Person-Environment Mismatch: Does One Square the Hole or round the Peg?

In this paper a look is taken at organizational effectiveness in terms of a Person-Environment (P-E) match and it is argued that the various approaches to the improvement of on-the-job performance focus either on changes at the individual level (‘fitting the man to the job’) or at the organizational level (‘fitting the job to the man’). Furthermore it is also argued that these interventions occur at either a global preventative level or at a localized remedial level. The resulting 2 × 2 classification of four basic strategies for enhancing P-E match are discussed and evaluated. It is concluded that in a mixed-economy situation, such as occurs in South Africa at present, attention should be given to adapting organizational structures and job processes to make them more compatible with the needs and values of the local work force.