4
ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND ETHICS
CHAPTER SCAN
Attitudes are shaped by the interaction of situations, experiences and values. Attitudes are
learned, and carried into the work environment. This chapter examines how attitudes are formed
and how they affect our perceptions and our actions in relationship to ethics. Development of
values is discussed by examining Rokeach’s instrumental and terminal values research. A model
of ethical behavior is presented, and factors affecting ethical behavior are discussed.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
1. Explain the ABC model of an attitude.
2. Describe how attitudes are formed.
3. Define job satisfaction and organizational commitment and discuss the importance of
these two work attitudes.
4. Identify the characteristics of the source, target, and message that affect persuasion.
5. Distinguish between instrumental and terminal values.
6. Explain how managers can deal with the diverse value systems that characterize the
global environment.
7. Describe a model of individual and organizational influences on ethical behavior.
8. Discuss how value systems, locus of control, Machiavellianism, and cognitive moral
development affect ethical behavior.
61
62
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
KEY TERMS
Chapter 4 introduces the following key terms:
attitude
affect
cognitive dissonance
social learning
job satisfaction
organizational citizenship behavior
organizational commitment
affective commitment
continuance commitment
normative commitment
values
instrumental values
terminal values
ethical behavior
Machiavellianism
cognitive moral development
THE CHAPTER SUMMARIZED
I.
THINKING AHEAD: Values See Harley-Davidson through the Tough Times
II.
ATTITUDES
Attitudes are an integral part of the workplace that directly impact employee behavior.
Understanding how people form attitudes, how those attitudes affect work behavior, and
persuasion will help managers improve their ability to change counterproductive attitudes.
A.
The ABC Model
The ABC Model includes three areas: affect, behavioral intentions, and cognition. Affect
is the emotional component of an attitude. When we ask an employee how he or she feels
about a new policy, we are requesting an affective response. Behavioral intentions relate
to the action(s) an individual would take given the opportunity. Cognition is a verbal
statement regarding one’s belief about a specific person or situation, which reflects
perceptions and attitudes. People experience cognitive dissonance when their behavior
conflicts with their own attitudes or beliefs.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
B.
63
Attitude Formation
All attitudes are learned, and our attitudes vary based on our experiences and learning
environment. One way in which our attitudes are formed is through social learning,
which involves the influences of family, peers, colleagues, and institutions.
C.
Attitudes and Behavior
The association between attitudes and behaviors intrigues researchers. Attitude
enactment is not as simple as thinking positively to produce positive results. The degree
to which our behavior matches our attitudes has to do with relevance, personality factors,
and social context.
D.
Work Attitudes
Two primary work attitudes are job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
1.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is the pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one's job or job experience. There are several measures of job
satisfaction. One of the most widely used measures is the Job Descriptive Index.
Job satisfaction correlates with several other outcomes, including organizational
citizenship behavior – behavior that is above and beyond the call of duty.
2.
Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment is the strength of an individual's identification with
an organization. There are three kinds of organizational commitment: affective,
continuance, and normative. Affective commitment refers to an employee's
intention to remain in an organization because of a strong desire to do so.
Continuance commitment is based on the fact that an individual cannot afford to
leave. Normative commitment refers to a perceived obligation to remain with
the organization. Some interesting outcomes of widespread company downsizing
ventures may alter the level and types of organizational commitment.
E.
Persuasion and Attitude Change
Because attitudes can be altered and shaped, it is in the interest of managers to be
conscious of ways in which they might affect attitude changes. Through persuasion,
attitudes can be altered. Characteristics of the persuader, and the individual being
persuaded, and the message itself must be considered. Source characteristics are related
to the individual trying to persuade another, while target characteristics are related to the
individual being persuaded.
64
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
1.
Source Characteristics
The persuader may have an impact on the target through expertise,
trustworthiness, attractiveness, and/or likability.
2.
Target Characteristics
The persuader may have difficulty persuading a target who has high self-esteem,
who is resistant to change, or who is negative.
3.
Message Characteristics
People react either negatively or positively to the message content, as well as to
the perceived intent of the persuader sending the message.
4.
Cognitive Routes to Persuasion
Persuasion occurs through either a central route or a peripheral route, or both.
The central route involves direct cognitive processing, in which the content of the
message is very important. In contrast, peripheral routes involve persuasion based
on characteristics of the persuader or the method of presentation. Consequently,
the target's level of involvement with the issue becomes very important, and the
persuader should adopt the route that matches the individual's level of
involvement.
