How Can We Align HR Practices with Organizational Values for Better Culture Measurement?

Hello, everybody! I am conducting a study to measure organizational culture through HR (managerial) practices. I need to find those practices that convey a series of work values adapted from Schwartz's (1992, 1994, 2004) individual general value model, which is supposed to be comprehensive.

The challenge of aligning managerial practices with organizational values

The issue here is that, as Hofstede (1990) noticed, there are very weak correlations between perceived managerial practices and organizational values. Yet, I think that if I closely match the practices with the work values and then test the factor structure of the former, I should arrive at approximately the same dimensions structure as that postulated and tested by Schwartz for the individual system of values. This is except, perhaps, for some dimensions that are atypical for the business world, as we know that work values are less differentiated than general personal values (Sagie and Elizur, 1995).

Request for assistance in compiling HR management practices

What I wanted to ask you is to help me find a comprehensive list of HR management practices that cover all the HR function areas. Eventually, after I build the two lists of work values and HRM practices, I would appreciate your help in matching them by responding to a short questionnaire that I will construct.

This preliminary study serves exclusively academic purposes. I'm doing my PhD in HRM, with a thesis on the moderating effects of work values alignments at three levels—national, organizational, and individual—upon the relationship between HR practices (systems) and HR outcomes (and possibly, organizational outcomes).

If there is anyone interested in this topic, I'd be glad to exchange ideas with them.

My email is [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons].

Thank you! Have a nice day!

For those not familiar with the Schwartz model of values, I'll post here the list of values he uses in his instrument.

Value List

A varied life
Enjoying life
Pleasure
Clean
Devout
Family security
Forgiving
Honoring of parents and elders
Moderate
National security
Obedient
Politeness
Preserving my public image
Reciprocation of favors
Respect for tradition
Self-discipline
Social order
Wisdom
A world of peace
Accepting my portion in life
Equality
Freedom
Helpful
Honest
Loyal
Responsible
Social justice
A world of beauty
Protecting the environment
Unity with nature
Authority
Humble
Influential
Social power
Wealth
Broad-minded
Creativity
Curious
Ambitious
Capable
Choosing own goals
Daring
Independent
Successful
A spiritual life
An exciting life
Healthy
Inner harmony
Intelligent
Mature love
Meaning in life
Privacy
Self-indulgent
Self-respect
Sense of belonging
Social recognition
True friendship

Most of these values can easily be translated into a work context. Some of them find an equivalent with some more difficulty.

Value Dimensions

These values are structured in 10 individual dimensions, as follows:

Power - Social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources (authority, social power, wealth, preserving my public image)

Achievement - Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards (ambitious, successful, capable, influential)

Hedonism - Pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself (pleasure, enjoying life, self-indulgent)

Stimulation - Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life (daring, a varied life, an exciting life)

Self-direction - Independent thought and action—choosing, creating, exploring (creativity, freedom, independent, choosing own goals, curious)

Universalism - Understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature (equality, social justice, wisdom, broad-minded, protecting the environment, unity with nature, a world of beauty)

Benevolence - Preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact (helpful, honest, forgiving, loyal, responsible)

Tradition - Respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide (devout, respect for tradition, humble, moderate)

Conformity - Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms (self-discipline, politeness, honoring parents and elders, obedience)

Security - Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self (family security, national security, social order, clean, reciprocation of favors)

(Source: Schwartz S. H., K. Boehnke, 2003. Evaluating the structure of human values with confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Research in Personality 38 (2004) 230–255.)

Finally, the 10 dimensions form a quasi-circumplex structure distributed on two macro-dimensions:

Self-enhancement - Self-transcendence

Conservation - Openness to change

Hi, are we looking at the globalization of the theories spelled out as a goal? There are localization issues and ethos, environmental, and other related aspects that work on the psyche of the person. I would need to have more details on this—it's an interesting aspect. The main point is how does a company translate this into adoption vis-a-vis the competitive world organizations are exposed to; this is the real challenge.

Warm wishes,
Bobbyguest