Our understanding of the nature of work can have a significant impact on ourselves as individuals and on the institution of the workplace. Psychologi¬cally, the very attitude with which we face each day can be greatly influenced by our understanding of work in general, and of our own work in particular. For employees, the meaning and value found in work can contribute signifi-cantly to self-esteem as well as physical and mental health. For managers, how employees think about work will influence everything from performance and productivity to employee turnover, and from wages and benefits to absentee¬ism. As testimony to the importance of such questions, one need only look at the prevalent discussion of topics such as job satisfaction and worker morale in the field of business management.