Gender and Management Control
An investigation to gender differences and its influence on
management control system preference in the Netherlands
Master Thesis
MSc Business Administration
Organizational & Management Control
University of Groningen
Faculty of Economics and Business
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Abstract
The number of women entering the labor market is growing, internationally as well in the Netherlands, a tendency which increases the diversity of the labor force. This thesis investigated if there are psychological and behavioral differences between Dutch men and women and the influence this has on the management control system. The differences between men and women is researched with the Big Five personality dimensions, the level of organizational citizenship behavior they engage in, their leadership style preferences, their preferred level of autonomy, the level of risk-taking, and what men and women value in and of their work. Empirical research, conducted in several different sectors, shows that the only Big Five personality dimension where there is a difference between Dutch men and women is the dimension emotional stability. Dutch women are less emotional stable, or more neurotic, than Dutch men. The other Big Five personality dimensions; extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness show no significant difference between Dutch men and women. The results also shows that there is no difference in the level of organizational citizenship behavior Dutch men and women engage in, no difference in the leadership style they prefer, no difference in the preferred level of autonomy, and no difference in the degree they prefer to be rewarded partly based on the results of their group or organization as a whole. Dutch men and women do differ in the degree they prefer to be paid partly based on their own results; Dutch men are more willing to let a part of their reward be based on their own results.
Based on this results there cannot be concluded that Dutch men and women prefer a largely different management control system. The only difference between Dutch men and women is their preference for variable payment based on individual results, there is no difference in the preferred level of autonomy and leadership style preference. Therefore can be concluded that with the choice of a particular management control system it should not be taken into account largely if the workforce of the company comprises out of men or women. The increasing number of women entering the labor market should therefore not have a great influence on the management control systems of organizations in the Netherlands. Only when organizations have variable payment schemes based on individual results it should control if is not better to abolish these schemes.
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Table of content
1. Introduction 3
2. Research Design 5
3. Management Control Systems 7
- Ouchi (1979) 7
- Simons (1995) 8
- Merchant & van der Stede (2007) 9
4. Gender Research 13
- Big Five Personality dimensions 13
- Organizational Citizenship Behavior 16
- Leadership 16
- Risk-taking 18
- Valued at work 18
5. The influence of Gender differences on the Management Control System 20
- Analysis & Hypotheses
6. Methodology 23
7. Data Analysis & Results 25
8. Conclusion 30
- Limitations of research
- Suggestions for future research
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1. Introduction
‘Men are from Mars, women are from Venus’ (J. Gray)
This title of the book of Gray (1992) has become a popular phrase to express the differences that exist between men and women. The rationale behind the phrase is that men and women are so different from each other, that they do not understand the other sexes. Contradicting to this phrase some researchers have stated that there are probably more differences within a sex than between the sexes (e.g. Kenrick et al., 2004). This research tries to find out if there are differences between Dutch men and women which have an effect on the use of management control systems. The gender differences where this research will focus on are psychological and behavioral differences. This research will investigate gender differences in personality, leadership, the degree of organizational citizenship behavior, the level of risk-taking, and what men and women value at and in their work. Research has been done to these differences internationally. This research investigates if these results correspond to the situation in the Netherlands. It is important to know what gender differences there are, because knowing and managing gender differences may help to effectively motivate employees, increase productivity, foster loyalty, and improve the physical and mental well-being of employees (Petterson, 2004).
There have been a large number of studies who investigated the influence of a particular variable on the use of management control systems. Examples are national culture (e.g. Harrison & McKinnon, 1999 - for an overview), the strategy of the company (e.g. Langfield-Smith, 1998 - for an overview), the size of the company (Bruns & Waterhouse, 1975; Merchant, 1981), and environmental uncertainty (Ezzamel, 1990; Merchant, 1990; Ross, 1995). These examples are only a small sample of the total literature that studied the influence of a particular variable on management control systems. Research to the influence of gender differences on the management control system has been relatively overlooked in the management accounting literature (Parker, 2008). This thesis tries to fill up this current gap.
According to Lefkowitz (1994) every research to the differences between men and women is important, because; ‘even null findings are important information of gender stereotypes, and because the few robust differences that may be confirmed become even more noteworthy and interesting to explore’ (Lefkowitz, 1994). Research to differences between men and women and the influence this can have on the use of management control systems is becoming more important nowadays. Originally the workforce of companies comprises for the largest part out of men. Nowadays there is a worldwide tendency of increasing female labor force participation. Meanwhile the male labor force participation has shown a tendency to decrease slightly (CBS, 07-03-2012; International Labour Office, 2010). The results of these tendencies are that the gender differentials in labor force participation have decreased over time. Nowadays companies have more women in their workforce then they had before. This tendency of more women in the workforce is not only an international matter, but also happening in the Netherlands. Where in 2002 2.8 million women had a job for twelve hours or more a week, this increased to almost 3.3 million in 2011. The employment rate of women in that period rose from 53 percent in 2002, till 60 percent in 2011 (CBS, 07-03, 2012).
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past had to be primarily suitable for men. Being able to make full use of peoples potential is an important purpose of a management control system. As Anthony (1965) put it; ‘Management control is the process by which managers ensure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiently in the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives’ (Anthony, 1965).
Differences between men and women will first be investigated with an investigation to the differences there are between men and women in personality, because personality has not received much attention in economics in general (Duckworth et al., 2007). Differences in personality between men and women will be investigated with the Big-Five personality dimensions model. The Big-Five personality dimensions model is chosen because it is the most widely accepted taxonomy of personality traits (John & Srivastava, 1999; Larsen & Buss, 2008). It comprises out of the following five dimensions; extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experiences (Budaev, 1999; Buelens et al., 2011; Costa et al., 2001; Feingold, 1994; John & Srivastava, 1999; McCrae, 1992). Thereafter differences between men and women in organizational citizenship behavior, leadership styles and preferences for leadership styles, risk-taking, and what men and women value of and in their work are being researched. After researching the gender differences on these factors the influence this can have on the management control system is being researched. Management control systems are not necessary when employees always act in the best interest of the organization, but employees do not always act in the best interests of the organization. Most of the time employees let their own interest prevail above that of the organization, and sometimes they do not know how to act in the best interest of the organization (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). The aim of a management control system is to influence the behavior of the employees in the direction which increases the probability of achieving the objectives of the organization (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). The aim of this research is therefore to investigate if women need to be influenced in another manner than men to lead them in the direction which the organization wants and thereby serving the organization in an optimal manner.
