Chapter 04: Individual Values, Perceptions, and Reactions

Intrinsic work values

including challenge, variety, and learning new skills, relate to the work itself. Extrinsic work values, including pay and benefits, relate to the outcomes of doing the work. Terminal values reflect our long-term life goals, and may include prosperity, happiness, a secure family, and a sense of accomplishment. Instrumental values are our preferred means of achieving our terminal values or our preferred ways of behaving.

Affective commitment

refers to a positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values and goals.

Normative commitment

refers to feeling obliged to stay with an organization for moral or ethical reasons such as repaying a debt for tuition assistance or comprehensive training.

Terminal values

reflect our long-term life goals, and may include prosperity, happiness, a secure family, and a sense of accomplishment. Jessie reassesses her long-term goals and realizes that she would rather make a meaningful contribution to her community than make as much money as she can.

What type of employees give their full effort to their jobs, often going beyond what is required because they are passionate about the organization and about doing their jobs well?

Engaged

Extrinsic work values

Extrinsic work values, including pay and benefits, relate to the outcomes of doing the work. Although the work isn't as interesting, you decide to accept the job offer with the organization that offers the best benefit package.

TED: I love my job. I'm constantly learning new things and have a lot of control over what I do. MADELINE: I love my job, too. The health benefits and retirement plan are amazing! What values is Ted expressing?

Intrinsic work values

Traditional values

More traditional societies emphasize the importance of parent-child ties and deference to authority, which is reflected in high levels of national pride and a nationalistic outlook. Cultures that have more traditional values also tend to put a higher emphasis on religion. Societies with secular-rational values have the opposite characteristics. In some countries, businesses must close on all religious holidays.

Ivana just finished a training program sponsored by her employer that dramatically increased her computer skills. She feels that she should stay with the company for at least a couple more years to repay them for investing in her skill development. What type of commitment is Ivana likely experiencing?

Normative

Intention

a component of an attitude that guides a person's behavior. Intentions don't guarantee that the planned behavior will actually happen. You may intend to do one thing (take a particular class) but later alter your intentions because of a more significant and central attitude (fondness for sleeping late). -You plan to come in early tomorrow to help your boss take inventory. Unfortunately, you do not make it because you decide to sleep in.

Cognitive dissonance

an incompatibility or conflict between behavior and an attitude or between two different attitudes. Attitudes are usually viewed as stable dispositions to behave toward objects in a certain way. Cognition is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something. -You believe that workers around the world are entitled to minimum standards of workplace safety, pay, and working conditions. You learn that your new employer is inconsistent in how it treats workers in other countries and that raising the company's standards in some of the countries would be so expensive that the company would have to close those facilities and fire those workers.

Moods

are short-term emotional states that are not directed toward anything in particular. Moods are less intense than emotions and can change quickly. Cognition is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something and are based on perceptions of truth and reality. Terminal values reflect our long-term life goals, and may include prosperity, happiness, a secure family, and a sense of accomplishment.

An incompatibility or conflict between behavior and an attitude or between two different attitudes is called

cognitive dissonance

Self-expression values

emphasize subjective well-being, self-expression, and quality of life, giving high priority to environmental protection, diversity tolerance, and participation in decision making. Societies that rank high on self-expression values also tend have higher interpersonal trust and tolerance and value individual freedom and self-expression. Some countries give employees extended parental leave and emphasize environmental responsibility.

Intrapersonal value conflict (phrase)

is conflict between the instrumental value of ambition (meeting goals and being rewarded for achieving them) and the terminal value of happiness (accomplishments such as spending time with family or working on a hobby that do not necessarily lead to prestige.) You decide to turn down the promotion offer when you learn that it will require substantial travel that will take you away from your family, which is the thing that is most important to you.

Intrapersonal value conflict

is conflict between the instrumental value of ambition and the terminal value of happiness. You really want to attend a friend's birthday party but decide to work late to impress your boss with a presentation that you are making tomorrow.

Nasty interactions with coworkers can impact our __________ five times more strongly than positive interactions.

mood

Individual-organization value conflict

occurs when an employee's values conflict with the values of the organization. You believe that all employees should have access to health care, but your employer is only willing to provide it to full-time employees.

Interpersonal value conflict

occurs when two different people hold conflicting values. You want to make decisions collectively but your teammate Sal wants to be the sole decision maker for your project team.

Employee engagement

refers to a heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work. Job satisfaction reflects our attitudes and feelings about our job. Organizational commitment reflects the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and its goals and wants to stay with the organization

Affect

similar to emotion and is a person's feeling toward something. -Billy likes his boss Tony because he is supportive and gives him the confidence to succeed.

Continuance commitment

staying with an organization because of perceived high economic (taking another job would mean losing valuable stock options) and/or social costs (friendships with coworkers) involved with leaving. ___________________ leads employees to stay with an organization because they feel that they have to.

Cognition

the knowledge a person presumes to have about something and is based on perceptions of truth and reality. -You took your current job because it has a better commute, higher pay, and more interesting work than any of your other job options.