Job content analysis of apparel buyer positions in Department stores

Date

1993-08

Authors

Chung, Sung

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the job content of apparel buyer positions in department stores and make comparisons of job elements according to store size as determined by annual sales volume. A modified Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) was used to determine job content in six major categories.

Questionnaires were distributed to 750 buyers of men's, women's or children's apparel in 42 department stores. A sample of 185 buyers responded to the questionnaire.

The most important/extensively used and the least important/extensively used job elements in each of the six PAQ divisions were determined by comparing mean scores. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences in the importance/extent of use of job elements among buyers of department stores in the following three sizes: (a) small department stores with sales volume under $300 million, (b)~medium-sized department stores with sales volume between $300 million and $1 billion, and (c)~large department stores with sales volume of $1 billion plus. As a post hoc test, Scheffe for unequal sample sizes was used to find the locations of differences among buyers of department stores in different sizes.

Small department store buyers used events as an information source more extensively than did buyers of medium-sized or large stores. A resident buying office was less extensively used by large department store buyers than by buyers of stores in any other size. Large department store buyers placed a significantly lower rating on the importance of arranging/positioning than did buyers of other sized stores. Contacts with sales personnel were estimated as significantly more important by small department store buyers than by buyers of stores in any other size category.

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Keywords

Worker-oriented behaviors, Store apparel buyers, Store size

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