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2. Research Design
The goal of this research is to find out if there are differences between men and women in the Netherlands which cause a need for a different, or adoption of the current, management control systems to be able to use the full potential of all the employees. The main question with which this thesis will try to find an answer on this issue is:
‘Which changes in management control systems are needed to adapt to the increasing number of women in the labor market in the Netherlands?’
In order to find a clear answer to this question, the following sub-questions are used:
‘What are the different forms of management control?’
‘What research has been done to the difference between men and women?’
‘What are the consequences of the differences between men and women on the use of management control systems?’
To find an answer on the research questions first a literature review will be done. In this literature review first literature of management control systems will be investigated. The literature review of management control system comprises out of the management control articles of Ouchi (1979), Simons (1995), and Merchant & Van der Stede (2007). On the basis of this literature review an answer is tried to find on the first research sub-question; ‘What are the different forms of management control?' Thereafter a literature review on psychological and behavioral differences between men and women internationally will be elaborated, with the Big-five personality dimensions in particular. With this literature review on gender differences an answer is tried to find on the second research sub-question; ‘What research has been done to the difference between men and women?’ Then the literature of management control systems and gender differences are linked to each other, in an attempted to analyse what the influence of the possible differences between men and women are on the use of management control systems. On the basis of this analysis hypotheses will be formulated. In order to test the hypotheses, and to find if the differences found between men and women internationally also exist in the Netherlands, this thesis has an empirical component. This empirical component is a questionnaire and will be held at companies in different sectors to be able to generalize the results of this research. Generalization is the extent to which you can come to a conclusion about one thing, based on information about another (Voigt, 1993). The analysis of gender differences and the possible influence this can have on management control systems, and the questionnaires are attempts to find answers on research sub-question three; ‘What are the consequences of the differences between men and women on the use of the management control system’ and the main research question; ‘Which changes in management control systems are needed to adapt to the increasing number of women in the labor market in the Netherlands?’
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practice, by policymakers and for scientific research (www.cbs.nl). The CBS has made a top ten of sectors where man and women are working in, measured in absolute numbers. The numbers of the CBS show that the healthcare/nursing sector is a typical female sector. The healthcare/nursing sector is represented by several jobs in the top ten of jobs of women, where in the top ten of men none of the jobs are healthcare/nursing sector related (CBS, 24-11-2010). Therefore questionnaires will be held at a company in the healthcare/nursing sector to represent the female sector. The numbers of the CBS show that Dutch women are mostly working in the sales sector, for men the sales sector is the number four sector in the top ten (CBS, 24-11-2010). The sales sector is therefore a sector which is not a typical male or female sector, because both sexes do work often in this sector. The administrative sector is also a sector which is not dominated by one of the sexes. Administrative jobs are not among the top ten of men, and the administrative sector is the number eighth sector for women (CBS, 24-11-2010). The administrative sector is therefore also a sector which is not dominated by men or women. Therefore questionnaires will be held at a sales and administrative department or company to represent sectors not dominated by one of the sexes. The numbers of the CBS show that the number one job of men is truck driver, while this job is absent in the top ten of women jobs (CBS, 24-11-2010). Therefore it was the intention to research the transport sector as male dominated sector, but all the transport companies which were sent an email where unwilling to cooperate. The manly sector in this research will be represented by the engineering sector, because an acquaintance of the researcher was willing to cooperate with his company with this research. Based on other CBS numbers it is shown that engineering is also a manly sector. Of all the people who get a technical MBO-certificate in the Netherlands only eight per cent is women (CBS, 17-10-2005), therefore can be concluded that men dominate this sector.
Using a questionnaire to find out if there are gender differences in the Netherlands and what effects these differences could have on the management control system has several advantages above other research possibilities. Data can be collected rapidly, from a large and diverse group, responses are gathered in a standardized way, respondents perceive anonymity, and it gives participants time to think about the questions and their answers to it (Cooper & Schindler, 2006). A disadvantage of questionnaires is that when a respondent does not understand a question he or she is not able to ask for an explanation of the question and by this answers the question maybe in a different manner then would be done when the question was understood (Cooper & Schindler, 2006). This problem is tried to be solved by piloting the questions under a small group. Another problem with questionnaires is the risk of a low response rate (Cooper & Schindler, 2006). This problem will be offset by sending a reminder to the specific companies where the response rate is low. In this research also the personality of the respondents is tested with a questionnaire. A problem with personality questionnaires is that they are transparent. If a person wants to present themselves as a particular person, it is easy to do so (Gray, 2007). This problem is hard to offset, but by guarantying complete anonymity to the respondents this problem it tried to keep at a minimum.
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3. Management control systems
When an organization wants to have a high probability of success, it should maintain good management control. When the management can be reasonably confident that no major unpleasant surprises will occur it has reached the point of good control (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). According Anthony (1965) management control is the process by which managers ensure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiently in the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives (Anthony, 1965). In this chapter the content of management control systems will be elaborated. This will be done by means of Ouchi’s organizational control mechanisms; market control, bureaucratic control, and clan control (Ouchi, 1979), Simons levers of control; diagnostic control system, belief system, boundary system and interactive control system (Simons, 1995), and Merchant & Van der Stede controls; result control, action control, personnel control, and cultural control (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007).
3.1 Ouchi Organizational Control Mechanism
According to Ouchi (1979) the problem of an organization is obtaining cooperation among a collection of individuals who share only partially congruent objectives. Organizations can seek to cope with the problem of evaluation and control through the use of three different control mechanisms; market control mechanism, bureaucratic control mechanism, and clan control mechanism (Ouchi, 1979). Determining which form of control will be more efficient depends on the degree of goal incongruence and the clarity with which performance can be assessed. Each control mechanism has their degree of social and informational prerequisites. The social prerequisite is the minimum set of agreements between people which is necessary for a form of control to be employed (Ouchi, 1979).
