Values and Upward Influence Strategies in Transition: Evidence From the Czech Republic

Abstract

The authors examine the impact of rapid socioeconomic and political transition on generational differences in values and behavioral preferences via a survey of 416 Czech managers, professionals, and business students. As predicted, the pre-transition generation favored individually beneficial upward influence strategies and values oriented toward conservation and self-enhancement; the post-transition generation favored organizationally beneficial upward influence strategies and values oriented toward openness to change and self-transcendence. Generational preferences for certain upward influence strategies are mediated by underlying differences in value orientations, which reflect historically idiosyncratic institutional conditions. These findings extend and integrate work on values and influence behaviors in the relatively unexplored context of transitional economies and have implications for those who wish to appreciate better how diverse value frameworks can be understood and managed in the context of global business.

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Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
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DOI: 10.1177/0022022110396924
2011 42: 288Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Wade M. Danis, Leigh Anne Liu and Jiri Vacek
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Values and Upward Influence Strategies in Transition: Evidence From the Czech
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Values and Upward
Influence Strategies
in Transition: Evidence
From the Czech Republic
Wade M. Danis1, Leigh Anne Liu1, and Jiri Vacek2
Abstract
The authors examine the impact of rapid socioeconomic and political transition on generational
differences in values and behavioral preferences via a survey of 416 Czech managers, professionals,
and business students. As predicted, the pre-transition generation favored individually beneficial
upward influence strategies and values oriented toward conservation and self-enhancement; the
post-transition generation favored organizationally beneficial upward influence strategies and
values oriented toward openness to change and self-transcendence. Generational preferences for
certain upward influence strategies are mediated by underlying differences in value orientations,
which reflect historically idiosyncratic institutional conditions. These findings extend and integrate
work on values and influence behaviors in the relatively unexplored context of transitional
economies and have implications for those who wish to appreciate better how diverse value
frameworks can be understood and managed in the context of global business.
Keywords
values, Czech Republic, transition economies
The globalization of business in recent years has made it imperative for firms to explore foreign
market opportunities in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Market liberalization
policies around the globe over the past two decades have provided unprecedented opportunities
in numerous markets that were historically closed (Garten, 1997). At the same time, firms from
such markets are a growing presence in the global economy, and it is expected that their role will
become even more important (Aulakh, Kotabe, & Teegen, 2000; Khanna & Palepu, 2006). A
major catalyst for these phenomena has been the demise of the communist political and centrally
planned economic systems in former Soviet bloc countries. These countries, commonly referred
to as transition or transitional economies, constitute a subset of emerging markets (low-income
countries that use economic liberalization as their primary engine of growth) that have aban-
doned Soviet-style central planning in favor of market-oriented economic systems (Hoskisson,
Eden, Lau, & Wright, 2000). When compared with industry-specific changes in market-based
economies, the scale and scope of the institutional changes in transitional economies are unprec-
edented in recent history (Peng, 2003). Institutional transitions thus envelop a range of inter-
connected domains (e.g., political, social, economic), which collectively comprise a country’s ins titutional
environment (North, 1990).
1Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic
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Danis et al. 289
This transition, which affects about a third of the world’s population, continues to have a
profound impact on people’s lives and has irreversibly altered the relationship between people
and their political, social, and economic institutions (World Bank, 1996, 2008). In consideration
of this, we seek to identify how the experience of living through profound socioeconomic transi-
tion affects the values and work-related behaviors of individuals in a transitional economy, the
Czech Republic. Following Schwartz and Bilsky (1987, 1990), we define values as concepts or
beliefs that pertain to desirable end states or behaviors. Values transcend specific situations, guide
the selection or evaluation of behavior and events, and can be ordered by relative importance. In
the context of transitional economies, the development of appropriate value systems is thought
to be a critical element in the socioeconomic change process as previously accepted values and
behaviors are often called into question (Holt, Ralston, & Terpstra, 1994). Values underlie
national institutions and business systems and shape decision-making and professional conduct
in a wide variety of business situations (Hofstede, 2001; Redding, 2005; Whitley, 2000). The
question of how institutional change affects the values and work-related behaviors of those who
have lived through such change is of critical interest to scholars and practitioners who wish to
better understand the evolving business environment in transitional economies and how diverse
and changing value frameworks can be reconciled and managed in the context of global business.
While cross-cultural value differences have been studied extensively and have been shown to
influence workplace behaviors, attitudes, and other organizational outcomes (e.g., Hofstede,
1980; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004; Ralston et al., 2006; Ronen & Shenkar,
1985; Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990; Trompenaars, 1994), there has been much less
work on the value orientations of national subcultures (Egri & Ralston, 2004). We begin to
address this gap via a comparative analysis of generation cohorts in the Czech Republic, whose
values and behaviors were shaped by sharply different social, political, and economic events.
Generation cohorts are a type of national subculture that reflect the value priorities emphasized
during a particular historical period and encapsulate the nature of culture change that has taken
place in a country (Egri & Ralston, 2004). Members of a given generation share common paradigms
and orientations owing to shared socialization and event-based experiences that distinguish them
as a group (Wade-Benzoni, 2002). The identification of generational value orientations and
behaviors are important for understanding trajectories of cultural change and institutional trans-
formation within a country and can provide a more finely grained picture of this process than
would be possible by studying population-level values and behaviors. Such information is useful
for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners who wish to better understand transformational change
in societies and organizations. For example, knowledge about significant generational value dif-
ferences can provide insight into the degree of receptivity among older versus younger individuals
to economic and social policy changes at the national level, as well as to new workplace initia-
tives introduced at the organizational level.
