The association between work ethics and attitudes towards organizational changes among the administrative, financial and support employees of general teaching hospitals

In order to achieve success in today’s competitive world, organizations should adapt to environmental changes. On the other hand, managers should have a set of values and ethical guidelines for their administrative and organizational functions. This study aimed to investigate the association between work ethics and attitudes towards organizational changes among the administrative, financial and support employees of general teaching hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. This was an applied, cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study conducted in 2013. A sample of 124 employees was selected using stratified sampling proportional to size and simple random sampling methods. Data were collected using 2 questionnaires measuring the dimensions of employees' work ethics (four dimensions) and attitudes towards organizational changes (three dimensions). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and statistical tests, including ANOVA, independent samples t-test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The maximum and minimum score of work ethic dimensions were related to being cooperative (4.60 ± 0.38) and dependable (4.29 ± 0.39) respectively. On the other hand, the maximum and minimum score of attitudes towards the various dimensions of organizational changes were related to the behavioral (3.83 ± 0.70) and the affective (3.55 ± 0.88) dimensions respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between the work ethics and education levels of the employees in this study (P = 0.003). Also, among work s dimensions, only being considerate had a significant association with attitudes towards organizational changes (P = 0.014) and their cognitive dimension (P = 0.005). To improve employees' work ethics and attitudes towards organizational changes, the following suggestions can be offered: training hospitals managers in participative management style and its application, as well as the importance of meeting the employees' needs and expectations based on their characteristics; familiarizing employees with the Islamic work ethic; educating employees on the importance of being considerate towards their colleagues and subordinates in the workplace, and reinforcing this desirable quality; and finally, clarifying the need for changes in the organization for all employees.