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\ ABSTRACT

SOME SOURCES OF DISUNITY
AND CONFLICT BETWEEN
YOUNGER AND OLDER CORPORATION EXECUTIVES
BY

Gerard E. Fisher

In the early 1970's a number of qualified observers of the manage-
ment scene expressed concern regarding the development of a possible
new form of a generation gap in corporations. Their estimate of the
situation was that if the gap went unnoticed by corporations, the cor-
porations could well experience unproductive conflict between their
younger and older executives.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the validity of
the claims of these qualified observers by systematically surveying
attitudes concerning sources of disunity and conflict between younger
and older corporate executives. The survey research consisted of two
phases, first interviews and then questionnaires.

Interviews were conducted with 120 managers, 66 between 21-30 and
54 between 31-65 years old, from 12 corporations. The managers re-
sponded to open-ended questions from a basic interview schedule. They
provided their impressions on the development of a new generation gap
in corporations and the possible sources of disunity and conflict be-
tween younger and older corporate executives. The interviewees also
assisted in the development of a 131 item, modified Likert scale
questionnaire.

The questionnaire was designed around the basic contentions of the

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'o'management observers and the potential sources of disunity and conflict

‘ uncovered during the interviews. A total of 800 questionnaires were

administered to managers in four corporations and of the 800, 514 were

returned.

Seven statistical analyses were performed on the questionnaire

data:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

a PA 1, orthogonal factor analysis,

a MANOVA with the factors from the PA 1, orthogonal factor analysis
as the dependent variables and age groupings 21-30, 31-40, 41-59 and
60-65 as the independent variable,

a MANOVA with the factors from the PA 1, orthogonal factor analysis
as the dependent variables and company as the independent variable,
abc) three separate MANOVAs for companies 1, 2 and 3 respectively
with the factors from the PA 1, orthogonal factor analysis as the
dependent variables and with the age groupings 21-30, 31-40, 41-59
and 60-65 as the independent variable (the fourth company was omit-
ted because of limited sample size),

a stepwise regression analysis with the factors from the PA 1,
orthogonal analysis and the bio data items as the dependent vari»
able and age as the independent variable.

a t test for difference between mean responses on each of the 131
items in the questionnaire for the age groupings 21-30 and 31-65,

a Plotting by age groupings 21-30, 31-40, 41-59, 60-65 of the mean

responses to each of the (68) questionnaire items on which .01 or

greater significant difference occurred.

The principal findings were:

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1) Analysis procedures 2 and 7 revealed differences in attitudes occur-

2)

red between 21-30 and 31-65 year old executives over 3 of 7 major
issues:

a. involvement in corporate office takeover

b. causes of discrimination in corporations

c. loyalty to corporation vs. profession

The differences uncovered by analysis procedures 2 and 7 did not
indicate younger and older executives were developing opposite
sets of attitudes over the 3 major issues of office takeover,
discrimination, and company vs. professional loyalty. Rather,

the results indicated that the younger executives as a group

tended towards the less conservative attitudes, whereas the

older executives as a group tended toward the more conservative

stance. Specifically, in the order of the strength of signifi-

cance:

a. in connection with Such emergencies as shutting down the

plant for a pollution alert, younger executives were more

disposed to condoning the taking over of corporate offices
than older executives;

b. younger executives more frequently saw causes of personnel
discrimination as under the control of the corporation while
older executives saw this discrimination as beyond corporate
control;

C- Younger executives were more inclined to be loyal to their
professions as contrasted with the corporation, while older

executives were inclined to be more loyal to the corporation

vs. the profession.

3) The results from analysis procedures 3 and 4 abc indicated that

4)

this significance and spread of the attitude disunity between
younger and older executives differed among the four companies.
The graphing from procedure 7 showed that only 40% of the curves
of mean responses for each groups were sufficiently linear for
the greatest differences to occur between the 20 to 30 and the 60
to 65 year groups. In 60% of the cases the greatest differences
occurred between the 20 to 30 and the 40 to 59 year groups with
the 60 to 65 group means tending back towards those of the 20 to
30 group. In other words, 60% of the curves were curvilinear.

This study did not confirm the concern of the management observers

that a discrete conflict-producing difference existed in corporations

in 1972. Rather, it confirmed that there were varying degrees of dis—

agreement between younger and older executives. Furthermore, it did

not confirm that these differences extended over all social issues;

rather, they were confined to a few distinct issues. Finally the study

did not support the notion that the difference was common to all cor-

porations; rather, it was found that a difference did exist in some

corporations, and in other corporations little or no difference was

found.

._—

[ SOME SOURCES OF DISUNITY
AND CONFLICT BETWEEN
F YOUNGER AND OLDER CORPORATION EXECUTIVES

By

' Gerard E. Fisher

I

I,
} A THESIS
i
1 Submitted to

Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

~ for the degree of

f DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Management

1974

SI)

 

1. "A I.“

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ii

In every writing effort, the difficulties and loneliness need to
be overcome by an outside, objective observer, one who helps you rethink
your conceptualization and corrects your composition. My plight was
made infinitely easier through weeks of untiring, highly talented assist-
ance from.my mother. It was only through her insights and writing
ability that this manuscript was able to take its final form.

Hence, it

is to her that this manuscript is dedicated.

PREFACE

The following dissertation resulted from years of personal experi-
ence and research. My interest in the generation gap first started to
gel back in 1968-69 when, as a resident doctoral student at M.S.U., I
was witness to the clash taking place between the students and the
administration. My interest developed even further when I moved to the
University of Dayton and went to live in a house with 15 undergraduates,
all of whom were business students and members of Alpha Kappa Psi pro-
fessional business fraternity. As I was not far removed in age from
these students, they were very open in sharing their values with me.
From this experience I found that their values and beliefs had shifted
from.those held by myself and other students who had lived in the same
house only three years previous. They were different not only in
religious, sexual, and drug values but also in their attitudes regarding
the role, value, and purpose of the business corporation.

Along with this personal experience with students, as the director
of the Center for Organization and Executive Development, I became
involved with the business community as well. My duties required me to
conduct over 500 interviews with businessmen in the cities of Cincinnati,
Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. While conducting these
interviews, I began to notice a different pattern developing in the
discourses I had with older and younger corporate executives. This
pattern did not hold true in every case; but nonetheless, it seemed
apparent that younger and older executives, at many times, had differing
sets of values.

With my experiences at M.S.U. and the University of Dayton as a base,

iii

iv

I left executive development work and began full-time research on the
effects of a generation gap in corporations. My initial step was to
review my tapes and notes of lectures by Eugene Emerson Jennings from my
doctoral program at M.S.U. I also reread his numerous articles and books
with renewed interest. The background provided to me from Jennings' re-
search and knowledge was a meaningful base from.which to begin this study.
His was the pioneering and the major, significant research which had been
performed to date on the rise of a new generation of young executives.

From this point, I spent the next ten months travling from cor-
poration to corporation (which, for confidentiality purposes, shall go
unnamed) and meeting with executives who gave as much as an hour to several
hours of their time to assist me in the development of a proper base for
this study.

As always, in any dissertation, the faculty were a significant
input to the research paper. The initial chairman of the dissertation
was Dr. Dalton McFarland. His guidance in developing my initial sources
and corporation contacts and his comments on my initial conceptualiza-
tions were most helpful to the study. When Dr. McFarland decided to
leave for the University of Alabama to take a university professorship,
Dr. Fred Wickert became chairman. His help in tightening the purposes
of the study and particularly in developing the questionnaire went far
beyond the call of friendship and committee membership. Without his
assistance, this study, and any I do in the future, would be quite
limited. My deepest gratitude goes out to this talented, patient, and
dedicated chairman.

Interpreting the results of the questionnaire was facilitated by

long days of consultation with Dr. Bill Tullar from the University of
Rochester and by letter correspondence with Dr. Clay Hamner, the new
member of my dissertation committee. To both of them, I express my

sincere appreciation.
Finally, a very sincere note of thanks is given to Ms. Kim
Christopoulos and Ms. Schula Lynne Keitel, the typists whose help

and expert skills made the final draft of this manuscript possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER ONE

Literature Review . . . . . . . . . .

General Comments . . . . . . . . .

The Immigrant Phenomenon . . . . .

An "Unparalleled Gap" . . . . . .

Relativism: A Source of the Gap .

The Mobicentric Gap-Producing Generation

An Accelerated Generation of Young Executives

Summary and Conclusions . . . . .

CHAPTER TWO

Research Methods . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . .
An Overview of the Methods . . . .
Interview Research . . . . . . . .
The Interview Process . . . . . . .
Questionnaire Research . . . . . .
Administration of the Questionnaire
Questionnaire Analysis Procedures

SW” 0 O O O O O O O O O O O 0

xi

11

l3

14

14

14

15

16

19

21

22

24

xii

CHAPTER THREE
Interview Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction to Interview Results . . . . . . . . . .
Respect for Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leadership Style of Superiors . . . . . . . . . . . .
Method of Reaching Policy Decisions . . . . . . . . .
Degree of Corporate Social Responsibility . . . . . .
Racism in the Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Use of Campus Protest Methods . . . . . . . . . . . .
Need for Reforms in Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .

sumary O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

CHAPTER.FOUR

Factor Analysis Result 3 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

CHAPTER FIVE
Presentation and Interpretation of Questionnaire Results
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Did a Generation Gap Exist in 1972? . . . . . . . . .
Nature of the Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Gap as a Source of Conflict . . . . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER SIX
Implications of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Seriousness of the Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What Can be Done to Manage the Gap? . . . . . . . . .

Fina 1 Thou ght 8 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

25
25
26
26
27
29
29
31
32
35

36

38

49
49
49
55

67

74

75

77

8O

GENERAL REFERENCES . . .

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . .

APPENDIX A

Initial Contacts and Phase

APPENDIX B

Phase II Interview Guide .

APPENDIX C

Phase III Interview Guide

APPENDIX D

Case Studies . . . . .

APPENDIX E

Preliminary Questionnaire

APPENDIX F

Final Questionnaire .

APPENDIX G

xiii

I Interview Guide . . . .

Varimax Rotated Factor Matrix . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX H

Summary of the Variables to be Retained and Dropped
for the Final Factor Analysis . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX I

Eigenvalue Table . . .

82

84

87

90

93

95

102

110

119

123

125

xiv

APPENDIX J

Observed Combined Means for Company II
Broken Down by Age Group . . . . . . .

APPENDIX K

t Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . .

Table

II

III

IV

VI

VII

VIII

LIST OF TABLES

Characteristics of the Corporations Which
Participated in the Interviews

Characteristics of the Interviewees

A.MANOVA with Age as the Independent Variable

and the 14 Factors as the Dependent Variables
Indicating the Combined Observed Means of the
Factor Scores, the Standard Deviations, and the
Results of the Univariate F Tests for the Age Effect

A Comparison of the Univariate F Tests from.a MANOVA
Performed on Companies 1, 2 and 3 with Age as the
Independent Variable and the 14 Factors as the
Dependent Variables

A Stepwise Multiple Regression with Age as the
Independent Variable and the 14 Factors as the
Dependent Variables

A.MANOVA with Company as the Independent Variable
and the 14 Factors as the Dependent Variables
Indicating the Combined Observed Means of the
Factor Scores and the Results of the Univariate
F Tests for the Age Effects

A Listing of Items on Which a Curvilinear Correlation
Appeared

A Stepwise Multiple Regression with Age as the
Independent Variable and the 14 Factors and the
Bio Data Items as the Dependent Variables

17

I8

51

52

54

58

63

65

Figure

I

II

III

LIST OF FIGURES

A Plotting of the Combined Observed Means of the

Factor Scores for the Four Most Significant Variables
in the Company MANOVA 59

A Plotting of the Combined Observed Means of the
Factor Scores for the Three Most Significant Variables
in the Age MANOVA 61

A Plotting of the Mean Responses to Biodata Item #15
for 5 Separate Age Groups 66

INTRODUCTION

In the early 1970's, a number of social scientists and qualified
management observers expressed concern regarding the development of a
new, unparalleled generation gap in the corporations. Each of the
authors reached their conclusions about the effects of the gap from
their own exploratory research with younger and older members of the
corporate executive ranks. The central point of their mutual concern
was represented by a prediction which was used as the focal point of
several 1970 and 1971 articles in Harvard Business Review (Athos, 1970),
Fortune (Gooding, 1971), and Business Horizons (Fielding, 1970). The
prediction held that within five years a group of young executives
would take over the office of a corporation president in an effort to
force socially-oriented concessions from the company. The authors
labelled this prediction as realistic, feasible and probable. They
also went on to make a number of less dramatic, but still disconcerting,
predictions regarding the effects of the generation gap on corporations.

After an examination of these predictions it became obvious that,
if they were true, their impact on corporate organizational techniques
could be similar to that experienced by the universities in the later
1960's and early 1970's. Unfortunately, in 1971 no data were available
to test the actual validity of the predictions and contentions of the
management theorists. Although these predictions came from creditable
sources, their supporting data were derived from educated opinions
extrapolated from semi-related research and personal experience.

The intent of this study was to provide some data from.which to

determine the nature and extent of a 1972 generation gap in corporations.

Specifically, the study consisted of interview research into the nature
of the thought pattern differences which existed in 1972 between younger
and older corporate executives. This interview research was then used
as a base for developing a questionnaire which provided quantitative
data for determining the degree to which a generation gap existed in the
corporations studied.

It is hoped that this Study will be of value to those who are
interested in broadening their understanding of the difference between
management age groups in corporations. The reader should be cautioned,
however, to remember that the following study was performed in 1972 in a
limited number of corporate settings. The data do not take into account
the wide range of changes which have taken place since then, nor do they
provide any information from which to determine the effect these changes

have had on attitudes of corporation executives.

CHAPTER ONE

LITERATURE REVIEW*

GENERAL COMMENTS

If one were to have reviewed the literature on the existence of a
generation gap between father and son, student and university admin-
istrator, or the student and the establishment, an extensive bibliography
could have been amassed. Much research has been performed in this area,
and many conclusions have been reached. However, a review of the
literature on the generation gap in corporations provided a far more
limited base from which to draw material. Relatively little had been
written in this area, and, as was indicated previously, little or no
systematic research had been performed. Furthermore, much of what had
been written repeated itself or provided "conventional wisdom" style
concepts and theoretical predictions. Despite these limitations, there
was a small but valuable collection of writings on the existence of the
generation gap in corporations. These writings have been reviewed and

used as a beginning basis for this study.

THE IMMIGRANT PHENOMENON

The major scholarly book written specifically on the generation gap
came from anthropologist Margaret Mead (1969). In this book she outlined
several theoretical concepts, the understanding of which are imperative
for serious research in this area. Her first concept was titled the
"Immigrant Phenomenon." It held that many of the people born before
*The literature review covered all the significant writings published as
of February, 1972, the time at which the initial study was proposed. An
attempt was made to capture in the writings up to that date the spirit
of the times regarding age differences and their estimated effects on

the values and attitudes of the varying age groups.

3

1940 were like immigrants coming from a different culture, entering the
world with feelings, conceptions, and values appropriate to the "old
country," the world of the 1920's and 1930's (Mead, 1969). Mead argued
that these "phenomena" caused significant disunity and conflict between
the two current generations of humans. Each generation was viewing
the problem from a different perspective with opposing feelings, values,

and concepts at the source of their respective solutions (Mead, 1969).

AN "UNPARALLELED" GAP

Another basic point put forth by Mead, and backed by her consider-
able anthropological expertise, was that she considered this current
generation gap as "deep, new, and unparalleled in human history" (Mead.
1969). The world had always experienced a generation gap, she stated,
but never before had the gap been as deeply polarizing as the current
one. She held that anyone who did not feel that the then current gap
was unparalleled had misread the nature, extent, and direction of
current changes in our society (Mead, 1969). Some of the changes which
she felt contributed to the development of this new generation gap were
the following:

-The invention of the computer;

-The development of fusion and fission bombs;

-The moving from a concept of a war in which many men will
survive to one in which none will survive;

-The triumph of technology in the heart transplant, convenience
foods, Sputnik, and moon landings;

-The growth and development of over 25 million youths who have
never experienced depression or poverty;

-The discovery of the biochemistry of the living cell, opening
the possibilities for test-tube babies, the reversal of the
aging process, a multi-fold increase in the capacity of the
mind and more;

5

-The extreme explosion of population growth and the recognition
of the certainty of destruction if it continues;

-The releasing of women from the age-old task of devoting
themselves completely to reproduction;

-The upsetting of the balance of nature to the point that many
leading figures are seriously questioning whether our rivers,
lakes, oceans, and atmosphere will be able to support life
much beyond the next 30 years;

-The breakdown of the organization of the cities, universities,
and religion;

-The linking up of all parts of the world with media such as

the jet plane and television; making old civic, state, and
national boundaries unrealistic (Mead, 1969).
Mead argued that precisely because of these events, the generation
gap existed. She held that if anyone was to develop a realistic under-
standing of the generation gap, these events must be understood; and it
must be realized that they have resulted in an unparalleled conflict of
values, assumptions, and attitudes between the generations (Mead, 1969).
One of the most important concepts in solving the problems of the
generation gap was that:
both the young and old must firmly establish in
their minds the belief that this gap is unpre-
cedented. deep, new. and worldwide. As long as
the adult thinks he, like the parents and teachers
of old, can become introspective and invoke his
own youth to understand the youth before him, then
he is lost (Mead, 1969).

RELATIVISM: A SOURCE OF THE GAP

Harvard educators, George Lombard and Anthony Athos, have both
written articles in Harvard Business Review detailing their argument
that an unparalleled generation gap was developing in corporations. They
based their contention on a research study, performed by William Perry

with students from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, on the changing

conception of knowledge and the intellectual and ethical development of

students during their college years (Perry, 1970). The study found that
the intellectual and ethical development of the students moved from a
"dualistic," right or wrong conception of knowledge, to a "relativistic,"
contingent view of knowledge where no absolute right or wrong exists.
The relativistic view was based on the conception that "several inter—
pretations are legitimate given the person, his point of view, his pur-
pose, as well as the setting and the thing being addressed" (Athos, 1970).

Using Perry's study as a base, Athos and Lombard built an interesting
conceptual schema around what they saw as the development of a conflict-
producing gap between the relativistic younger executive and the dualistic
older executive. This conflict schema began with a diagnosis of the
situation which developed in the universities in the late '60's and early
'70's and ended by stating that a similar situation was developing in
corporations. Their analysis held that the mutiny which took place in
the universities was a direct result of a clash between a relativistic
student body and a dualistic university administration.

