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Attitudes Attit udes and Job Satisfaction
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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this this chapter, students should be able able to: 1. 2. !. #. %. &. (.
Cont ontrast ast the the thre hree com compo pone nent nts s of of an an att attiitude. ude. Summ Summar ariz ize e the the rela relati tion onsh ship ip bet betw ween een atti attitu tude des s and and beha behai ior or.. Compa omparre and and cont contrrast ast th the ma" ma"or or "ob at attitu titude des s. $efine job satisfaction and show how it can be measured. Summa ummarrize the the main ain cau cause ses s of of "ob "ob satis atisfa fact ctiion. on. 'den 'denti tify fy four four empl employ oyee ee resp respon onse ses s to to dis dissa sati tisf sfac acti tion on.. Show Show whet whether her "ob satisf satisfact action ion is a relea releant nt conc concept ept in countr countries ies other other than than the )nited )nited State States. s.
Summary and Implications for Managers *anagers should be interested in their employees+ attitudes because attitudes gie warnings of potential problems and because they influence behaior. Satisfied and committed employees, for instance, hae lower rates of turnoer, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaiors. hey also perform better on the "ob. -ien -ien that managers managers want to eep resignations resignations and absences absences down/esp down/especial ecially ly among their most productie employees/they+ll want to do things that generate positie "ob attitudes. As one reiew put it, 0A sound measurem measurement ent of oeral oeralll "ob attitude attitude is one of the most most useful useful pieces pieces of inform informati ation on an 1 organization can hae about its employees. he most important thing managers can do to raise employee satisfaction is focus on the intrinsic parts of the "ob, such as maing the wor challenging and interesting. Although paying employees poorly will liely not attract high3uality employees to the organization, or eep high performers, managers should realize that high pay alone is unliely to create a satisfying wor enironment. Creating a satisfied worforce is hardly a guarantee of successful organizational performance, but eidence strongly suggests that that whate whateer er manage managers rs can do to impro improe e employ employee ee attitu attitudes des will will liel liely y result result in height heightene ened d organizational effectieness. effectieness.
he chapter opens by profiling Google, one of the largest internet search engines providers,. T he Google is located in the Silicon Valley that sports some of the worst traffic congestion in the country. country. In an effort to keep employees happy and remedy this problem, the company provides Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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hightech shuttle buses e!uipped with leather seats, wireless internet service and bike racks. Google believes that benefits are closely correlated correlated with job satisfaction. "s a result, their list of benefits benefits are e#tensive including$ including$ automati automatic c life insurance at two times times annual annual salary, salary, %& vacation days after ' years of seniority, parental parental leave, tuition reimbursement up to (),***+year, (),***+year, reimbursement for adoption e#penses, etc.
Brief Chapter Outine '.
A') ')$4 $4S S 566 566s s !72 !72 to to !789 !789 A. 'ntroduction 4aluatie statements faorable or unfaorable concerning o b"ects, people, eents ;.
hi 4>hibi bitt !71 !7199 Cognitie component Affectie Affectie component ;ehaioral component C. ?ow Consistent Are Attitude udes= 6eople see consistency among their attitudes and between attitudes attitudes and behaior Cognitie $issonance heory @eon estinger: 0Any incompatibility that an indiidual might perceie between two or more attitudes or between behaior and attitudes. o Bo indiidual can completely aoid dissonance. 'ndiidual+s desire to reduce dissonance is determined by: o 'mportance of the causal elements $egree of influence indiidual has oer elements ewards that may be inoled in dissonance o Drganizational 'mplications: he greater the dissonance, the greater the pressure to reduce it $. $oes $oes ;eha ;ehai ior or Alway lways s ol ollo low w fro from m Attit ttitud udes es= = 1. 'ntroduction Attitudes significantly significantly predict future behaior. behaior. 2. *oderating Eariables: 'mportance Specificity Accessibility Accessibility Social pressures $irect e>perience !. Self6erception heory Attitudes are used to mae sense out of an action that has already occurred. 4.
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Dther Job Attitudes 6erceied organizational support 4mployee engagement &. Are hese Job Attitudes eally All hat $istinct= Attitudes are highly related to each other. ?ow Are 4mployee Attitudes *easured= 4mployee behaiors are often based on perception. )se of regular attitude sureys can alert management to potential problems. ercises that focus on relationships with coworers from *iddle 4astern bacgrounds and followers of 'slamic faith help in reducing negatie attitudes. • •
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''. JD; SA'SAC'DB 566s !71G to !71#9 A. *easuring Job Satisfaction wo widely used methods: Single global rating method o o Summation of "ob facets ;. ?ow Satisfied Are 6eople in heir Jobs= 54>hibit !729 *ost people are satisfied with their "obs in deeloped countries. o Der the last !G years the ma"ority of ).S. worers hae been satisfied with their "obs. C. hibit !7!9 hibit !7#9 2. Job Satisfaction and Job 6erformance Derall positie correlation !. Job Satisfaction and DC; Derall positie relationship when considering fairness #. Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction 6ositie relationship %. Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism *oderate negatie relationship &. Job Satisfaction and urnoer *oderate relationship $epends in part on employee performance (. Job Satisfaction and
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'''. S)**AH AB$ '*6@'CA'DBS D *ABA-4S 66s !71% to !71&9 4mployee attitudes can reflect employee problems o o Consistent negatie attitudes often lead to turnoer he intrinsic part of a "ob is most important for employees o o 4mployees will see to reduce any cognitie dissonance Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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E$panded Chapter Outine '.