III.
VALUES
Values are the enduring beliefs 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. Values are more difficult to change or alter than are attitudes, although attitudes are
based on values. As ethical conduct receives more visibility in the workplace, values increase in
importance as a topic of discussion in management.
A.
Instrumental and Terminal Values
Rokeach divides values into instrumental and terminal values. Instrumental values
represent acceptable behaviors as the means to reach a goal. Terminal values represent
the goals to be achieved.
B.
Work Values
Work values are more specific than personal values, and have direct implications for
behavior and attitudes in organizations. The work values most relevant to individuals are
achievement, concern for others, honesty, and fairness.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
C.
65
Cultural Differences in Values
Culture exerts a significant influence on individuals’ values and the differences in values
within various cultures become increasingly important as workforce diversity broadens.
Central values such as loyalty, contribution, and authority can vary greatly from one
culture to another, making it more important than ever that managers seek to understand,
tolerate, and capitalize on those differences.
IV.
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
Ethical behavior refers to actions consistent with one's personal values and the commonly held
values of the organization and society. A review of one week’s issues of the Wall Street Journal
illustrates the difficulty of developing ethical norms within organizations.
A.
Value Systems
Individuals are bombarded with shocks and challenges to their value systems in work
settings. If the situations are not in harmony with their perspectives, the outcomes can
have far-reaching ramifications.
B.
Locus of Control
Internals are more likely than externals to take personal responsibility for the
consequences of their ethical or unethical behavior. Externals are more apt to believe that
external forces caused their ethical or unethical behavior. An interesting self-assessment
of external locus of control was made by the second murderer in Shakespeare's Macbeth:
"I am one my liege, whom the vile blows and buffets of the world have so incensed that I
am reckless what I do to spite the world."
C.
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is a personality characteristic indicating one's willingness to do
whatever it takes to get one's own way. A high-Mach individual has little concern for
conventional notions of right and wrong, and believes that the end justifies the means.
It is not surprising that recent research has discovered that high-Machs are less likely to
punish unethical behavior.
D.
Cognitive Moral Development
The cognitive moral development model comes from the research of Lawrence Kohlberg,
proposing that as individuals mature, their moral development also matures. Cognitive
moral development is the process of moving through stages of maturity in terms of
making ethical decisions.
66
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
V.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND ETHICS AT WORK
VI.
LOOKING BACK: Values-Based Training
CHAPTER SUMMARY








The ABC model of an attitude contends that an attitude has three components: affect,
behavioral intentions, and cognition. Cognitive dissonance is the tension produced by a
conflict between attitudes and behavior.
Attitudes are formed through direct experience and social learning. Direct experience creates
strong attitudes because the attitudes are easily accessed and active in cognitive processes.
Attitude-behavior correspondence depends on attitude specificity, attitude relevance, timing
of measurement, personality factors, and social constraints.
Two important work attitudes are job satisfaction and organizational commitment. There are
cultural differences in these attitudes, and both attitudes can be improved by providing
employees with opportunities for participation in decision making.
A manager's ability to persuade employees to change their attitudes depends on
characteristics of the manager (expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness), the employees
(self-esteem, original attitude, and mood), the message (one-sided versus two-sided), and the
route (central versus peripheral).
Values are enduring beliefs and are strongly influenced by cultures, societies, and
organizations.
Instrumental values reflect the means to achieving goals; terminal values represent the goals
to be achieved.
Ethical behavior is influenced by the individual's value system, locus of control,
Machiavellianism, and cognitive moral development.
REVIEW QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. Describe the ABC model of an attitude. How should each component be measured?
The ABC model includes three components: affect, behavioral intentions, and cognition.
Physiological indicators such as galvanic skin response measure affect. These indicators show
changes in emotions by measuring physical arousal. Behavioral intention is measured by
observing behavior or by asking a person about behavior or intentions. Cognition is measured by
attitude scales or by asking about thoughts.
2. How are attitudes formed? Which source is stronger?
Direct experiences and social learning form attitudes. Attitudes formed from direct experience
are stronger because they are readily available and called on quickly by our consciousness.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
67
3. Discuss cultural differences in job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Because organizations face the challenge of operating in the global environment, managers must
understand that job satisfaction is significantly affected by culture. Therefore, employees from
different cultures may have different expectations of their jobs. Similarly, organizational
commitment studies have shown variances among cultures in terms of commitment to the
organization.