If I were to seek data with which to answer the

question asked at Rotterdam, I would use as a guide

the hypothesis that student protest in the 1960's and

early 1970's has been a function of the tension between

conceptual relativism and bureaucratic behavior is also

clear, then protests will be both frequent and intense.

A quick review of studies of protest at Berkeley, New

York (Columbia), Cambridge (Harvard), Paris, Tokyo, New

Delhi and elsewhere indicates that systematic support

for this hypothesis would not be difficult to find. In

these cases, relativism as a value important to students

conflicted with dualism as a value important in the

administration (Lombard, 1971).
Athos and Lombard then analogized between the university and the corpora-
tion by indicating many examples of how the relativistic, younger execu-

tives were clashing with the dualistic, older executives. A typical

operational example is the following:

Dualistic: "The only goal of a corporation is to work for a
profit."

Relativistic: "In effect, the corporation has a multiplicity of
goals; sometimes profit is important, sometimes not;
sometimes what is right for the individual is import-
ant, sometimes not."

Dualistic: "When I get a good theory, I believe in it and use it
as a pillar to my actions."

Relativistic: "When I find a good theory I don't believe in it, but
rather I use it until something better comes alongi'
(Athos, 1970).

The final parallel between the university and the corporation was
drawn when Athos and Lombard indicated that in many corporations clashes
similar to the above would accelerate throughout the '70's with the end
results being a form of corporate mutiny ranging from internal policy
protest to public protest demonstrations and corporate office takeovers
(Athos, 1970; Lombard, 1971).

Unless corporations quickly change, Athos and Lombard held, cor-
porate mutiny would be the inevitable result. Without a change they saw
the younger executives' relativistic thinking as developing views of
knowledge, reality and authority that were polar or opposite to that of
older executives. The summary statement by Athos was, "Unless corpora-
tions change their dualistic, outdated way of thinking and approaching
problems of organization, decision making and administration, they will
be doomed to be racked by revolt and conflict with the young" (Athos,
1970).

A final understanding of the Athos-Lombard view of the corporate
generation gap was provided by a point made by Athos in his article. He
stated that when he presented the ideas many young executives have on how
to run a business organization to many older executives, they replied,

"You can't run a political party this way, you can't run a country this

way, you can't run a business this way." And to that Athos replied,
"Possibly we can, probably we must, and therefore in painful time, we

will" (Athos, 1970).

THE MOBICENTRIC GAP-PRODUCING GENERATION

The research and opinions of Eugene Emerson Jennings on the develop-
ment of a new generation of mobicentric managers was a fertile source as
background support for identifying a number of sources of disunity and
conflict between the two current generations of executives. Jennings'
research indicated that a new generation of executives was arriving in
the corporation and these new executives had values, aims and operating
styles significantly different from those of previous organizational
executives. Although these styles were not held by all new younger
executives, his research demonstrated that they were the predominant
style for the most promising and effective members of the younger genera-
tion. Some examples of the style variances which were partially related
to this study are described in the following paragraphs.

Jennings stated that the listening-talking ratio of the younger
executives was ten to one, as opposed to the listening-talking ratio of
one to ten for older executives. This came from the younger executives'
realization that the best way to manage people was through obtaining
information, and the best way to obtain information was through listening.
The older executive felt that, by definition, a manager was a person who
already had information; therefore, he spent his time mostly in talking
(Jennings, 1968).

Loyalty to company versus loyalty to profession was another major
gap-producing characteristic of the young executive. These executives

had strong beliefs in their competency and did not feel that they needed

to diSplay loyalty to the company for these competencies to be recognized
(Jennings, 1970). As a consequence of this, their style was a very
mobile one. They realized that movement to the top resulted not from
hard work but from skillfully executed work and careful career planning
(Jennings, 1970). As Jennings stated:

Young executives grew self-confident that they could

manage their own careers. They no longer were content to

sit and wait for a truck to run over a superior who was a

few years older or younger. When they saw upward mobility

arrested, they opted for opportunities elsewhere (Jennings,

1970).

This mobility orientation has led to an increased sense of independence
on the part of this generation, a generation which was more vocal in
their criticisms of the organization.

The accelerated mobility of the young executive also took the form
of remaining with a job an average of two years. This rapid change of
jobs led to the adoption of new, democratic leadership styles by these
executives and a gap over the choice of leadership style between them
and many "insider" or "organization man" style older executives.
Because the young mobicentric changed jobs so frequently, they recog-
nized that they could not just come into a new job and call all the shots.
They saw the manager's job more in the light of developing an organiza-
tional atmosphere where good decisions were made possible. With this
democratic style being predominant, they also tended to expect more
democracy from their interaction with the total corporate structure
(Jennings, 1969).

Another very significant source of disunity and potential conflict
between younger and older executives was over the nature of authority.

Jennings found that the older executive tended to emphasize and believe

in the virtue and value of authority, where the younger executive leaned

10

towards facts and competency. The older generation felt that "their's
was not to wonder why;" but the younger executive belongs to the current
"why? why? why? generation" (Jennings, 1969). Jennings noted that
younger executives distrusted rules and suspected that men who shouted
principles were incompetent. They preferred facts and analysis of the
problem. They were raised to think first, obey second (Jennings, 1968).

This gap over a belief in authority could lead to numerous opera-
tional sources of disunity and potential conflict between younger and
older executives -- from disagreement over leadership style to the out-
right rejection by a young executive of all corporation authority -
unless the directives were backed by facts and competency. A less
obvious, but equally significant type of disunity which could result
from.these differing views of authority was provided by an example
often used by Jennings. When an older executive was asked what should
be done about the problems of society, he called for an application of
more "law and order." The younger executive, when asked the same
question, saw the solution to the problem as the development of better
methods of criminal rehabilitation, more equitable enforcement of laws,
training of the hardcore, more equal distribution of income. As could
be seen, such a disagreement could lead to significant disunity as to
the way in which a corporation should become involved in the problems
of society (Jennings, 1969).

The issue of corporate involvement in solving the problems of
society was another major source of potential disunity and conflict
uncovered by Jennings. Jennings did not predict anything as dramatic
as an office takeover. He did, however, find strong support for a type

of conflict behavior somewhat less obvious and perhaps even more

11

damaging to the corporation. In Jennings' words, "Many of these young
executives want a corporation active in solving the problems of society;
unless they do so, these executives may well go elsewhere" (Jennings,
1968). Since any corporation's most valuable assets are the talents of
its executives, a corporation unable to attract a sufficient quantity of

talented young executives might have its future in jeopardy.

AN ACCELERATED GENERATION OF YOUNG EXECUTIVES

One short informal exploratory interview study appeared in the
literature covering the tapic of a generation gap in corporations.
Although this study was by no means a conclusive piece of research, its
findings were still of significant importance as a basis for researching
a potential gap. The study conducted by Fortune's Judson Gooding (1971),
made the basic point that a new accelerated generation of young executives
was developing. His findings categorized this accelerated generation
as the 2,700,000 men and women from 21 to 29 years of age in managerial
jobs that could or should lead to full-fledged executive status. He
found that this accelerated generation was indeed something different
on the corporate scene. In particular, they were not at all like the
organization man of the '50's or the young executives of the '60's.
Gooding pointed out that:

The organization man was reconciled to his role serving

big companies and, although he was determined to preserve

his individuality, he was willing to go along with management

toward goals the companies judged to be valid. The young

executive was colder and more pragmatic, zealous, and skilled

at problem solving,absorbed in his company to the exclusion

of almost everything else. He had no interest in changing

corporate life or corporate goals and he almost never doubted

the worth and importance of his role.

Today's junior executives, by contrast, reflect the pas-
sionate concerns of the youth in the 1970's for individuality,

openness, humanism, and change; and they are determined to be
heard (Gooding, 1971).

12

In further detailing the differences between the accelerated
generation and older executives, Gooding made the following point:
A decided purpose underlies their drive. These junior
managers, unlike previous recruits to executive ranks, see
themselves not as comfortable successors to power, but as

rebels and reformers who will carry out important changes in

both the style and substance of managing corporations
(Gooding, 1971).

The decided purpose underlying the drives of these new young executives
has led to several gap-producing behaviors. For example, Gooding's
research indicated that "companies are discovering that almost everything
has to be explained and defended, including the most basic of business
principles, the profit motive" (Gooding, 1971). He also found that the
younger executives were more socially oriented than the previous young
executives. "Mnet of them believe there is an urgent need to remedy
the flaws in society" (Gooding, 1971). The younger executives were por-
trayed as "constantly calling for the corporation to reappraise its own
social policies and objectives" (Gooding, 1971). Most important of all,
it was found that many recent graduates of MBA programs are "reluctant
if not unwilling to work for corporations with no concern for social
areas" (Gooding, 1971).

All of the preceding findings would be interesting but not terribly
disturbing without the following finding from Gooding's research. His
research outrightly and strongly supported the contentions of Athos and
'Lombard on the probability of corporate mutiny. The study showed that
the discontent of the accelerated generation was sincere and real and it
warned that this discontent could infect their colleagues and subordinates,
resulting in a sort of industrial mutiny (Gooding, 1971). The mutiny
could run the gamut from.mass exits from the corporate ranks by the most

Dromdsing of the younger executives to eventual corporate office

l3

takeovers (Gooding, 1971).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

From the literature review. it was apparent that the current state
of research on the nature and evidence of disunity between younger and
older corporate executives was still in the very early exploratory stages.
No published studies met the commonly accepted criteria for valid
research. An inquiry made of the University Microfilms Key WOrds Index
indicated that no unpublished studies were listed in the data bank.
Despite this lack of research-derived knowledge, there were several
important inferences that could be drawn from the literature. First, a
significant gap was believed to exist between the younger and older
corporate executives. Second, major hypothesized manifestations of the
gap were over the social responsibility of the corporation and the
autocratic-bureaucratic operating style of the corporation. Third,
unless changes were to occur soon, it was possible and probable that
this gap would spill over into a form of industrial mutiny similar to

that experienced by the universities during the 1960's.

CHAPTER II

RESEARCH METHODS

INTRODUCTION

The limited extent of our knowledge concerning the nature and degree
of disunity and conflict between younger and older corporate executives
pointed to an obvious need for further research on this subject. The
research design for this study was developed to meet a portion of this
need through performing two basic research procedures. The first pro-
cedure was comprised of open-ended, in-depth, non-disguised interviews
with 66 younger and 54 older executives from 12 separate corporate
settings. The second procedure consisted of the administration of a
questionnaire to a random sampling of 800 executives from four different
corporate settings and the analysis of the data from this questionnaire
with the use of factor analysis, MANOVA, stepwise regression, and t test

statistical techniques.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE METHODS

There were three basic purposes to the interview section of this
study. The first purpose was to develop a qualitative case study
description of the differences between younger and older corporate
executives, using the ideas provided from the literature review as a
basis for the inquiry. The second purpose was to develop a list of
thought patterns which appeared to offer the most significant possibility
of discord between younger and older executives. The third purpose was
to develop and pre-test a questionnaire instrument which would allow for
a quantitative measurement of the extent of attitude difference between

younger and older corporate executives.

14

15

There were two basic purposes to the questionnaire. The first pur-
pose was to determine whether the thought patterns discovered during the
interviews were significant sources of conflict and disunity between
younger and older corporate executives in the corporations studied. The
second purpose was to provide a data base for describing the nature and
extent of corporate generational attitude differences, should significant
differences be uncovered.

Hence the research methodology for this study provided two types of
data: first, the exploratory case study data from the interviews, which
could not be generalized beyond the population surveyed, but which could
provide insight into the possible nature of a generation gap; and
secondly, quantitative questionnaire data which would provide a more
specific and accurate description of the differences which existed

between corporate executives in four separate corporate settings.

INTERVIEW RESEARCH

The interviews for this study were performed between October, 1971,
and May, 1972, in 12 separate corporate settings. Approximately five
younger and five older executives were interviewed in each setting. The
interviewees were selected from a diverse population which met the
following requirements:

1. The interviewees were chosen from corporations listed in the
Fortune magazine directory of the 500 largest industrial
corporations in the United States.

2. The corporations represented a broad cross—section of American
corporations with varied records of return on investment (out-

side competitive, technological and market environments) and
differing geographic locations.

l6

3. The younger executives were defined as those executives between
the ages of 21-30* in positions which could or should lead to
full-fledged executive status.

4. The older executives were defined as those executives between.
the ages of 31-65 holding lower to top level executive posi-
tions (approximately equal numbers being drawn from lower,
middle and top management).

The specific characteristics of the interviewees are presented in
Table I. [Insert Table I here.] Table I indicates the younger inter-
viewees represented approximately 10% more of the total interview sample
than the older interviewees. It also shows that most of the younger
interviewees were in line positions, whereas most of the older inter-
viewees were in staff positions. Most of the younger interviewees came
from lower and middle management, whereas most of the older interviewees
'came from middle and top management.

The specific characteristics of the corporations from which the
interviewees were drawn is presented in Table II. [Insert Table II
here.] This table indicates that the interviewees were drawn from a

wide base of Fortune 500 corporations located in the eastern and mid-

western part of the country.

THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

The interview process lasted from 30-60 minutes and went through
four major phases. Phase 1, consisting of 20 interviews, had as its
purpose the development of a common set of categories for classifying
the interviewees' impressions regarding the possible sources of a cor-
porate generation gap. Phase II, consisting of 40 interviews, had a

threefold purpose: 1) to record the interviewees' reaction to categories

 

* The 21-30 age cut-off for younger executives was made to conform with
the then popular notion that those over 30 had significantly divergent
values from those under 30.

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18

TABLE II

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTERVIEWEES

 

 

20 - 30 Yrs. Old 31 - 65 Yrs. Old
Structural
Position
Line 43 71.5% 20 37.02
Staff 23 34.82 34 63.02
Level of
Management
Lower 28 42.42 9 16.72
Middle 35 53.12 20 37.01
Top 3 4.52 25 46.32

 

 

TOTAL 66 100 Z 54 100 Z

19

developed in Phase I; 2) to further develop the Phase I set of cate-
gories; and 3) to determine which set of categories seem to offer the
most significant evidence of a corporate generation gap. Phase III,
consisting of 40 interviews, had a twofold purpose: 1) to collect
further data on the categories for classifying the interviewees'
impressions regarding a possible source of a corporate generation gap;
and 2) to develop a preliminary questionnaire instrument which would
measure the interviewees' attitudes towards several of the most signifi-
cant potential evidences of a generation gap. Phase IV, consisting of
interviews with ten executives and a mail distribution of a question-
naire to a random sampling of 28 executives, had as its purpose the
location of reSponse ambiguities in the final questionnaire used in the
second portion of this study.

An extended description of the methodologies used in each<of the
interview phases is provided by the interview guides in Appendices A,

B, and C..

QUESTIONNAIRE RESEARCH

The questionnaire was developed in several stages, following the
procedures outlined by the interview guides in Appendices-A, B, and C.
The initial drafts of the questionnaire, presented in Appendix E,
tapped a wider variety of attitude patterns than the final version
presented in Appendix F. It was not possible to include all of the
attitude patterns in the final questionnaire because the time needed
to answer the questionnaire would have exceeded one hour. The interview
results indicated that the maximum amount of time the participating
companies would accept for answering the questionnaire was about 30

minutes. Hence, the final questionnaire included a more limited range

20

of patterns.

The final questionnaire was divided into two basic sections. The
first section consisted of 95 items measuring the respondents' attitudes
regarding the following general sets of issues: 1) the social responsi-
bility of the corporations; 2) the existence of discrimination in cor-
porations; 3) the need for basic reforms in society; 4) the use of
office takeover methods for changing the corporation; and 5) the use of
legal protest methods for changing the corporation. The second section
of the questionnaire dealt with the bio data items. These included
question #20 and questions #1 through #18 in the bio data section of the
questionnaire. The bio data items were also developed during the inter-
view process. The basic procedure used to develop question #20 (p. 6)
was a non-disguised, non-structured, in-depth interviewing technique
(Kahn, Cannell, 1971). The interviewees were asked to describe some
of the factors which they felt were influential in shaping their views
on their company's social responsibility. As items were mentioned a
list was developed. After ten interviews, the list of items served as
the basis for a non-disguised, structured interview procedure to check
the clarity, appropriateness and completeness of the list. The bio data
items in the bio data section, pages 6-8 of the questionnaire, were
developed from assertions found in the literature on characteristics
which tended to increase the evidence of a generation gap.

Two response-ambiguity problems were located in questions #13 and
#14, responses C and D, e.g., "(C) I would generally disagree with such
an action, but do not feel that those involved should be fired," and "(D)
I would disagree with such an action and feel that all involved should be

fired." Despite the fact that they went through 12 of the re-drafts, it

21

was not discovered that the responses did not allow the respondent to
agree with the action and still feel that those involved should be fired.
This was a minor problem in that it required the omission of some of the
data. The second response ambiguity problem was found in question #18
of the bio data items, i.e., "How would you characterize the thinking of
your wife?" Needless to say, the writer was referred to as a chauvinist

by many of the female respondents.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire was administered to 800 executives in four com-
panies during June and July of 1972. Two of the companies were highly
profitable, light manufacturing companies with excellent reputations
for meeting their social responsibilities. These were labeled companies
1 and 4. Companies 2 and 3 were heavy manufacturing concerns with low
return on investments and a fair to medium record in meeting their
traditional social responsibilities. Specific characteristics of the
companies are not detailed so as to insure confidentiality.

The administration procedures requested of all participating com-
panies were as follows: 1) it would be administered on a strictly
confidential basis to a sampling of 100 younger executives (21-30 years
old), who the corporation personnel officer felt were the most promising
of its younger executives and to 100 older executives (31-65 years old),
from as wide a sampling of functional departments and corporate levels

as their distribution procedures would allow;* 2) the questionnaire

 

* The companies were promised a summary report on the findings of the
study both for their company and all of the companies in total. It
was emphasized that the care taken in finding a random sample of
executives would be rewarded by the increased accuracy of the findings
reported to them in their summary report.

22

would be distributed by the corporations with a cover letter introducing
the purpose of the study and its importance to the corporation as well
as to this study; and 3) to assure anonymity and uninhibited responses,
the questionnaire would be returned directly to Michigan State University

in a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope.

QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS PROCEDURES

The nature of the final questionnaire was such that the number of
variables exceeded the limitations of available computer programs. To
overcome this limitation, the statistical data reduction technique of
factor analysis was used to reduce the number of variables to a manage-
able size. The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) PA 1,
orthogonal rotation, varimax factoring program was used to perform the
factor analysis. The results and full details of this analysis pro-
cedure are presented in Chapter IV.

An overall measure of the differences between age groups was
obtained for each of the factors uncovered in the final factor solution
through a MANOVA with age as the independent variable. The NYBMUL
(State University of New York at Buffalo multivariate analysis) program
was used to perform this MANOVA. The program calculated the combined
observed means of the factor scores for each of the factors uncovered
in the final factor solution by the following four age groupings: 20-30,
31-40, 41-59, 60-65.

The program also tested for significance of difference between the
age groups by calculating a univariate F test for each of the four age

groups by each of the factors in the final factor solution.

23

A similar NYBMUL MANOVA was also performed with company as the
independent variable and each of the factors as dependent variables.
This again calculated the combined observed means of the factor scores
for each of the four companies on each of the factors uncovered in the
final factor solution. It also tested for differences between companies
with a univariate F test for each company on each of the facsors. The
results from this F test showed a significant degree of variation be-
tween companies and indicated the utility of performing a NYBMUL MANOVA
with age as the dependent variable for companies 1, 2 and 3. (An age
MANOVA was not performed on company 4 because the limited sample size
did not provide sufficient data to fill the factor by age matrix.)

Further detail on the importance of age in predicting the differ-
ence over the factors was obtained through the use of stepwise regres—
sion with age as the independent variable and the factors as the depen-
dent variable. The SPSS stepwise regression program was used to perform
this analysis.

The SPSS program for stepwise regression was also used to help
determine the degree to which the biodata items were related to age.
Age was again the independent variable with the biodata items as the
dependent variables.

The results from the preceding analysis indicated the utility of
performing one last analysis on the questionnaire data. This was a
t test on each of the non-age-related items in the questionnaire with
the respondents being divided into the following two age groups: 20-30

and 31-65. The SPSS program was used to perform the t test.

24

SUMMARY

The research methods for this study followed a flow from exploratory
qualitative interview procedures on through to the development of a
questionnaire which was administered to 800 younger and older executives.
These questionnaire data were then subjected to analysis through a vari—
ety of statistical techniques, providing a data base for interpreting the
questionnaire results to answer some questions regarding the nature and
sources of disunity and conflict between younger and older corporate
executives. Chapter 3 will present the nature of the qualitative results
from the interviews, and Chapter 4 will provide a detailed description of
the factor analysis results. Chapter 5 goes on to provide a presentation
and interpretation of the results from the statistical analysis performed
on the questionnaire data, and Chapter 6 brings this dissertation to a
conclusion through presenting some implications from the research performed

for this study.

CHAPTER THREE

INTERVIEW RESULTS

OVERVIEW

The 120 exploratory research interviews performed for this study
consisted mostly of open-ended conversations where thought patterns
were explored and basic reactions were reported. Because the interview
results were not collected in a highly structured and empirical manner,
it followed that any reporting of interview results was of necessity
exploratory and highly tentative in nature. Because the tendencies to
be noted were developed from a small non-scientifically drawn sample,
the reader should be cautioned not to draw definite conclusions from
the reporting of these results or to generalize to groups beyond the
samples involved.

On the other hand, the interview results were still not without their
significant value, for they served four major purposes. First, they
provided an exploratory understanding of many areas not covered by the
questionnaire. The findings of the interviews were of such a wide and
diverse nature that only a portion of the findings were incorporated into
the descriptive questionnaire section of this study. Second, they pro-
vided some flavor of the thought patterns common to corporate executives.
Whenever possible, then, reporting of the interview results was accom-
plished through the use of actual statements from the interviewees.
Third, they provided a basis from which to understand certain question-
naire findings. At times, results from descriptive research are difficult
to interpret. However, when viewed in light of previous exploratory

research (both from the literature review and the interviews), it was

25

26

possible to better understand the nature of the descriptive research
findings (Boyd and westfall, 1973). Fourth, they provided persons
interested in further research with a fertile source with which to start

their own investigations.

INTRODUCTION TO INTERVIEW RESULTS

It seemed quite clear from the interviews that a universal generation
gap did not exist. Many of the younger interviewees seemed to share
the stereotyped, conservative views of the older interviewees, and many
older interviewees seemed to share the stereotyped, liberal views of the
younger interviewees.

Despite this, certain trends were noted. It appeared from an
analysis of the over-all interview findings that younger interviewees as
a group tended toward the less conservative positions while older inter-
viewees as a group tended toward the more conservative positions. When
this tendency appeared in more than ten interviews (interviews with five
younger and five older executives), it was given specific attention.
During the following interviews, if the same tendency was noted in ten
additional interviews, it was considered to be an indication of a possible
gap. The use of this method led to the development of seven major indica-
tions of potential gaps: I) respect for authority, 2) leadership style
of superiors, 3) methods of reaching policy decisions, 4) corporate
social responsibility, 5) racism in the corporation, 6) use of campus

protest methods, and 7) need for reforms in society.

RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY
Younger and older executives had differing views on the use of

authority in corporations. Many younger interviewees often indicated

27

that they perceived the misuse of authority by many older top level execu-
tives to be a very real indication of a generation gap. They stated that
many older executives tended to justify their decisions only on authority,
not on facts and logic. The younger executives tended to be quite critical
of the blind acceptance of authority advocated and practiced by many

older executives. Many young executives indicated that this practice of
blind acceptance of authority was creating for them an intolerable
position which "must change soon or else I'll get the hell out of this
place."

Older executives tended to see the authority question differently.
Although they often agreed that authority was at times abused, their
concern could be characterized as mild to indifferent when contrasted
with the views of the younger executives. Many older executives would
comment on the problem of an increasing loss of respect for authority.
They would make statements such as,"When I started with this organiza-
tion, if top management apoke people would listen and then do what was
asked, but that isn't true anymore." "Our real problem in this company
is that there is too much questioning. Everyone wants to be a chief,
and you know what that leads to." In effect, many older executives felt
that authority was being questioned too much. Although they saw some
merit to this trend, they felt that in many instances the costs were

outweighing the benefits.

LEADERSHIP STYLE OF SUPERIORS
Younger and older executives disagreed on the appropriateness of an
autocratic leadership style. The younger executives as a group tended

to take an anti-autocratic stand. The older executives were split in

28
their opinion.

The degree to which younger executives had been exposed to auto-
cratic superiors seemed to correlate with the degree to which the leader-
ship style of superiors was major evidence of a gap. Those who worked for
an autocratic executive listed this factor as a major indication of a
gap between the older executives and themselves. They understood that
under the pressure of time it was often necessary to use such a style,
but they could not justify the use of an autocratic style under normal
conditions. Remarks similar to the following were typically made by
younger executives: "If there is any office I would like to take over,
it's the office of the S.O.B. I have for a boss. If he would just give
me credit for what I do, or at least give me the authority that I need
to carry out my responsibilities, I wouldn't feel as strongly as I do...
but under these circumstances, you learn to hate your job more each day.
It's not that ***** is a bad company to work for, but this bastard is;
and frankly, although my company doesn't know it, I'm in the job market
right now." (The important point here is that in almost every case the
interviewee was considered highly promising by the company.)

Although many of the older interviewees shared this anti-autocratic
stand, it was also found that many did not support it. They made such
comments as, "It's very difficult to adequately delegate the authority
that the younger executive always wants." "He's too inexperienced; he
just does not have the capacity to handle the responsibility an older,
more experienced executive could handle." "Oftentimes I am far more
autocratic with a younger executive than with an older one." Many of
the older executives agreed with the younger ones on the issue of giving

credit for assignments, but a significant number of others felt "A boss

29

keeping credit for the work of his subordinates is the way the game is

played."

METHOD OF REACHING POLICY DECISIONS

Though there was a strong tendency on the part of the younger inter-
viewees to favor the adoption of increasingly democratic methods of
policy related decision making, the older interviewees tended otherwise.
The younger executives felt that they had to implement the decisions
made and, oftentimes, it was they who knew best which decisions were
sound. They believed that many times they had information that top
management did not have and this gave them the right to a voice, if not
a vote, in the decision making process. In the area of corporate social
responsibility, many tended toward an even stronger stand. Here, they
felt, top management was privy to little extra information and, hence, it
was quite possible and appropriate to involve all company employees in
the policy decisions.

The older executives often strongly disagreed with this concept. It
was their belief that policy making belonged solely to top management.
The younger and lower management employees should "keep their noses out
of this area" because it was beyond their expertise and responsibility.
Many understood the younger executives' desire to share in the decisions
which related directly to their jobs but felt that policy making did not

lend itself to a democratic approach.

DEGREE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Younger executives were more concerned about the topic of corporate
social responsibility than the older executives. Most of the younger

interviewees were well versed on the questions of expanded corporate

30

social involvement. They tended to feel that the corporation was doing
much too little to help solve current social problems. The corporation
in their view was not doing an adequate job of meeting typically accepted
responsibilities such as pollution control, hard-core unemployment, and
keeping dangerous products off the market. Furthermore, many wanted to
see the corporation go beyond these typical responsibilities and involve
themselves in solving other social problems such as world peace,
poverty, hunger, prison reform, and racism. They felt that the corpora-
tion was the only real source of power other than the government which
could make realistic headway in solving these problems and, hence, the
corporation had better start solving these problems.

The older executives' attitudes in these areas were often in disagree-
ment with the younger executives' and were evidenced in such statements
as: "Corporations are doing all that can be expected of them to meet
their social responsibilities and still exist as efficient, effective
business enterprises;" "The corporation can best meet its social respon-
sibility by making a profit and hiring as many people as efficiency

allows;"

and, "Movement in these areas takes time and you can't expect
results overnight. To demand otherwise is to be unrealistic and
ignorant of the corporate reliance on profitability for its survival."
These statements yielded some understanding of the flavor of many older
interviewees' feelings on the social responsibility question. The
limitation of the statements was that they still masked a major, but
somewhat intangible, indication of the gap. This intangible evidence
came from a trend noted during the interviews which found that the

older interviewees often agreed with statements by younger executives on

the social responsibility questions. Despite this seeming agreement, it

31

was found that the older executives seldom initiated discussion of these
issues and preferred to talk about them as little as possible. In
effect, they gave the impression of agreeing because it was the thing to

do, not because of a true commitment and involvement in the issue.

RACISM IN THE CORPORATION

Racism was a major source of concern for most younger executives
whereas older executives felt that the problem was being handled by the
corporation. A large majority of the younger executives indicated that
the corporation was not doing enough to eliminate what they considered
to be overt and covert attempts to keep minority groups from achieving
positions of responsibility in the corporation. Their belief was that
there were plenty of talented minority members around, but they were not
being recruited with as much zeal and fervor as was needed. It was not
that they felt corporate policies were not changing, rather that enforce-
ment of the policies was not taking place. They did feel that corpora-
tions were making efforts in this area, but in most cases they labeled

these efforts as "Showcase Blacks," "Showcase women,"

and so on, placed
so that they are more clearly visible in the corporate office and not
representative of a significant corporate behavioral change.

The feeling that corporations should do more in solving the racism
problem did not appear to go the route of reverse discrimination,
however. There were some younger executives who agreed with the use of
reverse discrimination as a means of solving the racism problem, but
others felt it should be solved strictly on the basis of promoting
talented minority members with equal chances of advancement. Their

reasoning was influenced by the fact that they or their coworkers had

been victims of reverse discrimination. They stated that they were in

32

favor of eliminating racism but, "this can be best accomplished if talent
is the basis for promotion. Otherwise, prejudices may be reinforced and
corporate incentives could be severely damaged." They cited examples of
how the incompetencies of "Showcase Minorities" reinforced the prejudices
of many corporate officers. Furthermore, many of the younger executives
stated that special skill-oriented training is a most appropriate method
of reverse discrimination, but promotion without necessary skills can
only be disastrous.

The older executives' view on racism tended to be different from
that of the younger executives. In general, older executives felt that
racism was a problem which was being solved by the corporation. They
felt that major strides had been made in the past ten years and, as an
example, they often pointed to the blacks in the office next to them or
across the way. Cases were used to reinforce their point. Though they
seldom mentioned the concept of "Showcase Minorities," they did feel
reverse discrimination was not an appropriate method for significantly

increasing the number of minority group personnel in corporate offices.

USE OF CAMPUS PROTEST METHODS

One of the most significant evidences of a gap between the younger
and older interviewees was the use of campus protest methods as a way
of expressing discontent with organizational policy. This trend was
particularly noticeable in many of the interviewees between the ages of
21 to 25 who had had direct, college level contact with the use of such
methods. The younger executives interviewed tended to insist that it
was appropriate for corporate employees to use protest methods as long
as they were not illegal and the protest was made on their own time.

They often felt strongly that if an employee was disturbed with corporate

33

policies, he/she should be able to use such methods as publishing a news-
paper, participating in a protest demonstration, and organizing discus-
sion groups. They believed that the use of traditional methods of
protest, such as writing to top management, telling one's superior, or
using the corporate gripe box, were clearly ineffective and fruitless.
The younger interviewees' attitudes toward office takeovers were
most enlightening. They felt that this would be used as a last resort
and preferred to leave the corporation before taking such a drastic step.
A smaller but still significant number of younger executives confiden-
tially indicated that they would support the use of such tactics by
other colleagues, "if those colleagues were that uptight with company
practices." Furthermore, the interviewees stated they consider the use
of such tactics a definite possibility in the next three to four years
if, as they put it, "things were not significantly changed by that time."
Most felt that the failure of the corporations to become involved in
solving social problems would be the rallying cry for such takeovers;
however, they then stated that they could see such actions advancing
from there to protest over disagreement on corporate bureaucratic
operating tactics. Very promising executives made statements similar
to the following: "Some days I think there is hape for top management
to see the light and begin to change their operating style, but usually
I feel the situation is totally hopeless. Perhaps the only way to wake
up these types is the use of something as radical as an office takeover."
One further point of relevance on the younger executives' attitudes
regarding the use of campus protest methods in the corporation: younger
executives felt that if they were to use such methods they would be

fired for doing so. Also, they felt there would be little support for

34

such actions from their colleagues. A typical comment was, "Most of my
'radical' friends have gone to work for their own companies or have
found government or foundation-related jobs. My colleagues here are all
organization men."

Older executives' reactions to the use of campus protest methods were
more varied than those of the younger executives. Basically, they die-
agreed with the use of such actions in every case, with the exception of
a pollution issue. They did, however, have significant sympathy for the
potential use of such tactics and felt that they would not want those
involved to be fired. The majority of their reasons fell into the
following two categories: 1) to fire them would open the corporation to
unacceptable publicity; and 2) if these executives were so upset with
corporate actions that they felt compelled to take such drastic action,
then it was evident that something must be wrong and the company should
listen to them.

The older executives' attitudes towards the use of other types of
protest such as public demonstrations and underground newspapers were
not favorable. In general, they felt such actions were disloyal and
unacceptable. They could not understand how someone could involve him-
self in a public ridicule of his organization and felt it was imperative
that executives use accepted internal methods for expressing discontent
with corporate policy. A somewhat typical attitude was, "You should
clean your house outside of the public eye. Besides, what in hell do
these types know about formulation of corporate policy?"

One final dramatic footnote to the findings regarding the use of
campus protest methods in corporations comes from statements by two

younger and six older interviewees in five separate corporate settings.

35

Their statements indicated that they personally were aware of incidents
which involved the following: 1) the publication of underground news-
papers disagreeing with certain corporate policies (three incidents
described); 2) the formation of discussion groups by younger executives

- the groups all sent strongly worded memos to top management requesting
major policy changes (seven incidents described); and 3) the takeover

of the office of a production supervisor, a corporate vice-president, and
a president by three separate groups of young executives desiring changes
in their respective corporation's social policies. In each case, a
request was made that the name of the company involved in these incidents
be kept confidential. They indicated that the reason why the takeovers
had not been reported in the press to date was that corporations did not
want television running specials on the difficulties they were having with
their younger executives. Following this same line of reasoning, in
every case, the incidents were solved through swift and private negotia-

tion, and in no instance were the individuals involved fired.

NEED FOR REFORMS IN SOCIETY

The issue of fundamentally reforming certain values and behavioral
patterns in society appeared to be a gap between at least a portion of
younger and older executives. In conversations during the interviews,
many younger executives drifted into discussions about the need to not
only reform the corporation but to bring about general reforms in society
as a whole. These desires for reform encompassed the following areas:
1) the reduction of emphasis on materialism; 2) the need to devote a
greater percentage of resources to help developing nations; 3) the modi—
fication of our consumption patterns to reduce the problems of pollution;

4) a change in inheritance laws and the unequal distribution of wealth;

36

5) an alteration of laws regulating sexual behavior and drug usage; 6)
the reduction of involvement in Vietnam-style wars, and 7) in general,
the movement of society from a basically selfish to a more selfless

stance .

SUMMARY

The interviews conducted for this study provided a great amount of
exploratory research data on the nature of a corporate generation gap.
Because of the methods used in conducting the interviews and the manner
in which the sample was drawn, the previous statements were not inter-
preted as proven conclusions. However, several tentative conclusions
were drawn. First, the interviews did not provide evidence that the
nature of a corporate generation gap was such that all younger executives
held one set of beliefs and all older executives held another. Rather,
the interviews seemed to indicate that if a polarized gap existed, it
was only between some younger and some older executives. Secondly, the
interviews indicated that many of the differences which seemed to exist
between younger and older executives were in the degree of enthusiasm
and excitement expressed for each area versus a polarization over the
area. Thirdly, the interviews indicated that the nature of the gap did
seem to have the potential for producing conflict between younger and
older executives. It was clear that the most common type of conflict
resolution likely to result was for the younger executive to leave the
corporation. However, scattered evidence was uncovered to indicate the
possibility of "campus protest methods" being used by some younger
executives to resolve their differences with older corporate managers.

Further information on the interviews is provided in Appendices D

and E. Appendix D presents two case studies of a typical stereotyped

37

"liberal young executive" and a "conservative older executive." These
provide further data on the flavor of the interview process and the

manner used by the interviewees to express their attitudes on certain
areas. Appendix E presents the various forms used in data collection

during the interview process.

CHAPTER FOUR

FACTOR ANALYSIS RESULTS

Two factor analyses were performed for this study. The first was a
preliminary factor analysis to reduce the data to an acceptable size for
the final analysis. The second was the factor analysis on the 80 most
significant variables in the first portion of the questionnaire. The
results from the second analysis were used in the MANOVA and regression
analysis described in Chapter 5.

