Pyschology Paper 500 words
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Foundations of Individual Behavior
CHAPTER
PART 4 Leading
8.1
Identify the focus
and goals of organizational behavior (OB).
Explain the role that
attitudes play in job
performance. 8.2
Describe perception
and the factors that influence it.
8.4
Discuss learning theories and their
relevance in shaping
behavior.
8.5
8.3
Describe different
personality theories.
8.6
Discuss contemporary
issues in OB.
p.214
p.220 p.233
p.216
p.226
p.229
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Like many revolts, it began with something simple.1 At Microsoft, it was the vanishing towels. For employees who biked to work through the often-drizzly weather in Seattle, the provided towels had become an entitlement. However, one day when employees came to work, the towels were gone . . . pulled without notice from the locker rooms in the com- pany’s underground garage. The company’s human resources manager thought removing the towels, which had been done as a cost-saving measure, “wouldn’t even be a blip.” But it was. Irate employees waged war on company message boards and blogs. One post fumed, “It is a dark and dreary day at One Microsoft Way. Do yourself a favor and stay away.” The intensity of the comments shocked senior executives. The towel fiasco, in conjunction with a languishing stock price and a little bit of “Google envy,” suggested a serious morale prob- lem and a need to bring in a new face to HR. Lisa Brummel (see photo below), a successful Microsoft product development manager with no HR experience, was tapped to become the new HR chief. Her mandate: Improve the mood around here. And Lisa, who had always been a strong people leader, stepped up to do just that.
In addition to reinstating the towels (a no-brainer), Lisa looked for other ways that the com- pany could reshape HR at Microsoft. And in doing so, she brought a unique and insightful understanding of human behavior. One thing she did was to introduce innovative office designs that allowed employees to reconfigure their workspaces for the task they were working on. The customized workspaces included options such as sliding doors, movable walls, and features that made the space seem more like an urban loft than an office. When beginning a workspace redesign, “employees are first divided into four worker types: providers (the godfathers of work groups), travelers (the types who work anywhere but work), concentrators (head-down, always- at-work types), and orchestrators (the company’s natural diplomats).” Based on their “type,” employees then pick the kind of workspace that works best for them. By allowing their creative, quirky, and talented people freedom to design their workspaces, the company was able to give them some control over their chaotic and often hectic environment.
With Lisa at the helm of HR, the company has made progress in its people policies. Yet, some- times a decision coming out of One Microsoft Way (company headquarters) still makes you scratch your head and wonder why. The most recent was when 25 recently laid-off employees were asked to return an overpayment of severance pay. The amount, a small sum, amounted to about $5,000 per employee. But by asking for this money back, this billion-dollar organization didn’t send a very good message, especially when trying to improve morale and keep employees excited and engaged with their work. Once again, Lisa stepped up. She made the calls to the employees involved and said that the company hadn’t handled the situation in a “thoughtful manner” and the money was theirs to keep. Like any successful manager, Lisa recognizes the importance of people skills.
Towels, Severance, and Morale...Oh My
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8.1
Identify the focus
and goals of organizational behavior (OB).
214
Lisa Brummel had a bit of a people challenge! Like her, most managers want employees with
the right attitudes and personality. They want people who show up and work hard, get along
with coworkers and customers, have good attitudes, and exhibit good work behaviors in other
ways. But as you’re probably already aware, people don’t always behave like that “ideal”
employee. They post critical comments in blogs. They complain over missing towels. People
differ in their behaviors and even the same person can behave one way one day and a com-
pletely different way another day. For instance, haven’t you seen family members, friends, or
coworkers behave in ways that prompted you to wonder: Why did they do that? In this chap-
ter, we look at four psychological aspects—attitudes, personality, perception, and learning—
and demonstrate how these things can help managers understand the behavior of those
people with whom they have to work. We conclude the chapter by looking at contemporary
behavioral issues facing managers.
What Are the Focus and Goals of Organizational Behavior? The material in this and the next four chapters draws heavily on the field of study that’s known as organizational behavior (OB). Although it’s con- cerned with the subject of behavior—that is, the actions of people— organizational behavior is the study of the actions of people at work.
One of the challenges in understanding organizational behavior is that it addresses issues that aren’t obvious. Like an iceberg, OB has a small
visible dimension and a much larger hidden portion. (See Exhibit 8-1.) What we see when we look at an organization is its visible aspects: strategies, goals, policies and procedures, structure, technology, formal authority relationships, and chain of com- mand. But under the surface are other elements that managers need to understand— elements that also influence how employees behave at work. As we’ll show, OB provides managers with considerable insights into these important, but hidden, aspects of the organization.
Visible Aspects Strategies Objectives
Policies and procedures Structure
Technology Formal authority
Chains of command
Hidden Aspects Attitudes
Perceptions Group norms
Informal interactions Interpersonal and
intergroup conflicts
Organization as IcebergEXHIBIT 8-1
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What Is the Focus of OB? Organizational behavior focuses on three major areas. First, OB looks at individual behavior. Based predominantly on contributions from psychologists, this area includes such topics as attitudes, personality, perception, learning, and motivation. Second, OB is concerned with group behavior, which includes norms, roles, team building, leadership, and conflict. Our knowledge about groups comes basically from the work of sociologists and social psychol- ogists. Finally, OB also looks at organizational aspects including structure, culture, and human resource policies and practices. We’ve addressed organizational aspects in previous chapters. In this chapter, we’ll look at individual behavior and in the following chapter, at group behavior.
What Are the Goals of Organizational Behavior? The goals of OB are to explain, predict, and influence behavior. Managers need to be able to explain why employees engage in some behaviors rather than others, predict how employ- ees will respond to various actions and decisions, and influence how employees behave.
What employee behaviors are we specifically concerned with explaining, predicting, and influencing? Six important ones have been identified: employee productivity, absen- teeism, turnover, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), job satisfaction, and workplace misbehavior. Employee productivity is a performance measure of both work efficiency and effectiveness. Managers want to know what factors will influence the efficiency and effec- tiveness of employees. Absenteeism is the failure to show up for work. It’s difficult for work to get done if employees don’t show up. Studies have shown that unscheduled absences cost companies around $660 per employee per year.2 Although absenteeism can’t be totally eliminated, excessive levels have a direct and immediate impact on the organization’s func- tioning. Turnover is the voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organiza- tion. It can be a problem because of increased recruiting, selection, and training costs and work disruptions. Just like absenteeism, managers can never eliminate turnover, but it is something they want to minimize, especially among high-performing employees. Organizational citizenship behavior is discretionary behavior that’s not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, but which promotes the effective functioning of the organization.3 Examples of good OCB include helping others on one’s work team, volunteering for extended job activities, avoiding unnec- essary conflicts, and making constructive statements about one’s work group and the organization. Organiza- tions need individuals who will do more than their usual job duties, and the evidence indicates that organizations that have such employees outperform those that don’t.4
However, there are drawbacks to OCB as employees may experience work overload, stress, and work/life conflicts.5
Job satisfaction refers to an employee’s general attitude toward his or her job. Although job satisfaction is an atti- tude rather than a behavior, it’s an outcome that concerns many managers because satisfied employees are more
organizational behavior The study of the actions of people at work.
behavior The actions of people.
employee productivity A performance measure of both work efficiency and effectiveness.
turnover Voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization.
absenteeism The failure to show up for work.
organizational citizenship behavior Discretionary behavior that’s not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, but which promotes the effective functioning of the organization.
job satisfaction An employee’s general attitude toward his or her job.
Mitsue Endo’s job at Japan’s Keihin Express Railway is helping lost customers find their way and resolving ticket problems at a Tokyo station used by 250,000 riders each day. Before beginning work, she uses a “smile” machine, a laptop computer with a digital camera mounted on top that instantly gives her a smile score. Although the smile test is optional and smiling is not part of Endo’s formal job description, she uses it to improve her interactions with rushed and often agitated passengers. Endo believes that presenting a happy face is a constructive behavior that creates a more relaxed environment for customers and sheds a positive light on her company’s goal of improving customer service.
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Explain the role that
attitudes play in job
performance.
8.2
216 PA R T F O U R | L E A D I N G
likely to show up for work, have higher levels of performance, and stay with an organization. Workplace misbehavior is any intentional employee behavior that is potentially harmful to the organization or individuals within the organization. Workplace misbehavior shows up in organizations in four ways: deviance, aggression, antisocial behavior, and violence.6 Such behaviors can range from playing loud music just to irritate coworkers to verbal aggression to sabotaging work, all of which can create havoc in any organization. In the following pages, we’ll address how an understanding of four psychological factors—employee attitudes, per- sonality, perception, and learning—can help us predict and explain these employee behaviors.
What Role Do Attitudes Play in Job Performance? Attitudes are evaluative statements, either favorable or unfavorable, con- cerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how an individual feels about something. When a person says, “I like my job,” he or she is express-
ing an attitude about work.
