Progress on the Journey to Total Quality Management: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Adjective Check List in Management Development

• Date: 01 September 1995
• DOI: 10.1177/009102609502400308
• Published date: 01 September 1995
• Author: Bonnie G. Mani
• Subject Matter: Article

Progress on The Journey

to

Total Quality

Management:

Using The Myers-Briggs

Type Indicator and The

Adjective Check List in

Management

Development

-

The objective of this

paper

is to describe

and

assess a management development process

utilized in the Internal Revenue Service

(IRS),

a public sector agency that has implemented

Total Quality Management (TQM). The program described in this

paper

is unique to the

Richmond District where the facilitator was qualified to enhance the process used in other

officesby adding the Myers-Briggs Type

Indicator~

an?

The Adjective Check.List.2.This

paper

IS based on three premises. It is feasible for agenaes, I. e., pubhc bureaucracies, to Implement

the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM)

and

agrowing

number

of them are trying

to do so. Management commitment is a prerequisite for TQM so the need to develop effective,

committed managers is increasinglycritical. Programs designed to develop

new

managers can

be enhanced

when

the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

and

The Adjective CheckList are included

as

part

of a self-assessment.

By

Bonnie G. Mani

Bonnie Mani earned master

and doctor of public

administration degreesfrom

Virginia Commonwealth

University. She taughtat

Virginia Commonwealth

Universityand East Carolina

University. She worked for

the InternalRevenue Service

from 1973to

1993.

Her

experience there was In

employee and management

trainingand development,

and quality customer service.

This research was supported

by the Department of Political

Science at East Carolina

University. It is based on the

author's experiences while

Management Achievement

Program Career Advisor and

CustomerService

Coordinatorwith the Internal

Revenue Service. Many

thanks to Fred L. Adair and

Carmine Scavo for feedback

about early drafts ofthis

paper.

The primary objective of this paper is to describe and assess a man-

agement development process that can be used in public sector agencies to

develop

new

managers. This process was employed in the Internal Reve-

nue

Service

(IRS),

a public sector agency that applies the principles of Total

Quality Management (TQM). The Richmond District enhanced the pro-

gram that was conducted in other offices by using the Myers-Briggs Type

Indicator

(MBTI)

and The Adjective Check List

(ACL).

Thus this research

could be applied by those interested in management development pro-

grams, bureaucracies, TQM, the

MBTI,

and the ACL. .

Three steps will lead to accomplishment of the primary objective of

this paper. The first step is to describe the generic, four step career devel-

opment

process used in the

IRS.

The second step is to review relevant

literature about leadership, emphasizing theoretical applications related to

the

MBTI,

the ACL, bureaucracies,

and

total quality organizations. The

third step is to analyze the results of groups who completed the program

in

1991

and 1992and to discuss the implications of the data within the four

step career development process.

Public Personnel

Management

Volume

24

No.3

(Fall, 1995) 365

The

Management

Development

Process

The program in the Internal Revenue Service

(IRS)

was designed to

identify those interested in managerial positions. The program provided

an opportunity for non-managerial employees to learn about themselves

and

about the organization's expectations for managers. After completing

a self-assessment the participants had information that helped them decide

whether they wanted management careers with this agency.

Employees who expressed interest in management careers,

who

were

not

yet managers, might begin the process displayed in Figure 2. The

Pre-Leadership Development Program is the central part of this process.

The self-assessment, Phase II of the Pre-Leadership Development Program,

is described in Figure 3.

It

is within this portion of the management

development process that the

MBTI

and the ACL are administered.

To describe

and

assess a

management

development

process

Objective:

that

can be

used

in public

sector

agencies

to

develop

new

managers.

1. Describe the generic, four step career development process

Steps

to

used in the

IRS.

Accomplish

the

2. Reviewrelevant literature

about

leadership, empha

Objective:

sizing theoretical applications related to

the

MBTI,

the

ACL,

bureaucracies, and total quality organizations.

3. Analyzethe results of groups",!ho completed.the.

program in 1991 and 1992, and discuss

the

irnphcations of the

data within the four step career development process.

1. It is feasible for

a~encies,

i. e., public bureaucracies, to

Premises:

implement to princib

es of Total Quality

Man~ement

(TQM)

and a growing num er of them are trymg to 0so.

2.

Man~ement

commitment is a prerequisite for

TQM

so

the

need to evelop effective, committed managers is increasingly

critical.

3. Programs desifined to develop new managers can be

enhanced when t e

Myers-Brig~s

T~e

Indicator and

The Adjective Check

List

are inc ude as part of a

self-assessment.

366

Public

Personnel

Management

Volume

24

No.3

(Fall,

1995)

The IRS program employed a generic career development model.

Through the process the participants discovered the answers to four ques-

tions.

Who am I?

How

am I seen?

What

is the organization like

and

what

are my options?

How

can I achieve my goals?3

Program participants used several questionnaires" to answer the ques-

tion, "Who am I?" The questionnaires enabled the participants to assess

their values, managerial styles

and

attitudes,

and

career interests. In addi-

tion to the questionnaires used in other offices, a qualified facilitator in the

Richmond District also used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

(MBTI)

and

The Adjective Check List

(ACL)

in this self-assessment.

The second step in the process was answering the question, "How am

I seen?" To find the answer to this question the participants were encour-

aged to share the results of their self-assessments with their managers. They

asked their managers whether they agreed or disagreed with the assess-

ment results

and

for other feedback that could help them to be more

successful.

The insights gained by answering the first two questions could lead

the participants to make decisions about the type of work they would like

to do. The next step would be to answer the question, "What is the

organization like

and

what are my options?" In this part of the process the

participants learned more about career options within the agency. They

used this information to choose career goals they believed were realistic.

The final question was, "How can I achieve my goals?" Using all of

the information gathered to answer the first three questions, the program

participants prepared individual development plans. In these plans they

specified:

o Their career goals.

o Objectives for enhancing qualifications they needed to achieve career

goals.

o Activities they needed to complete to enhance their qualifications.

o The resources necessary to achieve their goals, that is, the people

whose help they needed and the amount of time and money neces-

sary to complete the developmental activities

Progress on

the

Journey to Total Quality

Management

367