O.B Case Studies

|VALUES, ATTITUDES, AND JOB SATISFACTION | LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Contrast terminal and instrumental values 2. List the dominant values in today’s workforce 3. Identify the five value dimensions of national culture 4. Contrast the three components of an attitude 5. Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior 6. Identify the role that consistency plays in attitudes 7. State the relationship between job satisfaction and behavior 8.Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction CHAPTER OVERVIEW Why is it important to know an individual’s values? Although they do not have a direct impact on behavior, values strongly influence a person’s attitudes. Knowledge of an individual’s value system can provide insight into his/her attitudes. Given that people’s values differ, managers can use the Rokeach Value Survey to assess potential employees and determine if their values align with the dominant values of the organization. An employee’s performance and satisfaction are likely to be higher if his/her values fit well with the organization.For instance, the person who places high importance on imagination, independence, and freedom is likely to be poorly matched with an organization that seeks conformity from its employees. Managers are more likely to appreciate, evaluate positively, and allocate rewards to employees who â€Å"fit in,† and employees are more likely to be satisfied if they perceive that they do fit. This argues for management to strive during the selection of new employees to find job candidates who not only have the ability, experience, and motivation to perform, but also a value system that is ompatible with the organization’s. Managers should be interested in their employees’ attitudes because attitudes give warnings of potential problems and because they influence behavior. Satisfied and committed employees, for inst ance, have lower rates of turnover and absenteeism. Given that managers want to keep resignations and absences down—especially among their more productive employees—they will want to do those things that will generate positive job attitudes.Managers should also be aware that employees will try to reduce cognitive dissonance. More importantly, dissonance can be managed. If employees are required to engage in activities that appear inconsistent to them or are at odds with their attitudes, the pressures to reduce the resulting dissonance are lessened when the employee perceives that the dissonance is externally imposed and is beyond his/her control or if the rewards are significant enough to offset the dissonance. WEB EXERCISESAt the end of each chapter of this instructor’s manual, you will find suggested exercises and ideas for researching the WWW on OB topics. The exercises â€Å"Exploring OB Topics on the Web† are set up so that you can simply photocopy t he pages, distribute them to your class, make assignments accordingly. You may want to assign the exercises as an out-of-class activity or as lab activities with your class. Within the lecture notes the graphic will note that there is a WWW activity to support this material.The chapter opens introducing Marge Savage, a Microsoft marketing analyst who is gathering information about the â€Å"Nexters† generation—people born after 1977. They are the first group of people to never know a world without computers and the Internet. She found that this group values integrity, teamwork, moral support, responsibility, and freedom to pursue their dreams. They want to work for a company that supports their needs, and where they can have significant influence in shaping society.They see technology and the Internet as a major force for changing the world—good news for Microsoft. CHAPTER OUTLINE |Values |Notes: | |Values represent basic convictions that â€Å"a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or | | |socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. | | | | | |There is a judgmental element of what is right, good, or desirable. | | | | | |Values have both content and intensity attributes. | | | | |The content attribute says that a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. | | |The intensity attribute specifies how important it is. | | |Ranking an individual’s values in terms of their intensity equals that person’s value system. | | | | |Values are not generally fluid and flexible. They tend to be relatively stable and enduring. | | | | | |A significant portion of the values we hold is established in our early years—from parents, teachers, friends, | | |and others. | |The process of questioning our values, of course, may result in a change, but more often, our questioning acts | | |to reinforce the values we hold. | | |A. Importance of Values | | |1.Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation because they influence our | | |perceptions. | | | | | |2. Individuals enter organizations with notions of what is right and wrong with which they interpret behaviors| | |or outcomes—at times this can cloud objectivity and rationality. | | | | |3. Values generally influence attitudes and behavior. | | |B. Types of Values | | |1.Rokeach Value Survey (Exhibit 3-1) | | | | | |It consists of two sets of values, with each set containing 18 individual value items. | | |One set—terminal values—refers to desirable end-states of existence, the goals that a person would like to | | |achieve during his/her lifetime. | |The other—instrumental values—refers to preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values. | | | | | | | | |2. Several studies confirm that the RVS values vary among groups. | | | | |People in the same occupations or categories t end to hold similar values. | | |Contemporary Work Cohorts | | |1.The unique value of different cohorts is that the U. S. workforce can be segmented by the era they entered | | |the workforce. (Exhibit 3-3) | | |Contemporary Work Cohorts (cont. ) |Notes: | |2.Veterans—Workers who entered the workforce from the early 1940s through the early 1960s | | |Influenced by the Great Depression and World War II | | |Believe in hard work | | |Tend to be loyal to their employer | | |Terminal values: Comfortable life and family security | | | | | |3. Boomers—Employees who entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid-1980s | | | | | |Influenced heavily by John F.Kennedy, the civil rights and feminist movements, the Beatles, the Vietnam War, | | |and baby-boom competition | | |Distrust authority, but have a high emphasis on achievement and material success | | |Organizations who employ them are vehicles for their careers | | |Terminal values: sense of accomplishment and social recognition | | | | | |4.Xers—began to enter the workforce from the mid-1980s | | | | | |Shaped by globalization, two-career parents, MTV, AIDS, and computers | | |Value flexibility, life options, and achievement of job satisfaction | | |Family and relationships are important and enjoy team-oriented work | | |Money is important, but will trade off for increased leisure time | | |Less willing to make personal sacrifices for employers than previous generations | | |Terminal values: true friendship, happiness, and pleasure | | | | | |5. Nexters—most recent entrants into the workforce. | | | | |Grew up in prosperous times, have high expectation, believe in themselves, and confident in their ability to | | |succeed | | |Never-ending search for ideal job; see nothing wrong with job-hopping | | |Seek financial success | | |Enjoy team work, but are highly self-reliant | | |Terminal values: freedom and comfortable life | | | | | |Individuals’ values dif fer, but tend to reflect the societal values of the period in which they grew up. This | | |can be a valuable aid in explaining and predicting behavior. Employees in their 60s, for instance, are more | | |likely to accept authority than coworkers 15 years younger. | | | | | |7. Workers under 35 are more likely than the other groups to balk at having to work overtime or weekends, | | |and are more prone to leave a job in mid-career to pursue another that provides more leisure time. | | | | OB IN THE NEWS – American Workers Rethink Priorities Values are relatively permanent, but dramatic shocks can realign them. For example, the terrorists’ attacks on September 11 may have significantly reprioritized many Americans’ values. The initial response to the terrorist attacks for many people was a reevaluation of choices related to jobs, family, and career success. In some cases, this led to a rethinking of career paths, cutting back on grueling schedules, and deciding to pursue work that might pay less but seem more meaningful.For instance, in California, young workers who once talked of dot-com millions are now asking: â€Å"Is it worth it? † Some employees appear less concerned about putting in face time, making deadlines, and getting on the fast track. They seem more concerned about family and worry less about time at the office. CEOs say some of their employees are talking more earnestly about work/life balance, mortality, and other questions once considered taboo in the office. Said one consultant, â€Å"The event de-emphasized what most people value—the money and the luxuries. People are questioning what’s really important; they’re questioning work. It’s happening across the board. † It has now been more than a year since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D. C.That provides a more meaningful perspective on whether this event has had long-term implications on workplace values, or whet her any reprioritizing was merely a knee-jerk reaction to a traumatic event, followed by a return to â€Å"business as usual. † Do you think a significant portion of Americans have permanently reprioritized their values as a result of 9-11? Class Exercise: 1. Have students break into small groups to discuss the question: â€Å"Do you think a significant portion of Americans have permanently reprioritized their values as a result of 9-11? † Ask them to list examples of why or why not they think the way they do. 2. As a class, share what was discussed in the small groups. 3. Ask if they think America’s values have changed, or were they just reawakened? 4.Ask if they think organizations’ values have changed or reprioritized as a result of the events. 