The circles of time: An exploratory study in measuring temporal perceptions within organizations

The temporal aspects of strategy and decision making have not, until recently, been accorded the importance they deserve. This paper describes a study undertaken to measure the temporal perception of people in an organization. An instrument was devised which the authors have called “the circle test” which measures subjects’ temporal relatedness and temporal dominance ‐ how people perceive the relationship between their past, present and future. Since the size of the organization studied is small, the research took the form of an exploratory study only, but the results of the research indicate that the use of the circle test can demonstrate differences in temporal perception between the sexes and between different age groups. Differences in temporal perception between people at different responsibility levels in the organisation is also suggested.