The Consistency of Personal and Organizational Values When Viewed Through the Lens of Regulatory Focus Theory

Abstract

The current study provides a second step in the development of an alternative, twodimensional conceptualization of person-organization fit. This conceptualization distinguishes between two motivations known to influence the way individuals define and pursue goals—promotion focus and prevention focus. Based on empirical support, we conclude that the Organizational Culture Profile’s original seven dimensions, when used to profile individual value preferences, reflect different underlying motivations that are likely to be important in predicting specific work behaviors such as speed, creativity, attention to detail, and safety performance. Our conclusion challenges the common practice within person-organization fit research of predicting generic effects across any and all combinations of shared values between an individual and the respective organization. We suggest that partitioning P-O fit into two dimensions supported by regulatory focus theory will result in improved predictive power on specific work behaviors