Leadership scholars assume that the values espoused in an organizational vision have motivational effects on employee actions, but this claim has rarely been subject to empirical testing. Two studies examined whether organization members' support for organizational visions vary with the degree of congruence between members' personal values and the value-relevant impacts emphasized in a vision. Student participants learned of a visionary educational approach for universities, intended to impact either students' autonomy or their relatedness with other students. In Study 1, students who valued self-direction expressed most willingness to support the vision when autonomy-related outcomes were emphasized. Study 2 examined an apparent backfire effect in the first study, in which participants who value social belongingness expressed less willingness to support the vision when outcomes pertaining to relatedness were emphasized. This backfire effect, mediated through dis-identification with the vision, was found to be reversible when presentation cues that conflict with the stated values were removed.

Leadership scholars assume that the values espoused in an organizational vision have motivational effects on employee actions, but this claim has rarely been subject to empirical testing. Two studies examined whether organization members' support for organizational visions vary with the degree of congruence between members' personal values and the value-relevant impacts emphasized in a vision. Student participants learned of a visionary educational approach for universities, intended to impact either students' autonomy or their relatedness with other students. In Study 1, students who valued self-direction expressed most willingness to support the vision when autonomy-related outcomes were emphasized. Study 2 examined an apparent backfire effect in the first study, in which participants who value social belongingness expressed less willingness to support the vision when outcomes pertaining to relatedness were emphasized. This backfire effect, mediated through dis-identification with the vision, was found to be reversible when presentation cues that conflict with the stated values were removed.

There has been a recent increase in research investigating the relationship between values and value congruence in the workplace and how this leads to positive organisational outcomes. This study investigated the congruence between employees’ values and their perceptions of organisational values, and how this relates to the organisational outcomes of job satisfaction, work engagement, person organisation fit and resilience. Participants were asked to rate eight values related to the workplace, in relation to how they thought about the values individually and how they perceived their organisation rated the eight values. These ratings were then used to analyse the relationship between values and value congruence and each of the four organisational outcomes. The proposed relationships were tested using data collected from an online survey of 120 employees from nine New Zealand based organisations. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that values and values congruence is significantly related to job satisfaction, work engagement, person organisation fit and resilience. However the significant relationships were dependent on certain values for each of the four outcomes. Which implies certain values are more salient for each of the outcomes. The results were also discussed in terms of the practical implications for organisations and areas of possible future research.

Numerous research studies have concluded that values drive perceptions, responses to situations, judgments, interactions among people, and behaviors. In addition, studies have found that congruence or agreement between individual values and organizational values can increase job satisfaction and commitment. Minimal research has explored the concept of value congruence between substance abuse counselors and their treatment settings, and its impact on perceived ethical work behaviors and organizational commitment. This study explored how the extent of fit between individual and organizational values impacts ethical work behaviors and organizational commitment of substance abuse counselors.

In the past few years we have seen the near collapse of the world financial system, and we still have yet to find solutions for world poverty or the food crisis. People have started looking for new solutions in order to solve these problems and are considering new employment options besides the traditional for-profit business sector. Employees are increasingly looking for work in organizations that have a more sustainable approach to business. One organization type that fits these criteria is a social business. Most of the research in social entrepreneurship and social businesses, however, has concentrated on the social entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process so far. Only few studies have explored the employee side. Similarly, research on perceived employee motivation has mainly concentrated on the traditional for-profit businesses and on non-profit organizations. Although employee motivation is considered as crucial to the success of any business, perceived employee motivation in established social businesses has scarcely been researched yet. The purpose of this thesis is to understand why people choose to work in a social business, and what motivates them to work there. This research was conducted as a single case study following Stake (1995). It was carried out in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre Ltd in Finland. In order to achieve our goal, we have found it helpful to combine relevant motivation theories such as intrinsic motivation, task significance, prosocial motivation, value congruence, and meaningfulness, with current social business theories. As a result of our research, we have developed a model that elaborates how employees make their decision on employment and what influences their perceived motivation. Our findings suggest that both, the distinct business model and the mission of a social business have a great impact on people’s choice of employment. Moreover, the company values, which are partly derived from the mission of a social business, also influence prospective employees’ choice of employment. In addition, the employees’ educational background impacts their choice as their values reflect their education. They are also looking for such work, whose content fits their education. In our study we have tried to point out that perceived employee motivation in a social business is also strongly influenced by value congruence. Moreover, the perceived meaningfulness that derives from the social business’ mission has an impact on the perceived employee motivation. The employees feel that their work is positively affecting people, society, and the environment, which results in task significance and prosocial motivation. Finally, the flexibility of the work, the ability to influence the work content, and the work atmosphere, are also shown to exercise a great influence on perceived employee motivation.

