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ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES: TWO FIELD QUASI‐EXPERIMENTS
Author(s) -
DUNHAM RANDALL B.,
PIERCE JON L.,
CASTAÑEDA MARIA B.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
personnel psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.076
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1744-6570
pISSN - 0031-5826
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1987.tb00602.x
Subject(s) - work schedule , schedule , psychology , intervention (counseling) , work (physics) , applied psychology , social psychology , operations management , management , engineering , mechanical engineering , psychiatry , economics
In the first ( N = 140) of two quasi‐experimental field studies, trial group employees were changed from a 5/40 to a 4/40 work schedule for four months then returned to a 5/40 schedule. In a second study ( N = 102), trial group employees were changed from 5/40 to flextime. Reactions were evaluated using a model for understanding the impact of work schedules. The effects of schedule changes matched those anticipated by pre‐intervention surveys of employees. Factors related to organizational effectiveness were enhanced where specific organizational needs were met. Interference with personal activities was reduced where employees had experienced specific difficulties. The most powerful effect, however, was on worker attitudes toward specific work schedules. In addition, a mild positive (perhaps Hawthorne) effect was evident for a wide range of general worker reactions.