Abstract
D.Litt et Phil.
Questions relating to organisational roles in industry are studied in terms of personality
factors as well as the associated group behaviours. A two dimensional model is
conceptually constructed according to which eight role sets can be placed in relation
to Introversion vs Extroversion on one axis and Group vs Self Orientation on the other.
The research is aimed at establishing the homogeneity of natural work groups and
comparing the preferred team role profiles of different groups with one another. By
means of the procedure and methodology used in the study it becomes possible to
analyse group compositions, establish role requirements and to compare these role
requirements with an individual's role preferences.
A questionnaire, that measures a person's predisposition towards these roles, was
used for ranking the order of 1415 respondent's role preferences. The statistical
significance of the homogeneity of 40 organisational job groups are calculated by
means of the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance and reported in the study. The
different group profiles are compared using the Chi-square statistic for 2x2 tables. By
means of this comparison, the similarities and differences between job groups are
indicated in terms of status level, hierarchical relationships, titles and job types.
Significant homogeneity, below the 0.05% level, is reported for 90% of the job-related
groups selected for the study. Of these homogeneous groups, 75% indicated
significance levels below 0.001%. The similarities and differences between groups
were identified for each role set and meaningful conclusions could be reached
regarding the reasons why these differences were observed.
The conclusions drawn from the study are that job-related groups are homogeneous
in terms of role composition, that differences between groups are significant, and that
the extent of a person's adaptation to meet the requirements of another role can be
judged according to his predispositions towards that role.