Market control mechanisms deal with the control problem through their ability to precisely measure and reward individual contributions (Ouchi, 1979). In a market, prices convey all the information which is necessary for decision-making and are the only informational requirement (Ouchi, 1979). The only social prerequisite for the market control mechanism is the norm of reciprocity. The norm of reciprocity assures that when one party tries to cheat, all the members of the social system punish the party who cheats (Ouchi, 1979). In addition to information, prices also provide a mechanism for solving the problem of goals incongruity; each employee is rewarded for the work they have done, exactly in proportion to their contribution. Each member is permitted to pursue non-organizational goals, but this leads to a personal loss of reward (Ouchi, 1979).
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When a precise evaluation of an individual contribution is very hard to achieve, a clan control mechanism is useable. Clan control mechanisms do rely upon a relatively complete socialization process which effectively eliminates goals incongruence between individuals (Ouchi, 1979). Clan control mechanisms are best used when the output is depending on teamwork. In such situations the contribution of an individual is hard, or impossible, to track. People in a clan have the same goal; therefore will they control each other if everyone is doing their job. In clan control mechanisms the social prerequisites are not only the norm of reciprocity and legitimate authority, but also shared values and beliefs. Shared values and beliefs contain a deep level of common agreement between the members on appropriate behavior, which is learned in a lengthy period of socialization. Rituals are the information requirement in a clan; these rituals convey the values and beliefs of the organization. An outsider cannot quickly gain access to information concerning the decision rules used in the organization (Ouchi, 1979).
Market and clan control mechanism are the best control mechanism, but when the price requirement of a market or the social condition of a clan are impossible to achieve, then the bureaucratic mechanism becomes the preferred model. The bureaucratic mechanism is a suitable mechanism in many situations because it can withstand high turnover, a high degree of heterogeneity of the employees, and does not demand much information (Ouchi, 1979). The choice for a control mechanism also depends on the ability to determine the level of output or the knowledge of the transformation process. The market is the preferred control mechanism when the output can be measured. When this is impossible, but the knowledge of the transformation process is high, than the bureaucratic mechanism is preferred. In a situation where both the output cannot be measured and the knowledge of the transformation process is low, the clan control mechanism is the best mechanism (Ouchi, 1979).
3.2 Simons Levers of Control
According to Simons (1995) the problem that managers are facing is how to keep adequate control in organizations that demand flexibility, innovation and creativity. Managers can control employees by telling them how to do their jobs and monitor them constantly. This approach is suitable for organizations where standardization is crucial (Simons, 1995). But in an organisation that operates in a dynamic and competitive market this is impossible. In such organisations effective managers empower their organization, and trust on the potential of their employees to innovate and add value to the organization. In order to unleash this potential, managers must give up control over decision and allow employees lower in the organization to act independently, but have to make sure this happens in a controlled way. This can be achieved by using the four levers of control; diagnostic control system, belief system, boundary system and interactive control system. Each control lever has a purpose of attempting to balance creativity and control. Together these levers of control should make effective control possible when employees face empowerment (Simons, 1995).
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performance targets also creates risk. The pressure to achieve the performance goals will stimulate some employees to manipulate the numbers, in order to get a better reward (Simons, 1995).
Beliefs systems empower individuals and encourage them to search for new opportunities. They communicate the core values of the organization and inspire all participants to commit to the organizations purpose (Simons, 1995). Without a belief system it is often not clear for employees working in a large, decentralized organization what the core values of the business are (Simons, 1995). Thus, a belief control tries to achieve control by communicating the core values and the mission of the organization, when there is uncertainty at the employees what the purpose of the organization is and how they can contribute to this (Simons, 1995).
Boundary systems establish the rules of the game and identify actions and pitfalls that employees must avoid (Simons, 1995). They define what is acceptable for the employees to do and what is not allowed. Telling employees what not to do allows innovation, but within clearly defined limits. Boundary systems are stated in negative terms or as minimum standards (Simons, 1995). People generally want to do the right thing; to act accordance established moral codes. Pressure to achieve performance goals, which are set in the diagnostic control system, stimulate employees sometimes to bend the rules, though. The boundary system should ensure that employees will not do this. Not all boundaries are of ethical conduct. Companies can also have strategic boundaries. These strategic boundaries focus on ensuring that employees are not allowed to pursue new opportunities in certain markets, because they could diminish the business competitive position (Simons, 1995). The combination of belief and boundary systems create a dynamic tension between commitment and punishment. In combination they establish direction, motivate and inspire employees, and protect organizations against potentially damaging opportunistic behavior (Simons, 1995).
A problem for organizations as they grow larger is that managers have less personal contact with employees through the organization. An interactive control system is a system what managers use to involve them regularly in the decisions of their subordinates. Through this system managers participate in the decision making of the subordinated and focus the attention and the learning of the organization on key strategic issues (Simons, 1995). The choice of the management for a certain type of interactive control system, and the uncertainties to keep track of sends a signal to the employees what is important. An interactive control system is particularly important for organizations which face rapid environmental change. Because the environment, and thereby the strategic uncertainties, differ between organizations, the interactive control system also differs between organizations based on their strategic uncertainties (Simons, 1995).
3.3 Merchant & Van der Stede
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problems. Most individuals act in their own interest, at the expense of the interest of the organization. The third cause of control is personal limitations. Some employees know what is expected from them, are highly motivated to perform well, but are unable to do a good job because of personal limitations. This can be a lack of intelligence, training, experience, knowledge, or the lack of the necessary information to do a good job (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). These three management control problems – lack of direction, motivational problems, and personal limitations – can occur simultaneously and in any combination (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). Organizations can use four different forms of control in order to influence the behavior of the employee towards the desirable way. These different forms of control are; results control, action control, personnel control and cultural control (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007).
Results controls create meritocracies. In meritocracies the rewards are given to the most talented and hardest working employees rather than those with the longest tenure and the right connections (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). The combination of rewards linked to results informs employees what results are important, and motivate them to produce these results. Results controls are therefore a good remedy against motivational problems and a lack of direction. The organization does not dictate employees what actions they should take, instead employees are empowered to take those actions they believe will produce the desired results, which makes results control an indirect form of control. Even without supervision employees will try to maximize the results of the organization, because this will maximize their own rewards (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). The indirectness of results controls provides advantages. It gives employees a high level of autonomy, which is valued by most people (Wielenga-Meijer et al., 2011). Results controls are also beneficial for the quality of the workforce of the company. Talented employees, who are confident in their own abilities, are attracted to the company, because high rewards are promised to employees who perform well. It is also in the employees own interest to develop themselves, because this will lead to higher work outcomes, and thereby to higher rewards. Results control can therefore reduce the personal limitation problem (Arya & Mittendorf, 2005). Results controls are not effective in every situation, though. When the organization cannot determine what results are desired in a certain area results control is not possible. Results control is also not effective when the employee cannot influence the results or the results cannot be measured effectively (Kerr, 2003).
