As European nations shift to a postindustrial society with an emphasis on the service sector, knowledge workers have filled organizations. A shift in values would be reflective of this broad societal change. Because older and younger workers' values were shaped by different experiences, a contrast in values would be expected. Thus, as younger workers replace older workers, the authors of one study hypothesized that (a) the workforce is now more demanding of personal involvement at work, and (b) that the workforce is more critical and demanding of employers.

To test their ideas, the authors used data from the European Values Surveys, which are massive, random national samples of many countries. This particular study focused on France, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Respondents were asked to rank the importance of fifteen job attributes in three categories: personal development (use initiative, responsible job, achieve something, meet one's abilities, interesting job), comfort (not too much pressure, generous holidays, good hours, respected job), and material conditions (good pay and job security.) The authors used data from national samples taken in 1981 and again in 1990.

Their analysis confirmed the hypotheses. There was clear evidence of an increase in personal development as a work value in 1990 compared with 1981. The strongest emphasis on personal development was seen in Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Denmark. The authors reason that employees were indeed more demanding of employers from the finding that "good pay" showed a large net increase in importance from 1981 to 1990. Studies such as this remind managers that they must be aware of value shifts in other countries.

SOURCE: S. D. Harding and F. J. Hikspoors, "New Work Values: In Theory and Practice," International Social Science Journal 47 (1995): 441-455.
© UNESCO 1995. Reprinted with permission.

ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY

Shared Values at Harley-Davidson Produce Bottom-Line Results

As a learning organization, Harley-Davidson Motor Company has clear objectives. Employees must understand what caused prior successes and failures. Then success can be capitalized upon and failures can be prevented. Part of Harley-Davidson's concept of the learning organization is an emphasis on shared values-ideals such as intellectual curiosity, participation, flexibility, and productivity. Key operating values include telling the truth, keeping promises, being fair, and respecting all individuals.

Harley-Davidson's past has not always been positive. In 1983, the motorcycle company was on the verge of extinction. A phenomenal turnaround was made possible by shared values centered around learning. One example is the way the company solved a problem with its assembly facility. Because their goal was to increase production, managers believed they needed to build another plant. Through big-picture, systems thinking, part of the philosophy of the learning organization, they came around to the idea of using the existing assembly plant in a different way. Shared values also create shared understandings. Because everyone learns what everyone else does, there is a shared understanding of what Harley-Davidson is all about. Employees are constantly searching for different ways of organizing, different ways of connecting everyone, different ways of improving business processes, and different ways of satisfying stakeholders.

SOURCES: C. Solomon, "HR Facilitates the Learning Organization Concept," Personnel Journal, (November 1994): 56-66, reprinted by permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers; and "Circles and Cycles," Executive Excellence (September 1995): 6-7. For subscription information, call 1-800-304-9782.

ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY

Jack-in-the-Box's Long Road to Recovery

The public's judgment can be harsh when it is felt that a company didn't "do the right thing." In early 1993, four children died and 300 people got sick from eating at Jack in the Box restaurants in Idaho, Nevada, and Washington. The culprit was deadly E. coli bacteria in hamburger meat. The company responded by scrapping thousands of pounds of meat, changing suppliers, installing a toll-free number for consumer complaints, and telling employees to cook the meat at a higher temperature to kill the deadly bacteria.

What angered the public, however, was the fact that it took a week for the company to admit responsibility for the food poisonings. Company officials first criticized health authorities for not telling them about new cooking regulations, and then tried to blame the problem on their meat suppliers. Even more damaging, it took two weeks after the news of the first poisoning for the parent company, Foodmaker Inc., to offer to pay for victims' hospitalization costs.

A quick response, such as Johnson & Johnson demonstrated during the Tylenol crisis, might have convinced the public of the company's concern. Since the E. coli crisis, Jack in the Box has been plagued with brand-image and financial problems. It settled with victims for more than $50 million. It also designed one of the most stringent food safety programs in the industry, which includes recalibrating grill thermostats daily. It will take the public, however, a long time to forget that the company took too long to "do the right thing."

SOURCES: R. Martin, "Foodmaker Revives 'Jack' to Aid Turnaround Efforts." Nation's Restaurant News 29 (1995): 20-21; Reprinted from Nation's Restaurant News.

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