Chapter 4
Value, Attitude and Job Satisfation
Objective:
 Framework of national and cultural values
 Contemporary work cohort
 The concept and types of attitudes
 Job Satisfaction
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Values
Values
Basic convictions 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.
In simple words…
Value is basic conviction and notions about what is
right and wrong. They differ across culture, nations
and generations.
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Characteristics
 Judgmental element - what is right, good, or desirable.
 Values have both content and intensity attributes.
content attribute signifies that a mode of conduct or
end-state of existence is important
The intensity attributes specifies how important it is.
 Values are not generally fluid and flexible. They tend to be
relatively stable and enduring.
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Types of Values – Rokeach Value Survey
Milton Rokeach created the Rokeach Value Survey
consisting of two sets of values, with each containing 18
individual value items.
Terminal Values
Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a
person would like to achieve during his or her
lifetime. e.g.: A comfortable life, Equality, National
Security, Self-respect
Instrumental Values
Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving
one’s terminal values. e.g.: Ambitious, Courageous, and
Obedient
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Dominant Work Values in Today’s Workforce
– Contemporary work cohort
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Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing
Cultures
To analyze variations among cultures a research was done
in 1980,1991 by Greet Hofstede. He surveyed more than
1,16,000 IBM employees in 70 countries about their workrelated values.
Power Distance
The extent to which a society accepts that
power in institutions and organizations is
distributed unequally.
Low Distance: Relatively equal distribution
High Distance: Extremely unequal distribution
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Hofstede’s Framework (cont’d)
Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which a society
feels threatened by uncertain
and ambiguous situations and
tries to avoid them.
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Hofstede’s Framework (cont’d)
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Individualism
Collectivism
The degree to which
people prefer to act as
individuals rather than
a member of groups.
A tight social framework in
which people expect
others in groups of which
they are a part to look
after them and protect
them.
Individualistic society considers self-interest more
important than the group goal.
Hofstede’s Framework (cont’d)
Masculinity
The extent to which dominant value in a
society emphasizes masculine society values
like a work ethic expressed in terms of
money, achievement and recognition
Feminity
Feminine social role which show more
concern for people and quality of life.
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Hofstede’s Framework (cont’d)
Long-term Orientation
A national culture attribute that
emphasizes the future, thrift, and
persistence.
Short-term Orientation
A national culture attribute that
emphasizes the past and
present, respect for tradition,
and fulfilling social obligations.
Hofstede and Bond (1988) have identified a fifth dimension.
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The
GLOBE
Framework
for
Assessing
Cultures
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Power distance
• Societal collectivism
• In-group collectivism
• Gender differentiation
• Assertiveness
• Future Orientation
• Performance orientation
• Humane orientation
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Attitudes
 Attitudes are evaluative statements that are either favorable or
unfavorable concerning objects, people, or events.
 Attitudes are not the same as values, but the two are interrelated.
 Main Difference is values are ideals, whereas attitudes are narrow.
They are feelings, thoughts and behavioral tendencies towards a
specific object or situation.
 Attitude is a predisposition to respond to a certain set of facts.
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Attitudes
Attitudes
Evaluative
statements or
judgments
concerning
objects,
people, or
events.
Cognitive component
the mental process
Affective Component
person’s feeling
Behavioral Component
behavior that occurs as a
result of feelings
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Types of Attitudes
Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that
an individual holds toward his or her job.
Job Involvement
Identifying with the job, actively
participating in it, and considering
performance important to self-worth.
Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization
and its goals, and wishing to maintain
membership in the organization.
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cont…
 Organization citizenship behavior (OCB):
“Individual behavior that is not directly recognized by the formal
reward system and in the aggregate promotes the efficient
functioning of the organization, employee behavior that is not so
critical to the task or job, serve to facilitate organizational
functioning
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The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Leon Festinger, in the late 1950s, proposed the theory of
cognitive dissonance, seeking to explain the linkage between
attitudes and behavior. He argued that any form of
inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will
attempt to reduce the dissonance.
Dissonance means “an inconsistency.”
In simple words…
The feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two
conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time
Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or
more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
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Cont…
Desire to reduce dissonance
• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance
The Fox and the Grapes by Aesop. When the fox fails
to reach the grapes, he decides he doesn't want them
after all, an example of adaptive preference formation
designed to reduce cognitive dissonance.
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Measuring the A-B Relationship
 Early research on attitudes and common sense assumed a causal relationship to behavior.
 In the late 1960s, this assumed relationship between attitudes and behavior (A-B) was
challenged.
 Recent research indicates that attitudes (A) significantly predict behaviors (B) when
moderating variables are taken into account.
moderate Variables
• Importance
• Specificity
• Accessibility
• Social pressures
• Direct experience
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Self-Perception Theory
Attitudes are used after the fact to make sense
out of an action that has already occurred.
In contrast to the cognitive dissonance theory,
attitudes are just causal verbal statements and they
tend to create plausible answers for what has
already occurred. The behavior – attitude
relationship is stronger especially when attitudes
are unclear and ambiguous or little thought has
been given to it earlier.
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An Application: Attitude Surveys
Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from employees through questionnaires
about how they feel about their jobs, work groups, supervisors,
and the organization.
Using Attitude Surveys on regular basis provides managers
with valuable feedback on how employees perceive their
working conditions.
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Measuring Job Satisfaction
Factors conducive to job satisfaction are:
 Mentally challenging work
 Personality – Job fit
 Equitable rewards
 Supportive working conditions
 Supportive Colleagues
 Whistle blowing
 Social responsibility
 Job enrichment
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Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
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How Employees Can Express
Dissatisfaction
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Exit
Voice
Behavior directed toward
leaving the organization.
Active and constructive
attempts to improve
conditions.
Loyalty
Neglect
Passively waiting for
conditions to improve.
Allowing conditions to
worsen.
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