A')$4S A. 'ntroduction Attitudes are ealuatie statements that are either faorable or unfaorable concerning ob"ects, people, or eents. Attitudes are not the same as alues, but the two are interrelated. ;. plain the linage between attitudes and behaior. ?e argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that indiiduals will attempt to reduce the dissonance. issonance means 0an inconsistency. -ognitive dissonance refers to 0any incompatibility that an indiidual might perceie between two or more of hisFher attitudes, or between hisFher behaior and attitudes. 0 Bo indiidual can completely aoid dissonance. he desire to reduce dissonance would be determined by: he importance of the elements creating the dissonance. 'mportance: 'f the elements creating the dissonance are relatiely unimportant, the pressure to correct this imbalance will be low. he degree of influence the indiidual beliees heFshe has oer the elements. 'nfluence: 'f the dissonance is perceied as an uncontrollable result, they are less liely to be receptie to attitude change. ists, it can be rationalized and "ustified. he rewards that may be inoled in dissonance. ewards: he inherent tension in high dissonance tends to be reduced with high rewards. •
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*oderating factors suggest that indiiduals will not necessarily moe to reduce dissonance. $oes ;ehaior Always ollow from Attitudes= 1. 'ntroduction 6eople sometimes change what they say so it does not contradict what they do. esearch has generally concluded that people see consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behaior. 'ndiiduals see to reconcile diergent attitudes and align their attitudes and behaior so they appear rational and consistent. perience with the attitude !. Self6erception heory esearchers hae achieed still higher correlations by pursuing whether or not behaior influences attitudes. Selfperception theory argues that attitudes are used to mae sense out of an action that has already occurred rather than deices that precede and guide action. 4>ample: '+e had this "ob for 1G years no one has forced me to stay, so ' must lie itI Contrary to cognitie dissonance theory, attitudes are "ust casual erbal statements they tend to create plausible answers for what has already occurred.
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?igh leels of "ob inolement are thought to result in fewer absences and lower resignation rates. Job inolement more consistently predicts turnoer than absenteeism. o 6sychological empowerment/employees+ beliefs in the degree to which they impact their wor Drganizational Commitment )e*iitio: A state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals. A**e#ti+e Co,,it,et/emotional attachment to the organization o and belief in its alues Coti"a#e Co,,it,et/alue of remaining with an organization o compared to alternaties o Nor,ati+e Co,,it,et/obligation to remain with the organization for moral or ethical reasons esearch eidence demonstrates negatie relationships between organizational commitment and both absenteeism and turnoer. An indiidual+s leel of organizational commitment is a better o indicator of turnoer than the far more fre3uently used "ob satisfaction predictor because it is a more global and enduring response to the organization as a whole than is "ob satisfaction. his eidence, most of which is more than three decades old, o needs to be 3ualified to reflect the changing employeeemployer relationship. Drganizational commitment is probably less important as a "ob o related attitude than it once was because the unwritten 0loyalty contract in place when this research was conducted is no longer in place. 'n its place, we might e>pect 0occupational commitment to become a more releant ariable because it better reflects today+s fluid worforce.
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Dther Job Attitudes 6erceied organizational support 56DS9/degree to which employees beliee the organization alues their contribution and cares about their well being 4mployee engagement/indiidual+s inolement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for, the wor she does &. Are hese Job Attitudes eally All hat $istinct= Attitudes are highly related. 4>ample: 'f you now someone+s affectie commitment, you basically now their perceied organizational support. he redundancy is inefficient and confusing. ?ow Are 4mployee Attitudes *easured= he most popular method for getting information about employee attitudes is through attitude sureys. )sing attitude sureys on a regular basis proides managers with aluable feedbac on how employees perceie their woring conditions. *anagers present the employee with set statements or 3uestions to obtain specific information. 6olicies and practices that management iews as ob"ectie and fair may be seen as ine3uitable by employees in general or by certain groups of employees and can lead to negatie attitudes about the "ob and the organization. hat Is the Importance of Attitudes to
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*a"ority of large ).S. employers and a substantial proportion of mediumsized and smaller employers sponsor some sort of diersity training. hese diersity programs include a selfealuation phase where people are pressed to e>amine themseles and to confront ethnic and cultural stereotypes they might hold. his is followed by discussion with people from dierse groups. Additional actiities designed to change attitudes include arranging for people to do olunteer wor in community or social serice centers in order to meet face toface with indiiduals and groups from dierse bacgrounds, and using e>ercises that let participants feel what it is lie to be different.
