HIPSYS Handbook

How to Use or Adapt Existing HIPSYS Classes

and Create New Ones

Let’s say you want to use the twelve-facet class that is often used for managers and team leaders in various industries, and without any changes. (We’ll learn that first, and then learn how to make changes later.) The HIPSYS class (that is, what the particular application is called) is "mgt-12". The three image perspectives in this case are SELF, BOSS and SUBORDINATES and there are no breakdowns into component groups. Here’s what you do.

Double click on the HIP Edit icon. Then click on:

File and Open

Select mgt-12

Open

File

Print Questionnaire

When you see Survey File, ignore it and click OK.

If you want to discuss the questionnaire with your client before you finalise it, check the box Collate by Facet. This will group all the randomised questions under their facet headings.

Don’t ever give this questionnaire to respondents to fill out. You’ll have a nightmare of a job trying to input the data because the questions will not be in numerical order. The Collate by Facet option is there just to make it easier for you to discuss the questionnaire and its facets with your client.

When the questionnaire is ready for respondents to fill out, and you want to print it, do NOT check the Collate by Facet box. The questions will then be printed in numerical order with no facet headings.

We will assume, for the time being, that the client has accepted the mgt-12 HIPSYS Class as it is without any changes.

Now select the questionnaires you want to print out and click OK. (Self questions are in the first person {"I", "me", "myself", etc.}, Boss and Subordinates questions are in the third person ("he/she", "his/hers", "himself/herself", etc}. In this case you don’t have to click both Boss and Subordinate, as the questions are the same. So just print out either one of them.

Print Range defaults to "All", click "OK".

Now all you have to do is print a title sheet, on your letterhead if you wish, with the name of the person on whom the questionnaire is being filled out, and instructions on what to do. A suggested format appears as an Appendix at the end of this chapter. Chapter Ten explains how to administer questionnaires.

When all the questionnaires have been returned, the data can be entered manually via HIP Input. Chapter Four will tell you how to do that. Alternatively, questionnaires can be completed on-line. But before we go into that, let’s suppose that you want to adapt a HIPSYS class, or create a new one. Let’s look at that now.

Suppose you want to break down the SUBORDINATES image perspective into three component groups. This may be by location, function, shift, or whatever the client wants. Let’s say you want to break them down into Shift A, Shift B and Shift C. Here’s what you do:

Double click on the HIP Edit icon, and then click on:

File and Open

mgt-12 and Open

Edit

Edit Perspectives

Click on SUBS, then

click on "Next" button

In the Code box type "Shift-A". (You’re allowed up to seven characters.)

In the Name box type "Shift-A". (Any number of characters.)

In the Parent box type "SUBS" (Note: Parent image perspectives [i.e., aggregates] should be typed in UPPER CASE, and component groups in lower case. This makes them easier to distinguish - especially in the Assist display.

If the groups are of roughly equal numbers, ignore the "Weighting" box. (Weightings are optional in any case and subject to the preferences of the client/consultant. See later in this chapter.)

And ignore the Order box, as the order will be entered automatically when you Save.

Then click on Next and repeat the procedure for Shift-B and Shift-C. You may use the Tab key to move down the boxes if you prefer.

Before you Exit, click on SELF then keep clicking on the Next button to ensure that the Order number is:

SELF 1

BOSS 2

SUBORDINATES 3

Shift A 4

Shift B 5

Shift C 6

Image perspectives must ALWAYS be in the order of:

• First image perspective (Red Circle) followed by any breakdown into components.

• Second image perspective (Yellow Circle) followed by any breakdown into components.

• Third image perspective (Blue Circle) followed by any breakdown into components.

Don’t try to be creative about this; otherwise, you will have the wrong things in the wrong circles.

You will notice that the class name is printed at the foot of every page of the questionnaires you print out, so ALWAYS make sure you are inputting data into the proper class.

