in this chapter, we look at values, how they've changed from
generation to generation, and what these changes mean for
managing people of different ages. We'll also review research on
the topic of attitudes, demonstrate the link between attitudes
and behavior, and look at factors that shape employees' satisfaction
with their jobs.
VALUES
Is capital punishment right or wrong? If a person likes power, is
that good or bad? The answers to these questions are value-laden.
Some might argue, for example, that capital punishment is right
because it is an appropriate retribution for crimes like murder and
treason- However, others might argue, just as strongly, that no
government has the dght to take anyone's life.
Values represent basic convictions that "a specific mode of
conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable
to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of
existence."2 They contain a judgmental element in that they carry
an individual's ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable. Values
have both content and intensity attributes- The content attribute
says that a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important.
The intensity attribute specifies how importarf it is. When we rank
an individual's values in terms of their intensity, we obtain that
person's value system. All of us have a hierarchy of values that
forms our value system. This system is identified by the relative
importance we assign to values such as freedom, pleasure, selfrespect,
honesty, obedience, and equality.