The effects of work culture differences on work behaviors: Case of Turkey and Poland

Work culture is a complex concept of an individual's work-related attitudes and behaviors and influenced by many factors, such as individual, organizational, social. Work culture that shapes an individual's perspective to work, is in interaction with the culture of the society we live in. Therefore, every society may affect the working life with its own values, beliefs, customs and cultural texture. In this sense, an individual's perspective to work, meaning of work, work commitment, work discipline and work behaviors may vary according to each society. This study examining the effects of work culture differences on work behaviors in terms of Turkey and Poland, aimed to put forward the interaction between work attitudes and work behaviors forming work culture differences. The interaction at issue was determined by the work culture model. The research was carried out in the sugar confectionery and chocolate industry in Turkey and Poland. 583 questionnaires were applied to blue-collars employees working in the sugar confectionery and chocolate industry in order to obtain data. Data with regard to work behaviors were obtained through the human resource department managers and added to the analysis of the model. Consequently, the relationship between work attitudes such as meaning of work, work commitment, work effort and work behaviors such as efficiency, performance, absenteeism, turnover intention was found and the results with regard to the different effects of work culture on work behaviors in Turkey and Poland were obtained. Besides the contribution of this study to the literature which fills an important gap in the work culture area, it is thought that this study will be a guide to develop future scientific studies in the field.