OCTAPACE questionnaire

It is a famous questionnaire used to measure the organizational ethos. This questionnaire is proposed by Dr. Udai Pareek. This questionnaire is of great help to me while doing my project on "Implementation of Knowledge Management" in ISRO-SAC. This is tested to have .89 split half reliability and validity is tested to be good.

The OCTAPACE profile is a 40-item instrument that gives the profile of organisation's ethos in eight values. These values are openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, proaction, autonomy, collaboration and experimentation. The instrument contains two parts. In part I, values are stated in items 1 to 24 (three statements of each of the eight values), and the respondent is required to check (on a 4-point scale) how much each item is valued in his organisation. Part 2 contains sixteen statements on beliefs, two each for eight values, and the respondent checks (on a 4-point scale) how widely each of them is shared in the organisation.
In addition to checking the items on the extent of their importance or sharing in the organisation, the respondent can also check how much they should be valued, or how much the beliefs are useful. Thus both present as well as desired and ideal profiles can be obtained.
SCORING
To make scoring easier, an answer sheet is provided. From the key (appended), the items marked with an asterisk are first reversed so that 4 becomes 1, 3 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 1 becomes 4. This makes all items unidirectional. The rows are then added. The eight rows represent the eight aspects (octapace) in the same order. The scores on each aspect range from 5 to 20. In a group, participants can themselves score their completed answer sheets.
Openness: 1, 9, 17, 25*, 33
Confrontation: 2, 10, 18, 26*, 34
Trust: 3, 11, 19, 27, 35*
Authenticity: 4, 12*, 20, 28*, 36
Proaction: 5, 13, 21, 29, 37
Autonomy: 6, 14*, 22*, 30*, 38
Collaboration: 7, 15, 23*, 31*, 39
Experimentation: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40*

Have a look at the questionnaire:

Write 4 if it is highly valued;

3 if it is given a fairly high value;

2 if it given fairly low value;

1 if it is given very low value.

1. ______ Free interaction amongst employees, each respecting other’s feelings, competence and sense of judgment.
2. ______ Facing and not shying away from problems.
3. ______ Offering moral support and help to employees and colleagues in crises.
4. ______ Congruity between feelings and expressed behavior.
5. ______ Preventive actions on most matters.
6. ______ Employees taking independent action relating to their jobs.
7. ______ Team work and team spirit.
8. ______Employees trying out innovative ways of solving problems.
9. ______ Genuine sharing of information, feelings, and thoughts in meetings.
10. ______ Going deeper rather than doing surface-level analysis of interpersonal problems.
11. ______ Interpersonal contact and support amongst employees.
12. ______ Tactfulness, smartness and even a little manipulation to get things done.
13. ______ Seniors encouraging their subordinates to think about their development and take action in that direction.
14. ______ Close supervision of, and directing employees on, action.
15. ______ Accepting and appreciating help offered by others.
16. ______ Encouraging employees to take a fresh look at how things are done.
17. ______ Free discussion and communication between seniors and subordinates.
18. ______ Facing challenges inherent in the work situation.
19. ______ Confiding in seniors without fear of their misusing trust.
20. ______ Owning up mistakes made.
21. ______ Considering both positive and negative aspects before taking action.
22. ______ Obeying and checking with seniors rather than acting on one’s own.
23. ______ Performing immediate tasks rather than being concerned about large organizational goals.
24. ______ Making genuine attempts to change behavior on the basis of feedback received.

For statements 25 to 40, write 4 if it is highly valued;

3 if it is given a fairly high value;

2 if it given fairly low value;

1 if it is given very low value.

25. ______ Effective managers put a lid on their feelings.
26. ______ Pass the buck tactfully when there is a problem.
27. ______ Trust begets trust.
28. ______ Telling a polite lie is preferable to telling the unpleasant truth.
29. ______ Prevention is better than cure.
30. ______ Freedom to employees breeds indiscipline.
31. ______ Usually emphasis on team work dilutes individual accountability.
32. ______ Thinking out and doing new things tones up organizational vitality.
33. ______ Free and frank communication between various levels helps in solving problems.
34. ______ Surfacing problems is not enough; we should find the solutions.
35. ______ when the chips are down you have to fend for yourself.
36. ______ People are what they seem to be.
37. ______ A stitch in time saves nine.
38. ______ A good way to motivate employees is to give them autonomy to plan their work.
39. ______ Employees involvement in developing organizational mission and goals contributes to productivity.
40. ______ In today’s competitive situation consolidation and stability are more important than experimentation.