The Prediction Of Flexibility And Its Relationship With Work Variables

Abstract

The adaption of flexible practices is a necessity for businesses to be able to survive in a global competitive environment in support of entrepreneurial and market intelligence. This study explores the prediction of formal flexible practices compared with inflexible authoritarian business practices in a South African sample of 333 managers and supervisors. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation between flexible and inflexible practices with corporate entrepreneurship, market orientation and job satisfaction revealed almost direct opposites of the coin. Extrinsic job satisfaction, management support and risk acceptance explained most of the variance in the prediction of both formal flexibility and inflexible authoritarianism by means of Hierarchical Multiple Regression. Management should be vigilant of the opposing relationships of flexible and inflexible work practices in business. Organizations should explore methods to adapt formal flexible practices supported by entrepreneurial and marketing orientations, as well as extrinsic job satisfaction. Management must particularly guard against inflexible authoritarianism and its adverse effects.