Quality of Worklife Programs: A Preliminary Technology Assessment

摘要

The study of quality of worklife (QWL) improvement efforts was composed of three major substudies, each with separate but interrelated objectives. A preliminary technology assessment of a small sample of QWL improvement programs in manufacturing plants was conducted to determine their primary and secondary effects and, from this assessment, to synthesize tentative implications for public policy. The perceptions of employees with regard to various aspects of their working and nonworking lives were sampled using questionnaires and individual interviews. Some spouses were interviewed and objective data were collected on a number of dimensions of organizational performance, such as absenteeism, work-related accidents, productivity, and grievance rate. The attitudes and roles of labor unions with respect to the development of QWL improvement efforts were characterized. Seventeen union officials from fifteen major U.S. unions were interviewed. The role of universities (schools of business and management) in the diffusion of the technology of QWL improvement programming was examined. A survey mailed to 114 leading business and management schools attempted to determine the extent to which QWL concepts, issues, and techniques are being taught; typical curriculum content; program organization and genesis; evidence of utilization; and personal attitudes and perspectives of the respondents. The data gathered during these substudies are reported.