a Public Utility Introduction The major objective of this research program is the discovery of generalizations about the behavior of people in complex social organizations.

14 Methodologically we are working towards our objective in two ways: (l) by determining what organizational factors are associated with high motivation, productivity, and morale; (2) by attempting to establish definite causal relationships through the experimental manipulation of variables. The long range objective of actually manipulating significant vari ables in functioning organizations has required that we do research on the development of social techniques for changing relationships within organiza* tions and on the measurement of the results of such changes. The following three projects were undertaken with both of these sub-objectives in mind. The first study represents our earliest quantitative study of the problems of creating change-in an organization. In this study we simply took advantage of a request for a resurvey of a major organizational unit on which we already had bench-mark data. The purpose was to see what effect a complex of major personnel activities had on employee attitudes during a two year period. In the second study we carefully designed a field experiment centering around a human relations training program which had as one of its major objectives the improvement of supervisor-subordinate relationships. In both of these studies the change programs and agents were primarily developed by others than members of the Human Relations Program. The third quantitative study in this series within a public utility is an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of a procedure for changing an organization through intensive discussions of our survey findings. In this project the procedures used were developed and directed by members of the Program. The research on organizational change is s t i l l at a very early stage, but our experiences to date have provided us with a tremendous respect for the problems of producing change in relatively fixed, complex systems of interrelated organizational positions. The interlocking nature of a bureaucratic system of roles has great stability. Some of our work in one of the departments in our most recent study, however, has provided a number of provocative leads to how these systems of reciprocal expectations may be used as forces for change as well as for stability. These will be followed up in subsequent studies if the proper research situations can be found. E 1. Changing Superior-Subordinate Relationships Through Intensive Discussions of Survey Findings Problem Our first major study of the concrete problems of creating social change in a complex organization was a large scale exploratory, non-quantitative investigation of the factors which seemed to be associated with the effectiveness of different methods of communicating relatively simple analyses of employee attitudes to members of an organization. Ln that study we identified a number of factors which we considered to be important for creating.change in the human relations skills of superiors and subordinates. No

15 attempt was made, however, to measure the combined effect of these factors. In the present study we have attempted to measure the effectiveness of a particular method of using the results of a resurvey of the attitudes and perceptions of employees to change the human relations skills of supervisors and department heads'. The specific objectives have been: (1) To evaluate the over-all effects of intensive discussions of survey findings about the attitudes and perceptions of employees as a means of changing superior subordinate relationships. (2) To investigate the conditions influencing the effect of these discussions. Progress to date The study was designed as a field experiment in a group of accounting departments of a public utility. This group contained eight departments. Four of the eight departments became our experimental groups; two our control groups. Major changes occurred in top level positions in the two remaining departments, and these departments were, therefore, eliminated from this particular study. Measurements were taken in May, 1950 before the discussions of survey findings, and in February, 1952, after the discussions. The population consists of 70 first line supervisors and over 800 non supervisory employees under these supervisors working primarily on white collar Jobs. Six of the eight departments are concerned with accounting, billing, and collection functions in a large public utility, two are meter testing and reading departments. All of the experimental departments had the same general level of morale as shown by an earlier survey. In each of the experimental departments, a program of individual and group discussions was carried out. These discussions were centered upon the information obtained in two preliminary surveys of employee and supervisory attitudes and perceptions within the departments involved. "While the details of the procedure in these discussions varied somewhat between departments, the objective was obtained of having members at all levels participate in intensive examination of the objective findings, implications and interpretations of the survey data. The resurvey following this experimental procedure was designed to produce two criterion measures of change in supervisory subordinate relations: Changes in the attitudes and perceptions of employees were taken as the criterion of change in the human relations skills of the first-line supervisors; changes in the attitudes and perceptions of the first line supervisors were taken as the criterion of change in the human relations skills of the department heads. The attitudes and perceptions were measured, both in the pre-experimental and in the post-experimental surveys by questionnaires relating to the respondents' work situations: the work itself, rela tionships with others, company policies and practices, and the company as an organization.

