A work values approach to corporate culture: A field test of the value congruence process and its relationship to individual outcomes.

Abstract

The purported advantage of a strong corporate culture presumes that positive outcomes result when peoples' values are congruent with those of others. This was tested by using a design that controlled for artifacts in prior studies. Participants, 191 production workers, their supervisors (N = 17), and 13 managers at a large industrial products plant, completed questionnaires containing measures of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work values. Responses were later matched with the attendance and performance records of the production workers in the sample. Results showed that workers were more satisfied and committed when their values were congruent with the values of their supervisor, \felue congruence between workers and their supervisors was not significantly correlated with workers' tenure; however, its effect on organizational commitment was more pronounced for longer tenured employees. The topic of corporate culture has recently captured the interest of practicing managers as well as academic researchers. This appeal is based on the general observation that organizations with strong cultures exhibit superior overall performance (Barney, 1986; Deal & Kennedy, 1982; Kilmann, 1984; Peters & Waterman, 1982). Further evidence for this conclusion has come from accounts of the Japanese system of management (Ouchi, 1981; Pascale & Athos, 1981). These descriptions attribute the high levels of motivation and involvement of Japanese workers, at least in part, to their adoption of the dominant values and company philosophies held by their organizations (Schein, 1981). The superior performance of firms with strong corporate cultures has been ascribed to their use of socialization and other techniques to emphasize specific core values that, when shared by employees (Barney, 1986; Tichy, 1983), are thought to perform certain crucial functions. Schein (1985) has succinctly described these functions as external adaptation and internal integration. In fostering external adaptation, holding these core values is believed to influence employees to behave in ways that are necessary for the organization to survive in its environment. In this mode, values are thought to have a direct effect on the behavior of individuals in the workplace. The role of values in internal integration is quite different,