A Longitudinal Assessment of a Managerial Grid® Seminar Training Program

Abstract

A Managerial Grid seminar training program was instituted for 131 participants from an oil refinery and chemical plant of a major American oil corporation. The effects of the Grid program on organizational cli mate, job satisfaction, power relationships, and leadership style were assessed with pre-test, post-test and fourteen-month longitudinal, follow-up measurements. One-way analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test were used to analyze the data. Over the assessment period the participants showed decreases in satisfaction with supervi sion, opportunities for promotion, pay, and overall satisfaction, as well as a decrease in the organizational climate variable of warmth and trust. A comparison group of twenty-nine employees for the follow-up measure ment was not significantly different from the participants on the vari ables studied, except for lower satisfaction with promotion oppor tunities. It was concluded that the Grid program itselfhad not caused any major variables to change and that any changes in satisfaction and cli mate were probably due to separate factors in the organization. Reasons for the minimal impact of the Grid program were discussed.

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