Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relation between levels of productivity and perceptions of autonomy among similar work groups. The analysis of data obtained did not support a tendency for perceptions of high autonomy among workers to be directly related to high levels of productivity. Data were obtained from workers at six carbide tool manufacturing plants in Poland who were administered the Work Environment Scale (WES) Form R (Moos, 1981) to measure perception of autonomy. The data were collected in February 1991. Analysis of the WES data used the Kendall tau test to investigate the relation between the independent variable productivity and the dependent variable autonomy. The researcher examined nine additional hypotheses, each involving productivity and involvement, peer cohesion, supervisor support, task orientation, work pressure, clarity, control, innovation, and physical comfort as measured by various WES subscales. Support for these hypotheses was found only between productivity and workers' perception of peer cohesion.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

Share

COinS