Chapter 10: Work-Related Attitudes and Values - Notes

Chapter 10: Work-Related Attitudes and Values

Introduction

• Work-related attitudes influence behaviors like organizational commitment, engagement, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

• These behaviors have implications for teamwork, performance, service delivery, and organizational effectiveness.

• Values are personal beliefs and goals that drive behavior and influence attitudes, career choices, relationships, and general adjustment.

• Organizations implement strategies to create shared values, a sense of belonging, and a united focus on strategic goals.

The Nature of Attitudes

• Attitudes comprise three components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral.

• Cognitive Component: Beliefs and thoughts about the object (e.g., "My job provides a decent income.").

• Affective Component: Feelings and emotions associated with the object (e.g., satisfaction, happiness).

• Behavioral Component: Actions or behaviors resulting from the attitude (e.g., engagement, assisting team members).

• Core Attitudes: Stable and difficult to change; linked to personality and self-concept.

• Peripheral Attitudes: Temporary and subject to change.

• Attitudes develop during youth through social media and personal experiences.

• Attitudes are based on beliefs that can be realistic/unrealistic, rational/irrational, true/false but are held as truths by the individual.

Importance of Workplace Attitudes

• Attitudes in the workplace are important because they influence work behavior, organizational commitment, and the climate in the organization.

• Attitude change can be self-induced or influenced by others.

Correcting Cognitive Dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance is when someone's beliefs don't match their actions.

• Festinger's methods to reduce dissonance:

  • Seeking information to support beliefs.

  • Avoiding information that increases dissonance.

  • Misinterpreting information to reduce dissonance.

  • Finding social support for desired attitudes.

  • Playing down the importance of factors that contribute to dissonance

A Persuasive Communicator

• A persuasive communicator should be credible.

• Credibility includes expertise, authority, status, prestige, reward power, physical attractiveness, likeability and similarity to the recipient or recipients.

• Managerial credibility comes from listening, considering proposals, allowing freedom of expression, tolerating mistakes, and ensuring employee prestige.

Crafting a Persuasive Message

• Requires thoughtful planning

• Should be well-researched, organised and presented → clarity, diction how the message is framed and evidence type

• One-sided messages are generally more effective if the recipient is neutral, already agrees with the message and is not challenging the message

• Two-sided messages are generally more effective if recipients’ attitudes differ from those of the communicator or when the receiver is well informed

• A blend of various media types will be more effective in changing attitudes than the use of one medium only

Work-Related Attitudes

• Key work-related attitudes:

  • Job satisfaction

  • Organizational commitment

  • Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)

  • Engagement

  • Happiness

Job Satisfaction

• Job satisfaction is a positive attitude toward one’s work situation.

• Responses to dissatisfaction can be active or passive, productive or unproductive.

  • Exit: Active, unproductive (resigning).

  • Neglect: Passive, unproductive (reducing output).

• Job satisfaction positively impacts job performance, OCB, and life satisfaction.

• Industrial psychology and HRM professionals survey employee job satisfaction levels.

Organizational Commitment

• Organizational commitment is the degree to which an individual identifies with the organization and its goals.

  • Affective Commitment: Desire to stay due to identification with goals and values.

  • Continuance Commitment: Desire to stay to protect invested time and effort.

  • Normative Commitment: Belief that staying is the right thing to do.

Engagement

• Engagement is the simultaneous physical, cognitive, and emotional absorption in one’s job.

• It involves optimal functioning when overcoming challenges.

• Engagement is positively linked with organizational performance, job satisfaction, low turnover, high customer satisfaction, and productivity.

Hofstede, Feldman, and Msibi’s Cultural Value Dimensions

• Hofstede's study in 50 countries identified value systems affecting individuals and organizations:

  • Power distance.

  • Individualism vs. collectivism.

  • Masculinity vs. femininity.

  • Uncertainty avoidance.

• Feldman and Msibi (2014) participated in the GLOBE project, researching cross-cultural leadership and organizational culture in South Africa.

• Power Distance: Large vs. Small.

  • High power distance: many inequalities.

  • Low power distance: equality.

• Individualism vs. Collectivism:

  • Individualism: Focus on individual performance.

  • Collectivism: Focus on team accomplishment, loyalty, interdependence.

• Gender Egality:

  • the extent to which society minimises or maximises the division and differentiation between the sexes

• Uncertainty Avoidance:

  • the extent to which society tolerates and copes with uncertainty and change

  • Societies that avoid uncertainty rely more on rules and norms, while those that are more comfortable with uncertainty are more flexible and innovative

• Assertiveness: the extent to which organizations or societies are assertive, confrontational and aggressive in social relationships

  • Assertive societies, members confront issues or people upfront and push for agreement.

  • In non-assertive communities, conflict is approached diplomatically and privately, allowing the parties to save face

• Future Orientation

• Performance Orientation

• Human Orientation

• There is a greater call for a more humanistic management approach in organizations