Management and Organization Behavior

Dr. Leigh Stelzer

REFERENCE OUTLINE:

Chap. 7, Individual Differences, Personality

Objectives:

Understand that if you want to work with others (to communicate ) then you need to understand yourself and others.

What is the importance of Personality to organizational behavior?

The text authors see personality as relatively stable. Where does it come from? How stable are the big five? Text authors recognize large gap between individual differences and Individual and organizational outcomes. See p. 274, and Fig. 7.2. Intervening factors. Norms (rules of behavior that become social pressures) are a better predictor of behavior than attitudes.

The consistency in our behavioral response to situations (the situation consists of people and situations with whom we regularly interact) may be what we call personality. Situational. The situation brings forth personality traits. Personality is the interactive result of the person and the situation. Personalty is learned behavior, Think-Act-Consequence Called the interactionist perspective.. Why?

There is consistency in the way people react to the same situation. You act because you have learned a set of roles that are appropriate to particular situations. You learned because you succeeded with them in the past. Often the same actions pay off in the same way given the same situation. Further, you get to choose situations. You choose to be in situations where you have been successful and to avoid other situations. Finally, all the social pressures support the behavior. Thus, we get great regularities in behavior that we can call personality.

For example, most of us get up on time and drive to work on the right side of the road. Place us with a gun in our hand in front of a mortal enemy and we will do what is expected. A person's behavior is best explained by the interaction of the person and the situation.

There is no one definition of personality that is generally accepted. There are scientists that attribute personality to heredity, genes, and body chemistry. There is a lot of new evidence that is favoring nature over nurture. Know this distinction. Studies of twins suggests importance of heredity (Univ of Minn.) You decide.

Environmental influences include, culture, family, groups and life experiences.

What are the "Big Five personality factors?" p. 281. (collections of traits). Do they predict to job performance? P. 291.

Adjustment

Sociability

Conscientiousness

Agreeableness

Intellectual openness

Stanley Milgram's study of obedience to authority says the social environment can persuade normal and decent people to perform noxious and anti-social acts. Fully sixty-five percent of the subjects in his experimental laboratory showed total obedience. What factors reduced obedience? Non punishing consequences of disobedience. Lack of group support. Lack of oversight. Proximity and feedback. This study says reams about the dominance of the situation over personality.

It is imperative to be ethical. What should the good person do in a bad situation? Milgram creates a bad situation and virtually everyone goes along. Managers must strive to create good situations so that those around them are encouraged to do the right thing.

What is the point of the discussion of cognitive styles?

Information or Fact gathering: Sensation (S) v. intuition (N)

Sensation: Concrete, practical, down to earth.

Intuitive: Imaginative, non-routine, big picture

Which one carefully reads the instructions before assembling the go-cart and which just puts it together (hands on) and gets in it and goes?

Evaluation method: Thinking (T) v. feeling (F)

Thinking, (head) Analytical scientific, Cold, socially distant

Feeling, (heart) Social emotional, sympathetic, cares more about affect of decision on others.

Orientation: Introversion v. extroversion

Introversion, oriented toward inner thoughts and feelings

Extroversion, oriented toward people and things

Need for closure (flexibility): Judging v. perceiving

Judging, prefer structure, order, no surprises

Perceiving, see multiple sides, open to possibilities, non-judgmental

SO WHAT? What is this worth?

Do different cultures act differently? Do we have to act differently if we want to do business in Latin America? Japan?