Assessment of the Relationship Between Perceived Effectiveness of the Rationalization Program of Philippine Tourism Authority and the Employees’ Locus of Control

Abstract

The rapidly changing environment pushes the government to transform the bureaucracy and improve its performance. Rationalization of the Executive Branch is one of the government’s efforts to be able to meet the demands brought about by environment. The purpose of this study was to find an association between perceived effectiveness and locus of control orientation during organizational change. Perceived effectiveness of the rationalization program of the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) was measured in terms of justification, communicative action, and instrumental action. A sample of 100 randomly employees of then PTA (now Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority) were given a questionnaire based on Jones (1996) to measure their locus of control during change and the level of their perceived effectiveness with the implementation of the rationalization program. Only 82 of the 100 were returned and used for the statistical computation of the study. Results showed that the employees possessed an internal locus of control orientation during change. The employees perceived that the Change Management Team’s efforts on justification and instrumental action were effective while communicative action was ineffective. There was a moderately significant relationship with locus of control during change and perceived effectiveness in terms of justification and instrumental action. The researcher recommends the TIEZA administration to (a) periodically review the rationalization program, its mechanisms and develop new plans and strategies of the agency; (b) conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation on the effects of the rationalization plan; (c) put emphasis in properly communicating the changes to the employees; and (d) provide avenues for feedback. For future researchers on the topic, the researcher recommends future studies to find out if: (a) the locus of control during change translates to behaviour; and (b) demographic profile affects locus of control during change.