The aim of the study was to develop, validate and implement a measure of
in-company industrial relations climate (IRC). A model of in-company
industrial relations (IR) was formulated within the context of an open
IR system. Key in-company IR dimensions of employee representation,
grievance and disciplinary procedures, communications, supervision and
peer group were identified. The effective functioning of these
components was seen as necessary if an overall policy strategy to deal
with in-company IR was to be operational. The use of IR climate
(IRC) as a specific type of organisational climate was proposed as a
suitable form of analysis of in-company IR. The need for a
psychometrically reliable and valid instrument was indicated and an
appropriate procedure for establishing a reliable and valid in-company
IRC scale was formulated and implemented.
The validation procedure was implemented through the application of an
initial form of the in-company IRC scale (IIRCS) to a sample of 16
subjects in a pilot study. The scale was revised and administered as
part of a battery, which included scales establishing organisational
commitment and job satisfaction, to a sample of subjects ( n ■ 393) at a
South African gold mine. A separate sample of 32 employees was drawn
from the organisation to establish teat-retest reliability.
The IIRCS was refined through the elimination of items which reduced the
reliability of the sub-scales. The sub-scale of peer group was
eliminated because of limitations of reliability and construct validity.
Results for the revised sub-scales assessing the remaining in-company
IRC dimensions indicated acceptable levels of internal-consistency and
test-retest reliability coefficients. Correlations between IIRC
