Organisational Behaviour Southeast Asian Perspectives

Summary

A Value is a priority or a belief that is meaningful to a person. Values are desirable qualities, standards, and principles that act as guiding forces in an organization.Clarifying the values of an organization is important as it creates self-awareness and job satisfaction among the workers. The paper analyzes several aspects of the research including identification of the main argument of the author as well as the importance of the argument. It also addresses several aspects of the author such as the tone used and the assumptions presented. The main argument in the paper is the role of values and attitudes in shaping a person’s behavior. The values are dependent on the person or the organizations.Different organizations have different values that are in most cases present in the mission and vision statements. These values are sometimes incompatible with those of the individual workers thus reducing job satisfaction and trust among the workers.

Introduction

The paper discusses the values and attitudes that play a significant role in the organizational behavior. It tries to figure out the concepts of the values and attitudes in relation to some aspects of organizational activity such as productivity,turnover,and job satisfaction. The discussion paper focuses on the definition of values and their contribution in organizational setting. Besides, the author outlines the nature of attitudes and their role in determining the behaviors of people.

Main argument

The author’s main argument is the role of values in guiding behavior and decision-making.The answers to most of the life’s basic questions are based on the convictions held by a person regarding what is right or wrong. The convictions are stable in a person throughout their life and guide them in decision-making and behavior change(Fischer 2006, p. 1419). The convictions are explained by the author as the values that are critical in solving problems.The author also puts forward the argument on the role of attitudes in shaping the behaviors of a person. The experience of a person determines the stability of the values that he adopts in the new organization (Westwood1992, p.14). The author explains a case where John valued individuality, achievement, and authenticity. The values were developed by John as a result of spending much time in North America. During the time, John adopted some of the values from the Canadian friends and colleagues in the company. Every organization has its own values and principles that are strictly exercised in every operation. Most of these values are derived from the personal values of the workers and the management personnel. In most cases, the values of organizations are related to the mission of the organization. For instance, John’s Company had some values that were clearlyoutlined in the departments(Huntington and Harrison 2000, p. 12).

Despite the fact that the organization values are sometimes derived from members of an organization, they may sometimes differ from the ones of the company. For instance, as the author explains, the values of the management trainees in the organization greatly differed with those of the organization (Westwood 1992, p. 5). The main argumentemphasized by the author is the role that values play in organizational setting.There are several types of personal values such as achievement measured through personal success and universalism through justice and equality. Others include power, security, self-direction, benevolence, hedonism, and stimulation. Thevalues depend on the individual. Failure of people to share common personal values is not healthy in organizations as it often results in interpersonal conflicts. Some people may respect and uphold the value of achievement while their counterparts value status and self-respect. Such groups of people in an organization differ in opinions. Personal values are reflected in the workplace. Sometimes the working conditions lead to the adoption of some values (Hyde & Weathington 2006, p.160).

Reasons for the author`s main argument

The major reason for the argument of the author is to help organizations realize the importance that the values have in determining the organizational behavior. The argument aims to help the reader appreciate how the values and attitudes are measured in an organization and establish a relationship with the behaviors of the workers. The author explores several theories of job satisfaction to relate them to the personal and work values. He gives the case of John who was employed in an organization in Southeast Asia where he received unpopularity because of the incompatible values with other workers. The example is important in driving the major argument of the values and the importance of congruence of the personal and work values(Kolodinsky, Giacalone & Jurkiewicz 2007, p.467).

Evidence presented

The author provides evidence before making the inferences. For instance, he indicates that the work values have an effect on the utilization of resources in an organization and work outcome (Westwood1992, p.6).There are two types of work values that include the context-based and the content-based. They are important in organizational setting as they encourage hard work and industry to achieve the set targets. Besides, the values make the employees remain responsible in their duties and exercise fairness in decision-making. The employees possessing the content-based values are dedicated to their work by showing commitment and always strive to achieve the set goals. On the other hand, the context-based values are mainly associated with the working conditions of the employees and things that satisfy them and make them motivated. They include job security, good working conditions, and retirement benefits.These values help the employees develop a positive point of view to their work(Leuty and Hansen 2012, p.178). For instance, the author describes the junior workers in organizations of SoutheastAsia as recognizing their context-based values than the content-based. They are more concerned with motivation issues and assurance of the job security. On the contrary, most employers value the content-based values among the workers as they help meet the targets of the company(Srivastava 2011, p. 225).

The author describes the people of Southeast Asia Countries to having exceptional work values derived from their cultural aspects.  For instance, the Confucians had the values of family integrity, responsibility of individual workers, and kinship affiliation(Suar and Khuntia 2010, p. 444). The people possessing the Confucian values were renowned entrepreneurs because of theirentrepreneurial spirit and success. The Taiwan organizations required the employees to possess Confucian values for the purposes of work performance and commitment of the workers (Westwood 1992, p.7).