The factoring method used to analyze the questionnaire responses
was the PA 1 method (principal factoring with iteration), orthogonal
rotation varimax. The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
factor analysis program was used to perform the analysis for both the
preliminary and second factor analysis. Despite the fact that this
program could handle up to 80 variables in a factor analysis, this limit
was still below the 95 variables included in the first section of the
questionnaire. Hence, it was necessary to perform a preliminary analysis
which factor analyzed two segments of the questionnaire to locate any
questions which were, in effect, duplicates of each other. The dupli-
cates were then dropped from the variable list to be included in the
final factoring calculations.

The two sections analyzed were question #1 and questions #3 and #4.
These were selected because the interview results gave indication that
the respondents were not making any distinctions between responses
regarding their corporation or the Fortune 500. However, a significant
number of respondents did indicate they felt more comfortable with the

questionnaire if both options were provided. Hence, both were included

38

39

in the final draft with the decision being made that the statistical
procedures would determine whether, in fact, a distinction was being
made.

The exact procedure used to locate the possible duplicate variables
was to perform a separate PA 1, orthogonal rotation varimax factor
analysis on question #1 and on questions #3 and #4. The number of
factors to be extracted for each solution was determined by the SPSS
default option which automatically deletes any factors with an eigen-
value of less than 1.0. The varimax rotated factor matrix for each
analysis was then examined to detect any possible duplicate, triplicate
or quadruplicate loadings. When these were detected, one of the vari-
ables would be selected to represent the other variables in the final
factor analysis. The varimax rotated factor matrix for each of these
factor analyses is shown in Appendix G. The essentially duplicate
variables which were dropped are shown in Appendix H.

With the list of variables reduced to a size manageable by the SPSS
factor analysis program, a second PA 1, orthogonal rotation varimax
factor analysis on the remaining variables was performed.* The procedure
was to start by first forcing the solution into two factors, then three
factors, then up to sixteen factors. Each of the varimax rotated
matrices was then analyzed to see how the factors were separating and
where each of the variables was falling.

The eigenvalue table indicated a very flat factor analysis solution.
(See Appendix I.) Although it was hoped that the factor analysis would

significantly reduce the number of attitude patterns included in the

 

*Hereafter when the term factor analysis is used, it refers to this
second analysis.

40

MANOVA, the eigenvalue table indicated that such was not the case.

This caused some problems later with the use of the factor analysis,
because a significant portion of the variance in the questionnaire was
not contained in the final factor solution. It also meant that a solu-
tion with a large number of variables would have to be chosen to assure
that a reasonable portion of the variance was included in the final
factor solution.

A conscious decision was made not to use the SPSS default option of
1.0 eigenvalue to determine the number of factors in the final solution,
because it was essential that the final factor solution contain an
acceptable percentage of the variance, yet still make psychological sense.
If the factors in the solution did not make psychological sense they
would be of little value in the interpretation of the results from the
MANOVA and regression analysis to be performed on the factors (Catell,
1952).

To achieve this aim and still account for a significant percentage of
the variance, careful attention was paid to the 10-16 factor solution.
These solutions accounted for 47% to 57% of the variance in the question-
naire instrument. A review of the rotated factor matrices for the 10-16
factor solutions indicated that the 14 factor solution made the most
psychological sense. In all other solutions, factors were present which
represented seemingly illogical mixing of thought patterns. The 14
factor solution contained a group of 14 logical thought patterns.

The procedure followed in naming the factors was described by
Rummel (1968). It was a descriptive naming procedure which gave both a
name and a direction to the factor. The process was one of reviewing

the variables loading on the factor and, from that information, develop-

41

ing a descriptive label which reflected the nature of the phenomena
involved.

As the results of the factor analysis were reviewed it at first
appeared that many of the factors were of a similar nature. For example,
factor #1, which dealt with penalizing protests, seemed quite similar to
factor #3, which dealt with not firing those who take over offices.
However, a careful review of the variables involved indicated that the
factors were indeed different in that factor #1 dealt with legal protest
methods such as public protest demonstrations, publishing underground
newspapers and the like, whereas factor #3 dealt with the non-legal
protest method of taking over a corporate office. Hence, to obtain a
full understanding of the factors which are described in Chapter Five,
it is recommended that the reader read the results of Exhibit I [Insert
Exhibit I here] carefully and familiarize him/herself with the content
of the variables that actually loaded on the factors, and the names
given to the factors. For that reason, Exhibit I contains both the
short names chosen for the factors (these were chosen for ease of
communication), the longer descriptive names chosen, and a listing of
the variables from the questionnaire which were involved in the factors,
together with their rotated loadings on each factor. Variables with
loadings below .2500 were not listed because less than 12.5% of their
variation was involved in the factor pattern. The varimax rotated

factor matrix for the 14 factor solution is presented in Appendix G.

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

EXHIBIT I

A LISTING OF THE SHORT AND LONG NAMES
FOR EACH OF THE 14 FACTOR PATTERNS

INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

AND THEIR RESPECTIVE ROTATED FACTOR LOADINGS

Factor 1 - Penalizing Protesters

CORPORATE EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE SEVERELY PENALIZED FOR USING

085

082

084

081

091

080

083

086

LEGAL PROTEST METHODS

Management informing those involved in such public protest
demonstrations that their continued participation could
seriously hinder their advancement in the corporation. (0.83580)

- Management informing those involved in publishing such an

underground newspaper that their continued participation could
seriously hinder their chances for advancement in the cor-
poration. (0.79981)

Management asking those involved in such public protest demon-
strations to leave the corporation. (0.79835)

Management asking those involved in publishing such an under-
ground newspaper to leave the corporation. (0.78420)

Corporate employees have a right to freely express their
Opinions on corporate policy through the printing of under-
ground newspapers, organizing of discussion groups, etc. If
I had responsibility and authority over such matters, I would
do my best to insure that participation in such matters did

not adversely affect an employee's advancement potential.
(-0.69797)

Employees publishing and disseminating an underground news-
paper which informs the public of what these employees see as

the effects of certain corporate policies or practices.
(-0.65809)

Employees participating in a public protest demonstration over
certain corporate policies or practices. (-O.61352)

Employees quitting the corporation at their earliest opportunity

and privately informing management of their reasons for
leaving. (-.30195)

Factor 2 - Expanding Social Responsibility

CORPORATIONS SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND THEIR DEFINITION

OF THEIR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

061 - Should the U. 8. business corporation go out of its way to use

whatever influence it has to stop the flow of heroin? (0.79111)

42

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

055

057

054

059

056

027

019

060

078

074

079

075

43

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to reduce the arms race? (0.76139)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has in the preventing of were like Viet-
nam? (0.71576)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has in reforming prisons? (0.65002)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to stop busing as a means of achieving
racial integration? (0.64563)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to increase federal funding for
efficient mass transit? (0.56616)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to help the developing nations to
achieve balanced development and growth? (0.38872)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to help to solve the problems of the
U. 8. poor? (0.37969)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to influence the legalization of
marijuana? (0.36498)

Factor 3 - Do not fire those who take over offices
THOSE WHO TAKE OVER CORPORATE OFFICES SHOULD NOT BE FIRED

Plant location office takeover: I would generally disagree
with such an action, but do not feel that those involved should
be fired. (0.76183)

Pollution office takeover: I would generally disagree with
such an action, but do not feel that those involved should be
fired. (0.73494)

Plant location office takeover: I would disagree with such an
action and feel that all involved should be fired. (-0.62883)

Pollution office takeover: I would disagree with such an
action and feel that all involved should be fired. (-0.59331)

Factor 4 - Mediating Generational Conflict

WILLINGNESS T0 MEDIATE CORPORATE GENERATIONAL CONFLICT

092 - Underground newspaper, start a demonstration, or take over the

office of the president: Ignore the situation and let the
conflict resolve itself. (-0.77013)

Var

Var

Var

44

095 - Underground newspaper, start a demonstration, or take over the
office of the president: Personally meet with top management,
inform them of the situation without specifically identifying
the persons involved, and offer my assistance in acting as a
mediator in reducing the conflict. (0.72550)

094 - Underground newspaper, start a demonstration, or take over the
office of the president: Talk with the young executives and
try to have them reconsider their decision. (0.63410)

093 - Underground newspaper, start a demonstration, or take over the

office of the president: I would inform top management of the
situation. (0.63378)

Factor 5 - Favoring Office Takeover

WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN AND/OR SUPPORT OFFICE TAKEOVER ACTIONS

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

072 - Pollution office takeover: I would participate in such an
action. (0.80570)

073 - Pollution office takeover: I would support such an action.
(0.78965)

076 - Ghetto office takeover: I would participate in such an action.
(0.71362)

077 - Ghetto office takeover: I would support such an action.
(0.67742)

075 - Pollution office takeover: I would disagree with such an
action and feel that all involved should be fired. (-0.43413)

079 - Ghetto office takeover: I would disagree with such an action
and feel that all involved should be fired. (-0.369ll)

070 - The current disturbances on our campuses represent inappropriate
and unacceptable methods for students to express their views
regarding university policies and practices. (-0.30908)

Factor 6 - Corporate Social Responsibility
CORPORATIONS D0 HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY T0 SOLVE SOCIAL PROBLEMS

011 - Corporations have a responsibility to keep "harmful" products
off the market. (0.68986)

015 - Corporations have a responsibility to eliminate racism in
corporations. (0.59815)

003 - Corporations have a responsibility to control pollution.
(0.55673)

Var 007 -

Var 019 -

Var 027 -

Var 023 -

Var 048 -

45

Corporations have a responsibility to hire the hardcore unem-
ployed and keep them employed. (0.44567)

Corporations have a responsibility to help to solve the problems
of the U. S. poor. (0.42512)

Corporations have a responsibility to help the developing
nations to achieve balanced development and growth. (0.41847)

Corporations have a responsibility to help to attain world
peace. (0.34322)

The absence of racial minorities and women in directorships

and management of the corporation: Continued insistence on

college degree requirements for most managerial jobs (racial
minorities). (0.31546)

Factor 7 - Management Determination of Social Responsibility
ONLY CORPORATE MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN DETERMINING

Var 062 -

Var 063 -

Var 065 -

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

If a corporation were to use its influence in controversial
areas, its stand should be determined by formal approval of
the board of directors. (0.87024)

If a corporation were to use its influence in controversial
areas, its stand should be determined by a formal approval
of top management. (0.86105)

If a corporation were to use its influence in controversial

areas, its stand should be determined by formal approval of
company executives (foreman to president). (0.38047)

Factor 8 - Eliminating Discrimination

CORPORATIONS ARE ELIMINATING RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THEIR RANKS

Var 017 -

Var 009 -

Var 044 -

Var 021 -

Corporations are meeting their responsibility to eliminate
racism in corporations. (0.69902)

Corporations are meeting their responsibility to hire the
hardcore unemployed and keeping them employed. (0.68922)

Absence of racial minorities and women from the directorships
and management of the corporation is the result of the con-
tinued existence in many parts of the corporation of discrimina-
tory hiring and promotional practices. (-0.67067)

Corporations are meeting their responsibility to help to solve
the problems of the U. S. poor. (0.39366)

Var

\Iar

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

46

Factor 9 - Democratic Determination of Social Responsibility

CORPORATE DEMOCRACY SHOULD BE USED TO DETERMINE CORPORATE

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

065 - If a corporation was to use its influence in controversial

066

064

069

067A

071

058

077

076

052

007

areas, its stand should be determined by formal approval
of all company executives (foreman to president). (0.65514)

If a corporation was to use its influence in controversial
areas, its stand should be determined by formal approval of
all company employees. (0.64101)

If a corporation was to use its influence in controversial

areas, its stand should be determined by formal approval of
company stockholders. (0.61926)

Factor 10 - Helping the Less Fortunate

MEMBERS OF SOCIETY HAVE A STRONG RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP

THE LESS FORTUNATE

There is a pressing need that the U. S. employ unselfish
sacrifice, perhaps including a lowered standard of living,
so that the underdeveloped nations are able to better their
conditions as rapidly as possible. (0.61890)

The income gap in this country must be significantly reduced
through taxes severely limiting the transfer of wealth through
inheritance. (0.54146)

If you are now making or receive raises so that you make
$20,000 or more a year, you should donate the amount over
$20,000 to a program of your choice for helping people less
fortunate than yourself. (0.53377)

Should the U. S. business corporation go out of its way to use
whatever influence it has to support busing as a means of
achieving racial integration until quality education is avail-
able in all local schools. (0.52572)

Ghetto office takeover: I would support such an action.
(0.40509)

Ghetto office takeover: I would participate in such an action.
(0.38736)

Reverse discrimination can be tolerated by corporations to
insure a proper representation of racial minorities and women
in their directorships and management. (0.36215)

Corporations have a responsibility to hire the hardcore
unemployed and keep them employed. (0.31506)

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

47

Factor 11 - Meeting Legal Responsibilities
CORPORATIONS ARE MEETING THEIR LEGALLY REQUIRED
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

006 - The Fortune 500 corporations are meeting their responsibility
to control pollution. (0.65570)

014 - The Fortune 500 corporations are meeting their responsibility
to keep "harmful" products off the market. (0.60144)

013 - My corporation is meeting its responsibility to keep "harmful"
products off the market. (0.53116)

005 - My corporation is meeting its responsibility to control
pollution. (0.47976)

017 - My corporation is meeting its responsibility to eliminate
racism. (0.34126)

040 - The absence of racial minorities and women in directorships
and management of your corporation is due to the lack of
openings. (0.31804)

Factor 12 - Hiring Minorities
UNCONTROLLABLE FACTORS STOP THE CORPORATION FROM BRINGING
LARGER NUMBERS OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES INTO CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT

036 - The absence of racial minorities in the directorships and
management of my corporation is due to the lack of qualified
candidates. (0.71440)

038 - The absence of women in the directorships and management of
my corporation is due to the lack of qualified candidates.

(0.70060)

040 - The absence of racial minorities and women in the director-
ships and management of my corporation is due to the lack of
openings. (0.42232)

032 - The absence of racial minorities and women in the director-
ships and management of my corporation is due to the fact
that change takes time and no one can expect results overnight.
(0.41442)

052 - Reverse discrimination can be tolerated by corporations to
insure a proper representation of racial minorities and women
in their directorships and management. (-0.33l64)

097 - Many young executives, angry over what they view as the cor-
poration's failure to solve the imperfections in our society,
could engage in forms of industrial mutiny similar to those
experienced by the universities. (-0.31529)

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

Var

48

096 - Young executives of today have values and aims basically
similar to the young executives of the 1950's and 1960's.
(0.31380)

Factor 13 - Non-required Social Responsibilities
CORPORATIONS ARE MEETING THEIR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
IN NONLEGALLY REQUIRED AREAS

029 - Corporations are meeting their responsibility to help the
developing nations to achieve balanced development and growth.
(0.79778)

025 - Corporations are meeting their responsibility to help to
attain world peace. (0.61194)

021 - Corporations are meeting their responsibility to help to solve
the problems of the U. S. poor. (0.56154)

014 - Corporations are meeting their responsibility to keep "harmful"
products off the market. (0.31326)

Factor 14 - Traditional Protest
TRADITIONALLY ACCEPTED METHODS SHOULD BE USED TO EXPRESS
DISAGREEMENT WITH CORPORATE POLICY

087 - Employees should express their disagreement with corporate
policy by quitting the corporation and informing the public
of their reasons for leaving through mass media and other
available means. (0.62131)

090 - Employees should express their disagreement with corporate
policy by expressing their dissatisfaction to top management
through verbal or written means. (0.51326)

086 - Employees should express their disagreement with corporate
policy by quitting the corporation at their earliest oppor-
tunity and privately informing management of their reasons
for leaving. (0.42502)

088 - Employees should express their disagreement with corporate
policy by organizing a discussion group to be held at lunch
time to discuss corporate policy. (The discussion would not
be open to the public.) (0.37565)

083 - Employees should express their disagreement with corporate
policy by participating in a public protest demonstration
over certain corporate policies or practices. (0.32697)

CHAPTER FIVE
PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to present and interpret the statis-
tical analysis results from the questionnaire section of this study. To
accomplish this task the chapter was divided into several sections.
The first section deals with the question of whether a generation gap
existed in the corporations involved in this study in 1972. Following
on the results of the first section the second section deals with the
nature of the gap. The third section deals with the question of whether
the gap which was uncovered was of a sufficient degree as to suggest
the possibility of conflict in the corporations surveyed by this study.
As these questions are dealt with, various tables will be presented
indicating the results of the questionnaire statistical analysis pro-
cedures outlined in Chapter II. Each table may be referred to several
times throughout the chapter but will not be dealt with in full detail

until later in the chapter.

DID A GENERATION GAP EXIST IN 1972?

The main issue raised by this study was whether there were signi-
ficant differences across age groups on the items tested in the research.
The results from the interviews had indicated that some significant dif-
ferences did seem to exist between younger and older executives. The
younger executives appeared more concerned and enthusiastic about social
issues than their older counterparts. Furthermore, they seemed often to

strongly disagree with their older counterparts on how the corporation

49

50

should react to these problems.

The results from the questionnaire indicated that significant dif-
ferences existed between age groups over certain items appearing in the
questionnaire. A look at the MANOVA by age in Table III [Insert Table
III here] indicated that there were significant differences on factors
#3 and #5 dealing with office takeovers and factor #8 dealing with dis—
crimination in the corporation. There were also some differences indi-
cated on factor #11 dealing with meeting legal responsibilities and
factor #12 dealing with hiring the minorities. This indicated that for
the broad cross-section of the respondents, there was a statistically
significant difference over approximately one-third of the issues
measured by this survey. (More will be said later concerning the nature
and intensity of the gap on these issues.)

