The interaction between values and organizational identification in predicting suggestion-making at work

Abstract

The present study proposed and found that personal values and organizational identification interact in predicting making suggestions for organizational improvements at work. One hundred and forty-eight employees of children’s day-care centres rated their values, their identification with the organization and their suggestion-making behaviour. Their behaviour was also rated by their supervisors. As expected, the value dimension of openness to change vs. conservation predicted suggestion-making more strongly amongst individuals highly identified with the organization than amongst individuals weakly identified with the organization. This was found using self-ratings of behaviour as well as supervisor’s rating of behaviour. The study points to the importance of values and identification in understanding suggestion-making and innovative behaviour at work, and it opens new avenues for examining this interaction in predicting other kinds of organizational behaviours.