Lee P. Stepina

Hofstede's Country Classification 25 Years Later

Nearly 3 decades have passed since Hofstede (1980) collected the data used to classify countries by their underlying work-related value structures. The present study, in which recent data from 9 countries in 4 continents was collected, is a reexamination of his country classifications. The results suggest that many shifts have occurred since Hofstedes study in 1980. These shifts are related to some of the major environmental changes that have occurred.

Physical Environments and Employee Reactions: Effects of Stimulus-Screening Skills and Job Complexity

This study examined the moderating effects of stimulus-screening skills and job complexity on relations between environmental characteristics and employee reactions. Employees exhibited the lowest ...

An examination of two aspects of work‐family conflict: time and identity

The part played by time in exacerbating work‐family conflict has long been recognized. Recently, however, researchers have argued that the degree of identification one receives from work and family is also important. While direct effects of both of these sources of work‐family conflict have been found, the trend is not constant. Hence, time and identity alone may not be sufficient to explain work‐family conflict. Proposes and tests an interactive effect for these two antecedents of work‐family conflict in order to understand and explain the phenomenon better.

Cultural values: a cross‐national study

Reports on a survey of 980 Chinese, 964 Venezuelan and 1,878 US managers, professionals and business students, to examine cross‐national differences in individualism‐collectivism, masculinity‐femininity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and paternalism. Provides a brief overview of each country’s national characteristics. Describes the methodology used and analyses the data using multivariate analysis of variance. Records the findings for each of the categories measured – cultural values differ across the three nations but nothing startling or new is revealed. Advises that multinationals need to understand cross‐cultural values if they are to succeed in a global business environment.

A Study of Work-Family Conflict Among IT Professionals: Job Characteristics, Individual Values, and Management Practices

In this study, we develop a model that explains the work-family conflict experienced by IT professionals. We propose two major sources of work-family conflict: the structure of work and individual mindsets toward work. Furthermore, we examine beliefs about the employer that can diminish work-family conflict. We test our hypotheses using data gathered from 126 IT professionals. Our model explains more than 45% of the variance in work-family conflict. Our findings suggest: (1) skill variety requirements increase work-family conflict, (2) work ethic positively relates to work-family conflict, (3) leisure ethic negatively relates to work-family conflict, and (4) professionalism has mixed effects on work-family conflict. Finally, we found that when IT professionals perceive high levels of job security and are satisfied with supervision, work-family conflict diminishes. The study concludes with implications for research and practice.

The role of the work itself: an empirical examination of intrinsic motivation's influence on IT workers attitudes and intentions

This study examines intrinsic motivations influence on information technology (IT) attitudes and intensions. Intrinsic motivation is modeled as mediating the influence of motivators (i.e., intrinsic job characteristics) and hygiene factors (i.e., pay and supervisory satisfaction) on workplace attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and affective commitment). In turn, workplace attitudes mediate the influence of intrinsic motivation on turnover intention. The model was tested using data collected from public sector IT workers in the Southeastern United States. Although intrinsic motivation did not fully mediate the influence of motivators and hygiene factors, findings suggest that intrinsic motivation positively influences workplace attitudes and has a mediated influence on turnover intent. Implications for research and practice are offered.

Explaining the unionism gap: Public-private sector differences in preferences for unionization

Data indicate a substantial and growing “unionism gap” between the public and private sectors. Previous research identifies possible explanations for this gap, including preferences for collective action, political considerations, fears of employer retaliation, and concerns about job security. Our results provide support for these explanations, but also suggest that perceived differences between private and public sector unions may be a significant factor.

Distributive justice in northern Mexico and the U. S.: A cross-cultural comparison.

A comparison of distributive justice strategies was made between a collectivistic culture, i.e., Mexico, and an individualistic culture, i.e., the United States. This study is the first to include the effect of ingroup/outgroup on the distribution strategies as Fischer and Smith (2003) called for in their extensive meta‐analysis of the topic. Distributive justice was operationalized as the monetary rewards given by Northern Mexicans and Americans in sixteen different allocation vignettes. The results showed that the two groups were significantly different in only one of the allocation vignettes. These results indicate a convergence between the cultures of the northern maquiladora region of Mexico and of the United States. Northern Mexicans and Americans were not significantly different in their distributive justice strategies.

Cross-national differences in work-nonwork conflict

The present study examines the level of work-nonwork conflict found in eight countries categorized by value dimensions of individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity. Results indicate that masculine/collectivist countries have the lowest level of work-nonwork conflict. In addition, it was found that in masculine/collectivist countries, the work role dominates over the nonwork role.