Purpose and tone of the article

The author uses a formal tone in the paper to express his points. It is evident by the use of third parties and pertinent examples. The argument presented is for the purposes of organizations to appreciate the role of values especially the congruence of the personal and work values to improve the performance in the organizations. The use of a formal tone helps in making the inferences provided to be evidence-based. Besides, there is no use of nonstandard dictions in the paper. The author seems aware of his audience thus the use of a formal tone. The expectations of the readers are the role that values have in organizations that are well displayed by the author. The use of the formal tone makes the attitude of the author clear to the readers (Westwood 1992, p.4).

The author tries to convince the readers that there is an association between the personal values and the work values. He wants them to have an opinion that the work values can be derived from the cultural traditions, and the personal values greatly influence the performance of the organizations. The congruence between the personal values and those of the organizationhelp in creating a good working environment for all the workers and meeting the organization’s target. Higher job satisfaction is achieved when the personal values of the workers and the management staff align with those of the organization. They feel that the organizations will value their efforts and fruits of their labor. The congruence raises the self-esteem and the commitment of the workers. They feel secure in their jobs and strive to earn promotions out of their hard work (Westwood 1992, p.7).Matching of the personal values among the workers promote honesty and trust.Communication, transparency, and self-disclosure strengthen the unity of workers. The author describes the importance of congruence of the personal and work values by giving an example of John in his company. John possessed the values of self-confidence and self-assertiveness that did not match with most of his colleagues.

The author does not try to appeal the reader as he gives general questions followed by evidence on the presented points. He gives clear explanations of the role of values in guiding behavior and decision-making and clear examples of the inferences. According to the manner that the author presents the main argument, the reader can decide on the opinion depending on the evidence presented. The author presents evidence on the role of matching work values and the personal values by giving an example of John’s situation in the organization(Suar and Khuntia 2010, p. 447). He gives a questionnaire of the work value survey and does not guide the reader on the answers to give. There are several incidents that the author gives citations showing evidence of the argument rather than the appeal to the reader.

There is enough evidence presented by the author on the role of values in guiding behavior. For instance, he shows the importance of congruence of the personal values and the work values by giving an example of John in his organization. John had different personal values that did not, match those of his colleague workers thus they did not appreciate them.Besides, he outlines the importance of Confucian values in organizations in the Southeast Asia such as integrity, and kingship affiliation. He gives an example of Taiwan to explain the importance of Confucian values in improving worker commitment and performance. The author makes these inferences about the role of congruence of personal and work values based on the evidence.

According to the presentation of ideas, it is clear that the author does not think the reader thinks in a particular way or a particular worldview. The author puts some questions to open the mind of the reader before presenting the ideas.The argument that follows the questions can give the readers answers and opinions towards the argument presented. For instance, before describing the values, the author begins with questions about their definition and nature. It is the same thing when expressing the importance of congruence of the personal and work values(Huntington and Harrison 2000, p. 10).

The congruence of values is the compatibility of the personal and work values including workers, supervisors, and the management staff. Value congruence is a prolific field considering the purported positive effects it has on the behaviors and attitudes of the workers in an organization. The performance,leadership, staffing, job attitudes, and socialization are all affected by the matching of personal and the work values. Most organizations consider the values of the job applicants as they are important for the success of the company and relationship of the staff (Westwood 1992, p.3). Detecting the values of the workers and the job applicants is an important aspect of the recruitment process. It is mainly done through socialization and interviews. People with shared values in an organization achieve accomplishment with low cases of burnout. Values act as the guiding principles of a person’s behavior and attitude. The successful pursuit of the values is considered a predictor of the performance of the organization.

Bibliography

Fischer, R. (2006). Congruence and Functions of Personal and Cultural Values: Do My Values Reflect My Culture’s Values?. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(11), pp.1419-1431.

Huntington, S. and Harrison, L. (2000). Culture matters. New York: Basic Books.

Hyde, R. and Weathington, B. (2006). The Congruence of Personal Life Values and Work Attitudes. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 132(2), pp.151-190.

Kolodinsky, R., Giacalone, R. and Jurkiewicz, C. (2007). Workplace Values and Outcomes: Exploring Personal, Organizational, and Interactive Workplace Spirituality. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(2), pp.465-480.

Leuty, M. and Hansen, J. (2012). Building Evidence of Validity: The Relation between Work Values, Interests, Personality, and Personal Values. Journal of Career Assessment, 21(2), pp.175-189.

Srivastava, M. (2011). Anxiety, Stress and Satisfaction among Professionals in Manufacturing and Service Organizations: Fallout of Personal Values, Work Values, and Extreme Job Conditions. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 15(3), pp.219-229.

Suar, D. and Khuntia, R. (2010). Influence of Personal Values and Value Congruence on Unethical Practices and Work Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(3), pp.443-460.

Westwood,R.I.(Ed) (1992) Organizational Behavior-Southeast Asian perspectives. Hong Kong,