AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to examine how personal, organizational, and cultural values affect decision making in my personal and professional life. My cultural, organizational and personal values represent my beliefs and traditions of my cultural environment. Through my research, I examined values and based them on how important they are within my personal, organizational, work, and cultural lifestyle. Based on the research, I came to the conclusion knowing the foundational elements of individual behavior can be very rewarding. Values do not act individually, but also relate with other values as well. The dynamic between individual values is almost as important as the values themselves. From what I learned between research and experience, values influence choices and provide framework for life goals. They are largely culturally oriented, and are formed through the example of others. I reviewed many articles from the University of Phoenix Library which included knowledgeable information. My main objective was to research and gather as much information, to get a better understanding and to implement the importance of values, and the effects values on individuals.
Values 3Values may be viewed as individual sets of rules by which people live and are governed. They serve as a cornerstone for beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Cultural values therefore have a pervasive and profound influence on the individual. Values are a universal feature of all cultures, although, the types and expression of values differ widely. Values are learned during childhood along with suitable behavior that reflects them. Personal values change over time just as organizational values need to, because the environment people live and work in is changing. Values are energizing, motivating and inspiring. When people care passionate about something they will urge themselves with great achievement. My personal values affect my way of thinking at work and at home. A value is a belief, a mission or philoshy that is really meaningful to a person (Nonis,2001). Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, every individual has a number of personal values. My personal values range from a belief in hard work, self reliance, and punctuality, concerns for others, and trust in others as well. My personal values have Values 4 propelled me to great success and achievement not only through work but within myself as well. Personal values help me become more self aware, helps prioritize my tasks, make ethical decisions, and develops credibility. What we value shapes our choices, and impacts the decision about what is believe we can do, how well we treat ourselves and the value. Organizational values often include such tradition virtues as trust, loyalty, and commitment, honesty, and respect for one another and avoiding conflicts of interest. Values are the active component and ever developing foundation behind all organizational decisions core organizational values can remain steadfast within an environment of constant change (Sessa,2002). Values are powerful determinants of personality and culture, but the depth of their contribution to individual and organizational behavior has been greatly underestimated. Research studies have consistently found a strong relationship between values and bottom-line performance, making an understanding of values essential for success in today’s business climate (Sessa,2002).
Effective team leaders and business executives build common values among the people they lead (Articulo,2002). A person’s environment and life experiences shape their values. Moreover, social systems such as business organizations, schools, and churches influence my personal values as well. Values are important at the workplace. It is also important for workers to understand values and their ideals and expectations in the workplace. The universal desire of Values 5workers to be satisfied in their job, in their career and even with their life, could be helped if they understood and if they could harmonize their personal, and workplace values (Articulo,2002). My work values include, being creative, working my hardest, honesty, and loyalty to fellow coworkers. Knowing how my values influence decisions, has proven to be power benefit in matching people to the right job, building Effective teams, developing realistic plans for personal and organizational growth, and for creating an accepting cooperative, and productive organization .Values influence my decisions and actions knowing what I can value in the workplace. Knowing what I value is key to improving my capacity to make decisions which lead to better results. Some businesses require that organizations have a thorough understanding of ethics, so that appropriate decisions can be made when dilemmas arise. Appropriate ethical actions can only be applied, when company managers are committed to leading from ethical rightness based on values, not just the law (Articulo,2002). Knowing how and why of ethics allows managers to respond to certain needs of employees, and exercise ethics as part of making quality day-today decisions. Diversity in the workplace is important, because it contributes to organization decision making, effectiveness, and responsiveness. Organizations can benefit from experiences, insights approaches, and values of diverse populations. Values 6Every culture has a set of moral and social values. These derive over the pre-history and are modified with each generation. Some cultures or societies change faster than others, but there is but there are a common set of values. These values are often held as ideals more than implemented as realities. Still the accepted set of values, ideals, goals and standards are part of culture. Being brought up by Italian parents, their culture and beliefs are different than American culture, values and beliefs. My parents put fourth their culture within me which formed my way of thinking. Whether it’s eating the seven fishes on Christmas Eve, or celebrating the saint days, there Italian culture is now part of me and will be part of my own family someday.
Value 7ReferencesJaffe, Dennis, T (1998, March). Training ; Development: How to link personal values with team values. V52, n3, p24(7).
Finegan, Joan. E. (2000). The impact of person and organizational values on organizational commitment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, British Psychological Society i2 p149.
Articulo, Archimedes (2002) “The Workplace Values And The Virtue Of Labor” Department of Political Science and Philosophy.
Sessa, Valerie. (Summer 2002). Researching Organizational Values and Belief. (book review) Personal Psychology. V55, i2,p537 (3).
Nonis, Sarath. (2001). Personal Value profiles and Ethical Business Decisions. Journal of Education for Business, vol.76, Issue5,p251, 6p.
