A discriminant validity study of aggregate-level constructs and measures of local union formalization, centralization, and innovation

Aggregate-level constructs and measures of local union structure pertaining to centralization, formalization, and innovation were developed and evalua ted with ratings by local officers (N = 153) representing 56 locals. Office rs exhibited high agreement with respect to the structure of their local. C onfirmatory factor analyses performed with LISREL (K. G. Joreskog & D. Sorb om, 1991) on the aggregate covariance matrix (N = 56) provided support for a 3-factor model and discriminant validity. Correlational analyses indicate d that local formalization was negatively related to local centralization a nd that local centralization was negatively related to local innovation. An important finding was that local formalization was positively related to l ocal innovation, suggesting that union and nonunion organizations may diffe r in terms of this structural relationship.