An empirical study on the effect of age, education, and rank on managerial attitudes

In the past 30 years, the emphasis on the human relations aspects of management has greatly increased. As a result, new management theories have been advanced, acclaimed and criticized. The purpose of this empirical study was to determine what effect, if any, the biographical factors of age, education and rank had on managerial attitudes in a particular plant and whether the managerial personnel tended to identify with the assumption of Douglas McGregor's widely publicized managerial theories, known as Theories X and Y. Data for the study were gathered by means of attitude questionnaires which were mailed to randomly selected managerial personnel who represented all levels of plant management. The responses were tabulated and statistically analyzed for significance. Based upon the results of this statistical analysis and prudent logic and inference, certain findings were noted and conclusions drawn. The major finding was that in the plant studied, age, education, and rank were relatively unimportant determinants of managerial attitudes. The principal conclusion drawn was that the nature of the work performed and certain, local economic factors, rather than biographical factors, probably accounted for the particular managerial response patterns.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration

Department dc:contributor.department

Business Administration

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Year dc:date.issued

1966

Author dc:creator

• Osborne, John Eugene

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/101381

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/101381