4. What are the major influences on attitude-behavior correspondence? Why do some
individuals seem to exhibit behavior that is inconsistent with their attitude?
Attitude-behavior correspondence is affected by attitude specificity, attitude relevance, timing of
measurement, personality, and social constraints. For some individuals, attitude-behavior
correspondence is not so important. High self-monitors are more concerned that their behavior is
situationally appropriate than that their behavior reflects their attitudes.
5. What should managers know about the persuasion process?
Managers use persuasion to change or enhance values, and can act as a catalyst for encouraging
attitude change. In order to influence individuals, managers must be conscious of characteristics
that are likely to enhance their persuasive capabilities. These characteristics include
attractiveness, trustworthiness, and credibility.
6. Define values. Distinguish between instrumental values and terminal values. Are these
values generally stable, or do they change over time?
Values are enduring beliefs 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. Instrumental values represent the acceptable behaviors used to achieve some end
state. Terminal values represent the goals to be achieved, or the end state of existence.
These values are relatively stable, yet influences such as age and gender do affect individuals'
values over time.
7. What is the relationship between values and ethics?
Ethical behavior is acting in ways consistent with one's personal values and the commonly held
values of the organization and society; thus values underlie ethical behavior.
8. How does locus of control affect ethical behavior?
Internals are more likely than externals to take personal responsibility for the consequences of
their ethical or unethical behavior.
68
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
9. What is Machiavellianism, and how does it relate to ethical behavior?
Machiavellianism is a personality characteristic indicating one's willingness to do whatever it
takes to get one's own way. High-Machs believe that any means justify the desired ends.
10. Describe the stages of cognitive moral development. How does this concept affect ethical
behavior in organizations?
Cognitive moral development has three levels, each consisting of two stages. At the preconventional level, Stage 1 individuals' base decisions on rewards, punishments, and selfinterest. Rules are obeyed to avoid punishment. In Stage 2, individuals follow the rules only if it
is in their immediate interest to do so. At the conventional level, Stage 3 individuals try to live
up to the expectations of people close to them. In Stage 4, the perspective is broadened to
include the laws of the larger society. At the principled level, Stage 5 individuals base decisions
on principles of justice and rights. In Stage 6, individuals follow self-selected ethical principles.
If training can enhance moral development, it is in the interest of organizations to provide
educational seminars to assist employees.
DISCUSSION AND COMMUNICATION QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. What jobs do you consider to be most satisfying? Why?
Some of these answers may be idealistic because they are expectations. Most students will state
motivator reasons for satisfaction, rather than hygiene factors, such as salary.
2. How can managers increase their employees’ job satisfaction?
One of the keys is to examine all five components of the core job characteristics model. Many
students will answer only one aspect of the model, such as suggesting an increase in skill variety.
Managers must have accurate perceptions of what employees want in a job.
3. Suppose you have an employee whose lack of commitment is affecting others in the work
group. How would you go about persuading the person to change this attitude?
Students should analyze characteristics of the persuader, the target, and the message to address
this problem.
4. In Rokeach's studies on values, the most recent data are from 1981. Do you think values have
changed since then? If so, how?
One of the strengths of the Rokeach studies is that they were longitudinal. There are suggestions
of differences between males and females, yet there is a tendency to keep core values in
relationships. Students may wish to contrast their values with those of their parents and
grandparents in discussing this question.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
69
5. What are the most important influences on an individual's perceptions of ethical behavior?
Can organizations change these perceptions? If so, how?
Ethical behavior is influenced by two major categories of factors: individual characteristics and
organizational factors. Organizations can affect individuals' perceptions of ethical behavior by
creating a culture that rewards ethical behavior and employee involvement, training, and
modeling ethical behavior.
6. How can managers encourage organizational citizenship?
By promoting a climate of honesty and rewarding the "helping" behaviors. Students may need to
analyze their current environment (work organization or university) to see if the organization
encourages citizenship.
7. Suppose you are a manager in a customer service organization. Your group includes seven
supervisors who report directly to you. Each supervisor manages a team of seven customer
service representatives. One of your supervisors, Linda, has complained that Joe, one of her
employees, has “an attitude problem.” She has requested that Joe be transferred to another
team. Write a memo to Linda explaining your position on this problem and what should be done.
