Attitudes and values free essay sample

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate employee values and work-related attitudes in Chinese manufacturing companies in comparison with values and attitudes in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach – The paper will investigate employee values at the societal level, attitudes toward the employing organization, work and the determinants of pay. A survey was conducted in two plants in the electronics industry in China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. A standardised questionnaire comprising 39 items was developed by the Denki Ringo research group. Findings – The results of an empirical study in Asian manufacturing companies indicate signi? cant differences, as well as similarities, among values at the societal level and job-related attitudes in China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. It is argued that the differences in work-related attitudes are in? uenced by the respective societies’ historical legacy, and in particular differences in institutional development. Research limitations/implications – In order to draw broader conclusions, it is necessary to explore alternative explanations and conduct further empirical research in other industries. Practical implications – Multinationals interested in developing manufacturing in China could bene? t from information given in this paper about the work-related attitudes of Chinese employees compared to employees in other Asian societies, where they may already have experience. Originality/value – This study contributes to the understanding of factors in? uencing values and work-related attitudes at the societal, organizational, and individual level. Keywords Employee attitudes, Manufacturing industries, China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong Paper type Research paper Chinese Management Studies Vol. 2 No. 1, 2008 pp. 32-51 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1750-614X DOI 10. 1108/17506140810866232 Introduction Many multinationals are interested in developing manufacturing in China, but are unfamiliar with conditions within this emerging market (Foo, 2001). As a result of the economic and social reforms, since 1978, China has experienced tremendous economic growth (Yao, 2006). Chinese managers are facing two challenges: one is to focus on organizational ef? ciency; the second is to change competitive strategies (Wang, 2007). Although there has been a signi? cant body of operational management research (Rungtusanatham et al. , 2003), western companies have experienced dif? culties when managing in China (Foo, 2001). A greater understanding of the values and work related attitudes held by local employees may help managers of multinationals in China. Employee attitudes have been considered an indicator of the future success of an organisation (Hurst, 1995). An attitude is the psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). People’s attitudes result in them acting in one certain way instead of another (Cooper and Croyle, 1984). Values in? uence attitudes and the strength of those attitudes (Boninger et al. , 1995). Values exist and are communicated through social connections and may vary in different cultures and different countries (Fisher and Lovell, 2003). According to Hofstede (1993), national culture affects management of organizations. Previous studies indicate the importance of the developmental stage of state institutions in the formation of attitudes (Alas, 2006; Alas and Edwards, 2007; Alas and ? Vadi, 2006; Ennulo and Turnpuu, 2001). The longitudinal survey of work-related values in different countries on the basis of China, Europe and the USA found differences in value hierarchies in people according to the stability of institutions at the time they started their careers (Alas et al. , 2006; Alas and Ennulo, 2007; Alas and Sun, n. d. ). In order to ? nd more suitable ways to motivate and lead Chinese employees, a better understanding of their values and attitudes is required. The companies operating or planning operations in China may already have experiences in Asia: in South Korea, or Hong Kong. As there is a signi? cant body of research in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, a comparison with these countries may help to understand Chinese employees better. Considering China’s emerging role in the world economy, a more comprehensive understanding of values and work-related attitudes among Chinese employees seems potentially valuable. The research question is, how similar or different are the values and work-related attitudes of Chinese employees compared to the values and attitudes of employees from their neighbours: Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. This paper contributes to the literature by providing an examination of the values and work-related attitudes of employees from China, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. The study investigates how a country’s institutional framework in? uences employee values at the societal level, their understanding of the meaning of work and the determinants of pay, and their attitudes towards the employing organisation and work itself. The paper begins by presenting the theoretical framework for the study, including a discussion of values, attitudes and institutions. This is followed by a description of the empirical study and ? nally the data collected from the empirical studies in these four areas is analysed and the results discussed. Theoretical framework The keywords concerning today’s economy include a changing environment and a divergent work force. There is the need for changes in organizations in emerging economies (Zhou et al. , 2006). As multiple interacting changes have led to a highly complex, confusing and unpredictable state, the focus in the change process has shifted from product innovation and technological change to behavioural aspects of change and attitudes about change (Bergquist, 1993). Organisational change has been seen as an individual-level phenomenon, because it occurs only when the majority of individuals change their behaviour or attitudes (Whelan-Berry et al. , 2003). Therefore, it is worthwhile studying the attitudes and values of individuals also in terms of the theoretical development of international management. The attitudes and values of employees Affective commitment refers to an employee identifying and being psychologically involved with the organization (Meyer and Allen, 1997), and concerns the emotional Chinese manufacturing companies 33 CMS 2,1 34 ties people have with their work (Zondag, 2001). Commitment attitudes could lead to commitment behaviour, which would in turn in? uence commitment attitudes (Reichers, 1985). Therefore, attitudes are important in an organisational context. One of the main factors determining people’s commitment to their jobs is job satisfaction (Wilcox, 1995). People who are satis? ed with their jobs usually develop high levels of commitment, whereas those who are less satis? ed are also less committed. Job satisfaction, de? ned as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job (Locke, 1976), is considered as a combination of attitudes about various aspects or facets of the job, which form the overall job satisfaction construct (Spector, 1997). Values have a motivational characteristic (Parsons, 1951) by in? uencing and directing our choices and actions (Gini, 2004). Values have been de? ned as the principles or standards that people use, individually or collectively, to make judgements about what is important or valuable in their lives (McEwan, 2001). Values are shaped by personal beliefs and developed through study, introspection and consultation with others and a lifetime of experience (George, 2003). Many studies have shown the value differences of different nations (House et al. , 2004; Hofstede, 1980). Comparative studies of values indicate signi? cant differences in Chinese and the USA evaluations of value statements (Peppars and Yu, 2007; Ralston et al. , 2006). There are connections between cultural values and job attitudes (Kirkman and Shapiro, 2001). Connections have been found between institutional development and attitudes and values. A comparative study in 15 countries indicated higher job satisfaction and commitment to the company in established capitalist countries compared to former socialist countries (Alas and Rees, 2006). Research results in former socialist countries indicate that the way people form their attitudes may differ according to the institutional developments at the time the people started their careers (Alas and Vadi, 2006). Research results indicate that speci? c institutional environments have an impact on peoples’ value system (Alas, 2005). A longitudinal survey of values, which started in the second half of the 1990s, indicated that Estonian business students who have formed their values under a Soviet centrally planned economy underestimated social values when compared with Finnish students, who had no experience of the socialist order (Alas et al. , 2006). The same study in China indicated differences in work-related values between groups according to the time they started their careers (Alas and Sun, n. d. ). Therefore, in the current study, institutionalism is applied to explain differences in attitudes and values. Institutionalism Institutionalists stress, the importance of the institutional environment in order to understand behaviour (North, 1990). Institutions can be seen from both a structural and a social perspective. In the structural view, institutions exist as institutionalised forms of â€Å"external social constraints†. From the social perspective, institutions can be understood to be operating as behavioural de? ners, which may take the form of either â€Å"cultural accounts† or â€Å"cultural rules†. This means that institutions provide an account of how the social world works, and also embody normative principles and social values (Meyer et al. , 1994, p. 24). Individual organisations are under the technical and normative in? uence of institutionalised environments. A population’s cultural values are typically an essential element behind the ways work is organized in companies (Head and Sorensen, 2005). Many studies have described the impact of national culture on management practices and organisational behaviours, but very few have speci? cally addressed cross-cultural differences in work values among labour forces (Strong and Nicholson, 1998). As China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong are all in? uenced by Confucianism (Chokkar et al. , 2007), the author could assume that a similar cultural heritage will result in similar values and attitudes. At the same time, although Confucianism plays a pivotal role in guiding Chinese thinking and behaviour (Nankervis and Ngok, 2007), there have been changes in people’s values (Alas and Sun, n. d. ). Lu and Alon (2004) found a new social group growing during the new economic developments in China. Therefore, the differences in the stages of economic development and political systems should also be taken into consideration. The Chinese economy, previously a relatively closed system, is now on a reform path toward an open, market-driven system. After the war and revolution, China experienced a 30-year recovery period from 1949 to 1978. The Communist Party of China has led the People’s Republic of China under a one-party system since the country’s establishment in 1949. In 1978, an ambitious reform program was launched in China. Rural economy was de-collectivized, private and semi-private enterprises mushroomed, and the state sector steadily shrank (Zhang, 2004). Reform has been accompanied by a decentralization of economic control. The rigid monopoly of the government over foreign trade and the policy of autarky were abandoned (Foy and Maddison, 1999). In recent years, China has undergone rapid economic reform and dynamic organizational changes. The economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping started in 1978 have increasingly introduced market forces into the socialist system. Several major developments have given special momentum to those changes: China entering the WTO, opening the western regions of China, building up an information network, transforming new management systems nationwide, and encouraging innovations and entrepreneurship (Wang, 2003). Currently, economic reforms in China are involving the reform and reconstruction of its enterprises. Nearly, half of the PRC’s economy has been privatized in the past three decades under â€Å"Socialism with Chinese characteristics† and the number of state-owned enterprises declined from 238,000 to 150,000 between 1998 and the end of 2003 (Puffer et al. , 2007, p. 149). Economic ideology most likely evolves from the legal and political systems of a society (Kelley et al. , 1987). The business environment and the political environment of a society can differ and this is true in the case of China. At the same time, business ideology has been considered the primary driver of longitudinal changes in values (Ralston et al. , 1999, 2006). Japan and South Korea have had the opportunities to develop a market economy earlier than China and did not experience a centrally planned economic system. Between the early 1960s and 1997, Hong Kong and South Korea rapidly industrialized and sustained high-growth rates (Fogel, 2005). Hong Kong was a British colony for more than 100 years, in 1997 it was returned to China as a Special Administrative Region of China under the â€Å"one country, two systems† formula (Huque and Yep, 2003). Chinese manufacturing companies 35 CMS 2,1 36 This paper proposes differences in attitudes and values in China compared to Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. The author hypothesizes, based on results in Eastern and western Europe, that the level of the satisfaction of needs in China, according to Maslow’s (1954) needs pyramid, is lower than in other countries. Therefore, Chinese people turn more attention to satisfying the lower level needs compared to respondents from the other three societies, who are more focused on satisfying higher level needs. This assumption is tested on three levels: the societal, organizational and individual level. Empirical study Methodology and sample The survey was conducted in China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. In each of these societies, the survey was conducted in two plants in the electronics industry: one produces telecommunications equipment and the other electrical goods for household use. On the societal level, questions were asked about values, including the meaning of work. On the organisational level, the issue of commitment to the company was explored. Individuals were asked about job satisfaction and pay determinants. A standardised questionnaire comprising 39 items was developed by the Denki Ringo research group (Ishikawa et al. , 2006) and translated from English to the language of each of the four societies. In order to ensure the quality of this survey, the questionnaire was retranslated back to English. The questions in the survey addressed expectations toward society, commitment to organizations, job satisfaction and attitudes toward the determinants of pay. Items in each question can be seen in the Appendices. There were 2,112 respondents in the sample: 449 from China, 840 from Japan, 571 from South Korea and 252 from Hong Kong. Data from the four societies were compared ? rst according to rankings and after that by means of an ANOVA test. Society level values and attitudes In order to ? nd society level values and attitudes, people were asked about their preferred society and their attitudes toward the meaning of work. The rankings in Table I show what kind of society people prefer. The table shows two columns. Each column contains the same values, but they are ranked differently in each case. If the position of the values in the columns are further than two places apart then they are marked in italics. Such differences were found in ? ve out of eight values. In South Korea, well-established values and ethics