Our focus on the Czech Republic is also notable. Because of the nature of the Czech transi-
tion, which was unique in many respects, we argue that the country experienced a sharper break
from its communist past than did most other transitional countries, where transformations were
either more gradual, or where economic and political systems were less firmly implanted in the
Soviet Bloc’s hegemony. Consequently, the generational differences we seek to identify may be
more pronounced. Moreover, most of the work on value orientations in national subcultures has
centered on Asian countries and/or the United States (e.g., Egri & Ralston, 2004; Ralston, Egri,
Stewart, Terpstra, & Kaicheng, 1999), overlooking the transitional economies of Central and
Eastern Europe. Because many of the European transitional countries are moving toward inte-
gration with the European Union, which involves harmonization of national institutions and
business practices, we believe this presents an interesting and overlooked theoretical context for
studying values in transition.
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290 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
In order to interact effectively with members of different cultures and subcultures, it is impor-
tant to understand how underlying values shape behavior. When societal values are in flux, as
during periods of institutional transformation, this is not a simple task. Given this complexity, we
limit our focus to one critically important aspect of individual-level behavior, upward influence
strategy, which has special relevance in the context of transitional economies. Upward influence
strategies comprise tactics for obtaining desired outcomes and resources from those higher in
the organizational hierarchy (Kipnis & Schmidt, 1988). This aspect of behavior is especially
pertinent when doing business internationally since cultural values underlie ethical orientations
that determine what influence tactics are seen as appropriate or inappropriate (Ralston, Egri et al.,
2005). This issue is extremely important in the context of transitional economies because upward
influence strategies that were appropriate in the context of communism and central planning may
be unsuitable and even dysfunctional to the requirements of a market-driven economy due to
shifting value orientations and a radically changed business environment. The rapid changeover
from communism and central planning to representative democracy and free markets represents
a momentous sociohistorical event that, we argue, will produce a generational cleavage charac-
terized by different value orientations and behaviors.
This research seeks to answer three questions: (a) How do individual values differ among the
pre- and post-transition generations, (b) how do upward influence strategies differ among the pre-
and post-transition generations, and (c) how are individual values and upward influence strate-
gies related? We aim to identify differences in upward influence strategies between generation
cohorts and link them conceptually and empirically to differences in individual values, which, in
turn, may be rooted in unique sociohistorical time periods. While a few studies have examined
generational cohorts and personal values in transitional economies (Egri & Ralston, 2004; Ralston,
Thang, & Napier, 1999), and others have looked at the impact of national culture and life-stage
on upward influence strategies (Ralston, Hallinger, Egri, & Naothinsuhk, 2005), our study is the
first to explore the links between individual-level values and upward influence strategies. Our
study is also the first we know of to explicitly highlight the issue of institutional upheaval and
theorize about how it jointly impacts values and upward influence strategies.
Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses
Value Transformations in Transitional Economies
Values delineate the way individuals perceive and evaluate work situations and affect relation-
ships among individuals, groups, and their organizations. Values determine the bounds of ethical
behavior, define success or failure, and affect how managers are influenced by external pressures
(Ralston et al., 1993). Value systems can change over time, particularly when situations arise that
challenge established norms or cause a reexamination of value structures (Inglehart, 1997;
Inglehart & Welzel, 2005; Rokeach, 1973). This is precisely what transpires in transitional econ-
omies as previously accepted values and behaviors are challenged via a process of political,
economic, and social upheaval. The rate at which personal values change is partly dependent
upon age and life stage (Alwin & Jon, 1991; Bardi & Goodwin, in press; Egri & Ralston, 2004;
Schwartz & Bardi, 1997). Theories of aging stability, generational succession, and generational
persistence argue that peoples’ attitudes are shaped by socialization experiences early in adulthood
and remain resistant to change after this time (Alwin & Jon, 1991; Inglehart, 1971; Inglehart &
Carballo, 1997; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005; Mannheim, 1952). Research on personality traits sug-
gests that personality stability increases throughout adulthood (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000).
Accordingly, the value priorities of young people tend to be less crystallized and less firmly
anchored in past experience, which may help them adapt more quickly to change, whereas older
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Danis et al. 291
people who discover their value priorities are no longer adaptive are more likely to resist or
oppose societal change (Bardi & Goodwin, in press; Schwartz & Bardi, 1997). Consequently,
generational cleavages may emerge within societies experiencing institutional upheaval, result-
ing in divergent values and behaviors. Societal value systems thus change over time as succes-
sive generations adapt to different institutional conditions. However, there remains much debate
about the extent to which values change over time, the speed with which they change, and the
drivers of change (Inglehart, 1997).
The convergence, divergence, and cross-vergence perspectives on change offer three alterna-
tive predictions about how and whether societal value systems change over time (Ralston et al.,
2006). The convergence perspective argues that technological, political, and economic develop-
ments interact to produce a business ideology that provides a strong stimulus for relatively rapid
values convergence, whereas the divergence perspective contends that values are learned early
in life via sociocultural influences, are deeply embedded, endure irrespective of societal changes,
and are passed from one generation to the next (Inkeles, 1997; Ralston et al., 2006). The cross-
vergence perspective attempts to reconcile the convergence and divergence views by considering
both the sociocultural and business ideology explanations viable and inherently interactive (Ralston,
Holt, Terpstra, & Kai-Cheng, 1997). In this view, some values may change over a period of years
while others may take generations to change. By comparing the value orientations of the pre- and
post-transition generations in the Czech Republic, we seek to provide further insight into the
convergence, divergence, cross-vergence debate.
Our study used Schwartz’s values model (Schwartz, 1992), which has been used extensively
in studies of individual values, and has been cross-culturally validated in a number of countries,
including the Czech Republic. The Schwartz Value survey identifies 10 universal values. The
pattern of relations among them yields two orthogonal dimensions that delineate four higher
order values. The first dimension, self-enhancement versus self-transcendence, opposes power,
achievement, and hedonism values to universalism and benevolence values. The former empha-
size pursuit of self-interests, whereas the latter involve concern for the welfare and interests of
others. The second dimension, openness to change versus conservation, opposes self-direction
and stimulation values to security, conformity, and tradition values. The former emphasize inde-
pendent action, thought, and feeling, and readiness for new experiences, whereas the latter empha-
size self-restriction, order, and resistance to change (Knafo & Schwartz, 2001).
