Chap 4 - Values, Attitudes, and Work Behaviour

What are values?

Broad tendency to prefer certain things over others

What do values do?

They signal how we believe we should and should not behave

Cultural differences in values include

• Power distance

• Uncertainty avoidance

• Masculinity/femininity

• Individualism/collectivism

• Long term/short term orientation

Work centrality

People perceive work as a central life interest

What’s a tight culture

They have strong, clear standards for behaviour and strong sanctions for deviation from these standards 

What’s a loose culture

They are more flexible in terms of how people are expected to behave and more forgiving of violations of expected behaviour

Cultural distance

The extent to which cultures differ in values

Cultural intelligence (CI)

The capability to function and manage well in culturally diverse environments

What are attitudes? 

• A function of what we think (belief) and what we feel (value)

• Belief + value → attitude → behaviour

Job satisfaction

A collection of attitudes that reflect how much people like their jobs

2 aspects of satisfaction

• Facet satisfaction

• Overall satisfaction

What theories can help determine job satisfaction?

• Discrepancy theory

• Equity theory

• Dispositional theory

• Affective events theory

Discrepancy theory 

Job satisfaction is a function of the discrepancy between the job outcomes people want and the outcomes that they perceive they obtain 

Discrepancy

Lack of agreement or balance

Equity theory

• Job satisfaction stems from a comparison of the inputs one invests in a job and the outcomes one receives in comparison with the inputs and outcomes of another person or group

• Distribute fairness

3 basic kinds of fairness 

• Distributive fairness

• Procedural fairness

• Interactional fairness 

Dispositional theory 

• Could your personality contribute to your job satisfaction? 

• Based on the idea that some people are predisposed by their personality to be more or less satisfied despite changes in discrepancy or fairness 

Affective events theory

Events in the workplace can provoke or trigger positive and negative emotions depending on how we evaluate these events

Key contributors to job satisfaction

• Mentally challenging work

• Meaningful work

• Adequate compensation

• Career opportunities

• People

Consequences of job satisfaction

• Absence from work

• Turnover

• Performance

• Organizational citizenship behaviour

• Counterproductive work behaviour

• Customer satisfaction and profit

Absence from work

Less satisfied employees are more likely to be absent

Best predictor of absenteeism

Satisfaction with the content of work

Turnover

Less satisfied workers are more likely to quit

Perofrmance

Job satisfaction is associated with hgiher job performance

Organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB)

Voluntary, informal behaviour that contributes to organizational effectiveness

Counterproductive work behaviour

Internal verbal or physical behaviour meant to harm the organization or co-workers or customers

Customer satisfaction and profit

Employee job satisfaction is translated into customer or client satisfaction and organizational profitability 

Organizational commitment

Attitude that reflects the strength of the linkage b/w an employee and an organization

3 types of organizational commitment

• Affective commitment

• Continuance commitment

• Normative commitment

Affective commitment

Ppl stay with org bc they want to

Continuance commitment

Ppl stay with org bc they have to

Normative commitment

Ppl stay with org bc they think they should do so

Moods

Less intense, longer lived, ad more diffused feelings

Emotions

Intense, often short lived feelings caused by a particular event 

Distributive fairness

Fairness that occurs when people receive the outcomes they think they deserve from their jobs 

Procedural fairness

Fairness that occurs when the process used to determine work outcomes is seen as reasonable

Interactional fairness

Occurs when people feel that they have received respectful and informative communication about some outcome