A comparison of the values of professional managers and graduate students in public administration, business administration and nonprofit management

This research identified the differences and similarities in the terminal and instrumental values of graduate students and practicing professionals in the fields of public administration, business administration and nonprofit management.;Based upon the assumption that managerial culture is, in part, a product of the shared values held by the individuals within a field, it was anticipated that the findings from this research would represent a set of indicators of the cultural differences which may exist among the management of the public, private and nonprofit sectors of our economy. It was also anticipated that shifts in values would emerge within a sector over time as indicated by the comparison of graduate students and practicing professionals.;The study was exploratory in nature. Tests were administered utilizing human values theories for adults as developed by Milton Rokeach. The same set of tests was applied to both graduate students in programs of study in (1) Public Administration (MPA), (2) Business Administration (MBA), and (3) Nonprofit Management (NPM), as well as a selected group of practicing professionals in each of these three fields.;Questions that were addressed included: (1) Are there distinct value differences among graduate students in public administration, business administration and nonprofit management programs? (2) Are there distinct terminal and instrumental value differences among practicing professional managers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors? (3) Are the value differences between graduate students and practicing professionals statistically significant? (4) Are value differences significantly different due to other factors, i.e., age, gender or ethnicity?;A quantitative analysis of the value differences within and among groups was completed. Other variables of age, gender, or ethnicity were also analyzed for relationships to group values.;The findings demonstrated far more similarities than dissimilarities among the cohorts tested suggesting that the value based argument regarding difference among sectors of the economy are largely unfounded and that the differences that do exist should be explained at other levels of culture, i.e. language rituals, legends, or myths.;When professional managers come together in public, private partnership to address the complex issues confronting our society, the first agenda item is often the assumed culture clash that exists among the three sectors.;The underlying assumption that values differ among the sectors appears to be inaccurate. It may be that the similarities among managers is a product of an administrative value system developed as a product of their socialization and separation from other groups. While there may be differences in attitudes and even behavior, the values that are associated with each sector are not significantly different when comparing practicing professional managers or graduate students.