A Measure of Intergenerational Tension in the Workplace: Some Preliminary Findings

Teh, E.C. (2001) A Measure of Intergenerational Tension in the Workplace: Some Preliminary Findings. In: 15th Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) Conference, Closing the Divide, 5-8 December 2001, Auckland, New Zealand pp. 1-17.

Abstract

An ageing population is changing the nature of the workplace. When combined with age discrimination legislation, employers now face the fact that they can no longer ignore and then quietly retire their older workers. One outcome of this is that the proportion of older workers is increasing. Further, they intend to stay at work longer and resist being an easy target for organisations when they restructure. Th.is study proposes that the continued and increasing presence of older workers is responsible for a phenomenon called intergenerational tension which is defined as a latent or covert form of intergroup conflict in the workplace caused by value and attitudinal differences between the generations. The study measures these differences with an instrument called the Intergenerational Tension Questionnaire which was administered to employees from a large Western Australian government department Preliminary findings indicate the presence of intergenerational tension along the broad divides of generational differences, organisational practices and employee demographics.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Commerce
Publisher:	Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management
Copyright:	The Author
Conference Website:	http://www.anzam.org/
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/21476

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