What Are the Three Components of an Attitude? To better understand attitude, we need to look at its three components: cognition, affect, and behavior.7 The cognitive component of an attitude is made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, and information held by a person. For example, shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Congress spent weeks debating whether airport baggage screeners should be federal employees. Some claimed the current private airport screeners were adequately doing their jobs, even though evidence presented during the debate showed that knives, pepper spray, and a loaded gun were missed by air- port screeners.8 The belief held by some congressional leaders that private screeners were effective is an example of cognition. The affective component is the emotional or feeling part of an attitude. This component would be reflected in the statement, “I don’t like Erica because she smokes.” Cognition and affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. So, to continue our example, I might choose to avoid Erica because of my feel- ings about her. Looking at attitudes as being made up of three components—cognition, affect, and behavior—helps to illustrate the complexity of attitudes. For the sake of clarity, keep in mind that the term usually refers only to the affective component.
What Attitudes Might Employees Hold? Naturally, managers are not interested in every attitude an employee might hold. Rather, they’re specifically interested in job-related attitudes, and the three most important and most studied are job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.9 Job satisfac- tion is an employee’s general attitude toward his or her job. When people speak of employee attitudes, more often than not they mean job satisfaction. Job involvement is the degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, and considers his or her job performance important for self-worth. Finally, organizational commitment represents an employee’s orientation toward the organization in terms of his or her loyalty to, identification with, and involvement in the organization.
A new concept associated with job attitudes that’s generating widespread interest is employee engagement, which is when employees are connected to, satisfied with, and enthusiastic about their jobs.10 Highly engaged employees are passionate about and deeply connected to their work. Disengaged employees have essentially “checked out” and don’t care. They show up for work, but have no energy or passion for it. Exhibit 8-2 lists the key engagement factors found in a global study of over 12,000 employees.
There are benefits to having highly engaged employees. First, highly engaged employ- ees are two-and-a-half times more likely to be top performers than their less-engaged
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Globally, respect ranks as the no. 1 factor contributing to employee engagement.
GLOBAL CHINA FRANCE GERMANY INDIA JAPAN U.K. U.S.
Respect 125 121 133 129 104 90 144 122
Type of Work 112 75 138 113 116 107 122 112
Work/Life Balance 112 98 133 106 97 119 119 111
Provide Good Service to Customers 108 108 110 108 103 79 122 107
Base Pay 108 113 110 105 103 140 117 114
People You Work With 107 96 105 131 98 107 120 104
Benefits 94 127 81 110 94 75 76 112
Long-Term Career Potential 92 91 89 77 108 94 88 92
Learning and Development 91 83 67 80 98 86 85 82
Flexible Working 87 85 77 92 80 88 83 88
Promotion Opportunities 85 92 79 83 113 92 68 80
Variable Pay/Bonus 80 111 77 65 86 123 56 75
EXHIBIT 8-2 Key Employee Engagement Factors
coworkers. In addition, companies with highly engaged employees have higher retention rates, which help keep recruiting and training costs low. And both of these outcomes— higher performance and lower costs—contribute to superior financial performance.11
Do an Individual’s Attitude and Behavior Need to Be Consistent? Did you ever notice how people change what they say so that it doesn’t contradict what they do? Perhaps a friend of yours had consistently argued that American-manufactured cars were poorly built and that he’d never own anything but a foreign import. Then his parents gave him a late model American-made car, and suddenly they weren’t so bad. Or, when going through sorority rush, a new freshman believes that sororities are good and that pledging a sorority is important. If she’s not accepted by a sorority, however, she may say, “I recognized that sorority life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, anyway.”
Research generally concludes that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior.12 Individuals try to reconcile differing attitudes and align their attitudes and behavior so that they appear rational and consistent. They do so by altering either the attitudes or the behavior or by developing a rationalization for the discrepancy.
cognitive component The part of an attitude made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, and information held by a person.
attitudes Evaluative statements, either favorable or unfavorable, concerning objects, people, or events.
workplace misbehavior Any intentional employee behavior that is potentially harmful to the organization or individuals within the organization.
employee engagement When employees are connected to, satisfied with, and enthusiastic about their jobs.
organizational commitment An employee’s orientation toward the organization in terms of his or her loyalty to, identification with, and involvement in the organization.
job involvement The degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, and considers his or her job performance important for self-worth.
behavioral component The part of an attitude that refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
affective component The part of an attitude that’s the emotional or feeling part.
Note: Scores near 100 are middle importance, scores below 100 are less important, scores above 100 are more important. Source: Mercer; IndustryWeek, April 2008, p. 24.
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Cognitive dissonance refers to an inconsistency between attitudes and behaviors. For example, most people may believe that they are safe drivers, yet many may create potentially unsafe road conditions by driving and texting at the same time. To reduce the dissonance, these drivers may either stop their habit of driving and texting, or they may rationalize that driving and texting doesn’t really pose any threat to others’ safety, that they are in control of the situation, or that everyone else is doing the same thing.
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What Is Cognitive Dissonance Theory? Can we assume from this consistency principle that an individual’s behavior can always be predicted if we know his or her attitude on a subject? The answer isn’t a simple “yes” or “no.” Why? Cognitive dissonance theory.
Cognitive dissonance theory, proposed by Leon Festinger in the 1950s, sought to explain the relationship between attitudes and behavior.13 Cognitive dissonance is any incompati- bility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes. The theory argued that inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will try to reduce the dis- comfort and thus, the dissonance.
Of course, no one can avoid dissonance. You know you should floss your teeth every day, but you don’t do it. There’s an inconsistency between attitude and behavior. How do peo- ple cope with cognitive dissonance? The theory proposed that how hard we’ll try to reduce dissonance is determined by three things: (1) the importance of the factors creating the dis- sonance, (2) the degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over those factors, and (3) the rewards that may be involved in dissonance.
If the factors creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct the inconsistency will be low. However, if those factors are important, individuals may change their behavior, conclude that the dissonant behavior isn’t so important, change their attitude, or identify compatible factors that outweigh the dissonant ones.
How much influence individuals believe they have over the factors also affects their reaction to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance is something about which they have no choice, they won’t be receptive to attitude change or feel a need to do so. If, for example, the dissonance-producing behavior was required as a result of a man- ager’s order, the pressure to reduce dissonance would be less than if the behavior had been performed voluntarily. Although dissonance exists, it can be rationalized and jus- tif ied by the need to follow the manager’s orders—that is, the person had no choice or control.
Finally, rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. Coupling high dissonance with high rewards tends to reduce the discomfort by motivating the individual to believe that there is consistency.
Let’s look at an example. If the factors creating dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct any imbalance would be low. However, say that a corporate man- ager, Tracey Ford, believes strongly that no company should lay off employees. Unfortu- nately, Tracey is placed in the position of having to make decisions that would trade off her company’s strategic direction against her convictions on layoffs. She knows that, because of restructuring in the company, some jobs may no longer be needed, and the lay- offs are in the best economic interest of her firm. What will she do? Undoubtedly, Tracey
is experiencing a high degree of cognitive dissonance. Because of the importance of the issues in this exam- ple, we cannot expect her to ignore the inconsistency. To deal with her dilemma, she can follow several steps. She can change her behavior (lay off employees). Or she can reduce dissonance by concluding that the dis- sonant behavior is not so important after all (“I’ve got to make a living, and in my role as a decision maker, I often have to place the good of my company above that of individual organizational members”). A third alter- native would be for Tracey to change her attitude (“There is nothing wrong in laying off employees”). Still another choice would be to seek out more conso- nant elements to outweigh the dissonant ones (“The long-term benefits to the surviving employees from our restructuring more than offset the costs associated with the retrenchment effort”).
The degree of influence that individuals such as Tracey Ford believe they have over the elements also will
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have an impact on how they react to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance to be uncontrollable—something about which they have no choice—they are less likely to feel a need for an attitude change. If, for example, the dissonance-producing behavior were required by the boss’s directive, the pressure to reduce dissonance would be less than if the behavior were performed voluntarily. Dissonance would exist, but it could be rationalized and justified. This is why it’s so critical in today’s organizations for leaders to establish the ethical culture. Without their influence and support, reducing dissonance toward ethical behaviors is lessened.14 Rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. High dissonance, when accompanied by high rewards, tends to reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance. The reward reduces dissonance by adding to the con- sistency side of the individual’s balance sheet.
These moderating factors suggest that although individuals experience dissonance, they will not necessarily move directly toward consistency, that is, toward reducing the disso- nance. If the issues underlying the dissonance are of minimal importance, if an individual perceives that the dissonance is externally imposed and is substantially uncontrollable, or if rewards are significant enough to offset the dissonance, the individual will not be under great tension to reduce the dissonance.16
How Can an Understanding of Attitudes Help Managers Be More Effective? Managers should be interested in their employees’ attitudes because they influence behavior. Satisfied and committed employees, for instance, have lower rates of turnover and absenteeism. If managers want to keep resignations and absences down—especially among their more productive employees—they’ll want to do things that generate posi- tive job attitudes.
Whether satisf ied workers are productive workers is a debate that’s been going on for almost 80 years. After the Hawthorne Studies, managers believed that happy work- ers were productive workers. Since it’s not been easy to determine whether job satisfac- tion “caused” job productivity or vice versa, some management researchers felt that belief was generally wrong. However, we can say with some certainty that the correla- tion between satisfaction and productivity is fairly strong.17 Satisf ied employees do per- form better on the job. So managers should focus on those factors that have been shown to be conducive to high levels of employee job satisfaction: making work challenging and interesting, providing equitable rewards, and creating supportive working condi- tions and supportive colleagues.18 These factors are likely to help employees be more productive.