''. JD; SA'SAC'DB A. *easuring Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is 0an indiidual+s general attitude toward hisFher "ob. Jobs re3uire interaction with coworers and bosses, following organizational rules and policies, meeting performance standards, liing with woring conditions that are often less than ideal, and the lie. his means that an employee+s assessment of how satisfied or dissatisfied he or she is with hisFher "ob is a comple> summation of a number of discrete "ob elements. he two most widely used approaches are a single global rating and a summation score made up of a number of "ob facets. he single global rating method is nothing more than asing indiiduals o to respond to one 3uestion, such as 0All things considered, how satisfied are you with your "ob= A summation of "ob facets is more sophisticated: 't identifies ey elements in a "ob and ass for the employee+s feelings about each one raned on a standardized scale. ypical factors that would be included are the nature of the wor, superision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relations with coworers. o Comparing these approaches, simplicity seems to wor as well as comple>ity. Comparisons of one3uestion global ratings with the summationof"obfactors method indicate both are alid. ;. ?ow Satisfied Are 6eople in heir Jobs= *ost people are satisfied with their "obs in the deeloped countries sureyed. esearch shows that oer the past !G years, the ma"ority of ).S. worers hae been satisfied with their "obs
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press dissatisfaction 54>hibit !7#9: E-it. ;ehaior directed toward leaing the organization, o including looing for a new position as well as resigning. o Voi#e. Actiely and constructiely attempting to improe conditions, including suggesting improements, discussing problems with superiors, and some forms of union actiity. • • • •
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Loya'ty. 6assiely but optimistically waiting for conditions to
improe, including speaing up for the organization in the face of e>ternal criticism, and trusting the organization and its management to 0do the right thing. Neg'e#t. 6assiely allowing conditions to worsen, including o chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and increased error rate. 4>it and neglect behaiors encompass our performance ariables/ productiity, absenteeism, and turnoer. Eoice and loyalty are constructie behaiors allow indiiduals to tolerate unpleasant situations or to reie satisfactory woring conditions. 't helps us to understand situations, such as those sometimes found among unionized worers, where low "ob satisfaction is coupled with low turnoer.
Job Satisfaction and Job 6erformance *anagers+ interest in "ob satisfaction tends to center on its effect on employee performance. *uch research has been done on the impact of "ob satisfaction on employee "ob performance, absenteeism, and turnoer. Satisfaction and "ob performance: ?appy worers are not necessarily productie worers/the eidence o suggests that productiity is liely to lead to satisfaction. o At the organization leel, there is renewed support for the original satisfactionperformance relationship. 't seems organizations with more satisfied worers as a whole are more productie organizations. Job Satisfaction and DC; 't seems logical to assume that "ob satisfaction should be a ma"or determinant of an employee+s organizational citizenship behaior. *ore recent eidence, howeer, suggests that satisfaction influences DC;, but through perceptions of fairness. here is a modest oerall relationship between "ob satisfaction and DC;. ;asically, "ob satisfaction comes down to conceptions of fair outcomes, treatment, and procedures. ample, you might be a satisfied worer, yet still tae a 0mental health day to head for the beach now and again. Job Satisfaction and urnoer
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Satisfaction is also negatiely related to turnoer, but the correlation is stronger than what we found for absenteeism. Dther factors such as labor maret conditions, e>pectations about alternatie "ob opportunities, and length of tenure with the organization are important constraints on the actual decision to leae one+s current "ob. 4idence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfactionturnoer relationship is the employee+s leel of performance.
