Assessments of innovative behavior: Partial criteria for the assessment of executive performance

Assessments by superiors and peers of the innovative behavior of administrators are considered as partial criteria of executive performance. A measure based upon 7-point rating scales was adjudged unacceptable as a measure of innovative behavior, because of insufficient discriminant validity with respect to ratings of other attributes, and because of uniformly high correlation with ratings of general effectiveness, regardless of raters' independently expressed attitudes toward innovative behavior. A measure based upon forced choice between innovative and noninnovative descriptions shows more promise; its major correlates both within and across raters are other measures of innovation and of attributes theoretically related to innovativeness; and it is significantly correlated with general effectiveness ratings only when assessors report, by an independent measure, that they value innovative behavior highly. Assessments are influenced by status of assessor (supervisor or peer) and by organizational climates. (19 ref.)