a) I am willing to work harder than I have to in order to contribute to the success of my company/ organization. [Ich bin bereit, härter zu arbeiten als ich muss, um zum Erfolg meiner Firma/ Organisation beizutragen.]

Nein

Two thirds (n = 10) of the test persons agree or strongly agree with the statement.

Test person 05 spontaneously comments that it is unclear to her whether this item refers only to the company/organization she is currently working for or whether it is more a general attitude: "I ask myself, is this about my company where I am currently working? Or, if I were to work for another company tomorrow, that I could now name my future company? I am just thinking about whether this is a general question. Am I generally willing to do these things for my company or is it a snapshot of the current company?” (TP 05). This respondent states that an explicit reference to the "current" company, as in item c), would clarify the intention of the question and facilitate the answer.

The spontaneous comments of test subject 08 and test subject 12 make it clear that item a) may be difficult for civil servants or employees in non-profit organizations to answer because these companies/organizations are not geared to maximize profits and it is therefore unclear how the success of the companies/organizations can be measured:

• “So now I'm thinking more about my second job, not my main job at the university. Because working at the university doesn't really help anyone because it's just not a company. It's just a different organisational structure. With the other job, where profit is made, I'm willing to do it.“ (TP 08)
• “That's hard to answer because I'm a civil servant.“ (TP 12)

When asked whether the respondents thought about their company/organization, their job or their profession when answering the statement, nine respondents stated that they thought about their company/organization (as intended by the questionnaire developers). However, one of these nine test persons (TP 06, strongly agree) only referred "indirectly" to the success of the company/organization: "As a scientist I work more for myself, but of course I contribute to the success of the organization. But first and foremost I work for myself. I'm willing to work harder to get my habilitation as soon as possible.” (TP 06)

Test person 14 (strongly disagree) thought of their current job when answering the statement, and test person 02 (don’t know) - due to the misinterpretation of the term "organization" - thought of different activities in different companies.

The remaining four test subjects (TP 03, TP 04, TP 09, TP 13) ignored the subordinate clause "to contribute to the success of my company/organization" when answering the statement and only referred to whether they were generally willing or able to work harder than necessary (for whatever purpose) when answering the item:

• “That always pays off once in a while. If I work a few overtime hours, that you can stay at home for a day.“ (TP 03)
• “I have already worked as a meat cutter on the assembly line, sometimes 20 hour shifts. So I guess it can't get any worse than that. Well, I'm certainly willing to work harder.“ (TP 04)
• “I can't work any harder. I'm in sales, there's a day and then there's a day. So I'm not under pressure to achieve certain goals. I don't have to generate mandatory sales.“ (TP 09)
• “I am of the opinion that my work is of good quality and that I contribute enough. Therefore I would not want to work even harder. But I would not want to work less either. It's okay the way it is now.“ (TP 13)

We recommend adding the word "current" to this statement (see item c) to make it clear that the statement refers to current and not former employment. We also suggest that the subordinate clause be placed at the beginning of the sentence to prevent it from being ignored when answering the item. A possible formulation would be:

“To contribute to the success of my current company/organization, I am willing to work harder than I normally have to.” [„Um zum Erfolg meiner jetzigen Firma/Organisation beizutragen, bin ich bereit, härter zu arbeiten als ich normalerweise muss.“]

true