The values of managers and employees in organizations are phenomena th
at have captured the interest of researchers, practitioners, social cr
itics, and the public at large. Despite this attention, there continue
s to be a conspicuous lack of agreement on what values are and how the
y influence individuals. In this article we discuss how values have be
en defined and conceptualized Focusing on values as desirable modes of
behavior, we describe how they affect individuals in organizations an
d discuss some of the salient controversies that characterize contempo
rary research on values. Finally,, we report on a comprehensive review
of the most recent literature in this area.