Encourage students to apply the concepts learned in class about attitudes to their resolution of
this problem. This problem also provides a good opportunity to discuss how values, personality,
perception, etc. could be affecting this situation.
8. Select a company that you admire for its values. Use the resources of your university library
to answer two questions. First, what are the company’s values? Second, how do employees
enact these values? Prepare an oral presentation to present in class.
Following the oral presentations, discuss differences in values that were identified across
organizations. Get student input on why the values differ among organizations and how
companies sometimes enact the same values in different ways.
9. Think of a time when you have experienced cognitive dissonance. Analyze your experience in
terms of the attitude and behavior involved. What did you do to resolve the cognitive
dissonance? What other actions could you have taken? Write a brief description of your
experience and your responses to the questions.
During discussion of these responses, encourage students to examine how people respond
differently to cognitive dissonance. Discuss how an understanding of cognitive dissonance can
be beneficial to a manager.
ETHICS QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. Is it ethical for an organization to influence an individual's ethical behavior? In other words,
is ethics a personal issue that organizations should stay away from? Is it an invasion of privacy
to enforce codes of conduct?
70
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
Manipulation is related to this question. Some organizations receive notoriety for attempting to
influence their members (Cracker Barrel, Coors Brewery), and these efforts have been seen as an
invasion of privacy. Codes of ethics reinforcements are about business practices, not personal
lifestyles.
2. Suppose a coworker is engaging in behavior that you find personally unethical, but the
behavior is not prohibited by the company's ethical standards. How would you handle the issue?
This becomes a personal issue, rather than a workplace issue. Students may need an example to
begin their analysis. A useful example is use of "colorful language" by professors in the
classroom. How would students handle offensive language? If they do not act on their principles
(because of power and authority differences), would they really stand up to a person at work?
3. Some people have argued that the biggest deficiency of business school graduates is that they
have no sense of ethics. What do you think?
This is an excellent question to discuss in class, particularly if there are students from other
disciplines enrolled in the course. Business students have heard this allegation often. They
have also heard that they are self-serving. Students are often quick to point out numerous
examples of "ethical conduct.” This question is often answered differently depending on the
emphasis that is placed on the topic among the majors.
4. Is it possible to operate in a completely ethical manner and be successful in business when
your competitors engage in unethical tactics?
Many writers believe that self-interest and good ethics can coincide, because it is often in one's
interest to act morally. Students’ opinions range greatly on this question.
5. How do Machiavellianism and locus of control affect an individual's cognitive moral
development?
High Mach's believe that any means available should be used to achieve the end. This relates to
a low stage of cognitive moral development, where behavior is determined by punishment for
being "caught". Similarly, external locus of control individuals might not take responsibility for
their actions, thus blaming their behavior on society, parents, peer pressure, etc., again reflecting
a low level of cognitive moral development.
CHALLENGES
4.1 ASSESS YOUR JOB SATISFACTION
This short student survey is an abbreviated version of the Job Diagnostic Survey. Be sure to
emphasize that the longer version has validity and that they should only get an impression of the
tool through this questionnaire, rather than a valid assessment.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
71
Students can transfer their understanding of the Hackman/Oldham core job characteristics by
discussing the level of autonomy, skill variety, feedback, task significance, and task identity that
they have toward a position after they finish this survey.
4.2 WHAT DO YOU VALUE AT WORK
This exercise provides students with an opportunity to examine what they value at work. Their
responses can then serve as a basis for a discussion of individual differences in values, as well as
the role of work values as a dimension of person-organization fit.
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
4.1 CHINESE, INDIAN AND AMERICAN VALUES
Based on the research in Bond’s book, from the article by Kuo-Shu Yang, the following rankings
are shown:
Value
American
Chinese
Indian
Achievement
7
3
5
Deference
12
11(tie)
10
Order
15
8
13
Exhibition
8
13
12
Autonomy
10
11(tie)
11
Affiliation
3
4
8
Intraception
1
2
4
Succorance
14
10
14
Dominance
5
9
7
Abasement
9
6
1
Nurturance
6
1
2
Change
2
7
3
Endurance
11
5
6
Heterosexuality
14
15
15
Aggression
13
14
9
Internal/external locus of control: Americans tend to be more internal and Chinese more
external.
