Attitudes In and Around Organizations, Vol. 9

How do the attitudes people bring with them to the workplaceùattitudinal baggageùaffect thoughts, feelings, and actions in organizations? How are the attitudes of those outside an organization (stockholders, customers, suppliers, government officials, and the public-at-large) affected by the organization? Attitudes In and Around Organizations provides a concise summary of what we know about attitudes and suggests what we might discover by adopting novel means, both conceptual and methodological, for studying attitudes in and around organizations. Arthur P. Brief provides an overview of the job satisfaction literature, including a redefinition of job satisfaction. In addition, he examines the various means by which attitudes have been measured, attitude formation and change, and the resistance of attitudes to change efforts. Groups whose attitudes are organizationally relevant (customers, for example) are examined in order to illustrate how organizations affect the attitudes of people beyond their boundaries and to determine how organizations can influence salient attitudes in their environments. The concluding chapter offers the reader a view of the future and suggests ideas for future research. Students, researchers, consultants, and organizational decision makers will find this a relevant, engaging, and thought-provoking resource.

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Reconsidering, but venturing beyond, job satisfaction in his study of the social psychology of attitudes in organizations, Brief (business and psychology, Tulane U.) demonstrates how attitudinal baggage bilaterally informs the changing workplace, its customers and other business contacts. Negative racial attitudes provide an exemplar of why this study of attitudes is "much ado about something." The reference list for business students, consultants, and organizational decision makers is an impressive 57 pages. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.