Sa. Funderburg et Pe. Levy, THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL VARIABLES ON 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK-SYSTEM ATTITUDES, Group & organization management, 22(2), 1997, pp. 210-235
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of i
ndividual and contextual variables on attitudes toward 360-degree feed
back systems. It was hypothesized that individual differences as well
as contextual factors would influence employees' receptivity to the im
pla mentation of a multirater appraisal system. Respondents were 52 em
ployees from a manufacturing company and 23 employees from a telecommu
nications organization. All respondents had participated in the piloti
ng of a multirater feedback system. The identified variables accounted
for nearly 50% of the variance in 360-degree feedback system attitude
s. These findings support the notion that organizations must begin to
recognize the variety of needs of the workforce and understand the imp
ortance of providing a multitude of tools to improve performance. Furt
her analyses indicated that contextual factors appear more important t
han personality in determining 360-degree attitudes. Implications for
organizational practices are suggested along with areas of future rese
arch.