Job Satisfaction and
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'''. S)**AH AB$ '*6@'CA'DBS D *ABA-4S o *anagers should tae a een interest in employees+ attitudes because they often signal approaching problems Begatie attitudes can lead to withdrawal behaiors o o ocusing on the intrinsic part of the employees+ "obs is the most important thing a manager can do 't is important for managers to always remember that an employee will try to reduce any o cognitie dissonance
Text Exercises
International Chinese Employees and Organizational Commitment Are employees from different cultures committed to their organizations in similar ways= A 2GG! study e>plored this 3uestion and compared the organizational commitment of Chinese employees to the commitment of Canadian and South orean worers. Although results reealed that the three types of commitment/normatie, continuance, and affectie/are present in all three cultures, results also showed that there are some differences among the three countries in how important each type of commitment is. Bormatie commitment, an obligation to remain with the organization for moral or ethical reasons, was higher in the Chinese sample of employees than in the Canadian and South orean sample. Affectie commitment, an emotional attachment to the organization and a belief in its alues, was also stronger in China compared to Canada and South orea. Chinese culture may e>plain why. he Chinese emphasize loyalty to one+s group, and in this case, one+s 0group may be the organization that one wors for, so employees may feel a certain loyalty from the start and may become more emotionally attached as their time with the organization grows. o the e>tent that the Chinese iew their organization as part of their group and become emotionally attached Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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to that group, they will be more committed to their organization. 6erhaps as a result of this emphasis on loyalty, the normatie commitment of Chinese employees strongly predicted intentions to maintain employment with the organization. Continuance commitment, the perceied economic alue of remaining with an organization compared to leaing it, was lower in the Chinese sample than in the Canadian and South orean sample. Dne reason for the lower degree of continuance commitment is that Chinese worers alue loyalty towards the group more than indiidual concerns. 't appears that although all three countries e>perience normatie, continuance, and affectie commitment, the degree to which each form of commitment is important differs across countries. Source$ ;ased on H. Cheng and *. S. Stocdale, 0he Ealidity of the hreeComponent *odel of Drganizational Commitment in a Chinese Conte>t, /ournal of Vocational 0ehavior, June 2GG!, pp. #&%7#K8.
Cass E$ercise
OB IN THE NEWS /hy Is Jo& Satis*a#tio a''ig1
here is increasing eidence that "ob satisfaction leels in the )nited States are dropping. he Conference ;oard, which sureys large numbers of worers eery year, reports the following percentages of indiiduals reporting that they are at least moderately satisfied with their "obs: 18K( &1L 188% %8L 2GGG %1L 2GG% %2L 2GG& #(L plain why "ob satisfaction leels are dropping. Dne reason may be that in their drie to increase productiity, many companies continue to downsize, leaing the remaining worers oerburdened. $ownsizing also lowers the morale of layoff suriors. t. A recent surey suggested that only one in four employees beliees her organization is loyal to her. 't shouldn+t be a surprise that "ob attitudes fall as a result. Source$ ;ased on . -urchie, 0Show
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#G 0).S. Job Satisfaction $eclines, 5S" Today , April 8, 2GG(, p. 1; S. *oore, @. -runberg, and 4. -reenberg, 0he 4ffects of Similar and $issimilar @ayoff 4>periences on
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?ae students brea into small groups to discuss the 3uestion: 0
Myth or Science 1
“Happy Workers Are Productive Workers”
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statement is generally true. he idea that 0happy worers are productie worers deeloped in the 18!Gs and 18#Gs, largely as a result of findings drawn by researchers conducting the ?awthorne studies at ts. he correlation is higher for comple> "obs that proide employees with more discretion to act on their attitudes.! 't+s important to recognize that the reerse causality might be true/productie worers are liely to be happy worers, or productiity leads to satisfaction. # 'n other words, if you do a good "ob, you intrinsically feel good about it. 'n addition, your higher productiity should increase your recognition, your pay leel, and your probabilities for promotion. Cumulatiely, these rewards, in turn, increase your leel of satisfaction with the "ob. 't+s probably the case that both arguments are right: hat satisfaction can lead to high leels of performance for some people, while for o thers, high performance may cause them to be satisfied. M
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;rainstorm with students about situations where they new worersFemployees were unhappy with the company or their "obs, but still did a reasonably good "ob. 6erhaps hae them share insights into their own feelings about their school, or a particular class they dislied but still tried ery hard. $iscuss why someone who is unhappy with hisFher "ob might wor hard at it and do good wor. ternal motiation. As a result, a highly internally motiated indiidual might perform well in any circumstance whereas hisFher organizational enironment would not positiely affect a noninternally motiated indiidual. Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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Point
Counterpoint (ana)ers Can Create Satisfied E*po+ees
Point A reiew of the eidence has identified four factors conducie to high leels of employee "ob satisfaction: mentally challenging wor, e3uitable rewards, supportie woring conditions, and supportie colleagues.% 'mportantly, each of these factors is controllable by management. 3entally challenging work. -enerally, people prefer "obs that gie them opportunities to use their sills and abilities and offer a ariety of tass, freedom, and feedbac on how well they+re doing. hese characteristics mae wor mentally challenging. 8!uitable rewards. 4mployees want pay systems that they perceie as being "ust, unambiguous, and in line with their e>pectations.
or most employees, wor also fulfills the need for social interaction. Bot surprisingly, therefore, haing friendly and supportie coworers leads to increased "ob satisfaction. he behaior of one+s boss is also a ma"or determinant of satisfaction. Studies find that employee satisfaction is increased when the immediate superisor is understanding and friendly, offers praise for good performance, listens to employees+ opinions, and shows a personal interest in them.