Managers should also survey employees about their attitudes. As one study put it, “A sound measurement of overall job attitude is one of the most useful pieces of informa- tion an organization can have about its employees.”19
Finally, managers should know that employees will try to reduce dissonance. If employees are required to do things that appear inconsistent to them or that are at odds with their attitudes, managers should remember that pressure to reduce the dissonance is not as strong when the employee perceives that the dissonance is externally imposed and uncontrollable. It’s also decreased if rewards are significant enough to offset the dis- sonance. So the manager might point to external forces such as competitors, customers, or other factors when explaining the need to perform some work that the individual may have some dissonance about. Or the manager can provide rewards that an individual desires.
percent of companies con- duct employee surveys.
percent of companies that do conduct employee sur- veys fail to implement any
changes the survey suggests might be necessary.
percent of baby boomers report little or no interac- tion with their Gen Y work
colleagues.
percent of managers and employees say they have decreased their work efforts
in response to rudeness at work.
percent have decreased their time at work in response to rudeness at work.
percent of workers polled say they’re satisfied with their job and the work
they do.
percent of Fortune 100 companies use the MBTI®
instrument in hiring and promoting.
cognitive dissonance Any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
44 46
51
48
47 90
89 percent of employees say they feel disconnected from their employers.40
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8.3
Describe different
personality theories.
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What Do Managers Need to Know About Personality? “Let’s face it, dating is a drag. There was a time when we thought the com- puter was going to make it all better . . . But most of us learned the hard way that finding someone who shares our love of film noir and obscure garage bands does not a perfect match make.”20 Using in-depth personality
assessment and profiling, Chemistry.com is trying to do something about making the whole dating process better. Personality. We all have one. Some of us are quiet and passive; others are loud
and aggressive. When we describe people using terms such as quiet, passive, loud, aggres- sive, ambitious, extroverted, loyal, tense, or sociable, we’re describing their personalities. An individual’s personality is a unique combination of emotional, thought, and behavioral pat- terns that affect how a person reacts to situations and interacts with others. Personality is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits. We’re interested in looking at personality because just like attitudes, it too affects how and why people behave the way they do.
Can Personality Predict Behavior? Literally dozens of traits are attributed to an individual’s behavior. So too are personality types as they show how people interact with one another and how they solve problems. Through the years, researchers attempted to focus specifically on which personality types and personality traits would identify information about the individual. Two of these efforts have been widely recognized—the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and the Big Five model of personality.
WHAT IS THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR? One of the more widely used methods of identifying personalities is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®). The MBTI® assess- ment uses four dichotomies of personality to identify 16 different personality types based on the responses to an approximately 100-item questionnaire. More than 2 million individ- uals take the MBTI® assessment each year in the United States alone. It’s used in such companies as Apple, Honda, AT&T, Exxon, 3M, as well as many hospitals, educational institutions, and the U.S. Armed Forces.
The 16 personality types are based on the four dichotomies shown in Exhibit 8-3. That is, the MBTI® assessment dichotomies include Extraversion versus Introversion (EI), Sens- ing versus Intuition (SN), Thinking versus Feeling (TF), and Judging versus Perceiving (JP). The EI scale describes an individual’s orientation toward the external world of the environ- ment (E) or the inner world of ideas and experiences (I). The Sensing–Intuition scale indi- cates an individual’s preference for gathering data while focusing on a standard routine based on factual data (S) to focusing on the big picture and making connections among the facts (N). Thinking–Feeling reflects one’s preference for making decisions in a logical and analytical manner (T) or on the basis of values and beliefs and the effects the decision will have on others (F). The Judging–Perceiving scale reflects an attitude toward how one deals with the external world—either in a planned and orderly way (J) or preferring to remain flexible and spontaneous (P).21
How could the MBTI® assessment help managers? Proponents of the instrument believe that it’s important to know these personality types because they influence the way people interact and solve problems.22 For example, if your boss is an Intuition type and you’re a Sensing type, you’ll deal with information in different ways. An Intuition preference indi- cates your boss is one who prefers gut reactions, whereas you, as a Sensing type, prefer to deal with the facts. To work well with your boss, you have to present more than just facts about a situation—you’ll also have to discuss your gut feeling about the situation. The MBTI® assessment has also been found to be useful in focusing on growth orientations for entrepreneurial types as well as profiles supporting emotional intelligence (something we’ll look at shortly).23
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SENSING TYPES S
THINKING T FEELING F
INTUITIVE TYPES N
FEELING F THINKING T
IN T
R O
V E
R T
S I
J U
D G
IN G
J
P E
R C
E IV
IN G
P
E X
T R
O V
E R
T S
E
P E
R C
E IV
IN G
P
J U
D G
IN G
J
ISTJ Quiet, serious, dependable, practical, matter-of-fact. Value traditions and loyalty.
ISFJ Quiet, friendly, responsible, thorough, considerate. Strive to create order and harmony.
INFJ Seek meaning and connection in ideas. Committed to firm values. Organized and decisive in implementing vision.
INTJ Have original minds and great drive for their ideas. Skeptical and independent. Have high standards of competence for self and others.
ISTP Tolerant and flexible. Interested in cause and effect. Value efficiency.
ISFP Quiet, friendly, sensitive. Like own space. Dislike disagreements and conflicts.
INFP Idealistic, loyal to their values. Seek to understand people and help them fulfill their potential.
INTP Seek logical explanations. Theoretical and abstract over social interactions. Skeptical, sometimes critical. Analytical.
ESTP Flexible and tolerant. Focus on here and now. Enjoy material comforts. Learn best by doing.
ESFP Outgoing, friendly. Enjoy working with others. Spontaneous. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
ENFP Enthusiastic, imaginative. Want a lot of affirmation. Rely on verbal fluency and ability to improvise.
ENTP Quick, ingenious, stimulating. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and analyzing them strategically. Bored by routine.
ESTJ Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact, decisive. Focus on getting efficient results. Forceful in implementing plans.
ESFJ Warmhearted, cooperative. Want to be appreciated for who they are and for what they contribute.
ENFJ Warm, responsive, responsible. Attuned to needs of others. Sociable, facilitate others, provide inspirational leadership.
ENTJ Frank, decisive, assume leadership. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Forceful in presenting ideas.
EXHIBIT 8-3 Examples of MBTI® Types
Source: Further information is available at www.cpp.com where you will find the full range of Introduction to Type® titles along with other products that allow you to expand your knowledge and applications of your MBTI® type. Modified and reproduced by special permission of the Publisher, CPP, Inc., Mountain View, CA 94043, from Introduction to Type®, Sixth Edition by Isabel Briggs Myers. Copyright 1998 by Peter B. Myers and Katharine D. Myers. All rights reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Publisher’s written consent.
WHAT IS THE BIG FIVE MODEL OF PERSONALITY? Another way of viewing personality is through a five-factor model of personality—more typically called the Big Five model.24
The Big Five factors are:
1. Extraversion A personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative, and assertive.
2. Agreeableness A personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.
3. Conscientiousness A personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is responsible, dependable, persistent, and achievement oriented.
4. Emotional stability A personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is calm, enthusiastic, and secure (positive) or tense, nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).
5. Openness to experience A personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is imaginative, artistically sensitive, and intellectual.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) A personality assessment that uses four dichotomies of personality to identify different personality types.
personality A unique combination of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns that affect how a person reacts to situations and interacts with others.
Big Five model A personality trait model that examines five traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.IS
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The Big Five model provides more than just a personality framework. Research has shown that important relationships exist between these personality dimensions and job performance.25
For example, one study reviewed five categories of occupations: professionals (e.g., engineers, architects, attorneys), police, managers, sales, and semiskilled and skilled employees.26 Job per- formance was defined in terms of employee performance ratings, training competency, and personnel data such as salary level. The results of the study showed that conscientiousness predicted job performance for all five occupational groups.27 Predictions for the other person- ality dimensions depended on the situation and the occupational group. For example, extra- version predicted performance in managerial and sales positions, in which high social interaction is necessary.28 Openness to experience was found to be important in predicting training competency. Ironically, emotional security was not positively related to job perform- ance. Although it would seem logical that calm and secure workers would be better perform- ers, that wasn’t the case. Perhaps it’s a function of the likelihood that emotionally stable workers often keep their jobs and emotionally unstable people may not. Given that all those participat- ing in the study were employed, the variance on that dimension was probably small.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE? People who understand their own emotions and are good at reading others’ emotions may be more effective in their jobs. That, in essence, is the theme of the underlying research on emotional intelligence.29
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to an assortment of noncognitive skills, capabilities, and competencies that influences a person’s ability to cope with environmental demands and pressures.30 It’s composed of five dimensions:
� Self-awareness. Being aware of what you’re feeling. � Self-management. The ability to manage your own emotions and impulses. � Self-motivation. The ability to persist in the face of setbacks and failures. � Empathy. The ability to sense how others are feeling. � Social skills. The ability to handle the emotions of others.
Several studies suggest that EI may play an important role in job performance.31 For instance, one study looked at the characteristics of Bell Lab engineers who were rated as stars by their peers. The scientists concluded that these stars were better at relating to others. That is, it was EI, not academic IQ, that characterized high performers. A second study of Air Force recruiters generated similar f indings: Top-performing recruiters exhibited high levels of EI. Using these findings, the Air Force revamped its selection criteria. A follow-up investi- gation found that future hires who had high EI scores were 2.6 times more successful than those with low scores. Organiza- tions such as American Express have found that implementing emotional intelligence programs has helped increase its effec- tiveness; other organizations also found similar results that emotional intelligence contributes to team effectiveness.33 For instance, at Cooperative Printing in Minneapolis, a study of its 45 employees concluded that EI skills were twice as important in “contributing to excellence as intellect and expertise alone.”34 A poll of human resources managers asked this ques- tion: How important is it for your workers to demonstrate EI to move up the corporate ladder? Forty percent of the managers replied “very important.” Another 16 percent said moderately important. Other studies also indicated that emotional intelli- gence can be beneficial to quality improvements in contempo- rary organizations.35
The implications from the initial EI evidence is that employ- ers should consider emotional intelligence as a criterion in their selection process—especially for those jobs that demand a high degree of social interaction.36
Right orWrong?
It‘s been called the “desperation hustle.”32 Employees who are “anxious
about layoffs want to look irreplaceable.” So they clean up their act.Those
who might not have paid much attention to their manner of dress now do.
Those who were mouthy and argumentative are now quiet and compli-
ant. Those who used to “watch the clock” are now the last to leave. The
fear is there and it’s noticeable.“Managing that fear can be challenging.”
What ethical issues might arise for both employees and for managers?
How could managers approach these circumstances ethically?
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Can Personality Traits Predict Practical Work-Related Behaviors? Five specific personality traits have proven most powerful in explaining individual behavior in organizations. These are locus of control, Machiavellianism, self-esteem, self-monitoring, and risk propensity.
Who controls an individual’s behavior? Some people believe that they control their own fate. Others see themselves as pawns of fate, believing that what happens to them in their lives is due to luck or chance. The locus of control in the first case is internal. In the sec- ond case, it’s external; these people believe that their lives are controlled by outside forces.37
A manager might also expect to find that externals blame a poor performance evaluation on their boss’s prejudice, their coworkers, or other events outside their control, whereas “inter- nals” explain the same evaluation in terms of their own actions.
The second characteristic is called Machiavellianism (“Mach”) after Niccolo Machi- avelli, who provided instruction in the sixteenth century on how to gain and manipulate power. An individual who is high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, believes that ends can justify means,38 and is found to have beliefs that are less ethical.39 The philosophy “if it works, use it” is consistent with a high Mach perspective. Do high Machs make good employees? That answer depends on the type of job and whether you consider eth- ical implications in evaluating performance. In jobs that require bargaining skills (a labor negotiator) or that have substantial rewards for winning (a commissioned salesperson), high Machs are productive. In jobs in which ends do not justify the means or that lack absolute standards of performance, it’s difficult to predict the performance of high Machs.
People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike themselves. This trait is called self- esteem (SE).40 The research on SE offers some interesting insights into organizational behav- ior. For example, SE is directly related to expectations for success. High SEs believe that they possess the ability to succeed at work. Individuals with high SE will take more risks in job selec- tion and are more likely to choose unconventional jobs than are people with low SE.41 The most common finding on self-esteem is that low SEs are more susceptible to external influence than are high SEs. Low SEs are dependent on positive evaluations from others. As a result, they’re more likely to seek approval from others and more prone to conform to the beliefs and behav- iors of those they respect than are high SEs. In managerial positions, low SEs will tend to be con- cerned with pleasing others and, therefore, will be less likely to take unpopular stands than will high SEs. Not surprisingly, self-esteem has also been found to be related to job satisfaction. A number of studies confirm that high SEs are more satisfied with their jobs than are low SEs.
Another personality trait researchers have identified is called self-monitoring.42 Individ- uals high in self-monitoring can show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external, situational factors.43 They’re highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations. High self-monitors are capable of presenting striking con- tradictions between their public persona and their private selves. Low self-monitors can’t alter their behavior. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situ- ation; hence, they exhibit high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do. Evidence suggests that high self-monitors tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low self-monitors.44 We might also hypothesize that high self-monitors will be more successful in managerial positions that require individuals to play multiple, and even contradicting, roles.
The final personality trait influencing worker behavior reflects the willingness to take chances—the propensity for risk taking. A preference to assume or avoid risk has been shown to have an impact on how long it takes individuals to make a decision and how much
emotional intelligence (EI) The ability to notice and to manage emotional cues and information.
locus of control The degree to which people believe they control their own fate.
self-esteem (SE) An individual’s degree of like or dislike for himself or herself.
Machiavellianism (“Mach”) A measure of the degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance, and believe that ends justify means.
self-monitoring A personality trait that measures the ability to adjust behavior to external situational factors.
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TYPE CHARACTERISTICS PERSONALITY SAMPLE OCCUPATIONS
Realistic Prefers physical activities Shy, genuine, persistent, stable, Mechanic, drill-press operator, assembly-line that require skill, strength, and conforming, practical worker, farmer coordination
Investigative Prefers activities Analytical, original, curious, Biologist, economist, mathematician, reporter involving thinking, organizing, independent and understanding
Social Prefers activities that involve Sociable, friendly, cooperative, Social worker, teacher, counselor, clinical helping and developing others understanding psychologist
Conventional Prefers rule-regulated, Conforming, efficient, practical, Accountant, corporate manager, bank orderly, and unambiguous activities unimaginative, inflexible teller, file clerk
Enterprising Prefers verbal activities Self-confident, ambitious, energetic, Lawyer, real estate agent, public where there are opportunities to domineering relations specialist, small business manager influence others and attain power
Artistic Prefers ambiguous and Imaginative, disorderly, idealistic, Painter, musician, writer, interior unsystematic activities that allow emotional, impractical decorator creative expression
Source: Reproduced by special permission of the publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., Making Vocational Choices, 3rd ed., copyright 1973, 1985, 1992, 1997 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.
EXHIBIT 8-4 Holland’s Personality-Job Fit
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information they require before making their choice. For instance, in one classic study, 79 managers worked on a simulated human resource management exercise that required them to make hiring decisions.45 High risk-taking managers made more rapid decisions and used less information in making their choices than did the low risk-taking managers. Inter- estingly, the decision accuracy was the same for both groups.
Although it’s generally correct to conclude that managers in organizations are risk averse, especially in large companies and government bureaus,46 individual differences are still found on this dimension.47 As a result, it makes sense to recognize these differences and even to consider aligning risk-taking propensity with specific job demands. For instance, a high risk- taking propensity may lead to effective performance for a stock trader in a brokerage firm since this type of job demands rapid decision making. The same holds true for the entrepreneur.48 On the other hand, this personality characteristic might prove a major obstacle to accountants perform- ing auditing activities, which might be better done by someone with a low risk-taking propensity.
How Do We Match Personalities and Jobs? Obviously, individual personalities differ. So, too, do jobs. How do we match the two? The best-documented personality-job fit theory was developed by psychologist John Holland.49
His theory states that an employee’s satisfaction with his or her job, as well as his or her like- lihood of leaving that job, depends on the degree to which the individual’s personality matches the job environment. Holland identified six basic personality types as shown in Exhibit 8-4.
Holland’s theory proposes that satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest when per- sonality and occupation are compatible.50 Social individuals should be in “people” type jobs, and so forth. The key points of this theory are that (1) there do appear to be intrinsic differences in personality among individuals; (2) there are different types of jobs; and (3) people in job environments compatible with their personality types should be more sat- isfied and less likely to resign voluntarily than should people in incongruent jobs.
Do Personality Attributes Differ Across Cultures? Do personality frameworks, like the Big Five model, transfer across cultures? Are dimen- sions like locus of control relevant in all cultures? Let’s try to answer these questions.
The five personality factors studied in the Big Five model appear in almost all cross-cultural studies.51 This includes a wide variety of diverse cultures such as China, Israel, Germany, Japan,
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Spain, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, and the United States. Differences are found in the emphasis on dimensions. Chinese, for example, use the category of conscientiousness more often and use the category of agreeableness less often than do Americans. But there is a surprisingly high amount of agreement, especially among individuals from developed countries. As a case in point, a comprehensive review of studies covering people from the European Community found that conscientiousness was a valid predictor of performance across jobs and occupational groups.52
This is exactly what U.S. studies have found. We know that there are certainly no common personality types for a given country. You can,
for instance, find high risk takers and low risk takers in almost any culture. Yet a country’s culture influences the dominant personality characteristics of its people. We can see this effect of national culture by looking at one of the personality traits we just discussed: locus of control.
National cultures differ in terms of the degree to which people believe they control their environment. For instance, North Americans believe that they can dominate their environment; other societies, such as those in Middle Eastern countries, believe that life is essentially predetermined. Notice how closely this distinction parallels the concept of inter- nal and external locus of control. On the basis of this particular cultural characteristic, we should expect a larger proportion of internals in the U.S. and Canadian workforces than in the workforces of Saudi Arabia or Iran.
As we have seen throughout this section, personality traits influence employees’ behavior. For global managers, understanding how personality traits differ takes on added significance when looking at it from the perspective of national culture.
