Morale: Definitions, Dimensions and Measurement
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MORALE: DEFINITIONS, DIMENSIONS AND MEASUREMENT This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Ben Hardy Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge 30th September 2009 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements I am very grateful to my supervisor, Philip Stiles, for his unstinting support throughout both this research and the MBA and MPhil which preceded it. He was in turn supported by Annick Stiles who kindly reviewed the statistics for me. I am indebted to them both. A large number of people helped me secure the various sources for the qualitative and quantitative phases of this research. Ian Nussey and Anthony Stanton were particularly generous with their contacts and enabled me to find a number of different research sites. I am grateful to Penny Bugden, Denise Clements, Richard Dellabarca, Stephen England-Hall, Nerys Evans, Sue Gibson, Kate Hartigan, Caroline Hulks, Helen Ives, Sian Jeffrey, Carole Manship, Tom Ogilvie, Adrian Roberts, Garret Turley and Peter Webbon for allowing me access and also to the many respondents who allowed me to interview them and took the time to fill in surveys. Academically I am indebted to Simon Bell, Allegre Hadida, Anat Rafaeli, John Roberts, Paul Tracey and Jonathan Trevor who were a significant source of encouragement. Materially IBM were kind enough to fund me for a year so another thank you is earned by Ian Nussey and his colleague Steve Street. WPP also helped by setting up some consulting work with Nokia so thanks is also due to Mark Linder. I have been wonderfully supported by my friends including Mark Abthorpe, Farzad Alvi, Amir Baghdadchi, Tom Bishop, Fiorien Bonthuis, Tim & Sarah Bowdin, Raina Brands, James & Rachel Brett, Denis Casey, Nigel Chancellor, Rita Dingwall, Simon & Nicola Gaffney, Gemma Girdler, Hatem Helal, Rose Hoare, Simon & Juliet Mays-Smith, Henry Midgley, Gavin Moore, Paul Newfield, William O’Reilly, Seb Pechmann, Alyson Pitts, Liv Thorne, Riccarda Torriani, Neil Walshe, Paul & Rebecca Wilkins and James Wright. All have helped me in different ways to stay the course and they have been magnificently encouraging. I am very grateful to my family, Bob, Ghia, Fuzzy, Bet, Timmy, Tilly and Buddhs who have always provided a sympathetic ear and sound advice (with the exception of Tilly and Buddhs). They have done a fantastic job of picking me up when it has all gone wrong and putting me back on my feet. Finally my debt to Alexis is hard to describe. She has been my support and friend throughout this process and I am not certain I could have completed it without her love and kindness. 2 Declaration Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text. It has not been submitted in whole or in part for consideration for any other degree or qualification at this university or any other institute of learning and complies with the Judge Business School’s guidelines on length and format. Ben Hardy Trinity Hall 3 Abstract Abstract Morale is a commonly used term both in business and society but the concept of morale is relatively poorly defined and understood. In a recent paper Liefooghe et al. (2004) expressed surprise that ‘…when reviewing the literature, no strong theory to explain morale as such is in evidence, nor are there many empirical studies that offer solid ground to advise organisations…’(p 1). This thesis aims to provide these theories and this empirical evidence in order to produce a better understanding of morale. This research identifies a number of deficiencies in the current understanding of morale. These range from elision with other concepts to disagreement about whether it is an individual or group phenomenon. In this study, four principal domains are examined: (i) what morale is; (ii) how it differs from other concepts; (iii) the antecedents of morale and (iv) its consequences. A mixed methods approach was adopted combining idiographic and nomothetic research. The idiographic phase of the research adopted a Straussian (1998) grounded theory approach, involving data collection from seven different organisations. The data was accrued from a combination of site visits, informal contacts, external research, and 203 semi-structured interviews which were supplemented with psychometric instruments. The data were then coded and analysed. Morale could be readily differentiated from other concepts and emerged as a phenomenon with three dimensions: affective, future/goal and interpersonal. It was also viewed as a single phenomenon which was generalisable across situations and rooted in the individual although perceived members of the group exerted considerable influence. The antecedents of morale impacted on the three dimensions outlined above. Its consequences were the zeal with which tasks are undertaken, creativity and engagement. The nomothetic element of the research developed a number of measurement scales, grounded in the qualitative phase. These allowed morale to be differentiated from other phenomena and offered insights into individual and group perceptions of morale and the influence of personality variables. Further quantitative research confirmed the three dimensional structure of the concept. The results of these two phases were then integrated to provide a picture of the phenomenon of morale, differentiate it from other concepts and elucidate its antecedents and consequences. An appraisal of the limitations of the research is also made. Finally the implications of this research for both academic researchers and practitioners are discussed along with suggestions for future research. 4 Table of contents Table of contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Declaration ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Table of contents ........................................................................................................................................ 5 List of figures ............................................................................................................................................... 9 List of tables ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: Literature review .................................................................................................................... 17 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Structure of the review ........................................................................................................................ 19 A history of the morale concept ........................................................................................................ 20 Other constructs and their relation to morale.................................................................................. 24 Contemporary morale research .......................................................................................................... 30 Definitions and dimensions of morale .............................................................................................. 31 Measurement of morale ....................................................................................................................... 41 Emergent underlying issues in morale specification ....................................................................... 45 Conclusions of the literature review .................................................................................................. 55 Chapter 3: Research themes and orientation ........................................................................................ 56 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 56 What is morale? .................................................................................................................................... 57 What is morale not? ............................................................................................................................. 58 What are the antecedents of morale?................................................................................................. 59 What are the consequences of morale? ............................................................................................. 60 Summary and integration .................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 4: Approach and methodology ................................................................................................ 62 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 62 Philosophical foundations ..................................................................................................................