Person -environment fit and paradigm shifts: A model of behavioral results using object -oriented technology

Workers have certain needs and values regarding the characteristics of their jobs. These workers find supplies for these needs from their employers. To the degree that their needs are met, person-environment fit theory posits that workers suffer from fewer strains (a physical and physiological manifestation of stress). By the same token, employers place certain demands on their employees. Workers are generally hired on the belief that they have the abilities to meet the demands of the job. To the degree that workers can match their abilities with these demands, person-environment fit theory suggests that performance will be better.;Adaption-innovation theory posits that people have a preferred cognitive style that exists somewhere along a bimodal continuum that ranges from highly adaptive to highly innovative. High adaptors prefer to work within their established paradigm, allowing change to come in small increments in such a way as to re-shape their paradigm. Conversely, high innovators are intrigued by newer paradigms and will often jump to a new one, outgrowing their old paradigm quickly.;This study forms a general model that assesses fit, strains and performance in a work environment of radical change, or paradigm shift. It assesses person-environment fit regarding needs and job supplies, and of job demands and worker abilities. Strains and performance are also assessed in order to account for the variance in each as explained by the degree (or the lack) of fit. A paradigm shift is central to this study, and so information technology workers who have had to adjust to object-oriented technologies were chosen as subjects to help build the model. The model is general enough, however, that any work environment in the midst of a paradigm shift could be used.;Results show that there are significant relationships between fit, strain and performance in a paradigm shifting workplace. Further, evidence is provided that strain actually mediates the relationship of fit to performance. An inverse relationship between strain and performance was expected and is shown by the data. Regression analysis and surface response methodology are used as tools to analyze and explain these relationships.