xvi, 152 p. : col. ill. / Millions of dollars are spent on celebrity contracts each year by assuming that the benefits of using celebrities will exceed the costs. Accordingly, many researchers have studied the impact of celebrity endorsements on advertising effectiveness. One of the theories used frequently by these researchers is the match-up hypothesis. This theory suggests that there should be a good fit between the celebrity and the product; however, it is not clear what constitutes a good fit. Some researchers suggested that attractive celebrities will be more effective if they are used to promote attractiveness-related products. Other researchers claimed that when there is congruence between the product type and the celebrity profession, advertising effectiveness will be enhanced; however, these existing dimensions of the match-up hypothesis fall short of explaining some popular celebrity endorsement campaigns (e.g., Sharpie Pens and David Beckham). The current research contributes to the study of celebrity endorsements by adding another dimension, values, to the match-up hypothesis. Specifically, the congruence between celebrity values (as perceived by consumers) and values represented by products was considered as an alternative to the attractiveness and expertise dimensions. In a series of six experiments, support for the positive impact of celebrity-product value congruence on advertising effectiveness was found. College students exposed to the high value congruence ad spent less time in examining the ad, suggesting that participants were easily and quickly able to match up the celebrities and products. Moreover, participants who were exposed to the high value congruence ad had significantly more favorable attitudes toward ad and brand, had higher intentions to buy the product, and were more likely to recommend the product to other people than were participants who were exposed to the low value congruence ad. The results also suggested that value congruence with unfamiliar celebrities was more effective than value congruence with familiar celebrities for generating more favorable attitudes toward ad and brand and higher behavioral intentions, due probably to the minimized effect of pre-established thoughts or feelings about unfamiliar celebrities. Together these results suggest that the congruence between celebrity and product values plays an important role in advertising effectiveness. / Committee in charge: Lynn R. Kahle, Chairperson; Joan Giese, Member; David Boush, Member; Deborah Morrison, Outside Member

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Effective leadership drives an organisation’s members to achieve a common purpose. Leaders must influence followers to work together to achieve one vision. Successful leaders understand their own values and the values of their followers, in order to guide and direct behaviour. Shared values allow organisations to work together and act as one entity. Successful leaders instil a set of commonly held core values to ensure that followers are working towards the same goals. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of organisational leadership on leader-follower value congruence and leadership success. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between transactional and transformational leadership, leader-follower value congruence and leadership success. Engelbrecht’s (2002) model was used as a theoretical framework. A literature study of leadership and leadership success, as well as values and value congruence in organisations was conducted. The relationship between these constructs was also analysed in the literature study. The sample comprised of employees of a large petroleum company in the Western Cape. The sample consisted of 162 leaders and subordinates. The sample comprised of two subordinates for every leader. Each of the respondents completed Bass and Avolio’s Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Langley’s Values Scale (VS). Both the MLQ and VS were found reliable for the purpose of the study. The statistical analysis was conducted through correlation analyses. The results revealed that transactional and transformational leadership have a direct and positive influence on leadership success. Some support was found for the influence of transactional leadership and transformational leadership on leader-follower value congruence. The results also indicated some support for the influence of leaderfollower value congruence on leadership success. Some support was found for the proposition that leader-follower value congruence mediates the relationship between transactional leadership and leadership success. Conclusions were drawn from the results obtained and recommendations for future research are made.