Values are formed through an experiential learning process within a social structure and one’s
group culture (Osland, Kolb, Rubin, & Turner, 2006). Of particular interest to this study is the
question of whether and how the political, economic, and social upheaval that characterized the
Czech transition produced differences in experiential learning among the pre- and post-transition
generations that, in turn, may manifest themselves in distinctive value systems. Theoretically,
research has demonstrated that adaptation to life circumstances is important for both individual
value formation and change (Rokeach, 1973). Adaptation does not require acceptance of an ideo-
logical message but rather suggests adjusting effectively to the opportunities and constraints that
structure one’s life (Schwartz & Bardi, 1997). Research on post-communist countries has
revealed that changing institutional and economic conditions can influence ideals and values as
people acclimate themselves to new circumstances (Bardi & Schwartz, 1996; Olson, Frieze,
Wall, & Zdaniuk, 2006; Schwartz, Bardi, & Bianchi, 2000). The idea that value formation is an
adaptive process forms the basis for the hypotheses derived below regarding the impact of transi-
tion on the value priorities of Czech managers and professionals. Next, we highlight pertinent
aspects of the Czech transition process that may have impacted the value orientations of the pre-
and post-transition generations.
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292 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
Pre- and Post-Transition Value Orientations
Following the Prague Spring in 1968, a period of political liberalization that was forcibly
ended by the Soviet invasion in August of the same year, Czechoslovakia1 embarked in 1969
on a normalization program that reestablished a hierarchical, centralized, and autocratic politi-
cal and economic regime, which stayed firmly in place until 1989 (Soulsby & Clark, 1996).
During this time, the Communist Party approved admission to management positions. Hence,
developing a professional career and doing managerial work meant making the right contacts
with the political elite, and thereby gaining a range of privileges denied to others. Conse-
quently, managers were viewed with low esteem by their subordinates and relied on autocratic
methods to initiate and implement new initiatives (Soulsby & Clark, 1996). The tightly con-
trolled ideological system and the high level of mistrust that characterized enterprise relations
during this time period constrained behavior since individuals were reluctant to act in ways
that might jeopardize their own self-interests or upset the delicate stability of the system
(Schwartz & Bardi, 1997). This combination of self-interest and reluctance to cause trouble
should be reflected in the values of the pre-transition generation, which we expect to be oriented
to self-enhancement and conservation.
After the fall of communism in 1989, economic and social changes lead young people to
increasingly pursue higher education as the emerging market economy created a higher demand
for specialized knowledge and highly qualified workers (Sobotka, Zeman, & Kantorová, 2003).
Consequently, business students and young professionals learned the vocabulary and rhetoric of
Western management, and many internalized Western managerial values (Soulsby & Clark,
1996). Furthermore, the pervasive spread of modern technologies (mobile phones, computers,
and the Internet) meant that young people were increasingly part of wider and geographically
broader social networks, which nurtured a rapid spread of new ideas and lifestyles patterned on
Western values (Sobotka et al., 2003). In the political arena, new Czech leaders, such as Presi-
dent Václav Havel, espoused values associated with universalism and benevolence, including
social justice, equality, peace, environmentalism, honesty, and forgiveness. Given the above, and
the prominent role of younger Czechs, particularly students, in spearheading the Velvet Revolu-
tion in 1989, which led to the overthrow of the unpopular communist regime, we hypothesize that
the values of the post-transition generation will be oriented to change and self-transcendence. In
sum, the above discussion suggests that the pre- and post-transition generations will differ in their
individual value orientations such that:
Hypothesis 1a: The pre-transition generation will assign more importance to values associ-
ated with conservation and self-enhancement than the post-transition generation.
Hypothesis 1b: The post-transition generation will assign more importance to values associ-
ated with openness to change and self-transcendence than the pre-transition generation.
Upward Influence Strategies
Upward influence strategies comprise tactics for obtaining desired outcomes and resources
from those higher in the organizational hierarchy (Kipnis & Schmidt, 1988). These strategies
are not only central to personal success but can also contribute to organizational effectiveness
since the ability of supervisors and subordinates to work together effectively is critical to over-
all firm performance (Egri, Ralston, Murray, & Nicholson, 2000; Ralston et al., 2001). Appropri-
ate use of such strategies has been shown to engender effective superior-subordinate relationships
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Danis et al. 293
that can enhance organizational performance (Terpstra-Yong & Ralston, 2002) and impact
individual-level outcomes such as performance evaluations, salary, and reported stress (Kipnis
& Schmidt, 1988).
Upward influence strategies may be especially salient workplace behaviors in transitional
economies owing to the historical legacies of a communist political ideology and centrally
planned economic system. In such environments, obtaining influence with politically powerful
individuals is likely to be a key goal as this assures access to resources (Holt et al., 1994). Mana-
gerial and professional careers were closely entwined with the nomenklatura system, whereby
the Communist Party allocated positions according to party membership as well as technical
competence (Martin, 1999). Under this system, which shaped workplace behaviors for the dura-
tion of the communist era (from 1948 to 1989), becoming a manager, developing a career, and
doing managerial work meant making the right contacts with the right people and influencing
those higher in the political and organizational hierarchies (Soulsby & Clark, 1996). Because
workplace norms and behaviors are slow to change (Cepl, 1997), we expect upward influence
strategies to remain a prominent feature of organizational life in the post-communist era.
Ralston, Egri, et al. (2005) classified upward influence tactics into three categories: (a)
organizationally beneficial strategies, (b) self-indulgent strategies, and (c) destructive strategies.
