Management
Organizational
Behavior
An Integrated Perspective
CHAPTER 6
Attitudes in
Organizations
Jon L. Pierce &
Donald G. Gardner
with Randall B. Dunham
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
PowerPoint Presentation
by Charlie Cook
6–1
Learning Objectives
1. Understand how employee attitudes affect organizations.
2. Describe the three major components of employee
attitudes: cognitive, affective, and behavioral tendency.
3. Understand the attitude formation process.
4. Describe some ways in which managers might try to
change employee attitudes.
5. Define job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work
and job involvement, and understand their central role
and importance to organizations.
6. Explain why it is important for organizations and
managers to try to influence employee attitudes.
7. Understand that employee attitudes have a financial
impact on an organization’s profitability.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–2
Attitudes and Their Components
• Attitude
 An individual’s predisposition to think, feel, perceive,
and behave in certain ways toward a particular tangible
or intangible phenomenon (attitude object).
 Cognitive
component—what we know, or think we
know, about the attitude object.
 Affective component—the feelings a person has
toward an attitude object.
 Behavioral tendency component—the way an
individual is inclined to behave toward an attitude
object.
 Attitudes develop over time and are resistant to change.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–3
Illustration of the
Attitude  Behavior Relationship
Affective
Component
Cognitive
Component
Attitude
Behavior Toward
Attitude Object
Behavioral
Tendency
Component
FIGURE 6–1
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–4
Attitude Formation
• Personal experience
 Coming into direct contact with an attitude object
creates perceptions about the object’s characteristics
which are transformed into an attitude about the object.
• Association
 The transference of parts
or all of an attitude about an
old object to a new
attitude object.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–5
Attitude Formation
• Social learning
 The influence of persons with whom an individual
works on the formation of the individual’s attitudes.
• Heredity
 The transmission from parents
to offspring of certain defining
characteristics; a genetic
predisposition to behave
or think in certain ways.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–6
Attitude Change
• Strategies for changing an attitude:
 Present new information (cognitive component).
 Present a different emotional reaction to the attitude
object (affective component).
 Provide a new experience with the attitude object that
conflicts with prior experience.
 Create new associations for the attitude object.
 Use others more experienced with the attitude object for
social learning.
 Change the behavior associated with the attitude.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–7
Attitude Change (cont’d)
• Cognitive dissonance
 An unpleasant psychological state that occurs when a
person possesses conflicting thoughts
about an attitude object.
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6–8
Work-related Attitudes
• Job satisfaction
 The attitude that results from the appraisal of one’s job
as attaining or enabling the attainment of one’s
important job values.
 Positive job attitudes arise when
jobs enable persons to
attain their values.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–9
Work-related Attitudes (cont’d)
• Facets of job satisfaction
 Job content—what is done on the job
 Job context—the environment in which the job is done
• Overall job satisfaction
 A combination of facet satisfactions
that describes a person’s overall
affective reaction to a set of
work-related factors.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–10
Satisfaction Levels for Two Co-Workers
Satisfaction level
5
Carole
Marni
4
3
2
1
0
Work
Physical
Supervision Promotions
Overall
Amount
Co-workers Compensation
Policies
Satisfaction facet
Source: Based on data collected by the authors.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
FIGURE 6–2
6–11
Work-related Attitudes (cont’d)
• Causes of job satisfaction
 Experience with the work environment and job content
 Association of the current job with past
occupations/jobs
 Social learning from others
in the workplace
 Genetic predispositions
 Individual personalities
 Organization goals and
management actions
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–12
Work-related Attitudes (cont’d)
• Measuring job satisfaction
 Observing worker behavior
 Interviewing workers about satisfaction levels
 Distributing questionnaires to obtain information
systematically
 Measurement instruments:
 Faces
(Kunin)
 Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ)
 Job Descriptive Index (JDI)
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–13
Job Descriptive Index Item for Measuring Job
Satisfaction
Directions: Think of your present work. What is it like most of the time?
Circle YES if it describes your work.
Circle NO if it does NOT describe your work.
