Values: Definition, Characteristics, Importance, Types of Values

Generally, value has been taken to mean moral ideas, general conceptions or orientations
towards the world or sometimes simply interests, attitudes, preferences, needs, sentiments
and dispositions.

But sociologists use this term in a more precise sense to mean “the generalized end which has
the connotations of rightness, goodness or inherent desirability”.

It is important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is
good or bad and desirable or undesirable.

It has a major influence on a person’s behavior and attitude and serves as broad guidelines in
all situations.

Values Definition – What is Values?

Values defined in Organizational Behavior as the collective conceptions of what is considered

good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

Some common business values are fairness, innovations and community involvement.

According to M. Haralambos, “A value is a belief that something is good and desirable”.

According to R.K. Mukherjee, “Values are socially approved desires and goals that are
internalized through the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become
subjective preferences, standards, and aspirations”.

According to Zaleznik and David, “Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to norms
in that they specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to
activities and relationships”

According to I. J. Lehner and N.J. Kube, “Values are an integral part of the personal philosophy
of life by which we generally mean the system of values by which we live. The philosophy of life
includes our aims, ideals, and manner of thinking and the principles by which we guide our
behavior”

According to T. W. Hippie, “Values are conscious or unconscious motivators and justifiers of the
actions and judgment”

A value is a shared idea about how something is ranked in terms of desirability, worth or
goodness. Sometimes, it has been interpreted to mean “such standards by means of which the
ends of action are selected”.

Sometimes, it has been interpreted to mean “such standards by means of which the ends of
action are selected”.
 Thus, values are collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or
bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

Familiar examples of values are wealth, loyalty, independence, equality, justice, fraternity and
friendliness.

Familiar examples of values are wealth, loyalty, independence, equality, justice, fraternity and
friendliness. These are generalized ends consciously pursued by or held up to individuals as
being worthwhile in them.

It is not easy to clarify the fundamental values of a given society because of their sheer breadth.

Characteristics of Value

Values are different for each person.

These can be defined as ideas or beliefs that a person holds desirable or undesirable.

The variability in that statement is, first, what a person could value, and second, the degree to
which they value it.

Values may be specific, such as honoring one’s parents or owning a home or they may be more
general, such as health, love, and democracy. ‘Truth prevails”, “love thy neighbor as yourself,
“learning is good as ends itself are a few examples of general values.

Individual achievement, personal happiness, and materialism are major values of modem
industrial society.

It is defined as a concept of the desirable, an internalized creation or standard of evaluation a

person possesses.

Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an individual’s
evaluations of the many objects encountered in everyday life.

The characteristics of values are:

• These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an
understanding of the strategic context.
• These can provide standards of competence and morality.
• These can go beyond specific situations or persons.
• Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and
external factors.
• These are relatively permanent.
• These are more central to the core of a person.
• Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighborhood school, the
mass print, visual media and other sources within the society.
• Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects, behavior, etc.
• They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right,
good, or desirable.
• Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.
• Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfillment of man’s basic impulses and
desire stably and consistently appropriate for his living.
• They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social responses
and attitudes.
• They build up societies, integrate social relations.
• They mold the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of culture.
• They influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.
• They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They help in creating norms to guide
day-to-day behavior.

The values of a culture may change, but most remain stable during one person’s lifetime.

Socially shared, intensely felt values are a fundamental part of our lives. These values become
part of our personalities. They are shared and reinforced by those with whom we interact.

Since values often strongly influence both attitude and behavior, they serve as a kind of
personal compass for employee conduct in the workplace.

These help to determine whether an employee is passionate about work and the workplace,
which in turn can lead to above-average returns, high employee satisfaction, strong team
dynamics, and synergy.

Importance of Values

Values are the enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is
personally or socially preferable.

These are more difficult to change or alter.

As ethical conduct receives more visibility in the workplace, the importance of values is
increased as a topic of discussion in management.

Values are general principles to regulate our day-to-day behavior. They not only give direction
to our behavior but are also ideals and objectives in themselves.

They are the expression of the ultimate ends, goals or purposes of social action.

Our values are the basis of our judgements about what is desirable, beautiful, proper, correct,
important, worthwhile and good as well as what is undesirable, ugly, incorrect, improper and
bad.
 Pioneer sociologist Durkheim emphasized the importance of values (though he used the term
‘morals’) in controlling disruptive individual passions.

He also stressed that values enable individuals to feel that they are part of something bigger
than themselves.

E. Shils also makes the same point and calls ‘the central value system,’ (the main values of
society) are seen as essential in creating conformity and order.

Indian sociologist R.K. Mukherjee writes: “By their nature, all human relations and behavior are
embedded in values.

• Value is the foundation for understanding the level of motivation.