Organizationally beneficial strategies are the standard prescribed and sanctioned behaviors for
employees in organizations. They include working hard, volunteering, getting advanced educa-
tion, developing good working relationships, getting the job done, and working overtime. Self-
indulgent strategies are self-serving for the individual within the organization, epitomizing the
“me first” approach where self-interest is prioritized above the interests of others or the organiza-
tion. Whether they help or harm the organization is subject to interpretation and may be deter-
mined by the situation. Destructive strategies are extreme self-serving behaviors that often
directly hurt others and the organization. In many industrialized societies, these behaviors would
also be considered illegal. Compared to organizationally beneficial strategies, we consider both
self-indulgent strategies and destructive strategies as individually beneficial strategies. Of par-
ticular interest to this study is the extent to which pre- and post-transition generation Czechs may
express preferences for individually beneficial versus organizationally beneficial upward influ-
ence strategies, which we discuss next.
Pre- and Post-Transition Upward Influence Strategies
Central planning was arbitrary, corrupt, and inefficient, and incentives for managers and employ-
ees to work productively for the benefit of their organizations were weak. For the pre-transition
generation, this situation engendered a “beat the system mentality,” by which individuals devised
ingenious ways to circumvent officially sanctioned rules, policies, and procedures in order to
achieve better outcomes for themselves (Danis, 2003). The inefficiency and corruption endemic
to the institution of central planning made it necessary for virtually everyone to engage from time
to time in activities that were officially disallowed but often required for survival (Danis &
Shipilov, 2004). Given this context, we argue that the pre-transition generation would be more
likely to express a preference for individually beneficial upward influence strategies than organi-
zationally beneficial ones.
Hypothesis 2a: The pre-transition generation will be more accepting of individually ben-
eficial upward influence strategies than the post-transition generation.
The post-transition generation began their professional lives during a period of profound
institutional upheaval, at a time when new players (e.g., foreign firms, new domestic leaders)
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294 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
with new ideas were reshaping the social, political, and economic landscape. During periods of
institutional flux, as in the Czech transition, there is a search for identity among individuals as
they develop new behavioral scripts that are better aligned with the emerging institutional template
(Johnson, Smith, & Codling, 2000). Because the previous institutional template was widely
viewed as illegitimate and corrupt (Soulsby & Clark, 1996), we argue that the post-transition
generation will aim to co-align their behavioral scripts with new rules and routines as they
emerge during the transition from communism to representative democracy and from central
planning to a free-market system. As the transition progresses, business students and young
managers and professionals in particular are exposed to alternative workplace behaviors via the
increasing presence of foreign companies, the proliferation of Western-style training and MBA
programs, and a new breed of Czech business leaders, many of whom were émigrés trained in
capitalist countries. We argue that behavioral scripts relied upon previously, as exemplified by
the individually beneficial behaviors that were endemic to the communist era, will be viewed by
the post-transition generation as illegitimate and incongruous with the newly emerging institutional
template, especially to the extent that emergence of market-oriented institutions render them
obsolete. We therefore predict that the post-transition generation will express a preference for
organizationally beneficial behaviors:
Hypothesis 2b: The post-transition generation will be more accepting of organizationally
beneficial upward influence strategies than the pre-transition generation.
In sum, owing to the different social, political, and economic environments under which they
were socialized and began their professional lives, the pre-transition generation will be predisposed
toward individually beneficial upward influence behaviors whereas the post-transition generation
will be predisposed toward organizationally beneficially behaviors.
Linking Values to Upward Influence Strategies
We hypothesize that individuals with different value orientations will express different prefer-
ences for alternative upward influence strategies. We propose that individually beneficial strate-
gies reflect underlying conservation and self-enhancement value orientations. Individuals who
value self-enhancement (comprising lower order values of power, achievement, and hedonism)
tend to emphasize social power and recognition, authority, preservation of public image, influ-
ence, and self-respect, all of which are oriented toward the self (Schwartz, 1994a). By the same
token, individually beneficial upward influence strategies are also self-indulgent in nature and
tend to emphasize position power and coercive tactics (Egri et al., 2000; Ralston et al., 2001),
which would seem highly compatible with the power and achievement values that underlie a
self-enhancement orientation. That is, coercive and self-interested tactics, which constitute indi-
vidually beneficial upward influence strategies, may be viewed as behavioral manifestations of
a self-enhancement value orientation. Therefore, we expect self-enhancement values to underlie
preferences for individually beneficial behaviors.
We further expect that individuals who value conservation (comprising lower order values of
security, tradition, and conformity) may also express preferences for individually beneficial
upward influence strategies. Those concerned with security, tradition, and conformity are likely
interested in maintaining the status quo and, by definition, conservation values emphasize
“propriety and restraint of actions and inclinations that might disrupt the prevailing order”
(Schwartz & Bardi, 1997, p. 391). When one’s environment is organized in an authoritarian man-
ner, as during the pre-transition era, individuals who value conservation may feel safe only if they
come to view the existing hierarchical system, characterized by self-interested behaviors and
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Danis et al. 295
extensive use of position power and authority, as legitimate (Schwartz et al., 2000). Such indi-
viduals may thus view individually beneficial upward influence strategies as a natural and appro-
priate outcome of such a system.
We theorize that organizationally beneficial strategies reflect openness to change and self-
transcendence value orientations. Individuals who value self-transcendence (comprising lower
order values of universalism and benevolence) emphasize helpfulness, honesty, loyalty, and
responsibility (Schwartz, 1994a), suggesting a proclivity for altruistic rather than self-serving
behavior. Consequently, these individuals should favor organizationally beneficial rather than
individually beneficial upward influence strategies. We also expect that openness to change
(comprising lower order values of stimulation and self-direction) will be associated with organi-
zationally beneficial strategies. Individuals who are open to change tend to value curiosity, cre-
ativity, excitement, and variety (Schwartz, 1994a). This tendency suggests an orientation toward
constructive interaction with others in the organization (rather than the inward focus that charac-
terizes individually beneficial behaviors) and is also well-matched to the needs of most organiza-
tions (particularly those in transitional economies), which must continually adapt to changes in
their environment in order to survive and prosper. The above discussion suggests that value ori-
entations directly influence preferences for upward influence strategies, as follows:
Hypothesis 3a: Conservation and self-enhancement values will have a direct positive asso-
ciation with individually beneficial upward influence strategies.