Values
In terms of the values survey, it can be seen that Chinese students tend to show a higher need
than Americans for achievement, order, deference, abasement, succorance, nurturance, and
endurance, with a lower need on exhibition, intraception, dominance, change, heterosexuality,
and aggression. It was expected that a sample of the general population, rather than students,
would have shown even greater cultural differences.
72
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
The results of twenty studies done of Chinese students in Taiwan showed their predominant
profile of value orientation to consist of inner development, past perspective, collectivism
(lineality), and submission to nature. They choose to combine contemplation, action, and
enjoyment in acceptable proportions. They feel it is important to accept social constraints, to
show and express sympathetic concern for others, and to preserve and maintain good human
traditions and achievements. Further, they are high in theoretical and aesthetic pursuits and low
in economic and religious ones. They feel that sensuous enjoyment and silent submission to
external forces are both wrong. Harmony, self-restraint, and conscientiousness are rated high.
When asking Chinese students which goals were important to them, they ranked top ones as good
marriage and happy family, beating one’s brains out in the pursuit of knowledge, and a handsome
salary. Low for them were goals such as religious beliefs, being a leader to dominate others,
exercising intensely to develop physical qualities, and being successful in social life.
Studies of Machiavellianism, or the belief that one can manipulate and deceive people for
personal gain, have shown that (despite a Western stereotype otherwise) Chinese people have a
lower level of Machiavellianism than Westerners.
In another study (in 1967) of authoritarianism using the California Fascism Scale, it was found
that students from India and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) showed the highest levels, then came
China and Arabia (tied), then Brazil, and finally, much further down, the United States.
Some researchers, though, have found that Chinese society is moving away from the traditional
values and going more towards (slowly, of course) autonomy, achievement, and inner-control
beliefs.
* Used with permission. Copyright 1993 by Dorothy Marcic. Adapted from Michael Harris
Bond, ed., They Psychology of the Chinese People: Hong Kong (Oxford University Press, 1986).
Dorothy Maric and Sheila Puffer, Management International, West Publishing, 1994.
4.2 IS THIS BEHAVIOR ETHICAL?
The purpose of this exercise is to compare opinions about ethical issues faced at work. The class
should be divided into twelve groups. Each group will be randomly assigned one of the issues
that reflect one of the twelve issues found in the Wall Street Journal study shown in Table 4.2.
Students should try to avoid beginning their answers with, "It depends.” Question #4 is slightly
different than the others because it does not have a specific example from which to draw. This is
a particularly useful and interesting discussion in which to have international students involved.
International students are sometimes more aware of the nuances of exchanging gifts than U.S.
students.
It is useful to have the students list their positions on paper before they develop the answers and
justifications. This is helpful to you because they may stray away from the intent of the question,
or may not consider the breadth of the question. By submitting the approach they intend to take,
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
73
you are able to enlarge on their perspective immediately, rather than waiting until they present
their solutions to class. The depth of the answer is also very important. For example, on
question #2 regarding exaggeration on credentials, there is a tendency to brush aside the deeper
issues. I typically tell students that I evaluate their classroom performance on the depth and
breadth of their discussions.
74
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
BARGAINING, UNITED NATIONS STYLE:
EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL VALUES
The 1990 Annual: Developing Human Resources, Pfeiffer.
This exercise is intended to expose students to being from a different culture, and to experience
the interaction effects between members of different cultures. In addition, it allows students to
experience the process of negotiation between two people whose values differ.
The class is divided into four subgroups of three to eight members each. Each subgroup receives
copies of one of the four cultures: Anonymites, Personameans, Religionians, and Agnosticatians.
The experience is more realistic and fun if a table is set up as a buffet styled reception. The
classroom should be large enough to allow the four subgroups to work without disturbing one
another and open enough to allow mingling in a party-like atmosphere. It is easiest to provide
cookies and bottled liquids so that students have to share and pour for each other. The food setup
can be as simple or as elaborate as the instructor wishes.
Instructor's Notes:
Students should spend approximately forty-five minutes completing the instruction sheet for their
subgroup. However, this has been completed in less time successfully. While the students are
working, the instructor sets out the food, drinks, and so forth and assists the groups as necessary.
After forty-five minutes ask the groups to stop and spend the next twenty minutes attending a
United Nations mixer. They should stay in their roles as members of their assigned cultures.
They are instructed to share a "meal" with at least one member of another culture and to speak
with as many people from other subgroups as possible so that they can learn about the customs,
values, needs, and resources of the different cultures. After clarifying the task and answering
questions, the students are asked to attend the reception.
