Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1988

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Major Professor

Michael C. Rush

Committee Members

John Lounsbury, Joyce Russell, Eric Sundstrom

Abstract

Organizational choice refers to the choice by an individual of a particular organization in which to work. While various studies have examined the decision-making strategies used by individuals to arrive at an organizational choice, most have assumed that individuals use a maximizing, compensatory strategy. The present study proposes and empirically assesses aspects of an alternative model of organizational choice which is noncompensatory in nature.

The model proposes that individuals utilize minimum/special requirements on various attributes which must be met for an alternative to be considered acceptable. It also proposes that the use of minimum/special requirements on certain attributes restricts the variability of the acceptable jobs on those attributes, thus decreasing the importance of those attributes relative to other attributes for the final organizational choice.

The model was tested in a field setting using graduating university students who were actively engaged in a job search. Participants provided information concerning the organizations with which they were interviewing, as well as measures of acceptability and choice for their various alternatives.

In general, the results of the study provided qualified support for the major hypotheses. A significant number of participants both reported and appeared to use minimum/special requirements on various attributes to screen alternatives for acceptability. Also, those attributes which appeared to be important to participants in predicting acceptance of an alternative seemed to lessen in importance relative to other attributes in determining the ultimate choice made from the alternatives. Hypotheses concerning the impact of individual difference variables on the likelihood to use minimum/special requirements on non-work variables were not supported.

The theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed. The limitations of the study were also discussed, as well as future directions for research on organizational choice.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS