Journal of

Management
Development
14,6

Work ethic in the USA and

Canada
Abbas J. Ali and Thomas Falcone

26

Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA, and

A.A. Azim
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The current debates on trade war and national competitiveness highlight once
again the crucial role that work ethic assumes in economic achievements. A
deterioration in work ethic, it is believed, would probably lead to economic
decline. As international trade negotiations and anxiety about current and
future national economic position in the world markets intensifies, the subject
of work ethic takes on an even greater importance. A case in point was a
comment made by Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Mitazawa on 3 February
1992. He indicated that some of the American economic ills came about because
the USA may lack a work ethic. This brought angry responses in the USA
(e.g. Senator Ernest Hollings references to the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki).
There is a genuine belief that societal commitment to work and hard work are
often associated with economic development and competitiveness[1]. In the
modern world, this belief has its origin in the Protestant work ethic (PWE). The
study of PWE was advanced by Max Weber who prophesied a relationship
between Protestantism and capitalism. This Weberian thesis has been
discussed in many disciplines. Philosophers, theologians and economists,
among others, were interested in its spiritual and/or work discipline
dimensions, and have attempted to examine its universal applications. The
results of these attempts, however, are not conclusive. Marshall[2], for example,
advocated the universal validity of the Weberian theses, and Congleton[3]
suggested that work ethic facilitates economic development. Ali[4] and
Furnham[5] questioned the relationships between commitment to a work ethic
and economic success. Other researchers[6,7] argued that, while it is generally
acceptable that impairment of the will to work would lead to a lower standard
of living, the Weberian thesis has to be seen against the specific historical,
social and economic conditions that had prevailed and have existed in any
country.
The preceding discussion highlights the importance of work ethic in
organizational and cross-cultural studies. This study is designed to compare
work ethic and beliefs in the USA and Canada and to determine the
Journal of Management
Development, Vol. 14 No. 6, 1995,
pp. 26-34. MCB University Press,
0262-1711

The study was supported, in part, by a grant from the Canadian Studies Program, Canadian
Embassy, Washington, DC.

relationships between various work-related measures (e.g. individualism, work Work ethic in the
involvement and work ethic).
USA and Canada
Literature review
Clarke[7] attributed the scarcity of comparative studies of work ethic to the
concept itself; it is hard to define. In addition, he argued that great differences
between countries social systems, tradition, and degrees of industrial
development compound the difficulty. Traditionally, studies centred attention
on the classical work ethic, PWE. PWE emphasizes hard work and obedience.
Over the last three decades several studies have utilized PWE (e.g. [8-10]). The
classic work ethic was a product of the European middle class. It was a product
of an era of almost universal scarcity and deprivation. Most people had to work
hard because the alternative to not working was starving[11]. Advancement in
psychological techniques and studies and the ascent of affluent society give rise
to a contemporary type of work ethic (CWE). People start to demand a greater
responsiveness from their organizations and to seek personal growth and
fulfilment beyond economic needs. Barbash[11] and Zuboff[12] asserted that in
todays society the range of options available for employees is broad. That
means there is a qualitative and quantitative shift from a simple work-or-starve
choice to one that encompasses work and non-work choices short of starving
such as education, temporary and part-time jobs, flexible work, earlier
retirement and constructive leisure.
Another work attitude concept that is closely related to work ethic is
individualism. Owing to its conceptual correlate to PWE, research on
individualism has flourished in the West. Ali[13] and Zuboff[12] argued that
individualism is fundamental to work ethic and the role of work in ones life.
Studying individualism is essential for two reasons. First, individualism
provides a better understanding of cultural variations among nations[6,14].
Indeed, cultures differ in the extent to which co-operation and individualism are
emphasized[15]. Second, individualism in the Western world is thought to
contribute to organizational performance and success[16,17].
Objectives
Despite the similarity between the USA and Canada in political systems and
social diversity there may exist some differences between the two countries in
work-related attitudes. Burstein et al.[18] found that 97 per cent of Canadians
preferred working to never working. In the USA Quinn and Staines[19] found
that 71.5 per cent preferred working to never working and this percentage
increased later to 84 per cent[20]. In recent years, however, we have witnessed
heated debates concerning declining work ethic in both countries. In the USA,
politicians and practitioners alike voice concerns about work ethic and suggest
strategies to improve/restore work commitment and pride. In Canada,
Collison[21] indicated that productivity growth rate has been inferior in the
1970s and 1980s relative to the USA. Furthermore, he argued that Canadians in
non-agricultural sectors worked an average of 32 hours each week in 1987,