After exactly twenty minutes the subgroups are asked to reassemble. Each subgroup should
spend 20 minutes sharing the information they have collected about the other cultures, deciding
which culture they want to negotiate with to trade resources, analyzing that culture, choosing a
member to serve as their representative in negotiations, and developing a negotiation strategy.
Next, ask the subgroups to conclude their meetings and announce their chosen representatives.
The representatives are invited to take turns negotiating with one another in accordance with the
decisions made by their subgroups. (Only one negotiation takes place at a time, so that the entire
class can watch the negotiation process.) After five minutes, the negotiation process is
completed, regardless of the success of the bargaining.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
75
If you need to run this exercise in less than two hours, it is advisable to distribute the sheets to
the class before you use the exercise. Other options include eliminating the need and instructions
for food, running the activity with only two cultures that have differing values, (for example, the
Anonymites and the Personameans), and to run the activity without the negotiation phase.
76
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
BARGAINING, UNITED NATIONS STYLE:
INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR THE PERSONAMEANS
The Personameans come from the land of Persona, a culture in which the individual is
paramount. The members are generally outgoing and assertive. Because their culture is male
dominated, Personameans generally choose male leaders. Personameans are often loud and
argumentative and feel that they must have the last word in any negotiations. The culture is
fiercely proud of its laws, which protect the rights of the individual. Etiquette demands that a
Personamean not eat any food that has been touched by another. Occasionally, Personameans act
together as a group, but only as a last resort.
Persona's greatest resource is money. Each year the government provides every citizen
with $25,000. Persona's greatest need is for transportation. The country is vast, and the residents
must commute great distances to work. Each Personamean needs an automobile.
Instructions: You and your fellow subgroup members are Personameans. You are to
complete the following tasks, remembering that all of your choices and decisions must be
consistent with the preceding description of Personameans.
1. Create a verbal greeting and a physical gesture for leaving.
2. Decide what personal distance will be acceptable in your culture. For example, how close to
one another will people stand while talking? Will people look at one another during a
conversation?
3. Define your cultural attitude toward authority.
4. Identify a strongly held belief and how you will act when that belief is questioned or violated.
5. Define a gesture that is offensive.
6. Define how your culture views bargaining. How will you act during negotiations? Choose
one member as a representative to speak at negotiations.
7. In some Arabic cultures, it is taboo to touch someone with the left hand. What is your
culture's taboo?
8. Define how you will act if someone admires something you have.
After completing these tasks, you will be invited to a United Nations mixer to interact with
people from three other cultures. While mingling and eating, you must maintain the
characteristics of Personameans. Find out as much as you can about the customs, values,
resources, and needs of the other cultures. Later your representative will use this information
to negotiate a trade of resources with another culture's representative.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
77
BARGAINING, UNITED NATIONS STYLE:
INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR THE ANONYMITES
The Anonymites come from the land of Anon, a culture in which the good of community is more
important than the welfare or the rights of any individual. Hence, the values of the Anonymite
culture stress the importance of getting along with others, sacrificing for the good of the group,
and sharing resources. For example, etiquette in this culture demands that a person break bread
with his or her companions by eating from the same dish or dividing and sharing the food.
Anon's greatest resource is a skilled labor force capable of building magnificent cars.
However, because the country is small and has excellent public transportation, few Anonymites
buy cars. Although many automobiles are exported each year, there is still a surplus.
Anon's greatest need is a highly skilled labor force that is capable of building magnificent
automobiles. However, Anonymites are crafty negotiators. Because their culture is femaledominated, the Anonymites generally choose female leaders.
Anon's greatest need is to acquire food for its people. Food is extremely expensive in
Anon, costing an average of $20,000 per person per year.
Instructions: You and your fellow subgroup members are Anonymites. You are to
complete the following tasks, remembering that all of your choices and decisions must be
consistent with the preceding description of Anonymites.
1. Create a verbal greeting and a physical gesture for leaving.
2. Decide what personal distance is acceptable in your culture. For example, how close will
people stand while talking? Will people look at one another during a conversation?
3. Define your cultural attitude toward authority.
4. Identify a strongly held belief. How will you act when that belief is questioned/violated?
5. Define a gesture that is offensive.
6. Define how your culture views bargaining. How will you act during negotiations? Choose
one member as a representative to speak at negotiations.
