Clark, Eppie E. (2007) Value assessment of workers of ON, AMKOR and HITACHI firms in the Philippines MANAGEMENT OF CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES. In: Conference of the Portland-International-Center-for-Management-of-Engineering-and-Technology (PICMET 2007), Portland, OR, AUG 05-09, 2007. Published in: PICMET '07: PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR MANAGEMENT OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, VOLS 1-6, PROCEEDINGS pp. 2656-2671.

Abstract

Values are part of the cognitive substructure of an organizational culture [2]. Cultural values are those considered essential to the welfare of the group; they are models of personal behavior in social interaction; they are common to the members of a given social group; and they are the people's conception of what is desirable between alternatives [1]. Previous research has demonstrated links between cultural values and management, job attitudes and behavior. Literature related to cultural dimensions from which we could draw implications for the practice of management across cultures includes Trompenaar's 7d Cultural Dimensions 151, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's Value Orientations 141 and Hofstede's Cultural Value Dimensions 13). Trompenaar's seven dimensions are grouped into three categories: relationship with people, perspectives on time and relationship with the environment. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's work identifies 6 orientations: nature of people, relationship to nature, relationship to others, modality of human activity, temporal focus of human activity and conception of space. Hofstede has identified four cultural values which differentiate people across nations: collectivism/individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and femininity/masculinity. These frameworks share similar elements such as power distance and collectivism/individualism dimensions. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's work however, was not developed with a concern for its application to management. Of these, Hofstede's work has gained great popularity and is also the most referenced framework for describing cross-cultural management as they relate to the practice of international business. His work was also the result of an exhaustive study, from a worldwide research covering 64 nations. In this application paper, Hofstede's framework was used to devise a survey tool that could assess the workers' values as they work in their production teams. The survey tool was based on Hofstede's work describing the individuals at their workplace in societies that are at either extreme of the cultural dimensions, for example high power distance versus low power distance. This list was established considering the results of other researchers' quantitative studies and qualitative information about the workplace. The survey tool was applied to assess the worker values of the Philippine semiconductor firms ON, AMKOR and HITACHI on four value dimensions: collectivism/individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity. The methodology included an initial observation during plant visits and preliminary interviews to ascertain the survey tool's appropriateness to generate information about the values of the workforce. Finally, the survey tool was applied with the assistance of the administrative personnel. The survey tool has shown some deficiencies. The individual value scores need to be validated by either the team leaders or peers who know the individual worker. The individual value score needs to be compared to a previous score if the objective is to detect transformation or to be compared to a desirable value dimension score that has been initially set. Manpower resources are required if there is a need to identify and analyze any management interventions that have been adopted to promote changes. The primary strength of the survey tool is its ability to provide numerical values for each value dimension making it easy to make a general or overall validation of the results. The survey tool was easy to answer as it provided descending/ascending degrees of the value dimensions through equally spaced lines between either extremes of the value dimension which, the respondent places a tick mark for his choice. The workers' understanding of the statements was also facilitated by providing them in the vernacular and in English. Based on the findings, some factors affecting the worker values were identified. The management style affects power distance. Both foreign and local managers have to change their style based on the level of autonomy in decision making that they expect from the team. In the Filipino society where power distance is high, the manager has to be determined to counter this through a participative style of management, even encouraging some form of familiarity with the subordinates. The policies of firms requiring workers to follow strict rules indicate high uncertainty avoidance that is passed on to the workers. It is important that the reward and support programs promote cooperative work in the teams whose members see each other as their partners towards better performance and financial success. This means higher collectivism rather than individualism. The last insight obtained is that involvement in team work in the long run promotes the value of femininity. The sustainability of the team through good working relationship becomes more important than competition and obtaining individual merit at the expense of the team. Although the survey tool was able to provide a general feel of the workers' values, it was still blunt in identifying the values that need to be changed and how to initiate a change. It is important to identify the work values that are supportive to performance of different jobs with their desirable value dimension scores which should be set up as a point of reference. The survey should be conducted periodically to see any adverse changes. This could not stand on its own and should be supplemented by documented observation of workers' behavior and perceived attitudes.

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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