Key influences on managerial perception of organizational effectiveness

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This study, conducted at NASA's Johnson Space Center (NASA-JSC) in Houston, Texas, had a twofold purpose. The first was to determine if a relationship exists between: (1) a manager's perception of an effective organization and (2) his personal background, characteristics of his job and organization, the technology in which he works, and/or his leadership style. The second purpose was to determine whether this relationship is different for those managers who perceive their own organization to be effective as compared with those managers who perceive their own organization to be less effective. Data was gathered via a four-part questionnaire administered to JSC personnel: the data was then subjected to stepwise regression analysis.

Findings and Conclusions: There were two main findings resulting from this study. The first is that personal, job, organization, technology, and leadership style variables all influence a manager's perception of an effective organization, with his leadership style and organization playing the largest roles. The second finding is that perception of an effective organization is strongly related to: (1) the leadership style of all managers and (2) the personal background, job characteristics, organization, and job technology of only those managers who perceive their own organization to be effective. An important conclusion is that careful consideration of these findings will better enable a manager to understand organizational effectiveness as it is perceived by himself, his superiors, his subordinates, and by external members of his environment. Such an awareness should enhance the manager's ability to contribute to the effectiveness of his organization.