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The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese managers' perceptions of work ethic (work‐related values and attitudes) and to provide insights on how managers interact with their workers.

This is a qualitative study using a series of in‐depth interviews to draw state‐owned enterprises (SOE) managers' perceptions of work ethic. The inquiry process led to a single‐case level of analysis where data are aggregated to incorporate a thematic approach. Underlining theoretical frameworks that guide the study are a combination of Western and Eastern work ethic frameworks and cross‐culture management understanding of the concept of guanxi.

Five themes that emerged from data analysis became the five dimensions of Chinese managers' work ethic profile. In addition, the study revealed four overarching themes that influence managerial behavior in Chinese SOEs: the absolute power of the boss; work is the center of life; social network ties to the workplace; and place hope in the hands of the boss.

The paper provides comprehensive understanding of the Chinese management work ethic profile. Future studies should expand to include managers from different generations and industry sectors.

The paper highlighted the importance of matching cultural values with management practices. It identified differences between the west and east of their work‐related values and attitudes, which have practical implications for developing effective management strategies and practices when working with Chinese SOEs.

The paper provides an indigenous description of Chinese managers' work ethic profile and provides suggestions for future research.

South Africa is a developing country, and within this context, it is essential to be economically competitive and proactive. Various sources reveal that the national productivity has been traditionally low, and continues to remain low. Within the context of the international arena, this is unacceptable. If South Africa is to become a recognised role player in the international arena, it is imperative to increase productivity like China. This paper aims to focus on the issues involved.

A 65‐item inventory which measures seven conceptually and empirically distinct facets of the work ethic construct, i.e. the multi‐dimensional work ethic profile (MWEP) was utilised to critically distinguish between the Chinese and South African workforces. The samples approximated 150 subjects in each grouping. Findings which emanate from this study have distinct ramifications for the South African economy.

It appears as if a linkage exists between productivity and work ethic, as illustrated by amongst others, Hamilton‐Attwell and Du Gay and Pryke. Paradoxically, a number of other variables exist which impact on the productivity phenomenon, thus rendering a strict causal relationship between work ethic and productivity tenuous in nature. Despite this, it is a recognised reality that there is a substantive “negativity” in the work ethic of the South African labour force, possibly in relation to historical and cultural factors. The Chinese work ethic is diametrically opposed to that of South Africa.

In discussions with Chinese workers held in 2010, four primary schools of thought emerged: a firm belief that hard work will bring desired results; pride in personal accomplishments and hard work; fear of embarrassment or shame in case of failure; and immense patriotic pride in China and its achievements. It is the present authors' conviction that none of these apply to the South African labour force, and that most certainly could be partly responsible for the economic disparities between the two countries. Hence, additional research should be conducted to improve the current state of affairs.

Of the seven facets in the MWEP, six are positively slanted, while the other, leisure, can be construed as negatively aligned with a positive work ethic. Interestingly, if the Chinese sample is compared to the South African, this is the only facet where the latter obtains a superior score. The inference is clear: South Africans are essentially more concerned about having free time. In the overall context of the MWEP, this is a strikingly negative observation.

One of the major challenges confronting South Africa, since the triumph of democracy in 1994, is low productivity of labour. Therefore, comparing South African work ethics with that of China will enable South Africa recognize the gaps in terms of behavior towards work and stimulate the countries international competitiveness.

This paper aims to examine the relationships between Islamic work ethic, deviant organizational behaviours and person-organization fit within the context of the hotels.

A survey was conducted with the participation of 243 employees working at five-star hotels operating in Marmaris, which is one of the popular destinations that attracts the most tourists in Turkey. The data obtained from the research is tested by implementing confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The results revealed that Islamic work ethic was negatively related to deviant organizational behaviour but positively related to person organization fit. On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between deviant organizational behaviour and person-organization fit.

This study presents to hotels practical and theoretical applications about employee behaviours and management practices.

The purpose of this study is to examine the latest Millennials, born between 1995 and 2000, to determine any significant impact of gender, employment status and living arrangement on Meriac et al.’s (2013) dimensions of work ethic.

A factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify the main and interaction effects between variables. A one-way ANOVA then revealed any statistical significance between factor combinations to determine the meaningfulness of the interactions.