27

Journal of
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while employees in the USA worked 34.8. He concluded that Canada does not
have a strong work ethic. Recently, Dimma[22] reported that there is a decline of
the work ethic in Canada and that excesses of materialism prompt people to
reject it. Therefore, the first objective in this study is to determine whether
Canadian employees display less commitment to classical and contemporary
work ethics than US employees.
Furnham[23] suggested that there have been only a few attempts to examine
more complex relationships between various measures of work ethic. We
therefore further extend the investigation of the relationships between classical
and contemporary work ethic measures to include individualism. Empirically, it
was found that high work-oriented people do appear to place strong emphasis
on self-reliance and individualism[9,24]. Likewise, research provides evidence
that work norms are highly correlated with individualism and that
contemporary work ethic and individualism are significantly correlated[13,25].
Therefore, the second objective is to investigate the relationship between work
ethic measures and individualism.
Successful individuals have been characterized in the literature as hard
working, responsible, and having confidence in their ability to control their
destiny. In this study a success index and independent variables such as age,
sex and religion are utilized. The third objective, therefore, is to discover
whether these independent variables influence Canadians and Americans
commitment to work ethics and individualism.
Methods
Subjects and data collection
The sample encompasses two groups drawn from the USA and Canada. The US
sample contains employees from three business organizations located in a
county in Pennsylvania: two medium-size manufacturers and a small business
incubator which houses newly started service and manufacturing firms. Other
organizations were approached to participate in the study but declined (a bank
and a hospital). About 180 questionnaires were distributed and 95 useful
questionnaires were received.
The Canadian sample consists of managers and employees of three
organizations in Alberta: a bank, a car dealership, and a gas and oil company.
Two-hundred questionnaires were distributed to employees in these
organizations, from which 115 useful questionnaires were received. In both
countries the organizations are located in districts that are energy-based
economies (coal and gas in Pennsylvania and oil and gas in Alberta). Despite the
similarity in their economic base, the two districts differ: the district in
Pennsylvania is suffering from a hard recession while the one in Alberta is
witnessing a slow economic recovery.
Of the US sample, 58 per cent were male and 88 per cent were in
manufacturing, and 80 per cent described themselves as moderately successful
and 14 per cent as successful. In terms of religious affiliation, 51 per cent were
Protestant, 25 per cent Catholic, and the rest were non-denomination or others.

About 23 per cent were managers, about 43 per cent were 40 years old or lower, Work ethic in the
and 14 per cent held college or graduate degrees.
USA and Canada
Of the Canadian sample, 54 per cent were female, 81 per cent were 40 years
old or lower, and 70 per cent described themselves as moderately successful and
24 per cent successful. Regarding religion, 53 per cent were Protestant, 30 per
cent Catholic, and the rest were non-denomination or other. About 87 per cent
were in service industry, 44 per cent managers, and 49 per cent were employees.
29
Variables
Respondents received questionnaires related to work ethic, work-related
attitudes measures and background information. The work ethic,
individualism and success measures are described briefly as follows:
Protestant work ethic[26]. This classical work ethic has 19-items which
are rated on a five-point strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) scale.
Of the 19 items, 16 are scored in the direction of high PWE and three in
the negative direction. The scale has been used extensively in national
and cross-national research.
Work involvement[27]. This measure is a component of classical work
ethic and has six items. It measures the extent to which an individual
wants to be engaged in work.
Contemporary work ethic[13]. This scale originally had 46 items. Its short
version has 24 items and was utilized in this study. The focus of the scale
is that work enables man to be independent and is a source of selfrespect, satisfaction and fulfilment. Success and progress on the job
depend on hard work and commitment to ones job. Commitment to work
also involves a desire to improve the community and societal welfare.
Statements were also rated on a five-point Likert-type scale.
Individualism[28]. The original scale had seven items. Only six items
were used in this study. The seventh item was not utilized in this study
because it deals with ones perception of ones family most people in
my family do the same [their own things]. The scale centres on selfreliance, self-happiness, or being independent of others. Statements were
also rated on a five-point Likert-type scale.
Individualism[13]. This scale has seven items. The scale measures
individualism in the workplace. It places emphasis on self-reliance as a
source of success, individual rather than group reward, pride in ones
activities, and that loyalty revolves around self and family. In the
workplace, however, loyalty to superiors is necessary.
Success. In organizational studies there have been various approaches or
criteria used to measure success. In this study a subjective judgement of
measuring success was used. This is because perception of success is
influenced by ones overall satisfaction in life despite salary achievement.
In addition, in modern society success should be measured by something
more than making large amounts of money[22]. Participants were asked