How Can an Understanding of Personality Help Managers Be More Effective? Over 62 percent of companies are using personality tests when recruiting and hiring.53 And that’s where the major value in understanding personality differences probably lies. Managers are likely to have higher-performing and more-satisfied employees if consideration is given to matching personalities with jobs. In addition, compatibility leads to other benefits. By recognizing that people approach problem solving, decision making, and job interactions dif- ferently, a manager can better understand why, for instance, an employee is uncomfortable with making quick decisions or why an employee insists on gathering as much information as possible before addressing a problem. Or, for instance, managers can expect that individuals with an external locus of control may be less satisfied with their jobs than those with an inter- nal locus and also that they may be less willing to accept responsibility for their actions.
Matching personality types to compatible jobs leads to more satisfied employees. According to Holland’s personality job-fit theory, people with a “social” preference like activities that involve helping and developing others. Teachers and aides at the early childhood learning center shown here understand the physical and emotional needs of their energetic three-year-old students. They enjoy leading the youngsters in recreational activities that develop the kids’ physical skills and in exploratory and educational procedures that stimulate and develop their mental abilities.IS
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Describe perception
and the factors that influence it.
8.4
Old woman or young woman? Two faces or an urn? A knight on a horse?
EXHIBIT 8-5 Perceptual Challenges—What Do You See?
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What Is Perception and What Influences It? Perception is a process by which we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions. Research on perception consistently demonstrates that individuals may look at the same thing yet perceive it differently. One manager, for instance, can interpret the fact that her assistant regularly takes several days to make important decisions
as evidence that the assistant is slow, disorganized, and afraid to make decisions. Another manager with the same assistant might interpret the same
tendency as evidence that the assistant is thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate. The f irst manager would probably evaluate her assistant negatively; the second
manager would probably evaluate the person positively. The point is that none of us sees reality. We interpret what we see and call it reality. And, of course, as the example shows, we behave according to our perceptions.
What Influences Perception? How do we explain the fact that Cathy, a marketing supervisor for a large commercial petro- leum products organization, age 52, noticed Bill’s nose ring during his employment interview, and Sean, a human resources recruiter, age 23, didn’t? A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver, in the object or tar- get being perceived, or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made.
When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that individual’s personal characteristics will heavily influence the interpretation. These personal characteristics include attitudes, personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expec- tations. The characteristics of the target being observed can also affect what is perceived. Loud people are more likely than quiet people to be noticed in a group. So, too, are extremely attrac- tive or unattractive individuals. Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background also influences perception (see Exhibit 8-5 for an example), as does our tendency to group close things and similar things together.
The context in which we see objects or events is also important. The time at which an object or event is seen can influence attention, as can location, lighting, temperature, and any number of other situational factors.
How Do Managers Judge Employees? Much of the research on perception is directed at inanimate objects. Managers, though, are more concerned with human beings. Our perceptions of people differ from our per- ceptions of such inanimate objects as computers, robots, or buildings because we make inferences about the actions of people that we don’t, of course, make about inanimate objects. When we observe people, we attempt to develop explanations of why they behave
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in certain ways. Our perception and judgment of a person’s actions, therefore, will be sig- nificantly influenced by the assumptions we make about the person’s internal state. Many of these assumptions have led researchers to develop attribution theory.
WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION THEORY? Attribution theory has been proposed to explain how we judge people differently depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behavior.54
Basically, the theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. Internally caused behavior is believed to be under the control of the individual. Externally caused behavior results from outside causes; that is, the person is seen as having been forced into the behavior by the situation. That deter- mination, however, depends on three factors: distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.
Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays a behavior in many situations or whether it is particular to one situation. Is the employee who arrived late to work today also the person coworkers see as a goof-off? What we want to know is whether this behav- ior is unusual. If it is, the observer is likely to give the behavior an external attribution. If this action is not unique, it will probably be judged as internal.
If everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows consensus. Our tardy employee’s behavior would meet this criterion if all employees who took the same route to work today were also late. If consensus is high, you would be expected to give an external attribution to the employee’s tardiness, whereas if other employees who took the same route made it to work on time, you would conclude the reason to be internal.
Finally, a manager looks for consistency in an employee’s actions. Does the individual engage in the behaviors regularly and consistently? Does the employee respond the same way over time? Coming in 10 minutes late for work is not perceived in the same way if, for one employee, it represents an unusual case (she hasn’t been late for several months), but for another it is part of a routine pattern (he is late two or three times a week). The more con- sistent the behavior, the more the observer is inclined to attribute it to internal causes.
Exhibit 8-6 summarizes the key elements in attribution theory. It would tell us, for instance, that if an employee, Mr. Flynn, generally performs at about the same level on other related tasks as he does on his current task (low distinctiveness), if other employees fre- quently perform differently—better or worse—than Mr. Flynn does on that current task (low consensus), and if Mr. Flynn’s performance on this current task is consistent over time (high consistency), his manager or anyone else who is judging Mr. Flynn’s work is likely to hold him primarily responsible for his task performance (internal attribution).
CAN ATTRIBUTIONS BE DISTORTED? One of the more interesting findings drawn from attribution theory is that errors or biases distort attributions. For instance, substantial evi- dence supports the hypothesis that when we make judgments about the behavior of other people, we have a tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overesti- mate the influence of internal or personal factors.55 This fundamental attribution error can explain why a sales manager may be prone to attribute the poor performance of her sales agents to laziness rather than to the innovative product line introduced by a competitor. Individuals also tend to attribute their own successes to internal factors such as ability or effort while putting the blame for failure on external factors such as luck. This self-serving bias suggests that feedback provided to employees in performance reviews will be pre- dictably distorted by them, whether it is positive or negative.
perception A process by which we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions.
attribution theory A theory used to explain how we judge people differently, based on what meaning we attribute to a given behavior.
self-serving bias The tendency for individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.
fundamental attribution error The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others.
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MANAGING DIVERSITY | All About Shortcuts
Perceiving and interpreting people’s behavior is a lot of work, so we use shortcuts to make the task more manage- able.56 Perceptual shortcuts can be valuable as they let us make accurate perceptions quickly and provide valid data for making predictions. However, they aren’t perfect. They can and do get us into trouble. (See Exhibit 8-7 for a summary description of the perceptual shortcuts.)
Individuals can’t assimilate all they observe, so they’re selective in their perception. They absorb bits and pieces. These bits and pieces are not chosen randomly; rather, they’re selectively chosen depending on the inter- ests, background, experience, and attitudes of the observer. Selective perception allows us to “speed read” others but not without the risk of drawing an inac- curate picture.
It’s easy to judge others if we assume that they’re similar to us. In assumed similarity, or the “like me” effect, the observer’s perception of others is influenced more by the observer’s own characteristics than by those of the person observed. For example, if you want challenges and respon- sibility in your job, you’ll assume that others want the same. People who assume that others are like them can, of course, be right, but not always.
When we judge someone on the basis of our percep- tion of a group he or she is part of, we’re using the shortcut called stereotyping. For instance, “Married people are more stable employees than single persons” or “Older employees are absent more often from work” are examples of stereotyping. To the degree that a stereotype is based on fact, it may produce accurate judgments. However, many stereotypes aren’t factual and distort our judgment.
When we form a general impression about a person on the basis of a single characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance, we’re being influenced by the halo effect. This effect frequently occurs when students eval- uate their classroom instructor. Students may isolate a single trait such as enthusiasm and allow their entire evaluation to be slanted by the perception of this one trait. An instructor may be quiet, assured, knowledgeable, and highly qualified, but if his classroom teaching style lacks enthusiasm, he might be rated lower on a number of other characteristics.
When dealing with a diverse workforce, managers (and others) first have to be aware of when they’re using a perceptual shortcut. And secondly, they have to ensure that the shortcut isn’t distorting what they’re perceiving and thus believing about an individual or a situation.
Individual behavior
Distinctiveness
Consensus
Consistency
External
Internal
External
Internal
Internal
External
Observation Interpretation Attribution of Cause
High
Low
High
Low
High
Low
EXHIBIT 8-6 Attribution Theory
All of us, managers included, use a number of shortcuts to judge others. These short- cuts can be particularly critical with diverse workforces. See the “Managing Diversity” box for more information.
How Can an Understanding of Perception Help Managers Be More Effective? Managers need to recognize that their employees react to perceptions, not to reality. So whether a manager’s appraisal of an employee’s performance is actually objective and unbiased or whether the organization’s wage levels are among the highest in the community is less relevant
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SHORTCUT WHAT IT IS DISTORTION
Selectivity People assimilate certain bits and pieces “Speed reading” others may result in an of what they observe depending on their inaccurate picture of them interests, background, experience, and attitudes
Assumed similarity People assume that others are like them May fail to take into account individual differences, resulting in incorrect similarities
Stereotyping People judge others on the basis of their May result in distorted judgments because perception of a group to which the others belong many stereotypes have no factual foundation
Halo effect People form an impression of others on the Fails to take into account the total picture basis of a single trait of what an individual has done
EXHIBIT 8-7 Perceptual Shortcuts
operant conditioning A theory of learning that says behavior is a function of its consequences.
learning A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.
Discuss learning theories and their
relevance in shaping
behavior.