16 The analysis of this data has recently been initiated, and a report of findings will be prepared during Personnel Mr, Floyd C. Mann, Assistant Program Director and graduate in Sociology, student Mrs, Helen Metzner, Assistant Study Director. Mr. Howard Baumgartel,. Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology. Support This project has been supported which the field experiment was conducted. primarily by the organization in E-2. An Experimental Evaluation of a Training Program Problem Human relations training for supervisors has had an unprecedented emphasis in the past decade. It is generally claimed that such training improves supervisors 1 ability to handle people and increases the : morale and efficiency of their employees. Little research has been directed towards determining the effectiveness of these programs. The objectives of this project are: (1) To evaluate the over-all effects of a human relations training program for supervisors. (2) To investigate the conditions influencing the effect of training supervisors in human relations principles. Study design The study design required the measurement of the attitudes and perceptions of employees and supervisors in four divisions of a large public utility company. These measures have been obtained through three successive questionnaire surveys taken at one year intervals. During the first interval., (phase one) the supervisors in two of the divisions were given training in human relations skills as described below, while those in the other two divisions were not given this training. In the second interval, (phase two) the supervisors in the original two control divisions received the training while the supervisors in the other divisions received no additional training.

17 The training given in this field experiment was under the direction of Dr, Norman R. F. Maier, of the university of Michigan. Each supervisor attended twelve half-day training sessions at three-week intervals, and in addition participated in follow-up discussion sessions led by his own line superior. The content of the training emphasized the techniques of counseling and of democratic group decision through group discussion, together with the psychological principles which underlie these techniques. The population for the study consisted of $0 first-line supervisors and over U00 non supervisory employees in four divisions of the organization. The four groups were matched on size, type of work and initial level of morale as shown in a prior company-wide survey. The criteria of change were derived from the measures of attitudes and perceptions among the non-supervisory employees in the experimental and control divisions. Progress to date During the first phase there was a significant increase in satisfaction with supervision in one experimental division and a significant decrease in satisfaction with supervision in the other exoerimental division. When these two divisions were combined, the differences were neutralized. The differences between the two control divisions were not significant and did not focus on supervision. One control division showed a slight gain and the other a slight loss. Here also when the two divisions were combined, the differences were neutralized. Analysis suggest that the training course was responsible for the obtained differences between the two experimental divisions. While a number of conditions were found to influence the effectiveness of foremen training, these conditions were not all independent. The variables which appeared to be most relevant were those relating to the practices of higherlevel supervisors. Foremen in the experimental division which improved, as compared with foremen in the experimental division which showed negative change were: (1) more receptive to the principles stressed in the course, (2) perceived greater opportunity to try out their ideas on the job, (3) were more satisfied with their superiors and received more encouragement from their superiors to use the principles of the course, (i;) indicated greater satisfaction with their jobs, progress, and chances for promotion, (5) expected greater personal benefits i f they used the principles presented in the course, (6) felt more secure in their relationships with their superiors, and (7) were mere adaptable. The analysis of the first phase of this project, outlined above, pointed to the importance of further investigation of "organizational climate." To obtain more information about these climate variables, additional questions were designed and incorporated in the questionnaires for the third measurement. The questions were aimed at determining: (1) how the ideas presented in the course f i t into the concept of the foreman

18 - m - role as the foreman conceives that role and as he sees his peers' and subordinates 1 conception of i t, (2) the extent to which pressure to adopt the new ideas has been applied to the foreman by his boss, his crew, and himself, and (3) the relative influence on the foreman of the various power fields around him. The analysis of the data from the second phase of the study is now in progress. Personnel Mr. Floyd Mann, Assistant Program in Sociology. Director and graduate student Dr. Theodore Hariton,' Study Director. Mr. Donald Trow, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology. Mrs* Anne Moldauer, Assistant Study Director. Financial Support This project was initially supported by the Office of Naval Research. The continuing and primary support for the project has been provided by the public utility in which the study has been carried out. Publications (1), Hariton, T., Conditions Influencing the Effects ofgraining Supervisors in New Human Relations Techniques. Mimeo., l9pl«(paper presented at the American Psychological Association meetings.) (2) Hariton, T., Conditions Influencing the Bffects of Training Supervisors in New Human Relations Techniques. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, E-3«Supervision, Morale and Attitude Changes Among White Collar Employees Problem The central problem in this project is that of attitudinal and behavioral change among members of an organization. The project was