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Personnel controls use employees’ natural tendencies to control and motivate themselves. Personnel controls clarify what organizations want from their employees; that only the right employees are assigned to a job, and the likelihood that employees will engage in self-monitoring (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). There are three methods of implementing personnel controls; selection and placement of employees, training, and job design and provision of necessary resources. With selection and placement an organization devote considerable time in finding the right employees for a particular job, and give them a good work environment which increases the probability that the job will be done properly. Training can be done formally, with training programs in a class room, or informally, through employee mentoring, to increase the skills of the employees. With designing the job in a right way, the probability of success increases. Jobs that are too complex de-motivate employees (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007).
Cultural controls are designed to encourage employees to monitor and influence each other’s behavior (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). This is a powerful form of group pressure on individuals who deviate from the norms and values of the group. Cultural controls are the most effective when individuals have ties to the group. The cultural norms are embodied in written and unwritten rules that govern the employee’s behavior. Cultures are built on shared traditions, norms, beliefs, values, ideologies, attitudes, and ways of behaving. Group rewards are an important method in cultural control (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). Group rewards provide rewards based on collective achievement. They encourage teamwork, on-the job training, and the creation of peer pressure to work hard, whereby the monitoring of employee activities is delegated to the employee’s co-workers. Group rewards distinguishes themselves from result control, because the link between individual efforts and the group results being rewarded is weak (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007).
With these four forms of controls companies can influence the behavior of the employees towards the desired ways (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). These controls can be used in different degrees; they can be tighter or looser. When a control system is tighter it should provide a higher degree of certainty that the employees act in the way the organization wants them to act (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007). Tightening of the control system can be done by defining the organizations goals more specific, more effective communication, more detailed monitoring, or have a stricter relationship between the performance and the rewards (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2007).
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The clan control mechanism of Ouchi and the cultural control mechanism of Merchant & Van der Stede are also similar. These mechanisms rely upon the employees to monitor and influence each other’s behavior, which is possible because the goal incongruence between them is eliminated by a socialization process. Women are according research, also elaborated more in chapter four, more agreeable than men (Budeav, 1998; Costa et al., 2001; McCrea, 2002; Schmitt et al., 2008). Agreeable people prefer to work in groups, and they have a positive relationship with their co-workers. Cultural control and clan control mechanisms are best used when the output depends on teamwork. Clan and cultural control mechanisms are therefore more suitable for women then for men.
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4. Gender Differences
In order to investigate if there is a need for a different, or adjusted, management control system because of the increasing number of women at the labor market, differences between men and women are investigated in this chapter. First the differences between men and women in the Big-Five personality dimensions will be investigated, thereafter the degree of organizational citizenship behavior, the leadership style and leadership style preferences, risk-aversion, and what men and women value of and in their work are being researched.
4.1 Big Five Personality dimensions
Personality is the combination of stable physical and mental characteristics that give the individual his or her identity (James & Mazerolle, 2002). Personality is being researched with trait theories. Goal of a trait theory of personality is to specify a manageable set of distinct personality dimension that can be used to summarize the fundamental psychological differences among individuals (Buelens et al., 2011). In this research personality dimension will be investigated with the Big-Five personality dimensions model. This model is chosen because it is the most widely accepted taxonomy of personality traits (John & Srivastava, 1999; Larsen & Buss, 2008). It comprises out of the following five dimensions; extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experiences (Budaev, 1999; Buelens et al., 2011; Costa et al., 2001; Feingold, 1994; John & Srivastava, 1999; McCrae, 1992). There are several studies been done to the differences in personality between men and women on the basis of the Big Five personality dimensions. The results of these studies are sometimes contradicting, but most personality tests do reveal relatively consistent differences, small to moderate in size, between men and women (Costa et al., 2001; Feingold, 1994; McCrae & Terracciano, 2005; Schmitt et al., 2008).
Extraversion
The personality dimension extraversion refers to the level of comfort that people have with relationships. When a person scores high on the dimension extraversion, this person tends to be a sociable, outgoing, assertive and talkative person (Buelens et al., 2011; Costa et al., 2001; Feingold, 1994). Extravert people like interacting with other people and are open to establish new relationships (Diender et al., 1992). The opposite of extraversion is introversion. People, who are introvert, are more reluctant to new relationships, more reserved and more quiet than extravert people (Buelens et al., 2011). Extravert people have a greater impact on their social environment, which make them often more suited for leadership position (Jensen-Campbell & Graziano, 2001). Extravert people tend to be more absent at work than introvert people (Darviri & Woods, 2006; Judge et al., 1997). Employees with a high level of extraversion tend to engage more in cooperative behavior than employees which are introvert (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). Research to gender difference in the dimension extraversion is ambiguous. According to research done by Feingold (1994) women are more introvert than men, but research done by Schmitt et al. (2008) shows that women are more extravert than men.