• It influences our perception.
• Value helps to understand what ought to be or what ought not to be.
• It contains interpretations of right or wrong.
• These influence attitudes and behavior.
• It implies that certain behaviors on outcomes are preferred over others.
• These allow the members of an organization to interact harmoniously. These make it easier to
reach goals that would be impossible to achieve individually.
• These are goals set for achievements, and they motivate, define and color all our activities
cognitive, affective add connective.
• They are the guideposts of our lives, and they direct us to who we want to be.
• Values and morals can not only guide but inspire and motivate a person, give energy and a zest
for living and for doing something meaningful.

Actually, values are important to the study of organizational behavior because they lay the
foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation.

Individuals enter an organization with preconceived notions of what “ought” or what “ought
not” to be. Of course, these notions are not value free.

These are part of the makeup of a person. They remind us as to what is important in our lives,
such as success or family, but also, by virtue of their presence, they provide contrast to what is
not important.

That is not to say that, over time, values cannot change.

As we grow and change as individuals, we will begin to value different aspects of life.

If we value- family when we are younger, as our children get older, we might start to value
success in business more than the family.

Sources of Values

Sources of value are a comprehensive guide to financial decision-making suitable for beginners
as well as experienced practitioners.
 It treats financial decision-making as both an art and a science and proposes a comprehensive
approach through which companies can maximize their value.

Generally, no values tend to be relatively stable and enduring.

A significant portion of the values we hold is established in our early years from parents,
teachers, friends, and others. There are so many sources from which we can acquire different
values.

Sources of values are;

• Family: Family is a great source of values. A child leams his first value from his family.
• Friends & peers: Friends and peers play a vital role in achieving values.
• Community or society: As a part of society, a person leams values from society or different
groups of society.
• School: As a learner, school and teachers also play a very important role in introducing values.
• Media: Media such as – Print media, Electronic media also play the role of increasing values in
the mind of people.
• Relatives: Relative also helps to create values in the minds of people.
• Organization: Different organizations and institutions also play a vital role in creating value.
• Religion.
• History.
• Books.

Values and Beliefs

Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalized through the process of
conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective preferences, standards, and
aspirations.

They focus on the judgment of what ought to be. This judgment can represent the specific
expression of the behavior.

They are touched with moral flavor, involving an individual’s judgment of what is right, good, or
desirable.

Thus-

• Values provide standards of competence and morality.

• These are ideas that we hold to be important.
• They govern the way we behave, communicate and interact with others.
• They transcend specific objects, Situations or persons.
• These are relatively permanent and there is resistant to change them.

Beliefs are the convictions that we generally hold to be true, usually without actual proof or
evidence.
 They are often, but not always connected to religion. Religious beliefs could include a belief
that Allah is alone and created the earth.

Religions other than Islam also have their own set of beliefs.

Nonreligious beliefs could include: that all people are created equal, which would guide us to
treat everyone regardless of sex, race, religion, age, education, status, etc with equal respect.

Conversely, someone might believe that all people are not created equal. These are basic
assumptions that we make about the world and our values stem from those beliefs.

Our values are things that we deem important and can include concepts like equality, honesty,
education, effort, perseverance, loyalty, faithfulness, conservation of the environment and
many, many other concepts.

Our beliefs grow from what we see, hear, experience, read and think about.

From these things, we develop an opinion that we hold to be true and unmovable at that time.

From our beliefs, We derive our values, which can either be correct or incorrect when
compared with evidence, but nonetheless hold true for us! Everyone has an internalized system
of beliefs that they have developed throughout their lives.

These may stem from religion or may develop separately to religion.

• Beliefs are concepts that we hold to be true.

• These may come from religion, but not always.
• Beliefs determine our attitudes and opinions.

Values in Workplace

Values can strongly influence employee conduct in the workplace. If an employee values
honesty, hard work, and discipline, for example, he will likely make an effort to exhibit those
traits in the workplace.

This person may, therefore, be a more efficient employee and a more positive role model to
others than an employee with opposite values.

Conflict may arise, however, if an employee realizes that his co-workers do not share his values.

For example, an employee who values hard work may dislike co-workers who are lazy or
unproductive without being reprimanded.

Even so, additional conflicts can result if the employee attempts to force his own values on his
co-workers.
Values and Attitudes

We can control our behavior in a way that does not reflect our beliefs and values, which in
order to embrace a diverse culture and behaviors as a successful manager; we have to adapt
our behavior in a positive manner.

VALUES FOR INDIAN MANAGERS:-

Discuss the worklife in Indian Philosophy and also its evolving ethical values.

