Values

• Values


  The principles or standards of behavior. The core beliefs that guide and motivate attitudes and actions. They help decide what is good or bad, right or wrong.
• Values (in Organizational Behavior)

  The collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.
• Zaleznik and David: 'Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to norms in that they specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to activities and relationships.'
• T. W. Hippie: 'Values are conscious or unconscious motivators and justifiers of the actions and judgment.'
• Values


  • They are different for each person
  • They may be specific or general
  • They can provide standards of competence and morality
  • They are relatively permanent
  • They are learned early in life from family, friends, schools, media, etc.
  • They can differ from culture to culture and person to person
  • They influence people's behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others
  • They help create norms to guide day-to-day behavior
  • They strongly influence attitude and behavior, serving as a personal compass for employee conduct in the workplace
• Terminal Values


  Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime

  
• Instrumental Values


  Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one's terminal values
• Values can strongly influence employee conduct in the workplace
• Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions


  • Power Distance
  • Individualism vs. Collectivism
  • Masculinity vs. Femininity
  • Uncertainty Avoidance
  • Long-term and Short-term Orientation
• Power Distance


  The extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organisations is distributed unequally. It indicates the concentration of authority in the superior, acceptance of hierarchical authority structures, and an inability of the inferior to decide for themselves, precluding autonomy.
• Educational level best explains power distance. Higher educational level means lower power distance score.
• Power Distance


  • The extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organisations is distributed unequally
  • It indicates the concentration of authority in the superior, acceptance of hierarchical authority structures, and an inability of the inferior to decide for themselves, precluding autonomy
• Power Distance


  • Low distance: Relatively equal power between those with status/wealth and those without status/wealth
  • High distance: Extremely unequal power distribution between those with status/ wealth and those without status/wealth
• • Educational level best explains power distance
  • Higher educational level means lower power distance score
  • Those with lower levels of education are more accepting of hierarchical structures
• Collectivism


  A tight social framework in which people expect others in the group of which they are a part to look after them and protect them
• Individualism


  The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups
• • The two values (collectivism and individualism) are not opposites
  • They represent separate values which are generally unrelated
• Individualism


  • In a highly individualistic country people are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate family only
  • Employees are valued primarily on the basis of individual success
  • People put more importance on privacy protection and freedom of speech
• Collectivism


  • The people in a collectivist society can easily sacrifice their individual benefits for the sake of the whole society's progress
  • Individualism is generally against external interferences regarding personal choices
• There is an increasing pattern of individualism across the globe and that it is likely associated with a similarly increasing socioeconomic development
• Collectivism vs Individualism


  • Collectivism prioritizes group cohesion over individual pursuits while individualism focuses on human independence and freedom
  • Collectivism is commonly observed in Asia, Africa, and Latin America while individualism is more common in North America, Western Europe, New Zealand, and Australia
• Individualism


  • Those with higher levels of collectivism tend to be more dependent and loyal to the in-group while those with higher levels of individualism tend to be more rational in terms of their decision-making
  • Individualism is explained by educational level, income and gender
  • Respondents with higher income and higher educational attainment are more individualistic
  • Males are more individualistic than females
• Masculinity


  • The extent to which the society values work roles of achievement, power, and control, and where assertiveness and materialism are also valued
  • The extent to which work goals and achievements are given more importance relative to personal and social concerns
• Femininity


  The extent to which there is little differentiation between roles for men and women
• Masculinity


  • Low masculinity implies an orientation toward personalized relationship, rather toward contractual relationships, or efficient and effective performance
  • Feedback is misconstrued as attacks on the person rather than on observed behaviors
• • Masculinity vs Femininity dimension looks at the extent to which gender differences affect the distribution and control of power and wealth among citizens of a country
  • Hofstede reported the Philippines as masculine in orientation
• Masculine society


  • Driven by competition, achievement, and success, with success being defined by the "winner" or "best-in-the-field"
  • Associated with assertiveness, ambition and task orientation
• • Masculinity is explained by educational level and income
  • Those who have reach higher level of education and higher income are more masculine
• Feminine society


  • Dominant values are caring for others and quality of life
  • Prefer balance work and life
• Moderately high to high societies prefer higher pay and are willing to accept less vacation
• Uncertainty Avoidance


  • The extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them
  • High Uncertainty Avoidance: society does not like ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them
  • Low Uncertainty Avoidance: society does not mind ambiguous situations and embraces them
• Uncertainty avoidance index


  • Related to three concepts- the need for employment stability, stress in the workplace and orientation to follow rules
  • Higher uncertainty avoidance is associated with the reluctance to exercise control and accept responsibility
  • Workers are indifferent to feedback
  • Risk taking is discouraged and the use of non-economic rewards which satisfies growth needs, such as challenges in the job are inhibited
• • High uncertainty avoidance means high rule orientation, employment stability and high anxiety in the workplace
  • High uncertainty avoidance index implies a lack of risk taking behavior or a need for a strong personal sense of security
• Long-term Orientation


  A national culture attribute that emphasises the future, thrift, and persistence
• Short-term Orientation


  A national culture attribute that emphasises the present and the here and now
• Short-term orientation


  • Fosters more present- or past-oriented virtues such as personal steadiness and stability, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of greetings, favors, and gifts, and respect for social obligations
• Long-term orientation


  • Refers to the extent to which a culture values long-term goals, fosters virtues directed toward the future—in particular, perseverance and thrift and ordering relationships by status and adaptation to changing circumstances
• Relationship between cultural dimensions and demographics

  • Individualism - Higher for males, higher income groups, higher education level
  • Collectivism - Lower for males, lower income groups, lower education level
  • Masculinity - Higher for males, higher income groups, higher education level
  • Femininity - Lower for males, lower income groups, lower education level
  • Power Distance - Lower for higher education level, higher for rural populace