Hypothesis 3b: Openness to change and self-transcendence values will have a direct posi-
tive association with organizationally beneficial upward influence strategies.
Our theoretical logic suggests that intergenerational differences in upward influence strategy
preferences are a function of specific underlying value orientations, which reflect the historically
distinctive social, political, and economic environments under which the pre- and post-transition
generations were socialized and began their professional lives. Formally, values mediate the
relationship between generation cohort and upward influence strategy preferences, as follows:
Hypothesis 4a: Conservation and self-enhancement values will mediate generation-based
preferences for individually beneficial upward influence strategies.
Hypothesis 4b: Openness to change and self-transcendence values will mediate generation-
based preferences for organizationally beneficial upward influence strategies.
The theoretical framework we propose (Figure 1) posits that pre- and post-transition generations
will differ in both their value orientations and their preference for upward influence strategies.
The framework also suggests that generationally based preferences for certain upward influence
strategies are a reflection of underlying value orientations, which mediate the relationship between
generation cohort and upward influence strategy preferences.
Method
Participants and Measures
We surveyed 416 Czech managers, professionals, and business students in 2003. Among these,
26.2% were business students and the rest were managers and professionals. Table 1 shows the
descriptive statistics and demographic variables of the sample. Among the companies we surveyed,
six were owned by Western European firms, three were Czech-owned, and one was U.S.-owned.
We used a questionnaire that was translated from English to Czech via standard back-translation
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296 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
procedures. In order to reduce social desirability bias, participants were instructed that there
were no right or wrong answers and that it was their perceptions that mattered.
Values. Value orientations were measured using the 57-item Schwartz Value Survey (SVS;
Schwartz, 1992). Participants were asked to indicate on a 9-point scale ranging from -1 to 7 how
important each value was to them personally, with -1 indicating the item was “opposed to my
values,” a 0 indicating “not important,” and 7 indicating “supreme importance.” In our hypoth-
eses testing, we used the 45 SVS items that Schwartz found had cross-cultural equivalence in
meaning to measure individual values. To control for potential response bias we used within-
subject standardization prior to testing our hypotheses (Leung & Bond, 1989; Schwartz, 1994b;
Smith & Schwartz, 1997).
Upward influence strategies. We measured upward influence strategies using the Strategies
of Upward Influence (SUI) instrument developed by Ralston, Egri, and colleagues (Egri et al.,
2000; Ralston et al., 2001). The original SUI scale had three dimensions: (1) organizational ben-
eficial behaviors, (2) self-indulgent behaviors, and (3) destructive behaviors. Factor analysis
from our data showed that Factors 2 and 3 were highly correlated, so we collapsed these two
dimensions into a new factor, individual beneficial behaviors. Confirmatory factor analysis
showed that the two-factor model had significantly better fit indices (CFI = .93, IFI = .93,
SRMR = .05, χ2 = 463.29, p < .01) than the three-factor model (CFI = .75, IFI = .75, SRMR = .19,
χ2 = 829.33, Δχ2 = 366.04, p < .01). The new factor, which we label individually beneficial behav-
iors, includes both self-indulgent behaviors and destructive behaviors and encompasses the
underlying concept of a self-serving tendency.
Generation cohort. We divided the participants into pre- and post-transition generation cohorts
based on their work experience. We categorized those with work experience prior to 1990 (13 or
more years) as the pre-transition generation (n = 219) and those who started their work life after
1990 (with less than 13 years of work experience) as the post-transition generation (n = 190). The
post-transition cohort was coded as 1 and the pre-transition cohort as 0.
Control variables. Schwartz (2007) suggests that variables such as age, gender, and education
determine the life circumstances to which individuals are exposed and that other “background”
variables indicate “the socialization and learning experiences, the social roles they play, expecta-
tion and sanctions they encounter, and the abilities they develop. Thus, differences in background
characteristics represent differences in the life circumstances that affect value priorities” (p. 5).
We thus measured and controlled for age, gender (coded 1 = male, 2 = female), education (coded
1 = 4 or fewer years of completed, 2 = 5 to 8 years completed, 3 = 9 to 12 years completed, 4 = 13
Pre-transition
Post-transition
Conservation & Self-enhancement
Openness to change & self-
transcendence
Individually beneficial
Organizationally beneficial
H1a H3a
H2a
H2b
H1b H3b
H4a
H4b
Cohort Values Upward Influence Strategies
Figure 1. The Relationship Between Generation Cohort, Value Orientations, and Upward Influence
Strategy Preferences
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297
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics, Correlations, and Scale Reliabilities for Pre- and Post-Transition Generations
Variables
Pre- Post-
Mean, Median,
or Freq. (SD)
Mean, Median,
or Freq. (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
1. Age 42.56 (7.38) 25.60 (8.49) -.09 .13 .21 .01 .08 .02 .10 .08 -.12 -.09 .19 -.10
2. Gender 45.3% male 39% male -.15 -.15 -.18 .10 -.17 .03 .04 .12 .12 .08 .17 -.09
3. Education 13 to 16 years 13 to 16 years .19 -.17 .33 .04 .05 .02 .07 -.03 .12 .07 .06 .12
4. Position First level
manager
First level
manager
.34 -.26 .46 -.08 .04 .04 .12 .09 .12 .10 -.03 .07
5. Company size 62% 100-1000 57% 100-1000 .00 .14 .05 -.09 .10 .09 -.00 .05 -.04 .02 .03 .03
6. Industry 37% Service 42% Service .09 -.21 .05 .03 .11 .05 -.02 -.05 .03 .09 -.03 .05
7. Ownership 30% Czech 27% Czech .02 .03 .01 .06 .08 .07 -.05 .07 .05 -.00 .09 -.07
8. Conservation 1.41 (.48) 1.24 (.45) .15 .04 .07 .15 -.02 .03 -.03 (.80/ .76) .14 -.12 .17 -.15 .13
9. Self-enhancement 1.65 (.62) 1.48 (.61) .11 .11 -.05 .08 .04 .08 .08 .15 (.79 /.76) .10 -.15 -.14 .10
10. Openness to change 1.56 (.43) 1.67 (.49) -.10 .09 .11 .10 -.07 -.06 .05 -.12 .11 (.82/ .85) .18 .18 -.10
11. Self-transcendence .76 (.21) .83 (.23) -.12 .07 .07 .09 .03 .08 -.02 .16 -.12 .17 (.73/ .77) .19 -.07
12. Organizational
beneficial strategy
5.60 (.83) 6.37 (.83) .18 .15 .07 .05 .02 .03 .07 -.12 -.11 .16 .19 (.75/.78) -.08
13. Individual beneficial
strategy
2.51 (.59) 1.88 (.21) -.12 -.10 .12 .09 .02 .02 -.08 .10 .10 -.09 -.10 -.08 (.86/.85)
Note: N = 219 for pre-transition and N = 190 for post-transition generations. If correlation coefficients ≥ .10, p < .05; correlation coefficients ≥ .15, p < .01; correlation coefficients ≥ .19,
p < .001. Correlations for the pre-transition generation are below the diagonal and correlations for the post-transition generation are above the diagonal. Cronbach’s alphas are in
parentheses on the diagonal (pre-/post-).
