Most important, this study includes an objective measure of productivity as a
dependent measure. Hourly workers were each assigned to one of 28 different shop
areas, each with an individual supervisor. The first-line supervisors had an average of
20.3 years with the company and 10.6 years of supervisory experience in their current
jobs. Eight of the 28 first-line supervisors were female. Six of the supervisors identified
themselves as African-American, the remainder as Caucasian.