1. Values, Attitudes,
and Their Effects in
the Workplace
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

2. Values, Attitudes, and Their
Effects in the Workplace
Questions for Consideration
• What is the relationship between
values and individual behaviour?
• How do values differ across cultures?
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

3. Values
• Values
– Basic convictions about what is important
to the individual
– They contain a judgmental element of what
is right, good, or desirable.
• Content: what is important
• Intensity: how important
• Value System: a hierarchy based on a
ranking of an individual’s values in
terms of their intensity.
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

4. Values
– Types of values
• Terminal: Goals that individuals would
like to achieve during their lifetime
• Instrumental: Preferable ways of
behaving
– Importance of values
• Values generally influence attitudes and
behaviour.
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

5. Values vs. Ethics
• Ethics
– The science of morals in human conduct
– Moral principles; rules of conduct
• Ethical values are related to moral
judgments about right and wrong
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

6. A Framework for Assessing
Cultural Values
• Hofstede’s Dimensions
– Power Distance
– Individualism Versus Collectivism
– Quantity of Life Versus Quality of Life
– Uncertainty Avoidance
– Long-term versus Short-term
OrientationExhibit 3-2 Examples of National
Cultural ValuesFrancophone and
Anglophone ValuesCanadian Aboriginal
Values
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

7. Canadian and American
Values
• Canadian Values • American Values
– Protectionist business – Greater faith in the
environment family, the state, religion,
– Personality: more shy and and the market
deferential, less violent, – More comfortable with
more courteous big business
– More rule-oriented – Intense competition in
– Peace, order, equality business
– Uncomfortable – Individuality and freedom
celebrating success, play it – More comfortable with
down the unknown and taking
risks
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

8. Canada, the US and Mexico
• Canada and the US • Mexico
– Lower power distance – Higher power distance
– – Managers more autocratic
More likely to tolerate
and paternalistic
abrasiveness and
– Employees defer more to
insensitivity by managers
managers
– Lower risk takers – Greater uncertainty
– More individualistic avoidance
– Less agreeable to – Managers are greater risk
teamwork takers
– Greater reliance on
networks and relationships
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

9. East and Southeast Asian
Values
• North America • East and Southeast Asia
– Networked relations: – Guanxi relations: based on
based on self-interest reciprocation
– Relationships viewed with – Relationships meant to be
immediate gains long-term and enduring
– Enforcement relies on – Enforcement relies on
institutional law personal power and authority
– Governed by guilt – Governed by shame (external
(internal pressures on pressures on performance)
performance)
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

10. Attitudes
• Positive or negative feelings concerning
objects, people, or events.
• Less stable than values
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

11. Cognitive Dissonance
• Any incompatibility that an individual
might perceive between two or more of
his or her attitudes, or between his or her
behaviour and attitudes.
– Inconsistency is uncomfortable
– Individuals will attempt to reduce the
dissonance and, hence, the discomfort
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12. Summary and Implications
• Values strongly influence a person’s attitudes.
• An employee’s performance and satisfaction are likely
to be higher if his or her values fit well with the
organization.
• Managers should be interested in their employees’
attitudes because attitudes give warning signs of
potential problems and because they influence
behaviour.
• Managers should also be aware that employees will try
to reduce cognitive dissonance.
Chapter 3, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Organizational Behaviour, Third Canadian Edition.
Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.