Abstract:
A method and a tool to measure workplace friendship formation and its effects on individual and organizational job outcomes. The tool comprises one or more items that measure the formation of workplace friendships (). Various items measure different or overlapping categories. The items are presented as a survey () that an individual or a plurality of individuals complete (). After the individual completes the survey, the scores on the items that measure each of the different categories of formation is aggregated () and divided by the number of items per category (). A total score is calculated per category allowing comparison of the scores on each of the various categories of workplace friendship formation (). The category with the highest score is an individual's “relational tendency” (). After an individual identifies his/her workplace friendship formation and relational tendency, he/she may complete an additional survey on outcomes of interest (). After completing this survey and calculating the scores on the individual outcomes (), and/or organizational outcomes for a plurality of individuals () relevant statistical computations are to be performed () to examine the relationship between workplace friendship formation and the outcomes of interest. This regression analysis or a statistically equivalent test leads to results () that illustrate (through workplace friendship formation) how and why workplace friendships have the effects on the job outcomes of interest.