5. Ask them to relate this question to themselves. Have they reprioritized their lives as a result of the 9-11 events? (They may not want to share this information with the entire class—its purpose is jus t to get them thinking. ) |A. Values, Loyalty, and Ethical Behavior |Notes: | |Many people think there has been a decline in business ethics since the late 1970s. The four-stage model of | | |work cohort values might explain this perception. Exhibit 3-2) | | | | | |Managers consistently report the action of bosses as the most important factor influencing ethical and unethical| | |behavior in the organization. | | | | | |Through the mid-1970s, the managerial ranks were dominated by Veterans whose loyalty was to their employer; | | |their decisions were made in terms of what was best for the employer. | | | | |Boomers entered the workforce at this time and by the 1990’s had risen into the majority of management | | |positions. Loyalty was to their careers. Self-centered values would be consistent with a decline in ethical | | |values. Did this really happen? | | | | | |Recent entrants to the workforce—Xers—are now moving into middle management. Loyalty is to relationships, | | |therefore they may be more likely to consider the ethical implications of their actions on others around them. | |Instructor Note: At this point in the lecture you may want to introduce the Ethical Dilemma: Is it a Bribe or a Gift? Exercise found in the text. The purpose of the exercise is to provide the opportunity for students to understand that ethical situations are not always black or white and must be given consideration as business decisions are made. |B. Values Across Cultures |Notes: | |Values differ across cultures, therefore, understanding these differences helps to explain and to predict | | |behavior of employees from different countries.One of the most widely referenced approaches for analyzing | | |variations among cultures has been done by Geert Hofstede. | | | | | |Hofstede’s A framework for assessing cultures; five value dimensions of national culture (Exhibit 3-4): | | | | | |a.Power distance: | | | | | |The degree to which people i n a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed | | |unequally. | | | | | |Individualism versus collectivism: | | | | |Individualism is the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of | | |groups. | | |Collectivism equals low individualism. | | | | | |Quantity of life versus quality of life: | | | | | |Quantity of life is the degree to which values such as assertiveness, the acquisition of money and material | | |goods, and competition prevail. | |Quality of life is the degree to which people value relationships and show sensitivity and concern for the | | |welfare of others. | | | | | |Uncertainty avoidance: | | | | | |The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. | | | | |Long-term versus short-term orientation: | | | | | |Long-term orientations look to the future and value thrift and persistence. | | |Short-term orientation values the past and present and emphasizes respect for tradition and fulfilling social | | |obligations. | | | | |Conclusions: | | | | | |Asian countries were more collectivist than individualistic. US ranked highest on individualism. German and | | |Hong Kong ranked highest on quality of life; Russia and The Netherlands were low. China and Hong Kong had a | | |long-term orientation; France and US were low. | | | | |3. Hofstede’s work is the basic framework for assessing cultures. However, it is nearly 30 years old. In | | |1993, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) has begun updating this research | | |with date from 825 organizations and 62 countries. | | | | | |a.GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures: | | | | | |Assertiveness: The extent to which a society encourages people to be tough, confrontational, assertive, and | | |competitive versus modest and tender | | | | |Future Orientation: The extent to which a society encourages and rewards future-oriented b ehaviors such as | | |planning, investing in the future and delaying gratification | | | | | |Gender differentiation: The extent to which a society maximized gender role differences | | |Values Across Cultures (cont. |Notes: | | | | |Uncertainly avoidance: Society’s reliance on social norms and procedures to alleviate the unpredictability of | | |future events | | | | | |Power distance: The degree to which members of a society expect power to be unequally shared | | | | | |Individualism/Collectivism: The degree to which individuals are encouraged by societal institutions to be | | |integrated into groups within organizations and society | | | | | |In-group collectivism: The extent to which society’s members take pride in membership in small groups such as | | |their families and circles of close friends, and the organizations where they are employed | | | | | Performance orientation: The degree to which society encourages and rewards group members for performance | | |improvement and excellence | | | | | |Humane orientation: The degree to which a society encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, | | |altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others | | | | | |b. Conclusion: The GLOBE study had extended Hofstede’s work rather than