| Summary: | A preliminary analysis of the concepts of attitude
and value is made together with an examination of
these concepts in relation to general phenomena of perception. The concept of organizational climate as some form of aggregate of social perceptions is then considered
and hypotheses are derived specifying relationships
between values and perceptions with in an organizational context. The major hypotheses can be summarized as postulating relationships between values and a) perceptions
of social and leadership behaviour, b) organizational role, c) the operationalized concepts of authenticity,
inner-direction and other-direction, and d) biographical variables. In addition a number of a prioi explorative propositions were stated and the relationship between
organizational climate and the concepts of value congruence
and consonance were examined and tested.
The instruments used for measuring values and perceptions were respectively modifications of the scales
developed by William A. Scott and the Organizational Climate
Description Questionnaire developed by Andrew W. Halpin and Don B. Croft. In addition a general questionnaire was used for the purpose of collecting biographical data. The research was conducted in the early part of 1968 and involved a randomly selected sample of
40 public elementary schools from seven school districts
in the Vancouver metropolitan area. Respondents numbered
68 school administrators and 523 teachers.
Findings of the empirical study showed significant
relationships between values and perceptions at both the
individual and the school level of analysis. Significant value differences were observed between administrators and
teachers (e.g. the former valuing creativity and independence
less than the latter) which cannot be accounted for
simply in terms of biographical variance. This leads to
the tentative conclusion that organizational role is a
substantial determinant of individual value orientation
and the consequences are discussed. The findings also
lead to certain doubts being cast upon facets of previous
research viz., the importance of the notions of value
congruence and consonance as developed by Dante Lupini
and the conceptual and methodological validity of the
organizational climate concept as developed by Andrew W.
Halpin. In sum it can be stated that significant relationships' were found between specified values and the dimensions of organizational climate (e.g. directly between
intellectualism and intimacy and inversely between
independence and esprit) and some evidence was derived to
infer a relationship between value orientation and organizational role.
A concluding section examines the implications of
the findings and proffers a tentative outline or schema
for the investigation and development of a theory of
organizational value. === Education, Faculty of === Graduate
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