are ranked ? rst, and in China, second, but only ? fth in Hong Kong and last in Japan. Material standards are fourth in South Korea and ? fth in China – this item has been ranked last in Hong Kong and one but last in Japan. Social equality is third in China, sixth in Hong Kong and Japan and last in South Korea. Living with peace of mind is ranked lowest in South Korea. Acquiring the results of their own work is third in Japan, fourth in Hong Kong, sixth in South Korea and last in China. According to the ANOVA test there are statistically signi? cant differences between the four societies in all eight items (Appendix 1). People from China put more emphasis on the material standard of living than the others, especially Japan and Hong Kong. At the same time, Chinese people are least interested in acquiring all the results of their own work, which is most important for people from Hong Kong. Well-established values and ethics is also most valued by the Chinese respondents and least by the Japanese respondents. Rankings of items in Table II differ signi? cantly only in seeing work as a way to serve society and concern for serving society. Hong Kong respondents ranked this item Japan Korea 1. 27 People live life by observing 1. 20 Social order is well 1. Social order is well well-established values and maintained with few criminal maintained with few criminal ethics offences offences 1. 27 People can live with peace of 1. 34 Everyone cooperates with each 2. People live life by observing mind other in solidarity well-established values and ethics 3. Social equality among people is 1. 28 People can acquire all the 1. 59 Social order is well highly developed results of their own work maintained with few criminal offences 4. People can live with peace of 1. 28 Individuals can develop their 1. 60 People are provided with a mind lives with great opportunities good material standard of living 1. 33 Everyone cooperates with each 1. 68 Individuals can develop their 5. People are provided with a other in solidarity lives with great opportunities good material standard of living 6. Individuals can develop their 1. 34 Social equality among people is 1. 88 People can acquire all the lives with great opportunities highly developed results of their own work 1. 89 People can live with peace of 7. Everyone cooperates with each 1. 37 People are provided with a mind other in solidarity good material standard of living 2. 31 Social equality among people is 8. People can acquire all the 1. 77 People live life by observing highly developed results of their own work well-established values and ethics China 1. 43 1. 79 People are provided with a good material standard of living 1. 65 1. 45 1. 54 People live life by observing well-established values and ethics 1. 59 Social equality among people is 1. 50 highly developed 1. 77 Individuals can develop their 1. 58 lives with great opportunities 1. 51 People can acquire all the results of their own work 1. 48 Everyone cooperates with each 1. 43 other in solidarity 1. 25 1. 46 Social order is well maintained with few criminal offences 1. 46 People can live with peace of 1. 33 mind Hong Kong Chinese manufacturing companies 37 Table I. Rankings of values at the societal level in four countries Table II. Rankings of factors re? ecting the meaning of work in four countries Japan 6. Work gives us status and prestige 2. 67 Work gives us status and prestige 3. 90 Work is a useful way to serve society 3. 86 Work permits you to have interesting contacts with other people 3. 22 Work provides you with an income that is needed 3. 18 Work keeps you occupied Hong Kong 3. 14 Work is a useful way to serve 3. 16 Work itself is basically society interesting and satisfying 2. 39 Work gives us status and 3. 00 Work gives us status and prestige prestige 4. 31 Work provides you with an income that is needed 3. 72 Work permits you to have interesting contacts with other people 3. 41 Work itself is basically interesting and satisfying 3. 39 Work keeps you occupied Korea 38 1. Work provides you with an 4. 25 Work provides you with an income that is needed income that is needed 2. Work is a useful way to serve 3. 92 Work permits you to have society interesting contacts with other people 3. Work itself is basically 3. 76 Work itself is basically interesting and satisfying interesting and satisfying 3. 65 Work is a useful way to serve 4. Work permits you to have society interesting contacts with other people 5. Work keeps you occupied 2. 93 Work keeps you occupied China 3. 03 3. 75 3. 97 3. 98 3. 98 3. 98 CMS 2,1 ?rst and Chinese second, at the same time, Japanese and Koreans ranked this item fourth and ? fth, respectively. According to the ANOVA test, there are statistically signi? cant differences between the four societies in all six items (Appendix 2). Work is most prestigious, facilitates contacts and keeps people occupied most in Hong Kong and least in Japan and China. The work provides people with an income in Japan and Hong Kong, but this is not so important in China. Work is most interesting in China and Hong Kong. Commitment to the company and job satisfaction Commitment to the company was highest among Chinese employees, followed by those in Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Job satisfaction was measured in two different ways. In the ? rst part of the questionnaire, 15 facets of job satisfaction were evaluated