Application: Analyzing Work Activities & Abilities - Coursework Example

Methods Section Methods Section Summary of Job Attitudes to be Measured and Possible Survey Instruments It is importantfor the consultant assigned to Walden Sports to determine what has occurred in the workplace environment that has effectively serve to lesson employee satisfaction and motivation in such a relatively short span of time. One job attitude that should be measured is that of organizational commitment (Kamungo, 1982). As evidenced from the case study for Walden Sports, this area has been severely lacking in recent day, whereas employees used to be committed to overall organizational culture of the company. It is important to use the survey instrument and focus groups to ascertain what is lacking in the overall workplace environment that is causing employees to no longer feel committed to the company. Through the focus groups, a conversation focused on the employees perception of how committed the company is to them should be had. This could be an indicator of why the average worker is no longer necessarily committed to the company. Another job attitude that would be useful to measure is organizational fit. It is important to determine if each employee feels that their particular skills and talents, and their vocational aptitude, is being put to the best use in their current position. With the recent acquisitions made by Walden Sports, and their enhanced variety of services offered, it could be that many employees are now working in an area that is not conducive to their desires, decreasing their motivation to come to work each day. Through measuring the various job attitudes to be found in the survey instruments, and by discussing them further in the focus groups, the consultant can work to determine what Walden Sports can do better as an organization to improve the level of job satisfaction across all departments. Justification Each of the survey instruments to be used in this study will help the consultant employed by Walden Sports to more accurately determining why employe morale is so low at the present time. There are various job attitudes covered by each that will help provide some generalized answers to the existing issues being encountered at the company, in addition to providing some followup questions that can be discussed further in scheduled focus groups that the consultant would likely have at some point during the study (Kamungo, 1982). Consider the area of role ambiguity. It is often to determine if employees simply do not understand their place in an organization, so the survey instruments used in this study will help lead the consultant to making a conclusion to this regard. If the majority of individuals respond that they agree or strongly agree that their present role within Walden Sports is ambiguous, then the consultant can work with pup management at the company to better explain each job and its function within the organization. Each of the survey instrument proposed for this study lead the consultant to make conclusions that will help the employer better understand why the employees are simply no longer motivated to excel in their job, and they appear to be much less satisfied in their positions now as compared to prior. Psychometric Properties In choosing to use a preexisting survey, it is still important certain psychometric properties that existent within the design as it applies to this current study focused on the Walden Sports case study. The two primary properties for the survey instruments to be used in this study are those of reliability and validity. When considering reliability, it is important to consider whether or not the survey can be replicated and still arrive at a statistically similar outcome. A reliable survey instrument provides reasonable assurances that the results achieved can be applied broadly in other similar social contexts. To test for reliability, one can start by testing and then retesting the survey instrument, which will allow the researcher to examine the consistency of the responses that are given (Kamungo, 1982). It is also helpful to use an inter-rater, which is a person who is trained to rate and agree on certain items when using the same survey instrument. Also, internal consistency is necessary to be reliable. This involves examining the cohesiveness of each item and its corresponding scale. The researcher wants to make certain that all of the items in the scale actually measure the same and intended characteristic or concept - is this case, overall job attitude towards Walden Sports. In essence, reliability works to ensure that an instrument produces the same result each and every time, and that repeated testing using the same survey will provide consistency of results. It is equally important to test the validity of such a survey instrument in order to ensure that the items truly encapsulate the concept being studied. Within this context, one will look at both internal and external validity. The internal validity of the job attitudes survey will measure the degree to which the survey accurately measures the attitudes that each employee has towards Walden Sports. In regard to external validity, it is important to look at the ability of the survey itself to generate that type of accurate results that can then be generalized to describe the broader population within a similar social context (Kamungo, 1982). Validity in this case works to address the issues of whether or not the job attitudes survey instrument that is chosen actually represents the overall goal of explaining what is happening at Walden Sports. Items and Scoring Method to be Used in the Diagnostic Survey The concepts to be measured on the job attitudes survey instrument will cover areas of global job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job stressors. Each of these areas will be measure by respondents measuring their perceived attitudes and feelings based on a 7-point Likert scale. Each of the concepts studies will be broken into subcategories. Organizational commitment will measure areas of affective, normative, and continuance commitment. Each of these areas will have 6 items contained on the survey. In this area, it is also important to measure job involvement. Such a diagnostic tool can help the consultant narrow down specific areas that need to be addressed at Walden Sports. If, for example, employees feel that their roles are well defined, but they are not involved in their jobs, this could tell the company that workers no longer feel valued by their employer. On the other hand, if the responses in the area of person-organization fit come back negative, then it could well be that the new direction that Walden Sports is heading in simply no longer resonates with their current staff. At such point, it would take a long discussion with management, with the input of focus groups, to determine where the company would go from here. A Likert type survey enables a wide swarth of employees to be surveyed and arrive at a generalized consensus as to where the company sits with employees and their attitudes towards the job (Kamungo, 1982). Each of the survey instruments considered for this particular study have been shown to be reliable and valid based on the concepts that they are designed to measure. The studies have been replicated and arrive at statistically similar results across similar demographic groups. It is important to incorporate such a consistent and stable survey instrument in order to provide the consultant with the information that he or she needs to provide plausible solutions to Walden Sports. In so doing, recommendations can be made to improve the level of job satisfaction and motivation across all departments. References Kanungo, R. N. (1982). Measurement of job and work involvement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(3), 341-349. Read More