The Relationship Between Work and Workplace Attitudes and Perceived External Prestige

This study explores the relationship between work and workplace attitudes and perceived external prestige (PEP) among both employees and employers of law firms in Israel. PEP refers to a belief held by members regarding how outsiders view the organization (Dutton et al., 1994; Smidts et al., 2001). Participants were chosen at random from the Israel Bar Members' Guidebook. They were asked to report on their work attitudes (eg, organizational citizenship behavior — altruistic and compliance) and workplace attitudes (eg, a.ective and continuance commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions), and their PEP. The results of multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that PEP was predicted by a.ective commitment, organizational citizenship behavior-compliance and job satisfaction. So far, studies have addressed PEP as a predictor or a prophecy of firm's financial performance and stock market value. This study goes one step further by exploring the relationship between an employee's work and workplace attitudes, and PEP. The article concludes with suggestions regarding further investigation of the relationship between work and workplace attitudes, and PEP. © 2002, Palgrave Macmillan.