Employee Job Autonomy and Control in a Restructured Extension Organization

Abstract

This descriptive cross sectional census study identified theperceptions of Extension and Outreach employees of IowaState University in the United States about job autonomy andcontrol after two years of a major restructuring. Employees perceivedautonomy and control over expressing views and ideasabout their work and spending time on the job but perceivedlittle influence over budget allocations and shaping organizationalstrategies. They felt administrators and external funding sourcesinfluenced programming. They perceived contributing most toprogram implementation and marketing. The findings from thisstudy have implications for operations and programming in Extensionand other organizational settings.

Keywords

• Extension
• restructuring
• autonomy
• control
• programming