Individual Behaviour - Values & Attitudes (Management-1 05March 2021)

Individual Behaviour

Values - Definition

Values defined in Organizational Behaviour as the collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

 

According to M. Haralambos, “A value is a belief that something is good and desirable”.

 

According to R.K. Mukherjee, “Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalized through the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective preferences, standards, and aspirations”.

 

According to Zaleznik and David, “Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to norms in that they specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to activities and relationships”

 

According to I. J. Lehner and N.J. Kube, “Values are an integral part of the personal philosophy of life by which we generally mean the system of values by which we live. The philosophy of life includes our aims, ideals, and manner of thinking and the principles by which we guide our behaviour”

 

According to T. W. Hippie, “Values are conscious or unconscious motivators and justifiers of the actions and judgment”

 

A value is a shared idea about how something is ranked in terms of desirability, worth or goodness. Sometimes, it has been interpreted to mean “such standards by means of which the ends of action are selected”.

 

Thus, values are collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

Familiar examples of values are wealth, loyalty, independence, equality, justice, fraternity and friendliness. These are generalized ends consciously pursued by or held up to individuals as being worthwhile in them.

It is not easy to clarify the fundamental values of a given society because of their sheer breadth.

 

The characteristics of values are:

·      These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an understanding of the strategic context.

·      These can provide standards of competence and morality.

·      These can go beyond specific situations or persons.

·      Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and external factors.

·      These are relatively permanent.

·      These are more central to the core of a person.

·      Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighbourhood school, the mass print, visual media and other sources within the society.

·      Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects, behaviour, etc.

·      They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable.

·      Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.

·      Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfilment of man’s basic impulses and desire stably and consistently appropriate for his living.

·      They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social responses and attitudes.

·      They build up societies, integrate social relations.

·      They mold the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of culture.

·      They influence people’s behaviour and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.

·      They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They help in creating norms to guide day-to-day behaviour.

 

 Attitudes 

Attitude refers to feelings, beliefs, and behaviour predispositions directed towards people, groups, ideas, or objects.

It influences the behaviour of the individuals. It decides how to act or behave in a particular situation.

Attitude is a kind of habit. It is the usual way of doing things.

Everything in an organization will get better if the attitude of everyone gets better. Successes and failures in life depend upon the attitude of the individuals.

If attitudes are positive, then human relations will be positive. It is internal and challenging to change.

Behaviour is the way a person responds to his attitude. This response is either positive or negative, depending on how that views his position.

For example, an employee who disagrees?

His supervisor may ignore office protocol.

Besides, an employee who dislikes another co-worker or has little respect for a co-worker may display this attitude by speaking harshly to this individual.

Behaviour can be influenced by factors beyond attitude, including preconceptions about self and others, monetary factors, social influences, and convenience.

It is the actions or reactions of a person or animal in response to external or internal stimuli. It indicates how something functions or operates.