Circle ? if you cannot decide.
a. Fascinating
b. Routine
c. Satisfying
d. High-pressure job
e. Boring
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Source: Adapted from P.C. Smith, L.M. Kendall, and C. L. Hulin. 1969. The
measurement of satisfaction in work and retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
?
?
?
TABLE 6–1
6–14
Work-related Attitudes (cont’d)
• Consequences of job satisfaction
 Employees are less likely to:
 Consider
quitting
 Be absent or tardy
 Refuse to be good organizational citizens
 Job performance does not appear to have a significant
relationship to job satisfaction.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–15
Organizational Commitment
• Organizational commitment
 The relative strength of an individual’s identification
with and involvement in a particular organization.
• Components of organizational commitment
 Affective commitment—an emotional attachment to the
organization and its mission.
 Normative commitment—the belief that commitment is a
“right” thing to do and is based on the employee’s
moral and personal value system
 Continuance commitment—organizational commitment
based on the costs an employee associates with leaving
the organization.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–16
Causes and Consequences of Organizational
Commitment
Personal
Employability
Characteristics
Job/Role
Expectations
Organizational
Organizational
Commitment
Experienced
Propensity
Meaningfulness
Experienced
Job Choice
Initial Work
Factors
Experience
Responsibility
Commitment
Turnover
Behavioral
Intention
Absenteeism
Behavioral
Turnover
Behavior
Absenteeism
Behavior
Intention
Psychological
Ownership
FIGURE 6–4
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–17
Major Causes of Job Satisfaction and
Organizational Commitment
Individual Characteristics:
Dispositional Affectivity
(including genetic pre-dispositions)
Gender
Tenure/Career Stage
Work-Family Conflict
Mentor/Protégé Status
Job Satisfaction and
Organizational Commitment
Work Environment Characteristics:
Perceived Discrimination
Fair and Flexible Policies and Procedures
Nonhazardous Workplace
Supervisor and Co-worker Support
Perceptions of Control
Promotional Opportunities
Source: S. Lease. 1998. Annual review,
1993–1997: Work attitudes and outcomes.
Journal of Vocational Behavior 53:154–183.
FIGURE 6–5
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–18
Job and Work Involvement
• Job involvement
 An employee’s psychological involvement with a
particular job.
• Work involvement
 An employee’s devotion to or alienation from work in
general.
• Job and work involvement aspects
 The conscious desire and choice to participate or avoid
work or a job.
 The centrality or marginality of work to an individual.
 The importance of the work to a person’s self-concept.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–19
Psychological Ownership
• Psychological ownership
 The state in which an individual feels as though the
target of ownership (or a piece of that target) is theirs.
• Psychological ownership develops through:
 Empowerment through the control of the work
 Self-management opportunities
 Expanded roles in managing the production process
 Participation in problem solving
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6–20
Causes and Consequences of Employee
Psychological Ownership
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS
CONSEQUENT CONDITIONS
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Assumption of Responsibility
Information
(Intimate Knowledge)
Involvement
Opportunities
Influence
Psychological
Ownership
Satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
Investing of Oneself
Assumption of Personal Risk for
the Target of Ownership
FIGURE 6–6
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–21
The Management of Employee Attitudes
• Organizational influences on employee
attitudes
The
Employee’s
Attitudes,
Feelings, Beliefs,
Intentions
Structure
Climate
Culture
Working
Conditions
Job Design
Technology
Security
Policies
Pay
Co-Workers
FIGURE 6–7
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–22
The Financial Impact of Attitudes
• Human resource accounting
 The application of accounting principles and practices
to the evaluation and management of human assets.
• Behavioral accounting
 The treatment of attitudinal measures as indicators of
subsequent employee behavior, which in turn have
economic implications for organizations that can be
assessed using cost accounting procedures.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–23
The Financial Impact of Attitudes (cont’d)
• A procedure for measuring the financial impact
of attitudes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identify and measure relevant attitudes.
Identify and measure relevant “cost items.”
Price behavioral “cost items.”
Identify the relationship between attitudes and
behavioral “cost items.”
5. Estimate the financial impact of attitude changes.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
6–24