on a ? ve-point scale and later among questions about age and marital status, there was a single question about general satisfaction with working life. Because of the larger number of items in this question, only the differences in rankings greater than four places are marked with italics in Table III. Satisfaction with the security of employment protection was second in Japan, tenth in South Korea and eleventh in China and Hong Kong. Satisfaction with welfare provisions was third in Japan, eighth in Korea, 13th in Hong Kong and 14th in China. Hong Kong people ranked satisfaction with trust between managers and employees third and Korean people ? fth. This item was only ranked eighth in China and Japan. Satisfaction with the competence of management was fourth in Korea, seventh in Hong Kong, ninth in China and 12th in Japan. Satisfaction with training and re-training is eighth in Hong Kong, tenth in China and Japan and 14th in South Korea. Satisfaction with length of working time was second in China, ? fth in Hong Kong and ninth in Japan and Korea. The results of the ANOVA test in Appendix 3 indicate statistically signi? cant differences between the four societies in all facets of job satisfaction except promotion opportunities (F(3; 2,057) ? 1. 745, p ? 0. 156) and business information provided by management (F(3; 2,086) ? 1. 411, p ? 0. 238), but also, in general satisfaction (F(3; 2,101) ? 5. 414, p ? 0. 001) and in commitment to the company (F(3; 2,002) ? 67. 544, p ? 0. 000). The general satisfaction with work life was highest in Hong Kong; Japan was next, followed by China and South Korea. In Japan, satisfaction with security of employment protection and welfare provision is higher than in other societies. Hong Kong is the country with highest satisfaction with training and re-training. Chinese satisfaction with relationships with the boss and co-workers and equal opportunities for women and men are higher than in other countries. Attitude to the determinants of pay The opinions of workers about the determinants of pay are shown in Table IV. Because of the larger number of items in this question, only differences greater than four places are marked with italics in Table IV. The level of education was ranked ? rst by Hong Kong people, only ninth in China and 11th in Korea and 14th in Japan. Korean respondents found company performance the most important and Hong Kong respondents the third most important pay determinant, whereas Chinese-ranked company performance ? fth and Japanese, sixth. Mental load was fourth in Japan, Chinese manufacturing companies 39 Table III. Rankings of the facets of job satisfaction in four countries Japan 14. Welfare provision 15. Pay and fringe bene? ts 11. Security of employment protection 12 Business information provided by management 13. Promotion opportunities 6. Equal opportunities for women and men 7. Work load 8. Trust between managers and employees 9. Competence of management 10. Training and re-training Hong Kong 2. 70 Equal opportunities for women and men 2. 72 Working conditions 2. 89 Work load 2. 75 Trust between managers and 2. 90 Welfare provision employees 2. 81 Length of working time 3. 00 Length of working time 3. 00 Training and re-training 3. 03 Security of employment protection 3. 02 Work load 3. 07 Business information provided by management 3. 06 Competence of management 3. 11 Equal opportunities for women and men 3. 20 Business information 3. 12 Pay and fringe bene? ts provided by management 3. 43 Promotion opportunities 3. 23 Training and re-training 3. 50 Pay and fringe bene? ts 3. 35 Promotion opportunities 3. 21 Pay and fringe bene? ts 3. 22 Promotion opportunities 2. 99 3. 01 2. 92 Work load 2. 94 Equal opportunities for women and men 3. 01 Security of employment protection 3. 09 Business information provided by management 3. 11 Welfare provision 3. 29 3. 36 3. 09 3. 04 3. 04 2. 98 2. 90 2. 86 2. 86 2. 78 2. 45 2. 67 2. 87 Competence of management 2. 88 Training and re-training 2. 76 Trust between managers and 2. 79 Length of working time employees 2. 86 Working conditions 2. 79 Working conditions 2. 31 Relationship with co-workers 2. 16 Relationship with co-workers 2. 71 Relationship with the boss 2. 54 The extent to which work is interesting 2. 72 The extent to which work is 2. 64 Trust between managers and interesting employees 2. 72 Competence of management 2. 79 Relationship with the boss Korea 40 1. Relationship with co-workers 2. 03 Relationship with co-workers 2. Length of working time 2. 39 Security of employment protection 3. The extent to which work is 2. 50 Welfare provision interesting 4. Relationship with the boss 2. 51 The extent to which work is interesting 5. Working conditions 2. 63 Relationship with the boss China CMS 2,1 2. 21 Language abilities 2. 24 Age 2. 52 Level of education 3. 02 Gender 13. Language abilities 14. Age 15. Gender 2. 44 Size of family the employee supports 2. 48 Language abilities 2. 72 Age 3. 31 Gender 2. 23 2. 33 2. 57 2. 07 2. 36 Length of service 2. 17 Length of service 2. 49 Age 2. 73 Gender 2. 96 Size of family the employee supports 2. 02 2. 06 2. 19 Language abilities 2. 31 Physical load 2. 13 Length of service 2. 16 Special personal characteristics required for the job 2. 36 Level of education 2. 16 2. 00 2. 44 Mental load 1. 96 2. 07 Special personal characteristics required for the job 2. 14 Group or team performance 1. 