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298 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
to 16 years completed/bachelor’s degree, 5 = master’s degree, and 6 = doctorate degree), posi-
tion (coded 1 = non-supervisory staff, 2 = first-level manager, 3 = middle-level manager, and
4 = upper level manager), size of company (coded 1 = less than 100 employees, 2 = 100 to 1,000
employees, and 3 = more than 1,000 employees), industry (coded 1 = agriculture, mining, for-
estry fishing [7.3%], 2 = construction [10.7%], 3 = manufacturing [29.3%], 4 = service industry,
including utility, wholesale, retail, financial service, hotel, healthcare [37%], and 5 = other
[14.7%]), and ownership (1 = Czech owned [48%] or 2 = foreign owned [52%]). Table 1 shows
the means/median/frequency, standard deviations, correlations, and scale reliabilities (Cronbach’s
alphas) for the variables.
Because the variables in this study relied on self-report data gathered at the same time, the
influence of common method error variance is a potential concern. Multicollinearity was also a
concern. We therefore employed a number of preventive measures such as providing anonymity
and confidentiality of responses to study participants, using different scale anchors for the per-
sonal values items and upward influence strategy items, and using measures that had been dem-
onstrated as valid and reliable by previous research (Podasakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff,
2003). In addition, we performed Harman’s single-factor test and a series of confirmatory factor
analyses prior to testing our hypotheses (Korsgaard & Roberson, 1995; Podasakoff et al., 2003).
The hypothesized six-factor measurement model comprised four individual-level values factors
(openness to change, conservation, self-enhancement, and self-transcendence) and two upward
influence factors (organizationally beneficial strategies and individually beneficial strategies).
Compared to alternative models, our theoretically driven model appears to have the best fit
(CFI = .90, IFI = .91, SRMR = .057).
Results
Hypothesis 1 posited that the pre- and post-transition generations would differ in their value
orientations with the pre-transition generation assigning more importance to conservation and
self-enhancement than the post-transition generation, and the post-transition generation assign-
ing more importance to openness to change and self-transcendence than the pre-transition gen-
eration. The descriptive statistics provided in Table 1 show that the mean differences between the
pre- and post-transition generations on the four higher level individual values are in the expected
direction. To test the significance of these differences, we regressed each of the four values on
the dummy variable for generation cohort, controlling for age, gender, education, position, com-
pany size, industry, and company ownership. Results are shown in Table 2 and indicate that gen-
eration cohort is a significant predictor of value orientation, fully supporting Hypothesis 1.
To test Hypotheses 2, 3, and 4, we followed the method established by Baron and Kenny
(1986). In each case (see Table 3), we retained the same control variables as in Table 2. First, we
ran two models testing whether the dummy variable (generation) was a significant predictor of
individually beneficial strategy (Model 1) and organizationally beneficial strategy (Model 5), as
specified in Hypothesis 2. These analyses showed that the post-transition generation indicated a
significantly lower acceptance of individually beneficial strategies but a significantly higher
acceptance of organizationally beneficial strategies than did the pre-transition generation (we
note, however, that both generations favor organizationally beneficial strategies). We then added
to each of these models our four value variables: conservation (Model 2), self-enhancement
(Model 3), openness to change (Model 6), and self-transcendence (Model 7). In all four cases,
values had a significant impact on the dependent variables (as specified in Hypothesis 3) and
reduced the coefficient for generation to nonsignificance. This finding supports Hypothesis 4,
which posits that the effect of generation cohort on the dependent variables (individually or organi-
zationally beneficial strategies) is fully mediated by values. We further tested the combination
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Danis et al. 299
effects of conservation and self-enhancement (Model 4) and the combination effect of openness
to change and self-transcendence (Model 8); the results corroborated the mediating effects of
values on generational difference in upward influence strategies.
Given the cross-sectional nature of our data and the high correlations among the measured
attitudinal variables, one can reasonably question the order of mediation for these variables.