Counterpoint he notion that managers and organizations can control the leel of employee "ob satisfaction is inherently attractie. 't fits nicely with the iew that managers directly influence organizational processes and outcomes. )nfortunately, there is a growing body of eidence that challenges the notion that managers control the factors that influence employee "ob satisfaction. he most recent findings indicate that employee "ob satisfaction is largely genetically determined. & imately %G7KG percent of people+s differences in happiness, or sub"ectie wellbeing, has been found to be attributable to their genes. 'dentical twins, for e>ample, tend to hae ery similar careers, hae similar leels of "ob satisfaction, and change "obs at similar rates. Analysis of satisfaction data for a selected sample of indiiduals oer a %Gyear period found that indiidual results were consistently stable oer time, een when these people changed employers and occupations. his and other research suggests that an indiidual+s disposition toward life/positie or negatie/is established by genetic maeup, holds oer time, and carries oer into a disposition toward wor. -ien these findings, there is probably little that most managers can do to influence employee satisfaction. 'n spite of the fact that managers and organizations go to e>tensie lengths to try to improe employee "ob satisfaction through actions such as manipulating "ob characteristics, woring conditions, and rewards, people will ineitably return to their own 0set point. A bonus may temporarily increase the satisfaction leel of a negatiely disposed worer, but it is unliely to sustain it. Sooner or later, new areas of fault will be found with the "ob.
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he only place where managers will hae any significant influence will be through their control of the selection process. 'f managers want satisfied worers, they need to mae sure their selection process screens out negatie people who derie little satisfaction from their "obs, irrespectie of its conditions.
Cass E$ercise $o this e>ercise before haing the students read 6ointFCounterpoint. % 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8%
?ae students thin about two to three "obs they hae had, outside of family chores. Nt hae them list what they really lied about the "obs and what they dislied about the "obs. As fietoten olunteers to write their "ob titles on the board and list !7% things they really lieFdislied about each "ob. plain why it would or would not. @ead the students to draw conclusions about how much their superisors or managers control things that would increase their lie or dislie, motiation or demotiation for the "ob.
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Jo& I+o'+e,et :$egree of psychological identification with the "ob where
perceied performance is important to selfworth. 6sychological 4mpowerment is another closely related concept that is the &elief in the degree of influence oer the "ob, competence, "ob meaningfulness, and autonomy. Orgai;atioa' Co,,it,et : 'dentifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization. Drganizational commitment has three dimensions: / Affectie 7 emotional attachment to organization / Continuance Commitment 7 economic alue of staying / Bormatie moral or ethical obligations Drganizational commitment has some relation to performance, especially for new employees. 't is less important now than in past 7 now perhaps there is more of an occupational commitment , or a loyalty to a profession rather than a gien employer. here is a positie relationship between organizational commitment and "ob productiity, howeer, modest. 4idence suggests that these attitudes are highlyrelated. Some employees though, seem to be predisposed to be positie or negatie about many things. Additional "ob attitudes include improed organizational support and employee engagement that are worrelated attitudes that also need to be understood by managers. Derall, there is some distinction, but a lot of oerlap. #. ?ow do we measure "ob satisfaction= Aser. Job satisfaction is a positie feeling about a "ob resulting from an ealuation of its characteristics. here are two widely used approaches to measure "ob satisfaction. Single global rating 5one 3uestionFone answer9 that is considered the best and summation score 5many 3uestionsFone aerage9 that is considered oay. %.
Job 6erformance Satisfied worers are more productie AB$ more productie worers are more satisfiedI he causality may run both ways. Drganizational Citizenship ;ehaiors Satisfaction influences DC; through perceptions of fairness. Customer Satisfaction Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Absenteeism Satisfied employees are moderately less liely to miss wor. urnoer Satisfied employees are less liely to 3uit. here are many moderating ariables in this relationship such as economic enironment and tenure .
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(. 's "ob satisfaction a uni3uely ).S. concept= $oes "ob satisfaction appear to ary by country= Aser. Bo, but most of the research so far has been in the ). S. here is some ariance in "ob
satisfaction by country.