A further analysis of the results from Table III indicated that
there were not significant differences across age groups on six of the
14 factors, factors #1, #4, #6, #7, #10, and #14. At first glance, it
seemed that these factors showed no evidence of difference between any
of the age groups studied. However, a review of the results from
Table IV [Insert Table IV here] indicated that such a conclusion was
not entirely true. Table IV, a summary of the results from the age
MANOVA's performed for the individual companies in this study, showed
that there were only two factors, factor #4, mediating the generational
conflict, and factor #7, management determination of social responsi-
bilities, on which there was no significant difference between the age
groups in any of the companies. Therefore, it seemed fair to draw two
interpretations from the data in this study: 1) for factors #4 and #8

there were no statistically significant differences between age groups;

51

 

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H0.H 00.0 N~.H «H.H 0m.H 00.0 5~.H NH.0I «seem
00.H NN.m 00.0 0m.~ 0~.H 5~.m N0.H 00.0 «N
00.0 00.N N0.0 mm.N 50.0 mm.N 00.0 0m.~ H
uo>o 0 .msw 00 .mph an op H0 .uswxoe 0» Hm .muwiom ou am 5 moao<m
.>o0 .oum memos .>00 .vum memo: .>m0 .mum memo: .>00 .0um memo:

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.mZOHH<H>mn nm<nz<Hm mmfi .mmmoom mOHU<h Hwy ho mz<mz nm>mmmmo QMZHMSDU any OZHB<UHDZH
mmam<Hm<> Hzmnzmmmn mmH m4 mmOHu<m «H NIH 924 m4m<Hm<> HzmnzmmeZH mmH m4 M0< mHHS <>Oz¢z.<

HH H Human.

52

TABLE IV

A COMPARISON OF THE UNIVARIATE F TESTS
FROM A.MANOVA PERFORMED 0N COMPANIES l, 2 AND 3
WITH AGE AS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
AND THE 14 FACTORS AS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Company 1 Company 2 Company 3
Factor #

l N.S.* N.S. .05

2 N.S. .01 N.S.
-3 .0001 .0001 .0001
-4 N.S. N.S. N.S.
5 .0001 .001 .001
6 .001 .05 N.S.
-7 N.S. N.S. N.S.

8 .01 .05 .0001
9 N.S. N.S. .05
10 .05 .05 N.S.
ll .01 .001 N.S
12 .0001 N.S. N.S.
13 .0001 N.S. N.S.
l4 N.S. N.S. .01

* N.S. - Not Significant

53

and 2) for the remaining 12 factors there were statistically significant
differences which varied as the nature of the corporate environment varied,
except for factor #3, which had a .0001 difference between age groups for
all three companies.

Additional support for the existence of significant differences
between age groups is displayed in the regression results in Table V.
[Insert Table V here.] The first five factors dealing with office take-
overs and social responsibility issues accounted for as much as 17.8%
of the variance. With a sample in excess of 500, this constituted a
rather sizable effect and indicated that age was a significant predictor
of differences over the social responsibility and office takeover issues.

Further understanding and support for the concept that significant
differences existed between age groups in the corporations in this study
was gained by reviewing the results of the t tests presented in
Appendix K. These provide insight into the 43.1% of the variance not
accounted for in the factor analysis results. Here it can be seen that
a .05 or greater difference occurred between 20-30 year olds and the
31-65 year olds on 70% of the 95 items in the questionnaire, and as much
as a .0001 difference on 36% of the 95 items in the questionnaire. These
results help provide additional detail on differences which did and did
not exist between age groups. They showed again that the general corpor-
ate social responsibility issues and the corporate office takeover issue
were the major evidence of the gap. They also indicated that the issues
of 1) whether the corporation has responsibility to solve certain
problems, 2) the need to use corporate democracy for determining social
responsibility, 3) the need to help the less fortunate nations and

people, and 4) the factors influencing executive attitudes about cor-

54

TABLE V

A STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSION WITH ACE AS THE INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE AND THE 14 FACTORS AS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Step Factor # Multiple R R Squared
1 3 . 308 .094
2 8 .349 .122
3 12 .390 .152
4 11 .413 .170

5 ’ 6 .423 .178

55

porate social responsibility did not generate any statistically signifi-
cant evidence of differences.

In summary, Tables III, IV, V and Appendix K seemed to indicate
that there were some items over which a generation gap existed in the
corporations studied. This gap was centered on the corporate social
responsibility and office takeover issues. Other issues such as cor-
porate democracy, personal social responsibility, and the factors
influencing attitudes on social issues did not provide significant

evidence of a gap.

NATURE OF THE GAP

The interview findings indicated that the nature of the gap was not
one where the young and old had developed opposite sets of values and
beliefs. Rather it appeared that most of the major differences could
be measured in terms of the degree of enthusiasm and concern expressed
by each age group for certain value and belief patterns. An analysis of
the questionnaire data supported this interpretation. The combined ob-
served means of the factor scores for age presented in Table III showed
the difference across age groups stayed within a 1.5 point variation,
with 5 points of variation possible. These were sizable effects but did
not indicate that the younger and older executives were developing op-
posite sets of values and beliefs.

The interview findings had also indicated that the nature of the
gap was such that the younger executives tended toward the less "con-
servative" end of the spectrum over the issues measured by the survey
and the older executives tended toward the more "conservative" and of
the spectrum. This supposition was partially supported by a review of

the combined observed means of the factor scores for each of the age

56

groups on each of the factors over which statistically significant differ-
ences appeared (see Table III).

In the case of factor #8, corporations are eliminating racism.and
discrimination within their ranks, the youngest group had the lowest
score indicating a tendency for this group to feel stronger than any of
the other age groups that their corporation could have done more than
they had in 1972 in the racism and discrimination areas. In the case
of factor #11, corporations are meeting their legally required social
responsibilities, the youngest group again had the lowest score indi—
cating their tendency to feel more strongly that extra effort could have
been put forth by corporations in meeting legally required social respon-
sibilities.- It seemed that the younger executives' position on these
issues could be accurately labeled as "less conservative." 0n factor #12,
uncontrollable factors stop the corporations from bringing larger
numbers of women and minorities into corporate management, the youngest
group shared the lowest score with the age group of 31-40 years. This
indicated their tendency to feel less strongly than those over 40 that
uncontrollable factors were important in explaining the absence of women
and minorities from corporate ranks. Again this seemed to represent a
"less conservative" response tendency. In the case of factor #5 a "less
conservative" response tendency was also noted. This factor dealt with
willingness to participate in and/or support office takeover actions.

On this factor the youngest group had the highest score, indicating more
tendency to become involved in office takeover actions than the older
groups in the study.

0n the last significant factor in the age MANOVA, the "less

conservative" tendency appeared to change. This was factor #3, those

57

who take over corporate offices should ng£_be fired. On this factor

the youngest group had the lowest score, indicating that they felt
stronger than any other age group that firing was an appropriate penalty
for office takeover actions. From one viewpoint this should be labeled
as "more conservative." However, when the results of factor #3 and #5
were viewed together it was seen that it was possible that another
interpretation may have been warranted. Factor #5 showed the younger
executives more ready than other age groups to participate in and/or
support office takeovers. This finding called to mind an interview
finding which indicated that the younger groups seemed to feel that

they could find work elsewhere, and from.what the data in this question-
naire indicated it seemed that this interpretation could be an accurate
description of the younger group's consideration of the office takeover
issue. Hence, the younger group's response to factor #3 could indeed
be labeled as "less conservative."

In summary, the data from the age MANOVA in Table III indicated that
on four out of the five factors over which significant differences
existed between age groups, the younger tended toward the "less con-
servative" position, and on the fifth factor, the younger executives
may have tended toward a "less conservative" position.

The nature of the gap also appears to be such that it varied with
the corporate environment. Information on the nature of the environ-
mental influence on the gap can be obtained from reviewing Table VI
[Insert Table VI here] and plotting the combined observed means of the
factor scores for the most significant variables in the company MANOVA.
As Figure I [Insert Figure I here] indicates, the age groups in com-

panies l and 4 and in companies 2 and 3 responded in a similar manner.

58

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59

 

 

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in I’ ‘.

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60

This seemed to indicate that the nature of the corporate environment was
an important factor in determining the nature of the gap.

Further insight into the corporate environmental impact on the gap
can be seen in Table IV. This table is a comparison of the univariate
F tests from the age MANOVA for companies 1, 2 and 3.* The table indi-
cated there was a similarity between companies on only three factors,
factors #3, #4, and #7. There was a dissimilarity on the remaining 11
factors. Furthermore, the dissimilarity between age groups in company
I seemed much more pronounced, particularly in factors #12 and #13
which dealt with the extent to which the corporation was meeting its
social responsibility. The data collected from this study did not pro-
vide the answer as to why the gap appeared to vary with the company
environment. The major point of interest was that the gap did indeed
vary with different environments, and those interested in understanding
the naturenof a generation gap should be aware of this variation.

One final word of caution is needed at this point. As was noted in
Chapter TWO, the company data had been somewhat distorted by the variations
in the questionnaire distribution procedures used by each company. Hence
the preceding interpretation should be accepted with this possible
distortion in mind.

Further understanding of the nature of the gap came from a more
detailed analysis of the combined observed means of the factor scores
for age in Table III. A plotting of the means for factors #3, firing
office takeovers, and #5, favoring office takeover, showed a distinct
curvilinear relationship. [Insert Figure II here.j This seemed to in—
dicate the degree of the gap between the oldest and the youngest groups ,

was less than the degree of the gap between the youngest and middleage

* Company 4 was omitted because of insufficient sample size.

61

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mmmoom moso<m may mo 024mm omwmmMmo omzHMZOU may no quHHoqm <

 

0.H

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possum

0.0

62

groups. Furthermore,because this curvilinear relationship appeared only
on the office takeover factors, it seemed that this relationship was rep-
resentative of only the office takeover issue. To determine if indeed
the curvilinear relationship was only present in the office takeover issue
further analysis of the questionnaire data was performed by plotting a
series of graphs on the mean responses for the 21-30, 31-40, 41-59, and
60-65 age groups for each of the items in the Questionnaire. This pro-
cess allowed for a more detailed analysis of the results not possible
from the aggregate data presented in the factor analysis. It also in-
cluded the 43.1% of the variance excluded from the factor analysis. The
final outcome indicated that the curvilinear relationship was not a phe-
nomenon limited to the office takeover items; rather it appeared on a
quite regular basis in many of the items in the questionnaire. The
results of the analysis, presented in Table VII [Insert Table VII here],
indicated that the relationship appeared in 52 of the 109 items in the
questionnaire. These data seemed to confirm that the gap often tended

to be most significant between the younger and the middle-aged executive.
As the executives grew older their attitudes tended to become more similar
to the younger group, at least in the items listed in Table VI. Further-
more, the greatest gap seemed to be between the 41-59 age group and the
21-30 age group, and greatest similarity tended to be between the 31-40
age group and the 60-65 age group.

A final degree of insight into the nature of the gap uncovered by
this study was provided by a review of the regression analysis presented
in Table V. From this review it was clear that the primary evidence of
the gap was the office takeover issue represented in factor #3. This

factor accounted for 9.4% of the variance on age. The second major

 

 

63

TABLE VII

A LISTING OF ITEMS ON WHICH A CURVILINEAR RELATIONSHIP APPEARED

Var 006* 040 074
007 041 075
008 042 080
009 043 081
014 044 082
015 046 083
017 050 085
018 054 091
019 055 092
020 056 097
023 057 106
024 059 107
027 060 108
031 061 109
032 062
033 063
034 066
038 072
039 073

* Refer to the questionnaire in Appendix F to determine the
specific questions represented by these variable numbers.

 

64

evidence of the gap appeared to be the existence of discrimination in
the corporation. This was supported by the presence of factors #8, #11,
and #12 in the regression equation accounting for 7.6% of the variance
on age.

Insight into the role of the biodata items in the explanation of
differences between age groups is presented in the regression results
presented in Table VIII. [Insert Table VIII here.] This regression
analysis indicated that biodata item #15, loyalty to company vs. loyalty
to profession, was significant evidence of a difference between age
groups in that it accounted for 5.3% of the variance on age. This
seemed to indicate that as age increased so too did one's loyalty to
company. A more detailed review of the responses to this question,
however, indicated that such a conclusion was not entirely valid. When
the mean responses to question #15 for the following age groups 21-30,
31-40, 41-50, 51-60, and 61-65 were plotted, it was found again that
the curvilinear relationship was present (see Figure III). [Insert Fig-
ure III here}] This indicated that the greatest disagreement over the
loyalty issue was between the 40-59 year olds and the 21-30 year olds.
Hence, again it was clear that disagreement between age groups was not
best characterized as a disagreement between the 20-30 year old group
and the over 30 group. Rather it was more accurately characterized, in
both the loyalty issue case and the other cases noted in Table VI, as a
disagreement between the 21-30 year old group and the 40-59 year old group.

The results from the regression analysis in Table VIII also indicated
that the items in question #20 accounted for no significant variance on
age. This seemed to indicate that both younger and older executives

saw themselves as drawing their attitudes about corporate social responsi-

 

r—r—s—r— ——r“.—|

 

 

65

TABLE VIII

A STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSION WITH AGE AS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
AND THE 14 FACTORS AND THE BIODATA ITEMS AS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

 

Multiple R R Square

Factor #3 .308 .094 I
Biodata #15* .388 .150 :
Biodata #13 .426 .182 E
Biodata #14-B .463 .214 ‘i to
Biodata #14-C .487 .237 '
Biodata #17 .507 .257
Biodata #11 .524 .275 +
Factor #8 . .534 .285 “'
Factor #12 .547 .299 '
Factor #11 .555 .308
Question #20-D .563 .318
Biodata #13 .569 .324
Factor #6 .575 .330
Question #20-J .580 .336
Biodata #16 .585 .343
Question #20-C-5 .591 .350
Biodata #12 .594 .353
Question #20-I .596 .355
Biodata #14-A .597 .356
Factor #14 .598 .358
Factor #7 .599 .359
Question #20-E .601 .361
Biodata #12 .602 .362
Question #20-C-3 .603 .364
Question #20-B .604 .365
Factor #13 .605 .366
Question #20-F .605 .367
Question #20-C-l .606 .367
Question #20-C-4 .606 .368
Factor #1 .606 .368
Factor #5 .607 .368
Factor #9 .607 .368
Question #20-C-2 .607 .369
Question #20-G .607 .369
Factor #4 .607 .369
Factor #10 .607 .369
Factor #2 .607 .369

*See the questionnaire in Appendix F as a guide for linking the bio-

data numbers to specific questions. .

 

66

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67

bility from similar places. Hence, although the younger and older
executives tended to differ on many of the items in the questionnaire,
they did not seem to differ in the sources from which they drew their
respective attitudes. It appeared that it is the interpretation that
the executives gave to the messages versus the information sources
themselves that explained the differences in their attitudes.
To review, the following is a summary of the findings of the study
regarding the generation gap in the organizations studied.
I. A gap existed, as evidenced by at least a .01 difference on
5 of the 14 factors measured in this study, with 17.8% of the
variance in age being accounted for by these 5 factors.

II. The nature of the gap was not one where the older and younger
groups had opposite sets of views; rather it was one where the
younger group tended toward the less conservative views and
the older groups tended toward the more conservative end of

the spectrum.

III. The significance and spread of the gap changed as the type
of corporation changed.

IV. At least 60% of the gap evidenced a distinct curvilinear rela-
tionship, indicating that the 21-30 year olds and the 41-59
year olds had the most significant degree of difference on the
items in this study. Furthermore, the 60-65 year olds and the
31-40 year olds were most similar in their views.

V. The major evidences of the gap were over the following issues,
ranked in order of importance:
a. corporate office takeover
b. existence of discrimination in the corporations
c. loyalty to company vs. profession.
THE GAP AS A SOURCE OF CONFLICT
The last and perhaps the most significant question considered by
this study was the nature of the conflict potential presented by the
existence of a possible generation gap in the corporation. An answer

to this question was partially found in the MANOVA and t test results

which indicated that corporate office takeover was indeed a significant

 

 

68

source of a gap between younger and older executives. A more complete
answer was found in a review of the frequency distribution of responses

for the younger and older age groups to the questions dealing with the

use of campus protest methods in the corporation. The frequency responses

are presented in Exhibit II. [Insert Exhibit II here.] Even a cursory
review of the percentage figures for question #13 and #14 indicated that
the gap uncovered by this survey did indeed offer potential for conflict
in the corporation. Some of the more noteworthy figures included the
following: 32.0% of the younger executives and 21.1% of the older
executives indicated they would participate in an office takeover in

the case of a pollution alert, and a still significant 9.2% of the
younger executives and 5.1% of the older executives indicated that

they would participate in the case of a plant location controversy.*
Furthermore, a striking 62.8% of the younger and 35.3% of the older
executives responded that they would support an office takeover in

the case of a pollution alert and a still significant 13.5% of the
younger and 10.4% of the older executives said they would support an
office takeover in the case of the plant location controversy. It is
also highly relevant to note that 50% of the younger and 26.% of the
older executives agreed with the use of underground newspapers to ex-
press disagreement with corporation policies; 51% of the younger execu-
tives and 32.7% of the older executives felt that they would agree to
participate in a public protest demonstration to voice disagreement

with corporation policy. Finally, it should be noted that only 21.9%

of the younger and 43.0% of the older executives disagreed with the

 

* If 9.2% or 5.1% sounds insignificant, it is important to remember that
only four to five persons are actually needed for an office takeover.

-—..v—.- -...- -“u-rt.- .504 i

 

 

69

EXHIBIT II

A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONSES 0F 20-30 YEAR OLDS
AND 31-65 YEAR OLDS TO QUESTIONS # 13 AND 14 FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Suppose the company you happened to be working for was polluting the air,
and there was a pollution alert in your city (an alert similar to the
‘summer, 1971, alert in Birmingham, Alabama, where older people and people
with respiratory problems were warned to stay inside) and your company
continued its pollution related operations. How would you react to a
group of the company's executives taking over the office of the president
in an effort to have the plant stop its pollution related Operations until
after the alert was ended? (They had earlier tried talking with management
and received a firm rejection.)

A. I would participate in such *0 43.5 19.1 16.1 15.4 5.7***

an action. 072 **Y 21.1 23.5 22.5 20.6 12.3
SD GD CS GA SA
B. I would support such an 0 38.0 17.3 9.3 26.3 9.0
action. 073 Y 14.2 13.7 9.3 32.4 30 4
SD GD CS GA SA
C. I would generally disagree 0 20.7 26.8 14.6 31.5 5.8
with such an action, but do Y 24.3 28.2 11.4 31.2 4.5
not feel that those involved SD GD CS GA SA
should be fired. 074
D. I would disagree with such 0 30.1 29.4 14.7 8.7 16.7
an action and feel that all Y 53.5 25.7 9.4 5.0 6.4
involved should be fired. SD GD CS GA SA
075

Suppose your company was planning to build a new plant and it had a choice
of two locations: one in an already industrialized sector of an inner city
ghetto and the second in a white suburb. Even though cost considerations
were the same for both locations, your company chose the suburban location.
How would you react to a group of your company's executives taking over the
Office of the president in an effort to have the company reconsider the
decision and have the plant built in the ghetto? (They had earlier tried
talking with management but received a firm rejection.)

