Rensis Likert
American educator and organizational
psychologist Rensis Likert (pronounced 'Lick-urt') (1903–1981) is best
known for his research on management styles.
He developed
Likert Scales and the
Linking pin model.
Rensis Likert was a founder of the
University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and was the
director from its inception in 1946 until 1970, when he retired and
founded Rensis Likert Associates to consult for numerous corporations.
During his tenure, Rensis Likert devoted particular attention to
research on organizations. During the 1960s and 1970s, his books on
management theory were extremely popular in Japan and their impact can
be seen across modern Japanese organizations. He did research on major
corporations around the world, and his studies have accurately predicted
the subsequent performance of the corporations.
Biography of Rensis Likert
He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming in
1903, where his father was an engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad.
After the training to be an engineer, he was working as an intern with
Union Pacific Railroad during the watershed 1922 strike. The lack of
communication between the two parties made a profound impression on him
and caused him to study organizations and their behaviour for the rest
of his life.
Rensis Likert received his B.A. in
Sociology from the University of Michigan in 1926. His early grounding
in these fields was the basis for much of Likert's work. The field of
sociology in the 1920s was highly experimental and incorporated many
aspects of modern psychology. In 1932 he received his Ph.D in psychology
from Columbia University. For his thesis work, Likert produced a survey
scale (Likert Scales) as a means of measuring attitudes, showing that it
captured more information than competing methods. The 1-5 Likert Scales
would eventually become Likert's best-known work.
According to Rensis Likert employee
centered supervision is more productive than job centered supervision.
In other words, the more the job is supervised, the less productive the
people.
Books of Rensis Likert
Author:
'New Ways of Managing Conflict' 1976
(With Jane Gibson Likert)
'Human organization : its management and value' (1967)
'New patterns of management' (1961)
Co-editor:
'Some applications of behavioural
research' (1957)
Biographical details:
"In Memoriam: Rensis Likert,
1903-1981". Leslie Kish (1982). The American Statistician, Vol. 36, No.
2: pp. 124-125
Rensis Likert
Rensis Likert is well known in the
field of conflict management. He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on is
August 5, 1903, the son of George Herbert, an engineer, and Cornelia
Zonne Likert. In 1926, he graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor. Two years later he married Jane Gibson, an editor and consultant.
The couple had two children, Elizabeth and Patricia.
Likert continued his studies at
Columbia University in New York City, earning a Ph.D. in 1932. By that
time he had begun his teaching career as an instructor at New York
University, New York City, becoming an assistant professor in 1935.
Likert spent a year on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, New York, 1935-1936, before being named head of the Division
of Program Surveys, Bureau of Agricultural Economics in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. Also during that period, he
was research director for Life Insurance Agency Management Association,
1935-39, and director of the Morale Division of the U.S. Strategic
Bombing Survey, 1944-1946, during World War II.
Rensis Likert returned to the
University of Michigan in 1946 and remained there until 1970 as
professor of psychology and sociology. Likert was named professor
emeritus in 1971. During his tenure at Michigan, he also served as
director of the Survey Research Center, 1946-48, and in the Institute
for Social Research, 1948-70, becoming director emeritus in 1971.That
year, Likert also formed his own company, Rensis Likert Associates, in
Ann Arbor. It was concerned with management styles and systems in
conjunction with survey research.
In addition to his teaching career,
Likert contributed to numerous publications, including the Internatinal
Encyclopedia of Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology.
He is the author of six books, most dealing with management, such as
Morale and Agency Management, 4 volumes, with J.M. Willits, 1940-41, and
The Human Organization: Its Management and Value, 1967. With his wife,
he wrote New Ways of Managing Conflict, published by McGraw-Hill in
1976. Intended for laypersons seeking to resolve most types of
conflicts, the book applies research data concerning organizations and
their effectiveness to the management of conflict.
Likert was a fellow and board of
directors member of the American Psychological Association, past
president of the American Statistical Association, and a member of the
national Academy of Public Administration. In 1955, he received the Paul
D. Converse Award from the University of Illinois; in 1962, the James A.
Hamilton Award and awards from the Organization Development Council and
the McKinsey Foundation for his book New Patterns of Management; in
1968, a human relations award from the Society for the Advancement of
Management and a professional achievement award from the American Board
of examiners of Professional Psychologists; and outstanding achievement
awards from the American Society for Training and Development (1969) and
the American Association for Public Opinion Research (1973).
References
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/rensis-likert-soc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rensis_Likert
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