Introduction
The research under consideration is a hypothetical research scenario that involves a client-supplier organization that is involved in the manufacture of steel products. The organization has 2,000 employees, three subsidiaries, and a head office each having five major departments. The research project was carried out to address the problems of training ineffectiveness and employee satisfaction. Since the hypotheses have been developed, the next step is the sample choice and measurement scales for the hypotheses.
Sample
The testing for the hypotheses shall involve data collection from a sample of employees of the client organization. Data collection shall be done through questionnaires to be distributed to a stratified random sample of 1,000 employees in the three subsidiaries and the head office. The sample is to be categorized for relevance based on a distribution where at least 200 employees from the head office and at least 100 from each of the subsidiaries.
Operationalization of Variables
The dependent variables are employee satisfaction levels and training effectiveness. The employee satisfaction variable depends on attitudes, feelings, and perceptions. The participants shall be given statements that test their satisfaction based on pay, training opportunities, promotion, supervision, coworkers, work environment, promotion opportunities, autonomy, experience, and even work characteristics. The satisfaction of the participants shall be measured using a 6 point Likert scale for the test statements on satisfaction with the scale items 1 to 6 representing “extremely dissatisfied”, “very dissatisfied”, “somewhat dissatisfied”, “somewhat satisfied”, “very satisfied” and “extremely satisfied” respectively. The training effectiveness shall be assessed using the Characteristic of Experience Scale (COE) and life effectiveness questionnaire where the participants will answer 25 statements to test on the personal and group empowerment, support of the instructor, training relevance, promotion, and coworker support. The items for the scale are yes/no and true/false basis (Oz, 2001).
The independent variables are identified as pay levels, training opportunities, environmental factors of heat, performance appraisal procedures, and training procedures. Pay level will be assessed using a questionnaire on payment levels to test for the levels of payments with items ranging from 1 to 3 with 1 representing below $500, 2 representing between $500 and $5,000, and 3 representing above $5,000. The training opportunities shall be assessed on a true/false questionnaire based on 9 statements on the training opportunities. The factor of heat shall be measured using the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) scale which is a parameter for the assessment of thermal comfort with the scale items ranging between -3 and 3 where -3 is for cold, -2 is for cool, -1 is for slightly cool, 1 is for slightly warm, 2 is for warm and 3 is for hot (Weiss, 2002). The performance appraisal procedures and training procedures shall be assessed using a yes/no questionnaire based on 7 statements on the availability and nature of the training procedures and performance appraisal procedures. The research shall use control variables of the characteristics of the participants such as age, gender, number of years on the job, and education level which will be assessed by filling in the actual information on the questionnaire scale except for age which shall be based on 6 cohorts from below 21 years to over 60 years. The reason for this is to eliminate the influence of the individual characteristics and allow for generalizability to the other employees in the organization (Johns, 2006).
Conclusion
This analysis has provided the operationalization of the variables with the provision of the sample to be chosen and the categorization for relevance. Further, the measurement scales for the variables have been outlined, and explanations given for the same.
Reference List
Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31, 396–408.
Oz, E. (2001). Organizational commitment and ethical behavior: An empirical study of information system professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 34, 137-142.
Weiss, H. M. (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction: separating evaluations, beliefs and affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 173-194.