Work life in Indian Philosophy: Despite of India having an ancient culture and philosophy about
work life, we in India have not yet managed to develop our own management styles in
consonance with our own cultural ethos and have been important management systems and
styles from foreign countries. While successful countries like the U.S.A.; U.K. and Germany are
re-discovering Indian ethos, we in India are in the process of losing it. While the success of
Japan in managing its economy and enterprise lies in Japanising the management process
within the framework of Japanese ethos, culture and value system. Indian companies find in
India itself, an ancient tradition and a unique heritage to draw from, all that they need for their
management styles and practices. Indian philosophy regards work as worship and the customer
as God himself. Such Indian tradition and heritage, its culture and philosophy, ethos and values
are a treasure house, where the richest and the rarest for gems are stored.
Indian Ethos for Work-Life: Work-life ethos or work ethos refers to certain norms of behavior
governing the conduct of workers involved in work situations to achieve certain desired
objectives. In other words, work culture is the involvement of a workman with work. The
degree of one’s involvement impacts his performance to give high or low productivity, high or
low quality, i.e. higher the degree of involvement, higher will be the productivity and quality.
Sometimes, work culture is also concerned with a worker’s loyalty and sense of belonging, by
his behaviour, to the organization. The worker should show his belonging, by his behaviour, to
the organization.

Describe work balance life.

Ans. Work balance life can be described in the following theory points:
(1) Physical and Psychological Factors: It includes physical and psychological factors like
excessive desire for power, self esteem and status, job security, career development-status
incongruity (under or over promotion and frustration).
(2) Life Changes: Life and career changes are stress producing. Fast changes are more
dangerous than slow changes. Heart attacks are commonly observed in the case of fast changes
in life and careers. Economic and social problems are attached with fast changes. The people
who believe in work are more stressing prone than people who depend on god for success and
failure.
(3) Role Perceptions: A person has to work as a father, friend, brother, boss, junior etc. It is
difficult to perform equally well in all the divers roles.

What are the different elements of Indian ethos?

Ans. Indians ethos are the products of Indians. Indian management methods are bound to work
in India. Indian ethos is better than the ethos present in other countries. Indians believe in the
following facts:

(1) Ego sublimation, rather than ego assertion.

(2) Sacrificing spirit, rather than fighting spirit.

(3) Team achievement rather than individual achievement.

(4) Spiritual attainment, rather than material prosperity.

(5) Self control, rather than outside control.

(6) Concept of duties, rather than concept of rights.

(7) Yielding, rather than dominating.

(8) Concern for this ageing world and improvement.

(9) Respect and search for all truth, whatever be its source.

Discuss basic Indian ethos for management that cause poor work culture in organisations.

(1) Indian ethos focuses on the existence of human being as a truth. There is nothing perfect
other than the supreme soul.

(2) Indian ethos focuses on the belief that, “If you are good, then the whole world is good”.

(3) Indian ethos are the principles derived from the Upanishads, Bhagwad-Gita and Purans.

(4) According to Indian ethos, there must be a balance between spiritual values and secular
values so that even a rich person can lead a life of materialism and spirituality.

(5) The Indian ethos gives greater emphasis on values and ethics. Knowledge is not power.
Character is the real power.

(6) Indian ethos emphasizes on inner resources. Inner resources are much more powerful than
outer resources.

(7) According to indian ethos, total quality management can be assured through excellence at
work, through self motivation and through self development

What are the different work ethos at different levels of management?

Ans. Work Ethos at Different Levels of Management: Work ethos will be different at different
levels of management. It can be defined at different levels as under:
(1) At the Basic Level : Work ethos at the basic level is about:

(a) Discipline.
(b)To maintain punctuality.

(c) Coming to work on time.

(d) Behaving properly with superior, colleagues and subordinates.

(e) Not wasting time during working hours.

(f) Dignity in relations with peers, superiors and subordinates.

(g) To do things that are morally good or right.

(2) At the Top Level: At the top level, itis about commitment and accountability, feel
responsible for the task assigned to him. Some more points related to top level are as follows:
(a) Work Culture : Good work culture means one is fully devoted towards work and has high
morale. On the other hand, poor work culture results in high rate of wastage, poor quality, low
productivity and low morale.
(b) Loyalty : Work culture is also concerned with a worker’s loyalty and sense of belongingness
to the organisation. One should protect the interest of the organisation. No employee should
make any adverse comment about his organisation in the public.
(c) Commitment and Responsibility: Every man should work like a master, not like a slave. The
workers should take full responsibility for the task assigned to them and put in their best efforts
to achieve what is expected from them.
(d) Sense of Belongingness : The worker should exhibit by his behavior a sense of belongingness
towards the organisation. A feeling of respect should be there for the organisation. One should
maintain good relationship with peers, sub ordinates and superiors and treat them well.
(e) Protecting the interest of the organisation.
(f) No adverse comment on the organisation in public.