Organizational surveys : the diagnosis and betterment of organizations through their members /

Organizational surveys give management snapshots of an organization from which informed decisions can be made. Smith, longtime organizational survey consultant and former director of organizational studies at Sears Roebuck, draws from these experiences in describing how to develop, implement, and interpret surveys for many purposes and companies. The first part of the book provides a nontechnical discussion of survey functions, tools such as questionnaires and interviews, and survey pitfalls. Part 2 covers special survey topics such as customer satisfaction, attendance, turnover, and unionization. The third part includes cases studies from a coal mine, ski resort, research institute, television and radio station, advertising agency, and others. The case studies outline problems within each organization, show survey results, and share implementation successes and failures. A particularly long appendix covers nondirective interviewing; the length of the appendix is appropriate given the strong emphasis on interviewing throughout the book. Specific methodological issues such as questionnaire construction and sampling are more extensively considered in How to Conduct Organizational Surveys: A Step-by-Step Guide, by Jack Edwards et al. (CH, Apr '97). ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Human resource managers and consultants; organizational behavior students, upper-division undergraduate and up; and professors. G. E. Kaupins Boise State University