The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore three dimensions (initiative, conformity and distance) of followership role orientation among lower-level managers in apparel factories, and second, to examine to what extent these orientations are influenced by the position held and the tasks performed.
Pragmatism is selected as the research philosophy and a quantitative research design is adopted. Empirical data is obtained through a combination of exploratory and descriptive research strategies. The research was conducted in eight Bulgarian enterprises, and 219 managers took part in it.
Lower-level managers in clothing factories indicate low-to-moderate initiative orientation, moderate-to-high conformity orientation and low-to-moderate distance orientation. It is found that the position held and tasks performed influence the followership role orientations of lower-level managers. The influence is most significant regarding the conformity orientation – foremen and storekeepers show moderate-to-high conformity, QC supervisors are neutral and technologists express low-to-moderate conformity.
This paper is the first to study the followership role orientations of lower-level managers in apparel manufacturers. A unique combination of dimensions is used to measure follower orientations and a new assessment tool is described and validated. Thus, the study fills a significant gap in followership theory and enriches the practical toolkit for managing employee relations in clothing factories.
