Abstract
A sample of 403 contract and self-operating college and university food service managers was surveyed to determine role ambiguity, role conflict and role efficacy. The degree to which individuals are unclear on job expectations and the degree to which they experience contradictory demands at work affects their perceived effectiveness. Since contract managers have one more boss in their role set, it was hypothesized that they would have more role ambiguity and conflict and, therefore, perceive themselves as less effective on the job. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that there was very little difference between the two groups of managers. Additionally, demographics of both groups of managers were studied in relationship to role ambiguity, conflict and efficacy. Both groups appear to be very similar according to gender, length of time on the job and size of campus. The analysis also suggested that there is not necessarily an inverse relationship between role ambiguity and role conflict and role efficacy. Any increase or decrease was very slight. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for further objective study of the definitions of role ambiguity and role conflict, as well as their measurement, are suggested.