Dr. Edwin B. R. Gbargaye

Asst Professor

Public Management

University of Liberia

Values

Value - is a specific mode of

conduct which is personally or

socially preferable

Generations Entered

workforce

Approximate

Current Age

Dominant

working

values

Veterans 1950’s-60’s 60+ Hardworking,

conservative,

conforming,

loyalty to the

organization

Boomers 1965 - 1985 40-60 Success,

achievement,

ambitions,

dislike of

authority, loyalty

to career

Dominant Values in Today's Workforce

Dominant Values in Today's Workforce

Generations Entered

workforce

Approximate

Current Age

Dominant

working

values

Xers 1985- 2000 25-40 Work/Life

balance, team

oriented, dislike

of rules, loyalty

to relationship

Nexters 2000 - present Under 25 Confident,

financial

success, self

reliant but team

oriented, loyalty

to both self and

relationships

A Framework for Assessing

Cultures by Geert Hofstede (1993)

1. Power Distance – the degree to which

people in a country accept that power in

the institutions and organization is

distributed unequally

2. Individualism vs. Collectivism –

Individualism is the degree to which

people in a country prefer to act as

individual rather than members of groups

3.Quantity of Life vs. 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 show sensitivity and concern

for the welfare of other

A Framework for Assessing

Cultures by Geert Hofstede

4. Uncertainty Avoidance – The degree to

which people prefer structured over

unstructured situations.

5. Long Term vs. Short Term Orientation –

People in long term orientation countries look

to the future and value thrift and persistence.

A short term orientation values the past and

present and emphasizes respect for tradition

and fulfilling social obligations

A Framework for Assessing

Cultures by Geert Hofstede

Examples of Cultural Dimensions

Country Power

Distance

Individualism Quantity

of Life

Uncertainty

Avoidance

Long term

Orientation

Philippines

Indonesia High Low Moderate Low Low

Liberia

Japan Moderate Moderate High Moderate Moderate

Germany Low High High Moderate Moderate

USA Low High High Low Low

Russia High Moderate Low High Low

Implication on Assessing

Culture

• Not all OB theories and concepts are universally applicable in managing people

• Consider cultural values when trying to understand the behavior of people in different countries

• Moral flavor varies relative to individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable

Rokeach Value Survey

- Milton Rokeach created Rokeach Value

Survey (RVS) in 1973.

- The RVS consists of two set of values:

a. Terminal Values – these are goals that

a person would like to achieve during

his/her lifetime

b. Instrumental Values – means of

achieving terminal values

Terminal Values Rank A comfortable life (a prosperous life)

A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution)

A world of peace (free of war and conflicts)

A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts)

Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all)

Family security (taking care of love ones)

Freedom (independence, free choice)

Happiness (contentedness)

Inner Harmony (freedom from inner conflict)

Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life)

Salvation (saved, eternal life)

Social Recognition (respect, admiration)

True friendship (close companionship

Instrumental Values Rank Ambitious ( hardworking, aspiring)

Capable (competent, effective)

Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)

Clean (neat and tidy)

Courageous (standing up for ones belief)

Helpful (working for the welfare of others)

Honest (sincere, truthful)

Imaginative (daring, creative)

Logical (consistent, rational)

Loving (affectionate, tender)

Obedient (dutiful, respectful)

Polite (courteous, well mannered)

Responsible (dependable, reliable)

Most Important Terminal Values

National

Government

Agencies

LGU Business Private

Most Important Instrumental Values

National

Government

Agencies

LGU Business Private

Implications on RVS

• RVS values vary according to

groups

• Understanding the differences

should be helpful in explaining

behavior of employees in different

organizations

Ethical Behavior

• Has there been a decline in

business ethics?

Attitudes

• Attitudes are evaluative

statements – either favorable or

unfavorable concerning objects,

people or events

• They reflect how one feels

about something

• A person can have thousands of attitudes

but OB focuses on a very limited job-

related attitudes such as:

a. Job satisfaction

b. Job involvement

c. Organizational commitment

What determines job satisfaction?

• Mentally challenging work

• Equitable rewards

• Supportive working conditions

• Supportive colleagues

Are satisfied workers more productive

than the dissatisfied workers?

“ A happy worker is a productive worker”

• Fairly small effect. The introduction of

moderating variable such as: the

behavior is not constrained or controlled

by outside factor like machine-paced

jobs ( influence by the speed of the

machine not by satisfaction level)

• Productivity is more likely lead to satisfaction rather than the other way around. If you do a good job you intrinsically feel good about it.

