What are Values?

• Values: a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others. Values have to do with what we consider good or bad. Broad tendency means that values are very general, and that they do not predict behaviour in specific situations very well.
• Values across cultures
  • Power distance: the extent to which an unequal distribution of power is accepted by society members.
  • Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which people are uncomfortable with uncertain and ambiguous situations.
  • Individualistic vs. collective: individualistic societies stress independence, individual initiative and privacy. Collective cultures favour interdependence and loyalty to family or clan
  • Masculinity/Femininity
  • Long-term/short-term orientation
• Implications of cultural Variation
  • Exporting OB Theories: OB theories, research, and practises from north America might not translate well to other societies.

What are Attitudes?

• Attitudes: a fairly stable evaluative tendency to respond consistently to some specific object, situation, person, or category of people.
• BELIEF + VALUE = Attitude = Behaviour

What is Job Satisfaction?

• Job satisfaction: a collection of attitudes that workers have about their jobs.

What Determines Job Satisfaction?

• Discrepency theory: A theory that job satisfaction stems from the discrepancy between the job outcomes wanted and the outcomes that are perceived to be obtained.
• Fairness
  • Issues of fairness affect both what people want from their jobs and how they react to the inevitable discrepancies of organizational life. There are three kinds of fairness:
  • Distributive fairness has to do with the outcomes we receive
    • Equity theory: a theory that job satisfaction stems from a comparison of the inputs one invests in a job and the outcomes one receives in comparison with the inputs and outcomes of another person or group.
    • Inputs: Anything that people give up, offer, or trade to their organization in exchange for outcomes
    • Outcomes: factors that an organization distributes to employees in exchange for their inputs.
  • Procedural fairness (procedural justice) concerns the process that led to those outcomes
  • Interactional fairness concerns how these matters were communicated to us.
• Mood and Emotion
  • Emotion: intense, often short-lived feelings caused by a particular event.
  • Moods: less intense, longer-lived, and more diffuse feelings.
  • Emotional contagion: tendency for moods and emotions to spread between people or throughout a group.
  • Emotional regulation: requirement for people to conform to certain “display rules” in their job behaviour in spite of their true mood or emotions. Takes a toll on job satisfaction and increases stress.
• Key Contributors to Job Satisfaction
  • Mentally challenging work, adequate compensation, career opportunities, people

Consequences of Job Satisfaction

• Absence from work
• Turnover: refers to resignation from an organization, and it can be incredibly expensive.
• Less satisfied workers being more likely to quit.
• Performance: Job satisfaction is related to enhanced work performance.
• Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB): Voluntary, informal behaviour that contributes to organizational effectiveness. OCB is courtesy and cooperation. Fairness is the key to high OCB.

What is Organizational Commitment

• Organizational commitment: an attitude that reflects the strength of the linkage between an employee and an organization.
  • Affective commitment: Commitment based on identification and involvement with an organization.
  • Continuance commitment: commitment based on the costs that would be incurred in leaving an organization.
  • Normative commitment: Commitment based on ideology or a feeling of obligation to an organization.