You will now have a new HIPSYS class, call it mgt12ABC if you like, with the following perspectives:

Table 3.1

Possible Structure of an Adapted mgt-12 Class

Parent Image Perspectives (or Aggregate Response Group)	Component Groups
SELF	N/A
BOSS	N/A if only one Boss or if the responses of more than one Boss are to be aggregated. But several Bosses may be included and each one separated out as a component of the BOSS Response Group, i.e.: Boss 1 Boss 2
SUBORDINATES	Shift A Shift B Shift C

Weightings

This controls the weighting applied to breakdowns in Parent Image Perspectives (i.e., an Image Perspective or Aggregate Response Group that is broken down into Component Groups), and is not used for unified (Aggregate or Parent) image perspectives. The default weighting is 1. However, if, for example, in the Self Image of an organization, seven Managers' questionnaire responses are considered as relevant as, or need to be made up to the same number as, say, twenty-eight Supervisors, then they may be weighted as 4. This means that each response by a Manager would be counted as four responses for the purpose of aggregating the total Self Image of the organization.

However, when Managers and Supervisors are separated into Component Groups, their responses can be viewed separately and compared with Supervisors’ responses in various displays including Circles, Histogram and Assist. And so most clients consider weightings to be unnecessary. So ignore Weightings if you wish. Most Users do, but they are in the program if you want to use them.

Now suppose you want to add or delete facets. Let’s say you want to delete the facet on Safety because you’re applying the mgt-12 class to some office managers and safety is not an issue you feel there is a need to examine. You can just delete it and run with eleven facets, or you can add another facet to replace it if you want. Here’s how:

If you want to delete a facet:

Double click on HIP Edit.

File and Open.

Click on mgt-12 and Open.

Then Edit and Edit Facets.

Select the facet you want to delete (Safety) and click on the Delete button.

You will be asked if you are sure. If you are, hit the Delete button shown in the box and the Safety facet will be deleted. So will all ten questions under that facet. This will cause the remaining 110 questions to re-randomise.

You now have a new HIPSYS class with eleven facets and 110 questions.

If you want to add another facet, say, Resource Management, to an existing class such as mgt-12, do this:

Double click on HIP Edit.

File and Open.

Then mgt-12 and Open.

Edit and Edit Facets.

Click on NEW.

In the Code box type "Resman".

In the Name box type "Resource Management".

Then OK, Save and Exit.

In editing questions, the only buttons to be used are New, Delete and Restore.

New This automatically creates a new question.

Delete Deletes the current question.

Restore Allows you to restore the current question to its last saved state. Note: The last saved state is that which was last displayed on the screen (i.e., just before it was most recently edited).

The Question Navigation buttons are to enable you to find your way around any existing HIPSYS Class.

Next Question Displays the next question number.

Previous Question Displays the previous question number.

Go To Question Prompts you for the question number you wish to see.

Next In Facet Displays the next question that belongs to the same facet as the current question.

Previous In Facet Displays the previous question that belongs to the same facet as the current question.

Go To Facet Prompts you for the facet you wish to see and displays the first question found in that facet. If none is found, then a new question can be created to the current facet.

If you have created a new facet as explained above, you must now type in the questions that will draw out that facet. It’s a good idea to consult with your client on this, so the questions draw out the information they will find meaningful and helpful. To type in the questions you:

Double click on HIP Edit.

File and Open.

Select mgt-12, or mgt12ABC, or whatever class you are editing, and Open.

Edit and Edit Questions.

Click on NEW.

In the Facet box, scroll down and click on Resman.

Then place the cursor in the SELF box and type in your first question. For example:

Then click on the Copy button. The question (or statement) will then appear in the Boss and Subordinates boxes. You now have to edit them to the third person as follows:

(If you want to print out male {he, him, his, etc.} and female {she, her, hers, etc.} versions of questionnaires separately, then instead of typing "he/she" and "his/her" etc., type "%SEX(he,she)%" and %SEX(his,her)%" etc. We’ll see later how this enables you to print out Male, Female or Generic forms of questionnaires.)

If you prefer, you may type the question in the BOSS or SUBORDINATES box first. Then when you hit the "Copy" button you will have to edit only the SELF box, as the questions are worded the same in the BOSS and SUBORDINATE boxes.

Now click on the NEW button and type in your next question. Do this for as many questions as you want to bring out the issues under this facet.

Then Exit and Save to the new name you created when entering the new facet or, if you have not done that yet, Save As under a new name NOW.

To guard against the "halo effect" or the "donkey vote", it is recommended each facet should have at least one negative question. This means that to Agree with it would produce a minus and to Disagree with it would produce a plus. Some people don’t like negative questions because, they say, it makes them stop and think. This is what they’re supposed to do. Others say up to half of the questions should be negative.

