Fullarton, David Coleman

This was prepared as the thesis required for the Master of
Business Administration degree. Very little has been written
on Board of Directors-chief paid executive relationships in
voluntary membership organizations. A direct mail questionnaire
was used with selected groups of national association
executives and telephone cooperative managers to ascertain
organization structure, formality of organizational tools,
personal characteristics of the executive and Board, and the
executive's perception of his working environment. Annual
percentage salary increase was used as the distinguishing
criteria. Secondary research concentrated on common practice
and theory regarding the above elements of organization. The
formality of organizational tools, the chief executive's attitude
toward his employees and his position, and the executive's
perception of his job and of his image were found to significantly
affect the Board-Manager relationship in both types of organizations studied. National associations and telephone
cooperatives were affected differently by the other
organizational characteristics studied.