t is a famous questionnaire used to measure the organizational ethos.

This questionnaire is
proposed by Dr. Udai Pareek. This questionnaire is of great help to me while doing my project on
"Implementation of Knowledge Management" in ISRO-SAC. This is tested to have .89 split half
reliability and validity is tested to be good.

The OCTAPACE profile is a 40-item instrument that gives the profile of organisation's ethos in eight
values. These values are openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, proaction, autonomy,
collaboration and experimentation. The instrument contains two parts. In part I, values are stated
in items 1 to 24 (three statements of each of the eight values), and the respondent is required to
check (on a 4-point scale) how much each item is valued in his organisation. Part 2 contains sixteen
statements on beliefs, two each for eight values, and the respondent checks (on a 4-point scale)
how widely each of them is shared in the organisation.
In addition to checking the items on the extent of their importance or sharing in the organisation,
the respondent can also check how much they should be valued, or how much the beliefs are
useful. Thus both present as well as desired and ideal profiles can be obtained.
SCORING
To make scoring easier, an answer sheet is provided. From the key (appended), the items marked
with an asterisk are first reversed so that 4 becomes 1, 3 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 1 becomes 4.
This makes all items unidirectional. The rows are then added. The eight rows represent the eight
aspects (octapace) in the same order. The scores on each aspect range from 5 to 20. In a group,
participants can themselves score their completed answer sheets.
Openness: 1, 9, 17, 25*, 33
Confrontation: 2, 10, 18, 26*, 34
Trust: 3, 11, 19, 27, 35*
Authenticity: 4, 12*, 20, 28*, 36
Proaction: 5, 13, 21, 29, 37
Autonomy: 6, 14*, 22*, 30*, 38
Collaboration: 7, 15, 23*, 31*, 39
Experimentation: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40*

Have a look at the questionnaire:

Write 4 if it is highly valued;

3 if it is given a fairly high value;

2 if it given fairly low value;

1 if it is given very low value.

1. ______ Free interaction amongst employees, each respecting other’s feelings, competence and sense of
judgment.
2. ______ Facing and not shying away from problems.
3. ______ Offering moral support and help to employees and colleagues in crises.
4. ______ Congruity between feelings and expressed behavior.
5. ______ Preventive actions on most matters.
6. ______ Employees taking independent action relating to their jobs.
7. ______ Team work and team spirit.
8. ______Employees trying out innovative ways of solving problems.
9. ______ Genuine sharing of information, feelings, and thoughts in meetings.
10. ______ Going deeper rather than doing surface-level analysis of interpersonal problems.
11. ______ Interpersonal contact and support amongst employees.
12. ______ Tactfulness, smartness and even a little manipulation to get things done.
13. ______ Seniors encouraging their subordinates to think about their development and take action in that
direction.
14. ______ Close supervision of, and directing employees on, action.
15. ______ Accepting and appreciating help offered by others.
 16. ______ Encouraging employees to take a fresh look at how things are done.
17. ______ Free discussion and communication between seniors and subordinates.
18. ______ Facing challenges inherent in the work situation.
19. ______ Confiding in seniors without fear of their misusing trust.
20. ______ Owning up mistakes made.
21. ______ Considering both positive and negative aspects before taking action.
22. ______ Obeying and checking with seniors rather than acting on one’s own.
23. ______ Performing immediate tasks rather than being concerned about large organizational goals.
24. ______ Making genuine attempts to change behavior on the basis of feedback received.

For statements 25 to 40, write 4 if it is highly valued;

3 if it is given a fairly high value;

2 if it given fairly low value;

1 if it is given very low value.

25. ______ Effective managers put a lid on their feelings.

26. ______ Pass the buck tactfully when there is a problem.
27. ______ Trust begets trust.
28. ______ Telling a polite lie is preferable to telling the unpleasant truth.
29. ______ Prevention is better than cure.
30. ______ Freedom to employees breeds indiscipline.
31. ______ Usually emphasis on team work dilutes individual accountability.
32. ______ Thinking out and doing new things tones up organizational vitality.
33. ______ Free and frank communication between various levels helps in solving problems.
34. ______ Surfacing problems is not enough; we should find the solutions.
35. ______ when the chips are down you have to fend for yourself.
36. ______ People are what they seem to be.
37. ______ A stitch in time saves nine.
38. ______ A good way to motivate employees is to give them autonomy to plan their work.
39. ______ Employees involvement in developing organizational mission and goals contributes to
productivity.
40. ______ In today’s competitive situation consolidation and stability are more important than
experimentation.