19 designed tn take advantage of a situation in which extensive attitudinal and perceptual data could be obtained before and after an interval of time during which several major changes occurred in the personnel practices of the organization. These changes included the introduction of (l) a special training program, (2) an intensive program for informing employees of the results of the initial survey of attitudes and perceptions, and (3) an executive development and inventory program. The including: study was designed also "with a number of subsidiary objectives, (1) To further investigate-the relationship between supervisory attitudes and behavior-and employee morale in white collar situations. (2) To compare the relationship between management evaluations of supervisors and employee evaluations of supervisors. (3) To explore the feasibility of relating employee absences to employee attitudes for white collar, peace-time operations where there is relatively low absence rates. (U) To test several methodological hypotheses concerning questionnaire construction. Study design This study is focussed upon eight major accounting departments of a large public utility company. These departments include 85 first-line supervisors and about 800 subordinates. The operations consist of meterreading, customer billing, collecting, and account maintenance. This population was included in a company-wide questionnaire and interview survey in 19U8, in which information was obtained as to the attitudes and perceptions of the respondents regarding a wide variety of factors relating to their jobs, their relations with associates and the company., The present study design consists essentially of a resurvey of this population to obtain measures of the direction and magnitude of change. Also included in the study design are three criterion measures based upon (l) management evaluations of supervisory performance, (2) upon employee absence rates, and (3) employee morale measures derived from the questionnaires In the resurvey questionnaires, certain variations in questionnaire design were included in order to test hypotheses regarding their effects. Some additional questions were also included t o further explore certain relationships tentatively established in the initial survey.

20 Progress to date The initial survey was completed in 191*8 and the resurvey was completed in While the analysis is not completed, the following major findings are available: (1) Significant changes in employee attitudes occurred in only two of the eight departments, one showing a gain and the other a decrement. There are no simple relationships to account for this result, and i t appears that a complex set of forces is operating. Some revised hypotheses are now being tested. (2) The attitudes and perceptions of employees regarding their supervisors are systematically related to the management evaluations of these supervisors. Supervisors who were rated as "promotable" had subordinates who tended to say: (a) they felt very free to discuss important things about their jobs and personal problems with their superiors, (b) they felt their supervisors were good at handling people and would go to bat for them, (c) (d) they knew what their supervisors thought of their work, their supervisors frequently held group meetings in which employees could discuss things, (e) these meetings were valuable, not just talk, (f) they described their supervisors as "leaders,' 1 not "drivers," less likely to criticize, not bossy, and reasonable in their expectations. (3) Absence rates were found to be inversely related to job satisfaction among men in low-skill white collar jobs, but this predicted relationship was not found for other groups. Elabor-, ations of the original hypotheses are now being investigated. Project personnel Mr. Floyd Mann, Assistant Program Director and graduate student in Sociology. Mrs. Helen Metzner, Assistant Study Director. Support This project has been supported by the company in which the work was done. field

21 Publications (1) Mann, F., Putting Human Relations Research Findings to Work, Michigan Business Review, (2) Metzner, H., and Mann, F., A Limited Comparison of Two Methods of Data Collection: The Fixed Alternative Questionnaire and the Open-ended Interview. Mime*., (3) Metzner, H., The Relationship Between Employee Absenses and Attitudes" M i ^ - j I 95^ ~ F. Power and Leadership in the First-line Supervisor Problem The basic data for this project were collected in a 19U8 survey of employees and supervisors in a large utility company. Over a three-year period since then, several analyses have been performed to determine the relationships between first-line supervisors' behavior and their employees' attitudes. Measures of supervisory behavior were based on personal interviews with all supervisors; measures of employee attitudes were obtained from paper-and-pencil questionnaires administered to all employees. The first analysis, completed in 19U8, showed many trends in the relationships between supervisory measures and employee attitudes, but few of these findings were statistically significant. In a second analysis, completed in 1950, a more complex design was used; different types of situations and employees were examined separately. Relationships were more clear-cut. However, several of these were in opposite directions in different types of situations. Example: in small work groups (10 employees or fewer), supervisors who sided with employees in case of employee-management conflict had significantly better satisfied employees. But in large white collar work groups the reverse was true, and supervisors who sided with management had significantly better satisfied employees. Study design To explore hypotheses for explaining such contradictions, a third analysis was undertaken. The major variable for this analysis was termed the "influence of the supervisor over the social environment in which his employees are functioning." The measure of this "influence" or "power" variable was developed from existing data on each supervisor's degree of participation in his superior's decision-making, degree of autonomy from the superior, and salary. This new measure was used as a key variable for the re-analysis of the data.

