04-014 Ch01 pp5

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school students and professors tend to rate ambition,

capability, responsibility, and freedom higher than people in general. They tend to place lower importance on
concern and helpfulness to others, aesthetics and cultural values, and overcoming social injustice. In a study
that compared highly successful, moderately successful,
and unsuccessful managers, highly successful managers
gave significantly higher scores to values relating to economic (e.g., a comfortable life) and political values (e.g.,
social recognition) than less successful managers.
Compared to the population in general, managers
place substantially more value on sense of accomplishment, self-respect, a comfortable life, and independence. The instrumental value managers held highest
for themselves was ambition; their highest-held terminal value was sense of accomplishment. Personal values (rather than social values) and those oriented
toward achievement predominate among managers
(Bilsky & Schwartz, 1994; Cable & Judge, 1996;
Cavanaugh, 1980; Clare & Sanford, 1979). In the population in general, one study found that openness to
experiencea combination of a positive emphasis on
broadmindedness, imagination, freedom, and self-direction coupled with a negative emphasis on recognition,
obedience, and conformitywas the dominating value
held by most people (Dollinger, Leong, & Ulicni, 1996).
No gender differences have been found on the Rokeach
instrument (Johnston, 1995).
These value preferences may explain why business students and even managers themselves have
been criticized for being too self-centered and impatient for personal achievement and promotion. A balance of personal values and social values, such as justice and helpfulness, may characterize a more
adaptable manager in the future.
Simply esteeming certain personal and achievement-oriented values does not mean that one will be a
successful manager. However, it is clear that values do
affect individual behavior. Sharing values among team
members, as well as compatibility of instrumental and
terminal values among team members, was found to be
associated with significantly more effective teams
(Fisher, Macrosson, & Yusuff, 1996). More importantly,
several authors have argued that the behavior displayed
by individuals (that is, the means used to achieve their
valued ends) is a product of their level of values maturity
(e.g., Kohlberg, 1969; Kohlberg & Ryncarz, 1990).
Individuals differ in their level of values development,
so different sets of instrumental values are held by individuals at different stages of development. People
progress from one level of maturity to another, and as
they do, their value priorities change. Individuals who
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have progressed to more mature levels of values development possess a qualitatively different set of instrumental values than individuals who are at less mature
levels. This theory of values maturity or moral development has received a great deal of attention from
researchers, and research findings have some important
implications for self-awareness and managerial effectiveness. Therefore, we shall discuss in some detail this
notion of values maturity.

Values Maturity
Kohlbergs model is the best known and most widely
researched approach to values maturity. It focuses on
the kind of reasoning used to reach a decision about an
issue that has value or moral connotations. The model
consists of three major levels, each of which contains
two stages. Table 3 summarizes the characteristics of
each stage. In brief, the stages are sequential (for
example, a person cannot progress to stage 3 before
passing through stage 2), and each stage represents a
higher level of maturity. Kohlberg uses the terms
preconventional, conventional, and postconventional
to describe these three levels. In the following discussion, we have chosen to use different terms that capture the dominant characteristics of each stage.
The first level of maturity, the self-centered level,
includes the first two stages of values development.
Moral reasoning and instrumental values are based on
personal needs or wants and on the consequences of an
act. Something could be judged as right or good if it
helped an individual obtain a reward or avoid punishment and if the consequences were not negative for
someone else. Stealing $50,000 is worse than stealing
$500 in the self-centered level because the consequences (the losses) are more negative for someone else.
The second level, or conformity level, includes
stages 3 and 4. Moral reasoning is based on conforming to and upholding the conventions and expectations
of society. This level is sometimes referred to as the
law and order level because the emphasis is on conformity to laws and norms. Right and wrong are judged
on the basis of whether or not behaviors conform to
the rules of those in authority. Respect from others
based on obedience is a prized outcome. Stealing
$50,000 and stealing $500 are equally wrong at this
level because both violate the law. Most American
adults function at this level of values maturity.
Third is the principled level. It includes the final
two stages of maturity and represents the most mature
level of moral reasoning and the most mature set of
instrumental values. Right and wrong are judged on

CHAPTER 1 DEVELOPING SELF-AWARENESS

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