Executive's Knowledge of Organizational Problem Types: Applying a Contingency Perspective

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Abstract
Substantial evidence exists to support the contention that executives interpret organizational events as problems. Little is known, however, about the way executives conceptualize organizational problem types, even though the contingency approach to management has suggested for years that managers interpret and respond to common types of problems. This study investigates executives' descriptions offour types of organizational problems that correspond to two dimensions (strategic versus operating, and human versus technical) commonly used by executives to interpret problems and repeatedly noted in organizational literature. It is hypothesized that executives represent the problem types inherent within each dimension differently. Responses were obtainedfrom 59 executives on 14 descriptors associated with the organizational problem formulation process. A repeated measures design was used to compare the two sets of problem types across the 14 process descriptors. Significant differences were found to exist between the descriptor sets for both dimensions, suggesting that executives perceive patterns in organizational problems; the results presented offer exploratory evidence of the nature of these patterns. Limitations of the study are noted and suggestions are madeforfurther research aiming to tie evidence of the contingent nature ofproblemformulation to managerial and organizational performance.