The Application of Supervisory Training: The Effects of Subordinate Support Training and Supervisory Locus-of-Control on Initiation of Structure and Consideration
May, Charlene Rose
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/77468
Description
Title
The Application of Supervisory Training: The Effects of Subordinate Support Training and Supervisory Locus-of-Control on Initiation of Structure and Consideration
Author(s)
May, Charlene Rose
Issue Date
1986
Department of Study
Business Administration
Discipline
Business Administration
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Business Administration, Management
Language
eng
Abstract
This field experiment tested the idea that the relationship between the work group and the trained supervisor may affect the use of supervisory training concepts in the work setting. Two groups of first-line supervisors, scoring either internal or external locus of control, from a street maintenance division of a large city organization, were randomly assigned to groups in which their subordinates either received 6 hours of training in change and group dynamics called Subordinate Awareness Training (SAT) or did not receive such training. The resulting two-by-two factorial design supported the hypothesis that supervisors with an internal locus of control and whose subordinates had participated in awareness training would increase initiation of structure and consideration more than other groups.
Supervisors received ten hours of supervisory development training, taught by the author, that emphasized increasing their level of initiation of structure and consideration for subordinates. Pretest and posttest subordinate perceptions of the supervisor's initiation of structure and consideration were measured on Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire, Form 12. Locus of control of supervisors was measured on Rotter's I/E scale. SAT was designed, piloted, and taught by the author.
An analysis of variance of difference scores derived from posttest minus pretest levels of supervisors' initiation of structure and consideration indicated that supervisory locus of control and subordinate awareness training interacted to significantly affect initiation of structure but did not affect consideration. Supervisors who were internal with trained subordinates and those who were external with untrained subordinates decreased their initiation of structure. The other supervisors were perceived as having increased their structure. Neither independent variable alone had a significant impact on either of the dependent variables.
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