Through the eye of a needle: A study of the conflict between personal values and the demands of organizations

• Main Author: Hurley, James Kevin
• Language: ENG
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 1989
• Subjects: Business education|Management
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9001514

This study reports managers' accounts of conflict between their personal values and the values they perceived in the demands their organizations made on them. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the characteristics of such experiences, including how the conflicts were resolved, impact on the managers, and impact on their organizational commitment. Twenty senior middle-level public sector managers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview procedure. The interviews provided 66 conflict accounts for analysis. Six major sources of conflict were identified, relationships to staff or people external to the organization accounting for 75% of the conflicts. Five major value orientations were identified: Public Service; Management; Professional; Personal; and, Political. More pervasive and underlying source lay in the shifting value orientations in the public sector, principally between an orientation to career service and professional management. Managers have a complex organizational relationship, identifying more with the ethos of the public service than with their particular Ministry, agency, or department. Three ways of resolving value conflicts were proposed and investigated: Conforming, Principled, and Integrative. Managers sought to achieve preferred outcomes rather than resolve the value dilemmas. On occasions when demands involved legal, public interest issues, or professional standards, managers conformed. Principled resolutions prevailed only in a few more subjective situations such as the extent of personal caring for staff. Eight strategies for managing for preferred outcomes were identified: using integrating values and superordinate values; seeking alternatives; delaying; relocating responsibility; protesting; and, leaving. Conflicts impact significantly on managers. Negative impacts include frustration and anger; unethical behavior; poor health; and interrupted career movement. If successfully resolved or managed they may lead to senses of confidence and well-being, and developmental change. Conflict impacts negatively on the relationship with the organization through loss of commitment. Social literacy theory (Freire, 1972), psychological contract theory (Schein, 1970), and faith development theory (Fowler, 1981) are useful theoretical perspectives with implications for management practice. Issues for management education and for further research are considered and the significance of the study is placed in the broader contexts of promoting personal growth and responding to major crises.