May Meaning Meeting

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Death, Disease, Despair, and DestructionWhy
Even Try?

• May Meaning Meeting
• March 30, 2007

March
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Meaning in ConnectionA Relational Perspective
on the Meaning of Work

May Meaning Meeting March 30, 2007
March
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Roadmap

• Overview of our journey process
• Dominant perspectives on the meaning of work
• From a different view A relational perspective
• Questions discussion (throughout!)

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Our Journey

• Impetus Shared interest in broad review of MOW
  literature
• Goals
• Review existing literature
• What are the dominant perspectives and
  assumptions?
• What might history tell us about where MOW
  research is going?
• Generate fresh perspectives and opportunities
• Speak to a broader OB audience
• How does meaning shape organizational behavior?
• Process Inductive, organic approach
• Organized literature by era and theme
• Summarized each piece using consistent framework
• Held weekly phone calls took detailed meeting
  notes
• Held monthly thematic integration meetings

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Goals For Today

• Share our developing ideas
• Gather your feedback
• Where do links need to be clearer?
• What have we missed?
• Other relevant literature we might include
• Bottom line Are we barking up the right tree?
  Can you see the tree?

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Where Are We Now?

• We argue that the study of the meaning of work
  has primarily located meaning within the
  individual, paying less attention to the
  connections between the individual and other
  important entities.

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How Did We Get Here?

• The world of work has changed over time
• Less reliance on community to share and produce
  resources
• More time spent at work (Schor, 1992)
• Organizational ties and jobs are less stable and
  secure (de Janasz, Sullivan, Whiting, 2003)
• Functions of work are more individualized and
  disconnected from society/craft (Sennett, 1998)
• The targets of the meaning of work have narrowed
  accordingly
• Modern scholars focus heavily on
  self-connectedness and self-fulfillment as key
  sources of meaning in work.
• e.g., Calling link to God vs.
  
  Calling link to true self
• Now Americanized, person-centeredunderstanding
  of MOW.

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Focus on Individual

• A focus on the individual as locus of meaning
  yields certain definitions, assumptions, and
  research questions.
• Meaning of Work Works perceived function in
  life, beliefs about valued outcomes attained from
  working, actual outcomes received from working,
  expected contribution of work toward satisfying
  an individuals needs (Brief Nord, 1990)
• Assumptions
• Self draws meaning from various entities
• Self is the project of focus (e.g.,
  self-actualization, authenticity)
• Job, work, organization, etc. are vehicles
  through which to find and express self

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Focus on Individual (Contd)

• Sample Research Questions
• How does context influence selfs assessment of
  the meaning of work?
• Which organizational factors contribute to
  self-fulfillment?
• How does an individuals sense of purpose shape
  her work behavior?

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A Different Perspective The Relational Approach

• We propose that when the focus is moved from the
  individual to the connection between the
  individual and valued entities (e.g., other
  people, communities, work, a higher power, etc.),
  new insights emerge about how individuals make
  meaning of their work.

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Why a Relational Approach?

• While MOW research has focused on connections,
  scholars primarily focus on the connection
  between the work and the self (e.g., person-job
  interaction).
• A self-oriented understanding overlooks other
  important ways individuals make meaning of and
  through their work (see also Cardador, 2007).
• Work life is full of potentially meaningful
  connections to a variety of sources (e.g., work,
  job, organization, other people, higher power,
  self, etc.).
• A relational perspective sheds light on the many
  meaningful connections we make in, at, and
  through work, and on the differing ways they
  shape the experience of work.

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Focus on Connections

• A focus on connections yields different
  definitions, assumptions, and research questions.
• Meaning The essence of meaning is connection, or
  what links two separate entities in their
  relation to each other may or may not be widely
  shared by individuals (Baumeister, 1991
  Baumeister Vohs, 2002)
• Assumptions
• Meaning is drawn from the connections among
  significant entities
• Self is arbiter of connections between elements
• Meaning can be focused internally, toward the
  self, or externally, toward other elements

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Focus on Connections

• Sample Research Questions
• How, and to what degree do different types of
  meaningful connections shape the way individuals
  make meaning of their work?
• How do different connections interact/compete?
• Does a strong sense of meaning in life contribute
  to or detract from the meaning of work?
• Are certain types of connections more meaningful
  for certain individuals or at different times in
  life?

Higher Power Organization Work
Community Coworkers Job
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Prominent Connections

• Work
• Callings
• Work Orientation

• Other People
• Individuals
• Communities

Self
Organizations
Other Life Domains
A Higher Power
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Prominent Connections

• Work Orientation

• Communities

Self
A Higher Power
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Person-Work Connections Work Orientation

• Examples
• Šverko Vizek-Vidovic, 1995 Wrzesniewski et
  al., 1997 Wrzesniewski, 2003 Dobrow, 2004,
  2007 Cardador, Dane, Pratt, 2007 Elangovan
  Pinder, 2007.
• Key contributions
• Ones relationship to the work matters as much as
  the kind of work (Wrzesniewski, 1999)
• Heavy focus on callings in literature, but all
  work (including job- and career-oriented) has
  meaning must look at the specific source of the
  connection to understand how the person finds
  meaning through work (e.g., Wrzesniewski et al.,
  1997 Dobrow, 2004, 2007 Cardador, Dane,
  Pratt, 2007 Elangovan Pinder, 2007)
• Mechanisms Values, framing, entry route

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Work Orientation Focus on Individual

• Assumptions
• Individuals act upon job and organizational
  contexts to realize orientations (e.g., job
  crafting).
• Work orientation is fundamentally about
  individuals framing and experience of work.
• Types of questions generated by this approach
• What different orientations do individuals have
  to the same kinds of work?
• What are the implications of work orientations
  for the self?
• How does context influence selfs assessment of
  the meaning of work?