22 Progress to date A major part of this analysis has been completed, and a report on the methodology and preliminary findings has been published. (1), (U) - The major findings are outlined below. When a supervisor possesses relatively high influence, his practices which are "supportive" toward employees practices which attempt to help employees reach their goals result in increased employee satisfaction. Presumably, the influential supervisor has sufficient power so that his helpful attempts result in concrete gains for employees. But when a supervisor possesses little influence, then the same supportive practices result in no increase in employee satisfaction, or.even in a decrease. Presumably, the non-influential supervisor cannot make good on his helpful attempts. The major conclusion is that i t is short-sighted to look for the effects of supervisory behavior on employee attitudes without considering the position of the group and its leader in the total organizational structure. Variables such as the leader's power or influence based in large part on his position and role within his department may "condition" the effect which his leadership practices have on his employee attitudes. To change supervisory behavior (through training programs, for example) may not result in improved employee attitudes unless simultaneous changes are made in the supervisor's influence within the organization. Personnel Dr. Donald C. Pelz, Study Director Support This project was based upon data secured in connection with a study supported by the Office of Naval Research. The analysis described was supported principally by the company in which the data were collected. Publications (1) Pelz, D. C, Power and Leadership in the First-line Supervisor, : Litho., 19jTu (2) Pelz,.D. C, Leadership in Hierarchical Organizations, Journal of Social Issues, Fall, (3) Pelz, D. C, Power and Leadership in the First-line Supervisor, ttimeo., (Paper presented at American Psychological Association meetings.) (li) Pelz, D. C, The Influence of the Supervisor Within His Department as a Conditioner of the Way Supervisory Practices Affect Employee Attitudes. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1951*

23 G. Role Analysis of an Automobile Factory Problem The research problem of this project was the development of a method for studying the way in which workers' ^attitudes toward a factory situation are related to their membership in an industrial union. Progress to date Intensive interviews were taken with 350 foremen, 350 union stewards and i±5& rank-and-file workers in a unionized automobile factory. This data has been subjected to.analysis in terms of a theory of social roles. A final technical report is being prepared for publication in Several partial analyses were completed in 1951 to supplement the materials previously Dresented. Worker identification with the company and the union was shown to be related to the way in which company foremen and union stewards behaved toward the workers. When foremen or stewards failed to meet worker role expectations, worker attitudes toward the company and union were less favorable, (l) Union stewards who had become company foremen were studied to determine the correlates of role change. Foremen who had been stewards differed from those who had not. They were shown to be less likely to believe relations between company and union need be bad, and to be more likely to share worker attitudes, (k) Characteristics of workers who differed from their peers in characteristic attitudes were examined to determine correlates of role deviancy.(5) The general problems of role conflict, role deviation, role change and role mastery were examined. (2) Project personnel Dr. Eugene Jacobson, Assistant Program Director. Mr. W. W, Charters, Jr., Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology, (Now Assistant Professor, Bureau of Research and Services, University of Illinois.) Mr. Seymour Lieberman, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Psychology, Mr. Glen Mellinger, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology.

24 - 20 Support This project has been supported by the Office of Naval Reseaiteh.. Publications (1) Jacobson, E., Foreman-Steward Participation Practices and Worker Attitudes in a Unionized Factory, Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, (2) Jacobson, E., Charters,. W.W.-Jr.Jjand Lieberman, S., The Use of the Role Concept in the Study of Complex Organizations, Journal of Social Issues, Winter, (3) Jacobson, E., Foreman and Steward, Representatives of Management and the Union, in Groups, Leadership, and Men, Carnegie Press, (h) Lieberman, S., An Analysis of Role Change in a Factory Situation, Mimeo,, 195TI (Paper read at American Psychological Association meetings.) (5) Mellinger, G., Status and Devjancy in an Automobile Factory, M.A. Thesis, University of Michigan, H. Communication Structure and Attitudes in Complex Organizations Problem It was assumed that a complex organization is composed of relatively intact sets of individuals, each set consisting of persons who are more likely to communicate with each other than with other persons in the organization. These sets of persons are assumed to constitute a meaningful social psychological environment for each other and can be considered to be a locus for the establishment, maintenance and change of member attitudes and behavior. These sets of persons can be assumed to differfwith respect to a variety of interaction measures, such as pattern, frequency, importance, direction, distribution, content and process of interaction contact. It is proposed that systematic differences in these interaction characteristics are reflected in systematic differences in attitudes and behavior of the members of the sets. The methodological problem in this project was to devise a technique for systematically describing the contact group structure of an organization. A method for measuring attitudes systematically had already been developed in the Survey Research Center.