A. I would participate in such 0 60.9 24.9 8.8 4.4 0.7
an action. 076 Y 37.7 37.3 15.2 6.9 2.9

S GD CS GA SA

B. I would support such an O 51.2 30.3 7.7 9.1 1.3
action. 077 Y 28.2 39.8 13.6 11.2 7.3

SD GD CS GA SA

* O - Stands for 31-65 year olds
** Y - Stands for 20-30 year olds
*** All figures are expressed in percentages

**** These indicate variable numbers which correlate with the questionnaire
in Appendix F.

Please express your reaction to the following aspects of employee protest.

I would generally disagree
with such an action, but do
not feel that those involved
should be fired. 078

I would disagree with such
an action and feel that all
involved should be fired.
079

20.7
20.3
GD

29.8
35.6
GD

14.7
16.8
CS

15.1
16.3
CS

35.7
44.1
GA

13.4
11.4
GA

(The protest is being made on the employees' own time and not on the com-
pany time.)

A.

Employees publishing and
disseminating an under-
ground newspaper which
informs the public on what
these employees see as the
effects on certain corporate
policies or practices. 080

Management asking those in-
volved in publishing such an
underground newspaper to
leave the corporation. 081

Management informing those
involved in publishing such
an underground newspaper that
their continued participation
could seriously hinder their
chances for advancement in
the corporation. 082

Employees participating in a
public protest demonstration
over certain corporate poli-
cies or practices. 083

Management asking those
involved in such public
protest demonstrations to
leave the corporation. 084

Management informing those
involved in such public pro-
test demonstrations that
their continued participa-
tion could seriously hinder
their advancement in the
corporation. 085

.40

30.4
14.6
SD

11.8
30.1
SD

12.5
21.8
SD

22.5
10.2
SD

14.8
28.6
SD

14.4
21.5
SD

36.9
27.7
GD

35.1
31.6
GD

25.3
29.6
GD

36.6
27.7
GD

46.2
38.3
CD

28.9
33.7
GD

ooom
(4)0

CNN

23.2
39.3
GA

30.5
23.8
GA

35.4
31.6
GA

21.6
18.4
GA

3800
29.3
GA

2.9
10.7
SA

71

G. Employees quitting the cor- O 2.0 10.5 6.6 45.4 35.5
porations at their earliest Y 7.3 11.2 9.8 42.4 29.3
opportunity and privately SD GD CS GA SA
informing management of their
reasons for leaving. 086

H. Employees quitting the cor- O 12.8 35.9 9.2 30.3 11.8
poration and informing the Y 10.7 28.6 16.0 33.5 10.7
public of their reasons for SD GD CS GA SA
leaving through mass media
and other available means.

087

I. Employees organizing a dis— 0 3.9 13.5 8.6 55.3 18.8
cussion group to be held at Y 1.5 6.3 5.9 59.5 26.8
lunch time to discuss cor- SD GD CS GA SA
porate policy. (The discus-
sion would not be open to
the public.) 088

J. Employees expressing their 0 0.7 1.6 1.0 49.7 47.1
dissatisfaction to their Y 0.5 3.4 1.0 45.1 50.0
immediate supervisor SD GD CS GA SA
through verbal or written
means. 089

K. Employees expressing their 0 2.0 6.5 2.3 52.6 36.6
dissatisfaction to top Y 1.0 9.2 2.9 48.5 38.3
management through verbal SD GD CS GA SA

or written means. 090

Corporate employees have a right to freely express their opinions on cor-
porate policy through the printing of underground newspapers, organizing
of discussion groups, etc. If I had responsibility and authority over such
matters, I would do my best to insure that participation in such matters
did not adversely affect an employees advancement potential. 091

O 13.8 29.2 13.1 31.8 12.1

Y 2.9 19.0 17.6 37.1 23.4

SD GD CS GA SA

If I were one of the first to become aware that a group of young executives
‘was about to publish an underground newspaper, start a demonstration, or
take over the office of the president in an effort to express their serious
discontent with corporate policies, I would:

A. ignore the situation and O 45.3 38.2 8.1 7.4 0.7
let the conflict resolve Y 26.6 36.5 19.2 15.8 2.0
itself. 092 SD GD CS GA SA

B. inform top management of O 3.7 19.8 10.1 36.6 29.5
the situation. 093 Y 13.9 29.9 21.4 28.9 6.0
SD GD CS GA SA

talk with the young execu-
tives and try to have them
reconsider their decision.

personally meet with top
management, inform them of
the situation without speci-
fically identifying the
persons involved, and offer
my assistance in acting as

a mediator in reducing the
conflict. 095

72

73

concept that if they had responsibility and authority over such matters
that they would do their best to insure that those involved in publish-
ing underground newspapers, participating in public protest demonstra-
tions, and such activities, would not have their advancement potential
adversely affected.

All of the figures from Exhibit 11 indicated that there was indeed
significant potential for conflict between younger executives and the
corporation. Furthermore, a review of the figures on the older respon-
dents put a great deal of realism into the prediction by Judson Gooding
(Gooding, 1961) in Fortune that the attitudes of the young executives

may affect their colleagues and result in a form of corporate mutiny.

CHAPTER SIX

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

Now that the questions on the existence, nature, and conflict
potential of the corporate generation gap have been treated, two major
questions remain. First, is the gap which was found of any significance
to corporations; and secondly, if it is of significance, do the data
from this study provide any quidelines for managing the gap?

The nature of the results from this study do not allow for any
significant definitive predictions to be made, or for any definite
conclusions to be drawn. The data collected from this study deal'
with the attitudes executives held during the summer of 1972. It is
quite possible these attitudes have changed by 1975. Furthermore it
is quite possible that there is very little linkage between the atti-
tudes expressed and the actual behavior of the respondents. It should
always be clear that what people say when responding to a study of
this nature may have no bearing on what they say and feel when they
actually face these issues in their corporations. Many new factors
arise in the interim, for example, peer group pressure and a full
realization of the implications that their attitudes could have on
their acceptance within the organization. Hence, many times respondents
Oshave in a Quite different manner when the issues actually arise.
Moreover, since 1972 many changes may have taken place in the outside
environment which no longer make it the "in thing" to be in favor of
participating in protest over corporate actions or to express any
worry or concern over corporate social responsibilities. It may very

well be true that with the cultural pressure gone, the gap uncovered by

74

75

this study is also gone. DeSpite this possibility, it still seems
reasonable to assume that because of the sample size and the statistical
significance of some of the findings some of these attitudes may still
persist. With this assumption in mind, what follows are some tentative
hypotheses regarding the seriousness and potential solutions to the gap

suggested by this study.

SERIOUSNESS OF THE GAP

The question, "Is the gap serious?" does not have a black and white
answer. It would seem that the seriousness of the gap uncovered by this
study would depend onrthe nature of the corporation, its manpower needs,
the rate of change in its outside environment and the economic health of
its market base. If, among other things, the corporation considering this
question had a secure monopoly position and was easily able to fulfill its
needs for talented manpower, then it would be possible that they might la-
bel the gap as insignificant. On the other hand, if the corporation con-
sidering this question was like most corporations responding to the 1970
Harvard Business Review (Ammer, 1971) survey which indicated that the
ability to recruit and keep talented younger executives was the primary pro-
blem they faced for the 1970's, then the gap would seem to be of corporate
significance. Even though a serious gap was not discovered between a
large majority of younger and older executives, a serious gap was locat-
ed between a significant minority, approximately 20% of the younger and
20% of the older executives. It is this gap which needs the attention
of corporations wishing to recruit, retain within the corporation, and
keep working in an efficient and effective manner this 20% of the younger
executive population (and for that matter for those wishing to retain

within the corporation and keep working in an efficient and effective manner

76

that 10-15% of the older population holding similar views).

A second, less universal, but still potentially important reason for
taking steps to manage the corporate generation gap comes from the
significant interview and questionnaire findings on the possibility of
campus rebellion tactics being used by younger executives discontented
with current methods of operating corporations. Although major office
takeovers or other types of rebellion have yet to be reported, if they
do begin a serious problem appears certain. The percentage figures
suggested by this study indicate that the probability of such actions
snowballing is significant indeed. Although it may not happen within
the next three years as Mr. Koch's prediction would indicate,* if the
findings of this questionnaire have any validity at all, it may well
happen within the next ten years unless major changes occur in attitudes
of the younger corporate executives or in the operating style of cor-
porations. (Again, review Exhibit II for supporting data.)

Further insight into the seriousness of the gap can be found in a
review of the evidence of a gap. The second major evidence of the gap
is over the discrimination issue. Today many changes are taking place
in the legal environment which are forcing the corporation to respond
in more appropriate ways over these discrimination issues. If there are
indeed a large number of executives in the corporation itself who feel
that more could be done in this area, then it may well also be true
that a large number of judges and juries will hold similar views. The

implications Of this for corporations is quite serious, and it would

 

* "Within five years a group of young executives will take over the
office of a corporation president in order to force socially oriented
concessions from the company"(Athos, 1971).'

77

seem that they may have to invest considerable attention and resources
if they are to avoid costly court settlements over their hiring and
promotion practices for women and minorities.

A third important finding from the study which sheds some light on
the seriousness of the gap is found in the loyalty to profession versus
company results displayed in Figure III. It is quite clear from these
results that corporations were finding that they could no longer count on
the blind loyalty of the new recruits. These members were locating a new
source of loyalty, one which called for a more objective appraisal of
their corporation's actions. They were, as E. E. Jennings pointed out,
"the why, why, why generation," a generation which felt their profes-
sional duty as competent executives was to question and challenge the
actions of their corporations. This study did not focus on the major
issues over which this questioning and challenging will take place, but
it has noted that this tendency has become more common among younger
executives than among older executives. It has also noted that the very
oldest executives were adOpting this notion of professional loyalty.

If this trend continues, corporations may indeed increasingly become

the victims of criticism and pressure from within their own ranks.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO MANAGE THE GAP?

What can corporations do to manage their generation gap? First,
the corporations need to recognize that a generation gap may well exist
in their organizations, so that it should become common practice to take
readings on the nature and extent of a possible gap in their organiza-
tion. In doing this, it is essential that they redefine what they mean

by "gap." They need to realize that it may not show up as a discrete

78

statistical gap, with their younger and older executives on opposite sides
of the fence; rather it may include a gap between some of their younger
and some of their older, especially their middle-aged, executives. Also
the gap may not be over every issue; rather, it may be over a certain
selection of issues. Furthermore, the gap may not be over the issues of
personal social responsibility as much as it is over the issues of
corporate social responsibility.

Secondly, in considering the seriousness of the gap they should
recognize that as organizational environments vary, so too does the
nature of the gap. This means that an analysis of the gap should be
made company by company. In some companies it is quite possible that
no gap exists at all, whereas in others it may be of very serious pro-
portions. General survey data on thought pattern differences between
age categories in organizations may not accurately reflect the condi-
tions in a specific organization..

Thirdly, they should recognize that although many of the "unconven-
tional stances" are voiced by the younger members of the corporation,
many older members may also hold these beliefs and may be willing to
support the younger executives in their drives for reform. (See
Exhibit II.) Also, it should be reCOgnized that, if nothing else,
these older executives may also be leaving the corporation because of
disagreement with the policies the younger executives are openly
criticizing.

Fourthly, corporations should recognize that one of the most im-
portant factors in keeping a highly talented but "unconventional
thinking" young executive is to assure an open door position for ex-

pressing his discontents with corporate policy. This means developing

79

corporate policy which informs all executives that their input into
policy matters can be expressed through a formal and open channel. This
channel may include the office of an ombudsman, a consultant, an in-
formal set of policy discussion meetings or some other vehicle. The
point is that if such a vehicle is available to the younger and older
executives, the management will have a feeling for how important stands
on certain issues are to these executives. Also, the corporation can
then determine if their failure to respond to these disagreements is

in any way related to turnover of these executives.

Furthermore, the findings from this study indicate that a large
majority of younger and older executives feel that executives should
be allowed to express their discontent with corporate policies without
this expression interfering with their corporate advancement potential.
(See Exhibit II.) If this holds true, then it may not be long before
attitude and behavior begin to influence each other, and it may be
increasingly necessary that corporations provide in-house meetings to
provide an opportunity to express this discontent. Many corporations
use the "coffee klatsch" for tapping executive Opinions in other areas;
perhaps such meetings would work in this area.

In addition, it should become common practice for corporations to
give training to their executives in understanding the nature and
extent of differences between their younger and older executives.

They should be given an understanding of the significance of the gap
in the corporation and the ability of the corporation to attract or
keep talented manpower.

Lastly, the corporations should view the literature on the nature

and evidence of the generation gap as a guide for understanding the

80

thinking of 5-20% of the younger executives, a minority rather than
an overwhelming majority of their young recruits. The literature is
a helpful and somewhat accurate guide to understanding how to deal with
the unconventional, anti-establishment, but still highly talented young
recruit (Athos, 1971; Lombard, 1971; Fielding, 1970; Gooding, 1971).

In other words, there is not a totally new revolution going on out
in the corporate ranks; rather there seems to be an evolutionary change
taking place with the younger executives leading the movement for
changing the corporation from a conservative to a less conservative

stance.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The results of this study are not going to put to rest the contro-
versy over the existence of a generation gap in corporations. It has
shown that there are some differences between younger and older execu-
tives, but it has not shown that there are great differences between
these groups. It has shown that there may be latent conflict potential
in corporations between younger and older executives, but it has not
shown in any definite way whether or not this latent potential is a
serious threat to corporate harmony.

Most important, it has not demonstrated what effect later changes in
the outside environment, such as the reduction of campus turbulence,
the presence of an economic slowdown, or a general cultural tendency to
turn one's attention more inward might have on the nature and extent of
the sources of disunity and conflict between younger and older corporate
executives. In effect this study has, like most others, raised more

questions than it has provided answers.

81

The one point which is clear from this study, and perhaps the most
important message that it has to offer, is that the nature of the cor-
porate generation gap is not best understood through platitudes and
hollow rhetoric which label the gap as a deep, new "unparalleled" clash
of values and thoughts. Rather it is best understood through careful
sampling of the attitudes of the younger and older executives in their
unique corporate settings and then providing careful follow-up activi-
ties to expose and possibly bridge the actual gap which was found by
systematic and careful study. If this approach is followed, then a
corporation will be more likely to understand and effectively deal with

the differences which do exist between their younger and older executives.

82

GENERAL REFERENCES

 

Books:

Bennie, Warren G., and Slater, Philip E. The Temporary Society. New
York: Harper and Row, 1964.

Dalton, Melville. Men Who Manage. New York: John Wiley & Son, 1959.

 

Drucker, Peter. America's Next Twenty Years. New York: Harper and
Row, 1955.

, The Age of Discontinuity. New York: Harper and Row, 1969.

Ellis, Albert. Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. New York: Lyle
Stuart, 1962.

 

, (ed.) Youth: Change and Challenge. New York: Norton, 1963.

 

Glasser, William. The Identigy Society. New York: Harper and Row,
1972.

 

Guzzardi, Walter, Jr. The Young Executives. The New American Library,
INeWiYork: McGraw-Hill, 1965.

 

Herzberg, Frederick. Job Attitudes: Review of Research and Opinion.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Psychological Service of Pittsburgh, 1957.

Jennings, Eugene Emerson. Routes to the Executive Suite. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1973.

Keniston, Kenneth. The Uncommitted. New York: Harcourt, Brace &
WOrld, 1965.

 

, Young Radicals: Notes on Committed Youth. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World, Inc., 1968.

Klein, Alexander. (ed.) Natural Enemies?? Youth and the Clash of the
Generations. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1969.

 

Michael, Donald Nelson. The Next Generation. The Prospects Ahead for
the Youth of Today and Tomorrow. New York: Vintage, 1965.

Morgan, John 8. Managing the Young Adplts. New York: American
Management Association, 1967.

 

Randall, Clarence B. The Executive in Transition. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1967.

83

Reich, Charles A. The Greening of America. New York: Random House,
1970.

Sayles, Leonard, Individualism and BigyBusiness. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1963.

Toffler, Alvin. Future Shock. New York: Random House, 1970.

 

Warner, Lloyd W., and Abegglen, James C. Big Business Leaders in
America. New York: Harper Brothers, 1955.

, and Martin, Norman. (eds.) IndustrialyMan: Businessmen and
Business Orgenizations. New York: Harper Brothers, 1959.

 

Whyte, William H., Jr. The Organization Man. New York: Simon &
Schuster, Inc., 1956.

Zinn, Howard. SNCC The New Abolitionists. Boston: Beacon Press, 1965.

 

Articles:

Banks, Louis. "The View Through Youthful Eyes," Fortune, April, 1970,
V01. 84, No. 4, pp. 76-77, 117-121.

Carr, Albert Z. "Can an Executive Afford a Conscience?," Harvard Busi-
ness Review, July-August, 1970, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 58-64.

 

Flacks, Richard E. "The Liberated Generation: An Exploration of the
Roots of Student Protest," Journal of Social Issues, 1967, Vol. 23,
No. 3, pp. 52-75.

Hanan, Mack. "Make Way for the New Organization Man," Harvard Business
Review, July-August, 1971, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 128-138.

McGuire, Joseph W. "Business and the Generation Gap," California
Management Review, Winter, 1970, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 78-82.

Reed, Robert G. "Management and the Generation Gap," S.A.M. Advanced
Management Journal, January, 1971, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 16-19.

 

Vroom, Victor and Pahl, Berno. "Relationship between Age and Risk
.Among Managers," Journal of Applied Psychology, 1971,SVOI.V55;3,
NO. 5, pp. 399-4050

84

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Books:

Boyd, Harper Jr., and Westfall, Ralph. Marketing Research: Text Cases.
Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1973.

Cattell, Raymond B. Factor Analysis: An Introduction and Manual for
Psychologists and Social Scientists. New York: Harper, 1952.

Cooley, William and Lounes, Paul. Multivariate Procedures for the
Behavioral Sciences. New York: John Wiley & Son, 1959.

 

Jennings, Eugene Emerson. The Mobile Manager: A Study_of the New
Generation of Top Executives. Ann Arbor: Bureau of Industrial
Relations, University of Michigan, 1967.