Use the following key for your responses:

4  if it is highly valued; 3 if it is given a fairly high value; 

2  if it is given rather low value; 1 if it is given very low value.
1. Free interaction amongst employees, each respecting others’ feelings, competence and
sense of judgment
1

4
2. Facing and not shying away from problems.
1

3. Offering moral support and help to employees and colleagues in crisis.

1

4. Congruity between feeling and expressed behavior.

1

5. Preventive action on most matters.

1

4
6. Employees taking independent action relating to their jobs
1

7.
4

Team work and team spirit.

8. Employees trying out innovative ways of solving problems.

1

9. Genuine sharing of information, feeling, and thoughts in meetings.

1

3
 4

10. Going deeper rather than doing surface-level analysis of interpersonal problems.

1

11. Interpersonal contact and support amongst employees

1

12. Tactfulness, smartness and even a little manipulation to get things done.

1

13. Seniors encouraging their subordinates to think about their development and take action
in that direction.
1
 2

14. Close supervision of and directing employees on action.

1

15. Accepting and appreciating help offered by others.

1

16. Encouraging employees to take a fresh look at how things are done.

1

4
17. Free discussion and communication between seniors and subordinates.
1

18. Facing challenges inherent in the work situation.

1

19. Confiding in the senior without fear of their misusing trust.

1

20. Owning mistakes made.

1

4
21. Considering both positive and negative aspects before taking action.
1

22.
4

Obeying and checking with seniors rather than acting on your own.

23. Performing immediate tasks rather than being concerned about large organizational
goals.

24. Making genuine attempts to change behavior on the basis of feedback received.

1

3
 4

4  if it is a very widely shared belief; 3 if it is a fairly widely shared belief; 

2  if only some persons in the organization share this belief;
1  if only a few persons or none have this belief.

25. Pass the buck tactfully when there is a problem.

1

26. Telling a polite lie is preferable to tilling the unpleasant truth.

1

27. Free and frank communication between various levels helps in solving problems.
1

4
28. Surfacing problems is not enough; we should find the solutions.
1

29. People are what they seem to be.

1

30. A stitch in time saves nine.

1

31. A good way to motivate employees is to give them autonomy to plan their work.
1

3
 4

An optimum level of “Development Climate” is essential for facilitating HRD. Such a climate is
characterized as consisting of the following characteristics i.e. known as OCTAPACE.
OCTAPACE- it is a tool to identify the value system, most of the fortune 500 companies follow
that. The author is Uday Parekh. 

•Openness & Risk Taking 

Employees feel free to express their ideas & the organization is willing to take risks &
experiment with new ideas & new ways of doing things. 

•Confrontation 
Employees face the problems & work jointly with others concerned to find its solution.
They face the issues squarely without hiding them or avoiding them for fear of hurting each
other. 

•Trust 
A minimum level of trust may be deemed necessary for the introduction of the performance
appraisal system and other elements. Employees department & groups trust each other &
can be relied upon to ‘do’ whatever they say they will. 

•Authenticity 
Authenticity is the value underlying trust. It is the willingness of a person to acknowledge
the feelings he/she has, and accept him / her as well as others who relate to him/her as
persons. 

•Pro-activity 
Employees are action – oriented, willing to take initiative & show a high degree of
proactively. They anticipate issues and act or respond to the needs of the future. 

•Autonomy 
Autonomy is the willingness to use power without fear, and helping others to do the same.
Employees have some freedom to act independently within the boundaries imposed by their
role/job. 

•Collaboration 
Collaboration involves working together and using one another’s strength for a common
cause. Involves strategies, work out plans of action, and implement them together. 

•Experimenting 
Experimenting as a value emphasizes the importance given to innovation and trying out
new ways of dealing with problems in the organization.

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