Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this replication study was to investigate the degree to which California community college chief administrative officers (chief instructional officer—CIO or chief student services officer—CSSO) used stress-inducing strategies as a means of initiating stress-reactions to facilitate change in the behaviors of individuals and/or groups. In particular, this study looked into the use of five stress-inducing strategies: (1) authoritative command, (2) evaluation, (3) norm discrepancy, (4) sanctions and (5) targeting (DeVore 1994). The results of the study were compared with the findings from the DeVore and Van Vooren studies. Methodology. The study was a descriptive, ex post facto, replication study with quantitative research. The seventy-three participants in this study were from colleges of Title III or Title V and recognized as chief administrative officers for their institution as either the instructional officer (CIO) or chief student services officer (CSSO) or both and a few indicated other. The participants responded to a questionnaire on their use of the stress-inducing strategies. Findings. First, the examination of quantitative data from the chief administrative officers indicated the use of all five stress-inducing strategies. Second, the data indicated the prevailing use of norm discrepancy as a strategy to produce change by chief administrative officers and the minimum use of sanctions as a strategy. Third, the z-score of difference between the current study and the Van Vooren study indicated a significant difference in the use of targeting, whereas, the DeVore study revealed a significant difference between the four strategies of authoritative command, evaluation, sanctions and targeting. Conclusions. The researcher confirmed the use of stress-inducing strategies as means of producing change. Significant to the study was the use of norm discrepancy by chief administrative officers in facilitating change. Recommendations. Further research on the use of the stress-inducing framework is suggested for middle-management, such as deans and directors, at community colleges. Another area for research would be to compare chief executive officers by gender from educational institutions and the business sectors.