1. Can productivity levels be maintained if a fourday work week is substituted for the standard work week?

2. Can productivity levels be improved if a fourday work week is substituted for the standard work week?

3. What effect will the fourday work week have on organizational commitment?

4. What effect will the fourday work week have on job satisfaction?

The findings of the proposed research study will add to the body of knowledge on organizational behavior. These findings will provide organizational managements with an informed basis for making decisions related to changes to the standard work week.

Several terms which are integral to the proposed study require definition. These terms, together with their definitions, are as follows:

1. Fourday work week: a work week consisting of 40hours, which are completed in four tenhour days, which are worked consecutively.

2. Job satisfaction: the degree to which an individualstates that he or she is satisfied with both the specific tasks associated with the job, and the organizational environment of which the job is a part.

3. Organizational commitment: the degree to which an individu

House, R. J. "Amitai Etzioni's A Comparative Analysis of Com plex Organizations. In Tosi, H. L. Theories of Organiza tion, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1984, pp. 85 91.

al states that he or she both supports the objectives of the organization, and is willing to remain employed by the organization.

A related situation which is also frequently found in organizations is that where subordinates feel that the 10organization has provided no one for them to speak to or to provide answers to their questions. In this same vein, supervisors can, and often do, assume that subordinates are not really listening to what theythe supervisorssay, without consciously realizing that an exchange of information is required in the organizational environment, as opposed to a onesided imparting of information. Situations in which either a superior or a subordinate feels that the other is not really listening hold a high potential for the development of organizational conflict. In such situations, messages are likely to be distorted. Distortion, in turn, will likely be translated into a misunderstanding which will be manifested as organizational conflict.

The findings of the proposed research study will be reported in a fivechapter thesis. Chapter titles in the thesis will be as follows: