Transcript Chapter 5

Work-Related Attitudes
Feelings about Jobs,
Organizations, and People
Chapter 5
Learning Objectives
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Define attitudes and describe their basic components.
Describe the concept of job satisfaction and summarize
two major theories of job satisfaction.
Explain the major consequences of job dissatisfaction
and ways of overcoming them.
Describe the concept of organizational commitment, the
major consequences of low levels of organizational
commitment, and how to overcome them.
Distinguish between prejudice and discrimination, and
identify various victims of prejudice in organizations.
Describe some of the steps being taken by organizations
today to manage diversity in the workforce and their
effectiveness.
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Basic Definitions
Attitudes: Relatively stable clusters of
feelings, beliefs, and behavioral intentions
toward specific objects, people, or
institutions.
Work-Related Attitudes: Attitudes relating
to any aspect of work or work settings.
Job Satisfaction: Positive or negative
attitudes held by individuals toward their
jobs.
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Components of Attitudes
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Job Satisfaction

Most people are quite satisfied with their jobs.
– Levels of job satisfaction, however, vary by country
– Overall levels of satisfaction have been dropping in
recent years
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What kinds of workers tend to be more satisfied?
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White-collar personnel
Older people
People with more experience on their jobs
Men and members of majority groups
Those who are dispositionally predisposed to be
satisfied
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Satisfaction by Country
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Causes of Lowered Morale
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The Dispositional Model
The conceptualization
proposing that job
satisfaction is a
relatively stable
disposition of an
individual – that is, a
characteristic that
stays with people
across situations.
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Measuring Job Satisfaction
Job Descriptive Index:
A rating scale for
assessing job
satisfaction. Individuals
respond to this
questionnaire by
indicating whether or not
various adjectives
describe aspects of their
work.
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Measuring Job Satisfaction
Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire:
A rating scale for
assessing job
satisfaction in which
people indicate the
extent to which they
are satisfied with
various aspects of
their jobs.
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Measuring Job Satisfaction
Pay Satisfaction
Questionnaire:
A questionnaire
designed to assess
employees’ level of
satisfaction with
various aspects of
their pay.
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Measuring Job Satisfaction
 Critical
Incidents Technique: A
procedure for measuring job
satisfaction in which employees
describe incidents relating to their
work that they find especially
satisfying or dissatisfying.
 Interviews: Questioning people in
person about their attitudes in order
to explore them more deeply.
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Two-Factor Theory
A theory of job
satisfaction
suggesting that
satisfaction and
dissatisfaction stem
from different groups
of variables
(motivators and
hygiene factors,
respectively).
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Value Theory of Satisfaction
A theory suggesting
that job satisfaction
depends primarily on
the match between
the outcomes
individuals value in
their jobs and their
perceptions about
the availability of
such outcomes.
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Consequences of Job Satisfaction
Employee Withdrawal: Actions such
as chronic absenteeism and
voluntary turnover (i.e., quitting
one’s job) that enable employees to
escape from adverse organization
situations.
Absenteeism
Turnover
Task Performance
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Turnover
 Unfolding model of voluntary turnover: A
conceptualization that explains the cognitive
processes through which people make
decisions about quitting or staying on their
jobs.
 Decision depends on:
 Shock to the system: An attention-getting event
that gets employees to think about their jobs (e.g.,
merger with another company).
 Decision frames: A set of internalized rules and
images regarding how to interpret something that
has occurred (e.g., based on what I know from the
past, is there an obvious response?).
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Voluntary Turnover
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Task Performance

The relationship between satisfaction and
performance is positive, but it is not very
strong.
 Explanations:
– In many work settings, there is little room for
large changes in performance.
– Job satisfaction and performance may not be
directly linked. Any direct relationship
between them may stem from the fact that both
are related to a third factor – receipt of various
rewards.
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Promoting Job Satisfaction
 Make
jobs fun
 Pay people fairly
 Match people to
jobs that fit their
interests
 Avoid boring,
repetitive jobs
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Job Satisfaction in Tough Times

Be open and honest
about the company’s
financial situation.
 Spend time with your
best workers, helping
them develop their
careers.
 Break assignments into
manageable chunks.
 Pay people what they’re
worth.
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Organizational Commitment

The extent to which an individual identifies and is
involved with his or her organization and/or is
unwilling to leave it.
 Continuance Commitment: The strength of a person’s
desire to continue working for an organization
because he or she needs to do so and cannot afford
to leave.
 Affective Commitment: The strength of a person’s
desire to work for an organization because he or she
agrees with its underlying goals and values.
 Normative Commitment: The strength of a person’s
desire to continue working for an organization
because he or she feels obligations from others to
remain there.
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Organizational Commitment
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Why Commitment Matters

Committed
employees are
less likely to
withdraw.
 Committed
employees are
willing to make
sacrifices for the
organization.
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Developing Commitment
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Make jobs interesting and
give people responsibility.
Align the interests of the
company with those of the
employees.
Enthusiastically recruit
new employees whose
values closely match those
of the organization.
Listen to your employees.
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Prejudice vs. Discrimination
Prejudice
Negative attitudes
toward the members
of specific groups,
based solely on the
fact that they are
members of those
groups (e.g., age,
race, sexual
orientation).
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Discrimination
The behavior
consistent with a
prejudicial attitude;
the act of treating
someone negatively
because of his or
her membership in
a specific group.
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Prejudice vs. Discrimination
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Problems of Prejudice
Although the American workforce is becoming
increasingly diverse, prejudice against various
groups still exists, often with serious consequences.
Specific problems:
– Prejudice can be a source of serious friction or conflict
between people.
– Prejudice may have adverse effects on the careers of people
who are the targets of such attitudes.
Glass Ceiling: A barrier to job advancement caused by
prejudicial attitudes.
Covictimization: The negative psychological impact
suffered by individuals who share the same background
as direct victims of discrimination.
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Bases for Prejudice
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Age
Physical Condition
Gender (being
female)
Sexual Orientation
Race and National
Origin
Religion
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Does Discrimination Exist?
A survey of American
workers shows that
racial discrimination
is believed to be
prevalent in many
forms. Its main
victims, African
Americans, tend to be
more aware of
discrimination than
those who are least
affected by it, white
Americans.
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Major Approaches to Diversity
Affirmative Action Plans: Diversity programs
designed to respond to affirmative action
laws, which are legislation designed to give
employment opportunities to groups that
have been underrepresented in the workforce.
Diversity Management Programs: Programs
in which employees are taught to celebrate
the differences between people and in which
organizations create supportive work
environments for women and minorities.
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Affirmative Action
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Diversity Management Programs
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Awareness-Based Diversity Training: A type
of diversity management program designed
to make people more aware of diversity
issues in the workplace and to get them to
recognize the underlying assumptions they
make about people.
Skills-Based Diversity Training: An approach
to diversity management that goes beyond
awareness-based diversity training and is
designed to develop people’s skills with
respect to managing diversity.
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Diversity Management
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Avoiding Pitfalls

Focus on a range of
differences between
people – not stereotypes.
 Managers should not treat
someone as special
because he or she is a
member of a certain group.
 Managing diversity
requires total managerial
support.
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Ensuring Success
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Actively pursue the
best people.
Make sure that people
are accepted and fit in.
Educate everyone.
Assess how you’re
doing.
Pay attention to
details.
Plan for the future.
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