Contrasting managerial perspectives of American and Italian public administrators

A 45-item Q- sort first developed in a study of Italian public administrators was used to compare managerial attitudes of 110 American and 183 Italian male administrators. Items were evaluated both with regard to mean ratings and sequential ranking within samples. Twenty-five items differentiated significantly between the samples; the correlation (rho) between the two rankings was .60. American administrators placed relatively greater emphasis on interpersonal relationships and career opportunities, whereas Italians stressed security and structure. On six Italian typologies previously established, American scored slightly above average on Type II (the mediator-tolerant, modest in his demands, generous in his relationships), and slightly below average on Type III (the actionist-tough-minded, decisive, indifferent to the feelings of subordinates).