replaced it. It confirms Hofstede’s | | |five dimensions are still valid and provides updated measures of where countries are on each dimension. For | | |example, the U. S. in the 70s led the world in individualism—today, it is in the mid-ranks of countries. | |Instructor Note: At this point in the lecture you may want to introduce the Team Exercise: Challenges in Negotiating with Chinese Executives found in the text. The purpose of this exercise is to give the students an opportunity to develop awareness of how to effectively work with another culture when doing business. |C. Implications for OB | | |Americans have developed organizational behavior within domestic contexts—mor e than 80 percent of the articles | | |published in journals were by Americans. | | | | |Follow-up studies continue to confirm the lack of cross-cultural considerations in management and OB research. | | |From a cultural perspective this means: | | | | | |Not all OB theories and concepts are universally applicable. | |You should take into consideration cultural values when trying to understand the behavior of people in different| | |countries. | | |Attitudes | | |Attitudes are evaluative statements that are either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects, people, or | | |events. | | | | | |Attitudes are not the same as values, but the two are interrelated. | | | | |Three components of an attitude: | | | | | |Cognition | | |Affect | | |Behavior | | | | |The belief that â€Å"discrimination is wrong† is a value statement and an example of the cognitive component of an | | |attitude. | | |Attitudes (cont. ) |Notes: | |Value statements set the stage for the more critical part of an attitude—its affective component. Affect is the | | |emotional or feeling segment of an attitude. Example: â€Å"I don’t like Jon because he discriminates again | | |minorities. | | | | | |The behavioral component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or | | |something. Example: â€Å"I chose to avoid Jon because he discriminates. † | | | | | |Viewing attitudes as made up of three components helps with understanding of the potential relationship between | | |attitudes and behavior, however, when we refer to attitude essentially we mean the affect part of the three | | |components. | | | | |In contrast to values, your attitudes are less stable. Advertisements are directed at changing your attitudes | | |and are often successful. | | | | | |In organizations, attitudes are important because they affect job behavior. | | |A. Types of Attitudes | | |OB focuses our attention on a very limited number o f job-related attitudes.Most of the research in OB has been |Notes: | |concerned with three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. | | | | | |Job satisfaction | | | | | |Definition: It is an individual’s general attitude toward his/her job. | | | | |A high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa. | | | | | |Employee attitudes and job satisfaction are frequently used interchangeably. | | | | | |Often when people speak of â€Å"employee attitudes† they mean â€Å"employee job satisfaction. | | | | | |Job involvement | | | | | |A workable definition: the measure of the degree to which a person identifies psychologically with his/her job | | |and considers his/her perceived performance level important to self-worth. | | | | | |High levels of job involvement is thought to result in fewer absences and lower resignation rates. | | | | | |Job involvement more consistently predicts turnover than absenteeism. | | | | |Organizational commitment | | | | | |Definition: A state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to| | |maintain membership in the organization. | | | | |Research evidence demonstrates negative relationships between organizational commitment and both absenteeism and| | |turnover. | | | | | |An individual’s level of organizational commitment is a better indicator of turnover than the far more | | |frequently used job satisfaction predictor because it is a more global and enduring response to the organization| | |as a whole than is job satisfaction. | | | | |This evidence, most of which is more than two decades old, needs to be qualified to reflect the changing | | |employee-employer relationship. | | |A. Types of Attitudes (cont. ) |Notes: | |Organizational commitment is probably less important as a job-related attitude than it once was because the | | |unwritten â€Å"loyalty† contract i n place when this research was conducted is no longer in place. | | | | |In its place, we might expect â€Å"occupational commitment† to become a more relevant variable because it better | | |reflects today’s fluid workforce. | | Instructor Note: At this point in the lecture you may want to introduce the exercise Point-Counter Point: Mangers Can Create Satisfied Employees exercise found in the text. The purpose of the exercise is to replace popularly held notions with research-based conclusions. |B. Attitudes and Consistency |Notes: | |People sometimes change what they say so it does not contradict what they do. | | | | |Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes | | |and their behavior. | | | | | |Individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their