PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Matthew Cassarino

Industrial/Organizational
May 1992
 

Perceptions of the Use of an External Organizational Development Consultant
 

    This study investigated factors which influenced employees’ evaluations of an External Organizational Development Consultant (EODC).  The attributes investigated as independent variables were attitudes toward work related change, job satisfaction and familiarity with organizational development consultants.  The dependent variable was people’s perception of the use of an EODC in the organization.  The subjects were 100 employees from organizations located across the United States.
    Correlations were performed for the three independent variables with the four dimensions of an adjective checklist.  None of the hypotheses was supported.  Extraneous variables which may have affected this research were primacy and recency effects.  Construct validity of the evaluation of the EODC as well as the current economic recession were also discussed as potential confounding variables.  Future research should compare people’s perceptions with different profiles of an EODC and develop a different instrument for measuring employees’ perceptions of an EODC.

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