Agreeableness
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being. A person with a high level of agreeableness will therefore probably have a positive relationship with co-workers (Colbert et al., 2004; Kamdar & Van Dyne, 2007; LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). Agreeable people will not be absent very often, because these people have a need to comply with social obligations, which inhibits absenteeism (Judge et al., 1997). According several researches agreeableness is a negative predictor of counterproductive behavior; people scoring high on agreeableness do not engage in deviant behavior at work, for example stealing and withholding (Farhadi et al., 2012; Mount et al., 2006; Salgado, 2002; Salgado & De Fruyt, 2005). The research to gender differences is unambiguous. In all the researches the result was that women, on average, have higher degrees of agreeableness than men (Budeav, 1998; Costa et al., 2001; McCrea, 2002; Schmitt et al., 2008). As mentioned in the management control system part of this thesis, agreeable people fit in a clan and cultural control mechanism, because of their motivation to engage in cooperative behavior and the preference to work in groups.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is the personality dimension which refers to the extent a person is organized, responsible, dependable, and self-disciplined. A highly conscientious person is therefore a dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, reliable, and persisted person. A person who is less conscientious is inefficient, disorganized, irresponsible and easily distracted (Buelens et al., 2011). Conscientiousness people are hard working, achievement striving, and putting in long hours of diligent hard work needed to get ahead (Colbert et al., 2004; Lee et al., 2006; Lund et al., 2007). Employees with a high level of conscientiousness tend to engage more in cooperative behavior than employees with a lower level of conscientiousness (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). People who score high on conscientiousness are little absent, which is a result of their dutiful, reliable nature (Judge et al., 1997). Conscientiousness has the strongest positive correlation with job and training performance (Behling, 1998; Witt et al, 2002). This does not mean that people with a low level of conscientiousness never do a good job. But it means that these employees need other incentives to motivate them (Kamdar & Van Dyne, (2007). Higher conscientious people display more passion and perseverance for long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007). Conscientiousness people do not engage in workplace deviant behavior (Farhadi et al., 2011; Farhadi et al., 2012; Salgado, 2002). On average score women higher on the dimension conscientiousness than men (Feingold, 1994; Schmitt et al., 2008). The fact that conscientious people are hard working, responsible and self-disciplined makes that they do not need controls to motivate them, they are motivated from themselves. Putting in a interactive control mechanism and belief system, makes sure that the employee knows what the focus of the organization is and the conscientiousness employee will tend to create value for the organization in that way. A boundary system could be placed to make sure that the employee avoids certain pitfalls.
Emotional stability
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stability. Emotional stable employees are therefore less likely to steal or withhold effort (Colbert et al., 2004). Women are on average more neurotic than men, so they score lower on the dimension emotional stability (Budeav, 1998; Costa et al., 2001, Feingold, 1994; McCrae, 2002; Schmitt et al., 2008). Neurotic people will have difficulties with a results oriented control mechanism, because when a certain target is not being reached or it is uncertain if the preset target will be reached, an emotional unstable employee has the chance to collapse under this pressure, which undermines their performances.
Openness to experience
Openness to experience refers to the extend people are open to new experiences and have an interest and fascination for new things. People who score high on this dimension are curious, broad-minded, intellectual, and imaginative. People who score low on this dimension tend to be conventional, habit bound, resistance to change and closed to new ideas (Buelens et al, 2011). Less-open people have more tunnel vision and find it easier to ignore competing stimuli (Peterson et al., 2002). Openness to experience is positively related to the likelihood that employees choose to be absent (Darviri & Woods, 2006). The results of the studies to the differences between men and women show that women, on average are less open to experience than men (Costa et al., 2001; McCrae, 2002; Schmitt et al., 2008).
There are different explanations for the gender differences in personality, some theorist point to the evolutionary explanation; men and women have generation after generation different reproductive challenges. Females have a greater role in child care, and a need for cooperative relationships with other adults in relation to this child care. Men have greater needs in order to reproduce (Larsen & Buss, 2008). But there are also researches who claim that gender differences are a consequence of experiences, expectations and role models a culture has with boys or girls (Wood & Eagly, 2002).
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Personality Dimension Internationally The Netherlands
Extraversion Mixed Women > Men
Agreeableness Women > Men Women > Men
Conscientiousness Women > Men Women > Men
Emotional stability Women < Men Women < Men
Openness to experiences Women < Men Women > Men
Table 1. Gender differences in personality dimensions internationally and in the
Netherlands, with the dimensions score of the Netherlands derived from the research of Schmitt et al., 2008
4.2 Organizational Citizenship behavior
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is an aspect of individual activity at work. According to Organ (1988), OCB represents the individual behavior that is discretionary, not recognized by the formal reward system, but promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization (Organ, 1988). It are constructive or cooperative gestures that are neither mandatory, nor directly or contractually compensated for by formal organizational reward systems (Organ & Konovsky, 1989; Smith et al., 1983). Organizational citizenship behavior include, for example, helping a new employee, helping a co-worker to deal with work overload or staying at work after hours. OCB can be divided into behavior that benefits the organization as a whole and behavior that benefit a specific individual (Organ, 1988). The degree of OCB employees engage in can be influenced by the management control mechanism an organization has in place. When an organization has result-oriented controls in place it is disadvantageous for an employee to engage in OCB because result controls do not recognize this. Employees will not be rewarded for the OCB actions taken, and are better off doing proceedings which are rewarded. They will think twice to engage in OCB, which possibly will be more beneficial for the organization than the action taken which is rewarded.
The difference in the extent to which men or women engage in organizational citizenship behavior has been studied by several researchers. Some researchers did not find a difference between men and women (Okedij et al., 2009; Podsakoff et al., 2000), but there are also researches who did find a difference. According to research done by Kmec & Gorman (2010) there is a difference between men and women in discretionary work effort in Great Britain. In Great Britain women tend to engage more in discretionary work effort than men. This disparity is not explained by individual or job and organizational characteristics (Kmec & Gorman, 2010). George et al. (1998), Jha et al. (1997), Morrison (1994), and Van Dyne & Ang (1998) found that women were more likely to engage in OCB- helping practices, which is OCB that benefits a specific individual, than men. According to a research done by Farrel and Finkelstein (2007) people also expect that women more engage in OCB- helping. There is also a difference between men and women in the extent that they get promotions, based on organizational citizenship behavior; men receive more promotions than women do (Allen, 2006; Kidder & Parks, 2001).
4.3 Leadership
17
(2007); to influence employee behavior in desirable ways. Gender differences in leadership and leadership style preferences are therefore important in the management control of organizations. There are various distinctions which could be made in leadership styles, one of these distinctions is between transformational and transactional leadership style. Transformational leadership behavior is leadership whereby the leader and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation. By mentoring followers, transformational leaders encourage employees to develop their full potential and thereby being able to contribute more to their organization (Burns, 1978). Its focus is on the values, self-perception and psychological needs of the employees, emphasizing on intrinsic motivation, it transcend short-term goals to fulfill higher order intrinsic needs (Fein et al., 2010). Transactional leadership involve the structuring of the performance environment to assist the employees in achieving organizational objectives and receiving rewards, emphasizing on extrinsic elements of rewards (Fein et al., 2010). Transactional leaders are leaders who exchange tangible rewards for the work and loyalty of the followers. These leaders manage by clarifying subordinate responsibilities, monitoring their work, and rewarding them for meeting their objectives and correcting them for failing their objectives (Burns, 1978).
