Interaction Research Institute, Inc.
	Applications and Outcomes

Failure to link cause (process, content) and effect (performance, profits) in a manner that allows corporate and department heads to associate climate conditions with individual unit activity, is a major shortcoming of most intervention efforts. Improvement may come only when the appropriate parties realize their own responsibility for and direct impact upon organizational events. Using the Leadership, Evaluation and Analysis Program (LEAP) as a total assessment package, the manager of an aviation maintenance organization was able to correlate such pertinent outcome variables as defect rates, maintenance backlog, awaiting parts, and percent ready for issue of inventory with a variety of conditions specific to individual department activities. By establishing priorities on the basis of the prescriptive analyses, the manager could structure intermediate and long-range objectives, delegate specific responsibilities to departments, and then evaluate progress, modify strategy, and support corrective activity. By the end of the first year, all the criterion variables showed significant rates of improvement and the organization'’ productivity was far above three similar aviation maintenance organizations that served as comparison groups.

Careful compensation planning can improve performance while avoiding unnecessary increases or costly confrontation. The poorly structured compensation system of one company had a severe negative impact on employee morale and performance. Responding to several very legitimate complaints, the parent organization agreed to a 20% across-the-board salary increase. However, such a strategy would neither have adjusted the salaries of some employees to local standards nor corrected imbalances over the value of various positions. By allowing employees and supervisors to rate their tasks according to the Job Evaluation Scheme, and then reconstructing compensation to equivalent local standards, the company corrected legitimate complaints and satisfied employee concerns with a total pay increase of only 13%.

Management capability, as measured by characteristics considered appropriate for U.S. settings, may not be ideal for other cultural groups. Experienced engineering supervisors, selected to function as advisors overseas, were generally unsuccessful in preparing counterpart and trainee groups to assume responsibility for vital communications sites. Controlling for advisor technical ability and for aptitude, intelligence, and formal training of indigenous groups, it was discovered that site transition was primarily a function of the advisor’s personal/value profile as measured by the Intercultural Transaction Technique. Profiles measured intercultural effectiveness and predicted mission success. Even where groups recognized the supportive intent of advisors, conflict over cultural differences interfered with essential communication. Reassignment of advisors with strong U.S. managerial skills to oversee other U.S. advisors selected and trained for intercultural capability resulted in optimal utilization of skill and an accelerated transition program.

Although standard practice, adding manpower when work demand increases is not always the best solution. An effective job design optimizes all the job values in an activity and reduces waste. A measure of transactions completed per individual in one service department revealed that increased manpower had actually decreased individual output, resulting in increased backlog and eventual client loss. Redesigning jobs to modify the work process and expand individual responsibility improved both unit output and job satisfaction. Excess manpower were reassigned to fill the needs of other departments.

Favoritism, one of the most pervasive if not perplexing problems in industry today, is directly related to high turnover as well as a variety of productivity measures. The problem extends beyond racial, gender, and ethnic concerns, affecting non-protected groups and costing industry billions each year in recruiting, administration, and training costs for turnover alone. While the manager of one company accused of favoritism excused his hiring practice for top executive positions, he did allow employee participation in Quality Circles and then responded to their recommendations by instituting a job posing and employee transfer policy, and by supporting a personnel development plan. In just six months the turnover rate declined from 100% to 40%; representing a savings of over $2,800 for each entry-level employee retained.

In a complex society, flexibility in leadership style is the most important characteristic to develop. Failing to recognize differential group needs, managers and supervisors in trouble often rationalize their behavior on the grounds of prior success, and demand system changes unrelated to group performance. By allowing subordinate members to anonymously rate their supervisors according to a number of relevant indices and behaviors, one organization communicated work group needs, and provided supervisors the opportunity to modify their approach and emphasize essential actions (provide clear examples, develop teamwork, etc.) required by subordinates for optimal output. Total Supervisor Rating Scale scores correlated with measures of productivity. And, in those departments where initial feedback resulted in improved supervisor ratings, production rates also increased.

The distinction between "combat readiness" and "combat effectiveness" is usually not clear until a unit is tested under actual combat conditions. Not only are readiness criteria often subjective and prone to abuse, but traditional readiness indicators such as training involvement and inspection scores may be poor predictors of effectiveness as experience during the Vietnam conflict revealed. Extensive studies with Marine Corps units indicate that combat "readiness" as a valid construct related to and predictive of effectiveness in combat may be measured more accurately by such unit motivational factors as supervisor support, respect for authority, confidence in command, communication flow, and solidarity. It was concluded that organizational climate conditions are the prime source of performance under stress, and traditional readiness estimates are mere intervening variables; essential elements but singularly poor predictors of effectiveness.

"Know your personnel," a fundamental leadership principle, is facilitated through modern management techniques that identify modern motivational issues. U.S. Marine Corps commanders, usually reluctant to address complex racial/ethnic matters with their personnel, were able to assess critical concerns through systematic survey intervention. Armed with valid recognition of pertinent issues, commanders were catalyzed to investigate perceptions against facts prior to interaction with subordinate members. This awareness resulted in more control over complex, and potentially volatile situations, and enabled leaders to prevent pending confrontations and communicate intelligently during required human relations training sessions.

Complete problem analysis from all plausible perspectives is a much more efficient strategy than traditional trial and error management. Transaction errors, representing a substantial revenue loss to a large financial institution, was considered an unfortunate consequence of a complex banking system. Management’s decision to recruit educated personnel at higher salaries for teller positions had little impact on errors, but increased turnover as overqualified employees eventually sought higher-level positions. However, a systematic evaluation of personnel and procedures (using process analysis in conjunction with statistical process control techniques) did identify particular training and assignment activities as the primary "common cause" of transaction errors. Recognizing the situation as a management rather than a personnel problem, supervisors were able to restructure and upgrade training activities and monitor results. In the first two quarters after a new training effort was systematically installed, errors were reduced by 52.6%.

Measures of disunity or disparity over conditions within an organization can be more predictive of effectiveness than a total measure of climate. Moreover, wide disagreement between significant groups will inhibit collective efforts toward improvement. The Disparity Index, developed as a measure of disunity and differential treatment, was used by Marine unit commanders to pinpoint causes for as well as extent of unit deficiency. By concentrating leadership efforts on areas of greatest disparity, commanders decreased group differences in communication, training, senior support, and discipline and thereby improved unit cohesion as well as overall efficiency. In addition, first term reenlistments and unauthorized absences significantly increased and decreased respectively as disparity gaps were closed.