7. In some Arabic cultures, it is taboo to touch someone with the left hand. What is your
culture's taboo?
8. Define how you will act if someone admires something you have.
After completing these tasks, you will be invited to a United Nations mixer to interact with
people from three other cultures. While mingling and eating, you must maintain the
characteristics of Anonymites. Find out as much as you can about the customs, values,
resources, and needs of the other cultures. Later your representative will use this information
to negotiate a trade of resources with another culture's representative.
78
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
BARGAINING, UNITED NATIONS STYLE:
INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR THE RELIGIONIANS
The Religionians come from the land of Religionia, a culture in which the good of the people is
decided by a tribunal of elders whose religious beliefs govern their actions. Each is fiercely loyal
to what he or she perceives as God-given rights and responsibilities. Because the culture is
female-dominated, Religionians tend to elect female leaders. Individual Religionians are
outgoing and personable, but also rigid and demanding. Like the elders, they hold staunch
religious beliefs. Etiquette demands that a Religionian eat only after having given thanks visibly
and verbally to the heavenly provider.
Religionia's greatest resource is the wealth of gold mined in its mountains. Each member
of the culture owns two gold bars.
Religionia's greatest need is for energy. Each Religionian needs a barrel of oil to support
his or her energy needs.
Instructions: You and your fellow subgroup members are Religionians. You are to
complete the following tasks, remembering that all of your choices and decisions must be
consistent with the preceding description of Religionians.
1. Create a verbal greeting and a physical gesture for leaving.
2. Decide what personal distance will be acceptable in your culture. For example, how close to
one another will people stand while talking? Will people look at one another during a
conversation?
3. Define your cultural attitude toward authority.
4. Identify a strongly held belief and how you will act when that belief is questioned or violated.
5. Define a gesture that is offensive.
6. Define how your culture views bargaining. How will you act during negotiations? Choose
one member as a representative to speak at negotiations.
7. In some Arabic cultures, it is taboo to touch someone with the left hand. What is your
culture's taboo?
8. Define how you will act if someone admires something you have.
After completing these tasks, you will be invited to a United Nations mixer to interact with
people from three other cultures. While mingling and eating, you must maintain the
characteristics of Religionians. Find out as much as you can about the customs, values,
resources, and needs of the other cultures. Later your representative will use this information
to negotiate a trade of resources with another culture's representative.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
79
BARGAINING, UNITED NATIONS STYLE:
INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR THE AGNOSTICATIANS
The Agnosticatians come from the land of Agnostica. They are practical, pragmatic people who
work diligently. Because their culture is male-dominated, Agnosticatians tend to choose male
leaders. However, they value egalitarian and democratic principles; in negotiations they tend to
go with the general good. Their values stress that knowledge is of supreme importance and must
constantly be researched and updated. Consequently, science plays a large role in their society.
Etiquette demands that Agnosticatians inspect their food thoroughly for contamination before
eating it.
Agnostica's greatest resource is its wealth of oil wells. Each member of the culture owns
two barrels of oil.
Agnostica's greatest need is for gold to buy food and medicine for its people. One gold
bar is required to support each Agnosticatian's needs.
Instructions: You and your fellow subgroup members are Religionians. You are to
complete the following tasks, remembering that all of your choices and decisions must be
consistent with the preceding description of Religionians.
1. Create a verbal greeting and a physical gesture for leaving.
2. Decide what personal distance will be acceptable in your culture. For example, how close to
one another will people stand while talking? Will people look at one another during a
conversation?
3. Define your cultural attitude toward authority.
4. Identify a strongly held belief and how you will act when that belief is questioned or violated.
5. Define a gesture that is offensive.
6. Define how your culture views bargaining. How will you act during negotiations? Choose
one member as a representative to speak at negotiations.
7. In some Arabic cultures, it is taboo to touch someone with the left hand. What is your
culture's taboo?
8. Define how you will act if someone admires something you have.
After completing these tasks, you will be invited to a United Nations mixer to interact with
people from three other cultures. While mingling and eating, you must maintain the
characteristics of Agnosticatians. Find out as much as you can about the customs, values,
resources, and needs of the other cultures. Later your representative will use this information
to negotiate a trade of resources with another culture's representative.
80
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
EXTRA EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
The following alternative exercises to supplement the material in the textbook can be
obtained from:
Marcic, Dorothy, Seltzer, Joseph, & Vaill, Peter. Organizational Behavior: Experiences and
Cases, 6th Ed. South Western College Publishing Company, 2001.