Gender differences in leadership style have been researched. Research is done to the difference in leadership style of men and women and to the leadership style which men and women would like their leaders to have. These researches found evidence for both the presence and the absence of differences in leadership style between the sexes (e.g. Appelbaum et al. 2002; Eagly & Johnson, 1990). On average women tend to engage in a more transformational leadership style than men, where men tend to engage in a more transactional leadership style (Burke & Collins, 2001; Eagly et al., 2003; Eagly & Carli, 2003). The leadership style of women tends to be more democratically, and less autocratic than the leadership style of men. With a democratic leadership style subordinated are allowed to participate in the decision making process, where in an autocratically leadership style subordinates are discouraged from participating in the decision-making process (Eagly & Johnson, 1990). This result confirmed research done by Denmark & Diggory (1966) who found that men are more authoritarian in their leadership style than women (Denmark & Diggory, 1966). Research of Bass (1990) and Gardiner & Tiggemann (1999) found that female leaders are more relational oriented than their male counterparts, which are more results oriented (Bass, 1990). According to Appelbaum et al. (2002) the leadership style of women is more effective within the context of team-based, consensually driven organizational structures which are more prevalent in today’s world (Appelbaum et al., 2002).
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4.4 Risk-taking
Another gender difference which can have an influence on the management control system is the difference in risk-taking between men and women. The level of risk-taking is researched by multiple researches, including several meta-analyses (Byrnes et al., 1999; Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Harbaugh et al., 2002; Hartog et al., 2002; Holt & Laury, 2002; Schubert et al., 1999). The majority of the researchers found that women are more risk-averse than men (Byrnes et al., 1999; Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Hartog et al., 2002). Hartog et al. (2002) controlled in their research if women who are working are more or less risk-averse then women who are not working. But the level of risk-aversion remained the same (Hartog et al., 2002). According to Croson & Gneezy (2009) the difference between men and women in risk-taking is caused by the gender difference in mindset. Men see a risky situation as a challenge where they want to be part of, where women see a risky situation as a threat which should be avoided (Croson & Gneezy, 2009). Men are according Croson & Gneezy (2009) and Lundeberg et al. (1992) also less risk-averse because men are more confident than women that they will have success in an uncertain or risky situation (Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Lundeberg et al., 1992). When the competitiveness in an environment increases, and thereby the risk of failing also increases, men participate relative more than women. Competition also has a performance-increasing effect on men, where this effect is absent at women (Croson & Gneezy, 2009). Women are therefore according Croson & Gneezy (2009) not only more risk-averse, but also more averse against competition (Croson & Gneezy, 2009).
As mentioned in the management control system part of this thesis, the market control mechanism of Ouchi diagnostic control mechanism of Simons, and Merchant & Van der Stede results control brings in extra risk for the employee because in the beginning of the month or year a worker does not know how much money they will earn. With the risk-aversion of women this mechanism would be less appropriate for them. Also can result control be seen as a competition between the employees, which is advantageous for men because they can profit from their performance-increasing effect of competition, which is absent at women. But the literature is not totally unambiguous over the risk-aversion of women, some researches who investigated the level of risk-aversion of men and women did not found a difference between the sexes (Harbaugh et al., 2002; Holt & Laury, 2002; Schubert et al., 1999).
4.5 Valued in work
19
important than men. The similarities between the researches are that men value pay, authority and responsibilities more than women. That men value pay more than women is also confirmed by other researches, for example by Gooderham et al. (2004) who found that men are more materialistic than women. Women value good relationships with their co-workers and supervisors, and job securities more than men.
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5. Analyses of influence of Gender on the Management Control System
This chapter combines the previous chapters and uses the gender differences which have been shown in this research to explore the influences these can have on the management control systems (MCS).
Because some assumption and hypotheses in this research are based, or partly based, on the Big Five personality dimension literature presented in chapter four, this research will first test if the expected differences between men and women on the Big Five personality dimensions are present in this sample of Dutch men and women. The hypotheses are grounded on the Big- Five literature in chapter four, and especially the literature of Schmitt et al. (2008). The personality dimension hypotheses are formulated as follows:
Hypothesis 1a: Dutch women are, on average, more extravert than Dutch men.
Hypothesis 1b: Dutch women are, on average, more agreeable than Dutch men
Hypothesis 1c: Dutch women are, on average, more conscientious than Dutch men.
Hypothesis 1d: Dutch women are, on average, more neurotic than Dutch men.
Hypothesis 1e: Dutch women are, on average, more open to new experience
than Dutch men.
The research to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) differences between men and women show ambiguous results, where some researchers found differences, other did not. Based on this results it is not clear if Dutch women are more tended to engage in OCB than Dutch men. The research results of the Big Five personality research of Schmitt et al. (2008) taking into account the assumption can be made that Dutch women tend to engage more in OCB than Dutch men. This assumption can be made because according different studies conscientiousness and agreeableness are important indicators for engaging into OCB (Ilies et al., 2006; Kamdar &Van Dyne, 2007; Konovsky & Organ, 1996; Kumar et al., 2009; Neuman & Kickul, 1998; Podsakoff et al., 2000). Especially the relationship between conscientiousness and OCB is strong, which can be explained by the reliable, dependable, hard-working, achievement striving, and more in cooperative behavior engaging behavior of conscientiousness people (Buelens et al., 2011; Colbert et al., 2004; Lee et al., 2006; LePine & Van Dyne, 2001; Lund et al., 2007). According Schmitt et al. (2008) Dutch women are more agreeable and conscientious than the average women. Kumar et al. (2009) also found that neurotic people engage in more OCB than emotional stable people. According Schmitt et al. (2008) Dutch women are more neurotic than the average women, and more neurotic than Dutch men. On the basis of their personality more OCB can be expected from Dutch women.
Hypothesis 2: Dutch women tend to engage more in organizational citizenship
behavior than Dutch men.
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and supervisors is important for women (Hofstede, 2001; Konrad et al., 2000; Peterson, 2004). Therefore can result control-oriented organization be less attractive for women.