Where the second and third links of the proposed chain aàbàc are highly intercorrelated, it
Table 2. Multiple Regression Results for Hypothesis 1
Dependent VariablesàConservation Self-Enhancement Openness to Change Self-Transcendence
Age .09* .10* -.10* -.11*
Gender -.05 -.06 -.09* -.06
Education .03 .05 .08* .04
Position .04 .03 -.03 .05
Company size .04 .09* .05 -.03
Industry -.02 .03 .02 -.02
Ownership -.03 -.04 .08* .04
Generation .22** .21** -.26** -.25**
Overall F10.91*** 9.53*** 13.27*** 12.08***
Adjusted R2.05 .05 .07 .07
df 8, 401 8, 401 8, 401 8, 401
Note: Generation is coded 0 = post-transition generation, 1 = pre-transition generation.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Table 3. Multiple Regression Results for Hypothesis 2, Hypothesis 3, and Hypothesis 4
Model
Individually Beneficial Strategies Organizationally Beneficial Strategies
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Age .09* .06* .06* .04 -.07* -.05* -.06* -.03
Gender .06* .05* .05* .04 -.05* -.03 -.03 -.02
Education -.03 .01 -.02 -.01 .02 -.01 -.02 .00
Position .03 .03 .02 .02 -.03 -.03 -.03 -.02
Company size -.05* -.04 -.04 -.04 .03 .03 .03 .03
Industry -.02 -.03 .01 -.01 .01 -.02 -.02 -.01
Ownership -.03 -.03 -.03 -.01 .05* .03 .03 .03
Generation .15** .04 .05 .03 -.12** -.05 -.05 -.02
Conservation .23** .18**
Self-Enhancement .19** .22**
Openness to
change
.28** .24**
Self-
Transcendence
.25** .23**
Overall F9.53*** 82.05*** 79.63*** 133.27*** 10.91*** 94.48*** 92.60*** 150.05***
Adjusted R2.05 .23 .21 .28 .04 .25 .24 .32
DR2.18*** .16*** .23*** .21*** .20*** .28***
df 8, 401 9,400 9,400 10,399 8, 401 9,400 9,400 10,399
Note: Standardized regression coefficients are reported. The coefficients displayed in Models 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are
from the Step 2 models. Generation is coded 0 = post-transition generation, 1 = pre-transition generation.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
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300 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
remains feasible, given the Baron and Kenny (1986) analysis, that the true chain might be aàcàb.
For this reason, we tested credible rival causal chains. We reasoned that a preference for the
individually beneficial upward influence strategy might be proposed as a more direct consequence
of membership in the pre-transition generation cohort and this attitude might in turn affect values
of conservation and self-enhancement. Also, a preference for the organizationally beneficial
upward influence strategy might somehow be affected by generation and that this intent might
affect the values of openness to experience and self-transcendence. The data did not support these
alternative hypotheses and were consistent with the notion that values mediated the impact of
generation on both upward influence strategies. In sum, the alternative causal chain did not hold
and upward influence strategies did not appear to mediate the generational effects on values.
Discussion
Our study extends and integrates work on national subcultures, personal values, and influence
behavior in the relatively unexplored context of transitional economies and offers important
insights into how institutional changes may impact managerial values and behavior. Our results
provide evidence for the existence of pre- and post-transition generational cohorts in the Czech
Republic, which differ in their value orientations and attitudes about suitable upward influence
strategies. As predicted, the post-transition generation attaches more importance to openness to
change and self-transcendence values and perceives organizationally beneficial upward influ-
ence strategies as more appropriate than the pre-transition generation, while the pre-transition
generation endorses the values of conservation and self-enhancement and accepts individually
beneficial behaviors more than the post-transition generation. Our results indicate that there are
significant differences in values and attitudes between the pre- and post-transition generations in
the Czech Republic, which, we argue, stem in part from the radically different institutional con-
texts under which each generation was trained and socialized. We next describe how this study
contributes to the literature by discussing its theoretical and managerial implications and suggest-
ing some directions for future research.
Theoretical Implications and Future Research Directions
This article contributes to the research evidence that upward influence strategies differ not only
across cultures (Ralston et al., 2001; Terpstra, Ralston, Jesuino, & Cheung, 2002) but also across
generations within a given national culture. Given that upward influence is an essential social
process in many aspects of group and organizational functions, such as leadership and commu-
nication (Yukl & Tracey, 1992), our findings reveal how value orientations may underlie upward
influence preferences and how institutional context might dynamically shape individual values
and upward influence behaviors. If international researchers are to develop theoretically robust
models of value-based organizational behavior, it is important to identify factors that are consis-
tent both across cultures and within them, as well as those that are different (Ralston, Hallinger
et al., 2005).
Ohmae (1995) maintains that the “global convergence [of media, goods and services] over-
lays new tastes on an established, but largely unaffected, base of social norms and values. The
contents of kitchens and closets may change, but the core mechanisms by which cultures main-
tain identity and socialize their young remain untouched” (p. 30). The dramatic social, political,
and economic changes in Central and Eastern Europe offer an opportunity to assess this proposi-
tion via a comparison of fundamental value orientations and behavioral preferences among pre-
and post-transition generation cohorts. Our findings suggest that societal value systems may not
be as monolithic as Ohmae indicates. Although changes in culture typically occur incrementally
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Danis et al. 301
over centuries, it is possible that societal value systems may change within a generation due to
sudden, extreme changes in life circumstances, such as those that have taken place in post-
communist countries like the Czech Republic (Inglehart, 1997; Schwartz & Bardi, 1997; Schwartz
et al., 2000).
Inglehart’s (1997; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005) theory of culture change postulates that prevail-
ing socioeconomic, political, and existential conditions during one’s formative years shape indi-
vidual value orientations and that there is a tendency to retain a given value hierarchy throughout
one’s adult life. Changes in societal value systems take place over time as successive generation
cohorts adapt to fundamentally different conditions. While our findings seem generally consis-
tent with this premise, we note that much prior work on value formation and change has focused
rather narrowly on level of socioeconomic development (Abramson, Inglehart, Duch, & Taylor,
1994; Allen et al., 2007; Hofstede, 1980; Inglehart & Abramson, 1994; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005).
Theories linking socioeconomic development and values typically posit that higher levels of
development bring more security and opportunities for independence, which promote increased
endorsement of values related to autonomy, egalitarianism, and self-expression and decreased endorse-
ment of values related to conservation and hierarchy (Allen et al., 2007; Schwartz & Bardi,
1997). Our study suggests a more multifaceted explanation for value formation and change: adap-
tation to the prevailing institutional environment. Because institutional environments comprise
political, social, and economic domains, our perspective provides a potentially richer account of the
complex interrelations between values, value-based behaviors, and political, social, and economic
variables. A broader focus on institutional environments may also be more useful when studying
values differences among countries with similar levels of socioeconomic development.
