Organizational Behavior, Job Satisfaction Assumptions on Western and Eastern Cultures - Assignment Example

Name: Tutor: Course: Date: 1. Organizational Behavior Research Job involvement is a crucial attitude aspect that assists in organizational effectiveness maximization. Organizations with greater effectiveness have higher the degree of job involvement. Managers are vested with the role of improving employee behaviors and influencing work-related attitudes so as to develop behavioral changes (O’reilly & Candwell 561). The attitude is associated with the impact exhibited by employees behaviorally. Job Involvement determines the degree in which a person is individually involved with her or his work roles. This attitude is relatively more stable compared to organizational commitment. It is hard to increase job involvement. Therefore, organization makes attempts to develop organizational commitment more so affective commitment which is crucial in increasing job satisfaction of the employees. Organizational commitment in the perspective of Organizational Behavior and Psychology looks at the psychological attachment of employees to the organization. It can be differentiated with the other work-related attitudes like Job Satisfaction that looks into employee's feelings regarding their work (Hom, Kateberg & Hulin, 285). Employees also experience a 'sense of oneness' with their firm or company. Affective and normative commitment is related to job satisfaction and job involvement though continuance commitment may not relate these concepts in some sectors like hospitality. It can be established that job involvement, normative commitment, affective commitment, boosts job satisfaction while job involvement influences normative and affective commitment (Gechman & Wiener, 525). As argued by Spector (1997), job satisfaction influence attitudes of people regarding aspects of their jobs and work in general. Job satisfaction is affected by organizational and personal factors which engender an emotional reaction influencing organizational commitment. The results of job satisfaction include a reduction in withdrawal, better performance and counter-productive behaviors. Job satisfaction constitutes employees’ emotions or affect with regard to employee turnover, life satisfaction, job productivity and absenteeism. Job Satisfaction with respect to supervisory ratings is greater than organizational commitment (Spector, 65). Global attitudes like organizational commitment are more closely related to organization oriented outcomes while specific attitudes like job satisfaction tend towards task oriented outcomes. Commitment is closely related to performance more than satisfaction. Job satisfaction is more changeable and transitory attitude compared to organizational commitment which has a long-term performance. Job involvement and commitment are closely related since they have some uniqueness based on the ability of the attitudes to represent different deviations in similar work outcomes. With regard to shorter term measures like supervision, job satisfaction is stronger than organizational commitment (Gechman & Wiener, 526). Long-term measures of performance are strongly linked to commitment. Satisfied employees are involved in their work, pleasant hence supervision becomes easier. Committed employees show better performance. Organizational commitment points to a connection between the organization and its employees (Hom, Kateberg & Hulin, 387). The employees can be involved in their work but show little responsibility to remaining in the organization. 2. Job satisfaction assumptions on Western and Eastern cultures One of the biases in analyzing job satisfaction in Western vis a vis Eastern cultures is the level of transition satisfaction is with respect to these countries. It is considerably lower in the East than in the West. Eastern countries have an experience of decreased in work satisfaction in the last two decades (Hom, Kateberg & Hulin, 398). It is assumed that in non-transition countries, the gap of job satisfaction between West and East initially expands and finally shrinks. This gap bias is associated with differences in macroeconomic situations of Eastern and Western regions. Again, not everyone in Eastern Europe is affected in a similar manner by the transition since the winners of the process, young and educated, more skilled individuals (Gechman & Wiener, 527). The broad cultural context in the two cultures influences understanding of the concept ‘job satisfaction, owing to differences in the experiences over the use of the concept in daily experiences, language from a person’s individual work, and the influence of the public debate and the media. Analysis of quantitative surveys on differing cultural expectations may not provide the possibility or certainty of what Eastern respondents understand job satisfaction to infer, especially when the question offers a vague definition (Gechman & Wiener, 528). Qualitative surveys may instead harmonize this information. Basically, varying historical experiences engender in countries exhibiting western cultures and those leaning on Eastern country groups. Western European countries especially northern Europe like Denmark, Sweden, and Netherlands had the concept of job satisfaction in place over decades over which the experiences surged in the 80s and 90s (Gechman & Wiener, 526). On the other hand, in Eastern work cultures have only recently adopted the new ways of work organization and their influence on organizational efficiency. This have been seriously considered from the beginning of 90s, hence their development has relatively been brief (Hom, Kateberg & Hulin, 451). Implementation of new ways of work organization in both cultures was not a central topic for debate given that transformation in principle sectors of the