Development of a Management Techniques Inventory

The primary purpose of this investigation was to design and employ an inventory to collect information from a sample of Navy managers describing their perceptions of various leadership techniques. A secondary purpose was to assess the inventory itself, using the results of this assessment to further develop and refine the inventory. An instrument called the Management Techniques Inventory (MTI) was developed. It contains sections in which the respondents rate the familiarity and usefulness of 12 management techniques, the appropriateness of these techniques to solve 10 specific problems, their skill in solving the problems, and demographic information. The MTI was administered to a sample of Navy officer and civilian managers. Overall, the techniques which were rated as most familiar were also rated as most generally useful. On the average, the techniques chosen as most familiar were the more traditional, straightforward ways of influencing behavior, while the more contemporary, sophisticated techniques received lower ratings on these dimensions. The results suggest that there is a need within the Navy to impart knowledge and skills to managers regarding contemporary management techniques and problem solving. It is further concluded that the MTI has usefulness as a management assessment tool and potential usefulness as a management training tool.