The difference in leadership style is also being researched. The research to gender difference in leadership style is relatively extended, and the conclusion could be made that women tend to engage more in transformational leadership style than men. But the literature on gender differences in leadership style preference is more limited. The studies that investigated this difference showed that women prefer a transformational leadership style, with more emphasis on collaboration, considerateness, involvement of the leader, with a focus on psychological needs of the employees, emphasizing on intrinsic motivation (Fein et al. 2010). This finding is further strengthened by what women value at their work; relationships, collaboration, a good supervisor, job security, and a good atmosphere (Hofstede, 2000; Konrad et al., 2000; Peterson, 2004). Looking at the personality dimensions the preference for transformational leadership is also explicable. Women score higher on the dimensions conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion. And persons who score high on these dimensions tend to engage more in cooperative behavior than persons who score low on these dimensions (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). Dutch women score much higher than the average women on the dimension conscientiousness and agreeableness, and relatively little less on the dimension extraversion. Following from this there can be expected that Dutch women prefer transformational leadership even more than the average women. According the above the following hypothesis can be formulated:
Hypothesis 3: Dutch women prefer a transformational leadership style more than
Dutch men.
Risk-taking is another aspect which was researched in this thesis. Although not every research found this relationship, the majority of researchers to the level of risk-taking show that the level of risk-taking differs between men and women. The majority of the researchers found that women are more risk-averse than men (Byrnes et al., 1999; Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Hartog et al., 2002). The risk-aversion of women can have an influence on the management control system. According research of Dohmen & Falk (2011) women choose more often for a fixed payment schedule instead of a variable pay scheme when they have the chance than men do (Dohmen & Falk, 2011). This choice for the certainty of a fixed income, instead of the more uncertain, risky variant of a variable payment schedule is according Dohmen & Falk (2011) because the difference in risk-attitudes between men and women. This difference in choice between men and women confirms the explanation of Croson & Gneezy (2009); men see a risky situation as a challenge, where women want to avoid such situations. Also the greater confidence of men that they will have success in an uncertain situation is confirmed by this difference in choice. Men choose the variable payment scheme more because they think that is more worthwhile at the end (Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Lundeberg et al. 1992):
Hypothesis 4: Dutch women prefer fixed payment over variable payment, more than
Dutch men
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The control levers of Simon (1995) are designed for companies who operate in a dynamic and competitive environment. With the levers of control an organization can empower employees and thereby giving up control over decisions and allow employees to act independently. When taking the risk-aversion of women into account it is questionable if women like to work in an empowered, decentralized organization, where they have more responsibilities and thereby more risks doing things the wrong way. Their lower degree of confidence that they will succeed in uncertain situations is an indication that they prefer less autonomy, because then they will not come, or come less, in a situation where they have to make decisions in uncertain situation. Taking the Big-Five personality dimensions into account the proposition that women prefer less autonomy is further strengthened. Women score higher on the dimension agreeableness, and agreeable people are more conforming, understanding and passive. It is not likely that passive people like to take many decisions on their own; they rather follow the decisions and orders of their superiors. Their conforming nature is also amplifying this. Women also score lower on the dimension emotional stability, which means that they can cope less with stress, and are less self-confident. Taking decisions will be preferred less by neurotic people. The researches to what women value in their work also show that they do not value authority and responsibilities as primary important to their work; men do value authority and responsibilities. Based on these factors, the following hypothesis can be stated:
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6. Research Methodology
The formulated hypotheses in chapter five will be tested with an internet-based questionnaire. The questionnaires will be held in the healthcare/nursing sector, engineering sector, administrative sector, and the sales sector. These particular sectors are chosen based on the numbers of the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), which is elaborated in chapter two. Based on the numbers of the CBS is the healthcare/nursing sector a typical female sector, the engineering sector a typical male sector, and are the administrative and sale sectors, sectors in which none of the sexes dominate.
In totality the respondents were asked to fill in 77 questions. The first questions were general questions about the gender of the respondent and the sector he or she was working in. The following questions were divided in the variables personality, organizational citizenship behavior, autonomy, variable reward, and leadership. Per variable a mean is calculated which represent the level of agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, the preferred leadership style, the preferred level of autonomy, and the level of organizational citizenship behavior. The questionnaire was an online questionnaire which was accessible through a link. Organizations were sent an email with the link. When the company wanted to cooperate they had to distribute the questionnaires under their employees. The employees could fill in the questionnaire by themselves. The survey took on average 5-10 minutes to complete. It was stated that all the information and results of the questionnaire would be treated confidentially and used for this research only to increase the likelihood that people would fill in the questionnaire honestly. To test the different variables the following measurements are used.
Big-personality Dimensions
The Big-Five personality dimensions are being measured with a 44-items measurement, designed by John & Srivastra (1999). The reliability for this scale is .83. The scale is a 5-point Likert scale (1 = agree strongly, 5 = disagree strongly). Sample items of the questionnaire are: ‘I see myself as someone who is talkative’, ‘I see myself as someone who is reserved, and ‘I see myself as someone who worries a lot’. All items were translated to Dutch. The complete used questionnaire can be found in the Appendix.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
For the measuring of organizational citizenship behavior of the respondent’s an 8-item measurement by Lee & Allen (2002) will be used. The reliability of this scale is .83. Sample items of the questionnaire are: ‘I help people who have been absent’, ‘I share personal property with others to help them in their work’, and ‘I go out on the way to make newer employees feel welcome in the work groups’. All items were translated to Dutch. The complete used questionnaire can be found in the Appendix.
Autonomy
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Leadership
The preference for transformational leadership is being measured by a 12-item measurement. The questions are derived from the Podsakoff et al. (1990) questionnaire. The original questionnaire contains out of 24 items, but this is shortened in this research in order to reduce the size of the questionnaire. Sample items of the questionnaire are: ‘I prefer a leader who is always seeking new opportunities for the department/organization’, ‘I prefer a leader who provides a good model to follow’, and ‘I prefer a leader who fosters collaboration among work groups’. The items are translated to Dutch. The questionnaire can be found in the Appendix.
Variable Reward
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7. Data analysis & Results
In total 102 respondents filled out the questionnaire, all were valid and could be used in the research. None of the respondents forgot to fill in a question or gave contradicting answers in the questionnaire. Among the respondents were 51 (50.0 percent) males and 51 (50.0 percent) females. Of the respondents 36 (35.3 per cent) were from the administrative sector, 30 (29.4 percent) from the healthcare/nursing sector, 13 (12.7 per cent) from the engineering sector, and 23 (22.5 percent) from the sales sector.