attitudes and behavior so they appear rational| | |and consistent. | | | | |When there is an inconsistency, forces are initiated to return the individual to an equilibrium state where | | |attitudes and behavior are again consistent, by altering either the attitudes or the behavior, or by developing | | |a rationalization for the discrepancy. | | |C. Cognitive Dissonance Theory | | |Leon Festinger, in the late 1950s, proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance, seeking to explain the linkage | | |between attitudes and behavior. He argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals | | |will attempt to reduce the dissonance. | | | | |Dissonance means â€Å"an inconsistency. † | | | | | |Cognitive dissonance refers to â€Å"any incompatibility that an individual might perceive between two or more of | | |his/her attitudes, or between his/her behavior and attitudes. | | | | | |No individual can completely avoid dissonance. | | | | | |The desire to reduce dissonance would be determined by: | | | | | |The importance of the elements creating the dissonance. | | |The degree of infl uence the individual believes he/she has over the elements. | | |The rewards that may be involved in dissonance. | | | | |Importance: If the elements creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct this | | |imbalance will be low. | | | | | |Influence: If the dissonance is perceived as an uncontrollable result, they are less likely to be receptive to | | |attitude change. While dissonance exists, it can be rationalized and justified. | | | | |Rewards: The inherent tension in high dissonance tends to be reduced with high rewards. | | | | | |Moderating factors suggest that individuals will not necessarily move to reduce dissonance—or consistency. | | |C. Cognitive Dissonance Theory (cont. ) |Notes: | |Organizational implications | | | | |Greater predictability of the propensity to engage in attitude and behavioral change | | |The greater the dissonance—after it has been moderated by importance, choice, and rewards factors—the gr eater | | |the pressures to reduce it. | | |D. Measuring the A-B Relationship | | |Early research on attitudes and common sense assumed a causal relationship to behavior. In the late 1960s, this| | |assumed relationship between attitudes and behavior (A-B) was challenged. Recent research has demonstrated that| | |attitudes significantly predict future behavior. | | | | |The most powerful moderators: | | | | | |Importance | | |Specificity | | |Accessibility | | |Social pressures | | |Direct experience | | | | | |Importance: Reflects fundamental values, self-interest, or identification with individuals or groups that a | | |person values. | | | | | |Specificity: The more specific the attitude and the more specific the behavior, the stronger the link between | | |the two. | | | | |Accessibility: Attitudes that are easily remembered are more likely to predict behavior than attitudes that are | | |not accessible in memory. | | | | | |Social pressures: Discrepancies between att itudes and behavior are more likely to occur where social pressures | | |to behave in certain ways hold exceptional power. | | | | |Direct experience: The attitude-behavior relationship is likely to be much stronger if an attitude refers to an | | |individual’s direct personal experience. | | |E. Self-perception theory | | |Researchers have achieved still higher correlations by pursuing whether or not behavior influences attitudes. | | | | |Self-perception theory argues that attitudes are used to make sense out of an action that has already occurred | | |rather than devices that precede and guide action. Example: I’ve had this job for 10 years, no one has forced | | |me to stay, so I must like it! | | | | | |Contrary to cognitive dissonance theory, attitudes are just casual verbal statements; they tend to create | | |plausible answers for what has already occurred. | | | | |While the traditional attitude-behavior relationship is generally positive, the behavior- attitude relationship | | |is stronger particularly when attitudes are vague and ambiguous or little thought has been given to it | | |previously. | | |An Application: Attitude Surveys | | |The most popular method for getting information about employee attitudes is through attitude surveys. See | | |Exhibit 3-5) | | | | | |Using attitude surveys on a regular basis provides managers with valuable feedback on how employees perceive | | |their working conditions. Managers present the employee with set statements or questions to obtain specific | | |information. | | | | |Policies and practices that management views as objective and fair may be seen as inequitable by employees in | | |general or by certain groups of employees and can lead to negative attitudes about the job and the organization. | | | | | |Employee behaviors are often based on perceptions, not reality. Often employees do not have objective data from | | |which to base their perceptions. | | | | |The use of regular attitude surveys can alert management to potential problems and employees’ intentions early | | |so that action can be taken to prevent repercussions. | | |G. Attitudes and