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Work Orientation Focus on Connection

• Assumptions
• Broader facets of work and ones world are sites
  of meaning making
• Focus can be on meaning of work to self (of
  different types) or meaning of work to others (of
  different types)
• Types of questions generated by this approach
• How do other life domains affect relationship
  between individual and work?
• How is work orientation affected by the
  connection to the work group, the organization,
  the occupation, the wider world?

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Interpersonal Connections Communities
Collectives

• Examples
• Loscocco, 1989 Hardy, 1990 Shamir, 1991
  Rawsthorne Elliot, 1999 Dutton, 2003 Pratt
  Ashforth, 2003 Wrzesniewski, Dutton, Debebe,
  2003 Cardador, 2007 Grant et al., 2007 Rosso,
  2007 Tosti, 2007 Wade-Benzoni, 2007.
• Key contributions
• People are also motivated for collective concerns
  (Shamir, 1991).
• Meaning derived from contributing to things
  larger and longer-term than ourselves (Hardy,
  1990 Cardador, 2007 Grant et al., 2007
  Sonenshein, 2007).
• Prosocial behavior ? Community connections ? Work
  meaningfulness (Cardador, 2007 Rosso, 2007).
• Work provides meaningful roles in society and our
  communities.
• Mechanisms Social connection, collective
  resource building, kin selection, prosocial
  identity, legacy

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Spiritual Connections

• Examples
• Luther, 1520 Calvin, 1574 Weber, 1930 Hardy,
  1990 Lips-Wiersma, 2002 Weiss, 2004 Bunderson
  Thompson, 2007.
• Key contributions
• Sense of purpose in work coming from the
  connectedness to something greater than oneself
  (e.g., Luther, 1520 Calvin, 1574 Hardy, 1990
  Weiss, 2004 Bunderson Thompson, 2007)
• Return to pre-industrialization perspectives
  evidence that people seek meaningful connections
  through work to more than just their individual
  strengths (e.g., Hardy, 1990 Lips-Wiersma, 2002
  Weiss, 2004 Bunderson Thompson, 2007)
• Mechanisms Transcendence, harmony, stability,
  security, social connection prosocial orientation

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Self-Connectedness Authenticity

• Examples
• Bellah et al., 1985 Shamir, 1991 Levoy, 1997
  Dobrow, 2004 Pratt, Rockmann, Kaufmann, 2006
  Barker-Caza, 2007 Blatt Ashford, 2007 Vough,
  2007.
• Key contributions
• We seek out work and contexts that are aligned
  with our self-concept (Shamir, 1991 Seyle
  Swann, 2007)
• Individuals are prompted to connect to their
  authentic selves, finding work which taps
  unique strengths and values (Bellah et al., 1985
  Levoy, 1997)
• Mechanisms Stability, security, self-esteem,
  self-expression

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Why Take a Relational Approach?

• Adds needed texture and breadth to current
  understandings of MOW, while preserving
  individual experience and agency.
• Opens up a more social view of the meaning of
  work than one rooted in the self.
• Targets growing areas of inquiry (e.g.,
  spirituality, justice, interpersonal
  relationships, etc.), pushing scholarship toward
  predicting future meaningful connections rather
  than explaining the past.
• By examining connections, potential for building
  a historical trajectory that illuminates trends
  in meaning-making over time grows.

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Conclusions

• Connections matter
• Current scholarship focuses primarily on internal
  psychological processes and self-oriented
  pursuits
• A relational approach
• Offers a new framework from which to organize,
  reinterpret, and broaden existing perspectives
• Reveals under-explored ways that people make
  meaning of, at, through work
• Places the study of MOW more squarely in center
  of OB

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Where We Need Your Help Making the Case

• Does this framework make sense?
• Where do you see the potential gem in this?
• What do you see as other new frontiers in the
  field that might be applicable?
• How can we most effectively make the case?
• How can we build theory from this framework?

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• Questions and Comments?

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• Thank You!

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Why does Meaning Matter to OB?

• Meaning is everywhere in organizational life
• Meaning shapes the individual and collective
  experience of work (cognition, behavior, and
  affect)
• Types of meaning (e.g., work as calling vs. job)
• Level of meaningfulness of work (e.g., anomie to
  deep meaning)
• Meaning shapes work behaviors that scholars and
  organizations care about
• Cooperation, commitment, turnover

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What Were Not Talking About.

• Micro-processes of meaning-making
• Impact of meaningful work
• Individual differences in the meaning of work

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To Contrast the Views

• Focus on Individual
• What elements of work are meaningful to the
  individual?
• How does an individuals sense of purpose shape
  her work behavior?
• How does context influence selfs assessment of
  the meaning of work?
• Which organizational factors contribute to
  self-fulfillment?

• Focus on Connections
• How, and to what degree do different types of
  meaningful connections shape the way individuals
  make meaning of their work?
• How do different connections interact/compete?
• Does a strong sense of meaningfulness in life
  contribute to or detract from the experience of
  meaningful work?
• Are certain types of connections more meaningful
  for certain individuals or at different times in
  life?

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Key Definitions

• Meaning The essence of what links two separate
  entities in their relation to each other may or
  may not be widely shared by individuals.
• Meaningfulness The extent to which the
  individual perceives the work and/or its context
  as purposeful and significant (Hackman Oldham,
  1976 Pratt Ashforth, 2003).
• Connection A significant relationship to another
  entity (e.g., self, job, org, society, God,
  etc.), which may vary in strength, stability, and
  affective tone.
• Relational Implying kinship, connection, or a
  living tie between elements.
• Locus/target of meaning The physical or
  psychological entity through which meaning is
  found or produced.