94 Mental load 1. 83 Physical load 2. 04 Physical load 1. 85 2. 06 Achievement of tasks 1. 93 Group or team performance 1. 88 Special personal characteristics required for the job 1. 91 Group or team performance 2. 16 Size of family the employee supports 1. 84 2. 05 Responsibility on the job 1. 88 Responsibility on the job 1. 71 Unpleasant working conditions 1. 76 Company performance 11. Size of family the employee supports 12 Length of service 9. Level of education 10. Group or team performance 8. Mental load 6. Special personal characteristics required for the job 7. Physical load 1. 76 1. 88 Skills required for the job 1. 47 Mental load 4. Unpleasant working conditions 5. Company performance 1. 50 1. 63 1. 70 1. 70 Unpleasant working conditions 1. 85 Skills required for the job 1. 41 Responsibility on the job 3. Responsibility on the job Hong Kong 1. 77 Level of education 1. 79 Unpleasant working conditions 1. 85 Company performance 1. 47 Company performance 1. 63 Achievement of tasks Korea 1. 27 Achievement of tasks 1. 36 Skills required for the job Japan 1. Achievement of tasks 2. Skills required for the job China Chinese manufacturing companies 41 Table IV. Rankings of the determinants of pay in four countries CMS 2,1 42 seventh in Korea and eighth in China and only 12th in Hong Kong indicate statistically signi? cant differences between the four societies for all the determinants of pay. Japanese respondents found mental load and family size more important and company performance, unpleasant working conditions, gender and education less important than the others. Respondents from Hong Kong put most emphasis on education, length of service, age, gender, language skills and team and ? rm performance compared with the other three countries. Chinese respondents were more interested than others in considering unpleasant working conditions, achievement of tasks, skills, special personal characteristics, responsibility required and physical load. Conclusions and discussion This study contributes to the understanding of factors in? uencing values and work-related attitudes at the societal, organizational and individual level. The ? ndings of the current study generally support the authors main proposition: respondents from China put more emphasis on the satisfaction of lower level needs than respondents from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. At the societal level, the Chinese respondents found material standard of living (statistically and signi? cantly) more important than the other three societies. At the same time, the work is less valued as provider of income in China than in Japan and Hong Kong. This could be explained by the low wages in China. Well-established values and ethics were most valued by Chinese respondents and least by Japanese respondents. This could be explained via the ? ndings from the comparison of cultural dimensions from the Globe study on the one hand, and values and work related attitudes from the Denki Ringo research on the other hand (Alas, 2006). According to this international comparison, ethics could be taken as the means for achieving the desired society. In other words, if people are less satis? ed with societal practices, they start to put more emphasis on ethics. This is in the hope that if everyone starts to behave more ethically, life will improve for them. Attitudes toward the organization are mutually connected with individual needs. Chinese employees were least satis? ed with welfare provision and security of employment protection. Both indicators were the highest in Japan, which has the most experience in building up a market economy from among this group of societies. Chinese respondents were also more interested in considering unpleasant working conditions as a determinant of pay than the other three. In attempting to explain these results from an institutional perspective, Chinese history should be considered. The lengthy experiencing of a centrally planned economy in China has brought different developments in the economy and material standards of living compared to the other three societies in the study. According to previous studies, the countries who had experienced a socialist regime have considerable less wealth than traditional capitalist countries (Alas and Rees, 2006). Therefore, at the societal level, the respondents from China put more emphasis on their material standard of living, and on unpleasant work conditions at the organizational level than the Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong respondents. The reason for this could stem from their dif? culties in satisfying lower-level needs according to Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs: the lower level needs of Chinese respondents were not satis? ed, therefore they turned more attention to the provision of welfare and employment protection than employees in the other three countries. The indicators of general satisfaction with working life almost supported this connection with material standards of living: this was highest in Hong Kong and Japan and lower in China and South Korea. The fact that general satisfaction with working life in South Korea is low may also be explained using the different levels of welfare and GDP in Korea compared to the more economically developed Japan and Hong Kong. These differences can also be connected with transition in Chinese