Carole L. Jurkiewicz

Generation X and the Public Employee.

This cross-sectional study reports the work-related differences and similarities of 241 Generation X and Baby Boomer employees in the public sector. A more homogeneous pattern of what employees want across age cohorts emerges, contrary to the literature and stereotypes on generational differences. Surprising levels of similarity were found between GenXers and Boomers, with the three significant areas of difference focused on issues of personal growth. The implications for recruiting, retention, motivation, training, and human resource processes are discussed.

Generational Comparisons of Public Employee Motivation

This cross-sectional study reports the similarities and differences between three age cohorts of public employees—Generation X, Baby Boomers and Matures—on 15 motivational factors. While substantial differences are broadly observed between the generations outside the public sector organizational context, these age-based categories of public employees are nearly identical in the governmental workplace. The few differences found can be ascribed to life and career stages as opposed to cohort-specific sociological influences. The principal implications for recruiting, motivation, training, retention, and human resource processes are discussed.

Effects of materialism on work-related personal well-being:

Materialism is a defining aspect of many societal cultures. Unfortunately, a large body of research has documented a negative relationship between materialism and indicators of non-work personal well-being. This study extends the materialism research into the organizational domain, investigating whether materialistic values are related to work-related indicators of personal well-being. Our field study results indicate that materialistic values are negatively associated with a range of indicators of work-related personal well-being, including intrinsic and extrinsic reward satisfaction, job satisfaction, and career satisfaction. Further analyses suggest that the relationship between materialism and work-related personal well-being is driven by the happiness and centrality dimensions of materialism, and not by the success dimension. Implications for future research and practice are presented.

On ethics and social responsibility: The impact of materialism, postmaterialism, and hope

This study tests a refined materialism—postmaterialism scale, concomitant with a measure of hope, toward the end of predicting ethics and social responsibility concerns in individuals. Results indicate that this interactive model including hope, materialism and postmaterialism successfully predicted ethical and social responsibility orientations. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for the interdisciplinary research on materialism—postmaterialism, the relationship of materialism to ethics and social responsibility and on understanding individual ethics and social responsibility concerns.

What Motivates Municipal Employees: A Comparison Study of Supervisory vs. Non-Supervisory Personnel

This comparison study of what motivates supervisory and non-supervisory municipal employees reveals some surprising differences and unexpected similarities. Using an established motivational factor questionnaire, fifteen statements were initially ranked by respondents according to their relative desirability and to the degree to which respondents felt they received these elements from their jobs. Despite a relatively high level of similarity between the two groups on what they want from their jobs, reported dissatisfaction of non-supervisory personnel is overwhelming. On the other hand, responses from supervisory personnel show significant dissatisfaction on only about one-half of the factors. This research strongly suggests that todays municipal employees are more concerned with job security, salary, and opportunities for personal and professional advancement than they are with benefitting society, team work, or autonomy. These findings have important implications for multi-level managing, as well as individual productivity and the quality of the work relationship.

Valuing money more than people: The effects of materialism on work-family conflict

Can valuing money and material possessions lead to conflict between work and family? In this paper, we build on Carlson and Kacmars call for more research on personal values in the context of the work–family interface. In a field study, we examined the relationship between materialism and two components of work–family conflict: work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). Results supported our main hypotheses that materialism is associated with both forms of work–family conflict. Further, work overload mediated the relationship between materialism and WIF, while FIW moderated the association between materialism and work overload, thus supporting a model of mediated moderation. By linking materialism to work–family conflict, this study adds to the growing evidence of the deleterious effects of holding materialistic values.

The interaction of materialist and postmaterialist values in predicting dimensions of personal and social identity

The postmaterialist values paradigm has long argued whether materialist and postmaterialist values are opposite ends of a single continuum or two values on separate continua, ignoring the possibility that these values are interactive as well. In two studies, using a strong inference approach, we tested whether a previously unexplored interactive formulation of the materialism-postmaterialism relationship explained more variance than Inglehart’s unidimensional or a bidimensional conceptualization. Using a revised materialism-postmaterialism scale (R-MPMI), we assess the individual and interactive utility of these values in predicting dimensions of personal and social identity (DPSI), key correlates of Inglehart’s postmaterialist theory. Results indicate that the interactive conceptualization explains more variance of DPSI. The findings suggest that a restructuring of the conceptualization of postmaterialism is necessary, and a rubric toward that end is discussed.

Ethics Education in the MPA Curriculum: What Difference Does It Make?

Abstract This study of 203 public administrators from across the United States, each of whom holds a masters degree in public administration, addresses the effects of ethics education upon professional behavior. Survey respondents were grouped on the basis of whether or not they had in their MPA program a semester-long class that focused solely or primarily on ethics. Those who reported having had this formal ethics education recognized ethical conflict as distinct from other conflicts significantly more often than those who did not. They were also significantly more likely to refuse to engage in unethical behavior, even when directed to do so by a superior, than were those reporting no formal ethics education. Implications for further research are outlined.

Soul Food: Morrison and the Transformative Power of Ethical Leadership in the Public Sector

The qualities of ethical leadership are explored through three works by Toni Morrison, Sula, Beloved, and Paradise. These novels teach that the public good often depends on the personal good of public leaders. A public managers moral aspects greatly influence the values of the organization. Indeed, ethical leadership is perhaps the most powerful tool a public manager can employ to influence others. Moral factors can have a powerful transformative effect on public organizations. Accordingly, the power of moral values is a catalyst for motivational leadership within organizations.

Transforming personal experience into a pedagogical tool: Ethical complaints

If students are to understand ethical problems at work, practical applications are essential in translating classroom learning into real world knowledge. This article describes the ethical complaint letter as one pedagogical approach for MBA students to understanding real world ethical situations. Students write an objective, fact-filled complaint letter to an organization that has behaved in an unethical manner toward them. A specific assignment protocol is presented for the students and for discussing organizational responses in class. Finally, an examination of expected outcomes, cautions, and learning opportunities is detailed.