Abstract

This dissertation developed an instrument to measure the extent to which managers in organizations are changing their views of the world. An emerging worldview was contrasted with a traditional worldview as expressed in three pairs of assumptions: explanation--From reductionist assumptions in which any phenomenon is reduced to its simplest components, to holistic or synthetic assumptions in which any phenomenon must be understood as a whole within a broader context or environment; causation--From causal assumptions of linearity, to assumptions of mutual causation in which cause and effect are interdependent; and, observation--From the assumption of an objective observer who is completely detached, to the assumption of a perspectival observer who sees herself as an inextricable part of any inquiry. ;Several authors have characterized the dramatic changes taking place in the world. This paper focused on the possible change in thinking, the difference in organizational mental models represented by the two worldviews. The primary research objectives of this study were: to identify and define the principal constructs of the current change in worldview, and to create and validate a measurement instrument of individual worldview. ;The three major constructs listed above were incorporated into a measurement instrument creation process which coupled techniques from both Thurstone and Likert styles, combining the strengths and overcoming the weaknesses of each. A 119-item instrument was administered to 200 working professionals who had at least three years full-time experience and graduate management degrees . ;A factor analysis revealed a six-factor solution, rather than the three constructs hypothesized. Upon examination, however, two of the six factors were probably measuring something different from what was intended, leaving four factors. Of these four, one each measures Causation and Observation. The other two both measure aspects of Explanation. The final measurement instrument for these four factors, the Dent Worldview Reflector$\sp\copyright$ includes 48 items