8.5
than what employees perceive them to be. If individuals perceive appraisals to be biased or wage levels as low, they’ll behave as if those conditions actually exist. Employees organize and interpret what they see, so there is always the potential for perceptual distortion. The message is clear: Pay close attention to how employees perceive both their jobs and management actions. Remember, the valuable employee who quits because of an inaccurate perception is just as great a loss to an organization as the valuable employee who quits for a valid reason.
How Do Learning Theories Explain Behavior? The last individual behavior concept we’re going to look at is learning. It’s included for the obvious reason that almost all behavior is learned. If we want to explain, predict, and influence behavior, we need to understand how people learn.
The psychologists’ definition of learning is considerably broader than the average person’s view that “it’s what we do in school.” Learning occurs all the time as we continuously learn from our experiences. A workable definition of learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. Two learning theories help us understand how and why individual behavior occurs.
What Is Operant Conditioning? Operant conditioning argues that behavior is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don’t want. Operant behav- ior is voluntary or learned behavior, not reflexive or unlearned behavior. The tendency to repeat learned behavior is influenced by reinforcement or lack of reinforcement that hap- pens as a result of the behavior. Reinforcement strengthens a behavior and increases the likelihood that it will be repeated. Lack of reinforcement weakens a behavior and lessens the likelihood that it will be repeated.
selective perception The tendency for people to only absorb parts of what they observe, allowing them to “speed read” others.
assumed similarity An observer’s perception of others is influenced more by the observer’s own characteristics than by those of the person observed.
stereotyping When we judge someone on the basis of our perception of a group he or she is part of.
halo effect When we form a general impression of a person on the basis of a single characteristic.
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From the Past to the Present• • Why does hearing Christmas carols evoke pleasant memories of childhood?57 Classical conditioning theory would say it’s because the songs are associated with a festive holiday spirit and make us remember all the fun and excitement. Classical conditioning can also explain why a scheduled visit by the “top brass” brings flurried activities of cleaning, straightening, and rearranging at a local outlet of a major retail company. However, classical conditioning is a passive theory. Something happens, and we react in a specific way. As such, it can explain simple reflexive behavior. But most behavior by people at work is voluntary rather than reflexive; that is, employees choose to arrive at work on time, ask their boss for help with some problem, or “goof off” when no one is watching. A bet- ter explanation for behavior is operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning says that people behave the way they do so they can get something they want or avoid some- thing they don’t want. It’s voluntary or learned behavior, not reflexive or unlearned behavior. And Harvard psychologist
B. F. Skinner first identified the process of operant condition- ing. He argued that creating pleasing consequences to follow specific forms of behavior would increase the frequency of that behavior. Skinner demonstrated that people will most likely engage in desired behaviors if they’re positively rein- forced for doing so; that rewards are most effective if they immediately follow the desired response (behavior); and that behavior that is not rewarded or is punished is less likely to be repeated. For example, a professor places a mark by a stu- dent’s name each time the student makes a contribution to class discussions. Operant conditioning would argue that this practice is motivating because it conditions a student to expect a reward (earning class credit) each time she demon- strates a specific behavior (speaking up in class). Operant conditioning can be seen in work settings as well. And smart managers quickly recognize that they can use operant con- ditioning to shape employees’ behaviors to get work done in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
B. F. Skinner’s research widely expanded our knowledge of operant conditioning.58
Behavior is assumed to be determined from without—that is, learned—rather than from within—reflexive or unlearned. Skinner argued that people will most likely engage in desired behaviors if they are positively reinforced for doing so, and rewards are most effec- tive if they immediately follow the desired response. In addition, behavior that isn’t rewarded or is punished, is less likely to be repeated. (For more information about Skinner’s contri- butions, see the “From the Past to the Present” box.)
You see examples of operant conditioning everywhere. Any situation in which it’s either explicitly stated or implicitly suggested that reinforcement (rewards) is contingent on some action on your part is an example of operant conditioning. Your instructor says that if you want a high grade in this course, you must perform well on tests by giving correct answers. A salesperson working on commission knows that earning a sizable income is contingent upon generating high sales in his or her territory. Of course, the linkage between behavior and reinforcement can also work to teach the individual to behave in ways that work against the best interests of the organization. Assume that your boss tells you that if you’ll work overtime during the next three-week busy season, you’ll be compensated for it at the next performance appraisal. Then, when performance appraisal time comes, you are given no positive reinforcements (such as being praised for pitching in and helping out when needed). What will you do the next time your boss asks you to work overtime? You’ll probably refuse. Your behavior can be explained by operant conditioning: If a behavior isn’t positively rein- forced, the probability that the behavior will be repeated declines.
What Is Social Learning Theory? Some 60 percent of the Radio City Rockettes have danced in prior seasons. The veterans help newcomers with “Rockette style”—where to place their hands, how to hold their hands, how to keep up stamina, and so forth.59
As the Rockettes are well aware, individuals can also learn by observing what happens to other people and just by being told about something as well as by direct experiences. Much of what we have learned comes from watching others (models)—parents, teachers, peers, television and movie actors, managers, and so forth. This view that we can learn both through observation and direct experience is called social learning theory.60
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The influence of others is central to the social learning viewpoint. The amount of influ- ence that these models have on an individual is determined by four processes:
1. Attentional processes. People learn from a model when they recognize and pay attention to its critical features. We’re most influenced by models who are attractive, repeatedly available, thought to be impor- tant, or seen as similar to us.
2. Retention processes. A model’s influence will depend on how well the individual remembers the model’s action, even after the model is no longer readily available.
3. Motor reproduction processes. After a person has seen a new behavior by observing the model, the watching must become doing. This process then demonstrates that the indi- vidual can actually do the modeled activities.
4. Reinforcement processes. Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modeled behavior if positive incentives or rewards are provided. Behaviors that are reinforced will be given more attention, learned better, and performed more often.
How Can Managers Shape Behavior? Managers should be concerned with how they can teach employees to behave in ways that most benefit the organization.61 Thus, managers will often attempt to mold individuals by guiding their learning in graduated steps. This process is called shaping behavior (see the “Developing Your Shaping Behavior Skill” box).
Consider the situation in which an employee’s behavior is significantly different from that desired by management. If management reinforced the individual only when he or she showed desirable responses, little reinforcement might happen at all.
We shape behavior by systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves the indi- vidual closer to the desired response. If an employee who has continually been 30 minutes late for work arrives only 20 minutes late, we can reinforce this improvement. Reinforcement would increase as responses more closely approximate the desired behavior.
Four ways can be used to shape behavior: positive reinforcement, negative reinforce- ment, punishment, or extinction. When a response is followed with something pleasant, such as when a manager praises an employee for a job well done, it’s called positive rein- forcement. Rewarding a response with the termination or withdrawal of something pleasant is called negative reinforcement. Managers who habitually criticize their employees for tak- ing extended coffee breaks are using negative reinforcement. The only way these employ- ees can stop the criticism is to shorten their breaks. Punishment penalizes undesirable behavior. Suspending an employee for two days without pay for showing up drunk is an example of punishment. Eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining a behavior is called extinction. When a behavior isn’t reinforced, it gradually disappears. Managers who wish to discourage employees from continually asking distracting or irrelevant questions in
social learning theory A theory of learning that says people can learn through observation and direct experience.
shaping behavior The process of guiding learning in graduated steps, using reinforcement or lack of reinforcement.
We see the application of social learning theory at the major league baseball teams’ spring training sessions. In this photo, three talented younger pitchers early in their major league careers carefully watch the moves and techniques of veteran pitcher Randy Johnson as he throws from the mound during the San Francisco Giants’ spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona. Watching the work of experienced and successful players like Johnson and then practicing the skills they observed helps younger players learn how to fine-tune their techniques.
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Developing Your Skill About the Skill In today’s dynamic work environments, learning is contin- ual. But this learning shouldn’t be done in isolation or without any guidance. Most employees need to be shown what’s expected of them on the job. As a manager, you must teach your employees the behaviors that are most critical to their, and the organization’s, success.
Steps in Practicing the Skill 1 Identify the critical behaviors that have a significant
impact on an employee’s performance. Not every- thing employees do on the job is equally important in terms of performance outcomes. A few critical behav- iors may, in fact, account for the majority of one’s results. These high impact behaviors need to be identified.
2 Establish a baseline of performance. A baseline is obtained by determining the number of times the identified behaviors occur under the employee’s pres- ent job conditions.
3 Analyze the contributing factors to performance and their consequences. A number of factors, such as the norms of a group, may be contributing to the baseline performance. Identify these factors and their effect on performance.
4 Develop a shaping strategy. The change that may occur will entail changing some element of perform- ance—structure, processes, technology, groups, or the task. The purpose of the strategy is to strengthen the desirable behaviors and weaken the undesirable ones.
5 Apply the appropriate strategy. Once the strategy has been developed, it needs to be implemented. In this step, an intervention occurs.
6 Measure the change that has occurred. An interven- tion should produce the desired results in performance behaviors. Evaluate the number of times the identified behaviors now occur. Compare these with the base- line evaluation in step 2.
7 Reinforce desired behaviors. If an intervention has been successful and the new behaviors are produc- ing the desired results, maintain these behaviors through reinforcement mechanisms.
