Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Brittany Britch

Abstract

The workforce is diverse on gender, race, ethnicity, culture, work styles, and age. Employees from different generations have varying expectations of what they value from the workplace and therefore approach work differently. Generational differences can lead to mistrust and communication breakdowns. They can also impact job satisfaction and productivity. The Generational Cohort Theory was utilized in this nonexperimental study, and the sample was recruited from CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Group. The purpose of this study was to determine the work values differences among the 4 generational cohorts: Silent, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. The research questions for this quantitative study first identified the preferred work values, utilizing the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ), and sought if there was a statistically significant means difference in those preferred values from 1 generation to another. A 1-way MANOVA was used to analyze the effect of generation cohort affiliation with preferred work values, revealing a positive relationship between cohort and preferred work values. Results indicated that some work values are unique between generations, such as being busy all the time and doing things for other people, and some are shared, including telling people what to do and having good coworkers. Additional research is needed to address the gap in current literature in the areas of autonomy and recognition. The implications for social change include acquiring a greater knowledge of similarities and differences between older and younger workers.. This knowledge is essential for building high-performing teams, for successful recruitment, and employee retention.

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