1.7 Organizational Research Paradigms

Because of their large and diffuse nature, organizations often conduct research to help them better understand their employees, customers, competition, and marketplace. Throughout this section, we will discuss five separate research paradigms that are used by organizations—sociometry, position analysis, communication analysis, discretionary analysis, and comparative analysis.

Sociometry

In sociometry, all group members are asked to indicate their relationship with every other member of the group on a specified dimension. By combining all of the responses, the researcher can diagram the relationships, the competence ratings, and the effectiveness of communication within a group.

Position Analysis

During position analysis, a researcher compares the job requirements of the organization with the abilities of each jobholder within the organization. The purpose is to achieve an optimal match between the abilities of the employees and the requirements of each job, and to uncover any poor matches. When a discrepancy is discovered, the tasks may be altered or employees may be reassigned.

Communication Analysis

To perform communications analysis, the researcher traces the path of a message to reveal at what step it is delayed, simply passed on, elaborated, or acted upon. The formal communication structures can be contrasted with the grapevine (discussed in a later topic), and the messages can be analyzed for content.

Discretionary Analysis

One way of evaluating the status of employees is to analyze their freedom to work unsupervised; this technique is termed discretionary analysis because it measures how much discretion the employees have. For example, they may be asked, "For what length of time do you perform your assigned tasks using your own judgment, without the direct review of your superiors?" Generally, the less the worker is subjected to direct control, the higher the worker's competence, responsibility, and pay expectations.

Comparative Analysis

The study of one organization can be facilitated by performing a comparative analysis of other organizations. For instance, college students often complain that they have too little input into administrative decisions that impact them. As a result, student leaders may ask the administration for a response and also survey their counterparts at other schools. They may find that, in terms of dispute-resolution programs, other schools serve their students better. Armed with the comparative analysis results (benchmarking), the student leaders publicize the role of students on committees and prevail upon the administration to appoint a representative to mediate student complaints.

These internal organizational research procedures become more complicated as we consider the globalized nature of many organizations. International organizations have cultural variety, have more challenges, and are often larger than many organizations that are often located in one centralized location. For this reason, we have dedicated the next section to the complexities of international organizational behavior.