P ersonal values of Slovene top and middle-level managers

1. Personal values of Slovene top and middle-level managers Vasja Roblek,MSc, Zlatka Meško Štok, PhD, Kristjan Tomšič, Maja Meško, PhD University of Primorska, Faculty of management Koper, Slovenia IBC 2012 – 1st International & Business Conference Rovinj, Croatia 27-28, June 2012

2. Agenda • Personalvalues • How will the managersdedice and act in enterprises • Question of the values in the lives of the Slovene top and middlemanagers • Study in small and middlesizeSloveneenterprises • Methods: descriptivestatistic, variancesanalyses

3. Personalvaluessystems • Personal value systems influence “the way in which a managerlooks at otherindividuals and groups of individuals, the perception of individual and organizational success as welltheirachievement • Ethical behaviour: determination the limits • Organizational culture: knowledge, ideology, values, laws, and day-to-day ritual

4. Methodology • Participants • 150 Slovene top and middle-level managers working in enterprises in different regions of Slovenia • Stratified research sample encompasses 80 of the aforementioned companies located in different regions and engaged in various activities

5. Methodology II • Measures • We used a self-constructed questionnaire with the thirty-two values referring to different spheres of life were listed and a grading scale of 1-5 Likert type included in • Personal values were assessed by asking managers “There are many things in life which we value. Below are listed some common Slovene values. How important are these for you?” Response category was categorized from 1 (opposed to my values) to 5 (supreme importance)

6. Results I • Hypothesis 1: In the enterprises in different sphere of activities involved in this study, there are differences in values of their managers •  According to the different sphere of activities the enterprises are involved in, the participants statistically significantly (ANOVA P< .05 risk interval) differ regarding the following values: • Power over the others (the need to supervise the others, overpowering the others) • Spiritual life (emphasis on the spiritual and not on the material goods) • The feeling of belonging (the feeling that we mean something to the others) • Life style (exciting experiences, adventures) • Wealth (material possessions) • Privacy (the claim to private life, individuality) • Close friendship (confidence and providing help)

7. Results I • The power over others is especially expressed in the production enterprises, the spiritual life in the commercial enterprises • The feeling of belonging to the service enterprises • Exciting life and the feeling of purpose in the production enterprises • Wealth in commercial enterprises • Privacy and close friendship in the service enterprises

8. Results II • Hypothesis 2: There are differences in the values of the managers, depending on the number of managers in these enterprises • With regard to the number of the managers workers the participants statistically significantly (ANOVA P< .05 risk interval) differ regarding the following values: • Inner harmony (self-consciousness) • Feeling of belonging (feeling that we mean something to other people) • Returning favours (not wanting to owe something to other people), creativity (originality, imagination) • Privacy (the claim to private life, individuality)

9. Results II • Inner harmony is especially valued in the enterprises with over 30 managers • The feeling of belonging is valuedin the enterprises with up to 10 managers, as well as returning the favours • Creativity is most highly valued in the enterprises with over 30 managers • Privacy is most highlyvalued in the enterprises with up to 10 managers

10. Results III • Hypothesis 3: There are differences in the manager’s values, regarding to the size of the enterprises • According to the size of the enterprise, the participants statistically significantly (ANOVA P< .05 risk interval) differ as we can infer from the following listed values: • The feeling of belonging (the feeling that we mean something to other people) • Exciting lifestyle (exciting experiences, adventures) • Returning the favor’s (not wanting to owe something to other people), creativity (originality, imagination) • Peace on Earth (Earth without wars and conflicts) • Privacy (they claim to private life, individuality)

11. Results III • The feeling of purpose is most valued in the enterprises with 50 to 250 employees • Exciting lifestyle is valuedin the enterprises with over 500 employees • Returningfavours is valuedin the enterprises with less than 50 employees • Creativityis valuedin the enterprises with 50 to 250 employees, were also peace on Earth and family security were most highly valued • All three hypotheses are partly confirmed, as there are differences in some statements in different groups

12. Discussion • The results of the study prove that the values are one of the fundamental ingredients of the culture of the enterprise • In the period of transition of the Slovene economy the small and the middle-size enterprises were the most successful • For some large enterprises that were successful before the transition, there are no such evidences; some of them have gone bankrupt, some still linger on, and some of them are still successful • The consequences of the transition depended to a high degree on the human factor (the ability to innovate, prevailing values, relationships, the way of communication), particularly on the acting of top managers as well as on all other employees

13. Discussion • The managers that were successful even before the transition of the Slovene economy into the European and other integrations are successful today as well • The structural points of view that shape the behaviour and conduct of the participants in the inner and outer socio – economic environment of the enterprise are needed. • We have established that some aspects of conduct and behaviour (important for leading people) can be selected. • Those are: • the coordination of the activities of the members • the collective solving of the problems (decision-making) • the strategy of the behaviour of the participants • the solving of the conflict situations

14. Discussion • Future studies can therefore further refine this research, explore and describe an ongoing business situation and the decision – making situations faced by managers

15. QUESTIONS?