| This investigation examined responses from managers regarding issues important to them, to derive a taxonomy of managers' motives. The motives were correlated with descriptions of the managers' behavior, seeking patterns associated with motives. The research questions were: (1) What dimensions of the motives domain are measurable in a managerial population? (2) What is the relationship between managerial motives and on-the-job behavioral performance?; Data were obtained from managers participating in a variety of leadership development programs. The sample consisted of 1,357 managers who completed The Values Scale, a 105-item inventory of things important to people, and The PROFILOR®, a multi-rater feedback instrument. Following are the conclusions: (1) There are at least 10 dimensions to the motives domain as measured among managers. (2) The correlations measured between motive scales and PROFILOR® dimensions were extremely small, when they occurred at all. No meaningful interpretations were possible. (3) Correlating the motive scales with PROFILOR ® meta-factors yielded no additional useful correlations.; Recommendations. (1) The items in the instrument limited this study. Research including additional items may reveal additional significant motives among managers. (2) Another fruitful area of research would be investigating the relations between motives and other measures of individual differences, such as personality, interests, and ability. (3) Additional analysis is necessary to separate several of the constructs that covaried strongly in the factor analysis leading to the creation of the ten motives scales in part 1 of this study. (4) The relative homogeneity of the sample managerial population makes these results less generalizable than might be desired. Furthermore, due to the restriction of range inherent in such a sample, meaningful correlations may be masked by the shared variance of the sample. Further research with a more heterogeneous sample would be useful. (5) The sample used in this study was drawn entirely from U.S. American managers. Parallel research using samples drawn from other countries and cultures may reveal significant differences in motive patterns in individuals from other parts of the world. (6) In the practice of leadership development, practitioners would serve participants by providing more complete feedback and insight through the use of a more comprehensive measure of motives. |