Workforce Diversity | | |A survey of U. S. organizations with 100 or more employees found that 47 percent or so of them sponsored some | | |sort of diversity training. | | | | |These diversity programs include a self-evaluation phase where people are pressed to examine themselves and to | | |confront ethnic and cultural stereotypes they might hold. This is followed by discussion with people from | | |diverse groups. | | | | | |Additional activities designed to change attitudes nclude arranging for people to do volunteer work in | | |community or social service centers in order to meet face to face with individuals and groups from diverse | | |backgrounds, and using exercises that let participants feel what it is like to be different. | | |Job Satisfaction | | |Measuring Job Satisfaction | | |Job satisfa ction is â€Å"an individual’s general attitude toward his/her job. | | | | | |Jobs require interaction with co-workers and bosses, following organizational rules and policies, meeting | | |performance standards, living with working conditions that are often less than ideal, and the like. This means | | |that an employee’s assessment of how satisfied or dissatisfied he or she is with his/her job is a complex | | |summation of a number of discrete job elements. | | | | |The two most widely used approaches are a single global rating and a summation score made up of a number of job | | |facets. | | | | | |a. The single global rating method is nothing more than asking individuals to respond to one question, such as| | |â€Å"All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job? | | |Measuring Job Satisfaction (cont. ) |Notes: | | A summation of job facets is more sophisticated: | | | | | |It identifies key elements in a job and asks for the employee’s feelings about each one ranked on a standardized| | |scale. | | | | |Typical factors that would be included are the nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion | | |opportunities, and relations with co-workers. | | | | | |Comparing these approaches, simplicity seems to work as well as complexity. Comparisons of one-question global | | |ratings with the summation-of-job-factors method indicate both are valid. | |How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs? | | |Most people are satisfied with their jobs in the developed countries surveyed. | | | | | |However, there has been a decline in job satisfaction since the early 1990s. In the US nearly an eight percent | | |drop in the 90s. Surprisingly those last years were one’s of growth and economic expansion. | | | | |What factors might explain the decline despite growth: | | | | | |Increased productivity through heavier employee workloads and tighter deadlines | | |Employees feeling they have less control over thei r work | | | | | |While some segments of the market are more satisfied than others, they tend to be higher paid, higher skilled | | |jobs which gives workers more control and challenges. | | Instructor Note: At this point in the lecture you may want to introduce the exercise found in the MYTH OR SCIENCE: How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs? box found in the text.The purpose of the exercise is to replace popularly held notions with research-based conclusions. MYTH OR SCIENCE? – â€Å"Happy Workers Are Productive Workers† This statement is generally false. The myth that â€Å"happy workers are productive workers† developed in the 1930s and 1940s, due to the Hawthorne studies at Western Electric. A careful review of the research indicates that, if there is a positive relationship between happiness (i. e. , satisfaction) and productivity, the correlations are low; no more than two percent of the variance in output can be accounted for by employee satisfaction. The evidence, however, is for the reverse—productive workers are likely to be happy workers.That is, productivity leads to satisfaction rather than the other way around. If the organization rewards productivity, these rewards, in turn, increase your level of satisfaction with the job. Class Exercise 1. Brainstorm with students about situations where they knew workers/employees were unhappy with the company or their jobs, but still did a reasonably good job. Perhaps have them share insights into their own feelings about their school, or a particular class they disliked but still tried very hard. 2. Discuss why someone who is unhappy with his/her job might work hard at it and do good work. 3. Why would someone who is happy with his/her job not perform at a higher level than the disgruntled worker? 4.Students should come to realize that most effort comes from internal drive, not external motivation. As a result, a highly internally motivated individual might perform well in any circumstance whereas his/her organizational environment would not positively affect a non-internally motivated individual. |C. The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance |Notes: | |Managers’ interest in job satisfaction tends to center on its effect on employee performance. Much research has| | |been done on the impact of job satisfaction on employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. | | | | |Satisfaction and productivity: