Effects of Employees' Work Values and Organizational Management on Corporate Performance for Chinese and Taiwanese Construction Enterprises

Through questionnaire surveys, this study explored the discrepancies in work values and organizational management between employees and cadre members of construction enterprises on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Statistical methods including data reliability, regression analysis, and tests of significance were utilized for modelling a case study. The findings of this study included: (1) in terms of work values, employees from China focused on their lives " at present " , while those from Taiwan focused on their lives " in the future " , expecting to improve the quality of their lives later on through advanced studies and promotion; (2) according to the data obtained from the questionnaires, the answers regarding income and welfare in terms of work values and satisfaction were contradictory on the two sides of the Strait, which could be interpreted in terms of influence from society; and (3) there was a significant influence of organizational management on employees' intentions to resign. If enterprises could improve current organizational management systems, their employees' work attitudes would be improved and the tendency to resign would be reduced.


Introduction
Employees' work values change from generation to generation.Understanding employees' work values has become a key issue for organizations aiming to achieve higher performances.Choi and Kim recognized the individual human resource (HR) as a core asset of corporate value creation and devoted significant effort to developing and managing competency-based HR in order to strengthen corporate competitiveness [1].Jia et al. addressed the concern that generational changes could be reflected in various management aspects such as organizational structure, HR, and enterprise culture [2].Chau et al. indicated how to provide construction managers with information about and insight into the existing data, so they could make decisions more effectively [3]. Park showed that the effect of resource coverage on project performance was quantified and the policy implications were determined for dynamic resource management by simulating the model with heuristic and industry data [4].Scholars in China have started to study work values of employees on either side of the Taiwan Strait.Chen pointed out that with increasingly frequent economic and trade exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, interdependency between Taiwan and mainland China was increasingly higher [5].Through studies on cross-cultural exchange and on differences between the cultures of the two sides, it was revealed that, although there were some empirical research achievements made on the national culture and consumer culture of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, reliable research about corporate culture is lacking and needs to be conducted [5].For example, Phua examined three things regarding whether (1) national cultural differences influence individuals' preferences for types of remuneration and levels of job autonomy; (2) actual organizational human resource management (HRM) practices reflect such preferences; and (3) gaps between individuals' preferences and actual organizational HRM practices affect job satisfaction [6].

Organizational Management and Corporate Performance
Many factors may influence an organization's interests.Among them, two important ones are the organizational management and performance of HR.Kamath's empirical analysis found that HR was the one factor which had a major impact on the profitability and productivity of the firms studied [7].Though there was growing importance and efficiency in the utilization of intellectual resources in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, its potential to impact the industry's financial performance was missing in the empirical analysis [7].Kim et al. claimed that HRM had been identified as very important for site management compared with such management at other locations [8].Cheng et al. applied business process reengineering and organization planning philosophy to HRM and focused on HR planning in construction management process reengineering (CMPR) to develop a team-based HR planning (THRP) method for deploying labor [9].Druker et al. examined HRM practices in relation to the role of personnel departments, line management responsibility, performance management, and values and beliefs of personnel managers [10].Fatimah claimed that HR improvement in an organization played an important role in determining the success of an organization [11].
Corporate organizational management is ultimately important to corporate performance.Rob et al. analyzed whether Japanese firms with many governance provisions had better corporate performance than firms with few governance provisions and discovered that well-governed firms significantly outperformed poorly governed firms by up to 15% per year [12].Saito performed a comparative study according to two surveys conducted in Japan and the United States to understand how facility managers recognized and practiced universal design in their workplaces and to identify what factors were likely to facilitate or obstruct their practice [13].Wong et al. claimed that workplace environment affected employees' well-being and comfort, which in turn influenced their productivity and morale [14].Teizer et al. indicated that better safety and productivity could be achieved when construction resources, including people and equipment, could be monitored [15].The work of Li et al. showed that the abilities of management and technology were two common factors that could transcend different institutions and systems [16].
On the other hand, an incentive system is also essential in an organization.Pattarin et al. proposed that employee perks were positively associated with current and future returns on assets, which supported the view that some types of perks might increase firm profitability and/or that perks were paid as a bonus to reward performance [17].Findings from stratified samples suggested that perks might incentivize managers, even after controlling for firm size, growth opportunity, and leverage [17].
Pfeffer claimed that ignoring the influences of working environments on employees' performances might cause organizations to lose their competitiveness [18].Hence, more emphases have been placed on studies of "person-organization fit" or "person-job fit", For example, Schein indicated that environment was an important factor for person-organization fit [19].Schneider believed that person-organization fit might influence one's performance in an organization [20].In short, HRM and its performance practice change due to the role of values and identity change and have also become the conceptual framework of this study.

Issues Regarding Work Values
In recent years, many scholars have studied issues related to work values.Ralston et al. assessed the impact of economic ideology and national culture on the individual work values of managers in the United States, Russia, Japan, and China [21].Reichel et al. presented evidence that work values could be a good indicator for the selection and career development of personnel [22].Lee and Yen explored the connection between work values and career orientation for employees in high-tech production [23].
All organizations are unique and, thus, practice different cultural values within the organization.In a university setting, it was discovered that leadership values have a significant impact on university-wide cultural values, employee values, and stakeholder values [24,25].Cultural values considerably affect productivity values and employee values.Further, employee values have significant influence on productivity and stakeholder values [24,25].Scholars believed there were many aspects of work values.For example, Wu and Chiang explored how Chinese values impacted employees' satisfaction (ES).Taiwanese employees viewed "career planning" as the most important, while Chinese employees thought "organizational management" was most important.For Taiwanese employees, "salary and benefits", "workload", and "organizational management" had effects on ES, while age and education were important to Chinese employees [26].Leung et al. indicated that the construction industry had been recognized as a stressful industry, and a great deal of stress was placed on various construction professionals (CPs).However, due to the different "values" among CPs in Hong Kong, susceptibility to stressors varied a great range among workers.People who grew up and lived in different cultural environments had different values and this led to different perceptions of stressors [27].Ochieng et al. examined challenges faced by senior construction managers in managing cross-cultural complexity and uncertainty [28].Francis and Lingard claimed that societal attitudes and work values were changing and that these changes had been reflected in the employment practices of many construction companies [29].Morrison and Thurnell addressed that, in order to attract and retain valuable employees, the New Zealand construction industry must provide useful work-life benefits, reasonable working hours, and supportive workplace cultures in line with such initiatives [30].

Prime Novelty Statements
Based on the arguments above regarding the effects of employees' work values and organizational management on corporate performance and based on the extension of the work by Lin et al. [31], Lin and Shen [32], Shen [33], we proposed three novelty statements.
(1) This paper is a "case study".It was conducted with a questionnaire survey to offer organizations some references, in which the reliability of the data was determined based on Cronbach's alpha values.According to the results of this study, all the Cronbach's alpha values from the reliability analyses were higher than 0.7, implying that all the organizational data were highly trustworthy.
(2) This study examined the results of questionnaires regarding issues of work values and organizational management, and compared the issues.The results clearly showed the needs and viewpoints of employees from the two sides of the Strait, and therefore the relevant organizational management skills that could be utilized as references.
(3) Three regression models were used to verify this study regarding the issues of work values and organizational management.Interpretations were provided of unpredictable outcomes, so that management could understand and compare the extent to which the employees from the two sides of the Strait devoted themselves to their jobs, whether the employees would like to stay or leave the enterprise, and what they thought about the welfare systems of the enterprise.

Analysis Methods for Questionnaires
The subjects of this study were Taiwanese and Chinese employees of branches of Taiwanese companies in China.The differences in work values and organizational management models were reviewed.The influences of the differences in work values and work satisfaction on organizations were also explored.The questionnaires were designed according to the job diagnostic survey by Hackman and Oldham [34], proposing to (1) diagnose existing jobs so to determine whether (and how) they might be redesigned to improve employee motivation and productivity and (2) assess the effects of job changes on employees.The tool is based on a theory of how job design affects work motivation and provides means of (a) individual psychological states because of these dimensions and (b) affective reactions of employees to the working environment.The survey questionnaire focused on the "work characteristics questionnaire", including questions for (1) work values and (2) organizational management.Participants used a five-point Likert Scale to answer the questionnaire.
This study analyzed the data using the software SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).The statistical methods adopted in this study were listed below for quantitative measures.
(1) Reliability analysis for questionnaires: Reliability indicated stability and consistency.This study utilized Cronbach's alpha values, whose set of criteria were proposed by Guieford [35] to verify the reliability of the collected data.The standard value of Cronbach's alpha was 0.5.High alpha values (>0.7) represented high reliability and low alpha values (<0.35) meant low reliability.
(2) Descriptive statistics: They were used to describe the properties of the samples and the averages, standard deviations, and distributions of variables for the samples.
(3) Regression analysis: By adopting multiple regression analysis, the effects of the independent variables (work values and organizational management) on the dependent variables should be examined with moderating variables being controlled.In addition, work values and work satisfaction for employees from both sides of the Strait were modeled to determine their differences.
Using regression analysis, three models were established based on three most important indicators of managing an organization, as selected from the perspectives of business managers according to the interviews and to the works by Huang, Huang, and Tang [36][37][38].The three indicators included (1) employees' devotion to their jobs; (2) their commitment to the organization and whether to resign; and (3) their salaries and welfare provided by enterprises.The capabilities of the independent variables to predict and explain the dependent variables were discussed.For employees' devotion to their jobs, the selected dependent variable Y was that "My boss thinks I am doing a great job at work".Huang believed that the more devoted employees are to their jobs, the more praises they are going to get from their bosses [36].For whether employees will resign, the selected dependent variable Y was the "In order to stay employed by the company, I am willing to accept any assignment".Huang believed that only employees who can accept companies' arrangements are loyal to the companies [36].For employees' salaries and welfare, the selected dependent variable Y was that "I am very satisfied with the welfare provided by the company I work for".On the other hand, the independent variables X for the three models were questions in the work values and organizational management questionnaires corresponding to the selected dependent variables.
(4) Test of significance: statistical significance is a kind of evaluation metric.For example: A and B are two sets of data with statistical significance at the 0.05 level, which indicates the possibility of the two data sets having significant difference of 5%, or 95% probability that the two sample sets have no difference.This 5% difference is caused by simple random sampling error.Typically, the statistical significance achieved at the .05or .01level can refer to significant differences between the data sets.If P (X = x) < p = 0.05 is significant, SPSS statistical analysis software uses * mark, while P (X = x) < p = 0.01 is considered extremely significant and is usually marked by **.

Results of Data Reliability, Data Validity, and Descriptive Statistics
A total amount of 250 questionnaires was handed out to Taiwanese and Chinese employees of different ranks in the company.After precluding 30 invalid questionnaires (non-response samples) and 69 unreturned ones, a total amount of 181 questionnaires were found to be valid.The response rate was 72.4% as illustrated in Table 1 (adapted from Lin et al. [31]).With the data obtained from the questionnaires, the reliability analysis was first conducted, followed by a series of statistical analyses.Chinese cadre members 20 14 70%

Reliability Analysis for Questionnaires
Reliability is the degree of consistency of results from repeated measurements of the same population or similar populations.It represents the correctness or precision of the tools used for measurement.In order to avoid the correctness of the collected and classified questionnaires being influenced by the low reliabilities for the measured categories, reliability analysis was applied for each of the categories as listed in Table 2.It shows that, in this study, all the reliabilities were greater than 0.7, implying that the collected samples were stable and satisfactorily consistent.

Validity Analysis for Questionnaires
Validity means "exploratory factor analysis" [31], characteristics of main features being the following assessment, with the corresponding results listed in Table 3.
(1) Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy assesses whether the partial correlations among variables are small (KMO > 0.6); (2) Bartlett's Test of Sphericity assesses whether the correlation matrix is an identity matrix, indicating that the factor model is inappropriate (Sig < 0.05);

Descriptive Statistics
The research subjects of this study were employees of a company from Taiwan invested in China.After the questionnaires were retrieved, the number of samples was obtained and the frequencies and weighted averages of the questions were computed.From this information, how important work values were for the employees from both sides of the Strait and their differences could be determined.The ranking of work values for the employees from both sides of the Strait and the ranking of the organizational management of cadre members from both sides of the Strait were summarized in Tables 4 and 5 respectively (questionnaires adopted from [31][32][33]).

2.93
The welfare system of the company is good.

3.22
Even if there is no extra pay for working overtime, I would still work overtime to finish my work at night.

2.66
Table 5. Ranking of the organizational management of cadre members from both sides of the Strait.

Chinese Taiwanese
I think the training provided by the company I work for can meet the demands of the employees.

4.21
Compared with other companies in the same field, I think the salary and welfare offered by the company I work for are better.

4.81
If there is a training opportunity, the management of the company I work for usually encourages the employees to participate.

4.14
I think the employees' salaries offered by the company are closely related to the employees' performances at work.

4.55
The company I work for would communicate with its employees regarding their achievements and offer them suggestions.

3.86
I think the training provided by the company I work for can meet the demands of the employees.

4.16
I think the employees' salaries offered by the company are closely related to the employees' performances at work.

3
If there is a training opportunity, the management of the company I work for usually encourages the employees to participate.

4.13
Compared with other companies in the same field, I think the salary and welfare offered by the company I work for are better.

2.93
The company I work for would communicate with its employees regarding their achievements and offer them suggestions.

3.83
I think the employees of the company I work for are highly involved in decision making at work.

2.5
I think the employees of the company I work for are highly involved in decision making at work.

3.36
According to the obtained statistical values, the Chinese cadre members believed that the most important thing was the demands of the employees, followed by the training opportunities and the communication between the company and its employees, and the least important ones were decision making at work, the salaries, and welfare offered by the company.On the other hand, the Taiwanese cadre members believed that the most important thing was the salaries and welfare offered by the company, followed by the employees' performances at work and the demands of the employees, and the least important ones were decision making at work and the communication between the company and its employees.

Employees' Devotion to Their Jobs
The six variables from work values as listed in Table 6 (questions selected from [31][32][33]), including (1) "I devote myself to my work"; (2) "Even if there is no extra pay for working overtime, I would still work overtime to finish my work at night"; (3) "I usually go to work earlier to prepare the tasks I have to handle"; (4) "I am proud of my work"; (5) "I want to be perfect when it comes to my work"; and (6) "I never feel confused or scared while working", were selected as the independent variables X to explain the dependent variable Y: "My boss thinks I am doing a great job at work".The R value was 0.709 with the Taiwanese employees and 0.791 with the Chinese employees, indicating that there was a relationship between superintendents' praise for the employees and the employees' devotion to their jobs.One explanation is that the more devoted the employees were to their jobs, the more praise they could get from their superintendents.Hence, one of the six important indicators from work values for selecting employees was their devotion to their jobs.Table 6.Employees' devotion to their jobs from both sides of the Strait.
I devote myself to my work.

2.
Even if there is no extra pay for working overtime, I would still work overtime to finish my work at night.

3.
I usually go to work earlier to prepare the tasks I have to handle.4.
I am proud of my work.

5.
I want to be perfect when it comes to my work.6.
I never feel confused or scared while working.

Dependent variable (Y)
My boss thinks I am doing a great job at work.R value with the Taiwanese employees 0.709 R value with the Chinese employees 0.791

Influence of Organizational Management on Employees' Decisions to Resign
The five variables from organizational management as listed in Table 7 (questions selected from [31][32][33]), including (1) "I think the employees of the company I work for are highly involved in decision making at work"; (2) "If there is a training opportunity, the management of the company I work for usually encourages the employees to participate"; (3) "I think the training provided by the company I work for can meet the demands of the employees"; (4) "The company I work for would communicate with its employees regarding their achievements and offer them suggestions"; and (5) "Compared with other companies in the same field, I think the salary and welfare offered by the company I work for are better", were selected as the independent variables X to explain the dependent variable Y: "In order to stay employed by the company, I am willing to accept any assignment".The results show that the cadre members from both sides of the Strait believed that identification with the company and decisions to stay were highly related to the company's organizational management.Of course, the organizational management system could not fully interpret its employees' decisions to stay or whether they associated themselves with the company.However, it was a reasonable indicator as to why some employees decided to resign.
Table 7. Influence of the organizational management on employees' decision to resign from both sides of the Strait.

Independent variables (X)
1.I think the employees of the company I work for are highly involved in decision making at work.

Dependent variable (Y)
In order to stay employed by the company, I am willing to accept any assignment.R value with the Taiwanese employees 0.759 R value with the Chinese employees 0.736

Employees' Salaries and Welfare
The five variables among work values as listed in Table 8 (questions selected from [31][32][33]), including (1) "When I am sick, the company takes good care of me"; (2) "The insurance system of the company is good"; (3) The welfare system of the company is good"; (4) My income is higher than that of others with the same conditions as me"; and (5) "I can get a raise or bonus of a proper amount", were selected as the independent variables X to explain the dependent variable Y: "I am very satisfied with the welfare provided by the company I work for".The R values with both the Taiwanese and Chinese employees were relatively low, implying that it was not adequate to explain the employees' satisfaction with the company's welfare using their work values.Such results of both sides of the Strait are similar to the work of Huang [36].This means that the employees were not satisfied when their superintendents used one of their work values as standards to offer welfare, due to the fact that the welfare satisfaction may be relevant to "the influence of social desirability" [36].Excluded variables in Table 8 further show that the factor "I can get a raise or bonus of a proper amount" showed a very significant difference (p-value = 0.00) than other factors.Thus, the factor was removed and the regression analysis was rerun once again.The consequent R values were drastically increased for the Taiwanese and Chinese employees from 0.435-0.764and from 0.308-0.687,respectively, as listed in Table 9 (questions selected from [31][32][33]).This verifies the assumption that the welfare satisfaction may be relevant to "the influence of social desirability".

Independent variables (X)
1.When I am sick, the company takes good care of me.
2. The insurance system of the company is good.
3. The welfare system of the company is good.4. My income is higher than that of others with the same conditions as me.

Independent variables (X)
1.When I am sick, the company takes good care of me.
2. The insurance system of the company is good.
3. The welfare system of the company is good.4. My income is higher than that of others with the same conditions as me.

Dependent variable (Y)
I am very satisfied with the welfare provided by the company I work for.R value with the Taiwanese employees 0.764 R value with the Chinese employees 0.687

Evaluation by Test of Significance
Analyses via the statistical significance assists in comprehending the differences in work values and organizational management of the employees and cadres between the two sides of the Strait, as listed in Tables 10 and 11 (questionnaires adopted from [31][32][33]).Table 10, regarding the work values of employees of both sides of the Strait, shows significant differences for the three questions: (1) "There are many chances of promotion"; (2) "Even if there is no extra pay for working overtime, I would still work overtime to finish my work at night"; and (3) "I never feel confused or scared while working".Table 11, regarding the organizational management of cadre members of both sides of the Strait, shows significant differences for the three questions: (1) "I think the employees' salaries offered by the company are closely related to the employees' performances at work"; (2) "Compared with other companies in the same field, I think the salary and welfare offered by the company I work for are better"; and (3) "I think the employees of the company I work for are highly involved in decision making at work".Statistical significance is a kind of evaluation metric; significant is indicated by an * and extremely significant usually marked by **.Thus, it is clear to see the differences in work values and organizational management of the employees and cadres between the two sides of the Strait from Tables 10 and 11.

Conclusions
The conclusions of the analyses in this study are summarized, anticipating that they will offer domestic enterprises some references when developing and implementing organizational management strategies on both sides of the Strait.
(1) Comparative results of Chinese and Taiwanese employees: (a) Work values: The Chinese employees valued "The quality of my life can be improved through my work", "My own dream can be realized at work", and "My life becomes richer due to my work", which all focused on their lives "at present".On the other hand, the Taiwanese employees valued "I never feel confused or scared while working", "There are chances for advanced studies at work", and "There are many chances of promotion", which all focused on "the future".From this perspective, the Chinese employees focus on their current situation and how it can improve the quality of their lives, while the Taiwanese employees tend toward a stable job that reflects the opportunity for promotion.
(b) Organizational management: The Chinese cadre members were satisfied with the employee training provided by the company, while the Taiwanese cadre members thought that the salaries and welfare offered by the company were better than other companies.In general, the Taiwanese cadre members thought more highly of their organization's management than their Chinese counterparts did.It appeared that the management model used in China was similar to the one used in Taiwan, showing that the Chinese cadre members were unable to integrate in the company completely.The Taiwanese cadre members thought better welfare could improve employees' performances, while the Chinese cadre members focused on encouragement and communication.
(2) An organization should know how devoted its employees are to their jobs: Another important indicator influencing the company's performance was the employees' devotion to their jobs.When recruiting new staff, applicants' devotion and enthusiasm for their jobs should be tested so that the organization's performance could be improved.
(3) An organization should pay attention to defects in its organizational management and reduce employees' tendency to resign: In this study, we discovered that the influences of organizational management on employees' tendency to resign were significant.If an enterprise could improve its current organizational management, its employees' work attitudes could be improved as well, and their tendency to resign should be reduced.The interviews revealed that many enterprises in Taiwan that were invested in China did not have well-established systems for employees' repatriation.Those assigned to work in China felt uncertain about their future, and this was reflected in their performance.Besides increasing employees' salaries, a repatriation system should be established: this ought to entail not only allowing staff to return to their jobs in Taiwan, but also proper in-service training for Taiwanese employees in China so that they may remain in China for long-term development.Otherwise, it is very likely that salary raises would be futile in increasing employees' commitment to an organization.

2 .
If there is a training opportunity, the management of the company I work for usually encourages the employees to participate.3. I think the training provided by the company I work for can meet the demands of the employees.4. The company I work for would communicate with its employees regarding their achievements and offer them suggestions.5. Compared with other companies in the same field, I think the salary and welfare offered by the company I work for are better.

Table 1 .
Information regarding returned questionnaires.

Table 4 .
Ranking of work values of employees from both sides of the Strait.

Table 8 .
Employees' salaries and welfare on both sides of the Strait.

Table 9 .
Employees' salaries and welfare on both sides of the Strait with a variable excluded.

Table 10 .
Test of significance of work values of employees of both sides of the Strait.

Table 11 .
Test of significance of the organizational management of cadre members of both sides of the Strait.