 

Mead, Margaret. Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap.
New York: Harper and Row, 1969.

Perry, William G. Forums of Intellectual and Ethical Development in
the College Years: A Schema. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston,
1970.

 

Articles:

Ammer, Dean. "What Businessmen Expect from the 1970's," Harvard Business
Review, January-February, 1971, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 49-52.

Athos, Anthony, "Is the Corporation the Next to Fall," Harvard Business
Review, January-February, 1970, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 49-61.

Fielden, John S. "Today the Campuses, Tomorrow the Corporations,"
Business Horizons, June, 1971, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 13-20.

 

Gooding, Judson. "The Accelerated Generation Moves Into Management,"

Jennings, Eugene Emerson. "Mobicentric Generation," Careers deay,
January, 1968, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 77-82.

_______3 "Mobicentric Man," Psychology deay, July, 1970, Vol. 4,
No. 2, pp. 34-36, 70-72.

 

, "Two Worlds of the Executive," TWA Ambassador, March, 1971:
V01. 7, NO. 2, Pp. 28-310

 

85

Lombard, George F. "Relativism in Organizations," Harvard Business
Review, March-April, 1971, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 55-65.

 

Rummel, R. J. "Understanding Factor Analysis," The Journal of Conflict

 

Resolution, 1967, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 444-480.

 

APPENDIX A

86

APPENDIX A

INITIAL CONTACTS AND PHASE I INTERVIEW GUIDE

Corporations would be contacted for interviews through phone calls
made to the vice-presidential level executive whose responsibilities
included manpower planning and personnel relations. The executive
would be informed of the study's purpose; i.e. to determine the potential
seriousness and extent of a generation gap in the corporation. A request
would be made that eight executives, four younger and four older, be
made available for interviews, with the interview time ranging from one
to two hours. It would be explained that the purpose of the interviews
was to aid in the development of a questionnaire instrument to be used
to measure the nature and extent of a corporate generation gap. All
interviewees would be assured of complete anonymity in any presentation
of the interview results. The corporations would be given the same
assurance.

The Phase I interviews would last from one to two hours and would be
conducted in an open-ended manner. The interviewees would be aware,
through talks with their company officers, that the purpose of the
interview would be to assist in a study on the generation gap in the
corporation. The interviews would open with a brief explanation of the
Purpose of the interviews and the overall intent of the study. Follow-
1ng this introduction, each interviewee would be asked to make any
comments which he felt might be appropriate. It would be expected that
the oPening comments would cover the interviewee's feelings on whether
a generation gap did indeed exist. If they felt it did exist, it would

be exPected that they would discuss what they felt was the major sources

877'“

88

of the gap. As any source is mentioned, it would be recorded; and, if

it had not already been discussed, questions would be asked concerning
the interviewee's personal position on the issue raised. If the inter-
viewee felt that no gap existed, leading questions would be asked regard-
ing their position on the issues which the literature and previous inter-
views had indicated as possible sources of a gap. At the end of each
interview, general biographical data would be requested, i.e., age,
length of service with the organization, organizational title, educational
background, marital status, and so on. These questions would always be
asked at the conclusion of the interview so as to reduce any possible
bias.

After the completion of 20 interviews, it would be expected that a
common set of categories would begin to emerge from the interviewees'
opinions on the sources of the gap. Under each category, a series of
statements would be listed which reflected the interviewees' opinions
and the positions expressed by authors on the various category areas.
These statements would be sent to the faculty members of the Disserta-

tion Committee for comment and revision.

APPENDIX B

89

APPENDIX B

PHASE II INTERVIEW GUIDE

The Phase II set of interviews would be more structured than those
in Phase I. They would be approximately one to two hours in length. The
opening format would be identical to that of the initial interviews.

When the various topic areas were mentioned by the interviewee, he
would be asked to react to the different statements listed under that
category. The reactions would be in the form of a Likert Scale Reaction,
i.e., strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree, to
be followed by open-ended comments on the nature of the statement and
its working. At the end of each category, the interviewee would be
asked if there were any additional statements which he felt should be
added to the category. With the completion of a series of eight inter-
views, revisions would be made in each of the statements and new cate-
gories should be added as the interview results indicated a need to do
so.

Following the completion of 40 interviews, it would be expected that
the general topic areas would begin to repeat themselves in numbers
sufficient enough that an initial questionnaire instrument could be
developed. This instrument would not attempt to tap all the areas of
potential gap discovered by the interviews; rather, it would zero in on
several major areas which seemed to offer the most significant sources of
disunity and conflict potential. This initial instrument would be sent
to the faculty members of the Dissertation Committee for their review.
Comments would be made by the committee members on the wording of the

questions, the ordering of the questions, and the format for recording

90

91

the subjects' responses. Duplicate questions would be dropped and

certain questions would be rephrased.

APPENDIX C

92

APPENDIX C

PHASE III INTERVIEW GUIDE

The revised questionnaire would then be used in the Phase III series
of 40 interviews. These interviews would be structured around the
specific questions in the questionnaire. The average interview would
range from 45 to 90 minutes in length, depending on whether the inter-
viewees perceived the questionnaire to measure his attitudes. The
questionnaire would be again returned to the faculty committee for their
comments and suggestions. At this point, 20 final interviews would be
conducted to develop a preliminary draft of the questionnaire. These
interviews would be specifically concerned with the tightening up of the
instrument's ability to tap the views of the subjects in a clear and
precise manner. This preliminary draft would then again be sent to the

Dissertation Committee for comments.

93

APPENDIX D

94

APPENDIX D

CASE STUDIES

The cases which follow are not directly representative of the views
of all the interviewees, but they do present views and thought patterns
which were commonly found throughout the course of the interviews. They

also provide an understanding of the flavor of the interview process.

Executive A - "Liberal Promising Young Executive"

Executive A was 27 years old and received his undergraduate degree
from an Ivy League college with a major in math. His graduate degree
was an M.B.A. from Harvard. He was the assistant to the vice-president
of finance for a highly successful and profitable multi-national cor-
poration on the Fortune 500 list. This executive had been rated as one
of the most successful in the corporation. Three of the company's vice-
presidents rated him as one of the top five outstanding prospects in
their company. The extent of his success was also measurable through
his salary which exceeded $30,000.

The concept of a generation gap in the corporation was nothing new
to Executive A. He had a sufficient amount of operational examples to
relate regarding his experience with such a gap. These ranged from
conflicts over the speed with which outmoded corporate policy or operating
procedures should be changed to examples of socially-oriented projects
which were turned down by the management. The examples are mostly
demonstrative of Executive A's impatience for action. He did not see
himself as one to jump first and think later, rather he felt he was one

who was able to think rationally and quickly.

95

96

One relevant incident regarding a gap between Executive A and Older
executives involved the acceptance of a socially related project which
he developed and implemented. Before he was interviewed, several vice-
presidents boasted of a significant community-help project which Execu-
tive A had developed. The project essentially consisted of providing
numerous disadvantaged communities with the services of several of the
company's products at no cost. The project started off on a small
scale, but at the time of the interview it was a large project with 25
units in operation. The most important aspect of the projects was that
it created such significant public relations for the company that sales
of these products rose sharply. This project was discussed with Execu-
tive A and his reaction was, "Sure, that project worked and was accepted,
but only after two years of selling it every free chance I got." He
said he spent at least 50% of his coffee breaks "pushing the idea and
listening to the older executives shoot it down." "There is only so
much time to work on ideas of this nature and the major problem is that
whenever an idea is proposed, it takes two years of effort to every see
any results." Most important is the fact that, "when you talk about the
idea for those two years, all they do is find the negative points in the
idea, and it's not until the idea is finally accepted that the good
points are discussed." His frustration over the difficulty in imple-
menting projects of this nature was evident in his final comment,
"Although I am quite disappointed in life unless I am involved in pro-
jects of this nature, I don't see myself becoming involved in many more
corporate projects. I can get far more results from my efforts in
activities outside the corporation. And I'm not saying that that makes

me happy, because it doesn't; but that's the reality I've learned."

97

The degree of corporate social responsibility was a major concern of
this executive and it was this topic which took most of the interview
time. He believed that most corporations, including his own, meet
their social responsibilities with "a lot of talk and little or no action.
It isn't that they don't mean well, the problem is that they don't do
well." In the area of pollution, he felt that "corporations go after
every loophole they can find." Concerning the employment of the hard-
core, he believed that although it was true that they were being hired,
it was also true that they were being fired at about the same rate. He
labelled the action to eliminate racism as "mostly platitudes." Reverse
discrimination was the only method he saw as being effective in eliminat-
ing racism. He felt the problem of helping the poor of the country was
usually approached by the corporation in the traditional way of providing
jobs. He referred back to his negative experience with trying to expand
the type of action to other projects. In summary, he was disappointed
in the way corporations were meeting their social responsibilities.

When questioned on the areas where he felt the corporation should
expand its social responsibility, Executive A responded with the mention
of the following: promotion of busing, involvement in the development
of poor nations, and working for world peace. Outside of the social
responsibility area, he felt that a generation gap existed over the
extent to which authority should be delegated and the swiftness with
which executives react to problems which are part of their responsibility.
In short, he felt older executives delegated less and reacted slower.

When asked whether the gap between the younger and older executive
members of the corporation could result in actions such as office take-

overs or the publishing of underground newspapers, he said, "I have

little contact with other radical, younger corporate executives. Most
of my colleagues are 40 and Older. My liberal friends my age do not
work for corporations." He did feel that a point may be reached in the
next five years when dramatic actions such as office takeovers could take
place and that the Blacks would be one of the first groups to become
involved in such actions. He also stated that he might support and
participate in some form of corporate mutiny, but that most younger
executives would simply leave the company before using campus protest
methods to express their dissatisfaction.

In summary, Executive A was a liberal, younger executive who was
very dissatisfied with the way things currently operated. He wanted
major changes in the operating style of corporations and felt that the

generation gap is the major barrier to achieving those changes.

Executive X - "Conservative Older Executive"

Executive X was a highly successful, 58 year old vice-president of
personnel for a major multi-national corporation on the Fortune 500 list.
His education included a B.S. in Industrial Relations from Cornell
combined with numerous executive development programs to keep him aware
of new developments. His vice-presidential level peers praised him
highly as a most effective performer.

This executive was not concerned over the development of a new,
unparalleled generation gap. He did agree that a gap existed, but felt
that it was not greater than the one he experienced back in the '30's.
The gap between the S.D.S. (Students for a Democratic Society) types
and most older executives was significant in his eyes, but he believed
that most of them were being kept out of the corporation.

When questioned on the concepts of social responsibility and how

.99

corporations were meeting their responsibilities, he stated that he was
not well enough informed to accurately discuss whether any corporation
other than his own was fully meeting its responsibility. In describing
the best way for a corporation to meet its social responsibility,
Executive X stated, "This would be to make a profit and hire a large
number of people, thereby putting bread in the mouths of those who would
otherwise go hungry."

Executive X strongly felt that pollution is the major issue of
importance at the present time and that his corporation was doing all
that could be expected. His feelings regarding racism were that his
corporation had gone overboard and he pointed to three Blacks who had
been hired at the corporate office during the past two years. He
stated that these men were hired in order to have Blacks working in the
corporate office, not because they were the most qualified candidates
available. He had personally requested that other, more qualified people
be appointed to their jobs. He considered the employment of hardcore an
area of corporate responsibility. There were several hiring programs
under his jurisdiction and he was quite proud of their success. His
only reservation about the programs was the lack of openings available
for many such people to be hired and promoted. He felt that the area of
aid to the poor is the government's responsibility. He was quite con-
fused and angered by the suggestion that corporations should become
involved with solving the problems of world peace or reducing the arma-
‘ment race. He believed that such ideas, if implemented, would destroy
the corporation by diverting its attention away from its primary pur-
‘pose of producing and selling goods.

Executive X reacted to the concept of an office takeover with great

100
concern. He had personally heard of such an action at a corporation
where an associate of his works as a vice-president, but attributed it
to a very few radical S.D.S. types who were ignorant of what a corpora-
tion was and why it operated. He felt that the best way of dealing with
this type of problem was to screen potential radicals out in the recruit-
ment process. Such a process has been implemented in his corporation
which accomplishes this purpose.

His major complaint concerning younger executives was that they were
too quick to judge others. He said they complained about what other
corporations were doing without having the facts to back up their state-
ments. They brought up many different ideas such as giving company
executives time off to work on socially-related projects, but never con-
sidered the consequences such actions might have on corporate efficiency.

The major concern of this executive was the middle class American
who is being overburdened with too many responsibilities. He went to
great length to detail reports from various media that the middle class
was an ignored and overburdened silent majority. Executive X expressed
his hope that this would soon be changed.

In summary, Executive X was a conservative, older executive who likes
things the way they are. He felt that a gap existed between the older
and younger executives, but he attributed this to inexperience and lack
of information on the part of the younger executives. The present gap

would, in his opinion, disappear as they grew older.

APPENDIX E

101

APPENDIX E

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONNAIRE

As the questionnaire moved through the interview process, numerous

questions were added, others were refined, and others were dropped. The

following is a sampling of questions which were used in many of the

interviews to tap the interviewees' thinking. The questions are not

included in the final questionnaire due to space limitation. They are

presented in the Appendix to provide the reader and interested researcher

with an additional understanding of the nature of the interview process

used in this study.

1.

2.

8.

The business of business is to maximize profit.

Basic reforms are needed in the racial, environmental and quality of
life areas, and the power to attain these reforms lies with the U.S.
corporations.

Corporations in effect have a multiplicity of goals; sometimes profit
is overriding, sometimes not; sometimes growth is overriding, some-
times not, sometimes solving the problems of a decaying society are
overriding, sometimes not.

It is time we stop treating corporate activitists and critics such
as Ralph Nader as nice young idealists, and recognize that they are
working to undermine the free enterprise system.

The location of a branch plant in the ghetto may, on the face of it,
seem uneconomic, but such will make society healthier, and corpora-
tions will be better off in a healthier society, hence it can be
justified.

Training of disadvantaged blacks is valid if it fills a labor short-
age or prevents a mob from knocking out windows; otherwise business
has no obligation to provide special aid for blacks.

Corporations should become involved in solving the problems of our
cities, because corporations have an obligation to serve the nation
in times of crisis, whether the danger is internal or external.

A company can justify training hardcore unemployed because anytime

you turn people into producers they become consumers too. That
increases the market; therefore, it can be justified.

162".

10.

ll.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

103

Our government should not make rules on auto safety because it has
no right to force costly safety features on motorists who do not
want them. If people want safety, they will create a market for it.

The best way for a corporation to fulfill its social responsibility
is for it to maximize its profits.

The government is the one who has the responsibility for solving
our social problems, and they can do a much better job at solving
them than the business corporation.

Most of the critics of the present role of corporations in solving
society's problems are guilty of economic ignorance.

It is important for the corporation to carefully screen prospective
recruits to executive ranks, to insure that campus radicals and
their sympathizers are not hired.

Parents of the 1970's need to teach their children not what to learn,
but how to learn; not what to be committed to, but the value of
commitment.

The difficulty with most intellectuals is that they tend to make
things too complicated, they seldom give a Yes or No answer.

One thing is certain, even if there is an absolute truth man will
never know about it and therefore must learn to choose and venture
in uncertainty.

A good boss needs to closely follow the rules of thumb about admin-
istration such as "An employee should never report to more than one
boss," "An executive's span of control should not exceed seven sub-
ordinates."

Many people think differently than I do, however, if they had the
right information, they would move closer to my point of view.

The values I have chosen to live my life by are largely the product
of my own unique upbringing, and would not necessarily be the
correct values for other people to hold.

Most of the principles which I use in my daily work are not things I
believe in, rather are something which I use until something better
comes along.

Business has so much of the talents and resources needed to meet our
social problems that it would be irresponsible for it to shrink from
the job.

If corporations are to become heavily involved in solving problems
of society, there must be government assistance in the form of:

a. Tax incentive

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

104

b. Legislation to require the entire industry to become involved

c. Tariff on products of foreign import not carrying costs of
solving social problems

d. Other

A corporation which is becoming involved in solving social problems
can find this to be a significant competitive edge in attracting
young college-trained managerial talent.

Many young executives would not work for a corporation which was not
heavily involved in helping to solve the problems of society.

Unless I was faced with no other choice, I personally would not work
for a corporation which was not strongly involved in helping to solve
the problems of society, i.e., decay of the cities, upgrade training
for hardcore, elimination of pollution, etc.

Please indicate what you feel are the major obstacles to increasing
the involvement of the corporation in solving the problems of‘
society.

a. Competitive pressures from American firms not making similar
expenditures.

b. Infringement on the rights of stockholders

c. Competitive pressures from foreign firms not having to make
similar expenditures

d. Lack of top management understanding of the motivational import-
ance this has on morale and productivity

e. Superior ability of government in solving social problems
f. Other

The generation gap today really comes from a lack of understanding
and communication between the younger and older executive.

Top management of today's corporations are too closed and rigid in
their thinking.

Until recently, an older executive could say to a younger executive,
"I have been young, but you have never been old." But today the
younger executive can reply, "You have never been young in the world
I have been young in."

It is now important that we regard the past as the road by which we
came into the present, not as the road to the future.

It is easy for an older executive to understand how the young execu-

32.

33.

34.

.105

tive feels if he only remembers how he felt when he was a young
executive.

I would be reluctant if not unwilling to work for a corporation which
did not have concern for meeting its social responsibility.

Increased participation in the decision making of corporations is
necessary for corporations which wish to recruit and keep the bright
young executive.

The young executives of the 1970's are considering a significant
change in the style and methods of managing corporations when they
are in the status of top management.

APPENDIX E

(continued)

In the development of the questionnaire, numerous experiments were
performed to determine the appropriate formats for presenting the
questions. After careful consideration of the results from the inter-
views, it was decided that a modified Likert scale would be used through-
out the questionnaire. Some examples of the various formats tested
during the interviews follow.

1. When you are employed by a company, how do the following factors
influence your view of your company's social responsibility? Please

rank in order of importance.