• If the organization rewards productivity, your higher productivity should increase verbal recognition, pay level, chance for promotion, this will in turn level of satisfaction

• Satisfaction a major determinant of

positive Organizational Citizenship

Behavior (OCB). Satisfied employees

would seem more likely:

a. Talk positively about the organization

b. Help others

c. Prone to go beyond the call of duty

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

- is a theory of human motivation that

asserts that it is psychologically

uncomfortable to hold contradictory

cognitions. The theory is that dissonance,

being unpleasant, motivates a person to

change his cognition, attitude, or behavior.

This theory was first explored in detail by

social psychologist Leon Festinger (1956)

• Suggests that people seek to minimize dissonance and the discomfort it causes

• Degree of influence will be low if they perceive the dissonance to be an uncontrollable results (no choice)

• Reward or remuneration for their services are motivated to reduce dissonance

• Dissonance should be moderated by importance, choice, reward factors

What are the implications on the

theory of cognitive dissonance?

• It can predict the propensity to engage in

both attitude and behavioral change

• Dissonance should be moderated by

importance, choice, reward factors

Relationship Between Attitude and

Behavior

• A-B studies yield positive result

• Attitudes do influence behavior

Perception

Perception – is a process by

which individual organize and

interpret their sensory

impressions in order to give

meaning to their environment

Factors Influencing Perception

a.Factors that reside in the perceiver

b.The objects and targets being

perceived

• OB is concerned with human beings

• Our perception and judgment of a

person’s action, will be significantly

influenced by the assumptions we make

about the person’s internal state

Attribution Theory

• has been proposed to develop

explanation of how we judge people

differently depending on what

meaning we attribute to a given

behavior, either it was internally

(under the personal control of

individual) or externally caused

(outside forces).

• The determination of whether the

attribution theory is internally or externally

caused depends on three factors:

a. Distinctiveness – an individual

displays different behaviors in different

situation (uniqueness can be judged as

external attribution, if the action is not

unique, it will be judged as internal,

b. Consensus – everybody who is faced

with a similar situation respond the same

way over time. If the consensus is high

caused by external but if other

employees who took same route and

change conclusion is internal causation

c. Consistency – more consistent

behavior, the more the observer is

inclined to attribute to internal causes

Another important finding from attribution theory is that there are errors or biases that distorts attribution.

Fundamental Attribution Error – tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors.

This is called the “self serving bias” – feedback or review will be predictably distorted (+ and -)

Shortcuts to Judging Others

• Selectivity – Individuals cannot assimilate

all they observe. Selective perception

allows ”speed read” others but not without

the risk of drawing an inaccurate picture

• Assumed similarity – “like me” effect. In

instances that people are really like them

chances are they will be right. The rest of

the time, they will be wrong

• Stereotyping – Judge people on the basis

of our perception of the group to which

he/she belongs. Many stereotypes have

no foundation and can distort judgment

• Halo effect – draw a single impression

about an individual on the basis of single

characteristic such as intelligence,

sociability or appearance

Learning

• “Its what we did went we went to

school”

• Continuously “going to school”

The Learning Process

Environment Law of

Effect

Shaping

Modeling

Behavior

Key Variables Affecting

Individual Behavior Values

Attitudes

Personality

Ability

Motivation

Perception

Learning

Individual

behavior

Implications for Managers

Values

• Values strongly influence a person attitude

• Use RVS to evaluate job applicants and

determine if their values align with the

dominant values in the organization

• An employee’s performance and

satisfaction are likely to be higher if his/her

values fit well in the organization

Attitudes • Attitude influence behavior

• Research on satisfaction/productivity relationship has important implications for managers. It suggest that managers would get better results by directing their attention primarily to what will help employees become more productive (feeling of accomplishment, rewards, increase pay, promotion which will lead to job satisfaction

• Dissonance can be managed.

• The pressure to reduce dissonance as

are lessened when employees perceive

the dissonance as externally imposed

and beyond his/her control or if the

rewards are significant enough to offset

the dissonance

Perception

• Managers need to recognize that their

employees react to perception not to

reality

• Employees organize and interpret what

they see (potential for perceptual

distortions)

• Managers need to pay attention to how

employees perceive both their jobs and

management practices

Learning

• The only issue is whether they are

going to let employee learning occur

randomly or whether they are going to

manage learning – through the

rewards they allocate and the

examples they set

Reference Revisiting Hofstede's Dimensions: Examining the Cultural ...

www.na- sinesspress.com/AJM/BergielEB_Web12_1_.pdf Cached

Similar by EB Bergiel - 2012

VALUES LIST OF MILTON ROKEACH, 1973 - Mio-Ecsde

www.mio-ecsde.org/protarea/Annex_4_3_values_lists.pdf

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Leon Festinger ( 1919-1989)

www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Theory/dissonance