When you click on the Negative Statement box a cross will appear in it and that particular question will then be treated as a negative question. This means that an "Agree" response will yield a minus and a "Disagree" response will yield a plus. (See also Chapter One page 3 and Chapter Eleven, pages 93 – 96.)

Examples of negative questions are: -

Having entered your new image perspective (or component[s]), your new facet and your new questions, you will now have a class in which the Safety facet has been deleted and a new facet called Resources Management has been added. You could also have added the Resources Management facet without deleting the Safety facet if you had wanted to; but twelve facets is probably enough for anybody to handle and won’t cram up your computer screen too much when viewing the multi-facet displays. (See pages 54 - 55.)

If you have developed a brand new HIPSYS Class from scratch, then once you have entered all your questions under their appropriate facets, you should then randomise them. Then when questionnaires go out to respondents, the pattern of questions (for example, ten under Delegation, twelve under Leadership, eight under Communications, and so on) will not be apparent.

To randomise the question order, click on File and Save As.

Then click on the Randomise box.

As was mentioned earlier, when you want to discuss the questionnaire with your clients prior to finalizing it for distribution to respondents, the Print by Facet option will group all questions under their Facet headings. This makes it easier for your client to see how the questionnaire has been structured and facilitates more meaningful discussion.

What do you want to do next? Well, if you’ve given out all the questionnaires and got them back all filled out, you’re now ready to input all the data. Chapter Four tells you how to do that.

QUESTIONNAIRE IN RESPECT OF:

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this questionnaire is to reflect how you see yourself - your thoughts about yourself, your opinions, intentions or assumptions. Your honest responses will provide feedback that will be of value to you.

Please respond to each statement in the questionnaire by circling or crossing out 'A', 'N' or 'D'.

To cross out 'A' like this means that you AGREE with the statement.

To cross out 'N' like this means that you NEITHER Agree nor Disagree with the statement. Please note that this means you DON'T KNOW or the statement is NOT APPLICABLE. If you think the statement is sometimes true of you but other times is not true, you should cross out 'A' or 'D' according to which alternative is the more characteristic of you overall.

To cross out 'D' like this means you DISAGREE with the statement.

Please record only one response to each statement after you have read it carefully.

Some statements may seem similar to others; however, each contributes in its own way to the end result so please respond to each one without regard to the others.

When you have completed this questionnaire, please send it for computer processing to: -

QUESTIONNAIRE IN RESPECT OF: -

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this questionnaire is to reflect how you perceive the person named above. Your honest responses will provide feedback that will be of value to him.

Please respond to each statement in the questionnaire by circling or crossing out 'A', 'N' or 'D'.

To cross out 'A' like this means that you AGREE with the statement.

To cross out 'N' like this means that you NEITHER Agree nor Disagree with the statement. Please note that this means you DON'T KNOW or the statement is NOT APPLICABLE. If you think the statement is sometimes true of him but other times is not true, you should cross out 'A' or 'D' according to which alternative is the more characteristic of him overall.

To cross out 'D' like this means you DISAGREE with the statement.

Please record only one response to each statement after you have read it carefully.

Some statements may seem similar to others; however, each contributes in its own way to the end result so please respond to each one without regard to the others.

When you have completed this questionnaire, please send it for computer processing to: -

QUESTIONNAIRE IN RESPECT OF: -

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this questionnaire is to reflect how you perceive the person named above. Your honest responses will provide feedback that will be of value to him.

Please respond to each statement in the questionnaire by circling or crossing out 'A', 'N' or 'D'.

To cross out 'A' like this means that you AGREE with the statement.

To cross out 'N' like this means that you NEITHER Agree nor Disagree with the statement. Please note that this means you DON'T KNOW or the statement is NOT APPLICABLE. If you think the statement is sometimes true of him but other times is not true, you should cross out 'A' or 'D' according to which alternative is the more characteristic of him overall.

To cross out 'D' like this means you DISAGREE with the statement.

Please record only one response to each statement after you have read it carefully.

Some statements may seem similar to others; however, each contributes in its own way to the end result so please respond to each one without regard to the others.

When you have completed this questionnaire, please send it for computer processing to: -