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4astern cultures. 6erhaps because
E$perientia E$ercise ibility to balance life and wor issues Job security Jobspecific training
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*anagement recognition of employee "ob performance *eaningfulness of "ob Betworing Dpportunities to use sillsFabilities Drganization+s commitment to professional deelopment Derall corporate culture elationship with coworers elationship with immediate superisor he wor itself he ariety of wor
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Dn a sheet of paper, ranorder these "ob factors from top to bottom, so that number 1 is the "ob factor you thin is most important to your "ob satisfaction, number 2 is the second most important factor to your "ob satisfaction, and so on. Bow gather in teams of three or four people and try the following: % Appoint a spoesperson who will tae notes and report the answers to the following 3uestions, on behalf of your group, bac to the class. 2% Aeraging across all members in your group, generate a list of the top fie "ob factors. 3% $id most people in your group seem to alue the same "ob f actors=
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Sour!e, Esen$ SHRM Job Satisfaction Series: 2005 Job Satisfaction )-le.andria$ /-, So!iety for Human 0esour!e 1anaement$ 2334*+
he chapter says that pay doesn+t correlate all that well with "ob satisfaction, but in the S?* surey, people say it is relatiely important. Can your group suggest a reason for the apparent discrepancy= 6% Bow e>amine your own list again. $oes your list agree with the group list= $oes your list agree with the S?* study= 5%
Ethica 0ie**a A4 A*4'CABS DE4
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most 4uropean nations mandate restricted worwee hours and a month or more of acation time, but Americans hae among the fewest acation days and longest aerage worwee in the world. Juliet Schor, a ?arard economist who has written on the sub"ect, argues that the )nited States 0is the world+s standout woraholic nation, and that ).S. worers are trapped in a 0s3uirrel cage of oerwor. Some argue that mandated leisure time would force companies to compete within their industry by raising productiity and product 3uality rather than by re3uiring worers to put in more hours. *any 4uropean nations also place limits on the hours employers can re3uire employees to wor. rance, -ermany, and other nations limit the worwee to !% hours. ecently, after much debate, the rench parliament oted to do away with the rule that set !% hours as the ma>imum worwee. he "ustification was that more fle>ible rules would allow rench companies to compete more effectiely so that, if business re3uired it, they could pay employees for longer hours. Dpponents of the new rules argue that it puts the decision of how much to wor in the indiidual+s hands. hese people argue that it will ineitably detract from 3uality of life and gie employers power to e>ploit worers. A rench union leader said, 0hey say it+s the worer who will choose how much to wor, but they+re lying because it+s always the employer who decides.
Class Exercise here are seeral ways to approach the topic to this case. Some ideas are: %
2%
As students to do some research on 4uropean wor rules such as the !% hour worwee. Hou may also as them to determine what the aerage acation time is for 4uropeans s. worers in the )nited States. As students whether or not the )nited States could eer moe toward a 4uropean model. M
esponses to this e>ercise will ary howeer, you may want to discuss the following 3uestions when discussing the case. <"estios %
States is better than that in many 4uropean nations. An important issue to discuss here concerns health care costs and access to health care. Quality of life may be enhanced through more affordable and more accessible health care. his could be an interesting area to discuss with students. 'n most 4uropean countries, health care is deliered at low to no cost to employees and citizens. Dne could argue that 3uality of life 5healthy lifestyle9 may be correlated with oerwor, insufficient number of acation days, etc. 2%
$o you thin the rench parliament was right to eliminate the !%hour wor wee limit= $o you thin the 3uality of rench life will suffer= < hy or why not= Aser. his is clearly an opinion issue. As students to itemize the factors that contribute or
detract from a positie 3uality of life. Some aspects to consider are healthy lifestyles, homewor balance, standard of liing, etc. 3%
$o you thin employers hae an obligation to watch out for the 3uality of life of their employees= Could such an obligation mean protecting employees from being oerwored= Aser. 't is in the best interests of employers to help ensure that employees hae a positie
3uality of life. his is correlated with number of sic days, a bsenteeism, and turnoer, all of which pose considerable cost to employers.
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$o you thin it maes a difference in the research results that the unemployment rate in 4urope is roughly double that of the )nited States and that 4urope+s gross domestic product 5-$69 is about half that of the )nited States= Aser. 't maes a significant difference across a number of dimensions including standard of
liing, the economic itality of the country, the economic stability of the country, etc. All of these factors 5as well as a number of others that can be identified by students9 play a role in the relatie 3uality of life of citizens. Sources$ Juliet Schor, The 6verworked "merican$ The 5ne#pected ecline of 9eisure 5Bew Hor: ;asic ;oos, 18829, C. S. Smith, 04ffort to 4>tend , The 8conomist , 2GG% 5http:FFwww.economist.comFmediaF pdfFQ)A@'HRDR@'4.pdf 9 4. Dlsen, 0he Eacation $eficit, 0udget Travel , Dctober 28, 2GG# 5http:FFwww.msnbc.msn.comFidF&!#%#1&F9.