Morality/ethics, the centrality of work and hard work were not significantly impacted by any factors, whereas interaction effects between gender and employment status with self-reliance and wasted time were not attributed to any particular factor level. Yet, meaningful interaction resulted in gender and employment status with leisure and delay of gratification. Specifically, women who work 20 h or less per week have less regard for leisure than men, regardless of men’ employment status. Men who work 20 h or less per week have a higher acceptance of delay of gratification than women with the same employment status.

Understanding the youngest Millennials’ unique paradigms about work ethic will benefit managers as they blend them with those of other working cohorts to enhance job-to-employee fit by building and sustaining recruitment, motivation and retention efforts among all workforce members.

This study expands existing literature by focussing on the youngest Millennials so that scholar-practitioners can closely align contemporary leadership and organisation with any unique attitudes towards work ethic and, perhaps, guide leadership transition as the next cohort emerges.

The present study investigated the money ethic scale among full‐time employees, part‐time employed students, and non‐employed university students. Confirmatory factor analyses results showed that there was a good fit between the three‐factor model and research data for full‐time employees and non‐employed students and a weaker fit for part‐time employees and the whole sample. Further, factors success and evil were predictors of income for full‐time employees. Money attitudes were not related to pay satisfaction. Factor budget was associated with life satisfaction for full‐time employees and non‐employed students. Full‐time employees in this sample tended to be older, male, and have higher education than part‐time employees and students. Non‐employed students tended to have higher life satisfaction, lower protestant work ethic, less type A behavior pattern, and think more strongly that money does not represent their success, that they budget money carefully, and that money is not evil than part‐time employees.

The argument here is direct, if tentative. Thus, most available evaluative studies agree that OD applications, globally, have substantial success rates, but this seems ironic in light of the common domination of culturally relativistic views. Many observers urge the culture-boundedness of planned change which implies low OD success rates. This paper is one in a projected series of qualitative tests about whether the irony is only apparent. That is, this series proposes to test for the congruence of the basic OD normative framework with various cultural patterns that can be encountered in the global analysis of today’s organizations. A high degree of fit between the OD Work Ethic and more or less discrete ideational frameworks will help dissolve the apparent irony.

Here, the specific task involves testing the congruence of the “Confucian Work Ethic” with an OD normative framework. The latter may be viewed as the “target” against which the fit of the Confucian Work Ethic is tested in a qualitative sense. High success rates are reported for OD applications in Confucian settings, especially in Korea where Confucian ideas have a substantial prominence. Here, Confucian comparisons with the OD Ethic imply a “good fit,” which is consistent with the similarly high success rates in Korea as well as elsewhere.

In South Africa, there is a view that some industrial/economic problems arise from the nature, or lack of, an appropriate work ethic. This paper attempts to analyse the concept of work ethic, the factors underlying it and its relationship to productivity.

The celebrated “Weber thesis” is, in essence, an assertion of causal connections among four terms, namely the “protestant ethic” (PE), the “spirit of capitalism” (SC), “modern western capitalism” (MWC) and the “industrial revolution” (IR), as follows:

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between stereotypes, in-group favoritism, and in-group bolstering effects across generations.

Based on the trends found in a qualitative study on generational stereotypes, questions on work ethic, work-life balance, and use of technology were administered to 255 participants identified as Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Hypotheses predicted that with a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism will not be found; however, an in-group bolstering effect will emerge. In the absence of a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism is expected.

Generally, there was a strong stereotype that Baby Boomers are worse at technology than Generation X and Generation X is worse than Millennials. There was also a strong stereotype that Millennials do not do what it takes to get the job done as much as other generations. In the presence of these stereotypes, traditional in-group favoritism was not found, but in-groups bolstered themselves by rating themselves more favorably than other groups rated them. Although these findings did not hold for every item studied, there was moderate support for all three hypotheses.

As employees become aware of their biases, they can collaborate better with employees who are different than they are. Practical recommendations are suggested.

The paper applies theory of in-group favoritism to the perceptions of generational cohorts.

Examines the relationships among a set of management values, a set of tourism and hospitality industry job adaption/advancement strategies, measures of the work ethic and a range of socio‐demographic measures within a sample of Australian high school students from a major tourism host community. Most students would elect to gain further qualifications and skills in order to obtain a better position within the tourism and hospitality industry. Most students regarded as important the need for management to require employees to: achieve highly; maintain amicable relationships with fellow workers; demonstrate autonomy in their job performance; and abide by sufficient regulations and rules for the smooth running of the enterprise. Explores the implications of the study for the tourism and hospitality industry.