Practicing the Skill a. Imagine that your assistant is ideal in all respects but
one—he or she is hopeless at taking phone messages for you when you’re not in the office. You’re often in training sessions and the calls are sales leads you want to follow up, so you have identified taking accurate messages as a high impact behavior for your assistant.
b. Focus on steps 3 and 4, and devise a way to shape your assistant’s behavior. Identify some factors that might contribute to his or her failure to take mes- sages—these could range from a heavy workload to a poor understanding of the task’s importance (you can rule out insubordination). Then develop a shaping strategy by determining what you can change—the available technology, the task itself, the structure of the job, or some other element of performance.
c. Now plan your intervention and take a brief meeting with your assistant in which you explain the change you expect. Recruit a friend to help you role-play your intervention. Do you think you would succeed in a real situation?
meetings can eliminate that behavior by ignoring those employees when they raise their hands to speak. Soon, the behavior will be diminished.
Both positive and negative reinforcement result in learning. They strengthen a desired response and increase the probability of repetition. Both punishment and extinction also result in learning; however, they weaken behavior and tend to decrease its subsequent frequency.
How Can an Understanding of Learning Help Managers Be More Effective? Employees are going to learn on the job. The only issue is whether managers are going to manage their learning through the rewards they allocate and the examples they set, or allow it to occur haphazardly. If marginal employees are rewarded with pay raises and promo- tions, they will have little reason to change their behavior. In fact, productive employees, who see marginal performance rewarded, might change their behavior. If managers want behav- ior A, but reward behavior B, they shouldn’t be surprised to find employees’ learning to engage in behavior B. Similarly, managers should expect that employees will look to them as models. Managers who are consistently late to work, or take two hours for lunch, or help themselves to company office supplies for personal use should expect employees to read the message they are sending and model their behavior accordingly.
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Discuss
8.6 contemporary
issues in OB.
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Immediate Responsibility They want to make an important impact on Day 1.
Goal Oriented They want small goals with tight deadlines so they can build up ownership of tasks.
High Expectations of Self They aim to work faster and better than other workers.
Gen Y Workers
High Expectations of Employers They want fair and direct managers who are highly engaged in their professional development.
Ongoing Learning They seek out creative challenges and view colleagues as vast resources from whom to gain knowledge.
EXHIBIT 8-8 Gen Y Workers
Source: Bruce Tulgan of Rainmaker Thinking. Used with permission.
What Contemporary OB Issues Face Managers? By this point, you’re probably well aware of why managers need to understand how and why employees behave the way they do. We conclude this chapter by looking at two OB issues having a major influence on managers’ jobs today.
How Do Generational Differences Affect the Workplace? They’re young, smart, brash. They wear flip-flops to the office or listen to iPods at their desk. They want to work, but don’t want work to be their life. This is Generation Y, some 70 million of them, many who are embarking on their careers, taking their place in an increasingly multigenerational workplace.62
JUST WHO IS GEN Y? There’s no consensus about the exact time span that Gen Y comprises, but most definitions include those individuals born from about 1982 to 1997. One thing is for sure—they’re bringing new attitudes with them to the workplace. Gen Yers have grown up with an amazing array of experiences and opportunities. And they want their work life to provide that as well, as shown in Exhibit 8-8. For instance, Stella Kenyi, who is passionately interested in international development, was sent by her employer, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, to Yai, Sudan, to survey energy use.63 At Best Buy’s corporate offices, Beth Trippie, a senior scheduling specialist, feels that as long as the results are there, why should it matter how it gets done. She says, “I’m constantly playing video games, on a call, doing work, and the thing is, all of it gets done, and it gets done well.”64 And Katie Patterson, an assistant account executive in Atlanta says, “We are willing and not afraid to challenge the status quo. An environment where creativity and independent thinking are looked upon as a positive is appealing to people my age. We’re very independent and tech savvy.”65
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DEALING WITH THE MANAGERIAL CHALLENGES. Managing Gen Y workers presents some unique challenges. Conflicts and resentment can arise over issues such as appear- ance, technology, and management style.
How flexible must an organization be in terms of “appropriate” office attire? It may depend on the type of work being done and the size of the organization. There are many organizations where jeans, T-shirts, and flip-flops are acceptable. However, in other settings, employees are expected to dress more conventionally. But even in those more conservative organizations, one possible solution to accommodate the more casual attire preferred by Gen Y is to be more flexible in what’s acceptable. For instance, the guideline might be that when the person is not interacting with someone outside the organization, more casual wear (with some restrictions) can be worn.
What about technology? This is a generation that has lived much of their lives with ATMs, DVDs, cell phones, e-mail, texting, laptops, and the Internet. When they don’t have informa- tion they need, they just simply enter a few keystrokes to get it. Having grown up with technol- ogy, Gen Yers tend to be totally comfortable with it. They’re quite content to meet virtually to solve problems, while bewildered baby boomers expect important problems to be solved with an in-person meeting. Baby boomers complain about Gen Yers’ inability to focus on one task, while Gen Yers see nothing wrong with multitasking. Again, flexibility from both is the key.
Finally, what about managing Gen Yers? Like the old car advertisement that used to say, “this isn’t your father’s car,” we can say that “this isn’t your father’s or mother’s way of managing.” Gen Y employees want bosses who are open minded; experts in their field, even if they aren’t tech-savvy; organized; teachers, trainers, and mentors; not authoritarian or paternalistic; respectful of their generation; understanding of their need for work/life balance; providing constant feedback; communicating in vivid and compelling ways; and providing stimulating and novel learning experiences.66
Gen Y employees have a lot to offer organizations in terms of their knowledge, passion, and abilities. Managers, however, have to recognize and understand the behaviors of this group in order to create an environment in which work can be accomplished efficiently, effectively, and without disruptive conflict.
How Do Managers Deal with Negative Behavior in the Workplace? Jerry notices the oil is low in his forklift but continues to drive it until it overheats and can’t be used. After enduring 11 months of repeated insults and mistreatment from her supervisor, Maria quits her job. An office clerk slams her keyboard and then shouts profanities whenever her com- puter freezes up. Rudeness, hostility, aggression, and other forms of workplace negativity have become all too common in today’s organizations. In a survey of U.S. employees, 10 percent said
It’s not surprising that eBay’s young employees rank the company as one of the best places to work for millennials. eBay’s culture of fun, casual dress, and flexible work schedules that provide for a work/life balance appeal to Generation Y employees like those shown here at eBay’s office in Milan, Italy. The company’s young workers say that their managers give them job responsibility quickly, generous recognition for their achievements, and learning opportunities that advance their professional career development.
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they witnessed rudeness daily within their workplaces and 20 percent said that they personally were direct targets of incivility at work at least once a week. In a survey of Canadian workers, 25 percent reported seeing incivility daily and 50 percent said they were the direct targets at least once per week.67 And it’s been estimated that negativity costs the U.S. economy some $300 billion a year.68 What can managers do to manage negative behavior in the workplace?
The main thing is to recognize that it’s there. Pretending that negative behavior doesn’t exist or ignoring such misbehaviors will only confuse employees about what is expected and acceptable behavior. Although there’s some debate among researchers about the preventive or responsive actions to negative behaviors, in reality, both are needed.69 Preventing negative behaviors by carefully screening potential employees for certain personality traits and responding immediately and decisively to unacceptable negative behaviors can go a long way toward managing negative workplace behaviors. But it’s also important to pay attention to employee attitudes since negativity will show up there as well. As we said earlier, when employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, they will respond somehow.
ApplicationsReview and
Chapter Summary 8.1 Identify the focus and goals of organizational
behavior (OB). OB focuses on three areas: individual behavior, group behavior, and organizational aspects. The goals of OB are to explain, predict, and influence employee behavior. Six important employee behaviors are as follows: Employee productivity is a perform- ance measure of both efficiency and effectiveness. Absenteeism is the failure to report to work. Turnover is the voluntary and involuntary permanent with- drawal from an organization. Organizational citizen- ship behavior (OCB) is discretionary behavior that’s not part of an employee’s formal job requirements but which promotes the effective functioning of an organi- zation. Job satisfaction is an individual’s general atti- tude toward his or her job. Workplace misbehavior is any intentional employee behavior that’s potentially harmful to the organization or individuals within the organization.
8.2 Explain the role that attitudes play in job perform- ance. Attitudes are evaluative statements concerning people, objects, or events. The cognitive component of an attitude refers to the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person. The affective compo- nent is the emotional or feeling part of an attitude. The behavioral component refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
There are four job-related attitudes: job satis- faction, job involvement, organizational commit- ment, and employee engagement. Job satisfaction refers to a person’s general attitude toward his or her job. Job involvement is the degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job, actively
participates in it, and considers his or her job per- formance to be important to his or her self-worth. Organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in that organization. Employee engagement is when employees are connected to, satisfied with, and enthused about their jobs.
According to cognitive dissonance theory, individuals try to reconcile attitude and behavior inconsistencies by altering their attitudes, altering their behavior, or rationalizing the inconsistency.
8.3 Describe different personality theories. The MBTI®
measures four dichotomies: social interaction, prefer- ence for gathering data, preference for decision making, and style of making decisions. The Big Five model consists of five personality traits: extraversion, agree- ableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. Another way to view personal- ity is through the five personality traits that help explain individual behavior in organizations: locus of control, Machiavellianism, self-esteem, self-monitoring, and risk-taking.