Case 1ncident % A@;4SDBS -4 *edical Systems+ 4uropean diision. he diision made C scanners. Der the preious decade, four e>ecuties had been brought in to turn the diision around and try to mae it profitable. All had failed. Johnston responded to the challenge by initiating some important changes/he made a number of ac3uisitions, he closed down inefficient plants, and he moed factories to 4astern 4uropean countries to tae adantage of lower labor costs. hen he brought in 4d oreman to charge up the troops. 0After we got 4d in, says Johnston, 0people began to lie their lies differently. hey came to wor with a spring in their step. 'n ! years, the diision was bringing in annual profits of P1GG million. Johnston gies a large part of the credit for this turnaround to oreman. ample of oreman+s primary program/called the Successful @ife Course. 't lasts ! days and begins each morning at & A.*. he first day begins with a chapter from an inspirational handout, followed by 12 minutes of yogalie stretching. hen participants marched up a hill, chanting, 0' now ' can, ' now ' can. his is followed by breafast and then a ariety of lectures on attitude, diet, and e>ercise. ;ut the primary focus of the program is on attitude. Says oreman, 0't+s your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude. Dther parts of the program include group hugs, team actiities, and mindcontrol rela>ation e>ercises. Johnston beliees strongly in oreman+s program. 06ositie attitude is the single biggest thing that can change a business, says Johnston. ?e sees oreman+s program as being a critical bridge lining employees with customers: 0
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<"estios
1.
4>plain the logic as to how oreman+s !day course could positiely influence Albertson+s profitability. •
2.
Johnston says, 06ositie attitude is the single biggest thing that can change a business. ?ow alid and generalizable do you thin this statement is= •
!.
Students may or may not agree. $iscussion should focus on the relationship between attitude and behaior and e>plore other approaches such as selfperception theory.
'f you were Johnston, what could you do to ealuate the effectieness of your P1Gmillion inestment in oreman+s training program= •
#.
he focus is on positie employee attitudes and the impact that it has on customers. 6ositie attitudes toward customer serice may hae an impact on profitability.
*easure any improementFdegradation in employee attitudes. Could measure the rate of change in absenteeism, turnoer, etc. Could e>amine customer satisfaction rates.
'f you were an Albertsons+ employee, how would you feel about going through oreman+s course= 4>plain your position. •
Answers will ary.
Source$ ;ased on *. ;ure, 0he -uru in the Eegetable ;in,
Case 1ncident & @DB- ?D)S, ?)B$4$S D 4*A'@S, AB$ BD S@446: $D4S ?'S SD)B$ @'4 A SA'SH'B- JD;= Although the #Ghour worwee is now the e>ception rather than the norm, some indiiduals are taing things to the e>treme. •
•
John ;ishop, !1, is an inestment baner who wors for Citigroup+s global energy team in Bew Hor. A recent worday for ;ishop consisted of heading to the office for a conference call at &:GG 6.*. ?e left the office at 1:!G A.*. and had to be on a plane that same morning for a 8:GG A.*. presentation in ?ouston. ollowing the presentation, ;ishop returned to Bew Hor the same day, and by (:GG 6.*., he was bac in his office to wor an additional three hours. Says ;ishop, 0' might be a little sewed to the woraholic, but realistically, e>pecting 8G to 1GG hours a wee is not at all unusual. 'rene se, !#, heads the goernment bondtrading diision at -oldman Sachs. or ten years, she has seen the stoc maret go from alltime highs to recession leels. Such fluctuations can mean millions of dollars in either profits or losses. 0here are days when you can mae a lot, and other days where you lose so much you+re "ust stunned by what you+e done, says se. She also Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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states that she hasn+t slept completely through the night in years and fre3uently waes up seeral times during the night to chec the global maret status. ?er aerage worwee= 4ighty hours. 0'+e done this for 1G years, and ' can count on the fingers of one hand the number of days in my career when ' didn+t want to come to wor. 4ery day ' wae up and ' can+t wait to get here. •
•
ony urz, !!, is a managing director at Capital Alliance 6artners and raises funds for realestate inestments. ?oweer, these are not your aerage properties. ?e often traels to e>otic locations lie Costa ica and ?awaii, wooing prospectie clients. ?e traels more than !GG,GGG miles a year, often sleeping on planes and dealing with "et lag. urz is not the only one he nows with such a hectic wor schedule. ?is girlfriend, Aery ;aer, logs around #GG,GGG miles a year, woring as the senior ice president of mareting for ommy ?ilfiger. 0't+s not easy to maintain a relationship lie this, says urz. ;ut do urz and ;aer lie their "obs= Hou bet. $aid Clar, !%, is the ice president of global mareting for *E. ?is "ob often consists of traeling around the globe to promote the channel, as well as to eep up with the global music scene. 'f he is not traeling 5Clar typically logs 2GG,GGG miles a year9, a typical day consists of waing at &:!G A.*. and immediately responding to numerous messages that hae accumulated oer the course of the night. ?e then goes to his office, where throughout the day he will respond to another %GG messages or so from clients around the world. 'f he+s lucy, he gets to spend an hour a day with his son, but then it+s bac to wor until he finally goes to bed around midnight. Says Clar, 0there are plenty of people who would loe to hae this "ob. hey+re nocing on the door all the time. So that+s motiating.
