MEANS, GOALS, AND OUTCOMES OF A COMPREHENSIVE OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH PROGRAM FOR TELEPHONE OPERATORS

A means-goals analysis requires a plan with some degree of distinctnes s, which is worked out beforehand and specifies reasonably clear goals and intended means. This article draws its material from a broadly de signed strategy for organizational change that meets these criteria. A service division of Swedish Telecom underwent a program of comprehens ive organizational change; major efforts were made to improve the occu pational health of 300 telephone operators in manual service operation s. Over a full three-year period, a number of specific problems were t o be resolved. An independent research team evaluated the implementati on of the program prospectively. The team followed an evaluation model in which stringent distinction was made between: (1) action areas, (2 ) intended specific means, (3) intended immediate goals, and (4) the l onger-term favorable effects of achieving these immediate goals. In ad dition, an attempt was made to interpret and understand the findings o f the means-goals evaluation by paying systematic attention to the imp lementation process and factors that might permit an understanding of the final outcomes of the program. Compared with other efforts to impr ove telephone operators' work conditions as reported in the research l iterature, this strategy for the promotion of change is broad and ambi tious.