The hypotheses are tested with the whole sample. In this test is researched if the mean for the 51 males is significant different than the mean of the 51 females on the different variables. This test will be done with an independent sample T-test. The mean of the Big-five personality dimensions of men and women can be found in table A1, in the appendix. The results of the independent sample T-test can be found in table A2, in the appendix. In table A3, in the appendix, the average scores of men and women can be found on the management control variables. The results of the independent sample T-test can be found in table A4, in the appendix.
The hypotheses are also tested between men and women in the administrative sector and sales sector. These tests will be done with a Mann Whitney test, because there are too little respondents per sector to get reliable results with an independent sample T-test. The engineering sector and the healthcare/nursing sector are not included because there were too little women in the engineering sector and too little men in the healthcare/nursing sector, which filled in the questionnaire. The results would therefore not be reliable. The results of the administrative and sales sector on the Mann-Whitney tests can be found in table A5 till table A10, in the appendix.
There is also tested, with a One-way ANOVA, if there are differences within a gender between the sectors. This test is done for men between the administrative sector, engineering sector, and sales sector, and for women between the administrative sector, healthcare/nursing sector, and sales sector. The healthcare/nursing sector is not included in the test for men, because of the low number of male respondents in the healthcare/ nursing sector. The engineering sector is not included in the test for women because the number of women who filled in the questionnaire in this sector was too low. The results can be found in table A13 till A16, in the appendix.
Gender differences in Big Five personality dimensions
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conscientiousness than Dutch men rejected. The hypothesis that Dutch women, on average, are more neurotic, or less emotional stable, than Dutch men is supported by the results. The mean of Dutch women on the dimension emotional stability is m = 3.31, where the mean for Dutch men is m = 3.58. These scores imply that Dutch women are less emotional stable, or more neurotic, than Dutch men. The significance of this difference is p = .024, therefore can be concluded that Dutch women are on average more neurotic, or less emotional stable, than Dutch men. The fifth Big Five personality dimension hypothesis, Dutch women are on average more open to new experience than Dutch men, is not supported by the results of the questionnaire. The mean of Dutch men is lower (m = 2.63) than the mean of the Dutch women (m = 2.67), which implies that Dutch men are more open to new experience than Dutch women. However this result is not significant (p = .672), therefore cannot be stated that Dutch men are more open to new experiences than Dutch women. The hypothesis, Dutch women are, on average, more open to new experience than Dutch men, is therefore rejected.
The results of the administrative sector on the Big Five personality dimensions are approximately the same as in the whole sample. Emotional stability is in the administrative sector also the only personality dimension where there is a significant difference (p = .045) between men and women. Women in the administrative sector are also less emotional stable, or more neurotic, than men. The means are m = 3.47 for men and m = 3.02 for women. On the other Big Five personality dimensions there are no significant differences between men and women in the administrative sector. The results of the sales sector are the same as the results of the administrative sector and the whole sample. Emotional stability is also the only significant difference (p = .019) in Big Five personality dimensions between men and women in the sales sector. The mean for men is m = 3.67 and for women m = 3.02. On the other personality dimensions there are no significant differences between men and women in sales sector.
Hypothesis 1a Dutch women are more extravert than Dutch men Rejected
Hypothesis 1b Dutch women are more agreeable than Dutch men Rejected
Hypothesis 1c Dutch women are more conscientious than Dutch men. Rejected
Hypothesis 1d Dutch women are more neurotic than Dutch men. Accepted
Hypothesis 1e Dutch women are more open to new experience than Dutch men.
Rejected
Gender difference in Organizational Citizenship Behavior
The hypothesis that Dutch women tend to engage more in organizational citizenship behavior than Dutch men is rejected. The mean for Dutch men and women is almost the same, m = 2.16 for men, and m = 2.12 for women, which means that Dutch men and women engage approximately at the same level in organizational citizenship behavior. The difference is not significant (p = .633). The hypothesis that Dutch women tend to engage more in organizational citizenship behavior than Dutch men is therefore rejected.
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significant (p = .413). Therefore cannot be concluded that women in the sales sector engage more in organizational citizenship behavior than men in the sales sector.
Hypothesis 2 Dutch women tend to engage more in organizational citizenship behavior than Dutch men.
Rejected
Gender difference in the preference of leadership style
The hypothesis predicted that Dutch women prefer a transformational leadership style more than Dutch men. This hypothesis is rejected. The mean of the scales measuring the preferences for a transformational leadership style of men and women are almost the same, m = 1.97 for men and m = 2.05 for women. There is therefore no significant difference in the preference for transformational leadership style (p = .245). In the administrative sector and the sales sector there is also no significant difference between men and women in their preference for a transformational leadership style. The mean for women in the administrative sector is m = 2.06, and for men m = 2.08, the significance is p = .320. In the sales sector the means were the following; m = 1.96 for women, and m = 1.73 for men. The significance of the difference between men and women in the sales sector on the variable preference for transformational leadership style is p = .449. Based on these results cannot be stated that Dutch women in the administrative sector and sales sector prefer a transformational leadership style more than Dutch men in the administrative sector and sales sector.
Hypothesis 3 Dutch women prefer a transformational leadership style more than Dutch men.
Rejected
Gender difference in variable payment preferences
The hypothesis predicted that Dutch women prefer fixed payment more than Dutch men do. In the questionnaire men and women where asked two questions about variable payment; if they wanted that a part of their salary was depending on their personal results, and if they wanted that their salary was partly depending on the results of their group or organisation as a whole. The men who filled in the questionnaire where more willing to have a part of their reward depending on their personal results than women (m = 2.47 for men, m = 2.96 for women). This difference is also significant (p = .023), therefore can be concluded that Dutch men are more willing to let a part of their reward depend on their personal results than Dutch women. On the other hand are men not significantly more willing to let a part of their rewards be depending on the results of their group or organization as a whole. The mean for men was m = 3.10, and for women m = 3.27. The mean for men is lower, indicating that they are more willing let their reward be partly based on the results of the group or organization as a whole, but this difference is not significant (p = .399). For both gender the willingness was higher to have the reward be partly depending on the individual results than on the results of the group or organization as a whole.