Moral Dilemmas. p. 255-260. Time: 45 minutes or more.
Purpose: To discuss the ethics of making certain decisions.
Fandt, Patricia M. Management Skills: Practice and Experience. West Publishing
Company, 1994.
In-Basket Exercise 5: Holding Others Accountable. p. 69-72.
CASE QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
1. Using the five attributes of attitude-behavior correspondence discussed in the chapter,
explain the linkage between employee attitudes and customer service at Southwest Airlines.
The five attributes of attitude-behavior correspondence and their corresponding behavioral
effects are:





Attitude specificity: specific attitudes have a stronger behavioral effect than
general attitudes.
Attitude relevance: attitudes pertaining to issues that are personally relevant
have a stronger behavioral effect than attitudes about issues that are irrelevant
to one’s self-interests.
Timing of measurement: the shorter the time between attitude measurement
and the observed behavior, the stronger the linkage to behavior.
Personality factors: certain personality factors, such as self-monitoring,
encourage correspondence between attitudes and behavior.
Social constraints: the social context provides information about acceptable
attitudes and behaviors.
Due to the lack of sufficient information, timing of measurement is irrelevant to the case
scenario. However, the other four attributes can be applied to the case scenario.
The attitudes that can be implied from the values of having fun at work, being compassionate
and caring, and taking one’s job seriously are both specific and personally relevant for
Southwest’s employees. These implied attitudes play no small part in the quality of
Southwest’s customer service. Indeed, these implied attitudes both promote and reflect
employee behavior that produces outstanding customer service.
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
81
Southwest’s hiring practices and culture––clear examples of social constraints—reflect the
types of people that the company values. In turn, this indicates the types of personality
characteristics that Southwest Airlines values in its employees. The hiring practices and
culture encourage, support, and reinforce the attitudes that can be implied from the values of
having fun at work, being compassionate and caring, and taking one’s job seriously. In turn,
the impact that these implied attitudes have on the quality of customer service is
strengthened. The following observations support this line of reasoning:



Having fun at work promotes employee fulfillment, which in turn is an avenue
to greater customer satisfaction.
The employees’ compassionate and caring spirit often affects the ways in
which customers are handled—particularly in difficult or stressful situations.
The case of the family traveling to St. Louis illustrates this.
Empowerment enables employees to do whatever is necessary to provide
quality customer service.
2. What type of organizational commitment is evident at Southwest Airlines?
There are three types of organizational commitment—affective, continuance, and
normative—but only one of the three is applicable to the case scenario. Affective commitment
refers to an employee’s intention to remain with an organization because of a strong desire to
do so. Southwest’s employees appear to have a very strong desire to remain with the
company. As one Southwest Airlines employee indicated, “Working here is truly an
unbelievable experience…I love going to work!” Another employee said, “This is the best
place to work in the world, and we have the best people in the world.” Both comments reveal
a strong propensity for employees to remain at Southwest Airlines.
3. What values—organizational as well as individual––does Southwest emphasize through its
human resources policies and practices and with its culture?
In general, values are enduring beliefs that a certain mode of behavior or a specific end state
is more desirable or socially preferable than an alternative behavioral mode or end state.
Instrumental values reflect acceptable behavioral modes whereas terminal values refer to
desired end states.
As an organization, Southwest Airlines promotes the instrumental values of employees
having fun at work, taking their jobs seriously in terms of providing excellent customer
service, and being compassionate and caring. On an organizational level, Southwest Airlines
endorses the terminal value of providing outstanding customer service. These corporate
values carry over into employees’ individual values. In fact, Southwest’s hiring practices and
organizational culture both promote and reinforce organizational and individual values that
are mirror images of each other.
82
Chapter 4: Attitudes, Values, and Ethics
4. What impact might the employees’ values have on their propensity to behave ethically or
unethically?
According to the chapter, ethics reflects the way in which people act out their values. As
indicated in the suggested solution for the preceding question, three generic values pervade
Southwest Airlines. These pervasive values are: (a) providing excellent customer service, (b)
making work fun, and (c) being compassionate and caring. By all indications, Southwest’s
employees behave in ways that are highly consistent with these values. Therefore, employees,
by definition, are behaving ethically.
Role Plays
Additional role plays relevant to the material in this chapter are located in Appendix A of this
instructor's manual.