Journal of
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Development
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30

to assess themselves as a highly successful, moderately successful, or a

less successful person.
Results
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) are used to analyse the data. The results indicate that US
participants score significantly higher than Canadian on PWE, work-related
individualism, contemporary work ethic and work involvement (x = 3.29 versus
3.06, p < 0.01; x = 3.80 versus 3.70, p < 0.05; x = 3.71 versus 3.55, p < 0.00; x =
4.01 versus 3.83, p < 0.05 respectively). No significant differences are found in
the context of general individualism. In both countries, participants scored
higher on contemporary work ethic relative to PWE (x = 3.71; 3.55 versus 3.29;
3.06 respectively).
The results for PWE and contemporary work ethic show that the Americans
consistently display more dedication than Canadians to work, have less interest
in leisure activities, and view the credit card as a ticket to careless spending.
The relationship between various measures concerned with work ethic and
related attitudes shows that PWE is highly correlated with all measures except
the general individualism scale. Classical work ethic (PWE and WI) scales are
related to contemporary work ethic (r = 0.53 and 0.32 respectively). Both scales
of individualism, too, are significantly correlated (r = 0.36). While general
individualism is not correlated with work ethic, work-related individualism is
significantly correlated with PWE (r = 0.19) and CWE (r = 0.36).
Furthermore, the analysis reveals that success does not influence
commitment to work ethic and work-related attitude. In addition, work
involvement does not differ across the utilized demographic and organizational
variables. PWE differs across age, sex, industry, organizational level, and
educational levels. Individuals working in the manufacturing sector (x = 3.28),
and workers (salary, x = 3.37; hourly, x = 3.30) score high on PWE. Women (x =
3.88), individuals with service organizations (x = 3.87), and workers (salary, x =
3.96; hourly, x = 3.83) are relatively highly committed to work-related
individualism.
In terms of contemporary work ethic, non-denominational and others (x =
3.82) scored higher than Catholics and Protestants (x = 3.66; 3.66), and also
individuals working in manufacturing organizations (x = 3.67) scored relatively
higher than individuals in service organizations (x = 3.49). Workers (salary, x =
3.37; hourly, x = 3.30) are found to score significantly higher than managers and
employees on PWE, and on CWE (salary, x = 3.50; hourly, x = 3.65), and workrelated individualism (x = 3.90). Also, contrary to conventional wisdom no
differences are found between Catholic and Protestant participants on classical
and contemporary work ethic measures.
Discussion
This study has set out to investigate commitment to work ethic between
Canadians and Americans, and to determine the relationships between work-

related measures that were never studied together before. While our goals Work ethic in the
attempted to address cross-cultural and organizational issues, the results take USA and Canada
on an extra value as the debate about national competitiveness is intensifying
and is taking an emotional tone. In this context, it is interesting to note that US
participants, more than Canadians, are committed to the Protestant work ethic,
to contemporary work ethic, and to work-related individualism.
31
These qualities raise several questions. Does high commitment to work mean
strong national competitiveness? Does commitment to leisure activities
necessarily mean a decline in economic growth? Does Protestant teaching make
a difference in commitment to work ethic in a highly industrial society? In our
opinion it is difficult to answer these questions positively. In the USA, several
national forces are widely held to contribute to declining productivity and
growth such as education, infrastructure, lack of attention to long-term results,
lack of management-labour co-operation and level of workforce skills. There
are, however, many additional factors that significantly impact on industrial
growth but get less attention, such as: declining role of family in ones life,
increasing domestic family disputes, drug problems at the workplace, undue
influence of interest groups on economic and foreign policies, and lack of
confidence in business organizations. These factors often distract managers
attention from focusing on major strategic business issues. In addition, they
notably contribute to employee alienation. Employees may be willing to work
several hours but their focus is not as clear as should otherwise be. Alienation
often leads to confusion, and confusion may result in disarray, unclear goal
priorities, and a lack of global vision. Recently, Davis and Milbank[29] reported
that just because US employees show up for work does not mean they are
finding fulfilment in doing their best. The authors found that most workers
around the country feel abused by their employers and by society at large. They
concluded that laziness isnt the reason; alienation is.
Furthermore, the preceding forces may contribute to a weak or absence of
collective consensus (e.g. among labour, management, and political lites).
Perhaps one of the major consequences is the inability of a nation to achieve a
competitive advantage in high value-added industries. For example, in the last
three decades, the USA attempted to achieve economic and technological
leadership while maintaining world political and military leadership; thereby
resources are spread thin over various areas. As a result, coherent economic and
technological policies have been given relatively low priorities. Other nations
that set their economic priorities straight (e.g. Japan and Germany), therefore,
manage to have a higher rate of economic growth.
In the context of Canada, the results provide support to previous studies (e.g.
[22,30]) that Canadian employees display a low commitment to the work ethic.
To improve Canadas competitive position in the global marketplace, top
managers and policymakers need to review sources that contribute to
deterioration in work ethic. As a starting-point, executives in private and public
sectors should develop an understanding of the changing needs and values of