Finally, how a person responds emotionally and how they deal with their emotions is a function of per- sonality. A person who is emotionally intelligent has the ability to notice and to manage emotional cues and information.
8.4 Describe perception and the factors that influ- ence it. Perception is how we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions.IS
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learning theory says that individuals learn by observ- ing what happens to other people and by directly experiencing something.
Managers can shape behavior by using positive reinforcement (reinforcing a desired behavior by giving something pleasant), negative reinforcement (reinforcing a desired response by withdrawing something unpleasant), punishment (eliminating unde- sirable behavior by applying penalties), or extinction (not reinforcing a behavior to eliminate it).
8.6 Discuss contemporary issues in OB. The challenge of managing Gen Y workers is that they bring new attitudes to the workplace. The main challenges are over issues such as appearance, technology, and management style.
Workplace misbehavior can be dealt with by recognizing that it’s there; carefully screening poten- tial employees for possible negative tendencies; and most importantly, by paying attention to employee attitudes through surveys about job satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
To check your understanding of learning outcomes 8.1 – 8.6 , go to
mymanagementlab.com and try the chapter questions.
Understanding the Chapter
1. How is an organization like an iceberg? Use the ice- berg metaphor to describe the field of organizational behavior.
2. Does the importance of knowledge of OB differ based on a manager’s level in the organization? If so, how? If not, why not? Be specific.
3. Clarify how individuals reconcile inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors.
4. Describe what is meant by the term emotional intelligence. Provide an example of how it’s used in contemporary organizations.
5. “Instead of worrying about job satisfaction, companies should be trying to create environments where perform- ance is enabled.” What do you think this statement
means? Explain. What’s your reaction to this statement? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
6. How might a manager use personality traits to improve employee selection in his department? Emotional intelligence? Discuss.
7. Describe the implications of social learning theory for managing people at work.
8. A Gallup Organization survey shows that most work- ers rate having a caring boss even higher than they value money or fringe benefits. How should managers interpret this information? What are the implications?
9. Write down three attitudes you have. Identify the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of those attitudes.
Attribution theory helps explain how we judge people differently. It depends on three factors. Distinc- tiveness is whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations (that is, is the behav- ior unusual). Consensus is whether others facing a similar situation respond in the same way. Consistency is when a person engages in behaviors regularly and consistently. Whether these three factors are high or low helps managers determine whether employee behavior is attributed to external or internal causes.
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors. The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute our own successes to internal factors and to put the blame for personal failure on external factors. Shortcuts used in judging others are selective perception, assumed simi- larity, stereotyping, and the halo effect.
8.5 Discuss learning theories and their relevance in shaping behavior. Operant conditioning argues that behavior is a function of its consequences. Social
Understanding Yourself
What’s My Basic Personality? The five-factor model of personality—often referred to as the Big Five—has an impressive body of research suggesting that five basic personality dimensions underlie human behavior. This self-assessment exercise will give you an indication of what your personality is like according to the Big Five model.
INSTRUMENT Listed on the next page is a set of 15 adjective pairs. For each, select the number along the scale (you must choose a whole number) that most closely describes you or your preferences.
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Sources: Based on O. P. John, “The ‘Big Five’ Factor Taxonomy: Dimensions of Personality in the Natural Language and in Questionnaires,” in L.A. Pervin (ed.), Handbook of Personality Theory and Research (New York: Guilford Press, 1990), pp. 66–100; and D. L. Formy-Duval, J. E. Williams, D. J. Patterson, and E. E. Fogle, “A ‘Big Five’ Scoring System for the Item Pool of the Adjective Check List,” Journal of Personality Assessment 65, (1995), pp. 59–76.
1. Quiet 1 2 3 4 5 Talkative
2. Tolerant 1 2 3 4 5 Critical
3. Disorganized 1 2 3 4 5 Organized
4. Tense 1 2 3 4 5 Calm
5. Imaginative 1 2 3 4 5 Conventional
6. Reserved 1 2 3 4 5 Outgoing
7. Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 Cooperative
8. Unreliable 1 2 3 4 5 Dependable
9. Insecure 1 2 3 4 5 Secure
10. New 1 2 3 4 5 Familiar
11. Sociable 1 2 3 4 5 Loner
12. Suspicious 1 2 3 4 5 Trusting
13. Undirected 1 2 3 4 5 Goal-oriented
14. Enthusiastic 1 2 3 4 5 Depressed
15. Change 1 2 3 4 5 Status-quo
SCORING KEY To calculate your personality score, add up your points as follows (reverse scoring those items marked with an asterisk):
Items 1, 6, and 11*: This is your extraversion score.
Items 2*, 7, and 12: This is your agreeableness score.
Items 3, 8, and 13: This is your conscientiousness score.
Items 4, 9, and 14*: This is your emotional stability score.
Items 5*, 10*, and 15*: This is your openness-to-experience score.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Extraversion—high scores indicate you’re an extravert; low scores indicate you’re an introvert.
Agreeableness—high scores indicate you value harmony; low scores indicate you prefer having your say or way on issues.
Conscientiousness—high scores indicate that you pursue fewer goals in a purposeful way; lower scores indicate that you’re more easily distracted, pursue many goals, and are more hedonistic.
Emotional stability—high scores indicate positive emotional stability; low scores indicate negative emotional stability.
Openness to experience—high scores indicate you have a wide range of inter- ests and a fascination with novelty and innovation; low scores indicate you’re more conventional and find comfort in the familiar.
What defines a high or low score? No definite cutoffs are available. However, reasonable cutoffs for each dimension would be 12–15 points = high; 7–11 = moderate; and 3–6 = low.
What are the implications of some of your scores? Studies on the Big Five model suggest that individuals who are dependable, reliable, thorough, organized, able to plan, and persistent (that is, high on conscientiousness) tend to have higher job performance, no matter the occupation. High scores on extraversion indicate you may be suited to a managerial or sales position. Also, high scores on openness-to-experience are a good predictor of your ability to achieve significant benefits from training efforts.
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FYIA (For Your Immediate Action)
Wood Designs Plus
To: Ted Sigler, Director of HR From: Michelle DePriest, President
Re: Hiring
Ted, as we discussed last Friday, our manufacturing operations have grown to the point
where we need to add a couple of people to our executive team; specifically, a corporate
controller and a national sales director. The controller will be responsible for establishing
operational and financial standards (in other words, a lot of number-crunching using financial
and manufacturing statistics) for our various work units. The national sales director will be
responsible for working closely with our sales staff to further develop long-lasting and
mutually beneficial relationships with our customers.
I recall something from a management class I took in college that certain personality
types fit best with certain types of jobs. Could you do some research on this topic for me?
Write up a short report (no more than a page) describing the personality type that might be an
appropriate match for each of these new positions. Get this to me by the end of the week.
This fictionalized company and message were created for educational purposes only. It is not meant to reflect positively or negatively on management practices by any company that may share this name.
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CASE APPLICATION
A29-year-old and a 68-year-old. Howmuch could they possibly have in com-mon? And what could they learn from each other? At Randstad USA’s Manhattan office, such employee pairings are common. One such pair of colleagues sits inches apart facing each other. “They hear every call the other makes. They read every e-mail the other sends or receives. Sometimes they finish each other’s sentences.”
Randstad Holding NV, a Dutch company, has used this pairing idea since its founding over 40 years ago. The founder’s motto was “Nobody should be alone.” The original intent was to boost productivity by having sales agents share one job and trade off job responsibilities. Today, these partners in the home office have an arrange- ment where one is in the office one week while the other one is out making sales calls, then the next week, they switch. The company brought its partner arrangement to the United States in the late 1990s. But when it began recruiting new employees, the vast majority of whom were in their twenties, it realized the challenges and the potential of pairing different generations together. “Knowing that these Gen Yers need lots of attention in the work- place, Randstad executives figured that if they shared a job with someone whose own success depended on theirs, they were certain to get all the nurturing they required.”
Randstad doesn’t just simply pair up people and hope it works. There’s more to it than that! The company looks for people who will work well with others by conducting extensive interviews and requiring job applicants to shadow a sales agent for half a day. “One question Randstad asks is: What’s your most memorable moment while being on a team? If they respond: When I scored the winning touchdown, that’s a deal killer. Everything about our organization is based on the team and group.” When a new hire is paired with an experienced agent, both indi- viduals have some adjusting. One of the most interesting elements of Randstad’s program is that neither person is “the boss.” And both are expected to teach the other.
Discussion Questions
1. What topics of individual behavior do you see in this case? Explain.
2. What do you think about this pairing-up idea? Would you be comfortable with such an arrangement? Why or why not?
3. What personality traits would be most needed for this type of work arrangement? Why?
4. What types of issues might a Gen Y employee and an older, more-experienced employee face? How could two people in such a close-knit work arrangement deal with those issues? That is, how could both make the adjustment easier?
5. Design an employee attitude survey for Randstad’s employees.
Sources: G. Mijuk, “Tough Times for Temp Agencies Likely to Prompt Consolidation,” Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2009, p. B7; M. Laff, “Gen Y Proves Loyalty in Economic Downturn,” T&D, December 2008, p. 18; and S. Berfield, “Bridging the Generation Gap,” BusinessWeek, September 17, 2007, pp. 60–61.
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