Bowling Green State University A series of scales measuring attitudes toward work was developed. The Survey of Work Values (SWV) was based on a number of dimensions of Protestant Ethic, specifically those aspects that deal with the meaning that an individual attaches to his role at work. The content validity of the items was established by the reallocation method of scaling. Items were analyzed to determine the best method of scoring and to select items for the subscales according to the internal consistencies and independence of the subscales. Unweighted, multipoint scoring was selected for 54 items. SWV scores discriminated among occupational groups and correlated with background characteristics of employed and disadvantaged persons. 1 Now at the Procter & Gamble Company. 2 Requests for reprints, the items, their scale values, and permission to use the scales for research purposes may be obtained by writing
The reactions of 474 employees of an accounting division of a large multinational corporation to a 4-day, 38-hour workweek were surveyed. Of the employees surveyed, 90% had been on the 4-day schedule for 6 months to 1 year. Nearly 70% of the employees were enthusiastic about the 4-day workweek. However, more specific questions, especially questions about work, produced negative responses. Fatigue and slowing down at the end of the day were reported, and servicing of customer needs and meeting with co-workers were more difficult. Supervisors perceived that work quality and output in their units were adversely affected by the 4-day workweek, although company productivity records showed no change. Finally, significant age, sex, and salary differences were found in reactions to the 4-day schedule.Since the turn of the decade, the 4-day workweek and other rearranged workweeks have been instituted in hundreds of companies in North America-. Riva Poor (1973) estimated that companies were converting to rearranged workweeks at the rate of five per day. Of the 811 companies responding to an American Management Association survey, 5% reported at least partial conversion to a rearranged workweek, and 18% stated they were seriously considering some form of flexible work rescheduling (Wheeler, Gurinan, & Tarnowieski, 1972). In Canada, the consulting firm of Samson, Belair, Riddell, Stead, Inc. (Note 1) reported a tenfold increase in the implementation of the compressed workweek in a 12-month period.Much has been written in the past few years concerning the various experiences of companies who have revised their workweek. These writings have primarily dealt with the 4-day, 3S-to 40-hour workweek as an alternative to the S-day workweek of equivalent
This study described how work values of 110 disadvantaged persons differ from those of 180 unskilled and semiskilled employees, identified biographical correlates of work values, and examined changes in work values following training. When compared with regular employees, hard-core trainees placed less emphasis on the tendency to keep active on the job, taking pride in their work, and subscribing to the traditional Protestant Ethic, but placed more emphasis on making money on the job. Significant relationships were found between background characteristics and work values of the hard core. Changes in work values of disadvantaged subjects after 8 weeks of training did not differ from those of 2 52 controlled subjects (insurance agents and college students). 1 This research was supported under Grant 91-37-70-53 from the Manpower Administration, United States Department of Labor, under the authority of Title I of the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, as amended. The author wishes to thank Patricia C. Smith, 0. W. Smith, J. P. Flanders, and A. G. Neal for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. Appreciation is also expressed to Allen Yates for his assistance in programming and analysis.3 Requests for reprints should be sent to James G.
Changes in departmental and job characteristics were studied over a 10-month period in a government ministry undergoing top-down reorganization. Three waves of data were collected, 5 months apart. Participants (n=153) were operating and first-line supervisory personnel in 10 departments. Using a 3 X 3 multivariate analysis of variance, the effects of positive change, no change, and negative changes in jobs and in departmental characteristics were examined. Contrary to the findings of a sizable number of correlational studies, but in agreement with four other longitudinal studies, changes in job characteristics were not related to changes in perceived effort, performance, and satisfaction. Job changes were, however, positively related to changes in job involvement. No changes were found in the strength of employees' growth needs following changes in job characteristics. Analysis of departmental changes revealed more favorable work attitudes in departments in which no change occurred than in departments in which change was occurring (either supposedly "positive" or "negative" change.) A general decline over time was found in the favorableness of work attitudes. The latter two findings were interpreted as the consequences of top-down imposed change.Positive relationships between job characteristics and employee attitudes (e.g., satisfaction, involvement) have become quite fa-
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