Construct Development, Scale Creation and Process Analysis - Coursework Example

Construct Development, Scale Creation and Process Analysis Part I: Construct Development and Scale Creation Construct measured: The construct measured in this paper is organizational culture, diversity and employee behavior. The paper describes the conceptual development and validation of a scale to measure the multicultural environment of workplace while observing certain positive and negative employee behaviors such as multipotentiality as well as aggression and loneliness among the employees. Construct definition: The multicultural nature of an organization is a common picture now. Thanks to the global mobilization doing rounds across countries, organizations have started encompassing employees of varied backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities and experiences as well. The paper addresses the broad picture of various employee behaviors, both positive and negative, in a multicultural organization with regard to the relevance of multiculturalism in today’s workplace culture. The employee behaviors will be measured in terms of how multiculturalism is supportive or alarming for employees of different cultures and backgrounds. Existing measures: Organizational multiculturalism has its own benefits and disadvantages. While the diversified workplace environment produces multiple opportunities for employees to excel, it also creates aggressive behavior as well as loneliness among employees. For instance, talented individuals with multiple interests and high capabilities are considered as excellent employee candidates in an organization. Further, there are both advantages and disadvantages of multipotentiality. As Mencl (2005) reports on multipotentiality measure, “multipotentialed individuals change occupations more frequently than other employees.” It is also a benefit because “it provides the flexibility that is required in a world of change.” However, multipotentiality can also stand “as a barrier to making occupational choices.” (Mencl, 2005) Multicultural organizations sometimes tend to provoke aggressive behavior among its employees, leading to increasing number of violent acts in the workplace. Aggressive behaviors in the workplace are normally realized as acts of violence in terms of revenge or retaliation. Sommers and Vodanovich (2000) argue that the nature of organizational revenge can be varied - for instance, sabotage, theft, turnover, interpersonal violence, and so on. Workplace aggression in a multicultural organization is a common aspect as it is normally stimulated by individual differences among the employees as well as different workplace situations. Organizational injustice can also be considered as a significant reason for organizational revenge or individual aggressive behavior displayed by employees. As Sommers and Vodanovich (2000) observe, the aggressive behaviors of employees in workplace is often “motivated by thoughts and emotions of revenge in response to situations where trust was perceived to be violated.” Multiculturalism in workplace can also instigate somewhat pessimistic individual experiences such as loneliness. According to Wright, Burt and Strongman (2006), “loneliness is often perceived as a selfish pursuit that is driven by interpersonal incompetence or social inhibition.” If an employee experiences relationship deficiencies in the workplace, it is an indication of workplace loneliness. Communication barriers in the workplace tend to create a lack of social support for the individual, which further negatively affect the work performance of the employee. Sample items: In order to measure the properties of our questionnaire containing both the positive and negative behavior observed usually in employees in a multicultural workplace environment, a sample of 30 employees from 3 different multicultural organizations has been administered. Five of the sample items from the questionnaire are mentioned below. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 1. Your multipotentiality is utilized in your organization. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 2. You are a flexible employee and not committed to your occupation. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 3. You have shown aggressive behavior at your workplace frequently/sometimes. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 4. You have faced discrimination at your workplace frequently/sometimes. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 5. You are a strong supporter of multiculturalism at your workplace. Table 1: Five sample items. Scaling method: In order to measure the construct of various employee behaviors in multicultural organizations, the research used a sample comprised of 30 employees from 3 different multicultural workplaces (N = 30). The average age of the sample was 35 years, and the average work experience was 5 years. The sampling was part of the multicultural organization employee behavior scale (MOEBS). There were ten scenarios given to the respondents that described various working situations in a multicultural organization. Then respondents were investigated on the basis of their specific reactions to each of the situations. The scenarios and reactions were developed in the sample items portrayed on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (1) “Strongly disagree” to (5) “Strongly agree”. Procedure: The respondents were asked to complete the MOEBS sheet along with a short demographic sheet containing their name, age, gender, race, etc. The MOEBS sheet incorporated a questionnaire of 10 sample items that depicted 10 different scenarios in multicultural organizations (see Table 2 below). Each scenario included 5 possible reactions perceived by the respondents along with both positive and negative statements. For instance, with regard to the measuring of organizational revenge, respondents were asked if they had ever experienced workplace discrimination in their multicultural organization. Results: Multicultural organization employee behavior scale items were primarily evaluated on the basis of internal consistency statistics. Validity of the scale was demonstrated by another group of 5 employees of top management authority from a large corporation. The mean score for the multicultural organization employee behavior of this sample was 5.5 (SD = 9.17). Out of the 10 sample items, there were 6 positive responses and 4 negative responses from most of the employees. The mean score for positive responses was 6.3 (SD = 8.55), whereas mean score for negative responses