A. The corporation's current Please indicate your ranking by listing

policies on its social the appropriate letter in the boxes
responsibilities. below.
B. The attitudes of other 1. First in importance ( )
members of the corpora-
tion. 2. Second in importance ( )
C. The attitudes of your 3. Third in importance ( )
associates outside the
corporation. 4. Fourth in importance ( )
D. The actions of other 5. Fifth in importance ( )
corporations.
6. Sixth in importance ( )
E. The actions of your cor-
poration's competitors. 7. Seventh in importance ( )
F. The profitability of the 8. Eighth in importance ( )
corporation
9. The following factors ( )
G. Strong public Opinion. have almost no impor- ( )
tance in forming my ( )
H. The extent to which you view.

become aware of the nature
of certain problems facing
our society.

106

10.7

A Scale For Measuring Attitudes Towards Various Corporate Practices

Directions: At the top of the columns below are a list of six proposed
changes in practices common to most American corporations. To the right
of the columns are a list of statements about these proposed changes.
WITH REFERENCE TO THE PROPOSED SOCIAL ACTIONS LISTED AT THE TOP OF THE
COLUMNS, PLACE A PLUS SIGN (+) IN THE BOX NEXT TO THE STATEMENTS WITH
WHICH YOU AGREE. At the bottom of the page there is a blank space where,

if you desire, you can list statements which are more appropriate to your
actual attitudes.

Corporations should allow their employees
to take time off to work on worthwhile
Corporations should reduce the work
Corporations should significantly relax
their rules on dress and appearance.
Corporate managers should return to the
use of more decisive and perhaps even
autocratic leadership styles.
Corporations should increase their in-
volvement of young executives (25-35 age)
in the development of corporate policies
and procedures.

community projects like teaching in a
week to 32 hours.

street school, etc.

1. Should be practiced by all
corporations.

 

2. Would aid in bringing civili-
zation to a higher level.

 

3. Is endorsed by sensible
people.

 

4. Keeps corporations from
being over concerned with
profit.

 

5. WOuld in general be a good
practice.

 

6. WOuld bring more good results
than bad.

 

 

 

 

 

108

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. I would agree with this
practice if it were modi-
fied somewhat.

8. I am not against this
practice but neither am I
for it.

9. It isn't absolutely bad,
but it isn't good either.

10. It is a little foolish.

11. It is annoying.

12. Corporations would be much
better off without this
practice.

13. It is not endorsed by sane
people.

14. Serves no purpose but to
destroy the corporation.

15. Other.

 

APPENDIX F

1109.

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

  
   
    
  
   

— ‘ IDIS'AGREE (SD) GENERALLY DISAGREE (GD) ’CAN'T SAY (CS) GENERALLY AGREE (GA)
STRONGLY AGREE (SA)
neither agree nor disagree or feel that you have insufficient information upon
to react, so indicate by circling CAN' '1‘ SAY (CS).
your corporation and do the Fortune 500 companies have a
sibility in the following areas, and are they meeting what
Consider to be their responsibilities in these same areas:
Are Meeting What
Have a You Consider to be
Responsibility Their Responsibility
‘ . in This Area in This Area
‘1
mqiuution control so GD cs GA SA Your Corporation SD GD cs GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
ing the hardcore
uployed and keep-
.; them employed SD GD CS GA SA Your Corporation SD GD CS GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
; eping "harmful"
' .1 ct: off the
" SD GD CS GA SA Your Corporation SD GD CS GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
imimting racism
corporations SD G) GS GA SA Your Corporation SD GD CS GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
ing to solve the
bleil's of the U S .
SD GD CS CA SA Your Corporation SD (3) CS GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
ing to attain
‘pfelelee SD G) GS GA SA Your Corporation SD w CS GA SA
SD GD CS GA SA The Fortune 500 SD GD CS GA SA
downp-
“achieve
lepment
_- _, SD G) CS GA SA Your Corporation SD G) CS GA SA
'73s. so GD cs GA SA The Fortune 500 so G) GS GA SA

 

2. If a corporation is making a profit. it should allow any of its
employees who so request 4 hours off a week with pay if they
definitely obligate themselves to take an active role in solving

5'

the problems of society.

and the Fortune 500 are:

A. Change takes time, no one can
expect results overnight

B. Lack of qualified candidates

C. Lack of openings

-2-
111

;r h
. The major reasons for the conspicious absence of racial minorities! s“1‘~
and women from the directorships and management of your corporation it; .

Racial
Minorities

Women

Racial
Minorities

Women

Racial
Minorities

D. Continued existence in many parts
of tle corporation of discrimina-

tory hiring and promotional
practices

8. Continued insistence on college
degree requirements for most
managerial jobs

proper representation of racial minorities and women in their

directorships and management.

To inform the public on how well corporations are meeting this" ‘
responsibilities, newly developed methods of measuring activiti'

Racial
Minorities

Women

Racial

Minor it ies

Women

do “.7. social sphere should be used and publicized.

   
    

Your Corporation
The Fortune 500

Your Corporation
The Fortune 500
Your Corporation 5!
The Fortune 500
Your Corporation
The Fortune 500
Your Corporation

The Fortune 500

Your Corporation'lg‘
The Fortune 500

Your Corporation
M 522912 500‘

Your Corporation
The Fortune 500

Your Corporation
The Fortune 500

Your Corporation"

_3_
112

Should the U.S. business corporation go out of its way to use whatever
influence it has in the following areas:

A, Reforming prisons

B. Reducing the arms race

C. Increasing federal funding for efficient mass transit
IL Disinvolving from and preventing of wars like Viet Nam

E. Supporting busing as a means of achieving racial integration
until quality education is available in all local schools

F. Stopping of busing as a means of achieving racial integration

G. Legalizing of marijuana

H. Stopping the flow of heroin

If the U.S. business corporation were to use its influence in any of
the issues mentioned in question #6, its stand should be determined
by formal approval of:

A. The board of directors

B. Top management

C. Company stockholders

IL Company executives (foreman to president)

E. All company employees

The income gap in this country must be significantly reduced through
taxes severely limiting the transfer of wealth through inheritance.

Recognition must be given to the fact that there is a limit to how
heavily the environment can be taxed, and that less per capita
consumption might be in order to insure that our environment is not

overtaxed.

. There is a pressing need that the U.S. employ unselfish sacrifice
perhaps including a lowered standard of living, so that the under-
developed nations are able to better their conditions as rapidly
as possible.

. The current disturbances on our campuses represent inappropriate and
unacceptable methods for students to express their views regarding
university policies and practices.

. If you are now making or receive raises so that you make $20,000 or
nmre a year, you should donate the amount over $20,000 to a program
of your choice for helping people less fortunate than yourself.

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

GD

8

GD

8

@9888

GD

CS
CS

CS

CS

CS
CS
CS

CS

CS
CS
CS
CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

93839?

933399

3398399

83

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

13.

14.

15.

1‘13

Suppose the company you happened to be working for was polluting the

air, and there was a pollution alert in your city (an alert similar to

the summer 1971 alert in Birmingham, Alabama, where older people and

people with respiratory problems were warned to stay inside) and your

company continued its pollution related operations. How would you
react to a group of the company's executives taking over the office
of the president in an effort to have the plant stop its pollution

related operations until after the alert was ended? (They had earlier

tried talking with management and received a firm rejection.)
A. I would participate in such an action.
B. I would support such an action.

C. I would generally disagree with such an action, but do not feel
that those involved should be fired.

D. I would disagree with such an action and feel that all involved
should be fired.

Suppose your company was planning to build a new plant and it had a
choice of two locations: one in an already industrialized sector of
an inner city ghetto and the second in a white suburb. Even though
cost considerations were the same for both locations, your company
chose the suburban location. How would you react to a group of your
company's executives taking over the office of the president in an

effort to have the company reconsider the decision and have the plant
built in the ghetto? (They had earlier tried talking with management

but received a firm rejection.)
A. I would participate in such an action.
B. I would support such an action.

C. I would generally disagree with such an action, but do not feel
that those involved should be fired.

D. I would disagree with such an action and feel that all involved
should be fired.

Please express your reaction to the following aspects of employee
protest. (The protest is being made on the employees' own time and
not on the company time.)

A. Employees publishing and disseminating an underground newspaper
which informs the public on what these employees see as the
effects of certain corporate policies or practices.

B. Management asking those involved in publishing such an under—
ground newspaper to leave the corporation.

C. Management informing those involved in publishing such an

underground newspaper that their continued participation could

seriously hinder their chances for advancement in the corporation.

(Cont.)

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

SD

8

GD

CS

CS
CS

CS

CS

CS
CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

s,

A... —_._—
u _. v_ --1

&‘1

 

 

-.._____._
. . .
.- 3-. L‘
. _ . . .
v , ~'.
s i

-5-
114

D. Employees participating in a public protest demonstration over

GD

GD

GD

CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

CS

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

SA

certain corporate policies or practices. SD
E. Management asking those involved in such public protest

demonstrations to leave the corporation. SD
F. Management informing those involved in such public protest

demonstrations that their continued participation could

seriously hinder their advancement in the corporation. SD
G. Employees quitting the corporation at their earliest opportunity

and privately informing management of their reasons for leaving. SD
H. Employees quitting the corporation and informing the public of

their reasons for leaving through mass media and other available

means. SD
1. Employees organizing a discussion group to be held at lunch time

to discuss corporate policy. (The discussion would not be open

to the public.) SD
J. Employees expressing their dissatisfaction to their immediate

supervisor through verbal or written means. SD
K. Employees expressing their dissatisfaction to top management

through verbal or written means. SD
Corporate employees have a right to freely express their opinions
on corporate policy through the printing of underground newspapers,
organizing of discussion groups, etc. If I had responsibility and
authority over such matters, I would do my best to insure that
participation in such matters did not adversely affect an employees
advancement potential. ' SD
If I were one of the first to become aware that a group of young
executives was about to publish an underground newspaper, start a
demonstration, or take over the office of the president in an effort
to express their serious discontent with corporate policies. I would:
A. ignore the situation and let the conflict resolve itself. SD
B. inform top management of the situation. SD
C. talk with the young executives and try to have them reconsider

their decision. SD
IL personally meet with top management, inform them of the situation

without specifically identifying the persons involved, and offer

my assistance in acting as a mediator in reducing the conflict. SD
Young executives of today have values and aims basically similar
t0 the young executives of the 1950's and 1960's. SD

'bhny young executives, angry over what they view as the corporation's
failure to solve the imperfections in our society, could engage in

fOrms of industrial mutiny similar to those experienced by the
universities. SD

-5-
115

     
  
 

20. As you do your work each day for the corporation that employs yo E ,
the following factors may be influential in shaping your view! Qfsu~
your company' 8 social responsibilities.

at
-- s

t ‘v
r , .1

A. Your company's policies on the nature and extent of its social; 3 -
responsibilities. f 3}; I 4)]

B. What you see as your company's actual actions, and not just iti‘.‘
publicly stated policies on its social responsibilities.

C. What you sense as the attitudes of:

1. top management

‘2. your immediate superior

3. your peers (same level as you)

a. your subordinates

5. your associates outside the corporation
D. Your growing awareness of the problems facing society
E. The actions of other corporations
F. The long term profitability of the corporation
G. The short term profitability of the corporation
H. Public opinion as you sense it
I. Stockholders' opinion

J. Mass Media ( including T.V. news broadcasts)
The following questions provide needed information about you as an ingh

1. Year you were born:
2. Sex: _____Male _____Eemale
3. Marital Status: _____Single _____Married _____Seperated
a. Number of children you are financially responsible for:
( ) No Children ( ) 1-2 ( ) 3-4 ( ) 5 or more
5. For approximately how many years have you been working for coifis
( ) Less than 2 years i ) 2-5 years ( ) 6-10 years C.) llsifiéf
:e tflias- ( ) More than 15 years -: f»;

:6 run 3:6 ,. .--;§’a.‘

-7-
116

 

     
  
   
    
   
  
  
    
    
   
  

years C )‘2;5 years ( ) 6:10 years ( )-11~15.years- ( ) More than
. ‘ 15 years.

»s -degree - Major ( ) Humanities and Libera1 Arts ( ) BusineSs
( ) Social Sc1ences ( ) Ha-rd Sciences 1nclhd1ng Engineering
( ) Education ( ) Other

'n _ies and Liberal Arts ( .) Hard Sc1ences including Engineering
‘ ' ( ) .Business including M B. A ( ) Social Science ( ) Other:

( ) Inspection and- Qual1ty Control ( )5Eersonnel'

racterize your current p031tion in _thé corporation?

3.: ‘ ‘u r. is ' - ,1 ‘17,? -.«n‘ .55”

Middle ‘ -; ’iropq , _ . . , ,,. .
Management ‘ Management , - ’_‘ p ‘ ‘ .-figg ”I 1.,

as your childhood characterizem‘by financial hardship? .a..
.‘ . “ To‘aosignif1cant
- ' degree "

To~a Sbgfilflcant
degree

 

117

13. To what degree are you involved in community action projects that require volunteer
activities on your part?
1 2 3 a 5
To little To a significant
or no degree degree
14. Please indicate the degree to which you have had contact with student disturbances
in our colleges and universities. ( The question is not limited to disturbances
of the last 10 years.)
A. Participated in the disturbances. 1 2 3 u 5
To little To a significmn
or no degree degree
B. Had close friends who participated in the disturbances.
l 2 3 h 5
To little To a significant
or no degree degree
C. Had a son or daughter who participated in the disturbances.
1 2 3 a 5
To little To a significant
or no degree degree
15. Do your loyalties lie more with your company or your profession?
I 2 3 h 5
Mainly with Mainly with
my company my profession
16. If you left your current corporation, what do you think would be your chances of
finding an equivalent or better job with another organization?
1 2 3 4 5
Little or Excellent
no chance chance
17. How would you characterize the thinking of your parents?
1 2 3 a 5
Conservative Liberal
18. How would you characterize the thinking of your wife?
1 2 3 a 5
Conservative Liberal
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!
'UHfl' -
I‘m 4" (Copywrite — May 1972

by Jerry E. Fisher)

 

 

APPENDIX C

118

119

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APPENDIX H

122

APPENDIX H

Summary of the Variables to be Retained
and Dropped for the Final Factor Analysis

 

Variables to Variables to Factor on which
be retained be dropped duplicating loading
occurred
Var 023 Var 024 Factor 1
Var 003 Var 004 Factor 2
Var 007 Var 008 Factor 3
Var 015 Var 016 Factor 4
See Table IV
Var 025 Var 026 . Factor 5 for
Varimax Rotated
Var 009 Var 010 Factor 6 Factor Matrix
Var 027 Var 028 Factor 7
Var 011 Var 012 Factor 8
Var 019 Var 020 Factor 9
Var 021 Var 022 Factor 11
Var 029 Var 030 Factor 13
Var 017 Var 018 Factor 14
Var 032 Var 033 Factor 1
Var 034
Var 035
Var 040 Var 041 Factor 2
Var 042
Var 043
Var 048 Var 049 Factor 3 See Table III
Var 050 for
Var 051 Varimax Rotated
Factor Matrix
Var 044 Var 045 Factor 4
Var 046
Var 047
Var 038 Var 039 Factor 5
Var 036 Var 037 Factor 6

123

APPENDIX I

124

#1

 

1.125

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APPENDIX J

126

127

 

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: : : : : : = : : : Hoo. are
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0o.0 nn.s no.0 nN.s nn.0 nn.s so.0 NN.s NH
0o.o ns.n no.0 ns.n no.0 on.n No.0 so.s «stH
no.0 nn.n no.0 nn.0 on.o oo.n on.0 0N.n «0H
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no.0 nN.H No.0 so.H on.o os.H no.0 ns.H an
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128

 

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oo.0 nn.s sH.H nN.s no.0 nn.n n0.H nn.n eeeeNH
H0.H nn.s no.0 so.s 00.H on.s ~0.H no.s eeHH
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nn.H nn.n Nn.H sm.N n0.H n0.n NH.H nn.N o
no.0 nn.N No.0 n0.N H0.H sn.H no.0 NN.H eew
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no.0 No.n on.0 0N.n nH.H sn.n on.0 os.n eeen
sn.0 0H.N No.0 No.N No.H NH.N n0.H n0.N eeeen
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HH mgm<a
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129

 

 

: : : : : : : : : : H000. eeee
: : : : : : : : : : H00. eee
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no.0 on.0 no.0 No.0 H0.H NN.N Ho.0 0N.N eesH
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so.0 os.n Ho.0 Nn.n nN.0 Hs.n oo.0 sN.n HH
N0.H nN.n so.0 00.0 o0.H on.0 n0.H sn.n 0H
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NH.H nn.N 0H.H Hn.N 00.H os.N no.0 Nn.N N
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APPENDIX K

.130

t TEST RESULTS

 

* 003 - .037 046 - .000 089 - .354
004 - .036 047 - .052 090 - .851
005 - .000 048 - .029 091 - .000
006 - .002 049 - .159 092 - .000
007 - .054 050 - .324 093 - .000
008 - .040 051 - .651 094 - .000
009 - .052 052 - .469 095 - .002
010 - .477 053 - .748 096 - .005
011 - .494 054 - .098 097 - .103
012 - .200 055 - .091 098 - .001
013 - .000 056 - .000 099 - .609
014 - .015 057 - .009 100 - .351
015 - .341 058 - .253 101 - .107
016 - .510 059 - .316 102 - .635
017 - .000 060 - .004 103 - .001
018 - .007 061 - .021 104 - .901 4
019 - .004 062 - .000 105 - .635
020 - .012 063 - .080 106 - .699
021 - .021 064 - .019 107 - .016
022 - .237 065 - .634 108 - .007
023 - .036 066 - .000 109 - .818
024 - .030 067 - .053 110 - .397
025 - .000 068 - .139 111 - .083
026 - .003 069 - .887 112 - .000
027 - .180 070 - .001 113 - .000
028 - .219 071 - .000 114 - .000
029 - .329 072 - .000 115 - .000
030 - .997 073 - .000 116 - .000
031 - .000 074 - .221 117 - .000
032 - .001 075 - .000 118 - .000
033 - .000 076 - .000 119 - .000
034 - .003 077 - .000 120 - .000
035 - .003 078 - .005 121 - .000
036 - .000 079 - .000 122 - .000
037 - .000 080 - .000 123 - .000
038 - .000 081 - .000 124 - .000
039 - .000 082 - .001 125 - .000
040 - .004 083 - .000 126 - .000
041 - .007 084 - .000 127 - .000
042 - .033 085 - .000 128 - .000
043 - .013 086 - .008 129 - .104
044 - .000 087 - .307 130 - .863
045 - .208 088 - .000 131 - .000

* These numbers correspond to variable numbers listed
on the questionnaire in Appendix F.

131

7.! Illvl’17lnui ‘111 .

 

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