An examination of career longevity, career achievement, and Machiavellian attitudes of engineers and analysts in an international engineering and communications organization.

Abstract

There are implications for research and practice related to the explanations. The results of this study provide researchers with important information concerning the Machiavellian construct and the nature of the relationship between Machiavellian attitudes, career longevity, and career achievement.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the level of Machiavellian attitudes, career longevity, and career achievement of engineers and analysts working in an international engineering and communications organization as measured by the Mach IV Attitude Inventory and a demographic profile of the subjects. The explanation of the relationships between Machiavellian attitudes, career longevity, and career achievement will provide the foundational basis for organization educational and training intervention programs.

Seven hypotheses were tested to investigate the relationship between the dependent variable, Machiavellian attitudes, and the independent variables, career longevity and career achievement. Two of the seven hypotheses were supported suggesting there is a relationship between Machiavellian attitudes and career longevity and there is no relationship between Machiavellian attitudes and career achievement. The relationship between Machiavellian attitudes and career longevity was weak and as such, can not provide the basis for establishing training and educational intervention programs.

An international engineering and communications organization supported the study. Over a six week period, the respondents (N = 237) completed and returned a survey containing respondent demographic information and the Mach IV Attitude Inventory. The survey was sent to 388 individuals; 258 surveys were returned resulting in a 66.49% return rate.

The weak findings and lack of findings may be explained in part by the influence of homogenous groups, respondent cohorts, or work environments. Of the explanations offered, respondent cohorts is the most plausible.