Discussion

Abstract

Following the statistical analysis of the survey results in part F, the next part provides a discussion of the findings in the light of previous literature on the controllability principle. In addition, it is examined how the qualitative knowledge that has been gathered from the interviews conducted in the first stage of this research project complements the survey findings. Since role theory is the underlying perspective of this work, the following chapters attempt to relate the empirical findings to the role episode model and assess the theory’s explanatory power in the interpretation of the findings. The next chapters are structured around the application of the controllability principle as a corporate practice (chapter G1), the cognitive mechanisms induced by the principle’s application, and the way the basic role relationships are influenced by contextual factors (chapter G2), and finally the affective (chapter G3) and behavioral (chapter G4) responses resulting from these cognitive mechanisms.