Technology as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Work Environment and Subunit Effectiveness

Abstract

The present study examined the role of technological complexity as a moderator in the relationship between perceived work environment and subunit effectiveness. Empirically derived subunit effectiveness scores, subunit technology scores, and aggregated subunit employee perceptions of their work environment were used to test the research hypothesis. Moderated regression analysis suggested that technology does operate as a moderating variable. The addition of technology increases the explanation in the variance of subunit effectiveness over the use of work environment factors alone as predictors. Furthermore, the analysis showed that perceived work environments associated with effectiveness vary between technological groupings of subunits. Since such variation in effective work environments was found, it suggests that organization development programs should be multifaceted and based on substantial research in the organization to determine appropriate work environments in the various subunits. © 1981, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.