Relationship between personality type and the ability to be a change agent
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Date
1999Author
Flanum, Ramona J.
Publisher
University of Wisconsin--Stout
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This descriptive study investigated the relationship between personality types as indicated on the Myer’s Briggs Type Indicator and the ability to be a change agent as measured by the Change Agent Inventory. The Myer’s Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Form G is a questionnaire designed to make Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types understandable and useful in everyday life. The author, Katharine Cook Briggs (1875-1968) and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980) were disciplined observers of human personality differences. They studied and elaborated the ideas of Jung, and applied them to human interaction. After more than 50 years of research and development, the current MBTI is the most widely used instrument for understanding normal personality differences. The Change Agent Inventory (CAI) provides a comprehensive assessment of the criteria and characteristics necessary to successfully implement key business changes in an organization. It can be used to assess individuals charged with the responsibility to make sure a change happens; and to select primary change agents for major change projects. The CAI was developed by Implementation Management Associates, Inc. of Brighton, Colorado. After these two instruments were taken by members of the College Operating Team (COT), a focus group was conducted with these questions asked of each member: What is your attitude toward change? Do you like or dislike change? Why? How effective are you as a change agent? The participants in this study were nine managers at a two-year technical college. The WITC - New Richmond COT has a variety of personality preferences. All the COT members demonstrated a higher than average capacity for change. There was a tendency for more intuitive managers to score higher on the change agent instrument. There was also a tendency for the higher the score on the change agent instrument the lower the MBTI Type S score. However, there did appear to be a positive relationship between the focus group responses and CAI scores.
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http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/39247Description
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