Attitudes, Values, and Diversity Flashcards
What are values?
Broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others. Includes preference, motivations, and broad tendency (values are general, they don’t predict behavior very well)
What are the domains of values and where do they come from?
Domains: power, achievement, autonomy, conformity, tradition, and social welfare.
They come from education and media, family, culture, religious beliefs, personal experiences, and society.
What is the connection between values and workplace performance?
Is is important for there to be a good fit between peoples’ values and the values of their organization. It leads to more positive work attitudes and behaviors, including reduced chances of quitting.
Generations in the workplace
Generations: traditionalists (respect of authority and high work ethic), baby boomers (optimistic workaholics), gen x, millennials, gen z (self-reliant). There are certain stereotypes about the values of these different generations but research points to more similarities than differences amongst generations.
What are Hofstede’s cultural dimensions?
Individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, power distance, uncertainty/avoidance, and long/short term goal orientation.
Explain individualist vs collectivist cultures
Individualist cultures are ‘I’ cultures, personal identity and independence are most important. Success if defined by personal achievement and is often celebrated publicly (Canada, Australia, Netherlands). Collectivist cultures are ‘we’ cultures. Importance is placed on the group and the role you play in your relationships. Group success is the most important (Columbia, Indonesia, South Korea).
Power distance
The degree to which wealth, prestige, and power are distributed amongst a culture. High power distance cultures have more formal and direct interactions and conflict is resolved by higher ups. In a low power distance culture, the interactions are less formal and conflict does not have to be resolved by those with more power. In theory power distance and individualism/collectivism are not related, but when plotted you can see a correlation that higher power distance is more collectivist, and lower power distance is more individualist.
Masculinity and Femininity
Masculine cultures have stronger gender toles, they emphasize success and socialize their people to be assertive, confident, and competitive. Men are socialized to strive for more material success while women have more nurturing roles. Feminine cultures emphasize quality of life and socialize their people to be modest and emphasize close personal relationships. These cultures accept the overlapping roles for men and women.
Uncertainty avoidance
The extent to which members of a culture feel nervous or threatened in a situation they think is ambiguous or unclear. Avoid certain situations by establishing formal rules and maintaining a strict code of behavior.
Long and short term orientation
Long term orientation is the degree to which people value thrift, savings, and persistence. Short term orientation is the degree to which people value reciprocation of greetings, favours and gifts, and fulfilling social obligations.
What does cultural diversity bring to an organization?
Larger talent pool, various perspectives, and mutual learning. Cons are coordination problems with communication, mistrust, and conflict.
What is cultural intelligence (CQ) and how can we develop it?
CQ is the degree to which we can function efficiently in situations characterized by cultural diversity. Can develop CQ by being interested in learning about other cultures, awareness of self in relation to others, awareness of biases towards other cultures, and interacting with people from different cultures.
What are attitudes?
Attitudes are more specific than values, they involve evaluations directed towards specific categories. They give fairly stable responses to things.
What are job satisfaction facets and what is a key component of job satisfaction?
The work itself, compensation, working conditions, supervision, recognition, coworkers, benefits, career opportunities, mentally challenging work, and organizational policy. Key component of satisfaction is fairness.
What are the three facets of fairness?
Fair outcomes (distributive justice): do people’s outcomes match their contributions.
Fair process (procedural justice): was the process used accurate and fair? Did it allow for input
Fair interpersonal treatment (interactional justice): did employees receive adequate and timely information about how they were evaluated? Were the treated with respect and dignity?