Our finding that generation predicts values after controlling for age is theoretically significant
because it supports our interpretation that value differences in transitional economies may be due
to generationally based paradigms and orientations derived from shared socialization and event-
based experiences (Wade-Benzoni, 2002) rather than life stage. For example, there is some evi-
dence for an increase in pro-social orientation with age (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Roberts, Walton,
& Viechtbauer, 2006) and a decline among older samples in the importance of self-enhancement
(Caprara, Caprara, & Steca, 2003; Knafo & Schwartz, 2001). However, our data indicate that (after
controlling for age) the younger generation gives higher importance to self-transcendence and
lower importance to self-enhancement. Again, this finding suggests generational rather than life-
stage effects and points to a potentially fruitful area for further investigation.
In sum, our study provides an empirically based theoretical account of how generational
preferences for certain upward influence strategies are mediated by underlying differences in
value orientations, which reflect historically idiosyncratic institutional conditions. Our results
have important practical implications and suggest a number of areas for future research, which
we discuss next.
Future research could extend or modify this study along several dimensions. For instance, our
results are intriguing in light of more recent work on the Schwartz value framework (Fontaine,
Poortinga, Delbeke, & Schwartz, 2008), which groups values into those that express anxiety-free
self-expansion (growth values: self-direction, universalism, benevolence, stimulation, hedonism)
versus anxiety-based self-protection (protection values: security, power, achievement, confor-
mity, tradition). While the growth/protection conceptualization is congruent with the original
formulation of the value theory (Fontaine et al., 2008; Schwartz, 1992), it provides further per-
spective on the underlying motivational schemas that may underlie value orientations among
different generations and may thus be an interesting area for future research.
Although a single country study allowed us to control for inter-country differences that might
otherwise impact values and behaviors, multi-country studies examining values and upward influ-
ence strategies in a variety of institutional contexts will be necessary for further theory development.
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302 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(2)
We argue that generation cohorts reflect unique value priorities emphasized during a particular
historical period and depict the nature of institutional and cultural change in a society over time,
but the cross-sectional nature of our study provides an imperfect measure of how individual
values change over time and why. Longitudinal studies hence represent a major opportunity for
future research on these questions. And although upward influence tactics are important facets of
behavior, which can impact firm performance and several individual-level outcomes (Kipnis &
Schmidt, 1988), the finite scope of our study prevented us from investigating other potentially
important behaviors that may be connected to generational value orientations. Future research
could explore the interactions of values and behaviors in other important domains of organiza-
tional behavior. Future research could also raise the level of theory development by examining
the processes by which disparate values, attitudes, and behaviors are reconciled at different levels
of analysis. For example, one might consider this process at a societal level, the interorganizational
level, or the intra-organizational level, in a variety of institutional contexts.
Managerial Implications
Awareness of generational differences due to sharp social changes will inform managerial and
professional practices since multiple generation cohorts are likely to coexist in many organiza-
tions. The identification of generational value orientations and behaviors is especially relevant
for organizations that are in the midst of transformational change, such as those in many transi-
tional and emerging economies, as well as for foreign firms seeking to do business with such
firms. Knowledge about significant generational value differences can help organizations predict
the degree of receptivity (or resistance) to planned corporate changes or new initiatives introduced
by foreign partners (Egri & Ralston, 2004).
Moreover, transitional economies offer unprecedented business opportunities for multinational
companies (MNCs), and collaboration with local firms is the dominant strategy used by these
companies to conduct business in such countries (Hitt, Dacin, Levitas, Arregle, & Borza, 2000).
Yet research on such partnerships reveals that differences in values and behaviors, which are
attributed to the different political, economic, social, and cultural contexts within which manag-
ers are trained and socialized, can be significant and problematic (Danis & Parkhe, 2002). Our
study further suggests that managers should be attuned to some of the more subtle differences
and potential reconciliations within cultures, particularly when their organizations comprise
members who have been socialized and trained in different sociohistorical circumstances.
Consistent with prior research (Inglehart & Welzel, 2005), we argue that generational differ-
ences may be especially pronounced in countries that have undergone radical institutional and
social upheaval, such as transitional economies. As attracting and retaining talent becomes a
more prominent challenge to MNCs, the generational differences in values and upward influence
strategies that we found can provide specific strategies for managing and motivating employees
in transitional economies. For pre-transition generations, MNC managers need to facilitate their
adaptation to market-oriented business practices, with which they may have relatively limited
experience, while being empathetic as to the reasons for value orientations and behaviors that
may not always mesh well with organizational objectives. For post-transition employees, MNCs
can strive to provide stimulating workplace environments and career opportunities that leverage
tendencies toward self-transcendence and openness to change.
Conclusion
Transitional economies, like the Czech Republic, provide fertile settings for studying how insti-
tutional transformation impacts the values, attitudes, and behaviors of different national subcultures.
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Danis et al. 303
In this study, we sought to better understand how attitudes toward one important type of behavior,
upward influence strategies, can be explained by value orientations that derive from a particular
historical period and/or institutional context. Our results advance the literature on values and
attitudes embedded in the political, economic, and social circumstances under which different
generations were educated and socialized. While our conclusions are necessarily tentative, this
study answers some important questions, raises others, and suggests future research directions
that have the potential to further enhance our understanding of how values and behaviors develop
and change in response to institutional upheaval.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interests with respect to their authorship or the publica-
tion of this article.
Financial Disclosure/Funding
The authors declared that they received no financial support for their research and/or authorship of this
article.
Note
1. Czechoslovakia existed from 1918 until 1992. On January 1, 1993, it peacefully split into the Czech
Republic and Slovakia. Hence, we use the term Czechoslovakia when referring to events prior to
January 1993.
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