MGHB02H3 Chapter 4: ch.4 for MGTB23
19 Jul 2010
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WHAT ARE VALUES?
• Values is a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others
o They are motivational
o They are general
o Classify values into several categories
! Intellectual
! Economic
! Aesthetic
! Social
! Political
! Religious
Occupational Differences in Values
• Members of different groups support different values
• Differences can cause conflict between organizations and within organizations when
members of different occupations are required to interact with each other
• A good fit of values between supervisor and employees promotes employee satisfaction
and commitment
• People choose occupations that correspond to their values
Values across Cultures
• A lengthy history of failed business negotiations is attributable to a lack of understanding
of cross-cultural differences
o At the root is a lack of appreciation of basic differences in work-related values
across cultures
• Work Centrality
o Work itself is valued differently across cultures
o Those with more central interest in work were more likely to report that they
would continue working despite winning the lottery
o People whom work was a central life interest tended to work more hours
o Japan topped the list, with very high work centrality
• Hofstede’s Study
o Discovered four basic dimensions along which work-related values differed
across cultures: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity,
and individual/collectivism
! Power Distance refers to the extent to which society members accept an
unequal distribution of power, including those who hold more power and
those who hold less
• Small power distance societies include Denmark, Israel, and
Austria
o Inequality is minimized, superiors are accessible, and
power distances are downplayed
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• Large power distance societies include Mexico, Philippines and
Venezuela
o Inequality is accepted as natural, superiors are inaccessible,
and power differences are highlighted
• Canada and United States fall on the low power distance side of
the average
! Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which people are
uncomfortable with uncertain and ambiguous situations
• Strong uncertainty avoidance cultures include Japan, Greece and
Portugal
o Stress rules and regulations, hard work, conformity and
security
• Weak uncertainty avoidance cultures include Singapore, Denmark,
and Sweden
o Less concerned with rules and regulations, conformity and
security, and hard work is not seen as a virtue
! Masculinity/Femininity
• Masculine societies include Japan, Austria, Mexico and Venezuela
o They clearly differentiate gender roles, support male
dominance and stress economic performance
• Feminine societies include the Scandinavian countries
o They accept fluid gender roles, stress sexual equality, and
stress quality of life
! Individualism/Collectivism
• Individualistic societies tend to stress independence, individual
initiative, and privacy
o United States, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain
• Collective societies favour interdependence, and loyalty to one’s
family or clan
o Venezuela, Columbia, and Pakistan
! Long-term/short term orientation
• Culture with long-term orientation tend to stress persistence,
perseverance, thrift, and close attention to status differences
o China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea
• Cultures with short-term orientation tend to stress personal
steadiness and stability, face saving, and society niceties
o United States, Canada, Great Britain, Zimbabwe, and
Nigeria
Implications of Culture Variation
• Exporting OB Theories
o Organizational behaviour theories, research and practices from North America
might not translate well to other societies
o A good fit between company practices and the host culture is important
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o The basic questions to how to manage remains the same, but the answers differ,
depending on the type of different society you are going in
• Importing OB Theories
o Not all theories and practices that concern organizational behaviour are designed
in North America or even in the West
o Many problems stem from basic values differences between two cultures
o Understanding cultural value differences can enable organizations to successfully
import management practices by tailoring the practice to the home culture’s
concerns
• Appreciating Global Customers
o An appreciation of cross-cultural differences in values is essential to
understanding the needs and tastes of customers or clients around the world
o Appreciating the values of global customers is also important when the customers
enter your own culture
• Developing Global Employees
o Success in translating management practices to other cultures, importing practices
developed elsewhere, and appreciating global customers are not things that
happen by accident
o Companies need to select, train, and develop employees that have a much better
appreciation of differences in cultural values and the implications of these
differences for behaviour in organizations
WHAT ARE ATTITUDES?
• Attitude is a fairly stable evaluative tendency to respond consistently to some specific
object, situation, person, or category of people
• Attitude " Behaviour
o Dislike German Food " Don’t eat German Food
o Like Boss " Praise Boss
• Attitudes are not always consistent with behaviour, and attitudes provide useful
information over and above the actions that we can observe
• BELIEF + VALUE => Attitude " Behaviour
o Belief: My job is interfering with my family life
o Value: I dislike anything that hurts my family
o Attitude: I dislike my job
o Behaviour: I’ll search for another job
• Most attempts to change employee attitudes by organizations are initiated by a
communicator who tries to use persuasion of some form to modify the beliefs or values
of an audience that supports a currently held attitude
o Persuasion that is designed to modify or emphasize values is usually emotionally
oriented
o Persuasion that is slanted toward modifying certain beliefs is usually rationally
oriented
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