Distinctive personality traits of quality management personnel

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in personality and career satisfaction between quality managers and workers in other fields based on Person-Environment Fit theory. Design/methodology/approach – Field study: personality and career satisfaction data for 965 quality managers were compared with those for a sample of over 85,000 individuals in many different occupations and employment settings using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and t-tests. Findings – Quality managers were higher than other occupations in intrinsic motivation, tough-mindedness, and conscientiousness, but lower in career satisfaction, optimism, and assertiveness. Research limitations/implications – This paper does not contain any longitudinal study; there is also a lack of some demographic variables, including race/ethnicity, job tenure, and career tenure. Practical implications – The findings carry implications for career planning, recruiting, pre-employment testing, training, and helping quality managers navigate through their organizations and careers. Social implications – Overall, the authors provide a personality profile of quality managers and show that many quality managers have lower career satisfaction than other occupations. Originality/value – These findings provide an occupational profile of salient personality traits of QC managers which can be used in occupational classification, field identity, and career planning.