was 4.25 (SD = 5.18). The research was conducted using the 5-point Likert scale. Likert scale is a bipolar scaling method that measures either positive or negative response to a statement. In the context of this research, Likert scale is useful as it included both positive and negative responses of the employee behaviors. The result shows more intensity of positive responses over the negative ones. This further indicates that multiculturalism is a welcome factor in organizations as it proves beneficial for both employees and the organization itself. The sample items of the research survey are listed in Table 2 below. The research is based on personal interviews with the respondents. Such surveys are effective for collecting data from respondents with a specific target population. One of the primary advantages of personal interview method is that it can bring out accurate response rates as the interviewers can extensively probe respondents on their responses. The method was quite effective for developing multicultural organization employee behavior scale. Here is the list of the sample items used in the research. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 1. Your multipotentiality is utilized in your organization. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 2. You are a flexible employee and not committed to your occupation. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 3. You have shown aggressive behavior at your workplace frequently/sometimes. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 4. You have faced discrimination at your workplace frequently/sometimes. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 5. You get along well with your colleagues at your workplace. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 6. Your coworkers support you and respect you. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 7. You have great potentials to cope with difficult situations at workplace. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 8. You are efficient enough to work without constant assistance from your coworkers. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 9. You share personal work experience with colleagues always/sometimes. Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 10. You are a strong supporter of multiculturalism at your workplace. Table 2: Sample items list for respondents. Part II: Analysis and Justification In order to develop the multicultural organization employee behavior scale, the survey adopted the Likert scale method as it included both positive and negative responses from the employees. The survey showed strong positive correlations between multicultural workplace environment and supportive employee behavior. Whereas negative correlations are demonstrated by workplace discrimination (in other words, workplace injustice) and employee aggression. Selection of the sample items for the survey was again based on the Likert scaling method. Items with higher t-values are chosen for the sample. Higher t-values indicate that the difference between the highest and the lowest judges is conspicuously greater, thus making way for a clearer judgment. The instrument will be useful for rating various employee behaviors in multicultural workplace environment. However, the respondents should be limited to a specific target population. That would produce better discrimination (or higher t-values). For personal interviews, selection of respondents should be based on the following characteristics of the respondents: Employees with experiences of working in a multicultural organization. Employees with extended and varied work experiences. The employee should be efficient with multiple skills - be it personal or professional skills. Employees having experiences of workplace injustice. Employees being victims of workplace discrimination. Employees being the law breakers with aggressive behavior and violent acts. Flexible employees at multicultural workplace. After the development of the scale, reliability measures are important to explain the test and its analysis. In case of the multicultural organization employee behavior scale, test-retest method was adopted to estimate the results of the survey. Reliability measures were estimated on the basis of retest of the same measure with another group of 5 employees of top management authority from a large corporation. It is notable that the repeated measurements gave the same results, therefore, reliability of the sample was established. Evaluation of the sample items was conducted on the basis of internal consistency reliability check. The instrument presented in the paper possesses several directions for future research. Firstly, multiculturalism at workplace can include a number of variables such as multipotentiality, employee aggression, work discrimination, occupational commitment, organizational injustice, and so on. More research in the area of employee behavior in multicultural workplace can help bring out a better understanding of how workplace cultures actually work. Workplace injustice as well as employee aggression are common concerns of organizational management. Therefore, more research concerning the effective and efficient management of multicultural workplaces along with employee behavior observation is significant and recommended as well. Various validity and reliability measures should be adopted to conduct such research works. For instance, the multicultural organization employee behavior scale can further be used to estimate other employee behaviors and issues at the multicultural workplace. With the help of construct validity measures as well as other reliability measures, the scale can help conduct future investigations on different aspects of workplace multi-culture. The positive and negative responses of the employees can be considered useful materials for understanding the multicultural workplace environment in a better way. References: Mencl, Jennifer (2005). Multipotentiality in the workplace: Person-environment fit, occupational outcomes and emotional intelligence. Retrieved from www.midwestacademy.org/.../Mencil,%20Multipotentiality%20in%20the%20Workplace.doc. Sommers, J. and Vodanovich, S. J. (2000). The Development and Initial Validation of the Organizational Revenge Scale. Retrieved from http://www.ipacweb.org/conf/00/sommers.pdf. Wright, Sarah L., Burt, Christopher D. B. and Strongman, Kenneth T. (2006). Loneliness in the workplace: Construct definition and scale development. New Zealand Journal of Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20050091_ITM. Read More