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Les théories sous-tendant le leadership transformationnel suggèrent que la congruence des valeurs personnelles et organisationnelles est au cœur du fonctionnement du leadership transformationnel. Or, l’examen de cette proposition soulève certaines questions. Par exemple, il y a lieu de s’interroger quant à l’importance du type (subjective ou objective) et de la cible (équipe, organisation) de congruence considérés, du contenu des valeurs utilisées pour juger de la congruence, des contingences situationnelles modulant l’importance de la congruence, et du rôle de la congruence des valeurs des leaders eux-mêmes. Ainsi, afin d’enrichir les connaissances sur le rôle des valeurs en regard du leadership transformationnel, cette thèse propose trois articles dans lesquels ce rôle des valeurs et de leur congruence est abordé sous trois angles. Les données utilisées dans cette thèse proviennent d’une grande organisation canadienne, et des sous-ensembles de données sont créés pour répondre aux objectifs de chaque article. Le premier article s’intéresse aux liens qu’ont a) les valeurs personnelles des gestionnaires, b) les valeurs qu’ils perçoivent dans leur organisation et c) la congruence de ces deux ensemble de valeurs avec l’émission de comportements de leadership transformationnel tel que perçus par leurs subordonnés. Les résultats suggèrent que la congruence des valeurs n’a pas de lien avec le leadership transformationnel, mais que c’est le cas pour certaines valeurs au niveau personnel et organisationnel qui présentent effectivement un lien. Le deuxième article porte sur le potentiel rôle modérateur de la congruence des valeurs personne-organisation des subordonnés dans la relation entre le leadership transformationnel et les comportements d’habilitation. Les résultats montrent que la congruence des valeurs peut effectivement modérer cette relation, et que la forme de la modération peut dépendre de l’ancienneté des employés. Le troisième article traite du rôle modérateur de la présence de valeurs et de leur congruence au niveau de l’équipe dans la relation entre le leadership transformationnel et les comportements d’habilitation. Les résultats suggèrent que les valeurs et leur congruence dans les équipes peuvent modérer l’efficacité du leadership transformationnel en regard des comportements d’habilitation. De façon générale, la présence et la congruence de cinq valeurs, parmi les sept testées, semblent rehausser la relation entre le leadership transformationnel et les comportements d’habilitation. Ainsi, la présente thèse, en ajoutant des considérations quant aux questions qui avaient été soulevées par l’examen de la proposition théorique du rôle des valeurs et de leur congruence dans le leadership transformationnel, permet d’améliorer la compréhension de ce rôle. Spécifiquement, les résultats de cette thèse suggèrent que globalement, la congruence des valeurs peut être plus importante pour l’efficacité du leadership transformationnel lorsque les valeurs considérées sont plus importantes dans l’équipe de l’individu, et lorsque l’individu a peu d’ancienneté dans son organisation. De plus, en ce qui a trait aux leaders, il semble que la présence de valeurs de bien-être collectif et d’ouverture au changement ait un lien avec l’émission de comportements de leadership transformationnel. Une discussion traite de ces résultats et indique les limites de la thèse ainsi que des pistes de recherche future. / Theories underlying transformational leadership suggest that value congruence is at the heart of transformational leadership’s effectiveness. However, the examination of this proposition evokes certain questions. For example, it is pertinent to question the importance of the type (subjective or objective) and target (team, organization) of congruence considered, of the contents of values used to judge congruence, of the situational contingencies for the importance of congruence, and the role of leaders’ value congruence As such, to extend knowledge on the role of values with regards to transformational leadership, this thesis proposes three articles in which this role of values and their congruence is considered from three point of views. The data used in this thesis comes from a large Canadian organisation, and subsets of data are created to match each article’s objectives. The first article concerns the link that a) managers’ values, b) the values they perceive in their organization, and c) the congruence of these values have with subordinates’ perception of managers’ transformational leadership behaviours. Results suggest that congruence has no link with transformational leadership, but that certain values at the personal and organizational level do present a link. In the second article, the potential moderating role of subordinates’ person-organization value congruence in the relationship between transformational leadership and empowered behaviours is examined. Results show that value congruence can effectively moderate this relationship, and that the shape of this moderation can depend on employee tenure. The third article presents the moderating role of values and their congruence in the relationship between transformational leadership and empowered behaviours at the team level. Results suggest that values and their congruence can moderate the impact of transformational leadership in teams. In general, the presence and congruence of five values, of seven tested, seems to enhance the relationship between transformational leadership and empowered behaviours. As such, this thesis, by adding considerations as to the questions that had been evoked by the examination of the theoretical proposition of the role of values and of their congruence in transformational leadership, permits an amelioration of the comprehension of this role. Specifically, this thesis’ results suggest that, globally, value congruence can be more important for the efficiency of transformational leadership when values considered are more important in one’s team, and when one has little experience in one’s organisation. Furthermore, as to leaders themselves, it appears that the presence of collective well-being and openness to change values is linked with the emission of transformational leadership behaviours.

I dagens läge med ökad konkurrens om att dels attrahera men också behålla en kompetent arbetskraft, så står företag inför stora utmaningar. Att behålla anställda inom företaget är idag en hög prioritet då kostnaderna för att ersätta anställda är stora. Få studier har undersökt hur olika aspekter av arbetsgivarvarumärket och personliga värderingar påverkar anställdas avsikter att stanna kvar hos arbetsgivaren. Syftet för denna fallstudie är att skapa större förståelse för vilka aspekter som är attraktiva i ett arbetsgivarvarumärke, med CSR som en integrerad del, samt vad som påverkar anställda att stanna kvar hos arbetsgivaren. Forskningsansatsen för denna studie är förklarande med en deduktiv och kvantitativ ansats. Datainsamlingen har skett i samarbetet med företaget BDX i Luleå i form av en enkätundersökning med 97 respondenter. Resultatet indikerar på att företag bör fokusera på vilket innovationsvärde och ledarskapsvärde som de kan erbjuda sina anställda för att öka attraktiviteten till företaget. När anställdas personliga värderingar stämmer överens med företagets värderingar så påverkar det positivt deras avsikter att stanna kvar hos arbetsgivaren. Studien har bidragit teoretiskt till litteraturen i form av en djupare förståelse av vilka aspekter som anses attraktiva i ett arbetsgivarvarumärke samt vad som påverkar anställdas avsikter att stanna hos arbetsgivaren inom entreprenad- och logistiksektorn.