25 Progress to date A modified sociometric technique has been developed for obtaining work contact information from two hundred professional and administrative employees of a federal agency. A machine tabulation procedure has been developed for producing a matrix of these relationships. A mathematical procedure, essentially an approximation technique, has been developed for determining the existence of work contact groups and the correlate communication structure of the organization. In the course of this work, a mathematical procedure was developed for determining the perceived status structure of the organization. The method is a scaling technique applied to partially ordered systems..(2),(3),(u)»{lq). \ The communications data were obtained in the course of intensive interviews with the subjects. Perceptions, expectations, aspirations and attitudes about the organization, the work process, supervision, and related matters were secured, and have been summarized in a series of reports. These reports include data from a questionnaire administered to clerical and secretarial personnel in the same federal agency. (6),(7),(8),(9). Analysis is being done to relate the.attitudinal data to BTich structural variables as: degree of connectedness, average frequency of within-group contacts, number of outside-group contacts per member, number of other groups contacted, number of perceived status levels in group, etc. Emphasis in analysis is being placed on the development of an understanding of the relationships among communication elements in the structure. The function of the liaison person or liaison group that serves to connect otherwise isolated units is being studied. Project personnel Dr. Eugene Jacobson, Assistant Program Director. Mr. Stanley E. Seashore, Study Direotor and graduate student in Social Psychology. Mr. Glen Mellinger, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Social Psychology. Mrs. Orabelle Connally Poll, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Sociology. Mr. Robert Weiss, Assistant Study Director and graduate student in Sociology. Support This project has been supported by the Office of Naval Research.

26 Publications (1) Jacobson, E., Communication Structure and Attitudes in Large Organizations Mimeo., 1951 (.Paper read at American Psychological Association meetings.) (2) Jacobson, E., A Method for Studying the Relationship Between Communication Structure and Attitudes in Complex Organizations. Paper given at meeting of Panel on Human Relations and Morale, Committee on Human Resources, Research and Development Board, February, (3) Jacobson, E. and Seashore, S., Communication Practices in Complex Organizations, Journal of Social Issues, Winter, (U) Poll, Mrs. O.C., The Application of Scaling Techniques to Partially Ordered Stratification Systems, M.A. Thesis, University of Michigan, 19b'l. (5) Seashore, S., A Modified Sociometric Technique by the Study of Functioning Organizations., Mimeo., (Paper read at the American Psychological Association meetings.) (6) Survey Research Center, Attitudes and Opinions of Professional and Administrative Personnel in a Government Agency - Report I Preliminary Summary of Selected Basic Data. Litho., 1951 (7) Survey Research Center, Attitudes and Opinions of Professional and Administrative Personnel i n a Government Agency - Report I I j Parts I and I I, Basic Tables. Litho., 1951* (8) Survey Research Center, Attitudes and Opinions of Clerical and Secretarial Personnel i n a Government Agency - Report I - Preliminary Summary of Selected Basic Data. Litho., (9) Survey Research Center, Attitudes and Opinions of Clerical and Secretarial Personnel i n a Government Agency - Report I I - Supplementary Tables of Basic Data. Litho., (10) Weiss, R., An Investigation into Organization Structure Using a Sociometric Technique" M.A. Thesis, University of Michigan, 155^ I. Incentive Programs and Organizational Effectiveness Problem The major objectives of this project are to investigate the ways in which worker productivity and satisfactions considered as criteria *f organizational eff ectiveness are influenced by the following factors: