23465: Aligning Values Theory with Practice: Bridging the Gap for Organizational Competitive Advantage

Individual values guide perceptions, decisions, and actions. While social psychology has developed robust frameworks to conceptualize and measure values, their application in organizational research often deviates from these theoretical underpinnings. This divergence limits the explanatory power of values in workplace settings. This poster aims to ignite a dialogue about the conceptualization and operationalization of values in the organizational literature. We begin by reviewing the social psychological foundations of values theory, highlighting key characteristics, including the interdependent nature of values and the distinction between self-focused and other-focused values. Contrasting this with common practices in organizational research, we underscore inconsistencies, such as the use of independent Likert measures. Using field data from 16,158 employees from a quick service restaurant with 1,719 stores in the U.S., we demonstrate how aligning the operationalization of values with theoretical frameworks enhances their utility in predicting critical work outcomes, such as engagement, turnover, and performance (i.e., customer service ratings and store sales). Thus, by incorporating rank-order value hierarchies and embracing the dichotomy between personal and social values, we reveal insights that can offer organizations a competitive edge; bridging the gap between disciplines, and fostering more impactful, theory-driven organizational practices.

view poster presentation (if available)