Download Organizational Behavior

MGTO 121
Organizational Behavior
Values, Attitudes, and Job
Satisfaction
Dr. Kin Fai Ellick Wong
Outline
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Values
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Attitudes
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Concepts and Implications for OB
Concepts and Implications for OB
Job Satisfaction
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Relationships with various OB DVs
Values
Values
大仇不報非君子 vs. 大人不記小人過
 人之初,性本善 vs. 人之初,性本惡
 寧縱無枉 vs. 寧枉無縱
 偏愛 (儒家) vs. 博愛 (墨家, 基督教)
 寧我去負天下人, 休教天下人負我 (曹操)
 大丈夫不能流芳百世, 亦當遺嗅萬年(桓溫)
 攻城為下, 攻心為上 (馬謖)
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Definition
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Basic convictions that 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
They contain a judgmental element in that
they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is
right, good, or desirable
Relatively (as compared with attitudes)
enduring and stable
Value system
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A hierarchy based on a ranking of an
individual’s values in terms of their
intensity
Importance of values
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They lay the foundation for the
understanding of attitudes and
motivation because they influence
people’s perceptions
Certain behaviors or outcomes in
organizations are preferred over others
 Values generally influence attitudes and
behavior
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Types of values
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Terminal values
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Desirable end-states of existence: the goals
that a person would like to achieve during his
or her lifetime
• E.g., an exciting life, freedom, social recognition
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Instrumental values
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Preferable modes of behavior or means of
achieving one’s terminal values
• E.g., clean, ambitious, capable, honest, logical
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Mean value ranking of executives,
union members, and activists
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Exhibit 3-2
Dominant work values in today’s
workforce
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Exhibit 3-3
Values across cultures
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Five value dimensions of national
culture:
Power distance
 Individualism vs. collectivism
 Quantity of life vs. quality of life
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Long-term vs. short-term orientation
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See exhibit 3-4
Implications for OB
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To increase the compatibility between the
employees and the jobs, their values
should be considered
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E.g. (1), There are so many capable female
employees. Unfortunately, they often resign
after a baby is born. How can we attract them
to stay?
E.g. (2), From exhibit 3-2, we see that union
members are highly concerned with family
security. On the basis of this information, how
can we develop a compensation system that
is particularly attractive to them?
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For international management, we
need to know, understand, and
respect values of employees from
different nations
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E.g., way of using salary in Indonesia:
Local Indonesians, Dutch, and Chinese
Research findings from the US may
not be applicable to other countries
Attitudes
Attitudes

十五年前
我愛穿籮蔔褲
 我討厭讀書
 我對大學教授沒有好感


現在
穿籮蔔褲很老土
 我喜愛讀書
 方知大學教授大都學問淵博

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Definition
Evaluative statements or judgments
concerning objects, people, or events
 Relatively (compared with values) less
enduring and stable
 Three components
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• Cognitive component
• Affective component
• Behavioral component
Types of attitudes in OB
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Job satisfaction
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An individual’s general attitude toward his or
her job
我喜愛我的工作
Job involvement
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The degree to which a person identifies
psychologically with his or her job, actively
participates in it, and considers his or her
performance important to self-worth
我會工作至廢寢忘餐
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Organizational commitment
The degree to which an employee
identifies with a particular organization
and its goals and wishes to maintain
membership in the organization
 我以能成為XX公司的一分子為榮
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Implications to OB
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Attitude – Behavior relationship
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Previous research found a weak A-B
relationship
Recent research suggests that the A-B
relationship is stronger when attitudes are
•
•
•
•
•
important
specific
accessible
without social pressure
Directly experienced
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Attitude changes
Cognitive dissonance theory
 Self-perception theory
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Cognitive dissonance theory
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Cognitive dissonance: Any incompatibility
between two or more attitudes or
between behavior and attitudes（知知不下，
知行不一）
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E.g., A tobacco executive who is not a smoker
Any form of inconsistency is
uncomfortable and that individuals will
attempt to reduce the dissonance and
hence the discomfort
They will seek a stable state in which
there is a minimum of dissonance
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Solutions to reduce the dissonance
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Adjust the behavior or the attitude
• Smoking is not as bad as what research
findings have described
• 一個班長的故事
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No change: when the inconsistency is
not important, is not controllable, and
is associated with high rewards
Self-perception theory
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Attitudes are used after the fact to
make sense out of an action that
has already occurred
牌子的故事
 Underpayment and job satisfaction
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How can we assess
employees’ attitude?
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Attitude surveys
Eliciting responses from employees
through questionnaires about how they
feel about their jobs, work groups,
supervisors, and the organization
 See exhibit 3-5
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Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction and
productivity
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Happy workers are productive
workers?
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At Individual level
• The answer seems to be No; rather it
seems to be that productive workers are
happy worker. (see Myth or Science, p. 77)
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At organizational level
• It seems that organizations with more
happy employees are more effective than
those with less satisfied employees
Satisfaction and
absenteeism
Negatively correlated
 The relationship is moderate
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Satisfaction and turnover
Negatively correlated
 The relationship is stronger than
that between satisfaction and
absenteeism
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Satisfaction and OCB
A modest positive relationship
 The relationship is related to
perceived justice and trust of the
supervisor
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