Work Attitudes Flashcards
Values
Broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others
Motivational (signal aspects of environment we seek/avoid)
Broad tendency: values are general and do not predict behaviour in specific situations well
Work Centrality
High work centrality = working more hours
Can lead to adjustment problems for foreign employees/managers
E.g. Japanese culture places high emphasis on work, leads to many work related (overwork) deaths (work valued differently across cultures)
Attitude
Stable evaluative tendency to respond consistently to specific object, situation, person, or category of people
Evaluations directed toward specific targets
Attitude influence behaviour when have direct experience with target of attitude and when attitude is strong
Facet Satisfaction
Tendency for an employee to be more or less satisfied with various facets of the job
E.g. I love my work but hate my boss
Surrounding the work, compensation, career opportunities, recognition, benefits, working conditions, supervision, coworkers, organizational policy
Job Satisfaction
Collection of attitudes that people have about their jobs
Facet and overall satisfaction
Overall Satisfaction
Overall or summary indicator of a person’s attitude toward the job that cuts across various facets
E.g. I like my job on the whole though some aspects could be improved
Generational Cohorts
Each generation has different lived experiences
Leads to different values
E.g. Boomers viewed as optimistic workaholics
Hofstede’s Study
Cultural Distance
Extent to which cultures differ in values
Greater cultural distance impedes communication
Cultural Tightness/Loosness
Tight cultures: strong, clear standards for behaviour, strong sanctions for deviation (Pakistan, Singapore, Korea)
Loose cultures: flexible in terms of expected behaviour, more forgiving of violations of expected behaviour (Canada, Netherlands, Brazil, USA)
Relates to range of behaviours (e.g. clothes, social class rigidity, how sexes interact)
Importing/Exporting OB Theories
OB theories, research, practices from North America might not translate to other societies
Basic questions remain the same, but answers change (e.g. how should I lead)
Individualistic culture makes it harder to import collectivist strategies here
Appreciating Global Customers
Have to appreciate cross cultural differences when understanding needs/tastes of customers around the world
Cultural Intelligence
Capability to function and manage well in culturally diverse environments
Knowledge, motivation, behaviour that contribute to good cross cultural functioning
Helps develop global employees
Discrepancy Theory
Satisfaction is a function of the discrepancy between job outcomes people want and the outcomes that they perceive they obtain
Fairness
Distributive
Procedural
Interactional
Distributive Fairness
When people receive the outcomes they think they deserve from their jobs
Equity theory: inputs that people perceive themselves as investing in a job and the outcomes that the job provides are compared against the inputs and outcomes of some other relevant person or group
Procedural Fairness/Justice
Individuals see the process used to determine outcomes as reasonable
Particularly relevant to performance evaluations, pay raises, promotions, layoffs, work assignments
Satisfaction maximized if people believe they would have done better if other procedures were used
Four areas:
-consistent procedures over time/people
-accurate and unbiased info
-two way communication during process
-welcome appeals of procedure
Interactional Fairness/Justice
When people feel that they have received respectful and informative communication about an outcome
Inconsistency in fair treatment is more stressful than consistent unfair treatment
Determinants of Job Satisfaction
Discrepancy
Fairness
Disposition
Mood/emotion
Disposition
Some people are predisposed to be more or less satisfied despite changes in discrepancy or fairness
Mood & Emotion
Emotional contagion: tendency for moods and emotions to spread between people/throughout a group
Emotional labour: requirement for people to conform to certain emotional display rules in their job behaviour in spite of their true mood or emotions
Contributors To Job Satisfaction
Mentally challenging work: test skill/abilities, set work at own pace
Meaningful work: positive impact on others
Adequate compensation
Career opportunities: material (raise, promotion), social (recognition, prestige)
People: friendliness especially important in low level jobs
Consequences of Poor Satisfaction
Absence from work
Turnover
Performance
Organizational citizenship behaviour
Counterproductive work behaviour
Customer satisfaction/profit
Counterproductive Work Behaviour
Intentional verbal or physical behaviour meant to harm one’s organization or individuals such as co-workers or customers
Organizational Commitment
Attitude that reflects the strength of the linkage between employee and organization
Affective
Continuance
Normative
Affective Commitment
Based on person’s identification and involvement with an organization
High affective commitment people stay because they want to
Continuance Commitment
Based on either the costs incurred after leaving or lack of suitable job alternatives
High continuance commitment stay because they have to
Normative Commitment
Based on ideology or a feeling of obligation to an organization
High normative commitment stay because they think they should