economy that both countries had to pass through. Individualism in the west and collectiveness in the east had much to do with political ideology hence the cultural implication remains a question of execution at individual firm level. In the East, employees understand the term ‘job satisfaction’ in connection to the popularity of the topic but in the West, job satisfaction had been institutionalized and practiced widely (Hom, Kateberg & Hulin, 460). Employees may take job satisfaction to be fulfillment from the work done owing to a favorable work environment, remuneration and leadership (Gechman & Wiener, 2005). These factors are assumed to apply equally with respect to Western and Eastern cultures which may provide misplaced orientation to common and individual goals. Eastern cultures prefer collective joint decisions on actions to taken while the West vests responsibility on task and individual ownership of the role. In the West, a very wide concept of job satisfaction exists, which is underscored by the relatively high incidence of work satisfaction seen within the employee population. The data obtained from various studies have pointed out the strong influence of broad cultural heritage in eastern societies fostering collective wellbeing at work (Gechman & Wiener, 528). This gives rise to questions regarding the numerous motivational interventions done by consultants and managers. In Western Europe, traditional cultural values points to a strong influence on job satisfaction among workers. Both male and female workers in the two cultures have a great level of interpersonal trust serving as a strong predictor of job satisfaction in both Western and Eastern Europe. When taken that family and religious influence in both cases are similar, the principle difference between Western and Eastern Europe is largely driven by the significance of religion and family. 3. Workplace Diversity Workplace diversity refers to human qualities manifested in other groups and individuals but different from own and of those groups demonstrating a sense of belonging. Work diversity dimensions constitute but are not limited to; race, age, gender, geographic location, physical abilities / qualities, military experience, sexual orientation, educational background, job classification, income, marital status, religious beliefs, parental status, ethnicity, and work experience (Flagg, 102). Effective managers are cognizant of specific skills needed in developing a diverse and successful workforce. To start with, managers must have analytical skills to understand discrimination and its eventualities. Secondly, they must be informed and self-reflective in recognizing own prejudices and cultural biases (Koonce 76). Diversity is more about differences between individuals not essentially the differences between groups. Every individual has his or her uniqueness and does not speak or represent a specific group (Flagg, 102). Finally, managers must have interpersonal skills and if necessary, the willingness to change the organization (Koonce, 78). Organizations must have ways need to learn and manage workplace diversity if it is to be successful in the future. There is no one recipe for excellence. This essentially depends on the ability of the manager to comprehend what is seen as good for the organization depending on workplace dynamics and teamwork. As argued by Roosevelt (2001), management of workplace diversity is a broad process for developing a work environment that involves everyone. An effective manager needs to focus on individual awareness so as to develop a successful and diverse workforce. Both associates and managers need to be cognizant of their individual biases. Hence, organizations should create, maintain and implement ongoing training since a two-day training session may not change behavior of people (Koonce 33). Fairness is not inevitably equality hence managers must also understand the exceptions to the rule. Managing diversity has more to do with affirmative action and equal employment opportunity (Losyk 65). Managers need to anticipate slow changes, while also encouraging change. The critical requirement in the case of diversity is advancing a “safe” place for colleagues to communicate given that it is for business meetings and social gatherings. Each member needs to listen and be given a chance to speak and create dialogues. Managers can have policies like mentorship programs to give employees access to opportunities and information (Flagg 93). Besides, employees should not be denied constructive and feedback for learning about successes and mistakes. Works Cited Flagg, Alex. Managing diverse workgroups successfully. United Behavioral Health website (members only section). 2002. Gechman A S & Wiener Y. Job Involvement and satisfaction as related to mental health and personal time devoted to work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, (2005): 521-523. Hom P W., Kateberg R & Hulin C L, Comparative examination of three approaches to prediction of turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology. 64,(2009): 280-290. Koonce, Richard. Redefining diversity: It's not just the right thing to do; it also makes good business sense. Training and Development. 2001. Loysk, Bob. Managing a changing workforce: Acheiving outstanding service with today’s employees. Davie, FL: Workplace Trends Publishing.1996. O’reilly C A & Candwell D F. Job Choice: The impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on subsequent commitment and satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology. 65, (2000): 559-565. Rooselvet Thomas, R. Elements of a successful “diversity” process. The American Institute for Managing Diversity. 2001. Spector, P. Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Causes and Consequences. California: Sage.1997. Read More