Journal of
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Development
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the Canadian workforce. Todays managers must become sensitive to changes

in decision-making function and work arrangement.
Regarding the last two questions, leisure emphasis and Protestant teaching
impact, the answers may not be affirmative. Leisure activities and involvement
in these activities reflect, in fact, an improvement in the standard of living.
Societies which experience economic prosperity have a tendency to create
various non-work engagements and it is in these societies that productivity and
creative efforts have flourished at the same time. For example, in Japan the
Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, in its study in 1991, indicated that a
growing number [of Japanese] are beginning to pursue non-job-related interests
and are beginning to enjoy their family life more. Certainly, people in poor
societies could not afford luxurious involvements. In the context of the third
question, both Protestant and Catholic participants display identical scores on
PWE and CWE. This indicates that the flow of information, extensive social
interactions in todays society and mobility may reduce the differences in workrelated attitudes that are attributed to a particular religious teaching.
For organizational studies, significant differences were found across the two
countries relative to leisure orientations. The Canadian participants inclination
towards more leisure may be explained by the spread of wealth in Canada.
Wealth in Canada is relatively evenly spread. Many people, therefore, tend not
only to enjoy but also to afford to engage in various leisure activities. Additional
organizational implications stem from differences in work ethics across sex and
organizational positions. Both women and workers (male and female) display a
high commitment to classical work ethic and work-related individualism. That
is, these groups are oriented to work hard and to be independent and
responsible at the workplace. A plausible explanation is that the two groups are
sensitive to their work status, and perhaps working hard may provide them
with a security or a means to make it in a highly competitive business
environment. There may be a feeling that they would stand to lose the most
during economic hardship and recession. Management should capitalize on
current orientations by channelling the commitment of these groups towards
achieving organizational goals and improving productivity. Likewise, top
management should encourage other employees, through various programmes,
to emulate females and workers desire to work harder and to be aware of their
organizational obligations. These programmes should be designed to reduce
alienation and strengthen employees involvement in the decision-making
process.
Another important organizational issue is related to the centrality of religious
belief in work ethic. The results indicate that in terms of classical work ethic
measures no significant differences were found across religious affiliation. Nondenominational and others, however, score higher than the rest on
contemporary work ethic. The results provide evidence that caution is in order
when attributing economic development to religious belief. Religion has always
provided people with a powerful spiritual motivator to achieve particular
objectives. On many occasions, however, religion is abused and may create a

roadblock for economic growth and social welfare. Managers and powerful Work ethic in the
industrial segments of society under different circumstances have resorted to USA and Canada
religious teaching to justify their actions. Protestantism during the early days
of industrialization provided crucial support to the new employers in their
efforts to construct an interpretation of productive behaviour that would deliver
some measure of motivational punch[12, p. 156]. The intention was to induce
33
obedience and efficiency. Neikirk[31] indicated that Protestant ethics not only
encouraged hard work and gave its blessing to the amassing of wealth but also
gave licence for excesses by many who chose to ignore Christianitys greater
moral and social demand. Zuboff[12] briefly referred to the abuse of the
immigrant workers and slaves in the USA by utilizing work ethic, which
emerged to dominate managerial discourse. Similarly, other religious groups
have used religious framework to justify abuse.
Finally, the correlation results seem to confirm previous studies. Especially
the results affirm the relationships between work-related individualism and
work ethic measures. In addition, the contemporary work ethic is related
significantly to the classical meaning of work ethic (hard work and self-reliance)
a result that suggests future research should concentrate on the contemporary
work ethic as a useful measure of work components. Future research should
also utilize other work beliefs relative to work design, decision making,
innovation and change.
It is difficult to generalize the results of this study because the samples are not
broad enough and were drawn from regions that have experienced a relatively
long period of economic recession. Nevertheless, we believe that the results and
their implications are useful in reflecting on current issues related to work ethic
and its correlates. Furthermore, the results are important in understanding
cross-cultural issues and the centrality of work ethic in ones life.
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