A comparison of work values and motives among Zimbabwean and British managers
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Pages | 723-742 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480010296933 |
| Author | Joan Harvey,Steve Carter,Godfrey Mudimu |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Work values and
motives
723
Personnel Review,
Vol. 29 No. 6, 2000, pp. 723-742.
#MCB University Press, 0048-3486
Received March 1997
Revised February 1999
Accepted February 1999
A comparison of work values
and motives among
Zimbabwean and British
managers
Joan Harvey
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Steve Carter
University of Derby, Derby, UK, and
Godfrey Mudimu
University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
Keywords Work values, Motivation, Loyalty, Status, Africa, United Kingdom
Abstract Work values and attitudes were compared for 117 African and 82 British managers
and management students. It was predicted that Africans would place more importance on
status, prestige and position as motivators, would be less likely to accept criticism, and rate
courtesy, social approval and loyalty more favourably than British respondents. Existing scales of
social approval and derived need satisfaction were modified and a third one constructed in order
to obtain the measurements. The results confirmed the hypothesis relating to status, prestige,
position, tentatively supported that relating to social approval, partly confirmed the hypothesis for
loyalty and the results for courtesy and acceptance of criticism were not proven. These results are
discussed in terms of the methodological issues associated with cross-cultural comparisons and
the implications for motivation and management activities.
Introduction
There is increasing evidence showing that Western management theories, of
motivation and work values in particular, need to be adapted to local cultural
features of independent African countries (Orpen, 1979; Blunt, 1983; Munro,
1986). Much of this research has been hampered by measurement and
definitional problems in addition to the wider issues associated with the
substantial economic and social changes in many countries (Blunt, 1983;
Munro, 1986; Blunt and Jones, 1997).
Four hypotheses are developed here to test some of the observed differences
in work values and motives in relation to need satisfaction, social approval,
admitting weakness and pride. They imply major changes to our
understanding of some of the basic theories of motivation and culture and there
are also implications for management methods such as appraisal and
organizational development since these methods hinge on factors such as
acceptance of criticism and the value of job content factors.
Background
The literature on cultural differences in the work environment has, until
recently, considered them to be residual variables in the analysis of managers'
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emerald-library.com
Personnel
Review
29,6
724
values (Hofstede, 1980; 1983a). Much research has been conducted into
differences between the USA, Western Europe and Japan, with an increasing
realisation of the degree to which Japanese management methods are
embedded in the total pattern of behaviours and values which characterise the
culture. However, in Western management literature and thought, US cultural
stereotypes still prevail (e.g. Tedeschi et al., 1985; Blunt and Jones, 1997).
The literature relating to motivation and work values cross-culturally has
largely taken Western concepts, such as achievement motivation, job
involvement and job satisfaction and attempted to describe what they might
mean in a different cultural context (Blunt, 1983). There has been an implicit
assumption that the instillation of such motives is both desirable and possible
(Munro, 1986), and this is despite the fact that the comparisons with Western
countries suggest fundamental differences which indicate the need for
redefinition of some of these concepts (Blunt and Jones, 1997).
Hofstede's (1980) seminal study collected sufficient data for analysis from
only one African country: South Africa. It is contended that these results do not
typify sub-Saharan Africa. Hofstede suggested eight groupings but no African
culture group emerged from his original work. Yet the economic, social,
historical and political evidence would support the existence at least one such
group. Subsequent work (Hofstede, 1983b; Shackleton and Ali, 1990) showed
that East and West Africans score high on power distance, medium/low on
uncertainty avoidance and low on individualism compared to British who score
low, low and high respectively. It is suggested that one or two more groups
(East Africa and West Africa) should be added to the original eight.
Hofstede's original (1980) study was conducted before Zimbabwe's
independence and while the dimensions show some time stability and
predictability for highly developed countries, his data are based on one
employer and have male-dominated responses. More recent research is
revealing some of the relevant values and beliefs that might characterise sub-
Saharan countries as different to other country groupings. For example, Lamb
(1990) spent ten years working in sub-Saharan Africa and describes the
importance of courtesy and respect in social interaction, social approval, group
orientation, position prestige, tribal loyalty, obedience to elders and the law.
Many of these attitudes and values have been shown to be associated with one
another in studies based in one (usually western) culture. For example, courtesy
has been shown to be related to job satisfaction, pride to work performance, self
esteem to identification with the social or ethnic group to which one belongs
(Thomas and Ravlin, 1995; Kidwell et al., 1997; Lea and Webley, 1997; Phinney
et al., 1997). In addition, there is evidence of gender differences in these work
values and attitudes across ethnic groups (Eagly et al., 1994; Sidanius et al.,
1994; Kulik, 1996; Thornton et al., 1997). To the above factors, Blunt and Jones
(1997) add the importance of interpersonal relations over individual
achievements, tolerance and forgiveness, paternal and supportive management
To continue reading
Request your trial