Collateral duty job satisfaction among Coast Guard aviators

176 Pages·2.6 MB·en_US

by  Morrison, Robert James.

«
iimvm •a143-5101

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Collateral Duty Job Satisfaction
Among Coast Guard Aviators
by
RobertJames Morrison, Jr.
Lieutenant Commander, United States Coast Guard
B.S., United States Coast Guard Academy, 1977
Submitted in partial fulfillment
ofthe requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT
from the
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
^December 1991
A
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11
unciassmea
SECURITYCLASSIFICATIONOFTHIS PAGE
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
la REPORTSECURITYCLASSIFICATION lb RESTRICTIVE MARKINGS
Unclassified
2a SECURITYCLASSIFICATIONAUTHORITY 3 DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITYOF REPORT
Approvedfor publicrelease;distributionisunlimited.
2b DECLASSIFICATION/DOWNGRADINGSCHEDULE
4 PERFORMINGORGANIZATION REPORTNUMBER(S) 5 MONITORINGORGANIZATIONREPORTNUMBER(S)
6a NAMEOFPERFORMINGORGANIZATION 6b OFFICESYMBOL 7a NAME OF MONITORINGORGANIZATION
Naval PostgraduateSchool (Ifapplicable) NavalPostgraduateSchool
As
6c ADDRESS(C/fy,State,andZIPCode) 7b ADDRESS(City,State, andZIPCode)
Monterey,CA 93943 5000 Monterey,CA 93943 5000
8a NAMEOF FUNDING/SPONSORING 8b OFFICE SYMBOL 9 PROCUREMENT INSTRUMENTIDENTIFICATION NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (Ifapplicable)
8c ADDRESS(C/ty,State,andZIPCode) 10 SOURCEOF FUNDINGNUMBERS
ProgramtlementNo ProjectNo WorkUnnAueiiion
Number
11.TITLE(IncludeSecurityClassification)
COLLATERALDUTYJOBSATISFACTIONAMONGCOASTGUARDAVIATORS
12 PERSONALAUTHOR(S) RobertJamesMorrison,Jr.
13a TYPE OF REPORT 13b TIME COVERED 14 DATEOFREPORT(year,month,day) 15 PAGE COUNT
Master'sThesis From To December1991 AMl
16 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTATION
Theviewsexpressed inthisthesisarethoseoftheauthoranddonotreflecttheofficialpolicyorpositionoftheDepartmentofDefenseortheU.S.
Government.
17 COSATICODES 18 SUBJECT TERMS(continueonreverseifnecessaryandidentifybyblocknumber)
FIELD GROUP SUBGROUP Jobsatisfaction,jobdesign,aviators,pilots,CoastGuard,collateralduty
19 ABSTRACT(continueonreverseifnecessaryandidentifybyblocknumber)
ThisresearchsoughtUidetermineifcollateraldutyjobsatisfactionisrelatedtoaCoastGuardaviator'scareersatisfactionandretention
plans,whicharethemostand leastsatisfyingcollateralduties,andifvariousjob,management,andindividualcharacteristicsarerelatedto
collateraldutysatisfaction Datawereobtainedfromaquestionnairewhichwassenttoallduty standingpilotsatCoastGuardairstations.
Usingstatisticalanalysistechniquesandreviewsofqualitativecomments,thedatawereanalyzedand resultsobtained.
Collateraldutysatisfactionis(airlystronglyrelatedtocareersatisfaction,andtoalessdegree,retentionplans. AviatorsLendtobe
positivelysatisfiedwiththeircollateralduty,withtheEngineeringdepartmentofferingthemostsatisfyingcollateraldutieswhilethe
Administrationdepartmenttendstoottertheleast,butstill positively,satisfyingcollateralduties. Jobandmanagementcharacteristicsarevery
influentialoncollateraldutysatisfaction,andwhiletheinfluenceofvariouscharacteristicsvaryamongofficerrank,thefivemostinfluential
characteristicsforCoastGuardaviatorsoverallareautonomy,tasksignificance,beingabletoinfluencewhichcollateralduty isassigned,
leadershipopportunities,andsatisfactionwiththesupervisor.
Whilecollateraldutysatisfactiontends tobepositive,aviatorsaredissatisfiedbytheconflictresultingfromnothavingenoughtimeto
maintainproficiencyinbothaviation(primary)andcollateralduties.
20 DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITYOFABSTRACT 21 ABSTRACTSECURITYCLASSIFICATION
UNCIASSIMtU/UNUMnEIi [J SAMt ASREPORT J DTKUSIKS UNCLASSIFIED
22a NAME OF RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL 22b TELEPHONE (IncludeAreacode) 22c OFFICE SYMBOL
Susan PageHocevar [phone] As/Ik
DD FORM 1473. 84 MAR 83APReditionmaybeuseduntilexhausted SECURITYCLASSIFICATIONOF THIS PAGE
Allothereditionsareobsolete UNCLASSIFIED
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
Monterey, California
THESIS
COLLATERAL DUTY JOB SATISFACTION
AMONG COAST GUARD AVIATORS
by
RobertJames Morrison, Jr.
December, 1991
Thesis Co-Advisors: Susan Page Hocevar
James E. Suchan
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

ABSTRACT
This research sought to determine if collateral duty job satisfaction is related to a
Coast Guard aviator's career satisfaction and retention plans, which are the most and least
satisfying collateral duties, and ifvarious job, management, and individual characteristics
are related to collateral duty satisfaction. Data were obtained from a questionnaire which
was sent to all duty-standing aviators at Coast Guard air stations. Using statistical
analysis techniques and reviews of qualitative comments, the data were analyzed and
results obtained.
Collateral duty satisfaction is fairly strongly related to career satisfaction, and to a
lesser degree, retention plans. Aviators tend to be positively satisfied with their collateral
duty, with the Engineering department offering the most satisfying collateral duties while
the Administration department tends to offer the least, but still positively, satisfying
collateral duties. Job and management characteristics are very influential on collateral
duty satisfaction, and while the influence of various characteristics vary among officer
rank, the five most influential characteristics for Coast Guard aviators overall are
autonomy, task significance, being able to influence which collateral duty is assigned,
leadership opportunities, and satisfaction with the supervisor.
While collateral duty satisfaction tends to be positive, aviators are dissatisfied by
the conflict resulting from not having enough time to maintain proficiency in both
aviation (primary) and collateral duties.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. 1
A. COAST GUARD AVIATION 1
B. COLLATERAL DUTIES 3
ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
C. 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
II. 5
A. THEORIES OF JOB SATISFACTION THROUGH JOB DESIGN ... 5
B. JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL 10
C. STUDIES OF COAST GUARD OFFICERS 15
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
D. 17
METHODOLOGY
III. 19
INTRODUCTION
A. 19
TARGET POPULATION
B. 19
QUESTIONNAIRE
C. 20
D. COLLATERAL DUTY IDENTIFICATION 23
E. ANALYSIS 26
IV