A THEORETICAL MODEL OF TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS IN WORK TEAMS DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Susan Tull Beyerlein, B.A., M.S. Denton, Texas December, 1994 y Beyerlein, Susan Tull, A theoretical model of technical professionals in work teams. Doctor of Philosophy (Organization Theory and Policy), December, 1994, 304 pp., 19 tables, 4 illustrations, references, 290 titles. Research concerning technical professionals in team- based work environments is scarce. A two-stage study was conducted which examined role strain and its correlates among technical professional employees in team settings in 14 companies in the United States and Canada. A questionnaire was constructed based on the results of interviews with engineers and managers, and the analysis of pilot sample data. Five-hundred and forty-two technical professional employees in engineering, information systems and other professional specialties in companies undergoing organizational redesign completed the questionnaire. Variables of interest included autonomy, career commitment, co-worker social support, general job satisfaction, job involvement, job-related tension, organizational commitment, role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, turnover intent, and work locus of control. A theoretical confirmatory model was hypothesized and tested using structural equation modeling methods. Based on modification indices, a revised model was generated which produced moderately good fit indices. Findings suggested that in organizations undergoing redesign to team-based structures, technical professional employees with internal locus of control are more committed and likely to stay, and they are perhaps more comfortable in the general chaotic states typically generated by redesign initiatives. Positive exchanges with co-workers seem to provide valuable information for dealing with role stressors and other sources of stress, and appear to positively influence the level of general job satisfaction among technical professionals. In addition, role overload was found to be a positive predictor of job-related tension and role conflict, and appeared to have a negative influence on general job satisfaction. General job satisfaction related positively to career and organizational commitment, and negatively to turnover intent. General job satisfaction also appeared to moderate relationships that co-worker social support and role overload have with the commitment and turnover variables which suggests a complex model that requires managers to think in more systemic ways. In the future, isolated variables will be insufficient bases for decision making concerning the effective leadership of teams of technical professional employees. A THEORETICAL MODEL OF TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS IN WORK TEAMS DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Susan Tull Beyerlein, B.A., M.S. Denton, Texas December, 1994 Copyright by- Susan Tull Beyerlein 1994 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Association for Quality and Participation for providing the initial grant which launched this research project. Dr. Amy Katz, Research Manager of AQP, and Mr. George Alexander were extremely helpful throughout the early stages of this project. I also owe a large debt to the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Work Teams at the University of North Texas for providing ongoing financial support and resources in support of this research. I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to my dissertation chairperson, Dr. James Don Powell, for his constant support, good common sense, thoughtful suggestions, and unflagging optimism over the four year duration. In addition, genuine thanks go to those who served on my dissertation committee, Dr. Randall Schumacker, Dr. Mary Thibodeaux, Dr. Warren Watson, and Dr. Joseph Doster. Dr. Schumacker's technical expertise with the methodology was invaluable, and I appreciate the time he was able to devote to the project. Finally, my personal thanks to my partner in life and work, Mike Beyerlein. You are a champion of the spirit, eternally finding ways to fashion learning experiences that matter. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 Overview 1 Practical Basis for the Proposed Research.. 3 Theoretical Basis for the Proposed Research 5 Statement of the Problem 10 Purpose of the Research 12 Significance of the Research 12 Scope of the Research 15 Definition of Terms 16 Summary of Research Method 17 Chapter Summary 19 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 20 Introduction 20 Organizational Level 21 Individual Level 54 Interpretative Data Gathering Strategies 91 Hypotheses 99 The Theoretical Model 105 Chapter Summary 108 III. METHOD 110 Introduction 110 Phase I: Qualitative Data Gathering 110 Phase II: Survey Construction and Administration 113 Chapter Summary 129 Chapter Page IV. RESULTS 130 Descriptive Statistics 130 Measurement Models 139 Structural Models 144 Reciprocal Relationships 154 Latent Variable Covariances 157 Chapter Summary 159 V. DISCUSSION 162 Hypotheses 162 Hypothesized LISREL Model Rival Hypotheses. 184 Comparison of the Structural Models 187 Implications 192 Limitations and Key Assumptions 193 Ideas for Future Research 197 APPENDICES 199 A. Pilot Test 199 B. Phase 1 213 C. Phase II 229 REFERENCES 268 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Demographics of 25 Interviewees 112 2. Demographics of 542 Survey Respondents 116 3. Antecedent Indicator Variable Descriptive Statistics 131 (continued on pp. 132-133) 4. Mediating Indicator Variable Descriptive Statistics 135 (continued on p. 136) 5. Outcome Indicator Variable Descriptive Statistics 137 (continued on p. 138) 6. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Antecedent Latent Variables 140 7. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Mediating Latent Variables 142 8. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Outcome Latent Variables 143 9. Structural Model: Mediating Latent Variables Predicted by Antecedent Variables 145 10. Structural Model: Outcome Latent Variables Predicted by Antecedent and Mediating Variables 151 11. Reciprocal Relationship: Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intent 155 12. Reciprocal Relationship: Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment 156 13. Latent Variable Covarying Relationships 158 (continued on p. 159) LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Hypothesized Theoretical Model 107 2. Final Theoretical Model 160 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Overview Since the industrial revolution the design of organizations has slowly evolved toward larger, more complex, efficient, and humane work environments. Self- managing teams represent a form of work design that has recently emerged in United States organizations from the sociotechnical approach to organizational design (Cummings & Molloy, 1977; Trist & Bamforth, 1951) and work group effectiveness theory (Hackman, 1987). Work teams play a central role in what has alternately been described as a management transformation (Walton, 1985), paradigm shift (Ketchum, 1984), and corporate renaissance (Kanter, 1983) . Illustrative of this management revolution, self-managing work teams contrast sharply with more traditional forms of management; their key feature is a high degree of self- determination by employees in the form of decision making power and self-control over group tasks and outcomes (Cummings, 1978; Hackman & Oldham, 1980). To date, the primary thrust of research in this area has been in the form of field studies which were focused on the isolation of team development variables that influence team effectiveness, such as interpersonal processes, norms, cohesion, and roles operating within the work group (see Miller & Monge, 1986, for a meta-analytic review of such studies). The literature on team-based work designs promises work environment improvements for team members; however, few studies have examined relevant person- and organizational-level variables within a multivariable framework. In general, the move to self-directed work teams in the United States has been motivated by attempts to regain the country's competitive edge. Companies are often charged with making the change by corporate headquarters which are geographically and psychologically removed from the work site. This type of action may reflect a major incongruity that is passed down through the ranks, leaving managers with the formidable task of changing, at a root level, the political, cultural, and technical requirements of the organization, without the necessary skills, perspectives, tools, and so forth to bring about such massive changes. In addition, traditional, old-style directives tend to negate the egalitarian spirit and values inherent in the proposed changes. What is evident instead is the appearance of new value systems and ways of working together in the myriad of planning documents produced by various operating levels in the organization (e.g., customer service initiatives, work group mission statements and operational procedures, interdisciplinary sales management team action plans, etc.). However, these products often appear without the true commitment (or "buy in") of upper management and, thus, without the root cultural support necessary to support such initiatives in the long run. Therefore, it is imperative that those responsible for the implementation of major work redesign programs at all levels of an organization become aware of the