*any indiiduals would bal at the prospect of a &Ghour or more worwee with constant traeling and little time for anything else. ?oweer, some indiiduals are e>hilarated by such professions. According to the ;ureau of @abor Statistics, in 2GG#, about 1( percent of managers wored more than &G hours per wee. ;ut the demands of such "obs are clearly not for eeryone. *any 3uit, with turnoer leels at %% percent for consultants and !G percent for inestment baners, according to Eault.com. ?oweer, it is clear that such "obs, which are time consuming and often stressful, can be satisfying to some indiiduals.
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$o you thin that only certain indiiduals are attracted to these types of "obs, or is it the characteristics of the "obs themseles that are satisfying= Aser. his is an e>cellent discussion starter for students. Hou may wish to focus on
personality characteristics, lifeFwor balance issues, andFor enironmental concerns. actors such as age, gender, etc, may also play a role. 2%
ample,
is the "ob as a whole satisfying= Are there certain elements in these "obs that are preferred= 3%
-ien that the four indiiduals we "ust read about tend to be satisfied with their "obs, how might this satisfaction relate to their "ob performance, citizenship behaior, and turnoer= Aser. pect that citizenship behaior would be positiely affected and these
indiiduals would liely remain in their "obs. As for "ob performance, there is no direct correlation between satisfaction and performance. ?oweer, it can be inferred from commitment and staying with the "ob oer a longer period of time. Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
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ecall $aid Clar+s statement, 0there are plenty of people who would loe to hae this "ob. hey+re nocing on the door all the time. ?ow might Clar+s perceptions of haing a "ob that many others desire contribute to his "ob satisfaction= Aser. his could hae a positie impact on "ob satisfaction. 'f others perceie the "ob as
positie, the occupant may also iew it this way. Source$ ;ased on @. ischler 04>treme Jobs 5And the 6eople
Copyright ©2009 Pearso E!"#atio$ I#% p"&'ishig as Preti#e (a''
Endnotes
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?arrison, Bewman, and oth, 0?ow 'mportant Are Job Attitudes= pp. !2G7!21. &
*. . 'affaldano and *. *uchinsy, 0Job Satisfaction and Job 6erformance: A *etaAnalysis, 7sychological 0ulletin, *arch 18K%, pp. 2%17(!. .A. Judge, C. J. horese, J. 4. ;ono, and -. . 6atton, 0he Job Satisfaction/Job 6erformance elationship: A Qualitatie and Quantitatie eiew, 7sychological 0ulletin, *ay 2GG1, pp. !(&7#G( . Judge, S. 6arer, A. 4. Colbert, $. ?eller, and . 'lies, 0Job Satisfaction: A CrossCultural eiew, in B. Anderson, $. S. Dnes, ?. . Sinangil, and C. Eiswesaran 5eds.9, 1andbook of Industrial, ork = 6rgani4ational 7sychology , ol. 2 5housand Das, CA: Sage, 2GG1, p. #19. 3
C. B. -reene, 0he Satisfaction6erformance Controersy, 0usiness 1ori4ons, ebruary 18(2, pp. !1#1 4. 4. @awler ''', 3otivation in 6rgani4ations 5*onterey, CA: ;roosFCole, 18(!9 and *. *. 6etty, -. <. *c-ee, and J. <. Caender, 0A *etaAnalysis of the elationship ;etween 'ndiidual Job Satisfaction and 'ndiidual 6erformance, "cademy of 3anagement 2eview , Dctober 18K#, pp. (1221. '
. Judge, S. 6arer, A. 4. Colbert, $. ?eller, and . 'lies, 0Job Satisfaction: A CrossCultural eiew, in B. Anderson, $. S. Dnes, ?. . Sinangil, and C. Eiswesaran 5eds.9, 1andbook of Industrial, ork, = 6rgani4ational 7sychology , ol. 2 5housand Das, CA: Sage, 2GG19 . A. Judge and A. ?. Church, 0Job Satisfaction: esearch and 6ractice, in C. @. Cooper and 4. A. @oce 5eds.9, Industrial and 6rgani4ational 7sychology$ 9inking Theory with 7ractice 5D>ford, ): ;lacwell, 2GGG9, pp. 1&&78K @. Saari and . A. Judge, 04mployee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction, 1uman 2esource 3anagement #!, no. # 52GG#9, pp. !8%7#G(. 5
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See, for instance, . $. Arey, ;. *cCall, . J. ;ouchard, Jr., and 6. aubman, 0-enetic 'nfluences on Job Satisfaction and
